Elsewhere

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[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Y'know? I thought it was weird that there weren't any critters, despite all these plants being around. Guess we know why now."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"Perhaps, though all worlds develop differently. The conditions here may support life unlike that which existed on our homeworld."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Yeah. And if all the plants here are poisonous, and even the dirt is trying to kill me... this world probably won't support life like us at all, huh."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"...be sure you clean your hands thoroughly, Dex."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

You are crouched barefoot in the surf, scrubbing your hands in the seawater. A long beach of shimmering dark grey sand stretches to your left and right. Despite being cast in the shade of the steep hill you climbed down from, the sand is still hot from baking in the afternoon light. Dee Dee watches you work, from just beyond the reach of the waves. Farther behind them rises the red hill, and it's metal spire. It gleams in the evening sun, casting an impossibly long shadow out onto the water.

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"We are lucky that your hands did not have any open wounds. Skin contact alone should not have been enough to do you any harm. Just wash well, don't handle crushed red vegetation or soil with your bare hands again, and you should be fine."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"And you're absolutely sure this water is safe to wash off in?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"Please trust me. It is as you said before; we can each do things the other cannot. By sticking together, we can watch one another's back."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"You'd better be right. Literally smells like the ocean farted."[/box][/2x1]

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Suggestions:

This is the last time you're picking something up without gloves.

1) >You shouldn't have touched those with your bare hands: ITCHY! RED! WELTS!
>Something bad about the soil in this area: It's full of heavy metals! Nasty stuff.
2) DUNK YOUR HANDS IN NEAREST WATER SOURCE RUN RUN GO

The vaporization process takes a good deal of power, and the process has drained Dee Dee's energy reserves by multiple hours of standard operation.

The test found high levels of heavy metals in the soil and plants. While the plant matter could be nutritious, consuming it as-is would quickly lead to heavy metal poisoning. Inhaling airborne soil particulates will also lead to heavy-metal poisoning over a longer time scale.

Dex should also immediately fashion some kind of face mask. Since the idea is to filter particulates, even a coarse cloth should do the trick.

Your shoulders are still stiff with the tension of the last few minutes. Dee Dee's "taste" sensors weren't really designed to do detailed chemical analysis, so the tests took a considerable bit of energy. The were down to about 80% power before they were satisfied with their analysis of the plant and soil samples, and broke the news to you. The soil and sap covering your hands was apparently full of toxic heavy metals. The plants were, too; they'd apparently adapted to make use of them, which might be what made them red in the first place. After that, there was a moment of panic, followed by a quick plan and a frantic downhill run toward the beach. Dee Dee quickly shoved a handful of waterlogged sand into their mouth to taste-test it with their chemical sensors, then told you to wash your hands as quickly as possible. No sassy quips or jokes this time. So you kicked off your shoes, rolled up your pant-legs, and waded into the warm shallows.

You've been tense and afraid ever since you found out something went wrong with your Crossing to this world. Crouching in the water now, you can feel it in every muscle in your body. Normally, you'd take a few deep breaths to steady yourself... but you can't bring yourself to.

Up close, the water really does smell like a wet fart.

Instead of breathing that in, you try to focus your mind and relax. As you wash up, you imagine the stress gathering in your shoulders, flowing down into your arms, and pooling in the palms of your hands. Once it's there you scrub it away, along with the poisonous sap and soil, and feel it drifting off into the water. After meditating like this for a bit, your shoulders start to relax. You finish washing, shake your hands free of the acrid-smelling water, and walk back over to Dee Dee and your discarded shoes.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Okay, think I got it all. But can I just ask... why's it safe to stand barefoot on the beach? What makes this any less dangerous than the dirt up on the hill?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I suspect it is due to the water itself. I tasted reactive salts and sulfur compounds dissolved in the water, and none of the earlier toxins were present in the sand either. Though it would be unwise for you to drink from the sea, as evinced by the foul smell you mentioned, the compounds in the water seem to react with the toxic metals, rendering them inert. Wherever the sea meets the shore, the toxins are purified, and the metals precipitate out as harmless black granules."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

Dee Dee gestures broadly, indicating the steely-grey beach that curves off in both directions.

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"The black granules covering the beach seem analogous to pencil lead, or other non-toxic minerals found on our homeworld. They are harmless in this state. At worst, they may stain your skin and clothing a metallic grey."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Wait, that hardly sounds harmless!"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I assure you, the black sand poses no..."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"...because when we meet up with the rest of the expedition, I'm gonna look like I got in a fight with some art supplies. It's gonna ruin my first impression."[/box][/2x1]

Dee Dee tilts their head, antennae twitching as if they weren't sure they heard you right. Then, they notice your smile. You get the distinct impression they'd be smiling back if they could.

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I see. Then I will do my best to defend you against such accusations. Will you be wanting your shoes to wear?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"No thanks, I'll carry them. As long as we're staying on the beach, I'll go barefoot for a while. At least until my feet dry off."[/box][/2x1]

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Suggestions:

The bright side is, you have a ready source of metals, and some effect is already purifying them for you into this spire. You also have sea water nearby. Dex should keep in mind the possibility of making galvanic cells to recharge Dee Dee, at least to some extent.

The first priority now is to find fresh water. First, don't assume that just because there's a big body of water that it's salt water. Check if the sea is potable. If not, see if you can use your Quantum ComPad to communicate with Dee Dee over long distances. If so, split up and move opposite directions along the coast until one of you finds a river feeding into the sea, then that one signal the other. If not, pick a direction and move together.

Either way, scratch a message into the surface of the spire, in case other members of your expedition end up coming here as well.

Oh wow, what kinduva lame-ass synth model doesn't come with solar panels, especially when traveling to an uninhabited planet? We should definitely try to make some as soon as we can, although the raw materials probably won't be easy to come by.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"So, I've been thinking. If there's reactive chemicals in the water, and a big tower of some sort of metal up there... I might be able to make some sort of chemical battery. It'd be kinda crude, but if worse comes to worse, that's a way we could keep you charged."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I thought that we had already decided that my power requirements should..."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"...should be secondary to the biological requirements of my woefully inefficient meat body, I know. That's why I'm going to walk down this beach, and see if I can find a stream running into the sea or something. But I also don't want to completely ignore something that could help you out, when it's right in front of us."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"The spire, you mean? What would you propose we do with it?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"How about while I'm looking for drinking water, you run back up that hill and see if you can carve off some of the metal from the spire to take with us? Maybe scratch a message into the thing while you're at it?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1]

Well. Given that we came here because the metal spire is highly visible, there is a reasonable chance someone else may turn up to investigate...

[|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Yeah, that's my thinking too. It's a huge landmark, so if people from our expedition are in the area, I bet they'll check it out eventually. If we leave a note there, they'll at least know we're around."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"In that case, I could try to find some means by which to harvest some of the metal, and etch a message into it, yes. But... did you not also just finish convincing me that sticking together was the best course of action?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Well yeah, I did. And I still think that! But I'm just going down the beach a ways. And I'll have my ComPad, so we can call each other if anything comes up. Alright?"[/box][/2x1]

After some back and forth, eventually Dee Dee agrees. You suspect they might be a bit confused or upset about the changes of plan, but they don't say anything, and you don't ask about it either. Instead, the Synth gives you a quick nod to excuse theirself and heads toward the red hill, investigating a few rocks that might make for decent hammers or chisels. Meanwhile, you set off barefoot down the black beach.

The wind hisses faintly through the hostile vegetation, while gentle waves lap against the shore. Thankfully, the sulfuric stink is faint this far from the water's surface. The dark sand feels strange underfoot... there's a dry and waxy slickness to the way it shifts as you walk, and you can feel it caking onto your still-wet feet. Your shoes dangle in your off-hand, and you see the sorts of pencil-lead-colored smudges and streaks that Dee Dee warned you about all over them. You know it's silly to worry about, but you still find yourself making a mental note to wash them, once you're finally settled somewhere.

You walk uneventfully for some time. As you go, you keep the alien sea on your right side, where one end of the faintly glowing planetary ring vanishes beyond the far horizon. The other end of the ring's arch disappears behind the poisonous hills on your left, with the sun hanging just above them. The chill of evening is starting to creep into the air, but the sand is still warm and the sky is still well lit. You hope the daylight sticks around for long enough for you to find some water, or at least a safe place to sleep. Unfortunately, you don't see either of those anywhere ahead of you. Unless of course, you want to sleep in the shadow of that weirdly-shaped rock up ahead.

Wait, is that a rock? You're suddenly not sure. It's flat, white, roundish, and... looks kinda like it's embedded at an unstable angle in the black sand. It almost looks like there's steam coming off it. And... there's something darker crumpled up next to it too...

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Suggestions:

A better option might be the smoking impact site at about 4 radians. A crash site means modern materials, things you can use to build a shelter and if you're lucky some emergency supplies survived.

You break into a jog toward the unidentified object, kicking sand up as you go. It doesn't take long for the silhouette to resolve itself into the telltale shape of a small, stout wing and fuselage. It is embedded partially in the black sand, and there seem to be wisps of smoke or steam drifting up and around it. You can't tell what material it's made out of, but the shape is a lot like an Aircaster... a jet-powered personal glider you're familiar with. And though it's hard to tell from this distance, you can't help but worry that the dark crumpled shape next to it may have been the pilot...

[box=#993399 border=2]What do you do?
>[/box]

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PARTY ROSTER:

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Dex Wright, Human Technician
[2x1][|][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/item.png border=16]Quantum Compad (Communicator, Computer, Database, Illegal, Unreliable):
Unlicensed, military-grade handheld computer. Loaded with information and utility software, mostly pirated. Powerful but temperamental, after many, many repairs.[/box][/2x1]

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Dee Dee, Synthetic

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