nonscriptum | hadriel { ic inbox }

[He's tired and can't do smalltalk right now okay.]

No; I'm sure you can imagine the lecture I'd give you on that subject, so we can skip that. It's about something the Null said, which I'm not sure if you saw or not considering your addition to the list.

[He's not even going to pause for dramatic effect here.]

They said that the weapon is already here in Hadriel, and they themselves no longer have access to the city. Considering the entire point of killing people on the list is to be given the location of the weapon, it must be somewhere possible to reach if we know where it is.

[And so--]

Therefore it should also be possible to potentially just find it, without directions.

[Lance foregoes all niceties and leaps into it headfirst, and Nate leans up against a cupboard with his arms folded over his chest while he listens, keeping his mouth shut for Lance's sake and the wise-ass comments to himself. With no lecture forthcoming he digests the information quickly, narrowing down the field to the point whittled so sharp it could pierce skin.

Slowly, slowly, a smile grows on his face, only slightly manic at the edges with the prospect of a project he didn't have all the pieces for until now and a furious sort of energy roils through his veins.]

You wanna find it first. [His grin borders on mildly psychotic.] You want me to help.

[He appreciates the lack of interjections, although he doesn't miss the slightly frightening evolution of that grin. It's... A little worrying.

But Nate's exactly right in his conclusion, and so after a moment Lance nods even if he's watching him a little warily. Don't have an aneurysm or something, bro.]

Yes, exactly. It must be somewhere that remains when the city moves, and also be out of the way enough that it wouldn't accidentally be found, so that narrows down the search.

[And, more specifically--]

I think the caves might be both too obvious and too difficult for someone to find something specific in, as well as being frequented by people often enough that it could be accidentally discovered. Therefore my first thought would be what we'd discussed about the lake; if there's an underwater cave system that moves with the city, it may be a perfect hiding place.

[He has a few other ideas of where to look too, if he's wrong, but this seems like a good starting place.]

[Lance can headshrink Nate and suss out all his problems later. The priority is the godkiller, which is apparently closer to home than all of them thought. Almost immediately Nate is off to the races in his mental map, picking out possible locations, ruling out areas more frequented than others. Lances continues talking and Nate nods along, half-listening.

Maybe the place is symbolic. Somewhere unexpected in its obviousness: the Coliseum, perhaps, a venue where gods displayed their strength through men in the past. But would that interpretation even apply here, when their local deities have no concept of earthliness?

No - it's got to be out of the way, somewhere hidden. The area to the west drenched with fog, or the deep recesses of the lake. The ruins of an broken, uninhabited spire.]

Yeah. Yeah, no one would think to look for anything there. [Except for Nate, who jumped into the damn lake without prompting in the first place while everyone else called him an idiot for it.] So...subterranean, submarine cave system. Or that creepy place with all the mist past the orchards.

[He hadn't thought about the Silent Hill zone, but he supposes that might actually be a good place provided the Null have access to it. Lance would like to avoid the place if possible, though.

He's quiet a moment, thinking.]

There are also the caves at the ends of the river; I don't think anyone explores those. We might also consider that it may be buried somewhere, but considering most of this place is stone then it would most likely need to be in the orchard or park.

So I think we should make a list of most likely options, and then begin checking them as quickly as possible before the Null give anyone any directions. Bringing in people we trust, once we have a list of locations, will let us search even faster provided the places can be accessed easily enough.

[And aren't like, for instance, the aforementioned subterranean submarine cave system. That's probably going to be primarily Nate-specific as far as the search goes.]

[Nate is pacing. High places he's already checked by default, being incapable of seeing a building and not scaling it. But the location also has to be easy to access for the party in question, somewhere they can actively get to the thing they're looking for. The underwater cave system is a good hiding place, but not a simple finding place. He won't want to be down there for too long, anyway - cave diving is notoriously dangerous.]

Yeah. Yeah, I can get right on that.

[He had other plans today, but this is considerably more important. Nate would rather get his hands on a deadly weapon and destroy the chance it has to fuck everyone over than wait around for somebody to get hurt.

Better him than them, anyway, and he has a few contacts who might be able to help.]

Okay, so...the cenote and cave system. That foggy area. Maybe some of the abandoned temples from the gods who aren't here anymore?

[That would be ironic.]

[Lance is watching him pace, but deciding to believe for the moment that Nate is just excited and maybe working off some nervous energy.]

Anywhere like that is worth a try. As long as it's somewhere we could access if given direction but people don't often visit, it's a reasonable place to look.

[For once, Hadriel's relatively small size might be a benefit to them.]

[It's definitely the nervous energy. Occasionally Nate will stop, as if prepared to make a new statement, before he starts pacing again.]

Yeah.

[He says again, distractedly.]

If you wanna- I can get Taako to front me again on an air supply to check out the water again, if you wanna take a stab at some temples?

[Splitting up is logical and Lance considers it, but some part of him feels really unsure about the idea.]

I think it might be best to stay together while checking the lake, at least; your record with the sharks isn't great, so I should be nearby just in case.

[Although he's absolutely not swimming. But he can wait on shore, so he can help if necessary in an emergency.]

[Nate tries (and fails) not to roll his eyes, suppressing a what are you, my mother? before begrudgingly nodding. While they cleared the lake of its shark problem, who's to say there isn't something more horrifying lurking even deeper?]

All right. You're the lifeguard.

[Skivvies and everything. He stops pacing for a moment.]

...you really think we can find this thing? That it isn't cloaked in magic or something?

[Lance just patiently waits for Nate's response, watching him and definitely not missing the eyeroll, but he's pleasantly surprised by the agreement. That was easier than expected.

But at the questions he gives a small shrug, not dismissively but just because he doesn't know.]

I'll be really surprised if we find it.

[Just being honest, however--]

But if we do, it'll be really worth it. And if not, at least we tried to do something.

[Instead of just waiting and dreading.]

[Nate is stubborn, but not so stubborn as to think that he can cover more area without a second pair of eyes. He nods quietly, brow furrowed, conscious of the fact that none of them are really safe with this bounty board made public.]

You got free time now? I say we go ahead and start.

[No time like the present.]

I'm stuck here for another hour or so until the next person arrives to watch the Clinic, but then I'll be able to start looking; I agree that the sooner the better.

[They're going to need as much time as they can get, probably. Lance would love to just go immediately, but he's one of the staff members capable of actually defending people here if necessary and he can't just leave until his replacement shows up.]

[It is evident that Nate isn't particularly happy that Lance can't drop everything all at once, but he suppresses it, swallows it, and shoves it away - he's got a responsibility, and frankly, Nate can get started without him. Nothing life-risking, but enough to do a little recon where he can.]

Okay.

[He nods, chewing his lip.]

I'll get in contact with the wizards. Let me know when you're off.

[He can tell that's not the answer Nate wanted, but that's the struggle of being responsible. Besides, Lance would never get over it if he bailed early and that happened to be the time someone showed up to murder one of the many clinic members on the Null's hit list.]

I'll send you a message about meeting up to trade Dr. Brennan's book.

[That's an easy excuse that won't be suspicious if the Null--or the gods, for that matter--are watching communications.]

[Nate doesn't have the same obligations that Lance has - in part he's grateful, but it also tends to make him considerably more anxious. It's that same sort of feeling he had back home, going to the same job every day no matter how much he liked the people. Like restless leg syndrome.]

Sounds good.

[Nate chews the question he has about Dr. Brennan writing a book before remembering that that's pretty on-brand for her.]

See you soon.

hadriel { ic inbox }

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