The Bunker of Nariba Relia | OPEN PLOT MINGLE POST

[theroadwarrior]

Who: Everyone!!
Broadcast: N/A
Action: The bunker in the surrounding desert.
When: Sometime recently, see this post for full information. Below is the excerpt of information listed there. Feel free to make a top comment and thread out the sad truth and whatnot.

[Records buried in the library, the research facility, and cues from the power plant will eventually reveal the bunker in the surrounding desert. The passageway leads several yards underground, and it doesn’t appear to have been used in a long time. Those brave enough to venture inside will find that it is not much more than a tomb. Eerily enough, the emergency lights are still on, casting a soft red glow over sheets and the once-bodies beneath them.

It has been long enough that paper journals, books, and personal belongings (like bags and such) have deteriorated to the point of being extremely fragile. Handled with care, however, they are eager to tell a story.

“The engineers should have been more careful. I’m not sure I’ll be able to recoup my losses from this… At least I have enough money to buy a ride off this planet!”

“No one could have known this would happen. Hopefully it stabilizes so we can go home soon. In the meantime, I’ve been teaching my daughter how to count. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and I don’t know what to tell her.”

“It’s not getting better. So many people have died that we’re running out of room in the morgue. We had to move all of the food to another room so that the smell doesn’t leach out, but we all know what’s back there.”

“The replicator was supposed to repair us, too.”

“I don’t know if we can go back yet, but it doesn’t matter. Even if the city was back to the way it was, there’s no cure for us. The dead are dead, and we lay down next to them as we wait for our turn.”

There is nothing that can be done for these people except to give them the eternal rest they deserve. Ultimately, the fate of Nariba Relia is a sad one and not altogether preventable.]

Comments

[privateeyed]

[IT WAS JUST FIVE MINUTES COME ON NOW.

(he totally got enough pictures to do a head count)

He follows after her, not even waiting until they're halfway up the stairs before he tugs down his shirt again]

[watermarks]

[FIVE MINUTES IS A REALLY LONG TIME TO BE STANDING ALONE WITH A BUNCH OF CORPSES, OKAY?

Honestly, he's lucky she lasted two before just going back there.

She doesn't want to ask, but she needs to know, though she can just manage to wait until the sky is above them again.] What did you find back there?

[privateeyed]

[unlike before, when he stopped when they were out of the bunker, this time he keeps walking]

More bodies. A lot more. [he takes a deep breath] I think I'm done with the bunker. Are you done? I'm fuckin' done.

[watermarks]

Oh, I'm very done. [Now that she's outside - she never wants to go back inside again.

She does pause and glance back at it. Maybe, she can get Aang to -- but with the way he is right now, maybe not a good idea -- she doesn't know. But she can ask Sokka and they can think of another way.

When she sees that he's still walking, she runs a little to catch up with him.] Are you okay?

[privateeyed]

[he glances sideways as she catches up and makes a concentrated effort to slow his steps a little]

Yeah, will be. [that isn't what she asked, Ben. He takes another breath] Just need to walk it off.

[watermarks]

[She frowns a little, not sure what the 'it' is, but --]

Alright.

[And she sets her pace to walk with him.]

[privateeyed]

[he sighs out, knowing how it sounds. Were it back home, he wouldn't bother elaborating - hell, he'd tell whoever was bothering him to fuck off. But this isn't home. He sighs out slowly and slows down again, after another minute walking]

I'm fine. [better make that clear first] But shit like that - makes me think of other shit, and I don't deal with it very well.

[watermarks]

[Katara is still disturbed from what she'd seen inside - there were so many of those blankets...

So although she's worried about Ben, her heart is cold, stomach still sick, and she's not trying to figure out why this might be happening for him. Really, what they saw is ample reason for anyone to be upset.

When he speaks, though, it tugs her attention back to him more fully.] ...I can understand that. [...] Although I think anyone has the right to be upset right now, even if it didn't bring up other things.

[There were so many sheets.]

[privateeyed]

[he tilts his head back and forth as some of the tension eases. He already feels better] 'Course they do. I'd be surprised if anyone can go down there and keep a straight face.

[he rolls his shoulders] I can handle being upset. Hell, I'm grumpy as fuck most of the time. It's the rest that - let's just say walking it off is a good day for me.

[is he trying to distracting her with his bullshit? You bet]

[watermarks]

[Well, it's working. True to form, Katara has a dozen questions. She's just not sure what she should ask - what would be helpfpul at the moment.]

...what else would make this a good day?

[Is there anything at all that she can do to help?]

[privateeyed]

[of course, it working immediately backfires on him. His nose scrunches up as he makes a face]

What - I don't know, it's just a saying, you know?

[watermarks]

[...heh.] No, not really. But that happens sometimes.

...I wish this place had an ocean.

[privateeyed]

An ocean? [...] Shame it doesn't. Be a nice change from the - desert and the stupid empty houses and shit.

[watermarks]

Yeah. And - [this might seem disrespectful, but it's not, really, she swears] - I'd love to go surfing right now.

[privateeyed]

Surfing? Really? [of all the things she could have said, that wasn't one he expected] Maybe the next place'll have an ocean.

[watermarks]

[She nods.] It's one of my favorite things to do. And I just feel like...

[She needed to do something life-affirming. It was horrible, the way those people had died - so many of them. But she was still alive, and she wasn't the sort of person to drink to forget - so she really, really wanted to do something else.] ...I'm saying this all wrong.

[In an uncharacteristic gesture of uncertainty, she ran her hand through her hair.]

[privateeyed]

Nah, it just sounds like you don't want to say what it really is.

[because boy, does he understand. He scratches at his cheek for a moment, mulling over what he wants to say next. It's one of those things where he has to be . . . delicate, and that's not something he excels at]

But I get it - you want to do something that'll get all the bad shit out of your head, something you can do where you don't have to think. [with a snort] Mindless shit.

[watermarks]

Yeah, something like that. [She takes a deep breath and says what it is.] Something that reminds me I'm alive.

[...]

Even if I'm here. Even if - all that happened. I want to remember, and I want to go back and see if I can get Aang or Sokka to help me put together a memorial outside it, because I think it's important that these people be remembered. And I'll probably grieve about them some more later, but right now... I don't know... it's just what I wish.

[privateeyed]

Then do you first. [he shrugs, because it makes complete sense to him] I mean, it's nice you want to do all that for them, but - can't do shit if you don't sort yourself out.

Can't surf here, but maybe there's something else. [...] Don't suppose you're a drinker, are you? [Ben you're not a drinker don't encourage other people to drink]

[watermarks]

No. [Bleck.] Though I can't say I've ever tried.

[She's just not a big fan of the concept. She's had to deal with people losing control and going crazy stupid due drinking, and she just... doesn't see how it would help.]

[privateeyed]

Oh, well, I was gonna let you drink me under the table to make you feel better, but if you haven't tried it before—

[he shrugs]

[watermarks]

[...heh.]

...maybe just some ice cream.

[privateeyed]

Yeah, that's probably safer. I mean, you're probably a lightweight anyway.

[Ben no]

[watermarks]

[...

A slow eyebrow raise.]

What's that supposed to mean?

[privateeyed]

You know exactly what it means.

[Ben no]