Day 201 [event post]

[bastionpc]

Who: Zahi and everyone who wants to go hunt down the cure
Open: Open
When: 201- onwards
Where: the monument, and then out on the Skyway
What: People in the Bastion are falling sick, and Zahi knows where a cure can be found. Unfortunately, it won't be easy to get to.
Format: action
Warnings: none

[On Day 201, after several people have fallen ill, another meeting is called. This time, however, it is not Nathaniel who has called for everyone. It's Zahi.]

Okay, I know everyone's been worried about the people in the hospital, and it looks like our fears weren't unfounded: some of the people who went on that last trip, they caught something.

I've been watching the symptoms, and I think I know what this is. A long time ago, back before Zayna was born, there was a terrible illness that claimed the lives of many Ura. Everyone who fell sick here, they had the same symptoms as those who caught the disease before.

On the plus side, this means that it can be cured. I know of a clinic, way out in the Terminals, where there should be some medicine stocked. Not only can we cure the sick, but we can give another kind of medicine to those who aren't sick yet, so they won't catch it at all.

The downside is that it's gonna take a while to get there. It'll be at least two days there, and possibly more to track down exactly where the clinic is, and then the same amount of time back. We're looking at a four-day minimum, which means we won't be much help to those who are sick right now. They'll either be dead or getting better by the time we get back.

Then there's the fact that it's really dangerous out there. Zayna and I were out on the Terminals before we came here, and let's just say that there's a reason we went looking for somewhere safer to stay.

If you'd rather stay here, I can understand that. The Bastion is an amazing place, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone here managed to save everyone. But I'm not a fan of putting all my eggs in one basket, so I figured it's worth a shot to go and try to get some of the medicine.

What do you guys think?

Comments

[fuckthemancers]

Not dead.

...Do you wear that even when you're asleep? [He assumes Colin sleeps, anyway. The thought of someline like him not sleeping is a terrifying thing.]

[freedom_engineer]

This suit can be worn safely for a month, uninterrupted. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out.

[He sleeps, but he's been mostly trancing through this whole ordeal.]

Your friends seem worried about you.

[fuckthemancers]

Lovely to know, but that didn't particularly answer the question.

[He can spot casual question avoidance in his sleep, dammit.]

Yes, well- [His cleaning attempts just seem to get more rigorous.] -that's really rather the norm, isn't it?

[freedom_engineer]

If that didn't answer your question, then I am very glad you haven't put the rest of that equation together. Yes, I have slept in it. I haven't taken it off since this whole ordeal started.

And those weren't the friends I was talking about.

[Colin ceases his own scrubbing for a moment, and he walks over to crouch near cubone.]

Your daddy's working himself to the bone and he doesn't even realize it, does he?

[He knows that he's a little scary in this suit, so he's not going to get too close to the pokemon. No need to make it cry again.]

[fuckthemancers]

I like having things be clear in times like these.

...Also that's disgusting.

[Cubone just stares at Colin for a moment before whacking at the ground with its little bone. Whether this is communication or an attempt to scare away the big scary thing is up in the air.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin smirks at cubone, easily visible behind the helmet.]

Don't worry, kid. I'm not going to be bothering you long. Just gotta make sure your papa's holding together all right.

[He looks up at Zulf with a calm expression.]

You're not wrong, but it is also a stable, protected environment. Until this is done, one way or the other, this is not coming off.

You've been keeping yourself plenty busy. This is really tearing you apart, and I imagine it's been hitting you with some nasty memories.

[fuckthemancers]

...I'd assume that would be a normal response.

[Zulf is pointedly not making any contact, and continues to just clean. Having established that Colin is not yet a threat, Cubone just continues to cling to the skirts.]

[freedom_engineer]

You'd assume wrong, but it's a good thought just the same. Means you're rationale, if somewhat in denial.

You've been way too quiet though. I'm betting you're lost in a combination of memories of the last time you ran into this, and nightmare scenarios about what's going to happen this time.

[Colin holds his hand, palm up, towards Cubone. He's not going to pressure or crowd either of them, though. Even his tone is soft and non-threatening.]

[fuckthemancers]

[...Well at least he doesn't deny the part about denial.]

...I'm not much of a conversationalist during times like this.

[Or, when he does speak, it doesn't particularly help towards combating the mood.]

[He also ignores the other statements. A dead giveaway that it's a little too close to what's true. The Cubone doesn't seem to be noticing all of this, simply whacks at Colin's outstretched hand a bit. There's no real intent to harm, however. It is just a child, after all, and it's just doing its best investigating it can. Which involves hitting things.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin can tell. He isn't the least bit put off by the child. He knows animals, he knows young animals especially. In fact, when Cubone gives his hand a whack, Colin pantomimes a little spasm of his fingers just for show.]

Do you want me to call you out now, or later? Your health is just as important to me as everyone else's.

[fuckthemancers]

...Why do I need to be called out?

[That's just putting him on the defensive now, stopping in his cleaning to actually bend down a bit to pick up Cubone. Which is still trying to wave its little bone, for the record.]

[freedom_engineer]

Do you want a list?

[Colin stands up.]

I said it before, I'll say it again. YOU have me worried. Your behavior, your thought processes, likelihood of making it out of this in one piece.

[A momentary pause.]

And for the love of all the gods still listening, please don't try to retreat again. I'd hate to have to chase you, and your child there doesn't need the stress.

tw for suicidal thoughts???

[fuckthemancers]

[The threat of stressing out Cubone seems to get to him more than the threat of being chased does.]

My chances of surviving are actually rather high if past experiences are anything to go by.

...Although the opposite would be easier.

[freedom_engineer]

Zulf? I've got life projections for everyone in the Bastion.

Yours is my lowest one. Do you think I've been bothering you so much because I want to make you uncomfortable?

I want to keep you alive, man. I want to see you get through this.

[fuckthemancers]

...I'm really uncertain of what to say to that. "Thank you for the lack of confidence"?

[freedom_engineer]

Oh please, if it's lack of confidence, then I'm just as badly off as you. I've got one of the lower life expectancies here too.

Of course, my worry there is that within six months I'm expecting someone to shoot me in the back or shove me off the Skyway.

[Colin shakes his head.]

But you...

I don't know why, what's behind it. But you're showing EVERY. SINGLE. WARNING SIGN of Armageddon Fatigue.

[fuckthemancers]

...Pardon?

[freedom_engineer]

Armageddon Fatigue. It's...

Gah, right, you people don't practice end of the world scenarios.

[Colin holds up three fingers.]

Shelter.

Food.

Sanity.

Those are the three requirements to survive the end of the world.

The first two are the easiest to solve, we've done that.

Keeping your brain in good shape, that's another matter. People are not BUILT to survive the end of the world. There is shock, there is trauma, and it is very, VERY easy to lose the will to live.

That is not weakness, that is a symptom of the end of the world.

[fuckthemancers]

It disconcerts me that there are places which do find this normal.

[But he quiets soon enough to listen to the explanation.]

...That makes sense, I suppose. I... [There's a pause and a bit of rocking again as he pets Cubone to help keep it calm. Obviously feeling avoidant again and trying to work against it.] This event has likely only... stirred something that was already present.

[freedom_engineer]

Where I'm from, we prepare for everything we can imagine. Even things that shouldn't ever happen. Like this.

[He gestures around.]

"Something that was already present"? Are you able to elaborate?

[fuckthemancers]

This isn't the first time I've lost everything you know.

...The first plague. [And other things, but he just tenses up his shoulders and continues to pet the Cubone.]

[freedom_engineer]

I gathered as much. Unfortunately, you do a very good job of not giving me much information from which to extrapolate.

[Nobody ever tells him what he needs to know. He is going to be so angry when things finally get brought out into the open...]

You were a child then, right?

[fuckthemancers]

[Zulf is fully prepared to automatically shift blame onto Rucks when that happens.]

Yes. It wasn't a particularly uncommon thing- there were plenty of children who were the sole survivors of their families. We had to learn to rely on ourselves. It got to the point where we even earned a sort of name for ourselves. Dolic.

[freedom_engineer]

"Dolic"?

Got a translation for the poor ignorant foreigner?

[fuckthemancers]

Oh, so the amulets didn't translate? I suppose a direct translation would be a bit complicated...

It's a kind of... crystal-like moss? It's a strange kind of phenomena. In certain caves and tunnels. I've heard you could once find it especially common near the underground nests of Anklegators, or deep underground old battlefields, given enough time.

It doesn't have a good effect on stone, for some reason, but that isn't an area I'm particularly specialized in.