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[Things have settled down. Between experiments, amusement parks, abductions and drafts, this is the first nice calm stretch of time he's had in a while. So Mulder's hanging out in the Battle Dome. He's been coming there a lot more lately. The new features interest him, and there are places from home he can't help revisiting. Not always to fight, since it's no longer required, though he throws those scenarios in sometimes too. But mostly he's in there obsessively going back through particular scenes.]

[At the moment, Mulder can be seen sitting in the living room where Samantha disappeared from. The board game Stratego is still set up in place near him, the game left unfinished. It's exactly as the room looked all those years ago. A blinding bright light flashes somewhere in the background.]

I wonder what determines the point in time we're taken from? It appears entirely random from all that I've encountered so far. Almost like someone's throwing darts at a timeline or choosing those times out of a hat. A really ugly hat. I also wonder... why some people are brought here after death. [Jonathan. Gem. ...Sigh.] It doesn't seem fair, to grant someone a new life only to throw them back eventually anyway.

...speaking of that, I've been curious about something for a while. [And needing to expand his files, he's already delved into kidnappings, revival has always been somewhere on his list too.] If anyone who's died before, either here or at home, wouldn't mind indulging me for a couple of questions? I won't ask how it happened or anything, just... some related details on the topic. Thanks in advance.

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[Oh, that tone. Mulder knows that tone, he works closely with it on a regular basis.]

Do you have something against magic?

Only in so much as it applies to me -- and those within the scope of my care.

[So, yes.]

Edited 2011-09-23 13:05 (UTC)

Not all magic is bad, you know. It can be used for good just as much as evil.

And whether used for good or ill, it is up to the user to decide. For my part I fear that I would be hard pressed to sense it, let alone discern its moral character, so I would rather prefer that it were kept away from me.

I think you'll have a hard time avoiding it entirely, especially around here.

Are you, by chance, a magician of sorts?

[He doesn't look like a magician.]

I've wished that on many an occasion. But no, I'm an FBI Agent.

[And because he's used to that not being readily understood...]

Which is a type of law enforcer. The crimes that I investigate are all paranormal in nature.

[The term 'paranormal' is not in common usage in Norrington's world - at least, not within his time - but he is learned enough to match the word 'normal' and its prefix.]

A peculiar notion. To divide your law enforcement in that manner.

[In his own experience a regular admiral of the King's royal navy is perfectly equipped to rid the world of a crew of undead marauding pirates. A man ought do his duty - regardless of the nature of his opposition.]

[Mulder considers that.]

I guess it is somewhat peculiar. Though in the place and time I'm from, most people have stopped believing in the phenomena. They like to lump all unexplained things together and pretend none of it exists. But I believe in it.

[What a strange assertion. Who could spend so much as a night in Luceti and still deny the existence of magic? Norrington had met no-one yet beneath this bubble who staunchly rejected the miraculous -- and yet this man spoke defensively. Like a soldier without an enemy.]

You wear that fact like a badge. Why?

Edited 2011-10-01 14:00 (UTC)

Because where and when I'm from... people don't take the supernatural seriously. They don't take believers seriously. But I've seen things that defy normal science, things that most people would write off as the ravings of a lunatic...

[He pauses just a moment.]

It's been a completely different game in this world.

[And it's weird in ways to be taken seriously for once. Several months now and he's still just not used to it.]

If it ease your conscience, I would have you know that you need not be so cautious of me.

That's good to hear... have you had many supernatural encounters then?

There is no end to the superstition in my world - telling tales is the sailor's way. I feel no shame in telling you that the vast majority of the stories that are told aboard ships are utterly preposterous in nature, but with that said, I will confess that have experienced first hand the fact behind a scant few of them.

Edited 2011-10-09 19:01 (UTC)

What sort of things have you encountered?

[Ah. This is dipping into some rather personal territory. Regardless of Mulder's claims to open minded thought, Norrington feels foolish speaking of his past exploits -- especially these ones. If the stranger probes much further he will likely close up altogether. Only the knowledge that he consented to this questioning keeps him from excusing himself. He has a duty of sorts to see it through.

As it is he takes a long time in answering. It is as though he hopes that if he leaves a large enough void his co-conversationalist might fill it with a sudden and desperate change of subject. At last, though, he does speak.]

I have walked upon a ship believed by many to be a phantom. The Black Pearl. Perhaps you have heard of her.

Edited 2011-10-12 21:36 (UTC)

[Hm... The Black Pearl... it's not one he knows of, and he's surprised by that until he recalls the way all these alternate universes work.]

I can't say that I have, but I'm familiar with the phenomena. Something like The Flying Dutchman... a ship crewed by ghosts or other undead, doomed to sail forever, surrounded by an eerie otherworldly light...

You've really been on something like that? [He's excited about this.]

The Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl share little in common. The one was a crewed by the immortal damned, the other by -- ...

[By what? Anthropomorphic sea creatures?]

By monsters. Monsters with even less resemblance to humanity than Barbossa's ghostly crew.

Needless to say, yes. I certainly have.

Edited 2011-10-14 22:10 (UTC)

[Monsters. Oh man, is he ever pinged in major ways by this.]

How did you manage to survive that ordeal?

[I didn't.]

By way of a quick wit and a competent sword-arm.

[He had suffered heavy losses at the hands of these creatures. The pursuit of Jack Sparrow to the Isla de Muerta had lost him both the HMS Interceptor and the HMS Dauntless. The ghostly crew of The Black Pearl had had no small hand in the destruction of those vessels. Later, aboard The Flying Dutchman, he had lost his life to a deck-hand more barnacle than man. If he is suspicious of magic and of mythical beings it is not without very good reason.]

Edited 2011-10-20 00:59 (UTC)

Sometimes, that's all it takes. [At least, he's used to often improvising and going on his wit in so many odd situations.] Sounds like you have the kind of experience you'll need to make it on the drafts they send us to.

Indeed.

And when it came time to select captains for the fleet for which we fought on the most recent draft? The final tally of the ballots reflected just that same sentiment.

[Proud? Maybe? A little. And James Norrington is not generally one to sing his own praises. Certainly he believes that if the appointment had been made on merit then he should have been given charge of the fleet without question... but he had been elected. That was a different matter entirely. In effect, he had earned the promotion in this new world -- he had been recognized by his peers in this place and its citizens alike. Legitimized. Now he had a just claim to responsibility for its people, and that was something to be proud of indeed.]

Edited 2011-10-22 19:15 (UTC)

Ah, so you were one of our captains out there... We didn't get a chance to meet out there, but things were pretty chaotic.

[And there was all that enemy ship hijacking to be done.]

I was the admiral of the fleet.

[A necessary distinction as far as he is concerned.]

Might I ask which ship you were stationed on?

Edited 2011-10-24 17:11 (UTC)

The cargo ship, for part of the journey... [And he'd been keeping a pretty low profile, because he'd partially been interested most of the time in devising a way to find out about that cargo.] ...but I spent some of it off on -[How to put this]- a special mission.

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