Vivian nods her head to show that she's acknowledging what he's saying. After a few moments of thinking, she decides that it might just be best for her to directly ask the questions. She'll be very polite and hope it doesn't upset him.
"I hate to pry but do you mind if I ask what happened to you?"
The words sounded much more polite in her head. Now that she's said them, she feels pretty bad for asking. What happened is really none of her business.
Nils didn’t look at her as he answered. He kept his focus straight ahead, sparing a little bit to answer. “I don’t know exactly what happened. All I remember is being sent down here..to the lower levels of the bunker to fix a leakage of..something.” He then proceeded to add on, “Then the walls fell down..I think it was an earthquake of some sorts? We were getting smaller ones that day, but nothing that bad. I tried to leave, but I guess I got knocked out.”
He looked down. “I woke up like this, under some rubble. I don’t think it was life threatening, and I was able to dig myself out. I don’t know where anyone else is. This place used to be stocked with people, believe me.”
Vivian frowns slightly, feeling very guilty for asking. The answer she receives doesn't really make sense. How could a bunch of people just disappeared? She shakes her head lightly to clear her thoughts. There's bound to be a reason for this. Everyone might have just evacuated when the earthquake hit. They'll come back. They have to. Taking a deep breath, she quickens her pace so that she's walking side by side with Neils.
"I'm really sorry that I asked," She says quietly, looking up at him. "Maybe everyone is going to come back. They could have just left to find a safer place during the earthquakes. It's only been a few hours, right? They could definitely still come back."
“It’s fine. I’m sort of numb to it.” Numb to a lot of things, actually.
He pauses to think a little bit. “I’m sure the transmission room has..like a calendar of some sorts. It updates each day, and with the power turned on, it should have updated itself to the current time. We can at least figure out what day it is.” For some reason, Nils has a sinking feeling.
They’re approaching the transmission room. There’s a slightly dusty label, TRANSMISSION ROOM, as well as a closed door. “We’re here.”
"It would be nice to know what day it is." She knows that it's unlikely but she's beginning to think that she's been here for a lot longer than just a couple of hours. Things just seem……off. She doesn't know why and she can't explain it. One piece of information that's 100% accurate would be great.
Vivian brushes the dust off the label, concerned by it. There's no damage in this part of the bunker so it can't be dirt because of that. Dust means that no one has been here in awhile.
Nils looked back around momentarily, before moving his arms towards the door. Apparently, while the power was turned on, these doors didn’t seem to want to open. Nils did his best by moving his hands to where the two parts of the door met - typically the doors would slide open when walked towards. Automatic doors, which didn’t seem to work. Which was good. If the room hadn’t been accessed, it should be safe.
Nils seemed to have no trouble in prying the doors open. They gave in with a screech, Nils momentarily wincing at the noise. His ears rung slightly, his hearing sensitive. He entered the room, the edges of the doors now slightly dented. Nils didn’t recall having that sort of strength as his former self. But he supposed it was one of the pluses. He just wasn’t sure what limits he had.
He entered the room. The Transmission Room was a fair place, filled with screens and chairs and desks. There were papers too, mostly just recordings of transmissions and such. Most of the screens were off, but there was one - or two. One of the screens seemed to be from a camera outside, displaying the dull surface of Utheon, while the other was..probably somewhere even further down in the bunker. It was hard to see from that camera. There were also radios, and some bags with some supplies.
Nils scanned the room before spotting the familiar shape of the ‘calendar.’ He zeroed in on it, nearly running towards it, but then realized he wasn’t able to see what was displayed on there. “Erm..” he started.
“Can you read what’s on there?” The screen was lightly dusted, slightly cracked - but visible. The date displayed it as June 23rd..the year was missing.
Vivian, knowing that she won't be able to help, steps back to get out of the way while Nils pries the doors open. Based off of the look, the doors are supposed to be automatic. The fact that the don't work is worrying. To be fair, everything is worrying at this point. She's drifted into the phase of freaking out so much that she's calm about it. That's probably not good.
Once the door have been successfully open, she steps into the room. Everything is covered in dust. The screens to almost everything are black and the chairs look as though they haven't been used in years. The amount of dust causes her to sneeze. This place could really use a good cleaning.
The sharp sound makes her wince and automatically cover her ears. It's far from pleasant. She slowly uncovers her ears when she thinks that the noise is over. "What was that?" Was that normal? It didn't sound normal. She studies the computers for a moment before looking around. There are all sorts of supplies in the room. She has no idea how most of them work.
To her delight, Nils seems to figure out the computer. At his request, she steps over and looks at the screen. "It's June 23rd," She announces before leaning forward to look for the year. It's missing. That can't be a good sign. "There's no year shown on the screen."
“That,” Nils answered, “was the sound of the doors being forcefully opened.” He backed up slightly, letting Vivian read the computer. When he heard the date, his arms dropped to his sides.
“That’s.. not possible.” He mumbled. “It was January 22nd when I went down there. It must be some sort of glitch, right?”
Vivian lightly smacks the computer a few times, hoping for a change. The computer shakes but the screen remains the same. June 23rd but no year. She really really doesn't like this. It's creepy.
"Maybe the computer is broken. There's no way it's June 23rd." She shakes her head. Nothing about this is right. The system could just very well be outdated.
Nils sighed. Crossing his arms, he responded. “Yeah. It just doesn’t break almost ever. It’s been tested in situations similar to this, and it’s been fine. But maybe you’re right. Mayb..” he drifted off catching sight of a different screen. It seemed to be a list of some of the bunker personnel. On the side, there was a scroll bar, but Nils didn’t need to scroll to see what he saw.
On the screen were several names, each with statuses. A lot of the statuses were either unconfirmed or deceased.
One of them was Nils Aaby; status: deceased.
“I..” he turned back. “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
Vivian blinks when he suddenly just stops talking. Following his gaze to the screen, she looks to see what it is he's looking at. A list of bunker personnel. Okay, that seems normal enough. Her eyes scan the screen, taking in the different names listed. She pauses upon spotting Nils Aaby. The next few moments consist of her glancing from him to the screen.
"Um….no, it's not a dream." Oh, but she wishes that it was. Everyone apparently thinks that Nils is dead. But what does that have to do with her? Why is she here?
“Then why..why does it say I’m dead? I’m here, aren’t I?” Nils voice was on edge. Uneasy, even. He knew this computer. It didn’t make mistakes. But Nils was here, in the flesh - walking around and even talking. He was pretty sure he wasn’t a ghost or zombie.
One of the cameras; one of two of the screens still own showed slight movement, like a red glow, only for about a second before vanishing. It was the screen connected to a camera further into the bunker, most likely in the collapsed wing.
“At..at least not everyone’s status is dead..huh.” There was the possibility that many of the personnel had fled, after all.
"I don't know…….I'm sorry, I don't know." Vivian shakes her head, uncertain about this. She has no idea what she's supposed to say. The screen says that he's dead but he's very clearly not. "This is just a mistake. We just need to get into contact with someone from your unit."
She stiffens when she sees the brief red glow on the screen. "What was that?" The creepy horror movie vibes that she felt earlier quickly return. Something very wrong is going on here. There might be a chance that they're not entirely along. A shiver runs down her spine at the thought.
"Niels, we need to check and make sure the radios work." The sooner they get out of here, the better.
“My unit..” Oh, of course! He was a pilot of one of the mechs and there was quite a few of those guys around. There had to be at least a few of them alive! He search for the unit.
“Right! Uh, they’re pretty easy to run. They should already be on the frequency to Terra- er, Earth..” What Nils saw was not good news. All of the Dominator pilots; his unit, were classified as deceased, minus about 2 of them, which were unconfirmed. He kept silent, at least two of them were probably still around. Maybe they could meet up..
Nils moved over to the radio stations, before glancing back over at her. “You saw something?” He asked, as he began to check some of the radios.
She remains patient, though strongly cautious as he seems to process her words. Despite the confidence he exerts when it comes to finding his unit, she's still worried that that thing from the screen will come for them before help does.
"Yes, there was this red….thing on the screen. It looked like a human or maybe some sort of creature? I don't really know. Either way, I have a bad feeling about it."
The amount of good things that have happened in the last hour are very miserably low so she's expecting more bad things to happen. It's a pessimistic outlook but also a very realistic one. She drums her fingers nervously on the counter as she watches the monitors closely, almost as though she's expecting something to just jump out at them.
He pauses, glancing at the monitor in question. For a moment, in the darkness that was his helmet there was also a red glare - possibly, his eyes - in similarity to the one seen in the monitor moments before. Nothing else was showing on the screen, but Nils seem to stare at there, maybe a moment too long. “I’m sure it’s nothing - if there is something down there, I don’t think it’s going anywhere fast, anyways.”
Again, he turns to the radio, but quietly curses, realizing the signal isn’t receiving. The radios are fine - but the towers must be down.
"I think we should get weapons of some kind, just in case." She says, clearly nervous. The entire situation has her on edge but seeing that thing on the monitor makes her a million times worse. "You must think I'm being dramatic but please just humor me." Even with a weapon she wouldn't do too well in a fight. She's in shape but she's small and doesn't have any training. Patching up wounds? Sure. Fighting? Nope.
Her eyes flicker over to the radio. The good news is that they appear to work. The bad news is that there's no signal. Another bad thing happened just like she guessed.
Nils agreed. “We’ll get some weapons. There’s a closet in this room - not really a closet. It’s more of a storage room, I think it’s got a few in there.” He sighs.
He begins to search in some of the drawers for portable radios. If they could find a stable connection of some sorts and contact Earth again, those would come in useful. There’s also the addition they’d need something to carry their supplies in. They probably wouldn’t have that much to carry, but bags were always useful.
They’d be able to find those in the storage room as well.
Vivian breathes a sigh of relief, glad that they're on the same page. She steps back to give him some space to look for whatever it is he's looking for. Unzipping the back that she had taken from the infirmary, she checks on what she has. Medical supplies, food, water bottles, and the stun gun. It's really not much. She zips the bag back up and starts to look around for the storage closet. She's shot a gun maybe three times before I'm her life so she's not sure how much help it'll actually be. Having it around will make her feel safer though.
(There is a horrible storm coming to my area in the next few days so my internet may be knocked out. If I'm unable to get on for a few days, I'm very sorry.)
(Thanks!)
"We don't have to leave the bunker, do we?" Vivian asks, not wanting to leave what she assumes is a safe zone. Especially not since she saw whatever that thing was. Leaving just seems like it would be a really dumb thing to do. "Where could we get a connection?"
“Outside, by the colonies.” Nils could only remember that. He was never taught about any other connections, besides the ones he was told about. For all he knew, there could be another connection somewhere in the bunker. “Otherwise, I don’t know where else.”
This was a complicated choice. Nils walked around again, as if pacing.
"Colonies? What colonies?" Vivian asks, confused. It's as though Nils keeps forgetting that she has literally no knowledge about this place. A map would be very helpful but she's no sure where she would even go about looking for one or if there even is one.
"Nils, please just talk me through what you're thinking."
“The colonies, some distance from here. I believe they’re south of here as well. Not far, either. I don’t think they were affected by the earthquake, but they may have been evacuated, which might mean they have a stable signal of some sorts.” Nils drifted off into his own mind for a moment.
“The colonies were established here to provide homes for the people who work here to harvest the resources. I don’t know, I only visited the colonies for transporting stuff. Don’t remember too much.” Nils then proceeded to explain a little about the colonies themselves. “It was mostly just mining operations that went on.” Which..might have been a possible cause of the earthquake that hit the bunker.
Vivian listens intently, storing all of this information away. It's nice to be able to know a little more about the place that she's stuck at. "How would we get there? Is it still safe?" She takes up pacing around the room as she thinks. The amount of unknown information is still staggering but this is a good start.
Turning, she approaches on of the computers and begins to test out different things, trying to get a feel for the equipment. It's fairly easy to use, thankfully.
“Originally, I was thinking I could get there in a Dominator, but in my current state, I don’t think I can even pilot one. And I don’t know how they’re doing after the earthquake either.” Nils explained, before explaining what he meant by a Dominator. “They’re kind of like mech suits. Like not suits as in fancy, or anything like that. If you remember how I said I was a pilot, that’s what I meant by piloting. But considering our luck, they’re probably not unaffected by the earthquake.”
He then thinks. “I believe there are some vehicles, though. Ground ones, and I don’t know how trustworthy they are. But they should be able to get us to the colonies. Of course, we could always walk there as well.” Nils didn’t know how to describe how he felt right now. On one hand, he was glad that he was able to slowly remember all this information..on another, he had no clue what he was.
And that thing, Nils remembered. He had a guess, but.. No, it can’t be. They shut that thing down months ago. For now, he decided to reserve his thoughts and stay silent.
"A Dominator? I don't know what that is." Vivian shifts around uncomfortably. To her relief, all of this is explained just a few moments later. She studies the suit that he's wearing. It appears to be what he's describing. What she's not sure about is why he's still wearing it. Surely it must be hot to have all of that gear on. And walking couldn't be easy. She's tempted to ask but she figures that she's asked more than her fair share of questions already. It's not like him wearing a suit is important to their current goal.
She nods her head. "I'd rather not walk. If the vehicles work then could we try that out? If they don't work……I guess we could walk." Walking around with that red creature thing around doesn't seem like the best idea. She still doesn't trust that it's safe, even with Nils with her. It looks like he can take care of himself so that makes her feel a little better. The stun gun is also nice to have.
The look on his face has her concerned. "What is it?"
((He’s not wearing a Dominator suit, this is something different))
“That sounds like our best bet, then.” He nodded.
Nils glances back again. “I just.. I guess I thought I knew what was down there, but it wouldn’t make sense, now that I think about it. But then again, the computer thinks I’m dead. And here I am..” he trails off, looking at the screen that was in the lower parts of the bunker again.
(Oh, sorry!)
She listens quietly as he talks, nodding her head.
"Something about this situation is very wrong." And she's not just talking about the fact that she was on Earth just yesterday. Everything is just all screwed up and clearly neither of them know why. "Let's just try to get into contact with someone, okay? We're bound to get some answers from someone."
