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crossing_lostrpThree days after the survivors split themselves into two camps, either staying on the beach or moving into the caves, five days following Amanda's "banishment" from the camp and six days after Lucy's suicide, Mindfuck Island, as Scott so affectionately referred to it, settled down and life returned to normal. It said a lot, Ami reflected, that the survivors had reached a point where the day-to-day routines of survival were considered to be the height of normalacy.
There was a return to the routine of foraging, and Ami frequently found herself in the company of Rose and Molly, and surprisingly Daisy as well, when they ventured from the caves to go gathering fruit. More than once they also made the trek down to the beach to share the bounty with the older Rose, Claire and Sue, gathering up additional fruit and vegetables on their way back to the caves. They also scouted out an area for a garden, fortunately finding a suitable patch of land half-way between both camps. It was a bit of a trek for older Rose and Claire, who insisted on helping out with the garden and walked there with Sun, but Molly declared it to be the best spot and no one argued with the woman who seemed to know as much about herbs and such as Daniel did about languages.
Mid-afternoon found a small gaggle of women on hands and knees, working diligently to clear the area for what would become the community garden. Just a few minutes walk off the well-worn path between the caves and the beach, it had easy access to water, optimal sunlight, but was protected by foliage and shrubs enough to prevent anyone from accidentally stomping thorugh before the garden began a proper growth.
Laughing and talking with Claire, Daisy and Rose, her arms and clothes covered in dirt and grime, Ami realized that she was more relaxed than she had been for several days. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand, earning a laugh from the other women.
"Now you've gone and done it," Rose laughed. "Your own personal mud mask."
Ami dabbed at the dirt on her face, then winced as she realized she was only making it worse. "It's all natural at least. Maybe it will fight wrinkles."
"If it does, then we'll have to market it when we get rescued," Daisy suggested. Surprisingly, she too was covered in dirt from the weeding and clearing of the land.
"Craphole Island Face Care, eh?" Claire grinned, looking up from her patch of almost clear dirt. She made a face and promptly tapped her bump. "Don't you have somewhere else to put that foot?"
"Careful, Claire," Daisy warned, "When he's a teenager, he might just have an answer for you."
Ami cast out her awareness, as she did intermittently, just to be on the safe side. Scott and Megabyte were constants and most closely located were the women gardening with her. She knew that Molly was en route, and just beyond she could sense –
Startled, Ami blinked and peered cautiously into the distant trees. While the conversation continued, she reached out a bit more, a chill climbing up her spine. They were being watched; not by the Others, this didn't have that slimy, unnatural feeling to it, but they were being watched.
Just as the realization registered, Rose cried out, hand going to the side of her throat as she toppled over, twitching.
"Rose!" Ami scampered to her friend's side in alarm and that was when she heard it. The faint whizzing sound of air pressure escaping, and the same time that Claire gave a gasp and Daisy yelped, she felt the sharp pricking of something digging its way into her upper arm.
/Scott! Mega -/ was the only thought that Ami managed before the jungle tilted sideways and her awareness of everything became muted, blurred and then just wasn't anymore. Metaphorical fingers clawed at the metaphorical wall that cut her off from her abilities while darkness closed in on all sides. The world narrowed to a tunnel and then darkness swallowed her completely.
There was a return to the routine of foraging, and Ami frequently found herself in the company of Rose and Molly, and surprisingly Daisy as well, when they ventured from the caves to go gathering fruit. More than once they also made the trek down to the beach to share the bounty with the older Rose, Claire and Sue, gathering up additional fruit and vegetables on their way back to the caves. They also scouted out an area for a garden, fortunately finding a suitable patch of land half-way between both camps. It was a bit of a trek for older Rose and Claire, who insisted on helping out with the garden and walked there with Sun, but Molly declared it to be the best spot and no one argued with the woman who seemed to know as much about herbs and such as Daniel did about languages.
Mid-afternoon found a small gaggle of women on hands and knees, working diligently to clear the area for what would become the community garden. Just a few minutes walk off the well-worn path between the caves and the beach, it had easy access to water, optimal sunlight, but was protected by foliage and shrubs enough to prevent anyone from accidentally stomping thorugh before the garden began a proper growth.
Laughing and talking with Claire, Daisy and Rose, her arms and clothes covered in dirt and grime, Ami realized that she was more relaxed than she had been for several days. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand, earning a laugh from the other women.
"Now you've gone and done it," Rose laughed. "Your own personal mud mask."
Ami dabbed at the dirt on her face, then winced as she realized she was only making it worse. "It's all natural at least. Maybe it will fight wrinkles."
"If it does, then we'll have to market it when we get rescued," Daisy suggested. Surprisingly, she too was covered in dirt from the weeding and clearing of the land.
"Craphole Island Face Care, eh?" Claire grinned, looking up from her patch of almost clear dirt. She made a face and promptly tapped her bump. "Don't you have somewhere else to put that foot?"
"Careful, Claire," Daisy warned, "When he's a teenager, he might just have an answer for you."
Ami cast out her awareness, as she did intermittently, just to be on the safe side. Scott and Megabyte were constants and most closely located were the women gardening with her. She knew that Molly was en route, and just beyond she could sense –
Startled, Ami blinked and peered cautiously into the distant trees. While the conversation continued, she reached out a bit more, a chill climbing up her spine. They were being watched; not by the Others, this didn't have that slimy, unnatural feeling to it, but they were being watched.
Just as the realization registered, Rose cried out, hand going to the side of her throat as she toppled over, twitching.
"Rose!" Ami scampered to her friend's side in alarm and that was when she heard it. The faint whizzing sound of air pressure escaping, and the same time that Claire gave a gasp and Daisy yelped, she felt the sharp pricking of something digging its way into her upper arm.
/Scott! Mega -/ was the only thought that Ami managed before the jungle tilted sideways and her awareness of everything became muted, blurred and then just wasn't anymore. Metaphorical fingers clawed at the metaphorical wall that cut her off from her abilities while darkness closed in on all sides. The world narrowed to a tunnel and then darkness swallowed her completely.
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[Megabyte] Antsy and Impatient (open tag)
Date: 2006-06-25 03:33 am (UTC)If he could just get a better sense of Ami but . . . there were more than just a few narcotic drugs in her system blocking him. He didn't like the ramifications.
"Who's tracking them? Unless the kidnappers disappeared into thin air, then they left tracks right? Who's tracking them? John?" Megabyte asked. He indicated the path that Kenzaki did and asked in Japanese, "Is that the way that John went?"
[Kenzaki] Owwww (open tag)
Date: 2006-06-25 03:58 am (UTC)"I didn't see much, Sukotto-san, Dokutaa-sensei, Damon-san," he said apologetically in his own language. "I ran in and I only saw a little bit before someone hit me. They did not want me to see where they were going." He bowed. "I'm sorry, if I had been closer...." Then he'd probably would have been kidnapped or left for dead, he knew, but it didn't help when he faced the reality that he'd not been there.
He remembered Sukotto-san's question. Sukotto-san was like a robot, and Kenzaki hoped he was all right. "I am healing, Sukotto-san. Save your energy for those who were kidnapped."
[Doctor] (w/Jack and Molly) Antsy and Impatient (open tag)
Date: 2006-06-25 02:44 pm (UTC)However, Damon's translation was appriciated.
"The trail split. Two or three went that way and he went after them. The majority went that way, and that's where we're going." The Doctor gestured the directions.
"I can follow these tracks, I think. Unless they go to rocky ground. I had some training in tracking, but... it's been a long while." Jack offered.
The Doctor didn't care who went with who. His focus was on getting Rose and the others back safely. "Alright go, and try not to let Charlie the Moron's trail screw you up."
Molly had apparently decided to go with them. More people, more danger.
He heard others following as well, but didn't look back.
[Scott, Megabyte] Which way? (open tag)
Date: 2006-06-25 03:11 pm (UTC)"I might be able to help you sense Ami," Scott said calmly. Although he'd prefer that Chris wasn't right there to overhear, finding Ami was paramount. "I helped her 'boost the signal,' so to speak. I'm not sure how I did it, but I think we should try."
OOC:
[Megabyte] Getting a Signal, Part I (tag Scott, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 01:50 am (UTC)But trying it was the only chance that they had if they wanted to get the girls back. Claire was pregnant and every moment she was drugged was dangerous for her and the baby; the lack of strength regarding Megabyte's ability to sense Ami screamed that she'd been given a lot more than a few sedatives. She was being artificially blocked. Megabyte didn't let himself dwell for long on what that really meant.
(He's telepathic, even if it's only limited. That means that I have to give this shot.)
Megabyte didn't particularly care that Chris and Kenzaki were there and watching them curiously, and he really didn't care that it meant outing himself to the two men. Recovering Claire and Ami made it worth the risk of alienation and a tag of "weirdness." Hell, he'd survived worse labeling before and likely would again.
"You're gonna have to trust me then," Megabyte told Scott. "It'll be easier if you let down your shields, and you're gonna have to let me in." He raked his hands through his hair, relaxing enough to allow the fleeting background awareness of his fellow Tomorrow Person surface. "And you're gonna have to find a way to sense Ami. *You* should have a way better sense of her than I do, anyway, and it'll be a bigger help if we can both feel her out there."
For the longest moment, Scott didn't answer. Megabyte huffed anxiously, "Look, I don't *want* to know your deep, dark secrets, okay? I don't care about them. I do care about finding Claire and Ami … and the others too and this is the only way that I can think of to do it. You offered, remember?"
"I can't feel her," Scott said simply.
"And I'm gonna help you with that, but you have to help me. We both want the same thing." (Time's wasting, Scott. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and help me find the woman you claim to love.)
"I'll do it."
Megabyte breathed a sigh of relief. "Then let's do this."
[OOC:
[Scott] Getting a Signal, Part 1.5 (tag MB, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 02:06 am (UTC)Scott reluctanly released the numb comfort of his Algeiban side. A torrent of anger and despair filled the void. After pulling his sphere from his pocket, he dropped the mental shields that were now second nature to him. Damon's impatience and anger and Chris's and Kenzaki's confusion and curiosity came through loud and clear.
With Ami gone Scott felt raw and exposed. Clenching his fists, Scott met Damon's eyes. "Ready."
[Megabyte] Getting a Signal, Part 2 (tag Scott, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 02:21 am (UTC)The temptation to slap him was hard to resist. The temptation to shake him until his teeth rattled and remind Scott that it wasn't all about him, it was about the women and that he was useless like this was even harder to resist.
In the end, somehow Megabyte managed.
Scott's mind was an open book and it was easy to slip inside, easier than Megabyte thought it would be, but probably because Scott wasn't resisting. In the back corner of his awareness, Megabyte could still feel Ami and he focused on that – and then he pushed Scott's awareness in that direction. It was heavy handed and rude, likely disorienting, but Megabyte didn't have the patience to do subtle. Scott needed to know what he should be searching for, what he should be sensing and maybe he would pull his head out of his ass and get serious and pissed off instead of morbid and depressed.
/That's Ami. It's not active. It's quiet. But that's Ami. Find her. Find her in that damn link you two have and then we'll find her together,/ Megabyte ordered.
Annoyance, anger and a dozen other emotions rolled over Megabyte. He didn't care. They needed a focus, and he couldn't do it alone.
Eventually that spark that was Ami brightened, and Megabyte could feel Scott's thoughts moving with his, web like threads weaving together and reaching out towards that elusive presence. Push too hard and it was gone, slipping through the fingers like fine grains of sand; it had to be prodded and approached slowly, danced around and courted and even then it was like trying to capture smoke.
"Northwest," Megabyte said finally, withdrawing from Scott's mind. "At least two days. Maybe three." That was the best he could figure out, and it wasn't a great deal. Northwest was a direction with a lot of mileage and acreage, and the aggravating question was: how in the hell did the kidnappers move such a great distance so quickly?
[Scott] Locking on (tag MB, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 03:00 am (UTC)Scott's despair evaporated as Damon's mind retreated. His shields fell back into place, leaving him with only his own overwhelming urge to find Ami and her captors -- and beat the latter within an inch of their lives. Possibly beyond.
(Two or three days? That's not--) Scott didn't bother finishing the thought. Anything was possible on Mindfuck Island. "Take us there," he told Damon. He opened his mouth to protest, but Scott cut him off. "Near there. We need to see what we're up against."
[Megabyte] Locking on (tag Scott, Chris, Kenzaki, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 12:08 pm (UTC)"But what we just did, that was it. I couldn't have done that alone and all we got was a vague direction. I can take us there," he gave a quick glance at Chris and Kenzaki, knowing why the latter was quiet but wondering why the former said nothing and asked no questions, "but I can't guarantee how close to there we'll be.
"I can 'port us," Megabyte said it aloud, he didn't have the time to worry about it at the moment and he really didn't care, "But I can't promise that we'll be right on top of her. We could be a few feet away or a few miles. And the stronger the drugs and the longer she's out of it, the harder pinpointing an exact location is going to be. Even together, because it's hard enough to get a fix on her."
He raked his hands through his hair, having every intention of teleporting to that vicinity, but worried that it would be as useful as teleporting to the general vicinity when Ami had been kidnapped years ago. They, he and his fellow Tomorrow People, had been within a mile of her location, but couldn't pinpoint her exact locale.
(You were younger then, less experienced,) he reminded himself.
(Yeah, but now you're also on Craphole Island,) the pessimistic side of his mind turned around and played Devil's Advocate.
He looked at Scott, and Megabyte suddenly began to feel very tired, very small and very useless. "I just don't want you to get your expectations too high."
[Scott] My kingdom for teleportation (tag MB, Chris, Kenzaki, open)
Date: 2006-06-26 01:19 pm (UTC)Cradling his sphere in his open palm, Scott glanced at it long enough to mentally connect with the object. Its azure light and gentle hum calmed him somewhat, which helped him focus on the the barely there shadow of Ami. He tried to reach her, but his consciousness slid around her.
Forcing back frustration, Scott dropped his shields and looked at Damon. /Try it again. You should be able to sense Ami more strongly now. Then take us there, for chrissake!/
[Megabyte] Not Saying "I Told You So" (tag Scott)
Date: 2006-06-26 01:31 pm (UTC)Without even a nod, a good-bye or a word of warning to Chris and Kenzaki, he grabbed Scott's arm and teleported them to the "sense" of Ami.
To Megabyte's lack of surprise, they reappeared in a patch of open field, with the awareness of Ami still as vague and hazy as it was before. The only difference was that rather than being days away from her, he had a sense that they were "closer." Closer, however, could be miles or minutes.
"Whoever took Ami, they know *what* she is. They know *what* she's capable of doing or they wouldn't have given her the sort of drugs that have blocked her abilities like this.
"I'm all for doing something, but I learned a long time ago, and I learned it the hard way, that we aren't going to be able to do this *alone.*" Megabyte's voice wasn't angry or even on edge, just quiet and resigned. If he and Adam had continued working alone ten years ago, he and Scott wouldn't be having this conversation because Ami would have been killed a decade past.
He didn't want to make the same mistake twice. But he couldn't possibly explain to Scott what they might be up against - the drugs, and more than likely the sort of "enclosures" and "force fields" that could effectively trap a teleporter and screw up even their telepathic abilities to find Ami - until the man was ready to listen and see that Megabyte wasn't just trying to be difficult.
[Scott] Initial recon (tag MB)
Date: 2006-06-26 02:38 pm (UTC)Scott half-listened to Damon's comments as he returned his sphere to his pocket. Mostly he concentrated on making the world stop spinning. "Are you okay?" Damon asked.
"Yeah. Dizzy. A little warning next time, alright?"
Damon scowled at him. "*You're* the one who wanted to come here even though I told you--"
"Yes, I know, we can't pinpoint Ami's location. I'll take what I can get." Enough of the dizziness had passed that Scott dared to look around. He and Damon stood in a grassy field. The air was cooler, and the trees were shorter than the ones he was used to near the beach. "I think we're at a higher elevation. The air isn't salty, so we're not close to the shore."
After locating the tallest tree at the edge of the field, Scott briefly connected with his sphere, leaving it in his pocket this time. Damon peered at him curiously. "What are you doing?"
"Seeing if anyone's nearby," Scott replied, distracted. The sphere's hum silenced. "No one within a mile or so." Without further comment he jogged to the tall tree, kicked off his shoes, and began climbing.
[Scott] Initial recon (cont'd) (tag MB)
Date: 2006-06-26 04:38 pm (UTC)"Trees, trees, and more trees," Scott reported as he looked around. "Mountains several miles to the west. I can't see the ocean or any beaches." (No sign of a Dharma bunker, either. Though they'd be easy to camouflage.)
Scott loosed a frustrated sigh. Ami was somewhere in the area, but he had no idea where to start looking. It was almost as bad as when he and Dad were searching for Mom. The thought prompted morose, which he immediately shoved back. (As dangerous as this place is, I've got allies. We'll find Ami and the other women. Whoever's behind this doesn't realize what they've gotten themselves into.)
After making sure that he was in a good, stable perch in the tree, Scott connected with the sphere in his pocket again. He wanted to look for Ami one last time before giving up and heading back. Scott reached out with his mind until he felt a twinge of pain. There, just at the edge, his sense of Ami was a tiny bit stronger. Grinning despite a burgeoning headache, Scott released his focus from his sphere. Ami was two or three miles roughly north. That bit of information narrowed the search area considerably.
Scott was about to climb down when he remembered how Ami said that she wasn't sure if she'd be able to teleport to the Dharma bunker again. He racked his brain for a way to mark their location in case Damon couldn't return. (Without a map or a GPS beacon--) Scott smiled again. (A beacon.) He had all of the components already.
"Any day now, Tarzan," Damon drawled.
Scott ignored the mild barb. Instead he scanned the area for the closest conifer tree. A decently tall one stood 100 feet to the northeast. Scott connected with his sphere again, knowing he'd be close to exhausted after this. He directed the energy amplified by the sphere to the top of the evergreen tree. After a minute of concentration it burst into flames, billowing dark smoke. Scott smiled, then began his slow, cautious climb down.
When Scott dropped to the ground he found Damon frowning worriedly at the tendrils of smoke. "We might have company."
"No," Scott replied as he put on his shoes. "That's our primative beacon so we'll have some idea of where here is when we get back to the garden. Ami's two or three miles north of here. I just barely got a stronger sense of her." Something tickled his upper lip. Frowning, Scott brushed it away with one hand. A small smear of blood stained his fingers red. "Dammit," he muttered. He was too tired to even think of healing the broken blood vessels. The nosebleed would have to clot normally.
[MB] A Plan, a plan is forming (tag Scott)
Date: 2006-06-26 05:30 pm (UTC)(Provided we don't let the bad guys know that we're onto them.)
Of course, with any luck the bad guys would be so full of themselves they wouldn't realize that the survivors were onto them.
Megabyte closed his eyes and sensed all around again, that faint sense of Ami just beyond his grasp.
And something else . . .
The field that they felt so strongly from the beach wasn't as strong here. He'd been under the assumption that it was part of the island weirdness, but perhaps it wasn’t. Could it be artificial? That added another mystery to the growing pile of mysteries.
It didn't matter right now. Scott had somehow managed to exhaust himself and probably teetered on the edge of giving himself a brain aneurysm. Megabyte could come back and scout out the area to the south a bit more once he got Scott back closer to the beach.
(Too bad I can't just 'port back here with some supplies and hike back to camp. That would be the best way.)
"What we need is a telepath on the beach, and one up here. That would be the best way to track from the beach to this place." Megabyte said the words aloud although he didn't intend to. The only other telepath was Ami, and supposedly the girl Mara.
Megabyte paused and considered it, "Or, maybe a receiver. If we could create a radio tower in one of these trees, sending out a signal on a repeating loop . . ."
As he talked, Megabyte started scanning the treeline, looking for one that might serve the purpose.
[Scott] A Plan, a plan is forming (tag MB)
Date: 2006-06-26 06:10 pm (UTC)Saying her name made the silence in his mind all the more obvious. Before worry and anxiety could gain any momentum, Scott turned his thoughts to the problem at hand. "As for telepaths, I might be able to act as a receiver. River's a reader, but she's also wherever George, Mara, Carlos, and Dr. Pierson went. Even if Mara were here, I doubt she's in any shape for dealing with this latest... development." The last word dripped with disdain. "The Doctor's a strong telepath, too."
[MB] A Plan, a plan is forming (tag Scott)
Date: 2006-06-26 10:55 pm (UTC)He took a good look at Scott and sighed. The other man was worn out and needed to rest, whether he wanted to or not. Megabyte had forgotten that the Doctor was a telepath too and the man might be just what they needed. But first, they had to get back, find the search parties and report what they found out.
"Let's head back and report what we found. And yeah, before you ask, I'm not all that concerned about letting people know I can teleport if it helps us out."
[Scott] Rest stop (tag MB, anyone at the garden)
Date: 2006-06-26 11:36 pm (UTC)Damon seemed puzzled. He simply said, "You're welcome." He grasped Scott's forearm, teleporting them both to the garden in a literal flash.
Once Scott got his bearings he searched the sky for the black plume of smoke. It twined upwards to the northwest, little more than a dark thread due to the distance between them. "There," Scott said, pointing.
OOC:
Redirecting
Date: 2006-06-27 01:18 am (UTC)