“Huh…”

Now that he had seen the control panel up close and personal, his motivation pummeled down through the floor. Alchfrid and Theo were both enjoying his reaction, chuckling on the side.

“Having second thoughts, little man? That’s no swinging your sticks around, this is the real man’s job. You gotta use your scrubber thrice as much now, scout.”

He could see that. Wheel’s purpose was simple enough to guess, but no less than three separate levers of various types on the right-hand side near the steering wheel were giving him a hard time. They had numbers near them, which was helpful, but what these numbers were for remained a mystery. A row of small light crystals (indicators?) with toggle switches beneath them on the left side was provided with next to no instructions, which meant that Joe had nothing to work with for now.

Then there was a circular crystal screen behind the wheel, another one on the right side above the levers, with a keyboard beneath it. Symbols on it told Joe absolutely nothing. The keyboard also had all ten basic digits on it.

And all of that was only the stuff directly in front of the pilot’s seat. Joseph glanced around, and after seeing more indicators, buttons, switches, knob switches, crystal light, and screens, jerked his head away, focusing his Mind only on the current task.

“Well, Joe, what do you think anything does?”

Aside from the wheel, he could probably try to guess the purpose of levers.

“Wheel is for turning the ship left and right, I think. Levers… some of them are for acceleration, like this handle one, others are for altitude or attitude?”

Theo rubbed his hands.

“A good guess, junior. The closest one is, indeed, how quick this rusty trough is going to move its butt. The second one, in dumbest terms, is the angle of the nose. You can’t flip a ship over, no matter how much your hands are itching to do just that. Thrusters only allow for slight adjustments, and if you turn too much, will call you out on being an idiot that you are, and block themselves from moving any further, until you align the vessel properly.”

Joe stared at Theo.

“So, I can’t flip the ship and fall down on my head?”

“Aye. The void has no air unless you are on the land, or a ship, but here is an interesting story about gravity… if you fly close to any island upside down, better be prepared to crash your head on a ceiling and break your neck. But if you do the same in the Threshold, nothing is going to happen... for a while. Wanna guess, why?”

“...Because it works near the land?”

Alchfrid nodded.

“Obviously. If you fly near any land unaligned, you fall, when you are getting close to it. It’s not exactly sudden, but you will feel the impact regardless. The closer you are, the stronger the gravity becomes. And ships aren’t designed to fly over the land either.”

Which is why they never flew too close to the Stone Maw Island, Joe realized.

“Alright, I understand that now. But what happens, if one uses such maneuver in the Threshold itself, during a battle between ships?”

Theo laughed.

“Then, little man, you better pray that your stomach is stronger than that of a Daemon’s. Ever wondered, why your feet are on the floor and you are not floating right now? Because of Threshold. This abominable place keeps things nice and orderly, as long as you are on a ship and somewhat aligned with the land outside. You can fly upside down, if you are a mental patient, and have no problems, but the moment you come into close contact with the other ship, gravity gets all sorts of confused. I am not going to break that fragile brain of yours, but you can try it yourself if you get your own ship. It will be very fun~.”

The last words Theo stretched, slowly tasting each one with amusement in the voice. Joseph chose to believe him on the spot.

“I see, I see… Then… Hmm… Third one?”

“Turn speed.”

Theo shot the words straight out, offering no further explanation.

“I saw front thrusters. How do you activate them?”

“Turn the accelerator to the neutral, wait for it to click, then all the way forward. Simple. This ship is made for dummies, I tell you what. Any schmuck could grab it today and fly away. At least safeguards are working… sometimes.”

Alchfrid coughed to the side.

“What else? The lights? Oh-ho, this is the most important part. If you see even one of them not light up after flicking the switch, then you are screwed.”

What could he mean by that?… Oh. Now the small icons underneath were making some sense, but Joe was still wandering, why not just indicate the engine with its proper image, or something. Definitely not one simple arrow, pointing forward!

“So, these are parts of the ship?”

Theo nodded.

“Working fast, junior, I see. Reactor, processors, engine, thrusters, shields, weaponry, and controls themselves. Put a key into this hole, then turn on the reactor first, which is why it’s above others. If it works, great, turn on the processors next, then the rest. If even one of them doesn’t work, you run your arse does there, and scream at wrenches to do their job properly. If nothing works, you are boned absolutely. Might as well just jump off the ship, if there is no competent mechanic nearby. Or bash the reactor and filters with a hammer, until they do something.”

Some things never change… Wait, filters? What filters?!

Theo stood up from the chair.

“Here, take the wheel.”

“What?! You can’t be serious?!” Joe put his hands up, scrambling to get away.

The branchy arms grabbed his shoulders and shoved him into the seat. Try as he could, the Captain was strong as a viking on mushrooms, leaving no room for protest.

“You are learning way faster with practice anyway, Joe. So, a couple of things. This circle here is a Void Compass, which points to the chosen location. Right now, it is Ghastly Wail. Just make sure that this bold line is pointing up, together with a thin middle line staying where it is, and you’ll be fine.”

Easier said, then done… Joseph glanced outside. The stars were of no help to him, as were unmoving glimpses of the black sky behind the veil. He had no idea, how to gauge speed besides the numbers on the accelerator handle.

Theo noticed his futile attempts.

“The void is of no help to you, junior, unless there is the land nearby or another vessel. Your only chances are the indicators and the Compass.”

Alchfrid nodded.

“Well, time for some practice, Joseph! Turn it to the left, ninety degrees!”

Well, here goes nothing… Understanding, help me out there!

He got no answer. They left him to face this challenge alone.

Joe hesitated and slowly turned the wheel to the left. The line began to move to the right, and when it almost reached a ninety-degree angle from its previous position, he returned the wheel to the neutral position.

He missed, but not by much. He was ten degrees off, more or less.

“Good, turn it back!”

The next try went much better. The line was off by a couple of centimeters still, however.

“Joe, you are forgetting about acceleration. There is barely any air resistance outside. Second try, keep it steady.”

He turned the wheel to the left, and returned it when the line reached forty-five degrees.

This time, he didn’t turn it enough. But Theo was smiling.

“Told you, this ship is made for idiots. But you catch on quick, junior. Let’s spice it up - use the turn controller now, together with the wheel!”

Fine… this is going to be interesting…

Don’t shake like a chicken on a chopping board, bredda. This is not a car, nor a polygon.

Psss, man! Just rely on your Instinct! You are good at that!

…Right.

Joe pulled the lever. The line dashed around the screen. He felt a burst of pressure on his left side, pushing him away from the seat. His hands barely had any time to react and jerk the steering wheel back.

He turned the entire ship one-eighty degrees around. Seeing as they were going in the opposite direction, he frantically grabbed the accelerator and pushed it forward, until it loudly clicked at zero.

Joe had no idea, whether they were standing, or moving. The only sounds he could hear were his own heartbeat and the loud laughter of his ‘mentors’.

“Wa-ha-ha, have you seen his face, Alch?! This pure panic deserves a picture on the wall! I would hang it near the map, as a reminder!”

Captain nodded, trying to keep his chuckles low.

“Not bad, Joe… almost.” He couldn’t hold it in.

Joseph was sitting with a grimace on his face, waiting for them to let it all out.

Finally, after a minute or so, they pulled themselves together.

Theo coughed.

“Well, junior, you are as green as it gets, but you are making some progress. Now, point this junk back on the right track. Use minimum possible acceleration, and turn around.”

This miserable ship was definitely cursing his ineptitude to hell and back, but the ‘junior’ did manage to align the nose of the ship with the correct direction. The Captain nodded with approval, gesturing him to come closer. Theo took his own rightful place as the helmsman in the seat again, after Joe got up.

“You know the basics now. We will get more time to work on them, but for now, take a look at this.”

Both of them were standing near a crystal screen and a keyboard. Captain pressed a button. The screen flickered and turned on.

Joseph saw 095, then two blackened circles right after, a vertical line with an arrow on top, and ‘~’.

“Is that a code of some sort?”

He received a nod.

“Indeed. 095 is the number associated with Ghastly Wail. The next symbols are the terrain type - two circles literally mean ‘a lot of uneven terrain’. Ghastly Wail is mostly a mountain range, you see. Next symbol means, that it has a meaningful amount of flora - forests, plants, anything. The last one is the presence of the water.”

Joe could remember that. He looked over the keyboard and a small familiar sign caught his attention.

“I see a swirl on the button… is that a magic of some kind?”

“Magic it is, lad. Just Magic. Monsters, anomalies, Daemons, or anything related is signed with that symbol. You’ve seen a door that leads to the Engineering Deck, at the very bottom?”

Joseph nodded. The yellow sign with additional gear, he could see it clear as day.

“This is the Dissonance sign. Used for related machinery too.”

“So, Dissonance and Magic are related?”

“Only eggheads know that,” Theo answered instead from his seat. “Seems the same to me. But smart guys kept telling me that there is a difference - maybe they have bigger scrubber than I do, wouldn’t know. My job is to fly this useless pan around for our Captain’s pleasure.”

Joe glanced at Alchfrid. He spread his branches.

“Maybe, maybe not. University of Mages might know, but this is not important for us. They use a similar symbol, that’s true. Why, I have no idea. Never bothered to ask.”

Roth might have an idea. But was it really that important?

Probably not a priority for now… Memory, put it down on the paper somewhere…

On it, Darling!

Joseph looked over the map. The islands on the map had codes beneath their names. He did not see Stone Maw Island anywhere.

“How old is this map?”

“Old as my grandma, junior. It’s always been there. Never changed it.”