Video

[theweakhavepurpose]

[The video turns on to show the outskirts of town, nearby is a fence of sorts made of junk Pratt collected from the Colosseum and some baling wire. It's encircling a fancy new shooting range complete with training dummies and targets and some other items that aren't immediately identifiable.

Okay fancy isn't the right word, everything is made of remnants he found and some of the targets are empty soup cans on sticks but it looks serviceable.]

This is Deputy Pratt. I know we're all busy freezing to death, but if you'd like to take your mind off that, I've finally got this all together. Range is up and running!

It's set up by the orchard, or well.. where the orchard should be anyway.

[He pans the camera towards the orchard to show where it is and then starts walking towards the range. The camera is surprisingly steady, this is someone who has filmed hundreds of Vine videos of him and other deputies doing stupid stuff on slow days. He's a pro at this shit.]

I've got training dummies up front for anyone who wants to get their melee fighting on. But uh.. try not to completely destroy them because I don't have a ton of wood to fix them up.

For the range itself I've got targets at 10 meters, 25 meters, 50 and 100. It's not perfect because I'm measuring this with my feet, but it's close enough. Spinner targets are for guns, and the bigger baled ones are dirt and wood so they shouldn't chew up your arrows too bad.

This thing is a work in progress.

[He sets a can onto a contraption off to the side of the range, stomping his foot on a pedal and sending it shooting down the lane and a little to the left. The camera gets unsteady here as he launches a knife that's far too big for this at the can and it tumbles to the ground.]

Keeps shooting them off to the side, but it's better than throwing something and then trying to hit it.

As for weapons... [He walks over to a large but very battered chest and opens the lid.]

I've got some throwing knives that aren't stupid like the hunting knife I have. A few bows. And some arrows in here. Keep them in this crate because the weather is not kind to bowstrings and you don't want these things snapping when you're shooting.

It's on the honor system because I'm not going to freeze my ass off monitoring this twenty-four seven. So try not to burn it down in the next two days.

[Please guys. He worked hard on this. Don't set it on fire.]

Comments

[coyoteking]

[Monster, huh? There's a word worth wrestling with. Another time, maybe. Charles doesn't feel like thinking about whether or not he is one right now. And anyway, which ones deserve to be called that? The people who get molded by their circumstances, or the people who create those circumstances in the first place?]

Yeah, happy shit. You keep the hope alive, I guess. Don't know what the hell an amusement park is, but I guess it's kinda self explanatory, isn't it? I could definitely go for some sugar and nothing bad, though.

[theweakhavepurpose]

If Hope is relying on me he's starving to death.

[Serves the gods right for dragging them all here honestly.]

Oh it's uh.. like a big park but with roller coasters and rides and way too expensive food.

[coyoteking]

So like a Navy Pier kinda deal?

[Forgive him, his entire world is one city.]

Guess people need a distraction no matter what world you're in.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Is a pier like a boardwalk? There aren't beaches where I live. It's probably similar.

People gotta unwind stress somehow. Or they bottle it up and then explode.

[See Exhibit A: Deputy Pratt.]

[coyoteking]

Yeah, it's like a boardwalk. Used to tie boats to it.

[You know, navy boats.]

And yeah I hear you. Think we could use some of that around here, probably.

[theweakhavepurpose]

That was my plan with the range, give people a place to blow off steam.

I don't know how effective it is, but people have been using it, so maybe it helps.

[coyoteking]

Probably helps, unless they suck. Then maybe it's the opposite. But we'll just assume they don't suck.

[theweakhavepurpose]

So far no one has shot themselves and I haven't gotten bitched out by the clinic that they've had an influx of injuries. So I'm gonna guess they don't suck.

We do seem predisposed to have people here who know their way around weapons.

[You know, he's never made that connection before.]

[coyoteking]

You know, that's a good fuckin' point. Don't know if it means most worlds are dangerous or if it's just this place trying to defend itself. Could be a little of both.

[He shrugs, even though Pratt can't see it.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

There's plenty of people in my world who have probably never seen a gun in their life. And never needed to protect themselves. Yet I'm the one who showed up. And all the other people from around my time are also handy with weapons.

Maybe they're bringing people they know are capable of protecting themselves?

[coyoteking]

Yeah, maybe they don't want to babysit us. I don't know anybody who's never seen a gun, but plenty who wouldn't know what to do with one. I also know people a lot more dangerous than me, but then again, I know plenty less.

So maybe they don't want challenges, either.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Maybe we're the middle ground, strong enough to defend ourselves, but not so much that we'd take over?

I don't like that at all. Means they're choosing who shows up rather than it being random.

[coyoteking]

Didn't they say that Door thing chooses? Or doesn't choose, who the fuck knows. Maybe it's the one that's doing it, is my point. Which means it has some kinda agenda.

[Weird thing for a door to have, but alright.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

Isn't the thing in pieces though? How's it deciding anything?

How's it even work for that matter?

[coyoteking]

Fuck if I know. Didn't they say they found some pieces of it?

[He tried to read up, but reading bores the shit out of him, so.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

Some of it. I think. But not the full thing.

[maybe? He doesn't actually check the network that frequently. He skims it sometimes.]

[coyoteking]

I don't know. How do we even tell? I have no idea what the thing even looks like.

[theweakhavepurpose]

No clue. I don't know shit about it.

You know.. this is probably something we should know right? Like there should be an orientation class.

[Instead of a bunch of reading that he 100% did not do.]

[coyoteking]

Yeah, preferably in audio format. So I can do other shit instead of sitting down for eight hours to read a goddamn encyclopedia.

[Which, he feels, is about how much information there is on this place.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

Maybe we can get an informative TEDTalk. Or a podcast. Because I'm sure as hell not going to read the nine hundred pages of shit we've got on the network.

I tried to force myself to because it's important. But it was just like studying for a test and my eyes glazed over and I dropped my phone on my face.

[coyoteking]

[He has no idea what either of those things are, but they sound better than reading.]

Maybe I'll pitch that idea. Or work on it. I don't know. Something's gotta change, though.

[theweakhavepurpose]

We can't be the only people who don't wanna sit around staring at our phones reading a whole damn novel right?

[Right? He does feel kinda lazy about that, but even when he forced himself to try and read it he kinda zoned out two paragraphs in and stopped retaining info.]

[coyoteking]

Yeah no, there's no way we're alone in this one. If I did this, it'd be like community service.

[Everyone can collectively thank him later.]

[theweakhavepurpose]

What are you gonna record something?

[coyoteking]

I think I might. It's something to do, you know? And it gives me an excuse to learn shit.