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Anya shrugs. "She's not that heavy. It -is- made to fly, so it's not a Titan or anything. I imagine I can squeeze in with ya for the ride back."
She keeps quiet, but, seeing the barely adequate repair job just done on the Mountaineer, she adds, "'So'ka, Jaq. We can wait until we get back into town before you wonk on my ride."
"Uh, are you asking me to work on you suit," Jaq asks. She is clearly uncertain as to the meaning of what you said.
Shakti shrugs at the newcomer.
"We havent quite decoded her dialect yet either. She is from what I gather is a somewhat dissimilar reality. You may call me 'Shakti' by the by. How should address you and your...? Offspring? Companion? Pet?"
November 1st, 109 P.A., 18:21pm. 37 degrees, Cloudy, Light Wind, Flurries. 106 miles to Garnet Town. 156 miles to Castle Refuge.
Looking over the damage, those of you who are mechanically inclined figure out that the suit can still move, but flight is out of the question until it is repaired. You have enough room in the Mountaineer to disassemble it and place it in the hold until you get back to civilization. The Mountaineer can still travel, but not well.
After looking at what maps he can, Burgurk determines that going to Castle Refuge first will cost you about fifty more miles, plus the time it takes to repair the vehicle and get dressed down by Major Grimjack. There may be some signs of life along the way, but you didn't see much on the way here.
Jaq finishes doing what she can to keep the vehicle from falling apart completely, but recommends taking the slow route.
Ariel, looking at Shakti quizzically says, "I... I'm Ariel. I'm a medic. I'm her friend and I'm hoping to be yours too."
"Same here! Uh, you don't eat friends, right," Jaq nervously asks.
Shakti smiles again, showing teeth. Since the mountaineer is stopped for the time being, she has built a fire, and is using it to prepare a meal. A haunch of mystery meat is suspended over the fire, while a few tins of water are heating at its edge.
"I don't eat people, as you label them; I do however eat prey as well as vanquished foes. Presuming they are suitable for eating; or dont fall into a bottomless pit, get sucked into a vortex, dimensional portal, or get reanimated as the undead."
She shudders at this last thought, "Something about reanimation completely sours the meat, and I have no qualms eating carrion. The others seem to happen all too often, so much so that I cant remember the last time I got to enjoy the fruits of a victory."
"Every type of flesh carries its own character, and the two legged kind seems to have just as many varieties on this world as the four legged on mine. So far, I think my favorite is Xiticix, they taste much like crustaceans; and my least favourite would have to be Psi-Stalker. You would thing they would taste alike to humans, but the flavour is foul, they will not sit still in my stomach, and twist it into knots. Highly unpleasant."
She pulls back her cloak for a moment to show the young lady her armour. It is Federation Of Magic Combat Mage Armour. She gets an evil glint in her eye for a moment.
"Recognize this? It belonged to an Agent of this Federation you fear. She was one of the first beings I met when I became stranded in this reality. Apparently, my very existence was an affront to her in some fashion, so she chose to declare herself my enemy. I imagine it was some fear of the Divine. When the small minded become confronted with the limitations of their world view, the often respond with violence. Regardless, her assault did not go well for her. In a way it was fortunate, for she provided me with clothing, this armour, weapons, supplies, and food!"
Shakti gets that mischievous look on her face again, and begins to search through one of her pouches.
"It has been some time, but I may have some dried strips of her among my preserves, if you wish to score a symbolic victory over this mutual foe, we could partake in the last of her together! I season my meat with some metals that can be toxic to species from this realm, but in small doses, it should do you no harm."
At the mention of the Federation of Magic, Jaq's expression darkens and she looks away, though she is still listening. It's clear there are some wounds there that haven't healed.
"Shakti, I try to be understanding, but there are some things that are, well, considered taboo, even evil, and eating people is one of the ones at the top, at least, that's how it was in Tolkeen and Wayland's Hollow," Jaq says with a pained expression. "I have nightmares about the demons that ate some of my family friends alive. I remember the final assaults on Wayland's Hollow as we tried to get everyone out. It was... bad. It was very bad."
Shakti shrugs, and looks a bit disappointed.
"I have encountered that attitude with some regularity since arriving here. It is a curious position, and unless someone is a true vegitarian, somewhat self-contradictory. The minnow could consider the salmon evil for wanting to eat him, but the salmon could say the same of the bear. If you are willing to eat a creature, you should be prepared to be eaten, should the circumstances be different. That is simply the law of nature. In truth, the wolf is no more evil than the maggots and crows that will pick his bones when he dies. Each is just eating to survive, and to neglect the food is just wasteful."
"In fact, even the vegetation feeds itself upon the decomposed remnants of its brethren and ancestors. Those that gain the bounty of a carcass at their roots will grow taller and stronger than their peers, and likewise cast their seeds further. All life feeds on life. What difference does it make upon which life you chose to feed?"
Her voice has turned a bit tired, like someone repeating a philosophy they have tried to share before, but failing to discover the insight they were hoping for.
"As a concession to the ways of your kind, I have agreed not to kill people expressly for food. But if I have cause to kill them apart from hunger, then I see no point in filling a worm's belly instead of my own."
"I will endeavour not to judge you or your kind for you shortsightedness, and in turn I hope you will not judge me for my practicality."
"So, where are you headed? For the now we serve the Tomorrow Legion, have you heard of them?"
Shakti shrugs, and looks a bit disappointed.
"I have encountered that attitude with some regularity since arriving here. It is a curious position, and unless someone is a true vegitarian, somewhat self-contradictory. The minnow could consider the salmon evil for wanting to eat him, but the salmon could say the same of the bear. If you are willing to eat a creature, you should be prepared to be eaten, should the circumstances be different. That is simply the law of nature. In truth, the wolf is no more evil than the maggots and crows that will pick his bones when he dies. Each is just eating to survive, and to neglect the food is just wasteful."
"In fact, even the vegetation feeds itself upon the decomposed remnants of its brethren and ancestors. Those that gain the bounty of a carcass at their roots will grow taller and stronger than their peers, and likewise cast their seeds further. All life feeds on life. What difference does it make upon which life you chose to feed?"
Her voice has turned a bit tired, like someone repeating a philosophy they have tried to share before, but failing to discover the insight they were hoping for.
"As a concession to the ways of your kind, I have agreed not to kill people expressly for food. But if I have cause to kill them apart from hunger, then I see no point in filling a worm's belly instead of my own."
"I will endeavour not to judge you or your kind for you shortsightedness, and in turn I hope you will not judge me for my practicality."
"Is it shortsightedness or just a different perspective? Sure the person who used to be in that body probably doesn't care, but their friends and family do. They still remember the person that body used to be, and it can be hard to separate the meat from the person," Jaq says, having seen death before the fall of Tolkeen, and being trained as a medic having to learn how to help others deal with grief. "I can't speak of your people. I can't even speak for most humans, but the people I grew up with mourned the deaths of their loved ones and burials were a way to say good bye and lay the dead to rest. It's a sign that they are not forgotten."
Then Jaq gives a shudder as she remembers the autopsy of a cannibal that she'd helped perform a couple of years ago after finding the woman dead in an alley.
"Then there's all of the really horrible things that happen when humans eat humans. It's not pretty, trust me."
She takes in a deep breath and turns to better face Shakti, the conversation actually helping her feel better.
"Then you have to look at the world we live in. Many of the races that humans get along very well with have similar values and are relatable, but if you look at something like, say demons, then you see that they eat people, often for the shock and terror it induces in humans and other beings of similar mind. Add to that that eating humans is seen as dehumanizing, then you have a better picture of why humans find someone that looks like they do eating other humans and human like beings disturbing. It's a trait associated with monsters, and while there are plenty of humans that can fit that bill, it's harder to relate to someone that looks like you for the most part, but eats you. It's like looking in a mirror that distorts your image in uncanny and uncomfortable ways. Perhaps that is shortsighted of us, but I think most of us like to think we're more than cattle and crops to be slaughtered for food. Does that make since."
"So, where are you headed? For the now we serve the Tomorrow Legion, have you heard of them?"
"Uh, wherever y'all are. Ariel and I are members of the Legion as well. We... we were betrayed by one of our team, and the others didn't survive. Ariel's lucky to be alive, too. I was half-scared the Coalition would have just punched my teeth out and beaten me for even asking for help taking care of her," Jaq answers, her mood darkening again, but this time there's a note of raw anger in her voice. She takes a deep breath and smiles at Shakti.
"Then y'all came along and saved our cute buns from whatever the coalition had planned. Thank you for that, really. "
"Is it shortsightedness or just a different perspective? Sure the person who used to be in that body probably doesn't care, but their friends and family do. They still remember the person that body used to be, and it can be hard to separate the meat from the person," Jaq says, having seen death before the fall of Tolkeen, and being trained as a medic having to learn how to help others deal with grief. "I can't speak of your people. . I can't even speak for most humans, but the people I grew up with mourned the deaths of their loved ones and burials were a way to say good bye and lay the dead to rest. It's a sign that they are not forgotten."
Then Jaq gives a shudder as she remembers the autopsy of a cannibal that she'd helped perform a couple of years ago after finding the woman dead in an alley.
"Then there's all of the really horrible things that happen when humans eat humans. It's not pretty, trust me."
She takes in a deep breath and turns to better face Shakti, the conversation actually helping her feel better.
"Then you have to look at the world we live in. Many of the races that humans get along very well with have similar values and are relatable, but if you look at something like, say demons, then you see that they eat people, often for the shock and terror it induces in humans and other beings of similar mind. Add to that that eating humans is seen as dehumanizing, then you have a better picture of why humans find someone that looks like they do eating other humans and human like beings disturbing. It's a trait associated with monsters, and while there are plenty of humans that can fit that bill, it's harder to relate to someone that looks like you for the most part, but eats you. It's like looking in a mirror that distorts your image in uncanny and uncomfortable ways. Perhaps that is shortsighted of us, but I think most of us like to think we're more than cattle and crops to be slaughtered for food. Does that make since."
Shakti warms at Jaq's apparent willingness to engage, and brightens as she hears the explanation, nodding all the while in a knowing way.
"Ah! Individual Exceptionalism! I see now. Every mortal species likes to see itself as the pinnacle of creation, and if not the apex-predator, at least as the warden of all other creatures. Seeing yourselves reduced to mere meat for sustenance spoils the illusion, and reminds you not only of your mortality, but of the lack of separation between you and the beasts you do eat."
She sits on this thought to reflect for a moment.
"Thank you very much Jaq. You have helped me to understand why I have been unsuccessful converting the thoughts of those I have encountered. I shall have to give this further thought."
As promised, she drifts off into somewhere else in her mind. After a moment, a hiss from the juices dripping from the haunch of meat upon the fire brings her attention back towards it. She absently cuts of a hunk, tossing it between her hands to avoid being burned. As she continues to think, she gobbles up the still too-hot meat, licking every last bit of the juice from her fingers as she does.
"Uh, wherever y'all are. Ariel and I are members of the Legion as well. We... we were betrayed by one of our team, and the others didn't survive. Ariel's lucky to be alive, too. I was half-scared the Coalition would have just punched my teeth out and beaten me for even asking for help taking care of her," Jaq answers, her mood darkening again, but this time there's a note of raw anger in her voice. She takes a deep breath and smiles at Shakti.
"Then y'all came along and saved our cute buns from whatever the coalition had planned. Thank you for that, really."
Shakti waves a hand dismissively, "You owe us no thanks. We were instructed to do it by the legion. There is value in belonging to a pack, so long as that pack is strong and healthy. I am able to provide for my packmates, and do so because I expect them to do the same for me. Through this pact, we both benefit, and both are more likely to survive in what seems to a rather... turbulent world."
"As for betrayal, that is the risk of trust. If there is rot within your pack, you must work to excise it, lest the whole pack be weakened as a result. The pack will not function without this trust, which leaves all vulnerable to betrayal's sting."
"Then what seperates beings that can invent and create from those that can't," Jaq asks, genuinely curious about Shakti's answer.
"But not thanking you just seems rude," Jaq observes, "and it's thanks to you that we can remove or use the one that did betray us."
"Then what seperates beings that can invent and create from those that can't," Jaq asks, genuinely curious about Shakti's answer.
"Need their be separation? To his own mind, each is king, with only the hazards of their world to navigate. If I pick up an ant, I can decide to crush it, or set it loose. Once upon the ground again, what will it say? "My world view is shattered, and I must set forth to make my will felt upon the creatures that manipulates me so?' Probably not. He'll say, 'That was odd, better get back to work. '"
"What if he asks his kin, 'What was that?' What would his companion say? He probably encouraged him to get back to work."
"And was is his work? He digs a set of tunnels more complex than any made by man! They include valves and air pockets that demontraight complex understanding of gas exchange and fluid dynamics. They establish major thoroughfairs to keep the furthest out reaches of the colony connected, and reachable in moments on case of attack. They coordinate the feeding of millions, something your race struggles with in its hayday. And they do it all as naturally as you put on your shoes. And in the end, if they should die, what do they leave? They have aerated the soil, filled it with nutrients, controlled for invasive species, and genuinely improved their land. Whatever takes over in that place, will be better off for the anthill having been there. Can you make any such claims about your species?"
Shalti smiles, and cuts off another shank of meat. She waves to Burgurk, seeing of she can capture his interest in what she has prepared.
"No, I don't think I can," Jaq admits. She ponders Shakti's words for a long while as she eats.
Burgurk says "I say we should go slow. No matter how much Shakti can improve Casey's driving skills, the faster we go the better the chances of a breakdown."
"These machines seem to cause as many problems as they solve. Burgurk does not your kind excel with riding beasts? I wonder if they would not be more reliable. Would you care for some meat?"
November 2nd, 109 P.A., 8:37am. 34 degrees, Partly Cloudy, Light Wind, Flurries. 106 miles to Garnet Town. 156 miles to Castle Refuge.
You spend the evening eating and talking and discussing how best to proceed. Though cold and the threat of snow is near, the fire set by Shakti and your thermal sleeping bags keep you warm through the night. In the morning, the sun wakes you and you begin to set a course for the next day's travel, but not until after breakfast.
Jaq rides shotgun the next morning trying to help Casey pick his way through the rough terrain.
= 11 , 1 Raise
"Shakti - while I do have an affinity for animals, unlike others of my kind I cannot control them. And while I could call for an animal to use as a riding beast, I could only call one of them."
"Animals just have different kinds of problems," Jaq observes, "and most animals can't go as fast or carry as much as a machine."
November 2nd, 109 P.A., 6:22pm. 31 degrees, Overcast, Light Wind, Snow. 94 miles to Garnet Town. 132 miles to Castle Refuge.
After Shakti spends the better part of an hour searching for materials, any materials, to use for her ritual, she is able to bring together enough energy to help Private Casey along the way. Just before stopping for lunch, Jaq points out an entrance to the forest known in pre-Rifts times as the Ozarks. It turns out that this was a driving trail and it shaves off some distance on your journey. The snow begins to fall and the silence of Winter truly begins to show itself. Every so often, you catch glimpses of movement in the trees, and Anya could swear she saw lights at some point, but no one was able to confirm what it was. You do remember seeing a broken green sign in the rubble of the highway that said '..2 Miles to Dy..'.
You stop and set up for the evening in a small outcropping of trees just off the driving path. The ruins around you look as if a small building was here at some point, but it is long gone. As night closes in, you shudder a bit, though aren't sure if it is the cold or something else.
"Something feels off," Jaq says as she wraps the spare coat she had scrouged tighter around herself. All of her gear had been confiscated when the Coalition had captured her, and it was getting hard not to notice the ripe bouquet she is sporting at the moment after a day in the cramped cabin of the ATV and a few days without a shower before that.
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As soon as the vehicle stops, Wraith uncurls herself from the shotgun seat and starts meandering around.
It's clearly not any militaristic bent of establishing a perimeter, but more the eternal and preternatural curiosity of one who has/had made scrounging part of her normal pattern.
"Ya ever what used to be here? Where I'm from, every square inch not under NAN control is plastered over with ferrocrete and neon, and probably three different gangs fighting over the right to call it theirs an' extract something from it.
But here? Here ya got an honest-to-Renraku ruins just squatting in th' middle of nowhere with no only not one to claim it, but not a lick of data to say who called it theirs."
She stretches her arms wide and looks up into an uninterrupted sky.
"Izzat what feels off, Jaqy-po? The lack of happening?"
"No, it's just something... wrong. Like there's something watching us and we just can't see it."
"There does seem to be a certain timbre to the air. Let me see what I can determine."
Exalted darksight makes it virtually impossible to impair the target’s vision in any way. Blind does not work on him, nor does any form of obscure or other lighting penalties. He can also see anyone using the invisibility power.
"There is a presence here... I doubt it is a mortal one, but it does not seem to be hostile. I sense something more like curiosity. I suggest a modest camp, and special care to respect the environment, lest we offend it. Collect only deadwood for the fire, no hunting or target practice, and we take any waste with us. I suggest we post as watch, of course. Hopefully it will just watch, learn what it wants of us, and we can go our separate ways."
"Would it be better to sleep in the Mountaineer, then? It should hold heat better than a tent," Jaq suggests.
November 3rd, 109 P.A., 7:56am. 31 degrees, Overcast, Light Wind, Snow. 94 miles to Garnet Town. 132 miles to Castle Refuge.
Though Shakti tells you that the presence here isn't imminently hostile, you still have trouble sleeping through the night. You open your eyes at one point, peeking out and you find yourself face to face with a small creature, somewhat akin to a squirrel, but pure white in color and with a more angular body. It watches you for a bit and then as soon as you start to move, it takes off like a bolt and is gone. In the morning, the others confirm that they saw something similar in the night.
There are no signs of any visitations when you look around the camp, but you know it was there. Whatever it was didn't leave any tracks in the light blanket of snow that now covers the Mountaineer and the tents of everyone who decided to sleep outside.
"Should we get going again?"Private Casey asks to no one in particular. It is apparent the sightings spooked him a bit. He starts packing up his gear into the back of the vehicle.
"I think we should," Jaq agrees as she helps out. Once done with the loading, she'll make sure that the camp is left as pristine as they found it.
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"Hm? Yeah, totes, whateves," Anya rattles off, desultorily packing up the kit before plopping into the shotgun seat.
>>>any chance u can fiXXorZ my ride before we get 2 base?<<< she texts at Jaq. The going was slow and she was at home in a neon-infested sprawl surrounded by plastcrete and low-lights...or while flying.
'This walking drek is for the birds,' she thinks un-ironically.
"Hey, did anyone else get visited by a ghost-squirrel last night?" she asks, trying to make the time go faster.
"Yes I did. That's why I'm all for putting as much distance as we can between us and and there," Jaq answers.
>>>That depends, do you have a machine shop in your back pocket?<<<
>>>Also, might want to proofread a bit. I had to read that five times before I got what you were saying.<<<
@Anya: *No. You can't write.*
Jaq groans as she settles back into the passenger's seat at the front of the cab and pinches the bridge of her nose.
Seriously, who writes like that besides the illiterate.
November 3rd, 109 P.A., 18:29am. 29 degrees, Overcast, Light Wind, Flurries. 77 miles to Garnet Town. 114 miles to Castle Refuge.
Perhaps it was the snow, or perhaps it was fatigue, or even a combination of both, but it seemed that you traveled for a while through the Ozark forest and it never seemed to end. You see a clearing every so often and even some more ancient road, but the trees, they are everywhere. Most of them are covered in a blanket of snow and as you drive, you notice that some of the groves are starting to look familiar. In fact, at least twice you saw the tracks of a large vehicle, similar to your own. You fight to not think that it might have been yours, but the alternative is even less comforting. Ariel lightens the mood."It's so lovely in a snowy forest. So quietly beautiful."
Eventually you find a road and the ruins of an old town. When you get closer, you find a brick building that can hold the Mountaineer and yourselves. Though it is long abandoned and cleaned out, it will give you shelter for the cold night.
"I'll take it with you," Jaq volunteers.
As the minutes pass, Jaq sits with Anya in awkward silence. After a while, it becomes unbearable. She has to say something. She can tell Anya is down, though not why.
"Hey, Anya? You're not mad about the whole 'can't write' thing, are you?"
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Anya looks at Jaq askance, like she's so cray-cray.
Figuring that actions are louder than words, she tries texting her again, to prove the point.
***i m riting noaw, silly! ruok?***
'Maybe she's a chip-head,' Anya wonders refering to the mindless zombies in her world who's only concern is getting the next fix from the Better-Than-Life experience they ride by fitting a VR chip into their skull-implanted datalinks and riding out an experience that is not only as real as real life, but all their actions are right because they are their actions.
Such an addiction also left them with little social skills and an inability to tell reality from fantasy.
If anything it was among the few topics she didn't like to bring up in polite company. She'd lost friends to that hole and didn't want to think that the new girl had the same fetters.
Jaq frowns as she tries to read the message.
"What the heck to no-awe and rue-ock mean," she asks after a minute of getting nowhere. She gives Anya a look of utter confusion as she points to the screen of her communicator.
Jaq quirks an eyebrow as Anya doesn't reply with words, but more texting.
"Oh, that was supposed to be now and are you okay," She says. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I might have made you mad or something. Why do you ask?"
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*'cause ur askin if i cn rite, & im ritin rite NAOW!*
No longer able to keep in her mirth, Anya giggles openly.
"Heeheehee. Just 'cause I ain't scan the latest Renraku diatribe on the Hu-Met Hu-Vamp doesn't mean I don't know which end of the predator the bang comes outa!"
She keeps laughing until reality starts to intrude. "Um, Renraku is a multi-continent mega-corp. And the H-M-H-V turns people into vampires. And a predator is a top-shelf handgun. It's on like, Mk V, or some drek."
She stops, looks down. Gets pensive. "I ain't yet fine that Imma not getting back. I had, like, chummers there. Well, most've 'em got wasted when I found Vicky," she tosses a thumb back where the power armor is stored. "But I don't know how she works, and I'm not sure I could make it go even if I did.
I'm a criminal...where I come from. I run the shadows for nuyen...erm, payment. An' life is cheap, y'know. You don't ask questions, you just say 'how much' and 'I'll need more t' do it quiet-like' and then you say 'it'll happen' and you wet what needs wet an' you yionk what needs taken from one hand an' given to the next, 'cause if it ain't you, gonna be the chrome-trog 'round the next bend and a conscience gets you dead and broke, both at same.
But Vicky, she lets me fly. That makes me -different-. I ain't gotta scrounge, I -know- that if I don't like sumpin, I can just fly off, find someone who pays right an' treats me right. You ever felt that, Jaq?
So, yeah, Imma be bakebrain 'till Vicky gets t'be cloudwise again.
"Yeah, you are definitely not from around here," Jaq says with a chuckle, cheered a bit by Anya's mirth. "the closest thing we have to what you said this Renraku corp-thingy is like would be, uh, I guess Triax. They make some pretty good hardware."
"And it's not the suit that makes you who you are, Wraith. It's just a hunk of metal. You're the one that gives it some life. trust me, I was supposed to help maintain the suits Tolkeen had, but, well..."
Jaq's expression darkens as she looks out into the night.
"I guess our worlds are a lot alike. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been easier if my family had been more... pragmatic."
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"Psssh. That is some trogdrek right there. 'Tis the chrome what makes the man.
Take good young...driver...private...over there," she says, again forgetting Casey's name, but looking at him a hundred yards away collecting firewood and shooting him a smile and a friendly wave.
"You take a piece of virgin meat like that, rip his chest out and stuff in hyper-tech dermal plate up and down his abs. Then shred his spine and replace it with bleeding-edge wired 'flexes. Replace his eyes with Thermo, replace his skin with Ortho, and his 'thalmus with a regulater. Then shove a node or two up his brain, and a skill-soft to mimic a lifetime of expert Krav Maga.
Slap a 'Panther assault cannon in his hand and tell him he'll be a rich man as long as he's the last one standing.
Then put him in a cage with any other chummer without no chrome or wizworm juju? Ain't gonna be the dude without the 'metal gonna be walking out. It's all about the chrome."
She gets serious for awhile, and then just starts laughing.
"Ha! Which we're all gonna need if he keeps driving like that.
Hey, I think I saw something shiny in the back of the building. Wanna see if you can kitbash a panzer?"