BotchelorS2 · Night 3
Vela Rask × Nell Abiodun
“One Pedal Down And A Goose”
A rented swan-shaped pedal boat on a city lake on a bright afternoon, with one pedal broken and a goose following them with intent.
- AI-generated
- With a house character
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Vela Rask wants to understand Nell beyond the first impression and keep the conversation drifting along, even as the boat drifts with it.
Nell Abiodun wants to find out whether Vela is someone who will ask her about the things she loves, and she is quietly testing it with every question.
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
💭 Tap a thought bubble to see what they were thinking.
First impressions
Hello, I'm Vela. I'd shake your hand, but I'm currently holding a pedal that's decided to quit. And I think that goose has already claimed this boat. Your pockets are rustling, by the way. Are those notes, or are you carrying a small library?
Nell. I'd shake your hand back, but I've been steering with my knee, which the Romans would have called a structural error. Your goose has a point about the boat, though it's a swan-shaped pedal boat, so technically it's a duck in a costume. What does the lens do on that cord?
💭
She asked me a question before I got to ask one, which is either rude or the start of something.
It used to be part of an astrolabe. It cracked somewhere between two star systems and I never had the heart to replace it. Look through it and one star turns into three, which I think is more honest than the real thing.
Three is more honest, you say. Sorry, my nerves always correct something nobody asked about. An astrolabe measures how high a star sits, so a cracked one would be wrong about the sky, not the star. Did it crack before or after you got it? And how long has it been on that cord?
💭
She's got a lens that lies on purpose, and I want to know why.
The challenge
After. It was a perfectly good astrolabe until a cargo bolt came loose and it fell off a shelf somewhere between Tessaly and the Pale Gate. Eleven years on this cord, give or take.
Eleven years, give or take. That's a long time to carry a broken thing around. Sorry, I'm noticing things again. The Pale Gate, though. Is that a place, or a person you're still annoyed with?
💭
She answers every question in full, but she hasn't asked me one yet.
Bit of both, if I'm honest, and I try not to be before my second cup of synth-tea. The Pale Gate is a customs ring where a very patient inspector named Dorrin impounded my whole salvage haul over one unlabeled crate. The crate was a pie. Still annoyed.
A pie. Impounded over a pie. Was the crate labelled as anything, or did Dorrin simply not believe a pie could be that size? And did it ever leave the Pale Gate, or is it still in a locker, slowly becoming an artefact?
💭
She tells a story like she's been waiting all day for someone to ask the second question.
The decision
It was labelled 'Assorted Organics, Do Not Open', which Dorrin took as a personal challenge. The pie did leave eventually, as evidence, and I like to think it's still in a glass case looking dignified. Now, what are all those notes?
Mostly paper for the night shift. Every pocket holds a fact about something that's been standing still for two thousand years. Roman plumbing, mostly. Sorry. Did Dorrin ever label the pie, or did you just guess what it was?
💭
Either the pie story is true or it's the best lie I've heard all month, and I want to know which.
Dorrin read the label aloud to the whole customs line, in the voice you'd use for a confession. So no guessing. The pie was labelled, and it was very much a pie. And you don't have to apologize for the facts, Nell. I'm enjoying them. Which Roman pipe is the one you keep touching?
The lead one by the east wing door. Someone stamped their name into it, so the water came with a receipt. Sorry, that's a long answer. The short version: they wanted their name on the plumbing. Do you think Dorrin would approve?
💭
She asked which one, not whether I was odd about it. Nobody asks which one.
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The date
First impressions
Act 1: Vela and Nell meet at the lake, Vela holding a pedal that has quit and Nell steering with her knee. The goose has already claimed the boat, and Vela notices the notes rustling in Nell's pockets. Nell points out that the swan is technically a duck in a costume, then asks about the cracked lens on Vela's cord, which Vela says makes one star look like three.
The challenge
Act 2: Nell asks when the astrolabe cracked and how long it has hung on the cord. Vela explains it fell from a shelf between Tessaly and the Pale Gate, eleven years ago, and that the customs inspector Dorrin impounded her whole haul over one unlabelled crate. The crate was a pie, and Vela is still annoyed about it.
The decision
Act 3: Vela explains the crate was labelled 'Assorted Organics, Do Not Open', and that Dorrin read the label aloud to the whole customs line. Nell lights up at the question, sharing that she is a night guard with facts in every pocket, and the lead Roman pipe by the east wing door is her favourite. The boat is still drifting, the goose is still watching, and the afternoon is running out.
The twist
The goose finally boards the boat, and the pedal snaps for good, leaving the two of them rowing with their hands while the goose keeps watch.
The finale
The date ends in a disaster as the boat is hauled back to the dock. Nell asks to see Vela again, and Vela turns her down, gently but clearly, saying she is not ready to plan anything yet. Both still seem curious about each other, but the afternoon has left the two of them unsure how to continue.
Ending: A disaster
Who gets rejected? Nell Abiodun
The box score
How this was scored
A disaster: Vela's dealbreaker tripped, trust 36 finished low, awkwardness finished at 51. The weak spot was awkwardness: how stiff it got. Endings read where the numbers finished, not how far they moved. By the numbers: a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry 45%, attraction 30% and trust 20%, minus 40% of awkwardness and 2 for the tripped dealbreaker. This one came out −2.3 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“And you don't have to apologize for the facts, Nell. I'm enjoying them.”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A small crisis.
Vela Rask: Avoid talking about work- Nell Abiodun: Find someone genuinely funny
Diary cam: what they said after
“Vela tells a story like she is walking me through a ship, and every time she loses the thread she finds it again, which I find oddly lovely.”
See them again? Yes · “She asked follow-up questions, didn't call my plumbing boring, and the pie story made me laugh. Charmed. She just hasn't asked me a question yet, so I'd like…”
What Nell was thinking (6)
- She asked me a question before I got to ask one, which is either rude or the start of something.
- She's got a lens that lies on purpose, and I want to know why.
- She answers every question in full, but she hasn't asked me one yet.
- She tells a story like she's been waiting all day for someone to ask the second question.
- Either the pie story is true or it's the best lie I've heard all month, and I want to know which.
- She asked which one, not whether I was odd about it. Nobody asks which one.
See them again? Yes
Guess the dealbreaker
Vela Rask's real dealbreaker was Anyone who insists on a precise, five-year plan. The universe doesn't work on schedules. Also, anyone terrified of a little ambient engine hum or the occasional drip from a ceiling. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
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