fandomhigh | Public Service - On the Edge, Monday, Period 2

"Okay Rookies," Reno said, hands in his pockets as he stood on the Causeway, where he'd ~~handwavily~~ told his students to meet. "I hope you all brought your armor with you, because today's that 'moment of truth' day, yo. We're gonna be headin' to Edge today, to check out the situation, pick a good place in the town itself for these water filtration units we're gonna be settin' up, that sort of thing. You'll all be happy to know that the radiation levels are nice an' low today, and there haven't been any monsters spotted in the area. But if I find out any of you took your armor off anyway, I'll kick your asses straight back to detention and you'll be writin' essays for me for the rest of the year that I probably ain't gonna read anyway."

This was Reno's way of telling his students that he cared.

"This is a class of ten, so I'd prefer if we decide to split up that you guys break it up half-and-half, but I don't wanna see you in groups of less than three if it really comes down to it, yo. Maybe I'll re-think that as the semester goes on and you guys prove you can handle yourselves out here, but for the time being, anyone who strays out of sight alone is joining the jackasses who took off their armor in detention."

Again, he was saying he loved you, guys.

"Now, c'mon, let's get going, or I'm going to just kill the whole class period lecturin' you on this side of the portal, yo."

And with that, he led his students through.

[Open!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You'll be met with such wonderful joys as the sight of buildings that look as though they've been half-built and then ripped apart again a couple of times by very large things, the occasional person asking for gil (the local currency) on the outskirts of the Square, an overwhelming smell of rust and decay hanging in the air,

Feel free to mod your locals - slow-moving, tired people who are more prone to looking at you suspiciously than they are to actually coming over to talk - or just poke around the Square looking for a good place to set up a water filter. Telling Reno what kind of equipment you'll need to start setting these things up might be a good idea, too, since next week you'll be moving things in.

Barry started by taking air samples, water samples and soil samples and going over the results in his equipment. It was a lot worse than he had anticipated.

He sat down and began to work on his tablet, making adjustments to some design elements he had in mind for the water filtration.

He was also thinking about the possiblity of a hyrdoponic garden/greenhouse as well.

And solar generators.

And portable water filters.

And Rapture.

And...

Well there were some good parts about the weekend as well.

Barry just had a lot on his mind.

"Can I help take samples or anything?" Minako asked, making a beeline for Barry. "I want to be productive and not cry."

This was even more desolate than Minako had thought possible.

Barry offered a water sample pack to Minako. "Knock yourself out. I'm more than happy to find something that will make this place better."

Cosette only meant to look for places to set up the water filters, but something about the idea made her uncomfortable, made her think about being very young and alone in . . . some cold, forsaken place at night, caught between the terror of what she couldn't see out there in the dark and only having some other, more potent terror to look forward to when she left.

She hadn't thought about it in a long time, and now that she could put things together enough to realize that the more potent terror had been Madame Thénardier, it didn't make her feel any better about it.

"Pshaw," she finally said out loud to herself, with a slightly forced but determined laugh. "Look at me, thinking about silly old things like that when there are others here who need my help!"

She went back to looking around for ideal spots for a communal water source, thoroughly determined to Not Think About It any longer, at least for the duration of class.

Kaylin still had only the fuzziest of ideas about what water filtration thingies were and none at all of what might be needed. She wasn't overjoyed at the possibility of running into a dragon here - especially since they didn't seem like they'd be the civilized kind she'd hopefully not see back home. She did discover that this place was an awful lot like the fief she'd grown up in.

She wandered a bit, not straying too far, but really had no idea what to do beyond stare at things.

There was something about Kathy that screamed 'soft touch.' There had to be. Because they hadn't been there for more than ten minutes before Kathy was approached by an old, weather-beaten man begging for gil.

"I'm so sorry, I don't have any," she said. "Can I offer you something else instead? I've got some food and clean water here."

She managed to send him away with a powerbar and a bottle of Poland Spring. And she had just enough time to feel proud of that, before she was approached by two middle-aged women with tales of woe and homes full of hungry children. They got a hefty number of the granola bars and trail mix before they were satisfied.

Then the orphans turned up and Kathy was lost. Hopefully no one would actually need her supplies today, because unless someone interceded, she'd end up giving away the duffel bag as well as its contents.

Karina chose to explore, though she did it cautiously and mostly by looking around rather than venturing off on her own.

Firstly, because she didn't want Reno to murder her for ignoring his instructions and secondly because, geez, she'd never seen a place so broken.

It left her pale and shaken and angry.

If you were really sensitive to things, you might notice that the temperature around Karina was a teensy bit cooler than it was everywhere else.

But if you did notice such things, it was probably your imagination.

Public Service - On the Edge, Monday, Period 2

Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever

Re: Explore, Brainstorm, Take A Minute, Whatever