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What it's in his brain? Or like the tentacles puppet him?

Both of those are fucking terrible and I'm not sure which is worse. Jesus. Can we get that shit out of him?

I don't think so. It might kill him to try.

[Either the act itself would, or the parasite would just do the job for them. She feels like they can trust Joe, but not that thing.]

He's... taking some kind of medicine to keep control. He showed me.

That's way more fucked up than I thought. And that tentacle thing came from outside the dome somehow?

There might be more of 'em huh?

[Poison grimaces.]

I don't really want to think about there being more of them, but... maybe. [They shouldn't rule it out. They definitely shouldn't.]

Have you noticed anything yet? I don't-- really know what I'm looking for.

Not yet, but keep an eye on the base of the wall, where it meets the floor. I doubt there'd be a light on in any passageways, but there might be a gap.

See like this.

[He kneels down by a panel that doesn't quite reach the floor, pulling his hunting knife out to pry it off. It's not a panic room, but he does find a little hidden shelf with a few screws on it covered in dust.]

Well it's a start. We need that.. but.. bigger.

Oh. [She crouches down beside him when he stops, watching what he does with the knife and letting out another little 'oh!' when he's able to prise a panel from the wall.]

There must be things like this everywhere. Little hidden spaces. I wonder why.

People build them into things to hide stuff. Usually they're not ever used, but..

If you need to hide stuff in your room there's a good place behind the sink that was probably a fuse panel or whatever, but there's nothing in it now.

[Poison frowns, then shakes her head a little.]

But... you can't just take fuses out and not replace them with something, can you?

If you don't need fuses anymore sure. Not all solar panels need 'em for instance. Or they're now centrally located in some breaker box.

Who knows how the electricity here works.

Mm... We should try to find out how it works. I bet Qubit could find out.

He probably already knows and isn't telling anyone. Knowing him he probably forgot that we all have no idea what he's talking about half the time.

[She wrinkles her nose slightly, looking to Pratt with a small frown.]

You think he'd keep it from us? Or it's that no one has asked?

Little bit of both honestly. I think he'd like to rub the 'but you didn't ask' in our faces if he could. And also probably doesn't think about it.

Have you ever listened to him explain anything? He thinks everyone has a PhD.

What's a PhD?

[She glances at him, curious. Time, at least, has dulled the sharp edges of the aversions she used to have to asking questions.]

I've listened to him. I just kept asking for more details until I understood.

Uh.. it stands for .. something doctorate. It's like a high end fancy degree after going to school for a decade.

I kinda zoned out and started thinking about sandwiches, so I missed most of what he's saying.

[He kicks a panel they pass, hoping to hear a hollow thud that indicates a room.]

Oh, I see.

[An education thing, then. She can't help but smirk when Pratt continues talking.]

Sandwiches? What kind?

[A harmless line of conversation. Poison watches him kick against the panel and chews her lip thoughtfully.]

I wonder if we could use the maps in the computers to look for places the rooms might be.

Caprese. Toasted bread with tomatoes, basil, a thick slice of mozzarella, with drizzled balsamic vinaigrette on it. Fucking delicious.

Then grilled cheese with swiss.

And after that sauteed mushroom and onion with horseradish au jus. He kinda talked for a really, really long time so I went through a lot.

There's maps? Like beside the one on the phone?

[She isn't sure what half of those things are, but she nods along and makes mental notes. Something to discover for herself, later.]

Mm. In the computers. I'm not sure how accurate they are, though. A lot of the data is... damaged.

It's something though. When this place was up and running before... whatever it was happened, someone must have had schematics. Or been in charge and needed to know where everything was.

Hell there might be hidden caches of supplies.

Which computers? The ones we found with the cameras?

[She gives a non-committal shrug of one shoulder.]

Any of the computers here... but I'd bet the ones Joe has are more up to date.

[And she wonders, briefly, if he has a map of the vents... or if that's just in his head.]

I could ask him...

Would he tell you? And even if he knows he might not be able to. Seems he's kinda.. not all there anymore. Probably from being all alone here for decades - that'll drive anyone crazy.

I think he would try to tell me. [She presses her lips together.]

I think he knows more than he want to know. Something terrible happened here, and he saw all of it.

You can only see so much trauma before you break. Happens to anyone.

Happened to me.

I dunno we're gonna find anything without his help, this place is just too big.

It is big, isn't it...

[She looks around them, up to the ceiling and the expanse of hallway around them both.]

I wonder if it was ever full. It doesn't feel like it was. Like... it was meant for something that never happened.

If this place was bustling at one time it must have had.. I dunno, thousands of people? And where'd they all go? There aren't thousands of skeletons around.

A lot of stuff here is dusty and old, but it also looks like it's never been used?

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writtendestiny - 2020-06-14 20:56 (UTC) - Expand