Day 196 : Start of the "Sickness Inside" plot

[bastionpc]

Who: Nathaniel (NPC) and everyone else who wants to be involved
Open: Open
When: Day 196
Where: Near the monument --> Out on the Skyway
What: Nathaniel needs a radio tower. He's enlisting the help of others to get said radio tower
Format: any
Warnings: Dead body discovery in the radio tower threads. Mentions of throw-up when Zulf joins the Okumura group.

This is the post for everything related to Day 196 of this particular event. The starter is in the comments, and important threads will be linked here as they are made.

Important threads:

START: by the monument

At the radio tower and the surrounding area

Regrouping

Meanwhile, at the Bastion...

Comments

START: by the monument

[bastionpc]

[Early on Day 196, Nathaniel will call for everyone to meet by the monument, as he has something important to discuss. He also happens to have a bag with him, in which are some very important things.]

Alright. Remember when we went to the observatory, and we found some blueprints for a beacon? Well, I've spent the last few weeks working on some prototypes, and this is what I have.

[Out of the bag he pulls out a few small, wrist-watch looking devices, which appear to have a compass of sorts for the face.]

They're not working yet, but they can be set up to receive radio waves, and will point in the direction of any tower sending out a signal that this thing is set to receive. With this, we should seriously cut down on the number of people getting lost on the Skyway.

The only problem is that we need a radio tower to make these work. The small ones I've been experimenting with just don't output a strong enough signal for these things to pick up at a distance. It would take a core to build a brand new tower, and we haven't come across any cores in a while. We could wait until we find another one, but there's no telling how long that could take.

However, I have another plan.

[That's when he pulls a large red sensor out of the bag he has, and offers it up for everyone to see.]

These sensors are set to resonate with the Bastion. If the senors are activated and someone uses shards to get the Bastion to do the "retrieve land" function, it'll pull in whatever the sensor is attached to. Each one only does a small amount- one could maybe bring back a small box. But, if we use a lot of them at once, we could get something much larger. Like a whole radio tower.

So the idea is that we go out on the Skyway, attach all these sensors to a radio tower, and then ride the tower back to the Bastion. Then I can finish setting up these compasses, and the Skyway will become that much easier to navigate.

What do you guys think?

[fuckthemancers]

It's a good idea as any.

[Look at that, polite words and everything. Maybe this can be another trip where Nathaniel and Zulf manage not to kill each other?]

How many people are you going to need?

[aprettyred]

[ Very good question, Zulf. Anna is standing not too far away, watching all of this. She seems a little uneasy, or maybe a little more distant to day. Its hard to tell, other than she's not really standing close enough like she's going to offer herself to go on the skyway.

She might look like she's counting whoever shows up, though. Don't mind her and her firebug. ]

[yinyangfox]

[ Finding a certain degree of serenity in his life after visiting the floating remains of Izumo Village had put the onmyoji in a rare active mood. The trips to both the old music room and the village had highlighted his recent sedentary behavior and if life was to keep moving forward, he needed to be more proactive. At least from time to time. When Nathaniel mentioned a means of making venturing onto the Skyway safer for those going out by reducing the risk of confusion, it seemed only reasonable that he offer his services for completing the task. ]

No one has ventured to this particular area yet? [ He asked, pulling on a set of cloth cuffs that wrapped around his fingers and covered his palms. Since retrieving the sword from Izumo he had returned to using the weapon. It certainly didn't mean he wanted rough hands and blisters. ]

What can we expect to encounter?

The radio tower + surrounding areas

[bastionpc]

[Just as Nathaniel had said, the trip out to the site is mostly uneventful. With the group of people going, the land easily rises up beneath their feet to form a land bridge over to the floating chunk of land separate from the rest of the Skyway.

Interestingly enough, there are some Peckers around, but they are mostly sticking to one area, back behind the small building. They seem to be mostly ignoring the group of new arrivals.]

Alright, those of you who are going to help me put up sensors, let's get to work. The rest of you, can you scout out the area and make sure it's safe? If you find anything useful you can toss it into the grass at the base of the tower, and it'll go back to the Bastion along with the tower.

the radio tower

[bastionpc]

[For everyone staying and helping around the tower, do that stuff in here. Nathaniel will be around, setting up sensors and turning them on.

For anyone climbing up to the higher points, it does get pretty windy up there. Be careful not to fall off!]

Re: the radio tower

[freedom_engineer]

Hey, Nathan, before we start with the sensors, I'm gonna check and make sure that this tower is functional and structurally sound. It'd be a shame for us to drag something back to the Bastion and have it fall apart enroute.

[Colin looks up at the tower, and he nods to himself.]

This is just one of those reasons why I always carry rope in the field...

/+1, hope this is okay

[spiria]

[ She hadn't been there for the initial conversation about this whole thing, but she'd run into Rin as Rin was coming back to tell her brother and boyfriend about things and got the information about what was happening from her. She'd decided from there that she wanted to help.

So, here she was.

Kohaku wasn't exactly as prepared as her companions for the Skyway, but she also hadn't been on the Skyway since after her arrival here. She had Elrond out, though, and was keeping a lookout for anything dangerous.

She looked to Nathan and Colin as they started doing things. ]

Is there anything I can help you guys with?

[ Technology was way beyond her, but surely there was something she could help with ... ]

LATER~

[doctor_dragoon]

[[The group at the radio tower is at work for a little while before someone else comes to join them. Sort of.

Yukio's jogging down the path toward the tower, his long coat trailing behind him. Strange that he's rushing about without anything chasing him, but stranger than that is that he's alone. Isn't he supposed to be off with Rin and Zulf?]

Colin-san! Nathaniel-san!

[bastionpc]

[He was, and that makes Nathaniel worry. He sets down the sensor he had been working on (by now they're all turned on, and he's been working on attaching a few to the base of the tower, because he's pretty sure Colin will say it's good to go) to go over and talk to him.]

What's wrong? Where are Rin and Zulf?

The building

[bastionpc]

[For anyone exploring the building, thread it out here.

Strangely enough, the power seems to be working inside. The hallways are lit up, but many of the rooms are dark. Anyone who goes in will be able to smell the scent of rotting, though it is a touch different than the usual smell of decomposition that has been found in other parts of the Skyway.

What do you do?]

[hellpyre]

[Well that sure is a disgusting scent hitting Rin right in the face the second she steps inside.

She recoils two steps in, bumping right in to Yukio behind her. Arm over her nose, she lets out a repulsed noise, shaking her head.]

What the hell is that? It's horrible!

[doctor_dragoon]

[Yukio grunts a bit, lifting a hand to press Rin away, but he doesn't bother chastising her.

That smell... it must be much worse for Rin with her heightened senses, but even for Yukio, it's still pretty bad. He doesn't cover his nose, but he doesn't bother hiding his revulsion either.]

Something's rotting...

Behind the building

[bastionpc]

[HMM WHAT COULD THOSE BIRDS BE INTERESTED IN?

THIS ISN'T AN OBVIOUS PLOT HOOK OR ANYTHING NOPE]

[notduchess]

[ OBVIOUS PLOT HOOK? Sure, Duke will bite.

Peckers are a bit annoying, but hopefully Duke can just yell a little bit and get them to scat. ]

I'm going around, to see if I can get the Peckers to leave. [ Because if they swarmed someone climbing, that would be shitty.

And now that Duke has alerted the others, off the knight goes. ]

[bastionpc]

[Duke can easily find where the Peckers are congregating.

Duke can easily smell why the Peckers are congregating, too.

Peckers normally aren't scavengers, they prefer their food to be fresh. But there is something recently-dead back there in some brush, and with food pretty scarce out on this little island, they're not being picky.]

[yinyangfox]

[ With no particular technologically advanced knowledge of his own and not being terribly well dressed for exceptional climbing Seimei found himself rather at a loss for being useful. He had offered his services, more than anything, as a capable means of offensive or defensive tactics, but the trip had been so quiet he wasn't sure he was relevant in the least. Fortunately not one to have his feelings hurt by anything so trivial, he decided to take the opportunity to look around and perhaps acquaint himself with the local Pecker population.

He did like talking to the natives, after all, and chose to send Yata ahead of him as a sort of envoy, the plump bird flapping along grumpily to introduce itself and its wingless companion because Seimei insisted on being polite to everyone and everything, when the situation was favorable enough to do so. While the bird chirped and croaked and made its noises the onmyoji made his own way around the building, keeping an eye out for anything of interest or potential value, if he could recognize it as such. ]

[bastionpc]

[The Peckers are largely more interested in eating, as they have a fresh source of food nearby. So the hungry ones will mostly ignore Seimei, while the full ones will explain that to him.

Duke is also in the area, so Seimei can either join up with her to investigate or go it alone.]

other

[bastionpc]

[If you want your character to investigate anywhere else, do it in here. Just specify where they are looking.]

Regrouping

[bastionpc]

[Once everything is done, everyone should come in here to discuss what to do next.]

[fuckthemancers]

[After some while of waiting, Zulf perks up at the sound of people approaching.]

I think that's them. [He raps his knuckles sharply against the door and calls out.] If you're going to berate us, either do it now or save it for later. As Yukio told you, we have more pressing matters to deal with.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin is hanging a HEALTHY distance back from the rest of the group. And one hand is openly resting on his bandolier, within grabbing distance of a grenade. He's saying nothing for the moment, but he needs to survey the damage. And for now, he's remaining silent. He knows that his way will likely bring protests, but he'll wait to see what the group decides first.]

Meanwhile, back at the Bastion...

[bastionpc]

[Guess who has been reading a book near the monument all day?

Said person is also suddenly frowning thougthfully and looking up from his book.]

...Say, Anna, Did Nathaniel mean 'seven hours from when he asked' or 'seven hours from when they left'?

Playing games and reading books

[aprettyred]

[ Guess who has been playing with her firebug. ]

Seven hours from when they left.

[ She looks up. ]

Would you like me to check?

best responsible people

[bastionpc]

[It's adorable, and it reminds Zahi of when his own kids used to be little, though they played with Squirts, not firebugs.]

Yeah, you probably should. It feels like it's been long enough.

[It's definitely been seven hours since Nathaniel spoke to everyone about the plan, and possibly seven hours since they had left.

Also, Zahi is old and ready for a nap.]