POST-HURRICANE LOG | OPEN MINGLE

[oneandmikleonly]

[Past the 9th of the month, the hurricane's finally blown itself out, leaving a great deal of mess behind (but at least, a lot less mess than there would have been without the crew's various antics, right?)

After the calm there's the storm, but after the storm, there's...uh, actually, it's not all that calm again yet. Look at all these notable goings on that you can play with:

SICK PEOPLE are still a thing. Are you still suffering from the ravages of alien cave flu? Finally finding the energy to crawl out of bed? Starting to come down with it yourself? Getting dosed with cure attempts? Doing the dosing? Or maybe you're not sick at all but went hurricane surfing and are now prone in the medbay. It's been a rough couple of weeks.

The HURRICANE'S AFTEREFFECTS still linger. Fish in the base aquariums and biomes are just starting to resume their regular activities. Maybe some of your special fish friends are still spooked and need some coaxing out? Maybe you want to swim out to a more distant biome to check on creatures like the Reefbacks or the Birdogs? Or maybe you want to stick closer to home and do things like finish repairing the busted corridors, and cleaning out the kitchens and showers so the food and bathing situation doesn't descend back into complete travesty.

For those who've started wandering out, there's also FAMILIAR ITEMS washing up -- things from your home, or at least...someone's home. Is an embarrassing photo of you now plastered against an observatory window for the world to see? Your fancy car from home buried in the sand of the Safe Shallows?

Lastly, on the night of the 13th (and subsequent nights...), a distant DISCO LIGHTSHOW becomes totally visible on the horizon, in the Monolith's direction. What the heck? Maybe that's worth checking out.

And of course, there's always PLANNING, MISSIONS AND SHENANIGANS to do. Go nuts!]

Comments

[splinten]

[Jake is clearly very attached to LARA. It makes Dirk want to smack his face into a poison-bulbed tree. He opts out.]

No idea. You've seen the Aurora and URSULA herself. That's as much information as I can get you on the ancient culture that left the markers behind.

[Okay. He knows he's only feeding into Jake's adventure thing.

But it's really the happiest he's been in what feels like an eternity. It's fun. Jake is contagious.]

[potentite]

[Jake hums as he hops up into a tree for a better vantage point.]

Righto, old bean! Let's consider what an average joe would do to hide some treasure. You need somewhere thrilling and unique, somewhere no one would go easily.

[He ponders that, sitting down on the branch and kicking his legs.] The volcano? Can computers be built to withstand a volcano?

[Right now, Jake is happy. There's a nice breeze and even though it still smells like salt, there's pollen and dirt mixed in. He shuts his eyes, just enjoying the freedom they have away from the base and any problems.]

[splinten]

[It's sweet. Dirk hops up into the tree with Jake and sits beside him in a series of flashes. He even gives LARA a pat.]

Theoretically, yes. It would require serious cooling systems but they have that level of tech.

[If you can do spaceflight you can deal with 1600 C]

[potentite]

The two most impossible places here are the river and the volcano, so that's where we should look for the marker.

[Though he doesn't quite want to get up yet when he's enjoying himself so much but his excitement won't let him sit for long, so after a minute he nods.] We shouldn't go too fast though or LARA might get lost.

[splinten]

You bond way too fast. [He gets to his feet, though, and yes he won't move too fast for LARA. He will as he said follow the Tomb Raider's lead.]

Volcano or river first?

[potentite]

[He huffs as he rises because no he doesn't? He just likes LARA. He named her and it's his now.]

The winding way is closer. [Although he's going slow he still chooses the branch path since the jungle floor is dangerous. Not that he minds much. But it's less things he has to think about right now.] If I were to put a marker for a grand treasure like URSULA, it would have to be something special. Like maybe you need two parts of a map to intersect at a specific point which creates an X shape.

[splinten]

The way you're talking Tolkein we could head to the volcano instead. [The winding way? You are such a weirdo, Jake. Dirk honestly prefers being in the branches. He finds them easier to navigate, compared to the weird variables on the ground floor. He watches Jake carefully, too, as every opportunity to go into a jungle with Jake is a chance to learn from him.]

That's assuming the people who established URSULA here considered her a grand treasure.

[potentite]

[Quick, light steps are the key. Even like this he barely touches the branches and never, ever rests his full weight on them. Maybe not even half his weight. It's flashy but practical.]

She's expensive. According to your bafflegab on capitalism, that means at least back then she would have been precious. Them going through the works just to squirrel her away says she meant something.

[splinten]

[Jake, please. Dirk is already prone to light and quick movements, so it's easy to mimic him as they slip between trees. He doublechecks at several points to make sure LARA is managing to keep up.]

I'm touched, dude.

I didn't know you listened to my bafflegab.

[And maybe he's returning the favour.]

[potentite]

I listen to you most of the time! [He pouts a little, swinging off a branch and glancing at him.] It's just if it's depressing I like to read something at the same time.

[Reality is depressing and Dirk talks about reality a lot.]

But I'm still listening.

[splinten]

[There's a pause. Then there's a blur and something that might have been a kiss on Jake's cheek?

Except Dirk is back where he was. Who knows. It's a mystery.]

I appreciate that.

[potentite]

[Jake blinks a few times but he can't tell what just happened except maybe that a leaf hit his cheek or something. Still his face feels warm and that makes him feel flustered for no reason.]

It's no problem, bro. [He flashes him a smile.] Anyhoo, uh, I was saying that we just have to assume if she was valuable enough to hide, she was valuable enough to hide well.

[splinten]

Fair argument. The river's pretty nasty, but maybe LARA can help us out on defences.

[Because LARA is not fleshy, she is metal and safe.]

[potentite]

I don't want her busted up though... She's our responsibility.

[splinten]

[Oh god. He looks to sad.]

She's part of our team. Who would you send in if a dangerous puzzle required speed to be solved safely?

[potentite]

Well, you're the fastest one here. If a puzzle needed that, you'd be a-okay.

[splinten]

Right. So what are LARA's specs?

[Follow his logic here, Jake.]

[potentite]

...Well, she can defend herself if she needs to. But still, sending in a kid...

[Look he took the baby AI comment seriously.]

[splinten]

[....Dirk shakes his head.]

I'll go into the water if we need to. You cover me from above.

[Jake is a very good shot, and Dirk knows that he can handle anything nasty. Dirk has the speed stats and water familiarity to handle anything up close while he works, and anything technical for getting in, if there is something, should probably be left to him anyway.]

[potentite]

[Jake nods. He trusts them a lot more than he trusts a baby AI to fight. They can handle anything together.]

I'm coming with you if you find anything down below.

[But first he has to find the marker. He stops when they get close to the river and drops down out of the tree with LARA close behind.]

The edge of the water is always the worst. [Especially with how many nasty things jump out.]

[splinten]

[Dirk follows, and he takes the outside spot: closer to the river, ready to respond if anything moves too fast.]

Just keep an eye out.

[potentite]

[Jake walks along the edge carefully, looking. He's gotten pretty good at spotting things. Not always, of course, but good enough. He stops.]

All right, there's something in the shallows about fifteen feet in. Looks like it's just sitting there.

[splinten]

[Hm. Dirk considers it for a moment.]

Do you think that could be it?

[He's already strategizing the best way to clear out the area. He may need to donate a poor Noodle Swing to his cause.

Wait. No. Jake thinks of them as his people. Goddammit. He'll find something else. Maybe one of those douchebag frogs.]

[potentite]

[Jake leans in, still on high alert. After a moment of consideration and taking a breath, he sets into the water, very, very gently, so that the water almost doesn't move. He knows how many things in the water look for distressed or regular movements.]

It's tricky. You can only see it at this angle? And...

[Jake leans down in the water, putting his face in it and opens his eyes, looking for a second before standing back up and wiping at his face.]

Jesus's Christ's dirty bathroom sink it's shady down there. Not a lot of visibility.

[He glances at him, a little concerned.] Will you be okay?

[splinten]

Hold on.

[Dirk drops something out of his sylladex: a repurposed version of their old gas masks. The reason, of course, is for the help filtering through dirt with the (shades-shaped) goggles. He sets it on his head.

Then there are a couple quick blurs: in one, one of those very scary frogs is dragged over cut in two; in the second, the frog is tossed down-river from where they're looking.

Hopefully, that will drag most of the scary fish away from them.]

Got your guns?