audio; transmission from: outside of the haven

[gtfostalker]

[Enjoy that full minute of static, Haven. It's not getting any better. At least someone eventually starts talking... just that it's all in Russian and half-staticked out for another minute before the translator either kicks in or the man on the other end realizes that English might be easier for most people to understand.]

... -llo?

... -ve gotten los-

... -omeone come get me?

[The static increases briefly - which mostly covers a rather colorful curse that nobody needs to hear.]

I will rep-...... -ess.

... -ank you.

[The transmission cuts out shortly after that, returning the Link to its regularly scheduled silence.]

Comments

[gtfostalker]

The rest of Ukraine is very nice, but the Zone... forget it. It's too crazy to just visit. You should visit the rest if Europe sometime though, it's very nice. What I saw anyway. [Though it's been a long time; who knows how things have gone since he went into the Zone.]

[He laughs.] Not data banks, but we have brains. They can have trouble too. [Especially Strelok's.]

[raceme]

If I ever get back, which I doubt, I will see if I can go there. What makes the Zone so bad, though?

Ah, brains, right. I'm sure McCoy can give it a look ad wee if you need rest or something.

[gtfostalker]

It is very dangerous, even for veteran stalkers like me. Everything will kill you, no lies.

McCoy. He is a doctor, then?

[raceme]

So it's like...the badlands? [Blurr looks at away, to the mountain's directions.]

Yes he is. A human one too..

[gtfostalker]

[Strelok glances in the same direction. That he definitely doesn't remember...] I do not know the Badlands so much. The Zone... everything will kill you, but that's not it's aim. Not really.

[It's just a consequence of things.]

Ah, so a human doctor, in more senses than one.

[raceme]

Sound bad enough. What's the true purpose of the zone,a side from endless murder?

[Blurr grimaces, wondering what was all that about.]

Yes. He's very good at at it, I think.

[gtfostalker]

Purpose? [He laughs a little.] It has no 'purpose'. It just... is. Like the rest of nature, but a little, ah... [Strelok wags his head side-to-side in a gesture that says 'ehhhhh'.] ... warped.

We shall have to see about that. I know one of the best in the business.

[raceme]

Warped. [Sounds bad, man.]

Is he here too?

[gtfostalker]

[He points to Blurr and grins.] Exactly. Warped physics, warped mutants. Even stalkers are a little warped.

I do not think so, or he would have called to bitch at me by now.

[raceme]

Warped mutants are something I never want to face. You said you where a stalker.

AH, I see. Do you want me to help you get back to the Haven?

[gtfostalker]

You don't want to meet them, no. They will melt your brain to jelly for being in the room. And I am, a stalker and warped both; you have to be a little crazy to go into the Zone.

I would appreciate it if you could. I will pay you back, of course.

[raceme]

I'm very against brain melting, so I rather not. [He gives Strelok a suspicious look, he cant' help it. He knows that male humans are tricky creates sometimes.] You look normal to me. At least so far.

You don't need to pay me anything, helping you is the right thing to do. We need to go to the east.

[gtfostalker]

Good. Let us keep it that way, da? [Strelok mostly just looks like a thin, dirty, bald fellow in a hoody and armor. What you see with him is exactly what you get.] Ah, it is not all in the looks.

[Unfortunately for Blurr, this just makes him quietly resolve to pay him back. Let it never be said a stalker doesn't pay their debts!] You will lead the way? I am... fuzzy on the directions and my PDA and the Link are not locating things for shit today.

[raceme]

Yes, that seems like a great idea. [Is not the looks what worry Blurr, is the intentions. But Strelok has been nice so far and that's more than what Master Disaster did.] So true.

[Blurr will be surprised when that happens, but grateful.]I can carry you if you want. we could arrive to the Haven much faster if we do that.

[gtfostalker]

[Really, he wouldn't know what to do with a car-controlling device if you gave it to him with all the instructions. Strelok is more interested in drinking and exploring than races.]

That would perhaps be the best way, yes. My dignity will recover, and I should get back and ask Nexus about all of this soon.

[Because something is weird here.]

[raceme]

[That is a good thing and drinking and exploring is not so bad. Blurr likes exploring a lot.]

I promise I will try not to hurt your dignity too much. [Blurr's hands move down, silently asking permission to pick him up. For a bot of his size, his hands are quite big.]

[gtfostalker]

[Strelok and Blurr should get along well, then. Except when Strelok hauls into the wilderness on his own.]

It is hard to hurt, I promise. [Strelok nods once, and takes hold of one of Blurr's fingers to boost up and stand in that hand. He's surprisingly casual about it, really.]

[raceme]

[Strelok that might get you killed!]

That's a good thing. [He is, and it surprises Blurr how not worried he is about a giant robot holding.]

Ready? [Blurr pulls him close to his chest to minimize the wing resistance and starts to run. He's not running as fast as he usually does to make sure the organic is not hurt by accident but he's still moving really fast.]

[gtfostalker]

[But he always does that, it's practically tradition.]

Surprised by something? [Really, robots are one of the least weird things that have happened in his life before. And being carried by one... well, it's like a friendly talking car but with legs. He can work with this.]

Ready. [He does, at least, sit himself down first, watching the landscape speed by them.] You are extremely fast! [Strelok isn't actually sure how far he was out but now Blurr's speedy arrival makes sense.]

[raceme]

[Some traditions are bad, you know.]

You seem very calm. [Blurr appreciates the fact that he's not panicking, scared people are harder to deal with, it's just that it's new to him.]

Thankyousir. [The mech grins.] I'm the faster bot alive. I take pride on it.

[gtfostalker]

Well, I could try screaming in horror, if you like. [He's just not the sort to panic, really. Even when he really ought to panic.]

I can see that. I would take pride in it too, were it me.

[raceme]

NooooOOOOOOooooo it's not really necessary. [Blurr chuckles, he doesn't really enjoy hearing screams.]

Thank you! What are you Stalkers good at?

[gtfostalker]

What are Stalkers good at? [Strelok practically crows.]

Stalkers are good at surviving. We can take care of ourselves in a fight and we are good at living on very little - little food, little water, little ammo. And we can find things and get into places that others cannot go.

[raceme]

Ah then you and my people already have something in common. We are really really hard to kill. Most of us are not _{so good at the whole getting into places, though}. I'm on the small scale but others are as big as a planet.

[gtfostalker]

Well. It is not so much that we are hard to kill - we are not armored like you. It is easy enough to die in the Zone. But when you have been around long enough, you learn your way. I have seen how big some of you can get; I do know the ones called First Forged.