subnautica | POST-HURRICANE LOG

POST-HURRICANE LOG | OPEN MINGLE

[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!]

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She's programmed to support the mission here. Unless she's reprogrammed, she won't be able to handle leaving.

[There are key words. He knows Jake can catch them. Jake can be very bright.]

[Jake nods and smiles at him.]

I was just curious. [Which means Dirk is working on it. So he waves a little hoping Dirk knows it means if he needs help, Jake will help.

He stops and rolls his eyes.] What an obvious door.

[He says this when there is no real obvious door but whatever, he rams his shoulder into the wall and the stone door swings open.]

...Do they have light-switches in the future or do you just clap?

Look around. Carefully.

[He's very close by Jake this time, in the sense of wanting to yank him back if it's obvious.]

Later you're gonna have to tell me what was obvious about that door.

[He can't help a little grin as he reaches into the darkness, hand flailing around for a switch. He does find a smooth, steel something on the wall that lights up the room. It's large, containing dozens of servers. Jake leans in and glances around.]

It looks okay. Your cue, mate.

[Dirk starts going through the rooms. The servers are in a bad condition, victims of weathering over the years. As he looks through them, checking its running and also taking a couple looks at what's here, a frown starts developing.]

This isn't all of it. Half, maybe. The size doesn't match up with URSULA's description, and checking it myself it can't be enough.

[He frowns, leaning against the wall and folding his arms.]

I can keep looking out there.

Let's look in here first. [He glances over at Jake. A little tilt of his head, and he drops out of his sylladex some slightly more sophisticated computer equipment.] Why don't you look around for clues while I hook in and see what I can learn?

[Jake nods, giving a hum of agreement as he starts looking over the walls, touching places here and there.]

Can you use what's here?

I'm worried about what will happen if I do. If I transfer her now, without getting the rest of it, we might come into problems with her. It could in a sense even 'hurt' her.

[It's making him worry, and suspect he should err towards trusting Naoko won't find and kill or change URSULA rather than wrecking their AI. It might be worth rigging up something else though...]

Well, I trust you to do whatever is best for her.

[He says it casually, but of course he means it. Whatever Dirk decides to do will be what's best. That's just how it is. If anyone knows what's best for her, too, it would be him. Not so much because of his AI experiences, though partly, but because he's grown so much that he understands how he channel his care now.

Meanwhile, he's squinting at the wall. He did find something but he's not sure what it means. As it dawns on him, he starts to bounce on the heels of his feet.]

Hippity hoppity diggity dog, Dirk! I found a puzzle!

[Sweet Jesus. Why is he attracted to that boy. Dirk takes a moment of pressing his forehead against these old servers.

His voice is very tired.]

What do you mean.

[God protect him from his own taste.]

[Too bad because Jake bounds up to Dirk and tugs on him. If he had a tail it would wagging at the speed of light.]

Come look! It's really spiffy! Like some real Lara Croft shit!

[He can feel it. He can feel the puppy tail wag. It is sweet, and pure, and too much.

Leaving his computer equipment, he lets Jake tug him along.]

What is it?

[Jake is still hanging onto Dirk's arm as he stops in front of the wall. He points at a string of letters.]

It's a classical Caeser substitution cipher but anyhoo, it says, "Where Atlas Stood."

[Huh. He doesn't pull away from Jake, obviously. He just thinks it through.]

They seriously left a riddle behind.

[This is more important than explaining the riddle.]

An easy one. [He corrects this because clearly everyone knows ciphers.] But yep! Isn't that nifty?! My kind of people.

[Not everyone obsesses over that, Jake. Dirk knows a thing or two about ciphers from the history of computing but really. But Jake is excited, and even Dirk is interested in this.]

Atlas stood at the ends of the Earth, westwardly.

So, the end of the island towards the west?

It's worth checking. If not, it might be further.

[Hopefully not much further? They'll have to find out. The Atlantic ocean is named for Atlas, he knows, so he's wary here of just where the clue might take them. Best to start with what is easiest.]

[He frowns.] West is so vague. But I guess it'll make sense when we see it. It must have been an important enough clue that it makes sense.

Do you have it in you to go tonight?

[He knows they shouldn't. But he's enjoying himself here, with Jake, and going back to base would be—]

[Without thinking, he shifts his hold on Dirk's arm, hand sliding down to loosely hold his.]

Why don't we head west until it gets too dark?

[The moons and stars are enough to fly by but definitely not search by in a dense jungle. And if they have to go back that late, it's enough to just creep into bed and avoid as much of the unpleasantness as they can.]

[Dirk does think. He thinks about how much of a burden he is putting on Jake. He thinks about how much Jake needs to be alone, and how much time Dirk has taken from him. He thinks about how kind and patient Jake has been. Caring.

He thinks about the hand held in his, and when he glances to the side, he tries not to sound afraid.]

You sure?

[It's a long flight back and Dirk will be hardpressed not to be near him when they return. Is Jake sure that he deal with that much of him?]

[Jake understands. It would be a lie to say he's totally okay. He's tired, from the fighting and not having any time to himself, and it's wearing on him, but he doesn't regret for a second supporting Dirk or giving up that time. If it lasts too long, he'll have to ask for some support, too, but he'll cross that bridge later. Right now he's fine enough and when he looks at Dirk he feels stronger than before.

He twines their fingers together and gives a gentle squeeze.]

I'm happy to as your best bro. [He smiles at him.] Besides, I'd have lost my marbles to say no to helping such a cute blonde in distress.

Are you LARPing Lara or Indiana, dude?

[It reassures him. The squeeze of his hand, the smile. The little joke. It reassures him.

They aren't going to fuck up this one.]

Let's go.

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POST-HURRICANE LOG | OPEN MINGLE

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