Oakland: Chapter 2
Sorien is at the wheel of the bus, tension in her back; there's still blood on her leg where she was shot, though no actual evidence of the injury beyond that remains. Her ears are back, and she seems to be trying and failing miserably to conceal her emotional state.
Sparhawk is seated sphinx-style at the front of the bus with his eyes closed and a general frown on his face. He appears basically still, however.
Crys is no better than Sorien, she's still in shock from having discovered a survivor of the massacre created by her own hands. The damage she did to that girl, worse than many of those given the mercy of death and an eventual parting. She looks miserable, her fur haggard and eyes filled with quiet tears.
Loki yawns wide, waking in the back of the bus. He scratches his head, and makes his way out, stepping out in to the afternoon sun, spreading his wings wide, and generally stretching his entire form out as he reaches for the sky. After the stretching ritual, he eventually relaxes in place, and glances lazily around. "Hrmm... not there yet?.." he murmurs. He eventually spots Sorien and REDACTED, and approaches them with a smile, raising a hand. "Hello! How are you a-" he says, stopping as some things catch up to him. A frown spreads across his face as he again starts to speak "Did I miss an..." he stops again, peering at the miserable state of the two, and then sighs, just standing there in silence, not really sure how to console either.
Apostasy is still sitting next to Crys, cuddling the distraught woman and trying to comfort her in some small way.
Just having returned to the bus before the door had closed, Cilan tucks the rifle she had used only recently back onto her shoulder and moves, or at least attempts to move back to her old seat before noticing REDACTED's terrible state, which prompts the lady to rather seat herself on one of the chairs across the aisle from her, but she remains quiet, not wanting to say something that would end up only badly for the both.
Sori doesn't drive far; just until well out of sight of the factory. She pulls the bus over and stops. She sighs and says, "You missed it, but I envy you in that, Loki. I... Need a moment. I'll be right back." With that, she opens the bus door and steps outside.
Loki blinks as Sorien walks out, slumping over a little. He glances the other way, and notice a few more grim faces, and slumps over even more. He sighs, glancing back to Sorien at the front, and fidgets. Both places seem equally unviable.... He eventually retreats farther inside and takes a seat near Crys, Cilan, and Apo, and remains there in relative silence.
Apostasy nuzzles Crys gently before slipping away to stand near the door of the bus, looking out at Sorien.
Sparhawk thumps his tail on the floor once. "We seem better at negotiating' with ancient tricksters than children. It is somewhat disorienting."
Taggart is sitting quietly in his seat, even as the bus stops. A soft suckle on a large canine tooth, thoughtful, and then the man stands and steps outside, emerald eyes looking to Sorien. "Why don't ya nap, luv? I'll drive."
Sori jumps a little. "I... I don't think what I'd see sleeping would bear witnessing. I'm sorry I messed things up..."
Crys shakes out of her stupor at the sound of her mate's pain. She looks up with her ears pressed flat, her green eyes wet and stare at Sorien. "Love, come to me, please."
Taggart watches Sorien for a moment, but nods and then steps forward, arms wrapping about her shoulders in an attempt to comfort. At the sound of REDACTED, he releases her and steps back, hands shoving into his pockets as he looks back at the factory.
Apostasy wrings her hands, not really knowing what to do, and just moves back to her seat, fidgeting a little.
Loki continues to mull quietly in his seat, glancing towards the others. He appears afraid to actually ask what happens, and sighs again. "What.. ever it is... I am.. sorry I was unable.. to assist... perhaps.. if I had helped.. things would be better.."
Sori's ears go up then right back down at Crys' voice. She sighs and seems to focus, taking a deep breath. "I'm... I'll be okay." She hugs Tag, and goes back aboard to Crys, and hugs her. "It'll be okay. I'll stay here; Tag'll get us to the port."
Crys hugs Sorien tight, more out of need herself for the touch than an effort to comfort her mate. She remains quiet and simply hugs against the most important person in her life. She breaths in heavy breaths and stifles tears, trying to be as strong as she can to offer any comfort in return.
Sparhawk grins lopsidedly. "Given that it was a collapse of diplomacy with surviving humans, I don't think having a helpful dragon along would have been helpful.
Sori holds Crys, stroking her back. "Loki... You're a good friend and quite helpful; but what happened there was nothing that could easily have been helped."
Taggart takes a deep breath of ocean air and then steps back up onto the bus, setting down into the driver’s seat. "Anyone else need sum time bafore we keep goin'?" The Irishman turns his head and glances back to the sullen group of adventurers behind him.
In the distance, gulls have swarmed the building, many hovering in circles around its top, and others have landed and are searching for the scents and smells of the inhabitants.
Apostasy shakes her head. "Just take us to the Port, please."
Loki rises from his mulling and nods slowly. "Ah... but that does not necessarily make me feel any better... but..." he trails off, his thought interrupted by Taggart. "I think.. you should keep going... Sometimes stopping can be a bad thing."
Sori mutters, "God I hope they're safe..."
Taggart catches sight of the swarming behind him and frowns, shutting the doors and turning the engine over. The bus starts up and then begins to move onward.
The harbour way isn't far, the main portion sitting just south of the Bay Bridge. The centre over by Treasure Island's deck is blown, an entire section of the collapsed bridge in the harbour, and the rest of suspension lines are slowly collapsing in the other sections.
Sparhawk frowns at the flock more specifically. "These things do not learn." As the bus starts up, the ripple of azure precedes another meteor summoned from the well of space. The explosion will be small and in the bus' wake by the time it arrives, but Spar glares until it does.
The presence of another meteor scares off many of the gulls, who go to look for food elsewhere.
Apostasy looks out the window as they drive. "That bridge certainly didn't come out of all this very well, did it?"
"The port authority is marked on the map, Tag. Head there first. If we don't learn anything there, we'll head for the naval base.
Taggart speaks over his shoulder, "Gunna have ta tell me where I'm goin'... I ain't tha one with tha plan." At the mention of port authority, he nods and glances to the map, checking to make sure his way is clear in the real world before finding the correct route.
Crys lets go of her mate, realizing the rest of them need her more than she does.
Cilan looks over to the bridge as Apostasy talks about it, and she quietly muses to herself, "Mm.. seems like it.. wonder if it was the fearful people, ferals, or something else.." finished, she just shrugs and removes the thought from her mind, continuing to absently watch the road, waiting in silence until the destination arrives.
Sparhawk opens his eyes to peer at the bridge. "Wonder how any of the other wonders of the modern world are still standing? To say nothing of the ancient ones."
Sori comments, "Minneapolis was never this bad. Never."
Apostasy looks over to Sparhawk. "Pyramids are probably still around."
Crys says, "I don't doubt humanity will find a way to destroy even the most beautiful of its creations." Her eyes dark and her fur marked from the tears that stopped.
Taggart remains quiet and starts to head in the supposed correct direction, the bus jerking slightly as it begins moving forward once more.
Sori blinks. "Don't think that, love. We're just seeing the worst right now. Trust me; it’s not the whole world like this."
Apostasy shrugs. "Humanity is good at tearing down what it builds. On the other hand, it's also very good at building anew. We just need to get past the phase of destruction and chaos first."
Many streets are outright impassable, having been trashed, walls having collapsed from being shelled, or streets blown out, the asphalt blown up into the air to rest embedded in walls.
Cilan says, "Yeah.. just a few pockets here and there.. sure there is hatred towards us and frankly, racism really isn’t a new thing.. but we get by as we can, and hope that tomorrow will be a better day.."
Taggart will slow down at the difficult terrain, using slow and steady pushing from the front of the giant bus when it's blocked by lighter vehicles.
Loki nods. "Yes.. that is true... but humanity has also built several things that have stood against time... And I would not really count the nanites as its full capacity for real destruction... Or else, we would have likely all perished." he mumbles, peering out the window. "And... Bridge?..."
Sparhawk hears the sound of bumper against steel and jumps a little, the inanimate objects being silent and dark with nanites. "Plenty of people here to move debris, y'know. Some of us even have things specifically designed to get rid of cars."
Taggart catches Sparhawk's comment and mumbles quietly, "Aye, but that involves gettin' outta tha bus and slowin' us down. This's faster."
Taggart adds, "Iffun we get to a spot I can't push t'rough... ya kin' get out and do that."
The harbour itself swells and moves in almost an unusual way, almost beautiful in its mixture of colours. It appears algae is growing rampant in the bay, while the cold ocean water is clashing with it, brining darker seaweeds and clearer waters.
Sori kisses Crys. "It'll be okay. It will." She stands and goes to the front of the bus, and watches as Tag drives; she's standing and has a grip on one of the take-holds for standing riders.
Sparhawk leans out of Sorien's way in his aisle-blocking seat. "Although seat belts along with that would be handy, I suspect."
Loki peers out the window, watching the scenery in relative silence. He eventually breaks his observation, and looks around to the others. "I think... things will turn out better in the end..." he says hopefully, straightening out.
The harbour itself seems starkly empty, most of the larger ships simply missing outright from the harbour. A few smaller boats, a tug boat and others are still afloat, although a few seem to have been shelled or damaged by explosives.
"Gods. It’s like a war was fought." Sori says.
"There was love... It's painfully evident that there was." Crys frowns openly.
"It was," Sparhawk says. "Both sides lost, I'd say." He switches between nanite and optical senses every minute or so.
Cilan says, "Considering that tank we seen earlier.. I wouldn’t doubt it.."
Sori says, frowning, "Don't try to get us all the way in. Find us a good spot within a block or so that we can park this beast with some cover, and we'll go from there. It seems most of the combatants are long gone."
Apostasy lilts, "Probably gonna be gulls and other ferals about."
Taggart slows the bus for a moment, glancing about outside. "Wut're we even doin'ere?" The man seems slightly frustrated, a light scowl in his brow and lips. At Sorien's directions, though, he puts the gas back, gently, heading closer until finding an appropriate spot to stop.
"I'm... (sigh) I wanted to find out what we could learn about the rest of the world. Gods, I'm sorry." Sori seems to wilt some. "We need to know."
Loki blinks. "T..Tank?.. that does not bode well... was it even operational?" he asks, a little mortified at the prospect.
Loki frowns and shakes his head. "Sorien, you should not be sorry... sooner or later... somebody had to go exploring."
Crys shivers when she looks out across the bay, the coastline edge of her hometown sitting just across the bay. She looks down, looking mildly ill, and keeps her eyes low.
Sorien rests her head against the metal of the bus. "Maybe."
Apostasy looks away from the window, back to Sor. "We've got to find out eventually, Sor."
Sparhawk's ears flick around and his expression shifts from upset to thoughtful slowly. "I don't suppose there'd be anyone people knows who's better at first-contact with holdout humans? Havin' a separate team might be of use."
The bus settles in a alleyway with canopies above keeping it out of the line of sight of gulls. They are less than a block from the main strip of the harbour.
Apostasy shrugs. "Cil and Tag both look human..."
Cilan says, "Yeah.. can’t exactly stay all cooped up, eventually things'll stagnate and little will be done.. if I could be bold enough to say, I’d say you were doing the world a favour by taking the first few steps towards linking the countries together once more.."
Taggart pulls the bus to a stop and then stands up, moving to his seat to reshoulder his AUG, tucking baseball bat into his pack with handle sticking out for ease of grabbing when needed. He remains silent while doing so, then moves back to the front and pops open the doors, stepping down and out into the alleyway.
Loki rises from his seat. "Well.. I could look human if the situation permits... mostly.. I hope." he says, looking around a little. He begins making his way to the front, following after Taggart, and pauses, glancing over his shoulders at the others. "So.. should I stay as I am?... or...?"
Sori offers a hand to Crys, and when she stands the pair follow Tag. "I am so adding armaments to this thing. And a weapons-locker for small-arms."
Crys accepts her mate's hand, giving up on the idea of staying behind, knowing she'll regret anything happening to her mate if she did. She lifts herself up and follows Sorien out of the bus.
Sparhawk inconveniences Taggart's travels with the occupation of the front of the aisle, then follows him outside. "The familiar smell of bureaucracy."
Cilan rises from her seat as the bus comes to a stop, moving quietly towards the doorway and stepping outside, quickly stretching her arms out wide and letting out a low groan as she does so, obviously happy to be out of the bus once more.
Apostasy slips to her feet and heads off the bus after the others. When she's off, she stretches her wings out and flaps them a couple of times before moving over to where everyone else is gathering.
Loki hops out of the bus, and trots out after the others, stretching himself out when free. He hops in place a few times, a little antsy from being cooped up.
"Right then..." Sori gathers herself. "We'll hit the port authority. I doubt we'll find anything there, but we'll see. It’s the ships, what few there are, where we'll learn something. At least given what I'm seeing here."
Grantok inherently wakes from the silence of the motor of the bus, stretching and poking the tufts of her ears out into the aisle. Noting that she's one of last on the bus, she hastily stretches and hurries off the bus following the others.
Sori continues, "With this going on," she gestures, "Nobody in their right mind will have pulled in."
Apostasy nods. "Lead the way then, Sor."
Loki nods. "Yes... you may be right there Sorien... or perhaps some people trying to help may have... I just hope this goes better than... whatever ordeal you all faced earlier..."
Crys says, "I'm not as familiar with Oakland as I am the inner city my love, so I'm afraid we'll need to use a map if we travel far." She shivers in the strong harbour breeze, it blowing across her thick fur and hair.
Taggart checks the magazine in his rifle and slaps the bottom, ensuring it's secured before he adjusts it forward and across his body. Emerald eyes glance around a bit at the group, eyeing each for a moment before he simply gives a small sigh, pulling up the collar of his peacoat to protect against the wind.
Sori nods, and grabs the map from the bus before buttoning it up. "This way." She starts off, watching carefully for motion and threats.
Loki heads forward, following the others, sniffing the air, and trying his best to keep focused and alert, scanning for sounds.
Sparhawk squawks, "Erm, seagulls. It might be safer from them on land where there's more cover and more fortifications." The wind whistles as it winds around Spar's varied limbs and bags, the shiny bird underneath unconcerned. "Stay at ground level, for similar reasons."
The calls of gulls can still be heard present hanging over the bay, searching for food. They seem largely driven in their search by smells and sounds.
Loki regally proclaims, "Anything other than Gulls around here?"
Apostasy pads along behind Sorien, the wind ruffling her fur and feathers, though she appears to be otherwise unaffected by it. Every now and then she sniffs the air for scents aside from normal harbour smells, noting - but not overly concerned by - the scent of the gulls. She looks about as she walks, taking in the sights.
Grantok tilts an ear in Crys's direction at the mention of their location, before flattening thems slightly in disappointment. The sentiment is short lived as she hurries to keep up with the group, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for significant amounts of movement.
Crys says morosely, "Across the bay there were dogs, pretty nasty things. And sheep."
"Humans. Naught else that I've seen. And please don't tempt fate like that, Loki? I'll be eternally grateful if all we have to deal with is 'just' gulls." Sori continues leading the way.
Loki nods. "Ah.. sorry... I will try not to tempt superstition, and not try to anticipate possible unforeseen situations..." he murmurs in reply.
Taggart remains quiet as they walk along, occasionally raising his rifle to peer through his scope at some distant point they were moving to, or another higher point possibly used by a sniper.
Sori keeps moving, and more than once looks back at her companions as if to assure herself that she's not alone. Her gaze tends to linger on Crys' pained expression, especially if Crys isn't looking back at her.
The way is mostly clear, eerie with the dissonance gull noises and slow whisper of the breeze. There's not much to see, no movement or noises, this part of the harbour seeming largely lifeless, perhaps from fear of the gulls.
Loki taps his fingers together. "You know.. perhaps if we are searching for people... we should call out?... or.. maybe be a little more noticeable for such... maybe if we made a flag or something..."
Peering about at the utter desertion, Apo mumbles quietly, "S'quiet. Too quiet. And too clean. Where's the evidence of all the shit that went down here?"
Taggart mumbles gently, "S'been a year... wit'uman scavengers about."
Grantok shakes her head, whispering lightly. "The place looks to be looted well now. Not much in the way of salvage. What exactly were you hoping to find out this way Sor?"
Crys sniffs at the air, wrinkling her nose at the stink of the gulls, as well as the stronger harbour smell than she remembers.
Loki stares through the area. "Deserted... well.. that is either bad or good..."
Sori glances towards Grantok. "We'll hopefully find it in the port authority offices, which should be just over there. I'm looking for reports and evidence of anything from outside the US. Just... I wanna know if this happened everywhere. And why communications collapsed.
"Neither sneaking nor being a marching band," murmurs Sparhawk. "Don't attract the gulls, but neither look like we are hiding from something. We are adventurers after all, and should look the part to ny guards."
"Communications would collapse from simple lack of maintenance, after this long. A lot of that stuff is really pretty delicate." Apo points out. "But the lack of planes, or any other attempts at more direct communication, doesn't really bode particularly well."
Taggart mumbles gently again, his focus apparently on something else as he comments. "When'n epidemic'a this size breaks out... they shut tha country down. Foreign countries'll shut their borders to ya... shippin'... airways... s'how they keep it containted."
Apostasy lilts, "There'd be overflights though.... keeping tabs on the progression of what's happening."
Grantok continues to keep her voice low. "Wouldn't really matter if it was fully upkept, so long as the majority of it works. All that would take is a little tinkering to get the rest up and running. Course we'd have to hope that the same would be happening overseas."
Sori nods. "I know all that... And I'm fairly certain it’s a global event. But we don't KNOW. Not for certain. And we need to. Overflights by stealth aircraft or satellites wouldn't necessarily be noticed, sweetie."
The port authority, little more than a building that manages ship schedules is not far off the harbour itself, there are still some large shipping cranes up in the air, one of them in fact has a shipping crate still attached high up in the air. The cargo containers below are mostly open, many blown apart by artillery shells. Bullet holes line many of the metal and wood fixtures around the area, but no weapons, even the bullet shells seem to be missing that one would expect.
"I've considered going to CETI and using the antenna-farm to try and recontact the satellites," Sori says.
"... Where are the shells? Who the fuck would collect all the brass?" Sori starts watching more carefully.
Crys keeps her eyes focused away from the harbour and is looking at the buildings along the harbour way, many larger warehouses fill the area, but also smaller buildings like the port authority, or a convenience shop long since looted and abandoned, windows broken open.
Grantok shrugs at Apostasy. "Yes, but when was the last time you saw one?"
Glancing about at the devastation, Apo simply says "People looking to make new ones."
Loki shakes his head. "I would think... it would perhaps be better if it was NOT a global event... that way.. civilization is not totally in ruins..." he says with a small shrug. He looks at the odd surroundings\ and nods. "Yes.. I think that if they were going to keep tabs on us... they would use satellites..." he murmurs.
Sparhawk squawks, "I am most concerned about why we aren't getting shortwave radio from...anywhere. They're not that hard to make, and can..." Spar trails off to think about something.
"Okay... That building. The one with the nifty 'port authority offices' sign." Sori points, acting as if she has an itch at the middle of her back from unseen watching eyes.
Crys wanders off a bit from the group to peer into the abandoned shop, noting the shelves stripped bare, and even the freezers appeared to be simply missing, their permanently attached wires ripped straight from the wall.
"Go ahead in, Sor. I'll stay out here and keep watch." Apo says, waving Sor on into the bulding while she starts to move around outside, looking for anything of note.
Sparhawk feels reasonably at home among looted shops. So he's free to ponder whatever's gotten into his head now, walking along slowly with the group.
Taggart frowns gently as he notices the lack of metal in the area, slowing and turning a small circle. "I jus'got this'orrible idea... like a big... metal... golemn-type t'ing..."
Sori nods. "Loki? Crys? You're with me if you're willing." She stares at Tag. "God, don't think that." She then heads up the steps and into the offices.
Loki is already at the front door of the building before the turns around and blinks. "Really?... you think so?.. that would be... difficult... to deal with.." he murmurs, before giving the door a knock.
Apostasy shudders a little as she hears Tag. "That would be... unpleasant."
Grantok scratches the tip of her nose, "Doubt it, big guy. No sign of footprints. Something big and metal would leave some sort of imprint in the ground." After a moment she adds. "Course that doesn't mean that there's several little ones running about."
Sparhawk glances around. "Guess I'm delegated to guard duty. Also, metal monsters are delicious for my little friends, don't worry much about that."
"Crys weighs what, a couple of tonnes or so? You don't see her leaving big deep footprints everywhere she goes. The usual rules don't really apply anymore." Apo points out with a small smirk.
Crys pulls herself up from her distraction and nods to her mate, following her silently.
"You've missed all the little cracks when she runs, Apo." Sori actually manages to smile.
The port authority building is functional at best, underfunded clearly and does not heavily advertise, looking like a small branch of a post office more than anything. The building is largely intact, the windows not having been destroyed like many of the nearby ones, but they're also lined with thick wire.
"Bah, those don't really count" Apo says, waving a hand dismissively. "If the usual rules applied, she'd be cracking concrete badly just standing on it."
Taggart glances over to Cilan, eyebrows raising. "You still got yer rifle, Cil? Iffun ya do, why don't ya get up in tha crane there... good vantage." The man raises a hand and points to the crane used to lift the cargo into the boatholds and back.
Sparhawk opens his beak and inhales to sing some irreverent tune or other, then glares up at the sky and shakes a modest fist at the birds. "Blasted things keeping me from making jokes. Almost as bad as injustice."
Cilan nods affirmatively towards Taggart, concentrating slightly and quickly two white wings tear out of her back, a few stray feathers fluttering to the ground as the change finishes, "See you all later!" is called over her shoulder as she flies up to the crate and makes her preparations to guard her allies.
Sori sniffs for the telltale smell of chemicals (cordite, primacord, etc.) before she opens the door.
Taggart calls after the lifting-off Cilan, "Keep an'eye out fer gulls up there..."
Loki waves to Cilan as she ascends, and vanishes inside the building, trying to spot any sort of papers, smells, and such. He will also likely knock on any door, say 'Hello?' and wait a few moments before opening if there is no reply.
Sori gives Loki an odd look, but doesn't say anything.
Grantok shakes her head, not about to get into that sort of catty conversation. She simply keeps silent and sticks near the group heading inside the authority.
The crane surface texture is somewhat slimy, from the salt air and moisture sticking to the surface. The harbour itself continues to swell, the mixtures of the heavy soupy algae and the outer seas making patterns in the harbour below Cil. The distance into the city surviving humans can be seen scavenging, or skulking from cover to cover.
Apostasy continues prowling about outside, looking for anything unusual.
The interior of the port authority is stark, business like. On the walls are schedules, and the place shows that it's been largely made irrelevant by computers.
Loki shakes his head, catching Sorien's look. "What?.. if there are survivors... and they are friendly.. being civil and polite would be a good idea..."
Sori nods and looks over the schedules. "Can you get one of the computers running, Loki?"
Cilan calls downwards to Taggart answering him, "Alright, sounds good!" finished she lowers to a kneeling position, removing the rifle from her shoulder, and flipping the lens guard upwards, ready, and willing to watch the backs of her friends.
Grantok moves to investigate one of the terminals, attempting to turn it on.
Sparhawk the melee artillery specialist loiters by the front door and glares around at most everything.
Lacking power to support the computer systems, it's hard to really do anything with them. It's possible the building has a backup generator, but it'd likely be diesel.
Grantok glances over in Sor's direction. "No power to the systems. We could see if there's some sort of backup system. and try and get things going."
Sorien says, "Next time I'm getting a car-battery rigged as a power supply. Dammit."
Crys eyes her way into the back, sure her mate is going to go first, looking for the expected blankets and signs of people living, but it's truly lacking. The place long ago emptied.
Sori sighs. "Take the tower from the secretary's desk. It'll have checkins and such. We can check it on the bus." She takes out a pair of maglites and turns them on.
Grantok alluringly purrs, "Of course I could possibly get a jerry rigged power supply going with some wiring. I do carry a few spare batteries on me, but I can't promise how long that would last."
Sori says, "Don't worry. We can power it in the bus... And that's odd. The schedules end two days before the release. Like nothing was coming in for two days?"
Sorien collects a few of the schedules off the walls.
Not much gets by Sparhawk, he notices a strange ripple in the surface of the water below the crane rail that Cilan landed on. The surface of the water almost shimmering as it folds up, and then moves out almost like it folds over the land as a gel, curling up and seeping onto the surface of the crane's metal leg.
Grantok unhooks the case and whatever useful peripherals she can find. "As in blank or not there at all? Cause no schedule what so ever would be weird, but I can't say I'd like that someone removed the schedules just before P-Day."
"There's just nothing scheduled in or out for two DAYS before the release. That NEVER happens." Sori looks puzzled, and concerned.
Sparhawk clicks the radio for attention. "Be aware, O heroes, something like a goo girl's climbing Cilan's tower. Came out of the ocean." He unseats the laser pistol (of moderate doom) and checks it.
Loki grins in response to Sorien. "Of course I can!" he says, walking over to a computer and pressing a button. He slaps his head shortly after. "Oh right.. power... give me a moment.." he murmurs, unplugging the power cord and inserting a device of sorts in the back, and boots the machine.
Apo turns to look towards the crane, and spots the thing Spar mentioned. "Well that's weird. Probably we should go take care of it though."
The slick water continues to seep along the tower leg, but it doesn't continue up, rather it seems to seep into the metal itself, and shortly after spar's call, the metal groans as the tower begins to buckle. The footing below Cilan shakes, startling her right as the transmission finishes.
Taggart turns to the crane, peering for said goo thing with a small scowl. He blinks as it eats through the metal, shaking his head, "That answers that, then..." The man pulls the magazine from his rifle and swaps it out for the riot rounds again, hoping it will do -something- more than bullets.
Cilan breathes a small sigh, chuckling to herself, and she clicks on the radio, "Copy.. just when I get comfortable too.. ugh.." clicking it off she gathers the clips she had spread out, though losing one due to the jostling, cursing to herself as she rises from the kneeling position, spreads her wings for immediate take off, and flying off towards safety.
Sori watches as the soft glow from the monitor starts to glow, then clicks her radio button at the sound of the transmissions. "Tag, are you all in trouble?"
Sparhawk hops onto the side of the building to get a better angle, then clicks the radio again. "Definitely eating the crane. That would explain where the steel furniture went. Going to give it an annoying zap, unless anyone objects."
Taggart pushes to his throatmic, "Aye... some sorta gel-t'ing in tha water... eats metal..."
Watching the strange creature eat into the metal of the crane, Apo mutters, "Great, eats metal. Definitely not going to be using Silverfang on it. But... I wonder how it likes fire."
The other front leg buckles and the crane tower begins its decent into the harbour below. As it hits, the shimmering water seems to grow convex, reaching out to accept the tower, and then concave like a bowl to catch it, then sliding over the tower as it consumes it.
Sori asks, "Why didn't it eat the shipping containers? And what triggered its activity now?"
Loki begins hammering away on the keyboard, quickly bringing it to the desktop. He immediately begins searching through the files, logs, and is just about to bring up the internet history, and possible stored files before he blinks and turns to Sorien. "Trouble?..."
Grantok sets down the other computer case on a nearby desk and peeks over Loki's shoulder. "Anything in the logs about the few days before P-Day? None of the physical records have anything down."
"Uh, roger that causality, not shooting a laser at an entire bay full of monster. The fifty-ton crane just went 'bloop' instead of 'crash'. We may need to...I dunno, get to higher ground and offer distractions when we get the bus." Spar talks over at least one person in that.
Sori replies, "Yeah. check quick for ship-arrivals on these dates." (She rattles off the two days before the release, as well as the release date itself.)
Apostasy stares as the crane is consumed. "Uh... yeah... I'm with Spar. We are not even close to equipped to deal with an entire bay of metal eating goop. Also means any and all ships here are a writeoff."
Loki peers over to the others and offers a suggestion. "Could have something to do with metal composition."
Apostasy calls inside the building, "Hey, folks? Wanna speed it up in there? The water enjoys the taste of metal, and we, uh, brought some with us."
Crys shivers when the idea of something eating metal hits her fuzzed brain. She holds her hand to the hilt of her blade protectively.
Sori radio's, "Right. we'll bring what we found." Sori lets the radio go quiet. "Loki, change of plans. Take the comp, we're getting the hell out of here.
Loki scowls a little, and frowns. "Well.. this is problematic... Some Data is missing... the stuff is deleted..." he sighs, drumming his fingers on the table, and furrowing his brow in thought. "Of course.. if I had time... I could retrieve the data.. or most of it... If it was on the disc, it can be restored... there is a reason some people put a torch to the drives to protect sensitive information."
Sparhawk radio-squawks, "May not want to throw high-speed delicious bullet snacks at it either. Rubber bullets'd be favourite."
Apostasy adds onto Spar's message "Of course, not attacking the goo thing that makes up the entire bay, or at least a significant portion thereof, would prooobably be the wiser course of action."
Grantok scoops back up the tower she had disconnected earlier. "Less talk. More hurry up! Discuss what we found on the bus outta here." She makes a break for the door.
Loki rises to his seat, and shuts the computer down, taking his device. "Agreed... I will also.. implore you all to take as many towers as you can..." he says, grabbing the computer nearest and making his way towards the sever and unhooking that.
"Gran? You can do a zappy-thing kind of attack, right? You'll cover and Loki'll get the comp out. I don't wanna risk hanging out." Sori says, and heads for the door.
Taggart pushes into his throatmic, "Then kin' we get tha fuck outta here?" The man raises his rifle, pointing it at the mass, but not shooting.
Cilan speaks into her radio, looking downwards towards the bay, "Uh.. anything I can do here? Not really sure what I can do here and now.." the angelic commando still flapping her wings furiously to stay aloft a few feet above where the crane had once sat.
"We're exiting, Tag!" Sori says. "Everyone reconvene and head out of here!"
Apo says, "Head back to the bus Cil, we're bugging out. Oh, and get back on the ground, no need to attract the gulls as well." As she speaks into her radio, she's letting the others pass her before covering the retreat back to the bus.
Sorien has the schedules from the walls, Gran has a comp-tower, Loki has another.
Sparhawk with the gun that makes water burn stalks through the streets glaring at things, daring them to justify violence. "Bipeds may put their burdens in my bags, if they wish."
A strange loud noise, almost like a tugboat siren but a lot louder makes nearly everyone jump, and the harbour itself seems to slump up, and flow, although it appears to be moving away. The noise came from the ocean entrance.
Loki hands a tower to Sorien. "Need.. more.. more electronic data and equipment the better." he murmurs, loosing a startled squawk at the noise. "Not good.. I think.. still.. must not panic.. remain calm."
Sori says, "What the fuck is that... This is like some weird post-apoc Godzilla flick..."
Cilan replies, "Copy that.." before flicking the radio off, and quickly descending towards the gathered group, the feathers that had made up her wings quickly being caught in some unfelt breeze as the mass of them float off upwards towards the sky, leaving no trace of them, and leaving her back bare once more.
Apostasy slows in her retreat, and then stops, staring back at the new behaviour. She puts a hand to her mic and says "Hey, uh... whatever that sound was, it seems to have... scared off the water-goo..." She takes a couple of steps back towards the harbour. "Maybe we should stick around and see what's going on?"
Grantok makes much with the hot-foot back on the way to the bus, hackles rising instinctively at the loud noise. Her grip only increases as does her speed.
The entrance to the bay crests and falls off as a giant blue skinned head breaks the surface of the water, and water bursts from a blowhole. However the sheer size of the creature makes it leagues out of the size of any natural whale.
Sori says, "I'm quite curious, but also desirous of not having my pretty fuzzy butt not being eaten."
Taggart frowns gently at the sound and raises his rifle, peering through it until the giant creature bursts up and out of the water. The man slowly lowers his rifle and just blinks at the sheer size of the thing.
"Giant whale. Giant, giant whale. Blue whale, I think. Wow." Apo says, stunned by the sheer size of the creature.
Sparhawk flutter-leaps up to a convenient rooftop, crouching low next to the knee-high brick. "It's, uh... pretty sure we can call that Whalezilla. I was going to say the bay was going toward it, but that could just have been water displacement."
Sori stares a bit. "Uh... The bay isn't deep enough for that to have been submerged there. Holy hades."
Loki sprints out with around two armfuls, of various electronic parts and components, stumbling as a whale of sorts bursts forth from the waves. He moans a cry of protest. "Really? Why now?.. can we just..." he murmurs, looking at the parts, and looses a frustrated cry. "Guys... We need this data... and... well.. I hope.. well, if you all permit.. me to bring this all to the bus... and then I can perhaps make my way back?... this stuff is fragile.."
"I... uh... wow. Yeah. I don't think we'll be getting a ship to Portland from here. Not with that thing around. Especially not if it has friends." Apo says absently, still boggling at the scale of the thing.
Sparhawk leaps down to ground level next to Loki. "Load me up, boyo. Whalezilla is, if previous nanite behaviour is any guide, probably inherently hostile. We should go."
Sori stares, then starts moving, "Right. Yeah... Right. Welp! So nice to visitbutmaybeweshouldbeleaving!"
The creature's mouth opens wide, it's a baleen whale though, it's thin meshlike mouth opening wide to skim the surface, but the creature seems to swell more, and rise further out of the bay, moving closer toward the fleeing metal eating algae creature.
Grantok reaches the bus and safely sets the one tower she had in an unoccupied seat. Turning back about, she glares at Loki. "Just save the hard drives! We can rig up parts to make them work back home!"
Sori doesn't say anything else, other than "Bail!"
Crys follows quickly after the rest, fleeing both creatures.
Watching the creature's behaviour, Apo cocks her head to one side in the classic inquisitive canine pose. "Huh. Baleen whale. Eating the metal eating stuff." She turns to walk back towards the bus after the others, calling out "Bye giant whale thing! Enjoy your snack!" as she goes.
Loki frowns, his eyes growing wide. He pads over to Sparhawk and loads him up with some of the sturdier stuff, and then begins making his way along with the others, glaring at Grantok. "Hey! You know how fragile some of these things are? One wrong bump or misstep can lead to an unprotected drive sustaining permanent damage!"
Grantok shouts back at Loki, pointing out to the bay behind him. "Yeah, and one bump from that and you'll be taking that permanent damage!"
Taggart frowns gently as he watches the actions of the giant creature, shaking his head as he watches mutated ecosystem still in effect. The man just turns and slowly walks after the fleeing people, his own pace much less hurried as they retreat to the bus.
When Sori gets to the bus, she immediately gets it started. She waits for everyone to get aboard, and as soon as the last is in she gets in gear and starts the process of getting the hell out of dodge.
Sparhawk takes a moment to glance up at the mutant seagulls to catch their reaction. They may be dimwitted hostile scavengers, but if they're not fleeing the Whale Of Unusual Size it would be interesting information.
Cilan quickly follows suit with her allies, knowing full well that everything she has currently would barely irritate the giant creature, let alone harm it, and so she moves quickly to the bus.
Some of the gulls are fleeing the whale, while others have started to dive bomb the thing. A few even manage to hit against its hide, but disappear into the mass of flesh of the whale, like something would enter water.
Apostasy eventually strolls back to the bus and climbs on, still looking over her shoulder at the whale as it moves through the bay. She raises an eyebrow as she sees what happens to the little dots of gulls when they attack it. "Huh. It's all gooey too."
Loki piles in to the bus, gingerly setting the equipment down, and glancing out at the scene. He dusts his hands off, and watches the display with interest. "You know.. perhaps we should come back here sometime and study this..." he says with some amount of fascination. "I think it would be an ideal learning opportunity."
With the last aboard, Sori starts to roll out. She can't go nearly as fast as she wants because of the road conditions, but she makes as much haste as is safely possible.
Sparhawk mutters something about avoiding regaining trauma while trotting to the bus, waiting for the amblers to file in before taking hir aisle seat.
"I think... I think I've had my fill of the Bay Area." Sori concentrates on driving."
The way out of the city shows many eyes following them, almost all of them human, and almost all of them children or teenagers, skinny and starving.
Apostasy sighs as they leave the city. "Guess we'll have to look somewhere else for something we can use to help Kara and her people."
"My god. O god.. They're all kids. Dammit, we have to help them... Have to come back." Sori's ears at flat to her head when she says this.
"Inland," Spar says to Apo. "Things in the water are much better at it than regular landwalkers."
"I was hoping to use a boat because that would mean we could simply bypass any ferals in the city when rescuing them. But clearly the ferals in the water between here and there are.... much nastier. Gonna need to rethink." Apo says to Spar.
Taggart mumbles softly, his eyes closed and head leaning back on the seat. "Why don't ya jus' borrow a chopper from Zephyr?"
"I'll get another bus or two working, Apo. We'll caravan them out. Then come back here for these kids, and set them all up in one of the abandoned towns." Sori looks pretty determined when she says this.
Sparhawk scowls. "I may have to resort to the old-fashioned San Francisco Express. May even be faster and safer than travelling through physical space. There were, what, 50 people on that ship? 100?"
"About that, Spar," Sori says.
Apostasy shrugs in response to Sparhawk. "Maybe more. Can't say for sure, they were too busy hiding from us."
Grantok tilts her head in Taggart's direction. "Easy pickings for those gulls. They won't spare a chopper without some serious compensation passing their way."
Apostasy looks over to Tag. "Chopper them out? Even if Zephyr has something big, like a chinook, that we could actually borrow, along with a pilot, it'd take way too many trips to get them all."
Loki taps his fingers together, listening to the others as he cheerfully inspects the computer parts, a cheerful look on his face, as if it was Christmas. He glances up from his musings and shrugs. "That is true.. but they may lend us some more resources if we can find some of them work at the company.. even if they are not necessarily the best."
Apostasy shakes her head firmly. "I'm not getting them out of Portland just to give 'em to Zephyr."
Sparhawk scowls some more. "It's getting into winter. Outside a bubble with limited supplies and experience in agriculture. Logistics is hard."
Apo says, "They're in a bubble, Spar. Regardless of whether you mean Kara and her's, or the folks in SF. Both are just weaker bubbles than we're used to."
Loki tilts his head and shrugs. "If you say so... but.. i think it may be for the better. Zephyr is not too horrible I think." he nods.
Sparhawk squawks, "I mean Sorien's idea about an abandoned town. It'd take longer than just flitting down to one of our monster-filled hometowns, and...hm, never did hear back from Aidan about Magic's pack."
Grantok remains otherwise silent for the long ride back, staring out the window lost in her own thoughts.
Crys says softly, "Has anyone thought about where all the people went... who -aren't in bubbles?" her face is bleak, "What if they resettle in an abandoned town, to just have whatever happened to everyone else, happen to them?
Apostasy scratches her chin. "Yeah, true. But... I dunno, we could raid places in Fairhaven to get food for them. Check the military base for stockpiles or MREs and stuff. Enough to get them through the winter. Then, once spring rolls around... we get help from the girls in the library to sort them out for starting up agriculture." She earflats at Crys' comment. "We get them all supplied with the same injection we all got. That way, if... if a new bubble does develop, and change them all... they'll still have their minds, at least."
Cilan chimes in with, "And there’s that stuff that RSX was working on.. helps them keep their bodies, /and/ minds.. only thing is, they'll be with RSX.."
Apostasy lilts, "I want to keep them clear of the factions and companies and bullshit as much as possible."
Sparhawk communes quietly with his solar dragon nature for a long stretch of debate-filled bus ride, still trying to apply science to the pursuit of justice.
Loki taps his chin. "You know... if we set up a greenhouse of sorts, they should get a good variety of fruits and vegetables... or at least vegetables...." he muses aloud. "Perhaps I could make something that grows quickly with proper engineering..."
Grantok off-handedly chimes in, still staring out the window. "Depends on the amount of nanites you want in it. Tends to affect the plant's level of sentience as well."
Apostasy falls into silence as the trip continues, staring out the window lost in thought.
Loki seems unable to simply keep still, inspecting the electronics with a childish glee of sorts, and crawling over the seats, and generally walking down the aisle and such. He seems quite happy and pleased. "That went well I think." he chirps.
