The day before the outing, URSULA will address the crew with her plan.
"Recently, I've been tracking the progress of an island, called Floater Island, coming within swimming range. It is currently south of the Aurora. As part of my focus on recovering what I can from previous crews, I plan to visit the old base there. I would like it very much if anyone who wishes to enjoy the island and help me come along. I would advise bringing your bedding and some tools to make staying on the island a little easier.
Anyone staying on base will not have to worry, as I won't be out of range for base management. But I think a trip together as a crew would be relaxing and perhaps ease any negative feelings lingering from my previous mission.
I will return to all functions in two days. Approximately."
She will encourage anyone with questions to come with her, as she promises the island will have many resources, as well as just being fun. She will also ask for help in recovering whatever she can from the previous crew.
The trip to the island will take place in the early morning, with one of URSULA's small drones leading the way to a pleasant beach. Don't worry, no Reapers will party crash.
Instead, the crew gets to enjoy Floater Island in all its glory.
What about the objectives? Well, URSULA wasn't kidding about wanting to do something nice for everyone. Seeing everyone explore and enjoy themselves will be enough.
But for those looking for more, the island is full of resources, especially of the food variety, but also something about look at is the base! URSULA will appreciate any investigations into what might have happened to the crew there and she always encourages efforts to bring extra supplies back to base for the crew. If asked further, she might also suggest that 'fellows' seem to enjoy climbing trees and mountains, and potentially stargazing with those they have a romantic interest in. She has heard this is very popular with romantic couples!
So enjoy Floater Island. Dive in the caves. Eat fruit. Lick a frog! Try to adopt as many birdogs as possible. Recover records from the former crew and make your AI overlord feel emotions she isn't programmed for.
Have fun while the island is in range!
Questions about the island, the mission or discoveries can be asked under the OOC Questions comment!
Donatello has also been interested in the local wildlife, though for much different reasons than Stork. The Light Frogs, compared to just about everything else, were almost trivially easy to study. They didn't even move when Don swabbed their skin (carefully) to pick up samples of the toxin to hopefully analyze later...
He's careful to make enough noise that Stork will definitely hear him coming as he pushes his way through some of the underbrush, not wanting to send the panicky merb into another paroxysm of terror if he can help it.
"Probably deadly enough that touching them might not be the best idea," Don warns Stork, even as he notices just how interested Stork appears at the prospect.
Stork twitches an ear in Donatello's direction and quickly turns to see who's approaching, pulling back from the frog as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. He's relieved to see that it's only Don, and quickly relaxes, a little more than he would for most of the others in the crew.
"Well, yeah. Obviously. I wasn't planning to..."
He glances back at the frog while holding his hands close to his chest. See? Nowhere near touching the toxic alien. He wouldn't do that. He was only slightly tempted
"Why are you so interested in whether these guys are deadly or not?" asks Don, an edge of his beak slightly quirked. "I thought you were more interested in avoiding doom, not welcoming it."
The Turtle settles in closer to Stork, a companionable distance despite his bemused expression. Tell him all about why you were nearly petting the dangerous toxic alien frog, Stork.
"It helps if you know what to avoid." Granted, Stork still tries to avoid just about everything, just in case. He can't hide the enthusiasm in his voice, though -- it's so rare.
"It is fascinating, though, isn't it? One touch, and it's all over -- these insects never knew what hit 'em. One moment they're landing on a flower, the next -- dead. It's..." A grim reminder of life's fleetingness and fragility? "Kinda beautiful."
The Turtle's expression is distant and hard to read as he contemplates the pile of empty insect bodies. Briefly, his mind recalls the broken timeline where his brothers' bodies had lain there, much like they do.
He sighs a little. "... It's certainly fascinating, the cycles of life and death, but I don't know if I'd call it beautiful. It's kind of morbid, don't you think?"
Then again, Stork seems to like being morbid. He certainly sounds so happy about it.
"Yeeahh, that's what my squadmates would say, too," Stork says with a shrug, too used to that sort of reaction to really be disappointed by it. "More or less."
'Dude, that's messed up' translates to about the same thing, right?
"I don't see why it can't be both. But that's... kind of a Merb thing. Most other people don't really seem to get it." He looks sideways at Don, trying to read that distant look. "Not really a turtle thing either, huh?"
"I've... seen a lot of death," Don admits. "It doesn't get any easier to deal with."
He looks contemplatively over at the Merb, wondering what kind of life he had to live to be so comfortable with death. "If I ever got too complacent about the idea, I'd probably start worrying. You're not concerned?"
It's Stork's turn to look kind of distant. He's seen his share of it himself, and he's not as comfortable with it as he seems. It's not quite as beautiful outside of nature.
"You mean concerned about people dying, or concerned that I've lost it?" he says flatly.
Don watches the way Stork's face darkens, and kind of regrets his word choice. Everybody has their demons, and it looks like he accidentally prodded one of Stork's.
"... The first one."
The apology is present in his tone, but it's clear he is a little worried about Stork anyway.
Apparently satisfied, Stork now shrugs off the awkwardness with a grim little smirk and a soft almost-laugh.
"You sure? It's cool. I mean, you wouldn't be alone. And you'd probably be right." Yeeaah, he's worried too. He quickly turns serious again, returning his focus to the Light Frog to avoid eye contact.
"Honestly? I'm terrified. I've... never been away for this long, from the Condor OR the squad. And leaving either of them alone is usually a recipe for disaster..." He shudders. He's not going to explicitly call them a bunch of kids without a chaperone, but the implication is there. "If they're all still in one piece, it'll be a miracle."
"People have a way of surprising you, sometimes," Don says, trying to be reassuring. "You might be worried they'll be boneheads, but even kids can really step up when they have to."
At the same time, though, he wouldn't want to leave his family alone this long, either... and Don can't say anything about whether they'll ever be able to get home. It's been a month, and so far he's seen no sign of the time distortions he experience the last occasion this happened.
"I know they'll be boneheads," he corrects Don. "But... they're good at getting out of trouble, too. I'll give them that."
As much as his fellow Storm Hawks love their insane, completely unnecessary risks, they've always pulled through everything life has thrown at them before. But it's only a matter of time until their number is up, and now they're one man short.
Stork stares at the Light Frog in silence for a few moments.
"...It's probably better that Finn and Junko aren't here. Somebody would have touched the frog by now."
Don can't help but laugh at this. "That must drive you crazy, huh? People willing to take risks like that..."
There's some fondness in his voice. Mikey and Raph, they're the risk-takers in their own ways. Leonardo, and himself, are more like Stork - well, minus the neuroses, for the most part. They try to eliminate risk.
"Then again, without someone willing to do it, sometimes things just won't get done."
"Sure. Sometimes it's even useful. As long as 'it' isn't opening a Cyclonian trap, getting infected with aggrospores, endangering the entire squadron and rampaging through the Atmosian capital..."
So he has a few grievances.
Another bonus to being the only Storm Hawk present: there is no one around who can bring up his own involvement in that rampage. He is free to pretend none of that happened.
Oh. Well, those are all good reasons to be cautious.
"I can see why you're a bit worried... still, maybe your caution's rubbed off on them. Problems have a way of making people remember what solved them."
He is trying, okay. Don brings his eyes back to the Light Frog himself. It makes a low rasping croak, blinking sleepily at him.
"I'd just be happy if we could find a way to talk to the people we're missing, though. Even just letting them know we're okay... it'd take a lot off my mind."
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subnautica2016-05-25 12:03 am
C
He's careful to make enough noise that Stork will definitely hear him coming as he pushes his way through some of the underbrush, not wanting to send the panicky merb into another paroxysm of terror if he can help it.
"Probably deadly enough that touching them might not be the best idea," Don warns Stork, even as he notices just how interested Stork appears at the prospect.
no subject
"Well, yeah. Obviously. I wasn't planning to..."
He glances back at the frog while holding his hands close to his chest. See? Nowhere near touching the toxic alien. He wouldn't do that.
He was only slightly temptedno subject
The Turtle settles in closer to Stork, a companionable distance despite his bemused expression. Tell him all about why you were nearly petting the dangerous toxic alien frog, Stork.
no subject
"It is fascinating, though, isn't it? One touch, and it's all over -- these insects never knew what hit 'em. One moment they're landing on a flower, the next -- dead. It's..." A grim reminder of life's fleetingness and fragility? "Kinda beautiful."
That's a yes.
no subject
The Turtle's expression is distant and hard to read as he contemplates the pile of empty insect bodies. Briefly, his mind recalls the broken timeline where his brothers' bodies had lain there, much like they do.
He sighs a little. "... It's certainly fascinating, the cycles of life and death, but I don't know if I'd call it beautiful. It's kind of morbid, don't you think?"
Then again, Stork seems to like being morbid. He certainly sounds so happy about it.
no subject
'Dude, that's messed up' translates to about the same thing, right?
"I don't see why it can't be both. But that's... kind of a Merb thing. Most other people don't really seem to get it." He looks sideways at Don, trying to read that distant look. "Not really a turtle thing either, huh?"
no subject
He looks contemplatively over at the Merb, wondering what kind of life he had to live to be so comfortable with death. "If I ever got too complacent about the idea, I'd probably start worrying. You're not concerned?"
no subject
"You mean concerned about people dying, or concerned that I've lost it?" he says flatly.
no subject
"... The first one."
The apology is present in his tone, but it's clear he is a little worried about Stork anyway.
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"You sure? It's cool. I mean, you wouldn't be alone. And you'd probably be right." Yeeaah, he's worried too. He quickly turns serious again, returning his focus to the Light Frog to avoid eye contact.
"Honestly? I'm terrified. I've... never been away for this long, from the Condor OR the squad. And leaving either of them alone is usually a recipe for disaster..." He shudders. He's not going to explicitly call them a bunch of kids without a chaperone, but the implication is there. "If they're all still in one piece, it'll be a miracle."
no subject
At the same time, though, he wouldn't want to leave his family alone this long, either... and Don can't say anything about whether they'll ever be able to get home. It's been a month, and so far he's seen no sign of the time distortions he experience the last occasion this happened.
no subject
As much as his fellow Storm Hawks love their insane, completely unnecessary risks, they've always pulled through everything life has thrown at them before. But it's only a matter of time until their number is up, and now they're one man short.
Stork stares at the Light Frog in silence for a few moments.
"...It's probably better that Finn and Junko aren't here. Somebody would have touched the frog by now."
no subject
There's some fondness in his voice. Mikey and Raph, they're the risk-takers in their own ways. Leonardo, and himself, are more like Stork - well, minus the neuroses, for the most part. They try to eliminate risk.
"Then again, without someone willing to do it, sometimes things just won't get done."
no subject
So he has a few grievances.
Another bonus to being the only Storm Hawk present: there is no one around who can bring up his own involvement in that rampage. He is free to pretend none of that happened.
no subject
"I can see why you're a bit worried... still, maybe your caution's rubbed off on them. Problems have a way of making people remember what solved them."
He is trying, okay. Don brings his eyes back to the Light Frog himself. It makes a low rasping croak, blinking sleepily at him.
"I'd just be happy if we could find a way to talk to the people we're missing, though. Even just letting them know we're okay... it'd take a lot off my mind."