sixthiterationlogs | OTA - First Things First

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OTA - First Things First

WHO: Steve McGarrett and YOU
WHERE: Fountain, Forest, Village (behind and in between buildings)
WHEN: September 3rd
OPEN TO: All
SCRUB COLOR: Hunter Green
WARNINGS: None to start
STATUS: Open

[ Fountain ]

Coming to, Steve knows instantly that he’s underwater. Fighting the upwards momentum, he opens his eyes and tries to get some idea of what the hell is going on. All he sees is darkness with light shining down from above. He knows which way to go and after confirming he’s alone without any detectible threat in the water he kicks up.

Slowing just before surfacing, he eases his eyes and nose above the water with barely a splash. SEAL training coming in especially helpful at the moment. He scans his surroundings, only to find that nothing looks familiar.

The last he remembered was taking Wo Fat prisoner and flying a chopper from an island not far off Hawaii. They’d been over the pacific, he remembers that, but then nothing until coming to in the water. Had someone shot them down? The chances of him landing in the fountain he found himself in was extremely slim, but it is possible someone attempted to dispose of him there. The landscape doesn’t look familiar and he doesn’t think he’s on the islands anymore. Which makes him wonder how long he’s been out and where exactly he is.

But first things first. Easing up high enough to see over the edge of the fountain, he sees what looks to be... a park?

[ Forest ]

Out of the fountain, he makes quick work of getting some distance between him and it. It’s not till he has some cover in the trees does he notice what he’s wearing. It strikes him odd to find himself in scrubs and instantly he misses his cargo pants and everything he normally keeps in his pockets. What he misses most though is a weapon.

Taking inventory of what he has in the backpack, he decides against changing at the moment. Changing may help him fit into whatever mess he’s found himself in, but until he has more intel he’ll stay as he is. Instead he removes only one sock from the backpack and with a quick look around him he picks up a rock about the size of his fist and slips it into the sock. Not a great weapon, but it’s better than nothing until he has time to either acquire some or make something better.

With the backpack secured to his back, he carefully scouts out the forest staying as concealed as possible while also gathering as much information as he can. As he moves through he does some light tracking of any animal trails that he might find as well as notes any vegetation that could be useful for food, weapons, tools or anything else he may need. He may not need any of it, and doesn’t waste time lingering, but if he needs it later he’ll know where to find it.

[ Village ]

Once he ventures out far enough from the fountain, he sees the buildings. With the fountain he had figured there was a settlement of some sort not far off and now that he finds it, he’s curious to see what he’s up against. Attempting to keep as concealed as possible, he peaks into windows and around corners.

The town isn’t what he was expecting and he’s still confused about where he is and why. His leading theory is that Wo Fat somehow managed to get the upper hand, knock him out and brought him here, but seeing the village and the people walking around without weapons he realizes that doesn’t seem likely either.

After watching for a bit he slips his ‘rock-in-a-sock’ into his backpack and ventures in closer. He can only find out so much information by remaining hidden and so far he’s not detected a specific threat. Still, he came to by almost drowning in the fountain and as far as he knows, any one of these people could have tossed him there... Along with a backpack with three days worth of clothing. Whoever put him in the fountain hadn't expected him to die there. So, he’s ready for anything.

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There's a lot to take in, and Steve has been trying to take note of it all. The layout, the design and architecture of the building the different people and the way they dress, all the while doing threat assessments on each person and the best places to gain tactical advantages. His military mind kicking in and demanding Intel and answers he simply doesn't have.

The tone of Jean-Luc's voice registers with Steve before the meaning of the words do. Friendly. Casual. At ease. It's enough for Steve to nod in greeting as he takes a step closer - but not too close.

"Honestly, both. Mostly... I'd just like to know what is going on here."

Even at ease, there's a military sort of air to his bearing. Not necessarily one that would suggest sternness - or at least, not now - but one that suggests that whatever sort of military endeavor he's involved in he's been at it a long time. Still, it's more something that's part of him, rather than anything he's trying to deliberately invoke - he wears it as naturally as anything, even despite the less than flattering clothes he happens to have been provided with.

"I can't promise to have all the answers - I'm still fairly recently arrived myself. But I should be able to manage a basic rundown, if that's of interest?"

It's not necessarily an explanation that's going to be comforting, admittedly. But it will at least cover most of the basics, and should Steve want further information he can also point him at people who are more likely to have that information.

"It would be. Yes. Thank you."

A basic rundown would help pull together the small amount of information he does know. Some of what he's heard, he simply finds hard to believe, like people from various time periods or planets... That just isn't possible. As far as Steve's concerned that has to be a trick of some sort. Although if these people are as sure of who they are and where they were from as he is... He simply doesn't have enough information. As far-fetched as it sounds, he's not willing to fully discard anything but he at least needs some unprovoked collaboration.

Extending his hand, Steve figures it's best to introduce himself as this man seems kind enough to help him out. "I'm Steve McGarrett, by the way."

Pulling people from different planets is less difficult than Steve might imagine. Or at least it is by his perspective. There's still the question of why and to what purpose, but the how is at least... not entirely impossible. Merely difficult to manage, especially with the comparative time differentials involved. But it's not precisely something that he's going to bring up out of the blue, either.

"Jean-Luc Picard," he offers instead, taking the hand that Steve offers without a second thought.

(The ensuing handshake is nothing more than perfectly polite; the sort of handshake that suggests more than a passing familiarity with diplomatic duties.)

"As to the earlier matter... we've been brought here by beings known only as the Observers. For what purpose past observation, no one seems to know, and communication with the beings in question has thus far proven to be impossible. Nor, for that matter, has anyone yet found a way to leave the area - we're in something of a natural canyon, here."

Picard's demeanor and handshake are telling Steve much about the other man. There is clearly some sort of military background, but one that's higher in rank but not too high. In the Navy ranking system, the system Steve was most familiar with, he'd guess about a Captain's rank. An officer who was used to being in charge and meeting with other dignitaries, yet still easily able to interact with those under him or civilians. For whatever reason, Steve found those who went higher seemed to forget those skills as they became more political in nature.

Jutting out his jaw and sucking in his lips, Steve turns his head slightly. "Beings? You make these Observers sound non-human...?" Where Steve is from, there are only humans and humans are the dominant species well above any other. He had already been thinking along the lines of people being here from other planets though so aliens is a logical step but again, it wasn't one he was ready to accept. "There's a chance then..." He needs another moment to fully contemplate this idea before he says it out loud, "That we might not even been on Earth right now?" Studying Picard, he shakes his head. "You know that all sounds ludicrous right?"

In Picard's experience, members of the Admiralty can be... somewhat hit or miss in regards to how well they remember how to be diplomatic. Or even whether or not they manage to still be decent people, after getting so thoroughly involved in the politics of Starfleet - there are very good reasons he hasn't yet accepted a promotion, for all that the Admiralty have been after him to for a while. Still, it's not directly relevant to the situation at hand, and he's not aware of Steve's assessment of him anyway.

"Perfectly aware. However, while we're aware of the Observer's existence - if only loosely - no one has directly encountered one. As such, the possibility does still exist that they might not be human." He pause there, for a brief moment. "As to where we are... it does seem to loosely match to Earth. Although to the best of my knowledge it's never been definitively identified as ay specific location."

And while he has spent some of his life on Earth, he's been away more often than not - enough so that he isn't likely to be of any particular assistance on that front.

"Understood," he says with a curt nod. Until proven otherwise though, Steve intends to regard these 'Observer' individuals as humans. Granted whatever situation they are in is definitely strange and out of context from anything he has encountered in the past, it is not so far out of line that it could not have been orchestrated on earth by humans. It's not that he won't keep an open mind to the possibility, or underestimate those who trapped him here, but at the same time, he's not going to make them into something they're not. Or something that's perceived more difficult to deal with. His experience has taught him not to make things more complicated than they need to be.

"I was hoping that there might be star-charts available somewhere...?" Either way, at some point Steve intends to make his own but he'll need supplies he doesn't currently possess to do so, and if someone has already started on the task, there's no need for him to start from scratch. "I've got some experience with using the stars to navigate at night. If we are on Earth, I should be able to give us a general idea of where we might be."

It's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for the Observers to be human. It would mean they have a level of technology that's beyond even what he's used to, but he knows very well that humanity isn't going to stop making technological advances. He's a little harder pressed to figure out why humanity - even the humanity of some far-flung future - would decide to make their test subjects largely human, but it's not a question he can easily answer either. Even if he can't help but be a little curious as to the nature of the captors. If only so as to be aware of what they might happen to be looking at when they should manage a genuine escape attempt.

Which is most likely not going to happen for some time, much though he might wish otherwise. But without knowing what lies beyond the canyon itself there's not even any guarantee that they'll be able to survive after breaking out.

"I'm not aware of there being any. It's certainly not impossible that someone's made one, but if they have it's not anything I would consider common knowledge."

Which makes it a little harder to tell if it is Earth, much less an Earth of a time period that anyone would be able to recognize.

Having someone else's work to build off would certainly have been easier, but it's not really a problem either as far as Steve's concerned. Once he knows where they are being kept then it's just a matter of getting out of the canyon and he's already formulating ideas for that as well.

"Alright. Is there any where around here I can find paper of some sort?" Looking at the buildings that he can see from where they are if something like that is made here or supplied to them.

Steve's not quite as accepting or inline with where they are who happened to have brought them here. Picard isn't the first he's spoken to who have ideas that seem unlikely to him, but he's not yet convinced that they are viable options. What he suspects is more like is that everyone here is drugged, either by the air or the water into at least being more accepting. If that's a case then it's just a matter of time before he's falling into line as well.

Thinking of supplies brings Steve to another set of questions. "How does trade work here? Is there money? Jobs? I've been told we hunt for our food, but are other things provided?"

From what he knows so far, getting out of the canyon might be easier said than done. Not that it isn't something that he's also set his sights on, but while it's all well and good for one person to manage it, there's a part of him that wouldn't be entirely satisfied until everyone who wanted to leave the canyon were able to. But simply being able to get out of the canyon and see what else might happen to be out there is certainly a good place to start.

"Paper as a whole tends to be something of a commodity, to the best of my knowledge. That said, you might be able to find some in the communal supplies at the Inn."

It is, however, not something that he's really made a habit of looking for. He's aware that some people do have paper, yes. But that's not really the same as knowing where they'd gotten it, much less where Steve might be able to find some.

"As for jobs, not in the sense of something that one receives a wage for. In fact, there isn't really anything by way of currency - there's the communal supplies at the Inn, but past that I believe most people tend to trade, if they've have something another person wants. As to what is directly provided, that's mostly what you'll have arrived with and some form of housing, be that in the Inn or one of the other houses. There are also sometimes communal meals hosted at the Inn, although that's something the people here put on, rather than the Observers themselves."

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OTA - First Things First

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