Difference between revisions of "Amateur Disintegrater"

Revision as of 13:52, 4 June 2019

{{ | date=01/01/2019 | summary=What this scene's about. (optional) | cast=

• Alma
• Jim

| place_name=Conner Creek Industrial | place_desc=Somewhere near a hulking assembly plant there is a pit with a number of steel drums. Some of the drums are cracking and have leaked toxic sludge into the earth around them. | log=January 1, 2019

Happy New Year. This toxic spill has seen a lot of activity. Alma brought it to the attention of the Detroit Biodiversity Network's #measure2diy committee. The committeee is a group of ecological activists who have the responsibility to coordinate dangerous projects in Measure 2. There are some things amateurs shouldn't try. This committee keeps the location of those types of projects secret, and amateurs are allowed to help in other ways. There's been work at the DBN center to identify the best spill containment material for this stuff after identifying its components.

Alma has helped with these things, but she's also been talking to some of the mages about this. Wednesday thought perhaps they could surround it with plants, but he was concerned about the corruption that happened with the boars. Kai mentioned willow as a cleansing influences. Alma has been on the cusp of something. Maybe it's just presque vu, maybe it's Reality telling her something. She's been watching the place to get an idea. She wants to see tar pits. She wants to see salt flats. She also wants to help clean this up. She doesn't trust hiring professionals because it's hard to find an ethical company to handle toxic waste.

She heard about the fight that went down. Note was there and managed to convey some idea of the violence and what happened. She's heard from others at how terrorfying those things were. She'd like to learn a little from Jim about what he can see while she works on this. She's been sitting quietly and observing this place over time. If you want to clean something, New Year's Day is auspicious. In the minds of billions it signifies a great turning. She sent Note out to find Jim and invite him to come watch this place with her.

Jim blinks when Alma says she wants to go out to the site. He raises a hand. "Ma'am, I know you like to ride your bike and all, but I reckon you should let me give you a ride. The last time I was out there, I found miss Kai treed. I know they're dead and all, on account of the N... folks who took care of it." He has to pause to keep his promise to the Garou, even if miss Sandra hasn't been seen in a while. "Let me go home and get my truck and I'll bring you there." And so he'll do that, flying home, then driving back to drive them to the site. "I'm still not comfortable coming here even if I know they're dead. They were so huge."

"I know it's dangerous," Alma says. Her expression shows a hesitancy but a firm resolve. "Notion told me some of what she saw here. I don't understand it all, but it sounded horrifying." Her jaw muscle firms up. She shows more resolve despite some sensible fear. "But this is sonething I can help with. I have the power to help prevent things like that happening in the future. One of your maybe-friends told me about the spill too."

Jim nods. "The folks who killed them did do a spiritual cleansing of the site, but there's still all the spill itself, and the industrial waste. You have a plan for fixing that?" He'll get out of the truck, verify his rifle is accessible, then lock it up.

Alma gets out of the truck and carries her gear. "I have a plan, but it's tricky. It might not work right away." She walks over to where some old barrels are. The place has been staked out with posts with red warning flags. The ground around the barrels is covered in pellets that soak up the liquid seeping from some of the barrels. "Thanks for having my back." She looks from Jim to where Note is perched, not too far away. "Note's here to help too." She pulls a tarp out and sets it down not far from the barrels. "I'm going to focus on a spot here. You might not notice anything, and this will take a while. If I get knocked out or something, Note will know what to do."

Jim does not bring the rifle. He just locks up the truck and tries to help carry whatever gear hse's brought with her. "Of course, ma'am. Knocked out? Is what you're doing dangerous?"

Alma stands on the tarp. She doesn't want to stand for hours in toxic soil. She shifts back and forth in a stance 80% on one leg, then the other. After some time doing this, she almost falls. It's like something shoved her. She skids back a little and recovers her stance. This might be a while.

Jim leans on his truck, watching as Alma begins with her tarp. He has no idea what she's doing, but when she gets pushed, or whatever, he gets up and walks over. "You alright?" he'll ask.

Alma takes a long quiet breath. "I'm fine. I'm working with the flow of things. Sometimes the... it's like a really strong current. I'm using what I've learned from Aikido to help. I'm learning to fall and redirect." She breathes again and considers her center. She doesn't stumble this time, but someone who knows Aikido could probably see the faults in her form.

Jim isn't quite sure what to make of that, folding his arms. But she seems confident it's alright, so he'll trust her. "Alright, ma'am." He walks back to his truck, and pulls out his phone after a while. "I can stay for the whole thing. This does seem important."

...five hours later

A patch of ground in the area changes. Alma opens her eyes and looks at Jim. "It worked!" She looks at Note, "It worked!" She points to the patch of ground beyond her tarp. The soil there looks more natural. The soil around it has some of the iridescence and glitter of a raven's wing but this patch looks different. "I'm exhausted. though. I thought I could bike back.. but could I get a ride instead? home?" She wipes some sweat from her brow and then ties up her hair to get the damp off of her neck. "ugh, sweating in cold weather. clammy"

Jim looks up from his phone after a while, and walks on over. He looks. "Nice work ma'am. I reckon this'll be very hard, and you might not be able to do it yourself. You know anyone who can help? Can Emma or, Kai, or any of them do this stuff?"

Alma shakes out the tarp and carefully stows it in an isolation bag. "I talked with Kai a bit. She said willow is for cleaning up stuff. I was asking her about white rot mushrooms. I'm going to talk to some more of us." She pauses for a moment. "That person at the bird count? She is one of us. I dropped a hint with her that she could meet my intern. If you want to meet her maybe I could work something out? I think it's a good idea for those of us who know things to be aware of each other." }}