Welcome to Gaia! ::

Finn pulled the flashlight out of his backpack and turned it on, sweeping the beam in a wide arc around the basement. At best, it would reveal some sign of the structural modifications they were looking for. At worst, it would reveal a horror movie monster. This place seemed appropriate for, like, a xenomorph's lair, he thought, and swallowed uncomfortably.

"Someone brought the map down, right?" he asked. "This should be pretty straightforward if everything is where it's supposed to be..."

He wished he'd spent more time looking at it.

Preacher had a shitty key-chain LED flashlight that she shone around, but it did little more than illuminate the nearby people in a soft glow. "There was somethin' about some foundation differences n' s**t. He'd know." She jerked her thumb back towards Wil. He'd been the one most intently studying the map and while she'd looked, it was already fading from her mind. She crossed her arms, the tiny flashlight bobbing wildy until she turned it off with a click.

"Wonder if they've got a light switch or a generator or some s**t down here. Seems too dark, darker than normal." She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Ooooo!" And listened for the echo back.

"Yeah, Preacher. And yeah, you can borrow it - it ain't great though, cheap thing." She flicked it back on to pass to Wil. Someone had the brains to grab the map, at least. Preacher couldn't even say anything, because she hadn't ******** gone back for the map, either. Stupid b***h.

She passed it over, hoping Wil would remember to give it back. "I'd be worried if you could see in the dark, to be honest."

Finn had, somehow, in the midst of all the excitement, completely forgotten that he had magical powers. Now, Leila's mention of her own talents reminded him that he could be useful. He swept his flashlight through the dark again, aiming the maglite beam towards the back corner.

I want to find a way out through the basement, he thought, and waited for that familiar tingle in his sinuses.

Finn and Wil look over the map while Leila consults the Multitude. She is treated to a barrage of images from the point of view of the many-eyed creatures, and is able to discern that somewhere in this basement there is a door which is blocked by a large stack of… things. Broken stuff. It is not for eating, instructs Friend sternly, calling back to other attempts to convince Leila to eat proper food.

Someone calls back to Preacher, a sarcastic "Ooooo what." They are shushed by someone else. The same voice, apparently unshushable, asks, "You human? Cuz we saw that wolf lady and we are not down with that."

Wil finds that there should be at least one exit built by paranoid Commie-haters in the 1950s somewhere off to the left. Preacher, meanwhile, trips over a rolled-up rug into… more rolled-up rugs. Oh, the huge manatees.

Finn gets a faceful of… something, that's for sure, and he wants to sneeze more than he's maybe wanted anything in his life. But his instincts agree with the map: they need to go left.

"Left.." Wil motioned vaguely for Finn to aim his flashlight, "Somewhere on the left side there's a door." Of course he didn't know if it was still there, or walled up, but according to this map it should be there.

"We should start there-" But then there were voices and he called out, "No wolves here!! Just us chickens!"

Then he scratched his blonde curls realizing slowly that the joke could be in poor taste depending, "Normal chickens. Not like.. monster ones."

"Someone answered.." Wil pointed out into the darkness. Maybe she hadn't heard? Unless it's a ghoooooost.

"Stay close though. I think it's a mess. You could get hurt." Yes, he was trying to be responsible. Maybe.