When I’d gotten the ship interface for the Wind Runner, ‘interface’ really was the best term. The ship was its own, and I had merely been given a limited interaction with it. When I raised my dinghy, the ship interface had seemed small in comparison to the galleon, even with my expanded cursed features. Still, I had felt closer to the dinghy than the Wind Runner. I’d written the feeling off as time and sense of ownership: I’d only had the Wind Runner for an hour or so and that was by default, while the dinghy was my own.
Now I understood that it had been more than that. The ship interface wasn’t the same glimpse into a ship’s identity like I’d felt on the Wind Runner, the same interface most captains experienced. It was part of my profession, part of me. My ship was claimed as my own. I was not just a captain manning a ship, the ship was an extension of myself.
And now, claiming this brig brought my new interface – the full expansion of my consciousness – flooding into my mind like a tsunami.
If I’d been anchored, I’d have fallen to my knees. Adrift as I was, my head snapped back like I’d caught a fist to the nose. My body started to follow it, but I curled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my head in a variation of the fetal position. My shoulder bounced off the deck before my feet did, and my disorientation didn’t help matters.
Everything about the ship just popped into my head, and the volume of it discombobulated me. I closed my eyes but the interface was still in my mind. It was there, I could process it, I just needed time to work through it, an order to everything instead of this mass.
I mentally ordered the interface to appear as categories and subcategories. I trundled everything upwards until I had a neat, concise, non-overwhelming list.
Sea Cruiser (Cursed)
Ship Class
Brig
Captain
Domenic Seaborn
Ship Durability
,000/28,000
Ship level
Cursed Status:
The Grieving Captain
Crew
Ship alterations:
Speed
Maneuverability
Handling
Durability
Modifications:
Repairs
Effects
Relationships
…