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[warandpeace]

☄Audio

For those that were in Avelle for the past week, has anyone here noticed the crash?

Or the significant lack of coverage or aftermath?

I have concerns. Perhaps it's a lack of acquaintance with the local culture, but it seems unusual to remain silent when something wrecks into one of the city's main resources. That we are also strangers here reminds me that makes us very prone. We may be in their records now, but it is as simple biological resources.

We're going to have an important figure on board. It might be sufficient to secure our safety. But I am curious about that crash.

[He clears his throat. Moving on.]

Do you have the equivalent of an R&D team? A group that I can propose a project to if I give them the specifics? It would take a bit of work but in the long run I think it would be beneficial.


OOC: Linking to the crash info for reference.

Comments

[rraidergirl]

Is Snake a- [ She's not entierly sure "friend" is the right word for a man like Miller. ] An associate of yours?

As to that, I don't know. They've cleared away most of the wreckage that washed up immediately, but more might have gone downstream with the river. [ She tipped her head to look up at him. ] I don't suppose you've gotten diving equipment in the post recently as well.

[warandpeace]

He's my student. Or he will be, one day. It's complicated. In the time I'm from, he's still a child.

[Which means Lara could one day meet someone who taught her as a much younger person.] I'm afraid not. And it doesn't seem like the quality of water you want to swim in.

I wonder why that, too.

[rraidergirl]

[ The thought of meeting Roth as a younger man is too daunting to even consider right at that moment, so she skips over it.

And she is most definitely not pouting at not being able to dive in the dangerous and most likely toxic river. ] Pollution? Run off from industrial areas.

[warandpeace]

Probably. This is their big energy resource, too, the river.

That ship crashing into it must have been a pretty big problem.

[rraidergirl]

[ Give her a moment to consider that. ]

Do you think it was intentional, then? Not that the ship blew up, but where it blew up?

[warandpeace]

There's a lot of possibilities. That's one I definitely considered, that or trying to disrupt one of those industries.

Fun romantic getaway, huh? [He snorts lightly.]

[rraidergirl]

We're not exactly equipped to narrow them down.

Come to think of it, I never did meet with my supposed soul mate. All those complementary date classes right down the drain. [ The smile suggests she's not particularly broken up about it. ]

[warandpeace]

I went out on a date with mine. Figured meeting some new people couldn't hurt. I've been living with nothing but soldiers for about twelve years now. I guessed I could stand to be social. He was fine. [Nothing went wrong, anyway.]

Admittedly, monogamy was never my strong suit. I didn't realize how seriously they took these matches until things started to seem tense.

[He looks around them at the "romantic" city with a perplexed expression.]

[rraidergirl]

[ She is making the most skeptical face at you right now, Miller. ]

They lost me at the mandatory testing.

[ Skepticism melts into a sly little grin. ] Did you flirt with someone else's match? That seems like something that could warrant an arrest here.

[ said the girl who spent her weekend breaking into a house. ]

[warandpeace]

What's that look for, because I met with the person I was matched with? Or that I used to be pretty popular. [He's actually smiling at that some, though. He tried the whole dedicating himself to someone thing. To be honest, though, he's paid dearly for it. He should have spent that time cutting loose.]

No, I didn't. I guess luckily for me. I would hate to be arrested on charges of a "pick-up line misdemeanor".

[rraidergirl]

It can't be both? But, since you asked, yes, I suppose I'm surprised that you met with them at all. It seems... I don't know. I've never been a fan of blind dates.

[ And was it really so strange to remember that people did things like going on dates? She laughs, a soft surprised sound. ]

You're joking, but I'd bet that is a misdemeanor on this planet. Especially for the bad ones.

[warandpeace]

I thought it could be someone to talk to about things that weren't work. If we had anything in common. [He wrinkles his nose under his glasses.] I spent the last 11 years so dedicated to someone, and the business we were building together. Gradually I gave up a personal life. All I cared about was making it work.

But in the end, they left. Our vision didn't mesh anymore, I guess. [He wishes that he'd been told before he wasted nine years trying to make up for mistakes.] My business will probably fall through. I thought some company would be nice. A little short-sighted. I knew the test was mandatory, but I didn't realize that it went so deep.

[This is actually more than he's said to most people about what happened. And that's kind of nice. The entire situation is so ridiculous, he doesn't know if anyone would be able to (or care to) absorb the details.]

Guess I need to pick some better ways to make a few friends.

[rraidergirl]

[ She hadn't been expecting quite that much, but still she listens attentively and is silent for a moment while she considers what he says. ]

My father traveled a lot until he died and he took me with him, which I loved, but. Well, archaeology digs aren't exactly the best place to meet playmates. I didn't have my first real friend till I went to university. [ And then she very nearly got the both of them killed... But that's not a story she's ready to tell yet. Not when everything finally feels in focus and clear. ] It's... easy to forget that not everyone feels the need to forge ahead on their own.

If it helps, I've enjoyed our post body snatching conversation.

[warandpeace]

I did plenty of forging ahead on my own. Back in my 20s, mostly. [Though he's only in his late 30s now, it feels like eons ago. Not just a little over a decade.] I found someone. I guess he got me used to the idea I didn't have to go alone.

[But he did. Still, her comment gets a friendly little snort out of him.]

Well, at least we were productive. This damned crutch has to come in useful for something.

[rraidergirl]

Good to know I still have nine or so years of solitary forging before it grows old.

[ It's shockingly easy to tease and behave the brat with Miller. It's not the familiar ease she had before... But now's hardly the time and place to be thinking about that. ]

I prefer us having the body over this Link'd lot or whoever the Komai are, but even with an autopsy report, I don't know what we can do with it. If it was something to do with Link'd, they are the government on this planet.

[warandpeace]

[It's charming. It feels like a long time since he's had some decent banter. Everything's been so serious.]

Maybe we'll get something. I'm not sure what. I have a feeling, at least, that these people might need protection.

But I've always found civilian uprisings tend to go pretty badly. One of the reasons that I used to train civilian militias. You're not military. You don't have an army at your back. But you need to defend yourself. If this is where their heads are at and they've never done anything like this before, this can go tragically.

[No shortage of experience on this.]

I want confirmation. To know this person was murdered and hidden away. If we figure out that, then we'll know how hard we have to watch our backs. I'm prone to paranoia, though. Already doing that.

sorry miler.....

[rraidergirl]

And if they decided to do this now, we're right in the middle of it all, aren't we. I do see how paranoia would recommend itself.

[ She considers it a moment. ] I have to admit, this is a first for me. Before I was on the Moira, I.

[ The words stop, stick in her throat. Only for a moment, but it's a noticeable moment. ] I was shipwrecked on an island. It had been taken over by this... this cult. The Solarii. Survivors of other shipwrecks. They were utterly ruthless, either join them or die. Some they didn't even offer the choice...

[ She had rather lost her original point. The air in Avelle was thin, compared to Yamatai. Even the stink of the river didn't claw it's way into your lungs quite the same as the stench from the shanty town at the base of the mountain. Lara realizes, vaguely, that she'd stopped walking. Her hands clenched in fists. ]

They weren't a militia. They were just monsters. [ And she can't find it in herself to be sorry for the way she butchered them. ]

[warandpeace]

You're right. They weren't a militia.

[Some places were definitely more cults than militias. The more he thinks back, the more that seemed to be Big Boss's way of thinking. An ideal that he nearly agreed with, in the way that a son of a war torn country would want to end cycles of revenge. But Big Boss... well, he was just full of himself.]

In Latin America, many of the countries didn't have organized military. They couldn't afford to dedicate the spending to them. So they relied on militias and guerrilla warfare to stave off invasions or to reclaim their rights when political control became aggressive. I worked there as an instructor for a long time, helping civilian troops.

It's a fine line, though. One that's too easy to toe. Sorry that happened to you.

[rraidergirl]

[ Her gaze had slipped, somewhere off in the middle distance. She turns it back to him, focuses intently on what he's saying. She grimaces at his apology, shaking her head. ]

It's fine. I'm fine. [ Both the truth and a lie. ] We should get back to the ship, yes?

[warandpeace]

[He does feel bad. As much as he's grown older now, he does hate to see a disappointed woman. And she looks like she's been through a lot.]

Yeah. That's a good idea. You did good work back there. Moved quickly. [Just to remind her that she's still pretty good, even if she's had trouble.]

[rraidergirl]

[ She manages a smile. ]

Thanks. Having a distraction was nice