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ahandfullofreviews · 1 year

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Review: Outer worlds

Outer worlds is a game where you take the helm of a colonist by the name of YOU.

In outer worlds you are the captain now. Literally, you become a ship captain like 10 minutes in.

Pick a side in this war between communism and capitalism. Don't ask why those are the only 2 sides.

Overview:

After getting stolen from your colony ship and getting rudely waken out of cold storage, you immediately are jettisoned onto planet 4546B Terra 2. You crush your chaperon upon landing. He's dead now, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. You've landed on top of a mountain. As you make your way down you run into the copy-and-paste enemies from borderlands, canids, ratatatatas, ratatatatatatatatatatatatas, and a guy who goes by the name of Icompletleyforgothisnamebutyoudon'trunintohimagain. He's injured. If you help him he'll give you his gun. He's also contractually obligated to say the slogan of his company or else he'll be killed. That is quite literally what the in-game reason is.

After making your way down the mountain, you come across Hawthornes ship and the police.

You ignore them entirely and go inside the illegally parked vessel.

It is here that you meet the first thing you can't mercilessly kill, ADA (Autonomous Digital Astrogator). She's pissed and mistakes you for a miscreant.

You decide to work together because you need to get a vat of something, and ada needs to fly. However, there is a catch. YOU you can't issue orders to ADA because you aren't captain Hawthorne (the guy you crushed) so you have to say you're Hawthorne in disguise in order for ada to accept you as the captain.

You exit the ship and the constables want to talk to you.

You can either

A: end the convo asap

B calmly explain what happened

C: threaten wanton violence

D: Bullshit your way out of a ticket

After you make a decision you're attacked by *checks notes* the unemployed

Jesus christ this game is just a fuckload of propaganda isn't it

You make your way to edgewater to get a *checks notes* power converter.

It is here you meet the guy I hate the most. I hate him SO much I forgot his name. He tells you that edgewater only has the 1 converter and it's not for sale. However if you force people out of there homes you CAN take 1 from the botanical garden.

The botanical garden tells you the same thing. And it is here that the choice is made.

My actual thoughts:

Side quests and companions are what make the game fun. And boy howdy does this game deliver on those fronts.

The side quests are amazing. They're all an easy difficulty and you never feel like you're repeating what you're doing from another quest. One of my favorite side quests is apparently a mandella effect cause I couldn't find any mention of it on the wiki.

For companions you get

A janitor

The only character in this game who never passes the Bechtel test even tho they totally could

The space pope

Drunk & disorderly

Dangerously close to copyright infringement

Medic from TF2

My favorite? If I were to say you'd all hate me

Final thoughts:

It's good. Gives me a nice space western fallout 3, with character writing where their personalities all feel natural. Even when it's lgbt. Memorable weapons, an easy to follow story, and the only game I've ever played where I didn't constantly feel like my character missed out on a far more exciting time in the lore.

Just a few questions

Why are there no children. Is it the corporations? System limitations?

I'm almost positive there were supposed to be cars at one point.

What exactly is "saltuna"

Final rating:

9.8/10!

Jokes that I couldn't fit in:

You have to go to the planet formerly known as Terra 1

And you call them fried sprats, despite the fact they are obviously grilled

Too many covid-19 jokes. To the point where it just felt wrong.

None of the safety gear works anymore. If only I could, Idk, use some of it to bypass dangerous areas

You go to jail. You go directly to jail. You do not pass Byzantium. You do not collect 200 credits.

At the bottom of the pit you find spratman

In this room you either find the chairman or the ghosts of communism past, present, and future. Depending on which side you took.

The final boss is something that can be so easily defeated I don't think it would meet the qualifications

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kissinthebluedark · 4 years

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POV: you ask your ships navigation system, ADA, about Captain Hawthorne.

#the outer worlds #ADA #tik tok #autonomous digital astrogator #cosplay #outer worlds cosplay #towedit #video games #tik tok app #me #my face #i thought of this and had to do it #i love ada

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jackalgirl · 4 years

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The Many Outer Worlds (or At Least, Two of Them)

- or -

On One Unreliable Meeting Another

for @lamiahypnosia

Maximillian ------

In the Captain’s Quarters, Aethel was working at the terminal and Max was quietly reading to Aurelia in the bunk. Their daughter was snuggled up against his side and in turn, Anubis the teacup canid was snuggled into hers — they made a stack.

“‘How, in this moment,’” he read. “‘Am I using my mind? This is a question worth asking—’”

He stopped as ADA’s voice came out of the speakers. “Captain, please come to the navigation room,” she said.

He paused in mid-line, using his finger to mark his spot, and looked up, as did Aurelia, her eyes tracking to the ceiling. Odd, he thought. ADA has not called Aethel ‘Captain’ in some time.

Apparently it was odd to Aethel as well, for she tilted her head. But she rose nonetheless. “I’m on my way, ADA,” she answered, and slipped out of the quarters.

Max handed the book to Aurelia, who at five was perfectly capable of reading it herself. He pressed a kiss in to the crown of the child’s hair and murmured, “Aurelia, stay here please. Strap in, if you would.”

She regarded him with a solemn expression and nodded. “Yes, papa.” But there was a shine in her eyes. She knew something — she was always surprising him with the things she knew about in advance of them happening, and it was not something he could write up to “the wisdom of children.”

He extracted himself from the bunk and followed Aethel down. She was seated in the navigator’s chair, shifting her attention from ADA to the window.

He followed her gaze to the view outside. There was something out there, some strange thing that he could not see if he looked at it directly. But when he glanced aside, it seemed like some kind of distortion, a veil against the normal pitch black of space, in shimmering shades of blue-black, purple-black, and, of course, black-black.

“Can you go around it?” Aethel was asking.

“I have made the attempt. It moves, Captain. It maintains its place ahead of our relative motion. I do not think I can prevent us from going through it.”

Captain, Max thought. ADA is asking her to make a command decision.

“Can you see what’s on the other side?” Aethel said.

“Negative. Long-range scans return no data. Or rather, conflicting data.”

“Conflicting?”

“It is as if there are multiple readings, all slightly different, but all in the same place.”

Aethel looked up at Max, eyes wide, and he could not stop himself from chuckling. “I suppose we have no need for the hermit’s drugs today, do we? Best inform the crew.”

She nodded. “ADA, give me the 1MC please.” There was a faint change in the sound of the space as the microphone came live, and the image of ADA on the terminal dipped her head. “Everyone, this is Aethel,” they could hear her voice echoing around the Unreliable over the ship’s main announcing circuit. “We’re about to pass through something in space we can’t avoid. I think it may be some kind of portal, or door, and I don’t know where we’ll end up. It might get rough, so strap yourselves in and secure anything heavy. Parvati, I need you in the engine room immediately.” She nodded again to ADA, who cut the mike, and then looked up at Max again. “I think you should be with Aurelia,” she said. “There’s nowhere for you to strap in here.”

He touched her shoulder. “Will you be all right, Love?”

She smiled up at him. “It will be well.”

He bent down and pressed his forehead to hers, brushing a thumb across her cheek. “It will be very well,” he whispered, and then he retreated. His last glimpse of her as he left was her turning back towards the window.

He made his way back into the Captain’s Quarters and got himself strapped in with his daughter. Anubis whined, but eventually suffered to be strapped in as well. It was really a restraint only meant for one, and Max hoped that it would suffice for the three of them.

“Crew are advised to hold fast,” ADA repeated over the 1MC. Then: “Hold fast, hold fast. Entering anomaly in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark.”

The ship gave a mighty shudder. Up above in the crew’s quarters, Max could hear an unholy clamor as, from the sound of it, Felix’s entire collection of aetherwave cassettes departed their normal pile on his shelves and went flying into the corridor. His suspicions were confirmed a half-second later when Felix started swearing.

In addition to the shuddering, there was something else going on. It felt like slow-time, but Aethel not here to touch him and bring him into it, and besides it felt unpleasantly different — Max felt his insides twist. His arms automatically tightened around Aurelia but she, oddly, was…giggling?

The ship’s shaking abruptly stopped. His stomach tried to claw its way into his mouth as he felt himself begin to float against the straps. Anubis whined again and Max watched as the glasses on the drinks trolley — indeed, the trolley itself — began to float free.

“Just a sec, I’ve got this!” Parvati’s voice came across the 1MC, and a half second later, the whole ship joined the canid in his whining for a brief moment. And then weight returned. Max winced as the cart banged to the deck. Miraculously, the glasses landed with a heavy chorus of musical clinking, but did not fall from the cart or break. “Okay!” Parvati announced. “We should be good!”

Aurelia looked up at him. “Stay put, papa?”

He chuckled. “Yes, Love. Let me go check on your mother.”

He unstrapped himself, and then restrapped the two of them together for safety’s sake, and returned to the navigation room. He had full intention to ask Aethel how she was doing — how they are doing — but he caught a glimpse of the view outside, and it stopped him dead in his tracks.

The window had become a mirror. Out there, in space, was the Unreliable.

“Perhaps it’s another Yakita LHA?” Aethel said to ADA.

“No, Aethel,” ADA replied. “I am exchanging data with the ADA on the other ship. She is…me. That is the Unreliable. Only she…I…please excuse me, Alex did not program my protocols to handle a situation of this type. My other self reports her captain as one ‘Kenna Kay Frost’.”

Aethel looked up at him and he pursed his lips, thinking. “I saw many other Captains during my vision,” he said. “Perhaps this is one of them.”

“Yes,” said Aethel. “I think you may be correct.” She turned to ADA. “Has the other Unreliable made any requests?”

“No,” said ADA. “Aethel, do you have any data that might provide useful to me in this situation?” She asked, rather pointedly, too, it seemed to Max.

“Yes, I think so,” said Aethel. “Access my SEPA library through the terminal in my quarters. Search term ‘Eberhard, Hauke’ and ‘Physics, Labor’. Meanwhile, let’s hold station. I’m going to send their Captain a message.”

… ... ...

FROM: Fiori de DeSoto, AE. TO: Frost, K. K. SUBJECT: FIRST CONTACT

Captain,

This may seem unbelievable, or at least odd, but I am Aethel Fiori de DeSoto of the Unreliable. But not your Unreliable. My best hypothesis is that I have entered your universe from my own, which is similar to yours, but in which a different chain of events has occurred. Would you be open to docking the ships together, and meeting face-to-face?

I remain, in service --

Aethelflaed Fiori de DeSoto Master, Executive Security Synergy Educational Process Associates in Unreliable

#the many outer worlds #kenna kay frost #aethelflaed fiori #the outer worlds #multiverse #@lamiahypnosia #@jackalgirl #@autonomous-digital-astrogator

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strangefable · 4 years

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“Guess it’s good to be alone in our own universe again, but I gotta admit, I’m gonna miss her.” One corner of Lore's mouth lifted slightly higher than the other, forming a lopsided smile. "A real firecracker, that one." She paused. “Well, once you get to know her proper, anyhow.”

Max’s eyes narrowed and his lips tightened; slight fractions of motion, but ones Lore was familiar with all the same. “I'm not certain I can agree, Captain.”

Lore chortled. “You’re just mad ‘cause she got you so good, but you’ve to admit it was funnier than a sprat’s knickers on Sunday!”

His eyes shifted sidelong toward her. “I do not.”

“Aw, come on, Max! Even you’re not that humorless! Boss is right! It was a void-damned good joke!” Felix was grinning from ear to ear. Lore knew she ought to hush him, but she decided not to. Sometimes letting them snipe at each other was good for them.

She dropped into her usual chair at the table and leaned back, silently watching as they bickered. Familiar and comfortable. She smiled.

Besides, Felix deserved more coddling than Max after this adventure. Mercy, had that been awkward! He seemed to be taking it in stride, but Lore planned to haul him aside the next chance she got. Protecting his heart was second nature to her, whether he always appreciated it or not.

Max sank into the chair beside her with a groan. “If it will silence you, Millstone, fine.” He turned pleading eyes on the captain.

She patted his knee a few times, before he covered her hand with his. “That’s enough, boys. Both of you. We’re least a week overdue on Groundbreaker. Parvati and Junlei might send mardets after us.”

Felix, still grinning, held his hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, but come on! Aviva is gorgeous, how can you blame me for taking her side, huh?”

Max started to roll his eyes until Lore squeezed his knee. She smirked at him, then gave him a wide-eyed look.

He sighed, then leaned in close and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m too old for this argument. What’s for dinner?”

Here’s my contribution to the captain exchange led by @autonomous-digital-astrogator: a banner and a small ficlet for @thisisrigged4′s wonderful Aviva Kirk. Thanks so much for running this exchange; it’s been awesome!

A few notes for @thisisrigged4 concerning the banner itself. It’s my first try at a tumblr header, and while it should work on mobile and the dash, it’ll likely look awful on the blog page; just a head’s up, in case you ever want to use it as such. Also, I’m happy to change anything, if you’d like! I can swap any of the pictures, no problem. I tried to use the Fallbrook waterfall for the background, but I didn't get a decent screenshot, alas.

#the outer worlds #aviva kirk #lore jameson #autonomous-digital-astrogator #thisisrigged4 #captain swap

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bearcina · 2 years

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My Personal Astrogator : Greetings, Captain. (1)

Rating: E, for later chapters

Tags: android ADA AU, ADA wears the pants in this relationship and she knows it immediately, ADA is a tease, Ophelia is a simp, I'm a simp for ADA, I wrote this instead of sleeping

(Next chapter) (AO3)

Summary:

Law, have mercy! Ophelia felt like cornered prey every time ADA gave her the smirk and walked her back against a wall or counter. She would always get close enough that their breasts would touch with a wrong breath, and hook her finger in her necklace. She knew exactly what buttons to push on her captain, how to purr just so, and then her captain would do anything.

"So, you are the new owner." ADA hummed, looking to the door of the cockpit. "Hawthorne said he was selling me." She huffed, turning back around to her terminal. She was frustrated that her previous Captain had decided to sell the Unreliable, and by extension, her; but it wouldn't be all bad, the new Captain was tall, broad and much more dashing than Hawthorne was.

Ophelia blinked with astonishment, before shutting her mouth. She had heard ADA's voice greeting her upon boarding, but didn't think she was going to meet an android.

"I'm, well, I'm the new Captain." Ophelia muttered as she stood just inside the doorway. She didn't know what to do, being as there was an attractive girl in the ship with her. Oh and she had wires and cables coming out of ports on the back of her neck. No one told her the ship's computer was, well...

"My sensors say you do have the Captain's ID... Welcome." ADA smiled. "You look bewildered, were you not expecting me?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow as she detached from her terminal.

Ophelia nodded, looking fleetingly at ADA, taking in the auburn hair and red eyes.

"I-well... I wasn't aware science had progressed so far in my slumber." She looked helplessly back at ADA for a second, avoiding attempts at eye contact.

ADA slowly rose from the chair, and Ophelia had a fleeting moment of feeling like cornered prey. The Android stalked over to her new Captain. She was about as tall as Ophelia, including the small heeled boots that clacked inticingly on the metal floor, and Law was she stunning. Ophelia took a step back, starting to fluster as she god a good look at her new AI. She was wearing a delightfully tight pair of black pants and a high collared blue shirt.

ADA only seemed to delight in her little game of backing Ophelia up into the cockpit wall, watching as the Captain flushed red and looked everywhere but at her. She stopped close enough to just barely hear her quick breathing, and definitely close enough for their busts to almost brush if Ophelia breathed too deep.

ADA reached out, and hooked one of her fingers on the small necklace chain with the ID chip on Ophelia's neck.

"Greetings, Captain Ophelia Amana." She muttered, pulling a little on the short necklace to bring her new Captain closer. "My name is ADA, and I'm your ships' autonomous digital astrogator. I hope we become very close."

#ADA/The Captain #Tow ADA #ADA/Ophelia Amana #The Captain tow #The outer worlds #bear writes #Fanfic

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ladyoriza · 4 years

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@koshflick @autonomous-digital-astrogator

in which sam Sees another captain

#i had to go grocery shopping hence the delay #the outer worlds

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captastra · 4 years

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Into the Multiverse

After going through a mysterious anomaly, Rhea found herself in a most peculiar situation.

Rhea stood on the bridge of the Unreliable staring out the window. What she saw before her shouldn’t exist and yet she couldn’t deny what her eyes saw. She placed her hand on the Captain’s chair to remind her that she was in fact real and where she stood did exist.

“ADA, tell me again what I’m seeing.”

“Of course Captain,” ADA’s synthetic voice rang out but Rhea could hear the tinge of annoyance. “We are looking at what appears to be the Unreliable.”

“But that’s impossible. This is the Unreliable. Right?”

The red screen where ADA was displayed only raised an eyebrow. “To my extensive knowledge, the possibility of there being another universe where another Unreliable exists is for, all intents and purposes, plausible.”

“Huh,” was Rhea’s only response. She was a fan of some science fiction from back on Earth and after going through her own outrageous science fiction story, she didn't want to deny the improbable. Especially from everything that had happened leading up to this point.

The anomaly, Rhea’s curiosity moving them forward after a brief discussion with the crew, the bright light as they passed through, and then suddenly this. A part of her was dying to study what had happened, but she knew she needed to get back to her home, her universe.

“Can you send them a message? Possibly see if they are willing to meet with us?”

“One moment.” Rhea didn’t have a chance to say anything before ADA spoke up again. “I have made contact with that Unreliable’s ADA. She has informed me that the Captain of her ship is named Jaq Evenshaw.”

“Can you see if they will be willing to meet?” Rhea asked again knowing she needed to be cautious. This captain could be dangerous, unpredictable. But she had to know, had to see if they could help her figure out what had happened.

ADA was silent for a moment before she answered again. “They are willing to meet Captain, but only you.”

“That’s acceptable. Let them know I’ll be over shortly.” With that Rhea made her way to get ready to meet what was possibly this universe’s Captain of the Unreliable.

It didn’t take long and before she knew it, Rhea was standing next to the door where they had docked next to the ship. Her crew stood around her, each of them concerned as to what was supposed to happen next.

“Boss you can’t seriously believe we’ll let you go over there alone.” Felix was standing right next to the door as if to guard it or stop her from going through it. “And with no weapon? That sounds like the start of a character in a serial ending up dead.”

“I have to agree, Captain,” Max was saying as the others nodded in agreement.

“We don’t know if it's safe. What if they hurt you?” Parvati was looking at her with fearful eyes but Rhea noticed the curiosity in them. “Though I guess...what if their ship is really like ours? Like down to the bolts? Think they’ll let me take a look at her?”

Rhea smiled at that. Even in the face of unknown certainty, Parvati was still always interested in how something worked. She turned to face Nyoka and Ellie. Nyoka had a concerned look on her face but was otherwise calm in the situation. Ellie, as usual, had a bored look on her face.

“I think it will be less threatening if I go over without any weapons. Any thoughts from you two.”

Nyoka seemed to be thinking before she said, “It’s up to you Cap. You know we’ll support you either way.”

“And come to the rescue should you need it,” Ellie added, finally letting on that she was concerned.

“Thanks everyone,” Rhea turned to look at all of them except Felix. “Just be on standby. Hopefully I won’t need you to save me.”

“They are ready to meet with you now Captain.” ADA’s voice called out from the speaker. Turning to face the door, Rhea glanced at Felix who was still glaring at the floor. Rhea knew there wasn’t anything she could say to calm him so she resigned herself to head off to this mysterious meeting. But as she passed him, he reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Be safe Rhea.” He looked into her eyes as if searching for something, but Rhea didn’t know what he was hoping to find. “Please.”

Rhea patted his hand and gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile. “I will be Felix.”

Seeming to accept this, Felix let her go and Rhea walked through the door.

Rhea was grateful for the months of perfecting her ability to mask her emotions. Walking into the ship, what looked exactly like her ship yet wasn’t, was a surreal experience. She couldn’t stop herself from looking back into her Unreliable and seeing the crew looking back at her to remind her that she wasn’t going crazy and that this was the universe being it’s usual mysterious self.

Glancing around, Rhea saw the same somehow always dirty looking walls of the entryway, the same slight tarnish and soft yellow glow from the lights. The same stairs leading up to the captain’s quarters and what she assumed would be the rest of the ship, just like hers. Her eyes finally settled on the person in front of her.

They stood as tall as she did, their brown eyes watching her with concern and apprehension. Understandable of course, Rhea thought to herself. Even though they seemed to be older than her, she noticed the same tired lines, the same weight that surviving in Halcyon seemed to also put on her when she had looked at herself in the mirror. She noticed their tension in the way they held themselves, arms resting at their side but watching her every move for any sign of hostility. But even she could see the curiosity in the way the looked at her and the opening into the other Unreliable. What it could mean for them and their crew.

On instinct, Rhea lifted her hands up to signal her desire to not get into a fight. She had some idea that if she were in their shoes she would be cautious and hesitant to trust another, but she hoped they were willing to give her a chance.

“Who are you,” they asked cautiously.

Rhea licked her lips as she wracked her brain for the most non-threatening way she could say she wasn’t a danger to them. It hit her though that she just needed to be herself and hope that was enough.

Dropping her arms, Rhea stepped forward and held out her hand. “Hi I’m Rhea Hawthorne, Captain of that Unreliable. And I think I’m caught in your universe.”

A big thank you to @jumpship90 for letting me learn about their captain and getting a glimpse into their character sheet and for @autonomous-digital-astrogator for setting this up! I hope you enjoy this!

#the outer worlds #tow #@jumpship90 #captain rhea #captain jaq #into the captainverse

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jumpship90 · 4 years

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Into the Multiverse!

“You can’t get any kind of connection with the lab?”

“Negative, Captain. Dr Welles’ terminal is not accepting transmission requests.”

Jaq swore under their breath. They really could have done with Phineas’ advice on this one.

One minute they’d been shuttling replacement parts for a generator down to the New Hope Centre, the next, they’d been thrown completely off course by a phenomena they had never encountered before. Since passing through the . . . what had ADA called it? Portal? Anomaly? Jaq wasn’t rightly sure what it was but the important point was their systems had gone haywire ever since they had been sent hurtling through, every alarm the Unreliable had (including a few they’d been previously unaware of) screaming at them until Parvati had gotten things under control. All was quiet now and that worried Jaq more.

They stared out the cockpit window at the ship before them – a mirror image of their own – and tapped their fingers against the arm of the captain’s chair, picking at the edge of the frayed leather.

“And you’re reading life forms aboard the . . . other Unreliable?”

“Correct, Captain.”

Was this some sort of trap? Another attempt by the deposed former Board members to undermine the new government in the system? Or something else? Something stranger?

“Transmission inbound. It appears to be from an alternate autonomous-digital-astrogator.”

ADA’s pixelated brows had disappeared upwards in surprise on the terminal. Jaq suspected their own expression was similar.

“Patch it through, ADA.”

There was a moment’s pause as the connection was secured and then a woman’s voice filled the cockpit, steady and authoritative.

“Am I speaking with the Captain of the Unreliable?” she asked.

“Correct,” Jaq replied, curiosity warring with caution. “And you are?”

Static crackled in the air and Jaq rubbed the back of their neck where their hair stood on end.

“I too, am the Captain of the Unreliable. My Unreliable, that is.” The voice sounded thoughtful now and tinged with what might have been excitement. “It would appear you and your crew have crossed into this Universe via a temporal rift.”

Right. Obviously. That made total sense, Jaq thought. They narrowed their eyes at the ship opposite, searching for . . . they weren’t really sure what. Markings from a mercenary group maybe? Or something off, something to mark it out as hostile. It really did appear, in every way, to be exactly the same as their own.

“You suspect a trap?” the unknown woman asked.

“Wouldn’t you?”

The alternate Captain hummed. “A reasonable assumption, to be certain, but not correct in this case, Captain . . ?”

“Evenshaw,” Jaq offered. “Captain Jaq Evenshaw.” There didn’t seem any risk in giving their name. It carried a little weight after all – or it did in their own universe at least, and if this woman was to be believed then that seemed unlikely to be the case here.

“And I am Captain Aethel Fiori de DeSoto,” she returned.

DeSoto? Was this some long-lost relative of Max’s? Well, at least that didn’t sound like the name of any Board loyalists Jaq had come across.

“Have you encountered the concept of the multiverse before, Captain Evenshaw?”

“Uhh . . .” It sounded like something Phineas might have mentioned once or twice but they couldn’t say they understood it.

“Not to worry,” the other captain offered and Jaq found her voice strangely reassuring. “If you are willing to meet – and I believe it may be mutually beneficial for us to do so – then I will do my best to explain. Though, it might be best, Captain Evenshaw, if you came alone. I think it would be prudent to avoid our two crews making contact.”

* * *

Jaq waited for the hiss of the airlock doors opening, their nerves tingling in anticipation. Their hands felt empty without the weight of a rifle but they had agreed to come unarmed. They tightened the strap on their body armour just for something to do.

“I believe you are making a grave mistake, Captain,” Max had said as they’d prepared to leave the safety of their own ship, and for once, even Felix hadn’t argued with him. Under other circumstances, Jaq would have been inclined to agree with the vicar, walking alone and unarmed into unknown territory wasn’t the brightest plan, nor the most strategically sound, but there was something about the tone of the other captain that set them at ease.

Still, Jaq was wary when they stepped through into the uncannily familiar confines of the alternate Unreliable.

“Aah, it’s you.”

Jaq froze just beyond the threshold of the airlock, taking in the striking woman before them. Her dark skin was framed by white hair and Jaq found themselves staring back into golden eyes that regarded them with curiosity. She stood a little over their own height, graceful limbed and with the confidently controlled posture that Jaq recognised as being that of a fellow soldier. They frowned and weighed her up, searching for any sign of hostility in those startling eyes.

“How nice to put a name to face,” Captain Fiori de DeSoto continued. “Or one of them, at least.”

Jaq’s confusion must have shone through their attempts to guard their expression as she offered a reassuring smile. “All will be explained. Please, accompany me somewhere we might speak more freely.”

With that she stood aside, welcoming them aboard the Unreliable. As Jaq stepped in, they thought they caught sight of a curious pair of eyes watching them from the hold before the figure skittered away. They followed Fiori de DeSoto up the stairs to the captain’s cabin, their hand hanging loose at their side, fingers just within reach of where their holster should have been.

“Tea?” the Captain asked upon entering the room.

Jaq nodded, staring about them, taking in the décor. This was the first real difference they had noted since boarding. Where their room was adorned with tossball posters, photographs and hastily scribbled to-do lists, this space was, though still distinctly homely, perhaps neater and more ordered. Jaq spotted the same drinks trolley that sat in their room, but rather than holding bottles of zero-gee and abandoned electronics, it was adorned with crystal and glass that appeared handmade, and there were stacks of books about the room that would not have looked out of place in Max’s cabin.

“Here.”

When they turned, Captain Fiori de DeSoto was offering them a cup of fine china painted with intricate patterns, the sweet smell of trip-teaze drifting from it. Jaq accepted it with a grateful smile. They’d seen enough to just about convince them there was no risk here, or, at least, not if they extended the Captain the same courtesy she had shown them.

“Now then,” the Captain said, taking a seat on the edge of her bunk. “Shall we talk?”

* * *

“So, you’re telling me I’m in one of an infinite number of alternate universes?”

Aethel nodded. “That’s right.” She’d been patient in explaining the concept of the multiverse, fielding Jaq’s questions without hesitation or any hint of frustration as they struggled to wrap their head around what was happening. Admittedly, they’d found accepting the idea they had slipped into another dimension a little easier than that Aethel was married to the vicar. . .

“And in this Universe, I – I mean the other me – is still in stasis aboard the Hope?”

“Most likely,” she replied. “Or perhaps you never boarded the Hope. We could not say without checking the personnel records. Anything is possible.”

Jaq fiddled with the empty tea cup before setting it down cautiously atop the polished surface of the desk beside the captain’s terminal.

“Of course, it would be best if you did not have contact with the other you,” Aethel continued with the same casual authority with which she had bestowed all her knowledge throughout their conversation. “Who knows what might happen should that occur. This reality could splinter at the anomaly of two Jaqs occupying the same space. Or you might become trapped here.”

Jaq had no reason to doubt her knowledge on the subject. They grimaced at the thought. It was probably best not to break time and space as they knew it if it could be avoided.

“Phin’s not going to believe this,” they muttered. They weren’t sure they’d be able to remember half of what Aethel had explained. They’d have to ask her to write it down for them so they could provide him with a full report.

“Phin?” Aethel seemed to turn the word over in her mouth for a moment, weighing it up. “You are referring to Dr Phineas Welles, I presume?”

Jaq gave a wary nod and realised they were running a thumb over the band of black ink etched into the skin of their finger. Out of habit, the ring itself sat safe in their pocket on its chain, in case of the need for sudden violence. It had been an unnecessary act in this incidence.

They noted Aethel’s gaze following the movement of their thumb. “Ahh, I see,” she intoned, an amused smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Jaq slipped their hand in their pocket.

“And you would like to return to Dr Welles?”

“As soon as possible.” And without inducing some sort of tear in the fabric of the universe, preferably.

Aethel cast them a warm look full of understanding. “Well then, let’s see what I can do to assist with that.”

Thank you to @autonomous-digital-astrogator for organising this exchange.

@jackalgirl I hope I got some way towards capturing the wonderful complexity of Aethel’s character. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her and can’t wait to read more of her story.

#captain aethel #captain jaq #tow captain exchange #the captain of the unreliable

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