OPERATION: YOUTHFUL DISOBEDIENCE

[stresstokens]

WHO: Members of the grand curfew-breaking plan!
WHEN: During the Moorecroft event.
WHERE: Various Moorecroft locales.
WHAT: A bunch of youths have gotten together to break curfew in tandem to get to the bottom of the mystery at heart of this place -- but what they find leads to more questions than answers.
NOTES\WARNINGS: Probable violence, death, emotional trauma, cursing. All the fun stuff! I'll be putting the log headers for pre/during/post-curfew breaking logs in the comments, so just hang tight while I do that, though all members are of course more than welcome to post their own logs if that suits their tagging style better.

Comments

[tinflower]

I'm okay. [ He can't say otherwise, despite the expression on his face: he didn't go out. His job was to watch everyone who did go out, and repeat their progress if it was needed, to keep files for later viewing. ] Um, Riz and Fabian got back--they're actually still asleep.

[ And here Gorgug is, with Fabian's baby strapped to him and up and walking. Because he has the energy--and lack of exhaustion (comparatively)--to do so. ]

Did it go as bad as you guessed?

[ This is, after all, the guy who was running through all the ways it could go wrong. So: where did this result land them? ]

[equivo]

[ He nods, grateful for the news in a worn-thin kind of way. Sometimes he feels like his life is just this, over and over: bursts of adrenaline followed by the interminable wait for the body count.

That's why he almost laughs at the question, mouth twisting up silently as he flicks his gaze off Gorgug to some unimportant point behind him. ]

No. One of the many benefits of cynicism.

[ He's sulking, he realizes, uncomfortable self-awareness pricking the back of his neck. ]

Seriously. [ He tilts his hand, looking back to Gorgug. ] We're all mostly in one piece, we got new information out of it, and we're not in jail. That's a success. I'm just being a pill. Don't let me get to you, all right?

[tinflower]

Someone died.

[ It's not Krouse. It's not the weight of his words before, but what he watched through the night, his gaze momentarily dropping to the head of the baby on him currently quiet. ]

They dropped and went limb. There was something--out there. I think the bots got him. [ His worried expression only dents more into Gorgug's features. ] Do you know--Accelerator? The one with the white hair [ pause ] who wasn't talking about being late to bed.

[ Not that guy. ]

[equivo]

[ It rings a bell. Not someone he'd say he knows, but someone he's aware of. One of theirs, but not one of his.

That doesn't make it better news. Just less personal. Krouse sighs, bringing the heel of his hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose. ]

Shit.

[ Even if he doesn't stay dead, it'll cost him something. Krouse doesn't know if he'll think it's worth it when he comes back, if he does. That's not his problem, per se, but he's not completely heartless. He can afford to spare some thin hope the guy loses something he'll be able to cope with. ]

I don't know him. [ He drops his hand, eyes creased with weariness. ] Do you know if anyone went to pick up the body?

[tinflower]

The bots--the bots take the bodies. [ Which is a piss poor answer, and he's looking down, realising that he should've checked, should be checking. But what the hell is he supposed to do? Send the guy a message? Ask if he's alive again? If there was something up with the feed?

It freezes Gorgug for a few seconds before he looks back at Krouse, and--he isn't sure what to do. ]

We should...ask for someone who knows him. I don't know that a stranger-- I mean, I don't know that he'd wanna talk about it.

[ Or what to even do, what's right. Experience in this doesn't make you an expert. ]

[equivo]

Yeah. Okay.

[ He breathes out a shallow exhale, nodding. It's a decent plan, for what this is. A situation where there is no truly decent plan, because - not knowing his thoughts echo Gorgug's - what the fuck are any of them supposed to really know about handling this? ]

I didn't think about the bots. But if they've got him, they'd have taken him back to his house, right?

[ Krouse is guessing, but it's where the bots returned all the living people they got a hold of, to the best of his knowledge. And it might make Gorgug look less morose if he thinks that's a possibility. ]

So we'll do that. Ask around.

[ He sits up a little straighter, slipping a steady, assured look over his face. ]

Good thought. Attention to detail. At least one person around here is staying on the ball.

[tinflower]

[ At least one person around here is staying on the ball, Krouse says, and it rings false; if there's anyone on the ball here, then they're not immediately present. He doesn't even really acknowledge that it's been said, shifting on his feet a little, lips pinching tight. ]

Are you gonna stay here? I need to check on Riz and Fabian, and-- I can go through the video footage and bring in later anything important I see. It's gonna be better the people who went out there talk about what they saw. But I'll, I can take care of the baby so Fabian can come.

[ When he's ready. There are updates to be had, and Gorgug could be asking Krouse right now what he saw and experienced, but he had come early just as a check-in, is fine with waiting and getting all the information second-hand. ]

If people can't make it, then, there's, well... there's time.

[ He was aiming to say something smarter, useful, but landed far from that. ]

[equivo]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna stick around.

[ Krouse ventures a slight, weary smile, one without any real light behind it. More of a what can you can do? than anything else.

Because what can you do? Stick around. Be present. Don't quit in the middle. ]

I'll let people know about him if they don't already know. Get the news out. You can go, check in on the guys. Keep Fabian Jr in battery juice and microchips. I can keep things covered.

[ He doesn't really know that he can, but he'll give it a shot. ]

[tinflower]

[ Gorgug nods at Krouse, appreciative. He's sure Riz, at least, will be rushing to come out as soon as he can (because what's getting rest when there's information and reporting to do?), but Gorgug at least hopes he'll manage to get a decent amount of rest before that. ]

Thanks. Message me if you need to, you know. For whatever. [ In case he does--or maybe Gorgug's just bad at saying byes in unfortunate situations. But if there's nothing else to be said, he'll make his leave then--to hopefully check on the guys, and make sure he can do as much for their wounds as he can.

At least until they can find an actual healer. ]

[equivo]

Yeah. Will do.

[ He can't imagine what he'd need, at this point, that he doesn't have. A pack of cigarettes and some solitude are the only things he's ever really depended on to process things.

He's gotten pretty good at needing less. It's easy when there's a constant supply of higher priorities. As he examines Gorgug, his eyes tired, he's not sure he's not the only one who's aware of the power of putting everything else first. ]

Try to take it easy. [ He advises, knowing he's never fucking listened to someone tell him that himself in his life. ] And see you when I see you.