Terre Haute

[paradisamods]

[Today, our intrepid explorers have finally made it to Terre Haute. It’s mostly grassland, and on the outskirts small spotted lions, about the size of leopards prowl around. They seem to be more interested in the strange antelope running around than in any people, however. Towards the edge, lies a cliff face, looking out to sea, on occasion giant whales can be seen breaching the water.

Of the weird thing they came to look for, in the distance is a cylindrical shape, lying on its side. But between them and it is a strange village. One made up of excessively tall wooden huts, all of which have electric lights, turned on, though how they’re creating such power is a mystery, they are still very much inside the dead zone.

The residents of this off little village are wandering around, going about their buisess. The residents being a group of bemused looking giraffes. Perhaps you will even see some familiar non-giraffe faces milling about.

Welcome to Terre Haute]

[[GRASSLANDS AND CLIFFS | TOWN SQUARE | JUICE BAR | DANCE HALL | THE ESCALATOR | MIRROR CONTROL ROOM ]]

Comments

[encryptedlock]

Hey! Stay away from there!

[Is he really going to go rushing at a clif to fight with her over some pieces of metal?

Yes. Yes he is.]

[youfallback]

[Once she's close enough, Carolina drops down onto her stomach to card her fingers through the grass searching for the tags. She doesn't want to even be this close to the cliff, but being lower to the ground at least lowers her chance of falling over the edge.]

[encryptedlock]

[York, for his part, gets close enough to grab her if anything happens and seems to forget about the tags for the moment.]

Be careful, Christ. I wasn't there to catch you last time.

[You know, because she'd knocked him unconscious first.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina ignores him, even as more images flash through her mind. Being tugged up off the ground by her neck, being utterly helpless as Maine tore the AIs from her neck.

She tries to suppress the memories as her fingers come into contact with the ring and she tugs it free of the grass.]

[encryptedlock]

[York lets out a relieved breath as she picks it up.]

Don't throw it away again, okay? Hang onto it for now if you want, just--get away from the cliff. Okay?

[youfallback]

[Carolina shoots him an angry look, despite her confusion about him not wanting her near the cliff. For all she knew, he had never cared to look for her after her fall.] I never needed you to catch me.

[Still, she's barely hesitating with the ring as she quickly finds the rest of her dog tags and tugs them from the grass.]

[encryptedlock]

Oh, stop with the bullshit already. if you remember the castle, you remember how I beat myself up for letting you die every single goddanm day of my life.

[youfallback]

I survived and you never looked for me. [Carolina snorts in return, too distracted by the dog tags to care what she's saying. She sits up and away from the cliff, her arm already in motion to throw.]

[encryptedlock]

[York's face goes absolutely white at that (not that it's tanned much anyway, being in a helmet all day, but it goes even whiter). It's like he's just seen an AI a ghost.]

I looked for you for months! I scanned every single goddamn frequency there was. I spend weeks in the snow looking for any sign of you. And what was there? Nothing. No sign you'd ever survived that fall, no fucking news from you at all.

Hell, every time I heard about a female Freelancer on the radio I'd be thrilled, but you know who it always was? Who was always causing trouble after you left and they could never catch up with?

Don't you fucking tell me I never looked. You don't know shit about what I was doing.

[youfallback]

[That stops her arm dead in the air, her fingers still curled around the dog tags. She'd assumed he hadn't looked like her father and she'd been so pissed off that she didn't want to talk to him ever again like her father and she knew he'd chosen Tex like her father. She turns to face him, standing despite the terror of being this close to the edge of a cliff without her hook shot.] Don't lie. You were looking for her.

[encryptedlock]

No, I fucking wasn't! You know why? I could have talked to Tex any time I goddamn well pleased. She didn't give me fucking radio silence for three years.

[Okay, now he's just mad.]

You know why I helped her? Because she asked. That's all it ever took, Carolina.

[youfallback]

I never wanted any help from you. [What she'd wanted had been impossible until she came to the Castle, but now she didn't want to have anything to do with him. She can't see past what she's feeling and her hurt. ] I wanted you to be loyal and to trust that I was doing the right thing. Instead, you ran off with her.

[encryptedlock]

You know, that was a whole lot easier when we were actually doing the right thing. By the end there? We really weren't, and you were the one who wouldn't open up your eyes to see it. I know part of that was just because your AIs wouldn't let you have a moment's peace, but that's not all there is to it.

[He crosses his arms and scowls, though he's at least backing away from the lip of the cliff now that she's apparently not going to fall off.]

And for the last time, I didn't run off "with her". I didn't even see her again after the assault except once.

[youfallback]

You left with her.Deserted. Her partner in crime. Of course you weren't doing the right thing. [Carolina's anger continues to bubble and burn as he backs up. She takes one side-step to remove herself from the edge, and then shifts to attempt to throw the dogtags again.]

[encryptedlock]

Would you fucking listen to me? I left because of what the Director was doing! Not because of Tex, not because of you, but because the Project itself was rotten. That part was never even about you! Wake up, Carolina!

[Which is probably not the wisest thing to say to her right now, but York's just plain mad.]

[youfallback]

[This time, his words don't stop her, she releases the dogtags at the extension of her arm and they, with the ring, sail over the edge of the cliff. She turns to glare back at him, her mouth twisted in an angry scowl.] The Director knew what had to be done.

[And, she believes, so had she.]

[encryptedlock]

[But now it's York who's not listening, as he gives a cry and rushes very dangerously close to the edge of the cliff to watch them sail out of reach and land with a splash out in the ocean. When he turns back his face is an almost unrecognizable mask of pain, grief, and anger.]

Get out of here. Go back to your precious Director, because look at all the fucking good he did you.

I wish you never came back.

[youfallback]

[As he rushes toward the edge, Carolina instinctively reaches for him, but when it's obvious he isn't jumping over with the dogtags, she pulls back.]

Then go. [Carolina points her finger toward the rest of the expeditioners and the giraffes.] Do what you do best, leave.

[It's difficult, though, despite her own anger, to not be utterly shocked by his expression. She honestly doesn't recognize him in that moment, but she can't bring herself to care right now.] I never wanted to come back here.

[encryptedlock]

[And despite what he's said only a few minutes before, he's now almost too angry to talk, and he's definitely mad enough to walk away. There's such a thing as pushing too hard, and throwing away her dog tags and ring was crossing the line.

Here he'd been so happy to see her, too.]

Fine. I guess I never should have kept them in the first place.

[It takes all of his self-control to walk away without giving her the finger.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina crosses her arms firmly across her chest as she watches him walk away and, instead of feeling satisfied and smug, a familiar pain surges through her. She's made a huge mistake, it's instantly obvious, but part of her mind rationalizes through it. She had to. She had to get rid of the dog tags or risk exposing her biggest secret. If he got hurt, that was fine; he had hurt her before. Everything he said had to be a lie to just try and get those dog tags back.

So she watches as he retreats, expression stony but firm.]