[Video] 30th Grasshopper

[unfavorableinstigation]

From: Cabin 4:B
To: Everyone

---

[Nita looks - perhaps to the relief of some - a lot less tired than she has been post-mission. She is holding a journal, rather than her Manual.]

Morning, everyone! This is just to let everyone know that, after Kaiba and I held the election for the remaining council seats, we have our winners!

I'm happy to announce that our new council members are Glorfindel and Gladio!

[And won't Gladio be glad she's not full-naming him on 'live tv,' so to speak?]

Now, I remember that we didn't set a specific date for a next meeting, the last time we had one; fellow council-members, when do you think would be best to have it?

[... Preferably before the next mission, if it's her choice!]

And, assuming all months on this calendar stay at thirty days, just want to remind you all that tomorrow's another platform day, plus when we get our new point tallies.

[So keep Tidus' post in mind for requests on what to get from the shop, basically.]

Think I just need another nap, though...

[And she signs off, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face, in the hopes no one caught that last bit!]

Comments

[unfavorableinstigation]

'Convenient' seems the keyword, there.

[Nita has a wry look on her face.]

Guess the Terrans are like humans in that way - so much happens out in the greater worlds that they don't know about.

Back home, at least, there's wizards to help. Here, they did know of other worlds and none of them had a clue about whatever was up with the Burrower and whatever was trying to kill it.

[adregem]

Exactly. And it's not like anyone had any time to ask them questions, even if we wanted to. [ The mood was celebratory, and the Voidtrecker pulled them out on a time's up counter. Why would anyone prod further, when the Terrans were just happy to be alive, the Dweller or Burrower god protected? ]

Would the planet just...disintegrate completely if the Burrower was compromised in any way? What were the monsters intending to do; kill it and take over the world...? [ He hums. ] Not to mention the strange visions and dreams the Terran and Gry youths were talking about on their forums. Gah. I should have talked to more of the kids. I was too preoccupied with the leaders. [ Rookie mistake on his part, and if he sounds like he's taking that hit seriously, as if it was a personal offense he had committed, that's probably because he is. ]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Strange as it might be, Nita can relate - even though she technically still is a kid, back home.]

We didn't get to ask nearly as much about the history between the Terran and the Gry as I'd have liked. Something about them having been predator and prey until only recently?

[As in 'within living memory' recently, for them.]

Was the Burrower only on the Gry's side? Was it hiding there, from whatever showed up on the planet?

... Hell, was that the only edition of whatever was pursuing it?

[It's like the jellyfish-creature all over again.]

[adregem]

[ That's the same wavelength he couldn't voice out loud during his time underground, for fear of having Terran elders think badly of the Treckers. Besides, who wanted to entertain questions that had nothing to do with helping the Terran civilians? ]

I was thinking a similar thought. I didn't want to imply anything without evidence, but something told me there might have been more to the species divide than we were able to gather. For one thing, the youths of both Terran and Gry weren't as invested in that history. They were on forums online, together.

[ His brows furrow. ] My biggest worry? What if the threat comes back after we've left? You said it yourself - was the god hiding from the external threat? Or is the threat more internal, more organic to Terra? [ He can't help but exhale at that, frustrated as he is to leave a problem unsolved. It's not like him. ] Remind me to stick with you on the next mission, if you're feeling up for it.

[unfavorableinstigation]

I saw a little of that, with the younger Gry; they weren't supposed to have tech, I'll bet, but they did.

[So... they're trying. It's a very hopeful notion.]

We can say the same thing about any of the worlds we visited - especially that one mission we never got to complete at all.

But - I was worried about the pollution being the reason behind the threat, in some way.

[But if the Burrower hadn't been worried about that after all... well. More food for thought.]

We can form our own team, if you want. I can teleport if I've got coordinates, but I'm not exactly on Black Squad.

[Visit ALL the teams!]

[adregem]

Plus, they were avoiding their older counterparts. They weren't even trying to tell the Terran elders about what they were planning - I just found out myself because they approached some of the Purple team with that information. Why? Because they know the older Gry and Terrans have bad blood?

[ Hmm, that's something he didn't catch on the comms at all. ] Pollution, you say? What do you mean?

[ Roland smiles at Nita, a glint of excitement in his eyes. You know, for all his seriousness, he's actually very fond of playing different roles. Detective, spy, actor...Like in movies. His favorite movies, to be precise. ] Heh, that sounds like a pretty good plan to me. I can sneak you in the Black Squad. We can be the sub-unit, Alpha Team Black Squad, in charge of all-around snooping and general fact-finding.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita nods, frowning.]

Or because most kids don't like traditionalists, particularly when there's a lack in explanations...

[Even when there were GOOD explanations, it made all too much sense for most 'rebel teens' to do what they were explicitly told not to anyhow.]

And you know how the quality of the surface was, well, bad? Apparently it'd always been poor, but the Gry I talked to said that the new factories made things worse, so nothing can grow on the surface now.

[She doesn't know Fandaniel cheated and put plants there anyway, okay? Let the Gry and Terrans be surprised.

But Nita grins again at the last suggestion.]

Alpha-Team, huh? I like it; you're on.

[adregem]

[ Something clicks in Roland; something that he regrets not connecting earlier, during the mission. I should have asked to be teleported up to the surface! Dammit! ]

Nita...Terrans worked at the factories. There were five unaccounted Terrans during our initial sweep of civilians missing underground, too. One of them was spotted leaving on a train, though I never got to follow his route. Two of them went to work 'overtime' at the factory. [ He leaves it at that because the implication is already quite clear. Was there a plan to sabotage? A plan to get one race to strike the other? No...No he was just reading into things, right? ]

[ So many details he wishes he could have noted down when they mattered. ] Looks like the ATBS has got their work cut out for them, huh?

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita's frown returns, deepening again.]

Better than making the Grys do the work, just to name one Earth parallel.

... And that's no good! But, weren't the labs themselves targeted?

[She nods.]

I'd say we do, for sure.

[adregem]

Speaking of the labs...Five were destroyed, and the sixth remained standing. Would you happen to know how, or why? [ He matches Nita's expression with his own. ] The explosion underground where the Terran city was...I never got to piece together if it was related at all to the explosions topside.

[ He sighs audibly now. ] Between saving civilians from getting buried alive to fighting an endless wave of monsters day and night, how could anyone have the energy to consolidate information? Ridiculous.

[ Roland takes another glance at his younger companion and tries to change up the mood. Really, what good would this do now? They were off planet. It's not like they could ask the conductor to take a roundtrip back... ] Say, I should leave you to your nap. Sorry for talking your ear off. You're feeling better, right?

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita shakes her head slowly and sadly.]

Crisis work deserves a lot of respect; don't beat yourself up too much, okay?

[Just look for the next opportunity. It's what she does, or tries to.]

But... yeah, I am. Feeling better, that is.

If you do get enough points for that - Higgeldy, was it? - that you were after, lemme know, okay? I'd like to meet them.

*makes it rain bonus AC*

[adregem]

[ It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but he smiles anyway. ] I'll try. No promises, though.

[ He checks his SCA as if that was any indicator of points. In truth, he's just glancing at it with the hopes that the work he did on the planet warranted some extra points to his name...It was almost insulting that their captors couldn't even tell them how to get awarded points to begin with. It felt like begging for scraps. ] Crossing my fingers. If I had a higgledy down there, I would have helped Glorfindel out with the light issue by a lot. Here's to the next mission, I suppose. [ Roland shakes his head. ] You'll be one of the first to meet them. I promise. Now, go take your nap. I'll talk to you later.

wheeee!

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita's briefly amused by how Roland glances at his SCA, but that moment passes too.

Again, she nods.]

I hear you, Chief.

[She's reminded, just a little, of some people she'd befriended in Nautilus... no matter.]

Not quite 'good night,' but... see you later?

[With a smile, she shuts off the feed.]