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♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

WHO: Cayde-6 and erryone
WHERE: The Deep End (Orange-13 on map)
WHAT: Cayde doesn't like dwelling on negative things so HEY Bar Grand Opening ~~come drink away your sorrows and stress and enjoy company in general~~
WHEN: 'bout a couple of days after the storm's passed, time flexible thereafter
WARNINGS: N/A will change as necessary
NOTES: Use whatever format you want

[Network - Video]

[The image starts out crooked but the Exo's actively adjusting it before he steps back and gives someone a thumb's up off-screen.]

All right, so good news? Nothing sprung a leak despite prior circumstances, surrounding area's a little damp though, but all in all? Everything's pretty much how I left it. Even got some supposed cyanana booze that's been uh...going through this still since before we left for space. -okay I'm not exactly sure how that might taste? So in the meantime, I've got a backup plan.

[He seems to remember something then, coming up close to the communicator.]

But Cayde, you say, what's all this about anyway? Excellent question! I was so excited I forgot to say. Ahem. So, some of you- a good number, actually, might be aware that I have been in the process of putting together a bar-slash-common gathering area type of hangout...thing. It's pretty much been done, just not stocked- but now that we're finally back from...all that and then some, I've got a selection of fine drinks for your...uh... drinking pleasure. Also some non-alcoholic stuff for the non-drinkers and the under-aged. Oh, and there's tea and coffee too.

[Fishing around in his pocket, he holds up a map he's drawn up, the location circled.]

We're right down here, southeast sector, past the lake- I'm working on getting some kind of a landmark but this place is fresh out of neon signs. Anyway! I'll be around. Come as you please, even if I'm not- don't trip up the stairs, help yourself and uh, don't mind if the fish stare at you.

Making the network announcement had helped to fully kick his mood back into a semblance of normal. Truth be told, he just wanted to gather up people together, real people, and settle in with an ambiance of more pleasant times and warmer company.

The backdrop of the water-filled courtyard that made up the center of the nest of buildings had been something Cayde had at the time thought whimsical. During the daylight hours the light that filtered through the large window was a wavering green-blue, offset by the small sconces along the wall and a few individual lanterns at tables and flanking the bar area adjacent to the makeshift aquarium.

Cayde had set up the various bottles of drinks he'd acquired from their planetary pit-stop and scavenged from the cafe on a somewhat crooked shelf behind the bar itself. He'd been trying to go for rustic like those Old West saloons but in the middle gave up and just let things shape itself as he found them. The glassware is just as mismatched as the furniture, but everything's clean and ready to be made use of. If there's anything he really wishes he had, it would be an old-fashioned phonograph player or some kind of music source just to drive off the quiet that filled the space when no people did.

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"Fair enough."

With a snap-point, Cayde turns and swipes the bottle off the slightly crooked shelf, grabbing a glass with the other hand from somewhere beneath the counter. He sets it on the top and removes the cork with a satisfyingly hollow *pomf* before filling the glass with the clear blue liquid.

"Here you go," he says, sliding the glass over. "Lemmee know what you think."

Echo watches the whole process with rapt attention, yet his focus zones in and out between steps; a few blinks in and already the glass is mostly full and sliding his way. He almost misses his cue, quickly recovering to catch the drink several inches from where it's supposed to stop.

He doesn't make a big deal out of it, however, lifting the glass to thank Cayde properly before taking a quick swig. "Oh," comes his first thought after swallowing, brow furrowing as his frown reforms in a similar manner. "Yeah." He smacks his lips, his head bobbing slowly into a continuous nod. "Yeah, I think that'll do."

It seems a favorable enough response that Cayde nods. He pours himself a glass before returning the bottle back to its place.

"So how about that storm, huh? What a wreck," he mutters with a shake of his head. "First time I've been through one for the...how many months I've been stuck here? I think it's been months. The days are weird here- like some thirty-something hours. And then up in space we lose track even faster."

He shrugs, taking a drink as casually as anyone would, despite being, well, a robot.

The glass hovers a short distance away from the clone's chin, his breath held until he tries to laugh. Emphasis on 'laugh' – it comes across as dry and maybe weaker than intended. And with the storm as the topic, the whole experience is still fresh on his mind.

"I'll say," Echo sighs, taking a quick sip before setting the glass down again. He lets the drink punch him in the tongue as he looks down at the counter. "No wonder the days felt longer. I already lost track of it ever since I got here, but that explains everything..."

Glancing up at the Exo again, he trails off and stares. It's different this time. He doesn't question how Cayde is actually ingesting the liquid. Under normal circumstances he'd be on top of that with maybe two or three follow-up questions after getting the first answer out of the way. But this? This is how off he's feeling right now.

Still, another question sidles in naturally. "...How bad would you say this storm was in comparison to the first one you've gone through?"

"I'd be surprised if you managed to keep track of days when we were still on the ship out in space," Cayde smirks. He takes another swig of his drink, metal brow lifting at the clone's stare. "What, I got something on my face?"

He doesn't expect an answer to that, shrugging as he rests his elbow against the bar again. "Technically that was the first storm I hadda go through. Supposedly another one hit some time before our wild space adventure, and the Agrii were insisting it was so bad that we needed to take cover in a tunnel." He holds up a finger.

"Of course, as soon as we all got in there, the exit vanished, and we were stuck there about a month. I figured it was a trap of some sort that was just an excuse for us to get in each other's heads, but I don't know what the point of it was otherwise. When the exit finally reappeared, things were wet as you'd expect after a storm, nothin' damaged though, so couldn't really say for sure what was going on topside."

"A tunnel?" It's about as far as Echo gets when Cayde holds up a finger, shutting up long enough to hear out the rest of what happened the last time he and everyone else was on Agra 10.

Of course there was a catch to taking shelter in a tunnel. Not that he expects the twist in the middle of it all. "I was about to say that sounds better than what just happened," he says shortly after the Exo finishes, "but being in other people's heads without any previous warning crosses a few lines." He pauses, giving a lopsided shrug. "Then again, this one felt like it was within a similar vein."

"I know, right?! Like...at a certain hour we'd be compelled to sleep- that's the only way I was able to keep track of the days, marked up the wall of the room I was assigned. The interior was kind of like being in a ship- 'cept it was all white and plain like a medical facility. Blech." He shudders.

"Anyway- yeah. We'd dream. Find ourselves wandering into each other's headspaces. It was... Yeah." The Exo shakes his head. "That storm though? Sure does kinda ring similar now that I think about it." He pauses. "...and if they're manufactured, then what if...that whole Calibrations thing was just a way to siphon off some info from us and put it into a whole production like that..?"

Cayde drums his fingers on the bar top as he thinks aloud, squinting at the air in front of him.

Again Echo's nose wrinkles, becoming more pronounced for the latter description of the tunnel's interior according to the Exo. "'Ey– nothing wrong with a clean layout. If you were on Kamino, they'd peg your marks as a form of vandalism." A quick swig, and his glass is empty. His expression doesn't really change, however. "But falling asleep like that is highly irregular. And creepy...'specially if you were all connected to each other somehow..."

As Cayde continues, his brow finally lifts when he sounds like he's onto something. "Yeah?" The clone's free hand gestures lightly in circular motions. "Calibrations? I mean...it's out there, but it doesn't sound impossible now that you're mentioning it since the storms are something we're supposed to fix?"

By the look on Cayde's face, he seems quite proud of Echo's accusations.

"Oh, it was totally vandalism. Not easy scoring those walls with a knife but I managed! ...Dulled a few blades too but at least I had plenty of time to sharpen those. Also made the mattress into a makeshift target board. The Agrii didn't exactly send us in with much and we had little enough time to bring what we could along."

He turns to grab the bottle of blue again, filling Echo's glass and topping off his own. "You're right though, it was super creepy. Wouldn't have thought much of it 'cept usually my dreams aren't so lucid and I don't remember too much of 'em. Not sure I remember everything of what we went through then, but I still remember enough. Talking to others only confirmed as much, that we'd been in each other's heads going through memories."

But some of those people had disappeared, some time before their return and everything. Cayde wishes they had a better confirmation that those people had been sent back home. The last time Cloud and Bucky had vanished, they found them in the hold of the supposed enemy ships that were rigged to self-destruct, in a coma and with signs of someone having done some hasty surgery to implant something. Scowling as his thoughts drift, the Exo pulls them back as he lifts his glass to drink.

"Right, you got here after the whole ship rescue thing. See, before this actual storm, all I had to go on was hearsay. Seeing ghosts, people you knew, any special powers cutting out on you. Now, when we were on the Agrii ship to save 'em? The ships that we made out to be enemy ships fired at us, and it didn't only send the whole ship's systems into chaos, but it started messing with any of us that have some kinda ...I guess you'd call it supernatural ability? The Agrii had a bad reaction to it too- and they'd been claiming the storms here were lethal for them."

There is. So much. Echo can say in regards to Cayde's shameless telling in vandalizing property. A relapse in bringing up certain regulations, perhaps, but fortunately it never makes it to the surface because Cayde isn't a clone and it would be pointless to make a big deal out of it since it already happened.

What's more pressing are the parts about remembering other people's memories and the experiences based off of what they've heard from primary sources. "Yeah, Reeve told me about the storms being lethal to the Agrii at the party," he says as his hand curls around the refilled glass again. "And Cal...he gave a quick briefing about the powers and the ghost business..."

He frowns as he looks at the blue liquid. "I believed him. Yet even with that kind of preparation, we weren't ready for it." One swirl, and he drinks, exhaling after the half-empty glass meets the counter once more.

Cayde nods, looking solemn as he traces the edge of his glass. "Don't think anyone could have been ready for it. That's not something you can prepare for. The power fritz, maybe- 's not the first time it's happened. But facing the past like that?" He shakes his head. "Worse is when this thing manages to twist what you know, or thought you knew."

He brings up his glass, tossing the rest back before setting the empty cup on the counter with a thunk. "If it's more of the same, next time around, I don't think we'd be any better prepared. Something drew us in- you felt it, right? We all climbed aboard our ships like clockwork, went down and everything went to hell."

Echo silently nods. It's strange when a droid-like being can drink like a human, but the way he emotes and relates to the feelings the clone internally sorts through brings about a level of connection he never thought possible. It also leaves him mildly curious as to what Cayde saw on his end during the storm, but he lets that question sit on the back burner for a while.

"I think I did," he replies with some hesitation. "It felt routine at the time and, obviously, I'm used to routine. Until we got close enough to the planet." And crashed-landed – the 'everything went to hell' part is still clear before the minor blackout. Echo rubs his temples, shaking his head again. "If this is supposed to start making sense at some point, it's not getting there."

It isn't something Cayde is all too inclined to get into. He'd thrown open the doors of his bar to chase away the lingering negative feelings from the storm. For a split second he'd wondered if he'd gotten ahead of himself, but he's sticking to his guns on this one.

"Eh, no surprise there. I've been here how long and there's still lots of things that don't make sense," he reassures.

"That's promising." There's some skepticism in Echo's tired tone, but he at least feels a little comforted to know that he's not alone in that department. Or perhaps he's not at all comforted by the fact Cayde feels the same way. It's left open to interpretation as he falls silent, resting an elbow against the counter.

But the silence doesn't last too long. "–How well do you know the city?"

Thankfully Echo breaks the silence. It was getting a bit awkward. Cayde looks up.

"Muh? Oh, pretty well. Got a general idea of the layout, haven't scoped it all out though. You'd think it'd be easy what with it being mostly ruin, but that just makes it harder to get to places and trickier to identify between what's there in front of you and what's on the map."

Echo sits up. "That's better than nothing," he says, meeting the Exo's gaze with a lifted brow. He briefly looks down again, but it lasts for less than a second once he explains himself.

"During the storm, I hid my blaster somewhere. I was going to try retracing my steps, but now that everything's cleared up, I'm not exactly sure where to start." The corner of his mouth twists slightly. "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me in the search."

"You-"

Cayde laughs. "Why'd you go and do something like that?" Stowing your weapon away seemed like the worst possible idea. Or maybe that's just him and his needing to be armed at all times, not that bullets had helped any during that storm, although he sure did try his best.

"Sounds like my kinda thing. I love a good treasure hunt. Finder's keepers, right?"

Echo chuckles, degrees away from mirth as he picked up his glass again. "I'll tell you on the way." Quick is his answer, and the same goes for the rest of his drink.

Although the swallow is a bit more difficult when he shoots another look Cayde's way. "Finder's– now hold on, that isn't in effect here!"

At the very least, Cayde can sympathize. There had been nothing funny about the storm, although he's still very curious as to the clone's thought process that led up to doing such a thing.

He continues to grin once what he's proposed sinks in. "Well that's no fun! What do I get out of it then?"

Echo opens his mouth to reply, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Experience," he says with an air of confidence, not bothering to hide the smirk forming at the corner of his lips.

"What's it gonna be? Do you have the time now or should we do this later?"

The squint and the altogether compression of his metal features suggests a pout. "Kid, I have at least two centuries of experience over you and a nice chunk of that was finding misplaced and hidden weaponry in places way worse than a ruined, abandoned city." He grins. "If this were back home I'd be tellin' you to do it yourself and give you a few more spots to check for my own personal caches."

Cayde sweeps the empty glasses off the counter, setting them in an empty tray below for used things to be washed later before he straightens. "There's no time like the present. Also it's not like I got anything better to do than twiddle my thumbs. If people come by they can help themselves. Besides, how long can it take?"

Echo's expression shifts between a mix of surprise and amusement. "Huh! Could've fooled me, you sure don't act that old." In a way, having this exchange helps his mood, laughing under a breath when Cayde sticks it to him. "You actually tell other people to look for your stuff? What a way to throw your weight around."

To be honest, he probably can do it on his own. It'll just take longer and be more boring, however. Grabbing his helmet, he moves to stand. "Great. With two pairs of eyes, more ground can be covered faster."

Cayde laughs. "Well yeah, wasn't doing much with 'em anyway, and since I couldn't just go off to look for them myself, I figured may as well have someone find them that can actually make use of them."

He sets a sign on the counter that reads 'Gone out. Help yourselves, play nice, and don't wreck my bar.' Sauntering around the counter, he gives Echo a nod. "Well, let's go."

"Ah. That's very thoughtful of you," Echo replies, no trace of sarcasm found in the tone he uses. If equipment and gear is going to be useful to those who find it, then searching for it isn't too bad a deal.

With the smaller details squared away, the ARC Trooper slips his helmet over his head and leads on, each step a little less weary than how he previously walked into the bar.

+ + +

Standing among the abandoned buildings of the Town Center, Echo stares off into the distance. A gloved hand then rises to gesture in the direction past what looks like the He Row Soup Lies shelter.

"...From what I can recall, I entered the city somewhere past this area." Everything looks different after the rain, and with no exact landmarks, he tries to work off of whatever he remembers.

Unfortunately, part of that involves remembering the giant eye in the sky, but he decides to leave that out for the time being.

"Thanks to the storm, I had a hell of a time getting over here," he breathes out a low, modulated sigh. "Hearing the voices of my brothers was one thing, but seeing them alive again..."

A long pause takes hold – hesitation, like salt on a fresh wound – but he gets past it, eventually continuing as he walks. "The closer I got, the more physically violent they became. It only made sense to try an' hide the blaster before any of them got their hands on it."

"This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Cayde nevertheless sounds positive as he casts a sweeping look around. He hasn't the slightest idea of where they'd start, but he figures that it can't have been that out of the way. Echo doesn't seem like the sort of person to hide his gun across say, a deep chasm or up on the pinnacle of an ancient, rusting tower.

"Yeah. Tell me about it," he agrees, frowning to himself. Andal Brask may not have been his brother by blood, but Hunters looked out for their own, and Andal had been a good friend. "They wouldn't have been able to use it- was all in your head. But then that was the trick, convincing yourself otherwise." He shakes his head at the thought. "Was bad if you were out here alone. Hell, even with someone it was hard trying to keep straight what was real and what wasn't." Waving a hand as though he can physically dismiss the details of the storm, he tries to get them back on track for the reason they'd come out here.

"About how far did you get into the city before you decided it was safer to stash your gun?" he asks. "Was it in a building?"

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