the devil in the details

[isocelesmonster]

Who: Bill Cipher
Broadcast: none
Action: Anywhere in the fleet
When: The night of the 22nd, and ongoing.

Although ostensibly the Golden has a new crew member, there's no new person in attendance at any meals. No new faces in the hall, nothing additional in the laundry. One of the standard crew cabins has been sealed up as tight as a tomb, the brass nameplate on the door unhelpfully scratched out with something sharp. No noises at all come from inside.

It'd take a careful eye to notice the only other change: the same sharp instrument has been used to carve little eyes of providence, no bigger than a fingernail, in strategic public places around the ship. They're shallow markings, not deep enough to interfere with any of the working parts of the craft, and no great works of art - each little scrap of graffiti is a matter of five lines at most. But they're there - and if sometimes the way the gold of the metal hull glints in the pupil is strangely canny, it's probably nothing to be worried about.

(It's not that Bill doesn't care about the flesh puppets that make up his new crew - oh, he does, they're all going to get very careful scrutiny over the coming days - but more important is finding out what his new playground looks like.)

When the fleet sleeps, their minds open and blossom like night-blooming flowers, each one illuminating a new section of the shared dreaming plane. For all of their poetry, few humans realize that the state of dreaming is as real an exploration as whatever meaningless actions they take while awake. It's irrelevant to their survival, most days, so evolution has never sought to provide that particular revelation. They're a young species. Five senses, auditory languages, limited psychic potential, and as far as they know when they dream they're just watching random electrical impulses fire in their brains. Ha!

(There's an expression about a one-eyed man's status in a land of the blind, and Bill intends to make it a reality.)

He steps sideways out of the material world into the closest dream as easily as a three-dimensional being can move along any of their limited axes. He makes himself invisible, at first, just to get his bearings.

[Bill is visiting dreams, as a way of saying hello! His permissions post for this ability is here. I am treating this ability on an opt-in basis. If you didn't give me the okay, he won't be spying on your character at all tonight ~but where's the fun in that~?]
ZOGSLFTS GSRH DVZP ZMW RWOV GSVNV

RH ML NLIV BRVOWRMT YFG Z WIVZN

DSVM NLIMRMT GZPVH BLF UILN NB GSIZOO

YV TOZW R OVG BLF DZPV ZG ZOO

Comments

[flickerflash]

[Katie giggles. The princess startles and glances up at the two of them, fresh-faced and young, eyes flicking uncertainly between them both. And then she gives them both the most mournful puppy dog look.

"But I'm hungry!"]

That's not very princess-like. [Though Katie's expression is suddenly wary, even if she shrugs. She's in no real hurry to continue. Besides, a question occurs, and she turns to Bill.] Oh! Have you ever visited princess dreams before?

[isocelesmonster]

NOT THIS KIND OF PRINCESS! MOST OF THE ONES I GOT WERE HABSBURGS!

[A click of his fingers appears a bountiful feast in the princess' lap: a slice of Hawaiian pizza, salad dressing, and a handful of gummy worms on top. Human food! He's so good at this.]

I WORK WITH WHAT I CAN GET, YA KNOW?

[flickerflash]

What's a Habsburgs?

[She watches as the Princess looks happy at her newfound feast. It's probably a little disturbing the way the Princess unhinges her jaw and shovels it all down with the help of some needle sharp teeth. Uh.]

[isocelesmonster]

[What a charming young lady this princess is.]

THE HABSBURGS ARE A FAMILY THAT MADE SOME PRET-TY INTERESTING MARRIAGE CHOICES TO KEEP THE BLOOD ROYAL! THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN MY FIRST PICK, BUT I WORK WITH WHAT I'VE GOT!

[flickerflash]

Did they marry each other? I hear that happens sometimes.

[The princess turns a mournful look at them both. "I'm still hungry!" Katie twitches, then reaches in to take hold of shutters nailed on the inside, pulling them shut.]

[isocelesmonster]

OH YEAH! COUSINS TO COUSINS, UNCLES TO NIECES, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS! IT'S A GOOD THING REDUNDANT GENES CAN CAUSE FATAL ORGAN FAILURES, OR THEY'D STILL BE AT IT!

[Pulling the shutters closed bumps Bill forward on the sill a little bit-] - WHOA, HEH. - [but he's not that concerned about falling, anyway.]

OUCH! USE HER HAIR AS A LADDER THEN LEAVE HER HIGH AND DRY! I SEE HOW IT WORKS WITH YOU, HEARTBREAKER!

[Bill winks to show he's kidding. It's a lot less effective with only one eye.]

[flickerflash]

[She wrinkles her nose at fatal organ failures-- she didn't know that, just assumed they all went mad. That's what usually happens, isn't it? But--]

I'm a terrible person, I know. But I don't think it's very smart to rescue nightmares. She can stay in there until she feels better.

[isocelesmonster]

SMART AND TERRIBLE'S A GOOD COMBINATION! SMART AND NICE GETS YOU USED, AND DUMB AND TERRIBLE PROBABLY MEANS YOU WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT!

[He floats off of the windowsill, the better to hover at the girl's shoulder like a weird parrot.]

SHE DIDN'T SEEM THAT BAD, BUT YOU'RE THE BOSS! WHERE ARE WE HEADED NEXT?

[flickerflash]

I think I prefer being smart and terrible, then.

[She won't mention the princess again, but Katie knows the signs. She's been having dreams about creatures that devour everything of late. Best to go elsewhere.]

Hmm. I suppose we could explore and see what else my dream is made of. Perhaps there's a forest. You want to come?

[isocelesmonster]

SURE DO! NEED A HAND DOWN, NOW THAT THE ROPE'S GONE?

[Bill snaps his fingers and a giant floating white glove appears near them, palm up, gallantly offering itself to be used as an elevator down the tower.]

[flickerflash]

[She giggles, getting to her feet and jumping across to the hand.]

So what's your name?

[isocelesmonster]

[Once Katie is securely onboard, the hand starts descending in a sedate diagonal. Bill perches on one of its fingertips and tags along.]

I'M BILL! DREAMSCAPE ADVENTURER! WHAT ABOUT YOU?

[flickerflash]

That's a good question!

[She peers over the edge of the hand and yells down at Mr Plaid down there.] Hey, Sam! What's my name?

["Katie, that looks even less safe than the hair. Get down!"]

You have dangerous hands, apparently. [She giggles.] But I suppose that's my name.

[isocelesmonster]

[Dangerous hands?

Somewhere, Pine Tree is waking up in a cold sweat, but here it's all princesses and soft targets and people who can appreciate how to have fun. This may not have been Bill's Plan A, but it's turning out to be a very entertaining fallback.]

HAHA, YOU BET I DO! LIVE A LITTLE, SAMMY!

[It's pointless to talk to dream constructs, but people trying to impose rules on his perfectly nice hand elevator get under Bill's skin.]

NICE TO MEET YOU, KATIE!

[The hand bumps against the ground and extends its thumb as a ramp down.]

WHAT DO YOU SAY WE FIND OUR FOREST AND PAIN THE TOWN RED?

[flickerflash]

Or paint the forest red. [She giggles. She knows what he means, but sometimes literal mental images are fun.] Though I suppose just seeing one colour after a while would be frightfully dull.

[She jump-hops down the ramp and turns to wave both hands at the Sam dream. Look, she's fine, gosh.] You must see some very interesting dreams. What's the weirdest?

[isocelesmonster]

WE'LL GET A COUPLE OF COLORS! MAYBE SOME NICE ULTRAPINK! THE FOREST COULD USE SOMETHING BETTER THAN BROWN AND GREEN ANYWAY!

[Bill briefly turns ultrapink, a color only bees and art students can see. It's very bright.]

HAHA, GOOD QUESTION! EVER SEEN WHAT THE HUMAN MIND DOES WHEN DOSED CONTINUOUSLY WITH LYSERGIDE FOR A HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE DAYS? I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: IT'S A PARTY!

[flickerflash]

[Holy bright flash, Batman.]

Sounds fun! What's lys--ly-- laserguide?

[isocelesmonster]

LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE! IT'S A CHEMICAL - A FUN ONE! IT MAKES HUMANS' MINDS MORE CREATIVE AND COLORFUL!

[A Y7 rating can no longer put a damper on the incredible life lessons Bill has to share with the youth.]

[flickerflash]

Really? [omg the possibilities. Never mind the fact she can't pronounce any of those words and one of them is acid.]

No matter how boring and unimaginative they are? What if they're a tax accountant, or a child psychologist?

[tetractys]

ESPECIALLY THEN!

[Bill chuckles.]

A LITTLE OF THIS WOULD HAVE THAT ACCOUNTANT GOING OUTSIDE WITH YOU TO TURN CARTWHEELS IN HIS UNDERWEAR! HE'D MAKE UP NAMES FOR ALL OF HIS NUMBERS AND IMAGINE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THEM! IT'S INSTANT FUN!

[flickerflash]

[She giggles at the image that provokes. Ahead, a forest wavers into view, though the trees seem shaped like numbers.]

How hard is it to find?

[tetractys]

HMM.

[Bill taps his finger between his eye and bow tie.]

IT DEPENDS ON WHERE, AND WHEN! IN THE FLEET, PROBABLY PRETTY HARD... HEY!

[The little triangle flits ahead, just a few yards, and throws his arms out.]

PROBABILITREES! HEH. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

[flickerflash]

[The trees loom just a little more, then spit a flurry of leaves down, whirling around in a small tornado towards them before scattering at Bill's feet.

...yeah, that's their response. Sorry.]

That's not very helpful.

[Or maybe it just means fuck all or look don't ask us, we just dream here]

[tetractys]

WOW, HEY. DON'T GET YOUR ROOTS IN A SQUARE!

[He floats back, more subdued, to hang out over Katie's shoulder.]

THE TREES DON'T LIKE PUNS, [he reports.

Not that this will stop him. In any way, at all.]

[flickerflash]

[Katie's giggling again.] Maybe they don't like being probabilitrees. I would think I'd have all sorts of cricks if I was bent into number shapes like that.