reefnet | BT612L; Night 005; audio; private to RE419S, LO431Y

[He's not sure she's actually sorry, but Martin's... not going to call that out. His voice is soft when he responds. He's with several people, after all. There's a rasp there, but it doesn't sound like he's about to die immediately, at least.]

We're in the foothills. Southeast of the mountain Kokichi first spotted. Jet said we're in a valley with pretty steep terrain on either side. Ben had to come 'round the hills from the east while he was bringing us water. So, I think it must be intense. There's a river to the south, and they heard something that might have been a river to the north while they were getting back here, but it was dark.

[ Pretty classic "sorry for your feelings, not sorry for my actions" over here, but it's not like that's going to change. ]

That's probably the way I'll be going... Wish there was an easier way to consolidate terrain information. Maybe an ASCII map...

Alright, I'll update you when I've made some more progress. Anything you want me to keep an eye out for in particular?

['Water' is his immediate thought, but Martin bites his tongue on that. She'll already be looking after basic survival. Probably.]

Signs of the people that attacked Shaw. Talked to Sol and they didn't have any info on who might be here with us. [He wants to add that they were really suspicious, but he's not trusting that these are actually private connections, and while Sol doesn't seem evil, they're also evasive about basic things. Like the bloody date.] If you're making a mental map, it would be good to know where their territory is and avoid it?

Um... maybe, like... soap? Jet and Kokichi are both injured, and Ben got sick. Maybe from something he ate? Or because he didn't wash his hands after touching something? And it just seems like a good thing for... medical things.

I haven't found any signs of long-term habitation yet, but I'll keep looking.

I know Ben said something about a spring, he might've drunk bad water. He doesn't seem very well equipped for wilderness survival...

[ He seems a bit naive, or something. He doesn't really fit her idea of a cop. ]

Soap's unlikely, but I'll see about hunting when I can. I can't carry ashes and water, but if you can do that we should be able to make some ourselves before too long.

I... can't say I have a lot of survivalist experiences, either.

[Not situations where dying, starvation, and dehydration are actual issues.]

But yeah. Maybe. Hopefully it's not that. H-how do you make soap from ashes? We haven't been able to do a fire. But when we can, I can try to do something with that.

Well, experience and knowledge are two very different things.

[ There's not a ton of wilderness in Gotham for Batman to have trained her on, but she learned all the same. ]

Ashes and fat. You filter the ashes with water to make lye and boil it with animal fat. My teacher made me try it once, it is... not pleasant. But it'll get you clean.

Animal fat. O-okay. I can... sort that out. [Quieter:] I've still got my knife. When I can move around more, I'll work on that. F-f-for food, first. Yeah. We need food. Oh, god. I've never killed an animal before.

Okay. Okay. It's fine. This is fine. I'll be fine. I'll sort it out. I just need to get a little better. We're going to try to leave tomorrow, get down to a proper water source.

I guess, let me know if you find anything and I'll do the same. I don't think we'll be moving a lot or very fast to start, but I want to get back to the beach and around to the airport Randvi found. It seems like a good landmark for people to meet up.

I'd be grateful if you did. All I have is a sharpened stick. I mean, I'll do it again if I have to? But it definitely gave me nightmares. And I'm from Gotham, I've seen some messed up stuff.

I'll keep you updated. I'm gonna make sure Cohle is okay first. Or, Detective Cohle. I'm guessing that's not his first name.

[Nightmares. Great. Amazing. Cool. Like he doesn't have enough of those already. At least this one might be different?]

You... keep mentioning Gotham. I've never actually heard of it. Or, um... the superhero stuff? That sounds pretty intense.

It feels like a lot of people are from some pretty unique situations. Like-like Shaw's simulation. You and superheroes. The science man and people being turned to stone. I wonder if that has anything to do with the reasons we each got pulled in?

A-anyway, food for thought. I'm definitely worried about Cohle. He said he has food, which should help, but it's so hard without water.

[ She just sighs. Of course his world doesn't have a Gotham. She knew her home was weird, but is it really so unique in the Multiverse? ]

You may be right. At this point, though, it's impossible to tell. We don't have anything even close to a motive right now.

Do you know where exactly he is? That would help.

I don't. He wouldn't tell me, and I haven't seen him telling anyone else. I think he started on the northern side of the island, though. And he probably went into the jungle if he's got fruit to survive on. So, like... north-ish? But I don't know how big of an expanse that is.

Oh! Oh, he said he could hear the announcement like the one that's on here. Although, it's getting really creepy and sluggish, like a dying wind-up doll.

If the island is mostly symmetrical around the mountain it shouldn't be too big. North's something to go on, though. I can hear the announcement now too, so that means I'm least somewhat close.

Okay. Just be careful. The drones might still be active. And if you get caught, getting one near the cell door is what unlocks it.

I will, I promise. Appearances aside, I'm actually pretty good at not getting caught.

Appearances? But I've never seen you! [Humor! He can do humor. Martin chuckles nervously before devolving into a brief coughing fit.] Okay... I'm going to lie down. Talk to you later.

[ Steph snickers a little, glad to see he's in a state to make jokes. ]

Yeah, get some rest. I'll be in touch.

Hey. [ —comes out an almost inaudible croak. He tries again. ] Hey. How're you doing? Still in the jungle?

Not planning on leaving it. I think I've made good progress, but it all kinda looks the same, you know?

How are you feeling?

Dehydrated, hunger's not so bad. I'm being stingy with the fruit, figure I've got a couple days before it starts to spoil. [ As for his mental state, he's not particularly keen on getting into that with her, but: ] Thanks for checking in.

You hear the announcements, where you're at?

Yeah, it started today. I guess that means I'm close. Or at least, closer than I was. I'll have to start working my way up the steeper terrain in the morning. If I can figure out how to pinpoint your location it'll be a lot faster.

[ He breathes out. ] I don't want you coming after me. [ His voice is steady but slight. That sentence out, it dissolves into static.

When he speaks again, his eyes are fixed on a crack in the cell wall. The words sound hollow. ] My pops, my dad, he was in Nam. I don't wanna drag you through the jungle. Be worse than dying.

Nobody's dragging me anywhere.

[ Her voice is gentle, reasonable. ]

I'm going where I choose to go because I think it's the right choice. Besides, I've survived worse than the jungle. I know what I'm doing.

[ She can't say if the gang war was worse than Vietnam, but it was a hell of a lot worse than this place. ]

Survival ain't the point. [ Travis Cohle'd survived, made it out. Gone to a place ruled by cold and dark.

Still, that jungle lived in his head. Inflamed his imagination. ] I don't want this, alright? Can you respect that?

Not if it might make the difference in you surviving. I'm sorry. That's just who I am.

[ A long silent spell. It's a test. There's an easy way out, if he weren't too chickenshit to take it. Bullet to the head versus a girl wandering alone in the fucking jungle.

He closes his eyes. Dull, defeated: ] Listen, listen. I think it's winding down. Some of the lights around here, they're dimming. Announcements're getting sluggish. [ Unless that's him hearing things after hours of confinement, understimulation. ] Another twelve hours, a day [ —extremely generous estimates— ] maybe the whole place is out of commission.

[ And maybe that means the cells pop open, but maybe it means they're rendered incapable of doing so. ]

Another 12 hours and your kidneys might shut down. I can bring you water.

[ He at least knows better than to ask if she's even within twelve hours of him. ] I've got mangoes, this other fruit that's real watery. I'll tough it out.

And you'll need help getting more. Food and water nearby does no good if you're too weak to reach it.

Why are you being so weird about this? We've been here 5 days, if the drones could spot us through the brush we'd all be in there right now.

Yeah, and Shaw died. [ His voice sputters, a little, on the last word. Like a boat run aground. ]

I'm being realistic. You're young, you got skills all these other people need. My life ain't worth that.

I've got skills you need.

[ She continues to explain gently but firmly, not a teenager arguing that they're an adult, but an adult laying out the training she's received. ]

One of those skills happens to be finding the enemy before the enemy finds me. Another is reacting to the first sign of an attack to minimize damage. If I'm careless enough to be spotted I still have to be slow enough to get hit, and crossbows are much slower than bullets.

Sameen has Marine training, I think. They teach you to fight. I was taught to make sure nobody dies. That includes you, me, and everyone else.

Who the hell's Sameen? [ He asks, kneejerk, before it clicks.

Rust goes quiet. There's no point appealing to reason, he learned as much when she set her sights on Shaw, but that doesn't stop him from marveling at the arrogance. She doesn't know the terrain, doesn't know what the enemy looks like or how many of them there might be. ]

Everything dies, though. Just my turn to look that in the eye.

Edited (wedging a joke in here) 2023-06-08 11:52 (UTC)

God, what is it with cops and last names?

[ She says, as if Batman hasn't been calling her 'Miss Brown' since she was 15. ]

Stop it, okay? You're not dying. This isn't even a difficult mission. I have supplies and time and I'm not going in blind. The only risk I face getting to you that I don't face out here is an unmaned facility that Martin walked out of without a problem. He was starved and dehydrated. I'm not.

Keeps things in perspective. [ He says it as much to remind himself as in answer to the question. ]

You going on about how easy it's gonna be isn't, it's not soothing me. What it's doing is telling me you're not making an accurate assessment of the situation. And that's happened before, yeah? With Shaw.

[ She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She needs to make some decisions, and being irritated when people underestimate her isn't helping. She's being underestimated because that was her goal. That's not his fault.

When she starts up again her voice is quiet and steady, her irritation under control. ]

I lost my temper with Sameen- with Shaw. But the only thing she was consistent about was wanting to protect me. I used that to keep her talking. The only thing I could hold over her head was my own wellbeing. I was never going to wander aimlessly through the jungle without rest, and I was never going to put finding an ex-marine ahead of my own life. I'm sorry that I made you think I was, but I needed to know how dangerous she was going to be. I was assessing the situation.

Here's my assessment now:

I have enough food for 4 more small meals. I can boil about half a gallon of water. The spear I made is sturdy enough to kill at a distance of about 7 feet with my current strength. If the weather holds, I can cross this jungle at about a mile an hour. That means I can reach you and have plenty of time to gather more supplies if there are no interruptions.

The people that got Shaw have been keeping a low profile. That means they're traveling in relatively small groups. That's good for stealth and mobility, but not strength. They have the advantage in numbers, terrain, equipment and energy. Most likely they're also physically larger and stronger than I am. Sound about right?

Edited 2023-06-09 12:51 (UTC)

[ He asked for it. But it leaves him more off-balance than expected, thinking of her creeping through the jungle, stretching her supplies thin. Taking an arrow to the throat while boiling her little bit of water, and all on his account.

He switches off the walkie. Goes ten minutes before he turns it back on. ] You know what the range on a crossbow is? Conservative estimate? Forty yards. They got a base out here, you don't know where it is or how big. [ Because she was too busy anointing herself the only one who cared about Shaw's supposed mental break—but he clamps down on that thought. ] Maybe they got watch stations too, communication methods. Could fill a book, what we don't know.

And you have a stick.

[ She expected him to need a minute. After all, the odds are against her. If she was a normal 19 year-old they would be deadly. She knows her odds, and they're pretty damn good. ]

Listen. Nothing I say is going to convince you that none of that is a huge problem for me. And nothing you say is going to stop me from travelling around the big scary jungle until I find a good, reliable source of food and water. That in itself is just as dangerous as looking for a holding facility.

Maybe you should just conserve your energy for now, yeah?

Knowing you're out there, you're doing this— [ The sentence dangles there, off a cliff. His hand tight on the walkie. ]

How many times I have to tell you I don't want it?

If you're planning on going for the record, it'll take at least 4 years. But those guys finally caved, so I think it'd be a big waste of time.

[ No response. ]

BT612L; Night 005; audio; private to RE419S, LO431Y

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