07-05-2016, 01:43 PM
The town was dark. If there were people living here, there were much fewer than had been at one point, for the windows were dark and curtainless, doors lay open and vehicles were strewn across the streets. The roads that led into the surrounding forest were rapidly lost beneath a carpet of vegetation and soil, even as they turned from solid concrete to dirt.
The group were rapidly entering the suburbs, as a group clustering together, when all of a sudden reality began grating against their senses. Pain, terrible and abrupt, came upon them, and just as quickly it was gone, the only sign it had been there the aching of muscles and nerves that had just been on fire.
Carmelita groaned and held her head. As she did so, a beep sounded in her ear, and she blearily activated her earpieces. The eyepieces came down across her eyes, joining up and displaying the message: signal found.
For a moment she thought that she could open contact with the rest of the Omniverse, but her hopes were quickly dashed when another message appeared: unable to connect to wider network, local service only.
“Do any of you have communicators?” she asked, as they got their bearings back.
Arturia shook her head, and the syntech employees made wry faces. Carmelita turned to Amber. The faunus smiled and pulled a white item from her pockets, which expanded into a small see-through screen.
“I have a scroll. Is yours those earpieces you are wearing? They’re quite fancy.”
“I had help designing them,” Carmelita explained. “If we exchange contacts, I’ll be able to call you in if I see something while I’m scouting.”
The two exchanged the numbers, wavelengths and digital tags that were needed for communicators to call each other, Carmelita typing it in using a virtual keyboard and verbal commands while Amber simply typed it in the keyboard. To test, they rang each other’s communicators, and were happy to find that it worked.
With a way of communication in place, Carmelita suggested she cloak and scout around the side streets for any signs of life or useful supplies, while the others stick together and follow the main streets deeper into the town for safety. If Carmelita found anything, she would call Amber’s scroll, and the group could join her quickly.
There were a few hesitant frowns, but eventually the group agreed. Carmelita gave a friendly salute before pressing a digit to her collar and fading from view down a side street.
---
It wasn’t long before the strategy paid off, though not quite as intended. A battered pharmacy, bricks worn and window broken, lay half boarded up nearby, and Carmelita called the group over from the main street to join her.
The two storey building had the entire ground floor as a store front, while the tenants had likely lived in a flat above. They cautiously entered through the window, but not before they had checked for signs of recent habitation. There were none.
Arturia found the store room, and while the shelves themselves were empty a quick inspection found a box of painkillers and vitamins nestled away where it could easily have been missed. She passed it round, each of the others swallowing a few of the orange tablets and red and blue pills. The knight herself waved them off, stating she prefered her senses sharp, so Carmelita pocketed the remaining pills for later use.
As they sighed, feeling mild relief from their aches, pains, and Amber’s illness, the fox and the cat faunus found themselves looking at a fire escape up a nearby three storey town house that looked as though it had been gutted in a fire.
“Do you reckon we could get a better view from up there?” asked Amber, already moving to rest a hand on her sword. “I reckon I could knock it down if I just…”
Carmelita moved out of the way as the ladder clattered down right where she had been standing, turning to give the faunus a raised eyebrow, to receive a sheepish grin of apology. She shook her head in amusement before they ascended to the metal balcony at the top.
There they could see where they had come from, more or less. The road they’d come in from was one of a bunch that came from the suburb they were in, and the jungle canopy stretched away until broken by the dark blue of the sea beneath the grey clouds. The two of them sat there in silence until Jeremiah called them down to continue on their way.
The group were rapidly entering the suburbs, as a group clustering together, when all of a sudden reality began grating against their senses. Pain, terrible and abrupt, came upon them, and just as quickly it was gone, the only sign it had been there the aching of muscles and nerves that had just been on fire.
Carmelita groaned and held her head. As she did so, a beep sounded in her ear, and she blearily activated her earpieces. The eyepieces came down across her eyes, joining up and displaying the message: signal found.
For a moment she thought that she could open contact with the rest of the Omniverse, but her hopes were quickly dashed when another message appeared: unable to connect to wider network, local service only.
“Do any of you have communicators?” she asked, as they got their bearings back.
Arturia shook her head, and the syntech employees made wry faces. Carmelita turned to Amber. The faunus smiled and pulled a white item from her pockets, which expanded into a small see-through screen.
“I have a scroll. Is yours those earpieces you are wearing? They’re quite fancy.”
“I had help designing them,” Carmelita explained. “If we exchange contacts, I’ll be able to call you in if I see something while I’m scouting.”
The two exchanged the numbers, wavelengths and digital tags that were needed for communicators to call each other, Carmelita typing it in using a virtual keyboard and verbal commands while Amber simply typed it in the keyboard. To test, they rang each other’s communicators, and were happy to find that it worked.
With a way of communication in place, Carmelita suggested she cloak and scout around the side streets for any signs of life or useful supplies, while the others stick together and follow the main streets deeper into the town for safety. If Carmelita found anything, she would call Amber’s scroll, and the group could join her quickly.
There were a few hesitant frowns, but eventually the group agreed. Carmelita gave a friendly salute before pressing a digit to her collar and fading from view down a side street.
---
It wasn’t long before the strategy paid off, though not quite as intended. A battered pharmacy, bricks worn and window broken, lay half boarded up nearby, and Carmelita called the group over from the main street to join her.
The two storey building had the entire ground floor as a store front, while the tenants had likely lived in a flat above. They cautiously entered through the window, but not before they had checked for signs of recent habitation. There were none.
Arturia found the store room, and while the shelves themselves were empty a quick inspection found a box of painkillers and vitamins nestled away where it could easily have been missed. She passed it round, each of the others swallowing a few of the orange tablets and red and blue pills. The knight herself waved them off, stating she prefered her senses sharp, so Carmelita pocketed the remaining pills for later use.
As they sighed, feeling mild relief from their aches, pains, and Amber’s illness, the fox and the cat faunus found themselves looking at a fire escape up a nearby three storey town house that looked as though it had been gutted in a fire.
“Do you reckon we could get a better view from up there?” asked Amber, already moving to rest a hand on her sword. “I reckon I could knock it down if I just…”
Carmelita moved out of the way as the ladder clattered down right where she had been standing, turning to give the faunus a raised eyebrow, to receive a sheepish grin of apology. She shook her head in amusement before they ascended to the metal balcony at the top.
There they could see where they had come from, more or less. The road they’d come in from was one of a bunch that came from the suburb they were in, and the jungle canopy stretched away until broken by the dark blue of the sea beneath the grey clouds. The two of them sat there in silence until Jeremiah called them down to continue on their way.