Participants:
| Scene Title | Conflicts |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Eve and Squeaks both take a long look at the various conflicts they face. |
| Date | March 6, 2018 |
Just outside the Lighthouse
No one wanders far from the Lighthouse alone.
It isn’t a hard rule, just a hard fact. Lighthouse sticks together and always takes a buddy when they’re going out scavving, or on any errand that would have them leave sight of the camp. There’s safety in numbers, which equates to surviving.
That doesn’t stop the sometimes desire to be away from others. Everyone needs their alone time, after all.
Squeaks hasn’t wandered far from the Lighthouse. She can still look over her shoulder and see it, just a short sprint away if there’s any hint of trouble. But it is one of those rare mornings where it’s time to get a breath alone, to stretch and think about other things. Like the not-aliens and other Earths. How far they’re going to range next for food and supplies. And why does that rock look like it’s ten rocks smooshed together.
Or how she’s going to get into that next big super secret meeting. She really just needs to find the lady seer.
That’s where the young teen’s mind goes most often while she sits on a bit of weathered stone. It might have been concrete at one point, but it’s hard to say now. It makes for a good place to sit and think, though. Her chin rests in one hand, the other rubs at the striations of that weird looking rock.
“What,” says a rasp from behind Squeaks after a few minutes ticks by of blessed quiet and solitude. There wasn’t a sound to announce her but the lady seer reveals herself, walking slowly from behind the young girl to stand in front of her, “A Little One away from the Tower.” Brown eyes study the girl as Eve Mas wears a manic grin. “Brave.”
The black trench coat smudged with dirt barely sweeps the ground in her wake, the leather ensemble she usually wears fitting on her body, the glint of a pistols can be seen as well as the assault rifle slung on her shoulder.The pale woman stands comfortably as a breeze ruffles the wild red hair she wears on her head.
“Do you smoke?” The question asked as she digs into her bra to pull out a joint and pack of smokes, head bowed as she pulls a lighter out of the pack and lights the joint, there are cigarettes in the pack plain to see. Smoke clings to her fingers and wafts around her face as she stands with one hip cocked out, “Quiet you,” she says to nobody but the whispers in her mind, the memories of dreams she has dreamt, echoes from the future. “Don’t mind the Echoes, I’ve been indulging them enough, they are needy.”
The voice behind doesn’t make the teenager cower or flinch. It makes her twist around and stand all in one motion. Her arm even winds back to throw the rock she’d been puzzling over, then drops to her side when it’s the lady seer who’s speaking and not something more dangerous. With a quick turn again, she puts Eve back in front of her, but remains standing. “Yeah,” she makes a bold reply to the assessment, and even dares to meet the brown-eyed stare for a solid couple of seconds.
Looking away — this close Eve is a little bit more intimidating than the distant glimpses the girl has gotten before — and she shakes her head to the second question. She’s never tried, it’s never been high on the list of priorities for survival. Her mouth opens in question, then closes again.
Then… “What do the Echoes say,” Squeaks dares to ask. It’s honest curiosity and a fair question.
“Rarely much good, sadly.” Is Eve’s reply to the honest question from Squeaks, a light frown replaces the manic grin on the older woman’s face and Eve looks away for the moment. “Sometimes good though.. I suppose. A birth, a conversation that doesn’t end in bloodshed.” Eve’s tone is casual and open, she doesn’t feel the need to dumb down anything for the girl in front of her who has surely seen the horrors of the world and beyond. “They come from all over, bouncing back to me. Showing me what there is to see.” Eve is grateful for her gift, it allows her to keep her people alive and plan a course to ending this war. A thing she’s almost seen the end of, if she grabs her Sister Seer.
“And what do you see?” Smoke rises slowly to the sky, the wind continuing to blow it out of Squeaks direction. Ashing on the ground, Eve squats before she sits cross legged and nods over at Squeaks to resume sitting on the rock, “Hmm?”
“I don’t think there’s much to see here.” At least in the normal way of seeing things, her skills have little to do with the whispering Echoes. Squeaks looks at the rock in her hand and then lets it roll from her hand to the ground. She crosses her legs and sits on her stone again, chancing another look at the lady seer.
Fingers comb through her hair in effort to tame her curls in the breeze. She’s thinking about what else she’s seen, or does see. “I don’t know.” The young teen’s chin returns to resting in one hand. “I see… Lots of questions? And… not much answers. Or hope.” Since they’re talking open and honest. “I’m not giving up, but you asked.”
Idlying stroking her chin, Eve blows out a thick stream of smoke. The weight of no hope is always apparent and Eve sympathizes with that, “I even get angry, not knowing it all just enough to keep us going. Constantly.” The bitterness in her tone is rare, the contempt for her gift and how metaphorical and confusing most of her visions are.
“Answers have the tendency to drop on you when you least expect it. Some come out of hiding willing, others need to be dragged out.”
“Oh no no, that's what I like to hear Young One. No giving up. CONSTANT VIGILANCE. An important man said that, really knew what was what about taking down the Dark Forces. Bless his soul.” The sign of the cross is made as she kisses her lips up to the sky.
For a long time, Squeaks stares at Eve while thinking about that and what constant vigilance means. First it’s just a little peek, a glance that darts to her then away again. The woman is still a bit intimidating, and a little scary looking. Like a wild thing from a story book. But then she emboldens herself to openly look and study the lady seer.
“I saw the aliens.” She sits up a little straighter, maybe even feeling a teeny bit more brave. “They’re not really aliens, but they kind of are because they’re not from here.” The girl leans forward slightly, eyes getting wide. “I knew. I knew when I very first saw them and talked to them they were strange.” Her tone trails at the end, maybe thinking about that meeting, and the one after.
“They’re trying to leave.” Her tone isn’t accusatory, she can’t blame anyone for wanting to get off this planet. But it does weigh with more questions, hard questions to ask and answer herself.
That wild thing tilts her head at Squeaks statement of aliens, well they aren’t from this planet, “Lucky for us this isn’t Mars Attacks,” a wink followed by a rueful smile. “They are strange, we know them but we don’t. Shadows of choices never made, who we could be. That’s a fascinating subject don’t you think?” The question sits there for Squeaks to poke at before the wild woman continues, “They will get home, we will help them on the next step of their journey..”
“And they are going to help us end this god forsaken war. Finally.” They would have peace. A notion and something Eve has fought for.. It’s been a decade now. Going strong. There had been so many lost and Eve couldn’t be as stupid as to think that there wouldn’t be more lost.
“Who do you think you are, in these other places?” She doesn’t ask who she wants to be, the other Squeaks are tangible things. Real, live, breathing alternate selves.
“Really strange, but also neat I think. Different.” Squeaks’ chin drops to her hands again and she rocks side to side a little while she thinks about it. “I never thought there were other worlds like this one.” Which seems a little strange, given the world they live in includes people with some amazing abilities such as seeing the future and using sound waves. Her fingers tap against her cheek and she looks up at Eve again.
“I don’t know.” Still answering honestly, she’s never given thought to who her other selves might be. The concept is a lot to try and wrap her mind around in a short time and give any decent answer. “I… guess I’d be me,” she hazards saying, shrugging. “Just me in whatever world, however things turned out there?” It’s hard to say who anyone would be, knowing next to nothing about any of the other places.
She scratches her cheek, then sits up straight again. “One of them said that… they could maybe take people with.” The young teen’s tone turns her words into a question, and her expression is one of confusion. She’s still torn over that information — leaving or staying, both have their pros and cons. But she squares her shoulders and goes on. “And… and, I want to help your missions, Lady Seer. I’ve got good skills.”
“All different, same souls different puzzles. Bright ones, all sorts.” Eve stiffens though at the notion of leaving this world behind, “Ah Young One the draw is strong to just leap to the next but I think this place,” waving her hand around the desolate land, “It deserves some love from us, if we all leave who will care for it? Who will nurture it back to life? We with gifts like gods.” The pale woman’s back is straight and her rasp thick with emotion. Driven always by the need to succeed at times she feared all was lost even with her foresight.
“To want to help is a noble thing, tell me!” Snapping out of her sermon to be on the plight of the Evolved. “What skills do you have in particular?”
Even though she looks around at her surroundings and listens to what Eve has to say, Squeaks still isn’t convinced. The conflicted desires are still there, and likely more conflicted now than before. “She said not everyone would be able to go,” is a quieter answer that is said as she turns her eyes to Eve again, still troubled by her own wonderings. But those in the right place at the right time would have the chance.
There’s a lot to think about.
The change in tone pulls the young teen from those thoughts to focus on the more present issues. “Echolocation. I use sound to see things.” She scoots forward slightly. “Like in caves and ruins and places I’ve never ever been, I do my things and I get a really detailed map. I can even find hidden places, and see where there’s people.” There’s other skills that most of the kids all have, like scavenging and other skills necessary to survive in the wasteland, but the big one is definitely her ability.
Eve’s frown deepens, “No, not everybody will be able to.” What right did Eve have to tell the young girl that she couldn't try to make a better life for her somewhere in a better world? Not much but she still felt some kind of way, “We all have the choice.” Is a diplomatic way to end that thread of conversation before Squeaks is indulging Eve by telling her what she can do.
“Well look at that,” marveling at the girl’s description of her ability. “You see things too. Special one, special indeed.” Stroking her chin Eve ponders.
“You can alert us to whose in front, wheres the dead end.” Nodding her head slowly, “I'm going to think of this, where to place you. The most effective place,” with the least amount of danger hopefully for the blonde. “Are you prepared to do what it takes to end this conflict? To see our weary traveling friends home?”
There’s a little bit of excitement, not too much, for her ability that brings about a teeny grin. Squeaks has always found it neat and useful. It’s how she keeps lookout when she and the others of the Lighthouse are out scavenging. It’s also how she found the aliens the first time she met them, and recognized one of them the second. “And who’s behind. Plus hidden ways.” She repeats that part because finding the hidden things is maybe her favorite.
The question calms her interest — she could ponder all kinds of uses for her ability and talk about it with anyone who’d give her the chance — but for that line of thought she needs to think hard about how she answers. The young teen believes she’s prepared. She and the rest of the Lighthouse work hard to be ready for anything. But actually faced with the question suddenly makes it all seem different.
“It’s going to be hard and scary, isn’t it.” She doesn’t need to know the answer as she asks the question. Like everyone in the Wasteland, she’s been witness to the horrors. “I think…” Squeaks trails off. Self-reflection turns over and over in her head until it forms into a slow nod and a quiet, “Yes. As much as I can be.”
“Hidden treasures are practically begging to be discovered by your gift.” A warm smile and Eve stands up straight to look over upon Squeaks, “Our gifts are precious, always cherish them. Always respect them.” Advice Eve needed to take, overdoing it wasn't really respecting but it was necessary at times.
“As hard and scary as the worst of nightmares,” The pale woman is honest with the younger as she dusts her hands off and looks over her shoulder before hearing that tone of Squeaks voice develop more. The girl is resilient, the Resistance couldn't lose her. “As much as you can be,” Eve repeats with a nod, “And that is enough I promise you.” The fact that young girls like Squeaks even needed to do anything besides what young girls did made the pale woman sick to her stomach but Squeaks’ spirit “I give out nicknames, it's kinda my things but you,” pointing a finger at the blonde.
“Already go by one, so..” one pale finger wagging in the air. “What is your name?”
The topic of nightmares is definitely sobering. And Squeaks’ self-reflection and decision only weighs all that much more after saying it out loud. She looks at her feet, at the worn shoes that hide them, letting her mind wander over what Eve continues to say.
The finger coming at her brings her attention up to its owner. She blinks up at the lady seer, eyes widening slightly. “Jac.” She pauses and lets out a short breath. “Technically, Jacelyn. But I don’t like it, so it’s Jac.”
“Ok then Jac.” Smiling at the name, Jacelyn it was very pretty. The woman begins to back up and tilts her head at the girl, “Myself or my honey bear Eli will be around to give you some more instructions. Ya boy Lance is going to lead a group with my friend Quinnie at the head.”
Though it pains her the idea of children being involved in this high risk operation it's necessary. The war and government have made it necessary and that's why Eve salutes and doesn't show the fear she has for Squeaks. “Welcome to the team.”