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SATURN, EPISODE THREE: “we were kids tho we're older and wiser now”/Deep dive

So Celestial Mechanics is both a field of study and a faction name.

I know I've been pretty quiet about these intros in general. Expect them to come up a lot once I start my Thoughts sections though (possibly on future Luna-Terra mission weeks). I just can't figure out how to do it in a regular update without breaking post flow. I'm trying to do more sprinkling though, now that we're past one of the endings. Anyway:

I will always love that Saturn took the time to type "no" to the accept orders prompt. And that mission results are stored in a txt file.

Checking out Day 3's comms:

quote:

I don't know where he's fighting but you should be careful.

jeez u worry too much

OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE YOU GIVE ME SO MUCH TO WORRY ABOUT.

i mean are you really worried

his Ship-Self is actually not that scary

not as scary as mine

As if that was a thing I was worried about.

what then

oh ew god im not even thinking about letting our mutual ex touch me

i wont even fight him

ill curve him the second his tides so much as tremble against my plating

why would you worry I don't even slightly hate him less than you do

There is no possible way you hate him more than I do, but that's not the issue.

That's NEVER the issue with him. Hating him hasn't made him any easier to deal with.

we were kids tho were older and wiser now

lmao

Hahaha.

at least you are mercury

Hardly.

Or I wouldn't be telling you.

You remember how he'd just casually linger his fingers a second too long on your shoulder?

In front of everyone? ugh ugh ugh it was so gross.

...it was so gross

and I loved the attention every time

it made me so smug

I loved it, it was gross, I hate him, do you love yourself enough to not fall for it again?

I definitely hate him enough to not fall for it

do you?

No, obviously.

I'm still in Celestial Mechanics, so how do you think I feel?

Interesting that when discussing... that... Saturn gets slightly more conscientious about her punctuation. Slightly. Do the memories make her typing regress to the obedient girl she used to (seem to) be?

Day 3 emails:

You guys I think Saturn might have a selfie addiction.

Just the one email today. Onward to the missions.

Deep dive is the new one.

>LAUNCH

"Disabling all comms and the diving supports and--oh you're still here? I thought I cut this channel too. Well, I should go ahead and shut it--"

"Don't you dare cut me off."

An amusing thing I’ve noticed already is that Mercury has almost double the unique expressions Europa does. Not as many as the main trio still, but even his art is more dramatic.

"You can listen if you promise not to whine, or stop me."

"I will do no such thing and you cannot make a deal with me."

"I'm simply stating a fact, not making an argument."

"Ugh, just WHY Saturn, why are you such an incorrigible petulant nightmare!"

"After you were probationally forgiven for doing a very good job not getting String of Pearls ruined or captured, and command even decided to give you the job of sparking the gravity engine that will take our fleet back to the Native Sphere."

"I would think you wouldn't be so into pressing your luck recklessly!"

"They're annoying because whatever is causing the tidal interference from the bottom of the Oxygen Ocean is almost certainly that Cradle's Graces weapon, and they have no reason to believe you're going to be loyal."

"Every single second of the day you are horrid and undisciplined and your brief periods of obedience only seem to exist to throw everyone off later."

"I mean..."

"If you want me to cover for you, you have to play along a LITTLE. Why are you like this?"

"Same as you."

Just hit the nail on the head why don't you

"...and same for that pilot you're after, too? Is that why?"

"In a different way. But I think so."

"Enemy or not, I want to talk. I think I'm getting somewhere."

"And I'm not going to get to talk if you all are interfering."

"What if she doesn't want to 'just talk'."

"Then you'll really appreciate me cutting the cables before she pulls all of you down there with me."

"Why is it so important anyway? You'll really jeopardize the whole operation for THAT?"

"Supposedly nothing can stop the Krun Macula. Is it better to find out if that's true sooner than later?"

"Fight her or talk, which is it!"

"How are they any different?"

"Anyways, don't worry when the connection 'accidentally' breaks."

"I'll be fine. Promise. And you will be too."

Voting returns!

--

EPISODE THREE CONCLUSION

An ocean of oxygen is as good a place as any to share a secret.

A lot of music in this game is a mix between pieces of at least two different songs. It’s especially noticeable in this mission, with Saturn’s aggressive Electrotoxin beat mixing with the sedate elements of Pluto’s Cradle’s Graces. I’m not experienced enough with any editing to pull the audio exactly as it sounds in the game, so I guess play these at the same time?? (jk, probably don’t do that.)

Music - Electrotoxin (No Mercy)
Music - Cradle's Graces

Why not the eponymous Oxygen Ocean? Mainly because they save that song for more climactic moments (with good reason imo).

Celestial Mechanics has covered their wayward pilot's machine in temporary armor layers to seal out the unknown interference of gravity and seeping oxygen. The additional temporary armor layers might not be necessary, but they also might be.

The Celestial Mechanics fleet tenders lower the String of Pearls in slowly, just to make absolutely sure. It feels wonderfully cold, like a spare blanket taken from the attic in winter.

Pluto is there, deep deep down, and when Saturn slips in, she feels the ripples, as if they were in opposite ends of the same, perfectly still pool. The feeling is wonderful. Saturn's surprised that's true.

"Wait, who is 'you'?"

"Yeah, I've been ready. Sorry, I... got distracted."

"You must be if you're apologizing."

"She's speaking to me."

"No, she's trying to eat me alive."

"Or maybe... it's really hard to tell the difference."

"Awesome."

"It's familiar."

"I'm so stoked."

"Take me down."

There's no way to rely on sight, and the paramagnetic influence is too erratic for sensors to process. She can only feel her way. For both of them.

"Uh-huh."

"So you'll need to be extremely careful with it."

"Mmmm."

"Are you listening?"

"Yes but not to you. Shhhhhh."

"Lower me."

"It's reaching out."

Saturn feels funny. Something's not quite right. Like something's watching her.

"It's like someone's watching me."

"But it's also not like someone's watching me."

It's like something's watching her, but something isn't watching her.

"It's touching me."

The ocean ripples with boredom.

Saturn: 'It's really boring down here.'

But what else is Pluto going to do? Some girls get stuck with the worst jobs.

Saturn: 'But I've gotta do it.'

With nothing to do but send insinuations through the narration.

"I've got her again."

"Tidal spike detected."

"Lower me further."

"Saturn! We're pulling you out."

"Hi Saturn. Hi Mercury!"

"Sorry, I'm borrowing her for a little bit."

"Saturn, what are yo-"

A bit concerning, though maybe not surprising, that Saturn knows what a sensory deprivation tank is like.

"Damn it, I cut both wires... even ship-to-ship comms are down."

"Saturn?"

"Can you hear me?"

"Would you hear me if I spoke with this ship?"

"It's been such a long time since anyone could hear it."

Pluto's Tidal Reactor pulses slowly. The thrum feels like it's coming from everywhere.

"Oh, I get it. You wanna talk with gravity? Well, I'm not some miracle child, even though they tried very hard to make me as good as you."

Saturn's reactor, an anxious little ball, is getting just so so fed up with this. It's frustrating to not be understood, would you know what that's like?

"You don't know how much I know."

"But I believe in you."

If Saturn moves too much, she might forget what direction up is. The sensory deprivation of the ocean takes everything away. But she has to remember that's not true.

"I don't believe you, but I'm trying."

"Oh, she's trying!"

"Of course I'm trying!"

"Come on, where am I?"

"ERGH I hate people playing hard to get."

"I believe in you!! But you gotta work for it!"

"I... I can't do it... Sorry... but I'm cheating!"

What it really does is run along the boundaries, theoretical and real. There's a place where the boundary between one thing and another is weakest, and it runs along the boundary until it finds it, and then it connects the two.

"Hm. Why's she doing that?"

"Oh, it's what you're used to."

"Good at seeing weak spots."

"I've got a lot, can you find them?"

"You can do it if you try. Maybe you need a little push."

"It's like there's nothing!!! Not a single crack!!! Don't say you're not perfect."

"Don't make me do all the work!"

"HRUGH?"

The pressure is overwhelming, but it's overwhelming for Pluto too. The Krun Macula is like a little star, gushing matter and condensing it into an engine of light over and over.

It was modeled after a theory of the Big Bang, after all, made in secret on the planet Hades on the boundary between what is human and what is not. It's a fragile boundary. You can tocuh it, but be careful.

"Hahahaaa"

"This takes me back."

"Which is not fucking fair. Are you doing that on purpose? Always taking me to unpleasant pasts?"

"Is it taking you back?"

"Sorry."

"But we can't help it. It's the first thing beneath our surfaces."

"It's hard for me too."

Bypass all the work and care that had gone into the third generation pilots, and kick them directly into humanity's next stage.

Cheating, you should know, felt good. It felt wrong, in a good way. It felt good, in a way that felt obscene. It felt bad, like she was getting more than she deserved.

They chose her, but she felt like she played a trick on them. Like she lied and got candy for it. They knew there was nothing special about her, and then they gave her the most special thing.

If they knew how special it was, and how much she didn't earn it, they would have given it to someone else. But they didn't. Even when they threw her away, she never forgot how that felt.

No matter how badly she did, no matter how much she wasn't up to how perfect they wanted, they never gave up on her.

That was the worst part. She wished so much they would give up. It was so hard. She wanted to be the mess she really was, and they wouldn't let her.

She knew with her whole heart what she was supposed to be. She had it memorized, and she could never make it leave her body, become the things she did and the person she was. They let her be whatever she wanted, and she wasn't strong and smart and pretty enough to be it.

Both of them remember. Reaching through the wall to the one on the other side, wishing so hard to hold hands it feels like you really are. You're two pebbles dropped in the pond, but your ripples touching are enough.

No one knows, and even the two of you almost don't. Never say it out loud. Never think it too loud.