Margot
Well, today was the day. The Doc told Ned and Margot yesterday morning that a Verbenae they'd never met and he were going to be infiltrating an Technocrat-run building to rescue the Orphan Brandt. Margot was an anxious thing by nature, but her Awakening and everything following after (being orphaned, relocating without family, Magick, et cetera) did nothing to help. She woke up an hour and a half before the sun and couldn't get back to sleep, and only after the 8 o' clock hour rolled around would she reach out to Ned.
Let's go somewhere, this tiny apartment is going to smother me at this rate.
So they travelled. It wasn't easy to sell Ned on long car trips but in this situation Margot had some cards stacked in her favor already (Ned's paranoia, to be precise). She always made a point of careful defensive driving while Ned rode passenger to make it up to him.
They were going to the Rocky Mountain National Park-- as far as anyone could be concerned if they were going that far north already they may as well just go all out. The National Forests website suggested one trail in particular, so it was this trailhead they'd find themselves beginning their ascent. Margot was a prepared enough hiker and had provisions in her pack, sturdy jeans and old dusty hiking boots and a jacket and flannel with a wool cap to keep her head and ears warm. Before they got started, swigged some water while surveying the empty parking lot in which she'd parked.
"....You don't suppose we have to worry about Trolls or Werewolves or anything like that out here?"
Classic Apprentice.
Ned
Water (for days if needed), food (protein bars, fruit in tupperware, trailmix), a small first aid kit (sewing kit included), a thermal blanket, a canteen, two different knives (Hunting and Collapsible), A 300 ft of 100 pound test-weight rope.
Ned's paranoia was indeed at a bit of a high point. They'd come out into the Park entrance and he'd been relatively quiet throughout the car ride. Part because of...well, obvious reasons. Part because...well other obvious reasons, really. He'd stuffed his backpack, a heavy duty thing filled with several hiking essentials and necessities into the back of Margot's car and taken it out again when they'd arrived.
The trail was a solid one. Said to be popular and worth the effort for scenic views and challenge rating for the young and physical.
They'd been on this trail for all of fifteen minutes when Margot stopped him with a question he hadn't considered.
Ned turns around slowly to regard her with rather fierce eyes and a slowly shaking head that told her all she needed to know about how he suddenly felt.
"...Trolls we'll hear from miles off, I think. Werewolves-" Ned looks out into the forestry surrounding them, with it's depth and comforts for the wild and menacing. "-I figure are better than getting Men-in-Blacked back in the city." Then he's turning back up the trail and walking again. Carefully scanning as he goes, mind you, but walking still.
Margot
"Depends on the kind of Troll, doesn't it?"
Ned had looked fierce in considering the dangers they could face, and Margot had nodded agreement before he turned and started walking again. She'd mused the previous thought out loud a minute later, sounding casually thoughtful. "I mean, Scandanavian Troll stories are pretty different from the Billy Goat Gruff Southern Euro concept of a Troll."
As for his view on their odds with Werweolves as opposed to the Technocracy, that was less debatable. She was pretty sure that a Werewolf wouldn't be as interested in her and Ned out on a hiking trail where people came regularly, now that he mentioned it. But the Technocrats, and the mention of, had Margot quietly letting her mind wander to the mission happening concurrent to this time.
"...When you talked about getting out of the city, if Doc doesn't.... doesn't make it back... Were you being serious? Like, is that your plan, going off the grid?"
Ned
"I suppose ti does."
A few more steps and Margot is pontificating again about Trolls.
"That sounds right."
Can you tell he's trying not to think about it?
They march up the length of the trail with careful, measured steps. Onward toward some fabled peak where they can look down over the cityscape and it's wondrous majesty or some such nonsense mundanes and humans espouse about on tumblr.
"Off the grid implies I'm skilled enough to live that way. I'm not. I was just implying that maybe it would be worth it to move to another city or even a smaller one, to ensure life would be difficult for the Techies trying to keep track or tabs on us. If...they happen to be doing so. I can't imagine a pair of fuck-up apprentices are high on their list of objectives and having our names in their data banks or whatever, would mean they could probably track us down wherever, whenever."
A pause. In steps and speech. He pulls out the canteen to sup some water out of it before handing it back toward her. Then he's digging around for a protein bar. He forgot to have breakfast before they left.
"It's the safest bet of, unsafe escape options and bets that we have available to us. That said, Doc was pretty sure and confident he'd be ok and that they could do things. I think right now our easiest, safest and most practical bet is improving our game. Upping our value and harm factor so if anything does happen and we get into trouble we aren't depending on the Doc to protect us..." A murmur, waiting to get the Canteen back, Protein bar in hand.
"...Kind of like what happened in the basement." A sigh, head shaking. "Fucking forcefields." And he's back up the trail again.
Margot
Margot accepted the canteen gratefully. She wasn't complaining or out of breath, but there were bright patches on her cheeks already. Remember, Margot's only lived at this high of an elevation for several months. She was used to living at sea level her whole life before.
After taking a drink, she shook her head at him for calling them fuck-ups and wiped water from her upper lip on her sleeve in the crook of her elbow. When she spoke it wasn't to chastise him for dragging her down along with him in his kicking himself. Rather:
"I worry they'd be especially interested in Apprentices. Not because we amount to being big thorns in their sides, but because they could theoretically still nip us in the bud. Kind of like recruiting-- if they could convince us before we get any solid ideas in our heads that their way of Order and Not Letting Humanity Eat Us Alive before we started to fear and hate them, that would be a much better investment of time than ignoring us and preparing to fight us after we're powerful enough to be big blips on their radar.
"...But I do think we should get better at this game before they have a chance to even try."
Margot's pack was adjusted on her back, hands came to rest grasping the straps where they rested in front of her chest, and onward they went with Margot dutifully keeping up with Ned's pace.
"I have some thoughts on what could be done in the future, once we've... y'know, broken on through to the other side, so to speak. Until then it gets really rudimentary. Looking for weaknesses and exploiting them, taking advantage of trajectories, things of that nature."
Ned
"True."
It's all he says of the Technocrats coming and snatching them up all boogieman style. He's continuing up the trail with measured steps. Not too fast, but not slow either. A pace to challenge, but not to exhaust. Get the blood moving and keep the head clear. Think to move.
"Getting better is priority one at this point. Anything else and we're risking more circumstances like that Kha'vadi woman. The Doc's already proven vulnerable when he doesn't have his gadgets with him and proof shown we're going to be in trouble whenever one of us takes an injury. Pain and discomfort are heavy distractions...for..."
He pauses, eyes narrowing. Then:
"Huh."
He looks down at his hands and then around at Margot, brows cinched together.
"Pain is a registration from the body, telling you that something is wrong. A reception of information. An alarm system as it were. You have to hear...or in this case...feel the Alarm going off to know it's there. To be debilitated."
He stares down at her, stepping off to the side, backpack down and on a tree stump with care not to simply drop it. Then he looks at her and holds out his arm, wrist up.
"Hit me."
Margot
Silent agreement answered Ned, for Margot was more occupied with huffing her way through a particularly steep portion of the trail before it started to level out a bit more for them. It was around that point that Ned stopped with a thought occurring to him. Margot stopped as well and looked at him curiously when he set his pack down on the ground.
She didn't follow suit just yet, kept her pack on and stood on the trail watching him at first. Then he offered his wrist in the space between them and told her to hit him.
She stared at the wrist skeptically, then up at him with a pinch to her eyebrows that spoke of a moment of trouble with the request. But she was a Blood Witch, so who was she to judge? His choice of words, though... There were other ways to cause pain.
With much less effort than hauling off and hitting, Margot instead calmly reached out and pinched the shit out of the thin of his skin.
Ned
(Life 1: Pain is a Sensation. So Kill the Perception. Diff 4 - 1 for Tools (Pain))
Dice: 1 d10 TN3 (3) ( success x 1 )
Ned
"...Margot, pinching is....what are we, four?"
He shakes his hand out a moment after the pinch, eyeballing the area she'd nipped with a sigh. Then he's pulling his other hand up to hover over the area, staring at the skin or something beyond it:
(Bright Lights of fervent red, blooming around veins and over tendon and muscle. A hazy puddle that flits amid the orange of life and purple of exertion from the hike. He pushes the colour to fit into the orange, until they are indistinguishable. The blooms remain, but it's all orange now. As if invisible)
"Hmmm...can't feel it." He slaps his arm a couple of times. "Or those..." He glances up at Margot with a perked brow and half a grin. "Pain is reception and Perception. You can advance your senses to read other things but obscure them as well to ensure certain things aren't perceivable. Like pain for life. I imagine this is a bit crude, mind you but-...ohhh there it is."
It's a few seconds later, when the effect finally fades and the bloom of red begins to subside into flesh and clothing once more. Ned glances down at his arm and shakes it a bit.
"...Didn't last too long but it was there. Could do in a pinch. Life sphere. Sort of Artificial Adrenaline punch to the system."
Margot
Are we four? Margot blushed furiously and looked a proper bit insulted, but held her teeth and lips closed and dropped her eyes to watch his hand hover over the angry little mark left behind.
He said he couldn't feel it, and she furrowed her brow doubtfully at him. Heard him out anyways. Then her expression turned to a big wide open understanding. You can accentuate your senses, so why not obscure them? Reel it in instead of cast it out.
"That never occurred to me," she muttered. All at once she was imagining other ways to ignore things she knew-- things like Spirits and Life and Forces. He spoke of an artificial adrenaline and she nodded her head in agreement.
"Ignoring pain that you're feeling sounds dangerous, like a good way to make whatever you're hurt with way worse. But adrenaline... If adrenaline was pumping already and we could amplify that..." She huffed a breath and looked back up the trail. Out over the view of what they'd already climbed thus far.
"...Although that might cause burnout. Or torn muscles or something like that." She didn't work in a hospital, she only knew what she'd picked up reading when it came to medicine.
Ned
"Fiddling with our perceptions in anyway will expose us to that level of possible harm. Until we've got access to our better selves, I think that's all we'll have to make use of. I turn on night-vision with Forces and a bright light is going to be a whole lot of pain and suffering but I'll still be able to see in the dark. Though it's true. Any prolonged state of injury is going to come with worse and worse complications later if you continue to ignore it and ignoring pain doesn't mean you can still walk on a cut hamstring but...it's good to know we've got an option."
He leans down to pick up the back pack again, hefting it onto his shoulder. He's dressed in a simple light hoodie and a pair of track pants, rolled up to the knee. It wasn't the warmest of days but it was hardly cold either. The wind was keeping off from the forest around. He had a jacket in the pack regardless. Ned turned to keep moving up the trail, puffing his cheeks out as he went.
"Improving anything doesn't mean we're adept at making use of those perceptions. We're not built for X-ray vision or sonar hearing or anything so trying to sort out what it means is going to be tricky. Likewise, Ignoring thnigs like sensations or other elements could result in some unpleasant drawbacks. A lot of side-effects that come with Apprentice level shit..." A frown, but no more than that.
"...Being able to 'edit' out certain elements of life though. Or even just reduce what you take in to the exception of other stuff. Whispered conversations or isolating a particular instrument in a band."
Margot
"All nifty tricks, really, but when it comes down to it I agree with you: this Apprentice level is bullshit." By this point Margot was rolling up her sleeves to her elbows and had doffed her wool cap to tuck it into an outer pocket on her backpack. She combed fingers through her hair enough to kill the static in it, then tucked behind her ears. She hesitated on the distance of the hike at first, she'd always been a short-distance competitor in track. Her legs would ache for the better part of the week but getting out of the city's immediate vicinity was certainly worth it. She hoped the lake they'd get to see at the top of the climb would be worth it as well.
"These are all things that sound incredibly helpful, but then we remember that we're going up against people that can't only do the same thing, but they can do it better as well as things that are way more impossible for us. Like force fields. Or that body melding fuckery that the Shaman woman did."
Margot marched and scowled at the path several feet before her boots as she went. "I'm getting very tired of being outpaced and being treated like a kid."
Ned
"Takes patience and studying. Just think of it like being in Uni. Teachers telling you you're an idiot and saying 'read the material' all the time. It sucks but at least you can rely on their arrogance and over-confidence to give you a chance. Learn to accept that's how they're going to see us and hope they overstep once or twice so you can stick a knife in..."
He's murmuring. Climbing around a fallen tree and offering a hand out for Margot to take should she accept it.
"My one big gripe aboutt he Doc is his reliant on his Tools. He's a scientist and that means not coming out of the lab enough to take a look at the world around him. I'm sure he's travelled and led the sort of life that people are envious of or disparaging about, but the Kha'vadi woman just...walked right into his 'secure' lab and was able to put him on his ass. If he had any physical training that might have been avoidable. If he just wasnt using it because you know...Magic-" Ned says the word with a bit of a laugh behind it "-then I think it ignores the practicality of using what we can already do...to ensure success and survival."
Onward up the trail. The sun was beginning to peak over the crest of jutting evergreens. The lake was around here somewhere. Ned was puffing a little though. Three days worth of water was more to carry than he'd expected.
"...I also think...being treated like kids, was probably what made the Traditions like they are. Arrogant, bi-polar and prone to mistrust. Accept that they're going to see you that way and learn to work around it. Only way we're going to avoid ending up the same."
Margot
Margot rolled her eyes-- yeah, time and studying, of course. But she didn't disagree. "Yeah, I know. It's how I finally figured out the Correspondance thing, after all. I'm just..."
She reached for a branch to use as leverage over the fallen tree but missed it just by the fingertips. Oh, the shortfalls of life when you were about five feet tall. Ned's hand was accepted after all, and up over the tree she went.
"...just impatient with it, I suppose."
Margot's puffing was on the same level as Ned's, perhaps more, but she didn't complain or look overheated. Just meant she wasn't talking quite as much while they continued to trek. Finally, at the point of their next break (wherever that may be), Margot tugged her backpack off her shoulder and set it on the ground. Crouched down to unzip and dig. "I think that's just the trouble with his Tradition in particular. They think of it as Science, not as Magic, and so they need their technology to make the Science happen. Someone who views themselves as an actual Wizard may have an easier time flinging curses out of their sleeves."
A ziplock of trail mix was freed from her pack. She took a handful for herself to munch and offered the baggie to Ned next.
"I think.... I know that I could use blood for most things, and that's pretty much on tap. But for other things I don't think it'll work the same." She paused, thoughtfully, then mused: "I think I could use water. It's present in a lot of the rituals I've read about. Has a lot to do with purifying and healing though."
Ned
"...Really, most of these tools have their vulnerabilities and advantages. It's our beliefs that tie us up. You're not very fond of aggression or even capable of violence a lot of the time-" Frank sort of throwback to her problems. He moves on though before one can delve too deeply "-but access to blood, through violence inflicted or having been inflicted on, makes you more dangerous and capable. War Goddess sort of sets you up to take advantage of a situation that's gotten bloody."
He pauses, having sat down on a nearby rock, his own backpack pulled open to reveal the over-prepared goodies. He pulls out the canteen and several packets of coloured protein, flavoured to be fruity, and his own bag of trail mix. A tupperware of fruit alongside of it opened and laid out beside them both so they can get in a decent meal.
"Works the same for me. As does Pain. More hurt I get the more likely I'll be able to Solve something more readily. Trauama suits well to ensuring preparedness, it would seem."
A pause. Munching on a bit of pineapple.
"...But that's the point. Doc's limited by his tradition. They all are presumably. You heard what he said at the table. The Traditions are a bunch that can barely bring themselves to believe in science or the facts surrounding the modern world. Ass backwards for those who can shape reality. Makes me think half of what we're doing is going to suck on both ends, Techies or Trads but...going alone exposes us to being hurt or harmed by both a lot more if this Brandt fellow is any indication."
He munches thoughtfully on some almonds.
Margot
Well, while they were unloading for a proper meal... Margot's line of thinking was about the same, for there were more protein bars and some trail mix that she added to the spread. The fresh fruit was a particular surprise, it wouldn't occur to her as something obvious to bring on a hike. She helped herself to a piece of that as a priority.
"....I talked to Penelope about traditions. We came out on a hike not long ago too. She said that she could get me in touch with a Verbena that she used to run in a cabal with." She took a drink, then busied herself with unwrapping a bar. Looked deliberately at her fingers while she did.
"She said something about there being holy days and an 'Ordeal' with a capital 'O' that has to be passed to be initiated in and... And I don't know. I used to go to church and now that I'm following a Goddess it just doesn't seem right to observe anyone else's religion but Hers anymore."
The wrapper was tucked away into her bag, and she looked over at Ned with a frown. "The protection and community of a tradition would be nice, but all of it feels a little bit like brainwash. Shouldn't we and our Avatars determine what's what, and not what somebody else has written down as tradition ages before us?"
Ned
"Penelope's a propaganda machine." Ned says it bluntly. Without any sort of description or leeway. He's munching on a slice of apple while he says it.
"She sells the line well and doesn't seem interested in just 'drafting' folks but I get the feeling her fervor for it is bent around the fact they lost a War a while ago. Not a battle but a series of battles that led upto a full on War. Part of me wants to admit that sort of thing could not have happened without us noticing but then...Wars are done with WMD and when we're talking about reality being bent...well...sky's the limit on what a Worker might consider to be a WMD..."
The canteen is shaken, the protein powder and it's fruity tastes lifted to be supped at and swallowed with a test swish or two. Ned winces slightly and then shrugs, capping the contents and setting them back in the bag.
"I'm not into being brainwashed. The Doc was right about that. We're probably not going to end up at the same pep rally but I think membership doesn't exclude us from one another. We'll have to make sure that there's no attempt to keep us separate is all and ensure that any Teachings by a Tradition come second to the Doc and our own Investigative processes."
Everything's getting piled back into his bag (with one last offer of fruit toward Margot) in preparation for reaching the summit. He's back on his feet and waiting for her briefly before leading the way up the trail again.
Margot
Initially there was an almost defensive flare in Margot when it came to Ned's assessment of Penelope. But it was simple and blunt and without resentment, and when she thought about it it wasn't far off the mark (from an outside perspective anyways) either. For traditions, she watched him thoughtfully when he spoke of separate pep rallies. Wondered where they'd ultimately land, when they finally figured out the places they'd stand on the playing board of Mages.
"You're right. I'll see what this Thane guy has to say."
The piece of fruit offered was happily plucked up and munched, and Margot went along with gathering everything up, shouldering her pack, and continuing the hike.
After time, steep ascents, and much sweating and sun on their backs later they'd come to the view that the websites raved about. Bluebird Lake, and the mountain slope and valley and ridges surrounding. The sky was blue this high up and reflected mirror-like on the lake's surface. When they got near enough the lake's edge, Margot collected some water in an empty tin bottle she'd brought along with and stowed it away for later use in trying out Magick.
The view was worth spending time on, but ultimately the clock would remind them it was time to go. Nice as it was to shake the city and ponder paradigms together, they'd have to go back sometime. There was work, Work, jobs and school, and news of the Doctor to await once their cell phones could pick up reception again.
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