revivalproject | Not Quite the Last Train

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Not Quite the Last Train

WHO: Shiro and Open
WHERE: Sh'ka
WHAT: Exploring
WHEN: October 15th on
WARNINGS: None so far.

Arrival
Somehow, luck was finally on Shiro's side. He'd always claim that if he didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all. Okay, sure, it wasn't really so bleak as that, but he could be over dramatic sometimes.

He had decided to take the train out of Temba and to Sh'ka. His intention was that he was only going to stay for one day, but that plan quickly got waylaid when the train arrived from Temba and it would not return. Further more, some of those who had escaped had reported a strange darkness that had come over Temba suddenly.

After attempting a few more times in vain to try and get the train moving since it sounded like something was happening in Temba, Shiro was forced to give up, stalking away.

Security Center
Since he now had a forced vacation in Sh'ka, Shiro decided to do some exploring. He headed into the security center to see what was there, struck by the oddly relaxing nature of the facility. Strange he thought. A building such as that wasn't normally relaxing in any sort of way.

He happened upon the video that was playing, watching it for maybe five minutes before he got bored and went exploring again. When he cam back a few hours later, he looked back at the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"Is the video repeating?" He could have sworn he had just seen that part...

Theater
Shiro went to the theater when he saw that it seemed to active like the security center had been. He had no previously interacted with the Graq and since he didn't have the communication data point, the words meant nothing to him at all, but would stand in the back watch the figures that danced around on stage, trying to figure out from what they were doing and what was actually going on in some cases.

Around
Shiro could often be found around Sh'ka, exploring whatever he could so there was not much option to go anywhere else. At least once a day, he could be found at the train, trying to see if he could get it to go back.

What was the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah, like animals that plow fields or you sheer them for wool or milk them."

He would have found that image amusing if he knew that's what she was thinking about.

"They are. One tried to follow me home once."

Plowing fields? Getting milk? Lauri-Ell was most definitely interested in all of this.

“I found one glownie stuck under a collapsed building and helped rescue it. It was a delightful creature.”

There didn't seem to be too many working animals here, but he'd definitely be willing to show her if they ever showed up at some point.

"Oh, wow... was it alright? I hope it wasn't hurt. And that no one else was either."

No, there didn’t seem to be that, did there? Lauri came to a stop near the front of the stage, frowning at the holographic players on it that did not seem to halt even under this closer scrutiny.

“No one was hurt much. Clarice was almost hurt, but I pulled her out, and she was holding the glownie. We returned it to the flock after cleaning it and giving it a treat.”

It was very strange, Shiro thought, that even as they got up on the stage, the figures kept going as if they weren't there. It was really like they were just puppets set to perform a play on a loop rather than actually knowing there was anyone else there.

"That's good. I'm glad that she was not hurt. Sounds like it was quite a thing to have happen. Unfortunately the buildings back there aren't the most stable."

Perhaps they were puppets. Could they, then, cut the strings? Was that even wise?

“They are not. But they seem better stable than the ones here in many cases. There is more intact in Temba from what I have seen. though this is very intact and functional. But one wonders how.”

Well, at best they'd fall over. At worst, they'd try to attack them. Probably best not to try.

"I've wondered that too, especially since this place has been supposedly hidden away longer than Temba and with supposedly no one here. It seems in awfully good shape in that case."

Yes, they might attack. However Lauri-Ell did not doubt that she could hold off any aggressors. Though perhaps it would be better to do with more than one individual as back up.

“Yet there is much of it that is in worse state than Temba too. Perhaps the fact that as much of it survived as well as it did is given to the strange material this place seems made from? The stone is unlike any I know, and could be durable. The heavy tree coverage is also useful, because it could help reduce the damage caused by normal weathering actions.”

Wind and snow and ice would be diminished with so many trees to block the way.

Shiro was sure that he could hold off any such attacks. Even those this new arm of his wasn't as good as the last one, he had begun to figure out the strengths that it did have. Still, he wasn't sure if he really cared to do something that might incite them to attack. They weren't doing anything other than putting on a play. And besides, how sad would it be if they did get beaten by puppets if they were somehow really strong?

"Hmm... heavy trees would have helped with things like wind damage and erosion, but usually the roots of trees cause damage as well. It is strange how this place is. Some of it is good. Other parts are not so much. It seems counter-intuitive."

Okay, yes, it would be sad if they were beat by hologram puppets.

"Ah, do they? I am not as familiar with plants as I wish I could be. I love flowers, but Kree worlds do not tend to have a lot of trees."

Consider it a species wide fear of the memories of their origins.

He nodded. "Trees and plants can do a lot of damage, especially if they have large roots. Flowers... usually not so much. But I guess if they were flowering vines, they could if they were growing a long a wall."

Really just what little he'd read about the little bit he had seen in his travels across the universe. Usually wasn't in real time obviously though that might have been interesting to see.

"The Cotati were most definitely capable of such damage, even without large roots," Larui observed to herself with a sad look. "But yes, plants are apparently quite powerful."

Which was something she hadn't known what to do with.

"There are vines that flower?"

"The Cotati? A type of plant?" It wasn't ringing a bell for something he had heard of before.

"Yeah, at least in my world there were. Depending on what part of the world and what they were trying to climb would vary slightly how they behaved. A lot of them were used for decoration."

"Plant people. The other species that were native to my people's homeworld of Hala," Lauri-Ell explained. "Once artists and passive creatures, who loved the growing world and made beauty from it. Now war-like and seeking destruction."

Which she understood was fair given all her people had put them through.

"A decoration? That worries me. My limited understanding of vines bespeaks them as destructive plants."

"Ah. I don't know that I met any plant people in my world, but I'd be surprised if they didn't exist. We did have some who had the ability to manipulate plants, but they weren't themselves plants. Huh... a lot must have changed for them to be war-like now."

He nodded.

"I'd say they are. The decorative ones are smaller, but I believe in order to climb, they are still causing damage."

Oh a good deal over the millennia, mostly because of the Kree and Skrull.

"They want revenge. It is a motivation that drives many to darkness."

But if they aren't going to investigate the stage, she intends to move away from it. This place is unnerving.

"So vines are bad plants then."

"You can say that again."

He had seen way too much of it. Revenge and darkness. This world had been a nice break, but it left him wondering.

Shiro is fine if she wanted to move away. It was a little creepy. Besides, there would be time to investigate it further later. Maybe at a time when these things weren't performing a play even with them standing way too close.

He did make an effort to try and glance behind them. It definitely didn't seem like there was anything there.

"They are. But they are doing what they are meant to do at the same time."

"They want revenge. It is a motivation that drives many to darkness."

Of course she said it again. Lauri didn't know he meant it in a more metaphorical sense. So she assumed he didn't understand her the first time. Still, she begins her wandering back up the stairs.

"That is an interesting thing to consider. That they are meant to do such bad things?"

...Ah, sarcasm was not a common thing for them. Rather than attempting to explain it hadn't been literal, he just went with it.

"Thank you. That was very helpful."

As if he had actually missed what she had said or had not understood.

"Not that they were meant to do something bad, but in of doing what they do naturally, some would consider it bad. Like the weblums from our world. I don't know if they'd actually eat an inhabited world-" He had kind of skipped over some of Coran's lessons on weblums... "But if they did, people would consider it bad. The weblum itself is not intending to do harm in that scenario. It's just how it lives its life."

Ah! She was helpful. The woman beamed at Shiro for that. It was good, that he was patient with her like that.

Still, she is thoughtful at what he'd said. Could things be done that did harm without those harmful things being bad?

"It is strange to think that there is no intentionality to a plant I suppose. I am very dark hearted over what the Cotati did I suppose."

He smiled back at her. It had made her happy to have helped so it was all the better he hadn't tried to explain it. Non-literal speech was perhaps a lesson in of itself for another day.

He nodded. "I guess it is different for the Cotati. It sounds like they have the ability to consider the consequences of their actions in a grander scale. Most plants, their only consideration is getting high enough to get more sunlight or their roots being deep enough to get water and not fall over."

Yes it was a lesson she needed, and no doubt at a time with less stress.

"Oh, they considered their choices on a grand scale. They intended great harm."

But no one wanted to hear the details of a war that didn't even affect their world, correct? She did not wish to burden Shiro with that if he did not desire it.

"And flowers. You should remember they are concerned with flowers. some of them. They are works of natural art."

"That is a shame. There was one of those as well, a race that intended to cause great harm."

He would certainly listen if she shared since he had experience that department as well. She'd probably get a story about the Galra in return for it, but it seemed like a fair exchange.

"That is true. Flowers are a work of art. I've seen some very pretty ones in my day. I don't have green thumb to save my life, but I can enjoy them."

Oops another turn of phrase she probably wouldn't understand that went completely over his head.

It would be a fair exchange, if she felt strong enough to speak of the sins of her people once more.

"Human skin tones do not tend toward green," she observed. Oh yes, that had gone completely over her rather lofty head.

He chuckled at that. "It's a phrase in my world. It means to be good at gardening or working with plants. So I'm not good with plants."

Nor does he have a literal green thumb so it was true as well on that front.

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