Scene 1, Week 19: Frosty the Snow Mech
NMRC Camp, Cyberia, Silent Snowdrifts, Lerris' Tent; Morning.
In which Ice Netmonsters get frostbite in a new land ....
Scene 1, Week 19:
Frosty the Snow Mech
NMRC Camp, Cyberia, Silent Snowdrifts, Lerris' Tent; Morning.
<Hunter Lerris> Good morning! It's quite brisk, isn't it?
<Pidedis> You really are an inhuman monster.
<Wyran> Amen to that.
<Hunter Lerris> What? What did I do?
<What Yet May Be> ‘Brisk' doesn't begin to describe this place. If I blink too often, my eyes will freeze shut.
<Hunter Lerris> It's not that bad, you guys.
<What Yet May Be> Let me present the facts in a different manner. One: We did not have to wake you up this morning. You crawled out of that single blanket slab of ice you call a bed on your own. Early . Two: You are not freezing to death. You are cheerful. No one else is. From this, we have decided you are an inhuman creature with antifreeze for blood.
<Hunter Lerris> ::anime sweatdrop:: Come on, be serious.
<Wyran> The other theory was that you were replaced by a robot double who is doing a terrible job of imitating you.
<Pidedis> But we didn't see why anyone would go to all that trouble.
<Hunter Lerris> Just because I like things a little chillier than most people..
<Pidedis> Chillier? There are Ice Net Monsters with frostbite out here! Frostbite!
<Hunter Lerris> …. Tell them to bundle up?
<What Yet May Be> Lerris, what on earth possessed you to set up camp in this heat forsaken corner wasteland of the Net?!
<Hunter Lerris> Well… I was sure no one would follow.
<What Yet May Be> And who were you afraid was going to follow you? A wooly mammoth?
<Hunter Lerris> If everything you told me about the whole Nemesis bit was true, I had to be sure it wouldn't find me.
<What Yet May Be> And why would it be looking for you?
<Hunter Lerris> How should I know? What am I? Psychologist to the socially maladjusted? But what I do know is how it found me. It's a trick of the Search Engine Sea. You can find whatever you're looking for, given enough time. That's how I found Wyran. Problem is, it works both ways.
<Pidedis> That's creepy. A place where you dreams can come true.
<What Yet May Be> Or somebody else's nightmares.
<Hunter Lerris> Don't knock it, What Yet May Be. That's how one of you found a second chance.
<Pidedis> I don't ever want to go back there.
<Hunter Lerris> Sorry. Didn't mean to wreck the place for you. It really is quite beautiful.
<What Yet May Be> But deadly.
<Hunter Lerris> You're really negative today. I'd say bordering on depressing.
<What Yet May Be> Bitter cold, bitter me.
<Hunter Lerris> Is it really that bad?
<What Yet May Be> I thought I already made that clear. YES!
<Hunter Lerris> ::winces:: Alright, tell me how everyone else is holding up.
<Pidedis> Well…. Most everyone is staying in their tents as much as possible. Even then, we've had more than our fair share of exposure cases.
<Wyran> Poor Joc and several other Slimes are so cold they're turning blue. Joc holds the record for visits to Doc Boo's tent.
<Pidedis> Yeah. The Slimes are suffering pretty bad. ::tries to stifle a smirk:: Um… The Fire and Earth NetMonsters are really having a time. The Fire NMs can melt their way through the snow, but they really don't like the cold. And the Fish aren't holding up too well either.
<What Yet May Be> With the exception of Berokuko. He seems to enjoy the weather. He keeps telling his squad “You ain't a hero till you train below zero”.
<Hunter Lerris> That's odd.
<Wyran> ::shrugs:: It takes all kinds.
<Hunter Lerris> I know I don't want to know the answer, but how's morale doing?
<What Yet May Be> Plummeting with everybody's temperatures.
<Hunter Lerris> Blast. I'll see what I can do to fix it.
<What Yet May Be> (muttering) Just get us out of this frozen nightmare.
*******************************************************
NMRC Camp, Cyberia, Silent Snowdrifts, Food Corps Pavilion; Morning.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Man, it's days like today I wish Lerris would let us drink coffee.
<Food Corps Phantom Mech> I hear you there, old buddy. But you make do with what you can.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Hot chocolate just isn't the same.
<Food Corps Phantom Mech> No, it isn't. Speaking of which, we need to get some more of that stuff bulk rate. We're running low.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Already?
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> Yeah. A camp like this burns through supplies faster than a rabid Fire Dog.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> So, what are we searching the web for in large quantities and low prices?
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> To start, you wouldn't believe the number of requests we've had for chicken noodle soup.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Okay, what else?
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> The Big Man says he doesn't know how long we'll be here, but he says to stock up on perishables. They're a little less perishable out here.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Woah. He actually did something to make our jobs easier. Of course, I'm not sure it's worth living in a refrigerator for.
<Food Corps Phantom Mech> No kidding.
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> And we got some last minute request for 10 pounds of rice.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> 10 pounds? You've got to be kidding me. You mean 10 tons, right? We don't deal in small change.
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> Nope. 10 pounds. The requisition was brought in by some Slime I didn't recognize wearing a scarf. The forms were all correct but they weren't signed by Lerris.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> So why are we bothering to process it?
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> Something about the Slime just said “Do it”.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> Where's Sasha and everyone else?
<Food Corps Lightning Bird> Called in sick.
<Food Corps Earth Cat> All of them? ::sighs:: Short staffed and behind on the orders. Well, if I wanted an easy job, I'd work down in the kitchen.
***********************************************
Cyberia, Frozen Plains; Morning.
<Hunter Lerris> Light, but this reminds me of the whole Leandr bit. I guess that's what I get for dragging everybody out here.
Lerris walks for a bit, his boots crunching snow. The winds howl and try to drown out the only foreign sounds in their land of quiet ice crystals.
<Hunter Lerris> I never realized I'd grown so accustomed to the cold. Somehow, it seems familiar and comforting. Of course, nobody else sees it that way.
Lerris pauses to admire the landscape.
<Hunter Lerris> I wonder why?
The wind continues to blow, but carries no answers.
<Hunter Lerris> I guess to them this place is one gigantic slushie.
<Image of Pidedis> (in an echoing lilt) What the heck are we doing here, Lerris?
<Image of Lerris> (in the same echoing lilt) Lying low.
<Hunter Lerris> Why did I come here? There are places as remote, if not more, and a little less extreme.
Lerris resumes walking. There are no real landmarks, but he walks as if he knows unerringly where he is going.
<Hunter Lerris> I can feel I had a reason. I just wish I knew what that reason was…. Hey! Somebody made a Snow Mech!
Lerris circles a snow figurine of an Ice Mech. It glints haphazardly in the morning light.
<Hunter Lerris> They were good . I couldn't tell this apart from a real Mech. I prefer Snow Rockmen, myself. Of course, then I hack the Rockman apart with my staff.
A sudden intake of breath is heard, not quite human.
<Hunter Lerris> ::looks around:: Hello? I'm sorry. I'm not going to rip your Mech apart! Hello? Who's there?
Lerris finds nobody. He turns around to find the Snow Mech gone as well.
<Hunter Lerris> I feel like Alice in wonderland. Curiouser and curiouser……
******************************************************
Cyberia. Protected Pass; Morning.
<Ice Slime> The dispatch was delivered, ma'am.
<Female Hunter> Do they know we're coming?
<Ice Slime> I don't think so, ma'am.
<Female Hunter> Well…. We do love surprises, don't we?
<Ice Slime> ::fails to conceal a snicker:: Yes, ma'am.
******************************************************
NMRC Camp, Cyberia, Silent Snowdrifts; Morning.
<What Yet May Be> I want to get out of here as soon as possible. Maybe I can get us out of here faster if I run the lottery. Might be my lucky day.
Element: Earth
Human-Bird-Dog
Level: 22
<What Yet May Be> Demon fire. At this rate, we're going to be here FOREVER. ::shivers::
*****************************************************
What insidious purpose does 10 pounds of rice serve?
What hideous surprise is in wait?
Who is the mysterious Hunter?
Why do all the above adjectives end in “ous”?
Why is Lerris in Cyberia?
The answer to these and other intriguing questions in the next NML!!!
