Jump 411: Titanic

>"Crux, we're a little worried about you."
"Worried? Why?"
>"The first thing you did last jump was run Robotnik through with a sword."
"To be fair, one, that's Eggman, two, that's an actually irredeemable version of him and not the fun-loving criminal or the one voiced by Jim Cummings who was evil but had style."
>"You really need a vacation."
"I CAN'T OBLIVIATE THE BLUE SPHERES, GAIA. THEY'RE THERE WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES. THEY NEVER STOP."
>"I think... how about we go on a cruise?"
"Oh no. No no no. I don't want a three hour tour!"

Jump #411: Titanic
"Oh thank God. I thought that you'd signed us up for a visit to Gilligan's Island."
>Justice, reversed: The suspension of action until a decision is made.
>Age: 19
>Location: HMS Titanic
>Identity: First Class (-100)
>Drawbacks: (+300) It's Been 84 Years...
AND I STILL CAN'T FORGET THE BLUE SPHERES- okay the joke's getting old now.
>Old Money (Free, First Class)
The oldest money, in fact.
>Unquestionable Character (1100, First Class)
The unquestionable...est?
>High Society (800, First Class)
The highest society- wait, what do you mean Prohibition is coming?
>"Women And Children Only!" (200)
At least if something goes wrong, I can make people listen to me a little more effectively.
>"I Make My Own Luck" (x5 Free, First Class)
Five thousand dollars a month is nice. I have to admit that if it was tied to annual salary it'd be more appealing, but hey.
>Soundtrack (150)
It doesn't hurt to add additional variety to my soundtrack.
>Finger Paintings (Free, First Class)
I'll make sure these end up in some nice art museums later, actually.
>Sketchbook (100)
Doesn't hurt to have an infinite portfolio. I'll have plenty of time to practice art, where I'm going.
>Ice Tray (0)
Not gonna lie, this is going to be a REMARKABLY useful tool for purposes of terraforming if I ever get around to it.

A nice, relaxing cruise through the ocean. You know, this is a rather enjoyable thing. And by enjoyable, I mean we're going for a no-death run. Sure, there's plenty of crazy stuff that's going to be happening here, but nothing so crazy that any use of powers has to be blatant.

However, it is EXTREMELY important to note that the sinking of the Titanic is important on a cultural level, and resulted in a massive overhaul in international maritime standards. And as a result, we need to find a way to bring everything together without breaking the world if it can be helped.

And so, a nine-person entourage aboard the Titanic mingles with the rest of the guests. Ceci and the twins enjoy their time down in third class, Gaia and I hang out in first class, and the rest of my companions scatter throughout the ship in their appointed roles and we generally enjoy our stay, even if Carbon and 'Ginos . And of course there are the complications of the plot revolving around Jack and Rose, and not entirely surprisingly, pretty much everyone ends up drawn into it at one point or another.

We keep a low profile throughout, until the point that a couple of young lovers have something of a tryst. And at that point Gaia and I met them in a corridor and waved off their concern. We're hardly anyone to judge. And besides, this is the Titanic! We're never going to have a chance to see the ship again, so we thought we'd get a look where we could.

"After all, it's widely known that the Titanic struck an iceberg at twenty to midnight on the fourteenth-"
>"Wait, wait, WHAT?"
"-and was lost." "Crux, honey, you're not supposed to tell them that."
>"Could you run that by us again? The Titanic struck an iceberg?"
"Technically, Rose... it hasn't yet?"
>"That isn't funny."
"It isn't supposed to be-" "You're putting your foot in your mouth again, dear." "Don't I know it. Look, you've got... oh hell, about twenty minutes, I was looking at the wrong time zone. Head topside."
>"You're serious? We're going to hit an iceberg? Are you a medium of some kind?"
"Yes, Jack, I'm serious. And no, I'm not a medium, I'm from the future. Sort of. Look, you two get topside, you will NOT want to be on this deck."
>"And what about you?"
"We'll be making sure no one else is on this deck either."

And so a very confused Jack and Rose go topside and watch the Titanic scrape against an iceberg, with increasing feelings of horror. Meanwhile... well, most of the crew had been put under compulsion charms earlier. And isn't it funny how such charms are as flexible as they are? As the ship neared the iceberg, any of the crew that might have been affected evacuated immediately, and though this left boilers unattended no one looked too closely at that detail.

More importantly, the charms for the crew topside kept the crew in line for an orderly evacuation with all of the lifeboats filled beyond capacity. Curiously, the lifeboats didn't seem to be adversely affected by the excess weight - must've been the charms placed on all of them.

The Carpathia and Californian both responded - it seems that Captain Lord was somehow mysteriously sick and unable to perform his duties, so his first officer showed competence and did everything appropriately. Thanks to their efforts, only a handful of lives were reported lost. And even at that, those were people who ended up being conveniently lost in the shuffle or who had traded tickets with others.

For example, Rose and Jack. They were among the last off the ship, Jack bodily dragging Thomas Andrews with him, the ship's designer. And after that... well, we happened to be in the boat with him, and we had a quiet conversation about what happened once we were on the Carpathia. Fortunately, her parents and murderous would-be fiance were on the Californian. Much came out - vague details of who Gaia and I really were, among other things, and the fact that yes I really had a legitimate identity here and was rather wealthy, and would happily bring the both of them under my wing so they could have potential lives together.

After that... well, quite honestly? The Miracle on the Atlantic, as the sinking of the Titanic and the rescue of every person on board was called, still caused massive investigations and revising of maritime codes. Jack and Rose... well, Jack had aspirations beyond art, and Rose was intelligent enough to be a businesswoman. We saw to it that the both of them were provided opportunity, and they seized it with both hands.

They promptly lost everything when the markets crashed in the twenties, as did we. But it could have been worse. We could've been penniless AND sinking on a ship in the middle of the ocean. We all laughed ourselves silly over that, and in time recovered; Jack in particular was savvy enough to realize that I still had a notable income despite having no stocks, and proposed philanthropy with it. The Dust Bowl was a terrible time, but running about, making sure bread lines had bread, soup lines had soup... I can see why Rose would fall in love with the guy. He was a genuinely good person.

When the rumblings of war started in the 1930's, I said "nope, we're not doing this again", and the entire leading echelon of the Nazi party dropped dead. Terrible business, that. There was war in Europe, yes, but the League of Nations took decisive action instead of placating the Hitler-alike and it calmed everything down remarkably well.

Other than that, though? Jack got into politics instead and was a massive success as a state senator, then served a term in Congress; Rose became a full-time mother for the three children they had, which turned into seven children, which twenty years later turned into so very many grandchildren. And in the end... President Dawson of Minnesota was elected in 1952, narrowly beating a Republican by the name of Eisenhower.

All in all I'd say that's pretty good. Wouldn't you?

Oh, I know full well the Carpathia should have been a few hours further away than it was. I cheated in more ways than just causing a compulsion on those two ships - the Carpathia was rather confused as to how they were off course, but chalked it up to the chaos of the sinking of the unsinkable ship. Both of the two arrived less than an hour into the Titanic's sinking. I didn't figure it to be worth it to put details to THAT extent in the writeup, when it already hit four posts.