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Stuck on Null Island: Scene 2 (Out in the Jungles)

Space Jawa

Space Jawa

Commission Artist
(Link for OOC Thread)
(Link for Scene 1)
(For Characters Not In Other Scenes)
​
The Jungles of Null Island were not a welcoming place. Less so in the Flux Zone that occupied so much of the island. It was like Australia's evil twin brother, with a mean streak that was actively out to get you.

Alexander S. Kent the 3rd didn't want to say he was lost. He had an idea where he was going, and no matter how many times he felt like he was turned around, he could count on seeing the top of Mt. Spite if he looked hard enough and at the right angle.

And yet, he couldn't help shake the feeling that he was, in fact, lost.

Worst yet, Alex didn't want to be here. He hadn't planned to go out into the jungles today, especially not into the Flux Zone. Too bad for him that the voices had other ideas. It had been practically demanded that he go somewhere that wasn't specified for reasons that weren't clear. All he knew was that someone had pointed him in a general direction and long story short, here he was, walking through the jungles for reasons he didn't know. For all he knew, the voices were just trolling him and leading him around in circles for laugh.

As he continued through the jungles, one of the shotguns from Mt. Spite in his hands, about the only thing keeping Alexander Kent from saying he was definitively lost was that he had a direction to follow. Technically, several directions, but that was neither here nor there. Wherever the voices wanted him to go and whatever they wanted him to do, the kept pointing him in a direction. While the direction kept changing, he couldn't tell if that was because he was being messed with or if it was just a natural consequence of the way the Flux Zone worked.

"I hate this island." He huffed under his breath as he continued forward.​
 
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Jeremy Spinner meanwhile, was hot on the heels of Alexander Kent, spacetime mapper showing the exact way reality was twisting and turning in real time. Most people had a difficult time finding a reliable route through a Flux Zone, and while Jeremy still wasn't perfect even with decades of practice and specially-designed equipment, he certainly wasn't most people.

Jeremy really hadn't been planning to go traipsing through a Flux Zone today either, to be completely honest. Indeed, he was planning for his next excursion to be along the Road To Nowhere, to see if he could artificially manipulate the flux density to temporarily access the outside world. Instead, Alexander was dashing deeper and deeper into the jungle, not entirely of his own will. Jeremy really didn't want his acquaintance to spend any longer in the jungle against his will than he absolutely had to, so he had followed Alexander into the Flux, with the primary goal of getting him back to civilization.

Absently, Jeremy noted that Mount Spite was not currently visible; this wasn't terribly surprising given that the nearby Flux Coefficient was a whopping 6.2 on the Omenstein scale. At this level, Jeremy was pretty certain that their location in the Flux Zone was almost completely decoupled from their location on a flatspace map of Null Island.

Either way, according to the quantum-linked tracker that Jeremy had planted on Alexander and Jeremy's spacetime mapper, Jeremy was currently only a hundred meters away on the optimal fluxspace trajectory. On the other hand, Alexander was also moving quite rapidly, meaning that when Jeremy reached his current location Alexander would almost certainly have moved. Fortunately, Flux Zones rarely played nice with spacetime, meaning that Jeremy could theoretically place himself anywhere within 150 flatspace meters of Alexander with less than a hundred fluxspace meters travelled.

It was simply a matter of correctly guessing which way Alexander was about to go, and then taking a path that would let them reach Alexander's flatspace threshold, where complicated fluxspace navigation would not be required in order to stay with him so long as they followed the same route. Sadly, this was far from a certainty.
We Just Write threw 12 12-faced dice. Reason: Guessing Total: 82
4 4 4 4 11 11 12 12 4 4 1 1 6 6 12 12 5 5 3 3 12 12 8 8
 
I just write said:
Either way, according to the quantum-linked tracker that Jeremy had planted on Alexander and Jeremy's spacetime mapper, Jeremy was currently only a hundred meters away on the optimal fluxspace trajectory. On the other hand, Alexander was also moving quite rapidly, meaning that when Jeremy reached his current location Alexander would almost certainly have moved. Fortunately, Flux Zones rarely played nice with spacetime, meaning that Jeremy could theoretically place himself anywhere within 150 flatspace meters of Alexander with less than a hundred fluxspace meters travelled.

It was simply a matter of correctly guessing which way Alexander was about to go, and then taking a path that would let them reach Alexander's flatspace threshold, where complicated fluxspace navigation would not be required in order to stay with him so long as they followed the same route. Sadly, this was far from a certainty.
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There was good news and bad news for Jeremy's attempts to find Alex. On the one hand, his journey brought him to the edge of a treeline, with an open area in front of him. On the other side of the open area, he could just barely make out some kind of movement. Between what he could make of the thing causing the movement and the tracking signal, he had good reason to suspect it was Alex.

The bad news was that he couldn't just walk across the open area and catch up with Alex that way. That was because the open area was, in fact, a gorge. The edge of the treeline that Jeremy had emerged through was only a couple yards away from a dropoff that was a significant drop, significant enough that anyone most people who fell off it would probably not be getting up again, let alone get across the river that ran through the gorge or be in good enough shape to climb up the equally steep drop-off on the other side.

Meanwhile, on the other side, still behind the trees, Alex couldn't help but notice that his soundtrack had decided it was a good time to kick into action.



Not that Alex had asked for or welcomed it, but the 'soundtrack' never asked him his opinion on when it was a good time to kick into action.

It didn't do much to help clear up what kind of mission he was supposed to be on at the moment either, because the 'soundtrack' also had a relatively lousy record of playing music that was appropriate for a given moment.

"Day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" He mumbled to himself as he took a moment to stop and rest.

To be fair, the day could have been worse. At least he hadn't been attacked by anything yet.
 
Eric, upon waking, parkours and portals up to the top of a larger tree or tree like structure for a look around. After that he moves the entrance of the portal on the ceiling of the orientation building to where he is.
 
A voice resounds in Eric's head
ok that felt weeeeird
 
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The Froggy Ninja said:
Eric, upon waking, parkours and portals up to the top of a larger tree or tree like structure for a look around. After that he moves the entrance of the portal on the ceiling of the orientation building to where he is.
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There wasn't much for Eric to look at, other than the treeline and the top of Mt. Spite in the distance. The noises of the jungle were prevalent, though if he listed closely, he could swear he heard the sound of music in the distance.

Oh, and the growling of a crab-tiger that was circling the tree he was sitting on.

Also notable was that his portals were being less than reliable - one moment they'd be there, but then, they'd dissipate again the moment he stopped thinking about them.

dgr11897 said:
A voice resounds in Eric's head
this is weird
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And then that happened.
 
Space Jawa said:
There was good news and bad news for Jeremy's attempts to find Alex. On the one hand, his journey brought him to the edge of a treeline, with an open area in front of him. On the other side of the open area, he could just barely make out some kind of movement. Between what he could make of the thing causing the movement and the tracking signal, he had good reason to suspect it was Alex.

The bad news was that he couldn't just walk across the open area and catch up with Alex that way. That was because the open area was, in fact, a gorge. The edge of the treeline that Jeremy had emerged through was only a couple yards away from a dropoff that was a significant drop, significant enough that anyone most people who fell off it would probably not be getting up again, let alone get across the river that ran through the gorge or be in good enough shape to climb up the equally steep drop-off on the other side.

Meanwhile, on the other side, still behind the trees, Alex couldn't help but notice that his soundtrack had decided it was a good time to kick into action.



Not that Alex had asked for or welcomed it, but the 'soundtrack' never asked him his opinion on when it was a good time to kick into action.

It didn't do much to help clear up what kind of mission he was supposed to be on at the moment either, because the 'soundtrack' also had a relatively lousy record of playing music that was appropriate for a given moment.

"Day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" He mumbled to himself as he took a moment to stop and rest.

To be fair, the day could have been worse. At least he hadn't been attacked by anything yet.
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Jeremy considered his next move for a couple milliseconds. Obviously, he could just go around the gorge thanks to the general messed-up nature of fluxspace, but that opened up the distinct problem of Alexander probably moving further in the meantime. If only he could get Alexander to stay put for a few minutes, meeting up with him would be much easier, but that required getting Alexander's attention somehow.

Thus, Jeremy grabbed one of the flashbang grenades from their belt and threw it as far across the gorge as they could, compensating for spacetime flux and wind as best they were able. The grenade was far enough away that Jeremy didn't need to close his eyes, a brilliant flash and a loud bang roaring across the gorge. Then, in hopes that Alexander would turn and look, Jeremy began waving, using his machete to make sure he was more easily visible.
The Froggy Ninja said:
"I've felt weirder."
Eric tries to maintain focus on a series of portals to get one under his corpse so he can get his stuff back. Then he tries to trap/amputate one of the crab-tiger's limbs.
EDIT: Looks like my luck's turning around.
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Unfortunately, you do not currently have line of sight to the auditorium, and are therefore unable to open a portal there. On the other hand, when the crab-tiger lunges for you, you successfully open a portal directly in front of the snarling beast's claws. Snapping the portal shut leaves the beast rather stuck, with its claw trapped partway through a twist in space.

Before you can do anything else however, the crab-tiger roars with sheer fury, before unleashing a spray of some doubtless unpleasant or deadly fluid from its mouth. Chances are, getting hit with that would be the anti-fun.
 
I just write said:
Thus, Jeremy grabbed one of the flashbang grenades from their belt and threw it as far across the gorge as they could, compensating for spacetime flux and wind as best they were able. The grenade was far enough away that Jeremy didn't need to close his eyes, a brilliant flash and a loud bang roaring across the gorge. Then, in hopes that Alexander would turn and look, Jeremy began waving, using his machete to make sure he was more easily visible.
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Even with the distance and music, Alex still heard the sound of an explosion. If there was one good thing that could be discerned from an explosion, it was that odds were there was at least the possibility that whatever caused it would be someone he could talk with before a fight broke out. For all the crazy nonsense that happened out in the wilds of Flux Island, he'd yet to come across or ever hear anything about any wildlife on the island that was capable of creating their own explosions.

Shotgun up and at the ready, Alex carefully moved through the jungle towards the sound of the blast. He emerged through the treeline to find himself at the edge of a gorge. Looking out and across, he spotted a familiar face.

"Jeremy!" He called out, giving his shotgun a wave in the air to confirm he'd spotted the android. "What you doing out here?"
 
Space Jawa said:
Even with the distance and music, Alex still heard the sound of an explosion. If there was one good thing that could be discerned from an explosion, it was that odds were there was at least the possibility that whatever caused it would be someone he could talk with before a fight broke out. For all the crazy nonsense that happened out in the wilds of Flux Island, he'd yet to come across or ever hear anything about any wildlife on the island that was capable of creating their own explosions.

Shotgun up and at the ready, Alex carefully moved through the jungle towards the sound of the blast. He emerged through the treeline to find himself at the edge of a gorge. Looking out and across, he spotted a familiar face.

"Jeremy!" He called out, giving his shotgun a wave in the air to confirm he'd spotted the android. "What you doing out here?"
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Jeremy sheathed his machete as he replied.
"I've been looking for you after you dashed off into the jungle! I can't get across this gorge, but I think I can find a route around it through fluxspace! That said, if you could hold still for a few moments, it would be much appreciated, so I don't have to keep chasing after you like I've been doing for the last few hours."

With that, Jeremy began the tricky process of plotting a fluxspace trajectory across the gorge; if this were in flatspace it would be easy-just backtrack a bit than take the route Alexander did. However, this was a Flux Zone, meaning other measures were required. After a bit of double-checking the spacetime distortion mapper, Jeremy nodded before disappearing into the treeline. Quickly reaching one particular tree, Jeremy circled around it twice clockwise, then three times counterclockwise. Walking thirty meters to where the gorge would have been, Jeremy proceeded to check the nearby bushes with the mapper some more.

Eventually, Jeremy spotted the exact bush he had been searching for, and readied his machete. If his spacetime mapper was reading correctly, then chopping through the bushes with his machete here would put him within Alexander's flatspace horizon, where staying together would be trivial. On the other hand, there was still a significant possibility of ending up somewhere rather inconvenient; fluxspace navigation was like that, even when you had decades of practice and specially-made equipment.
 
I just write said:
With that, Jeremy began the tricky process of plotting a fluxspace trajectory across the gorge; if this were in flatspace it would be easy-just backtrack a bit than take the route Alexander did. However, this was a Flux Zone, meaning other measures were required. After a bit of double-checking the spacetime distortion mapper, Jeremy nodded before disappearing into the treeline. Quickly reaching one particular tree, Jeremy circled around it twice clockwise, then three times counterclockwise. Walking thirty meters to where the gorge would have been, Jeremy proceeded to check the nearby bushes with the mapper some more.

Eventually, Jeremy spotted the exact bush he had been searching for, and readied his machete. If his spacetime mapper was reading correctly, then chopping through the bushes with his machete here would put him within Alexander's flatspace horizon, where staying together would be trivial. On the other hand, there was still a significant possibility of ending up somewhere rather inconvenient; fluxspace navigation was like that, even when you had decades of practice and specially-made equipment.
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"Jeremy, where are you going?!" Alex shouted while the robot man was still in sight. "I can do it the easy way, remember?"

A portal opened just behind Jeremy, one that was ringed by a hint of a dark, smoke-cloud like formation. The center of the formation had a warped appearance, making anything on the other side come across as fuzzy, blurred, and otherwise out of wack. A similar portal opened on the other side of the gorge near where Alex was standing. While it wasn't possible to see through them, it was still pretty clear that walking through the portal on his side would allow the robot to cross the gap in a quick and easy manner.
 
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Space Jawa said:
"Jeremy, where are you going?!" Alex shouted while the robot man was still in sight. "I can do it the easy way, remember?"

A portal opened just behind Jeremy, one that was ringed by a hint of a dark, smoke-cloud like formation. The center of the formation had a warped appearance, making anything on the other side come across as fuzzy, blurred, and otherwise out of wack. A similar portal opened on the other side of the gorge near where Alex was standing. While it wasn't possible to see through them, it was still pretty clear that walking through the portal on his side would allow the robot to cross the gap in a quick and easy manner.
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"True, I suppose I had forgotten about that. Coming through now."

As soon as Jeremy made it through the twisted region of spacetime, he asked Alexander "Anyway, now that we're together, would you rather we make our way back to civilization, or do you want to continue?"
 
I just write said:
As soon as Jeremy made it through the twisted region of spacetime, he asked Alexander "Anyway, now that we're together, would you rather we make our way back to civilization, or do you want to continue?"
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The portals dissipated the moment Jeremy stepped through, leaving behind no trace that they had ever been there at all.

In other good news, Alex noticed that the music had finally died out as well. For now, at least.

"As much as I'd love to go back, I'm not sure that's an option right now." Alex replied. "There's apparently somewhere I'm supposed to go to do...something. I'm not sure where or what, I just know that whoever wants me to do it is being very insistent about it."
 
Space Jawa said:
The portal dissipated the moment Jeremy stepped through, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been there at all.

In other good news, Alex noticed that the music had finally died out as well. For now, at least.

"As much as I'd love to go back, I'm not sure that's an option right now." Alex replied. "There's apparently somewhere I'm supposed to go to do...something. I'm not sure where or what, I just know that whoever wants me to do it is being very insistent about it."
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Jeremy shrugged, before saying "Fair enough. I suppose we might as well go and get it over and done with, then, and I have no intention of leaving you all alone while you do it. Lead the way, Alexander; I'll follow, and as long as I stay within your flatspace horizon we'll be able to easily keep in contact with each other."
 
I just write said:
Jeremy shrugged, before saying "Fair enough. I suppose we might as well go and get it over and done with, then, and I have no intention of leaving you all alone while you do it. Lead the way, Alexander; I'll follow, and as long as I stay within your flatspace horizon we'll be able to easily keep in contact with each other."
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Alex gave a nod, then turned to follow the direction he was being pointed towards.

"Heads up, though - the direction keeps changing on me, though I'm not sure if it's because of the Flux or because I'm being messed with. So there's a very real possibility we might wind up going in bunch of circles before we arrive at wherever it is I'm supposed to go."

(Making Rolls for Navigation, General Happenings, and Music.)​
Space Jawa threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: Navigation Total: 26
26 26
Space Jawa threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: General Happenings Total: 51
51 51
Space Jawa threw 1 12-faced dice. Reason: Music Total: 12
12 12
Space Jawa threw 1 24-faced dice. Reason: If Music, Then What? Total: 11
11 11
 
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