deernet | audio, un:yuuki

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audio, un:yuuki

[there is some ambient, tidal noise, intermittent dog-barking, and the occasional woosh on the speaker thanks to rogue gusts of wind. but other than that, this guy! he sounds a little winded himself, but no worse for wear.]

Uh--he-hey, folks. Those of you...super-good or into food storage? If you can get to the boardwalk, there's...a lot.

Let's see-- [there's some creaking and a CRACK. then a huff.] Tomatoes, onions...potatoes...onions...ahh--uoh! Scallions, too! That's lucky...

[a beat.]

...Sure hope nobody's allergic to onions, though...there's a ton...!

[anybody out n' about on Boardwalk is happy to action in as well!]

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[delighted, Manabu laughs a little himself, shoulders shrugging up. his eyes wince as the flame starts to pop and crackle more like a sparkler before fizzling out, and he shakes his hand so he can rub the back of his neck sheepishly.]

A-aa...Diluc figures I gotta...think more of it like things I'm used to. Guns and stuff? Which is weird, but...but it's been working.

No, that makes a lot of sense. Diluc's a smart guy.

[ It's what he's been doing with Varian, after all: appealing to the scientific part of his brain, making sure he doesn't feel like he's starting from zero. And considering how frustrated and hopeless Manabu had seemed before—

Mako really is proud.

Zuko trills happily and finally pushes herself off his head to go diving into the nest of nets and debris. ]

You find anything else in here besides the scallions?

Huh? Oh--oh, that was the other crate. There's a bunch of vegetables in that one, back on the beach. [dismissive gesture at that as he turns around getting his bearings. what was he up to again?

ah. right.]

There's a bunch of rope and gear that's probably still useable? I was clearing this stuff out of the way before I got into the upper deck. [so he wouldn't break his fucking neck.]

Need help making piles?

[ Usable and useless: Mako's second-favorite thing is organizing stuff, although he has a very... loose definition of what is usable. When you're a street rat, everything has a potential use. Mako's already moving toward that bundle of netting. ]

I was thinking if we find anything useful in here, I have a better handle on ice stuff now. If we work together, we could probably get a lot back to shore.

Eh, really? You mean you could move around all the ice out there?

[ Mako lifts up onto his toes to peer through a half-torn porthole at the glaring expanse of sea ice. He squints at it, shrugs, and drops back down to crouch by one of the bundles Zuko is nosing through. ]

Probably. Been working with Korra a bit, figured out a way to...icebend.

Which isn't a real thing. I mean, waterbenders can do it, but it's a completely different way of moving than firebending. Still feels weird.

[ The netting is half-frozen to the hull. Mako picks at it with gloved fingers, trying to pry apart the strands. Something's glinting under there. ]

What a mess. Anything in particular you're looking for out here?

[bending wizardry is still well over Manabu's head, so he's gonna take Mako's word for it.]

Aa...mm, I wanted to see if any ship logs or captain notes are still available. I wanna know where this ship came from. Hell, a map of the world...! [is that too much to hope for?]

Figure out more about the wider world?

[ The glinting thing, which Mako was privately hoping might be a harmonica, turns out to be a broken telescope. He picks the frozen thing up between two fingers, frowning at it. ]

I'd like to know more, myself. Might give us some clues about how to survive this place. You think we'll ever get the chance to actually leave?

I mean-- [he grunts, hopping up onto the ladder, testing the weight of each step before climbing up.] It's not a dream anymore. It's a whole planet. If there's something out there...it stands to reason it can be found, right?

And if these boats are from out there...all the more proof.

Would you leave?

[ Pocketing the telescope, Mako stands with a hand out for Zuko to scamper up his arm. They might as well stick together, and that ladder looks sound enough. Mako doesn't trust the ice out here, creaking and groaning every now and then as it is. Something distant cracks, echoing across the expanse. Around them the hull protests with a low grinding moan and then settles again. ]

If you could, I mean.

[leave? Manabu internally winces, hoisting himself up onto the next deck. leave hits a weird way...]

Not--not for good, you know? [he climbs to his feet, bending forward to offer an arm up the rest of the way. back down below, Magnet growls and whines, displeased with this ladder situation.]

But it'd be good to know what's out there. For everyone, right? Where this stuff is coming from, what the deal with those...pirates is...

[ It's a rickety thing, so Mako reaches up and curls fingers around Manabu's wrist, letting himself be half-hauled out of the hole onto the deck. Zuko trills her thanks as he clambers onto the half-frozen surface. The air is somehow damp and crisp all at once, full of the kind of cold clean smell that scours your nostrils as you breathe. ]

No, I'm with you. We don't even know if there are other Sleepers out there. It'd be stupid to leave a city that's clearly adapted to us when we're still trying to learn how it all works, but... I want to know. You were mostly on the trains, right? Did you... I don't know. Get a good sense of how big other planets were? Is there a way to tell?

[before Mako can entirely clear the ladder, Magnet jumps up and chomps onto his pantleg so he too can get a ride up, hopping onto the deck and sniffing around once he can get his front paws onto something solid.

meanwhile, Manabu straightens, giving Mako a curious look at the question.]

How to tell? [??] I mean...yeah, of course. We have star charts, instruments to map out size, density, and air quality... But if you mean just by eyeballing it? That's kind of tricky, given how big things can get out there...

Harder to tell from the surface?

[ Mako hazards a guess as he pulls himself properly to his feet, ignoring the freezing metal under his hands. He doesn't even feel it, really, like the cold isn't here even though his breath is a crystal thing between them. ]

I guess that makes sense. Bo and I always tried to get the high ground when we were kids. Is there any way to tell?

[the ship groans under and around them, and there's some clicking and clanking from some indeterminate distance. Manabu holds his breath a beat as he listens before moving on, his footsteps light but still loud in his ears.]

You mean, tell about the size of this planet? Not without some instruments. Satellites would be ideal, but... [but he's not gonna hold his breath.

this looks like a galley? or some mix of a galley and some bunks: dilapidated hooks and rope for hammocks, rows of shelves, some dented crockery...but no sign of people. bodies. Manabu's not sure if he's relieved or not, given the last kind of figures he saw on a boat around here.]

[ A few cans peek out of a metal cabinet nailed to the wall, and MAko heads for those as carefully as he can. He doesn't like the way the hull is groaning around them—it's like the ship is warning them—but it feels sound enough, and more than that, he trusts Manabu here. He's good at being in hunks of metal, right?

He's certainly looking back at Manabu every few steps to gauge his reactions. ]

What kind of instruments? Asami might be able to build them.

[yeah...hunks of metal in the vacuum of space that are usually not this busted up! gravity isn't as familiar a factor to him as maybe would be wise...

in any case, careful steps are the way to go here, especially since there's not a lot of traction on this slick, cold floor.]

Umh--I, I mean...Does Asami [whoever that is.] know how to make computer-stuff? I don't know all the details behind it all, sine it's...all kind of layered systems. Telescopes and scanners, things that can calculate mass and size relative to...other...stuff...

[...

i sound really stupid right now, he thinks, grimacing at his blurry reflection on some of the busted crockery he's rummaging through.]

S-sorry...that really doesn't explain anything, does it.

...not to me, but it might mean something to her. She's probably the most brilliant inventor in our era.

[ Mako braces a hand on a wall and reaches out for one of the cans—coconut milk? Here? And then a couple of corn, as well, but coconut... ]

...hey. If they have this, there's gotta be a tropical city somewhere, right?

[ He flashes the faded label Manabu's way. ]

Huh? What is it? [he steps back and leans forward to squint at it.] Wait, the, the big...hairy fruit-thing, right? ['tropical,' Manabu.]

...No, that...that makes sense. [he starts to perk up a little.] Actually, that...that helps a little. If there's a diversity of climate beyond Trench, it'll be easier to kind of chart out the possible regions on a planet's sphere we're on! How far from the poles we are as opposed to the equator...

[Magnet barks.]

And! And if it's from that far away, they have to have a way to chart the course, right? You don't just eyeball a supply run, that's crazy.

[he starts over to the other end of the deck, ignoring the groans and splintering sounds that his energized pace elicits.] Look for a logbook! A map, a, a compass or anything, okay?

[ None of this really means anything to Mako—he's not entirely sure what equator is even referring to—but Manabu's definitely excited, and that has to mean something. Mako grabs another few cans of the stuff and drops them into his bag, smiling quietly. ]

Yeah, I'll keep an eye out. Would any kind of paper work? Journals, or something? Don't know about you but when I was cooped up in an airship for a while I did a lot of writing and reading. Maybe they talked about their course or wrote letters or something.

Anything's work checking for sure, right? [good-naturedly:] I mean, you're a detective! You should kn--

[on his next step, a couple floorboards weakened from the breeching crack and give way, and Manabu starts to drop.]

Yeah, yeah—

[ Mako doesn't even yell. He hears the crack, watches Manabu go, and lunges for him over the unsteady floor, his bag flying out behind him. He's too far to grab Manabu's hand, but that isn't what Mako's thinking: his hands move like a wave, following the arc of his body, and all at once ice crackles up around the floorboards and Manabu's legs all at once, freezing him in place before he can fall too far. ]

GOH--!!

[Mako doesn't yell, but Manabu does! it hurts! what parts of him that aren't frozen over flail and dangle, hands smacking at the edges of the splintered floor before just as quickly recoiling when that hurts, too.]

Aa--a, no--what--what's--!

[there's that, and then there's Magnet also losing his shit at the edge of the hole. it's a symphony of what the fuck.]

Stop moving!

[ You're going to BREAK SOMETHING Manabu, this is an emergency! Mako does not want to deal with his best friend crashing into the frozen ocean and dying or hitting his head on the floor and also dying! The ice creeps up his legs, over his knees and the length of his thighs to stop him from squirming, and Mako stops it there, his hands flattened and outstretched. ]

Just—stay put, I'll get something for you to hold onto.

Is this YOU, or is there--is something in?!

[because he refuses to be calm if he's getting swallowed up by an ice monster; his head's already on a swivel while he scrambles to get his pistol out, looking for tentacles or teeth to shoot at. barring that, he may just start shooting ice.]

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