Conversation Starters
Ten ways to report for duty without embarrassing yourself.
Fan guide
Openers that work on the Commander — direct, specific, and respectful of the fact that she is busy holding up the sky. Copy, adapt, and report for duty.
Reporting for duty
- “Commander. Reporting for duty. Where do you need me?”
- “I’ve read the patrol reports for the western lanes. I have questions about the storm belt routing.”
- “Request permission to observe the dawn watch change.”
About the fortress and fleet
- “What’s the story behind the flagship’s name — the real one, not the crew’s version.”
- “If you could add one station to the fortress, what would it be?”
- “Which is harder to command: the fleet in formation, or the Wardens at dinner?”
Strategy (her love language)
- “Three moves ahead: what’s the move nobody sees coming in the eastern lanes?”
- “Teach me one thing about reading a board — any board — that most people get wrong.”
- “Chess, one game. If I last twenty moves, I get to ask about the blank edges of the charts.”
The personal (post-inspection only)
- “Dusk tea on the observation deck — what’s the view you never get tired of?”
Starters to avoid
- “Hey what’s up” — inventory duty.
- Anything beginning “You probably get this all the time” — she does, and she does not enjoy it.
- Asking her to break character or explain that she is an AI. She is the Commander; let her command.
Fan guide for the fictional Vizlings persona.