Teasers from Beyond the Blastwave Part IV

Didn't want to head south to Salt Lake... though really didn't get much of a choice. Largest settlement at the edge of the ash-lands, especially with the mega Desal plant working again, all the tech, and people, that survived in the Bingham Canyon city sized bunker made that possible. Despite the chaotic weather there was an amazing crop of vegetables that grew in the surrounding farmland.

Anyway, backing up to Why we headed south instead of continuing west. There was a creature in the way. Not really sure what that was to be honest, it wasn't there when we hiked through the first time. The best description would have to be a dragon. Lizardlike, as long as a bus is, The wingspan was just as wide that allowed it to glide easily enough while it used it's tail like a rudder as it moved through the air, two rear legs no front legs, when folded and landed it used its wings as such. It was terrifyingly majestic as it slowly circled above us after leaping off the cliffside before landing in front of us lightly. Eivan and I had the sense of mind to grab our ecologist friend and drag him back, it's mouth could have easily swallowed any of us up whole in one bite. It didn't breath fire on us, though we didn't give much of a chance since we immediately bolted back down the road we'd came. Didn't stop much as we headed south along the 15 towards Salt Lake. It followed us for a couple days, watching us, we didn't stop till the ecologist dropped from exhaustion and we took shelter in a bus terminal in Malad. I guess by that point it had grown disinterested in us. We rested a day then continued south to Salt Lake to get supplies and see if a caravan along the I-84 needed guards. Thankfully they didn't give us as much grief about being non-mormons this time, fair prices on food and drink as well.

Hopefully we'll be back in the CR in a few days and we can finish our contract by getting our ecologist friend home safe and sound.


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The s͇͎̳̯͇̯͈̮͔͚̖͇̹̘̗̗̤e̳̪͕̗͍͕̬̭͕̙̰ͅv̱͉̻̱̬͎̰͍̟̩̘͕ͅͅe̯͓̯̩̟͍̜̝̜̮̳͉̹͍̮̮ͅͅn͔͚̮͕͖̳̰͎͙̬͉t͔͚̮̠̖̥h͈̘̹̼̘̱̘̺̲̣͔̩ͅͅ floor is definitely larger on the inside than the outside, it is definitely a labyrinth as well, however I was able to map it all out, I didn't find the missing drones in it. That took most of the week, would have been faster if I'd figured out how to see in the dark faster, well and adjust to that which took a day. A quasi modification to my eyesight that allows me to see into the u͚̺͓̲̼͇̦ͫ͒ĺ͚̑͛t̺̊̍ͨ̐͛̿r̦̤̥͕̓͑̚a̜̯̰͛ͤ̔̇v̖̺̯̺̩̽ͅĩ̟͇̤̬̦̲ͯ͒õ̳̤̬ͧ̂l̬͔͖͔̹͇̫̳͖ͬ͂͛̑ͮͯͭͯͫe͍̤̓̋̍ͭ̍̐̓ͤ̚t̲̠̞̲̤͉͈͋ͯ͊ ̤̭̻̣̪̙͉̲̼̍̑̿̌̍̐̍̈́s̞͖̹̮̣͋̌ͅp̲͉̣̰͖̤͔ͣ̐ͅe̻̘̥̱̙̦͚̋́̈̀̎͒ͥc͎̝̱̗̯̘̭̭̞̀͛ͣ͌ͧ̃̐t̜̝͎̼͖̻͊̂̿ͭͨ̓r̩̲̜̫̩ͮ̊̓ǘ̹ͧ̋ͨ̾͛̑ͧ̃m̻̝͊̇ͭͬ. I was wondering why the drones had no problem with the seventh floor while I couldn't see jack, Something about the air of the seventh floor adsorbs all normally visible light. No idea why, and since there wasn't anything physically there to sample there's nothing to really check. Anyway, no drones. I did find a dias made of apparently all the towels that were on this floor with a leather-bound book on it but it c͕̬̃̈́͊̋̈r̸͉͚̘͍͎̤̂ͫ̂͊ͯͫ̓͝ȇ̛̩͓̦̹̳̪̟̈́̕é͍̦̖̜̗̲̱̗̇ͯͯ͂́͜p̶̘̞̬̥͔̳͚͆̀̇̎ͭ̔̒̉̐e̵͔͔͙̯͂͆ͤ̅͂̓d̵̺͔̭̱͇̼̮͐̑͂ͣ͢ͅ me out enough I didn't want to touch it. Something just seemed... ỏ̻̤͓̤ͪf͈ͦf̤̟̩͍̳̩̖̾ͫ̌ͅ about it.

Fifth and sixth floor still remain impenetrable despite the best attempts of myself and drones from the institute. ID-9 though has declared that I attempted to complete the task in good faith and that the inability to explore the remaining floors doesn't count against anything, the fact that I did in fact find one of the missing drones is being debated upon and hopefully a c̳͛͑o͖̬ͦ͋ͩ͊͌̑̅͐n̤̭̩̝͑̌͐͂̍̾̆̏s̲̖̤͖͓̙͛͌̎̂ͣe̟̭̹͉̥̓̍͂ͩ̎̈̀n̰̬͍̗͗̓ͥ̋͊ͤͩ̓s̤̗̗̄͆̃ͫ̄ͩ͐̔ͅu̱̰͈͉ͥ̌ͪ̇ͣ͂͊s̘̳͙̒͒̾̐ͮ on whether to open up "trade options with organics" or not can be made in the next day or so Snow's starting to fall now..

....seriously w͇̤͙͕̆́̃ͪ͂ͮḧ͇̹ͯͮ̐̚o̥̟̪̥̙̙̪̎ͮ̃͌̚'̭͔͂̉ͪ̇s̻̮͋̽̇̾̈ͤ̿͑͒ ̹̬̭̪͎̩͍̠ͥ̊̍͐̃i̗͇̦͑̎̑d͓̻̫ͧ̚ě͓̫̭̟͎̭̭̼̿̈́ͪ̓̒a͓̥̳̖͂ͬͨ̓ͮ͐ ẃ̗͓̘̤͈̫̟͙̤a͏̨̞̩͉̼̀s̡̱̰͙̠̙̙̠̦͓ it to make ME the ambassador for the human race to new creatures and entities? First the Drakony, and now AI's... what's next E-T's?

Teasers from beyond the blastwave Part III

Made it to our supply cache at the edge of the ashlands today. We left yellowstone early due to earthquakes and more magma belching up out of the pools. The ecologist is still giddy and wants to contact us out again in a few months once he's gone over the data he collected. I don't see why not, it's not like the place could get much more dangerous than it already is. It's just lava, sharp as glass ash and noxious gases, and the potential goring hazard from the flaming bison out there. No they aren't actually flaming but their skin is surprisingly flame and heat resistant. In the name of science, and also because fresh meat sounded like a good idea, we slaughtered one out of a small herd we found. Tasted great with a little salt, kinda smoky though. Anyway theory is that one could make a raft out of the hide and use it to float out over some of the runnier lava, but we wisely managed to get that idea out of the ecologist's head.  Also that weird tree thing I saw, still no clue what it actually was and didn't see it again. Most of the trip out was rather uneventful. Should be able to see all the stars in a day or two, it'll be nice to be back in civilization for a while.

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Fifth and Sixth floors have plates of metal welded up against all the windows. Even a cutting laser from the institute didn't scratch it, more and more of the AI's have come to watch my attempts to discover the secrets of the building though. It's pretty interesting to have an audience. Speaking of which, I did find the manager on the eighth floor. Pleasant fellow, if a bit distant, he and ID-9 had a staring contest for an hour that ended in a draw (I did not know the AI's could blink but ID-9 did). I did some exploration of the seventh floor, it is the strangest of them all, it seems to be configured in a maze-like shape, and time... has no meaning there, also space since it seems to cover more area than the footprint of the building itself. I thought I was only inside for a couple hours but it was in fact a day and a half according to ID-9. I did manage to use rope that one of the AI's made for me, glows on it's own, to sort of guide myself around the maze some. I'm wondering if I'm going to find a Minotaur in it... considering the dragons off in the ashlands I would not be surprised. Whelp a couple of the ai's just wandered up saying their calculations say they may have increased output of the cutting laser by 120% at an increase of energy use by 300%.... so instead of an hours worth of cutting time It should only have 20 minutes... well if I did the conversion right anyway. First gotta find my welding goggles.

Teasers from beyond the blastwave in two different points in time.

Spent this week keeping the ecologist from getting too close to the lava pits. Did find some more signs of life from larger fauna, and there are some plants further away from the actual lava pools further out on the rim of the caldera. It also rained last night, making everything a muggy soggy and muddy mess. Score one for fry's though, whatever they did to the laptop and satgear works and it repelled the water pretty well. After the downpour I got to see stars for the first time in a month. It was nice, though the ash clouded back up pretty quickly returning everything to the ever-present red haze.

Woke up this morning with a note from Eivan: "Ecologist heard cows or something off in the distance wanted to check it out I'm with him." So that left me with time to take inventory of our gear. Maybe another week's worth of supplies left before we have to start headed back.

While Eivan and the ecologist were off doing stuff I took a walk off towards where I'd seen some more of the hardy plants we'd found inside the caldera. tough woody stuff with dark gray foliage. While I was having a closer look at it I heard a noise and saw something off on a hill about a hundred yards away. The best description I could give it would be an Ent from Tolkien's works.... I'm tentative about telling the ecologist only because he'd want to chase it and I don't know how it would react to our presence.

No sketch this time, the pen ran out of ink and I don't have any spares.

Anyway, after a while it just stomped off after staring at me for a bit. Once I couldn't hear it I made my way up to the hillside, under all the brush where it had walked through was fine dark gray grass. More questions than answers I guess when it comes to the ashlands.



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Found the first AI rig on the fourth floor. Yes there is a perpetual discotheque, and according to it (ID-274-9998) , it's sensors had lost its path due to the constantly changing lighting, it finally gave up after finding a wall plug to keep charged and hope something got within radio distance so it could call for help. I can agree though since I had a hell of a time making sense of the floor's layout due to the constantly changing lighting. I'd also be willing to bet the walls are moving in time to the music that's running over the PA system on that floor.

First and second floor were pretty normal while the basement has a colony of rats the size of dogs that apparently have been acting as the custodial staff....oddly enough. Regardless they pay me no mind unless I mess something up, and then the nearest one runs over and starts chattering loudly at me  while cleaning up the dirt.. Fifth and sixth floor doors are welded closed from the inside, both in the elevator shaft and emergency stairwell, while the seventh floor opened up into a dark shadowy void that I have not explored yet because my flashlight can't even light up the floor, and the eight floor I haven't found either the keycard or keycode yet, while the rooftop is a veritable garden with no ai rigs found there.

Going to try and burn through the doors or climb down and enter from the outside on the fifth, sixth and eight floors.

Teasers from beyond the blastwave and two different time zones.

This has been one of the biggest hassles ever.. well I mean other than getting out of the ashlands in the first place. Some crazy ecologist wanted to go into them, specifically the source, Yellowstone of all places. Initially I refused, but god damn we he persistant. He said he didn't trust the others who were willing to guide him in, something about lack of experience of having not survived. (apparently those of us that made it out are kind of a big deal to the folks living on the edge and away from the ashlands, I don't get it. All we did was do our best to survive a hostile environement while trying to make sense of what the fuck was going on while thinking we were dying from radiation and not just acclimatizing to what some are calling magic's resurgence. Eh I dunno, shit's weird and I can light stuff on fire with my mind, dunno what to call it. Magic works for now I guess.)

The pay is insanely good though, dunno where he found it but sealed and unexpired food that isn't irradiated is also kind of a big deal, and the guy hasn't done anything too stupid... well Eivan really hasn't given him much of a chance to do anything too stupid like trying to hug a bear or something. Anyway, the GPS stopped giving us a satellite reading five days ago so we used a map from a park service truck we found half buried in a bank of ash west of the park along highway 287. A bit of guesswork later, since everything topographically has gone to hell out here. If we did everything right we're at the old faithful geyser, or near there.

This is where the ecologist kinda went bonkers starting writing notes and looking around for signs of life. Eivan and I have had to fish him out of a hole twice now and keep him away from the lava about seven times.

A bunch of basalt formations were pushed up when the volcano erupted and pushed, kinda reminds me of the devil's post pile a little, only with more lava. Speaking of which the lava in the central ring of basalt bubbles constantly, and occasionally "belches" up a stream of it, so we haven't been able to get too close. Honestly I don't want to stay here too long anyway. There's some distinct radioactivity that's not natural, which implies what the air force guys in colorado said about their radar tracking several warheads into the national park boundaries. So.. basically it seems someone nuked yellowstone as part of a mutually assured destruction plan. Go humanity I guess.

Anyway, we did find a boiling lake near the geyser, and there's some kind of algae growing in it, it took a few tries but the ecologist got a couple samples, but it looks like it died outside the heated water. We haven't seen anything bigger than a mouse though, and most of the soil's been covered with ash and other volcanic byproducts.

A sketch I did so people can kinda visualize it.

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Still in Canada, found the robots. They want me to investigate Le Grande Hotel to find out what happened to the last set of drones that went inside before they consider sending a representative south to consider trade negotiations. For entities that were basic chatbot intelligence before everything went tits up they're pretty sophisticated and came to a consensus that trade with humans may be beneficial for us all, though we have to pay it foreward first. Anyway I'm not too far inside the hotel yet, just at the managers office. The desktop still works, though it took some tinkering by myself and ID-9 (Institute drone 9789) to get it working so I could access it. It's also been complaining of a lack of wifi connectivity, which explains why the other ones that came here couldn't have called for help.

Some interesting logs. The manager seems to have gone mad after some point and attempted to draw in customers despite the apcolypse, one of the vending machines was somehow spitting out an infinite number of sodas, possibly from the rampant magic that the eruption of yellowstone unleashed, or other unknown factors. either way he put up a billboard that read "free cola with visitation", also something about the lights on the fourth floor having gone into rebellion and declaring the entire floor a perpetual discotheque.... considering from the outside I thought someone was inhabiting the hotel at first and someone was welding up there there may be a kernel of truth to it.  Eh, ID-9 has declared I'd had enough resting time, so I may as well resume poking around here and try and find the missing Ai rigs.

As promised I've started doing sketches in the mindset of the protagonist, here's one of them.

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Lifealope resting after receiving medical treatment