Cave-In

[knux400]

That's Ortho's arm. It's not moving.

As you shove rocks aside and uncover the rest, it's evident why.

Ortho's head is crushed almost beyond recognition, their eyepiece shattered. You can see bits of wiring sticking out. Suspecting the worst, you pry open what's left of the top panel, and as soon as the top is removed, shards of circuitboard come spilling out. The main hard drive is bent in half and disconnected from the rest of the processor, capacitors have come loose, and there's tangled wiring everywhere. This is beyond repair. You step back and take a moment to mourn before dragging Ortho out to expose them fully. The rest of Ortho's body didn't fare much better- all their limbs look awkwardly bent and their torso is caved in in places. Slowly, you take out your toolkit and see if there's anything left...







0721309_14.tsl - 0:35

You're standing in a field. It's the afternoon, and the sun is directly overhead. You're in the midst of a group of about a dozen barebones and two other Morbitians, an OBJ and a Volarie. Jorge is next to you. There is a large cloth blanket placed on the ground, and atop it are a large assortment of parts arranged in a fashion that makes it easy to see everything clearly. There are several round pieces of metal that form the distinct shape of a Sheala frame, and you recognize some of the other parts as bits of turbine. There's very little circuitry here, likely due to everything being waterlogged in the accident.

They're all standing quietly, discussing who should take what. You overhear one voice asking about the propulsion system for a Sheala they're working on. The group agrees, and the engine parts are set aside. Jorge is talking, too, but you're silent. This is the first time you've been to one of these. You've heard about them before, but being at one is... different. There's an atmosphere of sadness, but also... something else. Something you can't quite find the words for. More and more parts are set into different piles as the discussion continues. Some of it is discussing potential uses for things, some of it is reminiscing about Sweetweed's life, and some if it is just idle chatter. You feel out of place here. You're still a bit young to be attending a funeral, but since Sweetweed was so close to you and Jorge, you wanted to come anyway. It's hard to think of something you can do for her- you don't really have a lot of personal projects or hobbies, and you're way too young to raise a barebones of your own.

But something gets your attention. Near her optics, there's this odd device. It looks like some sort of small secondary processor, but also with a slot to put a disk in. There's some kind of cartridges next to it, too- more memory, or batteries, possibly? But why would such a device be connected to her eyepiece instead of her main processor? You cautiously step a bit closer, not wanting to interrupt anyone.

"It's a camera." A voice suddenly chimes in from behind you, startling you a bit. You look up to see a Scorpion frame. You've only seen them a handful of times- they would chat with Sweetweed sometimes after work, but the two of you have never properly met. They seem to work as a firefighter, given their bright red coloration and the powerful hose attached to their tail. You don't actually know their name.

"A camera?" You ask.
"Yes. Sweetweed loved nature. That's part of the reason she got her job as a marine biologist in the first place- she's done a lot of great research into some of the local fauna around here- a lot of it goes over my head, but it's nice to hear about sometimes."
"She... threw her research at you?"
"Oh, nonono. Saying something 'goes over your head' is just a figure of speech for not understanding it."
"Huh."
"Anyway, part of her job was observation, so she took a lot of pictures of what she was studying. She could download those pictures to any computer, or just print them out then and there. That's what the slot on the side is for."
"And the cartridges are..."
"Ink, for the printer."

That's... interesting. The idea of seeing and recording things is somehow appealing. You think you might... enjoy it? You get Jorge's attention, gently tapping him on the leg.

"Hm? Oh, hey Pole-E. What's up?"
"I was just talking to, uh..."
"Gawa." The red Scorpion chimes in.
"Gawa. They were telling me about Sweetweed's camera, and I thought that seemed... nice? To have?"
"Oh! Well, you'd have to ask everyone else, but I'd be okay with it. Why do you want it?"
"It, uhh... Taking pictures of things seems..."

You struggle a bit for the word.

"Fun? Like something I'd like to do."
"Okay! Yeah, definitely! Here, let's talk to everyone else and see if it's okay. It's great to see you start to take interest in things, that's a big step! Gawa, you alright with that?"
"Heh, definitely. I remember my first hobby growing up. The job makes it hard nowadays, but I still find time to write if I can." Gawa responds.
"Yeah, I've read some of your stuff, I think! I like the one about the fish with the mech-suit, some really good worldbuilding with that one- and super interesting the way it has to learn to interact with the land-dwellers..."











You lay Ortho's body carefully out on the cave floor, arranging all the separate parts so you can see them. Given your current situation, it's hard to make sure they get a proper passing, but you're determined to do the best you can down here.

The FLASHLIGHT on their arm looks intact, and a lot of their CHASSIS is bent, but could be used to build some kind of a structure if you needed to. A lot of their CASING is also relatively intact, and while most of their actual hydraulics are busted, there's a good amount of WIRE you could use. Of course, these things are all too big to fit in any of your pockets, so if you're planning on taking any of it with you, you'll have to figure out a way to CARRY it. You also have the option of SELF-MODIFYING here and now. It seems relatively safe given how far you've come without seeing anything.