ic The Grand Tour (Jeremy Clarkson not Included)

[olopi]

Immediately, Cass’ eyes were drawn tot he ceiling. He looked upwards, and just spent some time taking it all in.

 

“Man, you really went all out here. I’ve seen churches that don’t have ceilings this fancy. “

 

“And didn’t smell nearly as good, but that one’s a given. “

 

He took a few careful steps off of the elevator and followed Leviathan, moving forwards, but slowly turning a total of 30 degrees and just looking at every corner of the room. He’d never seen anything that came even close to this. Not even on that one trip to Hollywood a few years ago.

 

“This stuff’s amazing. All this stuff. Just … wow.”

 

The sight of the captain’s station just increased those feelings. Were screens even allowed to be that large?! The same went for the seat, all of it just screamed luxurious. Which probably was the intent, Cass reminded himself.

 

“Yeah. I don’t even know what to say. This stuff’s … yeah. I mean, I’m gonna harbour a guess and assume that this super-fancy computer … if that’s what it is … runs on earth-tech. But … this is just incredible. “

[Blarghy]

Leviathan smiled goofily at the praise; he watched Bonfire closely, shifting from foot to foot with poorly-contained excitement, while the other hero observed his work.

 

"Thanks!  Yes, this is modeled after regular human electronics, but I've changed some things.  The basic composition, for one; as you can see, it isn't just a matter of wires and plastic now.  Everything here is alive to some extent."  He folded his hands together and looked away, thinking.  Scary as it was, he reminded himself that he invited Bonfire to bring his camera for a reason.

 

"...Do you, ahh, want to take any pictures?  Just try not to get too clear.  I'm not perfect, so I don't want one of your fans spotting some detail that I missed and busting my cover story open.  ...I guess we already talked about that, though."

[olopi]

Truth be told, Cass had actually forgotten about the photography thanks to all the sights. All the amazement, it had kinda left his brain with a one-track thought. But Leviathan was right. And internally, Cass was unsure about to feel about the fact he’d forgotten about the one thing his training had focused on: to always take photos.

 

Then again, in this case he was acting more as Bonfire than as Cass Bauer, so he could excuse it. At least somewhat. Either way, he opened the lid on the second bag he was carrying, the one that had come with his camera.

 

“Good point. I’ll do my best to make the photos look messy, maybe a bit shaky. And I’ll be post-processing them anyway. It’s gonna take a bit of time to set the entire thing up to my liking, even if we’re not doing shoot-levels of lighting, so, what should I focus on first? The consoles? The entire room?”

 

All the while, he took the camera into his hand, and began to push a few buttons. Afterwards, he took out a different lens, and once more pushed more buttons, looking quite confident in what he was doing, even if it seemed to take a while.

[Blarghy]

"Probably the whole room," Leviathan answered quickly.  "I mean, you can get the consoles too, but...well, you know not to make the images too clear, of course."  He played with his hands in mild nervousness and stepped out of the way so that Bonfire could get a shot of the captain's station.  "You can photograph the ceiling more clearly, if you don't think that'll raise questions."

 

The great beast then fell silent and watched closely, trying not to interrupt.  This lasted for a few minutes before he pitched in again, "Do you want me to pose or something?  Or is it better if I'm not in these?"

[olopi]

“Depends on the narrative we’re going for. If you show up in them, then it’s clear you wanted them to be taken. Which means you’re fine with the direct attention. If you don’t show up in them, we can play the “source sent me this”, which leaves things open. For all the readers know, it could even have been you who sent them to me. Or perhaps somebody else entirely. “

 

Once he’d finished setting up his camera, he paced around the room’s main platform a bit, trying to gain a better idea of its proportions, the lighting, and what would show from what angle.

 

“If you show up in them, it’ll show you don’t mind the contact and the publicity, and invited somebody, maybe even me directly. If you don’t, it adds some mystique. Who took these photos? How did they get into the base? Where is the base? And so on. “

 

“I guess it depends which one you want to push. It’ll make huge waves either way. “

[Blarghy]

"I didn't think about all of that," Leviathan admitted.  He rubbed his chin and mulled it over while Bonfire prepared his equipment. 

 

"I'll stay out of the shots for now," he finally decided.  "And you can say that you got the pictures anonymously.  Like you said, some people will probably assume that I'm behind it, and maybe we can transition to that later.  But for now, a little distance is better.  I'm still working out how to handle all of this.  It's turning out to be a lot more complicated than I expected."

 

He stood back out of the way.  If Bonfire wanted, he could have silence for his work, except for an occasional nervous interjection if Leviathan thought he was getting too close to something that might reveal his secrets. 

 

"There's more down below, whenever you're ready," the reptile said after a while.  "I'm especially proud of the next section of the ship."

[olopi]

Bonfire wandered around the room, taking picutres from all sorts of angles. Sometimes he took a few from the same one, trying to get the perfect shot. Other times, he actually ran for a short distance and took the photo during it, or shook his camera ever so slightly. He didn’t seem to focus on any details, instead capturing the room’s size and its roof. A few shots overlooked the consoles, but all of them were sufficiently shaky already.

 

All the while, he made some small chatter. Mainly taking about what he was doing and talking out loud, but also trying to strike up some actual conversation. And after a few minutes, he was done.

 

“Okay, think that should be good for now. So, what’s next? Doubt anything can still top this.”

[Blarghy]

Leviathan just smiled.

 

Once they packed up Bonfire's gear again, the elevator took them further down.  After passing through the floor of the bridge, the shaft turned transparent once more, but past the flexible "glass"--actually the same durable material from the windows back in Leviathan's living submarine--looked blurry.  Bonfire might realize why: water appeared to be flowing down all sides.  He would soon hear its dull roar when the elevator stopped.  Here, they were faced with a door of interlocking bone-petals like the very top entrance to the ship.  These plates folded out, and the largest ones raised upward to create a covered walkway beneath the cascading waterfall.  Through this path, Bonfire was faced with an alien Eden.

 

Plants clustered in such thick growth that it made the higher areas of the ship look sparse and lifeless.  Literally all the colors of the rainbow were written across flowers of every shape and size; fruit hung heavy just waiting to be savored, thick red clover-like vegetation covered the ground, and even trees grew in this tall, sprawling space.  So many smells hit the heroes at once that it might initially feel overwhelming.  Furthermore, they weren't the only ones enjoying the fertile grounds.

 

Many, many animals roamed the park.  Most were small and reptilian, but Bonfire could also see very strange birds; if he was a fan of paleontology, then he might recognize them as being more like dinosaurs than birds of modern Earth.  Their feathers were thin and spiny, and most of these creatures flew in short bursts.  He watched a flock behaving more like a pack, chasing after some poor little lizard on foot with the occasional gliding jump.  And amidst it all were countless insects, so bright and shiny, like jewels darting through the air.

 

The waterfall around the elevator appeared to feed a series of interlaced streams and ponds, over which natural bridges grew.  The air tasted sweet and clean; whether or not he realized it, merely by being here, Bonfire was extending his natural lifespan. 

 

Leviathan, meanwhile, leaned from foot to foot in barely-contained glee.  "It's my garden," he explained.

[olopi]

Cass caught a first glance of the room. And, perhaps unexpectedly, turned around immediately, as if he’d seen something he didn’t want to, or had some sort of reflex. His voice was weak, not from exhaustion or anything else, he simply seemed to prefer to be quiet right now.

 

“Sorry. Just gonna need a second to prepare myself. “

 

He took a deep breath, then turned around, marvelling at the wonders of this subterranean Eden. He audibly gasped for air ever so slightly, as tears began to form in his eyes, and he actually trembled ever so slightly. He didn’t say anything, or even move, instead just taking it in all at once. All the colours, all the smells, all the noises. Everything, it was just … perfect.

 

After a few seconds he snapped out of it, and wiped off the few tears that had formed. “I’m fairly certain that the sub burst, I died, and I’m now in heaven. “

[Blarghy]

This was a stronger reaction than Leviathan expected, but he was clearly delighted by it.  He laughed, not just with humor, but relieved fulfillment.  Months of work paid off in just this moment; now, finally, he had someone to show all this off to.

 

He walked out into the garden and was about to recommend any number of delicacies, but instead, something else slipped out.  For all his Cowl pretenses, Leviathan reacted to Bonfire's praise with childlike eagerness.  He couldn't wait any longer, and besides, they had worked together once or twice now.  His earlier worries seemed so distant; surely this other hero was trustworthy.

 

"So, hey, if you like it, then I don't mind if you come down here again.  I'm just not sure how you'd do it without the submarine, but maybe we can figure something out.  I can let the bio-security system know to let you in when I'm not here."

[olopi]

He continued to just take it in. There was so much to see here. It was a shame he’d never be able to really share it with anybody else. But just seeing it, for real, in front of his eyes, that already did it. It was, as he’d said before, like heaven.

 

He turned his head, slowly looking at new parts of the room, to just stretch out the moment as far as he could. And at the same time, he replied. It was an interesting offer. He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it, but perhaps it was best to just talk, and to let the thoughts come as he did.

 

“Oh, I’d love to. I’m not sure how often I could get down here in the first place, but, just to kinda .. calm down and relax every once in a while? Totally. Doesn’t even need to be anything more than basic access to the garden. Up to your judgement, really. It’s your work, you decide what to do with it. But I’ll gladly accept anything you offer. “

[Blarghy]

"Sure, sure," Leviathan agreed, swinging back to mild embarrassment now, as he reined in his enthusiasm.  "And there's still more to see.  We're only about halfway down, discounting the roots."

 

He hesitated, searching for what to say next, and then pointed at a cluster of berries nearby.  They and their vines and leafs were bright red and appeared pristine, untouched by the insects that nibbled on nearby plants.  "Red coloration usually means it's alcoholic," he explained.  "So don't be caught unaware.  The carpet-clover on the ground is an exception, but it keeps the animals from eating bare patches into the floor.  I gave them all deep instincts to avoid the color." 

 

The lizard looked around again, and after another pause, added, "You can take more pictures if you want.  Nothing down here should cause problems with my cover story, so you can make the shots clearer."

[olopi]

“Only halfway? Just how big did you make this? I mean, it works with the story, and I completely support it, but yeah, add another whoa to the counter. “

 

He casually strolled towards one of the fruit, taking a single one and giving it a first, careful bite. It was a strong flavour, but a pleasant one. A bit sweet, not unlike some alcohol mixed with whatever juice or soda was available at the time. Not that Cass had ever had any, obviously, he’d …

 

Yeah, no, he wasn’t even going to lie about that one. He’d had tasted his fair share of booze, and this one certainly places higher up than many. Which also meant that his powers got stronger, as the heat around him immediately increased slightly.

 

“This is pretty good. Most the stuff’s gonna burn up, so I shouldn’t feel any negative effect unless this is one of the really strong ones, or I voluntarily turn it off. Pretty good stuff, gotta say. “

 

He returned to where he’d previously been, and looked down at his camera bag, then up at the room again.

 

“I don’t think I can. I can’t capture this in a way that does it justice. It’d probably just look faked. Maybe of a few of the plans and animals, but that’s gonna be it. “

[Blarghy]

Leviathan continued to glow from all this praise.  In other circumstances, he might've paid more attention to Bonfire discussing his abilities, but those intriguing bits of information mostly passed him by while he focused on his own ego. 

 

"Whatever you think will look best," he deferred to the photographer.  "You're the expert."

 

While he waited for Bonfire to take his shots, the lizard chose some fruit of his own from a nearby tree.  It was hard to be sure over the background noise of an entire manufactured ecosystem, but he almost sounded like he was giggling into his food. 

[olopi]

So Leviathan wanted a few pictures either way. No reason not to do it, even if Cass already knew that he himself wouldn’t really like the outcome. Perhaps he could just capture a few small moments. A few of the plants, some of the creatures running around. It would still look like art more than like photography, but alas.

 

He took out his camera, and crouched down into the red grass. “Gonna see if I can get some close-ups. If any of the animals are dangerous, now’s the time to tell me.” He laughed, then began to slowly move up towards one of the many ponds, where a few of the creatures were currently residing. He’d try to get as close as he could, time or lack of subjects really weren’t problems right now, so he could take some risks.

 

He just had to control himself. This style of wildlife photography, he’d always wanted to do it. He’d only ever had the chance to one time prior, during his self-exposed short exile last year, after the incident. And he’d not managed to get any good pictures back then.

 

And animals that had never been photographed before (most likely)? This was a dream. A dream, coming true. And that just made it a bit difficult to stay perfectly calm.

[Blarghy]

None of the bizarre creatures he approached seemed to fear him.  They edged away if Bonfire reached out to touch, but otherwise, the wildlife regarded him with either curiosity or disinterest.  A shelled lizard virtually posed for his shots, standing up on its hind legs like a reptilian armadillo and eating part of a root with its front paws.  Three dinosaur-birds clucked at him while preening on the pool's edge.  He was able to capture a clawed frog-thing's hunting practices as it waited patiently near the water, suddenly dove in, and emerged with a tiny wiggling fish, which it ate.  Some glittering insects even hovered right beyond Bonfire's camera and tried to briefly land on him.

 

Leviathan watched and waited, careful not to disturb the process.  Eventually, when his guest was finished, he gestured back toward the elevator.

 

"I could stay here all night, but when you're ready, I'll show you the habitation levels next."

[olopi]

GM

 

Truth be told, Cass got more than just a bit lost in it all. This was such an opportunity, such an amazing experience. He was in his zone, fully. This was why he’d decided on photography. For the first time in a really, really long time, he felt it. He felt that spark of wonder, of amazement. He enjoyed all the shots he could get, even if there were none that were specifically cinematic.

 

There was no need for those. Besides, the amount of people that would ever see this probably was countable on both hands. Just releasing them out into the wild was difficult. Perhaps he could do something about it, but if not, they’d simply go into a hidden folder. Such was a hero’s life, he supposed.

 

Only after some time he realized he still was on the tour around this base/ship/paradise, and got back up, cleaning a bit of dust and some plants off of his shirt, before walking back over to Leviathan.

 

“Well then, let’s go. Sorry for that, I got a bit caught up. Haven’t done anything like this in far too long. “

 

He wondered if the habitation levels were similar in luxury to what he’d seen so far, or if Leviathan had gone for something simpler. How many people did he say had place in here…?

[Blarghy]

He and Leviathan continued to be the only humanoid inhabitants as they descended further, but judging by the size, Leviathan's estimates of a few hundred potential occupants seemed valid.  "This is the first of three floors," he said as the elevator came to a gentle stop.  "The officer quarters, as it were.  The next two levels have more, smaller, rooms."

 

But the first thing Bonfire saw as they emerged wasn't housing, but rather a large exercise area.  The elevator came through the center of a circular running track--set apart from the rest of the floor by lighter colored scales--and was surrounded by weights and similar equipment scattered around the area.  Mostly they had free weights, but huge, Leviathan-sized gym benches were also available.  Dumbbells, sometimes bigger than Bonfire himself, were made of pure white ivory.  Jutting from the walls were a few water basins, acting like ancient fountains.  Like everywhere else in the ship, edible plants draped from the ceiling, but the floor was largely clear for easy walking. 

 

To the left and right of the elevator, past the running track around the room's edge, were doors.  Leviathan pointed to them and explained, "Each level has bathhouses.  Well, only one on this floor, over there.  The officer quarters are that way.  I don't know if you're familiar with the ancient Roman thermae, but I based my designs on those.  Communal bathing, different rooms for different water temperatures, that sort of thing.  Mostly, I just wanted to, but my justification is that the ancient aliens who landed here occasionally made some scouting missions and brought back a few things.  I tried to build these rooms to give the impression that they're a little newer than the rest of the ship.  Still ancient by our standards, but some of the details are slightly different, and the bathhouses aren't included on the original schematics in my database.  I've got a few fragmented documents about it too.  That kind of thing."

[olopi]

Cass had some basic idea of roman architecture, it had been the subject of a short class he’d taken back in FreeSA, mainly because it seemed like an easy way to gain some additional credit. “Wow, you really thought this through. And you certainly have all the luxury you’ll ever need down here. You have a private bath. Not even just a bathtub, but a full on bath. With different rooms. “

 

He walked over to some of the exercise machinery, looking at it from a closer perspective. “And all of this. Ivory. Ivory exercise equipment. That’s some real luxury. Do you actually use these, or are they just for decoration? Because they certainly look functional…”

 

He wasn’t sure what would come up next. But at this point, a hoard of gold and gems wouldn’t even have surprised him. Cass didn’t really know a lot of about Leviathan, but all this clearly showed that he was a lot more than a shapeshifter and accomplished hacker. Just what else was he capable of?

[Blarghy]

"Oh, they work, yeah," he indicated the weights.  "Like most of this, except for the plants, I grew them from myself.  They're basically very dense bones.  Weights don't have to do much except, you know, be weights."

 

Leviathan assumed that his guest was ready to move on, and next led Bonfire to the bathhouse.  The entrance from the open exercise area led to a hexagon room with doors branching away; Leviathan pointed at each one to explain its function.  "Cold bath, warm bath, hot bath, wet sauna, dry sauna...This isn't the typical Roman layout, but I did my best with the space I had.  I don't need an apodyterium anyway, since I don't wear clothes when I'm like this.  The lower bathhouses are basically the same as this one, just smaller and less ornate."  He gestured to a nearby "statue" made of greenery; the different intertwined plants depicted an enormous humanoid lizard like Leviathan with startling detail, such as eyes made of dark fruit and teeth of pale, hard nuts.  In the creature's outstretched palms grew clusters of berries, as though they were being offered to passersby. 

 

"We can do a quick walkthrough and take pictures if you want, but well, they're just baths, in the same general style as the rest of the ship.  You probably won't see anything new, really."

 

Although, if Bonfire looked closely, he might spot one of the features Leviathan mentioned including to imply that these areas were grown after his nonexistent ancestors "crashed."  In other parts of the ship, the scales composing the walls, floors, and ceilings were rounded in a natural way.  These here had small edges, and the rooms themselves were more boxy than the others he had seen. 

[olopi]

“Wow. At this point I’m not sure what I can say that I haven’t said before. This stuff’s amazing. This is the sort of luxury you can’t find anywhere that’s not a few thousand bucks a day. And you just have it all down here. I mean, we had a sauna back home, but that was more because my dad’s a big fan. “

 

“This statue … this is a work of art. Not that the rest of all of this isn’t, mind you. But this, no idea how you did it, but man. Different fruits, all coming together to create it. This is just … yeah. No words. “

 

He walked around the room a bit, taking a closer look at the statue especially, but also the doors, and the general design. “I suppose I can take a few quick snapshots, then we can head onwards. “

[Blarghy]

Leviathan just couldn't get enough praise, and continued to smile goofily.  He opened up the other rooms one by one--the doors themselves were round, interlocking bone-petal portals like they had seen before--even though the individual baths weren't all that special.  Big pools of water generally looked alike, aside from the level of mist rising from the surface.  The proper steam rooms might be a little unusual in that they didn't have collections of heated rocks or other traditional causes, instead just maintained by the ship's inner functions.  And in case it wasn't obvious, bountiful food continued to grow from nearly everywhere. 

 

If Bonfire liked the vegetation statues, though, then he'd find plenty more.  Most were "aliens" like his guide, but there were a few ancient humans in this part of the ship too.  Leviathan named them as they went, mostly famous Romans like Julius Caesar and Augustus.

 

"I modeled them on the marble busts and statues that survived from the Empire," he explained.  "Hopefully those were accurate, since the goal here is to show that my ancestors actually saw these people firsthand.  I guess I should avoid bringing time travelers down here, just in case I've made obvious mistakes."

[olopi]

“You know, after seeing all of this, I kind of want to go for a bath. This place is amazing. Probably best not to, no idea how that interacts with my body nowadays. Showering just about works, rain gets uncomfortable, no idea what more-or-less stagnant bodies of water do. And the last thing we need down here is a medical emergency. “

 

He stopped for a second, as if he’d just realized something.

 

“Let me guess, you have a full hospital down here? All sorts of fancy equipment, conveniently oversized, with smaller stuff hidden away?”

 

He continued to adore the statues, taking some time to look at each one individually. It was just … whoa. He’d seen all sorts of art exhibitions, been to quite a few galleries. And nothing lived up to this.

 

“I doubt there’s a lot of them around. And even then, you can just write it off to creative freedom, I suppose. Greeks did their thing with statues, the … Leviathans? Did theirs. But yeah, not getting to the situation in the first place sounds like the best plan.”

[Blarghy]

"Hee hee!" Leviathan giggled at the mention of hospitals.  "You'll see soon enough.  I'm sorry to hear about your vulnerability.  You know...maybe I could try to help.  No guarantees, as it would depend on what, exactly, gives you your abilities.  I definitely wouldn't want to eliminate them by tampering unwisely with their source!  But if you want, then maybe sometime I can run some tests.  Fire is fire, so when you take on that form I doubt I can do much without turning you into some kind of grease-based man, which could be awesome.  But perhaps I could give you some relief in your daily life.  Just something to think about."

 

And if Bonfire agreed, that would give Leviathan the opportunity to openly examine him, as opposed to the secret efforts he had already undertaken after the Solemn encounter.  That one blood sample didn't get him very far, and he was still quite curious.  Plus, doing a favor for his ally might absolve him of the mild guilt he felt about his deception. 

 

"And now that you mention it," he referred to Bonfire's off-hand comment included in the statue discussion, "I still don't have a name for my supposed species.  Just myself.  I guess they could all be Leviathans.  I've been hand-waving it for now, planning to just say that the name doesn't translate to any human language if anyone asks, but I should think of something.  Let me know if you have any cool ideas."

[olopi]

“Oh, it’s honestly not a big deal. The amount of drawbacks is minor, and I’ve managed to counteract most of them without too many issues. But you mentioning grease does give me and idea…. And sure, we could probably look at it at some point, if you’ve got the time to. “

 

That too? At this point, Cass didn’t even attempt to try and narrow it down. Whoever Leviathan was, he clearly knew a ton, in a variety of different fields. And that was all that Cass needed to know. Even if it was a bit intimidating, knowing somebody with all these different skills. And probably many more than that.

 

“Hmmm, let me think up something. I’m sure you could come up with something that sounds really alien but is somehow roughly translatable so there’s a cover story. You’re not also distinguished linguist, are you? “

 

It was a bit of a joking suggestion, but it wouldn’t have surprised him either way. And for the name … he had some idea, but figuring out something that sounded strange and alien, yet also reasonable, it would take some effort….

 

“So, what’s up next? “