Luise's life had taken several unexpected turns recently. If a few months ago someone had told her she'd be grateful to be a prisoner onboard one of the most notorious ghost ships ever to sail the void, she would have thought they were insane, and yet here she was.

Currently, Luise was having dinner with her first mate, or at least Jerome had filled that role when she'd had her own ship. Now neither of them had rank or status beyond what the ship's avatar granted them. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that she was herself again and enjoying this meal.

Jerome looked at her in something between unease and wonder. "I don't know how you can enjoy eating that grey paste so much, it's disgusting! If I didn't get hungry enough, I don't think I'd even consider it food!"

Luise shrugged and shoveled another spoonful into her mouth. He was right in that not only was the flavor mediocre, but the texture was also off-putting, but that didn't dampen her enjoyment one bit. A moment later, she responded. "It's simple, really. I'm enjoying this because I'm eating it! Not that...thing that wore me like some sort of meat suit! I know I've already said this, but you have no idea how wonderful it is to be able to blink whenever I want to! That alone would put me in a good mood!"

Jerome shook his head. Clearly, he was still having trouble accepting the story she'd told him, not that Luise blamed him; it was an absurd story to say the least! At first, he didn't believe her at all. She'd had to show him the port that was now a permanent fixture in the back of her neck, and had both the Sybil and Captain Carter back up her story before he'd even considered if it was true. He was still somewhat skeptical, but seemed willing to at least play along for now, and that was enough for Luise. He seemed like he was about to say something else when a knock at the door announced they had a guest.

The door opened a moment later without any response from Jerome or Luise. They were prisoners, after all. It's not like they had a private suite or anything. Still, it was bold of one of their hosts to walk into a room with two prisoners who had nothing better to do than keep each other company without waiting to hear from them first. Then again, the ship's AI was probably more than capable of knowing if they were decent or not, so it may have been that it wasn't quite the gamble she'd first thought.

In walked Carter. It appeared that he was alone and armed only with a single handgun, though Luise knew better than anyone that no one was ever alone on this ship; she still had nightmares about the scale and scope of the AI aboard this ship, even though most of it had been forgotten due to her inability to understand it. Regardless, they'd quickly find themselves in a whole new scale of trouble if they tried to overpower him, so his confidence was well-founded. He stepped in and nodded in their direction, acknowledging the two prisoners. "Hey, I got something I wanna run by the two of you, see if you're interested in a bit of revenge. Now, this will put you right in the crosshairs of the person you used to call the Boss, but it will also fuck with his plans, and in return, we'll be willing to set you free once everything is said and done. What do you say?"

Luise looked at her first mate, then back to Carter. "You had me at revenge. What's the plan?"

-

Elias suspected the kid, Miles, who he'd seen around a couple of times, was his ticket out of this madhouse. Not that he was going to try something stupid, like holding him ransom. He couldn't think of a faster way to get permanently locked back in his cell without the few freedoms he'd been granted. However, the kid seemed to be chasing down some mystery, something to do with the "ghosts" that occasionally wandered the halls.

Even now, the kid seemed to be following another lead, and Elias was thinking of seeing if the kid would let him come along, but the sound of a rapid "tap tap tap tap" behind him told the pirate that something with far too many legs was behind him. Turning around, he saw the one person on board who frightened him almost as much as the lady in red. It was the weaver.

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Making an effort to suppress his shudder, Elias stepped to the edge of the hallway to allow the weaver to pass, only for the horrifying-looking creature to stop and stare directly at him with far too many eyes. She bowed in acknowledgment, though Elias noticed he was never entirely out of view of at least some of the eyes looking his way. "Greetings, Captain Elias. I was sent to offer you a proposal. A chance to earn your freedom, make a profit, and get some revenge all at the same time. Would that interest you?"

Elias narrowed his eyes. "Any target you're offering all that for probably isn't worth the risk... You're going after the Boss, aren't you?"

The weaver nodded in such a way that a portion of her upper body moved forward, and thus closer to Elias, causing him to flinch, before pulling back again. "Indeed. However, I would like to note we will be proceeding with or without your help. Your choices are to stay aboard the ship as we do so, and die if we fail, or remain imprisoned if we succeed, or you can join in on the attempt, in which case you'll still probably die in the case of failure, but you'll be free and quite wealthy if we succeed. I suppose you just have to weigh the resulting risks and benefits to decide which is better in your esteem.

The weaver made it sound like the risks were the same; however, Elias well knew getting on the Boss's bad side was considerably worse than a quick death via fiery explosion. On the other hand, it never hurts to hear them out. You never know, maybe their plan would present him with...possibilities.

He nodded. "Alright, I'll at least hear you out. It's not like I can't ask to be locked up again if I decide it's that bad of an idea."

The nightmarish weaver nodded again. "Very sensible of you, sir..."

-

Alen looked at the men arranged before him, wondering how he'd ended up second in command of this little ragtag fleet of theirs. They all had considerably more time and experience than he did in politics, and yet seemed to trust him enough to follow his and Carter's lead. Was it just because of the Sybil backing them up? That didn't make sense; they'd had plenty of chances to cut and run if that was all keeping them here. He resisted the urge to shake his head in wonder as he finished up his explanation. "So anyway, that's the basic plan on our end. Dimitri, if you could pull whatever political strings you've got to get things moving, and Reid, we'll need your connections among any of the pirate hunters who haven't joined up with either side of the fight just yet. Sound good?"

Dimitri looked a little doubtful. "I've made a few connections over the years, but I don't think I have enough weight to pull quite what you're asking."

Alen shook his head. "You're thinking of this all wrong. They're not doing us a favor; we're doing them one! If they don't act now, they're going to get drawn into a real war, the like of which this galaxy hasn't seen since the AI war! They need to get in on this now, if only to secure some plausible deniability for themselves!"

The older captain hesitated. "Hmmm. I suppose that might work. Still needs a bit more polish though... I don't suppose you've got any funds to help grease the wheels?"

Alen nodded. "We'll be cutting it a bit tight, but we've had some really good hauls before the shit hit the fan, so I'm sure we can put together a sizeable donation packet for you."

Dimitri nodded. "Then I suppose I can make that work."

Looking over at Ried, the commander seemed deep in thought. "Well, the pickings might be a little slim, but I suppose there are a few reliable captains out there I could put the word out to. We'll probably have to bribe them as well, but not cash up front. First pickings of the remnants after the fight is over should do the trick, especially after I show them how we've moved up in the world!"

Alen agreed. "Yeah, I thought as much. There might be a few restrictions, but I'm sure we can work out something to that effect."

One last look around showed that everyone else was on board, so Alen nodded. "Alright! Sounds like we've got a plan. Let's get to it!"

-

The entity, known as separate beings to most of the galaxy, looked at itself, seeing both the pirate and the girl from its two states of consciousness. Strangely, it felt very different about the state of things from its two manifestations, though both were simultaneously aware of each other's views. It didn't need to project itself to itself, but with the absence of its third self, it felt hesitant to diminish itself in any way, even if it was only a cosmetic change. Thoughts and feelings welled up in the two personalities' anger, fear, hope, determination, and pride. Each was answered in kind, all within a few heartbeats of their organic guests. Turning out to look into the void, the entity determined that it would either be whole again, or the thing which had split it asunder would pay with its existence.

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