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

[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!"

[warped_replica]

His hand is easy to lift and turn as he keeps his arm relaxed with his elbow propped on his duffle bag. Between her growl and the very angry Spanish she unleashes, Benjiro’s focus shifts only to Sadie with a wilting word, “Sadie...” Any of the words he would have said after are interrupted when she shoves his left shoulder. Supported, the mild sprain did not hurt, but having the anterior to posterior force translating through the joint is an unexpected stress to it. Not braced for it, he squints one eye shut with tension as he croaks out a sound that starts high and ends low with a slowed exhale to end it.

His voice is softer as he opens his eye and replies, “...yes, I could have been. But there’s no one I would have asked to go looking around in there. We need as much information as we can get.”

[iamnotgod]

Walter lets Sadie's language stand.

"In terms of injuries, you got off lightly," he allows.

"But there was an earthquake half an hour ago. Could you feel any of it?"

If Ben was at the epicenter, then there must have been something.

[dragoonrouge]

The anger drains from Sadie at Ben's pained response to her shoving his shoulder and she goes back to fussing.

"You shouldn't go looking for answers to the detriment of you health, Ben. How badly did you hurt your shoulder initially?"

It was important to double check what the original injury was like with Ben's healing factor at play.

"Can you sit down or will that hurt more?"

[warped_replica]

A look towards Walter is given, acknowledging his injuries could have been far worse. Especially if he were still fully human. Speaking to both Walter and Sadie he gives his reasoning, “I know, but we were brought here because I was too cautious at the forts and in the time since then.”

Regarding his shoulder, he looks to it and gingerly moves it into flexion, then abduction, and rotates it. The lowering of his elbow between hurts worse, but he tolerates it with a wince at his eyes, “I hurt it just before walking here, so it’s about the same. A little less sore to move.” Then following her question about sitting, he nods and moves a few steps nearer to the group to sit down on a lower level of stone of the ruins.

“As for the earthquake...that was my fault. I made a mistake and upset the mouse. It shifted away from me after I dropped from the wall during my second climb. I didn’t touch it coming down but it must have felt me land.”

[spaghettimonster]

Russell is not one to worry quietly in one place, and as the minutes turned into hours he spent his fair share of time pacing around the ruins. Checking for messages from Benjiro, by text or by network - no matter that either was unlikely in different ways. Checking for tips on spelunking and finding people, should something go wrong. Checking in with family and friends after the earthquake, getting and giving what reassurances he could. Promising to let Agatha and Rosemary know as soon as he heard from Benjiro, without giving away what he did know.

So he's returning from the latest bout of pacing in time to see the group gathered together, and hear the tail end of the conversation. He breathes in a sharp breath first, trying to find the words, but just settles in a scolding tone far closer to his mum than he'd like to admit.

"Ben. What do you mean, dropped off the wall...?"

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?”

Yup.

[iamnotgod]

"Yes, or something like a Pictionary game."

Or whatever that party game had been.

Walter smiles. "It's no trouble, I assure you; at this point acquiring the server space is trivial. And while a cave system would be too on-the-nose-"

And frankly, water was out, too. Though inadvertently guessing the layout of Mr. Evil's base would be amusing...

"How about a cloud system? Where some of the clouds can be walked through, but not all."

[warped_replica]

“I don’t know if any of my followers are dedicated enough to try to figure out my stick figures,” he says with a faint tinge of humor. “A cloud system could be interesting. Though, I do wonder if anyone would be restricted from downloading a mod.”

“Maybe a mini-game based in a browser would be more accessible... But that’s more than double the work,” he wonders out loud. Benjiro likes to team up with other skilled players, but when he opens his streams to viewers, he tries to be inclusive of all skill levels.

[iamnotgod]

Walter gives Ben a knowing, bemused look. "I could always lend a hand in that area instead. But then, you do have skill in sketching."

Perhaps not digitally, but all the same.

Walter gives a sympathetic sigh at the mere idea of browser games. "Nothing using Flash," he says right off. "But it's easier to build that sort of thing from scratch than it once was, to be sure."

[warped_replica]

The methods are quickly becoming more trouble than they’re worth. “Thank you, but you shouldn’t draw for someone else without being paid. Especially on a repeated basis.” Walter is charitable in many ways, and Benjiro will not take advantage of that.

“It would be a lot of hassle regardless. I think something simpler would be better for everyone. It’s not that important anyway.” Just his silly attempt to engage his audience.

Another length of wire is cut and inserted into the build.

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?"

[warped_replica]

That she remains gets a brief glance but nothing more. She could simply be curious.

Irritated with himself after a long night spent awake dwelling on what happened, he answers with regret, “I chose the wrong place to climb, and when I came down it disturbed the mouse enough to shift away from me. The movement of something so giant was sufficient to cause the earthquake.”

[runs]

"...so that's what cause the other earthquake, too? And the tsunami?"

Huh. That's. Certainly not what they said in science class.

"How was the place that you picked dumb?"

[warped_replica]

“Possibly. We can’t know for certain, and with Mr. Evil at the forts we cannot rule out his influence for the tsunami without more information.”

Her word choice with her second question makes him flinch in discomfort, but he does answer, “...I was too near the head. The change in the air current caught me off guard.”

[runs]

It takes her a moment to try and interpret the air current. "...It breathed you off the wall?"

That's. That's some massive breathing. And if sleep-breathing is that powerful, just breathing...

Yeah. She does not want to see it wake up.