Just after midnight, on the deck of the SS Draper (a member ship of the DAZ Line), Aiko and I were chatting it up, having a great time and taking in the night air after a wonderful evening of gourmet food and intelligent conversation. My thoughts turned towards more down-to-earth pursuits, especially every time I see her in that low-cut dress. Hmmmmm.... I think I'll ask her down to the stateroom for a bottle of fine 1889 Beaujolais and... Suddenly, she brings my attention away from her deep liquid eyes, and focuses them instead on an unfolding disaster, not 5 miles distant! "Oh my, Peng! What on earth is going on over there!" "I'm not su- Oh my, is tha- It is! I'll be damned! It's the RMS Curious Labs, of the EGISys Line!" "It is? But that's the biggest ship in all of Poserdom! Will they be alright?" "I'm not sure - she looks pretty bad off - see, she's rising at the stern even now..." Aiko drew in a sharp breath of fear... "We, we'd better hurry up and tell Cap'n Farr about this! Maybe we can get him to tow the Curious Labs to safety!?" (Err, after tearing my eyes off of her suddenly heaving chest only with the greatest of mental difficulty...) "I dunno, babes... if we get too close, we could get sucked under ourselves. I mean, that's one real big boat there, it must weigh a quarter-million tons at least (not counting a few of the egoes on board, natch.) See that iceberg - no dear, the one over there, the one labelled 'Poor Coding Practices'? Yeah, that one. See - looks like it bit 'em real hard." Her large eyes took pity on the slowly heaving hulk of steel in the distance. The she wheeled around (dammit, this time she nearly caught me staring at her cleavage... gotta be more careful this time!) "But how did it get into so much trouble, Peng? It was supposed to be the latest and greatest! I saw the advertisements, even. They were the biggest of the big! They were huge! they were, were... what's the word I was thinking of?" "Tita-" "No, it's 'Massive' I was thinking of! Yeah, they were massive! Insoluble even!" "Well m'dear, arrogance is a pretty ugly thing sometimes. I mean, they promised so much, and given the technology, there was no way anyone could deliver, even if their budget was twice as big! In fact, I remember hearing over the wireless what Cap'n Cooper said to that Kammerer guy over on the cargo steamer SS Renderotica (DSI line)... all about how they were bigger and better, and that nothing was going to stop 'em. Hell, Jack even warned 'em point-blank, but you shoulda heard the insults that came flying back! " Aiko peered into the distance... "Why aren't they lowering the lifeboats?" "Dunno, sweetie - prolly because the morph dials keep causing a BSOD?" "Dammit Pengy, I'm serious!" Aiko pouted... (Damn, she looks gooood when she sticks out her lower lip like that... *ahem*) "Well, I guess they don't want to spook anyone. After all, they got quite a few people to shell out a whole lot of cash for that trip, maybe they don't want anyone panicking." I peer into the distance myself, and faintly, just faintly, I can hear a megaphone in the distance: "Vickies and Milgirls first!" ...and another: "Dork! - get OUT of that boat this instant!" ...and one more: "No, No, NO! You canNOT take that sword with you!" The wind picked up to a whisper, but enough to drown out further conversation. (Hey - was Aiko just scoping out my backside? She sure did move her eyes real quick... I didn't realize this clown suit was such a chick magnet...) "Did you hear all that, babes?" I asked my companion, nodding towards the distance. "Sorta. You may have been right about them morph dials after all..." We felt the ship underneath us lurch slightly, and head towards the unfolding disaster. "Peng! it looks like we're heading that way!" ("yeah but prolly so Cap'n Farr can get a better view of Kupa choking on seawater right as he goes under" I mumble under my breath.) "What was that?" "Oh, nothing sweetums, nothing." About this time, Third Officer Steve Kondris appears, and stayed just long enough to inform us that, "We'll be unlimbering DAZ|Studio shortly, so don't be alarmed if you see use moving things around a bit. You two have a great evening. Oh, and Peng, keep your eyes off of her chest, willya? It just ain't healthy to stare at a woman like that." (Doh! Damn you Steve! Damage Control! Damage Control! WTF did you have to go and say that for! Now she's getting mad... Ack! Don't just stand there, Peng, say something - - anything!) "Aiko m'dear, did I ever tell you how beautiful you look when you're angry...? "