(open) mission: hit the beach

[aithinkthereforeaiam]

Date & Time: July 18th-24th, Exsilium Time
Location: Sea Shore during the Late Cretaceous Period
Characters: All! Oh those pesky mandatory missions.
Summary: In lieu of the success of the space shuttle's test flight, all of the Transports have been sent back to the Cretaceous period to gather mineral supplies and volcanic rock, while doubling as a sort of 'vacation' and chance to get Transports out of the Initiative's hair. With well stocked supplies, camping gear, and more burlap sacks than anyone could possibly ever use, the Transports have been set under a protective dome and told to collect what they can... and to enjoy the sunshine.
Warnings: Shenanigans!

The overflow log can be found HERE!

It's almost surreal, the quality of color, of light, of oxygen saturation in the air once people arrive. It's so rich that the Initiative sent people back with respirators, to help ease the transition, and warned those who would listen about the effects of too much oxygen on a system.

What they don't warn for is the sheer alien familiarity of the landscape, the warmth, the roughness of the sand on the beaches. This is not the fine, sandy beaches out of vacation dreams, but a rougher, larger granule sort, with shells that might be recognizeable as ancestors to ones those from Earth would remember washing up on familiar beaches, millions of years later.

Most striking is the lack of abundant wildlife found among the fronds and leaves and foliage, or underneath the surface of the saltier, much warmer waters extending off the beach. While acting as a permeable membrane to oxygen and water, along with the sorts of phytoplankton that kept sea creatures alive, all the larger animals had been pushed out by the Initiative's installment of the safety dome. Along the transparent walls, curious creatures would come close, peer in, tap against the barrier and run off if frightened, but very few were found inside at any size larger than that of a house cat. It was for the better in the long run.

Too bad that the Initiative didn't have ultra-violet blocking technology in their shielding. For all the atmosphere is in much better shape millions of years in the past, the sun is as strong as ever, and the unwary will be burned through and through if they're not careful.

Comments

[velveteened]

( HIS LIFE IS SO HARD IT'S SUCH A TRAGEDY. )

I'm fine, really -

( he shakes his head, wrinkling his nose at the faceful of FOLIAGE. the mention of ahiru and subsequent babble. )

Collette, I know about Ahiru.

[whatsupcroc]

Oh! Oh, good She makes a cute duck, doesn't she?

( Because that's appropriate conversation! Steering around a fallen tree, Collette loosely follows the creek up river. )

Though what, were you hoping to see her?

( That grin invades her voice. )

[velveteened]

( MILDLY: ) I think of her as 'Ahiru' and not 'duck,' you know.

( wonders if there are ducks in the cretaceous - likely not, but it's not a history he's ever studied. there's a thoughtful pause before he goes on - )

I wonder if every world had a time like this in its past.

[whatsupcroc]

So you do think of her.

( Collette teases, slowing down as they emerge out of the thicker foliage into the relative open area of the bank by the creek. )

I don't know. I like to think there is! Though what it was like, that has to change depending on what world you're on. Maybe your past was like this, too! I mean, you're pretty much from an Earth, aren't you?

( She slows to a stop. The engine hums then dies. Soon after, the sounds of nature take over; the burble and crash of water coming down the falls, the hum and thrum of insect life, and the smaller bustling and swishing of creatures moving through the underbrush.

There's a lack of the birdcalls she associates with nature. It still makes her shiver when she thinks about it -- that the birdlike calls coming through the air come from such different animals.

Everything was so alien while being so familiar. )

[velveteened]

I think so. We call it Earth, and it's not that different from this one.

( it's very different, but he knows she'll follow his meaning - in the basics, in things he wouldn't necessarily think or know how to articulate like earth and air compositions, equivalent gravities, all the unseen things that just translate as the same. more to what he knows, there's familiar or almost familiar flora and fauna, architectural cues that sometimes ping him, and other such things.

he pauses, then carefully gets off after she stops, setting down the bag and notebook and pencil a little distance away, and a shaded bit of clearing that's nearer the water but not muddy. it's with a smile that he comes back and approaches her in preparation of helping her over, as well; and turns when he's close enough, crouching as necessary to be at a reachable level. )

Can you get onto my back?

[crocodilesmiles]

( She watches him come back, intuiting his meaning before he turns around and crouches down -- and she has to laugh, flushing momentarily, because this isn't something she knows how to say thank you for. Normal kids didn't spend a lot of time around her or the friends she mostly ended up making, partly due to access, partly due to the thought that has to go into how she navigates her day to day life. It's dumb, but it's present and real, so having people be thoughtful without it scoring them "nice person" points with an invisible audience is refreshing.

Not like the people she knows here can put this on their transcripts or anything. She shifts, pulling her far leg over the seat and settling down so that she's facing Oz's back entirely for a beat. )

Sure! Just don't slip -- ( she says, voice teasing, as she leans forward and then half pulls, half flops onto his back. )

Hey, Oz, does this make you my valiant steed?

( A grin if he looks at her face at his shoulder, but otherwise carried in her tone of voice. )

[velveteened]

Hmm.

( he makes it sound playful as he supports her legs and shifts her weight a bit, standing with a sound and starting for the chosen picnic site. )

That's what my sister used to call me when I carried her like this. Well - ( amended with a short laugh ) - she was young, so it was more like being her pony.

( back when ada had been small enough carry around anyway, and before their situation had complicated enough that they scarcely saw each other. break had been right so long ago, of course; going back home would've only endangered his family even more (and really, lutwidge and his second coming of age had proved that amply; he can only be grateful she'd got out of both things alright). he's glad she didn't have to linger long in a place like this, left before having to experience the illness and bombings and never saw the destruction at paris nor what he'd also wrought.

it's a good thing, he tells himself.

when they approach where he'd set down the food, oz slows to a stop, moving to gently crouch down again and let her down. but this proves trickier than expected, between the combination of trying to actually let her go without dropping or hurting her and how much she weighs, and in a spectacular feat of dexterity manages to overbalance - right into the waterfall-fed pool. )

[crocodilesmiles]

I forget you're the older brother, sometimes. I liked Ada. She was sweet.

( Family, she feels, can be sweet. Or destructive; the most important thing, even when it betrays, or leaves, or walks away from. It's family.

The thing you don't choose, but that you can choose to add to.

They're sidelined thoughts as she tries not to overbalance Oz -- but it's an effort doomed to failure when, with a shriek, she accompanies him right into the waterfall fed pool.

Sheer blind luck would put them on the slightly deeper side, the bigger stones hugging the rim toward the rock face the water has carved into over time. Collette lets go instinctively, using her arms to pull herself to the surface. She has no easy ability to stand -- she finds herself gasping and trying to shove wet hair back off her face as she glances around for Oz. )

Oz! That's so not how you decide to go not-so-skinny dipping on a girl! Oz?

[velveteened]

continued here!