Down the Tubes - Discovery

[spoileralert]

WHO: Stephanie Brown
WHERE: The lake, the bunker
WHEN: 8/26
OPEN TO: Bull (part 1), OTA (part 2)
WARNINGS: TBA, please note in subject lines

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AT THE LAKE/UNDERGROUND

LOCKED TO BULL

The number of people gravitating towards the lake has been worrying to Steph. She wants to keep an eye on things, but she's worried that getting too close will trigger something. She watches people pass by instead, keeping herself hidden and not following them. Finally several people leave all at once, and all but one come back. After that things quiet down, and she feels safe taking a slightly closer look.

Out of the trees and the lake comes into view, as does the new addition. The pod is intriguing enough that she wanders out into the open for a closer look.

ON THE NETWORK/LAKESIDE

OTA/MINGLE

The little escapade underground has left Steph with an odd sense of anxiety and a newfound appreciation for the open air. She can't quite put her finger on what unsettled her, but she knows that as long as the pod is out here in the open she and Bull aren't going to be the only ones to step inside and see what happens. If it's going to be a whole Thing then they may as well compile notes. That means letting people know, and that means posting to the village twitter. She sits on a rock at the edge of the lake and composes her message.

no telling (@StephanieBrown)

found something cool... the pod at the lake is an elevator. lights work, but idk about the structural integrity or security measures. be careful.

Comments

At the tubes

[ataashihunter]

Bull had been keeping an eye on the strange things happening as well. After the wendigo and losing someone, he doesn't really want anyone else to risk getting hurt so when Steph steps forward he follows her towards the pod. As he gets closer his curiosity gets the better of him and he reaches out to touch it.

"What do you think it does?"

Network/Lakeside | OTA

[ataashihunter]

After getting out of the pod Bull is happy to stretch and remind himself that he is above ground and at least so far there has been no sign of darkspawn. He walks over to where Steph is sitting and then settles down next to her, looking over the message she posted before he decides to add his own. His typing is slow, clearly this whole technology thing is new to him still.

@THEIronBull
went with Steph. place looks bigger than what we saw, no see any signs of darkspawn.

[spoileralert]

Of course she notices the massive body moving behind her, and the silhouette is hard to mistake. If it’s only Bull he’s likely trying to protect her again. Luckily this time she’s wearing black jeans and not overalls he can use to throw her off balance.

“I dunno,” she answers without looking back. “It looks like a giant test tube, or something from a gumball vending machine. Or one of the transport tubes from futurama, maybe, if it had a top and a bottom.” Probably none of that makes any sense to Bull. It doesn’t stop her from making the references, much less from walking right up to the edge of the water and deciding which she values more- dry pants or keeping them on her body.

[ataashihunter]

The words make no sense to him but he doesn't comment at that, at least not right now. Unlike her he has no issues getting his pants wet and wades into the water.

"Transport tubes? Where do you think it goes to? It doesn't look like anything else here? It looks... different." Then he glances over at her. "You have things like this where you're from?... Want a ride out there?"

[spoileralert]

"The future, maybe?" She shrugs. It probably isn't any kind of transport tube. It was just the sort of design she was thinking about.

She's about to answer his first question when the second brings her up short. She looks at him for the first time.

"What, like on your back? Can you do that?"

[ataashihunter]

Bull looks at her confused for a moment, why shouldn't he be able to do that. Then he just smiles and reaches out to pick her up and place her on his shoulders. But he is making sure the movements are slow enough that she can dodge them easily if she wants.

"Of course I can."

[spoileralert]

Hey, if it keeps her clothes dry... She lets him pick her up, and squeaks at just how easy he makes it seem. It's all very strange.

"Um... onward ho?"

[ataashihunter]

Bull laughs and places her on his shoulder. Then he starts wading towards the pod, making the distance over there pretty quickly even if he has to swim for a bit. Once he is there he steps onto the platform and walks around the pod. "What do you think it does?"

[spoileralert]

He's definitely a faster swimmer than she would have been fully clothed. She holds on to his horns as he climbs out of the water, and opts to just. Stay there. Just for now.

"Probably not anything good," she muses, examining the smooth top of the container. Actually, it kind of looks like it has a door. Is that a door?

"Hold up, go back a sec? Just a foot or two."

[ataashihunter]

He frowns and then does as she says."What is it?" He reaches out to touch the glass, running his hand over it. "Feels weird, not like anything I've felt before. Like magic in a way."

[spoileralert]

"I think I see something. Just stand still."

She adjusts on his shoulder until she can aim a solid heel-kick at the thing. It responds with little more than a dull twang. Then the door slides open with a quiet woosh, creating a large enough opening even for someone Bull's size to fit through with relative ease.

"Woah. Hold on, I wanna see this from sea level." She does not wait for his assistance in getting down.

[ataashihunter]

It is hard not to jump back when the door opens as if by magic. It is only the fact that he'd drop Steph that keeps him steady. He frowns and waits until she has climbed down before he moves a little closer and carefully sticks his hand into the door opening before he sticks his head inside. "You think it is safe to go inside? I don't see any obvious weapon or trap."

[living_proof]

I'm not going to lie: It took awhile before I even noticed the pod was out there. That's not the sort of thing you expect to see in the middle of a lake when an hour ago nothing was there, and I've been trying to focus on helping everybody else, making sure there are no injuries, mostly because if I stop, I have to acknowledge again how terrifying all of this was.

I want to know what the hell happened. I've felt out of control of my own actions plenty of times, but this was a whole other level.

I get the messages from Stephanie and then Bull before I actually spy him stretched out on the shore — Although unlike the pod, he isn't exactly easy to miss.

"Hey," I say as I trudge his way across the damp sand. "Are you okay?" He looks okay, but even big guys can get injured.

To Both: @VSparda

[demonic_divinity]

Do not go into it alone.

[spoileralert]

lol how do you think we know about the electricity?

[demonic_divinity]

Just be careful, Steph.

un change: Steph Careful Brown

[spoileralert]

Careful is my middle name. Whatever that means.

[demonic_divinity]

No, smartass is. Anyway, check in when you get back, and if you need help call.

[spoileralert]

wow, that's downright sweet of you

I'm not planning on going back in for a good while. we weren't really planning it this time. tho tbf we did walk into a mysterious pod to

see what would happen

[spoileralert]

"If there were more clear and present antagonists here I'd say a mysteriously opening door is an obvious trap."

She sticks her head in as well. It isn't hard, as tall as Bull is. She doesn't see any kind of controls...

"I don't know if going in would actually do anything."

Action/Text [OTA]

[theimmortalweapon]

Text | un; DannyRand

Do people find things like this a lot?

Action | Lakeside

It took Danny a little longer than it meant to get to the lake where Bull and Stephanie had apparently found something. He didn't know a lot about this world or it's oddities but he was curious. K'un-Lun hadn't had any technology and he hadn't actually expected this world to be much different. Yes, some of the buildings had electricity but that felt more normal than an elevator.

He was also maddeningly curious.

Danny jogged up to the location that Stephanie had indicated and saw a few people already there. "Hey." He waved, his monk robes making him look like he'd walked right out of a monastery.

"So what's happening exactly?" He'd kind of gotten the cliff-note version.

[thegreatexperiment]

The ironic thing was, Sam hadn't been hanging around the lake because of the text. She'd actually been minding her own business, trying out some of Frank's spearfishing techniques. And while she wasn't exactly 'a natural' at it, she thought she was doing all right, for a beginner. Sort of like archery in high school gym class. Or how she'd picked up on trick shots pretty fast after moving to LA and making friends with some of the local street gangsters.

Of course, this felt oddly more productive.

She'd been ignoring her wrist device. But when everyone started to cluster down the shore from her, she had to admit, she wanted to know what was up. So she grabbed her ghetto-ass spear and a couple of fairly pathetic fish she'd managed to catch and tie off around the tail, heading over.

That she looked like something out of the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show--fish and a damn pole dangling over her shoulder--didn't really cross her mind. At least she had her wig to compensate for the effect, somewhat. And when she caught sight of Danny, she managed a tentative smile, even. She'd tucked away the events of the party into a deep and compartmentalized part of her mind. It was just a blip. She was pulling her fucking self together.

Although when she saw the pod, she let out a very soft, "Fuck. Another one?"

Text; un: no telling

[spoileralert]

idk I haven't even been here two months

it's kinda exciting though right?

[theimmortalweapon]

Danny noticed Sam as she neared the group of people clustered around the odd finding. She wasn't hard to spot with the blue hair though he'd been a little distracted by the event. He was disappointed in her but seeing the fish dangling from a make-shift spear gave him hope.

He nodded his head in a silent hello before looking back at the gathering.

Sam's exclamation got his attention again.

"Another one? This has happened before?"

[theimmortalweapon]

Exciting but it could be dangerous.