the tumultuous terror of a kid wonder / nowles, day 4
Mar 21, 2022 15:42:29 GMT -5
Post by tick 12a / calla on Mar 21, 2022 15:42:29 GMT -5
N O W L E S
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Gravity's real weird when you think about it hard enough. It's stupid! 9.81 meters per second squared? Constant acceleration? Who decided that? The only reason you don't get sucked to the center of the earth is because you're exerting the exact same force in the opposite direction, it's what holds you up, and isn't that just wild.
But guess what - no surface, no force, it's just you and gravity and that shit feels a lot faster when you're actually falling.
I ended up falling right through the sand while the other two were oblivious, falling down down down and then landing SPLAT in one of the shallow little underground pools, so of course now Rosie's got fall damage and water damage and I had to crawl my way out of the suit, I'm absolutely soaked through, standing here wringing my jacket out like this isn't the death games.
Imagine doing your laundry and then getting stabbed through the neck. Dude that's gotta be rough.
And I think I messed up my voice trying to yell up to the surface, but the winds still must be going, or Raf finally gave in and killed Fatima, because neither of them came down to help.
Figures right?
I'm stuck in some stupid jungle on my own with a sparked out mech suit and soggy socks, Rafael and Fatima are probably up there getting suntans and ripping out each others throats - without me!! None of this shit is fair, it's not. I was never even supposed to be here in the first place, but between Jack Price and Uncle Mourn I'm the only one in here with some semblance of a brain cell and where did it get me? In a hole in the ground with a robot that isn't even a real robot.
"Useless scrap pile." I huff and kick the stupid hunk of metal and then immediately feel bad.
"M'sorry Rosie, I didn't mean that." It's frustrating, it's just stressful y'know? It's not Rosie's fault she's out of commission after a tumble like that, "There's just a lot going on - you get it. I'm on my own here, wherever here is, my leg hurts, I'm pretty sure that dog did something to it, Le Roux's still out there, and Sierra-"
Stupid Maryn Hale
"Stupid fucking Maryn Hale."
I sit next to Rosie even though she's still half in the water. The metal's still a little bit warm and I hold my hand against it.
"I want my dad."
Moment of weakness, huh? The universe takes it and fuckin' runs.
A rattlesnake starts going off at my ankle and I jump, swearing myself blue and kicking the thing away because no I am not dying to any kind of snake out here, not to Rafael, not to this one, not to nothing.
Except this snake isn't a snake.
I watch the little body go flying with a weird sort of adrenaline and wince when it smacks into one of the trees. It slowly slides down the trunk and then slumps to the ground, makes that rattle-rattle sound again from its place in the mud. I step out of the water and creep forward a little - I left my knife in Rosie's hull but I've got my fists, I punched that dog yesterday, I'll do it again.
Then the kodama sits up and we stare at each eachother for about five seconds before it clicks.
I perk up, recognition seeping through, "Hey! Avriel's got one of you." Creepy little fucker, about this big, "D'you know him?"
But it just keeps staring, still as a stone, and it's getting more creepy the longer it goes on. It's like a spooky-ass doll sitting there under the tree, head at a weird angle, god I hope I didn't break it. Might just be an optical illusion, but I swear the little holes in its head are getting bigger.
"Look I'm sorry about the-" I make a little kicking motion with my foot, "But you're the one that snuck up on me."
It's head snaps back into position and the sound makes my hair stand on edge a bit.
"Okay well," it stands up and wobbles like a baby, I try to eyeball the distance between us, "I'm just gonna go now."
And then it throws up.
"Dude." Did I give this thing a concussion? Is that what's going on? "That's gross."
It picks up the mass of green shit that it just puked up in its two little arms and takes a step forward, so I take a step back because HELLO?
"Ew?! I don't want that."
It drops the pile and does the rattle-rattle, and then it reaches down and pats its own vomit like it's a little pet.
This can't be real.
"Cut it out that's disgusting." This can not be real. "Beat it, shoo. Go home."
I turn back around to the mech because I've gotta fix her if I even wanna get out of here. And I'm grabbing a wrench through the hatch, trying to reach the toolbox without getting back in the water, when something hits the back of my head and I whirl around with the wrench raised high. The kodama's gone but now the plant barf is sitting innocently at my feet. I reach around to the back of my head and run a hand though my hair, it comes away green.
It's gonna be a long fuckin' day.
But guess what - no surface, no force, it's just you and gravity and that shit feels a lot faster when you're actually falling.
I ended up falling right through the sand while the other two were oblivious, falling down down down and then landing SPLAT in one of the shallow little underground pools, so of course now Rosie's got fall damage and water damage and I had to crawl my way out of the suit, I'm absolutely soaked through, standing here wringing my jacket out like this isn't the death games.
Imagine doing your laundry and then getting stabbed through the neck. Dude that's gotta be rough.
And I think I messed up my voice trying to yell up to the surface, but the winds still must be going, or Raf finally gave in and killed Fatima, because neither of them came down to help.
Figures right?
I'm stuck in some stupid jungle on my own with a sparked out mech suit and soggy socks, Rafael and Fatima are probably up there getting suntans and ripping out each others throats - without me!! None of this shit is fair, it's not. I was never even supposed to be here in the first place, but between Jack Price and Uncle Mourn I'm the only one in here with some semblance of a brain cell and where did it get me? In a hole in the ground with a robot that isn't even a real robot.
"Useless scrap pile." I huff and kick the stupid hunk of metal and then immediately feel bad.
"M'sorry Rosie, I didn't mean that." It's frustrating, it's just stressful y'know? It's not Rosie's fault she's out of commission after a tumble like that, "There's just a lot going on - you get it. I'm on my own here, wherever here is, my leg hurts, I'm pretty sure that dog did something to it, Le Roux's still out there, and Sierra-"
Stupid Maryn Hale
"Stupid fucking Maryn Hale."
I sit next to Rosie even though she's still half in the water. The metal's still a little bit warm and I hold my hand against it.
"I want my dad."
Moment of weakness, huh? The universe takes it and fuckin' runs.
A rattlesnake starts going off at my ankle and I jump, swearing myself blue and kicking the thing away because no I am not dying to any kind of snake out here, not to Rafael, not to this one, not to nothing.
Except this snake isn't a snake.
I watch the little body go flying with a weird sort of adrenaline and wince when it smacks into one of the trees. It slowly slides down the trunk and then slumps to the ground, makes that rattle-rattle sound again from its place in the mud. I step out of the water and creep forward a little - I left my knife in Rosie's hull but I've got my fists, I punched that dog yesterday, I'll do it again.
Then the kodama sits up and we stare at each eachother for about five seconds before it clicks.
I perk up, recognition seeping through, "Hey! Avriel's got one of you." Creepy little fucker, about this big, "D'you know him?"
But it just keeps staring, still as a stone, and it's getting more creepy the longer it goes on. It's like a spooky-ass doll sitting there under the tree, head at a weird angle, god I hope I didn't break it. Might just be an optical illusion, but I swear the little holes in its head are getting bigger.
"Look I'm sorry about the-" I make a little kicking motion with my foot, "But you're the one that snuck up on me."
It's head snaps back into position and the sound makes my hair stand on edge a bit.
"Okay well," it stands up and wobbles like a baby, I try to eyeball the distance between us, "I'm just gonna go now."
And then it throws up.
"Dude." Did I give this thing a concussion? Is that what's going on? "That's gross."
It picks up the mass of green shit that it just puked up in its two little arms and takes a step forward, so I take a step back because HELLO?
"Ew?! I don't want that."
It drops the pile and does the rattle-rattle, and then it reaches down and pats its own vomit like it's a little pet.
This can't be real.
"Cut it out that's disgusting." This can not be real. "Beat it, shoo. Go home."
I turn back around to the mech because I've gotta fix her if I even wanna get out of here. And I'm grabbing a wrench through the hatch, trying to reach the toolbox without getting back in the water, when something hits the back of my head and I whirl around with the wrench raised high. The kodama's gone but now the plant barf is sitting innocently at my feet. I reach around to the back of my head and run a hand though my hair, it comes away green.
It's gonna be a long fuckin' day.