Save Our Earth Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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saveourearth2019-02-24 04:24 pm
ourearth) wrote in saveourearth2019-02-24 04:24 pm
Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]
Date: 24th of February
Characters: OPEN!
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.
Characters: OPEN!
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.
no subject
Sadie, Walter, and he never meant harm to anyone.
Wrote this last night and forgot to hit post
She sighs, "...Today's going to be shit..."
It happens
Her comment on the day is met with a ginger squeeze of his arms, “…probably. But, we’ll get through it together and keep going.” His arms loosen some as he starts to smooth a hand up and down along her back, “Let’s try to rest while we can... Once your parents wake up, we’ll talk to them about everything, and then we can lend a hand at the water front once the emergency crews are done.”
One thing at a time.
no subject
A couple of hours or so of dreamless dozing must have passed before the clanking and thudding in the kitchen causes Sadie to stir, 'mrrp'-ing sleepily as she wakes in Ben's hold. Rubbing her eyes she gently nudges Ben, "They're starting breakfast, Ben."
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And the next thing he knows, Sadie is stirring as he hears that familiar sleepy chirp. Head lifting at her nudge, he looks down as he draws away his top arm from around her. Somewhere he thought he heard footsteps in passing awareness. Keeping his voice hushed, though not at a whisper, he replies with one nod, “Okay... You get dressed, and I’ll text James to give him a heads up.”
Hand offered to help Sadie up to her feet, he waits for her to stand before he stretches and shifts to sit on the edge of her bed. Phone taken back up, he immediately sets to warning James of the new developments and their plan to reveal the secret Numbers to their parents.
It begins \o/
"Okay, I'm ready."
Heading downstairs, Sadie's parents and James are in the kitchen; her father over by the cooker with all the ingredients for an extensive cooked breakfast crowding the kitchen worktop, James sat on one of the breakfast bar stools tapping away at his phone and his leg bouncing slightly like Sadie knows it does when he's nervous, and her mother also perched on a stool, frowning at the television as she sips her morning coffee.
Raquel spots them both first, and greets them both with a smile, "Good morning sweetie. Good morning Ben, I thought I saw your shoes by the front door. How are you both this morning?"
Christopher turns away from the stove to wish them a good morning as well, "Do either of you want black pudding with your fry-up this morning?"
Sadie shakes her head and squeezes Ben's hand, "Morning Mum, no thanks, Dad. Ummm...Mum, Dad...Ben and I have something important to tell you..." Sadie trails off nervously, watching as her parents frown at each other and Raquel places her mug down.
"Sadie...I thought your father and I taught you to be far more careful than this." She begins, slipping into what Sadie was familiar with as her Disappointed Healthcare Tone, We had no issue with the two of you sharing a room because we thought we could trust the two of you to be safe and sensible with your private activities. You might be eighteen young lady, but that is far too young an age to be getting pregnant!"
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Entering the kitchen, Benjiro straightens his posture when Raquel takes notice of them, and he lifts his free hand in a small wave to reply to her greeting directed at him. His intrusion into their morning is taken in stride, as always. He stays quiet to allow Sadie to broach the difficult conversation ahead of them and gives her hand a little squeeze back. He is with her.
Then after Sadie stalls, her parents exchange a look. Benjiro glances sideways to Sadie as he initially questions how they might have known about what has been going on, only for confusion to grow in the build until Raquel bluntly states their expectation. At the word ‘pregnant’, Benjiro inhales instead of swallows, and turns his head away to cough a few times as his whole face and neck flush with a bright redness. Even before his throat is entirely clear, he tries to correct them, “No, no, no, it’s not-” a couple coughs, “Not that. We haven’t-! ” One more deep cough gets his voice cleared up even as the blushing persists, and he states firmly and slowly with a calmer tone, “…Sadie is not pregnant.”
Steadying breath taken, he transitions to the broader aspect of the Numbers in Mossgate, “What we need to discuss has to do with the strange things that have been happening. The aurora borealis last summer, rampant poppy flowers, the lost birds, spiders covering everything, coal-filled stockings… Those were widespread and affecting everyone, but some local individuals have been targeted more directly.... Including us.” Benjiro turns to look to Sadie with his blush fading and his brow pinched. He gives a small nod to encourage her to take over then releases her hand to put his arm around her shoulders and move closer to her.
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"Oh my god Mum, we haven't even done that yet. I'm not pregnant!" Sadie whines, face still doing its best impression of being on fire as her gaze moves between her mother and father. Ben and she certainly have their attention now, and then attention only becomes more pronounced as Ben speaks from the way her father's brow creased, and the way her mother watches them both like a hawk. Ben's arm, almost like a shield, encourages her to continue on where he left off.
"There...are some people who react differently to these weird things," Sadie picks up, voice still somewhat unsteady with nerves, "In lots of different ways but the biggest way is physical."
"React physically?" Raquel's voice is hard, no-nonsense as she stands up and walks around the breakfast bar to stand in front of Ben and Sadie, "Sadie, what do you mean by 'react physically'?"
"...It started with the Aurora," With shaking hands, Sadie reaches up to her eye and starts to remove her contact lenses as carefully as possible, "Everything felt empty and then my eyes went weird," The second contact lens comes off and Sadie finally looks at her parents with Q'uila's eyes, her nerves are making the slitted pupils wider but the effect is still clearly not human. And now that she's started, Sadie finds the words tumbling out of her mouth one after the other, in quick succession, because if she stops now she isn't sure that she'll actually be able to start speaking again.
"And then after Halloween, I grew claws, and then I knew I had to tell you today because this happened this morning" Claws extended for her parents to see, she pulls the beanie from her head to fully display her new ears which are plastered tightly back against her skull. Sadie winces as three separate gasps can be heard in the kitchen and the shaking of her hands gets even worse, "I didn't know how to tell you Mum, and then I-I just couldn't. I'm sorry."
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All he can do is watch as she reveals her physical changes, one by one, with anxiety hastening her words and taking the steadiness of her hands. The wince he feels from her seems to travel right through him as he hears the audible gasps from her family. Arm curling at her shoulders in a small hug, he speaks again to explain further as looks from Sadie back to her family with a delay, “…A-all of us were scared when this started. We literally could not show anyone that was not targeted what was happening to us, and trying to tell anyone we trusted would have been more damaging than anything. There’s still so much we don’t understand, but as things continued to progress, we realized how dangerous it could be for everyone involved to ask for assistance. If all of this came out…” He trails off with a flicker of real fear passing in his eyes.
Then taking in a deeper breath, he reaches up to slip the loops of his facemask from over his ears, and lowers the cover down. As he speaks again, his pointed teeth show as he looks to her parents, gaze nervously switching between them and away, “Everyone is affected differently, and we each have a unique Number. The Number links to someone else, and when we change, it relates to that individual somehow.”
“…we don’t know why this is happening to us,” he adds more quietly with a partial bow of his head as he restrains himself from overwhelming them with too much information at once.
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"Oh my little one, you must have been so scared," Sadie nods into her mum's shoulder as she starts to shake and sniffle, "It's alright, Mamá has you now. Ssshhh, we've got you, sweetie."
Sadie starts to cry in earnest as Christopher comes forward to wrap his arms around both of them and gently sway the group in a gentle rocking motion, the gentle whispers of Spanish alongside Sadie's muffled crying now the only noises in the very quiet kitchen. After a minute or two, Raquel pulls herself away from Sadie and Christopher, Sadie turning to bury her face into her Dad's shirt, claws gripping it tightly as Raquel moves over to Ben and places a hand on each of his shoulders.
"Young man," She stares up at him with red-rimmed eyes, "You must have been terrified as well. We've got you too now, alright?" Standing slightly shorter than her daughter, Raquel has to stand on tip-toes to hug Ben.
"We will care for you both."
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Over the minute or so that follows, Benjiro puts his mind to work as he reviews his outline for information to cover regarding the Numbers. Then he is looking to James and notices the damage to his phone. He’ll examine it properly a little later... Barely a second after he is looking at the counter and stovetop. Sadie should have more time with her parents. He could take over meal preparation to allow them to focus on her. He makes no move towards any of it as he tries to recall the way he has seen them make this particular breakfast before; not wanting to distract them or overstep his boundaries in a rude manner.
Then her mother separates and leaves Sadie to her father to approach him. Tension stiffens his shoulders under her hands and straightens his back in a snap at the way he is addressed, even though her tone doesn’t match his worry. His lips part as if to try to answer, ready to deny the strain the situation has placed on him - only to be brought into a hug as well. His words stick in his throat as his arms awkwardly hover, but after she doubles down on their willingness to care for him as well, a crack appears. Sagging through his spine to lower down enough to allow her back on her heels, his arms slowly find their way around Raquel lightly as his vision blurs. Finding it harder to breathe in a regular rhythm, he replies quietly, “...s-sorry. I don’t...” want to burden you.
His own tears are slow and nearly silent, eyes shutting tight to send a single pair rolling down his cheeks. He only allows himself a few seconds of comfort from her mother before he releases one arm to reach a hand up to rub the tears away firmly.
no subject
Only once Ben starts breathing with a more normalised cadence does Raquel release Ben from the hug and guides him into the seat next to where Sadie has settled. Sadie turns to him and grabs Ben's hand, giving him a somewhat shaky but a lot brighter than it was this morning.
"There's more to this isn't there?" Christopher asks the two teens, "You mentioned a connection to another person, Ben, it's a little more than what you've shown us so far isn't it?"
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His palm is wet as it moves from his eyes nearly a minute later, and a slow, shaky exhale marks the start of calm breathing. Swiping over his eyes more gently, he murmurs another apology as she releases him and guides him to the seat next to Sadie. He sinks into the seat close to her side, and gladly gives her his dry hand to hold hers in turn. A trace of a smile answers her own, feeling a little dazed.
Mind drawn back into focus by the questions, he clears his throat softly once then nods as he starts to answer, “Yes. The Numbers have two functions that we know of so far. Tying us to an individual that influences us personally, and allowing us access to a hidden Network. Think something like a forum that only we can see or hear. Expression of our individual Number, writing it for example, connects us to this Network. Everyone with a Number uses it to share information and converse, which is how we’ve identified one another safely. I’ve tested the conversations on the Network for consistency, so it does not fluctuate over time when we review older entries despite it seeming to exist as a shared mental construct.”
Allowing for questions about the Network, he returns to the other function, “As for how the Numbers effect us personally, they do change more than merely our appearance. Physical items have appeared out of thin air for instance, or we remember something that did not happen to us as if we lived it. What we are capable of can change as well... For myself, I’m far stronger physically speaking than I should be, and much more mechanically skilled. I’ve studied electronics, but I had never worked on a motor vehicle of any kind before I built my motorcycle. I didn’t even need to look at a blueprint before I planned it and built it from parts out of the junkyard.”
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"I got a journal and a large ruby out of it, I can show them to you later...I can also do this..." Concentrating, Sadie holds out a hand above which there is a small crackle of flame which she then extinguishes, "It all goes away when we leave Mossgate-not that I'm leaving! I want to stay in Mossgate!" Sadie tells her parents, some of her stubbornness rearing its head. It should be clear to her parents that if they tried to get her to leave then she'd come right back again.
"Is everyone affected by this the same age as you?" Raquel asks, concerned about the potential fallout if this was only happening to a certain age range.
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Silent as Sadie demonstrates her magic and broaches the matter of the boundary, Benjiro looks down towards the floor as he delves more into that particular aspect, “If we leave Mossgate, we lose our memories that are influenced by having a Number. So the more we change, the more moments that get blocked. Sadie and I have been travelling out to London regularly to provide ourselves with updates on the situation here.” Hand squeezing a little tighter to her hand, Benjiro looks to Sadie, “It’s inconvenient at best, but we’ve managed. It is far more important we figure out what is happening and why.” Before this gets worse...
Asked about ages, Benjiro looks to Raquel with obvious discomfort, “No. The oldest person involved is in his 70s if I recall correctly, and the youngest is only about 10 years old.” A pause of hesitation, then he reveals the next layer of confusion, “And humans are not the only ones that can be Numbered. There is a dog that has a Number and talks to others through the Network.”
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"So we've got changes, and magic and...a talking dog," Even with the display of magic Christopher's voice is incredulous at the idea of a talking dog, "And only within Mossgate?" Sadie nods to confirm her father's words, "This is quite the situation..."
"Umm," Sadie pipes up, "One of the other Numbered, Dr Tilly, offered her phone number if you wanted to speak to her about it, both her and her daughter are Numbered and she offered to speak to the both of you if you had any questions..."
"Your Mum and I will give her a call and take her up on that offer. We love you, Sadie, and we'll do what we can to help you too, Ben. I take it that your aunts don't know about all this?"
no subject
Head bowed gratefully forward as their intention to give him support is reinforced, he looks back up again at the question regarding his great aunts. Frowning, Benjiro shifts uncomfortably as he shakes his head, “No. I don’t what them to know yet.” A pause of hesitation follows, but he provides the rationale behind his indirect request, “If I were to tell them, that would place them in a difficult position. They are not my guardians, and may feel obligated to notify my parents. As I’m not yet an adult legally, my parents could, and certainly would, force me to return to Japan. Whether they were told outright or simply suspect something out of the ordinary is happening.” Benjiro looks over to Sadie and continues, “And we’ve finally started to find clues about everything. I don’t want to abandon anyone.”
Especially not her.
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Sadie is just relieved that her parents seem to be taking this well, far better than she could have ever hoped. At least for now, she'll wait a few days before speaking to them again about things in a bit more detail and how she's been affected by it all specifically.
"Mum, do you mind if Ben and I head out after lunch, we were thinking of helping the people in town?"
It's a bit of a relief when Raquel nods, getting out and about would let everyone have the space they need to process in peace and quiet
*relieves
Then Sadie is asking about going out after lunch, and he is further reassured that she would be allowed to lend aide in the disaster. It would alleviate some of the guilt to do something about it.
“I might go out after breakfast. I can help with the heavy lifting.” Not only would that give him more opportunity to alleviate damages, but he can give Sadie some quiet time with her family without them needing to feel obligated to include him. That hug before might have lasted much longer had he not been standing in the kitchen as well. “And speaking of breakfast, I’d be happy to finish the cooking,” he adds in an offer to take over the effort that requires attention.
Everything they revealed is quite the intense distraction.
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Sadie nods, going to give her Dad another hug and then hugging her Mum too, "We'll search through my cupboard to see if we can find any other hats, alright sweetie?" Sadie sniffs and nods, "Thank you, Mum."
Sadie takes Ben's hand and pulls him into the lounge, settling onto the sofa there she wraps her arms around Ben and just rests her face against his neck.
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Waiting as Sadie hugs each of her parents, Benjiro bows to the Moore family when Sadie takes his hand, and he follows her to the couch. Settling down gently, he opens his arms and wraps them around Sadie to pull her in close. With her head coming to rest at his neck, he gently kisses her hair before he lays his cheek to the top of her head.
Voice lowered to a whisper he reflects on the discussion, “You have a very good family, Sadie.”
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"They are, and I'm so thankful you came with me. I don't think I'd have been brave enough to do it by myself."
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“You are braver than you know…but this was important, and I will always be here for you.”
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Together they can listen to the sounds of cooking in the kitchen, and soak in the relief. The only thing that has changed is that her parents can now support Sadie all the more as she faces the challenges her Number brings.