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

[meadqueen]

[Good luck indeed! She doesn't know what that is!]

Thank you.

You’ve seen villages like this before? Do you know what I should expect to find up there?

[metalicarus]

Sort of.
If it's a modern watch tower, there might be communication devices that function like this one, but go out further. Buttons that turn or press, screens like on your phone that show lines that probably won't mean much to you, if I'm guessing right, but it mist still be important.
I'm hoping for a map or journals with watchlogs or notes.

[meadqueen]

This place has been so long abandoned that I'm not holding out much hope for paper.

[metalicarus]

Might last longer than you think.
I'd take woodcarvings at this point.
But let me know if you find any cables. Could be useful too.
What are you expecting to find?

[meadqueen]

I want to see what they saw from up there. The big windows are above the treeline.

[metalicarus]

Good idea.
Hopefully more than the mountains and more ocean.
Maybe there's other islands nearby or more watch towers to be seen.

[meadqueen]

At the very least, it will give me an idea of which direction to scout in for water.

[metalicarus]

We've been following along a river all day, so there's bound to be a few with the mountain here. Some of the parts of the river weren't crossable, though, so I'd watch for that too.

[meadqueen]

Fast moving or too wide?

I know there must be a river near me but I've been unable to find it on foot.

[metalicarus]

Both.
The first river I came across was low and had roots in it that seemed off, but it made crossing easier. The second one was a problem.
I've been travelling up it to see if I could find a place to cross.
I think I'm on the East side of the Island, headed inward, if that helps.

[meadqueen]

I’m near the southwest coast, so I don't think I’ll be able to see that far.

It seems a bit strange that we're finding ruins but no roads.

[metalicarus]

Doubt there's much infrastructure to be built here. You want your house to survive a storm more than you want a road to drive the cars you don't have.

[meadqueen]

[Randvi doesn't know what a car is either, but she can at least infer that it's a vehicle. Maybe something like a cart.]

People presumably circulated around the island at some point, perhaps on foot, but I have not seen even the remains of pathways or bridges.

[They’re still using Roman roads in England so that's kind of what she’d been expecting to see]

[metalicarus]

Sorry, I'm not the anthropologist in my family, but I'd guess time and circumstance.

Or a cover up job.

[meadqueen]

If it's meant to be a cover-up, one would think they'd have done a better job at destroying the buildings.

You're not mistaken though that someone does not want us to be here.

[metalicarus]

Depends on what mind games they're trying for. Maybe they just don't want us following the roads to the important spots other people found.

But I'm also not the psychologist of my family, so take that with a grain of salt.
Trust your gut over your eyes, anyway.

[meadqueen]

I have to trust the rest of you. I don't know what any of this is.

[metalicarus]

Which makes your perspective important.

[meadqueen]

I’m glad you see it that way. I feel like I'm navigating without a map.

If that man hadn't been yelling right at the start I'm not certain I would have kept this.

[metalicarus]

Luckily, plenty of people apparently not afraid of being discovered or retaliation, but in this case I guess it worked out.

It's a radio. Military grade. Not usually something civilians can't get their hands on.

[meadqueen]

Are we civilians?

[metalicarus]

Most of these people? Yeah. You're not part of the army, you're a civillian, most of the time.

For you, don't know.

[meadqueen]

I’m not sure that delineation is as clear for us as it is for you. Irrelevant, I suppose. We wouldn't have these anyway.

[metalicarus]

Maybe not. just don't get yourself killed. I'm around if you come across anything you don't know what it is, I can do my best to help.
Good luck.

[meadqueen]

Thank you. I won't need luck, but I'll take it.

[Luckily for her he can't see how precarious the tower is.

As it is, it takes her nearly an hour to climb it]

I’m at the top of the tower. It looks as if someone beat me to it.