Breaking the Seal... (Character, Any!)

by **Karcharis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:03 pm

"H͉e͙͍̖̤̭͇͘y̶͓͍ ̟̜S͟y̲̭͜r̶͓̪̤̹͍̹i̵̳̞n̫͎͚͕̙͘x̪̲͜, ̠͖I̷̩̞͎̲ͅ'̢͓̞̫͈m̗̞͔ K̥̲̯͘ͅa̝̳͉̗̩̼͇t̷͈̮͍͎̳. ̺̺̝̝̰̜̟W̲h͚͇͔̦͙o̙̙̣͢ ͖͈̱̰̘͝a̢̪̥r̠̯̜ḙ̞̟ ͙͍̭̻̤̹͇y͏̬̦̞̖̗o̱͔͡u̲͖?͉͖ ̥̠̳I̹̺̜ ̻d̷͕̳̼̦ͅo̳̬͇͍̪̼̞n̪̖̟̘'̯̝̟t̝͕̦̣ ̗̼̭kn͔̟o̭̰w̡̱͙̖͕̝ͅ ͍̳̥̦̮w͡h̘̗o̥̤͍͓̟̥ ̪͘I ͇͈̜̞̳a̦̤m̖̩̺̜͓͝,͈͕̖̰͠ͅ ̝b̜̯͙̼ͅu̲̖̜̠̭̟t͕́ ͓̪̬̬͍̙͖m͇̳a̕y͖̤̱̟̹̳͘b̙̠̲̩́é̯̻͍ ̛̣͎͙yo̦̮̹͈̦͚̖͘u ̧̠͙͎̞k̶͔̭̠̭͔n͙̱̲͡o̤̥w̵͉ w̳̱̞h̨̜̹͉̥o̱ ̱̜̠̼y̻̞̣o̬̜̙̠͙u̧͖̭̺̯̞͚ ͖̯͚̪͟a̦̝r̳̟͢e̬̻͖͈͡ͅ?̹͟"̶̘̟̗͚̮̟

The other person (whose name was possibly Iimkat, and then again possibly not) chattered on incomprehensibly, seemingly just for the pleasure of it. She didn't seem to be giving any thought to communicating, but Syrinx picked up what she thought might be a few words; t̹̝̖ẖ̰̘̀i̛̘̣s̮̝͖ was the odd bifurcated spear, and the fruit was o͕̼̤̩̯̞̣n̛̠͓͓̞e͖̬̝̣̜͘. She essayed a few jabs and parries with the spear, and decided that it was not a very good weapon. Seeing the way that Iimkat was looking at her, she put it back down.

"Sorry," she said, "I wasn't stealing it."

Somehow, then, she knew weapons, and that this was not a good one. That seemed like an odd and not very useful skill to have been created with, right now, since the only animals were bugs and the only other currently extant person was a short, friendly brown chatterbox.

The fruit was juicy, sweet, and entirely edible; now that she knew that, she could climb the small copse of trees in the middle of the islet and gather more. She had to return to the ground several times with her harvest, having nothing to carry it in, but soon had a nice pile of several dozen plump red fruit. Back on the ground, Iimkat roped her into (odd thought, that - it implied someone was being tied up) holding fronds of the shrubbery, which Iimkat then set about weaving into a ... thing. Basket. How clever! The fruit went in one basket, and now she could carry it more easily.

"Over there?" she pointed towards the headland with its thin trail of smoke. "You'll need a, a ... floaty thing. Boat."

Lacking any other way to communicate this concept to the other woman, she drew it in the sand; a kind of tetrahedron sitting on some squiggles, with a pair of stick figures aboard. Of course, there was a marked lack of boat on the islet. She had the vague idea that primitives could make boats out of hollowed-out logs, but neither of them seemed particularly primitive. Perhaps the log itself might do, in a pinch; but she hadn't seen any fallen logs, and to chop down a standing tree would require some kind of specialized tool. Syrinx wasn't quite sure what such a tool would look like - it hovered just beyond conscious recall, alongside the remaining mental detritus strewn about by her creation earlier this day - but she felt that none of the supplies in Iimkat's crate was it. Perhaps the other woman had ideas? She flattened the boat drawing, replacing it with a log, then drew a tree upright, with an arrow arcing down to the horizontal.

"We need to chop down a tree, see? You don't understand a word I'm saying, I don't know why I'm talking to you. Tree." She pointed to the drawing, then the foliage, and made exaggerated falling-over motions.

by **Sunset** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:11 pm

"A boat?" Kat looked at the drawing, and at the tree, then pointed at the table. "I'm just using that as a raft!"

Putting the basket she was working on down on the raft, she made swimming motions with her arms and then laid down on the grass and grabbed the edge of the table and made kicking motions.

"See? We'll just put everything on top and push it across to the next island! The water's not that deep," she pointed out to the sea and then held up a hand to just above her head. "Oh! Unless you can't swim?"

She shook her head, pointed at Syrinx, and made the swimming motions again. Something about shaking her head felt... weird. Like she wouldn't normally shake her head to mean no, but something about who she was with made her shake her head instead of do something... else. A kind of... backwards motion with her head? Oh well. It didn't put food in the basket or get them to the next island.

"Then we might be stuck here for a bit. Unless we can figure out a way to make something bigger. Aha!"

Kat had spotted the same orange objects that Syrinx had seen earlier. They were orange spheres, about the size of her head, with a hole in them. They were also extremely light and floaty.

"How many of these are there?"

She looked down the beach. There was another within sight, and she trotted off to grab it and bring it back.

"We take all of these we can find, and... Hmm."

She looked around for a moment for a way to connect them before setting eyes on the spear again. There was that long cord attached to the end. It looked strong, and was nearly four Kat-heights long.

"We'll thread these onto here." She pushed the cord on the end of the spear through the hole, and then through to the next one. "And make a float! Go look for any more!" Kat pointed one way on the beach and walked the other way.

As she slowly made her way around the island, she found the occasional float and piled them up in her arms until she met Syrinx going the other way. She had a few as well, and together they cut across the island to the other side.

"We'll have to wait til morning," she noted, looking up at the sky. There were enough floats to get the larger woman across but she wouldn't want to cross the distance in the dark.

Wise thinking, it turned out. They picked more fruit, wove more baskets, and as the light faded the whole stretch of water between their island and the next lit up as some kind of phosphorescent animal made itself known. She didn't know what they were, but they attracted their own share of interest. She heard a buzzing and something large could be seen darting down into the water and back up again. It was joined by perhaps a dozen more of it's kind, all darting and swooping, and where they did one of the little lights inevitably faded.

by **Midlonia** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:26 pm

The Miner glanced to the green woman, then The Electrician, and then looked at his own skin. Everyone else was green why was he this browny-pink colour?

He shook his head and looked around at the rooftop. The machines up here… some were familiar but all of them silent. His mouth grew grim as he looked around some more, eventually finding a hexagonal shaped panel that seemed to reflect the sunlight, he touched it and felt the warmth but shook his head when he knelt down to look at the panels that were securely screwed on to prevent… just the kind of tampering he wanted to do. Or thought he wanted to do anyway. He straightened up and tapped on the side of the panel to get The Electrician’s attention, he simply shook his head and then nodded back to the stairs. They’d just have to make do, right now it was a nice luxury, but unlikely to last forever.

They crunched their way back down the stairs, the big man rubbing his face as he made his way back down. When they reached the store floor again, he waved cheerily to the new arrival, and then gestured to the water. Picking his hexagonal tablet out again, he tapped at it.

“We’ve not searched everywhere yet. But I didn’t get very far before I found this, made communication easier with the other lady.”

He removed the helmet and scratched his head a little before replacing it before typing again. “Want to help search?”

by **Senkaku** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:38 pm

Krishna's throat was raw, his mouth dry. It had been hours ago when he'd finished the last of the little rehydration packets that had been in his survival kit, and now, in the insufferable jungle heat, he was rapidly losing water. His stomach was also grumbling, as his dehydrated rations had provided few calories.

He stared apprehensively down at the drowned city, near where the fire had been. The last of the smoke was still hanging over the city like a very bad-smelling veil, tinting the clouds and sky slightly darker. Near the city were several small lakes, all a brilliant blue, flashing alluringly at him. If he could just make it to there, he would have water and probably food too.

He took a last look at the drowned city. The fire seemed to have burned itself out, and so, confident he wouldn't be incinerated in some hellish surprise firestorm, Krishna stood from where he'd lain, picked up his small suitcase, and began heading down the mountain towards the ruins below.

by **Scolopendra** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:17 pm

"If you are lost and need help, you're in good company." The Electrician smiled down at the shorter woman, who she had internally dubbed The Musician. "Do you know who you are? We don't know ourselves." She shrugged, then gestured towards the store. "We've got bottled water if you need it. The store is our base for raiding nearby buildings for water in cisterns. And my signal fire went out." She looked at the smouldering heap, smoke now wispy and grey rather than thick and black. "I'd burn more, but I don't know if it'd be useful or not."

by **Bearington** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:52 pm

Jorin watched from a distance as the three people talked. He assumed they were people at least; two of them looked a bit green from where he was standing.

On his way here he hadn't found anything very useful other than a short metal rod that he could use as a weapon if he needed to. He hoped he wouldn't need to. The people below didn't look savage or dangerous. In fact, they looked just as confused as he felt. Still, it wouldn't pay to take chances. Best to be patient.

Jorin watched, and he waited.

by **The Elsani City States** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:10 pm

"Lost? I.." Pausing before she even finishes her sentence to realize just how /lost/ she is. She remembers a name, but..Oh!.."EyNah! Pleased to meet you!" As if the meeting was entirely expected and pleasant for it.
She would raise the jug of water somewhat to indicate what use she might be, and what she possesses. Making her way through the store now, perhaps needing to be more careful than the Miner and the Electrician for lack of protective footwear. She doesn't recognize anything familiar.
Should anything here be familiar?
She might be a foreigner to wherever they are. The very thought is depressing, so to cheer herself she would strike up a tune on the Tootly thing she brought with her. If the Musician is going to be of practical aid to the others, it's as morale officer.
She would spend her time searching there in vain, waiting for the promised..what did they promise, in any case? That they would come down from their high perches to meet her? Why does she seem overjoyed at the idea of spending time with others? It's all she has the will to ponder before the others would arrive, green backside planted on a convenient upturned bucket. Playing her little tune, a more confident thing now. She's definitely had some training, she thinks.

by **Senkaku** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:38 pm

Krishna's breathing was becoming more ragged as he walked towards the lake through the ruins of the drowned city. It felt like someone had thrown his throat and mouth in a fire and then taken them out to rub them over sandpaper before throwing them into a salt pan and letting them bake to death.

Sandpaper...
Another memory burst into his brain, though a fairly useless one. He remembered a sort of reddish-brown paper, which was covered in abrasive things like a solid piece of thick-grained sand.

The memory, while it cheered him up, was useless and distracting. He kept walking, trying to breath deeply as he kept heading towards the lake. A strange melody began wafting to him, almost like a snake-charmer was playing. Krishna was too thirsty to care about this newest memory's appearance, and though it registered in his peripheral vision, he did not take note of the slightly taller building that poked up above the canopy of ruins and trees, nor the greenish figures atop it, but continued heading for the lake, which was by now probably only a kilometer away, the lush, odd-looking trees around it poking their heads above the drowned city as if to signal come here!

by **Tseaby** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:46 pm

Grass. Buildings. Sky. Me. I need a name. I am a person. What kind of person? I don't know. What describes me? She was utterly bored out of her mind, perhaps that's why her mind had wandered as far as it could. And so, in wandering, she eventually came to the fact that she couldn't remember her name. She knew names existed. Some names describe things. Others are random and simply help to differentiate. Either way, they're given by someone or something else. So what would be a name someone would give her?

I'm a her... I like my socks... I'm hauling a skip-- Skip? Is that what they call it? That sounds odd. None of this is relevant though. UGH. Ugh ugh ugh ugh. Looking up, she noticed the sun was about to disappear for the day. She was close to the edge of the city, though. If she kept pushing she could take shelter inside one of those buildings. Ew. They look so run down. I guess it's better than staying outside, but ew. Well, that short one looks okay enough. If I can get in, I don't have to worry about it tumbling down on me as much as the others.

The light started dimming as she hit pavement, suddenly struggling a lot more to drag the pod behind her as it scraped along the asphalt, echoing down the street she was on. A few choice curses later she arrived at the front doors to the building. Although she didn't know why, she expected them to open automatically, so she stood there for a moment. Were there anyone near by she might have looked moronic. But they didn't open. Obviously. She stared at the label on the door. It was old and faded, and starting to peel, but it looked like it had an arrow on it. After tugging the pod a little closer she pressed her hands on the glass and pushed sideways on it. It creaked.

She pushed again. It creaked some more.

I hate doors. Stupid f̕ra҉s̨siǹ doors who the fr҉ic͘k̢in hell's bright idea were they anyway. Gor̡r̨a҉m pieces of... Finally the door started opening, right before twisting apart and jamming into the slot. Something resembling “AUUUGH!” escaped from her mouth as she very nearly punched through the pane of glass precariously balanced on the stuck cross-piece. She rested her face in her palms for a few moments, calming down, before looking to the other door. Well, now with a few centimeters of space I can at least get my hands on the side of it. She did so, pushing directly on the cross-piece of the other door, getting it to slowly but continuously open until finally it was fully clear. She really started to feel dry now from all the exertion. With a few more grunts she managed to scrape the pod into the building, hiding it just out of site of the doors and windows, undid the strap. She stood there looking out a window for a moment, then spun around and slid down against the wall, feeling a bit numb inside as she rested her head on her knees.

by **Scolopendra** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:01 am

The Electrician joined EyNah in the store and, noting the latter's naked feet, decided to start clearing away the glass through the careful application of the sides of her feet. "EyNah? You're lucky. You know your name." She smiled as the glass tinkled. "Neither of us"--she motioned to The Miner and herself idly with one hand--"know who we are, where we are, or how we got here. With no names, I'm calling myself The Electrician. I know things about electrical circuits. He's wearing a lighted helmet, so he's The Miner. He knows how to use local computers, and is stone deaf."

For some reason, she continued her status report. It seemed appropriate. "This building has power, from solar panels, batteries, or some distributed system. We're trying to conserve it, just in case. You've seen the water. For now, it's all we have but I plan on getting more from surrounding buildings. Maybe get more fuel for the signal fire."

She looked again at the diminutive musician. It struck The Electrician as rather odd; both she and The Miner were about the same size, but EnYah was quite small. The smaller green woman also appeared to be more in scale with everything; whoever lived in the city when it was alive was probably about her height. Maybe she was representative of the inhabitants?

"The long term plan is survival and rescue." After she said it, she thought maybe she should have said 'my long term plan,' but no one else was offering suggestions. "The city is dead, but has resources. I've not seen dangerous wildlife. From this base we scout for supplies and better lodgings, and if we find somewhere to go, we go there." She shrugged. "Not having any memories limits my strategy. Maybe you can help with this?"

by **The Elsani City States** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:07 am

Am I?
She was lucky indeed, to know her own name whereas the others are left to wonder. This raises further questions. If the ones that built this place are like me, where is everyone?
She asks the Electrician as much.
"Where is everyone? What happened to them?" The other green woman seems to know what she's doing. At least, she appears to be more capable of being a leader of their little group than a deaf man or relatively petite green creature are.
"I saw.." A frown as she pries herself from her bucket perch to look out over the city from the relative safety of the store. "..Noone. Maybe more food and shelter? There's a..place with a lot of building and tool type stuff a walk from here."
Not very useful so far. EyNah is just as lost as her newfound comrades, and is obviously struggling to come up with /something/ to justify her own existance, given the apparent precious few people that exist.
Should there be more people?
She'd crawled out of a pod.
"Maybe there are others that know more? Need a bigger fire type thing." She certainly seems happier in the knowledge she isn't the only one in this city.

by **Sunset** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:24 am

A stretch and a yawn and Kat sat up, her upper half just emerging from the long grass that surrounded the spot where she'd bedded down for the night.

"I need something softer to sleep on!"

She yawned again and looked around for her new friend. Or at least traveling companion. The tall woman was already up, moving around their impromptu campsite, and making her own morning preparations. Pushing herself to her feet, Kat joined her and soon enough they'd eaten and taken care of their personal business. That had also given her a chance to survey the beach that faced the next island in the chain.

There was no sign of the creatures that had swarmed in the channel the night before, though there were a few new objects on the beach. She examined one and found it to be an odd animal, about the size of her forearm, with dozens of legs and three pairs of long translucent wings that sprouted from a knob just behind it's head. It didn't seem to have sustained any kind of damage and something in her head warned her that she shouldn't try to eat it. Still, it was one of the largest animals she'd seen so far and was thus of some interest to her.

"I don't think they'd taste very good anyway. All those legs," she said aloud as she flipped it over in the sand. "Let's see if there's anything else."

A quick walk around the beach uncovered nothing else of interest and she returned to the campsite to find her companion finishing her own breakfast. That seemed like a good idea and Kat finished off a couple of the fruits as she moved everything onto the raft. It was a little heavier now, but between her and the taller and stronger Syrinx, they had little trouble getting it down to the beach and into the water. Which was cold.

"Hmm, didn't think of that," Kat noted as she stuck a tentative toe into the surf. It was cold, but the sky was clear and the sun was already creeping up. "Guess we should just go. We might be able to get all the way over to the big island if we go quick."

Pointing to the rocky headland, she pushed the raft into the surf until it floated free and they were both up to something like their waist. The floats on their rope went around Syrinx, and she held onto the raft as well. Even with all the floats, she was just above her armpits in the water, but the water was calm and they made steady progress.

"Keep an eye on the bottom," Kat pointed down. "That's where I found the spear. Might find something else!"

That idea didn't pan out though, and by mid-day they were pulling the raft across the next island. Like the last, it was more of a low sandy mound than a proper island and mostly covered with grass and low shrubs with a few slim trees here and there. Whether cutting across the island was faster was debatable, but they were able to eat the local produce instead of dipping into their supplies. Then it was time for the long, final trek. The rocky headland was nearly twice as far away, but the water was warm now and Syrinx had markedly improved her technique from the somewhat haphazard start she'd gotten that morning.

"Off we go!"

by **Midlonia** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 1:06 pm

The Miner ran his hands across his face for a moment and yawned widely. His arms stretched wide knocked a plain looking hexagonal tin off of the shelf with a clatter, he felt it bump into his hand and looked to it curiously. He knelt down and ran his fingers around the edges before the lid came away with a shudder and the sensation of air rushing in. He raised his eyebrows and then lifted the tin to his nose and sniffed at the silvery covering over it. It smelt.. nice? He ran his finger along the silver foil and then pushed his finger into the silver foil and pulled some of it back, inside were small… round things? The smell got a little stronger as he did so.

He lifted one out of the box and sniffed at it. Then he licked it and his face lit up a little. He bit into it and found it… stale? Was that the word? Stale but not bad. He chewed on it a little more experimentally and then looked at the shelf. There were three more such boxes there and he nodded to them with a big grin, waving the box around a little. He then held the one out that he’d already opened to both The Musician and The Electrician and rattled it with another grin.

He’d found food, they were… biscuits! Now he remembered! He also remembered there was a drink they were supposed to go really well with but he couldn’t remember it for the life of him at that moment.

by **Karcharis** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 4:00 pm

The sun lurched along the eastern horizon, spraying light into the salty air with each swell and dip of the waves. Syrinx clung grimly to the makeshift raft, trying desperately not to drown. The ground was un-extant and she could have sworn something was trying to nibble at her toes. Of her day's worth of existence to date, this was certainly the nadir, and to say it's all uphill from here would be to ignore the indefinite quantity of down between the seabed and her feet.

Beside her, Iimkat held on to the raft with one hand, kicking along merrily. The other woman even appeared to be smiling slightly. Syrinx glowered, clung more tightly to the raft, and flailed her legs in a vaguely propulsive manner.

The headland was looming up before them, surely they couldn't be far from the shore - but then she'd thought that fives minutes ago, and five minutes before that.

"If the creators had meant us to swim, they would have given us fins," she grumbled. She got a mouthful of salt water for her troubles.

Finally, somehow, her kicking feet touched ground and she stood up, water sheeting from her waterlogged jumpsuit and sodden hair. Squelch. Ick. A few more steps and the sea deposited them on the narrow stretch of sand and fallen rocks at the base of the headland. When one wasn't bobbing about in the middle of an inimical environment, it was a rather nice day, without a cloud in the sky. No sign of the distant smoke today, but now they were on the big island they could hardly miss it, right?

Her clothes were clammy and wet, and she stripped out of her jumpsuit, tying it around her waist as a makeshift sarong. She'd put it back on if they were in public, of course; that seemed an implicit design feature. One wore clothes in public. Iimkat probably didn't count, so that was okay. She tipped seawater out of her shoes, and tried to wring more out of her hair. Ack. Blech. Forget the smoke; priority number one was now to find a comb.

This change in goals had, however, the same prerequisite; find a way up the headland. The crumbly white stone was more slope than cliff, and provided plenty of handholds, but it didn't look particularly stable. And it might be tricky hauling Iimkat's supplies up there. Syrinx wasn't sure whether or not to go up the cliff, or along the beach and look for a lower approach. She pointed one way, then the other, and shrugged, inviting Iimkat's opinion.

by **Scolopendra** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:09 am

"Where is everyone? Excellent question." The Electrician shrugged. "I woke up in a... Capsule inside a Facility within a skyscraper. The skyscraper has a large hole in it and has partially collapsed. I've not seen any other damage--other than the door I broke. The city is completely abandoned, as far as I know. The rotten fruit that was here suggests it has been abandoned for a few weeks. Anything else is just a guess."

She doesn't like guessing. The very thought strikes her as dangerous. She figured that she must be a very cautious person, and wondered if there was a particular reason why.

"Tools and building material can be useful. Proper rope would be nice..." She was struck by an idea, but lost it before she could figure out what it was. "We can scout there tomorrow. Thank you, EnYah." The little green lady looked like she could use some encouragement, and if her information was good such things would be useful.

The Miner's rattling got her attention and she looked into the tin at the round things in their foil. She took one and, noticing how The Miner wasn't convulsing or anything whilst munching happily, bit into it. Crunchy, dry, good flavor but the texture could use something. "Thank you, too," she said to the Miner with a short little bow to emphasize the words while he didn't have his translator handy. Another idea struck her and she was able to hold onto it this time; a good thing, too. Her recall, jogged by the biscuit drying out her mouth, announced loudly that dry food would require more water, of which they had a limited supply--and they were in a food store, based on the fruit.

She turned back to EnYah. It was nice having someone who wasn't a 'The Whatever' around. Names were important... for whatever reason. "They're dry, and that reminds me of what we should do next. We should inspect one of everything in the store, looking for moist food. That way we will use less water. Anything we can't eat is a potential fuel."

by **The Elsani City States** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:39 pm

She doesn't even need to say it. The body language that can only be an expression of surprise, of realization-of comprehending something suddenly-is expressed by this particular green woman. The shorter, shoeless one.
"Okay!" She appears enthusiastic, at least, to have found others. An informal grouping. She couldn't be happier, all things considered.
And it was a lot to consider. "..I didn't find much food there. Or any. Perhaps we need a higher point to look at things from?"
A frown follows. "You're right. Will do!"
It doesn't take much prodding for EyNah to explore the store more thoroughly. She has a /use/ now, she thinks. A goal in mind. Perhaps she can find more of those biscuits?
She even seems content to sweep the glass and other debris. A hexagonal lid of..something..serves well enough as a broom, and she would eventually end up with a large pile of similarly hexagonal tins, boxes and more stacked up to one corner of the store.
She doesn't tackle the larger boxes or things that might look too heavy for her-instead only cleaning what she can and piling up whatever at least /looks/ like it might contain food and useful items.

For all she knows, it's all ceramic cookware. If she is after all an example of those that called the ruins home, time will tell if she has a better success rate finding the right things.

by **Sunset** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 5:29 pm

Kat looked at the crumbly white cliff and didn't even need to speak the same language to agree with the idea that hauling the supplies up that cliff would be hard at best and dangerous at worst.

"I think we should go around..."

There was a reasonable stretch of not-beach but not-cliff where the cliffs met the water and it looked like they could safely make their way somewhere using that.

"Somewhere being the right answer," she laughed. "I'm not even sure where we're going. There's some big white objects over here that look out of place, and I met you along this path, so... why not?"

Turning around to look back out across the water towards the two little islands and their big cousin at the end, she tried to remember where the white objects had been in relation to those islands.

"Let's see... From there," she looked at the furthest-most island, "They looked to be a little off to the right."

Come to think of it, how did she know her right was her right? That hand looked just the same as the other; Two fingers in the middle and a thumb to either side. There really wasn't a way to tell one from the other aside from a vague notion in her head that one was 'right' and the other 'left'. And was that even the right way?

"No way to know unless we try it!"

Stooping to gather the bin and baskets from the raft, she moved them up to a stable point on the cliff before grabbing the net and spreading it out on the ground. Placing the bin in the middle and the baskets to the front and back, she gathered up the net and wrapped it around them so that it formed a sort of cocoon.

"Wrap the cord from the harpoon around that to keep it all in place, and carry the harpoon..."

Turning to Syrinx, she pantomimed, "We'll pick up the ends, and put one on our shoulder and carry the whole thing between us like a sling, ok?"

Kneeling, she picked up her end, waited until the taller woman had gotten hers in hand, and up onto the shoulder it went. Then, holding the spear with the other hand, she began to trudge along the rocky break at the water's edge.

"Too bad about the raft. We'll just leave it here and hope it stays safe, I guess!"

Along the base of the cliff they trudged, the broken ground making the passage somewhat treacherous but clearly faster than swimming in the waves that lapped at their feet occasionally. It was also warmer and drier, and after only a seemingly short time had passed their clothing was dry again. Another short while and the broken base of the cliff became a recognizable trail, a thin line of sand winding it's way along between the cliff and the water with a litter of large rocks on either side.

Ahead a single large rocky pillar jutted out of the sand and as they approached Syrinx stopped and caught her attention, "̵̶̻̮͎̬̲̯̲͞L͍͙͚͙̮͔̲ò̱͙͔̹͔̲o̵͇̤̙͠k͈̫̼̯͜͜͡!̧̘͈̥͍" Kat followed her pointing hand and spied something fluttered at the top of the pillar. Carefully they set down their burden and the taller woman stepped up to the column and reached up to pluck whatever it was free. There was some resistance, but she gestured Kat to stay back as she pulled whatever it was down. A rock came with it - a weight to keep it from blowing away - as well as something else.

Syrinx held the first item up. It was a large, hexagonal towel or blanket with a black edge and a black hexagonal pattern across the inside. The majority of the fabric was white and fluffy, thought there appeared to be some kind of abstract pattern in gray and blue on one side. The other item was a sort of thin jacket, made of a slick feeling material, with panels on either side filled with the same hexagon pattern and a similar abstract design. The rest of the jacket was a soft gray color and overall it looked like it was a coverup rather than a proper jacket.

"Neat! Someone must have left it here..."

There had been a lot of sand on both items though, and that likely meant that they had been there for some time.

"Let's keep moving," Kat suggested, pointing to the sun. "We can look at them more when we get to somewhere flatter."

Tucking the newly found items into their bundle, they hefted it once again and moved on...

by **Scolopendra** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 5:58 pm

The Electrician went through the piles EnYah built up, skipping over cans she didn't know how to open and sorting the rest into homogenous piles so one sample would represent the rest. The largest pile consisted of bags and bags and bags that, when one was opened, revealed a countable infinity of teensy off-white nodules that reminded her of seeds or grains of some sort. When she tried a nibble of a single grain, it was hard to the point of being almost inedible and crunchy once one finally ground through them; she got the feeling that she was doing it wrong and set it aside for someone else to hopefully identify. It wasn't bitter, however, so she considered that a good sign.

The next were twelve bags full of fat, slightly squishy, bright orange semicircles covered in what she immediately identified as sugar crystals. Another nibble of one end proved that yes, it was sweet and she was reminded of the flavor 'orange' as well as the concept 'candy.' They wouldn't be lacking for sugar for the next few days, at least, though that wasn't very healthy. She knew that much.

There were many, many hexagonal tins similar but not identical to those The Miner had found; they proved to contain small round baked cakes with embedded brown pieces. These were chocolate chip cookies. Nutritionally better than the candy oranges, certainly, but still not overly useful.

Finally she came to twelve bottles of softer plastic with hard plastic lids. The lids unscrewed to reveal glossy fabric caps over the apeture of the bottle; this came off to expose a creamy yellow-brown colloid with little brown and black specks in it. Something told her this was risky, but a few careful sniffs reminded her of spices, vinegar, and mustard and it didn't smell bad. Tasting a tiny dollop on her pinkie finger confirmed that it was some sort of spicy-vinegar-mustard-mixed-with-something-fatty sauce. She didn't like it and didn't trust it, but the fat content when it eventually did go bad would mean that it would make a good fuel.

After glancing at EnYah to make sure she wasn't looking, The Electrician frowned to herself. None of this, except maybe the grains, was exactly good survival food, but it would keep them alive. The grains... well, she couldn't recall how to prepare them, but if they were dry, they may require water. Not much of a solution.

by **Bearington** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:27 pm

Jorin approached the outside of the building where the three other people were. He had thought he should be cautious, but he quickly lost patience. These people might be his best chance at figuring out what was going on and maybe finding some food.....

He made sure the metal rod was still firmly in his grip, and yelled at the building, "HALLO? IS ANYBODY IN THERE? I COME IN PEACE!"

by **Scolopendra** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:44 pm

The Electrician jerked her head up at the call. "YES, THREE OF US." Standing up, she walked over to the now-cleared remains of the glass door. Poking her head out, she looked down-ish at the newcomer, then at his pipe, then back at him. "Rescue party or another amnesiac?"

by **Bearington** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:55 pm

"Amnesiac," Jorin answered. "My name is Jorin. Do you have any idea where we are? Or why we're here? You said there were three of you?"

by **Scolopendra** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:50 pm

"No idea, though not 'not a clue.'" The Electrician grinned. Her canines, particularly the lower ones, were larger than standard issue. "Come on in, Jorin; I'm The Electrician because I don't know my own name. The one with the helmet is The Miner--same--and the shorter green one is EnYah." She stepped aside to let the man in. "Everyone, this is Jorin. He's in the same situation as us." She tapped The Miner to get his attention so the stranger wouldn't surprise him.

"To give you the briefing: we're all amnesiacs to one degree or another. I woke up yesterday in a Capsule in a Facility in a skyscraper with a hole in it. I've seen no other damage in this city, so that may be the source. The city has been abandoned for about a month. This building still has power, but we're conserving it. For now it's a resource base while we explore the area for more resources. Long-term plan is to get rescued, so we should find a way to signal others."

by **Tseaby** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:28 pm

She woke up some time later to the sound of the wind blowing through the building. As she stood she looked about, her eyes well adjusted to the dim light. It seems the sun hadn't fully set, or there were other lights in the city keeping the area from getting too dark; she couldn't tell which. Standing in front of the door she noticed the constant breeze inward meant there was another opening in the building elsewhere.

Slowly she crept farther into the building, not particularly excited about the prospect of wandering through a dark building, but figuring if she's going to explore at night here is as good a place as any. She kept an eye on the floor for anything that might be laying there, as well as to keep track of the way she moved by lining up with the tile floor. The area was sparsely furnished, leading up to a pass-through in a wall next to a wooden door. Holding a hand up she could feel the breeze going through the pass-through, but found the door itself was locked. Ain't that a stinker. She had a sudden urge to kick it in, but was weary of trying it with the simple footwear she was wearing.

Still... the soles are pretty thick... She stared at it for a moment, then took a deep breath and kicked next to the handle, resulting in a sound that would generally be described as a “WHAM” as the door cracked around the lock.

Fra҉cķin' ow.

_{[ OOC side note: Square boxes mean the forum's font isn't displaying the characters right. Just pretend it's hiding some letters. ]}

by **Karcharis** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:15 pm

Syrinx could feel her skin beginning to burn; the sun was really too bright overhead. Her jumpsuit was still squelchy with seawater, and the jacket they'd found had clearly been made for someone much shorter than her.

The existence of the jacket meant that there were at least three separately created people in the world, and two of them were really short. If this were a trend, finding replacement clothing would be a real chore. She thought that clothing could be assembled somehow out of raw materials, but her mind provided no information on the specifics. In the interim, she folded the hexagonal towel in half and tied it around her neck as an impromptu shawl. It kept the sun off her shoulders, at least.

After some time - who can say how much? - the cliffs on their left dwindled, the path widened, and an actual road appeared leading up into the interior. Sitting at the confluence of path and road was a boat ramp, off kilter and half-buried in sand; and next to it a vehicle resting on three part-inflated balloon tires. They put down the crate and went to investigate.

Whoever had built the vehicle had evidently abhorred right angles; the vehicle was vaguely rhomboid, but mostly curved and streamlined so as not to present a sharp edge at any angle. Lights fore and aft were flush with the hull, and access was evidently by means of a tinted window section which wrapped around the fore of the vehicle and lifted up like the wing-cases of a beetle; one was partly open already. Within were a pair of seats, one with an array of control levers, dials, and wheels.

On a hunch she couldn't quite place, Syrinx peered at the vehicle's rear. No … thing. Vent, pipe, chimney. Exhaust, that's it. Therefore running on … something. Indicative of something, if only she could remember what. Plants had taken root in the sandy rubble beneath the vehicle, apparently taking advantage of the shelter; it had been here some time, then.

Syrinx levered the door open further, and poked at a few of the controls. No response. The vehicle was dead, then; somehow that wasn't surprising. Proper transport would be too easy. There was a little compartment in front of the chair which didn't have the controls; investigating, she found a little yellowed booklet marked with writing she couldn't read, full of close-packed text and diagrams of the vehicle. User manual? Useless manual, now. Next to it was a flimsy green box with more incomprehensible writing on it, and inside that were a series of little paper bags full of … something. Herbs? They smelled musty and unpleasant. She passed them to Iimkat for inspection.

Something was wedged behind the seats, wrapped in fabric. She squeezed her torso into the vehicle to retrieve it. A complicated shape under the cloth, something with … potential. She had a sudden memory of a much larger world, of excitedly unwrapping brightly colored boxes. Presents. Let's see what's in this present. Stock, shaft, complicated box, arms, wire … the knowledge of how to use this was in her arms and her eyes and her stance as she lifted it, aimed. I know what this is. A crossbow, repeating.

It was satisfying on a deep and primal level to be armed, to have a weapon, and never mind that (apart from Iimkat) she'd seen nothing larger than a bug since creation. It was like regaining a limb she didn't know she'd lost, and she knew that to arm and aim and fire would bring, in that stretched moment of tension in the wire, perfection. That it was designed for someone substantially shorter than herself was irrelevant compared to that; heck, it meant she could probably fire it one-handed.

This largesse delivered, the vehicle appeared to have nothing else to offer. She slung the crossbow over her shoulder, picked up her end of the crate, and they turned up the road, away from the sea.

Up above the level of the cliffs the city was plainly visible in the distance; tall buildings, medium buildings, small buildings. Closer to them, the road was bordered with fields, empty of livestock or overgrown with crops. Crops meant food, and she hopped over the dilapidated fence to take a closer look. A wave of tiny insects rose up and drifted off as she approached. These plants had tall stalks topped with tuft-like seed heads, but the seeds seemed browned, rotten. This wasn't food any more.

As the sun was disappearing behind the city, the fields ended and the houses began; round dome-like structures constructed of hexagonal plates, neatly packed together to minimize wasted space. What space there was was occupied with narrow paths or overgrown vegetation.

The entrances to the identical houses were obviously marked; a large, recessed hexagon forming a sort of sheltered opening, with an oval doorway set into it. Picking one at random, Syrinx examined the door. It was obviously designed to slide, but this one was jammed or locked. Halfway around the building one of the hexagons was transparent, glassy; a window. It was the work of a moment to break it open with the crossbow stock, and then the whole hexagonal panel popped out. Ingress obtained. She boosted Iimkat up through the opening and then squeezed through herself, crossbow at the ready.

OOC: There you go, Sunset! I've brought us to suburbia.

by **Sunset** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:26 pm

Kat shifted in her sleep, rolling to one side and then back again as the light began to push it's way past her closed eyelids. It was too early...

It was too early!

Her eyes flew open and she looked up through the curved, hexagonal skylight that made up the majority of the ceiling of the small room. It had made poking through the contents of the house easier - a few rooms, with a central kitchen/family area connected by more of the hexagonal doorways - but now light filled the room but it was the wrong kind of light. There were still stars out; Not fading away as with the dawn but twinkling brightly even as a brilliant red began to trace it's way across the sky from the east*.

She put out a hand and found Syrinx's shoulder. They were sleeping in the same large bed, for safety's sake, though it wasn't as large as it had been once the horned woman had taken her place.

"Look!" She pointed up, drawing her attention to the skylight and the acid red finger-like tendril that was making it's way across the sky. Whatever it was, it was distinctly indistinct, both glowing bright as the sun and yet somewhat fuzzy about the edges. Like a harsh cloud it drifted across the sky and like a cloud it folded in on itself and changed, first appearing as a long saber and then as a curling question mark.

Together they watched it past. She couldn't tell the exact time but it didn't seem like it had taken more than a quarter of an hour for it to sweep across the sky and then it passed beyond the horizon and was gone. Soon the sky was clear again and darkness descended once again. But to sleep? What had it been? Kat lay awake wondering.

*East being where the sun rises. East and west may vary depending on your rotation.

Breaking the Seal... (Character, Any!)

The Miner and The Bard

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