One more time, fixing the technobabble, adding another scene, and including the beginnings of the Concordance (with an entry for a scene that's later in the plot)...
Local date unknown, Local time unknown, Location unknown
Once again, I opened my eyes and didn't see the face of the woman I wanted to see more than anyone else. Was I ever going to get home?
"He's waking up!" That was a child's voice, and she was speaking French.
I sat up and looked around. I was on a tropical beach, my cycle a few yards inland. I could have arrived in a worse place; hell, I *had* arrived in worse places in other worlds. A young girl and two teenagers (a girl and a boy) were looking at me with concern. "At the risk of sounding cliched, where am I?"
"I wish we knew," answered the older girl. "We just washed up on this shore a couple of hours ago."
"And then you showed up out of a ... hole in the air," added the boy. "What scientific principle allows for movement of that sort?"
I smiled at the boy. "That's a long story, lad, and we have other things to do if you just washed ashore. I assume you survived a shipwreck; where's your lifeboat?"
"It isn't a boat," said the younger girl. "It's the captain's cabin! I want to see him again."
"So do I," whispered the older girl.
The boy pointed out to sea. "It's caught on that reef, sir." Sure enough, there was a metal pod caught on a rock at the edge of the atoll. "I was going to build a boat and try to salvage what I could from it, but we decided to wait until you were awake before leaving you alone. Did I do the wrong thing?"
"You should have left one person here while the other two started salvaging what you needed ... but I'm glad you stayed to watch over me. By the way, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Douglas Sagnoir, but my friends call me Doug."
"I am Jean Ratlique," replied the boy, "and these are my friends, Marie Lowenbrau and Nadia."
DRUNKARD'S STAGGER: BLUE SKIES, BLUE WATER
By Rob Kelk
Based on the "Drunkard's Walk" fanfic cycle, created by Bob Schroeck
and "Fushigi No Umi no Nadia", directed by Hideaki Anno
M. Sagnoir stood up and walked over to his odd vehicle. I quickly followed him. "Excuse me, sir ...?"
"Jean, call me Doug, please."
I nodded. "What manner of vehicle is that? It looks like it could be a motorized bicycle, but I've never seen a bicycle shaped like that before."
"You got it in one, Jean; this *is* a motorcycle. It can do a few other things, too." He opened one of the cases and withdrew a helmet, then tossed it to me. "Put that on, get on, and we'll go take a look at the captain's cabin."
"But, sir ... Doug," I quickly corrected myself, "there is no road-way from here to there for your motor-cycle."
He smiled, then spoke in English. "" He seated himself on the motor-cycle, started its engine, then toggled a switch, which caused the vehicle to lift slightly into the air.
"Incredible! How does the motor-cycle fly, sir?"
Doug smiled. "Happy thoughts and pixie dust, Jean."
"That is *not* a scientific answer, sir. You may as well have said that it's because the motor-cycle is coated with cavorite."
He stopped smiling. "I'm sorry, Jean. You really want to know, don't you?" He went on after I nodded. "There's a device in here that creates a standing graviton wave, which supports the motorcycle against the Earth's field. Before you ask, the emitter tilts the standing wave to provide the pseudo-thrust that moves the bike when it's flying."
"I think I preferred the pixie dust explanation, Doug. At least I could understand that."
He smiled, in that "I'm an adult and you're not so it's okay" way that I hate so much. "I guess I shouldn't have expected someone your age to be familiar with this. It's far in advance of Einstein's gravitational theories ... What is it, Jean?"
"Who is this M. Einstein?"
"Who is Einstein? Okay, I suppose I deserved that for my joke ..." Doug stopped speaking as he looked at my face. "Jean, have you *really* never heard of Albert Einstein?"
"No, sir."
He looked puzzled. "But ... that pod ... Jean, exactly what *is* today's date, including the year?"
* * *
Sunday, April 27, 1890, 4:30 PM. Location still unknown.
Once I had used the bike to tow the entire pod off the rocks and inland far enough that it wouldn't be washed away, Jean and I tied it down as best we could. "That'll have to do, Jean."
"Yes, sir. Doug."
"Where did the girls get off to, while we were doing the heavy work?" I smiled to let him know I wasn't too worried about having to do the heavy work. I doubted any of the others were as strong as I was, so I *should* be doing the heavy work.
"I think they wanted to explore the beach."
"Can they take care of themselves if there's trouble?"
"I think that Nadia can take care of both of them."
I noticed the hesitation in Jean's voice. "All right, then. Let's get this opened up so the water can drain out, then start walking after them."
Jean looked puzzled. "Aren't we going to use the motor-cycle, Doug?"
I shook my head. "Nope, and for two reasons. First, I don't know if I can refuel it around here, so I'm hoping to use it only when necessary. Second, we can't all fit on the seat."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense. Will you help me up, please?" One quick hug and lift, and Jean was on top of the pod. "Thank you!" He slid into an open hatch on the pod's top. A hatch at one end of the pod opened a moment later, revealing Jean and quite a bit of water.
I pulled a towel from one of the bike's panniers, and handed it to Jean. "Shall we go find the others?"
~~~~~~~~
Concordance
"I am Jean Ratlique," replied the boy, "and these are my friends, Marie Lowenbrau and Nadia."
Jean gives his full name many times during "Nadia" (including episode 1), while Marie only mentions hers once at the very end of episode 39. At this point (near the end of episode 23, if you hadn't figured it out), Nadia still doesn't know her family name.
Why start at the beginning of the much-maligned "Island arc"? First, so that Doug doesn't have the chance to learn very much of the setting's super-science; if Bob wants Doug to get that kind of knowledge, he'll write the scene himself. Second, and more importantly, so that Doug's intrusion on the plot doesn't derail any of the important relationships; they had all been formed by this point (with the exception of Ayerton's interaction with the Grandis Gang). Doug won't be taking anybody's place in the show's "relationship chart".
"M. Sagnoir stood up ..."
"M." is short for "Monsieur", the French equivalent of "Mister". (And that's the only language note I'm including here. I hope.)
""
Doug is fond of popular culture references; in this case, he's quoting the movie "Back to the Future".
"Happy thoughts and pixie dust, Jean."
And this is a "Peter Pan" quote.
"You may as well have said that it's because the motor-cycle is coated with cavorite."
Cavorite is a fictional anti-gravity material created by H.G. Wells for his novel "The First Men in the Moon". In our world, Mr. Wells wrote that book in 1900. In Nadia's anachronism-filled world, who knows when it was penned?
"... the people I had met along the way - Dee, Leese, Sana, Buckaroo, Megumi, Misato, and the others."
The intent here is to name the people who've made the greatest impressions on Doug during his travels, keeping in mind his aversion to deities. A few are educated guesses; the last is a W.A.G. ... Also, the people who are, and are not, on this list shows that this happens after "Drunkard's Walk VI: Angel Baby", but before the Utena, Sailor Moon, and Legion's Quest Steps.
~~~~~~~~
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Local date unknown, Local time unknown, Location unknown
Once again, I opened my eyes and didn't see the face of the woman I wanted to see more than anyone else. Was I ever going to get home?
"He's waking up!" That was a child's voice, and she was speaking French.
I sat up and looked around. I was on a tropical beach, my cycle a few yards inland. I could have arrived in a worse place; hell, I *had* arrived in worse places in other worlds. A young girl and two teenagers (a girl and a boy) were looking at me with concern. "At the risk of sounding cliched, where am I?"
"I wish we knew," answered the older girl. "We just washed up on this shore a couple of hours ago."
"And then you showed up out of a ... hole in the air," added the boy. "What scientific principle allows for movement of that sort?"
I smiled at the boy. "That's a long story, lad, and we have other things to do if you just washed ashore. I assume you survived a shipwreck; where's your lifeboat?"
"It isn't a boat," said the younger girl. "It's the captain's cabin! I want to see him again."
"So do I," whispered the older girl.
The boy pointed out to sea. "It's caught on that reef, sir." Sure enough, there was a metal pod caught on a rock at the edge of the atoll. "I was going to build a boat and try to salvage what I could from it, but we decided to wait until you were awake before leaving you alone. Did I do the wrong thing?"
"You should have left one person here while the other two started salvaging what you needed ... but I'm glad you stayed to watch over me. By the way, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Douglas Sagnoir, but my friends call me Doug."
"I am Jean Ratlique," replied the boy, "and these are my friends, Marie Lowenbrau and Nadia."
DRUNKARD'S STAGGER: BLUE SKIES, BLUE WATER
By Rob Kelk
Based on the "Drunkard's Walk" fanfic cycle, created by Bob Schroeck
and "Fushigi No Umi no Nadia", directed by Hideaki Anno
M. Sagnoir stood up and walked over to his odd vehicle. I quickly followed him. "Excuse me, sir ...?"
"Jean, call me Doug, please."
I nodded. "What manner of vehicle is that? It looks like it could be a motorized bicycle, but I've never seen a bicycle shaped like that before."
"You got it in one, Jean; this *is* a motorcycle. It can do a few other things, too." He opened one of the cases and withdrew a helmet, then tossed it to me. "Put that on, get on, and we'll go take a look at the captain's cabin."
"But, sir ... Doug," I quickly corrected myself, "there is no road-way from here to there for your motor-cycle."
He smiled, then spoke in English. "" He seated himself on the motor-cycle, started its engine, then toggled a switch, which caused the vehicle to lift slightly into the air.
"Incredible! How does the motor-cycle fly, sir?"
Doug smiled. "Happy thoughts and pixie dust, Jean."
"That is *not* a scientific answer, sir. You may as well have said that it's because the motor-cycle is coated with cavorite."
He stopped smiling. "I'm sorry, Jean. You really want to know, don't you?" He went on after I nodded. "There's a device in here that creates a standing graviton wave, which supports the motorcycle against the Earth's field. Before you ask, the emitter tilts the standing wave to provide the pseudo-thrust that moves the bike when it's flying."
"I think I preferred the pixie dust explanation, Doug. At least I could understand that."
He smiled, in that "I'm an adult and you're not so it's okay" way that I hate so much. "I guess I shouldn't have expected someone your age to be familiar with this. It's far in advance of Einstein's gravitational theories ... What is it, Jean?"
"Who is this M. Einstein?"
"Who is Einstein? Okay, I suppose I deserved that for my joke ..." Doug stopped speaking as he looked at my face. "Jean, have you *really* never heard of Albert Einstein?"
"No, sir."
He looked puzzled. "But ... that pod ... Jean, exactly what *is* today's date, including the year?"
* * *
Sunday, April 27, 1890, 4:30 PM. Location still unknown.
Once I had used the bike to tow the entire pod off the rocks and inland far enough that it wouldn't be washed away, Jean and I tied it down as best we could. "That'll have to do, Jean."
"Yes, sir. Doug."
"Where did the girls get off to, while we were doing the heavy work?" I smiled to let him know I wasn't too worried about having to do the heavy work. I doubted any of the others were as strong as I was, so I *should* be doing the heavy work.
"I think they wanted to explore the beach."
"Can they take care of themselves if there's trouble?"
"I think that Nadia can take care of both of them."
I noticed the hesitation in Jean's voice. "All right, then. Let's get this opened up so the water can drain out, then start walking after them."
Jean looked puzzled. "Aren't we going to use the motor-cycle, Doug?"
I shook my head. "Nope, and for two reasons. First, I don't know if I can refuel it around here, so I'm hoping to use it only when necessary. Second, we can't all fit on the seat."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense. Will you help me up, please?" One quick hug and lift, and Jean was on top of the pod. "Thank you!" He slid into an open hatch on the pod's top. A hatch at one end of the pod opened a moment later, revealing Jean and quite a bit of water.
I pulled a towel from one of the bike's panniers, and handed it to Jean. "Shall we go find the others?"
~~~~~~~~
Concordance
"I am Jean Ratlique," replied the boy, "and these are my friends, Marie Lowenbrau and Nadia."
Jean gives his full name many times during "Nadia" (including episode 1), while Marie only mentions hers once at the very end of episode 39. At this point (near the end of episode 23, if you hadn't figured it out), Nadia still doesn't know her family name.
Why start at the beginning of the much-maligned "Island arc"? First, so that Doug doesn't have the chance to learn very much of the setting's super-science; if Bob wants Doug to get that kind of knowledge, he'll write the scene himself. Second, and more importantly, so that Doug's intrusion on the plot doesn't derail any of the important relationships; they had all been formed by this point (with the exception of Ayerton's interaction with the Grandis Gang). Doug won't be taking anybody's place in the show's "relationship chart".
"M. Sagnoir stood up ..."
"M." is short for "Monsieur", the French equivalent of "Mister". (And that's the only language note I'm including here. I hope.)
""
Doug is fond of popular culture references; in this case, he's quoting the movie "Back to the Future".
"Happy thoughts and pixie dust, Jean."
And this is a "Peter Pan" quote.
"You may as well have said that it's because the motor-cycle is coated with cavorite."
Cavorite is a fictional anti-gravity material created by H.G. Wells for his novel "The First Men in the Moon". In our world, Mr. Wells wrote that book in 1900. In Nadia's anachronism-filled world, who knows when it was penned?
"... the people I had met along the way - Dee, Leese, Sana, Buckaroo, Megumi, Misato, and the others."
The intent here is to name the people who've made the greatest impressions on Doug during his travels, keeping in mind his aversion to deities. A few are educated guesses; the last is a W.A.G. ... Also, the people who are, and are not, on this list shows that this happens after "Drunkard's Walk VI: Angel Baby", but before the Utena, Sailor Moon, and Legion's Quest Steps.
~~~~~~~~
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012