Session 16 1/3

(5:59:27 PM) AC[GM]: == Session #16 1/3 ==
(6:00:30 PM) AC[GM]: When we last left the variety pack of wasteland mares they had, once again, gone their separate ways.  Fortunately their hosts have shown no desire to kill them as yet so they remain safe.
(6:01:10 PM) AC[GM]: Green receives the first real checkup in her life, Nessa has been granted permission to see the big board, Shimmer is in conference with the Administrator, Arcadia got poked in some very sensitive areas, and the world continues to move.
(6:04:04 PM) AC[GM]: Nessa finds the screen has drawn a line across an spider-webbed map of Equestria.
(6:05:29 PM) ***Arcadia is /very/ glad she has a decent endurance, or that could've been much more awkward than it already was!
(6:06:28 PM) ***Green nods slowly at the doctor. "Okay Doc. That's nice, but I'll want it in writing. Like a file with my stuff on that our doctors can read. That way I can take it home and show it to them. Like a certificate of approval for my healthy body. I'd be nice and take good care of it. I wouldn't want to waste paper, but this is kinda important."
(6:08:42 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst helps make the process less awkward or sexual, by talking constantly about 'punnett matricies' and the finer points of the testing proceedure.  It leave Arcadia confused, but very unlikely to arouse.
(6:10:09 PM) AC[GM]: Nessa can tell the map shows pre-war political boundaries of Equestria.  There's Whinnysota, and Manechigan, Oklahayma, Kansass, Vanhoover...  The line zig-zags across the upper part of the country, almost to the great northern mountains that separate them from the Crystal Empire.
(6:11:44 PM) ***Nessa hmmms...
(6:12:38 PM) AC[GM]: It ends, or starts, near their location, marked with a dome.  Connecting through several small dots at the points of zags it leads all the way to the Sierra Maredre mountains before ending.  Pecan hmmfs.
(6:13:14 PM) AC[GM]: "It looks like they made use of several caches to resupply.  And they didn't include their point of origination either," Pecan says with a curious shift side to side.
(6:13:46 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor nods to Green, "Certainly.  We can print out the results of the exam we gave you and put it together in a nice durable package for you."
(6:14:34 PM) Arcadia: 
ACTION could definitely push the limits, but the admittedly confusing description of the process leaves her too intrigued to do so. It was quite humbling to realize that, by these ponies' standards, she was really only above average in intelligence, with only mastery of the more practical things needed in the wasteland... For the first time in a long while, she was learning! And she didn't want to stop, so questions keep flowing from her, begg
(6:15:21 PM) Nessa: "How circumspect," Nessa mutters.
(6:15:57 PM) AC[GM]: *It may leave Arcadia
(6:16:32 PM) AC[GM]: "And she didn't want to stop, so questions keep flowing from her, begg" Is where you cut off Arcadia
(6:16:49 PM) AC[GM]: "These aren't dumb ponies, no matter their philosophical stance," the security officer agrees.
(6:17:47 PM) Nessa: "But you do know more than you did, now, right?" Nessa asks them.
(6:18:38 PM) AC[GM]: "We know they have an even greater range then we thought," she affirms, "I figured they had some sort of mountain base."
(6:18:49 PM) Arcadia: *begging for clarity, or going on tangents.
(6:19:38 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst is a pretty good explainer, it just seems that Pony genetics are extremely complicated.  Even basic concepts like 'what race will my foal be?' are apparently muddled by centuries of magic exposure and interbreeding.
(6:22:14 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor leans out the door and calls for a nurse, giving her instructions to print out Green's records.
(6:22:35 PM) ***Green nods vigorously at the doctor. "That'd be sweet as pie! Thank you very much." She gets up from her chair and then stops awkwardly mid-bearhug as her happieness blends with her embarassmenet. "Right. Sorry. I can't wait to show my mom."
(6:23:28 PM) Nessa: "Mountain base. Not entirely atypical," Nessa says. "Wonder if it's the site of an old Equestrian facility..."
(6:24:50 PM) AC[GM]: "The Army and the Ministries built thousands of secret facilities across the country," she says with a distinctly annoyed tone, "It's hard to tell."
(6:26:37 PM) ***Arcadia shifts in place, another faint blush forming on her cheeks. "So, uh... there's not really any certainty about what a foal of mine might be?"
(6:27:32 PM) ***Nessa scratches her messy, curly mane...
(6:30:42 PM) AC[GM]: "That's what we're going to find out!" Cloudburst claps her hooves excitedly, putting the samples safetly into a cooler, "Depending on how the taint has scrambled your genes, it might mean the only result can be 'alicorn'.
(6:30:57 PM) AC[GM]: *alicorn.  Or it might mean any number of other things.  Variables!"
(6:31:53 PM) Nessa: "So what'd be the next step?" Nessa asks the two officers. "Recovering the black box from that sky wagon?"
(6:32:37 PM) AC[GM]: Pecan grimaces, "Possibly."
(6:33:00 PM) AC[GM]: If it survived.
(6:33:05 PM) AC[GM]: *"If it survived."
(6:33:15 PM) ***Arcadia wiggles. "Gotcha, I think. Is there anything else we need to do then? I'm willing to help out, and more importantly learn more."
(6:36:55 PM) ***Green pats the doctor down and her look becomes solemn and resigned. "I'll wait for the nurse then, and that's that. I.. I want to tell you a lot of stuff, but you're not exactly a head doctor are you? It's hard being in a small group. Everypony knows everypony you know."
(6:37:02 PM) ***Nessa is quiet as she considers.
(6:37:05 PM) AC[GM]: "Mm, not for now at least, but I like that can-do attitude!" Cloudburst boops Arcadia on the nose.
(6:37:48 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor hugs back, "Hm?  You can tell me anything you want, in confidence, Miss Green."
(6:38:02 PM) ***Arcadia blinks and scrunches her nose. "So, uh... Now what?"
(6:39:29 PM) AC[GM]: Cinch has quietly left and returned with a cup of coffee.
(6:39:54 PM) ***Green nods slowly and sits back down. "okay. That's. Thats nice of you, and it's probably my only chance to get this off my chest. It's just tough to. To find the words."
(6:40:04 PM) AC[GM]: "You've helped us out, Miss Force," Pecan says, offering the Ranger Scribe her hoof, "We appreciate that.  For now, I'm afraid any action we take will have to wait for spring."
(6:40:32 PM) ***Nessa shakes Pecan's hoof.
(6:40:33 PM) AC[GM]: He nods slightly, sitting down as well, "Take your time.  Part of a doctor's job is to listen, however long it takes."
(6:40:43 PM) Nessa: "That's a ways off," Nessa remarks.
(6:41:10 PM) Nessa: "Hm." Nessa looks thoughtful.
(6:41:13 PM) AC[GM]: The security mare mmfs, "Even with our winter weather gear, you're as likely to freeze to death as not on a trip that long."
(6:45:23 PM) Nessa: "Probably," Nessa says noncommittally.
(6:46:09 PM) Nessa: "Anyway, I had some questions about a few things around here," she says.
(6:46:28 PM) AC[GM]: "Sure," Pecan spins a chair around and flops into it.
(6:47:57 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst offers the much larger Arcadia a hoof down from the bed, "Whatever you like I suppose!  It will take time to analyse these samples, then to figure out what any of that means.  We'll certainly have to contact you by microwave."
(6:48:15 PM) AC[GM]: *He nods slightly to Green
(6:49:06 PM) ***Arcadia tilts her head. "Microwave?"
(6:49:20 PM) Nessa: "The security forces that greeted me when I got to the inhabited rings," Nessa says. "They had some unusual equipment. Particularly the unicorns."
(6:49:34 PM) ***Nessa mimes, indicating the horn-attachments she saw.
(6:49:44 PM) AC[GM]: "It's a kind of radio," Cloudburst says vaguely, "Good transmission distance and power, although the weather can effect it quite severely."
(6:49:58 PM) AC[GM]: "Yes?" Pecan asks
(6:50:45 PM) Nessa: "And I noticed that Doctor Cloudburst showed signs of cybernetic tissue replacement," Nessa continues.
(6:51:10 PM) Nessa: "Are those things related? Is that normal in here?" she asks.
(6:51:19 PM) AC[GM]: Pecan crosses her legs, "Burst is a strange case."
(6:52:03 PM) ***Arcadia carefully steps down from the table, a little wobbly still. "I... See. Wouldn't there be a more effective way to do so then? If weather can block it."
(6:52:45 PM) AC[GM]: "Weather effects everything but hardline communications, I'm told," Cloudburst says with a shrug.
(6:53:49 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor offers Green a hoof to hold.
(6:54:27 PM) Nessa: "Strange case, hm?" Nessa raises an eyebrow.
(6:54:34 PM) ***Green holds the hoof and speaks into the room softly. "There are things I've done that I'm not proud of." She sucks up the air in a huge gulp. "My mom is the strongest mare I know of. She got her cutiemark in an infantry charge. That's always the ones that get promoted first. The royal infantry brigade works off of that merit and my mom got the name Crusader that day. I grew up on the
(6:54:34 PM) ***Green story that she beat a stallion to death with a trench shovel during a stormtroop manuver to save her friends, and that she just wouldnt stop until it was an unrecognizeable mush. The cutiemark was a sword that shines so bright that it's almost like watching the sun. I've felt that way myself sometimes. The urge to kill that grows so insistent that you just can't stop until something gets
(6:54:34 PM) ***Green hurt because to stop is to die for your country like so many others before."
(6:55:05 PM) AC[GM]: "Cloudy's body was totally fucked," Cinch grunts from behind Nessa, "She'd have died without what they did to her."
(6:55:21 PM) ***Nessa nods.
(6:55:50 PM) ***Nessa still looks expectant for another answer, though.
(6:56:14 PM) ***Arcadia hums lowly. "I haven't had the weather effect my telepathy before. My effective range is... Approximately six point oh-two miles, give or take."
(6:56:44 PM) AC[GM]: "Really?  That's quite the distance!" Cloudburst says enthusiastically patting her side.
(6:58:07 PM) AC[GM]: Pecan mms, "As Cinch said, they're not related.  Dr. Cloudburst was born with multiple debilitating birth defects that were only correctable via severe cybernetic replacement.  The EFS rings aren't cybernetically linked to their wearer at all."
(6:58:12 PM) ***Arcadia giggles. "It's what green alicorns are good at, that and natural matrix casting at the expense of all concentration."
(6:58:39 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor nods to Green.
(6:59:03 PM) Nessa: "EFS rings? You miniaturized the technology even further?" Nessa asks.
(6:59:51 PM) AC[GM]: "It's fairly complicated..." Pecan says, as if giving Nessa an out now that she knows what they are.
(7:00:56 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst nods slightly....
(7:01:03 PM) AC[GM]: "Interesting, interesting."
(7:01:17 PM) Nessa: "I see," Nessa says, looking fairly skeptical but catching her drift.
(7:02:16 PM) Arcadia: "For instance, I'm pretty confident I could ask Nessa a question and she'd easily be able to respond." She says with a bright smile.
(7:02:54 PM) AC[GM]: "Anything else you wanted to know?" she asks Nessa
(7:03:31 PM) AC[GM]: "Possibly.  The security bunker's pretty well insulated," Cloudburst chirps.
(7:03:42 PM) Nessa: "Yeah. You said these... nomadic groups of ponies we've been seeing. They're your friends?" Nessa asks.
(7:04:02 PM) AC[GM]: "It depends on whom you've seen," Pecan says circumspectly.
(7:05:18 PM) AC[GM]: "But you feel like resisting that urge?" The doctor asks Green
(7:05:24 PM) Nessa: "Well, there's the Dakotas. The guardians of Camp Vanilla Ripple, if memory serves," Nessa says.
(7:05:43 PM) Nessa: "Or was that a different group..."
(7:05:50 PM) ***Nessa rubs her muzzle.
(7:06:45 PM) AC[GM]: "One in the same, and it isn't just the army camp," Pecan supplies, "They are.  When they found the dome, and ponies still living there, they were in awe."
(7:07:18 PM) AC[GM]: She smiles faintly, "They tell us in school that they wanted to worship us as gods and goddesses but the Mayor talked them out of that."
(7:07:52 PM) Nessa: "Hum..."
(7:08:08 PM) Nessa: "The current Mayor?"
(7:08:27 PM) AC[GM]: "We don't have a Mayor anymore," Pecan says
(7:08:53 PM) ***Green grips the hoof tighter. "I do, but It's not a good life. We fight because we believe that theres something better in the future. Something like this. I can't talk sense to the director. I don't know how to say things. I just know that all he'd have to do is give us all a little push in the right direction, and we'd all want to die for it - even if we'd never see the inside of this
(7:08:53 PM) ***Green place." She chuckles somberly. I know I would. My littlebrother was born sickly. I was still without a cutiemark and I didn't understand things, so I ran from it all. I buried my face in the dirt and began expanding our trench. I didn't stop for days, and by the time woke up at home, dead tired from digging without stop and fainting from exhaustion he was dead. Because that's how the world
(7:08:53 PM) ***Green works out there."
(7:09:07 PM) AC[GM]: "In those days they still had the old council.  Before so many ponies died it really didn't work," she says wistfully.
(7:11:11 PM) Nessa: "I saw a lot of the habitat rings were abandoned, but... in an orderly manner," Nessa says. "What happened?"
(7:11:48 PM) AC[GM]: "The Administrator means well...." the doctor says softly, "We've tried before, you know, to help ponies in the wasteland.  But we don't want an army, and we don't want ponies to die for us.  We want everyone to be able to live happily together, or at least be free from want."
(7:12:39 PM) AC[GM]: "And there are too many ponies that would take what aid we gave them for nefarious purposes.  If we can't give everypony the same help, it creates jealousies and strife."
(7:13:05 PM) AC[GM]: "I'm not trying to lecture you," the doctor murmurs, "I just want you to know its more then him being an intractable old bastard."
(7:14:10 PM) ***Arcadia hums again. "So, Cloudburst... Can I ask about the cybernetics? I'll admit that I'm... Curious about the implications and possibilities."
(7:14:34 PM) AC[GM]: "The weather," Pecan gestures above her head, "It takes a lot of power to heat the whole dome, not to mention how much much of a demand it would be to provide utilities."
(7:15:00 PM) AC[GM]: "It was B-Day plus five years, so many ponies had starved already that the council decided to evacuate everyone to the core, to reduce the stress on infastructure and keep everypony safer," Pecan says.
(7:15:21 PM) Nessa: "Starvation..." Nessa mutters.
(7:17:26 PM) ***Green sighs. "I know about old bastards. You think mom spoke to me about running away and buring my head into the sand to get a cutiemark in dirt? She'd leave the room every time I tried to tell her what i felt, but I could see her hip was never the same. She'd just bite down hard and keep on walking. I don't want to fight. I want to get my mom a hip replacement. I want to bathe and not
(7:17:26 PM) ***Green have to worry that the water wasn't boiled enough. That's the way it is for most ponies is out there. They're not being mean because they're jealous. They're being mean because they want to live."
(7:17:28 PM) AC[GM]: "There wasn't much agriculture under the dome.  It doesn't really, work, well," she elaborates somewhat incompletely, "So when the weather went to Tartarus, the crops died.  We had to rely on what they could grow in hydroponics while the agriscientists tried to engineer more weather resistentcrops."
(7:17:45 PM) AC[GM]: "By the time they did, three quarters of the population were dead," she says uncomfortably.
(7:19:15 PM) AC[GM]: The doctor shrugs, "You're talking to the wrong stallion.  All I can do is treat whatever ponies come in."
(7:21:32 PM) Nessa: "Sounds awful..." Nessa says.
(7:22:01 PM) AC[GM]: "Our ancestors still survived," Pecan says with a small amount of pride.
(7:22:38 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst hmms in surprise at Arcadia's question, "About mine?"
(7:22:59 PM) Nessa: "Tenacious," Nessa says.
(7:23:11 PM) Arcadia: "Mostly, though any in general if it's too personal..." She says
(7:23:50 PM) Nessa: "But still. I suppose 'tragedy' is the watchword of this world," Nessa says.
(7:24:44 PM) AC[GM]: "Well we don't really do cybernetics," Cloudburst says with a smile, "I'm something of an unusual case, making me a prototype, I suppose.  The biggest thing is that they're not exactly something for a healthy pony."
(7:26:11 PM) AC[GM]: Cinch has disappeared again but Pecan doesn't really say anything in reply for a minute.  "Anything else?"
(7:26:12 PM) ***Green frowns and then nods at the doctor. "Yea. This is mostly so I can move on from what happened up there. I've told you the big secret too. I'm sensitive about my cutiemark. It's not exactly the greatest shame in the world."
(7:26:47 PM) AC[GM]: He smiles slightly, "Your secret's safe with me, Green.  I'm glad you were willing to talk things out with me."
(7:28:28 PM) ***Green laughs. "Oh no. Don't thank me. I'm the one that should thank you. It's not often you get a doctor pony that's not ever going to talk to anypony from home about how I feel for these things."
(7:28:37 PM) Nessa: "Yes. I'd be very grateful if I could get a heating element to keep my robot's hydraulics fluid during this hellish winter," Nessa says to Pecan.
(7:28:43 PM) Arcadia: "Aaah, I see. And here I was hoping I could get some kind of super-pony thing going here!"
(7:28:49 PM) Nessa: "Know where I might find something like that?"
(7:28:58 PM) AC[GM]: "The nurse should have your file for you," he adds to Green.
(7:29:33 PM) AC[GM]: "I hate to break it to you, dear," Cloudburst struggles to keep her face, "You are already a super mare."
(7:29:38 PM) ***Green nods and gets up. "That's nice, so unless you can prescribe me a spa treatment I guess this is it."
(7:30:23 PM) AC[GM]: "Try supply and maintenance," Pecan says, standing up and stretching, "They should have some spares that we use in ours.  Provided you haven't tricked your's out too much."
(7:31:15 PM) ***Nessa nods.
(7:31:21 PM) AC[GM]: "Perscribe?" he looks a bit confused, "Well, it's a wednesday so they shouldn't be too busy."
(7:31:23 PM) Nessa: She never sat down.
(7:31:26 PM) ***Arcadia blinks. "... Your right! Though I could use a more expansive repertoire of spells."
(7:31:38 PM) AC[GM]: Nessa was, notably, never offered a seat.
(7:31:42 PM) Nessa: "They listed on the map?" Nessa asks.
(7:31:45 PM) AC[GM]: *perhaps notably,
(7:31:45 PM) ***Green puts out a hoof to shake the doctor's hoof and winks. "That's nice. The papers will be in the reception area?"
(7:32:12 PM) AC[GM]: "You'll have to study up!" she giggles, "I've heard that Whinnyapolis has a lovely library at the old university."
(7:32:46 PM) AC[GM]: "Clipper's probably standing outside waiting for us," he says with a slight chuckle, "She's an impatient mare."
(7:35:06 PM) AC[GM]: "They are," Pecan confirms.
(7:35:38 PM) ***Green gets the papers from the nurse and makes sure to check if the same mare is still waiting in the reception area.
(7:36:07 PM) AC[GM]: It seems like her conversation partner has disappeared, although her book is still there.
(7:36:58 PM) Arcadia: "Really? You think they'd have spellbooks there? Ooohh, I really want to do things like some of my sisters... Like Ambrosia can cast a beam of pure light!"
(7:37:13 PM) ***Green grabs the book and muses over the title before checking to see if its a library book of some kind.
(7:38:20 PM) AC[GM]: "Light?  That seems, useful," Cloudburst admits, "Probably.  It was a big school."
(7:39:15 PM) AC[GM]: It has a sticker on it like old library books have; it looks like an old romance novel about a Baltimare mason that falls in love with a farmer's widow in 1800s Illineigh.
(7:40:14 PM) ***Green shrugs and pockets the book before making her exit.
(7:42:32 PM) AC[GM]: Cloudburst aahs suddenly, turning to Arcadia, "You know, there is a spa, if you were feeling like some relaxation."
(7:42:46 PM) Nessa: "Well, I guess I'll pack-up my stuff," Nessa says.
(7:43:02 PM) ***Nessa then goes to collect her maps and holotapes.
(7:43:31 PM) AC[GM]: "Alright.  If you need an extra bag, let me know," Pecan says, standing up.
(7:43:43 PM) ***Green checks both sides of the hospital and begins making her way towards the spa.
(7:44:06 PM) ***Arcadia practically prances in place. "A spa? Oh that sounds divine! Lead the way?"
(7:44:29 PM) AC[GM]: "I have some work to do," she taps the sample case on her back, "But I can give you directions!"
(7:45:44 PM) Arcadia: "That'll work!" She exclaims. "I'll see you again though, right?"
(7:46:25 PM) AC[GM]: "Most certainly," Cloudburst affirms with a nod before describing how to get to the spa.  It seems to be the opposite direction that Nessa walked in, not that she'd know that.
(7:47:39 PM) ***Arcadia beams as she does her best to memorize the directions. "Great! I'd hate to not see a friend again..."
(7:48:45 PM) AC[GM]: "I'll be here~" she cheerfuly informs Arcadia, giving her a nuzzle
(7:49:17 PM) ***Nessa collects her stuff, gives Pecan a final goodbye, then heads for Maintenance.
(7:49:45 PM) AC[GM]: Pecan takes her office back and Nessa leaves the bunker for the outside world again, the door slamming  back shut behind her.
(7:50:12 PM) ***Nessa found it comforting.
(7:50:18 PM) ***Nessa then turns her PipBuck back on.
(7:51:18 PM) AC[GM]: It starts normally!
(7:51:24 PM) AC[GM]: Green got the same directions Arcadia did!
(7:51:36 PM) ***Arcadia giggles and nuzzles the doctor back, before sashaying her way out the room~
(7:56:10 PM) AC[GM]: Nessa can find maintenance pretty easily.  The streets are more full of ponies, a variety of races in various colors and clothing~
(7:57:27 PM) ***Nessa sees pegasi, even?
(7:58:24 PM) ***Green checks the outside area of the spa place as circumspect to get as good a look as possible before she considers venturing fourth.
(7:58:38 PM) AC[GM]: Nessa doesn't see any winged pones.
(7:59:26 PM) AC[GM]: It's on the first floor of a store front with apartments upstairs and shops on either side.  It seems to be part of a small district shopping center.
(8:06:47 PM) Godna is now known as Shimmer
(8:06:51 PM) Nessa left the room (quit: Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client).
(8:46:33 PM) Nessa [Mibbit@Pony-g70pjj.dsl.coastside.net] entered the room.
(9:12:12 PM) ***Nessa is on her way to Maintenance, just looking around at this... highly unusual locale.
(9:12:49 PM) AC[GM]: It's mostly a regular, intact city under a dome.
(9:15:12 PM) ***Nessa has never seen an intact city.
(9:15:29 PM) Nessa: Not one she could reach out and touch...
(9:16:34 PM) AC[GM]: == Session #16 1/3 End ==