saveourearth | Run, run, follow me [Open Mingle]

Entry tags:

Run, run, follow me [Open Mingle]

Date: Saturday, 4.1.2020
Characters: OPEN

I.

It's midday when trouble seems to brew underfoot. Literally underfoot, in cases - wherever the Numbered are, they'll suddenly find dormice approaching them, running around their feet, in some cases up their legs, aiming to get their attention, and then running off - coming back again, running off once more in the same direction.

Trying to get the Numbered to FOLLOW.

II.

If Numbered decide to follow the mice, they'll be lead through the streets, fields, or whatever there is (in some cases, this might mean that the mice are trying to lead them through the military area aroudn the air base). Perhaps they'll run into other Numbered on the way - all mice seem to be leading those that they lead into the exact same direction.

III.

The direction of, it turns out, the tunnels under the cliffs. The mice will easily slip through the grates that bar the entries - the grates were made to keep humans out and let a tiny mice through easily. The Numbered, however... well, the grates were installed solid and sturdy to keep humans out. The mice will vanish in the tunnels and not come back.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The tunnel that they continue in slopes slightly down, but mostly it goes straight now, further and further. At this points, all the offshoots of the tunnel are much smaller, not all dormouse sized but none bigger than a rabbithole.

As they walk, the breeze that goes past them becomes more noticeable. It seems to be going outwards for a few minutes and then change direction to blow the other way, into the direction of whatever they're headed towards.... only to a few minutes later to head outwards once more.

“I would not rule it out... Something about the mineral elements in the tunnels was peculiar when I did the lab tests. It was different from the rock at the tunnel entrance and from the riverbed, but I didn’t have what I needed to parse out how precisely.” In other words, “I think the energy will be localized to specific locations, but there could be several.”

Benjiro opens his notebook to once again track their movements as the doctor resumes the lead. His attention to direction lessens as the path becomes more direct and downward. With broader focus, he certainly picks up on the change in airflow. “...that is definitely not normal. The air current should not alternate this rapidly so far from the surface.”

She pays close attention to the breeze as well, now that he mentions it. "...And so regularly."

Wait. There's more, and she has just the ability to notice... "There is life in it when it flows that direction." She points behind them, to where they came from, and frowns. "Almost like breath."

The mere notion of the air changes being a breathing cycle immediately tightens his expression with stress. There is no need to think to know, “If the inhalation and exhalation are each minutes long, then assuming it is organic in nature, whatever is breathing is several magnitudes larger than us.”

Her directions only make him certain they are heading towards the source of the breathing.

She agrees with his observation - it must be HUGE. "...Larger than anything that has any right to exist." She doesn't know enough about marine biology to say about blue whales, so she amends: "On land, at least.

...Given how slow it is, I would also assume that it has a severely slowed down metabolism at the moment." Or, to put it like this: "In other words, it's probably asleep - might even be hibernating.

I wonder how long it has been asleep." After all it's not like they've seen any giant animals run around Mossgate even before the winter, and they would probably have noticed if it was building tunnels underground, surely that would have caused vibrations that could be felt miles away-

WAIT.

"...I wonder if it was awake last February."

“The dinosaurs might agree with you there,” he says in support as they would be the only creatures on land to have ever come close. Her suggestions propose a limitation for size, “Hibernation decreases metabolic related rates to less than 15% in most mammals. So let’s hope it is hibernating and not merely asleep.” Otherwise, it will still be gigantic enough to star in a movie film destroying a city.

February. The mention immediately recalls the earthquakes and tsunami, “The earthquake in January was a 4.5 if I remember correctly. Minor overall. I went back later and saw some smaller tremors were recorded following it until the tsunami. It could have been moving around all that time.” He puts his hand to his chin to consider it further, “The first major quake epicenter was at the mouth of the river, but the second one that caused the tsunami was out underwater... So did it move that far, or could it be a separate cause?” Two giants, or one giant and something entirely unrelated?

Hypothesizing will only get them so far however and he looks down the tunnel, “...we have to get a look at it.”

"We do."

She continues walking, steadily, at a pace that is neither slow nor too fast for the light condition - she'd rather spot whatever is ahead before she runs into it.

After a bit, she offers: "...the only thing that we know to be out there in the water is the Evil guy, isn't it?" Not that she wants to believe that he could cause a tsunami. That'd raise all kinds of questions about what he is doing there, and what else he can do.

But it's the only thing that she is aware of.

Benjiro falls into pace with the doctor as he had before, but this time he keeps within an arm’s length. Even less attention goes to his notebook, so eventually he tucks the pen in place and stows it to free both of his hands. He would rather be at the ready.

“He is the only one out there that I am aware of... We might have done a dive out there if he had not had so many sharks around his fort,” he confirms. The ‘we’ being himself and Sadie. “I can check my maps after this and compare his fort location to the second larger epicenter.”

Finally they arrive at the end of the tunnel - which they might notice a bit ahead of time, as Mary Ann's torch hits something at the end of the tunnel.

There's no wide empty space here, but instead... a wall covered in giant brown fur. A wall that is moving very slowly in synch with the breeze. Approaching it will show that it is rather some giant furry creature (at least going by the size of the fur) resting in a presumably equally giant cave. There's enough distance between the cave walls and the fur wall to walk in between, which only underlines how big everything must be.

The brown at the end of the tunnel is such a stark contrast in both a sudden end of the path and color that it is obvious the instant the light shines on it. The teenager pauses from caution, then continues forward until he stands right in front of the furry wall with his steps utterly silent.

Looking at the strands that make up the fur provides another clue towards estimating the sheer size of what lies in front of them. The movement becomes clear more slowly, and that indicates they are positioned somewhere beside it. Away from the head is certainly safer.

Benjiro notices the gap as well, and looking to Mary Ann, he motions with one hand towards the space with a questioning look. Should we go in?

He can't hazard an exact guess at how big the being is, but he can say that it is truly giant, larger than any land-dwelling creature has a right to be - a first guess would be that it's the size of two IKEAs stacked on top of one another.

Mary Ann just.

Stares at that.

The fuck. She doesn't even know what to say to that - but she's going to nod Benjiro's question. Yes, let's go. She gestures for him to go ahead.

Organic beings have theoretical limitations of size on land due to being made from carbon bases and the physical limits of organic tissues as a result of the molecular bond strength. This one exceeds those limits without a doubt, but with more observation, he might narrow the range of potential size further.

Before they enter, Benjiro silently requests the other torch so they are both able to illuminate the cavern as needed. Careful to angle his down and away from the fur, he enters the space first and hugs close to the rock wall to proceed around.

She gives him the torch and follows, paying close attention to what she can see of the furry giant.

If it moves even a tiny bit she'll bolt and run back towards the tunnel they came from - she really doesn't want to be trapped between it and the wall.

They walk for a while before the furry wall gives way to... a foot? Yes, that looks like a really, really big mouse foot right there. It gives a bit of perspective on the size of the whole mouse, at least - the foot alone is the size of four double-decker buses.

For his part, Benjiro would attempt to follow her if it were to shift suddenly.

Upon reaching the foot, he freezes for a few seconds out of shock. Creeping further forward to examine it more closely, he marvels at the reality in front of his eyes. For the first time in many months, he feels rather small.

A hand covers his mouth, then folds as it slides down to his chin in thought. Assuming proportionally that this rodent is identical to the smaller ones, he has a much more precise idea regarding scale. It is impressive in any regard.

Mary Ann has, at this point, figured out a way to converse silently. She pulls out her phone and types into the notepad: It must be bigger than a block of flats.

Or at the very least that size. And she doesn't like that thought. Because... she can't quite pinpoint what is directly above them right now, they walked for long enough underground that can't even make an informed guess any more. But Ben tracked their path, didn't he? Maybe... Can you tell what's above us?

Hand left behind in the air when he turns his head to read from her phone, Benjiro gives a couple of strong nods. She’s right about the size.

He sees her typing again, and waits to read the question that follows. He furrows his brow in thought, then holds up a finger in request of a moment to try. Reaching into his bag, he pulls out a pair of notebooks. He opens the first to the tracking marks, and the second he skims to pull out a printed copy of a map of the local coast from between the pages. Starting on the map, he marks roughly where they began the descent while resting the other notebook on his duffle bag for reference. Slowly he marks ticks along the map, some longer and some shorter with varying degrees of turns based on his memory and notes. The final straight line slides to a stop right near the mouth of the river. There, he marks an X and turns the paper to Mary Ann.

This is very near where Sadie was in the river when she set off something with her magic.

...Well then.

She stares down at the map. Perhaps they should have expected that. Something under the river - she wonders if that's why they found the mouse figurines in the river...

She picks up her phone again and types Inform the others?

It would explain at least that much.

Benjiro tucks his notebooks back into his bag while keeping the map out for reference. It would guide them back to their original entrance if nothing else.

The question she poses next is answered with another nod. Absolutely.

Mary Ann does what she proposed and types out a quick message - and then pulls up a second notepad page and hands it over to Ben so he can type in his number and participate in the conversation if he so wishes.

Benjiro is silent some time as he watches Mary Ann communicating with the other groups gathered in the tunnels. His brow is knotted in a mixture of thought and worry as more information is revealed about the sharks and involvement of Mr. Evil.

As discussion reaches mention of previous Echoes at the river mouth, Benjiro writes a note to Mary Ann in his notebook to show her.

Let’s go back. I want to check out what is above the big mouse, but I would rather have everyone else out of here when I do. I do not intend to wake it, but if I accidentally disturb it, then it could be dangerous.

Edited 2020-04-16 15:27 (UTC)

Agreed she responds and starts walking into the direction that they came from. She'll wait until they are a good distance up the tunnel before speaking out loud again.

"...How do you plan on checking out what's above the big mouse, that you expected trouble to arise from it?"

Not that she is necessarily going to stop him, it's important knowledge. but... just please don't cause another earthquake or tsunami or whatever else there's out there these days.

He follows her out of the burrow and up the connecting tunnel. Once they stop, he slides the strap of his duffle bag from his shoulders without yet setting it down.

“There are two options. One being that I climb up there. That requires me to push against the mouse on the way. I could move sideways so that I can take contact on and off until I get high enough to stand on the mouse. Large as it is, I don’t think I would disturb it if I went slowly and quietly, but there is a chance. The second option is I go back home, grab my custom drone, and try to fly it up there. If I lose signal from my drone like I did with the cheap ones I modified to explore the tunnels, I have no idea what it would do.”

Both options have pros and cons.

Edited 2020-04-18 14:36 (UTC)

"...You think it's likely that you'll lose signal? Even though it is more expensive?"

She fully understands why he wants to climb up there, but... look, how should she explain to his aunts "sorry he's not coming home he got squished by a giant mouse"?

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