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ANOMALOUS SEAS▼
ANOMALOUS SEAS
[Hunted - A Tergo Lupi]

The ship was surrounded. Spillicans dove around the ship, inspecting it. The waters were tinged a blacked rainbow, a sickly contrast to the bright sun and clear skies overhead.

Captain Naut
"You land legs picked well, you know." Captain Naut chimes as he looks over the railing, seeking something. "I know these waters better than anyone else! Many people have come and gone, but the ole Captain Naut has stayed! No one knows the anomalous creatures of these lands better than I."
Captain Naut
"Ah, look! There she is! Just where I thought she'd be! Look at that lovely sheen on her! An agnilith!"

Captain Naut points over to a rotting corpse of an oil rig, unrepaired, nor stopped. Oil still leaked out from the depths, from which spillicans lept out, and a large agnilith skimmed the waters for a meal.

Bernard
Bernard breathes in the salty air, laden with burning rubber and petrol. It reminded him of home, to a degree. His eyes were trained on the agnilith as it circled the oil rig.
"Ahh, I knew you'd be the man for the job, Capt'. And would you look at that! That rig was likely what spat that massive brute out, y'think?"
Captain Naut
"These islands are oil rich! You'd have to be mad to not want to drill here. Some folks tried to."
Captain Naut
"Just such a shame. Some....animal struck them a few times with a bit of...."
Captain Naut
"Lightning."
Captain Naut
"Imagine if more drills got set up around here, lad? Place would look disgusting. No gale nor lancelot would put up with it!"
Captain Naut
"If you think about it, one failed operation is fine. The spillicans are cleaning up the oil....by..well, being born from it!"
Bernard
He chortles. "Shoulda been better prepared. Locals tend to get testy over rippin' up resources. Only fools don't do their research before they go about prodding at the land. Right, fellas?"
Willy
"Well, its not like the fish are just vanishing from thin air. Get a few trawlers in and I'm sure you could get back to peak business in no time. Better even than the old oil junk."
The zanni twirls his cane in a bored manner.
Laplace
"It's so nice to see that even alien environs can carry the familiarity of home..."

Laplace's eye tracked the oil in the water with a sort of wistful nostalgia.
Willy
"They could have done some research on how to build a stronger hull that's for sure."
Meliora
Meliora stared at the beasts out in the ocean- Like a cat watching birds through a window... She'd wandered off from the band to follow this drattle- Mostly because she assumes he's up to something more interesting than getting drunk or building sandcastles- Something horrible she hopes.

" Right... I wonder what they did to those idiots- Maybe fed them to the animals no?"
Captain Naut
"AHahahaha! You want to know what happened to those people?"
Captain Naut
"Dragged to the bottom of the ocean to die. Of course."
Laplace
"Really, landbound creatures really have no business attempting aqua-engineering like that in the first place."
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 12:36:07
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #87
Last edit: 2025-07-17 14:34:47
"Can't have stupid people who think they can mess with the ocean surviving. They'll watch a million fish drown in their pollutants and set up shop all over again."
Meliora
Her grin seemed to widen- Absolutely delighted at the thought of idiots drowning! She claps.
"Hoo hoo!- An idiots death!"
She... May be too happy to hear that actually.
Bernard
"Shit happens, aye. Best not to think too hard on the amount of corpses we're likely sailin' over, lest you'd be askin' for us to turn around." Bernard takes his eyes off of the Agnilith for now.
Bernard
"What else y'got out here, Capt. Don't tell me we're scarin' away everything else."
Pierre
Pierre smells the oil in the air with unease. "Corpses! Corpses!"
Captain Naut
Captain Naut tosses a biscuit to Pierre to calm his son down. "We got more to see. Frankly, it depends on what you want to see, my boy!"
Captain Naut
"When it comes to anomalies, ain't no sea better than this! There's an anomalous artifact that I think affects a lot of animals nearby."
Bernard
"Do tell?"
Captain Naut
"We got gales bigger than no other! Lancelots who can poison a man just by pointing at them with its nose. Great and mighty moving lighthouses, and don't let me get started on what you might see if we go below the ocean!"
Captain Naut
"If we're lucky, we might even see the local dragon. She threw a large tantrum recently! Nearly killed a member or two of my crew, but know that she's the sweetest thing. Ain't ever mean to hurt no one. But that's all animals."
Captain Naut
"No animal wants to hurt ya. They don't know the difference between food and death. Innocent creatures."
Willy
"Hence the oil tanker getting struck by lightning. Totally unintentional and innocent."
Captain Naut
Captain Naut slaps Willy's back, hard. "AHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!!!"
Captain Naut
"Let me give you a little hint, me boy......"
Captain Naut
"In these parts, they call me the king of the storms."
Captain Naut
Small bits of lightening jumps off of Willy, giving him small shocks. "I'll let you figure out which animal blew up that rig."
Laplace
"Maybe it was some sort of lightning jellyfish."
Meliora
"Haha! Nice one- I wish I could do that too yer electric majesty!"
Willy
2024-07-28 12:54:03
Willy Profile
Posted by ID #10
Last edit: 2024-07-28 12:55:28
Willy stumbles and nearly drops off the ship, but brushes his vest off and picks himself back up.
"I don't need twenty guesses. Let's drop the banter and get ships sailing, eh Captain?"
He gives Naut a weak pat back.
Bernard
"Dragon's a rare sight to see, it's what brought me over y'know. Not often you get a chance to come in contact with one of those, let alone nearly die to one aye!" He laughs softly, mulling things over...
Bernard
"Y'gotta way to go under capt? I'd humor scuba divin' with the right equipment, maybe. But that leaves a lotta the animals landlocked. I figure, you're the expert around these parts, you wouldn't hold out on me wouldya?"
Captain Naut
"You want to go diving? Well....." The ship finally clears the oily water. A few spillicans follow behind the gust the ship makes, arguing between each other which one should take the first grab at one of the pets onboard.
Captain Naut
"Sounds good!" Captain Naut puts his hands behind his back. "Cause it looks like the ship is sinking!"
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 12:59:53
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:00:46
And true to his words, the ship was. With each second the ship sank deeper into the waters. Waves were now easily jumping on deck, and the surface became slippery. "Hope you know how to swim!" Naut casually starts walking below deck. "Thankfully a useless robot like me ain't worth the air he might want to breath!......Might be an air pocket or two below deck though."
Laplace
"This is all seems terribly inconvenient..."
Laplace
"For you."

Laplace seems entirely unbothered by the prospect of sinking into the depths.
Bernard
"Oye, fuck!" He gathers up his own animal, his blort crackles like tv static as he curls it around his neck like one would wear a scarf. "Y'heard Naut, everyone brace for waters, head for the air pockets!"
Bernard can swim, he's gone about wading and paddling through waters before. But he heads inside as well, not willing to take his chances.
Willy
2024-07-28 13:06:02
Willy Profile
Posted by ID #10
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:07:27
Willy breaks his overconfident smile and scrambles towards whatever cabins are open.

"Damn you fish fellas!"
Meliora
2024-07-28 13:07:22
Meliora Profile
Posted by ID #37
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:10:17
Well if she's blood-proof she should be water-proof right? She watches as Naut decends and then looks at the others. Shame really- She wanted to ask him more about zapping tankers. The roximur with her picks her up and carries her, following Bernard- before she could figure that out. Well at least this animal remembered what it's owner told it to do.
"Ugh- I wanted to see the corpses below but okay ape."
Captain Naut
Captain Naut shuts the door as soon as everyone is inside. "You know, when I was just a wee little sailor, the man that owned me, took the fish out of me body."
Captain Naut
"He threw it into the ocean, for fun. As you may not know, that fish is the true Poseidon. The rest is just a shell." Naut's crew scattered around the ship, though did not seem panicked.
Captain Naut
"And you know what I saw, when I sank to the bottom of the ocean?"
Captain Naut
"What the world should look like."

The ship was nothing more than the top to the submarine of Captain Naut.

Captain Naut
Captain Naut stares outside, placing a hand on the window. "Now there's the universe I want to live in."
Bernard
"Y'got a lotta baggage, Capt." Stating the obvious, Bernard breathes out a sigh of relief. "What's down here for you, if I may ask? Desolation? Nature? ...That artifact?"
Meliora
... What is this disgusting feeling welling up? Is it sympathy?? Blegh- Gross. But she supposes that's what people do to their AIs- Their... Toys. She averts her eyes from him to look out the windows.

"... Its pretty. I like it."

Ugh... The embarrassment is going to KILL HER.
Laplace
"I think I can agree with that sentiment to some extent, even if the oceans of alien planets are never quite as comely as those back home."
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 13:26:30
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:28:20
"What's down here? Look at it! It's freedom from the sick place above! No society, no factories! Only innocence! Up there, a man, A MAN YOU UNDERSTAND-" Naut beats his chest a few times. "-Can be created just to be sold, abused, and sold again as an object! A product!"
Captain Naut
"Frankly, I should be asking you, what's up there for you?"
Captain Naut
"IF I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOUR FLESH, YOUR BONES, YOUR LUNGS, YOUR ORGANS ALLOW YOU TO WALK AS KING!"
Willy
"Well they certainly don't make anyone king if YOUR HEART STOPS."
Willy gasps for air and clutches his chest.
Laplace
"Well I'm a Prince so... a whole lot."
Meliora
If only she could spill organs again... Who'd be a king then? She frustratedly pulled at her hat- He sickens her, stop being so piteous.

"They aint kings no more when those guts are out on the carpet."
Bernard
He didn't care if it was a rhetorical. "Suppose you got me, Capt. What's up there for me, I enjoy the playground. But I won't disagree, there's plenty of what I love down here, if not more. I just happen to not be born with gills, or lack thereof in your case."
Bernard
"The world is filled with mystery. Explorers we are, the unknown is meant to be broken open and dissected. I could stay at home, I can watch a documentary and learn what I'd like from there. But what is knowin' from Experiencin'."
Bernard
"Y'know what I'm here for, Capt." Bernard looks towards the sub's windows.
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 13:38:27
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:39:10
"Who told you, you can't have gills?"
Captain Naut
"The same people who told me I couldn't be worth more than my price tag?"
Captain Naut
"At the bottom of the sea, there's an artifact that can bring life to the non-living, that is what I am told."
Captain Naut
"Turn the dead into fish."
Captain Naut
"What separates a dead man from a robot? Surely if the dead can become a fish, a robot could as well. I've seen it happen, with my own eyes." The submarine tilts as water is displaced by something large swimming past it.
Captain Naut
"The stories I tell of the dragon above the waters are a lie. I've seen a dead captain, killed by his own wee lil sailor Poseidon, turn into a dragon. Turned innocent by the artifact."
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 13:46:05
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 13:46:21
"You looking for the old captain?" Captain Naut taps the glass. "She's right there."
Bernard
"I came for a dragon, Naut. It's not addin' up, and maybe you're not as well researched as you are a uncommitted god lover. You're tellin' me the dead are becoming fish."
Bernard
"I research before I go on the hunt. So what's this artifact then, Naut? We thinkin' some sort of Machine? Blessed?"
Captain Naut
"You came here for a dragon, and being the dutiful host that I am, ole chap, I'm showing you a dragon! Who are you going to believe? Some dusty books? What some nobodies are writing about? Or are you going to listen to a man who knows more about this sea than every other person combined!"
Captain Naut
"Of course it's some sort of bloody blessed artifact! It's turning the dead into fish! What else would it be? If a company could do this, they would have sold the rights to it a hundred times over!"
Bernard
Bernard grows visibly frustrated. It just doesn't add up to him. "I go by FACTS, Naut! The people writing the books have been doin' this shit just as long as you and me! And the facts don't line up! What do we know about the artifact, because this has been pod talk thus far. What's radical got to do with the undead?"
Captain Naut
"Do I look like I know? The gods I'm told, work together sometimes! What? You think I would MAKE UP a dragon?"
Captain Naut
"This dragon has been bringing in crowds! Worshipers, scientists, and people like you. Do I look like the type of no good object that would lie?"
Captain Naut
"Cause I am the type of man who would lie."
Bernard
"As you've shown."
Captain Naut
"You want to believe in a dragon? Then look with your eyes, good sir."
Captain Naut
"Look into the eyes of that dead captain, and tell me if you can believe in a dragon."
Old Captain
"Rrrrrrrr." The submarine vibrates just from the low vibrations of the old captain's voice.
Captain Naut
"You may doubt my dragon. But you SHALL NOT doubt my artifact."
Captain Naut
"Could make you sail the damn seas forever, if you want it."
Meliora
Meliora had gone from low growling from frustration to entertained watching this argument.
"Drattle, You should kill someone and toss it to see if it makes a dragon- An experience no?"
Laplace
"That would be a good experiment to test the Captain's Hypothesis."
Bernard
"...." Bernard looks back towards the window, thinking it out to himself as he views the monstrous beast just outside the walls. "..A collaboration, perhaps. It's not unheard of.."
Bernard
"..Now that. Is a fine idea there. Meliora, is it? Good on you."
Meliora
"I'm only going off of what I've been hearing- No need to flatter me for being able to listen! Hoo hoo!-"
Pierre
Pierre clicks his teeth as he points his head to a distant glow in the sea. As he could sense it even through the thick submarine walls.
Meliora
"... You should clap for me though. Its all I ask as a fool."
Willy
"What are you going to do, draw straws for it? I don't see anyone jumping out a porthole."
Bernard
"You there," He points over to Willy. "You have a Camu on you, don'tcha?"
Bernard
"Be a good sport. Suppose I owe y'something for the trouble, I know how hard it is to make these things."
Captain Naut
Captain Naut grabs Bernard's neck and holds him up. The electricity jumps from Captain Naut, to the conductive [Lightning Rod] blort around Bernard's neck, shocking the drattle. "COWARD."
Captain Naut
"You'll let a creature a 1000 times more innocent than yourself die, so you can confirm what I know to be true?" Captain Naut throws Bernard across the floor.
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 14:25:55
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 14:28:52
"Maybe you outta die so we can TEST if you'll return. Might give you a bit of a better personality, maybe?" The old captain outside howls along Naut's anger.
Bernard
The pair are tossed aside, the Blort slips off his neck while crackling and smoking. Bernard sputters, rubbing his neck. "Y-You're fucking DAFT. To blue hell with your vegan philosophy, what are we even fucking Down here for?"
Captain Naut
2024-07-28 14:33:01
Captain Naut Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2024-07-28 14:33:13
"You wanted to see the dragon, and I have shown you it like the good host that I am. Yet you have spat at my feet, called my dragon a lie! You're right, there should be no reason to have you down here any longer."
Bernard
"I won't go without something to show for it. And it's not going to be me."
Captain Naut
"Don't you kill a single thing on this ship you sand licking beast."
Willy
Willy almost sputters out an objection, he just finished painting that chicken!
But his words die on his lips as he sees Naut toss Bernard around like a sack of potatoes.

"Maybe I should just..."
Captain Naut
"I decide if we see the artifact! I decide if the dead shall raise! So what if you kill an animal here and now?"
Captain Naut
"On this ship, I am not an object to be sold. I AM YOUR GOD, YOUR KING, YOUR MASTER. I decide where we go. And I wouldn't for a second bring your putrid stinking body to see the artifact."
Captain Naut
"Maybe if you shut up, and be a good guest, you can still get to enjoy a few drinks and the view while we return to the docks."
Meliora
She snickers, Honestly she'd say she's a bit proud of the scene she's set up- But maybe she should throw this man a bone, After all she wouldn't have been here if she didn't follow him here. She plods to him and offers a hand- As sick as helping someone makes her.

"Well- I guess we're not finding that out here, But well that doesn't stop the hunt no? Ocean's huge."
Laplace
Laplace looks out the porthole, and clicks their tongue. "Xenos and xenos machines can be so testy now can't they, I'd rather wanted to see the artifact."
Bernard
He takes the hand of the circe, catching his breath while the others make their passing comments. "I would of as well, but it seems we have very strictly opposin' beliefs." He shakes his head, and dusts himself off.
Bernard
2024-07-28 14:50:08
Bernard Profile
Posted by ID #3
Last edit: 2024-07-28 14:50:44
"I'm not interested in bitin' at each others necks over it, gets old real quick. Regardless, the dragon.." He pauses, taking another look towards the ocean just behind the glass. "It's magnificent, no? ..I'm still not interested in gettin' back on dry land. I think I know enough about the artifact, though."
[Trois Gymnopédies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux]
Captain Naut
"She is magnificent, isn't she?" As Captain Naut's mood flips, the dragon turns, disappearing in the darkness of the sea as she swims towards the glittering light.
Captain Naut
"She was such an ugly, horrible person before."
Captain Naut
"But when you become part of the ocean, that changes. When you're freed from the shackles of the horror above, you can focus on what really matters."
Bernard
"Y'think she knows? Doubtful, not a whole lot of people come through intact after.. well.." Bernard leans to get a better view of the depths below.
Captain Naut
"I feel like she remembers the past, at least a bit, but when you're a fish, under this ocean, you realize your ties to old grievances are nothing! Your debt, your regrets, your job, expectations put upon you by friends and society."
Captain Naut
"Why worry about any of that when you are a fish?"
Captain Naut
"Maybe you're wondering why I'm no fish yet. It's simple."
Captain Naut
"Much as I talk about the artifact, it ain't easy to get to. Viewing it from afar is a simple matter, but the artifact is swarming with life."
Captain Naut
"As if the sick and dying know what the artifact could do......How many fish in these oceans know about the power of this thing? How many of them were like the old captain?"
Bernard
"Sounds about right. Nothin' that powerful doesn't go unprotected."
Captain Naut
"If you toss a body down, chances are it'd just get eaten up anyway before it can reach it."
Captain Naut
"We don't know if the artifact works on machines. A corpse has no life in it...."
Captain Naut
"And yet, even in the societies above, a corpse has more rights than a useless object like me! Many societies won't let you sell and trade the dead, but a man that does not own his own hull is nothing but scrap!"
Captain Naut
"If the gods think the same, I will sink to the bottom of the sea, with no way of recovery. I wouldn't even be worth the scrap my hull is made of."
Captain Naut
"Would you like to head upwards? Many other creatures to see! Might even see a crab or two, old chap."
Bernard
He relents. "Ol' chap, yeah. Think the crew's ready for some fresher air anyways."
Captain Naut
"A round of drinks after and adventure like this will be refreshing."
Meliora
Mid-Wiping the hand she used to help Bernard she nods in response- If it would get something to happen. The humor of the earlier confrontation wore off and the Captain's rabbling about being a useless machine is infruriating. A lesser bot would have wept but she is not that.
Captain Naut
"Hope you all are fine with the homemade stuff! Been brewing it myself you know."
Captain Naut
"Haven't been able to have a taste test myself. Haha!"
Captain Naut
"Maybe one day in the future."
END OF EXPO
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