middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Uuuuhhhh. New radio first! I'd offer to help more, but I'm still new and Claudette's going to take a lot of resources. So are the drones we're working on- which may be helpful too.

"The idea is to make some drones that can produce solid holograms, like the Helpmates, that can be accessed through a VR headset that can be used during missions. Two to four for each team, if we divide resources properly. Now, if we make extra drones, one thing we can do as starting research is leave one outside of the train and use a signal receiver to see how long it lasts. Maybe if we use some of the contents from the radio or augment the radio itself, we can use it as a receiver and see how far that signal would carry on a very basic launch. And if the signal has to be special or only the reciever."

She just said a lot, pacing and musing out loud, drawing out little things on her tablet as she goes. "You're fine with this being an ongoing expirement, correct? I don't think I'll have very much I can learn from a single stop."

She sure did say a lot, and with the enthusiasm that she goes through it, Tidus takes in about...less than half, who knows, something about receivers, but it sounds related at some point to what he's asking her for?

"Sure!" He replies, if after a pause; realising that he understands the question, rather delayed by all that came before it. The rubble he's meant to be clearing has been forgotten for the time being. "I know it won't be quick, but anything's better than nothing."

If they have to wait longer...well, it's not like they ever had an end date.

"So if we left a drone... could we make the drone send a message? Along with the signal?"

"Maybe, I think. Because if there's such a thing as a void radio, then the radio is able to get signals through the train walls, through the void, through all the obstacles. Now, is that because those signals are specifically made to pass through the void or does the radio do it all?

"Quick answer, yes, a drone can send a signal. We need to see if we can hear it through the train's walls first."

It's really unfortunate that Tidus is suffering through all of her musing out loud. But now that she realizes this one thing is possible, the radio, suddenly it's incredibly fascinating.

Maybe it could even help Claudette!

He does hum, thinking he's following her, not really sure - but there is something she keeps bringing up, which he does know.

"The radio..." Tidus holds out his hands, as if holding something in it. "When we take it around the train, you hear stuff, sometimes - it sounds like that weird sound outside, between the cars. You know, the spooky noises?"

That sound like the dead to him, but, not important.

"But we can pick up signals with it! Someone was sending out a message here, and we picked up! And another mission, someone crashed and the radio picked up the distress signal!"

"Ooooooh. Where did the distress signal come from? Did the spooky noises form words or were they just spooky? I'm so curious. How about this, when we get back to the train! I'll get all the details."

She's very into it, though! She wants to try this. It has the potential of helping them a lot. Maybe it would be dangerous but what if someone really needs to send a message?! What if there is an incident where someone is left behind?

"Deal - I'll even let you fiddle with on the train, show you what I mean. But no taking it apart until we can get a second one." ...does he need to reiterate? Well, can't take it back now. Regardless: "You can hear the noises yourself! They're kinda, well...sounds."

He shakes his head. "Roland'll be able to tell you more about the stuff it's picked up. He's the guy with the radio right now. He was out there when they found a woman on one of the last missions."

And he would be smarter about all this than him. At least, he wouldn't get mad about Tidus sending Entrapta to him, right? They both agreed to this.

"Okay! He seemed nice."

Entrapta's version of 'nice' is generally 'everyone'. Everyone is a potential friend until they actively try to tie her up and murder her. She was abandoned on an island of nightmares and still made up with the person that did it to her.

Roland, who is likely genuinely nice, is so far above and beyond people that are her usual version of 'nice'.

"If I don't find him, I'll probably make an announcement about working on Claudette."

"He's always in the library," he offers as help. "Hard to miss the guy! You wanna find him wherever and you see me, just ask. --oh, wait."

Tidus pats his chest twice, looks around as if he's looking for something, but it's short-lived as he waves a hand dismissively. "We'll try on the train," he says unhelpfully. "Just go, 'hey you!' if you see him! He's always looking out to be Mister Helpful."

There's still scraps to deal with beside him, a sunken in house that's likely to be demolished than fixed as it is. Tidus throws in a random chunk of the scenery into his already well-filled cart.

"Okay! I'll do that. I don't really know what he looks like so I might 'hey you' some of the wrong people, but they'll probably just think I'm weird so that's okay."

She is pretty strange. She's accepted this, so long as people don't get mad at her for it.

"I had fun working with you guys, by the way! Ooooh yeah, this area should definitely be taken off their water lines..." She writes some things down.

"Passenger roster!" He chirps as a reminder. "Got all our faces on there. Handy when you gotta find someone by name."

Unless she wants to 'hey you' everyone - Tidus won't know until he finds out. But he's listening to her notes, looks at the building. Furrows his brow some.

"Can anyone get in there to turn anything off?"

Actually, what's even the plumbing like around here anyway...

"Oh, right!" For some reason she talked to him so often she figured she'd just recognize his voice.

She looks at the building and frowns.

"Well, I don't see many leaks right now but I suspect it's because the pipes have been crushed. I could probably turn it off."

Locks of hair pull several tools out of her pigtails and she goes into the wreckage to start spelunking, moving over it with practiced ease. Digging around in rubble for rare items has been something she's done for a long time.

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

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