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.
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