Thanks, Ben [Mingle]

[saveournpcs]

Date: 4th of January 20, 3 hours after everyone came out of the cavesCharacters: OPEN

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Three hours after everyone came out of the caves, an earthquake of the magnitude 5.7 shakes the echo boundary.

Up on the ruins, a single block from one of the lower walls gets dislocated and falls.

Down in the city and villages, things go a bit worse. A couple of sheds collapse, things fall over and off things, and some houses are left with cracks in their walls and might end up condemned. A number of telegraph poles fall over and a few on cars. There's three injured and no fatalities over all, and a few related car accidents because people got distracted that again go without fatalities.

...And, of course, the Media are back. The next day, the Sun titles "IS THERE A NEW CRACK IN THE EARTH'S CRUST??? Another earthquake strikes Mossgate 4 houses condemned, 10 admitted to hospital, powerlines down", but newspapers with more journalistic integrity send reporters as well.

Someone else is back, too - Numbered will see Mr Neutral, Mr Evil and Mr Helpful wander the streets.

Comments

Alien encounters

[saveournpcs]

The three gents with the straightforward names are wandering around the echo boundary. If you wish to encounter one of them, tag this toplevel with the name of the gent that you wish to meet.

Mister Neutral (though anyone is fine, really)

[iamnotgod]

Walter has not been having a good day, to put it politely. First the mice, then the Mouse, then Ben, and now MORE EARTHQUAKES.

But once the reports on that last part start hitting the Internet, he can't let himself just wait for answers anymore.

Once he's sure Ben is safe (which, admittedly, may be some time), he heads out and away, on the hunt for at least one of the three people who seem to know the most about this madness...

Even if they may not actually know very much. For being alien explorers, they act very out of the loop.

[saveournpcs]

Mr Neutral can be found at the mouth of the river, looking out over the bay towards the spot where the tsunami all those months ago had been said to have come from.

[iamnotgod]

It's not as long a walk as it could have been, then.

"Excuse me," Walter says on his approach, deceptively lightly, before starting in with:

"Does a dormouse large enough to cause earthquakes mean anything to you?"

Walter is not in a good mood, clearly. He is not shouting, but if words have texture, his are pointed.

[saveournpcs]

Mr Neutral does, for a fleeting moment, look faintly surprised, and then intrigued, before his features settle into a more neutral look.

"We did assume that there had to be something large under the city, but we had not expected a dormouse."

Mister Helpful

[spaghettimonster]

At some point in the day, after Benjiro's well-being is resolved, Russell heads back to the cliffside where Mr. Helpful revealed some surprising information.

After all, today he's learned a few other surprising things, and this seems like the best place to take some binoculars and search for signs of giant sharks in the water. He could have gone elsewhere to do this looking, but the possibility of crossing paths and sharing some information is a dim hope in his mind.

[saveournpcs]

As he climbs the hill, it just so happens that Mr Helpful is also on top of the cliff.

He looks up when he hears someone approach and smiles at Russell. "Good afternoon."

[spaghettimonster]

Russell brightens at the sight of him, mainly because of the vindication of it. Finally, he's predicted something of these guys correctly.

"Good afternoon! I was hoping to see you," he says, as if to justify his cheer - especially in light of what else he has to say. "I don't suppose, uh, you're aware of... what's happened lately? The earthquake, and all."

[saveournpcs]

"I am aware of it." And then he points out, with some humour in his voice: "I do currently live here, you know."

(Not that Russell is wrong. He cannot usually be found just wandering the streets.)

Mister Evil

[vernal_miss]

After outright leaving her older siblings during the shopping trip, Nel is not about to go terribly far once she has returned home. That her Mum, brother, and grandfather also went along with the mice did ease the attention on her. If nothing more, she did sensibly text her Mummy on her way there.

Once the house is quiet, Nel asks to go for a walk around in Moss Manor. With a strict time to be home, she is allowed to go. Cellphone in her pocket and bundled up against the chill, she heads out for a walk.

[saveournpcs]

When she walks past the church, she'll spot someone familiar between the graves. He's walking forth and back and seems to be looking for something. Or rather, stalking. He seems to be lifting his knees a bit too high and a bit too jerkily to look entirely normal when walking.

[vernal_miss]

Her pace slows to a halt when she sees him there in the graveyard at the church. Ever since that awful Halloween she has been wary of the graves. Being in broad daylight and having a reason to go in will coax her to change direction. Walking to enter the area with the graves along the path, she waits to try to get his attention when she gets closer.

“Are you looking for something? Or maybe someone?” she calls initially. Should he look to her, she smiles and adds, “It’s been a while since we met.”

[saveournpcs]

He does turn his head when she calls out and then for a long moment just looks at her.

And then waves her over towards him. "You can help me look."

[warped_replica]

Aftermath
For those Numbered still waiting for Benjiro to return from his exploration, it would be another half an hour wait after the earthquake shudders through Mossgate. Along the way, as he walked off most of the discomfort, his pace picked up to make the long journey to the ruins quicker. His arrival appears sudden as he steps around a pillar in the ruins to approach where they had settled. He is clearly not crushed, one arm hooked on his duffel bag.

Wearing his face mask as usual, his brow is knotted with worry, “Is everyone alright?”

Next Day
After the tsunami, Benjiro had joined efforts in the damaged areas to assist with repairs any way he could. With the damage more limited from the earthquake he caused, he has nothing he can repair for the community at large. All he was able to do was clean up at the house and make a couple minor repairs to the sturdy house.

He spends a restless night in his room, and at first light the next morning, he is outside at work in the shed. Throughout the day, he can be found working on a new project.

Aftermath

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie whirls around in the direction of the pillar from where she had been sorting out the armour that had scattered about her with everyone's most recent Echo as soon as her sensitive ears pick up the sound of Ben's approach. Dropping the gauntlets to the side she rushes over to Ben and immediately starts checking him over and looking for any sign of injury.

"Are we alright?!" She parrots back incredulously, "Ben, where have you been?!"

Re: Aftermath

[iamnotgod]

Walter just pointedly stares at the young man, aggrieved and relieved in equal measure.

Letting Sadie take the forefront, he heads over at a much slower pace, trying to gauge from a distance what Sadie's doing close-up.

"We know where he's been," he counters. "But we don't know what happened. Ben, do you feel you need medical attention, or can we focus on discussing details right now?"

[warped_replica]

Right hand raised to show his palm in a manner asking for calm, he stops as soon as Sadie reaches him. The only sign of injury Sadie will find with a visual search is the wrap of gauze around his left hand on his duffle bag. The small first aid kit in his bag will need to be minimally restocked later. He always wears loose, long sleeved clothing these days so any further check may have to be done with some prodding.

Having Sadie’s question answered for him, Benjiro looks surprised at the question of him potentially needing medical attention, “What? No, no...! I scraped my hand, I’m fine.” Comes with scaling rock with bare hands.

“I know that took a long time but the mouse is spread out much further than I had realized, and it’s more aware of what is happening around it than anyone asleep should be.”

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie gently lifts Ben's injured hand to have a closer look as he answers Walter. A growl rumbles in her throat and she glares up at Ben, "¡Chingada madre! ¡Casi me matas del susto!"

She shoves his shoulder, not enough to shift Ben but it emphasises her point, "You could have gotten trapped down there!"

Next Day (aka Not The Group Prompt)

[iamnotgod]

Walter's own skillset leant itself better to helping with relief coordination. Most of it he could even do at a distance, which he tried not to let on.

He also does his best to keep Ben shielded from the press - not that he's precisely expecting trouble from that quarter - and it's not long after first light when he calls Ben's aunts and lets them know he'll be over, helping him.

Again, he takes dictation on what needs to be moved where, what to prop into place for welding or wiring or whatever else is necessary, and gently encourages him to talk.

"That last streaming-location clue was quite something, Benjiro. Though I think they're starting to scale up their strategizing."

[warped_replica]

Coming over that early meant Walter was invited to breakfast by his great aunts, and a decline would not be accepted without at least a beverage being given to him. After such a long night, Benjiro does eat a decent amount, but he lacks his usual enthusiasm.

Throughout the morning, Benjiro will provide directions for Walter at every step. The build will take at least a couple of days work to get everything tuned and to his standards, but the assistance is hastening the progress.

Not raising his eyes away from feeding a wire into the structure, Benjiro hums softly. A beat later, he replies, “It is getting harder to write the clues. My followers are learning the maps faster than I can find new hiding spots.”

Sudden deja-vu. o.o

[iamnotgod]

Walter would partake in breakfast, if only to make sure that Benjiro did as well.

Hands held perfectly still, he says, "Perhaps something more abstract? A picture collage instead of word games, for a change of pace. Or-"

He is not as certain this suggestion is appropriate given the nature of the MMORPGs Ben says, but. But.

"I could create a mod for you, if you'd like?"

Right?

[warped_replica]

Nodding once, he tilts his head to finish guiding the wire and starts to secure it carefully with his tools. Murmuring he considers, “A commonality between a set of pictures might work...”

When his friend offers to make the mod, he glances up from the wires, “...that sounds like a lot of work for something so minor. What did you have in mind?”

Next Day

[runs]

Kitty had already left before Ben came back to the surface the day before, but he finds him on the day after the Earthquake. She has acquired a popsicle and takes it out of her mouth with a soft plop before she addresses him.

"Sadie says the earthquake was your fault."

[warped_replica]

When she comes by, he is measuring and marking on a piece of metal in preparation to make cuts seated at the work bench. His tools are less organized than they usually are, and he has yet to sweep the scrap bits under him from previous cuts.

Looking over to Kitty, his face mask fails to hide his guilty frown. He looks back at his work as he answers, “...she’s correct.” He suspects either Kitty overheard her speaking or Sadie is still cross enough with him to vent to Kitty.

He saw that the girl has a popsicle, but he still points out, “Aunt Rosemary is still home if you want to check with her.” Agatha went out to help organize in the wake of the damage.

[runs]

"I'll check with her in a bit."

Far be it from her to not attempt to get snacks where they are likely.

But that's not why she is here (yes, she can't quite believe that herself, either. It's true, though). "What exactly did you do?"