Points of View
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic
by Intrasonic
Setting: Federation Battleship Aqualie, en route to Moonbase (day 1)
In some ways, Nel was deciding, some things never changed.
Point in case, on a giant military battleship with imaginable technology, you still could never find a soldier when you wanted to find one. And Nel wanted to find one, or failing that, anyone who could assist her with a matter of import.
It hadn't been worth mentioning until recently, since she'd had other concerns (i.e. a recently healed hole through her shoulder, looking out a window and seeing her entire world reduced to the size of a globe, etc) to worry about. She'd intended to bring up the issue while on the Diplo, but she'd been distracted by the prospect of having her entire body disintegrated, then reintegrated at a different location (only twenty or thirty thousand kilometers away, she'd been "reassured"). Then, aboard the Diplo, she'd been further distracted by hearing about a "Creator" that apparently meant to destroy everything, and seemed to have the means to do so.
But now that the excitement was beginning to wane, Nel's original problem had resurfaced with a vengeance and was rapidly approaching a critical point-
A familiar blue-haired figure appeared before her.
"Maria!" Nel called out.
Maria turned to greet her, offering a questioning look.
"I need your help!"
"Well, if there's anything I can-"
"-There is."
"Oh?"
"Er..." Nel smiled weakly. "Where do you-"
"And this is... common?"
"Very much so."
"Not just bestowed upon the elite military? Or perhaps experimental at this time?"
"Not at all. The general concept... has been in place for centuries, actually."
Logically, Nel knew that she had nothing to be ashamed of. After all, she had barely spent a day in this new environment, where practically everything she was familiar with had been replaced by a vastly more sophisticated method or device. She could hardly be expected to instantly learn everything. In fact, Nel thought she was adapting admirably well, all things considered.
That didn't keep her from being terribly embarrassed at the moment. And it didn't help that someone she knew (and accorded a certain degree of respect) was quite obviously trying very hard not to laugh in her face.
"It's not funny," Nel muttered.
Maria, seated at the table across from her, was presently resting her face in her hands. Except that her fingers were discreetly clapped over her mouth, and her eyes were twinkling with a brilliance that indicated that an explosive bout of laughter was barely being contained at the moment.
"It's not."
Maria nodded, but obviously thought otherwise.
"How was I supposed to know that you didn't use..." Nel reddened further, "...chamber pots anymore?"
Shrug. More restrained laughter.
Nel scowled, irritation managing to overcome some of her embarrassment, or more likely, adding to it. As though learning everything wasn't hard enough, now she was being laughed at by a woman who had to be three or four years her junior. "This is-"
"What's up, ladies?" a voice inquired.
Both women turned to see Cliff approaching the table, his usual swagger in full force, but coupled with a look of curiosity.
Nel groaned inwardly. If there was anything worse than being laughed at by Maria, it had definitely arrived at the table right now. She was never going to hear the end of this...
"Nel..." Maria paused briefly to fight back a laugh, "was telling me a few stories about when you and her were traveling together on Elicoor II."
Right there, Nel forgave Maria for everything.
Cliff's eyes widened briefly, a hint of panic evident. "Eh... really? Ah, what stories? Not that there are any stories, I mean-"
Following Maria's cue, Nel deepened her voice. "'So what I'm saying is, if we're gonna cooperate with someone, it might as well be that hot chick over there, know what I mean?'.
Maria gave Nel an incredulous look, followed by an accusing one towards Cliff.
Cliff backpedaled a step. "That was just a joke!"
Nel maintained her bass-etto. "'So what's this queen like, anyway? I was kinda hoping she'd be hot, myself'."
Maria's glare intensified, while Cliff seemed to wilt a little further. "Er... I can't seem to remember anything like that... anyway, I won't interrupt you ladies. Got things to do, y'know..."
Both women waited until the doors had closed behind him before allowing themselves to laugh.
"Oh my," Maria giggled. "Knowing him, I had expected something, but that is vintage Cliff Fitter. I can't wait to tell Mirage when I see her next."
"Just be glad you weren't the one who was escorting him to see the Queen," Nel voiced, with heartfelt conviction. "When I joined the army, Cliff was definitely not in the job description."
"I know, he never is," Maria agreed. "But wouldn't you much rather have him on your side than against?"
Nel allowed the point. "But I still can't imagine how he was accepted into this organization in the first place - what did I say?"
Maria was smiling again. "Nothing, just thinking of something."
"Of what?"
"Nothing. But you know, back to what we were discussing before Cliff showed up..."
Nel scowled. "Look-"
Maria waved the objection aside. "In all seriousness, Nel. Once it had been decided that you were coming along with us, I made a point of talking with Cliff, to get his honest opinion on your abilities. Just in the event of a worst-case scenario, you understand."
Nel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
"In his own words," Maria continued, "you'd be scary as hell had you been born and raised on the Klausian homeworld. And I trust his judgment enough to accept that at face value."
It wasn't as though Nel had doubts about her own abilities, but that didn't make her entirely immune to compliments. "Thanks, I think."
"It is a compliment. Cliff says you've got both talent and adaptability, and I'm inclined to agree. And in certain areas, your planet's knowledge of Symbology may even approach ours. And if worst comes to worst, you've obviously got combat experience in spades..."
Nel could feel the 'but' approaching quickly.
"...but if we do wind up in an unpleasant situation, you're not going to be much help the way you are now."
"Your doctor said I should be fully healed in a day or two," Nel pointed out.
"I'm not talking about your health," Maria corrected. "I'm talking about the way you're always staring at everything like an out-of-control tourist."
Ouch. "You looked pretty distracted when we were in the Chapel at the castle," Nel pointed out, unable to directly refute the statement.
"That's because it's a beautiful chapel, and we weren't being attacked. I'm not faulting you, but even you can't deny that your effectiveness is going to be compromised if you're forced to operate in a completely unfamiliar environment. Or do anything in this environment, for that matter."
Once again, Nel was forced to admit that the statement was a true one. Just the same, she hoped it wasn't a prelude to an explanation for sending her back home. "I'll do my best," she promised.
"Naturally, but that doesn't mean we can't try to make it easier for you. We've got several days before reaching Moonbase, after all."
"Easier?" That sounded hopeful...
By way of a reply, Maria stood up from her seat, beckoning for Nel to follow her. "I think it's time for you to go back to school."
Nel wasn't sure when the shock of seeing new things was supposed to wear off, but after being led into the 'classroom', she knew that it hadn't happened yet.
"This is called a holodeck," Maria informed her.
'Holodeck' apparently was a term used to refer to a darkened room, roughly cubical in shape, and illuminated only by a fence-like pattern of glowing green lines that were etched across the walls, ceiling and floor. Size-wise, Nel would have guessed it to be roughly double the length, height and width of her personal quarters back home. Beyond that, Nel could only guess at how this was going to prove educational.
"They've been around for quite some time, although top-of-the-line models of this size are still uncommon," Maria was continuing. "What this does is create a virtual reality for the people inside, which should make it ideal for trying to explain a few things. This is admittedly not one of my strong points, but I'm sure I couldn't do any worse than Cliff could."
"True," Nel agreed. "A virtual reality?"
"What you'll see here isn't actually real," Maria elaborated. "It uses a combination of image projection, gravity simulation, and shaped forcefields to mimic objects. I imagine it also possesses some pretty top-notch intelligence circuits as well. But the bottom line is: everything in here looks real, feels real, acts real... but it's just a simulation."
"I see," Nel lied.
"Don't worry about it. Think of it as a hands-on textbook. Computer, disguise hologrid lines, provide general low-level lighting, and display a 3D model of the planet Elicoor II and its satellites, scale system to ninety percent of the holodeck's volume."
Immediately, the grid-like lines disappeared from the holodeck's surfaces, even as the black walls lightened to a grey-shade, throwing off a glow that lit the room without casting any shadows. In the middle of the room, a large sphere appeared, instantly recognizable as the same object she'd seen from the window of the Diplo. Around it, near the edges of the room, three smaller, plainer-looking spheres were suspended.
"Interesting," Nel understated, trying to find any hint of imperfection in the image that had appeared before her. "So this... is a model of my world?"
"Exactly," Maria agreed. "I'm sure you've come a few conclusions of your own already, but this is your world. Or more accurately, your planet, which is a more proper name for it. Those three smaller balls are the moons of your planet. Hmm... now that I think about it, it's quite rare for a planet the size of yours to have so many moons. Computer, are the moons of Elicoor II in a stable orbit?"
"Affirmative," a soft-spoken female voice replied. "The gravitational centre of the three moons lies within 50 kilometres of the planet's core. Baring outside interference, Orbital stability is expected for at least ten million years."
"Interesting," Maria murmured. "That's definitely a one-in-a-million set-up, from what I understand."
Nel blinked, still trying to get a fix on the source of the female voice. "Who was that?"
"Oh, that? It's an artificial voice used by the computer," Maria assured her. "I'll get around to explaining the idea of 'computers' later on. For now, it's a simulated voice used so that the ship can communicate directly with us."
"Oh."
"Anyway, this is your world, Elicoor II, complete with its moons. And there are countless other worlds like this one throughout the universe."
She had gathered that much from earlier experiences. "Was-is there... another Elicoor somewhere?"
"Something like that," Maria agreed. "Computer, display the entire Elicoor system to scale, using this entire room."
Instantly, Nel had the sudden sensation of everything rushing away from her. The model of her planet and moons seemed to shrink until it was nothing more than a tiny speck, small enough to get lost on her fingernail. At the same time, several other miniscule objects appeared, the most noticeable being a tiny, but bright sphere in the center of the room.
"This is what is known as the Elicoor system," Maria continued. "The bright ball in the middle is your sun. Without getting into too much detail, the sun is basically just like any other star in the sky."
"The sun is a star? It's quite a bit... bigger, I think."
"That's because it's much closer than any star. Now if you'll look at your planet... where is it... computer, illuminate planets."
On command, the various specks seemed to generate a glow around them.
"That's better," Maria approved, walking over to the glowing spot that represented Elicoor II. "We'd never find the planets, otherwise. Which brings me to another point. This model is to scale. So if you'll just do a general comparison between the size of your entire planet here, and the distance between it and the sun..."
Nel's eyes widened as she looked between the two objects. "That's... a long way."
"Very. Computer, distance in kilometres between Elicoor II and its sun?"
"Depending on season, between 150 and 164 million kilometers."
"And the diameter of Elicoor II?"
"Eleven thousand, two hundred and fifty-three kilometres at the equator."
Nel had never claimed to be a mathematician, but the calculations were self-evident. "And comparing the relative sizes of my planet and this... sun?"
"The sun heats your world up to the proper temperature by being very big and very hot, but also very far away," Maria summarized. "And to explain why we call your world Elicoor II, each of the other glowing areas around this sun are also planets. None of them are suitable for life like Elicoor II is, but they circle around the sun like yours does. Counting outwards, your planet is the second in line."
"I... see. So... are other worlds similar to this?"
"Very much so. Computer, using previous criteria, display the Terran system."
The process of fading away was something that Nel was getting accustomed to, although she couldn't help but wonder at the exact capabilities of this 'holodeck.' Contemplation, however, was quickly shelved as a large collection of glowing dots came into view, surrounding a bright ball that looked similar to the one coupled with her own planet.
"This is the Terran system," Maria informed her, "which is the original system that my species is from. More specifically, we're originally from the third planet, Terra III, which we refer to as 'Earth'."
The name raised a flag in Nel's memory. "Wasn't that man, Commodore Wittcomb, saying that it had been attacked?"
Maria nodded. "It's still our political and organizational core, which makes it both a symbolic and strategic target for the enemy. We're headed towards there now, in fact."
"I thought we were headed towards 'Moonbase'?"
"The planet has one moon," Maria elaborated, "and there's a space station orbiting around the moon, which is our destination."
"A space station?"
"Think of it as an artificial city."
"But aren't all cities artificial?" Nel pointed out. "The walls, the houses..."
Maria granted the point. "But they're created in a world that's hospitable to life, right? Whereas in space - now that I think about it, I haven't really talked about space, have I?"
"Space?"
"That's right. Between all these worlds is basically space. And what 'space' means in this case, is virtually nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even air - at least, not in any meaningful amount. The temperature is approximately minus 273 degrees Celsius. Because there's nothing, it's a big vacuum, which means that before a person suffocated or froze to death, they would probably just explode when their internal body fluids instantly tried to expand."
Nel nodded slowly, trying not to dwell too much on the graphics of Maria's description. "And this 'space' can be found..."
"In between all the worlds. The whole point to the spaceships you've seen - and are presently on - is to enable us to survive in space and to travel through it. And it's not an easy task, believe me. The biggest factor in deciding whether or not a planet is 'under-developed' or not is whether or not they've developed space-travel."
"Which is why my world is considered to be undeveloped?"
"Exactly."
Nel filed away the information. It wasn't that she felt much wiser after Maria's explanations, but it was comforting to have some concrete facts to meditate upon, rather than her own speculations. "So... back to the Moonbase - a space station? Which is an artificial city?"
"That's right. It's a self-contained world, with its own air, food and water, living quarters, and any other facilities needed to let it operate independently from the outside."
"But... if it's shut off from the outside world... and in space - which has no air..."
"It's a sealed environment," Maria explained. "Nothing enters or leaves the station except under carefully controlled circumstances. And the resources on the station - including the air - are continuously recycled so that they don't run out."
"And I'm going to get to see this Moonbase?"
"In a few days, yes."
"It must be a fairly long distance away, to take that long."
Maria smiled, allowing herself a private laugh. "Yes, you could say that. Since we're on that topic, I'm going to try and explain another concept to you. It's called the 'light-year'..."
Lunch was forthcoming, plentiful, well-prepared, and completely unappreciated on Nel's part. She ate, but so did livestock. She drank, but so did a fish. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the meal, but it simply took a back seat to everything that she'd been learning lately.
After Nel had finally started to come to grips with the idea of exactly how far away everything was from each other, Maria had decided that a topic change was prudent. Either that, or she was sick of Nel's constant questioning.
Regardless, the topic of discussion was now 'computers'. Or, to look at it from Nel's perspective, the topic was 'that creepy female voice that keeps speaking from the walls'. Maria was presently attempting to explain the basic concept to Nel, before going on to any more complicated issues. 'Attempting' being the operative word.
"They're basically machines that are capable of executing instructions very rapidly, in a pre-programmed manner."
Nel blinked wordlessly, in response to Maria's fourth successive dumbing-down of her explanations. Nel was pretty sure she hadn't even recognized most of the words in the first three sentences. The most recent attempt had the best yet, but Nel strongly suspected that there was an obstacle between the knowledge and her understanding it. Several centuries, from the sounds of it.
"I wish I could illustrate this on the holodeck," Maria admitted, "but I'm not sure how I would go about doing that. The actual processes are too small to be seen by the human eye, and happen too quickly to be watched..."
"Care for some company, ladies?"
Both women turned to look at the new arrival, as if the voice wasn't instantly recognizable on its own. Carrying a tray in his hands, the heaping plates of food suggested that Cliff didn't intend to approach lunch halfway.
"Hey, I've been getting a lot of exercise lately," he defended, noticing the scrutiny that his meal was getting. "You don't think I got like this on a diet of rice and water, do you?"
"Of course not," Maria agreed. "According to Mirage, a great deal of Klausian lager was responsible, too."
"Har har. You're just lucky you're my superior officer. So... how are you getting along so far, Nel?"
The Elicoorian shrugged. "Alright, I think. Maria has spent the morning explaining various things to me."
Cliff looked interested. "Really? What sorts of things?"
"This morning was astronomy," the blue-haired girl replied. "Which actually went quite smoothly with some aid from a holodeck. Right now, I'm attempting to familiarize her with the concept of computers, but we seem to have hit a block. I'm not quite certain how to explain the basic concepts behind the microprocessor."
Cliff shook his head. "Looks like you're out of practice, Boss. We've been doing so much chasing and fighting lately, you're getting out of practice with your negotiating skills."
Maria gave him a flat look. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's just like any other mission for Quark," the Klausian insisted. "You've got two parties- Nel, and Computers. You're job is to bring them into understanding with each other, see?"
"I think you might be taking the analogy too far."
"So we've got two parties that don't get along," Cliff continued. "What's the first thing you need to do?"
"Hmm... tranquilize them?" Maria suggested.
"Har har, you really are picking up Mirage's sense of humour, aren't you? What's the next thing?"
"Identify a common ground."
"That's right. So in this case, we need to find something that relates to both Nel and computers."
"But there isn't," she pointed out. "That's the whole problem."
"Come on, I taught you better than that, didn't I?"
Maria gave Cliff a smile that was too sweet to be genuine. "Yes, you did teach me, didn't you? So tell me, Cliff-sensei, why don't you tell me how you would go about solving this problem?"
"Sheesh, we're touchy, aren't we?" Several large mouthfuls of food disappeared before Cliff finally spoke again. "Welllll... how about your world's runology, Nel? How's that work? Those funny patterns of lines, right?"
"Runes," Nel agreed. "They channel runological force and transform it into useful forms of power."
"Are there different kinds of runological force?"
"In a sense, yes. Elena could explain it better than I could, but we know that there are different types of power. Different 'colours', Elena sometimes calls them, but that's just a figure of speech. "
"And what happens when you put the different 'colours' into a rune?"
"Different results, of course. We've learned how to design single runes that produce a variety of useful effects, depending on the exact type of power fed in. That's how I can use different kinds of magic, by controlling what kind of power I send into my runes."
"So basically, those runes take in runological power, and give out other kinds of power, right? Depending on how the rune is designed?"
"More or less, yes."
"So," Cliff interrupted. "It sounds a lot like an input-output
sort of system, wouldn't you say? Think you could find any common ground
in that, Boss?"
Maria scowled, but gave a grudging nod. "I suppose you're right."
"Of course I'm right. Cliff-sensei is always right."
"If Cliff-sensei is looking for a demotion, he's looking in the right place, you know."
"Ah, I leave the rest in your capable hands," Cliff assured her, quickly busying himself with his meal. "Just pretend I'm not here."
Maria rolled her eyes, but looked back at Nel. "Anyway, as I was trying to explain before the two of us were so rudely interrupted..."
"...but it will only be for a short time, so I'm sure we can make due."
Nel nodded at what seemed like appropriate intervals during Maria's explanations. The rest of her was looking at everything. 'Everything' meaning everything. If the last few hours of talking with Maria were to be taken at face value, Nel was surrounded by 'computers'. In the floors, the walls, the ceilings, everywhere.
Some did basic, mundane tasks like making doors open or turning lights on. Others did complex tasks like making the entire spaceship operate properly - as it traveled at a speed that Nel wouldn't have even remotely considered possible yesterday. No matter how big or small the task, there seemed to be computer designed to handle the job.
Which was the entire point, Maria said. It was a basic concept that could be expanded and modified to an near-infinite degree, until the majority of advanced civilization was built upon it. But at the same time, the same concept was so flexible that there was no danger of it suddenly collapsing or stagnating from a single weak point.
Independent thinking machines, Nel had suggested at one point. Almost person-like.
Yes, but only to a point, Maria was quick to caution her. They weren't actually sentient (another new word), even if they sometimes seemed so. But in the grand tradition of obsessive, narrow-minded scientists everywhere, there was no shortage of efforts to change that.
In the meantime, the concepts behind more conventional computers were being steadily refined, improved, and further integrated into everyday facets of society. Truly, the field was growing in new and exciting ways, on a day-by-day basis...
Nel was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that Maria liked computers. Really, really liked computers.
"Nel?"
They had come to a stop in front of a set of doors, Nel realized, that weren't automatically opening like most seemed to. "Yes?"
"We're here," Maria elaborated.
"Oh." Nel flushed. "Ah, exactly where is this?"
"You haven't been paying attention the last five minutes, have you?"
"Er... sorry. I've got a lot on my mind. What did I miss?"
Maria waved it aside. "Nothing important, aside from our sleeping arrangements while on board this ship."
Sleep was beginning to register as something important, since Nel could already feel her body getting tired, reminding her that it was busy trying to finish healing an injury. "We're sleeping in here?"
"That's right. The Aqualie is presently fully staffed for combat conditions, which means that there aren't many spare sleeping quarters available. So Cliff and Fayt will be in one room, while you, Sophia and myself will use this one. The Commodore apologized for the cramped quarters, but it was the best he could arrange."
"I'm sure that it will be no problem-" The door slid aside as Maria tapped a button on the wall. Nel scanned the room for a moment, taking in everything as best she could. There were four platforms with sheets were easy to identify as beds. Also present throughout the room were what Nel could now (with no small amount of pride) identify as computer screens, food processors, intercoms (for long-distance talking throughout the ship), and through an open doorway, what looked like a deluxe version of a washroom. "This... qualifies as a hardship for you?" she asked incredulously.
Maria laughed quietly. "Somehow, I didn't think you'd have any problem with the arrangements. But for your information, my private quarters back on the Diplo are almost this big."
Nel shook her head in disbelief. "This is more than adequate, I assure you. Are the beds assigned?"
"Take your pick," Maria invited, following her own instructions and taking one of the four beds in the room. "Sophia can take one of the remaining two when she gets here. Did you want to shower tonight?"
"Shower?"
"You know, shower? To clean up?"
"You mean, bathing?"
"That's right. Hmm... you remember the faucets in the washroom? You might say that we have larger scale versions used for bathing."
Right there, Nel came to a realization - her brain was full. "Tomorrow sounds great," she decided firmly.
Her expression must have filled in the blanks, because Maria smiled and nodded. "Get some rest, we can continue where we left off tomorrow. Unless Federation standards for guest quarters have changed recently, one of the drawers by your bed should have some unisex sleepwear that you can use."
Sleepwear? Nel evaluated her own clothing. While she hadn't really paid it too much mind earlier, it was admittedly showing the worst of the past few days. Owing to the nature of her recent injury, the bloodstains were both burnt to a crisp and minimal, but the dirt and grass marks were doing their best to make up for it. Naturally, it wouldn't be polite to sleep on host's bed in such clothing. Especially since, as Nel understood things, she technically wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place.
"And while we're at it," Maria added, "we might as well get your clothing cleaned. I think you're going like how we do laundry around here."
"Let me guess - a computer does that too?"
"You're catching on."
end