networkinthenight | [audio] @riku; testing recovery limits [open]

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[audio] @riku; testing recovery limits [open]

Hey, this is Riku.

Between the ferry sinking, the loss of some supplies and a bunch of newcomers to get up to speed, I know we've all got a lot going on.

It could have been a lot worse. It wasn't because a lot of you stepped up to help. That's exactly what's going to see us through.

...So, thanks.

[ He pauses to rub his hands together, the resultant rasp could be anything. ]

Not to rain on our parade, but the crash got me thinking. Specifically, about dealing with injuries.

If anybody can teach basic first aid, I think everyone would benefit from learning.

[ There's a soft crackle, wind skimming across the tablet's microphone, a bit of a shiver in his voice: ]

For the ones using magic or other abilities to heal others, knowing what limits being here has imposed on those abilities is hard enough without finding out in the middle of an emergency.

I have an idea how we could test these limits in a pretty controlled environment. Contact me if you're interested.

[ He already feels like he's been talking too much, but there's a little more to say: ]

If no one's heard about it yet, we located an armory to the east over the river. There, you'll find weapons, knives and swords, stuff like that. In the basement is an area for training and target practice.

Aziraphale did most of the work, but there's a bridge over the river now. I left a torch at the armory. Should make it easier to find.

If anyone can figure out how they made that building practically invisible, might be worth putting it around a more central location in case of an attack.

That's all I got.

(Appended to the message is a list of respondents and skills they're willing to teach.)
Rosalind Lutece: first aid (lesson in exchange for 1 hr lab assist)
Soldier: basic field medicine
Jason Grace: first aid, improvised first aid kits
Clarke Griffin: advanced medicine, long term care
Matt: first aid
Daylight: Galateion first aid
Javert: wound dressing, stitching

Other stuff to think about
- everybody should carry first aid kits
- save rags & cloth scraps for bandages & splints
- central medical area?
- (Bruce) ask Will about an alarm for medical help

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can bring over some rags. I don't think we should waste our real bandages on practice.

What an ominous reply. Do you imagine they'll be for you or me?

Weren't you going to teach me a thing or two?

Don't worry. The only thing you're gonna stab is a piece of wood.

[Ah. That's slightly more of a relief than she want to admit.]

Be more clear next time. A pity: here I thought you meant you'd be bleeding out in my first lesson. Even I haven't yet driven away a teacher via stabbing yet.

Yeah, right.

I might not like it, but even I can tell I'm too valuable a lab assistant to carve into.

Is that what you are . . .

Do you really dislike it so much?

[ Honestly, no. She indulges his curiosity, that itch to experience or witness something new and interesting in a way he can't scratch without a Gummiship to jump into and see other worlds.

But pretending it's a pain in the ass is part of this whole thing between them. ]

It's like science class all over again.

It most certainly is not.

There's not a science class alive that's half as interesting as the most menial tasks I set you to.

[She's kinda joking but then again she's kinda not]

[ He hums, like this is even going to warrant thinking it over. ]

Guess you're right. Never built birds in class.

Speaking of which . . .

I have a new lesson for you soon. One I know you've never learned, because I invented it. It may come in handy for the town proper, but I'd like to keep it to myself for a while.

[ Know what grabs Riku's attention? The promise of something new and interesting. It's not that he has a short attention span, it's that he's got a hunger that comes along with his wanderlust. ]

Annnd let me guess: no hints?

Now, why would I spoil the surprise?

Wear clothing you don't mind getting filthy. It's greasy work.

Great. Guess I'll see you later.

[ He could wear the clothes the fairies made for him, but it seems a waste regardless of how they remain nearly spotless. Jeans and t-shirt it is, then, hours later when Riku finally lets himself into the lab.

Sometimes he forgets that common courtesy called knocking. ]

[It's fine. It's more efficient anyway, given she was waiting for him. They've a lot to do tonight, which is unusual around here, and thus all the more interesting. First aid techniques, fighting with a knife, and now this.

This, by the way, being a great deal of metal machinery scattered around the laboratory. It's in pieces, but that's where he comes in. Rosalind's already working at it, her hands spotted with oil, wearing trousers for once, and a white blouse that's probably seen better days. It's fine. It's her Work Blouse.]

There's a few things I need you to lift for me-- like that, there, please, right here--

[It's heavy and her muscles aren't . . . worth a whole lot, so come lift heavy shit for her, Riku.]

[ The strap of his backpack flops over the bulging sack as Riku pulls it from his shoulder and drops it to the floor with a woody thump. Most of its canvas carrying capacity is occupied by a circle cut from a log, some rags (from a former t-shirt, now too full of holes to wear) and of course, the knife from the Armory.

Much of Riku's initial silence is due to the lengthy stare he sweeps over what must be more loose mechanical parts he's seen in one place in at least a year. Not even DiZ... or the true Ansem the Wise did this. Half-built projects and ornate computer rigs took up corners of otherwise empty spaces. ]

What's this supposed to be?

[ A better question, as he picks his way over. ]

No- where'd you get this? Do I want to know?

[ Hopefully this doesn't end up as frustrating as it might be for a shorter person to see a taller one easily retrieving objects out of their reach, when Riku stoops to pick up the object with one hand. OK, ma'am, where exactly do you want this? ]

Rastus, naturally, alongside a few scavenging missions of my own. He's quite accommodating if you ask him pleasantly.

[She smiles as says it, pleased with herself.]

As for what it is . . . eventually, it will be one of my inventions. One of the ones I'd made when I was alive. It suspends gravity's hold on items within in a very certain radius.

[She lets that sink in for a moment, and then:]

Right over there, thank you. It's going to end up a rectangular device, you see?

[i know fuckall about building machines so a device is sure being built in the normal way right now]

Edited 2019-10-16 02:02 (UTC)

[ Rastus? How did she get all of this off the ferry? Wait- he has a pretty good idea. She probably made some other person do the heavy lifting. Not that he's complaining, it's only... she's proven pretty good at getting people to do things for her. A delegator, not because of some whim or to exercise power, but to put her energy towards pursuits more suited to her.

Riku, catching himself feeling a little warmer, has to agree. Rastus is very accommodating. Not just when you ask nicely, either, but if you're doing something for the good of the community. ]

You mean it'll make objects float?

[ He asks this as he tries to both carry this cumbersome object and avoid stepping on the others carefully placed around the floor, reminded of the flying hover crafts and other vehicles he's encountered across the many worlds that exist. And one that, by title, didn't. ]

No. It will stop them from falling. There's a significant difference between the two, and you're smart enough to grasp it.

[That's not scolding-- how would he know?-- but rather a compliment, albeit mildly backhanded. She finds him intelligent enough to bother explaining.]

Floating implies that I'm somehow propelling it up in the air, like an airship. I'm suspending gravity-- removing it from the equation around the object, and thus allowing it to remain suspended midair.

How strong are you? I need to screw those bits together, but they're a bit resistant.

[Or a lot resistant. It's fine. He's a strong man.]

Right. Right. ...So it removes the effect of gravity.

[ Which reminds him of magic he largely associates with his time spent in the dreaming worlds, but applying that mentality here just makes his head ache.

Considering the parts she's asking him to carry, Riku answers: ]

I can handle it.

Why are you building this?

Why shouldn't I?

[She shrugs as she grabs something. It's heavy, but not as heavy as the things he's going to carry.]

It's something to do, to begin with. A way to keep myself occupied. It's the same as learning to fight, or my making those birds . . . I grow restless if I don't occupy myself.

More importantly: if I can make this work again here, there's a bit more hope for some of my more complex inventions.

[She straightens up, panting softly with effort.]

A doorway out of here will take years regardless, though.

[ Her answer doesn't surprise him once he's heard it in full. Perhaps that's because Riku can relate with that need to keep productive, to keep busy. In his own case, it's a relief from the thoughts that crowd in around him when he has enough time to dwell on them. The regret and the loneliness. At least when he's arranging exploration missions, organizing resources, and making repairs he has somewhere to focus his energy.

It's not that he gets restless, exactly, it's that he'll brood, and he can't afford to waste time mired in darker thoughts. ]

A doorway?

[ It's not the first time he's encountered the concept of manufactured doors leading to other worlds. ]

...If only we had that much time. You've done something like that before? Made a door to another world?

Yes.

[A beat. She glances away, busying herself with another piece of machinery, and adds:]

It's how I met Robert. He isn't from my world, not originally. But he decided to come to mine.

[Would she have told him that if he hadn't seen her break down? Unlikely.]

[ Robert. A normal enough name, carrying an unlikely significance of sufficient weight to have driven her to angry despair. Riku doesn't talk about the time they sat clasping hands as she wept through her grief as he began to grapple with his own. ]

...That's sweet.

[ He doesn't look at her. ] Sappy, but sweet.

Our friend Kairi, she came from another world, too.

It isn't sappy.

[SHE'LL GET TO KAIRI IN A SEC BUT HOLD ON]

Yeah it is.

[ It's seldom that Riku smiles anymore, his mouth seems to flirt with the idea. ]

Lovers who breach the boundary between their worlds to be together? Come on.

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