Players:
Summary: Summary of what happened.
Date: October 11, 2010.
Log Title: Digging Your Own Grave: Reprise
Rating: PG-13.
Tegu-Haaz - Xavier's Insane Asylum for Adolescents (Graveyard)
Crosses, angels, simple rectangles, monuments and more make up the various graves in this once sacred ground. In the center is a mausoleum that reads 'Summers' with plenty of familiar names. Frost, McCoy, Drake, Monroe, Worthington and Pryde are another one of the large monuments along with several other familiar names from McMillan, Fegenbush , Vallon, Brown, Blake, VonReginleif, Danvers, Larkin, Pervinca and Palmer and more on the smaller graves. An 'X' with a circle surrounding it can be seen at the top of several of the graves. There are no first names or dates on the grave stones, just last names. Flowers long since dried and wilted sit on top of the graves. All around the grave yard is a three foot tall wrought iron fence with pointed tops along with a small gate that serves as it's only entrance. At the end of the graveyard the burned remains of a chapel can be seen.
It's time to come back to the graveyard. There is information to be gathered, after all. Heather arrives back at the graveyard with a shovel over her shoulder and a serious expression. It's time to get gravedigging, and she knows just the corpse she wants to uncover first. She zips over towards her own headstone and says, "I wouldn't mind if anyone disturbed my grave, especially if it was me, so I assume this is okay."
Chloe whistles as she walks, hefting a pickaxe over one shoulder and moderately sized hammer in the other. Having switched her cybernetic arm on for the first time since it became apparent that electric would be in short supply. "Fair enough! I'll break the ground with the pickaxe, then you can shovel the loose earth. The hammer is for if your skeleton rises from the dead and we need to smash it. Sounds like a fair plan to you?"
"I'm not sure how I feel about bashing in the head of a Future Alternate Me," says Heather, tilting her head at the grave. She does step back and let Chloe do the first parts of the dirty work. "I guess if I'm being unpleasant, there is no helping it, though. I guess alternate versions of myself have never been particularly helpful, anyways."
Chloe waves the hammer sternly at Heather. "Honestly? I'm not sure it counts as another you if it's a reanimated skeleton!" she declares, putting the hammer down and getting ready with the pickaxe. "I'm not sure exactly how you do this, but hopefully speed and enthusiasm will make up for it…" And with that she begins breaking the ground. A task which even at superspeed takes quite a while. "God this is exhausting. Wish I'd brought a picnic along."
"It's not much different than weightlifting at the gym. I assume you do some of that? I do. It kills time effectively," says Heather, watching Chloe while leaning on her shovel. After enough dirt is loosened, she scoops out the excess dirt. "A picnic would be nice. I haven't been eating as much as usual lately, since that would be a waste of resources."
"Actually it feels different enough that I'm not keen on digging up more than two or three graves," Chloe declares, pausing while Heather works to get a little rest. "At least we don't have to smash through a layer of stone on top! That would be brutal. Perhaps we should chase down a deer or something on the way back? Then claim fastworld shares as a reward."
"I want to dig them all up. But okay. Lets only do ones that seem really important," says Heather. It does not take her much special effort to actually push the shovel back into the dirt, but pulling it out is more difficult: the former she can use speed as strength, but the latter requires some leverage. "A deer? That would be lots of meat. I'd like to have a good share of that. I could cook us both up something."
Chloe winces. "We could do it on an open fire," she suggests innocently. "Nice and simple, no frills. Because cooking it with other stuff would be wasteful. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe we could stretch to baking some potatoes in the fire. The trick'll be to run around the woods and chase down a deer while carrying all our digging equipment."
"Roasted? That used to be one of the meals at the White Prison," recounts Heather, pausing between every few words to take care of the digging, "Roast beef. It was very dry, I didn't like it. Potatoes and roast beef and beans. Very dry, overcooked I think. They slipped it in, since they didn't want to sedate me for every meal." She prods at the ground where she is, trying to get just a little further before asking Chloe to continue. "Sometimes, I would wait for the next meal, sometimes breakfast, I'd let it get cold and I'd go hungry just to mix it and get new flavour combinations."
Chloe resumes the pickaxes work. "Venison roasted over a fire isn't going to taste anything like poorly roasted beef! I mean for a start it'll be game-y and with a nice smokey taste. You're also supposed to cook it rare or else it spoils the flavour. So it won't be overcooked either," she replies between strikes. "Don't you like barbecue food?"
"I do, but I like lots of food. I've never had deer meat before… are you good at cooking it? I'll try your cooking, if you want to cook it," says Heather. She hops out of Chloe's way, watching the pickaxe do its work. "And then maybe I'll cook the next time?"
"I'm not sure. It's not really something I've cooked myself before," Chloe admits with a shrug. "One of my dads friends used to go hunting and he'd go on about how nice deer was. But it can't be too hard. We make a fire, let it turn to coals and then put the meat over it. Worst case we burn a few bits and cut them off for mixing into soup or stew."
Heather shrugs and says, "I guess we'll see how it is. How hard can it be to catch a deer when you can outrun it? I guess we'll have to find one, though." She frowns and then shrugs, "In any case, we'll kill some animal and eats its flesh. Which will be great after this workout."
"Sounds like a plan! And worst case we can always find mushrooms and bug someone who knows about such things into working out which are edible and which aren't," Chloe adds, stepping aside so Heather can do some shovelling. "I hope the coffins aren't lined with something or filled with preservatives. All this talk of food followed by a decomposing body.."
"I hope they're not decomposing. Something about seeing my own rotting corpse seems like it could be unsettling." Once Chloe steps aside, Heather gets with the shovelling. Teamwork! "I mean, I guess eventually I probably will die, but not before getting a lot of things done. Though if there's a corpse of myself in this world, it seems like alternate versions of me can die. It makes me feel a little vulnerable."
Chloe shrugs. "I just meant 'coz it'll be gross," she admits. "The whole could I die, was this another me thing doesn't bug me at all. It /does/ help that I'm dosing myself with endorphin rushes every time I'm getting a little down, but she was never me. So just because 'other me' died, if she ever lived, doesn't mean I will."
"I guess I'm not really bothered by things that are gross. I think my disgust and fear responses aren't really great," says Heather, furrowing her brow slightly at that. She continues to scoop, using her speed to her advantage, and hits home. THOK. "Hmm. And I'm not down because other selves have died. I only feel like I could merely be another one of my selves that are doomed to failure. And extension of my real self, and not an original."
"That's not a very healthy line of thought to follow," Chloe says, frowning as she gets ready with the pickaxes in case the coffin needs brute forcing open. "I mean if you don't believe you're the original you then you'll start to value yourself less, but it's not something you could ever prove. So you'd be stressing out for no reason."
"I'm under the impression that I'm the original, since I've had causal influence over things that happen to alternate selves. But you're right, it's irrelevant. In any case, the essance of me is important." Heather continues scooping off dirt until the coffin is slightly more accessible. "How do we get in?"
Chloe hmmmmms. "How about I use the pickaxes near the middle, then you can reach in and pull the lid up? And if the hinges don't work I'll just crack it open and you can lift out the bits?"
"Alright, let's do that," says Heather, nodding at Chloe's plan. She hops back in order to give Chloe some room to do the dirty work. "I imagine Hosea is going to be some upset at our disturbing the dead," she comments dispassionately.
Chloe giggles. "I won't tell if you don't?" she suggests with an impish grin. "I think because we'd both be cool with someone doing the same to us, providing the someone was also us, then it's okay… Hey yah know you've just literally been digging your own grave. Maybe I should dance on mine?" And with that she begins smashing, a task which is thankfully made easier by the poor condition of the wood.
"I think it's completely okay," says Heather, watching the smashing and, when Chloe's finished, prying open the grave. "Huh. A skeleton." It's hard to tell if she's disappointed by this development or just perplexed. "I must have been dead for awhile, if I don't have any more meat on me."
Chloe glances at the skeleton, then Heather and finally back to the skeleton. "Uhm… How'd we know it's you?"
"Does it look like me?" replies Heather, looking down at the skeleton and then up at Chloe. "I don't think the corpse is quite as pretty." She gives a weak smile at that, her attempt at an equally weak joke. "My teeth, maybe? Is this supposed to be a self from this world, or a representation of my self from our world?"
"No? I mean it's just bones…" Chloe admits, scratching her head. "Teeth sound like a plan? Have you ever broken any bones? I'd guess we could see lines on them in places you have and if you haven't and there are markings then it's not based on you."
"I have lots of fillings," says Heather, before opening her mouth, "Kee?" Indeed, her mouth is a veritable mine for the various metals used in tooth restoration. It's also a mine for not particularly nice looking teeth. "And I've never broken a bone, I don't think. Not for real. I think it was illusory when it happened?"
Chloe shrugs. "So look for any bones which seem like they're got bumpy ridges where it should be smooth," she suggests. "And check inside your mouth. Also when we're back you totally better start brushing more, maybe with a special toothpaste. Can't be a superhero with bad teeth and just think they'll have to last you hundreds of years."
"Eventually, I'll replace them all with super capsules, so that I can tear them out and escape in a flash," says Heather, furrowing her brows at that, "But I do brush, now. It kills time. My teeth are just still suffering from all their years of neglect, which I will maintain is not my fault." The girl leans down and checks over the skeleton, trying to find any identifying marks.
Chloe strains her memory. "I wish I hadn't slept through all those archaeology shows now," she laments, moving to begin breaking the ground on her own grave while Heather picks through her bones. "Oh! Also check for anything she was buried with? Like a watch, bracelets and stuff. Maybe bits of clothing which survived like buttons and stuff."
Heather shrugs and says, "It looks like pretty plain burial clothes to me…" She gives it a more careful examination, frowning for a moment as she searches over the body.
"Well. That at least tells us we weren't wealthy in this fake world," Chloe notes between pick blows. "Found anything interesting?"
Heather tilts her head slightly and says, "I can't really tell anything about it. It just looks like a skeleton to me. Is there anyone at the farmhouse who might be able to know these things? We can take my skeleton with us."
"Maybe? Lets check mine to see if she had both hands," Chloe decides, glancing around. "Then we'll take your bones back. More dental stuff to check against after all."
Heather seems delighted at Chloe's suggestion. Yes! Chloe has a very obvious injury, after all. "Alright, let's get back to work." She climbs out of the grave, slinging her shovel over her shoulder and says, "Now, where are you, again?"
Chloe points down at the grave by her feet, which she's already done some work on. "This one," she says. "It's a lot less unpleasant than I assumed it'd be and I have to admit I expected to be attacked at some point."
"For digging up graves? We should probably dig up some people's graves who are less amenable to having their graves opened up. Maybe my corpse just cares as little as I do, and someone is bound to be angrier," says Heather, tilting her head.
"Well.. I'm always pretty bitchy when I'm woken up early," Chloe declares with a grin. "Maybe a one handed skeleton will come after us! But after this I think we best call it quits. I'm getting pretty worn out digging and we'll only be able to take so many bones before it makes hunting tricky." She blinks a few times then adds "It might also seem weird if we're both carrying a ton of bones /and/ food. Kinda off-putting yah know?"
Heather blinks a few times at Chloe and says, "I don't see the problem. They're both valuable resources, and I'm sure that our retrieval efforts will be highly appreciated." She scratches her head and says, "What do you think our odds are in a fight against a grouchy skeletal you? I'm guessing we have more muscle than it does, at the very least."
"Well. We have a hammer," Chloe points out cheerfully. "And unless she was buried with one that leaves her at a distinct disadvantage." She nods towards the hammer and then hefts the pickaxe. "Returning with our own dead bodies and food is a bit… you don't generally bring food and human remains. It's a faux pas."
"Oh, okay. Should I bring the bodies, and you bring the food? Or the other way around? I'm not sure which of us is physically stronger, even though I know you're better at beating me up," says Heather, tilting her head and leaning on the shovel as she watches Chloe work for the time being.
"Erm. I'll take the food if you don't mind taking the bodies?" Chloe agrees quickly. "Lets leave the graves open after we go too. I can't bring myself to care enough to fill them in again. I think we're about even on lifting strength, maybe a little in my favour for longer terms, but I'm slightly quicker and will find chasing a deer down a bit easier."
Heather nods her head at that, "Okay, that makes perfect sense to me. I'm glad that I'm at least travelling with someone who is on about even footing." She starts shovelling once there's enough loose dirt to start on her task, quickly scooping out the grave with a furrowed brow. "We'll have to wash ourselves tonight."
Chloe nods. "Ugh, yeah pretty thoroughly too. I'd say we might even need to endure the wait for enough warm water to take a bath," she says sullenly. "Unless we come across a warm stream, then I guess we could take it in turns. When we're back I'm sprinting non-stop for the showers and god help anyone who stands in my way!"
"I'll try to avoid getting in your way, but I would love to take a shower, myself. I'll do that first, and then journaling. Everything we learned here is relevant in some way, I'll need to remember and write it down. Here, writing material is too valuable," she says. She sighs and says, "I'm getting tired of this. You're certainly right that this should be the last one. Today, at least. We might get a reason to dig up someone else's like… maybe Kisha's. Is hers here?"
"I'm probably such a bad person for suggesting it but… Do you want to dig hers up to see if it's double booked?" Chloe wonders. "Don't worry about getting in my way, the school is wide enough for two people to run and there are enough showers. I just meant anyone who demands we stay in the medbay to recover."
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do. I'm just glad that you vocalized it so that I can corroborate that it's not the very worst idea in the world," admits Heather, frowning at that. "And yeah, I really have no desire to hang around the medbay forever while waiting for boring doctors to do boring doctor things."
"I must admit I thought maybe it was a joke suggestion," Chloe replies wincing. "I mean it is pretty callous of us to even consider it! I'm sure she wasn't a completely bad person, just not an especially nice one."
"I liked her," says Heather, tilting her head slightly, "She was smart and resourceful. We weren't friends or anything, but I don't think we were enemies either. I just don't think it's so callous. If she's dead, then it's worth checking out." She finishes scooping and gestures downwards, "Besides, maybe she's buried alive. Er. Though she probably would have suffocated by now. Hm. Perhaps I should have thought about that earlier."
Chloe cringes. "Oh god. Don't let her have been buried alive," she groans. "Then we'd practically have killed her by not digging her up in time…. But… she's probably not down there. Lets concentrate on one corpse at once or else we'll never get anywhere."
"I hope she's not down there. That seems like it would be a strange thing for the universe to do. Even this universe," says Heather, sighing. She continues scooping quietly until she arrives at the grave. "Alright, let's crack you open."
"Well if she is I'll maybe forgive her for saying I 'wasn't using my arm and thus should lend it to her for study'," Chloe decides, hefting the pickaxe some more. "On three, two and one." She swings, smashing the coffin open.
Inside this coffin, there is no skeleton. Heather eyes it for a moment and says, "Look who is so fortunate to have already been stolen." She pries it further open with her shovel and looks inside. "Oh, there's something else here." She reaches in and pulls out a note, starting to unfold it. "I guess I only have to carry one corpse around."
"I'm hot property it seems! Couldn't even stay put after I've been buried," Chloe says smugly, glancing up and around now that the potential threat from below is gone. "A note huh? Fascinating."
"'The Fault Lies with the one who isn't'," says Heather, tilting her head slightly. "Well, that's annoying. This could have been written in plainspeak." A lesson that Heather apparently never learns to apply to her own approach to this kind of thing, "We already did all this legwork." She hands it off to Chloe, "It's probably yours."
Chloe rolls her eyes. "And the award for hypocrite of the year goes to Heather! Now you can suffer because of a cryptic riddle," she says smugly. "Let this be a lesson to you for the future. I guess later on we'll have to dig them all up, because there could be more notes."
"If I wrote something in riddles, there was probably a purpose to it. I'm just used to my settings being cryptic enough, I like what I read to apply. But it's a part of the game, and I accept that," says Heather, shrugging, "I still don't know what riddle I even gave to you, and if I find out, I'd be temporally obliged to write the riddle in the first place."
"And so whoever wrote this might have had a reason for making it cryptic too! But why pick my grave I don't know… I guess because it'd be easiest to check if it was me? So it'd be the most likely to get dug up," Chloe suggests, wandering around the graveyard. "Can you take the pickaxe too? I'll need my hands free for deer hunting."
"Yeah, I'll take that, and I'll grab my skeleton," says Heather, "Meet up later? I'll get some water started so that you won't have to wait as long for your bath." With that, she grabs all of the tools, strapping them to herself and her wax case, before retrieving the skeleton, and heading off.
