Round Robin October 2020

10 October 2020

... maybe using the mark wasn't the best plan.

Since the pattern of how the mark activated seemed to at least in part be related to Emilia's thoughts like when it activated to protect herself or to help Samantha, the group had decided to have Emilia try thinking really hard about going home. The problem, of course, was that Emilia didn't remember what home looked like or what home felt like, or where home was besides the United States. After some discussion, they ultimately decided that she should try to instinctively think of home combined with the general descriptions that Gregory and Samantha provided her. Perhaps that had been the problem.

This was definitely NOT home. Emilia didn't even need to see the looks on Gregory and Samantha's faces to know.

Emilia hadn't exactly been expecting to show up in her living room, but she did hope to at least be in the right state. Considering their environment; however, considering their current environment, this was not the beautiful island chain of Hawaii. No, that would have been too easy.

They were now standing in a veeeeeery cold place with lots of snow surrounded by an evergreen forest. The clothes that were perfect for Africa, if a little hot, were now inadequate for the lost trio. They stood in shock for what felt like an eternity but was more like five minutes.

Emilia saw Samantha move in closer for warmth.

As Samantha spoke, tremors wreaked havoc on her body. "We need shelter. We need it now." Samantha's voice was urgent and forceful.

Emilia saw Gregory look around frantically but it was obvious that he had no idea what to look for here.

Samantha spoke again, "If we move to the trees and dig into the snow next to one, we can build a little hibernation cave. Luckily the bag made it here so it's possible for us to build a fire and eat a little bit. That'll make surviving a tinsy bit easier."

Emilia and Gregory moved to do as Samantha said. They shivered their way over to the closest tree. Samantha had kept walking past them to a tree that was a little smaller around than the one that Emilia and Gregory picked.

"Why this one?" Gregory asked.

"Because this one is less likely to catch on fire and burn us," was Samantha's tense reply.

Samantha dropped the bag on the ground and began to rifle through it. "I coulda swore I saw a..." she muttered. "I was right!" She yelled triumphantly, holding a folded thing in the air. "A collapsible shovel. That'll make digging a shelter and a fire hole easier on us."

Samantha unfolded the shovel and began a motion to begin digging, but Gregory gently grabbed the shovel and ushered Samantha over to Emilia to share body heat. Gregory began to dig.

While Gregory was digging, Emilia thought up a list of pros and cons about whether or not she should try using the mark again.

1. Pro: It would get us out of this freezing place...hopefully
2. Con: It could take us somewhere worse
3. Pro: The more she tried to use it, the better her control would get...probably
4. Con: Right now it was really hard to control
5. Pro: Gregory seems to be hopeful about it...mostly
6. Con: Samantha seems iffy about it

Before she could truly make up her mind, Emilia felt something happening. Black tendrils snaked out from her forehead and plunged into the snow where Gregory was digging. Emilia started to feel both warm and exceedingly tired. Then everything went black... again.

"Em- -ake" someone shook her violently. "Y- -n't -eep -ow." Her mind felt sluggish, and she was cold. "EMILIA!" Emilia shot up when Gregory shouted in her ear.

"What was that for?!"

"You can't sleep right now." Gregory had an apologetic look on his face. "This hole, cave, thing is a lot better than outside in the snow, but it's still really cold, and we don't have enough wood for a fire yet."

With that remark, Emilia's mark proceeded to burn on her forehead, sending out new black tendrils towards the nearby trees. Emilia passed out.

Samantha was on her knees leaning over Emilia when Emilia opened her eyes.

"Professor Xoi, she's awake!"

It felt warm and Emilia could not see the sky above her.

"Where are we?"

"The cave the mark helped us dig," Gregory replied, making his way from the fire that Emilia just noticed.

"How big is this place?"

"It isn't as big as the cabin but not as small as the room we were locked in in Africa either," Samantha replied. "That mark is as handy as Deux Ex Machina in books. Resolves problems but makes twenty more in the process."

Gregory nodded before adding "Yeah, but I doubt it can give us clothing. While we do have a fire and shelter, we only have a little food and we can't exactly go foraging or hunting the way we're dressed right now."

She was still a little groggy, but listening to Gregory and Samantha gave Emilia the determination to try using the mark again. At this point, they weren't going to survive if she didn't, so she might take the risk of causing twenty more problems.

"Can you describe home again?" She asked.

Gregory looked at her worriedly. "Em," he paused and glanced at Samantha, "er Emilia, you're not thinking of trying the mark again right now, are you? I mean, yeah, we probably should, but not right after you woke up after the second time you passed out in an hour."

"I second that." Samantha cut in. "No sense in usin' that thing now. Just give it a minute, maybe a few minutes. Catch yer breath, make sure you ain't gonna pass out before ya manage to make it work, reduce the risk of sending us to the seventh circle o' Hell."

Emilia sighed but nodded her assent. "Okay, but not too long."

Gregory studied Em's face for a moment. She was clearly frustrated with this situation, and he guessed she felt at least partly responsible for this situation even though it wasn't her fault at all. If anyone was to blame, it was him. She had told him not to push the button, but he did anyway. If he had just listened, the. None of this would have happened.

Well, there was nothing he could do about that now. The best thing he could do was support Em and try to keep all three of them alive. He understood why she wanted to try using the mark again, but he really didn't want her to end up killing herself by using it too frequently and draining out all of her energy.

If he had calculated correctly, the rations they had left should still last a couple days. Samantha seemed to know a bit about survival in the outdoors - though he suspected this situation was a first - so she might know how to make some simple traps that they could use to catch small game, assuming there was small game to catch. They might also be able to forage nuts of some kind.

The real problem was clothing. Even if they doubled up with what they were currently wearing and the spare sets they had managed to steal while they were in Africa, it wouldn't be anywhere near enough to keep them warm in the extreme cold. They might be able to turn the bag into a cloak of some kind... there was a basic sewing kit in it. That would at least help a little bit, but it might not be enough, and it would only help one of them.