middleofsomewhere | Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

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Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day seven of the month of Imagination." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preperation

They have about an hour to prepare, a little less than usual but perhaps expected, given the urgency of the task.

The cupboards in the dressing room are open to reveal rows of tents, in all four team colours as well as some basic camp cooking equipment. They are in bags that should be easy enough to carry.

"Shortly arriving on System #6416. All passengers get ready to disembark. Next stop world 6416. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." The train rocks and lurches, bright colours of the void filling the space and then fading as they fly downwards towards a very green landscape.

Arrival and Initial Task

The train lands in a clearing, curving round in an attempt to fit. Once everyone who wishes to disembark has done it flies back into the air, vanishing from sight.

The air is heavy and humid, though it is not currently raining. The clearing is open to the sky and looking up will reveal a worrying sight. The sky is an angry red colour, colours shifting as if the clouds themselves were on fire. It's an unnerving sight.

Their SCA's show three points, one Orange, One purple and one that is half blue and half red. The three control centres. Each are a few hours treck through the jungle and it certainly feels like there is no time to waste.

Those that don't want to treck through the forest can start setting up camp, though the darkening sky might be a little distracting. As time goes on flecks of fire drift down, though they extinguish before hitting the forest floor.

Orange are to travel to the north, Purple to the south and Blue and Red must travel together to the west. Each route takes them through thick and unrelenting jungle. Flying is difficult here unless you can get up past the canopy layer, which means vision of the ground is severely hampered.

The control stations themselves are half buried in vines and require cutting into. If voidtreckers are unlucky they will meet their first security robots here, firing on the intruders. They might even meet their first giant Armadillos, the creatures are curious and may wish to investigate. They are not helpful or constructive to trying to power up the stations and prevent the destruction of the planet.

The control stations are simple enough to operate, but there's quite a lot that needs to be done in way of repairs and clearing. It will take a team effort to get it in working enough order to activate the shield.

The shield itself, when it is activated, is mostly invisible but there is a loud humming sound. The meteor, which has gotten more visible throughout the five hours, hits the shield and splinters, fire enveloping the whole sky. It is visibly terrifying, but no fire falls to earth, no rocks get through, the planet is safe.

Ongoing

Once the planet is safe the voidtreckers deserve a rest. But once the next morning dawns it is time to start with their next tasks, to make sure that this planet stays safe from future threats.

Red

The robots at the control stations are not the only malfunctioning security robots around. They roam the jungle, or are more often stranded in the jungle, powering up only when faced with a new threat.

Some are benign, terraforming machines whose only crime is using up precious power. These need to be dismantled so that power can be saved for the shield system. Others are security robots that will attack the intruders to the planet.

Though the machines are scattered they are often obvious, emitting warning alarms or flashing lights. Their SCA's will show some areas where there are larger clusters but machines can be found anywhere.

Purple

Their SCA's are filled with hundreds of purple dots, each a solar stations that needs cleared and brought back online. It's not the most glamourous job, the stations are deep in the jungle, the treck is difficult and most of the work needed is weed clearing.

But once the weeds have been cut away they will need to patch up the station, doing basic maintenance to get it back online. In some cases wires need to be patched back together but it shouldn't take any great feats of engineering to get the stations up and running.

They may run into some of the security automatons, needing to fight their way into the stations before they can begin the clean up operations.

Orange

Like the red team their SCA will show areas where there are clusters of the small insectoid automatons that need to be rescued and restored. However they can be found anywhere throughout the jungle, they are not too suited for the terrain outside of the stations and so they have gotten tangled in vines. They can be found powered down, stranded and in dire need of maintenance.

Tools and spare parts can be found in many of the solar stations that purple team have been locating. Actually repairing the robots takes some engineering knowledge but once they are restored they will go about their tasks in the stations. They will need help getting to the further flung stations as well as the main control centres.

They are very basic in design and follow pre programmed instructions rather than being able to hear and listen to orders. But once in the correct place they are very effective at their job.

Blue

Once the shield is up there is a faint humming that can be heard throughout the jungle if they listen closely and find it among the sound of rain and insects. But once they hear it, it is obvious where it is louder and more prominent.

Their SCA will pin point some of the larger control boxes but there are truthfully too many to show on a map. Not all of them have attracted Violet Pandas, but many of them have.

They are curious creatures, both of the power boxes and the voidtreckers. They are protective of each other but not so much of territory and therefore it is not difficult to move them on. Keeping them away is another matter, the power humming is interesting and they will unearth wires and chew through them. It doesn't seem to do them much harm, there is clearly safety stops in the system for such eventualities. It does however cut power off to entire solar stations and require a lot of patch work.

Good luck voidtreckers!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He holds up his hand, it's also currently a ring. ] Yeah, I've got one of those.

[ He needs his wrists free in case he needs to put his bracers on, and he's in possession of it at the moment and not Gen.

He's only the best enabler there is. ]

Yeah. Furlined coats. I have made them before in the past, I typically make my own clothes for the most part. I could get other people to make them but...

[ He shrugs, force of habit. ]

That's what came to mind when Tidus said you had bear pelts you might not mind parting with. Eventually it will be winter. Not on this world, obviously. I just need some better leather to use on the outside. I think what I have is too thick, and I probably don't have enough of it anyway. I have points though.

[ He was hoping for a civilized world, and instead he'll adapt. ]

Coats and throws would be pretty good, and since you hunted so many bears, I could make quite a few of them.

[ This is why you're the genius around, Senku. Inigo immediately seems to agree that this sounds like a good idea, anyway, since he slowly nods after considering it. ]

Yes! They could be useful in many situations, especially since we can never be sure what the train will offer us for missions, clothes-wise. [ Not to mention the changing weather circumstances, like that time they got dumped into that frozen world, only to have it all melt away later.. ]

There really doesn't seem to be anything here you could make leather out of, huh? [ Because Inigo wouldn't be opposed to hunting something for it, but there's no cows.. and also, if there were, they'd probably be supposed to protect said cows. Boo. ] I guess we could wait for a month and see if the next mission will have anything like that, but it's a risk to wait that long, especially since the next mission may be out in space again for all we know.

[ He hums a bit. ]

Well I mean, we could sacrifice some of the pelts for just leather if you took the fur off, but it seems like a waste when bear fur is so warm. Also, the process is kind of messy and takes a bit of time. It's not the time that's a problem, but it doesn't smell great and probably in the train that would be a problem.

[ People would probably complain. He was pretty sure about that. Fixing the hides would probably be a bit messy too, but they could do it in a limited way, maybe. He was already thinking of alternatives. ]

He also gave me the bones and innards. You didn't want those did you? I can give them back if you want, although I'd keep a few, bone's incredibly useful.

[ Why are people on the train so fussy about smells and hygiene? It's almost as if no one else has lived in medieval times! Inigo wouldn't mind the smell, he's used to it.. ]

No, you can keep all that stuff. [ Inigo was mostly there for the meat, really. He was just smart enough to take the rest along too, since he knows it can be useful. ]

Do you have any plans yet for what you're going to do with those?

[ Also, don't mind him, he'll make sure the path ahead of them is free by cutting some plants away with his sword as they walk. ]

Hmm, well I think Gen wants to make more broth so we can sacrifice some for that, we could always cook some of the marrow too, that would be pretty tasty. I'm thinking about buttons or toggles for the coats, a few needles would be nice, and refining my knife with better material. It would be a little more sturdy than the one I made from stone.

[ So yes, he's got a lot of plans for the bones, but still there were more in excess but they'd keep if they wanted to cook them later in the arms band. ]

As for the insides, you can eat a lot of them, and I could clean out the intestines for casing, maybe we could make sausage, or maybe make some more catgut. I'd have cooked someof them up already, but I'm not sure Tidus was into eating the organs.

[ Tidus looked a bit put off at the time, and if Inigo does too, well he's kind of sorry. ]

Ah.. That's true. I'm not as good with making food out of those parts.

[ At least he doesn't seem weirded out, so there you go, Senku! Inigo knows what it's like to live under circumstances where you can't afford to be too picky - but making stuff like sausages was a little too hard on the go in the zombie apocalypse, so he doesn't know how to handle that as well as he knows how to handle the regular meat. ]

I'm not sure if most people are used to that. Like Tidus. I mean, I've been here on the train for a while now, and I've never really seen intestines or any other organs on the menu much. [ Maybe it's a 'stuck in survival mode' kind of thing? ]

[ That's fair, his apocalypse doesn't have a zombie problem, he's got nothing but time to spend doing long term projects. ]

Probably not. It wasn't completely unheard of in the modern world, but it was considered out of the usual. Now it's just a waste if we don't eat it. You get used to it.

[ He hums a moment. ]

And as for the fat, we can use it for a lot of things, especially waterproofing the coats.

[ Wow, Senku really does know a lot about this. Now Inigo almost feels it's kind of a shame they can't hunt something here, considering just how much use Senku can get out of even one animal. ]

So.. now we can't hunt animals, are you instead gathering up robot parts to use in the future? [ Even though Inigo knows so much less about what to do with those than with animal parts. Robots aren't exactly an Yllissean feature. ]

[ It's alright, they have a ton of things to process from the bears as it is, a small hunting break isn't going to do much, and they have enough to eat. It's just how things are in his world and he can't see any reason to waste parts of animals. It isn't like they have a ton of things on the train after all. ]

Yeah, robot parts. Those will be fun to tinker with. It would be nice if we could make a few things. I'm not sure how useful they'll end up being, but it can't hurt to experiment a little.

Can you really make that many things with those parts?

[ It's a general 'you' more than a Senku 'you', really. Inigo wouldn't doubt Senku's talents, after all. It's more just that he has no idea how these robots work.. or how the parts inside of them work. Or what you could do with them. After all, all Inigo can think of is just reassembling one of these robots, but what would that do for them around the train? It'd probably just be a nuisance with all these blinking lights! ]

They all just look like junk to me. Oh-- hold on. [ He looks down at his SCA. ] There should be a station near here, let's clear that one out.

[ Or well, more like Inigo will clear it out, and Senku can.. fiddle with electronics there, or something. Do stuff that Inigo has no idea of how to work. ]

You can make things that are mechanical with it. A lot of machines have the same kinds of insides.

[ Surprisingly perhaps, Senku actually picked up on the meaning Inigo was going for. He's already been warned by Inigo himself that boring science talks aren't his thing and that he needs to make sure he stays away from complex concepts without explaining himself first. ]

So wires and things can be repurposed to make other machines.

[ He's ready to tinker anytime, so this plan works for him! ]

[ Thank you Senku for having learned that Inigo's poor peanut sized brain can't handle the big science talk..

But this is helping, at least. These tiny chunks of information are simple enough to be processed by him. ]

Do you have an idea of what kind of machines you'd like to make then?

[ Not like Inigo knows! He has no idea what kinds of machines are out there, other than what they already have on the train..

And in the meantime, while talking, he'll start heading in the direction of the dot on his SCA display. ]

Not off the top of my head yet, I mean, I haven't come up with any plans. Most likely I'll take a look at what we collect and see what we can manage with it.

[ Not a problem, Senku was always going to join him on this wild adventure, and probably definitely get in trouble with Gen later for not resting, but it was fine. ]

I'm sure we'll come up with something.

Well, it's you. [ Inigo smiles a little. He's tired, but that doesn't mean he can't smile! He has to show Senku that he genuinely means this compliment, anyway. ] Of course you'd come up with something.

[ He admires your big brains, Senku! ]

I could never do that! [ He chops some plants out of the way while they walk. ] It all just looks like the same junk to me.

Yeah, but you're not alone. [ He chuckles lightly. ]

Not everyone can do what I can, and that's okay, you have other skills I lack. We find something to fight I'm counting on you to keep me alive.

[ I-Is that an actual compliment from Senku. Or at the very least the other saying something nice to him.

Inigo is so weak to these sorts of things. For as great as he is with throwing around random praise at just about everyone, he sucks at receiving it himself without being very much caught off guard. His cheeks are starting to grow red. ]

O-Of course I'll keep you alive!

[ HE SOUNDS SO DETERMINED NOW. The slightest hint of praise is all Inigo needs to keep going for days. Goodbye, any and all fatigue! ]

As long as you're here with me, I won't let a single thing happen to you. Promise.

[ It very much is a compliment from Senku. He's quite liberal with them when the timing is right for someone who's not a sap, he sure is a softie.

It just takes time to get to know him and understand what affection looks like with him. ]

Yeah, I trust you.

[ He's not lying either, he does trust Inigo in this department, or he would be worried to wander off with him somewhere. ]

.. thanks, Senku.

[ This is a little less determined, but it's because The Softness is taking over. It's just a lot, hearing those words from someone. Maybe it shouldn't be, maybe he should take these sorts of things more casually, but..

Well, when your self esteem is as low as Inigo's, even small things like this can mean the world.

They reach a station, and Inigo starts trying to clear out the entrance so they can go in. ]

That means a lot to me. I'm kind of worried about disappointing you, you know? [ Try 'a lot', but Inigo has to downplay it and keep things light somehow. ]

[ He's not much of a liar, so it's truly sincere even if his manner of speaking can be more gruff and blunt.

Senku pulls out his knife so he can help get rid of the vines. ]

I don't think you could disappoint me. [ He says, with a shake of his head. ]

So you don't need to worry about that. I think I have a decent enough read on you to say that. [ He might not be the most attuned to things, but one thing he does do is try and bring out the best in people around him. ]

[ Of course with Inigo's consistently low self esteem, the first thing he thinks is 'I'm not so sure about that.' After all, he hurt Senku before, though not on purpose. Who's to say he couldn't accidentally do that again? Or disappoint him in some other way? Inigo isn't smart, after all, and--

No, he's not going to let him go down that spiral in the middle of a mission. He shakes his head, trying to clear his mind as he replies. ]

Well, I'll try to stop worrying about it then. [ He tries to make it sound like a joke with his tone to keep things light. ] Though it sure sounds like you have a lot of faith in me! That means I'll have to work extra hard to live up to it.

Yeah, tons of faith, and you're doing fine anyway. You're working hard, aren't you?

[ Just because they aren't the same doesn't mean he's not proud of Inigo and proud of what he does accomplish. He believes in people for their own skills.

Everything in his posture is relaxed. He doesn't look like he's ready to jump out at unknown threats. He looks comfortable as he ever is, and that's because Inigo is there to protect him.]

I am, but..

[ Inigo's voice trails off before he can speak further. There's a lot he could say. Sure, he's trying his best, but his best is nothing compared to other people. He's so ordinary, so mediocre. There's nothing he can do really well.

Other than just do his best. Other than just keep going for days and days and days, because effort is all he can give, so that's what he ought to give in spades.

He bows his head. He doesn't want to go down such a negative spiral about his lack of self esteem right in front of Senku. Not when the other is being so nice.

Having cut away the plants in front of the entrance to the station, it's now open enough to walk in. ]

I should be working even harder.

[ Senku will let that hang in the air as they walk for a moment or two.

This here, this overworking, man is it familiar. He's a horrible culprit when it comes to that, he's a horrible workaholic.]

You know, considering how late it is... [ Man this is so rich coming from him. ]

It might be time to get some rest. Gen constantly makes me rest even though I always feel like I could be doing more, even though I have work to do, but it's still there in the morning. Nothing bad happens if I take a break.

[ Nothing bad will happen if Inigo takes a break. ]

My dad always used to say that having fun was as impotant as having work.

Your father sounds like a kind man.

[ Inigo would never let that go unmentioned, so he has to address it first. Considering Inigo's own myriad of daddy issues, he appreciates stories about people being close to their dads - the way it's supposed to be. Especially with Senku's.. Senku-ness, it must have been nice that there was someone there for him through it all.

But the rest is harder to reply to, and comes less instantaneous, Inigo working on for a moment before he speaks again. ]

But.. Someone does have to keep working to prevent something bad from happening.

[ And while that's how Inigo thinks on every mission, maybe there's just a tad more of it this time.

Because he remembers a world ruined, its sky as red as the one here had been the very first moment they showed up, one where he could never save enough people, no matter how little he rested--

He doesn't look at Senku, instead still just cutting and tugging at plants. ]

And I'm fine with that being me. I'd rather have everyone else rest.

He was. [ That's just a fact, one Senku will attest to.

He's quiet for a moment as he tries to think of a response. He understands the impulse, he really does. He feels it all the time. Even to these void passengers, these people he might not know well, he still feels obligated to do everything he can for them.

Senku was not the best person for this, not even a little bit. He can't guess what's going on exactly, but he knows a parallel.

He moves over to Inigo and puts a hand in between his shoulder blades, gentle, but firm enough to be felt, and coming from him, rather significant considering initiating touch also wasn't in his wheelhouse. ]

Hey Inigo. [ He speaks quietly, as though he might be dealing with someone else overworking, or rather, Gen might be dealing with him. His tone is soft, maybe there's more kindness there. ]

You've done enough tonight. [ Maybe he just needs to hear this. He might need to hear it from someone better, but Senku is who he has at the moment. ]

Not with a Bang Start and Ongoing

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