Calibrations Waiting Room Mingle

[trpmods]

WHO: ALL HE ROWS
WHERE: The Secret Tunnel, which has become the Calibrations Waiting Room (or was it always...?)
WHAT: Mingle log for literally anything you'd like to take place in the waiting room between sleep cycles during the event
WHEN: June 3 - July 10
WARNINGS: Please mark individual threads with warnings

For those that have heeded Ga Re's warning, the door within the secret tunnel - which looks suspiciously like the hatch to one of your shuttles - is wide open, waiting for you. You walk through... and the door behind you disappears. You’re now standing in a cavernous, cold, white waiting room. There are hallways leading off the main corridor with names above each. One of them has your name and will draw you toward it, inevitably.

And on the wall, in pink, running letters is written this single greeting:

‘Welcome to Calibrations’.

The secret tunnel has become a large waiting room with chairs, tables, and the same food dispensers available in the shuttles. There are also communal bathrooms - one for each gender - with several toilet stalls and shower stalls in each, including basic shampoo and soap dispensers, like you might find in a hotel. The water isn’t hot, so hopefully you don’t mind lukewarm showers. Somehow, at least, it never goes cold.

Branching off the main waiting room room are the labeled hallways. At the end of each short hallway is a door, with the same character’s name written on them. Anyone can enter any room, regardless of the name written on it. Everyone has their own room, though of course people can share. Each room has a simple bed (approximately queen-sized) and a set of drawers.

You can opt to spend time in your room or in the larger, common waiting room. (And if you do, you can thread it out here!) But every 16 hours, you'll feel a compulsion: You need to sleep. Right now. You find yourself going into your room (or someone else's, if you really want). But you’re drawn to the bed. You can’t help but lie down. And then, you fall asleep.

Comments

Look it's FF7-- sorry for the language

[backoff]

Cloud's own eyes squint as his lips press into a line waiting for Cayde to make a move of tell him to go fish. Luck had been on his side at that moment as the newly fresh card picked from Cayde gets flicked towards him. Cloud goes for it with his left hand before adding it in. But he doesn't make any moves to fan them out on the table. It's some luck but Cayde could easily ask for it back later.

"I asked you how I would know it works. I asked several and got you'll know." He grits his teeth together trying to keep back some bark remarks. Cloud would rather have some bite to his words. "Not my fault that it couldn't tell what my intentions were. Is there anything else I need to know about this replicator, asshole?"

He puts his elbow on the table while putting his chin in his left palm while looking at his hand debating over what to even ask for. "I took on the Engineering datapoint to figure out anything more with it. But I don't know shit about engineering. Do you have any tens?"

[deal_me_in]

"It was supposed to be easy!!" Cayde leans back in his chair for a moment, looking at Cloud quietly then. It's a tough subject to bring up. He can't imagine it's an easy thing for anyone to admit- especially when it involves a key feature to making everyone's lives more at ease in the city.

He taps his cards on the table again, his eyes settling on them finally, but his thoughts aren't much on the cards so much as what Cloud's saying. The growing frustration isn't lost on him, and the current setting makes it too easy to spark a fight. Maybe a tussle might do some good, but not when everyone's cooped up together like this. Besides, Cloud had tried to do something about it. And it takes some guts to come out with it.

"Go fish," he eventually says, the Exo's tone more calm as he digests the situation. "Did it help?" he asks, regarding the datapoint. He still hasn't touched one. "I figure they wouldn't have such things if any knowledge and skill we did carry over completely. Might help, but..." He shrugs. "Any aces?"

[backoff]

"I asked for fuel for a motorcycle and a wooden baseball bat! That is an easy request. A baseball bat can knock anyone out. I don't need to use it specifically as a weapon either." Cloud glares at Cayde while keeping his chin in his palm because he's not about to break this table. He could easily break this table. The cards in his right hand are being held tight and almost bending for good measure.

A fight wouldn't do much good. It might help his frustration a tiny itty bitty bit. Cloud knows it's not the best issue to bring up in the tunnels. He wanted to tell Cayde a bit more privately in case things got heated. Are they getting heated? Cloud is trying his best to stay mostly calm but he's already had enough of things piling on him since he got here.

He moves his left hand from under his chin to pick up his next card. His stare stays on the Exo as he does so. But as he is putting the card into his hand, he takes out two others and doesn't flick them to Cayde. He puts them in between his index and middle fingers holding them out for Cayde. Come and get them if you can pull them from his grip Cayde. "I have an idea of what could fix the replicator. But as I said.... I'm not good with Engineering. And I did find something out I didn't want to." "

Cloud sighs very heavily at that as he doesn't want to say the what exactly.

[in_extremis]

"Why do you need to fix the replicator?" Tony murmured over Cloud's shoulder. Socializing had not been at the top of his to-do list, he hated this useless room and saw enough of these people in his dreams, but a quick trip for some water was easily waylaid by the sight of Cayde and his cards, and the desperately gnawing part of his brain that already had half of the springs out of his mattress to coil into Improved Catapult mk 34 latched onto the pattern formations the cards could offer. Stealing closer, Tony found he was also being gifted with Cloud's palpable tension, making him lean in like he could sense what part of him was the pin to set off this grenade and splatter this room with something interesting. Cloud had seemed so at ease with their confinement when they met, this had to be worth a deconstruction.

With his free hand, Tony reached around Cloud's seat to turn up the cards arrayed on the table between them, not immediately convinced of what game he was witnessing by the glance at Cloud's hand. Finding the pairs, he glared at Cayde next and tried his best drawl, "My, my, we're in the company of some mighty high rollers, ladies and gentlemen." This place was going to make their brains leak out of their ears, obviously, if they were already reduced to Go Fish.

[deal_me_in]

So Cloud does have more than one volume setting. Cayde tilts his head. "So what were you going to use a bat for, then? Because I'd totally go for using it as a weapon."

He brightens just slightly, because even with this other conversation going on, he's still playing the game, however when Cloud refuses to so easily relinquish those precious aces, the Exo squints at him. Still, he reaches over, grabbing both between finger and thumb to give it a tug. Is Cloud really going to be like that?

Having an idea of what's wrong and not being good at engineering seem to contradict, not that Cayde knows how those datapoints and applied information jive. But Cloud is saved further questions for the moment (at least from him) when another familiar voice introduces itself to the conversation.

The Hunter sighs, still trying to claim his cards without bending or tearing them apart. "Hey, I started with Poker but it's kind of hard to play with two people- let alone with only one person knowing how to play." He gives a jerk of his head towards the table. "So you want in? I'm winning." Actually no one is but hey.

[backoff]

He can get mad, anyone can get mad, they're still human after all. Cloud looks down at the table center before slowly glancing back up towards the Exo. "To protect us from threats."

Not directly say it's a weapon, his intention wasn't to use it against anyone else. "It doesn't have to be a sword but I'm not calling it a weapon when it can be used for sports to play a game."

Cloud couldn't explain what exactly happened beside for a bunch of information getting dumped into his head. Some of it startled him to no end. The blond locks eyes with the Exo while the corner of his lips pull into a playful smirk. He does remove his fingers from the aces when Cayde tried tugging on them and turns his attention to Tony. The cards within Cloud's hand get placed face down on the table. His hand goes on top of them with his fingers spreading. One boot gets placed against one of his own chair legs. If he needs to flee he can easily make the move to do so by leaping out of this god damn chair.

"Replicator couldn't take the heat of my request." His attention stays on Tony as he says to Cayde. "How are you winning exactly?"

[in_extremis]

Cayde wasn't winning either game Tony could see at play, the cards or the tug of war, and Tony's gaze darted between them, the Exo and Cloud, trying to get a read on what exactly that little display of machismo was about. It couldn't have been the Go Fish, unless they were playing with house rules that justified getting passionate. "I believe I've surpassed the height limit for this one," he declined Cayde's offer, "but you let me know when the after hours events start." Cayde didn't seem nearly as wound up as Cloud, and if the dig at his height didn't get under his skin at all, maybe leaning on the back of his chair would because he didn't seem pleased with the proximity. Letting Cloud hold his gaze, Tony purred, "That's a remorseless way of saying you broke the only replicator. Very powerful way to introduce yourself to the team. Is it a dominance thing?"

[deal_me_in]

"Maybe the difference wasn't included in the programming. But then if it was the Agrii that disabled weapons in the first place, who knows what all that could encompass."

Cayde wasn't aware he was supposed to be winning the conversation game, on the grounds that there really didn't seem to be any winning when the replicator was already busted. He draws his aces over, settling them in with the rest of his cards.

"I'm not telling you my secrets," he replies, not that there's really any for a game of Go Fish. "Sevens?"

His optics flick towards Tony with a bit of a crooked smile. "I'll try dreaming up a poker table next time, then."

There is however a slight wince as Tony goes right for it when it comes to the subject of the replicator, and he looks between him and Cloud. He'd already noted the shift in the latter's position, and he isn't quite looking forward to playing 52 card pick-up if things go south.

"I'm more concerned on whether we can fix it or not- although so long as we're stuck in here, the not unfortunately holds."

[backoff]

"I've fought things with better programming and they took longer to break. What point are you trying to make here?"

Cloud's eyebrows narrow knowing that shit wouldn't fly in Shinra. They had all sorts of virtually reality simulators where programming was top notch. The replicator turned out to be a joke to Cloud but he knows it's an important joke to everyone else.

"Your actions will." He picks up his hand again his eyes flicking over each one. "Go fish."

Cloud turns in his chair slightly and tilts his head to look up at Tony, his eyes are glowing from the mako within. If anything he could be ready for a fight.

"I wanted to say something but then the alert happened." He holds Tony's gaze. Cloud stays seated knowing that standing up would be bad right now. "What are your thoughts on telling a bunch of people that the replicator is broken? You don't know anything about me, Tony."

He then says to Cayde. "It surged. My guess is where ever the main power source it runs off of might be able to fix it. But I didn't have the time to ask where it's connected."

But then he says to both of them. "Care to share information that I might have missed?"

[in_extremis]

Cloud didn't have to kick the replicator when it was down. They didn't have a lot of luxuries in Temba, that replicator was it, it wasn't the replicator's fault that Cloud was hard on it. Tony was pretty sure he wasn't the first one to try to make what could have been a weapon with it, though, if he was picking up the pieces of this conversation correctly. He pouted thoughtfully, considering Cayde's point about the Agrii and how they might have interpreted what 'weapons' could mean, but it might not have been as complicated as that-- "Bat could be alive," he proposed, muttering like he couldn't possibly mean to interject. Not a weapon or for sports at all. Very complex request to make of the replicator, that could have caused a surge, sure. He didn't have much more information for Cloud, as far as he knew, without seeing the damage himself.

Cayde only had to mention poker to get Tony to finally sit with them, glass on the table, but he still slid his chair close to Cloud's to keep an arm along the back of it, lounging easily like he wasn't deliberately far too close for comfort. He wasn't sure if Cloud was asking what Tony would have done in his situation, but he offered the answer anyway with a delicate hand to his chest, "I wouldn't have to." Tony would have it fixed before it was an issue he had to share the news. Which meant he must know at least a couple of things about Cloud by now: "Some of us work out our brains, too. What's going in the poker pool, then? I'd offer replicator charges but..." Tony sucked his teeth, boy, what a shame, someone really ruined all of the fun around here.

[deal_me_in]

Saved having to defend a piece of equipment he understood very little about save that he wished they had one in the Last City, Cayde snap-points at Tony's suggestion. "And here we round back to the whole confusion thing. Simple isn't always so simple." Although even the terminals back home wouldn't blow a fuse over a request like that. Ask for specifications, sure, not that you could get much more than a picture or information.

"Do you remember nothing from my poker lesson?" Cayde grins over at Cloud, even as he reaches over to pick another card from the deck. He sighs, plucks three others from his hand and sets the four aces down. "Winning."

He adjusts the remaining cards in his hand, waiting for Cloud to ask. When Tony joins them at the table, the Exo rolls his head in a look towards the man as he speaks up on matters of fixing things. There might even be a smirk there, because it hadn't been that long ago that someone had shorted out the power grid.

"Right now it's Go Fish Poker. And I'm all tapped out of glimmer but I got some vintage pocket lint," he says, rolling his eyes at Tony. Come on, is he going to have to play peacekeeper?

[backoff]

Cloud rolls a corner of his bottom lip under his teeth and biting it along the way. He doesn't even wince but he's doing it out of a nervous habit. The blond didn't know anything about the Agrii besides that they don't communicate very well. "A wooden baseball bat should be simple enough. So you're saying even fuel for a motorcycle would have confused it."

He needed to probably speak to the replicator as if it were a small child and it would have maybe understood him. Cloud didn't want to get to that conclusion but he does live small children that's constantly near him too. "Luck of the draw." He waves his hand while shoving his cards back to Cayde. "If we're adding in another person we should make the game fair, right?"

Cloud could easily yank his own chair and himself away from Tony but that's giving in. He'll lean back against his chair while crossing his arm against his chest. Maybe he can keep himself out of trouble that way. "I went for the Engineering datapoint to figure out how to fix the replicator. Where does the main power source run to exactly?" He looks at Cayde while raising his eyebrows at him. It's a tell of get the bet.

"Let Cayde bet what he wants. I owe him for teaching me cards."

[in_extremis]

Cayde didn't have any reason to slander Tony's good name at this table with baseless rumours about his own encounters with the power grid, making Tony smile innocently at him for that look, absolutely no idea what it could possibly mean, officer. For the eye roll, he only offered a spread of his hand over Cloud's shoulder, eyebrows raised, what?, because Cayde wasn't going to be obligated to do anything in the instance he also wouldn't mind seeing what would happen if Cloud got heated. It was basic science.

"Could have," was all Tony was willing to admit to, and it was about the replicator's room for error. "It might not know what a motorcycle is, fuel could mean a lot of things, I'm not even prepared to assume to know what you mean by fuel. You have a motorcycle?" Troubleshooting the replicator was already pointless as long as they were trapped down here, and finding out that there was also a motorcycle in the city now made it more excruciating. Tony groaned, but didn't let that stop him from croaking, "I'm not playing Go Fish. Blackjack, that's easy for the new kid to pick up." He tapped the table and pointed to the deck with a nod, Cayde's deal.

"Do you mean the power plant? The big building that the data point was in?" he asked. "If it was a surge straight from the source, wouldn't there be a bigger problem than just the replicator?" Not that he had any personal experience or anything.

[deal_me_in]

"I still won," Cayde feels the need to claim, even as he gathers up all the cards together and shuffles.

"Fuel can burn, and also be used as a weapon," he points out. "But we've already gone over this road." He nods at Tony, starting to deal out cards between the three of them, two apiece. "Blackjack it is. Basic math, get twenty-one. Face cards are ten, aces are ones or elevens," he says as he sets the rest of the deck down. "You want another card to add to your total, ask for a hit, or if you're good where you are, you say you'll stand. You go over, you lose."

He flips over one of the two cards in front of him, scowling a bit. "Seven is haunting me," he snorts, but he looks to the two as he idly fans the deck between his hands.

The replicator and power plant talk he'll be happy to listen to, but he has no clue on how to fix anything, let alone how things work. "Although that is a good point," he notes. "Nothing else went out at the time, right? I'm sure people would'a noticed otherwise. Just a localized surge then?"

[backoff]

Cloud nods his head at Cayde knowing and agreeing that he did win. He basically folded his hand over to them to start another game to include Tony. The tag teaming is easy enough to handle Cloud will have to manage both of them up to a point. "I use a sword to fight but I am without one. Let's drop the fact that I wanted something that could be used as a weapon and focus on the fact that I would use it to protect us."

He looks over at Tony widening his eyes a little and getting a bit cocky as his lips pull in a small smile. "Fenrir. It's a really nice bike. Cayde got to go on a ride."

He follows with the directions of Blackjack but then gets caught up with the rest of what Tony says. Cloud already knew that it was centralized to one spot so he tries to stay focused on Cayde and says to him. "The replicator was the only thing in that room to get a surge."

Cloud turns his attention back on Tony. "Yeah, I went to the power plant before going back to the replicator to check what went wrong and then I had to come this way. I didn't have time to go back to check the wiring but that means going into a place that I don't know anything about."

He goes quiet for a moment while asking this next thing. "How much has Reeve told you about the Planet we come from?"

[in_extremis]

No one at this table sounded to Tony like they had any quarrel with Cloud's intent, but he sure seemed defensive enough about it for Tony to respond with a slow, fangy grin, clearly ready to wind that wire until it snapped when Cloud saved himself by throwing Tony's attention back onto Cayde. "You got to go on a ride," he repeated, all staccato consonants with wide eyes. "Did you go to the park, did he throw the ball for you?" He might have been a little jealous, but not if Cloud was telling other people about it like that.

He turned his cards face up on the table for this hand, no need to play cagey while there were no bets in play and Cloud might not have known what to expect yet. A King and a four, not great, and Tony counted for Cloud, "Ten, fourteen..." and finished with a point to Cayde's hand on the table, assuming he could do the math and work out that Tony's odds of getting a perfect hit were not great already, and he was still going to tap the table on a number that low to get Cayde to deal him another card. Not a complicated game, just enough instruction to buy Tony time to consider what the delicacy of Cloud's question was. He knew where it might be leading. Reeve had a personal stake in the details that didn't seem like it would be relevant, but Tony still darted a cautious glance between Cayde and Cloud, not sure how Cloud's interpretation would sound. "Enough," seemed like a safe answer, and to try to show that he meant he was already following the logic, from the power plant to the fuel source, he dropped his arm from Cloud's chair, less combative. Hux hadn't had a confident answer for him, so Tony looked skeptical when he pressed, "Do you know what the crystals are?", trying to find out if Cloud had a real concern or a hunch.

[deal_me_in]

"-okay but last I checked, those are still considered weapons."

Yeah, he ...had to get that out. He's not asking for bullets to shoot squirrels! Well okay, not until recently would that have been a consideration, but he did promise Eli that he'd bring some meat to the diner.

When Cloud makes mention of the bike ride, the Exo shakes his head, running a hand over his face with all the implication of a 'here we go'. He looks at Tony, gives a crooked smile. "We did some mean donuts in the hangar."

He waits as Tony helps with a visual explanation of the card game at hand, obliging with as many cards as Tony taps for. He's not sure where Cloud is going with the whole subject of the world he's from, glancing at Tony with a shrug before looking back to Cloud.

[backoff]

He's going to be fleeing the weapon talk conversation now. Since Cloud can flee from any topic that he wants including what he had recently brought up. The urge to get up from the chair was strong, he felt that anxious bubble would burst. Cloud starts moving his right leg in a way of bouncing it out of that nervous anxiety. There's a raise of his eyebrow while he glances over at Cayde. Did he hear jealously from Tony? It's only a motorcycle ride to him, that's all.

"Ten Four." He says it crisp and clear to Tony. Cloud watches as the next card comes up wondering if it'll end up being an eight or nine or even another face card. Anything but a lower numbered card. He wasn't really into the conversation between Cayde and Tony with the bike. But hey, Cayde could go for making Tony jealous as Cayde wanted to see if Tony would become that way.

The arm moving away may have helped Tony a bit as he quietly takes in where he wanted to go with that topic or if he should flee now. Cloud turns his head to Tony looking at his face trying to gauge exactly what 'enough' even means. His leg hasn't really let up knowing where this was going. His eyes are hardened as his lips part slightly as he speaks as a sharp bite. "I do."

He should really use flee. But then, he remembers what he asked Sansa and she didn't have an answer for them. "Do one or both of you know what the storms do?"

you wanted to ask and made Tony panic

[in_extremis]

The bike, like the replicator, existed outside of their realm as it was, so it was a little hard to be that jealous about donuts until Tony could set eyes on it and give a proper judgement. That wasn't energy he was willing to put in to find out they had been buzzing around on an electric scooter. Still, he gave Cayde a performative gasp, "And I wasn't invited?", as much to try to ease the tension that he had been trying to ramp up a moment ago. He didn't like the way Cloud was fidgeting now. And he really didn't like it in combination with the answer about the crystals.

"Pump the breaks," he said, hooking his arm back on Cloud's chair to turn more toward him when he thought he could just drop that tidbit then power through to chat about the weather. "Are the power cells related to the storms?" he tried to connect with some disbelief that the new guy had made this leap when Tony hadn't even figured out what the storms looked like in the months he had been here. Further, and not to amp up Cloud's bouncing anxiety but it had to be on the table now, "Do you think the storms are like your planet's...life source? The mako?"

[deal_me_in]

At least Tony doesn't disappoint. Cayde hadn't been serious about trying to make him jealous so much as lighten things up. It doesn't last all that long, although he figures he'd be fooling himself if he thought the whole matter would blow over so easily.

He still isn't following, or at least hasn't put the concerns together, not until Tony brings up the power cells. And still there's a gap between that and the storms that he can't figure the connection. Mako, however...

"Wait, what?"

Okay, so it's not the most scintillating response, but he's jumping mental hurdles now to catch up with the conversation's turn. "I don't know what the storms here do for sure except that everyone is concerned about what might happen to me if I stand out in one." Well, two people isn't everyone but it's a good chunk of people who count. "I still think I'm missing something here. How'd we get from the power to the storms?"

[backoff]

Cloud is a tad slow on changing of room scene moods. He's not used to the quick tension to trying to lighten things. Messing around is a thing he'll grow used to again. Being alone for a while with not being around people can do that.

The leg shaking stops as Tony turns himself inward to face him. Cloud tilts his head at the mention the power cells being related to the storms. "I was asking about the storms for another reason." He turns his head for a moment to look at Cayde. "If people are worried about you being out there, it's because of what you are and one thought it's mostly electricity based. What danger does the storms actually have?"

He turns his attention back to Tony as he presses his lips tightly together into a thin line. "I know how the rods are made." Cloud shifts in his chair while shaking his head. "I don't know if that would be related to the storms or not. But if it is..."

He can't bring himself to say it. He relived some of those memories already and he can't forget what he had been searching for before coming here.

"I don't trust you enough to give you what I know." Cloud says quietly to Tony because the only other person at the table he would trust with what he did know is Cayde. "Truthfully, I need to get with Reeve." And Vincent, but he could do that separately or together.

[in_extremis]

If Cloud hadn't told Tony that he was from the same planet as Reeve, Tony thought he might suspect it by now; they had a similar queer cadence, not just the melody of how they spoke but their choice of language that Tony had found so beguiling in Reeve and assumed it had been something in his upbringing, not his culture. This didn't quite click yet, sounding clumsier than Reeve would have put it exactly, at 'it's because of what you are', but the phrase made Tony laugh in surprise and shoot Cayde a look for being a 'what' before giving a small shake of his head. Not how Tony would have outlined his concerns about Cayde's interaction with the storms.

It was Cloud's quiet declaration of trust, what he expected in exchange for information, that had Tony slouching back in his chair and studying Cloud as the way he chose to lay that out nagged at Tony's recognition. That wasn't something anyone had actually said to him before. "Neither of us have been through the storms," he offered apologetically, with a flick toward Cayde, and gave a shrug. "We're not really the best company to ask about them. You want to ask someone that's been here a while-- Billy or Tommy, the twins, they'd be a good bet. Or Jon, he's got this thing for records." Folding his arms across his chest, Tony worried his lip thoughtfully before he continued, "But we're all part of whatever this thing is now. You don't know me from Adam, I get that, but if you think you know something about the system...I've got no reason to work against you, sweetheart."

[deal_me_in]

Predictably, Cayde makes a face, both at Cloud's comment and Tony's look. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.

He does nod at Tony, confirmation about their inexperience with the supposedly dangerous storms that weren't supposed to be deadly to them and yet somehow in this particular instance were claimed to be. Yeah, he's still hung up on that. He also nods his agreement on the suggestions of who to ask about the storm details.

Cards seem to have been long forgotten, so he sets the deck down, leaning back in his seat, turned slightly so he can drape an arm over the seatback. Cloud just continues to keep them in suspense, and then it plateaus with his admission that he'd rather not continue. The Exo looks from Tony to Cloud, back and forth.

"Look," he says, sitting forward again, resting his elbows at the table's edge. "If there's something we should know about how things work, it's not going to do any good keeping it a secret. Aside from whatever info's fed to us, it's all touch and go to figure things out, and one problem's as good as everyone else's."

His attention shifts to Cloud. "If trust is the issue here, I'll vouch for Stark. As much as he might sound otherwise, his intentions are usually good, and he knows his way around things like this. And like he said- there's no reason for him oppose you. Anyway. Clearly you've got concerns. You've already made them just as much our's now."

A pause.

"...and of course, if you don't trust me either, well then, that's another matter," he says, giving a lopsided grin.

[backoff]

Cloud needed to get a feel for Tony for himself. The other seemed to want to push his buttons at first but then provided information that he needed. He could handle a lot coming at him but he would protect himself when needed. Cloud sighed knowing his choice of words weren't the best and he looked apologetically at Cayde like a puppy dog asking for forgiveness. The card game is long forgotten since he turned the conversation into something that’s been bothering him. He’s at least talking to people about it. It’s not exactly easy when he normally bottles it all up. But Cayde and Tony both bring up good points. Cayde more so on keeping things a secret. Cloud moves a hand to his left arm giving it a squeeze as his nibbles on the corner of his lip in silent thoughts.

“I’ve bothered Jon enough. I do plan on getting with Billy on another matter so I will be sure to bring up the storms with him.” Yes, he knows some people around here and some at least their names. Cloud’s right hand stays on his left arm as he says this too. “I'm going to suggest that this conversation stays among us and those you wish to tell. But I don't want too many to panic. I have two friends I need to talk to.”

“I do trust you Cayde.” His eyes slowly focus on the Exo. “I already know what secrets can do to people or to themselves. I relived some of that recently. You know how the Lifestream is the main source of energy on Gaia, the Planet I'm from. Mako Reactors filtered the Lifestream to create power for all of us on the planet. We were basically taking its resources. The Planet could have been dying; it was a theory to be believed. A group believed that to be true and fought back against the corporate making the Mako Reactors. I got hired by them for mercenary work and as a way to fight back against Shinra for my own reasons. I helped them blow up a few in Midgar.”

There’s a shrug at that since he was against Shinra for a lot of reasons. Cloud needed to work this through to explain the crystal rods. “The crystal rods get made by using anything from this planet, like rocks from a cave nearby. You can charge the rods up by using the planet’s energy to power them.” He turns his attention back onto Tony.

“This planet could be protecting itself. Gaia chose to do it differently after an event that happened two years ago for me.” Cloud keeps his attention on Tony. “The replicator needs to be fixed so we can continue to get supplies. I'm going to need help since I'm against using the planet's energy for my own personal reasons.”

[in_extremis]

At Cloud's request for secrecy, Tony teased in a low voice, "The part about you sabotaging the one good thing in the city, or just this part?" and flashed a wolfish smile.

The preamble wasn't entirely new information to Tony, making him nod slowly and restrain himself from tapping the table to increase the tempo here, but Reeve hadn't exactly been clear with the details of how his planet had been liberated from this energy source. Mercenaries and explosions hadn't come up, anyway, making Tony focus more curiously on Cloud, eyes narrowed and considering and finding he wasn't entirely surprised to learn this about him. He could see the guy strapped in black armor and bullying civilians for kicks. The 'group' doing the fighting and hiring was more interesting to Tony, and made the tale more complicated than he had been led to assume. That kind of money, on Earth, only ever came from the oil or the military, not against it.

'I'm a mercenary hired to blow up power plants' was a fair secret to be anxious to admit to.

"You think the storms are climate change," Tony concluded, knowing it wasn't a 1:1 comparison for Cloud, but the neatest hypothesis for the phenomena so far even outside of his experience with his own planet's response to the reckless abuse of a natural resource. The language might still have been a part of Cayde's history, wherever their dimensions overlapped, so Tony watched Cayde as he said it to get the sense that he was reading this right. Whether or not the hypothesis panned out to be true, it was a solid enough reason to be wary, but the holes in Cloud and Reeve's story so far had Tony itching at his chest and frowning, wondering where that sketchbook he left with Reeve had gone. With a sniff, he offered, clipped and irritable suddenly, "Lots of energy options. Got sunlight for a decade up there, that's an obvious one. We'll make a battery pack, see how it goes. Have you seen Reeve today?"