Clearwater Gorge

[digisolutions]

[ Meanwhile, in the desert, the capital of the desert kingdom, Clearwater Gorge, is bustling with excitement. People have shown up--the summoning their leader, their "sheriff", did was successful. Maybe, just maybe, they'll be saved. Either way, the bustling little town looks straight out of a wild west movie, complete with a saloon, a graveyard outside town and all the amenities one could need in the badlands. The eponymous gorge is within walking distance, and a beautiful, clear river cuts its path through it, gentle and serene--the main source of water for the town. But uh. Welcome to Clearwater Gorge, there's a gold mine in the plateau nearby and the town seems to be running together quite peacefully despite the setting. ]

Comments

[apprivoises]

[ Takuto hers Nines, but gets distracted by... Other person. Another person. ]

...Guess we weren't the only people brought here. Hey!

[ He'll wave her over. ]

I'm Tsunashi Takuto! You get dragged here, too?

[checkingyoursettings]

Whoa. Hang on now. There's no need to be so quick on the draw. They don't SEEM actively hostile, like most machines.

[ Nervous. His scans aren't showing anything, but he can pick up on her agitation pretty easily... ]

Er... ma'am? ... It would probably be prudent to try to gather information first. Weapons can't help us if we don't know the enemy.

[sobek_uniter]

[Aloy gives them an expression of combined confusion and migraine face, nodding to Takuto.]

Aloy, and yes. As for my weapons, I'd like to at least have them since they're the hardest part of my gear to replace, and right now, I'd have to rig snares just to hunt game ... [She pauses, hand on the device on the side of her head as the light on it glows; she spends a second looking around.] ...If there even is any here...

[Crabmon just shrugs in confusion at that.]

[digisolutions]

[ Takuto's about to say something when a huge dust cloud blows in over the horizon and skids into town. They're left choking on sand for a moment after the cloud stops, skidding to a halt on the packed-down sand used for a road. And there, one the motorcycle, is what clearly has to be the sheriff. She at least looks in charge, and she'll get off, dusting herself off before noticing them. ]

Shit.

[ She clearly didn't mean to blow sand at them. ]

Sorry. I was in a hurry. BelleStarmon, and I run the desert. You guys want an explanation or do you want to figure it out for yourself?

[checkingyoursettings]

[ He holds his arms over Kudamon who is coughing and tries to cover them. ]

Cool bike, I guess, but you really didn't need to choke them. Is there uh, a faster way to get through this place?

[sobek_uniter]

I don't know about anyone else but I definitely want an explanation. [Aloy's folded her arms in front of her, clearly unhappy and not at all afraid of the weird three-eyed not-human lady - in fact, while she's not actually likely to do it, she looks about ready to throw hands.]

[Crabmon is just...standing tiredly next to her, ready to grab her ankle if she does do anything stupid - they don't THINK she's going to, but...]

[digisolutions]

Listen, you guys were called here because we tried to fix our problem and couldn't. In fact, it's just gotten worse.

[ She'll toss a disc down on the ground and it'll give a hologram map of the huge island they're all on. And she'll gesture to the area that's glitching. ]

That? That's all turning into glass. It spreads like some kinda fungal infection, infecting one of us and then finding civilization and blowing up. The area becomes glass, and everyone's frozen and shit. Time works differently here, before you get worried, it'll be like minutes at most passin' when you get back. You and your partners are special, you get it. Listen, I'm exhausted, and I'm not as good at this kinda stuff as my little sister's old lady. Angewomon knows how to talk for long periods and could probably make this a lot more clear. But this thing's spreading into my turf and I've got people to worry about protectin'.

[checkingyoursettings]

Fix your... wait. Glass? How hot is this stuff getting? Sand can be blown into glass, but this is... unnatural.

[ Says the android. ]

Also wait, this place has some kind of time dilation field?! What kind of battle have you dragged us into...?