Glenstock reconstruction Foxminds needs - RPLOG
Participants
Date
9/4/2014
Log
Fairly cool weather and lightly rainy. This is central Oregon for you in the month of April! All about mill foxes, walking on all fours and looking very mindless. Each of them look exactly like each other in every way as well! Creatures with empty eyes... except for two sitting next to the double doors of the court house. While they look physically just like every other fox out here, the difference is in their manorsiums and in their eyes. Where the others look blank, their eyes look full of intellegence and personality. One of them yawns, "Jessi, you think many will come out here?" he asks, voice sounding very much male, though the higher octives, to which the one being called Jessi responds, "I'm not sure Brad, we will see though."
Dio wasn't sure if he should come after seeing what the packminds are capable of. But it's hard to ignore the large threat not too far away from California, which could end up spreading if left unchecked. To satisfy his curiosity, if anything, a suit wearing silver lion heads towards the courtroom, stopping short at the door. Considering the nanite grenades upon his belt and the large nanite cannon upon his back, it seems Dio still isn't quite trusty of packminds of any breed! "Good evening," the lion greets with a small bow, coming back up and staring in silence for a few moments, wondering just how much the foxmind might remember him from previous incidents. "I do hope I've arrived on time for the meeting? The chopper just now arrived."
Liana follows a short distance behind the taller lion, keeping a cautious watch on the various pack-mind foxes. She'd never ran into the packmind in person before, only having worked with some lab samples, but she'd heard stories from those that had. She's dressed in her usual attire, a pair of knee-length cargo shorts, and a camo-vest covered in pockets. At her hip is a spray-dispensing weapon, and each arm holds a folded mantis-scythe, harmless in their current position. The eater-dragoness frowns as she heads to the base of the court steps, content to let Dio do all the talking for the time being.
Maxwell, on the other hand, takes his time getting off the helicopter that had brought them here, his focus held to his laptop, fingers rushing along the keys. Eventually, a call comes for those still on to get off or be transferred back, and he's rising up with a grumble, folding up and soon tucking the device under his arm. It had been an excuse, really. The usual chopper routes in Fairhaven refused to take passengers out here, and so he had to take such a roudabout route just to pay his old friends a visit... Who even knew how they'd been going since the move? Unfortunately, there was this to be taken care of first... Sitting in at this meeting with the mysterious 'Foxmind', the condition of his transport. Well... Best get it over with, he reasons, slowly stepping toward the courthouse, eyes on a swivel as they try to take in this strange new place.
Alina sneaks out of the chopper, hoping that no one have seen her, she follows the racoon quietly. she is the last one to arrive, the small fennec only have with her a small backpack, she is wearing a small pea coat and a small skirt, she follows the coonish. Curious about the packmind subject she makes her way to the courthouse. The fennec shivers as she notices the expression of one mindless fox, empty eyes and the lack of emotions, through a small space between the door as the racoon open it. She feel a bit afraid of steeping it, but her curiosity overwhelm her fear.
The foxes, for the most part, ignore the group. They move around avoiding them entirely, the pair at the court house however look at those coming near and smile, looking oddly on their muzzles. Brad starts them off, "Welcome! Please, come inside, lets get out of the rain. There is a lot to talk about but-" he stops, the two looking at Dio before Jessi starts next, "The past is the past, but we trust you'll not be using any of that?" She asks, looking mostly at the grenades. It seems that they didn't have any concerns what so ever about the other weapons! The two look to each other before, "But, yes, please, there is a lot to talk about, however, we are sure that we can get it all in." Jessi finishes as they both walk into the court house proper. Even more foxes inside, as well as a pair of humans, working at desks. They seem very busy however, hardly noticing anyone coming in or out.
Dio watches the fox's eyes fall upon the nanite grenades upon his belt. The tried and true weapon to at least buy one a little bit of time during a fight with the packmind. "Of course," he responds, arm crossing over his chest as he looks back for a few moments at the other group members. "I would rather not have to resort to violence. I have a lot of questions, but luckily that's just what we're here for." The lion politely dips his head and heads inside the courtroom behind the foxes and not taking a seat quite yet, perhaps too anxious to sit and possibly get mauled despite anyone's good intentions.
Liana frowns a bit deeper as the foxes seem to ignore everything but the grenades, quietly following on the lion's heels into the building. Once inside she gives a little shake to let the water drop off her scales and clothing, before carefully walking about, looking for any potential ambush points, as well as getting a good look at the humans working within.
Holding the door open, Max checks back to the outside, checking for any more stragglers. Seeing the fennec behind him, he keeps the doorway open, ushering her in... And after she's in, or after some time passing without her coming forward, he'll close the door behind him, a moment taken to observe the room around.
Within the court house there are many tables and chairs to be used. The humans are much too busy working on paper work and working on their COMMs to much notice themselves being looked at, but they are just normal humans, probably members of RSX. Both Brad and Jessi take a seat next to one of the tables, "Please, any questions you have, ask." Says Brad. The pair look over everyone though, "And... please, you're safe here, nothing is going to try to harm you inside here. After our hunting grounds were freed up, we've been able to keep ourselves sustained." Says Jessi, noticing how nervously everyone seems to be moving.
Alina step in the room and thanks to the racoon as he holds the door open, she notices a couple of foxes, full of life, their eyes completly collored those two seems to be very different from the others, but still, this place make her a bit afraid of what might happen here, but still, she feels like the place is invinting and comfy, except by the pack-mind foxes wandering around the place, she enters just in time to hear the foxes, that the name she don't know yet talk about how everything here is safe, and they don't intend to harm us.
Tristian enters slowly and looks around, the skunk still fairly new to this area, and wasn't quite sure what all was going on; but had decided to come see what this was all about, incase she does decide to end up staying as its always best to know whats happening in a community
It's an awful lot of work carrying such a large and heavy nanite cannon around. Perhaps wanting a chance to relax or have a weapon close at hand, Dio reaches back and unstraps his weapon. However, he doesn't aim it at anyone. With a heavy and attention grabbing clank, the weapon's base collides with the floor before the lion begins speaking.
"Excuse me for having weapons and such in a meeting like this. You'll have to understand what people think of the various packminds. The last time I saw the foxmind, they were attacking a group of human survivors here as far as I'm aware. Shortly after the attack was thwarted, I left shortly after and did not investigate. A few friends of mine suffered through packmind infection, even gooping. It seems it could be a fate worse than death should one not come on top. And if they do, there's always side-effects of some sort. In this regard, I do hope you understand my uneasiness.
The lion coughs and clears his throat, shortly taking a look at Tristian and going back to his speech. "I can only assume this meeting is to bolster support and dispel misconceptions. In this regard, I suppose my first question is this; Why should we trust you and what are your short and long term goals?"
Liana relaxes considerably as she realizes the humans are indeed normal, and not some sort of pack-mind puppets. She straightens out her clothing, before moving back over to the rest of the main group, carefully sitting down as she listens to the lion speak, piping up after he's finished. "A related question, is what do you get out of being peaceful with us? It's a rather odd habit for the various packminds, it seems."
Eventually, Maxwell manages to make his way to a seat, laptop soon opened and initialized. A momentary glance is taken about the others, and as the questions begin, he soon starts to type things down. Without any real experience or knowledge about the packminds, he can't really ask anything of his own, at least not at the moment. But if there's something he can do, its record the meeting, and try to take it in along the way.
Alina follow the racoon in a decent distance, she looks around and take a seat close to Liana and Dio, she shyly asks to anyone that is up to asnwer the fennec "A packmind? What would be that... Sorry if I look stupid, I was curious to find out what, this is why I came here." she eyes everyone in the place and waits till someone answer her. Her eyes lock on the humans working in the place, they are really focused in their work, they haven't even noticed the group arrival.
The addition of Tristain is very much welcome, and the questions being thrown around causes the two to look at each other a moment, "Well, I guess, our prior actions are about all we can offer as to why we should be trusted. After control of the packs were back to the proper elders of each, it was up to each of us to decide how we would act. Unfortunately... Wolf and Bear were already far too gone, and have given into that hunger for flesh and mental force, becoming little more then a whirlpool of destruction each. Coyote is wary of normal people... well, as normal as things go these days-" Brad starts, and Jessi continues, "we would never take someone into our pack that didn't want to come in. Those humans were kept safe until they were made to leave by RSX, thank goodness. As for goals... well.. we'd like to.... come back into society at large a bit if we can, and get help for the war that is going on. Right now, between us and Coyote, we are keeping Wolf and Bear in check, but that isn't going to continue forever." She says. "As for what we get... well... we aren't monsters, I remember my life before the infection started... and we've tried to pull ourselves back into our own personalities and memories as we could." They stop there for now, looking at each other and it seems a descution of some form was going on.
Liana leans back a bit where she sits, her finned tail swishing lightly as she listens. She didn't seem particularly impressed with the whole pity story, the woman rather cold to those she doesn't know, though she preferred to think of it as practicality. "So, it's you and coyote, against wolf and bear? There are no other packminds? And do you have a rough time estimate before the balance of the fight shifts?"
"I see. Coyote is a topic that interests me greatly, as I've heard small rumors of them but nothing concrete. If what you're telling me is correct, they could be a powerful and potential ally. We should make a large effort to secure them as our dear friends, as an organized two on two and us non-infected could tip the scales. If you can't even get a few to live here as a sign of peace, then I fear for the future. And what do you mean when you say come back into society? Do you wish to live with us in Fairhaven or Woodfield? Even if you have peaceful intentions, I'm sure you can imagine how uneasy people would be."
While the foxes and everyone else speak, Dio puts a hand to his belt. Eventually, his hands come across those nanite grenades, but the lion didn't seem to be summoning any malcontent. In fact, in an effort to demonstrate peace, he ejects the vials within the grenades and stuffs them in his pocket, leaving them essentially defused.
"As I understand, this may be the last line or so of defense should the more violent packminds decide to spread further south. We must have complete trust with each other, else we can't progress. This may be a bold request, but..." The lion settles his nanite cannon upon the ground and opens up his arms. "I am vulnerable and without weapon. If I were to trust you, you must trust me. With my life vulnerable, you should allow me to see your precious wellspring."
The raccoon's gaze flicks back and forth between people as they speak, his fingers running on autopilot across the keyboard with only brief supervision. As the foxes fall silent, though, Max's gaze remains... As if he could notice something there, trying to divine the conversation that might be going on between them through subtle motion and expression alone. And then, suddenly, the lion beside him makes his proclamation, causing the 'coon's concentration to snap, as he looks over toward him. "Look, uh... You seem to know what in the world is going on. Could you... Fill the rest of us in?"
Alina start to look for something inside her backpack, when she find it, she start to read what looks like a note, and opens her eyes wide 'Oh my... That chopper must stll be in there!" says the fennec as she stand up "My curiosity will be bothering for weeks but I really need to leave right now." murmurs the fennec to herself. Giving no time to answer, Alina rushes toward the door, walking through the pack-mind foxes and almost stumbling against a one of them, when the door is reached the fennec give everyone a wave and walks out of the curthouse, the chopper sound can be heard and her voice shouting "WAIT WAIT!!! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"
The pair look at each other a long while, soon, their eyes go blank. It is a few minutes before life returns to thier forms, Brad talking, "We have no estimate, for now, things are at a stand still after we were able to rejoin the fighting proper. Our numbers were so low while we were being starved. But now, we are much better off. Jessi's gone back, but Eric here will take you down to the wellspring. Do watch your step. We are.. understandably very cautious around it. I'll continue explaining while you are gone." He says, Eric in the body Jessi was nods to Dio, leading him into a hallway leading back deeper into the courthouse. "Anyway, you asked what we are? We... are a community, that exists inside our minds. Imagine if you were dreaming, and in this dream is where you lived, where you spent most of your time. You could control not one, but many bodies from inside here. You and everyone else can talk to each other, even share thoughts as quickly as you can think it. The Elder is the one whom everyone looks to for wisdom and guidance in hard times. At least, that is what the Fox Mind is, and I hear the Coyote Mind is the same. Honestly, we only know about Bear and Wolf from those who managed to fight their way back out. An emergancy system was put in place for every packmind. Well... if you are there involunterally, then, as your... well.. mind is being ripped apart, River will come to help you escape. It is up to you to make it out though..." he explains.
Liana's brows raise up quite a bit as Dio fully disarms himself, not quite sure if he's being incredibly brave, or equally foolish. While she does curiously watch the pair walk off she doesn't make any motion to follow, not willing to surrender her own protection, meager as it may be. Alina's departure earns a quick glance to her, before she again looks to the speaking fox. "Who or what is River..? And if you are indeed at a stalemate with bear and wolf, is there anything that can be of use to you in the fight, that could not be turned around and used by the feral packminds, against either you or us?"
Dio looks towards Maxwell and opens his mouth to speak, but is cut-off once the foxes spring into action once more from whatever internal conversation they were having. A packmind could explain packminds better than he could anyways. "I understand," he comments with a dip of his head. "But this is a trust exercise of course. The best of trust exercises come with each side has something to lose if you have something as extreme as this." Leaving his weapon on the floor, the lion follows after the fox into the room.
Maxwell could only watch as his explanation was torn away, moments before it could arrive. A sigh leaves his muzzle, but eventually, its simply replaced with a shake of the head. What did it matter to him, anyway? He was supposed to be clock watching, not...The thought was shelved before it could go any further, irrelevent as he tries to get down what he can of the vulpine's explanation in turn. "Uh... Huh."
Dio is led back and down stairs, there are TONS of foxes in the underground cavern, and even more were been formed from the pool of goo to walk up onto the land completely dry and formed. Almost all are the same mindless ones as before, though all look a bit tense. Infront of the wellspring though is an alter. There is definately a supernatural presense here, and with a bit more investigation it is easy to tell. This is not only the home of the Fox Mind Wellspring, but also the point in which Fox's power seeps in strongest in this realm!
Outside, Brad tries to continue his conversation, "Well, warring isn't all that we are asking you all here for. We want to rebuild. We might not be able to use buildings and such like we used to when we were human, but... we would like to have normal people here too. Those we can't hear the thoughts of. Inside the walls, we'd keep you all as safe as we could, but we also need materials, people to help build. A group, the Surrogate Brotherhood as already helped us, started to rebuild the decaying city, but, we could use more help." He says, "As for the fighting efforts, well, the first step would be stabilizing some kind of 'cure' or such. We can't let you go out there and fight them right now. A simple scratch or a bite could turn an ally into a new enemy... lost forever." He says, hoping he is making some sense, but judging by Maxwell, he fears he may not be.
Liana taps her chin as she thinks things over, being very careful not to promise anything, seeing how she has no real authority to grant Zephyr resources. "So you just want more of a population here. More hands and eyes and opinions. Trying to make this place civilized again. Regardless, your reasons seem safe enough. Is there anything in particular you need from us?"
As the Surrogate is mentioned, Max finds himself heaving a sigh of relief. At least that meant Sel and the others had gotten to Glenstock safely, after all. Catching the concern on the fox's face, Max shakes his head, trying to offer a momentary chuckle. "Don't worry... I'll understand with time, I'm sure. For now, though, you want to rebuild Glenstock. But... Into what? Into a town, or into some sort of fort?"
Walking along with the fox, Dio couldn't help but feel extremely uneasy. His heartbeat increased rapidly while hair stood on end. It felt like hundreds of tense eyes were upon him. But this was a mission for peace and understanding. The lion takes a few deep breaths to calm his nerves and eventually finds himself at the wellspring, observing the precious sight with silent awe. "So this is it..." he murmurs under his breath, moving closer and closer, but staying out of arms length of the wellspring.
"The very brain of your existence. It's hard to believe something like this has caused so much. And I must admit, I'm curious about this alter here. Something feels... strange. It's hard to put into words. But anyways, I think we've demonstrated our trust." The lion crouches down a few inches to get a better look and then turns around to look at all the foxes, who are probably quite on edge of having someone so close to their wellspring. And then, with a precious smile on his face, he holds out his hand.
"A handshake is in order. I suppose a handshake with one is almost like a handshake with all in a way," he chuckles warmly.
One of the foxes walks over to Dio, lifting a paw and putting it to his had. A voice, it sounds old, very old. It is hard to tell if it is male or female. "It could quite indeed, but in our old ways, an exchange of important trinkets would be the way. Right now, we've little to possibly offer. Now, I believe the conversations above are continuing." he.. or she says. The old fox walks back to the spring, walking into it and desolving once more
Above things were continuing, "Well, lumber, bricks, someone who knows how to run a power plant, we would like this to be a thriving town again, we want to help rebuild society. Also, anyone who wants to join our pack is welcome to it, if we like them. I mean, in a way we all share one mind, and, frankly, I wouldn't want just anyone up there." Says Brad. "We are all human... really, and all individuals, even if we can act as, well, to use an old geek term, think of us as a friendly form of the Borg." Brad laughs after, snorting a bit.
Liana takes a smnall notebook from a front vest...slowly, so as not to startle anyone, pulling a pencil from the ring atop it and jotting down some quick notes. "So, building supplies and expertise...That's not too hard a request. Now..this is going to sound rather heartless a question, but it -is- Zephyr, after all. What could you offer in return for these materials, that a greedy corperation would find satisfactory? And please don't write that verbatum, laptop-raccoon." She grins over at Maxwell at that last bit, giving a little shrug and flick of her tail.
Maxwell chuckles a moment at that. "I'll leave that one out of the records.", he tells her, even as he's writing it all down. Editing wouldn't be much of an issue, after all, as long as he left a mark beforehand to know where to do so. "You've got the Surrogate on your side at least, that's something. Do you have a power plant in the city that you need to repair, or are you trying to build one from scratch? I might be able to get a look at it and figure out what you need while I'm here."
If the foxmind is as individual as they imply, perhaps they had a leader of sorts in there. Maybe a village elder or something similar? Taking the fox's paw, he couldn't help but think of who exactly he may exchanging pleasentries with, but he needed to head back up to the meeting. "This is more than enough. Thank you for entertaining my offer. I see that cooperation is indeed possible. Though if you ever have some books, we'd love to have them back home. When you have the time, I'd also like to invesitgate your social structure later."
After a few shakes, Dio gets up and heads back towards the main discussion area. While he listens in and catches up, the lion readjusts his suit and walks towards his deposited weapon. "Oh yes, I heard about what happened to the Surrogate Brotherhood. I should take some time to visit them while I'm here. And you also speak of supplies? I'm sure a community effort can be created if you take the time to explain your case. The wolf and bear packminds are a threat to all living beings, and I'm sure if you make your case clear, some donations in form of items and time could be made."
With just Bard to talk to now, things seem to be resolving well. "Umm, what we can offer is nothing much to such a corporation, but what we can offer individuals is our thanks, along with some creds that you all seem so fond of, and the wealth of our combined knowledge in some ways. It will take time, we know, but, we hope that we can all work together to make this place wonderful again. It was a nice little town." He says. "Also, all you are right that Wolf and Bear are major dangers. Again, we could use some help figuring out how to stabilize the mutation, so it doesn't rip apart your mind. Some way to... what do you all call it, that mental innoculation? Something like that, or a training to make the mind able to resist being pulled from the body without the person wanting that. Do you all think you could help with that?" He asks.
Liana smiles as Dio comes back, giving him an impressed nod before answering the fox. "I can spread the word around thatsupplies are needed. Hopefully, with all of the needed items being peaceful in nature, there will be plenty of people willing to donate. Again speaking bluntly, many people see any and all packmind as an incredibly dangerous force. Some see it as less than a living being, and more of a bioweapon. Trust from the majority of the populace will take a long time to form. As for mental innoculations, I'm afraid I don't have any experience with that..but it shouldn't be too hard to find information on it."
Maxwell can't help but balk a bit at the call for some 'cure' or equivilent to mental innoculation. "I... I expect you'll have to talk to Zephyr or RSX about that. Even if we do find records of their work, no individual's going to have the resources or facilities to finish their work. I'm sure they've got something, though, even if it's only research into countermeasures."
"I believe I have a few ideas on that subject." Reaching down, Dio picks up his nanite cannon and hoists it over his back just as he did before entering the courtroom. "Over the years, calls have been put out to research various subjects. For example, one of our research projects resulted in making a radio static device that helps fend against the packmind infection. When the call goes out, people from all across Fairhaven and Woodfield come together and unify to advance things further to benefit everyone. I bet if we could do that and call for an inoculation, you could get plenty of people to help out in due time. It might take awhile, but awhile is better than never."
Looking over everyone, Brad smiles wide, "Ok, thank you all! We'll be waiting. I'm being called back though, seems someone needs help out in the wood seeing if something is worth bringing back in. I sware, some of them are so stuck in the past, can't tell a computer from an air conditioner. And, well, I can't either going off of their view of what it is. I hope I was able to explain things well, and that we will be seeing you all again soon." He says, waiting just a moment before, the eyes start to look empty, cold, nothing more then a mindless finger once more.
Liana tucks her notebook away, giving a polite not as Brad speaks and fades. She manages to to hold off until the fox is "vacant' again before giving a little shudder, standing and turning to leave. 'That wen't better than expected...No explosions, or even shots fired."
And with that, it was over, whichever consciousness having disappeared from the 'body' that was only moments before talking, explaining. Max couldn't help a bit of a shiver, soon rising to his feet. "Either way, I would have liked to know about that plant... Could have done some work while I was here. I'll put a copy of my notes up with Zephyr when I get back, seems the easiest way to let people know about what happened in it. If any of you have some form of digital storage or anything, I can copy it over, if you'd like, but for now... I think I'm going to get to what I came here to do."
"This has been a very productive meeting." Once more, Dio dips into a deep bow in a polite fashion, a process made harder with the heavy object on his back, but that was no excuse! "I must admit, I have a family and loved ones at home along with helping maintain a building, so it's difficult to make time to come out here. However, I'll see about helping your cause in whatever way I can. I assume we shall be seeing each other soon, so until then, please be well. I have a helicopter ride to catch." The lion turns around, waves towards the others, and promptly heads outside the building to reach the helicopter.
