[PRP] Artifacts 101 (Lucky, Gale, Rep, Mark, Carl)

[Baneful]

Lighthouse
Rep exhaled when Mark got his s**t together enough to help. "I dunno how you do it." he said to Carl. "But I'd ******** like to learn also, might help in situations like-."

Of course the portal cut out.

"s**t, s**t! How do we fix it? Can we place it somewhere else?"

 

[Zoobey]

Lighthouse

It was then that a mashed up picture of Clarice popped up on the computer screen, like someone who had had way too much time in Photoshop.

I see you are having issues manually starting your portal, said Clarice Portal Helper, Please make sure the location is set to the proper coordinates. If you would like to ask a question, please use the search box below.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

LIGHTHOUSE

Rep sighed at the screen and typed in -

Unstable location error

 

[Zoobey]

Lighthouse

A couple of options popped up including:

-- Unstable location error code 117: Reset your router and try again.

-- Unstable location error code 215: Version software is outdated, update and reboot.

-- Unstable location error code 325: Re-enter the coordinates and reboot.

-- Unstable location error code 1152: Location under heavy duress, retry at a later time.

Carl was wandering around the skeleton portals, poking his arm through them as if something would happen.

Baneful

 

[kuropeco]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE


The green was pulsing at the edges of his vision. Gale staggered away from Samuel, grateful that the nausea had abated for now, but the green was still there even as he was putting one foot in front of the other, his chest heaving with the effort of breathing -

A sharp stinging sensation -

- the pain cut through the haze, Gale blinking rapidly, trying to force his thoughts back into sanity, Samuel's voice wavering in and out like a badly tuned radio.

Fight it. Think of anything else.

It will work.

He gritted his teeth.

Deus. My home.

My sister. Tempest - Tempest is there - I have to get back to her -

zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE

It was unclear was was truly happening, it felt like Samuel was mostly carrying Gale as they ran up the stairs. They paused several times, trying different exits, and Gale could still feel something very clearly watching them--

- And then a blast of cold air that woke both of them up immediately, sharp and refreshing and harsh. "We need a portal up now," Sam shouted again to the headset, "We've got someone badly hurt and-"

He suddenly stopped running and dropped Gale into the snow. It was still dark out, Sam's coat and scarf whipped around him with a life of their own. With a great amount of effort he took out his backpack and there was a pendant and pendant and he was already looping it around his neck.

Gunfire coming from behind them, Samuel ducked, burying himself against the snow for a second before glancing back at Gale. "Go get help" was the only thing Gale could clearly hear-

- And then he was back on the sands next to the lighthouse and his mind was clear.

kuropeco

 

[Baneful]

LIGHTHOUSE

Rep was frustrated beyond all reason, always feeling deeply and bitterly alone as he fought against callous misfortune with all his might. Someone was going to ******** die and there was nothing he could do about it because the only access to the goddamn computers he got on this island was restrictive and he couldn't LEARN it. He should know how to put up a portal, he should know how to do these things but he ******** couldn't.

Clenching his hand he wasn't typing with hard enough that his knuckles cracked, he tried finding the place to re-enter the co-ordinates.

"Don't help me or anything." he said sullenly.
 

[Zoobey]

LIGHTHOUSE

Nothing happened as Rep entered the coordinates.

Mark snorted, woke up just temporarily enough to smack his head against the side of the computer-

- PORTAL INITIATED - LOADING.

It passed the ten-percent check but the process was incredibly slow. Five minutes in and it was only at fifteen percent. There was a reason most Hunters - the few that actually knew how the new software worked - pre-loaded their portals.

"There's someone outside," Carl offered helpfully, "he looks like your friend?"

Baneful

 

[kuropeco]

LIGHTHOUSE


His head felt like it was going to explode, the cold hitting Gale like a freight truck to his chest. He gave a sharp, gasping breath as the icy wind set, his fingers clutching at Samuel, trying to get air into his lungs, and then found himself dumped unceremoniously into the snow.

There were bangs - he could hear the familiar sound of gunfire, except it wasn't coming from himself, and Gale's eyes flickered hazily over to where Samuel was staring at him, his mouth forming words that made it to his ears at a rate that felt slower than usual -

- and then he was back at Deus, Gale coughing and sputtering as he rolled over onto his stomach in an attempt at getting up.

"Damn it - Samuel? Samuel!"

zoobey

 

[Baneful]

LIGHTHOUSE

Rep glanced back at Carl, tearing his eyes away from the slowly loading portal and the source of his frustration. "My friend?" he asked, making his way to the door at a hurried pace.

"Gale?" he called when he spotted the blonde hunter near the lighthouse. "Where's Sam? Is he still out there? It won't let us ******** place the portal."

 

[Zoobey]

LIGHTHOUSE

Apparently yelling Sam's name several times had finally woken Mark up, and he nearly tripped over Carl on his way down the lighthouse stairs. The first thing Mark noticed was Gale's pendant and he rushed towards the other.

"You left Sam there by himself?" Even the Death assistant was having issues thinking of Gale as that stone cold. "What happened - where like, where were you guys fifteen minutes ago?"

It took Mark longer to process the portal question and he suddenly hopped backwards and ran up the stairs. It was giving the same error now:

LOADING FAILED. UNSTABLE LOCATION DETECTED.

"No, no no no this is bad this is bad," this could be heard even outside the Lighthouse as Mark ran around inside it, testing the portals and rebooting the system. "Rep, what did you do?"

Baneful

kuropeco

 

[Baneful]

LIGHTHOUSE

Rep looked panicked up the stairs. "I didn't DO anything. You were the one sleeping."

 

[kuropeco]

LIGHTHOUSE


Gale staggered to his feet, swaying unsteadily, a hand rising to clutch at his head as Rep came running out, followed by Mark and - oh, right, Carl, whom Gale had almost forgotten about, in spite of the fact that half of this was about him. Or something.

It was hard to remember, but Mark's accusation was like a dousing of ice water over his head.

"I didn't leave him there on purpose," Gale snapped, dropping his hand. "We were - we were in the Arctic, and there was a - pod room - "

His memories felt hazy. Gale stumbled after the others back into the room, gripping the door frame for support.

"What the hell is going on?"

zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

LIGHTHOUSE

Mark, being the responsible Division assistant he was, began to shake Gale vigorously by the shoulders. "Gale, don't close your eyes, Gale - Gale- what are the pods, what else did you see?"

He looked grim. And then slowly teetering on hesitant and then just a little resigned. "I guess we should go save him."

kuropeco

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

LIGHTHOUSE

Rep gave Mark a nonplussed look. "No s**t." he said. "Leaving one of us out there isnae ok."