The Highway

[Rina]

Tia watched carefully as the scene in front of her unfolded as she did her best to take in every minute detail that could be valuable to her later on. Although physically put in place due to her wariness of the situation, her mind was far from being still. Questions, observations and hypotheses raced through her mind as she tried to replay the event that took place. Although uncertain and slightly wary about the dangers the man could bring, her interest in figuring out what was going on was more prevalent in the forefront of her mind.

"Back away? This isn't the time to tuck our tails under and scurry away Duncan. We need to keep our eyes and ears open. There hasn't been this much activity since I've been here a week ago and I doubt that this will be the last time we hear from that man. Friend or foe, some way or another he or the trouble he foresaw will be stirring up some sort of trouble and when he does we need to be prepared. I'm not sure if it'll work out but what if it is the chance we were waiting for. The trouble he might bring might be our key to freedom."

But before any shenanigans went down such as trying to escape, she needed time to think. More importantly, she longed for time to write. Although her job as a scientist ended after the day her team visited the portal, her mind still thought in a logical way and writing observations and notes seemed to be second nature to her. With the line picking up speed as Annie and her got closer to where they would choose the day's job, she knew there would be no time to stop and write however she knew exactly what she would add to her notebook given the chance.

Day 8 Inside Raider's Camp, Early Morning (Exact Time Unknown)
Observations
- Prior to choosing the day's job, an unknown human (?) man appeared wearing a snazzy suit. Something is off about the suit.
- Man has urgent news to take to the Raider's leader. Mentions about the fall of the Raider's camp.
- Raider mentions the Man is not a slave.
- Raider points gun at the Man, Man proceeds to grasp gun which causes it to melt (melting point of steel 1371C (2500F)) to the ground followed by the wood falling (burning point of wood greatly lower than melting point of steel)

Questions
- What is up with his suit? With zombies and aliens running rampant, a suit seems highly unpractical. Is it some sort of techware? Maybe the Man is actually a robot and the suit is an armor of some sort? Maybe magic? What the hell is wrong with you Tia? Magic? Really?
- What is the news he wants to give? Is the Raider's camp actually in danger? Am I prepared for that danger?
- Man ≠ Slave. If that is true, who is he? Was he transported here? Did he saunter right into the Raider's camp even with the threat of being shot? Does he have accomplices? Why does he want to warn us? Moral reasons or is there some sort of motive?
- How in the hell did the man melt the gun! How he was capable of melting the gun quicker than the Raider was able to feel the temperature change. The melting point of steel is 2500F, what sort of tools did he use to get something to heat up that fast without having anything crazily bulky on him? Did the wood burn? With the melting temp of steel higher than the burning point of wood, was the Man able to melt the metal quicker than the wood was able to react to the heat (inconclusive, too far away and too quick to know for sure)
- Is the Man ev…

"Tia, can we pleeease go to the boat? Pleeease?" Annie asked interrupting Tia's train of thought, knowing far too well that her aunt's distant gaze was of her thinking of something and that she would be more likely to comply to shut her up so that Tia could go back to her thoughts.

"Sure." Tia said slightly startled back into reality. There was much more to ponder about but it would have to wait. The slave life wasn't something that would wait on her. "Wait a second." Tia said raising her eyebrows at Annie, now figuring out what she asked.

"You said its okay. Come on, one day won't be bad. You'll see!"

 

[Hobocop]

As the line inches along, he listens to the gossip from the other captives. A god? From what he's heard about the Storm and what he's seen during his travels, the mysterious man was more likely a being from another dimension. At least that's what he thought. Although, tilting his muzzle sideways to glance at the melted rifle, with a display like that he couldn't blame people for having that belief. There was no way to be sure, and an unknown of that magnitude was extremely dangerous. Hearing that the raider leader hated mutants was...not unexpected. All the more reason to hold his tongue for the time being. No reason to draw undue attention to himself.

A voice catches his attention, and he looks over in it's direction. A girl? The blonde-haired lass couldn't have been more than ten. It looked and sounded as if she was giving an older woman a hard time. Probably her caretaker. He could only imagine what it was like for a young child to live through the Storm.

He'd seen children around the wastes before, catching a glimpse of some even around in the raider's living area, but seeing one in a slave pit didn't sit right, and he could help but linger his gaze upon the pair. A strange sense of longing for times past crept in, but he couldn't remember for the life of him what f-

A sudden impact into something hard and unyielding derails his train of thought and he recoils backwards, nearly knocking over whoever was behind him. Looking forward, he sees a weathered but sturdy looking robot with one large optical sensor and a brightly glowing light on its torso, wearing a cowboy hat and a tattered poncho. A bit unusual, he thought.

"S-sorry," he says, dipping his muzzle apologetically. "Wasn't watching where I was going."

 

[TheFlame52]

Having gotten breakfast, Prodigy sat down to eat. He wolfed it all down, hungry after doing so much welding the night before. He went back into his workshop tent and sat down at his workbench. He looked at the water purifier again. It needed some new hoses, he had already fixed everything else. But there were no hoses anywhere in the camp, he had already checked. Short of taking another water purifier apart to build this one, it looked like this was going to become yet another unfinished project, sitting on his workbench.