(no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: July 1 and onward. See this post for info.
Where: Kauto + Chioni + Ingress Complex
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label warn-worthy content in your subject headers.

There's a burst of light in the sky when the Ingress breaks, a final flare followed by a shuddering that only those in the facility can feel. A flurry of panicked activity in the complex follows, ushering new arrivals to where they need to go in a hurry, with little time to give them the needed information, much less answer questions. The lights remain on, but dimmer now, life functions still operating but little else. On Kauto and Chioni below, the sky fades into an early twilight, followed by night, and day does not come again.

nerds save the world

Before the end of the day, all TABs receive an emergency broadcast notification outlining the situation. The speaker, a lead Savriite Ingress technician, does not invite panic but nor does he mince words. The Ingress is broken; their best efforts have failed to restore it. The time has come to turn to anyone who can help: scientists, engineers, those who have worked with advanced technology on any world. Formal qualifications don't matter when it could be the end of everything.

"Help us. Before it is too late."

Those who come will have the run of the complex and full access to the Ingress, as well as whatever tools are available and as much coffee as they can drink. People are encouraged to work in groups and share ideas, and a small number of young and nervous technical assistants will be on hand.

the land below

As Thisavrou is denied light and warmth, the weather becomes brisk and descends into bitter cold. Chioni is evacuated due to the effects on the already-harsh weather cycles there, although a skeleton crew of scientists remain behind. On Kauto, the arboreal Region Three and pastoral Region Two suffer the most from the temperatures and the snow that eventually begins to fall. Many crops are frozen over, and refugee citizens are driven from their homes to the Regions One and Five, where stored energy will keep dwellings warm. Save for those who choose to leave the underwater facilities, Region Four remains largely unchanged, but there are unverified accounts of strange aquatic animal behavior near the surface.

Overcrowding, limited supplies and a pervasive fear presents the opportunity for both heroism and foul deeds. Many come together to share resources, supplies and fellowship in what could be the end of worlds, while others take what they can from the unwilling or exploit the desperate. Sentient evacuees are followed by fauna from Region Three and unsettled lands beyond, in search of warmth or food or merely confused by the change in habitat. Some are unthreatening herbivores, while tanglesnakes and clownbees are more troublesome. Others are poisonous hunters, while still others are small, but dangerous when faced as a pack.

Just when all seems lost, light returns to the sky. The Ingress begins to function once more.

the coming days

As the temperatures rise, many demand answers, but most turn to the rebuilding of their lives first. Damage has been done that isn't so easily fixed, and even in the least-affected areas, remnants of the crisis show in the lack of fresh food, in the increased signs of criminal activity. Those who can help others through their own efforts of by organizing assistance are needed, but those with impure intentions are more likely to go unnoticed.

Eavesdropping on the streets may reveal a desire for vengeance. "Those intruders from last week. They're responsible for this, aren't they? What's being done?" But don't listen too closely, or a suspicious eye may be turned on you. "Aren't you one of the refugees from the Midway Hub? You should return to where you came from! All the trouble began when your people showed up!"

Life goes on. But life does not go on unchanged.

[quick ooc note: the Region 4 search & retrieval mission/RNG fight will be posted in a separate log.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Heels slide over snow once Elena draws backwards, and Venom is quick to follow her trajectory to stabilize her if she needs it, hands poised and shoulders braced.

They can't stay here, no, but he can't leave the bodies to be discovered by someone while they're away— that'd leave too many openings for blame to be cast on the refugees again, for civil unrest to flare and for all of them to get caught in the crossfire.

He puts a careful hand on Elena's shoulder, turning her towards a segment of scenery that's unobtrusive. Normal. Snow falling in soft shrouds over a deserted street, streetlights flickering and casting long shadows that bisect untrodden patches of sheet-white. ]

...Catch your breath. We'll leave in a second.

[ A gentle pat, and Venom is on his feet, moving towards the fallen Savrii. He drapes one over his shoulder, grunting softly under his breath at the effort; mercifully, there's a dumpster nearby that he can deposit all three of the corpses in without having to travel over unreasonable distances.

She should be able to hear the drag of limp feet over asphalt, the clang of muscle and bone ragdolling unceremoniously into a metal coffin. It takes Venom 5 minutes, tops, to get all of the bodies out of sight— he's back by her side afterwards, offering his human hand for her to take if she needs it. ]

You're good?

[ She doesn't fight him when he shifts her away from the carnage laid out in the snow. The snowfall is soft when it catches in the lights, her gaze staring off blearily at the flakes dropping away, the cold ground cutting through the layers of her pants. It's better for her to curl up against the chill of the evening and against the sounds coming from behind, pull the jacket closer.

Elena doesn't want to think about what he's doing. She knows, oh, she knows; it's not hard to miss. Heavy thuds of dead weight on hollow metal, dragging corpses. She's squeezing her eyes shut against the sounds, trying to block it all out, think of it like a bad memory.

It's as she's digging the heel of her palm into her brow that she picks up on his footfalls crunching closer until stopping. Her head lifts at the question. Does he expect her to answer truthfully? It should be written all over her. Some hesitation comes before her hand moves to take his, grasping tight as she rises to stand.

A nod; it's a lie, she's not good. She just can't bring herself to answer.

For now all Elena wants is to go home. She doesn't even care to pick up her items. ]

[ He should have phrased it differently— 'good to go' was the sentiment. She won't be fine for a while, not by a long shot, but Elena doesn't need Venom to tell her that. There's no use in being unproductive.

Elena is a mess of blood and dirt, disheveled and coated in her aftermath. It reminds him of days that he used to go back to base covered in his own gore, picking dirt and refuse from the joints of his bionic; not exactly the kind of condition he wants his companion to be walking back in, so he uses his prosthetic hand to lift the collar of the jacket he'd draped around Elena's shoulders, to wipe her face a bit.

After that's done, he nods. ]

I'll take care of the rest, later.

...Come on.

[ And with that, he'll start walking. He trusts Elena to steer him if he starts going in the wrong direction. ]

Edited 2017-07-10 22:26 (UTC)

[ What she needs is to get home, get out of this cold, that much is obvious. She needs to get back and pray that Nate doesn't catch her the second she walks in or all hell will break loose. If he sees all this blood, he's going to be reminded again of what had happened weeks ago. He might think she's damn well walking dead at this point.

The mess that's being cleaned up, that just reminds her of a different mess, one less severe. Dirt caked over sweaty skin, cuts and bullet grazes leaving trails of blood to leak. Twigs and dirt bits caught in her hair coming loose. Those were the days where it felt lik she knew what she was doing, feeling more in control of the situation with the reassuring weight of her gun gripped in her hand and stone pressed to her back while in the heat of a gunfight in a jungle.

The climate differences make everything that much more noticeable.

Elena says nothing as some of the blood is wiped and smeared on her cheek, eyes staring off to nowhere in particular at his shoulder. He's trying, he gets props for that. ]

It was my fault.

[ Low, hoarse words, she pushes them out as they walk. ]

I shouldn't have resisted. This could've— been avoided.

[ Jesus, her throat. Elena grimaces and holds a hand over it, feeling the swelling, the area tender to touch at the front. ]

[ The snowfall is gentle, impersonal. It helps in some measure, because Venom knows what blood and refuse start smelling like in the arid heat of Afghanistan or the humid swampland stretching across coastal Africa. The cold nullifies that stench of acrid rot, slows it to a neat crawl. In time, she'll be able to dust herself off and let her kill flake off of her like jungle mud.

It won't help her feel better, but it's some consolation. ]

It could've been avoided.

[ He concedes as he walks, his breaths coiling from between his teeth. Patronization through coddling doesn't suit him; he agrees that the situation could have been handled better.

There's no point in wallowing, though, so he moves right along. Occasionally stepping the both of them in shadow and covering her when he feels another presence across the street, keeping his paces in stride with Elena's smaller ones. ]

But you acted under duress. Self-preservation instincts would do that to you.

[Her eyes slide shut and her shuffling steps slow to a stop. Is that what she'd done? Was that her excuse, her reasoning? ]

I thought it was happening again. That was how it had happened the first time. Weeks ago. [ Elena grips the edge of the jacket, pulls it tighter around her. Remembering it, putting herself back there, he'd forced her hand. Not Venom but the man she'd killed. ] I couldn't breathe. I was going to die.

[ The memory continues to haunt her to this day and it just might for the remainder of her time here, however long that mjght be. She didn't need that reminder.

But in all of that... Elena appreciates that he isn't coddling her. He's putting it straight. ]

I couldn't go through that a secomd time.

[ One foot is forced in front of the other. No sense in standing still for too long, they're almost to her house. ]

[ What he picks up from her fragmented wording is that she's holding onto some lingering trauma. That's a piece of information that falls neatly into the puzzle of their current situation and gives it some context, lends some credence to the vehemence with which Elena'd defended herself.

He doesn't judge her for it. Death is a powerful motivator. ]

...What's done is done. You're still alive— let that guide you.

[ He knows it's a small consolation, but he fixes that single eye on her and moves to put a hand on her shoulder. Waits until she brings herself together and starts walking again, step by step. It's all any of them can do, at this point.

After he lets a stretch of silence pass between them, he breaks it. ]

Stay with a group from now on. [ Practical goals for the future. Things she can focus on. ] And if anyone asks, I killed all three of them.

[ '...let that guide you.' But her mind then interprets it as 'Let that haunt you.' Oh, how it will.

They're houses away from their destination when the steady sound of the snowfall and the crunching beneath their feet is shattered by what he says. Rather than stare off at the ground as they walk, Elena's attention is jerked up to him, the first reaction to appear in her expression under the mess that isn't a dazed stupor.

She comes alive on a high-pitched, rasped exclamation. ]

What? No. No no no— not a chance—

[ A coughing fit unfortunately makes itself known. Perfect timing.

She half turns away, head ducking as if that will ease the ache squeezing her throat with each cough forced out. But no! Her conscience absolutely will not let him take the full fall for this. They both killed tonight. They're both at fault. ]

Easy.

[ He reminds her again, palm up and settling between her shoulderblades before departing. As the adrenaline wears off, it's becoming apparent to Venom that his snap judgment may not have been the best for either of them; if that's the case, then he should take accountability for conflating an already not-ideal situation.

(he knows he's going to get chewed out for this— better him than her.) ]

This is the only time that strength in numbers won't apply. Better to let them think that this is one rogue incident done by one likely candidate.

[ A wry upquirk of his lips, as he motions with his bionic to his... well. Everything. ]

They won't be surprised if you tell them it was me.

Edited 2017-07-11 05:41 (UTC)

[ They'll both soon become more and more aware of their actions and the consequences said actions will bring. For Elena, she'll want to make things right. She'll want the truth to be out there, in time.

Being as her 'noble crusade' was to dig up the truth and tell the world, as an investigative reporter, no matter the dangers and costs, it would go against everything she did in life to sit on the crime she'd— they'd— committed. She's the one who digs out criminals of all kinds, eats them for breakfast, and spits them out for everyone else.

That little upquirk of his, her own lips flatten as she gives him a disapproving look. This isn't the time to joke around, as nice as it is that he's trying to make light of things so she likely won't feel too weighed down by the reality of it. ]

I am not going to do that. I'm thankful for your help and what you did, but we're both at fault. I won't completely throw you under the bus.

[ Another pause to cough and Elena gestures to the house. They're here. ]

[ His expression is carefully neutral when he stops to tip his head, chin angled to fix the trajectory of his gaze down at the disapproving line of Elena's expression. For a beat, he's inclined to be surprised— she dresses him down with conviction, and her insistence is the sharpest look she's given him yet.

It's heartening. It's something he can concede to. ]

...Do whatever you decide on, then.

But first, get your bearings. Rest.

[ He steps away from her, gesturing to her home. An enclosed space with four walls, where she can stay safe and out of sight for whatever stretch of time she needs. ]

You can find me in the directory.

[ Implied is "call me if you need me"— he's listed under "Venom Snake", even if he'd introduced himself before as 'Ahab'. ]

[ Shower first and then rest. More like lay awake for the rest of the night and stare at the ceiling, get no sleep whatsoever.

Elena's surprised but relieved when he doesn't push for the plan to place the entire blame on him. Her shoulders sag with the relief under the jacket that it slips. That brings her attention to it and she begins to shrug out of it. ]

You don't want to forget this, for the walk back.

[ The implication behind his words, she won't forget it. ]

[ Listen, that's what Nate is for— he better be a good pillow for Elena tonight, smfh!!!!!!

Venom's halfway on his way to pivoting on his heels when Elena offers him his jacket again, and he takes it with the sort of wan smile that you wouldn't expect from a man who looks like he kills people as a morning wake-up exercise; slightly melancholy, with his brows turned down and the harsh angles of his face softening from where his lips deign to tug up, just a fraction of a millimeter. ]

I was thinking of getting a new jacket, anyway.

[ He knows this one is going straight into that dumpster with those three cooling bodies, kindling for the fire that'll turn them into ash. But he pulls it back over his broad shoulders, posture as straight and poised as it always is.

And with that, he's retracing his footsteps— a composite of monochromes wading back into the snow, as if he'd never been here at all. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only