Convince yourself that this heaven isn’t hell, but

[demjiin]

WHO: Kaz and a few people (one OTA prompt)
WHERE: All over Temba
WHAT: Catch-all for July
WHEN: July
WARNINGS: None anticipated, but TBD



Temba Restoration Cooordination (for Reeve)

Kaz had already been doing research on what electricity could do here since it definitely seemed to be capable of a lot more in Temba than it was in Ketterdam. So first he had paid a visit to the beachside caves. He had taken a mag light flashlight (a definite improvement over a Bone Light) and spent most of the morning attempting to make energy crystals from the material there. He'd given it a good 8 or 9 tries but only came up with about 3 usable crystals. They weren't great by any stretch of the imagination and were lumpy blobs to look at. But they would have to do for the moment. Rolling some cloth around them, Kaz had left the caves again.

Upon talking to 'Reeve Tuesti', Kaz had found out as much about the man as he could. It wasn't much but Kaz had discovered where Reeve often was found and that it was likely that he would be able to explain more of the logistics of how Temba technology worked than Kaz already knew, hence why Kaz had come bearing gifts. The front room was already covered in architectural maps, hand-drawn maps of the city, and schematics for things Kaz couldn't guess at. Staying seemingly polite, Kaz gave his best 'harmless cripple' smile and knocked the end of his cane three times on the open doorway's door jamb.

Old Mcdonald's farm - or maybe old Cobb's farm?(OTA)

Kaz had not been here before, but believe it or not, he actually did know a thing or two about farming. At the moment he had his cane hooked over the crook of one arm and leaned against the fence that created the glownies' paddock. He'd had a possible thought about weaving cloth from their wool as Lark had said, but based on just looking at them, he didn't think that would work now, or at least that cloth would be no cooler than what he had to wear now. Kaz was suffering in the summer heat and was down to his long-sleeved dress shirt, pants, and fitted black leather gloves. His usual pocket watch was attached to a button on his shirt with the actual watch in his pants pocket. Moonshade had mentioned the possibility of using spider silk, but Kaz had no idea when, or even if that was going to turn out to be possible.

The Forge (for Tony)

Kaz and Tony had talked before and were both listed as 'crew' on the Bloodsport so they were at least somewhat familiar with each other. Well, at least familiar enough to know each other's names. So it's with his signature staccato sound of footsteps and cane that Kaz walked towards the altered factory. Though this would certainly not be the first time he had been to the forge, he had no reason for stealth so he didn't bother to hide. This would, however, be the first time he had a specific reason to talk to Tony alone.

Comments

Don't do that yet, you might never be rid of him

[demjiin]

No, Kaz wasn't much for making friends and Moonshade wasn't too keen on Kaz after he called her wolf a dog. Instead, he just came closer and only stopped when he was directly in front of the doorway with an eye on the D.A.T.A. unit. But he seemed to dismiss it just as quickly as he was seemingly dismissing the knotted rope in Tony's hands already. He wasn't much for small talk, either. Or greetings for that matter.

"From what I hear, you would be the one to see in order to ask for something made in Temba."

He was suffering in the summer heat and was down to just a long sleeve dress shirt, pants, and fitted black gloves. Kaz also had no idea what Tony might want in trade for making something but they would get to that later.

they both think that poor animal is a dog??? one braincell

[in_extremis]

The approach didn't get any less baffling as Kaz got closer, Tony's eyebrows eventually running out of room to creep up any higher so they had to drop down into a confused knit instead as he blindly worked at his knots until they were standing face to face and Tony had to acknowledge that he had company with a tense nod. At least they seemed to be in agreement that trying to make this a friendly affair was going to be awkward.

"I hope that's not all," Tony replied, and gave a tilt of his head to indicate the worn path that would take them around the building as a tacit acceptance to at least hear Kaz out. There was a workbench out there in the circle of dead grass where the erstwhile speeder had been built, and something of a breeze that would be more bearable than suffocating inside the forge with the permanent fire roaring. Tony was already sweating in his tank top and sweatpants; he suspected shirtsleeves were torturous enough. "What I can do with my hands is only one of the many interesting things about me."

[demjiin]

Awkward indeed. Kaz was approaching this as purely transactional but he wasn't entirely sure what Tony's first statement meant or if this was just a quirk about the way Tony talked all the time. And Kaz had no intention of going inside at all. The beach alone had been bad enough but being near an actual crucible might make him pass out just from sheer heat exhaustion. He did walk toward the outdoor workbench as he spoke.

"There is a transportation station, though the transport itself seems to be broken beyond repair. So as I'm sure you are aware, there are more cities than Temba alone."

Kaz paused when he did reach the workbench and leaned on his cane.

"I've already asked Lark if she would be able to make fabric that was bulletproof like the grisha do where I'm from but she didn't even know what a bullet was."

Kaz shrugged.

"If I have to go on foot and alone I will, but I intend to explore more of the rest of this planet. But since getting bulletproof cloth is out I would need a lightweight way of shielding at least my arms and chest since I have no idea what I may encounter. And since you are the one to see for building things, I came here to speak to you."

[in_extremis]

The transport station was a lofty start and for a moment, Tony was slightly worried that he was going to have to make a train and start laying tracks. That was at least a few months out on his schedule. So he was looking dubious as he lifted himself up onto the workbench to sit where he could continue to tug at his ropes and consider Kaz narrowly. The bulletproof thing was something of a diversion, but Tony was already starting to nod, getting the sense of the scope of the problem with appreciation before he was muttering an interruption, "And I don't know what a grisha is." Bullet, though, was very familiar, he knew how to work with that.

"Listen, here's the thing--" he started once Kaz had got his whole production out, one hand escaping its work to spread a cautioning palm toward Kaz as Tony considered how best to convince the kid. It hadn't been easy so far, they had a more agree-to-disagree rapport, which Tony was not thrilled about. "You're far from the only one who wants to get out there and find out if we're alone or whatever, I understand the impulse, very logical, it's on the table. What we do know you'll encounter, though, is one of those storms, and, so far, we have no idea how to protect against them. You get caught on your own out there in one of those, at best, you're lost, you'll have no idea how to get back here, that thing will scramble your brains." That wasn't a no, Kaz had definitely come to the right place to be outfitted for such a venture, and with his gesturing hand Tony took up the gauntlet he had been working on from the bench to display out of Kaz's reach, something like this?, but Tony didn't quite agree with the premise.

[demjiin]

"But that's just it, there's always something. There's always a reason not to go or something else that seems to be more important. Though, let me be clear not dying is more important, but whatever is causing whatever is making the 'not dying' part an issue keeps the population of Temba in Temba. I don't want to go exploring by myself, nor do I want to be hit with one of the storms you're talking about. But I highly doubt we'll find a way to stop them here in Temba. So that means we'll have to try to find where they are coming from out there."

Kaz made a vague gesture with one gloved hand that encompassed the whole of Agra-10.

"I'll need to find a way to definitively tell where Temba is on these maps."

Kaz indicated his smartphone and since everyone had them, they had become the lowest common denominator.

"Which won't be much if these storms scramble brains but I haven't finished sorting navigation out yet."

Kaz nodded at the offered glove, though he was thinking something more lightweight, maybe something he could wear under his clothes. That idea was born of Kaz's paranoia and wanting to stay underestimated for as long as possible.

[in_extremis]

Tony nodded slowly, having considered that deliberate stunting before himself, but had never quite found a way to give it traction. It found some in someone else recognizing it, but that didn't get them much closer to solving it as a problem, either. "As long as 'on foot and alone' isn't really on the table..." Tony was willing to concede, dropping the gauntlet back onto the bench.

"What's going to get us out there and mapping the place is a unified front. People have already gone off wandering on their own and don't have anything to show for it, and we're lucky they came back. No one of us is going to be able to take something like that on by ourselves, and we've all got strengths to play to. I can make you the kind of equipment that's going to let you manage the terrain, but it's Cayde that makes maps, and those guys in the diner that can make sure the city doesn't burn to the ground in the meantime--even the people who aren't taking a walk, they have to be part of the plan." With a deep breath, Tony dropped his distracting rope as well to invite Kaz with a gesture to walk Tony through it, then. "What's your vision, how do you take a hit?"

[demjiin]

"As I said, I don't want to go alone and on foot but if that's what I have to do then I will."

Kaz was still leaning on his cane for the moment and he suspected Tony was asking him two different questions that while linked, were still separate things.

"Then it will need to be more than one or two that go wandering off by themselves. I would need many of the people stuck here in Temba to go at the same time and divided into groups of three. We'll need to send back the maps made with these 'smartphone' devices at least once a day, maybe twice, so they can get hand-drawn back here and we stop having to rely on devices for mapping at all. I am aware not all can draw maps, but if I'm right then we will be stuck here in Temba trying not to die soon. So I need to be relentless in urging everyone to go as soon as possible."

Kaz gave Tony his measurements for across the shoulders and the length of his arms from the seam around his shoulder to the seam at his wrist.

"How I take a hit is dependent on the hit, though. What I'm asking for is a way to protect at the very minimum my internal organs."

Kaz shrugged.

"I first asked for bulletproof cloth from Lark, but she couldn't help me. So I came here next, but I don't have any better ideas than bulletproof cloth."

[in_extremis]

There were enough details there that Tony didn't love to make him squint dubiously and leave him frowning at Kaz after he laid out this half baked plan, but at least it wasn't going to end with him dying alone in the alien woods. His distrust of the communicators was likely influenced by their unfamiliarity, so Tony was going to have to let that one simmer, not entirely opposed to having backups, but he wasn't about to start relying on paper himself. It was Kaz's strange conviction that had Tony asking, "How is that different than what's been happening this whole time? Stuck here and trying not to die. I don't see what's changed to switch gears here." Maybe it had something to do with Kaz's sudden intolerance of the sleeping arrangements when they were stuck on the ships, and Tony watched the kid with a cold, narrow scrutiny as he asked, "Are you trying to get away from someone?" If one of the few people in their limited community was spooking the others, trying to dance around it was only going to leave the whole city brittle.

[demjiin]

There was quite a bit Kaz purposely left out and a few things he hadn't figured out yet so he wasn't going to touch on them. As far as Kaz's aversion to other people, that was something he had always had, but there were more people on the ships as time went on which was making it far more uncomfortable sleeping around them. Right now Kaz snorted at the idea.

"Here in Temba there is no one that I'm making an extra effort to avoid. As for what's changed? The fact that whoever or whatever is holding us all captive found a way to mess with our memories en masse. If they can pull us across space and time they would also be able to change our memories, maybe radically so, and Billy just showed them how to do it."

[in_extremis]

Unconvinced, Tony continued to study Kaz a beat longer, trying to figure him out. Usually, it would take an easy attempt to rile him up and see what leaked out, but as Tony was still inclined to believe that these conversations were stemming from someone else getting under his skin despite what he said, that might have the effect of just isolating Kaz further.

Still staring with his head cocked, Tony mumbled, "Sure," not about to argue that their captors being able to mess with their heads wasn't alarming. "That's not new, though. That room we all woke up in, some've us have been down there before and spent some time in each other's memories. There's something about that that really gets them off. You can see it in the storms, too--they pull shit out of our heads, make it personal." And Tony hadn't figured out how to armor against that yet, so he finally looked away with a frown, considering his bench with his fingers drumming restlessly against it. "I'll see what I can do," he said with a vague flick of his hand toward his tools. It might not be what Kaz was expecting, but Tony did like a surprise.

[demjiin]

It took an awful lot to get under Kaz's skin and the only way that really worked was if one of the four (and only 2 in Temba) actually made him feel any kind of contentment, affection, or calmness. Beyond that, there wasn't much emotional breadth for what Kaz felt; most variations of irritation, anger, and once it had been rage. Consider all you like, Tony. Vengeance had a way of burning from the inside out. And whatever was left of Kaz, it had been long enough in that darkness to have brought something back with him.

"I know that memories have been made manifest. But making new memories and sometimes whole other lives, with families, jobs, and a past to go with them out of whole cloth? That's new. The ability to make memories manifest makes me all the more eager to get everything moving as fast as possible."

[in_extremis]

That was Billy, but Tony didn't exactly want to turn Kaz's attention on the kid, and couldn't say that he was wrong about their captors learning something from the magic anyway. At the very least, they must have known how much it rattled Kaz by now, and that couldn't be good. "Just don't go doing it on your own," Tony said, nodding slowly for Kaz to agree to his face, whether he actually meant it or not. "We'll work this out. We're on the same team."

[demjiin]

Kaz was well aware it had been Billy but it had to have been a learning experience for whoever was doing the torturing too.

"The idea is to go in teams, so it will be in a team."

And Kaz did actually mean it funny enough. The comment about being on the same team might have made Kaz laugh at any other time, but because he wanted something from Tony he kept his expression neutral.