tushanshu | [text] backdated to the first couple days of the dive, before zombies

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[text] backdated to the first couple days of the dive, before zombies

I know there must be a couple people here who can handle the pressure outside and not drown, so I'm curious: has anyone tried to go past the barrier to see if there's anything interesting out there?

For that matter, I know getting information from kedan is like pulling teeth, but has anyone been able to find out why the turtle's diving now? Or how often this happens, at least?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

nothing out there but debris and bodies

Bodies?

yes

Edited 2013-01-21 08:41 (UTC)

[ ...well that was a helpful response. :| ]

How many? Kedan or foreign?

[Kyle doesn't know you, stranger :|]

both. too many to count

[ God, she's not even asking for personal or classified information. ]

Well that's comforting. Thank you.

anything else you want to know?

I'd like to know how that many bodies could possibly be more or less intact when they've presumably been down here a while, but I don't expect you to have the answer to that.

[wow rude]

actually it's probably magic

I'm beginning to hate that explanation.

not used to it?

Not really, no.

are you from a world without magic

or do you just not like how unpredictable it is?

Apparently there's magic.

I'm new to it. The unpredictability is not helping.

can't really help that

just gotta get used to it i guess

Thank you. That's helpful.

you're welcome :)

I think the kedan in my area are so used to my questions they've started to ignore me completely.

They don't seem surprised. It must've happened before at some point in their memory.

That's impressive. Even I haven't gotten to that point quite yet.

I have noticed that this seems to be somewhat routine for them. I suppose asking them to mention it beforehand is asking a bit much...

They're also really good at suddenly being busy when I show up looking for information.

They can't be bothered to tell us anything else about this place, no reason to tell us about this. I suppose as long as the city doesn't start coming down around our ears, it's not hurting anything.

I wonder if anyone has tried talking to the turtle?

Not hurting anything yet, maybe.

I think some people may have mentioned trying to speak to it early on, but if they learned anything, I don't know it. Somehow I doubt it would be any more helpful than the kedan.

Maybe we'll all wake up.

I can't say I ever imagined trying to talk to a giant turtle, but I've also been told I don't have a very good imagination before. So maybe that's a personal failing.

I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

Trust me, I'm not. No point banging my head against the figurative wall. Just gives me a headache.

Almost makes me miss the army.

Why would you go beyond the barrier?

[Crazy.]

Curiosity?

Why if you or whoever goes beyond it dies? Do you know what kind of pressure would be down this deep? The human body can't survive. The lungs would collapse and you couldn't breathe. Even with scuba tanks, the Nitrogen would build up would be off the charts.

I'm not asking normal humans to go out there. Fortunately, not all of us are, and I trust those who aren't to know their own capabilities and limits.

So it's okay to risk their lives because they aren't human?

Yes, that's exactly what I just said.

Why should they matter any less? Just because they aren't human doesn't mean they don't have souls and lives and kids and whatever else you have that makes you think you're better than them. Being hot shouldn't make it okay for you to decide who might die or get eaten.

[ Oooookay, she is done with this conversation. ]

I need to talk to you in person when you have a chance.

I'm available now if you like.

Come to the apartment. I'll put on coffee.

[ There's no response - she's close enough that it's hardly worth it to tell her she's on her way when she's knocking on Pepper's door within five minutes. ]

[That was fast. Pepper had barely had time to get the things out to make the coffee when she had to go open the door. She's a bit surprised that Natalie knows where she lives seeing as she's been mostly moved in with Tony, but she probably shouldn't be with everything Tony's said about her.

She opens the door with a polite smile.]

Come in. I was just about to put the coffee on.

[ It's probably best not to question how Natasha knows everything, Pepper. You'll be happier that way.

She smiles as she steps inside, glancing around briefly before turning back to Pepper. ] Is everything alright?

[This is why Pepper doesn't question everything anymore. You use a lot less Motrin when you just accept things as fact.

Pepper makes her way back into the kitchen to finish preparing the coffee. She feels it's safe to assume that Natalie (Yes, she's decided to mentally call her Natalie until told to do otherwise and to just skirt the use of her name in conversation) will follow her there.]

I spoke with the Alderwood Commander during the day the Emperor was taking audiences. I leaned, a little, about why they brought us here.

[She does her best not to make a reaction to the memory of the man's circular logic and answer-less answers. Honestly, the entire situation had been an exercise in testing her patience.]

[ Natasha shadows her on her way to the kitchen, falling into the near-invisible efficiency of Natalie - it's easy, familiar, and if it helps put Pepper at ease, so much the better.

She tilts her head, frowning a little. ] What did he say?

[Natasha never gave Pepper her real name, so Pepper isn't going to go and call her a name she doesn't want her knowing. Even if everyone assumes that Tony tells her everything.

She puts the cups, sugar bowl and creamer on the table as she waits for the water to boil.]

Not as much as I would have liked. Apparently he prefers talking in circles. What I did get was that we're supposedly here to fight a thing that commands an army that isn't an army. Apparently they have only a few reports in regards to it's attacks and don't know when or where it will attack next. He's fought it several times but can't describe it to me.

[When the pot boils, she takes the pot and pours coffee into the cups.]

So basically they want us to fight something that they can't describe and can't tell us anything about. On top of that they can't give us any timetable for when to expect it or a description of what it can do so we can properly get ready.

[Pepper is clearly not impressed by how useless this man is.]

[ Natasha frowns thoughtfully, a bit of the harmless civilian mask slipping while she considers that, weighing it against what she knows already. An army that's not an army? ]

Well, that's more than I've heard anyone else getting out of him or the emperor... He didn't happen to mention when these attacks happened? Or where? On Tu Vishan or the mainland?

[Pepper appreciates the honesty in that expression. Something Pepper appreciates most is honesty.]

It wasn't easy. From what I understand it's on the mainland. If there's any chance we can get hold of it I think we'd better focus our research on Chinese myth.

Chinese myth. [ She smirks, a little wryly. ] What are the chances anyone here knows volumes about that off the top of their head?

[Pepper has actually been working on making a mental list.]

I know enough to work within the Chinese market and what I've seen of Asian films. Hopefully my networking can find us someone better versed in it.

[She frowns, thinking heavily on something he'd said. Not so much what he said, but the way he'd said it.]

Something about what he said reminded me of The Neverending Story.

[ Natasha tilts her head. ] I'm not familiar with it.

It's about a boy who ends up trapped in a book. The point is that they made movies about the book. In the second movie the boy has to name the thing that is destroying the world. It doesn't have a face or a body, but it's still destroying the world anyway. I'm starting to wonder if what we're supposed to fight isn't like that.

[ She smiles a little faintly, though there's frustration leaking through. More magic and incomprehensible threats, more things she has absolutely no context or training for. Just what she wanted to hear. ]

How do you fight something without a body?

[Pepper shakes her head.]

I don't know. I don't even know if my theory is right. It isn't as if these people are being very helpful.

[She opens her notebook and reads over the things she was told again, looking for any connection again.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[text] backdated to the first couple days of the dive, before zombies

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