@dr; text

[donttalktome]

This is Dr. Ingram, for those who are new. I won't waste time with pleasantries here, as I'm not exactly in the mood.

It perhaps goes without saying that I didn't expect to be the one telling you all this.
Winters would've likely phrased it in his usual well-meaning, forthright way.
But he's not here anymore, so you get what you get.

Let's start off by correcting a misconception.
I don't like Robin, and I probably never will.
We don't get along, and though I see she's neglected to share the particulars on that subject, this doesn't seem like the best time to clarify.
But you see, while I don't like her, and I don't exactly trust her, I'm also not stupid enough to think that what she's doing up there is pointlessly malicious.
She isn't toying with us simply for her own amusement, and at the moment she isn't threatening us, but I swear to whatever nonsense ancient deity you worship that if you lot manage to antagonize her into a reset, I will personally blame you.
And yes, I will likely still be around to do so.
(Your security is better this time, Miss Keeper, but let's remember that nobody's perfect.)

But that's digressing.
I suppose it might be understandable that you think she's lying about being useful, given that you haven't been told what her purpose is.
She mentioned that she was watching for something, but not what that something is.
Somethings. Plural.
They don't have a name, at least not one we know, but over the years some unfortunates no longer with us have decided to call them the World Eaters, on the assumption that they might've had something to do with the state this world is currently in.
A bit dramatic if you ask me, but it gets the job done.

What we know about these entities is scarce.
They are massive, they are ruthlessly destructive, and they cannot be reasoned with.
They are attracted to clusters of activity, of light, because that's what they feed on.
You can see why all of this might be a problem for us specifically.

If the World Eaters reach Beacon, they will wipe us off the map with much more permanence than Robin could ever manage.
This place will no longer be a viable "home" for anyone unlucky enough to survive, and we don't know if there is another.
At the moment, we strongly doubt it.
As it stands, Beacon and its lighthouse, the bonfire, the lanterns— they might very well be the last sources of light on this planet.
If the World Eaters snuff them out, then that's it.

Eventually, they always catch wind of our presence. There's just too much here for them not to notice.
And that, for those of you who haven't put two and two together yet, is why resets occur.
Lantern light seems to attract them the most.
By eliminating the concentration of it, the World Eaters can be thrown off the scent yet again, for a while, at least.
Groups who aren't making progress toward a solution are reset early, because they'd only die anyway when the World Eaters find them and it isn't worth the risk.

By my estimations and those of others, we have roughly 22-24 months.
It's a generous time limit, but it is a time limit.
Do not forget it.
And don't give her a reason to reset us beforehand.

I'm willing to answer questions, but potentially not stupid ones.
And don't expect any reassurances.
Winters and his confidence in you are both gone.

Comments

[donttalktome]

[A part of him's tempted to ask for a cigarette; it's been a long day, and it's not looking to wrap up any time soon. But he's got his coffee for now, and his hands are busy, answering the constant questions.]

A map? No, I haven't. I spent a long time trying to figure out where we might be in the known universe, but wherever we are, it's no star system I'm familiar with. None of the positions make sense. After I determined that much, I stopped paying very close attention.

[callada]

Makes sense. I figured I'd try and make a map for navigation purposes here. Been photographing the sky whenever it's clear for the past month or so now to build a chart. Stars change position in the sky based on planet rotation, right? So you can use them to tell time of night, seasons, as well as something about your latitude if you know how far from the horizon the stars are in certain locations.

[All basic navigation stuff, as he pulls up the huge cache of photos he's collected on the tablet, then sets it between them, displaying a screen full of thumbnails.]

Normally they teach you the stuff you need to know but I figure I could work some of it out. But I thought, since you probably know some astronomy, maybe you'd want to help? Can't do anything about latitude from one point, but we could at least see if the rotation matches up to the clock in the tablets. What it calls a 24-hour period might not actually be a day for this planet.

[And maybe there's more they can work out. He's really an amateur when it comes to this stuff - an excellent navigator, sure, but not an actual astronomer in any sense. Why are some stars red-tinted and others blue? Why do they get brighter or darker or flicker? Does that sort of thing change over a month's time? Who knows. But the morning sky should look different from the afternoon sky and the evening sky different again, and the stars should change positions throughout the course of the month as the world moves through space. Summer will have different stars than winter. All this he has to know in order to get from island to island back home and not knowing it here makes him feel slightly blind.]

[donttalktome]

[He's initially surprised, and then realizes he shouldn't be. Of course Rosinante would put in this much work on a project like this. He's industrious already, and it just seems to fit with everything Will's seen so far. If only they were all this motivated.

He speaks while looking over the batch of pictures.]

You're right about the rotation, yes, but there's also the orbit to take into account.

[Should he explain what that means? They at least had a notion of planets and space where Rosi came from, right?]

I'll admit I'm not all that used to looking at it from this direction. I'm used to the stars being what's more or less fixed in place, since their movements are so slow. It's the planets you've got to be careful with, figuring out where they are in relation to their nearby star at any given time.

[Especially important when you're trying to land on one, which, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, is like trying to shoot a bullseye on the moon from Earth.]

It doesn't seem like we've got a nearby star here, so determining a year is going to be difficult, but a day is a good place to start. Assuming an Earth-like wobble in the rotation, the days probably won't be the same length each time, but that'll help with determining the seasons.

[Apparently that's a yes to the question of whether or not he'd like to help.]

[callada]

[Orbit, right. He gives a slight nod and a smile. Like the moon orbits his world - he hadn't thought of that. Just thought of stars as changing with seasons. It's certainly not the perspective he is used to thinking about, how things in space move around. It's not something anyone thinks about where he's from, not anymore. If space travel was ever really real, and not just myth and religion, it sure isn't now.

So yeah. This is why he asked Will, and he's glad he did.]

We can approximate a year based on weather, but one step at a time, like you said. I have about a month's worth of images all taken out by the lake, to try and get as much of the sky as I can, and they're named to match the time and date given by the tablet, as well as the compass bearing. How do I get them all to you?

[He'll have to ask Rastus for a sextant next. That third dimension is going to be crucial for navigation if they ever get out on open water. Hm. Hopefully he's able to do better with that than he had with the shotgun ammunition that never arrived.]

[donttalktome]

[Will almost reaches for the tablet to just send the images to himself, but no, he's supposed to be teaching people how to do things. At least Rosinante's a decent learner.]

You can attach them to a message, through the inbox app would be easiest. There's typically a limit to how much data you can send per message, so you'll have to do it piecemeal.

[Instead of grabbing Rosi's tablet, he holds up his own to demonstrate the process. But actually, this gives him an idea.]

You know, if we're going to do this often, it might not be a bad idea to have an app just for that.

[callada]

Yeah? It would sure simplify things. I have a lot of images.

[And he'll continue to accumulate more as weather permits, so Will's suggestion is definitely a solid one.]

This makes me wish I'd ever taken astronomy more seriously. Other than navigation, I don't really know the first thing about it. Is there anything I should look for when trying to map all these out? Anything you'd think of as unusual?

[Presumably Will will be on the lookout for anything too, but hey. Two sets of eyes are better, and surely faster, than one when it comes to spotting anomalies in the stars.]