revivalproject

Entry tags:

Shock

WHO: Tony, Cayde, Jan, Cap
WHERE: In the Tembubble
WHAT: Tony's trying to fix some cameras, but keeps running into curiosities
WHEN: During the mermay event
WARNINGS: Everyone being fish-people and potentially doing offputting creature things.

A natural affinity for electric currents didn't always translate to reliable craftsmanship. Only one camera in the city square remained alert, watching Tony curiously as he held one of its brethren, perched together on the roof of the hotel where they were close to the sun and could overlook the gently sifting sand below. DATA bubbled occasionally with a burst of jetstream to keep himself stable, but Tony's windingly long tail draped down the facade of the building to twine into the open windows and root him while he worked. It was so smooth and matte black that it could have disappeared into the covered murk inside, but for the occasional spark that arced across it while Tony concentrated, casting small glints into the darkened rooms below. That leathery hide spreading up his body only made the tail look dangerously longer yet, snakelike even on his arms up to his elbows like he had been dipped in ink. Only flecks of yellow on his palms and the softest slope of his belly broke up that subtle colour, and the scars that stood out on his scalpel delicate hands. They were mostly faded burns and nicks, and none so starkly white as the perfect rings around several of his sharp fingers. Probably because he used them to work his way into the broken camera, forgoing any more cumbersome tools, and barely flinched when the device sparked and left the water smelling burnt. He had clearly taken more care with his unblemished tail, maybe thanks to the sheer ripple of his single, silken fin that traced a sensitive line straight down his front to his pointed tip. Even a bubble breaking from between the brickwork near it had his tail flinching away to loop again restlessly. His only scales were as synthetic as the broken camera, flashing gold covering him from chest to jaw, the edges precise, minuscule hexagons where the nanoweb blended along his skin.

"This one's fried," he murmured to DATA, who dutifully recorded the state of the final camera in the area. "The glass needs to be recast, too, just like the others. Can probably salvage the case, but..." He had ejected a computer chip, warped to itself like the device had overclocked and burst from the inside out. This was going to take some time, and the glass was going to take the forge which--...Donnie wasn't there anymore. Tony pursed his lips, the room below lighting up in a pop like a camera flash, and leaned over DATA with a gentle brush over its top like Tony was stroking his head with a free hand. "Guess that's not a problem," he mumbled, to the blank stare of the robot.

a. the outpost [cayde??]
A lobster clung to the side of the tower from which Echo had once set himself to guard over this city. As it slowly lifted a pointed leg to lodge into the next stone, so did DATA, and they watched each other intently in their measured, sideways ascent. Inside, in the cooler water and only the sunlight lingering by the windows to see by, Tony turned slowly in place, floating bonelessly. He hadn't made it to the forge. He could see it easily as he swam overhead, feeling dread slowly tighten around his heart. Glancing down at the outpost made that dread feel like a stone, dragging him down and impossible to get his arms around. He might have stayed there in the sand, until he found he was staring at the curious line held taut between the outpost and the clock tower, and frowned. It was enough to send him swimming inside, slowly making his way up the way his robot did on the exterior, and was distracted once more as he found the remnants of a cozy corner long abandoned. He had to shake himself back into focus, and by the time he finally made it to where that line was mounted into the wall, he was holding a limp, hurriedly stitched stuffed animal, its tiny limbs bright blooms of colour drifting from between his black fingers. With the other hand, he strummed curiously on the wire, watching the vibration ripple and letting his gaze roll across to the clock tower like he could see that turbulence cross the open stretch of water.

b. a much deeper pool [jan???]
The forge would have to wait. A later project, further along in the schedule. It would be pointless, after all, to do all of that work without solving the cause of the disruption. Talking directly to Billy was out of the question, too; a distraction really, and he didn't deserve to feel interrogated, he needed some time. No, Tony would have to go to where he understood the source was. Even several feet above the wide, black mouth of the mine, the water was cold. He stared down into it, waiting for movement, and starting to shiver, expecting tentacles to unfurl from the rocky sides, pull him in, hold him down until the sun was a pinhole high above him. He went darting back to the ledge of the hole, where a sticky residue remained, staining the rock in drips and keeping him circling it to avoid touching the discoloration. It had been intended to keep the threat contained, he vaguely recalled. That didn't explain the pitons he found driven into the stone, both on the ground and barely hidden by the sand, and the wall inside the pit. He had to dig his fingers into the ground to try to work one free, throwing bolts of static into the water around him while he hauled up on the rusting metal. At the edge of the pit, a pair of funfronds floated up out of the darkness, watching curiously and flipping energetically at each other.

c. the civic centre [steve???]
Tony's tail was a black banner, ribboning through the water over the roofs of Temba for DATA to track and try his best to scuttle after through the purple streets. Tony swam with the piton clutched in one hand, looking like he moved with confident aim, and feeling entirely the opposite. Who was he supposed to ask? If Jon knew what it was doing out there by the mine, would he think Tony had just been out looking for an excuse to talk to him? Was Tony out looking for an excuse to talk to him? In that case, he should have been collecting flowers, about ten hours ago to accumulate a bouquet that neared big enough to justify himself. He slowed over the greenhouse, peering down through the glass and feeling reluctant to go inside even if it would help make up for the lost time. Cutting any flowers from there had felt like a violation ever since Lauri-Ell had been so gently intent on correcting the one time he had made that mistake. In his minds eye, she practically glowed, blue skin that should have melted into the water instead shining like the colours vibrated in conflict. Tony's focus darted toward the civic centre then, only for his brow to furrow with a new question, that strange image of Lauri-Ell fading. The answers weren't any more forthcoming the closer he got, and still nothing as he sank into the strange bowl of the pool on the roof of the centre. It was half filled with purple sand, and teeming with lobsters, more secure up here than on the ground, but it didn't exactly look like a lobster sanctuary. Tony's free hand and a loop of his tail wound around a ladder bolted to its side. To help the lobsters? One of them pushed up from the sand and helicoptered its way out of the depth of the pool, onto the roof, as if to prove otherwise.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They were trying to pin down the same thought. With wide eyes, Tony released one arm to raise a pointed finger and pressed his lips tightly together; he hadn't said anything, but Cayde had also remembered the run, and the wind, and if this was some kind of shared psychosis then Tony was pretty certain they weren't giving each other these thoughts out loud. Cayde had a second to figure out all of that from Tony's expression, then Tony was bolting away again, the race back on in a churn of bubbles from his whipping tail.

The glowing blues blinked, Cayde falling silent at Tony's motion before his metal brow furrowed. Something fishy was definitely going on around here and it was starting to get annoying.

...not so annoying as Tony taking the opportunity to dash ahead again, making the Exo scowl and surge after. It's easy enough to overtake Tony again, not quite attempting to smack his face with the end of his glowy tail so much as brush by in passing.

After Tony's open assaults, that little flick had Tony giggling like it was a flirtation, however brief and tight in his scattered anxiety. He did try to make a grab for Cayde's tail and get a hold around the narrow end of it to hitch a ride. He could easily match Cayde's speed, if Cayde was swimming for both of them.

"-hey!" Cayde supposed he shouldn't have at all been surprised by that, tail swishing even more erratically just to give Tony a harder time of making a grab for it once he felt those fingers. He still found himself smirking a little, for all the concerning holes and confusing things his memory was providing, it was easier to still be open to fun when presented, rather than be dragged down by growing worries.

While Tony kept wincing away with a snicker, he managed to hold his arms out long enough to keep Cayde convinced he had to focus on defending himself and not on the race, hopefully sending him at least enough off course for Tony to gain some ground and make a straight shot for the windows that would let him into the bar.

The moment Tony sought to pull past him was when it was Cayde's turn to make a grab for that tail of his. Turnabout was fair play, something something...

A yank, a playful poke- Tony wasn't the only one who liked to employ distraction, and if it was enough, Cayde'd throw himself through that window even if he had to push off of Tony to do so. It probably wasn't going to be a gentle landing but he was metal, he could take a wall better than his pal would.

As stubborn as Tony was in those last few desperate feet, pulsing Cayde with electricity that went rushing to the ends of his glowing filaments with every poke, and grappling wherever Tony could grab, he wasn't about to risk his face by trying to crush through the door. Finally, he flung his arms back to try to slow his momentum as Cayde went crashing inside, his final laugh an unsure giggle as Cayde bounced. When he did appear in the window, it was at a regally slow drift, one hand sweeping through his hair and the other out to brace coolly on the frame, eyebrow raised like he meant to show up fashionably late and impeccable this whole time.

It wasn't the most graceful result but then Cayde wasn't terribly picky on style when it came to winning outcomes. Style was usually just a bonus.

"I win!" was the first thing that came from his mouth, even before he pushed off from the wall and the unusual and yet familiar surface of the floor, making a show of dusting himself off like the clumsy entry was something he'd completely meant to do.

Nothing seemed to be broken, neither Cayde nor the wall, so Tony smiled more easily and enthused, "And you looked great doing it, Hot Stuff. Congratulations." Unfortunately, they did have a casualty to deal with, which Tony revealed a little sheepishly from where he had crushed Omega's toy against the wall. Some of its stuffing was already foaming out where Tony's claws had pricked into the fabric in their desperate hold to keep it secure, and he let its head flop sadly to the side with a pout. "We're due for some upgrades, it seems," he announced.

"Ooh," Cayde winced, giving the plush an apologetic look. "Upgrades...or surgery." Unfortunately he was a little lacking in the needle and thread department. "Sorry Lula, I think you're going to have to sit tight for a while." At least that was what he thought Omega'd introduced the cat-rabbit-eared thing as.

He swam past Tony, drifting towards the glass windows that seemed rather pointless, really, for all the good it was doing, pressing his face close as he tried to peer past his reflection. Naturally there were still plenty of aquatic life drifting about, all too happy to remain in their self-imposed enclosure.

Much more gently than he had treated her during the race, Tony cradled Lula against his shoulder, and was patting the slightly poked toy like he was soothing a baby as he came floating after Cayde. She stayed there when Tony turned both palms out at the glass and surmised, "He was clear across, if you haven't seen the writing by now..." Well, maybe Cayde hadn't been watching for weird writing to appear, necessarily. Tony slid closer, trying to squint through the water to where he thought he had seen Wesker at his strange work.

"Haven't gone wandering around that side since I was scouting spaces for the bar," Cayde admitted, squinting as though he could make anything out, but everything was mostly a dark, squarish mass opposite a murky courtyard.

He glanced at Tony then, that mischievous grin resurfacing. "Maybe we can peak into the windows from this side," he suggested, pointing out towards the open space flanked by the buildings.

Tony was slow to return that look, and even then only raised an eyebrow at the conspiracy it seemed that he was being drawn into. It wasn't like Wesker would still be there. On the other hand, he had been so immediately aggravated by Tony finding him, that Tony wouldn't be entirely surprised if he had rigged the place to stop anyone else from stumbling upon it. How this came out was, "That's probably the respectful tactic. Wouldn't want to disturb his work."

Cayde pointed a finger at him with a nod. See, he knew Tony would get it. ...that and they both seemed to know Wesker well enough to figure that it was better to be safe when potentially nosing around the man's claimed space.

"Come on," he said, not even bothering to turn around but simply swim upwards and loop himself back towards the doorway with a neat little twist. "-you bringing Lula? Maybe she should stay here."

Reluctantly, Tony took the toy from his shoulder to look into its little face, like he had to make sure she wouldn't mind being left behind. That did only make it clearer to him that she wasn't really designed to withstand any further roughhousing, and with a little moue left her neatly on a seat at the bar, sitting up as best as her stuffing could hold her.

Unlike everywhere else in the city, lucky if the windows were intact, the strangely perfect seal lining the courtyard meant they had to go back out and up over the building. It wasn't a particularly intuitive way to navigate, why wouldn't there be a window out?, so Tony wasn't entirely surprised Cayde didn't have a stronger impulse to keep assessing the surrounding towers. He still accused, "He's probably building a shrine to you over there," for everything that Cayde could have been missing in his own backyard.

"Well then, all the more reason not to spoil any surprises by going through the main entrance," Cayde answered easily once Lula had been properly settled and they were once again outside. For as simple as the venture was, he glided cautiously across the rooftop of the building, coming to a pause at the other end, hands resting on the ledge as he looked down.

Why hadn't he ever come down here before? Well, aside from the fact that somewhere at the bottom something had claimed space for its den. Or something. He frowned, shrugging before hauling himself over the edge and propelling himself across the open space between buildings.

It wasn't clear to Tony how committed they were to the stealth mission bit until Cayde was doing his peek, and Tony had to rapidly catch up, sinking down from where the was stretching out in the sunlight like he thought this was more of a music video experience. Settling just over Cayde wasn't much of an improvement, where he could hold Cayde's shoulders like he held the ledge, and peer over his head. As Cayde darted away, Tony lingered again and raised a hand to an imagined earpiece and only half committed to whispering to mission control, "We're moving out," still managing to roll his eyes and twirl a finger like he had to be insubordinate even to an authority he just made up.

The tiniest giggle slipped from him as he glanced back at Tony. Smaller fish and like-creatures diverted their paths just slightly enough to not be caught up by the two's passing. Cayde tried to make anything out at the murkier waters below them, wondering if there might be anything interesting. Well, first things first.

It wasn't too much of a swim to get to the other end of buildings, and once there, Cayde looked over at Tony again. "Which level?" he asked.

Swimming clear across open water to the daunting face of windows didn't feel particularly stealthy, so Tony did his best to swim in Cayde's path and stick close to him, like it was possible to make a small enough impression between Cayde's lights and Tony's trailing tail. "He was pretty far up when I found him..." Tony mumbled, trying to properly graph the memory in reverse and hoping to just spot something to guide him as he ducked under Cayde to get closer to the windows. Mostly, they were dark with grime or algae, so their mission might not yet have been compromised by how difficult these windows were to actually see through, and Tony had to skim along them before he found a spot clear enough to try to squint through, hands up daintily to keep away from the gently swaying green film. It was even darker inside at this depth.

It was funny how easily Cayde just forgot how bright he naturally was, at least until he caught a glimpse of the dulled glow mostly swallowed up by the overgrowth on the windows. He tilted his head, glancing up at Tony's response as he quietly counted floors.

"Looks like some of this gunk's already been cleared off," he observed as he swam up to a spot where the glass caught the light much easier. He brought his hands up as though it'd make much difference in cutting down on the glow of his own optics.

"There--look," Tony announced, hovering around another gap in the buildup, then darting along to try to find a different perspective to confirm what he was seeing. There wasn't much else in the room, but the door had been broken away from the wall, and a number painted bright and bold on it so even from out in the water, it was easy to read. That didn't give Tony a lot more context for what Wesker had accomplished with the process, so he was already swimming away, heading further down to where he knew there should have been another one, if he could bring himself to wipe any of the algae off of the glass. Maybe another floor down instead...

Cayde looked as Tony spoke up again, swimming over to find a similar space where he could see a little more of what lay within the room beyond. It was kind of disappointing, really. No secret equipment, no weapons stores... Just a door with a number. Boring! And maybe kind of ominous if one didn't know what it was for. But still mostly boring.

He swam back and forth along that row of windows to see if there were any other cleared off spots in the windows before he went down where Tony had gone, pausing to once again squint. "Uh...Tony..?"

The waters towards the ground levels of the building were ripe with algae and old aquatic plantlife that had clearly had time to thrive. And strangely enough, there was a sudden expenditure of bubbles that came up, brushing past Tony.

They expanded rapidly as they skimmed his tail and collected static. The bubbles that reached his head were swollen, and frothed when popped with a claw. By then, Tony was surrounded by the reaching tendrils of weeds, thriving and untouched growth that would stand taller than even his long tail from the ground, so seeing much further past them was impossible, and as Tony did his fruitless search he insisted, "That wasn't me. You'd know if I was gassy."

In spite of things, Cayde had to let out a laugh because that was a predictably Tony thing to say. In the next second after he was diving down past the electric-laced bubbles to grab an arm as the weeds began to 'grow' upwards towards Tony's tail, or rather the entirety of whatever the aquatic weeds had taken root started to lift.

The Exo was already moving to drag Tony back up towards the top of the wall that he missed the large pair of yellow-gold eyes that opened up amidst the weedy darkness, glowing dully, their slight milkiness suggesting that at least the thing might not be very accustomed to anything bright. However in pulling away, Tony was treated to an excellent view of its giant maw as it yawned open, showing an impressive array of stalactites and stalagmites...that probably would have been more comforting were they featured in an actual cave.

The urgency of the situation didn't dawn on Tony as he let Cayde haul him up, when he noticed the unnatural sway of the foliage, or even when he locked eyes with the creature peering up at them from the floor. He went, "Oh, look at that," still fairly limp and letting Cayde propel them upward, even tugging slightly on Cayde's hold as he twisted his hand to gesture down at the giant thing that couldn't have just snuck in without anyone noticing. It was only when the beast peeled back its lips to display those massive teeth that Tony went tense, and while the next sound he made still could have been interpreted as light curiosity, his tail was suddenly coiling upward and away from that opening cavern. The chasm it created was big enough that the change in pressure snatched at Tony's whipping tail, which was just enough warning for Tony to yelp, "Cayde...?!" before the great sucking current was dragging at them both. Now Tony was helping, both hands around Cayde's to charge upwards against the powerful inhale.

Shock

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)