02-15-2016, 08:33 AM
The rest of the walk through the savanna was pretty uneventful. Histy'd tell you otherwise - I talked plenty, arguably to nobody, because Histy was just trying to tune me out. She found a map of the known parts of the Endless Dunes, too, and we were a bit shocked to find what was 'known' wasn't exactly a lot. We had found more than a few maps that had days worth of walking filled in, but they didn't exactly seem like 'Dunes' material, so we just gave 'em bad reviews and left 'em.
Maybe this place wasn't exactly safe. Or maybe it had changed recently - or not so recently. Or maybe people just weren't into mapping. Probably a combination of a few of those things. "So," I continue the conversation, "how about this: I boldly go where no player character has gone before and you add to this map? I'll do the walking and you do the... whatever map-people do!" I beam and shrug, causing Histy and her tome to bounce a little. After regaining her bearings, she nods.
"That... actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Neptune," she responds. She floats off my shoulder and starts to hover in front of me, holding her tome open with a map displayed on both pages. "There's a number of unexplored areas we can check, most notably one here--" a red circle appears around a vaguely diamond-shaped section of blank space-- "here--" a similar-looking circle appears around a number of small blobs where the map has no information-- "and here," she finishes, putting a circle around a pair of dots and a C.
"Ooh! That one looks like a smiley face! Let's go to that one!" I shout. "Sooooo, which way is that way?" Histy looks up for a moment, and then points in the direction I'm facing. "Oh."
"We could head that way," Histy says, "but we could also try to find other people out here. Surely a real person out here would have better information about the area than an incomplete map." She adds, "we haven't had much luck finding anyone else, but with the places we've been searching, that makes sense. We should try to find some kind of shelter - a place where another person would likely be."
"Sooooo, we could go the Loner Route and just do it all ourselves, or we could go the Friendship Route and find other people out here?" I ask. "Seems like a no-brainer to me. We'd get a better ending if we learned the 'power of friendship', so let's do that!"
Histy just blinks and sighs a little. A few black markings appear on the map. "I had structures on the map disabled for a moment, but here are all the currently occupied points in the desert--..." Histy trails off as I look at it, puzzled. She pokes her head over the top of the tome and looks at the map herself.
"Wow. This desert's lonelier than Noire," I joke. I can count how many inhabited structures have been mapped on one hand. Yeah, the map's not complete, but I still expected a bit more stuff. "You can't spell 'desert' without 'deserted', I guess," I conclude and shrug.
Histy gives me a concerned look, but she tries her hardest to smile. "It's the other way around, Neptune," she says. "The nearest structure is... that way, and it should take us about a half an hour to walk there. Do you want a few minutes to rest, or should we just keep going?"
"Onward!" I shout again. I put Histy down on my shoulder and start running once more.
A truss tower made out of some heavily rusted metal pierces the skyline. It stands upon a raised metal platform, below which is what looks to be a run-down system of caves. It's surrounded by high sandy hills which hide it from anyone who would try to find it without a map, which fortunately I have. The tower looks like it's bent, and a bunch of weird-looking machines can be seen along the sides and exposed interior of the tower.
Buildings? Check. Signs of civilization? Check. Actual people? Haven't checked yet. "I don't think we'll find anybody here," Histy decides, "but we should look around anyways. We might find something of use." I look around for a way to reach the raised platform and see what looks like an old railway. I walk over to it and start walking across.
"Please be careful, Neptune," Histy stammers. She grabs at my hood and holds herself close to my shoulder. "Ooh, is somebody scared of heights?" I start, then decide not to prod her further. "No prob', Histy. I won't fall. And even if I do, I've got the power of plot convenience on my side! It'll all work out somehow!"
My words don't seem to reassure her at all. She continues to grip at my parka which, for some reason, still hasn't made me sweat profusely somehow. Maybe it's the whole 'I'm not really wearing much else' thing.
On the platform is a couple of buildings. I can't tell what they serve as from the outside - there are windows, but it's really dark on the inside, so I can't see anything in any of them. "Ooh! Histy, do you think there are vampires here? Maybe they're stuck here because they can't climb the sand hill thingies around this place fast enough in the night, so they have to stay here and hope ditzy people walk in here so they have blood to drink--"
Histy slaps my cheek repeatedly, swapping hands each time she does so. "Now isn't the time for this," she shout-whispers. "Just... get us off these rails and onto some stable ground, please!"
As my feet hit solid ground, Histy lets out a long breath. I feel her grip on my parka loosen, but she doesn't let go. I look up at the tower - it doesn't look like the kind of thing anyone could climb unless they had some kind of rust resistance thing. It's also narrow enough that it couldn't have been built with a staircase in mind. There are a few tubes running up and down the tower, and on further examination some lead underneath the platform and into the ground far beneath it.
Histy and I decide to quickly check one of the buildings. One's a shabby-looking sort-of-house where there's a bunch of beds, some really old food and an even older computer. For a moment I feel chills, then a little burst of energy. My eyes go wide. "Neptune?" Histy gently shakes my shoulder. "Are you all right?"
The desk that the computer's on has a few drawers. As I search through them, the chills get more and more powerful. I pull one drawer open - it's oddly heavy, I notice as I pull the drawer from the desk. I root through it, ignoring Histy's scolding as I do so until I see a large, rounded, purple N on a black and purple D-pad like device. It's big, about the size of my torso, and inside it lies four disks. I pull the device from the drawer with a big grin on my face.
"Ta-da!" I cheer as I hold it over my head. "People here had faith in me!"
Maybe this place wasn't exactly safe. Or maybe it had changed recently - or not so recently. Or maybe people just weren't into mapping. Probably a combination of a few of those things. "So," I continue the conversation, "how about this: I boldly go where no player character has gone before and you add to this map? I'll do the walking and you do the... whatever map-people do!" I beam and shrug, causing Histy and her tome to bounce a little. After regaining her bearings, she nods.
"That... actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Neptune," she responds. She floats off my shoulder and starts to hover in front of me, holding her tome open with a map displayed on both pages. "There's a number of unexplored areas we can check, most notably one here--" a red circle appears around a vaguely diamond-shaped section of blank space-- "here--" a similar-looking circle appears around a number of small blobs where the map has no information-- "and here," she finishes, putting a circle around a pair of dots and a C.
"Ooh! That one looks like a smiley face! Let's go to that one!" I shout. "Sooooo, which way is that way?" Histy looks up for a moment, and then points in the direction I'm facing. "Oh."
"We could head that way," Histy says, "but we could also try to find other people out here. Surely a real person out here would have better information about the area than an incomplete map." She adds, "we haven't had much luck finding anyone else, but with the places we've been searching, that makes sense. We should try to find some kind of shelter - a place where another person would likely be."
"Sooooo, we could go the Loner Route and just do it all ourselves, or we could go the Friendship Route and find other people out here?" I ask. "Seems like a no-brainer to me. We'd get a better ending if we learned the 'power of friendship', so let's do that!"
Histy just blinks and sighs a little. A few black markings appear on the map. "I had structures on the map disabled for a moment, but here are all the currently occupied points in the desert--..." Histy trails off as I look at it, puzzled. She pokes her head over the top of the tome and looks at the map herself.
"Wow. This desert's lonelier than Noire," I joke. I can count how many inhabited structures have been mapped on one hand. Yeah, the map's not complete, but I still expected a bit more stuff. "You can't spell 'desert' without 'deserted', I guess," I conclude and shrug.
Histy gives me a concerned look, but she tries her hardest to smile. "It's the other way around, Neptune," she says. "The nearest structure is... that way, and it should take us about a half an hour to walk there. Do you want a few minutes to rest, or should we just keep going?"
"Onward!" I shout again. I put Histy down on my shoulder and start running once more.
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A truss tower made out of some heavily rusted metal pierces the skyline. It stands upon a raised metal platform, below which is what looks to be a run-down system of caves. It's surrounded by high sandy hills which hide it from anyone who would try to find it without a map, which fortunately I have. The tower looks like it's bent, and a bunch of weird-looking machines can be seen along the sides and exposed interior of the tower.
Buildings? Check. Signs of civilization? Check. Actual people? Haven't checked yet. "I don't think we'll find anybody here," Histy decides, "but we should look around anyways. We might find something of use." I look around for a way to reach the raised platform and see what looks like an old railway. I walk over to it and start walking across.
"Please be careful, Neptune," Histy stammers. She grabs at my hood and holds herself close to my shoulder. "Ooh, is somebody scared of heights?" I start, then decide not to prod her further. "No prob', Histy. I won't fall. And even if I do, I've got the power of plot convenience on my side! It'll all work out somehow!"
My words don't seem to reassure her at all. She continues to grip at my parka which, for some reason, still hasn't made me sweat profusely somehow. Maybe it's the whole 'I'm not really wearing much else' thing.
On the platform is a couple of buildings. I can't tell what they serve as from the outside - there are windows, but it's really dark on the inside, so I can't see anything in any of them. "Ooh! Histy, do you think there are vampires here? Maybe they're stuck here because they can't climb the sand hill thingies around this place fast enough in the night, so they have to stay here and hope ditzy people walk in here so they have blood to drink--"
Histy slaps my cheek repeatedly, swapping hands each time she does so. "Now isn't the time for this," she shout-whispers. "Just... get us off these rails and onto some stable ground, please!"
As my feet hit solid ground, Histy lets out a long breath. I feel her grip on my parka loosen, but she doesn't let go. I look up at the tower - it doesn't look like the kind of thing anyone could climb unless they had some kind of rust resistance thing. It's also narrow enough that it couldn't have been built with a staircase in mind. There are a few tubes running up and down the tower, and on further examination some lead underneath the platform and into the ground far beneath it.
Histy and I decide to quickly check one of the buildings. One's a shabby-looking sort-of-house where there's a bunch of beds, some really old food and an even older computer. For a moment I feel chills, then a little burst of energy. My eyes go wide. "Neptune?" Histy gently shakes my shoulder. "Are you all right?"
The desk that the computer's on has a few drawers. As I search through them, the chills get more and more powerful. I pull one drawer open - it's oddly heavy, I notice as I pull the drawer from the desk. I root through it, ignoring Histy's scolding as I do so until I see a large, rounded, purple N on a black and purple D-pad like device. It's big, about the size of my torso, and inside it lies four disks. I pull the device from the drawer with a big grin on my face.
"Ta-da!" I cheer as I hold it over my head. "People here had faith in me!"
![[Image: KBSao70.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/KBSao70.jpg)