NEWS
Gran Voyage Type: Story
Gran Voyage Name: Short on Data, and Short on Personnel
Gran Voyage Location: Mock Town
Level: 1
Gran Voyage Description:
Recently at Mock Town, the world-famous "Yuurei Swordstealer" has been captured, and an impressive and urgent ensemble of Marine forces have been deployed to escort him to Impel Down.
And so, Mock Town is currently quite short on maritime personnel, because of the surprise need to properly attend to this important event.
They'll need reinforcements somehow, or to just get the existing staff to work overtime to compensate.
Lucky for them, Lady Sofia is at Mock Town currently too, and she has always got a Marine Navigator with her: Anna Blue (She is my NPC). She's part of the Sabaody Division of the Marines though, with the special assignment to be the noble's bodyguard. But none the less, during her regular reports at local Marine Stations, she will be requested by the Mock Town Marine Station to have her work for them - temporarily. They're short on ship-competent personnel, and with Anna Blue being a Navigator, she makes the perfect fit.
Sofia will eventually reluctantly accept, although with the condition to have protection here in some other way. She won't reveal that this is, in fact, ideal for her plans. Impel Down has been worrying her since the suspicions that were born back at their investigation at Sabaody, and this will allow the Navigator to see what the trips are like with her own eyes - while doing everything she is supposed to do anyway.
Additionally, Sofia has to file her paperwork of being the legal holder of a Devil Fruit as well - her powers have still not been discovered, and they had to be noted. She might've gotten away with being the consumer of a Devil Fruit because of her close ties to the World Government through being a noble, but little would save her from these necessary legal procedures.
And so, Anna Blue will be (temporarily) sent off to be a Navigator for other Marine transport boats for their regular trips to Impel Down, and Sofia will stay at the safety of the Mock Town Marine Station to be subjected to various experiments to determine her powers for a few days.
But, Sofia won't be honest during the tests. Luckily, her powers are very subtle and easy to hide, so she will do everything possible to play dumb and not let the full information be known, yet get her full Devil Fruit registration paperwork done and ready anyways.
Knowledge is everything.
Know more. Prevent others from knowing.
TL;DR: Sofia is going to try to get inaccurate information about her Devil Fruit powers filed, and Anna is going to work at a escort ship meanwhile.
NPCing: Nope
Link: https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t2030-short-on-data-and-short-on-personnel
“So, yeah.” the officer said, as she rubbed his hands together, looking at Sofia with a pleading smile. In the background, the bustling of the Mock Town Marine Station was roaring louder than usual.
“We need Anna Blue.” the officer continued, pinching his sweaty Marine uniform to unstick it from his body. “As you can see, after having to send off so many people to transport Yuurei, we’re going to be really short on personnel for a while. Just look at how wild things are here already - we’ve got to work extra. Like, a lot of extra. Having her with us would help a lot.”
Sofia sipped air through her teeth. “Aaah, well…” she mentioned, to then look aside. “It’s going to be difficult. She has been assigned as my bodyguard by the Sabaody Marines. What will I do all alone here? There could be other pirates, more danger, if Yuurei was here. I’m really concerned.”
And indeed there was. Madori, Dr. K and Mashyuu; her new acquaintances, were all here, as she knew.
The Marine then nodded. “That is true. Well. Uuuh - you could stay here, couldn’t you?” he suggested.
The noble nodded. “Yes, possibly…”
“It’s quite safe inside of here, in the cells if you want.” he added. “It would just be for these few intense days. It won’t be much, just for while Anna is away.”
Sofia then figured that now would be a good moment to bring thatup. She rose a finger with a faked flinch and then smiled “Oh! I could get my Devil Fruit registration done. I still need the final testing.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah!” The marine cheered. “We can do that. See, it works out for the both of us. So, how about it?”
She sighed again. “It’s… Going to be a bit annoying to have to stay locked up in here.” she started off. “But to help you guys - I don’t mind. I’ll help you out. I’ll stay here.”
Then, the other man blew out air in relief. “Huaaa. Thank you, Miss Sofia. We’ll take good care of you - and of Anna!”
Anna Blue got assigned to be part of the crew of an escort ship to Impel Down as part of her job. She was a navigator, and most of the personnel that was missing was maritime. So, with her having that sort of training, she made the perfect fit.
“Have you sailed to Impel Down before?” one of the crewmates aboard their ship asked Anna, having to crane his head downwards in order to be able to see the diminutive girl.
“O-of course I have!” she lied. “I-I know all about it.”
The Marine in front of her rose an eyebrow.
“I don’t, o-okay? What is this, harassment?” she then barked back and looked away.
“Yeah, alright.” the other guy then replied and shrugged. “You better study up the seacharts well then. There’s always a first time for anyone. Don’t get too worked up about it, OK?”
She nodded.
“There’s lunch later at the cafeteria in thirty.” he added. “Lasagna. Going to be good.”
She nodded again.
“You don’t talk much do you?” the man then chuckled.
“I-I talk when I want to, pal!” she then stammered back.
“Ah, heh. Anyways, see you there” the chap mentioned before leaving her at her quarters.
Anna Blue managed to finish her preliminary cartography to figure out how to set a route to Impel Down, by mostly copying the notes left behind and scribbled in to the maps by the previous navigator.
And then, she crept out of the room and looked down the corridors. There was nobody. They had likely gone already to the cafeteria or something. And so, she tiptoed around, trying to reach the centermost part of the ship, where the prisoners were at.
After a small trip, she got there, and immediately took a more regal and deliberate stance, like if she belonged there. It would be too suspicious that she would be looking like a creep around here, she figured. She walked down the hall, and eventually reached the part of the wall that were jail bars, and she saw that it had the prisoners within. They were chained by their wrists and ankles, and some had a piece of cloth over their mouth, likely to shut them up. Then, there was a man in the same setup, but placed into a barrel of water as well. He seemed to be sleeping.
“Hey.” Anna then barked at them.
“What?” one of the prisoners replied. “We already went through interrogation. Leave us alone. Unless you’re here to give us the good news that we get to go.”
Anna shook her head. “I’m here for something else.” she mentioned. “Why’s that guy in a tub, anyways?”
“Huh? Larry?” he replied. Then, he smiled. “Why do you want to know?”
“Answer, scum!” she then demanded, and slammed the bar with her nightstick. “I’m the one who makes the questions here!”
“H-hey, easy there! I’ll tell you. If you just leave us alone already.” the prisoner replied, as the others had opted to turn to the wall and ignore them. They just wanted peace and quiet - or to seem like it.
Anna stood straight again and then crossed her arms, to jerk her head lightly up to signal the prisoner to talk.
“He’s got a Devil Fruit, officer.” the criminal then mentioned. “Happy now? Good. Now leave.”
And the Marine did so, and after taking mental notes of everything in there, she left.
“You’re a bit late, aren’t you!” the chipper Marine that greeted Anna before exclaimed to her, as she entered the cafeteria.
“Sorry. Navigating work got me busy.” she lied, before going over to get her bowl of lasagna, to then go sit with them.
“Aaah, don’t fret it!” he replied. “C’mon, eat, eat. We don’t have forever you know!”
“Yes, I know.” Anna said back, and started to cut with her knife. “I know.”
And now knew how Impel Down prisoners were held. She and Sofia had wanted to investigate it for a while now, ever since the start of their suspicions over at Sabaody.
“So, you’re Phillipa Sofia, yes?” Dr. Landino, a lanky - but handsome - lad asked her, as he was seated inside of her cell, which was deep inside the station. It had been given clean, fancy sheets and a cotton pillow instead of a straw one as well, for her comfort, since she was going to be in there for a while. Also, the rest of the station was in such a busy state that the Marine doctor had brought the rest of his equipment in there too, to allow more space above.
“Yes. Dr. Landino, yes?”
“Correct. Anyways, if I don’t get any calls, we should be good to start…” he continued, nearly deadpan, and put his clipboard onto his lap and started to scribble a few notes. “So, Sofia” he started off, looking over the top of his glasses. “What abilities have you noted about yourself? Any changes in your body, perhaps? Involuntary movements, discomfort… Any strangeness?”
Of course she had. She had that damn castle of a sort in her ribcage, which she had been practicing use of before at her ship, with Anna Blue serving as test dummy.
“Nothing at all.” she replied.
“Alright.” the doctor replied, and checked off a box. “We’re going to check just in case, though.”
Sofia nodded.
Then, Landino brought this stethoscope to her chest. “Breathe.” he requested. And she did. Following that, she put it on her back, and she asked for the same. Over the course of the next hours, he continued to make these physical tests, to thoroughly inspect her body - much to Sofia’s discomfort. She would’ve preferred a female doctor for this. But, she endured it.
“It seems like there’s nothing odd here then.” he eventually concluded.
He hadn’t found her internal dimension. It was because she had already prepared for this - her body was entirely normal if it weren’t for that, but she could also control were she put doors to access for it, or what shape the rooms would take. She had put the rooms the deepest inside of her that she could.
And no doors or windows whatsoever.
So, it was inaccessible by design.
“I’ll let you get relaxed in here.” the doctor then mentioned with just usual, sterile demeanour. “And I’ll get you dinner from upstairs. Thank you for your collaboration”.
“O-OK.” Sofia replied, letting her discomfort manifest clearly.
He didn’t seem to care.
“What, we don’t go in closer?” Anna Blue asked, as they arrived to the vicinity of Impel Down, although not totally inside of it proper.
“Nope. This is close enough.” the helmsman replied to her, as they then started to look over to the deck to see how the prisoners were transported out by the Impel Down staff. And once they were off, the ship was started to be maneuvered out and away again.
“Well, that was quick” Anna Blue mentioned.
“Yeah. We don’t get paid to lack off.” the helmsman replied, as he spun the wheel to get the ship around, to then start to sail out into the sea again.
“What course, Navigator?” he then prompted. “Don’t get distracted now.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, sir.” Anna Blue blurted out. “Uuh, back to Jaya. Twenty degrees starboard.”
The next day, Sofia was visited by the doctor again to continue their throughout tests about her Devil Fruit. So far, she had managed to conceal that she had any permanent, latent bodily modifications done to herself. The next part was about her abilities - and if she had neither, then something was quite wrong. There had to be something special she could do, all Devil Fruits were like that.
“So, Sofia.” Landino then asked. “What sort of special abilities can you use?”
She had already prepared for this.
“I can squeeze things.” she replied. “I think that’s my power.”
“Squeeze?”
“Yes, squeeze. It’s weird.” Sofia then said. “But I can show you.”
She then got her pillow and held it straight out, to then start to pull it towards her, and as it did, it started to shrink irregularly as a sort of red barrier seemed to manifest near the girl, and the pillow shrank as it traversed it. For Sofia to then release the shrinking effect, and it rebounded out again to its original shape. It looked like a squeeze of a sort.
“Theeere we go.” he chuckled. “It’s a bit tricky, but that’s what I can do.”
“It looks like that pillow shrunk.” the doctor replied.
“Well, yeah.” Sofia said. “But it feels like squeezing. At least, in my head.”
Landino nodded. “It does seem like it. After all, Devil Fruits aren’t always exactly what their name states they are. I had to check the “Door Door” Fruit person before, and those things aren’t really true “Doors”. But they seem like it. Which is why it got that name.”
The noble then nodded. “Exactly!”
“Alright then. We could call it the Squeeze Squeeze Fruit then, possibly. But I need to run more checks on you for it, just in case.”
Then, he went over and got a pair of electrodes from a box, and started to attach it to her. “I’m going to have to see if I can get you to twitch out a certain special effect.” he explained. “Maybe it's just “squeezing” and that temporary state, but maybe it’s true, permanent shrinking. Or some other possibility. I have to figure it out. It’s procedure, after all.”
Sofia nodded as usual.
Then, he flipped a switch on, and she was suddenly shocked, forcing her muscles to contract to send her up into the air a few centimetres.
“H-huah! W-what, what was that?” she asked.
“Electricity” he replied. “I’m going to trigger your nerves to see if we get some kind of special reaction. Procedure.”
“O-Oh. Alright.” the noble replied. The shock had caught her off-guard, and she didn’t know if it could actually trigger her shrinking abilities or not. She hoped that it wouldn’t, after all, it was more of a concentration thing than trying to use physical force, such as the kind that these electrodes seemed to try to induce.
On the way back, and with the escort ship empty of prisoners, Anna Blue started conversation with the helmsman.
“So, why aren’t we transporting any prisoners out? There’s a lot going in - shouldn’t there be a few getting out?” she asked.
He shook his head, as he continued to carefully steer the wheel. “Not really.” he replied. “I’ve never transported anyone out of there. Always in. To be entirely honest with you, I’m pretty convinced that people there never get out. Once you’re in, you’re in.”
The little Marine blinked. Wasn’t that... overly brutal? What point is there in that, then? If they are going to keep them there forever, why not just kill them instead? What’s the point of keeping them inside there.
“I see. Praise the World Government.” Anna Blue replied, faking cheer.
“Praise.” the helmsman replied, without the same faux enthusiasm about it.
Then, once again (with the excuse that she wanted to go out take some fresh air during her break, and take a bit of a walk), Anna Blue then returned back to the cells, so that she could check them out while they were empty. As expected, they looked the same, but without the people inside. But she got to see what sort of size it had more carefully, as well as how thick the bars were. It seemed to be mass-produced as well, so she assumed that most any escort ship like this would have either the same, or similar components. She carefully studied the shakes as well, and the barrel with water. Then there, in the back, there was a metal box with rust along its edges. Another water container? It seemed like it. As well as she could, she tried to check it out the best possible.
It then became soon time to disembark back on Jaya, and she got back to being next to the helmsman, so that she could look proper for any curious higher-ranking back on land.
After a torture of electric shocks, followed by a series of acupuncture to try to induce movement from her, Doctor Landino got nothing. Sofia merely endured the punishment, and she didn’t allow herself to involuntarily trigger anything via sheer willpower.
“Well, that’s everything.” the doctor then said, at the end of it all, slapping his lap, but still with a deadpan face. “I hope you’ve had fun.”
“Fun, sort of.” Sofia half-lied back, with a faint chuckle. She hadn’t liked it at all, but if this was what it took to keep her powers a secret for now, it was worth it.
“I’m going to go ahead and name your fruit the Squeeze Squeeze as you’ve suggested.” he said. “And… I think you might have potential. Possibly. But the base capabilities seem very low.”
And a large part of that conclusion was due to Sofia’s sabotage, which seemed to have managed to pass untraced.
“I’m… glad?” the noble replied. “I guess it was worth it at the end then!”
“Yes, yes.” the doctor replied. “Anyways, I’m going to write in here that you’ve got special authorization, yes? From Sabaody, yes?”
“Informally, yes.” Sofia mentioned.
“Anyways, we’ll formalize it here.” he then said. “It’s always best to have local paperwork for local affairs. I don’t know how it works on Sabaody and honestly, I don’t care. Doing it ‘informally’ seems like a horrible way to do it. Anyways, who gave you this ‘informal’ permission?”
“Dr. Mint.” she replied, referring to the head of the Sabaody Marine Station. After making the purchase from Montgomery, they had to formalize the transaction with the World Government, and the one in charge of that process at Sabaody, was him. Of course, they wouldn’t allow just anyone to have a Devil Fruit, but at Saboady, it was a bit of an elephant in the room. Slaves, Devil Fruits, and all sorts of debauchery was going on there, for the enjoyment of nobles, and the Marines there just approved it all and let it pass. That was how Sofia managed to get her Devil Fruit approval back then.
“Very well.” the doctor then said. “I’ll give him a call and then you’ll get your papers if it all goes well.”
After arguing over the phone, the doctor eventually filled in and completely finished making Sofia’s Devil Fruit registration. During this time, Sofia was escorted out of the jail cell, and returned to the Marine Station’s entrance, where Anna Blue was, having recently arrived to pick her up. The doctor popped the document into a photocopier Den Den Mushi, and he gave a copy to the noble, and then he slammed an official World Government seal onto it.
“There you go.” he said, once Sofia took it, with his usual dead tone. “All done. And thank you for lending Anna Blue to us. We appreciate it.”
Sofia nodded to the robot-like man. “No problem.” she replied with warmth, before greeting Anna and giving her a short side-hug.
“I’ll be off then.” the noble then said, tucking and folding her paper into a small fancy file in her purse.
“Yeah. No problem, my dudes.” the loli Marine then chuckled as she waved goodbye. “It’s been a good one. Take care now!”
“Of course. Goodbye.” the doctor said back.
And with that, Sofia got her swanky document:
[EXIT]
[WC: 3074]
Gran Voyage Name: Short on Data, and Short on Personnel
Gran Voyage Location: Mock Town
Level: 1
Gran Voyage Description:
Recently at Mock Town, the world-famous "Yuurei Swordstealer" has been captured, and an impressive and urgent ensemble of Marine forces have been deployed to escort him to Impel Down.
https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t1695p30-the-disappearance-of-the-people-in-mock-town-bounty#11561 wrote:In this Open Waters topic you will be transported on a Brig ship headed by a single Rear Admiral, 2 Marine Captains, and 50 Grunts
And so, Mock Town is currently quite short on maritime personnel, because of the surprise need to properly attend to this important event.
They'll need reinforcements somehow, or to just get the existing staff to work overtime to compensate.
Lucky for them, Lady Sofia is at Mock Town currently too, and she has always got a Marine Navigator with her: Anna Blue (She is my NPC). She's part of the Sabaody Division of the Marines though, with the special assignment to be the noble's bodyguard. But none the less, during her regular reports at local Marine Stations, she will be requested by the Mock Town Marine Station to have her work for them - temporarily. They're short on ship-competent personnel, and with Anna Blue being a Navigator, she makes the perfect fit.
Sofia will eventually reluctantly accept, although with the condition to have protection here in some other way. She won't reveal that this is, in fact, ideal for her plans. Impel Down has been worrying her since the suspicions that were born back at their investigation at Sabaody, and this will allow the Navigator to see what the trips are like with her own eyes - while doing everything she is supposed to do anyway.
Additionally, Sofia has to file her paperwork of being the legal holder of a Devil Fruit as well - her powers have still not been discovered, and they had to be noted. She might've gotten away with being the consumer of a Devil Fruit because of her close ties to the World Government through being a noble, but little would save her from these necessary legal procedures.
And so, Anna Blue will be (temporarily) sent off to be a Navigator for other Marine transport boats for their regular trips to Impel Down, and Sofia will stay at the safety of the Mock Town Marine Station to be subjected to various experiments to determine her powers for a few days.
But, Sofia won't be honest during the tests. Luckily, her powers are very subtle and easy to hide, so she will do everything possible to play dumb and not let the full information be known, yet get her full Devil Fruit registration paperwork done and ready anyways.
Knowledge is everything.
Know more. Prevent others from knowing.
TL;DR: Sofia is going to try to get inaccurate information about her Devil Fruit powers filed, and Anna is going to work at a escort ship meanwhile.
NPCing: Nope
Link: https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t2030-short-on-data-and-short-on-personnel
“So, yeah.” the officer said, as she rubbed his hands together, looking at Sofia with a pleading smile. In the background, the bustling of the Mock Town Marine Station was roaring louder than usual.
“We need Anna Blue.” the officer continued, pinching his sweaty Marine uniform to unstick it from his body. “As you can see, after having to send off so many people to transport Yuurei, we’re going to be really short on personnel for a while. Just look at how wild things are here already - we’ve got to work extra. Like, a lot of extra. Having her with us would help a lot.”
Sofia sipped air through her teeth. “Aaah, well…” she mentioned, to then look aside. “It’s going to be difficult. She has been assigned as my bodyguard by the Sabaody Marines. What will I do all alone here? There could be other pirates, more danger, if Yuurei was here. I’m really concerned.”
And indeed there was. Madori, Dr. K and Mashyuu; her new acquaintances, were all here, as she knew.
The Marine then nodded. “That is true. Well. Uuuh - you could stay here, couldn’t you?” he suggested.
The noble nodded. “Yes, possibly…”
“It’s quite safe inside of here, in the cells if you want.” he added. “It would just be for these few intense days. It won’t be much, just for while Anna is away.”
Sofia then figured that now would be a good moment to bring thatup. She rose a finger with a faked flinch and then smiled “Oh! I could get my Devil Fruit registration done. I still need the final testing.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah!” The marine cheered. “We can do that. See, it works out for the both of us. So, how about it?”
She sighed again. “It’s… Going to be a bit annoying to have to stay locked up in here.” she started off. “But to help you guys - I don’t mind. I’ll help you out. I’ll stay here.”
Then, the other man blew out air in relief. “Huaaa. Thank you, Miss Sofia. We’ll take good care of you - and of Anna!”
Anna Blue got assigned to be part of the crew of an escort ship to Impel Down as part of her job. She was a navigator, and most of the personnel that was missing was maritime. So, with her having that sort of training, she made the perfect fit.
“Have you sailed to Impel Down before?” one of the crewmates aboard their ship asked Anna, having to crane his head downwards in order to be able to see the diminutive girl.
“O-of course I have!” she lied. “I-I know all about it.”
The Marine in front of her rose an eyebrow.
“I don’t, o-okay? What is this, harassment?” she then barked back and looked away.
“Yeah, alright.” the other guy then replied and shrugged. “You better study up the seacharts well then. There’s always a first time for anyone. Don’t get too worked up about it, OK?”
She nodded.
“There’s lunch later at the cafeteria in thirty.” he added. “Lasagna. Going to be good.”
She nodded again.
“You don’t talk much do you?” the man then chuckled.
“I-I talk when I want to, pal!” she then stammered back.
“Ah, heh. Anyways, see you there” the chap mentioned before leaving her at her quarters.
---*---
Anna Blue managed to finish her preliminary cartography to figure out how to set a route to Impel Down, by mostly copying the notes left behind and scribbled in to the maps by the previous navigator.
And then, she crept out of the room and looked down the corridors. There was nobody. They had likely gone already to the cafeteria or something. And so, she tiptoed around, trying to reach the centermost part of the ship, where the prisoners were at.
After a small trip, she got there, and immediately took a more regal and deliberate stance, like if she belonged there. It would be too suspicious that she would be looking like a creep around here, she figured. She walked down the hall, and eventually reached the part of the wall that were jail bars, and she saw that it had the prisoners within. They were chained by their wrists and ankles, and some had a piece of cloth over their mouth, likely to shut them up. Then, there was a man in the same setup, but placed into a barrel of water as well. He seemed to be sleeping.
“Hey.” Anna then barked at them.
“What?” one of the prisoners replied. “We already went through interrogation. Leave us alone. Unless you’re here to give us the good news that we get to go.”
Anna shook her head. “I’m here for something else.” she mentioned. “Why’s that guy in a tub, anyways?”
“Huh? Larry?” he replied. Then, he smiled. “Why do you want to know?”
“Answer, scum!” she then demanded, and slammed the bar with her nightstick. “I’m the one who makes the questions here!”
“H-hey, easy there! I’ll tell you. If you just leave us alone already.” the prisoner replied, as the others had opted to turn to the wall and ignore them. They just wanted peace and quiet - or to seem like it.
Anna stood straight again and then crossed her arms, to jerk her head lightly up to signal the prisoner to talk.
“He’s got a Devil Fruit, officer.” the criminal then mentioned. “Happy now? Good. Now leave.”
And the Marine did so, and after taking mental notes of everything in there, she left.
---*---
“You’re a bit late, aren’t you!” the chipper Marine that greeted Anna before exclaimed to her, as she entered the cafeteria.
“Sorry. Navigating work got me busy.” she lied, before going over to get her bowl of lasagna, to then go sit with them.
“Aaah, don’t fret it!” he replied. “C’mon, eat, eat. We don’t have forever you know!”
“Yes, I know.” Anna said back, and started to cut with her knife. “I know.”
And now knew how Impel Down prisoners were held. She and Sofia had wanted to investigate it for a while now, ever since the start of their suspicions over at Sabaody.
“So, you’re Phillipa Sofia, yes?” Dr. Landino, a lanky - but handsome - lad asked her, as he was seated inside of her cell, which was deep inside the station. It had been given clean, fancy sheets and a cotton pillow instead of a straw one as well, for her comfort, since she was going to be in there for a while. Also, the rest of the station was in such a busy state that the Marine doctor had brought the rest of his equipment in there too, to allow more space above.
“Yes. Dr. Landino, yes?”
“Correct. Anyways, if I don’t get any calls, we should be good to start…” he continued, nearly deadpan, and put his clipboard onto his lap and started to scribble a few notes. “So, Sofia” he started off, looking over the top of his glasses. “What abilities have you noted about yourself? Any changes in your body, perhaps? Involuntary movements, discomfort… Any strangeness?”
Of course she had. She had that damn castle of a sort in her ribcage, which she had been practicing use of before at her ship, with Anna Blue serving as test dummy.
“Nothing at all.” she replied.
“Alright.” the doctor replied, and checked off a box. “We’re going to check just in case, though.”
Sofia nodded.
Then, Landino brought this stethoscope to her chest. “Breathe.” he requested. And she did. Following that, she put it on her back, and she asked for the same. Over the course of the next hours, he continued to make these physical tests, to thoroughly inspect her body - much to Sofia’s discomfort. She would’ve preferred a female doctor for this. But, she endured it.
“It seems like there’s nothing odd here then.” he eventually concluded.
He hadn’t found her internal dimension. It was because she had already prepared for this - her body was entirely normal if it weren’t for that, but she could also control were she put doors to access for it, or what shape the rooms would take. She had put the rooms the deepest inside of her that she could.
And no doors or windows whatsoever.
So, it was inaccessible by design.
“I’ll let you get relaxed in here.” the doctor then mentioned with just usual, sterile demeanour. “And I’ll get you dinner from upstairs. Thank you for your collaboration”.
“O-OK.” Sofia replied, letting her discomfort manifest clearly.
He didn’t seem to care.
“What, we don’t go in closer?” Anna Blue asked, as they arrived to the vicinity of Impel Down, although not totally inside of it proper.
“Nope. This is close enough.” the helmsman replied to her, as they then started to look over to the deck to see how the prisoners were transported out by the Impel Down staff. And once they were off, the ship was started to be maneuvered out and away again.
“Well, that was quick” Anna Blue mentioned.
“Yeah. We don’t get paid to lack off.” the helmsman replied, as he spun the wheel to get the ship around, to then start to sail out into the sea again.
“What course, Navigator?” he then prompted. “Don’t get distracted now.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, sir.” Anna Blue blurted out. “Uuh, back to Jaya. Twenty degrees starboard.”
The next day, Sofia was visited by the doctor again to continue their throughout tests about her Devil Fruit. So far, she had managed to conceal that she had any permanent, latent bodily modifications done to herself. The next part was about her abilities - and if she had neither, then something was quite wrong. There had to be something special she could do, all Devil Fruits were like that.
“So, Sofia.” Landino then asked. “What sort of special abilities can you use?”
She had already prepared for this.
“I can squeeze things.” she replied. “I think that’s my power.”
“Squeeze?”
“Yes, squeeze. It’s weird.” Sofia then said. “But I can show you.”
She then got her pillow and held it straight out, to then start to pull it towards her, and as it did, it started to shrink irregularly as a sort of red barrier seemed to manifest near the girl, and the pillow shrank as it traversed it. For Sofia to then release the shrinking effect, and it rebounded out again to its original shape. It looked like a squeeze of a sort.
“Theeere we go.” he chuckled. “It’s a bit tricky, but that’s what I can do.”
“It looks like that pillow shrunk.” the doctor replied.
“Well, yeah.” Sofia said. “But it feels like squeezing. At least, in my head.”
Landino nodded. “It does seem like it. After all, Devil Fruits aren’t always exactly what their name states they are. I had to check the “Door Door” Fruit person before, and those things aren’t really true “Doors”. But they seem like it. Which is why it got that name.”
The noble then nodded. “Exactly!”
“Alright then. We could call it the Squeeze Squeeze Fruit then, possibly. But I need to run more checks on you for it, just in case.”
Then, he went over and got a pair of electrodes from a box, and started to attach it to her. “I’m going to have to see if I can get you to twitch out a certain special effect.” he explained. “Maybe it's just “squeezing” and that temporary state, but maybe it’s true, permanent shrinking. Or some other possibility. I have to figure it out. It’s procedure, after all.”
Sofia nodded as usual.
Then, he flipped a switch on, and she was suddenly shocked, forcing her muscles to contract to send her up into the air a few centimetres.
“H-huah! W-what, what was that?” she asked.
“Electricity” he replied. “I’m going to trigger your nerves to see if we get some kind of special reaction. Procedure.”
“O-Oh. Alright.” the noble replied. The shock had caught her off-guard, and she didn’t know if it could actually trigger her shrinking abilities or not. She hoped that it wouldn’t, after all, it was more of a concentration thing than trying to use physical force, such as the kind that these electrodes seemed to try to induce.
On the way back, and with the escort ship empty of prisoners, Anna Blue started conversation with the helmsman.
“So, why aren’t we transporting any prisoners out? There’s a lot going in - shouldn’t there be a few getting out?” she asked.
He shook his head, as he continued to carefully steer the wheel. “Not really.” he replied. “I’ve never transported anyone out of there. Always in. To be entirely honest with you, I’m pretty convinced that people there never get out. Once you’re in, you’re in.”
The little Marine blinked. Wasn’t that... overly brutal? What point is there in that, then? If they are going to keep them there forever, why not just kill them instead? What’s the point of keeping them inside there.
“I see. Praise the World Government.” Anna Blue replied, faking cheer.
“Praise.” the helmsman replied, without the same faux enthusiasm about it.
---*---
Then, once again (with the excuse that she wanted to go out take some fresh air during her break, and take a bit of a walk), Anna Blue then returned back to the cells, so that she could check them out while they were empty. As expected, they looked the same, but without the people inside. But she got to see what sort of size it had more carefully, as well as how thick the bars were. It seemed to be mass-produced as well, so she assumed that most any escort ship like this would have either the same, or similar components. She carefully studied the shakes as well, and the barrel with water. Then there, in the back, there was a metal box with rust along its edges. Another water container? It seemed like it. As well as she could, she tried to check it out the best possible.
It then became soon time to disembark back on Jaya, and she got back to being next to the helmsman, so that she could look proper for any curious higher-ranking back on land.
After a torture of electric shocks, followed by a series of acupuncture to try to induce movement from her, Doctor Landino got nothing. Sofia merely endured the punishment, and she didn’t allow herself to involuntarily trigger anything via sheer willpower.
“Well, that’s everything.” the doctor then said, at the end of it all, slapping his lap, but still with a deadpan face. “I hope you’ve had fun.”
“Fun, sort of.” Sofia half-lied back, with a faint chuckle. She hadn’t liked it at all, but if this was what it took to keep her powers a secret for now, it was worth it.
“I’m going to go ahead and name your fruit the Squeeze Squeeze as you’ve suggested.” he said. “And… I think you might have potential. Possibly. But the base capabilities seem very low.”
And a large part of that conclusion was due to Sofia’s sabotage, which seemed to have managed to pass untraced.
“I’m… glad?” the noble replied. “I guess it was worth it at the end then!”
“Yes, yes.” the doctor replied. “Anyways, I’m going to write in here that you’ve got special authorization, yes? From Sabaody, yes?”
“Informally, yes.” Sofia mentioned.
“Anyways, we’ll formalize it here.” he then said. “It’s always best to have local paperwork for local affairs. I don’t know how it works on Sabaody and honestly, I don’t care. Doing it ‘informally’ seems like a horrible way to do it. Anyways, who gave you this ‘informal’ permission?”
“Dr. Mint.” she replied, referring to the head of the Sabaody Marine Station. After making the purchase from Montgomery, they had to formalize the transaction with the World Government, and the one in charge of that process at Sabaody, was him. Of course, they wouldn’t allow just anyone to have a Devil Fruit, but at Saboady, it was a bit of an elephant in the room. Slaves, Devil Fruits, and all sorts of debauchery was going on there, for the enjoyment of nobles, and the Marines there just approved it all and let it pass. That was how Sofia managed to get her Devil Fruit approval back then.
“Very well.” the doctor then said. “I’ll give him a call and then you’ll get your papers if it all goes well.”
---*---
After arguing over the phone, the doctor eventually filled in and completely finished making Sofia’s Devil Fruit registration. During this time, Sofia was escorted out of the jail cell, and returned to the Marine Station’s entrance, where Anna Blue was, having recently arrived to pick her up. The doctor popped the document into a photocopier Den Den Mushi, and he gave a copy to the noble, and then he slammed an official World Government seal onto it.
“There you go.” he said, once Sofia took it, with his usual dead tone. “All done. And thank you for lending Anna Blue to us. We appreciate it.”
Sofia nodded to the robot-like man. “No problem.” she replied with warmth, before greeting Anna and giving her a short side-hug.
“I’ll be off then.” the noble then said, tucking and folding her paper into a small fancy file in her purse.
“Yeah. No problem, my dudes.” the loli Marine then chuckled as she waved goodbye. “It’s been a good one. Take care now!”
“Of course. Goodbye.” the doctor said back.
And with that, Sofia got her swanky document:
DEVIL FRUIT REGISTRATION FORM 3424
REGISTERING MARINE STATION: Jaya Island, Mock TownPERSON
NAME: Phillipa Sofia
BIRTHPLACE: Sofia Island
MARINE, AUTHORIZED PERSON OR CRIMINAL: Authorized PersonDEVIL FRUIT
NAME: Squeeze Squeeze Fruit
PROVISIONAL OR FINAL INFORMATION: Final
CONSUMPTION DATE: June of 20XX
DATE OF TESTING (IF FINAL): July of 20XX
TESTER: Dr. Victor Landino
TYPE: Paramecia
PERMANENT BODILY MODIFICATION: No
RANGE: Close-Range only
BASE POWER: 1/10
DESCRIPTION: It grants the user to squeeze things that come close enough to her. There is a red "barrier" which delimits the range of her abilities. Effects are short-lived, temporary and limited to just reductions of 20% at maximum. These should improve with training, although the Devil Fruit itself seems very difficult to make more powerful, given its pitiful base power.
[EXIT]
[WC: 3074]