sixthiterationlogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Oliver Queen
WHERE: along the river in 6I
WHEN: 3 November, afternoon
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: TBD

When Oliver was younger, his parents used to refer to this as snow weather. It's just a little above freezing, from what he can tell and there's clouds low and heavy in the sky. It's getting darker earlier in the day; by his reckoning, there's only about eight good hours of sunlight now and there's not much of it to speak of. It reminds him a little bit of home, if Star City were in the middle of the pristine wilderness instead of an industrialized and globalized city.

He's not running today. Instead, he's walking along the river, trying to skip stones across it like he had as a kid. It was good luck to get one all the way across and he remembers his father being really successful at it almost all of the time and Oliver himself failing miserably about 90% of the time. Later, when he'd gotten older, it'd been him teaching Thea how to do the same thing. The stones along the river here are flat and smooth, just right for getting them to skid across the surface.

His first attempt isn't so great. It skips for a moment and sinks down to the bottom with a plop and a splash. His next is better, though, and it skips about halfway across the river before it falls beneath the water. There's a scientific principle to it, he's sure, but that's not what he's interested in right now. Right now, he's wondering what's going on in his city, what he's not able to prevent because he's stuck here.

Oliver closes a hand tight around a stone and curses beneath his breath, frustrated by his impotence in this place. This place holds him here just as much as it holds everyone else and no matter what he's done and what he's capable of, he's held by the same strange power that keeps them all trapped here. He's no better or worse than anyone else. Maybe he has a little edge on some of those who've never had to survive outdoors before but that's it. That's his only advantage in the world.

"Looks like I've turned into just one more madman railing at the sky," he says, frowning deeply. The heavy clouds don't respond.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Winter is definitely starting to set in, if Picard is any judge. He's already started to borrow hats from the supplies at the Inn (being bald makes cold temperatures less enjoyable than they might already have been), and given the way the sun is starting to set earlier he can't imagine that it's going to be inclined to be any less cold anytime soon. Which certainly isn't something he'd call particularly appealing, but it's not like there's anything any of them can really do about it either, much though he's certain there are any of a number of people who would prefer to have at least some manner of heating (that doesn't require making fires) in the houses.

Still, cold though it might be, he's not about to let that keep him from getting out and about. Not going to let it keep him from at least getting something done, even if all that turns out to be is talking to someone.

"I wouldn't call it an unreasonable thing to rail at."

In fact, taking it as a stand in for the Observers it strikes him as a perfectly reasonable thing to rail at. It's still not likely to result in any concrete changes to the way things currently are, but that doesn't mean that it might not help, even simply in that it's a way to vent whatever frustrations might happen to be on someone's mind.

There's something familiar about this man though Oliver has yet to put his finger on it. Maybe it's the familiarity you always get with someone old enough to be a grandfather but there's just something that always pricks him when he passes by Picard and he hasn't put his finger on what it is just yet, why he feels familiar and known.

"It seems to be the topic of choice to rail at, if anyone else's rants are something to judge by. Oliver Queen," he offers, extending a hand to him. He hasn't formally introduced himself to a lot of the village and he's looking to make amends.

"Jean-Luc Picard," he answers with a nod, as he takes the offered hand. The handshake that follows is firm, but polite, and offered without the slightest trace of hesitation.

"And it makes a certain amount of sense. Especially if one takes it as the next best stand in for the Observers themselves."

Which is certainly not to say that's where the Observers are observing from. For all anyone knows they could be watching invisibly from within the settlements themselves. Admittedly, it's not terribly likely, unless they have somewhere well-hidden where they happen to stay, but it's not something he can rule out entirely. Not without further evidence one way or another, at the very least.

"Hard to get angry at an invisible being. I guess you could try getting angry at God," Oliver says, shrugging a little, "But in my experience, it's not very satisfying. I would rather get angry at something I can punch."

The trouble with this place is that there isn't anyone linked with the authority to actually put all that blame on and there's only so much satisfaction in survivalism.

"Good to meet you, Jean-Luc. Found anything to do around here that isn't getting angry at the invisible and unsatisfying?"

"I would agree with that sentiment. It's certainly not unreasonable to get angry at something like the Observers, but it's easier when there's something physical to get angry at."

Or something that's at least physical at that particular moment, as is the case with his most persistent source of annoyance. Not that he imagines for a minute that Q would stand still long enough to be punched, but the image is something that he's enjoyed on more than one occasion.

"And nothing by way of direct hobbies, if that's what you'd been asking. Or nothing that would be easily taken up here, at any rate. Which says something about the village itself, I imagine."

Not anything good, mind. But something all the same.

"There's plenty of wood to chop," Oliver points out. "But that's only satisfying for so long." He's been filling his hours with preparing for winter - gathering up herbs to dry, firewood to last he and Felicity through several days of being snowed in, looking through the abandoned winter coats, gloves and hats at the Inn to make sure they both had enough warm things to wear. It's almost a full time job, that, but there's not a lot of joy in it.

"It's strange to be in a place that seems so removed from society and so unplugged from everything. No television, no internet, not even a radio. It's like we fell out of time somewhere."

"Assuming it can be said to be satisfying at all."

He won't deny that stockpiling wood is necessary, in light of the months yet to come. But he can't entirely say that it's anything that he would directly call satisfying in its own right. Still, he supposes that's likely something that would vary from person to person, and so he doesn't linger overlong on that particular topic.

"And I agree. Admittedly, I'm not certain there'd even be a signal to pick up even on something as basic as a radio, but I can't deny there are more than a few things I've been missing, when it comes to technology."

Nor can he say that it's entirely impossible for them to have been pulled back in time. It's not anything he'd consider likely, mind. But it's certainly not impossible.

"I think we're too remote to get any kind of signal and even if we weren't, with being in a canyon? It'd just bounce off the walls and get garbled anyway. No way of communicating except in the short-wave across just the villages."

That might be useful in some ways, Oliver thinks, but not so far as escape. Escape pre-occupies his mind more often than not these days.

"What kind of tech are you missing? Computers, cell phones, that kind of thing?"

"Even communicating between the villages could be useful."

If nothing else, it would make it easier to make sure that people weren't injured or trapped in the aftermath of any more catastrophic events, be they naturally occurring or something that the Observers had a hand in causing. And it could potentially open to the door for some sort of evening entertainment besides, assuming there would both be people interested in that and people willing to play music or whatever else might be of interest. Still, given that there doesn't seem to be even the capability for radio here he doesn't really dwell on the fact, turning instead to Oliver's other comment.

"Just at the moment? Indoor heating."

Oliver can't help but laugh a little at that because he, too, would like central heating instead of using the wood-burning furnaces and the fireplaces. While that kind of thing is nice on a temporary basis, it's not comfortable in the long run.

"I'd like that too. I'd like some kind of vehicle. An ATV, a motorcycle...something to get us from one side or the other faster than just walking."

It really isn't comfortable in the long run, no. To say nothing about the fact that sooner or later they will run out of trees, if they remain trapped in the village long enough. Admittedly, he's hoping that won't be the case, but even so, the possibility still exists. Even if it's a terribly depressing sort of possibility, and not one he's particular inclined to actually bring up just at the moment.

(And possibly not ever.)

"Mmm, I can't imagine the Observers would be terribly keen on allowing a vehicle that was self-propelling. The best we might be able to hope for is something like a bicycle."

Which would certainly be better than nothing. But also isn't anything that could be considered terribly fast either.

"I would take a bicycle over walking. There might be the opportunity for something like horses, though. I saw we have goats and cows. It's not much of a stretch to think a horse will show up someday."

He doesn't know if there's anyone around with experience in breaking a horse to ride but Oliver's pretty good on horseback. He can't be the only one.

"It's not impossible, no. We'd have to assume that the Observers are alright with having anything of a size suitable to being ridden, but it's not outside the realm of possibility, at the very least."

Sadly, breaking a horse to saddle isn't something that Picard has a lot of experience with. He knows that it's done, of course. But the actual details of how to do so are somewhat beyond him, although he's not too bad on horseback himself.

"It would make things a lot easier," Oliver says. "Which means they probably don't want us to have it. I get the sense they don't want things to be too comfortable around here."

He hasn't been here that long, really, but he's gleaned that much just from the conditions they'd been put in. The houses are nice, but not too nice, and there's no technology and nothing of comfort or entertainment.

"It does seem that way, I agree. Which raises the question of why - given they can bring us here in the first place, they clearly have some highly-advanced technology and a comfortable cage would be easier to ignore than one that lacks even the more basic of amenities most of us appear to be used to."

Electricity, for one. And any of a number of things that run off same - there are more than a few things that Picard would like to see besides, but for the most part he's figured that there probably isn't going to be any of the technology that he would consider modern showing up in the village any time soon. Even if their captors do offer some sort of further technological advances at some point, which - to be perfectly honest - he rather doubts. He might not be one of the oldest inhabitants of the village, it's true. But even he can tell that technology hasn't been anything that Observers have cared to focus on offering, and he can't imagine that to be anything that's significantly likely to change.

"It seems like it's some sort of test, in a way. They want to see how creative we are, I think, and how well we can survive. What we're willing to do to survive."

It's not something he's unfamiliar with in his own life but he doesn't like the context of it here. This is a place he's unfamiliar with and he doesn't know how this world works. He wants more of a structure and a logic to examine before he starts making decisions that might affect his and Felicity's ability to thrive.

"Have you ever experienced anything like this place before?"

It's not just the context that leave Picard uncomfortable. He does dislike it in his own turn, yes, but given that he's still not entirely certain that it isn't some sort of holoprojection somewhere the fact that they are likely being tested isn't any more comfortable in the long run. It's true enough that there's not anything he can really do about the possibility, but it does add another layer of potential unpleasantness to the situation.

"Nothing precisely like this. Some of the planets we've surveyed have had limited technology, but very few of those have been anything like this." A pause. "Barring anything that Q had a hand in, of course."

"Q? I'm not sure I know who that is."

Oliver has had his fair share of villains who use pseudonyms. Nobody wants to attach their real name to clandestine and vigilante activities, be they good or bad, and so he's had run ins with some creatively-named characters. Still, he doesn't recall anyone using the moniker of Q before and wonders if this is someone in the village that he just hasn't met or if it's someone only Picard knows.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Jean-Luc answers with a shrug. "He's... an entity, I suppose the best word would be, from home. A trickster who at least claims to be omniscient and omnipotent."

Mostly though, Q is an annoyance, regardless of when he should happen to turn up. Which is about equal parts the frustration of him derailing whatever else they'd been intending to do at the time and the fact that for whatever reason Q seems to have chosen him specifically as a target for the lion's share of whatever mayhem he happens to have in mind. Which certainly makes it more likely that he might be involved here as well, much though Picard has been generally doing his best to ignore that fact.

"A trickster? Sounds like some people I've run into before." Some of the enemies he'd come across in Star City had been more determined to sow madness and discord than to actually do direct harm. It was no less disconcerting from his perspective but the motivations behind their actions, at least, were a little less easy to interpret than a pure criminal.

"Do you have reason to believe he's actually omniscient and omnipotent? Or is that a baseless claim on his part?"

"I'm not certain about the omniscient part."

He'll admit that Q certainly claims to be. And generally behaves himself as if he is. But that's not a concrete guarantee either - he could simply be bluffing. Or, possibly, reading people's minds and he's never really cared enough to actually ask Q about the finer points of how his abilities work.

To say nothing about the fact that he's not entirely certain that Q would be willing to offer a straight answer.

"However, over the course of our... encounters with him, I've seen him freeze people in time, restore the sight of a man who'd been blind since birth with little more than a thought, grant an android a moment of genuine emotion, and throw myself and several other members of my crew into what would best be called fully realized alternate realities. If he isn't genuinely omnipotent, then he most certainly has powers beyond those which you or I could only dream at."

That kind of power sounds like it could go south in a second and it concerns Oliver. If it's this Q, at least Jean-Luc is familiar with him, but they're kind of at a disadvantage with no metas here and no weapons to fight back. It's a bad situation all around. He's concerned but he tries not to show it.

"I hope it's not him. I can't imagine us trying to stage some kind of resistance against someone like that when we have no powers and no weapons. We'd fail, no matter what we tried."

It absolutely is that sort of power. Enough so that he's been lucky that Q has only really seemed to be inclined to make his life more inconvenient. Or to drag him into trouble, sometimes, but either way, he and the Federation are both incredibly luck that neither Q nor the rest of his kind are particularly warlike.

"Against his powers alone, yes. But Q has always taken after the tricksters of Earth legend. Physically, we're no match for him. But defeating him - or getting him to consider one of his 'games' won - isn't necessarily about defeating Q himself."

He won't deny that it's almost exclusively frustrating, regardless. But there is still that way out, for all that it might not be the easiest to see at first.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only