Water, Water Everywhere

[iamnotgod]

Date: March 1st ; ETA: March 2nd
Characters: Walter Weekes, Sadie Moore ; ETA: Walter Weekes and Benjiro Thorne

---

It hasn't even been a full week, and though Walter's learned much he is still struggling without sight apart from the not-quite-darkness of webspace.

More mundanely, the house is still barely livable after the disastrous flooding; Ben's assistance, among other things, has been vital towards getting the place drained and dry.

Other visits - like Sadie's - are much appreciated, and Walter is well aware of what chaos Echoes have been wreaking in her life lately.

His mind keeps coming back to that water, though, and he can never quite settle, never quite relax-

---

The next day comes the first chance to test a possible workaround - finally, finally, by Walter's account, though he still feels guilty for having the notion.

After all, he's not in charge of the passage of time.

Comments

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie grimaces at the appearance of the hallway leading into the block of flats and up to Walter and Russell's home, the dirty tide marks on the wall still not dealt with and showing just how high the water had managed to reach.

Finally reaching the correct door, Sadie pushes it open and calls out into the flat, "Hello?"

[iamnotgod]

Walter's been 'mapping' the flat, so there's not as much stumbling about as one might expect.

A part of him is still rankled at the fact they can't lock the door as it is now, but they're not the worst hit and he's more-or-less accepted that things have to be fixed in stages.

"Hey," is the immediate response - Walter does remember Sadie's new sensitivities, though she's had as much time to acclimate as he has, objectively speaking.

Walter's standing in the next closest doorway, looking at Sadie but not at her.

"If you get the door, we can have that hug now."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie pushes the door closed, noticing the way Walter doesn't quite look at her. Taking her shoes off she walks towards Walter, "I am absolutely going to hug you now, okay?"

Waiting until Walter gives his permission, she pulls the slightly shorter man into a tight hug, "How are you managing at the moment?"

[iamnotgod]

There's no ghostly impression of her in webspace (as he'd explained much to Russell's relief), but her talking itself helps.

"Managing!" he echoes, voice wry, but somewhat softened by the presence of another friend.

Sister? After that one conversation, Walter had floundered somewhat on how that was supposed to be mutual, or if Sadie had expected it to be. But worrying about it would do him no good, he was sure.

"I feel like a combination of a bat and a whale; this new sight is no substitute for the old, but I've come to know this flat a lot better than I thought I had. Still feeling the aftereffects of the flooding, though. You?"

[dragoonrouge]

Loosening the hug, Sadie isn't quite ready to let Walter go just yet and is wholly unaware of Walter's dilemma brought on by her big brother remark.

"I'm glad you're managing, though I'm sure we'll all be happier when you're doing better than that. I'm doing better, Ben made some earplugs for me so I can actually leave the house without getting a pounding migraine."

Now she ends the hug, taking half a step back. "How did the rest of the flat do with the flood, I noticed the door was a little buggered?"

[iamnotgod]

Well, that's true enough.

"That's great, Sadie," Walter says, smile in evidence.

Still, when the subject shifts, that smile turns into more of a frown.

"It looks worse than it is. The floors got the worst of it, but we still lost a few things. Nothing important," he assures quickly.

"But it's hard to think much of it, when elsewhere houses were completely drenched, or submerged..."

Not a pleasant image.

[dragoonrouge]

"Shit. Still, doesn't make it any easier especially with the Echoes' always excellent timing."

Sadie eyes the door behind her, "Shall we go into the lounge, we can sit and chat and I can take my hat off out of view of the broken door?"

Gonna do The Thing next tag, I think.

[iamnotgod]

"Ben did help with the door," Walter points out.

"But, yes, that would probably be best."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie follows Walter into the lounge, keeping an eye on his progress through the house and sighing in relief when Walter proves his ability to navigate through the flat. Sitting down Sadie sighs in relief as she removes her woollen hat, ears twitching and swivelling now that it is safe to have them out.

"At least there were people out and about," Sadie continues from Walter's point about those who were far less fortunate during the wave, "Ben and I went to help after speaking to my parents but I wasn't much help, especially once I encountered Chad. I, er, didn't react well to being bowled over by a naked man behaving like a dog, to say the least." She grimaces at the memory, that was probably one of the most embarrassing things that had ever happened to her.

The Thing

[iamnotgod]

While Sadie is grimacing at that... well, embarrassing is probably putting it lightly, she'll get that feeling she'd had when consoling Ben about the gauntlets and his continued growth.

And then - brightness, desaturating quickly into a forest scene that is almost picturesque. Faintly, Sadie can hear singing - many voices in harmony, ethereal, charmed, like something in a dream.

The forest is too thick to see where those voices are coming from. The only person she'll be able to make out is a mere five feet away from her, halfway between curling up and kneeling on the bank of a stream. She looks shabbily-dressed and thin, and can't be more than thirteen years old.

She also looks like she's listening for something.

[dragoonrouge]

There is that small but immediate moment of alarm that Sadie is familiar with from both her eyes as she appears in an unfamiliar place but, combining the headache prior and the fact that she cannot feel any breeze or temperature, she is quick to realise that this is like what happened with Ben. Which means that this is a memory of Walter's...

Sadie spots the young girl but glances about, seeing if she can spot Walter and frowning when the girl remains the only person in sight. This was very strange but she continues to watch the girl, maybe she would glean some answers from her.

CW: Drowning (Not Heavily Detailed)

[iamnotgod]

"Downstream. Of course - we weren't to go down there! We were told!"

The exclaim is deliberately hushed, making her voice lower than its usual register - and then the girl is up and off to the right, away from the singing's apparent source, dashing along the stream.

The streambed deepens, becoming more of a river, with harsher currents. After three minutes of running (presuming Sadie) tries to follow, they come upon children.

Some are on the riverbed; those are the ones making noise, mostly screaming. The rest are in the river, painfully silent.

Some of the latter aren't even moving. And some are underwater.

"We are to be quiet," the girl warns, grabbing a nearby sturdy-looking stick - and she darts in to the river. The stick is a prop; most of the rescue work has to be done by hand, especially for those who aren't even struggling...

Back in the Present

[iamnotgod]

Walter winces. Knowing now what had happened to Chad put all imagining he could do of that encounter in a rather negative light.

"Not something anyone should have to go through, I think."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie groans as the feeling of disorientation and a stabbing migraine sets in though in what appeared to be mere seconds she's shaking her head and blinking to reorientate herself to the room.

"Walter, do you have any paracetamol?" This was the second time that this had happened, she should probably start carrying around her own painkillers at this rate.

March 2nd

[warped_replica]

Benjiro had called ahead last night to confirm a time with Walter. He arrives quite early in the morning, having taken advantage of the weekend hours in full to push his Friday straight into a Saturday to finish the adaptive device. To announce his arrival, he knocks on the door in a familiar pattern and speed, and then opens the door to step inside. Pausing at the entrance he gets distracted immediately by the visible projects in progress for repairs. It may be livable conditions but he has more yet to do. Maybe another trip to the store is in order to advance one particular repair while he happens to be visiting...

One thing at a time. He steps out of his shoes and into the slippers he left behind to move away from the door as he slips his facemask off.

Re: March 2nd

[iamnotgod]

If he were in better spirits, Walter would insist Ben pace himself.

That said, he's far from inattentive even today, and zeros in on Benjiro's position quickly.

"I'm glad you're here," he says first, wishing that the points of light he could see could yield something other than text.

Of course, Ben's here to help fix that.

[warped_replica]

Habitual greeting forgone, Benjiro replies with a slight nervous energy in his voice, “Me too. I almost called to see if I could come earlier but I didn’t want to wake anyone, so I used the time to start teaching it wifi passwords nearby. I got several in Moss Manor last night but we may have to take the morning to go out to places you anticipate needing access to anytime soon.” He has some password connections from businesses, but private networks are another matter.

Walking over to Walter, he slides his backpack off his shoulders and with his other hand, touches Walter’s shoulder lightly to give him a physical cue of his position, “Do you want to sit down before I set you up with the prototype?”

[iamnotgod]

Walter nods, understanding; he hadn't wanted to drag Russell into this more than the man was comfortable with either.

Even as they talk, part of him is searching, nervously tapping through remembered-and-memorized decryption algorithms for what he should, ideally, be seeing soon. Being human in many ways, still, there's always the chance he won't need them- but he doesn't want to rely on that chance.

Reorienting himself at the touch, he nods again, reaching out to touch Ben's arm in turn.

"I- no," he decides, steeling himself.

"Go ahead."

[warped_replica]

“Alright,” he replies quietly if with some reservations. A light squeeze at Walter’s shoulder, then he releases to set his backpack down between them. The sounds of zippers and shuffling follow as he takes out the device he put together and connects the necessary links. Then he gives warning, “Okay. Glasses coming on.” A couple seconds given, he then places the pair of sunglasses over Walter’s eyes. A cable trails from one ear piece, and Benjiro explains as he starts it up.

“I put three cameras in the frames. A central one, and two lateral. The lateral cameras are angled outwards, labelled for their respective side as if you need to glance without turning your head. Switching can be done with a swipe on the screen. The cord leads to the modified smartphone that’s running the app and will link to the wifi. I attached an external battery to keep it all running. It should, theoretically, last 10 hours without needing to be plugged in, but keep an eye on it. I used a phone and a battery from a second hand shop so I may need to make adjustments.” A pause, then still holding the device, he asks, “Ready to connect?”

As soon as Walter gives him permission, he links the device to the wifi.

... I really should do another Echo related to Caitlin's eyePod, but how to swing it...

[iamnotgod]

Walter nods when Ben gets to the instruction of 'keep an eye on it', and gently touches the glasses' frames and cameras throughout the recap.

Takes a breath-

"Ready."

For a millisecond, it's almost anticlimactic; another point of light becomes available. Connecting to that, though-

His breath catches. He has to stop himself from rubbing at his eyes, both because what's in them now won't stop him from seeing, and because rubbing the glasses might be a bad idea.

Once he's sure he's seeing Ben, the first thing he does is go in for a hug.

Yes, go for it!

[warped_replica]

The video clearly displays a visibly tired yet focused Benjiro standing in front of him, holding what looks like a thick smartphone in one hand as he watches Walter react all too quickly for him to process entirely. The video is smooth and the resolution high in quality, if obviously video and not sight for the clearness of the periphery of the image.

Surprised by the sudden hug, his arms raise slightly before he relaxes and reaches around his friend to return it. He smiles warmly as he asks with a tone of humor and immense relief, “So, test one is a success I take it?” There will be a learning curve as depth perception will be limited due to the single lense, but he already has plans for the next version to address this deficit.

For a moment, Benjiro closes his eyes in the hug and enjoys the feeling.

[iamnotgod]

Walter belatedly pulls back before nodding.

"It works. Thank you."

Compensating for depth perception would not be the worst fate, but they do have things to work on today all the same.

Blinking - he knows he is, but that doesn't change the feed any. Which is so strange, he thinks, before realizing he's comparing it to when Webmind was looking out of Caitlin's eye.

No blinks or saccades to worry about. Something about the thought still makes him frown, but he shakes it off.

"We are supposed to take this out for a test drive, yes?" Walter asks, voice significantly brighter than it had been even five minutes before.

[warped_replica]

Arms withdrawn without any hurry, Benjiro is simply glad he could alleviate the situation, “Welcome.” He offers the device over to Walter so he can look at it through the camera and orient himself to the simple controls on the touch screen. The screen may look a little too bright, but he did check that it would be visible when setting the appearance of the screen. Access to wifi selection (which triggers the keyboard as needed for passwords not yet saved), the swap mechanism between cameras, and a few of the basics for the video feed itself. It can handle bright conditions well, but dim lighting is still a challenge at this stage.

When Walter asks regarding the outing, Benjiro nods with a sharp smile spreading as he answers in the affirmative, “Of course! Should we walk around some first then head out on my bike after?”

[iamnotgod]

The touch screen controls - themselves augmented by the device's registered presence through the house network as a source of links - are practically a breeze in terms of handling. He may, in fact, be a bit fast for them at first as he adjusts.

The faults in the cameras are noted, but are not by themselves enough to diminish the joys of seeing.

"By all means," Walter replies, making one last swipe before bringing the device down close to his side.

He doesn't want to drop this gift.

[warped_replica]

Benjiro had allotted a fair length of cable between the glasses and the device, so hopefully Walter will either have a suitable bag to stow it in or a large enough pocket to accommodate it. If not, that’s something they can pick up while they’re out today. Taking up his backpack to zip closed and swing over a shoulder, he pulls out his facemask to slip on as he starts to the door with eyes kept on Walter to observe how he does making his way there with the guidance of the camera.

“You’re in charge of leading the way then, and I’ll tag along. If the camera starts lagging or we hit a blind spot where we have no wifi connections, we can stop and diagnose it.”

Stepping from slippers to shoes, he opens the door to let Walter go first. From behind or beside him, he’ll be able to keep an eye on his friend as he adapts to the device.