revivalproject | Beyond the Boundaries

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Beyond the Boundaries

WHO: Dustin, Felwinter and Link
WHERE: Westward, ho!
WHAT: Felwinter finds himself in...interesting company as he finally sets out for a long put off expedition beyond Temba's city limits.
WHEN: Later this month
WARNINGS: N/A

Organic beings needed preparations, supplies, for a trip. Felwinter remembered these things when he contacted Dustin. 'Star roof', probably wasn't much of a message, but he knew Dustin would understand. He left a more detailed message there, penned and folded under a rock: 'I plan to set out in five days' time. If you wish to join me then pack accordingly and comm your confirmation. Several days out and then back, unless we find any reason to extend our venture. If you have anyone you trust to come along, then so be it.'

He wondered if he was being too generous.

Link would once again find himself under much scrutiny by the helmet-wearing warlord. This time they're at least not on a rooftop, but the mood is probably very much the same. Again, there are questions, and again, Felwinter isn't certain where to even begin. Or rather, he knows what to ask, but he has a feeling that he's better off not knowing. That unseen gaze shifts to Dustin with the impending sense of a query and yet none forthcoming.

And then finally, Felwinter turns, shouldering his pack as he starts on towards the city's outskirts, pausing to cast an expectant look at the two as it seems he's going to accept this extra company after all.

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Link listens. He's not as familiar with all of these groups as Dustin and Felwinter are yet - but he pays careful attention anyway.

He does, however, pull out a knife and start using to wedge out some of the Marshbear's teeth while the other two talk. Since you know, he might as well get started on that.

Dustin's eyes narrow in on the little Ghost first, then he decides that this isn't a good enough location to sate his curiosity, so he cautiously steps over and cranes his neck so he can look over Felwinter's arm at the tablet. "What is she...?"

There's a sickening pop from the bog. Dustin's attention is snapped away, looking in alarm at Link - which rapidly morphs into unfiltered revulsion.

"--Ugh--seriously?" In spite of Dustin's obvious disgust, he can't look away. Like watching a car accident in slow motion. "Come on man, do you really need the fucking--" Pop! "--Please--please tell me there's a use for those. Holy shit."

Felwinter is either unfazed or ignoring Link's current task at hand, a toss-up, really. He waits as Felspring works, his helmet only turning slightly as Dustin comes over to observe.

"I'm trying to find the source for the entry updates," the Ghost speaks up, even as she continues to tend to her scans. Given Felwinter hardly injects any flavor into his own tone, hearing Felspring speak might be a refreshing surprise.

"That's...strange. The paths are there, but they go absolutely nowhere. It's a lot of work to throw someone off a trail." She sounds mildly annoyed.

Link looks at Dustin. Looks at the teeth he's pulling from the dead animal. Why wouldn't they be useful? Sure, Link doesn't know what they can do yet. But he'll find out eventually. Probably.

And if not, well. They still look nice. They're sharp, and pointy!

He shrugs, and extracts a few more teeth. Though he does look at Felspring as he does so, listening to what she has to say. Maybe they need to find the source?

Hearing Felspring speak is more than just a pleasant divergence from Felwinter's tacit nature - for Dustin, it's an excellent distraction from continuing to watch Link harvest teeth from a dead animal. Still looking deeply uncomfortable, he wrenches his gaze away, desperately trying to ignore the sounds of their companion's work continuing in the foreground.

"Proxies," Dustin mutters. "You don't set up a layered redirect like that unless you have something to hide, and you have the resources to do it. The Atroma would have access to more than enough off-planet networks to bounce off of, and they have plenty to hide from us and everyone else, so."

Felspring eventually stops her digital digging. She swivels in midair to glance over at Link and his work, staring for a good two seconds before she turns back to Felwinter almost judgmentally. Not that she can say she's surprised at the company he keeps.

"If we weren't so limited in our resources here, tracking them down wouldn't be a problem. But there still has to be some network or system that's local or within range to do all this. I'm sure they've hidden that well, but if we can locate that, then we'd have a more direct means of being able to trace the source, if not the Atroma themselves."

"Hmm..." Felwinter muses. "I suspect it might not be anywhere terrestrial. Or if it is, then the relays must be well-hidden. Strange that the database can update itself, and yet in Sh'Ka, network communication was not established until we took it upon ourselves to do so."

Link notices Felspring watching him. He pauses in his work momentarily, to give her a little wave. But thankfully - for her and Dustin's sensibilities - he's soon finished extracting the teeth.

"Networks look like...?" he asks the other two, head cocked to one side. He does do a lot of exploring. He could keep an eye out for this secret, hidden network or system.

Unfortunately, he has absolutely no idea how to identify one in the first place.

Dustin dips his head into his hand, rubbing his lightly-fuzzed chin. Felspring and Felwinter both bring up good points; whatever - or whoever - is maintaining the Network has to be somewhere nearby, or there has to be a local relay for it that they can discern, in order for it to function the way it does. Assuming that wireless communications via the Network are at all analogous to what Dustin knows from Earth, anyway.

He's opening his mouth to try and quantify those thoughts when Link interjects first. Dustin pauses, quietly thankful that Link has stopped mutilating a corpse as his eyes automatically snap to look at him. His first thought is that this is a stupid question - the Network isn't a physical thing that can be found, obviously, duh. But a moment's consideration later tells him that that's not the spirit Link is asking the question in, and slapping his curiosity down entirely wouldn't do any of them any favors.

Dustin sighs, shifting his hand to prod at his temples. "I know what relays look like where I'm from, but we can't assume that the ones used for the Network will resemble those at all," he admits. "What was involved in setting up the Network in Sh'Ka, Felwinter? Do you know if anything like that had to happen to get the Network working in Temba?"

A network would be difficult to explain without getting into some background. Felwinter considers how to do this, mentally trimming down unnecessary details.

"Networks do not necessarily have a physical presence outside of the connections it manifests through. The ability to communicate through these tablets is through the connection of a network. But there is usually something transmitting- sending the information, but these can vary in form."

He glances from Link to Dustin then. "I believe it was a collaborative effort by Stark and Cal Kestis. Such relays had to be made and then installed in Sh'Ka, but I do not know further details than that. The network prior had already been established, as with many things in Temba, so I am not sure of the early state of the network or whether it was something that was also built from the ground up."

Link looks from one to the other. He's not entirely sure he follows the explanation. They need to find a thing that doesn't physically exist - except for the bits that don't?

But - maybe they have a lead?

"Tony will know?"

"Stark probably would," Dustin acknowledges, delivered with the same level of enthusiasm as a slowly deflating balloon. "Cal too. Either way, the relays might not have the same kinds of security protocols as the communicators do - they could provide a backdoor into finding the source. Or we could build one that's meant to do that specifically."

Felwinter hums thoughtfully, the nods at Felspring to dismiss her. The Ghost decompiles in that same shimmer of light, folding into some space between spaces.

"Regardless, we will likely not be finding out anything more in regard to a network or a system here. I am not sure if further travel will yield anything else useful, but I leave the decision to the two of you as to whether we should continue or not."

He turns his head towards the deeper marshes. It was already proving more dangerous than their earlier trek with just the drastic change of terrain.

Link, however, just looks at Dustin. Really, Link would happily keep going. Sure, the terrain is getting difficult - but that just makes it interesting. Link's confident he could handle any dangers they might encounter. And who knows what else they would find?

But Dustin...well. Link has certainly noticed that Dustin struggles a bit to keep up. Will he want to keep going?

Dustin stares back at Link for a few seconds, level and blank, before he realizes what's going on.

"--I-I can keep going," he says with a flush of his face, sounding distinctly offended. "The terrain is still navigable, the Marshbears are surmountable threats. I want to stay long enough to get some plant and soil samples and see more of the non-documented wildlife."

"Very well."

Felwinter doesn't feel it necessary to debate, and he hadn't meant to single out either of them with the suggestion to turn back. He looks at the both of them again.

"We'll press on, but if the terrain becomes any less stable further out, I will not be able to go very far without substantial places to set foot. Felspring will inform us if there is any foreign movement in our vicinity."

Well, if Dustin wants to keep going - who is Link to say otherwise? Besides - Link's still curious to see what else they'll find.

So they keep going, at least for a little while. But they can only do so for another day before the terrain gets too difficult for Felwinter to keep going. At that point, they need to go back.

But that's okay. Link's already found more than he can carry. He's got to get some of his new collections back home now, after all.

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Beyond the Boundaries

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