The woman nodded, and looked to the Deep Ones. She was obviously terrified of her predicament. As Atari spoke, the younger brother became more and more agitated. He started to scream in French, then Spanish, some Native American language, before switching to English. “She made the decision to mate with me!” the younger brother growled, “If she will not accept her responsibilities, then I will bear them without her!” “Brother, listen, she is suffering here. We should let her go with the humans.” “You want to give my children to HUMANS?!” the younger brother growled violently. “We’ll send her after they’re-“ But the younger brother wasn’t listening anymore, and swatted his brother away, and began to charge towards Atari, chattering on in his own language.
When the brother started shouting in varied languages, Barbour reflexively moved his hand to his pistol. He let it hover on the gun. When he knocked the older one away, his hand went to holding it proper. "I knew it!" Barbour shouted, "Atari take cover!" David Barbour would take his pistol, and fire at the younger brother to hit him in his legs. He'd fire twice in each leg, trying to avoid the arteries by hitting the shins instead of the thighs. In case this wasn't working, he would try to move between Atari and the younger brother. Atari would be diving backwards, fumbling with some kind of weapon of his own if it hadn't fallen out of its holster in his attempts to get out of the way. He'd have it in his hands, but would not hold it level until he was able to find cover behind something. The chances of this proving unsuccessful were far from slim, so if all else failed Barbour would sweep his feet at the younger brother's legs in a last ditch effort to knock him over. Regardless of how he ended up on the ground, Barbour would put his foot on the Deep One's back, point the pistol at him, and hold steady. He'd raise his free hand to indicate to the others that he wouldn't shoot, but would keep it trained on the younger one to keep things calm. "I don't want to kill you, honestly. You'll keep the children, just not her. She is suffering here, and your overreaction to all of this is making me suspect that you're not being entirely truthful." Barbour would say if the younger one survived the take-down. "Can someone help me make sure he's subdued?"
The Deep One took the bullets to the legs, and the Sergeant had been drilled enough to know that would take down even most Demons. But this Deep One just stumbled for a moment, and kept going; he didn’t even slow once he kept going. The sweep-kick, however brought the younger brother to the ground, and three Deep Ones rushed in and wrestled him out of the room. “I would have preferred that you not shoot my brother,” the older one said once his brother was gone, “But thank you. That is part of the problem with this woman. One thing that a Deep One cannot live without is intimacy. This woman has given him none, and he has become obsessed with trying to earn her affection.” He was not subtle in his tone; he was making sure the woman heard him. “Without intimacy he has been building resentment and hormones. Not a good combination. I will ask my mate to relieve him of his tension before he devolves into deviancy. That is why my father would not allow her to leave. But now that you are here there is no choice. Her presence is a disruption, but I cannot have the children be born elsewhere. I have a difficult decision to make here, and few options.”
"Sorry about that, I'm not entirely used to people taking more than one bullet to the leg before buckling. That and hand-to-hand combat could have ended up pretty badly. I can arrange for help from the Republic if he needs anything in the way of supplies. Atari came out from behind a box he'd found himself crammed by, and rubbed his neck. He'd managed to not have any serious damage, but he did somehow fall on his tailbone in one of his rolls. Painful stuff. Wincing lightly, he was ready to negotiate again. "I must have said something to agitate him, my apology. But, I have a solution: we let you keep her until the young are born, and once that's done, we can take her off your hands and avoid any further problems. This way, she will have a chance to leave and you'll have your children born in your home. We'll smooth over any problems with her family and keep things peaceful all around." Asides from the pain in his tailbone and the wincing that caused, Atari was maintaining his peaceable exterior.
“You did what you had to,” he sighed, taking a look at the blood from his brother’s wounds on the floor, “Don’t worry about medical supplies. You’d just end up giving him an infection or overdosing him on drugs that you barely understand. We’ll be able to care for him and his wounds ourselves, he’ll have recovered in a month.” “Letting her go to your nation would be acceptable, but if she tries to abort or harm the children, she dies. She’s tried before. If she won’t be part of our Clan then we will not allow her, or you, to harm it. And I want some kind of guarantee that you won’t just raid our cave when we’ve handed her over. More than some useless treaty you’ll just go back on.”
"We can offer that guarantee. We can even offer to defend you, should something go awry with her relatives we will enforce a neutrality if you need us too. We can't guarantee they won't have choice words for you, but we can do our best to make sure they dance with the angels if they try to attack your clan. Your willingness to let this be resolved peacefully will have my superiors more than willing to help in any way they can." Atari said. He was about to continue, but Barbour put a hand on his shoulder. "You have my word that we won't harm your people. We'll let ours know you are peaceful, and keep everyone happy. I'll have some men and myself keep her calm and prevent her from harming the child." He looked to her, walking and putting her hand out. "Now, I know it's not pleasant but we're going to need you to have those children. As soon as you do that, they'll let you go with no strings attached. Far from pleasant, ma'am, I know, but look at it like this: you let them have their young and you'll be able to be at home among other humans and able to put this experience behind you and live a normal life."
“Your word alone means nothing, human, just as mine should mean nothing to you,” the Deep One said, “You can be assured that we will hold up our end of the bargain because if we do not, then we have nothing that you want. Namely, the woman. Just as I know that you will not attack us until she is returned, in fear that we will slay her, or she would die in the fighting. But after the children are born, and she is returned? We have nothing to keep you from attacking us. And now that we have been in contact, only cooperation or conflict is inevitable. That is the nature of nature.” “Ah kin agree t’that, but Ah don’t want to stay here bah mahself, is there anybody that you could send that’s human, or ain’t one of them mercenaries?” the woman asked, “Please, I’ve got only a few weeks left, it wouldn’t be long…”
"I can volunteer," Atari said. However, he had a better idea. He looked to Barbour who shrugged. "Unless your Clan wouldn't mind one of our doctors staying here to keep her company and help your people tend to her when she's going into labor. We could have him here to learn a bit from you about medicine and keep her company." He was referring to the doctor who had treated the man who reported this, hoping that the doctor wouldn't mind the chance to learn about medicine and family care among Oldspawn. Atari wouldn't mind it, if he had the stomach to learn that kind of thing. He preferred paperwork and diplomacy, where nothing bled and everything was clean. Barbour was calm now, keeping his hands at his side in a relaxed position. He was near the girl to keep her calm.
“Better a healer than a snaketongue or a warrior,” the Deep One agreed with a nod. The girl smiled, “Ah would greatly appreciate that. An’ Ah think he might appreciate all these books, too. Ah promise, Ah won’t do nothin’ to put yer people in danger by hurtin’ the children.” “Improvement from ‘Monsters’,” the Deep One muttered to himself. Barbour heard him, but the woman did not. “Ah’m just relieved that there is someone out there thinkin’ of me. Ah don’t know if mah father or his men are still alive and active. Give whoever led you here mah thanks and mah blessin’, fer what it’s worth.” Meanwhile, the doctor that was treating the fisherman, Doctor Neville Walter, has been recording his progress. It’s quite obvious that he’s been infected; he’s been slipping voice diaries out the window. He’s taken in supplies to perform an autopsy on the fisherman, who he had been forced to kill to prevent the fisherman from animating as a lower-minded creature as the fisherman’s body mutated. While the Fisherman’s body rejected the Oldspawn microbes, Dr. Walter’s body accepted them, and he was starting to show signs of slight mutations. At first, he was simply thirsty, and he drank a lot of water while he drained the fisherman’s body of blood, and sent it off for study. Later, his skin became itchy. After that, it started to peel in places, and the Doctor became slightly irritable. These symptoms became worse, to the point that Dr. Walter was pounding on the door, demanding to be let out. When someone started talking to him, he calmed down. Dr. Walter later noticed that his nails were much tougher than they had been. He was also describing a lot of sexual tension, but he mentioned that normally he wasn’t interested in sex; he hadn’t had a girlfriend in two years. In his own words from his last recording, “My skin itches. It’s starting to dry out. I’m thirsty all the time, and I haven’t urinated in hours. It smells horrible because of the body in here. I’m feeling claustrophobic, and despite all of these things, the only thing I can think of is how unbelievably horny I am. Women I haven’t seen in years keep running through my head. Justine, my next door neighbor from when I was little. She was a year older than I. We were friends. I can’t help but wonder if she’d have sex with me. Nurse Radcliff. I hope she’s not listening, but, wow, she has some nice breasts…I’ve tried masturbating, but it’s not working. It’s driving me nuts. I can understand how people haven’t burned New Orleans to the ground. If this is how they feel most of the time, I can understand how they’d be too distracted to riot…”
The group of men and women from the cave would return, and see the doctor's position. Barbour would stick near Atari, and Atari would do the talking again. They listened to the audio tapes, Barbour becoming a little creeped out but at the same time grateful that the good Doctor was able to keep himself quarantined. "Doctor, we just returned from the investigation of the Deep Ones. They're peaceful, and we have arranged for you to go there with us, your condition is a new development but one that actually is quite convenient. We need you to help us by watching over a pregnant woman who they'll be releasing to us as soon as she's given birth to one of their male's children." Atari was uncomfortable speaking into a quarantine chamber's walls, but he understood that the contagion was, well, contagious. It was quick thinking on his part to quarantine him, Barbour admitted. The Sergeant still wasn't comfortable with the sickness, either way.
The doctor is silent for a few long moments after Atari starts talking to him. He mutters something to himself in a language Atari didn't catch. "I hope that's you saying you're all right in there," Barbour says to the door. "Can you say that again, Doctor?" Atari adds at the end. "I'm sorry, I'm...I'm having some problems thinking strait. I...I'm thinking in Latin for some reason. Are you familiar with Latin?" "Not entirely, but I can pick up bits of it," Atari said. "I had to learn it because so much is named in Latin for medicine. Do you want to know why I became a doctor?" "It'd be nice to know, sure." Atari asked. Barbour was less than amused with this conversation. Didn't say anything, though. "To solve puzzles. People's symptoms are puzzles to me. I would treat diseases, but not people. I'd cure wounds, not soldiers. I...I've never really thought about my patients. Except now I can't get them out of my head. Don't get me wrong it's an improvement over an out of control libido..." "Yea, it must be. Any particular feeling you have about your patients now, or is it just remembering them vividly?" "I'm just remembering them vividly. I call myself a Doctor, but...There...There was this woman. She was visiting family in Pennysylvania. She'd saved up money all her life for this trip. But what she didn't realize was that the town her sousin lived in was near an old nuclear power plant, constructed by the machines. They were still operating it, but they didn't have the professionals to run it. She came back with tumors the size of my fist. One of them was under her armpit. I didn't even really listen to all the stories she was telling me, of learning about her ancestry and how her cousin ended up so far north. The tumor had wrapped itself around her shoulder joint. It hurt to keep her shoulder up, but she couldn't lower it. And the worst part is, the amount of money she saved up for the trip... Would have been the exact amount it would have taken to just start her on chemotherapy. And I'm not entirely sure I actually ahve the knowledge and training to have actually administered it. I'm a total quack. I'm lucky to have cut this guy open and extract his organs cleanly." "You're a good doctor. You recognized what was wrong with him and did all you could. You've saved plenty of people. Some things just happen. Your medical knowledge permitted you to realize that while he died of the microbes you accepted it. You're able to diagnose and track your own problems, which is something not many people can become objective enough to do. You're a brilliant man, regardless of what you can't do. An old saying was 'measure a fish by his ability to climb a tree and he'll go his whole life thinking he's stupid.' You're measuring yourself by something that just wasn't possible then. It's fine though, you have an opportunity to make amends. You can learn medicine from the Deep Ones in that cave. They can even help you learn more about what's happening to you. There's a woman there, pregnant and almost about to go into labor, who needs your help to keep her young safe. It's a chance to make up for the woman in Pennsylvania." The doctor was silent. "There were three others that knew about the power plant in Pennysylvania, in the Republic. The woman's husband, the nurse who helped me treat her, and the dean of medicine at this hospital. We called AstroCorp, and told them what was going on. They said they would send people to fix the plant. That was the last I'd heard of it." "We can investigate what became of that place, but only if you give us the opportunity to go take care of it by tending to that woman while she's in need." "Yeah. I just...Have to...Think of a way to leave without exposing everyone to the microbes. I mean, I should be past hte point that I'm contagious, but I don't want to take chances." "Do we have a hazmat, or something to that effect? If we do, we could put you in one and have you wear that until you get to the Deep One Clan. "That sort of thing is too valuable. Some plastic, some tape, and a gas mask." "We can manage it, unless you'd prefer an airlift via a helo hoisting you up on a stretcher." "The faster we do this the better, but get me the materials all the same, I'll wrap myself up." David Barbour will zoom off to secure the supplies, and return as quickly as possible, and sort out giving them to the doctor as best as possible. The doctor, who keeps chatting while he works, quickly wraps his body in the platic, securing it with the tape. By the time he emerges, he is completely covered in the stuff. "Good enough for me," Barbour will say. "Alright Doctor, we'll leave when you're ready to go." Atari will add, trying not to let Barbour's joke get in for too much thought. It took the doctor a few moments, before taking a moment to take a look at him. "You know, I've been thinking. Possession is known to be very real, it's used by the Angels, Demons, and Spectres. But after experiencing what I have, I think that the Oldspawn may have their own approach to it, as well." "Really? How so?" Atari asks, following Barbour as he and the men from before take them to the cave. "I barely know Latin. I know the basics enough to sound like an idiot. And yet a lot of my thoughts are in Latin. The language is starting to make sense to me for some reason. And Oldspawn do have psionics. I know lamost nothing about it, but they do have it. It stands to reason that they would have directly controlled people for their own advantage." "I had heard about that. It was a kind of hive-mind thing, like they all pooled their memories together." "Something like that, yeah." "Interesting. Is it a good feeling, or?" "It's just an idea, is all. I'd need evidence to back it up. But I've spent seven hours documenting my infection. It's done as much as it has in that amount of time." "Must be an interesting thing. Perhaps the Deep Ones can tell you more about it? Maybe even help you cure it if that's possible." "There is no cure for Lovecraftic mutation. I'm no longer completely human." "Well, then you can help us maintain good relations with them if nothing else. While learning more about the infection." "That's a good start, certainly. What's your impression of them so far?" "The woman they're dealing with now is causing a problem, but they're very knowledgable. Family oriented, and very wary of their biological functions. Possibly a bit cautious, but they're not immune to reason." "I'll be sure to give a full assessment. What is the governemnt's stance on Oldpsawn anyway?" "We're neutral. If they are nice to us we're nice to them. As long as they don't harm any of ours we will let them be." "I've never met any Others before. This will be an interesting experience." "Oh yea, it's proven to be one so far. My tailbone can attest to that..." "You should get that checked out, and be sure there hasn't been any bruising or displacement of your vertebrae." At the cave, everything has essentially cooled down. The Deep One patriarch has recovered to the point that he is walking around, but his son is still in charge. "Is this your 'doctor'?" he asks. "Yes. He's in a bit of a bind though. He can explain in better detail than I can," "The Fisherman that was slashed. He didn't make it. I was infected by his microbes. I need to know if I am contagious or not." The Deep One looked at the doctor, and smiled. "If you are, then your suit wouldn't do you any good. I will have you sniffed. we'll be able to tell if you're infectious. Human, Atari, wasn't it?" "Yes?" "I want to know what your people's garuantee is that you will not attack us after our deal with the woman is complete." "It is. The doctor here, due to his condition as of now, will be our ambassador. He'll help us mediate any problems, should they arise. We won't attack you." "Hostage exchange, then. I like it. It's classic. A throwback to the time when the Powerwalkers led the nations of Man.: "That's a funny way to look at it, but if that works then sure." Atari would laugh, "He's actually been keeping some records of his own about the infection, tracking it. It's a learning experience for us, to say the least." "I suppose it will be a teaching one for us. It is not a permenant solution. But it is an adequate one. Doctor. I want this clear. You will go nowhere unescorted. You are here at our good graces. If you do anything to harm us, you will be punished. You will be expected to contribute however you can. You will be expected to participate in our Clan. Do you understand?" (Take the Doc from this point.)The doctor is silent for a few long moments after Atari starts talking to him. He mutters something to himself in a language Atari didn't catch. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I hope that's you saying you're all right in there," Barbour says to the door. "Can you say that again, Doctor?" Atari adds at the end. Uziel says: "I'm sorry, I'm...I'm having some problems thinking strait. I...I'm thinking in Latin for some reason. Are you familiar with Latin?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Not entirely, but I can pick up bits of it," Atari said. Uziel says: "I had to learn it because so much is named in Latin for medicine. Do you want to know why I became a doctor?" (Also, replied in Starlight) digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "It'd be nice to know, sure." Atari asked. Barbour was less than amused with this conversation. Didn't say anything, though. Uziel says: "To solve puzzles. People's symptoms are puzzles to me. I would treat diseases, but not people. I'd cure wounds, not soldiers. I...I've never really thought about my patients. Except now I can't get them out of my head. Don't get me wrong it's an improvement over an out of control libido..." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Yea, it must be. Any particular feeling you have about your patients now, or is it just remembering them vividly?" Uziel says: "I'm just remembering them vividly. I call myself a Doctor, but...There...There was this woman. She was visiting family in Pennysylvania. She'd saved up money all her life for this trip. But what she didn't realize was that the town her sousin lived in was near an old nuclear power plant, constructed by the machines. They were still operating it, but they didn't have the professionals to run it." "She came back with tumors the size of my fist. One of them was under her armpit. I didn't even really listen to all the stories she was telling me, of learning about her ancestry and how her cousin ended up so far north. The tumor had wrapped itself around her shoulder joint. It hurt to keep her shoulder up, but she couldn't lower it. "And the worst part is, the amount of money she saved up for the trip...Would have been the exact amount it would have taken to just start her on chemotherapy. And I'm not entirely sure I actually ahve the knowledge and training to have actually administered it. I'm a total quack. I'm lucky to have cut this guy open and extract his organs cleanly." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "You're a good doctor. You recognized what was wrong with him and did all you could. You've saved plenty of people. Some things just happen. Your medical knowledge permitted you to realize that while he died of the microbes you accepted it. You're able to diagnose and track your own problems, which is something not many people can become objective enough to do. You're a brilliant man," (cont) "Regardless of what you can't do. An old saying was 'measure a fish by his ability to climb a tree and he'll go his whole life thinking he's stupid.' You're measuring yourself by something that just wasn't possible then. It's fine though, you have an opportunity to make amends. You can learn medicine from the Deep Ones in that cave. They can even help you learn more about what's happening to you." "There's a woman there, pregnant and almost about to go into labor, who needs your help to keep her young safe. It's a chance to make up for the woman in Pennsylvania." Uziel says: The doctor was silent. "There were three others that knew about the power plant in Pennysylvania, in the Republic. The woman's husband, the nurse who helped me treat her, and the dean of medicine at this hospital. We called AstroCorp, and told them what was going on. They said they would send people to fix the plant. That was the last I'd heard of it." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We can investigate what became of that place, but only if you give us the opportunity to go take care of it by tending to that woman while she's in need." Uziel says: "Yeah. I just...Have to...Think of a way to leave without exposing everyone to the microbes. I mean, I should be past hte point that I'm contagious, but I don't want to take chances." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Do we have a hazmat, or something to that effect? If we do, we could put you in one and have you wear that until you get to the Deep One Clan. Uziel says: "That sort of thing is too valuable. Some plastic, some tape, and a gas mask." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We can manage it, unless you'd prefer an airlift via a helo hoisting you up on a stretcher." Uziel says: "The faster we do this the better, but get me the materials all the same, I'll wrap myself up." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: David Barbour will zoom off to secure the supplies, and return as quickly as possible, and sort out giving them to the doctor as best as possible. Uziel says: The doctor, who keeps chatting while he works, quickly wraps his body in the platic, securing it with the tape. By the time he emerges, he is completely covered in the stuff. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Good enough for me," Barbour will say. "Alright Doctor, we'll leave when you're ready to go." Atari will add, trying not to let Barbour's joke get in for too much thought. Uziel says: It took the doctor a few moments, before taking a moment to take a look at him. "You know, I've been thinking. Possession is known to be very real, it's used by the Angels, Demons, and Spectres. But after experiencing what I have, I think that the Oldspawn may have their own approach to it, as well." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Really? How so?" Atari asks, following Barbour as he and the men from before take them to the cave. Uziel says: "I barely know Latin. I know the basics enough to sound like an idiot. And yet a lot of my thoughts are in Latin. The language is starting to make sense to me for some reason. And Oldspawn do have psionics. I know lamost nothing about it, but they do have it. It stands to reason that they would have directly controlled people for their own advantage." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I had heard about that. It was a kind of hive-mind thing, like they all pooled their memories together." Uziel says: "Something like that, yeah." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Interesting. Is it a good feeling, or?" Uziel says: "It's just an idea, is all. I'd need evidence to back it up. But I've spent seven hours documenting my infection. It's done as much as it has in that amount of time." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Must be an interesting thing. Perhaps the Deep Ones can tell you more about it? Maybe even help you cure it if that's possible." Uziel says: "There is no cure for Lovecraftic mutation. I'm no longer completely human." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Well, then you can help us maintain good relations with them if nothing else. While learning more about the infection." Uziel says: "That's a good start, certainly. What's your impression of them so far?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "The woman they're dealing with now is causing a problem, but they're very knowledgable. Family oriented, and very wary of their biological functions. Possibly a bit cautious, but they're not immune to reason." Uziel says: "I'll be sure to give a full assessment. What is the governemnt's stance on Oldpsawn anyway?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We're neutral. If they are nice to us we're nice to them. As long as they don't harm any of ours we will let them be." Uziel says: "I've never met any Others before." "This will be an interesting experience." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Oh yea, it's proven to be one so far. My tailbone can attest to that..." Uziel says: "You should get that checked out, and be sure there hasn't been any bruising or displacement of your vertebrae." At the cave, everything has essentially cooled down. The Deep One patriarch has recovered to the point that he is walking around, but his son is still in charge. "Is this your 'doctor'?" he asks. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Yes. He's in a bit of a bind though. He can explain in better detail than I can," Uziel says: "The Fisherman that was slashed. He didn't make it. I was infected by his microbes. I need to know if I am contagious or not." The Deep One looked at the doctor,a nd smiled. "If you are, then your suit wouldn't do you any good." "I will have you sniffed. we'll be able to tell if you're infectious. Human, Atari, wasn't it?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Yes?" Uziel says: "I want to know what your people's garuantee is that you will not attack us after our deal with the woman is complete." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "It is. The doctor here, due to his condition as of now, will be our ambassador. He'll help us mediate any problems, should they arise. We won't attack you." Uziel says: "Hostage exchange, then. I like it. It's classic. A throwback to the time when the Powerwalkers led the nations of Man.: digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "That's a funny way to look at it, but if that works then sure." Atari would laugh, "He's actually been keeping some records of his own about the infection, tracking it. It's a learning experience for us, to say the least." Uziel says: "I suppose it will be a teaching one for us." "It is not a permenant solution. But it is an adequate one. Doctor. I want this clear. You will go nowhere unescorted. You are here at our good graces. If you do anything to harm us, you will be punished. You will be expected to contribute however you can. You will be expected to participate in our Clan. Do you understand?" (Take the Doc from this point.) digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I understand to the fullest. I'll contribute what I know where I can, and will participate as needed of me." Uziel says: "Your main task will be to monitor the woman's health, and make sure that she does not hurt herself or the children she is carrying." "But we will ask other things of you." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I will do that, and what you ask of me. Anything you have in mind to start with?" Uziel says: "Learn where you are not welcome. We have human mercenaries that maintain our vehicles for us. Do not speak with them. There is a chamber where our young and elderly live nad play. Do not go there. We have eggs lining the caves underwater. Do not touch them." "Understood. Anything else?" The Doctor will take special care to live by these rules, and will often ask for permission just to be sure he isn't breaking any codes. "Ask before doing anything. We'll figure out hte rest along the way." He looked to Atari, and thought. "We have many books. If you have a printing press, we will allow you to copy them, under the condition we earn money from their sale." "We can set up the trade as soon as I get back. It would be quite a deal. I can send merchants your way to work out the finer details." "Not many of them. Try to send the same ones. The fewer people that know about us the better." "That's reasonable. Anything else you need?" "Weapons," he grinned. "Well, we'll see about that," Atari laughed. It'd be some time before anything of -that- sort was worked out, but if they needed the defense then they only needed to ask. "If you cannot provide weapons, would ammunition be acceptable? We only need the generic stuff. If we don't get it from you, we'll get it from someone else." "I can see to that. As long as it's not used on us, there should be no problems with us supplying you what we can." "There is a cult of demon-worshippers to the north of here. They are limited in their resources, but they pose enough of a problem that we keep well armed and armored. Hence hte vehicles and mercenaries. The local Barons tolerate them because they fight off Others. Like us." "That's interesting. So the Demon-worshippers are hostile? We could see to taking care of that, if you need us to. We aren't too keen on the slavers up north of here, so if it makes slavery less of a good idea for them we're for it." "What do demon-worshippers have to do with humans enslaving humans?" "Deals. Demon-worshippers make deals with their idols for all sorts of things. It could translate into indentured servants. Slaves being bought for sacrifice, things like that." "I do not know. What I do know is that they bring magics and guns. So we have heavier vehicles and bigger guns to fight them if they ever attack. They leave us alone because we don't go to the ground level often; we feed from fish." "That's alright then. If you have any trouble with them or the Slave Barons, you let us know." "We shall." "I am disappointed," Cotton nonetheless smiled, "Still, if we ain't nuttin' but neighborly. I'll see what fuel we can scrounge up fer you." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "That'd be great." Captain smiled, nodding to the men around him. "Do you know of any particular ruins that haven't been picked clean yet?" Uziel says: "Well, there's the Google facility in Broyhill. And there's Spartanburg. There's a cult that took up the former, and Spartanburg is a warzone." "I don't know much about the Google cult, but in Spartanburg, it's Technocrats and Spartans. The Technocrats are always building new things, and the Spartans are destroying them." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Are the Technocrats friendly?" Uziel says: "Nope." "On occasion we'll round up a posse and raid Spartanburg for ourselves, and come back with some good tech." "Best place is the dystopia in Raleigh, but unless you've got the United States Army with you, there's not much hope of that. And there hasn't been a US Army in a hundred years." "But for the Google facility, you'll have toa sk the folks there." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Alright, thanks." The Captain would barter what he could for the fuel, thank Cotton properly, and they'd make their way to the Google facility." Uziel says: Cotton made sure they got a map of the region. He showed them 321, the highway that ran to Hickory, where there was a proper airport for their planes. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: To properly fuel up, the group would head into Hickory and make sure the jets and helos were taken care of. They'd go from there to the Google facility, having the jets running scout-duty if possible. Uziel says: From what they could see, the mountain area was dotted with the occasional mill. They even got a glimpse of Ashville, which was a small city unto itself now, slightly larger than Colombia. Your pilots guess that in the area around Ashville, there must be at least thirty thousand people, a sizable population in this world. Hickory you estimate is about five thousand people, which is about a third of Colombia's population from what you could see in the air. The difference is, Asheville and Colombia have money. Hickory does not; you cna tell that from the air, too Your planes land, and mercenary vehicles roll up, but they are not aiming guns at you; a man in a suit runs up to the first pilot, and introduces himself; the pilto doesn't catch the man's name over hte noise. "I represent the Panthers. We're a local merc group. The folks around here are rather desperate, so youre going to need security for your equipment and your men. We can offer that security." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We're more than capable of taking care of ourselves. We dance with the angels, y'know." Uziel says: "Are you sure you don't need a bit of extra security? Those F-22s are expensive prewar pieces of equipment." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Since they'll be on the ground for a bit, perhaps. How much?" Uziel says: "Well that depends on how good your currency is. If it's accepted in Colombia or Asheville, it's good. If not, we'll need supplies instead." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We're not entirely sure how it works up there. Do you know how much the money from Tyndall works?" Uziel says: "Tyndal...Florida, right?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Yep, we're from the Republic." Uziel says: He smiled; the pilto gets the feeling the price just went up. "I think we can work something out." For the equipment the Panthers are using, which is to say standard, it's about a thousand a head for three weeks. Fairly expensive, but the man implies that the Panthers are the only mercs in Hickory, and that the closest ones are in Broyhill, and they're already under contract. From the fact that the Pathers' symbol is all ove rhte airport, it's probable that they either runt he airport itself, or serve as airpoirt security. Literally. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "The liquid prices are pretty steep. How much would that translate to, in supplies?" Uziel says: "Well, if we're talking supplies, we should be talking what you have to offer. Food, ammo, guns, electronics, medicine..." "Or, maybe, flights to Florida. I know a lot of people in this area that would pay, literally, everything they have to leave Carolina. They pay us, they get on your planes, and that's payment enough." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We'll have that arranged the second we get home. We'd offer it now, but as it stands all of our guys here are devoted to this operation of ours. Can you point us to the Google building? We're looking to salvage." Uziel says: "The Google building?" he smiles, and laughs, "Oh my. You're to Google. All right. But before I give you directions, I want garuantee. One of your F-22s stays here until we have a flight to Florida." "Promises are good and all, but collateral is best." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "It will remain with the pilot, and not come to any harm. We don't want to lose that F-22, I'm sure you understand." Uziel says: "We don't want you to lose it, either. Don't worry. We've never failed." He produces a map of the region, and shows it to him. "We're here. If you follow the highway, 321, north, you'll get to Broyhill. It's a factory town, they make textiles, furniture, and moonshine there. Once there, the Google facility is on this road. Specific directions beyond that are beyond me." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "With the air support we should be able to find it. Any idea on the condition it's in?" Uziel says: "The Google cult is trying to get the servers up and running again. From what I know of them they're a bunch of nutjobs convinced that Google almost saved the world." "So there's some still-working tech. Good luck trying to get them to give it to you." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I understand to the fullest. I'll contribute what I know where I can, and will participate as needed of me." Uziel says: "Your main task will be to monitor the woman's health, and make sure that she does not hurt herself or the children she is carrying." "But we will ask other things of you." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I will do that, and what you ask of me. Anything you have in mind to start with?" Uziel says: "Learn where you are not welcome. We have human mercenaries that maintain our vehicles for us. Do not speak with them. There is a chamber where our young and elderly live nad play. Do not go there. We have eggs lining the caves underwater. Do not touch them." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Understood. Anything else?" The Doctor will take special care to live by these rules, and will often ask for permission just to be sure he isn't breaking any codes. Uziel says: "Ask before doing anything. We'll figure out hte rest along the way." He looked to Atari, and thought. "We have many books. If you have a printing press, we will allow you to copy them, under the condition we earn money from their sale." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "We can set up the trade as soon as I get back. It would be quite a deal. I can send merchants your way to work out the finer details." Uziel says: "Not many of them. Try to send the same ones. The fewer people that know about us the better." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "That's reasonable. Anything else you need?" Uziel says: "Weapons," he grinned. digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Well, we'll see about that," Atari laughed. It'd be some time before anything of -that- sort was worked out, but if they needed the defense then they only needed to ask. Uziel says: "If youc annot provide weapons, would ammunition be acceptable? We only need the generic stuff. If we don't get it from you, we'll get it from someone else." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "I can see to that. As long as it's not used on us, there should be no problems with us supplying you what we can." Uziel says: "There is a cult of demon-worshippers to the north of here. They are limited in their resources, but they pose enough of a problem that we keep well armed and armored. Hence hte vehicles and mercenaries." "The local Barons tolerate them because they fight off Others. Like us." digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "That's interesting. So the Demon-worshippers are hostile? We could see to taking care of that, if you need us to. We aren't too keen on the slavers up north of here, so if it makes slavery less of a good idea for them we're for it." Uziel says: "What do demon-worshippers have to do with humans enslaving humans?" digidaveymon@hotmail.com says: "Deals. Demon-worshippers make deals with their idols for all sorts of things. It could translate into indentured servants. Slaves being bought for sacrifice, things like that." "I do not know. What I do know is that they bring magics and guns. So we have heavier vehicles and bigger guns to fight them if they ever attack. They leave us alone because we don't go to the ground level often; we feed from fish." "That's alright then. If you have any trouble with them or the Slave Barons, you let us know." "We shall."
[Statecraft resolved. Cordial relations with the Deep Ones have been established. Dr. Walter is currently staying with them. Report back in 3 weeks about the birth of the woman's children.]
The woman being held by the Deep Ones was released to Tyndall. She is shaken, but a lot healthier than when they first encountered her. She had been freed from her chains after showing that she was staying to her agreement about not harming her children. She gave birth, and is very grateful to be around humans again. She is well educated, and well versed in the functions of politics, as well as running farms. She says she is more than willing to speak with her father, if he's still around. She is from north-central Louisiana. Her name is Selina Bouvier. The Sharecropping system has done quite a lot of good to establish and stabilize the agricultural needs of Tyndall, but there are some corruption and poverty problems. While it has reduced unemployment rate, corner-cutting efforts and abuses have marred the program. The people working the sharecropping farms are faced with mounting debts and substandard facilities and circumstances. With the schools, there's simply a lack of proper supplies and proper teachers. As it stands, you can teach basic literacy and arithmetic, but for anything more advance, you have to turn to those with college degree equivalents, which can be way above what the younger students are capable of handling. You have a few teachers that can teach younger kids, but they're too far and few between. Additionally, attendance is a problem, as a lot of families rely on their children performing chores or holding jobs to bring in an income, and the value of an education is not what it had once been in North America.
-Selina Bouvier She is very welcome in Tyndall, and encouraged to help in any way she can. We have a great need for people with her knowledge and expertise, and can pay her for it if needed. We'll also help her establish contact with her father as best we can. If he cannot be reached, we are willing to send a few men to where he lives to see what's going on. -Sharecropping There will be a cracking down on the problems with the sharecropping farms, starting with a financing program to keep debts at as low a minimum as realistically possible. After that, a warning will be put out that any abusers of this system will be either fined, or imprisoned. It will be a reminder that is placed that together we can all make this better, but it has to be through cooperation for mutual benefit. Any and all Tyndall officials who are causing problems via system abuse will be reprimanded according to severity. -Schools Then perhaps, we should stick with the basics at this juncture. What we can do to make attendance less of an issue in the mean time is make class be in session at the most twice a week, perhaps utilizing Friday and Saturday. We can create books for the students to use to study at home between chores, and make class sessions for new concepts or review. We'll make an outreach to Hickory at the quickest juncture to try and ask for teachers.
