"You've made your position clear," he affirms. There's a moment where Ford gathers his thoughts: if he tells her everything Bill suspects, it's going to sound crazy. "I believe the Barge's true purpose isn't redemption. I think the real reason it exists is for entertainment -- and the Authority is the audience."
Laura lets out a long, exasperated sigh, made easier by the fact that she
doesn't feel like she needs to keep her guard up quite so much, now. "It
doesn't sound that farfetched," she says. "That ... would explain the
disappearances. And it could also explain how often we encounter floods."
It could explain a lot, when she really thinks about it, and
compares it to the time she spent on Arcade's island. "Things like that
would be good for ratings. How do you think the Admiral fits in?"
He nods. The floods and breaches don't seem calculated to help build character: to Ford, they seem like they exist to milk everyone on board for drama or comedy.
"I don't know, yet. Maybe he's the host. Or middle-management -- a point of contact, between them and us. There's a lot I can't say for sure, and I won't be able to confirm it until we arrive. But I think the chances that we were lured on board this ship under a false pretext are serious enough that we need to investigate. If we're being used by extradimensional beings, the people on this ship deserve to know."
His body language here says conviction: Ford believes what he's saying, strongly. But he's far from finished explaining.
"I agree," Laura replies solemnly. "No one should be part of a contract
that they didn't actually agree to." She presses her lips together into a
thin line, thinking the situation over and trying to extrapolate it to its
logical conclusion. Extradimensional beings aren't entirely out of the
purview of the X-Men, but her personal experience with them is ... limited,
to say the least.
There's still the question of whether she should trust Ford after what he
just admitted to, but the facts are that he admitted to it, and that his
motives are in the best interests of the passengers, in her opinion.
As his warden, she's responsible for him, and his actions. But besides that
... Her face softens as she nods. "I want to help you. Just tell me what I
can do."
"Okay," says Ford, and it's both an acceptance of her offer to help and a verbal throat-clearing. "Here's the plan. Ideally, we would just open a rift to the Authority's dimension, find them, and we shake them down for answers. If they're on our side, we hand the Admiral over. And if they're not, we find a way to free ourselves, and take it from there.
"Unfortunately, there are going to be...complications. I have reason to believe we're going to need help to be able to affect the Authority at all. I think there might be a fundamental difference between us and them that means we won't be able to touch them unless we do something about it.
"Did you ever see Space Battles? The movie Luke's in."
She nods along with the plan. It seems relatively sound so far; while she
has no knowledge of how they're going to open the rift, it does
sound like Ford's prepared for it to go either way, and he's at least aware
of the possibility of things going entirely south. She has a few questions
about the details, but for now, she'll let him outline what he has.
That Star Wars has a different name in Ford's world is
inconsequential. "Yes."
"I think everyone on this ship might have something of their own out there," Ford says. "Steve's got a comic book. Fantasia was from a book and a very successful film adaptation. Now, whether or not these are simply coincidental is unclear. It's possible that in an infinite multiverse, someone out there wrote a story exactly like our lives. It might have had to do with the selection process -- the Authority saw our shows and decided they wanted to put us, the closest thing to the fictional characters that they could find, on the Barge, and see what happened.
"Or they might have more direct control. Authorial." A pause, to let just how on the nose calling themselves the Authority is. "If that's the case, one, they probably think they're being very clever, and two, we'll need to make sure they don't just write us into stopping."
"Can they do that?" Laura asks, brow furrowing. "That's not -- how would
they even ..." She trails off, unsure how to finish the sentence, and
indeed, not entirely sure of the sentiment she means to convey, either.
She can handle being told she's fictional, somewhere; she's real enough to
herself that the nature of her own reality has never really been in
question to her. She knows who she is, and what her home world is like, and
that there are other worlds out there, both alike and unlike her own. But
she doesn't like being controlled. Full stop. That something --
someone -- out there has a means of dictating her thoughts and
actions doesn't sit well with her, whether she's aware of it or not.
But that, too, would explain an awful lot. She sets her jaw with firm
resolve, and deploys the claws on one hand as she turns to the door. Ford
has his plan in place. Laura's already in. She doesn't want to waste any
more time debating it. "We'll just have to make sure that they don't."
He sees that look on her face. Sees the claws come out.
He trusts her.
"That's where it gets complicated. Some of the effects on this ship are ordinary strain from the portal. Others are because of...a precaution I've taken, in case they can stop us. It's a spell that turns imaginary things real. It'll distinguish between ideas like us, that existed before it was cast, and things created with its effects. It's going to be cast over most of California, where that industry is centered. It's going to be big, and it's going to be destructive."
And here is where he confesses a piece of information that's difficult but vital that she know.
"It was originally Bill's plan. I've modified it to prevent civilian casualties. No one will get hurt as long as they're inside the spell's range -- it's part of the magic. I'm...trying to think more about people being caught in the crossfire."
Alright, so they're not marching into battle right away. The claws go back
in. For now.
She turns, eyebrow raised, when he says there's a 'precaution.' That it's a
spell. And it's Bill's plan. That automatically puts them at a
disadvantage, no matter how well Ford knows Bill, or how much he's changed.
"Let me get this straight," she says, looking him directly in the eye, and
ticks off points on her fingers as she recites them. "Bill Cipher came up
with a plan to create a portal through reality to the world that the
Authority are from. There's a strong chance that everyone here is fictional
there. The contingency is a spell that turns imaginary things real."
She huffs out a sigh, and lowers her hand, the points covered. "I
understand that protects us from being ... written out of existence,
or into our own demise, but ... have you considered all of the things that
Bill can imagine? Or the rest of us?"
She's not lecturing him, even though her tone is firm. She just wants to
make sure that she understands this correctly, and that Ford has thought
through all of the possibilities. Her own nightmares aren't kind, and she
would hate to see them made manifest on the barge -- again. "I'm not trying
to talk you out of it," she assures him. "I just want to make sure that
he's not ... hm. Trying to find a loophole, somewhere. Even if no one can
really get hurt, that doesn't mean Bill won't try to find a way to escape."
"I know." Ford tells her this with gravity. He has considered this very, very carefully. "I questioned him extensively about it, in terms that were as straightforward as I could make them. He tried to weasel out of a lot of it. But the truth ring caught a lot of what he tried to misrepresent. By the end, I verified that I knew everything relevant to the operation.
"You see, he...Bill and I go back a very long way," Ford explains. He considers briefly mentioning the attachment Bill has developed, but thinks better of it. "He knew that if he lied to me about what this spell did, I would immediately start trying to undo it, and he couldn't count on my help on the other side of the portal. So, we negotiated: no casualties, and in exchange for my help, he's agreed not to harm anyone who isn't directly related to the Barge."
He sighs.
"I know that it's no accident that the spell that ensures we'll be able to confront the Authority gives Bill the physics-bending large-scale chaos he wants. But Bill has been planning to get to this dimension for years. He's seen the man who wrote our show. And after what happened in the Bargeyard, he lost confidence in the Admiral to get him there. He's very old, very patient, and incredibly cunning. He was going to find a way off this ship sooner or later, and at least this way I'm there. To negotiate.
"Also," Ford adds, "Steve Rogers knows the plan, and I've given him a containment unit that's worked on Bill before, when he had all of his powers. If the Authority is on our side, or if anything else goes wrong, he'll be able to stop Bill."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
"You've made your position clear," he affirms. There's a moment where Ford gathers his thoughts: if he tells her everything Bill suspects, it's going to sound crazy. "I believe the Barge's true purpose isn't redemption. I think the real reason it exists is for entertainment -- and the Authority is the audience."
no subject
Laura lets out a long, exasperated sigh, made easier by the fact that she doesn't feel like she needs to keep her guard up quite so much, now. "It doesn't sound that farfetched," she says. "That ... would explain the disappearances. And it could also explain how often we encounter floods." It could explain a lot, when she really thinks about it, and compares it to the time she spent on Arcade's island. "Things like that would be good for ratings. How do you think the Admiral fits in?"
no subject
"I don't know, yet. Maybe he's the host. Or middle-management -- a point of contact, between them and us. There's a lot I can't say for sure, and I won't be able to confirm it until we arrive. But I think the chances that we were lured on board this ship under a false pretext are serious enough that we need to investigate. If we're being used by extradimensional beings, the people on this ship deserve to know."
His body language here says conviction: Ford believes what he's saying, strongly. But he's far from finished explaining.
no subject
"I agree," Laura replies solemnly. "No one should be part of a contract that they didn't actually agree to." She presses her lips together into a thin line, thinking the situation over and trying to extrapolate it to its logical conclusion. Extradimensional beings aren't entirely out of the purview of the X-Men, but her personal experience with them is ... limited, to say the least.
There's still the question of whether she should trust Ford after what he just admitted to, but the facts are that he admitted to it, and that his motives are in the best interests of the passengers, in her opinion.
As his warden, she's responsible for him, and his actions. But besides that ... Her face softens as she nods. "I want to help you. Just tell me what I can do."
no subject
"Unfortunately, there are going to be...complications. I have reason to believe we're going to need help to be able to affect the Authority at all. I think there might be a fundamental difference between us and them that means we won't be able to touch them unless we do something about it.
"Did you ever see Space Battles? The movie Luke's in."
no subject
She nods along with the plan. It seems relatively sound so far; while she has no knowledge of how they're going to open the rift, it does sound like Ford's prepared for it to go either way, and he's at least aware of the possibility of things going entirely south. She has a few questions about the details, but for now, she'll let him outline what he has.
That Star Wars has a different name in Ford's world is inconsequential. "Yes."
no subject
"Or they might have more direct control. Authorial." A pause, to let just how on the nose calling themselves the Authority is. "If that's the case, one, they probably think they're being very clever, and two, we'll need to make sure they don't just write us into stopping."
no subject
"Can they do that?" Laura asks, brow furrowing. "That's not -- how would they even ..." She trails off, unsure how to finish the sentence, and indeed, not entirely sure of the sentiment she means to convey, either.
She can handle being told she's fictional, somewhere; she's real enough to herself that the nature of her own reality has never really been in question to her. She knows who she is, and what her home world is like, and that there are other worlds out there, both alike and unlike her own. But she doesn't like being controlled. Full stop. That something -- someone -- out there has a means of dictating her thoughts and actions doesn't sit well with her, whether she's aware of it or not.
But that, too, would explain an awful lot. She sets her jaw with firm resolve, and deploys the claws on one hand as she turns to the door. Ford has his plan in place. Laura's already in. She doesn't want to waste any more time debating it. "We'll just have to make sure that they don't."
no subject
He trusts her.
"That's where it gets complicated. Some of the effects on this ship are ordinary strain from the portal. Others are because of...a precaution I've taken, in case they can stop us. It's a spell that turns imaginary things real. It'll distinguish between ideas like us, that existed before it was cast, and things created with its effects. It's going to be cast over most of California, where that industry is centered. It's going to be big, and it's going to be destructive."
And here is where he confesses a piece of information that's difficult but vital that she know.
"It was originally Bill's plan. I've modified it to prevent civilian casualties. No one will get hurt as long as they're inside the spell's range -- it's part of the magic. I'm...trying to think more about people being caught in the crossfire."
no subject
Alright, so they're not marching into battle right away. The claws go back in. For now.
She turns, eyebrow raised, when he says there's a 'precaution.' That it's a spell. And it's Bill's plan. That automatically puts them at a disadvantage, no matter how well Ford knows Bill, or how much he's changed.
"Let me get this straight," she says, looking him directly in the eye, and ticks off points on her fingers as she recites them. "Bill Cipher came up with a plan to create a portal through reality to the world that the Authority are from. There's a strong chance that everyone here is fictional there. The contingency is a spell that turns imaginary things real." She huffs out a sigh, and lowers her hand, the points covered. "I understand that protects us from being ... written out of existence, or into our own demise, but ... have you considered all of the things that Bill can imagine? Or the rest of us?"
She's not lecturing him, even though her tone is firm. She just wants to make sure that she understands this correctly, and that Ford has thought through all of the possibilities. Her own nightmares aren't kind, and she would hate to see them made manifest on the barge -- again. "I'm not trying to talk you out of it," she assures him. "I just want to make sure that he's not ... hm. Trying to find a loophole, somewhere. Even if no one can really get hurt, that doesn't mean Bill won't try to find a way to escape."
no subject
"You see, he...Bill and I go back a very long way," Ford explains. He considers briefly mentioning the attachment Bill has developed, but thinks better of it. "He knew that if he lied to me about what this spell did, I would immediately start trying to undo it, and he couldn't count on my help on the other side of the portal. So, we negotiated: no casualties, and in exchange for my help, he's agreed not to harm anyone who isn't directly related to the Barge."
He sighs.
"I know that it's no accident that the spell that ensures we'll be able to confront the Authority gives Bill the physics-bending large-scale chaos he wants. But Bill has been planning to get to this dimension for years. He's seen the man who wrote our show. And after what happened in the Bargeyard, he lost confidence in the Admiral to get him there. He's very old, very patient, and incredibly cunning. He was going to find a way off this ship sooner or later, and at least this way I'm there. To negotiate.
"Also," Ford adds, "Steve Rogers knows the plan, and I've given him a containment unit that's worked on Bill before, when he had all of his powers. If the Authority is on our side, or if anything else goes wrong, he'll be able to stop Bill."