Strawberry's Descent

Bram watched the Hive's crew go about their routine deck maintenance, then glanced toward the wheel. The helm station looked too simple for a ship this strange.

“...How do you actually steer this thing?” he asked. “I've been trying to figure out what the wheel actually controls.”

Ferrus laughed. "...It's more complicated than it looks."

"How complicated?"

"Convince enough cores that it's the most efficient course, and the others usually follow. Once there's a majority, the ship turns."

Bram stared at him. "...You have to persuade your own boat."

"Every single time," Ferrus confirmed.

"...And if you can't?"

"We drift. Once we spent several minutes going in a slow half-circle while they argued about the turn."

Arista leaned in. "What convinces them?"

"Shorter distance, better currents, avoiding a known hazard," Ferrus said. "Emotional appeals do basically nothing. I learned that lesson early, trying to argue we should turn toward a particularly nice sunset. Complete failure. Not a single core found aesthetic preference a compelling navigational argument."

"...You accidentally invented democracy for a boat."

Ferrus looked toward the Hive. "I wouldn't call it democracy."

"Do they vote?"

"...Unfortunately."

Bram laughed, and Ferrus turned back to them. "It's entertaining right up until you're late for a delivery because half your ship decided your proposed shortcut wasn't sufficiently efficient."

"Have you tried telling them that missing the delivery is inefficient?" Arista asked.

"Yes. Then they debate whether the delivery was worth accepting."

Bram looked back at the helm. "...All that, and it still looks like a normal wheel."

“I thought it might help,” Ferrus said. “Give them a clear indication of where I wanted to go.”

“Did it?”

“They understand what I'm asking. That's never been the problem.”

"...So what's next for you?" Arista asked as the afternoon gave way to evening. "Now that you've seen most of what's here."

"Most of what you've built, Strawberry. It's a big world. I want to see how the NPCs react when a bunch of golems walk into an ordinary market."

"To buy what?" Bram asked.

"Rope. Supplies. Maybe some vegetables."

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"...Can you even eat?"

"No. But I want to see whether the shopkeeper asks."

Arista grinned. "Have you tried?"

"We tried the demi-human coast first. They were polite. Offered us directions to another harbor."

"Without you asking?"

"Without us asking."

Ferrus rested his hands on the rail. "I thought they were recommending somewhere to visit next. Asked whether there was anything we should see while we were there. They recommended the other harbor again, with more detailed directions. One of them offered to help with our mooring lines."

"To tie them?" Bram asked.

"To untie them."

"Ah."

"They live off what the land gives them. We arrived in a scrap-metal boat with a crew that doesn't eat. I don't think any of us were what they'd hoped to see coming ashore."

Arista glanced across the deck, where one of the crew was scraping a patch of corrosion from a salvaged panel. "Not much chance of trading for the local produce."

"I thought being a former lion demi-human might help," Ferrus said.

"Did you mention that?" Bram asked.

"Yes. They recommended a harbor with better metalworking facilities."

Bram laughed. "They'd thought of everything."

"Except how difficult it would be to get us out of their harbor. I thanked them, came back aboard, and told the Hive we were leaving. Nothing happened."

"No majority?" Arista asked.

"Not even close. We'd found sheltered water, the anchorage was sound, and nobody had identified a hazard. As far as they were concerned, I'd just finished persuading them to stop there. Now I wanted to undo it."

"What did you tell them?"

"That our hosts wanted us to leave. They asked whether our hosts had identified a problem with the anchorage."

Bram looked toward the hull. "Of course they did."

"I said the problem was us."

"Did that help?"

"They requested a more specific maintenance assessment."

Arista laughed. "What were the demi-humans doing while you argued?"

"Waiting by the ropes. Being helpful. Every time I looked over, they pointed out which way the other harbor was. Meanwhile, I'm explaining to my own ship that a perfectly serviceable place to stop isn't necessarily a place we're allowed to stay."

"Could the crew hear the argument?" Bram asked.

"The crew started offering suggestions. That made it worse. One of them pointed out we'd already agreed this was the best place to stop. The Hive agreed with him.”

"Whose side was he on?"

"He thought he was helping. I asked him to go check the ropes."

Ferrus looked down at the water alongside the hull. "Getting asked to leave took about five minutes. Convincing the Hive to leave took another thirty."

"What finally worked?" Arista asked.

"I told them wearing out our welcome could eventually become a hull-maintenance problem. They accepted that as a potential hazard and agreed we should relocate before it developed."

"And you came here?"

"Once we'd agreed on which way to go. The directions helped. I should probably send that village a thank-you."

Arista studied Ferrus “Have you ever tried swapping out your own core?”

“Once. The moment I took it out, I got a respawn timer.”

“But golems are their cores. Look at Thoth or the Hive.”

“Apparently players have slightly different rules,” Ferrus said. “When I respawned, I was back in the exact same body, with my core in place.”

“Including the mustache?” Bram asked.

“No. I had to stick my head over a furnace again. Never touched my core after that.”

Bram let out a booming laugh.

“So, inland first?” Arista asked.

"Maybe. Since we put this crew together, we've barely spent any time on the mainland. I'd like to walk through a town without having to negotiate a course before every turn. Find somewhere to stay, see what people do when there's no enormous coaster overhead."

"You'll still have to negotiate with the crew," Bram said.

"They can walk in different directions. That's a luxury the ship hasn't figured out yet."

Arista smiled. "There's plenty to see. You don't need me to lead you to all of it."

“And there's the ocean,” Ferrus added. “Some of the crew want to see that mermaid ring you mentioned. I'd like to take the Hive somewhere new, if I can convince it that exploring serves a purpose.”

"Try calling it a survey," Bram said.

Ferrus turned toward him. "...That might actually work."

The Hive's hull hummed behind them, dozens of voices murmuring over one another, and Ferrus paused to listen.

"...They're already debating whether staying here counts as efficient use of remaining daylight," he said. "I should probably go make my case before they decide for me."

"Good luck," Bram said.

Ferrus sighed. "That isn't an argument they accept either."