Skara Braens

Part 12

Part 11 Vote Tally

Option A: 1
Option B: 2
Option C: 0

Not going to lie. I was hoping you were going to go with this one. I like EP-149.  ONWARD!

"I have always liked the name Drest," the psionic muses, almost as if to himself.

You blink.  Was that name familiar?  Did the silent fog hiding your memories retreat a little?  Was there some flash of light in the deep dark that has become your history?  Frowning slightly, you ask, "Why do you like that name so?"

"It's silly," the psionic says.

You wait patiently until he sighs.  "It's the name of an ancient Pictish king," he admits.  "His name appears on a record of Pictish kings, with the note that he 'Lived a hundred years and fought a hundred battles.'  Near as anyone knows for sure, he never really existed, and was just placed on the list to fill a gap in the succession lists.  No one even knows if the name means anything in particular.  Still, I like the association.  And I like the idea of a long life; something unfathomable in our current situation."

Smiling, you nod.  "Well then, Drest," you say.  "It is a delight to meet you.  Again."

The newly named Drest smiles.  "I like you, stranger.  There's something about you that is amenable and kind.  For all your mysteries, I feel I can trust you.  That is a rare trait."

"How can it be rare?  Do you not trust the men around you?"

"They do not trust me, so I cannot offer them trust.  It's... it's complicated."

"A strange tribe, and one doomed to fall, if they cannot trust one another."

"We're not a tribe.  We're a bunch of strangers thrown together by the events of the last fifty or so years."  Drest cocks his head.  "Strange word choice again, stranger.  Tribe.  There have not been any tribes here for a very long time."

"Let me guess," you note sardonically.  "Thousands of years."

"Almost.  Yes." 

A buzzer sounds and Drest sighs.  "I have to return.  I will be back tomorrow with everything you need to learn how to read.  Here, let me take your plate."

Handing the thin sheet of tin up to Drest you smile.  "Thank you, Drest.  I look forward to your visit tomorrow."

"So do I, stranger."

You watch the psionic leave the prison, then turn back to the empty, cavernous space or sterile metal and sigh.

Boredom threatens to take your mind by the time Drest returns with breakfast the following morning.  You must look slightly unhinged, because the psionic pauses with a queer expression on his face when he lays eyes on you.

"You do not look well," he notes, handing over the tray of food to you.

"I do not feel well.  My mind is falling apart, it seems.  I have had nothing to do, and I cannot even fall back upon remembrances in my long moment of stillness.  I have none of those.  Drest, please, I do not think I can take this punishment."

"It was not intended to be punishment, but I will see what I can do.  In the meantime, I think I can help relieve the boredom some.  Eat your breakfast and we'll get to learning how to read."

Drest spent the entire morning with you, helping you make sense of the sounds of the alphabet in relation to their symbols.  Your eager mind is like a sponge, absorbing all twenty-six letters of the alphabet and their respective sounds quickly.  It surprises you not that some of the symbols have a number of sounds associated with them, though they are all, oddly, considered the same letter.  You decide that, linguistically at least, the each letter encompasses a spectrum of closely related sounds and that, since the various sounds do not distinguish meaning in most words, they all have acquired the same symbol.  Still, it seems to you that the alphabet ought to be much longer, given the number of actual sounds in this language.

Satisfied that you can now amuse yourself endlessly with trying to pronounce every word based on just your knowledge of the sounds of their symbols, Drest leaves you to your devices to fetch your lunch for you.  You immediately set to task, running around the prison, attempting to read every wall plaque, notice and sign you can.

When the prison doors open again, you run back up the stairs to inform the returning Drest that you have read and understood the plaques identifying the section in which you have made your bed.

Cell Block B

At first you thought it made no sense, because what on earth is a kell?  But then you remembered from your lessons that the letter 'c' is often pronounced as if it were actually the letter 's' and then you understood perfectly.

But it is not Drest who greets your enthusiastic grin, but a young man with sharp green eyes and a chestnut hair.  Your smile falters.

"Hi," the man says.

"Hello," you reply, a little hesitantly.

The man observes you a moment.  There is no malice in his gaze, but it is guarded and unfriendly.  "I'm David," he says.  He does not extend his hand in greeting.

"Hello, David.  I would tell you my name but, well, I don't remember it."

"So I've heard."

A long uncomfortable silence extends between you.  You open your mouth to enquire how you might be of help when David says, "You were following my team.  Why?"

"The truth?  I had just woken up in a hill, which I am told is called Maeshowe, and you were the first non-plant signs of life I had seen.  I did not, do not, know who I was... am... or what I was supposed to do, and so, with no other options available, I followed.  At the very least, I had hoped that you might lead me to food, or water, or a friendly tribe in the region, though I am told there are no real tribes left here."

David's eyes narrow at you, and you can almost see his mind working behind them.  You use this opportunity to take his measure.  He is tall, and, had half his face not be a lattice of scars, would have almost been beautiful.  His green eyes are striking, and appear intelligent.  Indeed, their intelligence is unnerving.  You feel like he can see your very soul when he looks at you.

"If you are lying, I will find out," he says, the softness in his voice making the statement closer to a threat.

"I am not lying."

David grunts, then says, "We were tracking my sister's squadron before your arrival redirected us.  We're headed out again soon, permission or no.  I want to know everything you know, what you've seen, what you've heard, everything from the moment you woke up in Maeshowe to now.  And I want you with us when we go back on the hunt."

Surprised, you blink, then ask, "Why do you want me with you?"

"Never you mind about that.  Tell me what I need to know."

Uncomfortable with David's closed manner, you frown.

What do you do?

a) Deny David everything. You don't know him.  You don't trust him.
b) Give David the information he needs to find his sister, but decline to accompany him.
c) Give David all the information and help him find his sister. Family is important.

Not all is what it seems, my friends.  Voting ends midnight 8 September, 2016.

Good luck adventurers!