saveourearth | Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

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Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

Date: 24th of February
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After the earthquake on the 19th of January, the ground had been quiet. Or that was at least what everyone assumed; those who went to the meeting and listened to Walter speak might know that that was not exactly the case. Starting on the 9th of February, the earth had started to be shaken by the tiniest of tremors again, too small to be noticed by the everyday citizen, but not too small to escape seismic readers. Not that the public was told about this; why cause a panic? Things were strange enough these days in Mossgate Council.

Then, around 5am on the 24th, there is the most gentle shaking of the earth, only just strong enough to shake the leaves of some room plants, but noticeable. No damage is caused this time. At least not by the earthquake.

Because shortly after, a wave rolls towards the coastline of Mossgate. And not just any wave. It's a small tsunami wave, measuring about 1 metre at the top when it hits the shore and pressing up into the mouth of the river to reach a maximum height of 1.3m before it ebbs away.

The damage this time is substantial. Cars have been flushed into others, storefronts are shattered, the ground floors or many houses flooded and gardens torn apart. Some of the boats from the harbour sit somewhere inside the town now, and a ferry has crashed into the harbour office. By virtue of the very early hour and massive luck, there are barely any casualties - no more than one would expect from a major storm or flooding.

But Mossgate and Tarwich are in shock, and the descending media certainly don't help.

And every single Numbered in the echo boundary has received a plot echo, granted about a few minutes before the wave hit the shore.

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"So, if I move the cursor around..."

Russell clicks on a link, bringing up an article about the strange weather in the region lately, and stands between Walter and the laptop.

"You see that?"

This sounds a little bit like some action movie, a decade or two ago. Black screen, moving green text, the world was a computer simulation...

"What... are you seeing on me?"

Because if Walter's seeing Russell as a shape in the code, he doesn't know what he's going to do. Scream, maybe.

"I can see the new link formed, but not you."

So that's one less existential horror for Russell to consider.

"And when it's not a constant transmission, the link breaks."

So the link for live news is still visible, but those to static articles are only a single blip.

Well, it's a different existential horror, one that's not including him quite so intensely. Walter can't hear the expression on Russell's face, though he might pick up a little of it in his voice.

"You're seeing... Bloody hell, not even computer code, but only live code? Not the moving cursor?"

He helpfully wiggles the cursor around some more, just in case, because he is not computer savvy enough to exactly follow what Walter's currently perceiving.

"Uh, uh... You're hearing me fine, is everything else... Smell and touch, and all?"

"No. It's not like a screenshare."

There was something important about webcams that hadn't hit him yet, but he'll get there.

"Other senses are- well, intact."

Saying 'fine' doesn't feel all that accurate right now.

"Hoo boy."

Russell exhales, rubbing a hand down his face. It is, as he told Sadie, far too early for this. It will always be too early for this.

"What about... the network, are you, uh, sensing that?"

Having come over with his mobile in hand, he easily pulls up the calculator app and starts tapping out his number. Once connected, he pokes at the most recent of the messages and then the familiar sound of Chad's screaming starts up.

"Oh my god, everything is happening at once."

In the same way, it will never be the right time for Echo nonsense.

"No, the Network is separate from- probably every other network on Earth, despite its cross-capabilities. What is-?"

There's another faint sense of foreboding, followed by an almighty crash.

And the sound of water. Lots of water.

"Agreed." Sensing it would be most prudent, Walter tries to get back on his feet.

"So... so, computers, not the network magic..." Russell gets out in fragmented muttering as he squints at his mobile, too bright in the dim.

"It's only that, it seems we all woke with something, all at once."

Case in point, Chad's voice keeps coming out of Russell's mobile, shouting about a house and a boat and water, and all these things not being where they're supposed to be.

Crashing sounds continue beyond the sound of a dog-man's screaming, as Russell's finger keeps spelling out replies and the wave pushes over the coast into town. Finally, he notices Walter pushing to his feet, and he tells the mobile that he can't help because he has to do something else, and he pockets it.

"The last time we were all struck by an Echo at the same time was at the aurora."

In other words: something's about to hit the fan.

"Can you lead me out? This- doesn't seem like a good time to try echolocation."

"Right, uh..."

Rather than go grabbing hands out of the blue, Russell rests his hand on Walter's shoulder; Walter can take the lead in how they do this, and Russell take the lead in where they go.

And he looks around, shaking off the distraction and alarm from learning just what's happened to some of his friends, and notices how loud and close the crashing and water is. It's far beyond a hose at a window somewhere, it's a flash flood, carrying debris that's banging into walls and carrying furniture around.

"This doesn't sound a good time for anything."

The shoulder-touch, instead of lower on the arm, is appreciated.

"No, it doesn't."

He'll move forward without fuss, cautiously trying to make a few more links, see if he can read anything about what's going on-

"Ohhhh no."

And this is why he doesn't keep any of his Important Stuff on the floor.

"Where are we loo- going to go?"

For the moment Russell turns to guide Walter out of the room, thinking maybe the living room or kitchen for a starting point. But as soon as he turns, he sees the water pouring into the doorway.

"Wait, wait..."

He says, but doesn't stop moving, heading to the hallway to peer down the hall. There's a lot of debris, a lot of signs of damage from somewhere. The water's flooding down the hallway with far more than they'd get if they turned on all the possible water sources in kitchen and bathroom on at once. And it's not just water; there's broken wood suspicious like fragments of the front door, a loose shoe.

"Fuck me, what's going on..?"

The verbal backspace might have gotten an amused reaction - if their current situation weren't quite so distressing!

"Tsunami!"

He's decoding HTML and associated website coding in his own head as fast as he can to try and put the picture together - which, again, something that would bear much comment if all these things weren't happening so close together - and what Walter can figure out so far isn't pretty.

"We probably aren't even the worst hit..."

Probably, since he can't see what's in front of him.

Walter can laugh about it later, with his effectively perfect memory. Unless the memory of the emotions of the moment remain just as strong, overriding the distance of time to separate him from the distress...?

Either way, Russell sucks in a sharp breath.

"Down at the riverfront, they'd be... That's what Chad was shouting about!"

At least up on this street, they're slightly above water level. Maybe that helped prevent too much damage to the walls themselves.

"Are there more waves coming, do you see?"

He pulls forward a step or two into the hallway, cringing at the debris scratching at his legs as the water keeps pouring in. Staying put for this seems like a terrible idea, but where do they go?

"Do we even have an evacuation center for this...?"

That varied depending as much on his current headspace as it did that in the memory - a sort of emotional rock-paper-scissors, as it were.

"Hopefully Chad can get help, and soon. If he's down there, he's doubtless in trouble."

Walter sucks in a breath, and goes (virtually) digging.

"No, no immediate sign. It's like it was down at Moss River- there was one big wave after Sadie found what was down at the mouth, but no other."

The other question gets only a weary sigh.

"Better question is, can we get there while everyone's like this? The open streets are going to be worse off than any one flat. Whoever's running emergency transport may have troubles of their own."

"If it's just this, I don't mind... staying..."

Russell says as much, but he surveys the flooded floor with a grimace and it shows in his tone and hesitation.

"...Wait, what wave?"

He jerks around to stare at Walter, tugging a little too hard on the still clasped arm.

"Sadie found something, and made a wave... Did I hear this story?"

"It came up at the meeting."

Though Sadie never did clarify if the glow of magic had been her's or the river's own.

"She also took footage - I could ask Sadie to share it again."

Just not necessarily in a mode Walter could access - e.g., online.

"Is it safe to move and scope things out, or is it better if I stay put?"

Russell claps his spare hand to his face.

"Right, right, the whole... video they showed."

No need right this moment, when the mix of flood and early morning hours has him distracted a dozen different ways. Perhaps later.

"I don't know, honest," he says, apologetically. "If that was the only wave... There's some debris, watch yo- walk carefully, but it should start going back to sea, eventually. If there's another wave... I don't know where's safe."

He's a beacon of sunlight and optimism, this time of day. And here he's stuck being the eyes for Walter, who's even more prone to anxiety. They may need to call for help, or something.

Walter debates rolling his eyes - earned reaction or no, Russell might not even notice given how they're both preoccupied - but instead sighs and sets his shoulders.

"Whatever we do, we should start blocking off the doorways. Keep the water channeled down the hallway. And if you're heading out in the hall, so am I."

He doesn't actually want to be trapped in his room - the guilt of inaction would make a wreck of him. Even when his own (literal) worldview's taken a hit, there's still too much going on.

"If not... we'd better be quick, all the same."

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Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

i'm rearranging russell's timeline, he's going to react to chad... during this thread? sometime

Space is wobbly and time is bendable, or something to that effect.

full of loopholes... and dogs

Quite~ Water lands next tag?

feel free to delay the water if you realize there's something else you want first, otherwise sure

Time for everything to happen at once, then! 8'D

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last chance to canonize whether it's a 1 or 2 story flat - water coming in doorway?

definitely water in the doorway. How far a range does their wifi have?

as established on plurk: too much. sorry walter

rip his sense of peace (at least until he adjusts)

and then later it will only get more

But then, it'll be doing the same for everyone else as well. =P

except the lucky few staying fully human, russell would grumble

lucky is relative; look at Conan/Shinichi's life!

he wants to keep his blissful ignorant envy

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