thebastion | Day 155

Entry tags:

Day 155 | Open

Who: Colin, and anyone who needs to talk to him
Open: Open
When: Day 155, morning
Where: At the docked Barge
What: Colin's making preparations for the trip. If you need him, now's the time.
Format Can match.
Warnings: Colin's in engineering mode, so he's going to be even more Colin-like than normal.

He really should have done this sooner.

Caeldonian technology was far different than many of the things that Colin was used to. There was a lot of archaic technologies patched together in clever ways to make this old beast move. It wasn't elegant by any means, at least not to him, but it was something he could at least understand. And boy, did he need to understand it. He had a lot of salvage ahead of him in the next couple of days, and he needed to know exactly what parts he'd need to recover if he couldn't get a working ship out of that hangar.

Much of Colin's morning was spent climbing all over the ship, taking scans and checking parts. He wasn't going to disassemble anything, not yet. He needed the manual before he'd be brave enough to try that for no reason.

Manuals, that was something else he'd need to make it a point to acquire while at the hangar. He'd also need to create some sort of display unit so he could share his information with the others more easily. Keeping it in his head was all well and good for him, but it meant nothing if the other people whom he'd need to rely on couldn't refer to what he was seeing.

That was how Colin's morning was spent. Taking notes and planning future projects. If anyone needed to find him, they needed only to look at the barge.

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Well, at least it's easy to find Colin. AZ wanders over to the barge, peering up to make sure that he's not going to interrupt anything that will break his concentration on calculations or end up with explosions.

Once he's determined that it's safe, he calls out.

"Colin?"

Fortunately, nothing Colin's working on today will result in explosions. Today, it's all about measurements. He was standing at the edge of the barge, leaning over it and taking scans when AZ arrived. When he came up, he heard AZ's greeting, and he looked over to the man.

"AZ, hello," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"It's a little less than that, and more like 'how can I help you?'" He sighed though, tucking his hands in his pockets. "It's a little... complicated, but... you know Zulf, right?"

Edited 2014-02-05 06:37 (UTC)

"As well as I know anyone here, yes," Colin replied, looking down at AZ. "What sort of help are you offering that involves him?"

"... It came up in a discussion that I was responsible for a weapon that cost many lives and ended a war. Understandably, he was upset. I told him that I was never going to let something like that happen again, if I could help it. So he told me of your plans to go to the Observatory, and said that if I really meant that then I should prove it by helping."

... He really had no reason to prove himself to Zulf, but for diplomacy's sake and the sake of getting things done, he'd do it.

Colin frowned slightly, and he continued to look down at AZ for several moments. Then, without warning, he vaulted himself over the rail and landed on the dock in front of AZ. Looking up at him, Colin quirked a grin.

"I'm no therapist, so I'm not even going to try to get to the root of that," he said. "What I need to know is whether or not you think you have any business actually doing something like this. I'm grateful for help, don't get me wrong... but if you don't want to be there, or you don't think you can do what I need of you, you may as well stay here. An unwilling or incapable volunteer is about as useless as getting the wrong parts for a repair job."

He's not judging AZ, nor is he trying to turn him down. But he does need to know what AZ thinks before he'll say one way or another.

That's a nice bit of acrobatics, Colin. But AZ thinks about that for a bit, eyes closing. On the one hand, he really has no business putting himself or his Pokemon in danger for this kind of thing. But on the other... he really does need to get over being so afraid of conflict.

He opens his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I need to stop being... so afraid." He shakes his head, hand reaching for a Pokeball. "I want to help. I feel... like I should. I've spent so much time on my own, feeling sorry for myself... it's been past time to work and help others."

"Not really the answer I was looking for, but it's a good answer just the same," Colin said, looking at him. "I won't turn you down, if you think you can make the trek. The observatory is pretty far away on foot. And you won't have to do much fighting if you don't want. In fact, I bet you can probably help me out in the hangar more than anyone else here, save possibly Nathan."

Colin raked his hand over his head, pushing his hair back and looking at the barge. "That's why I want to go, incidentally. We need more vehicles. This barge... can do the job, but I'm not happy with it," he said. "I need a vehicle that can give us some speed. Something I can really customize."

He also wants a personal vehicle, but... that's a wish and not an objective of this trip.

"Fuel's going to be a problem though, isn't it?" The barge looks impressive enough, but not exactly built for speed or huge trips. "Unless you go for something steam-powered, though I'm not sure how well it would take the Skyway."

Though steam-powered isn't really a bad idea, in the end. Especially considering there's a few fire Pokemon in the Bastion. "You've been there before though... what sort of security is there?"

... If it were him, he definitely wouldn't have left a place like that without some kind of protection.

Colin shook his head. "We're not taking this one, it's ill-suited for this job." he said. "I'm just checking this one to get an idea of what kind of parts I need to bring back. What kind of technology the Caeldonians developed. We're walking there. If we have too much to bring back, I might send a small team back to bring the barge, but I don't want to waste the fuel we've got. Once I've had some time, I plan to convert everything to hydrogen fuel cells, but that's going to be one hell of a retrofit."

He smirked slightly, and shook his head again. "Much of the facility was damaged, so I think half the security is down. There are a few alarms, automated locking doors, and pressure triggered gun-mounts. Nathan's coming so he can point out where people shouldn't step, as well as to deactivate the stuff he's got knowledge of."

"... Sure." Hydrogen fuel cells... he has an idea of what Colin's talking about but he knows things more on sight than anything else. "Though making a few steam-powered things shouldn't be so hard. As long as it's warm, I know Torkoal will sit most anywhere, and he breathes out steam normally."

Putting Torkoal's natural sleepiness to use? Sounds good to him.

"If there's anything high up I can probably snip wires or something. Or get Golurk to just.. punch it." Giant Pokemon are pretty helpful sometimes.

"Oh, it won't be hard by any means," Colin replied, nodding. "It's just not particularly energy efficient in the long run, and I'd hate to over-work your friends just for our own convenience."

He nodded in answer to AZ's observation. "The Hangar is huge, more than large enough to fit a dozen Paarthurnaxes," he said. "There's going to be more than enough opportunity for the big guys to pull their weight."

"True. I'm just throwing ideas out."

Ah. Might be a little harder, but... "Well, he's pretty maneuverable. Surprisingly so. We'll see what it looks like."

"No harm in brainstorming," Colin confirmed, grinning up at AZ. "Science wouldn't have gotten where it was if people kept their weird ideas to themselves."

"Exactly. I've seen a lot of technology in my time... it's always interesting to see what people come up with, and watch the shift towards one thing or another."

"A blend of two cultures always makes for amazing discoveries," Colin confirms, nodding. "Of course, cross-compatibility is always difficult. Usually there's an explosion or three if the people working on it aren't careful. That's why I pride myself on my skill."

He grins, and turns away to reboard the barge. "You're more than welcome to join us on the trip," he says. "And if you want to join me, I'd love to have another set of eyes up here who will know what the parts I need look like when we get to the hangar."

"Sure."

AZ tests his weight on the scaffolding, before climbing up. He crosses over to the barge, taking a look in.

"When's the last time you ate somethin'?"

That was a voice Colin could probably recognize without having to turn around. Rin stood on the relatively solid ground of the Bastion near the small dock where the barge had been settled after the Core retrieval that brought it there. She stood with her hands behind her back in clothes far too nice to have been working in - a skirt and blouse made of found Ura cloth but styled much more modern than that. Obviously she wasn't spending her time in the kitchen right then, since she seemed to be focused on speaking to Colin at the moment.

"About two hours ago," Colin chimed out, his head ducked beneath some paneling. "Getting a little hungry again, I'll probably come down to get something in another thirty minutes or so. What can I do for you, Rin?"

"... Zulf told me you were goin' back."

To the Observatory, but she left that much unspoken. Colin would know what she was talking about.

"Yep, we are," Colin confirmed, lifting his head out, grease smudging his cheek. "I meant to track you down and ask if you wanted another go at the plant, but it's been a busy couple of days of work for me."

"... do you need me?"

Any other time, Rin would have been happy to join, but there was a heavy hesitance in her voice.

"We don't need anyone," Colin said, looking down at her from the deck. "This is a volunteer mission to take out a problem and bring back a haul. I wouldn't mind having you along, though. You deserve another shot at that plant, without a bunch of firefighting foam bogging you down."

He smirks slightly. "But it's all up to you. I'll be happy to bring you back a vine, maybe a few leaves, if you prefer to hold down the fort and keep everyone here safe," he added.

Rin makes a face at that. He's not pushing her to go, which she appreciates, but there's a pang of guilt that she already decided she wasn't going to go a while ago. It just doesn't feel right, some how, but neither does the prospect of winding up as dead weight and a burden to boot.

She let out a sigh through her nose, fiddling with her hair hair over one shoulder.

"It's... fine. I don't need anythin' from it."

"You realize that you couldn't have done anything different last time, right?"

He ducked his head back down, and started shutting the paneling he'd been looking under.

"Knowin' that doesn't make me feel any worse about it, Colin."

"Nope, never does," he called out. "But the reminder's important to keep in mind. Especially if you're being haunted and having your confidence shaken."

I hope you don't mind her huffing and crossing her arms over her chest without any sort of response to that, Colin. Because that's all you're getting.

"Look, I'm not gonna hold your hand and tell you everything's gonna be okay," he said. "That isn't gonna fix anything, and it ain't gonna make you feel any better. But I'm gonna tell you that one way or another, you need to get over it. Nobody wins every time."

With the panel shut, he straightens up and leans on the railing of the barge again. "You need to lick your wounds here? That's fine. You need to kick something's ass to make yourself feel better? That's fine. You need to lip-lock me so I can breathe and let you do the rescuing? I'm sure I'll get in over my head sooner or later," he told her. "Point is... if you're feeling plenty bad, you gotta do something to feel better. You mope about it, you're not doing any good for anyone."

"I didn't come here to ask for advice about how to deal with my shit, okay?"

She was being defensive, overly so, and she knew it. He had a point, but she was too stubborn to admit that.

It didn't help that the day before she had received an ever bigger blow to her emotional state, and she was handling it even less well than she was everything else.

Really, she was a mess, and getting to the point where she didn't want to deal with anyone anymore, least of all some one who constantly irritated her. She just wanted to hole herself away somewhere, return the old frightening scowl to her features and shove everyone away because it was just easier that way.

"Whatever. Just be careful, okay?"

"No, you came over here to check up on me and what I'm doing, and I appreciate it," Colin says, smirking down at her. "So don't you worry, I'll be back in a few days, and I'll bring you a nice souvenir."

Tsun harder, Rin. Tsun harder.

She will.

"... good," Rin said with another huff, though she didn't make to leave just yet.

"... if you need anythin' from the kitchen lemmie know."

Colin thinks for a moment, and he nods. "We're probably going to need a lot of bread, actually. Most everything else will be pretty easy to acquire and transport, but there's gonna be at least twelve of us, I think..."

He leans on the railing lazily, putting his chin on his fist. "Paar will probably be able to provide us with fresh meat, especially if one of those Mammoths is anywhere along the route," he says. "Yeah, bread, definitely bread. I'll need to whip together a few coolers in the future, I think..."

"You don't gotta gimmie all the details, just tell me to make bread."

God Colin she doesn't need your life story ok?

"You care what kind? I can make a few different ones."

"Are you kidding?" Colin asks innocently, smiling down at her. "That was the abridged version."

Oh, Colin...

"Several different kinda will be best, I think. I prefer sourdough myself, but I don't know what everyone else likes."

Groan.

"I'll see what I can do then."

"You're the best, Rin-Rin," Colin tells her warmly. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, yeah... just remember what I said about comin' back alive!"

And with that last comment, she's going to go start on making that bread.

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Day 155 | Open

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