hadriel | [ video ] it was not a party bunker

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[ video ] it was not a party bunker

[ Sup Hadriel. Today’s video opens on three people (Wash, Nate, and Kyna) sitting in front of Wash’s propped-up phone. They all look uncomfortable to varying degrees but it’s not clear yet why. After a few moments of dead air Wash clears his throat and opens awkwardly, as is his way. ]

Hey. Uh-- hello. We… a group of us, that is, have been gone for awhile on a trip out to the mountains to investigate the planet a little, maybe find out where the Hosts might have been coming from.

...more or less. An exploratory kind of thi- you know, that doesn’t really matter? We found something. It’s. It’s not great.

Not great’s… an understatement. [ Is this where he tells everyone they should sit down for this news? Maybe he should, but Wash presses forward anyway. ] We found what we thought was a bunker, like for survival. But it was actually a lab. A Null lab, where they were experimenting on the Hosts.

Experimenting is a friendly word for it. [ Nate, whose arms are folded resolutely over his chest, flexes his hands, tense. ] It was basically torture. Very meticulous, well-researched torture. As it turns out, the Null were implanting Hosts with- something, it was a piece of equipment they’d worked on for a while. Something to control them.

[ At the word torture Wash goes very still, jaw working with tension and Kyna glances toward him, frowning, before making a face and speaking up to divert attention back to herself. ]

Wow, guys, way to break the news gently. Anyway, there were like, videos and everything.

Footage that, um. Isn’t really suitable for public consumption. I’ll just leave it at that. Point is, the Null have been doing this for a while. And we just- [ He takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. ] Want people to be safe.

It seemed like something everyone should know about. [ Wash chimes in just to agree, still looking tense but like he doesn’t know where to go from here. ]

Yeah so, uh… [Kyna pauses awkwardly, toying with her necklace.] I don’t know. I guess that kind of explains why they’ve been so violent towards us? Maybe we don’t have to fight the Hosts and the Null. [Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on Kyna’s part.] Anyway, I guess we’ll take questions if you guys have them? Or if anyone wants to know where the bunker is, but it sucks, so you’d probably hate it.

[ Rated -5 stars on Yelp. ]

(( OOC: This is the info dissemination post for this big ol' expedition!! (OOC rundown here.) Unless you want to talk to someone in particular, replies to this post will be fielded randomly by one of the adventurers! ))

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tell them the part where most of them died in horrible agony.

You just did, Pratt.

they should know.

They do now.

[ Wash thought that was implied by torture and their general manner, but sure. Maybe it's more respectful of the dead to acknowledge how bad it was.... the post is just upsetting enough in the first place, Wash feels. ]

Anything else we missed?

no. probably not.

you guys went down there. i didnt.

nevermind.

You were there. You lent us your shovel. You have a say.

i want people to have the full extent of the horribleness so they dont think its some one off thing they dont need to worry about.

it doesnt seem like anyone is doing that. yet. but.

back home we tried to shield people from how bad things were and it made everything so much worse.

didn't want to make it too graphic.

[He knows. He knows.]

if they don't know the full extent they'll go: oh that's too bad. then worry about it for a week and forget it.

then it gets worse and worse.

i'm not gonna show people the footage unless they ask, pratt

[Even then, he's going on a discretionary, case-by-case basis. Nate is firm on this subject.]

i'm not gonna describe in full detail how they ripped these things apart, there are kids on the network

we took a kid WITH us on the expedition.

whatever.

do what you want. im not in charge here.

[He can't argue over text. He has too much of himself in this fight, he's too close. Nate feels something in him snap.]

You think I don't know that? You think I wanted a kid to see that? You think I would've invited any of you on that trip if I'd known what was down there?

[His guilt is bleeding into his words, slowly. Slowly.]

I'm not trying to keep information from people, I'm trying not to dredge the network in shit that that's so far up the NC-17 rating it's a fucking snuff film. They deserve to know, but they don't deserve to be subjected to that without a warning. No one does.

I was telling Maine we should do more to protect them, but now.. now I'm not so sure.

[He's looking a little past the camera rather than at Nate.]

They're not weak, they've survived here this long - They can take it. But it's not my call. You do what you think is right.

I'm not trying to incite a panic, I just want people to understand what we're dealing with here. And some people won't unless they see it with their own eyes. They'll let it fester and ignore it hoping it goes away. We do not want to get caught unawares now that we know what they're capable of. What they might even be planning to do to us.

I'm not saying they're weak, either.

[There's a vast difference between saying that you're capable of witnessing and understanding something objectively, and what most people's reactions are. It's horrifying, yeah. He knows. He also knows he's seen so goddamn much that it isn't affecting him the way it has other people, and that's frightening in its own right.

Nate doesn't want to be the gatekeeper to edification, but neither does he want other residents to be traumatized.]

And I'm not disagreeing with you. But people deserve the right to make that decision for themselves. [Pratt didn't come down into the bunker with them, and Nate remembers that clearly.] Like you did.

[Oh that hits a nerve. He glares back at the camera, teeth clenched and eyes narrowed.]

I didn't know you were going to find a lab full of torn apart creatures and video evidence of them being ripped open.

But sure, next time there's an underground bunker I'll go down there and you can see how well that goes for everyone involved.

[Too far? Probably. But Nate is rubbed raw by offering delicacy to so many and feeling the disparate parts of him harden in the process.]

That's exactly what I'm saying, Jesus! Everyone has the right to not do something they're uncomfortable with. You made your choice, and I respected that.

[He'd never force anyone into a bunker unless they were all staring down the barrel of a nuclear winter.]

The least you can do is not be such a hypocritical asshole when other people don't want to be exposed to shit that they will never be able to unsee. 'Cause I get the feeling you already know what that's like.

[He starts to snap back with something, but ends up snorting and looking off screen.]

Fine.

[He rubs his eyes, pointedly ignoring the urge to claim that everything he's seen and been through made him stronger. That he's somehow better because of it. And while he superficially almost believes that, he knows it's not true. He wants it to be because then it makes everything he's gone through worth it. That here was a purpose to everything he suffered instead of cruel, random chance.]

Don't listen to me. I don't know what I'm saying.

Forget I said anything at all.

[He's struck a raw nerve and knows it, doesn't want to push further but simultaneously wants to understand, and Pratt isn't giving him anything to work with. There's something under the argument Nate can't identify and his need to solve puzzles just makes him want to dig deeper.]

Look, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're too close to this.

[Nate hazards, definitely overstepping.]

Your input isn't unimportant, but there are some decisions we can't make for everybody.

Too close.

[It's not a question. It's just a hollow set of words that he's repeating to buy him some time to think about how he wants to handle this. Sure he could just hang up, which would probably solidify whatever Nate is thinking. And also give him a good reason to never talk to him again.

Which Pratt doesn't want. He sorta likes Nate. And having someone who invites him on expeditions and to go exploring is nice. Gets him out of the house for something other than the range or planting trees.

But he also isn't going to flat out say: Yeah I'm too close because I've been tortured and reprogrammed for the past half a year and maybe I'm not thinking straight because I'm thinking someone else's thoughts most of the time.]

I'm not talking about this on the network. But you're right and I know that. It's just...

Back home. We had some problems with ... a group of people. We were pretty sure they were kidnapping people, maybe even killing them. But when we found out for sure no one wanted to believe it. They wanted to leave well enough alone and then when it was too late and they saw what it really was they were horrified.

But not until it was too late.

We're not going to survive an assault from something that meticulous and methodical unless everyone is prepared.

[ In honesty, Nate doesn't expect Pratt to open up to him as much as he does. The observation was an opportunity to get out of the conversation unscathed but the guy weighs his options and apparently decides that sharing - inasmuch as he deems appropriate - is the better option.

It gives Nate some context but not enough to attach the hugely personal stake Pratt seems to have, as opposed to the professional one regarding his job.

Conversation for another day, maybe. ]

I get it. Not gonna let that happen here, Pratt.

Right. Yeah, okay.

[He's trying to stifle down the worry that it will happen here. His eyes darting around nervously before he manages to calm himself down somewhat.]

You've got this handled. Just ignore me.

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[ video ] it was not a party bunker

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