[open] an augment experiment

[rebuildyourruins]

Who: Thor + onlookers
Broadcast: nope
Action: the desert outside of Nariba Relia
When: March 18th

a. the desert (semi-open)

[If anyone thought Thor's call for information about augments a couple of weeks prior was all he intended to do about it, they would be wrong. To his credit, Thor has kept his intention mostly underwraps - he certainly didn't mention it on the network, and he only told a few people in advance what he was going to do. He is not in the mood to be dissuaded from trying, so the less people who have that chance the better.

Today is the day. A handful of people were told outright in person that he was going to go hit himself with lightning to try and burn out the augment. And for those on the Blue Fish, they might overhear him make this ludicrous statement and follow him to see what he's doing. It's a bit of a hike if they do - Thor walks from where the Blue Fish is parked outside of town into the desert, until they're at least a couple of kilometres out. If something does go wrong, he intends for there to be some distance between him and the city.

In a few minutes he'll get to work, but first he's going to watch one of those leg-snake abominations wobble past him with a look of sheer unhappiness.]

There is so much wrong with this.

[[NOTE: this prompt is open to anyone on the Blue Fish or who Thor contacted ahead of time regarding his lightning test.]]

b. lightning strikes twice - and thrice (open)

[Anyone in town will find it odd, perhaps, that storm clouds begin to roll into the sky in the middle of the day. The clouds rapidly form some ways out of the city, and the telltale rumble of thunder follows close behind. You'd barely have time to wonder if it might rain when lightning strikes.]



[Then it strikes again, and again, and again, like the sky has some personal grievance against one exact spot in the desert. Maybe there's a particularly frustrating tree out there?

After half a dozen bolts... it stops, as quickly as it had begun. Curiously enough the clouds themselves also break apart quickly, drifting away until the sky is just as blue and empty as it had been only minutes ago. If you head out there to see what the hell just happened, you'll eventually find Thor stomping back up out of the shallow valley he'd been in, muttering and rubbing at the back of his neck.]



Well, that didn't work...

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

Not sure. I hope that they all cut town when they heard we were coming. Somehow, that seems like too much to ask for.

[rebuildyourruins]

That would mean they thought us a threat.

[And okay, Thor has caused some property damage here. He admits it. That was only after knowing how things reset though, with no one around to claim ownership of the place.

After a moment, he considers the other option.]

Or the Atroma.

[outstandingbalance]

[She figured he'd get it.]

The fleet shows up in a system, and suddenly they're dealing with plagues, raiders, meteors...

It's not us causing it, but there's a persistent trend.

[rebuildyourruins]

And if these people knew of the trend, they might have decided they wanted no part in it.

[It's... plausible, but something still feels off about the whole thing.]

I have to say, in all the worlds I've been to, I've never seen one that had only one place where people lived. Even Asgard had villages outside of the main city.

[And Asgard was far smaller than most worlds, existing on a single flat plain of only a few hundred miles.]

[outstandingbalance]

It's the best case scenario at this point. This... feels different.

[A shrug, crossing her arms over her chest. She's been going over this in her mind.]

It could be something else happened here. It might be there were never actually people and it was purpose made like this—either for us or someone else to drop in.

Whatever t is, it's not normal.

[rebuildyourruins]

No. It isn't.

[Thor agrees wholeheartedly with that assessment. None of this is normal, and he doesn't much like it.]

I don't know what the Atroma are playing at in bringing us here either.

[outstandingbalance]

Neither do I. I can say, they've been playing a long game. We might not get to find out. Or we might not really know until the next system...

Only one way to find out.

[rebuildyourruins]

Wait and see?

[Thor's favourite thing.]

I know you're right. It's just annoying.

[outstandingbalance]

As long as we're on the same page about me being right.

[Because believe it or not, she's not happy about it either.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[He wouldn't think so. Thor's just a few shades more vocal about his irritation than Natasha tends to be. He gives her a quick smile.]

In the meantime, there is plenty enough to look through in this town.

[outstandingbalance]

There is. Maybe we'll even find something useful.

[rebuildyourruins]

That shouldn't prove too difficult. It has all the stores you'd expect a regular town to have, and all the same goods.

[outstandingbalance]

Not exactly what I meant by useful. But I will be picking up some snacks.

[rebuildyourruins]

Oh, sure. That too.

[Thor's not about to go trawling through the library like some people are. He'll leave that to others. Supplies are something he can do more immediately.]

If you find any leads or doors that won't open, let me know.

[outstandingbalance]

I'll keep you in mind.

[Natasha has a lot of people on that list, all things considered. If she needs any help opening doors, she has plenty of muscle for it.]

Take care of yourself.