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| Cargo Hold |
| The lowest level of the dropship was once meant to store large amounts of cargo in addition to auxiliary seating. As the camp outside was built, however, it was cleared of the meager supplies sent down with The 100, and now is merely storage for the most valuable of resources. It's walls, deck, and ceiling have been stripped to bare metal panels, and several small areas extend beyond the central area, providing an illusion of privacy. A single lowered door with a pair of curtains across it is the only exit from the dropship, while two ladders pierce the ceiling, leading to the levels above. |
| 28 Apirl 2149 |
Cole can't take his laptop out of the dropship, mostly because this is the only source of power. He also jealsously guards the thing as 'his', usually be locking it with a series of encryption keys. Have fun hacking your way through it. Not going to find much other than personal journal entires about progress and designs for random ideas pretaining to the camp. Not much anything else of interest. And while he's not working on the water purifier at this exact moment, it'll be something he'll get around to when he's feeling it.
Silver has been working on one of the bracelets scavenged from the dead kids for most of the day, using a bit of a splinter to try to crack the casing open to get at the juicy electronics and programming inside. Without the proper tools, though, it's slow going. And once her fingers start cramping up, she's ready to call for a break. "Ugh," she groans, straightening up and shaking her hands out before rubbing her eyes.
Cole has been working with some kind of progamming code, something to pass the time. Probably something for future efforts, for designing something else. "Might as well start bangin it against a fuckin rock." he observes across the hold, since the impromptu power cord to his equally impromptu laptop doesn't give him much room to manuver it around. "Might not be not idea. Enough pressure to just crack the case to it without damanging the goddamn circuitry." he offers.
"No way," Silver shakes her head. "I bust it and I won't be able to tell how it works, which means I won't be able to get it off of myself or other people without resorting to bashing hands with large rocks, and I just don't see that working out for anyone. It's just gonna take some patience is all. Tools would help, but either there aren't any, or someone already looted them."
There is a slight singing sigh of a sound that heralds Hal's entrance from the holds above, sliding down the ladder using the outside of his feet to control (with meager success) his descent. The landing is hard enough to cause him to grunt, but he smiles after a quick look around. "Did someone say something about bashing things with rocks? /That/," he drawls, "is the kind of survival technique I can get behind." He takes a couple of easy steps into the room. "What's up?"
"They're not /that/ fuckin sensitive. You don't need to handle that stuff with kid gloves." Cole frowns. "Look at this fuckin thing." he gestures at the laptop in his hands. "Some fuckin yahoo decided he wanted to do a half-ass job of fixing a navigation console and just put a damn laptop itno the console, thinking that would fix it. Electronics degree my ass. Anyways, there's usually a buffer between the circuitry and the housing, in case of damage- just like you're trying to do now." Rooting around in his things, he tosses her a piece of metal. "Use that. It's what I used to pry this thing out of the wall." It's a long, thing piece of metal that's been bent in a particular pry-bar type shape. Almost looks kinda like a lockpick. About to go back to his screen, there's a nod to Henry. "Sup, man. Just getting doing some fuckin work. I'm Cole, and the hottie over there is Silver."
"Thanks," Silver nods to Cole, taking the tool to pry at where she's already worked the casing a little loose. "Hey, if I manage to get this thing loose and it turns out we need to input some sort of command to get these off, you mind if I borrow that laptop?" she asks, looking up at Henry's arrival. "Hey," she greets with an upward tip of her chin. "Trying to figure out how to get the bracelets off."
"Work? Gross." Henry makes a face, then leans against the wall of the hold, folding his thick arms over his chest. "Hal," he offers, by way of introduction. "Good to meetcha both." A hand scratches at his chest. Just /what/ they are working on, however, seems to have captured his attention. "Anything I can do to help? I been thinking' about it. I'd be willing to saw off my thumb. I think if I did that, and with a little wiggling…" He eyes his hand critically.
"Whelp, someone's gotta fuckin do it." shrugs Cole. "Either that, I can sit around while everyone breaks their fuckin backs. But that shit is boring. Sitting around with my dick in my hand…yeah, I can think of better fuckin things to do." he remarks, snorting at Silver. "If you can read my code, sure. The OS was partially corrupted in the landing. MOst of the programs work, you just have to access them by manually imputing the command lines for them. So…hope you enjoy working within the BIOS." he chuckles. "DOn't worry, if you need something set up, let me know." Turning back to Henry, he considers. "Well, I'm designing a plan to build a wall around the camp. Gathering materials, but if I can digitally draw something out, it'll make building it go faster. So did you do on the Ark? Y'know, before getting tossed into the Box with the rest of us."
"Not a problem for me," Silver shrugs at Cole's conditions. "I know how to do it. And I had to pretty much pulverize the hands of the dead kids to pry them off, Hal, so we're probably looking at a little bit more than a thumb. Then you've got to worry about compartment syndrome, or possible amputations, and we just don't have the tools or the facilities for that sort of thing if you want to survive it."
"I been in the 'Box since I was thirteen," Henry says with a roll of his shoulders. "Before that, I helped my folks on the Agro Station mostly." His attention is pulled from Cole to Silver and he gives his hand another skeptical look before putting it protectively under his bicep. "Ok. So. Even better. Hal gets to keep his thumb." To both of them, he offers, "I can carry shit. I know how to throw a punch. I can—" He cuts off. "I think maybe carrying is the only useful thing I can do about that wall. Dunno about the bracelets."
"…I have a knife." Cole blinks at Silver. "Do you need one? A lot of them are making their own from bits of scrap. Probably would've worked better than just hitting it until it came off." Studying Hal, he nods. "Shit, I could some muscle hauling some of the metal panels around when they need to be placed. But we're a bit off from building the damn thing. Gonna need more help in that department. Can play all I fuckin want, but ain't gonna be worth a fuckin shit if I'm the only one building the fucker. But ah…Agro Station, eh? Knows there's some farming kids around pooling their shit together to grow shit. Dunno much about it, only that they're doing it."
"Hal should definitely keep his thumb," Silver agrees with a flicker of a smile. "But yeah, there's plenty of stuff to get done. I know some of the guard kids were working on hunting. I was thinking we could probably put together some sort of press to start pumping out arrow heads and spear tips, but that's probably more work than it needs to be for something like that. And I crushed their hands so the blood wouldn't attract some sort of predator," she adds with a shrug to Cole. "Seemed like a better idea when I started than it did when I finished, though."
"Yeah, well, I didn't get jetisoned off of the ark just so I could go back to growing shit for other people to eat," Hal says with a frown. "Way I see it, we get these things off," he holds his wrist up, "and we get to do whatever the hell we want for a change. But I hear you…work for the group for now, yadayada. Safety in numbers. When you need the material for that wall moved, you come find me. I'll help out…long as that wall ain't designed to keep me in."
"The way I see it, we're a bunch of fuckin idiots down here." Cole remarks. "And I say that in the nicest fuckin way possible. Not for nothing, but it's been, what? Three days since we landed? I don't like not knowing what's down here. And we're all soft an shit, good eatin for whatever /might/ be down here. If people want to take their shot on their own and paint a huge sign on them that says 'Free Lunch'? I can't stop'em from fuckin leaving. Frankly, I'll sleep fuckin better at night knowing there's some kind of defense between us and everything else out there. Read a anthropology book in the library some years back. Can't remember who wrote it or the name of it. But at the time, thought it was a load of bullshit at the time. Now? Now it makes a lot more fuckin sense." Silver get a laugh towards her. "Yeah, I can imagine that just turned messy after awhile, didn't it? Did…" he suddenly tihnks about something. "Were they buried?"
"Should probably burn them, rather than bury," Silver suggests, grimacing. "And probably before people get too hungry, for that matter. The next time food comes in, so anyone who starts thinking it smells good can focus on what they're going to eat and not get wrapped up in that whole moral dilemma. And hey, I get it," she nods to Hal. "And you're not the only one. But me? I know I don't have the skills to get by on my own out here. So I'm going to do what I'm good at, and hope that turns out to be useful enough when someone decides it's time to be the baddest kid in the group."
"And I have a feeling that nobody is taking care of that. Just letting the bodies rot." Cole sighs. "That's pleasant. Already heard about their bodies being looted. Man, we're just regressing quick to tribalism, aren't we? Read about that too in the book." Something crosses his mind, and he goes about locking his laptop through a series of writing a series of encryption keys to keep just about anybody out of it, unless they're as good as he is at coding, which he isn't putting it past. "I better go take care of that then. Build a goddamn funeral pyre. Never thought about doing that before." Getting up to his feet, he grimaces. "Alright, I'm going out there. I won't blame you if neither of you want to help. Doesn't sound like the most pleasant job ever."
"No one's taken charge yet," Silver shrugs. "And unless someone does, or we run into some sort of serious threat, then yeah. We're probably going to keep fracturing. On the up side, there seem to be several smaller groups that are at least trying to build up some infrastructure." At the suggestion to build a pyre, she sighs, eyeing the bracelet. "I could do with a break, I guess. Give myself a minute to think things over."
"Joy. Because the last thing we need is fucking fighting each other beyond fighting with fucking mother nature. And she's got a pretty good record when it comes to finishing fights." Cole grunts, setting the laptop aside. "Not going to be much of a break, Sil. Gonning be building some fuckin fires, tossing the bodies on them and watching them burn so we don't burn the whole goddamn woods down. If you're still down with me on that, then let's get this nasty shit done." A look over at Henry. "You can come if you want, but I won't blame you if don't." And then he's leaving the dropship.
"It'll be a mental break, at least. Besides, it won't be the first time I've dealt with a dead body," Silver shrugs, following after. "I'll see you around, Hall," she calls after herself, pocketing the bracelet.
Once getting to the spot where the bodies were placed outside the camp
"Fuckin cold, Sil." Cole says, heading down the ramp. "You did this before?" he looks across at her, walking to the perimeter of camp. "Doing what, exactly?" he asks, then pauses talking, and then adding, "Unless you don't want to talk about that kinda shit. I get you." He had heard where the bodies where, but hadn't gone to see himself. Can't say seeing dead bodies was something he ever really saw. Sure, he had seen one before. "The only time I ever saw a dead body was when I had to go on an EVA to fix air pressure vavle that was on the outside of the station. Had to continue where the last guy left off, because his suit caught on something, ripped, and the motherfucker suffocated before he could get back. But…when all the liquids in your body start to boil, figure…not a lot you can do at that point." When he comes to a stop infront of the pair of bodies, he sighs. "Poor fuckin slobs. Didn't even get a real chance to enjoy freedom." he mutters, looking from Silver to the dead. "In a sense, they could be the lucky ones." Then a sigh. "Alright, lets start throwing deadfalls into a pile. Light it with one of the torches from a campfire."
"At medical," Silver says as she follows along, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. "Sometimes people die. Bodies happen." She eyes the corpses, scrubbing a hand over her face. "It's gonna sound awful, but we really ought to strip them all the way. I know someone took the jackets and the shoes, but we've got limited resources here. It's stupid to burn two sets of clothes just because they were too dumb to stay in their seats when we went into zero gravity."
"Fuck." Cole utters, face paling a little bit at the idea of what they're about to do. "And we'll have to actually watch them burn to make sure the woods doesn't catch fire too, eh." he says, sounding a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, even though it has to be done. "I can see what nobody wants to do this. Nasty shit." Deep breath. "Alright, you take the woman, I'll take the guy." Noting the jacket and boots are already gone, he takes stock of what's left. Just clothes. Hands a little shaky, he start to pull the clothes off the dead male's body, trying to at least be somewhat respectful for the dead. "You know either of them? Their faces…are little familiar…but I don't think I talked to either of them."
"I don't…" Silver doesn't seem to have a problem with the stripping, aside from the physical aspect of it. "I pretty much kept to myself in the Box," she admits as she works. "I didn't belong there. They threw me in there to take the fall for the doctor who'd stolen my prototype. The understanding was I'd be out when I came up for review. So I always thought, better I should keep to myself and not get into any trouble, not give any excuse for them to float me instead. You can see where that got me."
"I get the feeling that a lot of us didn't fuckin belong there. I did. I stole from medical." Cole shrugs. "My dad was sick, coudln't get any more medication, I went to get it for him. Didn't work out so well." a shrug at that. "Shame on me, because the asshole didn't even care when I got thrown in the Box." Rigormortis has already set and passed, making the limbs pliable again. The overshirt and understhirt are pulled off. "Still. Sorry you were fuckin screwed like that. But hey, at least you're alive. But honestly, I've been thinking about why we're fuckin here. We wouldn't fuckin be here if the Council was thinking about bringing more people down. Why else put these bracelets on us, why track our vital signs if they didn't care what happened to us." Pants undone, tugged down. Then socks, then drawers. "Sorry man…" he says, doing pretty well of not throwing up. "People can use this."
"Pretty sure they're in bad shape. The prototype that got stolen?" Silver looks up from her task, folding the clothes once they're off. "It was an implant to improve oxygen usage in the lungs. The husband of the doctor who stole it was suffering from some serious complications of chronic bad air. And you heard the announcement. They were out of supplies to send with us to help. They're coming, one way or the other." She and Cole are in the process of stripping the bodies, talking as they do.
Because talking is about the only thing keeping Cole in it right now. Silently stripping bodies and then burning them has no real appeal to him. And shouldn't if he's sane at all. "Did the prototype even fuckin work?" he asks over at Silver, pulling off the last of the clothes on the male dead body while Silver does the same to the female one. "I mean, was it even fuckin worth the whole thing?" he adds to that, then waving it off. "Probably doesn't really matter, does it. Didn't mean to get personal or anything." Gritting his teeth, he looks away form the body to start collecting large pieces of deadfall to toss into a pile big enough to burn two bodies. "They are. I wonder how many more of us have really given it that much thought. That sooner or later, everybody else is coming down here. I'd say the ones who did some real bad shit are trying real fuckin hard to not think about it." he grunts, tossing down old, dead, branches.
Silver and Cole are stripping down two bodies of the 100 who didn't make it past landing, keeping the clothes for others who might need and building a prye to burn the bodies to prevent predators dropping by to eat at the remains.
After a non-committal grunt, Hal is slow to follow the pair to the bodies. Eventually, however, he shows up with a look of grim determination on his face. What he's done between here and there to prepare himself is anyone's guess. He looks stoically over the scene. "Might as well get anything that will come in handy, eh?" He seems more subdued than he was in the ship's hold. As Cole starts to build the pyre, he decides to help, lifting some larger pieces of wood with relative ease and dragging them into the pile. "I think we all better think about it," he grunts. "'Cause if you think they are going to give us a pass just because we came down here first, I think you're crazy."
"I agree," Silver nods to Hal. "I didn't get my review. Instead I ended up down here. So why should I believe they'll forgive everything when they get down here and not just lock me back up forever since I don't cost them oxygen any more?" She's not exactly the strongest person in camp, but she can start collecting tinder, at least, once the bodies are stripped. "And no," she grimaces to Cole. "It wasn't ready yet. The guy died, the doctor said I was the one who'd tried to do the procedure, and I ended up in the box."
"Or they're thinking they have free reign to do it more now. No adults, no supervision, nothing keeping them from doing whatever they want, whenever they want," Mika chimes in from the edge of the clearing. She's somber, maybe even a bit morbid, hasn't really said much since they 'landed'. Spent a lot of time frowning and looking around at the people around them. Watching them for their reactions, their whispered conversations, their voiced thoughts. Almost as disturbing as preparing bodies for burning. She glances between the three of them, "I don't think it matters if they're going to give us a pass or not. If we don't survive each other, they don't have to worry about it. They just need us to make sure Earth is… livable, again."
"That seems to be the fuckin consensus." Cole nods slowly. "But I have to look at from the outlook that if they're coming down here, they're gonna be just as screwed as us, because it's not like they can take the entire fuckin Ark with them. And if they were so strapped for resources like they've /always/ fuckin been, I'd love to see what they're going to do about us. I have a feeling they might just let the majority of us, because they're going to need the bodies for rebuilding…whatever they plan on." Then a shrug. "We could always them to fuck off and we'll make a go of it on our own. A lot of things /could/ happen, but sitting around playing the guessing game isn't going to help. It'll be a fuckin bridge to cross when we get to it." That said, he turns to hear Mika, his face brightening a little at the sight of her. The pile starts to get bigger, tossing more wood on it. Large start, smaller stuff, kindling along with larger pieces to burn longer.
Hal turns to regard the woman with the bright orange hair, eyeing her for a long moment, before lifting an arm to swipe at the sweat he has worked up on his face. "Well, I'd sure like it if they had to worry about it," is all he has to say for now. Turning, he goes to the nearest corpse, a male, and bends, picking it up in a fireman's carry. His nose wrinkles, but he walks with steady determination to the pile of wood. There, he unceremoniously dumps the body.
"Oh, hey. That's useful." Silver straightens up, blinking when Hal just picks up the body. Brute strength is definitely not her skill set. "Hey, Mikaela," she nods to the other girl when she shows up, gathering up more pine needles to dump at the base of the fire. Building fires is also not her best skill.
"You think? They'll be forewarned of any toxicity levels or new diseases that we might run into. If we all suddenly start dying off they'll be forewarned they we either started killing each other or found something that's killing us. Either way, they'll be well armed, well supplied comparitively speaking, and -way- better off than they left us. They gave us literally nothing but the clothes on our backs. They'll have every ounce of supplies and arms from the Ark as the Exodus ship can hold." Mika lifts a shrug towards cole and toes at an exposed root for a tree. She moves forward to help carry the other body to the pyre, looking towards Hal briefly for a nod before looking back to Cole. "Which is why I'm more concerned with the violent people already in our midst. Haven't you, any of you, been listening to some of the rumblings going on?" She offers a faint smile and wave towards Silver, "Heya Silver." Then its back to the business at hand. "So… I can't be the only concerned with the whispers going around about the 'strong' taking everything from the 'weak', right?"
"There's plenty of shit we should worry about. And that is the same shit we can do something about. Food, water, defense. That's really what we need to work on, and it looks like it's already starting to take root. Got some fuckin groups hunting, others dealing with plant shit, me and Silver are covering shit with anything broken. It's not really as bad as it might seem. Realistically, it could be a lot fuckin worse. What's the fuckin phrase? 'Better than expected, worse than I hoped'? I forgot how it goes. But, yeah I've heard. Asher tried taking a swing at me a day ago. I think it will become an issue, but I'm sure as willing to hear what we can do about, beyond telling them to fuck off out of camp." Coming up to the dead nude woman, he sighs, wiping first at the sweat on his face, and then at his eyes. Gingerly, he picks her up, with help from Mika, and placing her body on the pile as opposed to just dumping her down. "I'll…" another breath. "I'll go get a torch from one of the firepits." he says, slowly walking the short distance back to camp.
"Alredy starting to smell," Hal mutters, taking a step back from the pyre and its grizly load. Cautiously, he returns the nod from Mika, then he wipes his hands on his cargo pants. "You mentioned your were throw in the box for being some kinda doctor, right," he says to Silver. "Think they got anything inside 'em that might be useful?" As for the strong stealing from the weak, he refrains from comment. There are many different kinds of strong, but Hal is definitely the physical kind.
"I did med-tech," Silver explains to Hal. "So. Some doctor, some engineering, some programming. Mostly I kept the medical machines running, but that meant learning about a whole lot of other things. Which is a long way of saying no, I got their bracelets off and they probably don't have any sort of implants or anything that'll actually be useful to us." She pushes a hand through her hair, looking back to Mikaela. "Why do you think I've been keeping my head down? There are plenty of violent people here, and they're all better fighters than I am. I'm waiting to see who moves to organize. Fi's trying her way. The guard kids are trying their way. Either way's better than chaos, though."
"The bracelets are part biomonitor, part… radio? No, wrong thing… something. It connects to the Ark." She lifts her wrist to show the bracelet, "They're making sure we stay alive, that we don't contract radiation poisoning and die." Mika steps back to let someone better with it to start the fire. She drops her hand and tucks them both into her pockets, giving a nod, "I'd prefer the chaos, really. When they aren't organized, they aren't focused, and that means its less likely to be targeted by their attacks. They'll weed out the weak from the strong pretty quick…"
Whatever was being said, Cole didn't hear, but he returns with a stick on fire, using it as a torch. Coming to a stop before the pyre, his face is kind conflicted, like he's just…lost in thought over the entire thing. "I feel like I should…say something." he offers to the other three. "Uh…fuck.." He pauses for another moment. "Alright. I never knew these guys. Didn't even know what they did to get in the Box. Or if they ever deserved it. But what I do know is that they didn't deserve to die like this. Or at all. I'm sorry neither of you are with us and I'm sorry I don't even know your names." he touches various spots around the pile, letting them each catch fire, and once it's truely taken, he tosses the torch on it as well. "May we meet again."
"Ah," Hal says softly, but it is clear from his expression that Silver has lost him somewhere between engineering and programing. He looks like he might have more to say, but then Cole is there with fire and words. And slightly tug of amusement, perhaps out of place, pulls at the corner of his mouth as he listens. Then, his eyes remain on the fire as it starts to catch and spread. Over the crackling, he says, "Whoever comes out on top will come out on top because they are strong. In one way or another. That's just the way of it." The fire dances reflectively in his eyes. "People will submit to whoever they think can protect them and their shit for as long as possible. And whether its the person who can organize a parade or the one who can punch the hardest will just depend on what happens in the next few days…"
Silver points at Hal's explanation. "Pretty much," she agrees quietly. "Though given this bunch, there will probably be some who just want to go off and do their own thing, and consequences be damned. And yeah, I've been working on the bracelets," she nods to Mikaela before Cole starts on his eulogy. At that, she goes quiet, listening and watching. "May you be the last ones to give your lives for no reason," she adds to it.
Mika moves up next to Cole and shifts around, subtly catching his fingers with her own and standing with him while he says something for the departed. She glances back to Hal and lifts a brow at him, "And then there's people that don't force others to 'submit'. They offer a partnership. Strength isn't just who can put on a good face in public or who can hit the hardest. The person you want, really want, in control is the person that generally wants it the least. They're the ones that will compromise, ask instead of insist." Looking back to Silver, she smiles faintly and shrugs, "I don't know how electronics work, but I know upper end tech when I see it." She leans up and brushes a kiss over Cole's cheek, murmuring, "I'm going to go make sure our tent isn't getting ransacked. Be careful." Letting go of his hand, she smiles briefly towards the others and moves back towards the camp.
"These were fuckin /people/, man." Cole turns to Henry, tears streaming down his face. "And this whole 'strongest survive' is just bullshit. We are /not/ animals. I feel this shit." he gestures at the fire. "These were people. They had memories, families, hopes, and fuckin dreams just like the rest of us. It's not so fuckin simple as to just 'strong survive an weak die'. We /cannot/ be so fuckin callous as to not care. Not to feel something towards it. Not realize, that this, could very easily be us. Any single one of us." He stares back at the fire. "And oddly enough, I don't want it to be anyone. People may treat me like shit. They may treat my girlfriend like shit, and that shit pisses me off to absolutely no end at all. And there are times were, if I could, I would take her and I and we'd make it on our own. But we can't, because I know we're not able to. So I want to see these people live. Because I think we all fucking deserve it. Becuse we all have the right. And I will not be brought down by each other, and I will do what I can to make sure we all survive. Because I will not be dictated by people above me thinking I'm some kind of science experiment." He's angry, and it's obvious about these people dying. Ones he didn't even know. "My life is mine. All our lives are our own. But we need to rely on each other, not be at each other throats. I would rather offer cooperation than domination. Because it's not like we haven't delbt with enough of that shit recently." At the end, squeezes Mika's hand and nods at her. "Alright." And then to Henry, he shakes his head. "I didn't mean to snap at your or another I just…" he looks back at the fire. "This was so fuckin needless. So goddamn pointless. Didn't mean to yell at you or anything."
"Well you did, so you think about pulling yourself together next time," Henry says cooly. Throughout the diatribe he has maintained his composure and the only flickers in the facade have been the smallest glimpses of softness. "What you want has little to do with what is. And you can yell and scream about what is right and fair and who deserves this or that, but at the end of the day, the wolves won't give a shit that the one who can't run fast enough 'deserved better'. Keep your head." He takes a step back from the fire and its increasingly acrimonious smoke.
"Yeah, well. You let me know when you find that person," Silver smiles faintly to Mikaela, tipping her chin up as the other girl moves on. "Hey," she murmurs to Cole's outburst. "Why don't you go ahead and go with her? It's okay. This stuff is…morbid, and it's been a lot to take in. I can watch and make sure nothing burns down."
"It doesn't mean that we should drop our goddamn clothes and become animals either." a calmed down Cole remarks towards Henry. "I don't fuckin buy it, even with wolves. I won't leave these people to die, not after coming so far, weak, strong, or otherwise. Just because we're on our own, does not mean we leave our humanity up on the Ark. We're not enacting our own fuckin little version of Lord of Flies down here." He grunts then. "A book about kids stranded on an island. Resort to tribalism and cannibalism." Another headshake at Silver. "No, I need to see this. I to fuckin remember this. That it could be so easy to turn on each other. And I won't. I have to believe in unity…otherwise, we might as well start slitting our own throats right now."
"And now you're putting words in my mouth. I hate that." Henry frowns and looks away from the burning bodies. Unlike Cole, he seems disinclined to memorize this funeral. "I didn't talk about leaving people to die. Or that we should turn on each other. Just that the strong would rise to control. You want to build a wall? If we get it down and it saves us from a pack of wolves, people will give you status. If, instead, someone steals someone's food, and I punch the fucker out and bring it back to them, they will give it to me. That's all I'm saying."
"Okay, guys, let's take it easy," Silver says gently, lowering herself to sit cross-legged by the edge of the woods, watching the fire burn. "No one's really disagreeing here anyhow. We all agree things are likely to get ugly, and that it's probably going to suck for at least some of us. Just depends on what we're willing to do about it."
It could be said that Cole constantly burns hot, for good and for ill. Chaulk it up to a mind that's always trying to think of the next solution to any problem that he encounters. But death? He can't fix that, he's no god. At last, he finally seems to come back down to at least relax enough, though even through that whole tirade, he didn't really seem angry at Henry himself, he simply found an outlet. "I want to build a wall to keep people safe, the status or whatever is fuckin secondary. Not looking for a reward. It's in our /best interests/ to have one. And if someone tries stealing from you, you're well within your right to punch them in the fuckin face for it. That's just good policy." Then he pauses, casting a glance over at him. "You're alright." as if he just only now decided something interanlly. But mainly his eyes are on the fire. "Too many of us here are out for themselves, Sil. You're right to keep your head down. Honestly, and this is the worst fuckin way to look at it. We're not going to band together until something bigger and badder than us really threatens us. That's the long an fuckin short of it. Until then, there's going to be petty squabbles over food, water…bodies." he grimaces at the last one. "S'why I'm trying to solve some of the issues, take away the scarcity value of them, the more willing people will be to look at the larger picture." A shrug then. "At least, that's what I think. People fight over shit of value. You flood the market with those things and they become of less value. Less willing to fuckin steal it. The purifier will go a long way towards that."
Hal just nods to Silver. Waving a hand to clear the offending stench of burnt flesh from his nose, he slowly allows his shoulders to fall, and even gives Cole the ghost of a smile. "That's probably not a bad idea. And we really wanted to get them working together, we would find a way to create that attack on everyone…" He trails off thoughtfully.
Silver quirks a brow up at Hal. "Maybe slow that roll a little bit," she drawls. "Trouble'll find us just fine without us helping it along. Better to make some friends and be ready for it. Zoe's going to be at the middle of a riot in no time, with the way she's going around and picking up whatever she can. The guard kids are building support with the hunting. And the Tesla kids are going to be pushing for some sort of organization because it's what they do. If you could get all of them going together, you'd have a functioning unit."
There's a blink at Silver. "What?" Cole utters, apparently having no idea about some of this. "I knew about the ex Guards making up hunting parties an shit like that. What's this shit about the Tesla people? And who the fuck is Zoe and why is she going to start a riot?" No, he hadn't heard about any of that, but then again, when he's so busy trying to fix stuff, why should he? And to Henry, he makes an uncertain face. "Sil's right on that one. I think one way or another, something will find us. Because a bigass fireball in the sky coming down, landing and making a whole fuckton of noise? Yeah, something is going to see that and want to poke at it. Maybe something, maybe nothing, but I would not be shocked by that at all. I think it's matter of the waiting game on that fuckin one. Granted, it's not a /bad/ idea you got, but I don't know if it's something that we need to resort to." Beat. "Yet."
"Well. You know where to find me when the time comes," Hal says with a roll of his shoulders. "Just remember, this place was a nuclear wasteland. If there were a lot of things around to find us, we never would have had to go up in the sky to begin with." He glances to the fire and the black smoke, then away. "Good night, both." Tipping an imaginary hat, he moves back toward camp.
"Zoe's not going to start one on purpose, but she's not making any bones about being out for herself, and she's not being discreet about what she's picked up so far," Silver shrugs to Cole. "Someone's going to take offense or try to take something else. And you know, the Tesla kids. Fiona, Lip. Couple others. The ones who went in for that whole political protest thing." As Hal steps away, she raises a hand to wave. "Take care, Hal."
"Sounds like she'll get herself fuckin sorted out by someone who gets fed up with her and put a spear through her chest. And as much as I say I want to keep everyone safe and alive, sometimes…with some people, either they don't listen to the majority or…bad shit happens. If that means we have to start fuckin exiling people or outright killing them and even saying that…the former would be a lot more fuckin choosey over the latter." he shrugs at it all. "Right, the protest kids. Not shocked there. Fi wants to get everyone to work along. Dunno if she's going to get any fuckin leeway, but she's someone that we might want to keep in our good graces. Because the Tech people are…what? You and me, Sil? And so far as I know, you an I are on the same fuckin page with most shit."
"Pretty much," Silver nods. "But that's the thing. Down here? Tech's not all that big a deal." She reaches into her pocket to pull the bracelet back out, going back to fiddling with it in the light from the fire. "And while I know some medical stuff, it's medical from the Ark, not roots and berries. Engineering and mechanical are going to get us further. Whatever we can build."
"True, whatever we know, it's only going to take us so fuckin far." Cole agrees with a nod. "But there's shit we can do right now, and that matters. Or well, it matters to me anyways. Anything we can find, if it can be repaired, or made to work better, we can probably handle it between the two of us. And whoever else decides to man the fuck up and help out." He holds up a hand to her. "It will be a big deal if we manage to find something important that can be salvaged. And if we get the water purifier working right? People will lining up to suck our dicks." He chuckles. "Or our tits, whichever you prefer." Looking at the bracelet, he considers. "Do you even want to take yours off?"
"Yes," Silver answers without hesitation. "They said I'd be up for review if I didn't make a stink. I could get out, get back to my studies. Fix things. Instead, I'm down here. And I'm pretty sure they're coming, too, since we didn't all melt. So I don't exactly trust their whole forgiveness speech. I want to be able to get the hell out of here when they show up, somewhere they can't lock me up again. You?"
Cole has to actually think on it for a moment. "There's nothing up there for me. Tools would be real fuckin nice at this point. EVAs were…fun, I guess. But there's nothing there. Dad didn't give a shit, mom died years ago, Mika is down here with me. I have no reason to really even talk with them. And I only would if they decided to pardon all of us. And on that one, I still don't fuckin know what the response would be. Again, come to that bridge when I have to fuckin cross it. Killing us at this point would be fuckin pointells, and a waste of bullets. Imprisoning us would be too. So what's left? Hard labor? Eh, maybe, but I think they'd have a riot on their hands. Don't fuckin known, but yeah, I'd take mine off because I don't feel like giving them more than I alredy have, even if it's just my biometric data."
Silver nods once, still looking at the bracelet as she works on it. "When I figure it out, I'll let people know. Give them a choice. I don't care what anyone else does. They know we didn't drop dead, and they'll be able to tell we're disconnecting and not dying. So there's no reason for anyone to fight over it. We want freedom, we should be able to choose." Letting out a slow breath, she looks back to the pyre. "Just try not to end up like them."
"We deserve our freedom. We deserve a second chance rather than just be floated out like so much fuckin trash." Cole says in agreement. "We all fucked up at some point, does that mean we all should die for it? I don't think. Whatever their reasons were, at least they gave us that opportunity, and well, that's something, I guess. As for me, I'm going to make the fuckin most of it. Even if I'm fighting shitty-ass losing cause at trying to get everyone at least work together. Not looking for pretendy fun-times where we all hold hands an shit, but something that suggest that at least we're mostly working as a collective fuckin unit." At the end of that, he smiles at her. "Shit, Sil. Sound like you actually like me or some shit." Tilting his head, he gives the fire another look. "My password for the lockout on my laptop is 'ressurection dash three nine zero four asterisk five question mark again'. Long password but just goes to show how protective he is with his the one device that can help them. "Don't give it to anyone. Use it to help with the bracelets if you need it." he adds.
"Hey, you're keeping your nose clean and keeping busy. I figure there are worse people to work with," Silver replies, smile quirking before it fades to something more sober when he shares the password. "Thanks, Cole. I won't. Keep it safe, okay? We're getting close to where people are just being dumb now. Don't want to lose a valuable resource to someone getting excited they found water and spilling or something." As the flames do their work, she lowers her head to her work again, quietly determined. "One way or another. We'll survive."