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Session 5

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Jul 12th, 2016
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  1. (4:02:46 PM) ApricotCordial: == Session #5 ==
  2. (4:03:31 PM) ApricotCordial: Having breached the barricade erected to stop them, and surmounted the raider 'gang' extorting them without fatalities the party is shuffling through the rubble towards the house the rocket team fled towards earlier.
  3. (4:04:42 PM) ***Necessary_Force is doing her best to look stern. She's a little bit upset, so that helps.
  4. (4:05:47 PM) ApricotCordial: The filly she interogated leads the way, with some of the others carrying their crippled compatriots along in front.
  5. (4:10:34 PM) ***Arcadia has a deeply solemn expression herself, quietly chanting a song while, with the gentle glow of her horn, exudes a quiet musical accompaniment. "The stars are very beautiful, above the palace walls,
  6. (4:10:34 PM) Arcadia: They shine with equal splendour, still above far humbler halls.
  7. (4:10:34 PM) Arcadia: I watch them from my window, but their bright entrancing glow,
  8. (4:10:34 PM) Arcadia: Reminds me of the freedom I gave up so long ago.
  9. (4:10:34 PM) Arcadia: The royal circlet of bright gold rests lightly on my brow,
  10. (4:10:35 PM) Arcadia: I once thought only of the rights this circlet would endow.
  11. (4:10:36 PM) Arcadia: But once I took the crown to which I had been schooled and bred,
  12. (4:10:37 PM) Arcadia: I found it heavy on the heart, though light upon the head.
  13. (4:10:38 PM) Arcadia: Although I am the head of state, in truth I am the least,
  14. (4:10:39 PM) Arcadia: The true Queen knows her people fed, before she sits to feast.
  15. (4:10:40 PM) Arcadia: The good Queen knows her people safe, before she takes her rest,
  16. (4:10:41 PM) Arcadia: Thinks twice and thrice and yet again, before she makes request.
  17. (4:10:42 PM) Arcadia: For they are all my children, all, that I swore to defend,
  18. (4:10:43 PM) Arcadia: It is my duty to become both Queen and trusted friend—
  19. (4:10:44 PM) Arcadia: And of my children high and low, from beggar to above,
  20. (4:10:46 PM) Arcadia: The dearest are my Heralds, who return my care with love.
  21. (4:10:47 PM) Arcadia: The dearest are my Heralds, swift to spring to my command.
  22. (4:10:48 PM) Arcadia: Who give me aid and fellowship, who always understand
  23. (4:10:49 PM) Arcadia: That land and people first have needs that I may not deny—
  24. (4:10:50 PM) Arcadia: So I must send my dearest friends to danger—and to die.
  25. (4:10:51 PM) Arcadia: A friend, a love, a child—it matters not, I know indeed,
  26. (4:10:52 PM) Arcadia: That I must sacrifice them all if there should be the need.
  27. (4:10:53 PM) Arcadia: They know, and they forgive me—doing more than I require,
  28. (4:10:54 PM) Arcadia: With willing minds and loving hearts go straight to grasp the fire.
  29. (4:10:55 PM) Arcadia: These tears that burn my eyes are all the tears the Queen can't shed,
  30. (4:10:56 PM) Arcadia: The tears I weep in silence as I mourn my Heralds dead.
  31. (4:10:57 PM) Arcadia: Oh gods that dwell beyond the stars, if you can hear my cry...
  32. (4:10:58 PM) Arcadia: And if you have compassion... let me send no more to die..." With other soft flashes of telekinesis, she does manage to make a crude facsimile of a coronet out of scrap metals and such as they walk, resting it atop her pith helmet afterwards.
  33. (4:14:56 PM) ***Necessary_Force looks over her shoulder as Arcadia starts quietly singing, then turns her eyes back forward. Singing alicorns...
  34. (4:16:26 PM) ***Arcadia finishes her little song and tilts her head at Nessa. "Would you prefer we sing something more upbeat? "
  35. (4:18:40 PM) ApricotCordial: The foals seem to ignore the strange group's behavior.
  36. (4:18:54 PM) Necessary_Force: "Do what you will," Nessa says, shrugging slightly.
  37. (4:19:50 PM) ***Arcadia pouts a little, ears flicking against the inside of her helmet. "We were trying to distract everypony from current events..."
  38. (4:21:14 PM) ***Shim doesn't quite have anywhere near the poetry or piety in motion that it seemed Arcadia posesed but she felt similiar...
  39. (4:27:07 PM) ApricotCordial: Their guide pushes the door open, holding it for all the ponies behind her! The inside of the building is almost pitch black and thus impossible to make out much more then the outlines of furniture. It appears the room was the sales floor of a hardware store, judging by the walls of cubby holes and toppled power tools.
  40. (4:27:58 PM) ***Necessary_Force taptaps her PipBuck, activating its light spell.
  41. (4:29:07 PM) ***Necessary_Force ... and heads inside.
  42. (4:30:30 PM) ***Arcadia blinks away the sudden glare of light as she gracefully steps inside. "Hm... Decently defensible, plenty of space, power tools would have plenty of useful applications if they still work..."
  43. (4:31:27 PM) ApricotCordial: Green glow lights the space up. The floor crunches beneath their hooves, covered in screws, broken glass, mouldering particle board, and snaked with electrical cables. Leading to the stairs, the floor seems to have been swept fairly clean. The tails of the litter bearers are disappearing up above.
  44. (4:32:25 PM) Shim: "Isn't there repair magics that could bring them to a state of working?"
  45. (4:33:56 PM) Necessary_Force: "If they're MoWT, I'd bet they're functional, just unpowered," Nessa says as she trots along, careful not to get stabbed in her frogs.
  46. (4:34:45 PM) Shim: "True enough...some of those thigns are absurdly durable..."
  47. (4:35:00 PM) ***Arcadia is careful not to get a hoof caught, especially as she scours the area in her path for anything that might be even remotely interesting, let alone useful.
  48. (4:37:29 PM) ***Necessary_Force is eager to satisfy her curiosity, so she doesn't stop to loot. But perhaps later...
  49. (4:39:33 PM) ***Arcadia makes a slight mental connection with Nessa on a hindsight, to keep her informed while she scavenges the floor. There isn't much of a transmission, aside from idle mental chatter about what she found
  50. (4:41:21 PM) Necessary_Force: "... where the hell is that distracting chatter coming from?" Nessa remarks, giving Arcadia a look.
  51. (4:41:57 PM) ***Shim blinks. "I...don't hear anything?"
  52. (4:42:52 PM) ***Arcadia flicks her tail a few times. <Screw... Screw... Nail... Screw... I'm horny.... Oh wait, I hope they can't hear that... Oh hey, is that a nail gun?... Oh, looks broken..."
  53. (4:44:31 PM) ***Necessary_Force clenches her eyes and tries to shut Arcadia's voice into a little soundproofed box and slide it in a secluded corner somewhere...
  54. (4:47:24 PM) ***Shim follows along because it turns out I was mistaken and didn't mention following this session.
  55. (4:47:49 PM) ApricotCordial: Necessary_Force finds herself negotiating the narrow staircase up to the second floor. Some original boards remain, but most of the wood flooring shows signs of inked or painted packing crate text and the corrosion is uneven on the nails.
  56. (4:48:18 PM) ***Necessary_Force hmmms...
  57. (4:48:29 PM) ***Necessary_Force thinks this doesn't look up to code... >_>
  58. (4:48:39 PM) ***Necessary_Force steps gingerly.
  59. (4:49:31 PM) ApricotCordial: It feels sturdy enough. Their guide waits at the landing, eyes downcast.
  60. (4:50:43 PM) ***Shim watches to be sure it supported Necesa before following her!
  61. (4:51:38 PM) ***Necessary_Force walks on over.
  62. (4:52:51 PM) ***Arcadia pouts slightly as her admittedly mediocre searching turns up little, aside from a few nails and other scrap. With a huff, she steps her way back towards the group, still a ways away due to her scavenging.
  63. (4:53:08 PM) ApricotCordial: Arcadia can't really see anything of value in the store. Between the poor lighting and the exposure to the elements everything seems to be pretty much ruined.
  64. (4:54:05 PM) ApricotCordial: The stairs creak under Arcadia's hoof. The filly eeps and scampers up to the open doorframe at the top, two steps at a time.
  65. (4:54:56 PM) ***Arcadia winces a tad as those steps creak ominously, being careful of how she places her weight...
  66. (4:58:20 PM) ApricotCordial: The stairs bend but don't shatter. She's going to have to duck down low to make it through the door. Shimmer and Necessary_Force shouldn't have any trouble. There's a soft glow of light from upstairs, flickering on the stairwell's wall.
  67. (4:58:47 PM) ***Necessary_Force hms.
  68. (4:59:07 PM) Necessary_Force: "I hope you don't use candles or anything in here," Nessa remarks.
  69. (5:00:14 PM) ***Arcadia ducks low to fit through that doorway, her large frame squeezing almost comically through that threshold
  70. (5:03:04 PM) ***Shim doesn't have any trouble as she enters the door thankful she is infact not huge
  71. (5:04:03 PM) ***Necessary_Force keeps proceeding onward, but this looks like... not really the best place to live.
  72. (5:07:11 PM) Arcadia: "These stairs are very worrisome... I could have broken them."
  73. (5:09:10 PM) ***Necessary_Force sighs and heads upstairs, towards the light.
  74. (5:10:44 PM) ApricotCordial: The upper room seems to have been built as a one-famoly apartment. The room they enter is sort of a hall, connecting a large front living/dining room area filled with scrap and junk. There's a flickering lantern on the table, its spark battery clearly close to giving out.
  75. (5:12:06 PM) ApricotCordial: To the right is darkness. There's nopony to be seen other their nervous guide. "She's in bed," the foal whispers quietly.
  76. (5:13:14 PM) Necessary_Force: "Mm," Nessa says, PipBuck still glowing.
  77. (5:13:27 PM) Necessary_Force: "What's her name?" she asks.
  78. (5:16:16 PM) ApricotCordial: Everything glows green then.
  79. (5:16:26 PM) ApricotCordial: The filly looks a bit embarassed, "....mom?"
  80. (5:18:12 PM) ***Arcadia glances curiously at the filly. "Just... Mom?"
  81. (5:18:51 PM) Shim: "Yeah...somehow I think calling her mom might be a bit awkward."
  82. (5:20:43 PM) ApricotCordial: "I don't know!" she squeaks
  83. (5:21:15 PM) Shim: "Lets just call her mam."
  84. (5:21:19 PM) Shim: "politely of course."
  85. (5:22:39 PM) ***Necessary_Force hmmhs and just starts looking for the room with the bedridden mare.
  86. (5:26:01 PM) ***Shim follows Nessa. She'd definitely talk with her companions after talking with the poor mother mare
  87. (5:27:23 PM) ***Arcadia hums softly, sending a quiet thought to Nessa. <Is it weird that they just call her Mom?>
  88. (5:28:31 PM) Necessary_Force: "Kind of," Nessa says out-loud.
  89. (5:28:39 PM) ApricotCordial: The trio don't have many options. There's a bathroom at the end and two bedrooms across from each other. On the right, they can see filly and colt-level eyes staring at them from behind furniture and fixtures.
  90. (5:29:06 PM) ApricotCordial: The talkative one follows behind, wringing her hooves nervously, "T-To the left."
  91. (5:29:53 PM) ***Necessary_Force regards the hiding fillies and cold with a glance before her eyes go to the room indicated.
  92. (5:30:07 PM) Necessary_Force: fillies and colts*
  93. (5:31:08 PM) ***Arcadia twist her head slightly and smiles towards the fillies and colt, sending a tentative tendril of thought, full of calming emotions, towards them
  94. (5:32:12 PM) ***Shim knocks gently on the door on the left after it is indicated. "it's only polite to knock first"
  95. (5:36:44 PM) ***Necessary_Force peers into the room. "... hello?"
  96. (5:41:01 PM) ApricotCordial: No one answers. The room is sparsely funished; a sagging wardrobe against the wall with a vase on top, filled with fresh looking mums, a night stand with an unlit lamp and wash basin, with a bed in the middle of the room.
  97. (5:41:37 PM) Arcadia: "Is she there...?" The alicorn mare asks from slightly behind the rest, deciding to keep mostly out of view, if the children's reaction was anything to go by.
  98. (5:42:46 PM) ApricotCordial: The foals seem to be starring with curiosity at the three adults, neither hiding nor coming any closer.
  99. (5:43:25 PM) Shim: "I...don't know I didn't hear anything..." Shimmer admits. "Hey Nessa you see anything?"
  100. (5:43:33 PM) ***Necessary_Force stands up straight, then walks on in, saying, "Ma'am, I'm Necessary Force, a Steel Ranger-trained doctor. My assistants and I are here to treat you."
  101. (5:43:38 PM) ApricotCordial: It's hard to tell in the near dark, but in the glow of Necessary_Force's Pip-Buck there seems to be a figure under the bedclothes, visible to Shimmer and the mare in question.
  102. (5:48:24 PM) ApricotCordial: There's no reply. Anyone entering the room has their nose stung by the antiseptic scent of cleaner and rubbing alcohol, their ears barely aware of a soft rasping of breath.
  103. (5:48:58 PM) ***Arcadia makes sure to keep only her head visible, to keep from giving the poor mare a fright on the possibility of her being awake. "H-Hello?"
  104. (5:49:25 PM) ***Necessary_Force has smelled such scents before. But it's been a while...
  105. (5:49:41 PM) ***Necessary_Force approaches the bed.
  106. (5:50:50 PM) ***Shim keeps her distance. The sick and infirm...scared her honestly. Having grown up in the hive...the act of cuddle death was infact a thing
  107. (5:53:12 PM) ApricotCordial: Arcadia finds the same scene as the other two.
  108. (5:53:41 PM) ***Arcadia once again taps the connection between her and Nessa. <I'm worried about stepping inside... I don't want to startle her..."
  109. (7:30:39 PM) ApricotCordial: Necessary_Force is close enough to tell the mare is asleep now; not comfortable by any means, judging by the short rise and fall of her chest. She has the look of a pony that was once vibrantly full of life and energy, now though a full face has become wane, thin from illness.
  110. (7:30:59 PM) ApricotCordial: A cinnamon brown mane has lost its body, forming a halo behind her head where she's been tossing and turning...
  111. (7:31:58 PM) ApricotCordial: She's very sick, there's little doubt of that.
  112. (7:32:21 PM) ***Necessary_Force looks back to her companions, then tries waking the bedridden mare with some gentle shaking.
  113. (7:32:28 PM) Shim: "do...do you think it might be something we can help with?..."
  114. (7:33:12 PM) Necessary_Force: "I'll have to ask her a few questions. Maybe get my PipBuck involved," Nessa says.
  115. (7:33:38 PM) ***Arcadia folds her ears back. "We can barely sense her... She's alive, if just so... We're not sure if we have any magic that could help..."
  116. (7:34:04 PM) ***Necessary_Force nods.
  117. (7:37:37 PM) Necessary_Force: "Step one is diagnosis," Nessa mutters under her breath.
  118. (7:38:13 PM) Shim: "I..wish I had magic that could help..."
  119. (7:39:35 PM) ApricotCordial: The mare's breathing quickens and her eyes crack open, starring blearily up at Necessary_Force.
  120. (7:39:58 PM) ApricotCordial: "Who...?" she asks softly, barely more then a whisper.
  121. (7:40:50 PM) Necessary_Force: "Evening, ma'am," Nessa says to her. "I'm Necessary Force. I'm a doctor. These are Shimmer and Arcadia. They'll be assisting me."
  122. (7:41:07 PM) ***Shim smiles and waves
  123. (7:42:06 PM) Necessary_Force: "We've been told you're very ill for some time now. If you'll let me, I'll try and figure out what's making you sick."
  124. (7:42:14 PM) Necessary_Force: you've been very will*
  125. (7:43:23 PM) ApricotCordial: The mare nods slightly, closing her eyes again.
  126. (7:43:59 PM) ***Necessary_Force looks to Shim and Arcadia, hoping the mare isn't delirious...
  127. (7:47:22 PM) ***Arcadia slips into the room, adjusting her pack to keep her wings hidden and sending a tendril of thought towards the mare. "Is there anything we could get you? Some water, maybe?" To Nessa, she sends a small snippet of thought speak <We ate not sure what to do in this situation...>
  128. (7:47:23 PM) ***Shim frowns. and looks down.
  129. (7:48:38 PM) ***Necessary_Force stands around for a second, not sure if that small nod is the mare consenting to treatment... then decides, fuck it. She can speak-up if she doesn't want any more doctoring.
  130. (7:49:34 PM) ***Necessary_Force sets her bags down next to the bed and opens them up before rolling back the mare's covers and steeling herself for what she may need to do.
  131. (7:50:00 PM) ApricotCordial: The mare shakes her head, unaware evidentally that the alicorn is speaking in her mind. Her thoughts are definitely in the negative in response to Arcadia's question.
  132. (7:51:44 PM) ApricotCordial: She's lightly dressed in a cotton print dress, her limbs and barrel as thin as her muzzle. On her left leg is mounted a heavily scratched Pip-Buck.... She smells faintly of grapes.
  133. (7:53:15 PM) Necessary_Force: "Ah. A PipBuck," Nessa remarks, reaching for the arcane device and drawing-out one of her PipBuck's hardwire connections so she can get some potentially useful diagnostic data!
  134. (7:53:17 PM) ***Arcadia hums... Still keeping the connection open in case something went wrong. <Alright... Just let us know if you need anything...> "Nessa... Is there anything we can help with? "
  135. (7:54:44 PM) Shim: "please don't hesitate to say something if there is."
  136. (7:55:14 PM) Necessary_Force: "Stand by. And be my nurses," Nessa says as she begins the somewhat arduous process of inspecting and probing the mare for relevant data.
  137. (7:56:48 PM) ***Arcadia nods quick, horn glowing faintly as she readies her magic. "We are standing by. "
  138. (7:56:52 PM) ApricotCordial: Necessary_Force gets a stream of vital data from the Pip-Buck's banks. If she wants to rely on the arcane and not always reliable systems of the leg computer, the mare is indicating only a few ticks of life left on her 'HP' bar.
  139. (7:57:36 PM) ApricotCordial: ....she's also under the effects of Med-X and a small amount of alcohol.
  140. (7:58:31 PM) ApricotCordial: Nessa could potentially access the injury log, if she's aware that the device tracks injuries and the exposure of the wearer to hazardous substances.
  141. (7:59:31 PM) ***Necessary_Force is well experienced with PipBuck and PipBuck-like diagnostic systems. All Power Armor variants contain some version of it, and Nessa did a /lot/ of work on ponies in Power Armor during her training...
  142. (8:00:59 PM) ApricotCordial: It'll require her to hack into the internals of the device; it isn't something that can just be printed out.... Really it's only a buffer that's part of the system that supplies data to the user interface.
  143. (8:01:31 PM) ApricotCordial: ...Necessary_Force fiddles with it enough to get in.
  144. (8:02:06 PM) ApricotCordial: The mare continues her shallow breathing, brow furrowing slightly whenever anyone talks.
  145. (8:06:34 PM) ApricotCordial: Sifting through the data, Nessa finds it goes back about eight months.... Almost at the very end of the data there's a massive spike in radiation exposure, ten times the background level of exposure for the wasteland, a near lethal level that probably indicates the mare was fortunate enough to have recently taken Rad-X given that she's still alive.
  146. (8:06:35 PM) ***Necessary_Force reads the contents of the mare's injury log.
  147. (8:07:07 PM) Necessary_Force: "Ooh..."
  148. (8:08:04 PM) Necessary_Force: "Looks like she got seriously dosed with rads a few months back."
  149. (8:08:06 PM) ApricotCordial: If Nessa were to apply her professional medical skills, she'd have to say the mare requires something like a gallon of Rad-Away to treat her illness.... As is she's barely hanging on at the edge of death from accute radiation exposure syndrome...
  150. (8:08:25 PM) Shim: "Umm maybe you could use some of our rad away?"
  151. (8:08:37 PM) ***Arcadia tilts her head slightly. "Is that bad? We've never had problems with it before..."
  152. (8:09:04 PM) Necessary_Force: "We could try," Nessa says to Shim.
  153. (8:09:24 PM) Necessary_Force: "... and that's because you're entirely and completely immune to the effects of magirads," Nessa says to Arcadia.
  154. (8:09:48 PM) ***Arcadia blinks once. "... Oh."
  155. (8:10:20 PM) Necessary_Force: "This mare needs more care than we can provide in the field," Nessa says.
  156. (8:10:54 PM) Necessary_Force: "But... we might be able to make her ambulatory again."
  157. (8:11:51 PM) Shim: "If only there were a way to siphon her rads to Arc or me.."
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