Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 27, 2012 16:53:47 GMT -5
Costigan stops chewing his burger; his eyes narrow slightly behind the mirrorshades as he looks at Sable. Then he finished the bite and says, "Truthfully? No, not unless you were seriously outclassed and about to be beaten, not insulted. Or if you were a child, of course. That kind of talk to a child would be a lot worse than rude."
He continues talking over dinner. "Ah suppose you might call me sexist for that, but that's the way I was brought up. Ah would find that kind of talk to another man pretty rude, too, but, see, there's this assumption that a man handles his own problems, and that interfering would be sort-of saying that he's weak. There's this other assumption that men should treat women with respect and if Ah just set by and let some drunken ass insult a woman, it's sort-of saying Ah am either too cowardly to interfere or think it's okay."
Costigan looks thoughtful as the last of the hamburger disappears and he starts in on the fries, which, as Petunia has observed, are excellent. "Ah can see how that me barging in might also come across as implying that you're weak and can't handle your own problems, but seriously--me not barging in wouldn't look too good, either."
His head turns slightly towards Petunia, curious if she has a row to hoe in this discussion.
He grins at Sable's final remark. "Women have had that effect on men since the human race evolved. Seriously."
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Post by Sable Conolly on Jan 27, 2012 17:16:58 GMT -5
Sable does not appear to be offended. Indeed, she is genuinely trying to understand how it is that humans operate... so that she can better destroy them later on. When he says it is just how he was raised, she says, in a somewhat understanding manner, "We cannot help how we are made."
Made?
"Thank you for explaining... all that. It's useful."
There. 'Thank you.' The policewoman said that. It's a normal human thing.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 27, 2012 23:02:37 GMT -5
Donal Costigan wakes shivering from nightmares he cannot quite remember, but his true memories are buried deep. He does not know how very apt 'made' is for them both, and takes her phrasing to mean that Sable is somewhat religious and believes humans to be figuratively or literally created by God.
Brief surprise crosses his face, then he nods, saying, "You're welcome. Glad I could be helpful. Seriously."
Is she being sarcastic? Costigan thought he was on the defensive, and has been trying to explain why he wasn't really being patronizing... and the woman in black thanks him like she hasn't taken offense at all. Or is she very subtly, sarcastically telling him he was 'mansplaining' like she's an idiot or alien from outer space who didn't know anything about human interactions? He downs the last of his beer. Women confuse him mightily at times. Still, staying courteous even if he doesn't quite understand what's being said is a good way to keep his foot out of his mouth and has been for years.
"Well, time to hit the road again. Bill, that was good, as always." Making his way to the cash register, Costigan starts to settle up his check.
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Post by Sable Conolly on Jan 28, 2012 10:35:37 GMT -5
Sable is definitely not being sarcastic. She has nothing more to say, though, merely nodding.
OOC: Probably out of thread due to not going in the same direction as Costigan?
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 28, 2012 22:31:41 GMT -5
Shades Costigan pays the check and heads out, leaving Petunia and Sable behind. Once again, he gets his old pick-up started and headed out of the parking lot without running into someone--there was a reason he parked on the far side of the lot, out in the dark by himself.
After an uneventful drive home to shower and changes clothes, Costigan pulls up outside the front door of the Detroit Salt Company. Engine still running, he made a call on his cell phone.
"I'm here."
"Come up to the door, we'll buzz you in," comes the reply.
Sure enough, he does and they do. An anxious-looking Caucasian man in his early thirties, thin with the pale, pasty look of someone who spends far too much time in front of a computer, meets Costigan.
"I'm Dale Halperson, assistant VP of Engineering" he says as he ushers Costigan inside and down the hall to a conference room. "I'm really glad you could make it--we need a real expert because I have to admit this is beyond me--it's impossible, just shouldn't happen--VP authorized me to call you in, offer you triple standard rates, standard contract--He's still hours out, was on vacation at his fishing camp in the U.P.--I'm the senior guy in town, CEO is in Japan--oh crap this is going to look so bad--"
There's a set of documents and a tablet computer laid out on the conference table, and a bleary-eyed black woman in professional executive-style dress setting out coffee and doughnuts.
"Dale, Mr. Costigan's contract and NDA are on the right, and the engineering reports are on the tablet," she says, pointing out the named items with a pen, which she offers to Costigan. The Detroit Salt Company prefers hard copies of legal documents, still.
After stepping through the routine of inspecting the contract and signing "here, here, here and initial there", Donal Costigan finally asks, "So, what exactly is the problem that's got you all spun up?"
Dale continues to wring his hands and says, "Flooding on the lower levels. Flooding! We need to figure out what happened, where it's coming from, and how best to seal it off."
Costigan gives Dale a skeptical look. "Flooding in a salt mine? That makes no sense--if there was ground water down there, the salt would have leached away long ago. Seriously." He picks up the tablet with the engineering reports and starts looking through it. After a few minutes, he adds, "That level's too deep for the city to have accidentally dug a subway tunnel too close to it. No water in the upper levels, so it's not runoff from above. When did you start seeing water, and how soon after you opened this level?"
The answers are "early this afternoon" and "several days". Dale adds, "We've got a demolitions expert down there, but we need you to tell her where and when to blast to seal this thing up."
"Everything you got on the mine in here?" Costigan indicates the tablet in his hand.
"Yes, it is." Dale runs one hand nervously through his hair.
"Where's your most experienced engineer? Ah'd like to talk to him before Ah go down there and look things over myself," Costigan says.
Dale looks frustrated. "Al's up fishing with the VP. He won't be here for hours, either."
"Slag. Ah'll just have to take a look-see before we get there. Show me the way," Costigan says.
Dale nods and leads Costigan to the roofed-over mining elevator. As they descend, Shades reads through the engineering reports....
What does he find at the flooded level?
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Post by Tessan Toov on Jan 30, 2012 18:55:51 GMT -5
Well, it's wet.
Which it shouldn't be.
The water is about up to knee level by now. It isn't rising quickly enough to be seen by the human eye, but it is rising slowly.
The water has shorted out some of the lights, though most of the emergency back-up lights are still working.
In the distance, there is a faint splashing sound.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 30, 2012 20:36:29 GMT -5
"Wha--?" Dale looks at the water in confusion. "It wasn't flooding up here before! Where's Ms. Toov?"
Donal Costigan does something unusual; he takes off his mirror sunglasses. Over his shoulder he tells Dale, "Get pumps down here ASAP or you're going to lose the whole mine. I'm going to find your demolitionist."
Dale gapes at him; Costigan seems to have perfectly normal eyes behind his shades. That, and mining engineers don't usually say, "I'm going to hare off by myself into a dark flooded mine to find someone who may well have already drowned." There are much simpler ways to commit suicide.
"G'wan, git!" Costigan snaps. "More time you spend gaping like a fish, the higher the water gets. If it ain't obvious, call 911, too." With that, he wades off toward the splashing sound, stopping at a tool rack to pick up a very large wrench. You never know when a three-foot length of hardened steel might come in handy.
It's dark enough that his eyes are comfortable unshaded, though he's hardly using them. Instead, he whistles as he walks, listening to the echoes, feeling them and other vibrations through his feet and all through his body. Costigan rapidly builds up a 3D picture in his mind of this level. Something very odd is going on down here.
He rounds a bend; the splashing is getting louder and louder, and he sees....
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Post by Tessan Toov on Jan 30, 2012 21:08:28 GMT -5
What he probably hears first is the sound of muscle tearing, ligaments snapping, and bone splintering.
Then there's a loud splash and a wet thump.
In the distance, there's a small woman standing over the body of what quite resembles a Deep One. She is filthy with white salt streaks, dark blotches of brackish water, and a pale pinkish fluid that might be the blood of a fish. She hollers, "You punks are nothing compared to the zombies of Kalis!"
Meet Tessan Toov, blasting tech.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 30, 2012 21:34:13 GMT -5
Costigan raises an eyebrow at the sight, then extends an empty hand. "Ms... Toov? Donal Costigan, Contract Mining Engineer. Dale sent me down to assess the flooding problem."
He glances down at the dead fishman, oddly unfazed. "Ah'm thinkin' this fella has something to do with the deluge. Do you know where the water's coming in and maybe what's going on?"
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Post by Tessan Toov on Jan 30, 2012 22:04:34 GMT -5
There is a moment in the flickering light wherein Tessan is ready to brutally take the man down in a move that might well snap his neck, but before she can, she sees that he is just human, and she stops herself. Tessan is wary but without fear at the moment, so she shakes that offered hand. She explains, completely serious, "Yeah, I'm Tessan Toov, blasting tech. The mine is flooding because the Sub-Atlanticans are invading. C'mon, Donal Costigan, I'll show you."
If he's down here, he probably has as little regard for common sense as she does.
She bends down, pulls the laser rifle out of the fishman's hands, and starts to march off deeper into the flooded tunnel.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 31, 2012 13:55:11 GMT -5
Costigan shakes hands firmly, but without bearing down. Crushing someone's hand to show dominance is a chump's game; besides, Costigan is very wary about showing his true strength. It's easier to stay an unregistered meta if you don't flaunt it in public, though if push comes to shove, he'll happily provide the ACLU that test case they're looking for to test the constitutionality of compulsory registration.
"Whut the hell is a 'Sub-Atlantican'?" Costigan follows Tessan closely. Can Tessan see in the dark as well as he can? She doesn't seem bothered by it.
He dips a hand in the water and touches it to his tongue, tasting it. "Salty. If we can seal off the flood source, the company can recover most of the salt that's dissolved by pumping out the brine and evaporating it. Cost 'em some extra for the pumps and evaporator, but it'll be a sight cheaper than the stock price crash they'll suffer if they lose the entire salt dome below this level. Seriously."
"Expect we'll have some opposition," he remarks, glancing at Tessan Toov. "You got your blasting kit with, or we going to have to go back fer it?"
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Post by Tessan Toov on Jan 31, 2012 15:13:26 GMT -5
"Uh, it is that thing," and she points at the dead fishman, by means of explaining what a Sub-Atlantican is, not particularly helpfully. "That is what they call themselves if you give them enough time to talk."
It is not that Tessan Toov sees particularly well in the dark - she is a normal human, albeit one with an... interesting skillset. It is simply that she knows these tunnels and she has no fear of the dark that would make her hesitate. Also, she's been down here long enough that her eyes have adjusted as well as they possibly can.
Tessan Toov doesn't think much about his judgement of how to salvage the salt, mostly because she doesn't think much about anything. They tell her where to make things explode. She does so. They give her money. She spends the money going off to watch NASCAR. All is well.
Sounding a bit upset, she explains what happened to the blasting supplies, "That's all underwater right now. Stupid water shorted out my drills, too, " the ones that she has in hip holsters because she just really likes drills, "I have a laser rifle, though," the one that she just grabbed from the dead fishman.
Tessan heads off deeper into the mine.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 31, 2012 20:46:05 GMT -5
Costigan follows his guide. "Well, damn. That's going to make it a bit trickier to seal up the breach. Maybe once I get a look--"
His head twitches slightly as he breaks off and looks ahead intently. "More coming."
Still holding the heavy pipe wrench in his left hand, Costigan reaches under his jacket with his left hand and draws an automatic pistol from a shoulder holster. Michigan is still a "shall-issue" concealed-carry state, and Shades does not believe in going downtown completely unarmed.
He steps to one side, hugging the wall; the wrench is held down against his left leg, so it won't clink against the wall; pistol is held ready in his right hand, muzzle pointed at the ceiling until he has a target.
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Post by Tessan Toov on Jan 31, 2012 20:58:03 GMT -5
Tessan rounds the corner and shouts, "Die, Sub-Atlantican invaders!"
So, it seems that poor Donal Costigan has found himself stuck in a mine with a space marine.
"Human scum, you cannot thwart our plan -" one of the patrol group starts to say, when she smashes the butt of the laser rifle into his head.
On the plus side, now there is a target-rich environment for poor, poor Donal Costigan.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Jan 31, 2012 21:24:57 GMT -5
Well, Toov's haircut does suggest ex-Marine. Costigan's gun snaps down, in line with the nearest fishman's head and he starts firing. The first shot loudly blasts a .45 caliber hollow-point hole through the piscoid's head, and the next shot goes right through the middle of his chest, just in case. Muzzle vertical, then down, tracking the next target-BLAM! BLAM! Another double-tap.
It's short range, and Costigan is very good with a pistol at this range. Tessan follows up her buttstroke to the fishman's face with a body slam and they both fall with a tremendous splash. Unfortunately, this puts Tessan between Costigan and fishman #4.
"Slag!" Costigan points the muzzle of his pistol roofward again, and starts sidling around, trying to find a safe line of fire. His ears ring from the sound of the shots in the confined space; if he hadn't been expecting it, he'd be completely deaf now. As it was, he's half-blind until the echoes cleared.
Some part of him marvels that the flood of adrenaline hasn't made him shaky or thrown his aim off--the rest of him just accepts it. Hasn't he trained and practiced for years? He's a veteran of many battles, not some factory-fresh scrub who's never seen a skirmish--wait, what?
Donal Costigan has never served in the military in his life.
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