VL121R | Day 2 Morning | Text

[meadqueen]

I’m southwest of the mountains, near the shore. There's an abandoned village here.

A central square, strangely paved, surrounded by several metal longhouses and an odd tower at one end. It's been abandoned for quite some time.

Comments

[lonelynotforsaken]

They look like my native language, English. What about you?

[meadqueen]

I can write using the Latin letters - in Mercian - but this mechanism only allows me to write in Norse. My initial message about the village was composed using runes.

[lonelynotforsaken]

You radio has runes on it?

[What even? This has to be the Web doing... something. Allowing communication?]

[meadqueen]

Yes, on the outside. All of the internal text as well.

[lonelynotforsaken]

... Weird.

[That's all he's got for now. He needs to try to get out of this cell, but he'll puzzle on that. The Web is the most likely in his mind. With being the one to manipulate everything to get them here, it would have the most power at the moment, as well, wouldn't it?]

[meadqueen]

[She’s just not going to think about the idea that her people seem somehow unthinkable that far into the future.

She pings him again about 2 hours into the midday time block, sounding both winded and exhilarated]

Martin, are you well?

[lonelynotforsaken]

[Martin is not, in any way, 'well,' and he's growing progressively worse as the day goes on. Fake it 'til you make it, though. His voice sounds hoarse when he replies, but he's forcing himself to sound neutral, if not cheerful.]

Hanging in there. All right?

[meadqueen]

[Yeah, she's seen enough death to guess that he's drifting closer to it. Best not to call too much attention to it]

I made it to the top of the tower. I was - I was hoping I could see where you were...

There's another settlement near my location. Small buildings with thatched roofs and a large tower.

[lonelynotforsaken]

Congratulations, that's sounds like it was a tough climb. I'm in a concrete building. It's pretty small, but definitely no thatched roof that I can see from inside it. Concrete is... it's like a grayish brick that looks continuous. Completely smooth. Maybe a little like the Roman blocks you saw.

[meadqueen]

I don't see anything like that. If the building is small, I might not be able to see it through the trees.

Do you know the amount of time that each drone patrols before returning? If we could calculate their range it might help.

[lonelynotforsaken]

I'm really sorry, but it's hard to tell time in here. One's come in recently from when I woke up and another left. I think that was morning. Cohle told me I was out for about 20 hours. So... whatever time it is now. Six... eight hours?

[meadqueen]

It's all right.

[It's a bit shocking to hear how long it's actually been. She’d been in such a panic at first that time had seemed to pass so quickly]

... Do you have a weapon with you?

[He’s been kind to her despite his own situation, she can't be blamed for trying to sneak him into Valhalla the back way]

[lonelynotforsaken]

I've got a knife, but I've already tried using it to pry things with. There's not enough space for it. And I haven't got anything longer to reach the drones with. I managed to short out- to-to kill one. Hopefully, it won't hurt anyone else.

[meadqueen]

That was brave.

Hold onto it, all right? In your hand. Until you get out of there.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[What?]

I'll keep hold of it until it starts to look really grim. I want to make sure other people have access to the tools I have, though, even if I don't make it. I'm going to try to put them just outside of the cell. People can find them there later.

[meadqueen]

[When it looks grim is when it’s most important!]

It's for you. To get you where you need to go.

[lonelynotforsaken]

I'm not sure I follow?

[meadqueen]

[Come on, don't make her say it]

To show your courage before the gods.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[...]

Oh, right. Sorry. I think they'll understand if I give my weapons to help others. That seems pretty courageous, too. And I don't mind facing them unarmed.

[He has no idea what she's talking about, but he's certainly going to try to sound like he does.]

[meadqueen]

They don't -

[The gods are kind of assholes sorry]

After all of this, if we fail you, you deserve to be feasting in that great hall. Any of us would sacrifice a small knife for that.

[lonelynotforsaken]

None of you have failed me. I did something stupid and it might cost me my life, but... I don't want it to be a burden to anyone else. I know we've never met, but you seem nice. I'm okay not having a seat at the table.

I never expected to.

But you live, okay? You survive and take care of yourself. Go to the village you can see. There might be more people there. Or signs of where they might have gone to. If you can meet up with someone along the way, that's even better. Don't be alone for too long. And watch out for the flying machines. They hum like a deep sound pressing in on your ears when they're nearby. Make sure you stay close to cover and hide from them.

[His voice has gone very rough by the end, and he coughs.]

I need to try a few more things here now. Let everyone know if you find anything cool.

[meadqueen]

Thank you. My people will remember your name.

[Sadly by evening he's probably not going to be well enough to hear about the cheesy tiki bar she's about to find]

text | callsign: DI481O

[salamanca]

Shows up English for me, too, ese.

[ Doubly weird because English isn't his native language. Spanish is. And he still thinks in Spanish. The mental translation he has to do in his brain, from Spanish to English, before he can type anything, is frankly getting kind of annoying!

But, of course, he can't admit that, now can he? That'd blow his "American cop" cover. ]

[lonelynotforsaken]

This is all very strange.

TO994M; voice

[cactusy]

Me, too.