apocalypsehowcomm | Event - Appalachia: Into the Pines

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Event - Appalachia: Into the Pines

Appalachia: Into the Pines

Footage plays on the television as a new story comes on, showing a series of sweeping vistas, intercut with clips of wolves that have clearly been filmed at some local wildlife sanctuary. "As far as anyone knows it, the last wolf to ever freely roam the Allegheny Mountains was slain in West Virginia in 1897. Daniel Stoffer Hamrick saw to the beast's passing, and the woods in our part of the world have gone quieter ever since. Appalachia does not forget its history, though. It buries it beneath coal and flyash, debts and white powder and pills. And the blood of people taken before their time, by the mines, by the mountain, by things we don't have names for, just hurt. But Appalachia does not forget.

"This is Cindy Parsons with Channel 5, Wolf News." Footage cuts to a newscaster standing outside a gated apartment complex with FYRE's logo emblazoned on it. "As we know, our beloved Wolf Pen is home to one of the biggest FYRE worker housing complexes in Wyoming County. It is a monument to the history of our town, and this week, we'll be on the lookout for visitors from all over the country, coming to see the grand re-opening of the historic Bluestone Mine as a museum."

Footage cuts to a nondescript businessman, identified by the news footage as Carl Watts, CEO of FYRE. He's smiling blandly as he stands at a podium and gestures to the entrance of the mining tunnel behind him. "The Wolf Pen community has been a partner to us for decades now, and we knew it was finally time to give something back to all y’all. We'll have our soft opening on Monday with a full Rumble Down Under party in the old mines scheduled for June 15th. We'll have a live bluegrass concert and anticipate a huge influx of tourists to the area to help out our neighbors itching for a few more pocketbooks to tend to." A wink.

The footage returns to Cindy. "FYRE has stated that this new museum will provide an educational tool and tourist attraction for those wanting to learn about West Virginia, Wolf Pen, and the hard-working men and women who have made this beautiful part of our nation their home. Time will tell. Time is always telling when it comes to the promises of people who have used our land and our bodies to line their pocketbooks. They fill our blood and our lungs with black tar and-"

Cindy cuts out and is replaced by in-studio anchors. "Thank you, Cindy!" a blonde woman says, smile just a little strained. "I think we're all looking forward to seeing the big opening by FYRE on Sunday and that rocking good party next month. It should be a gneiss one! Now to Tim with the weather. Tim?"

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[This whole thing is still slightly formal for his understanding, but... hey, whatever works. So he nods, maybe still a bit too stiff, and gestures to the car.]

So, uhm, like I said, this is a car. It runs on a uh, a type of oil called gasoline. There's a machine in the front of it that, uhm, burns the oil and turns it into energy, like how a candle makes light when you burn it. That energy makes it move.

[He's really hoping that makes sense, and he's giving one of those faces that makes him look way less confident than his words sound.]

[It's probably a good thing Hunter doesn't have a pen and paper on himself, because if he could he'd be taking notes right now. He'll just have to commit all of this to memory - cars seem common enough here that this information must be important.]

I see. How does the energy produced from burning oil wind up propelling the car forward? There must be additional steps. I assume there are also safety measures taken to control the burning process?

[How does a combustion engine work Martin this is important!!!]

[UUHHHH OH NO]

Oh, yes, lots of uhm-- lots of safety. Things. I'll, uh, well to be honest, I don't really know the, uhm, finer points of how these work, but it just sort of... you know, as it burns, it creates heat, and heat can be used as pressure to make things move.

[Wait he has an idea. Why be Wikipedia when he can teach Wikipedia? He rifles around in his pocket for a moment, and retrieves his phone.]

You have one of these, right? Has anyone showed you how to use it?

[Hunter's shoulders slump a fraction, disappointed that he isn't going to get a full, detailed explanation of how a car works.]

Oh, I do. [He pulls his phone out of his pocket, holding it out.] This... phoon? [Is that how you pronounce it?] I was given it by the ADI. It's similar to the Penstagram Scrolls witches have back home, but I never owned one of those.

[Oh, oh no, he's cute. Martin can't even see through the mask and already he thinks he's cute.]

It's, uh-- it's called a phone. With an 'e' at the end. See, it's, uhm... here.

[He turns around a bit to come up next to Hunter so he can show off what's on his phone's screen.]

See, this can be used for a lot of things, but one of those things is information. If you click on this little icon here at the bottom, and type into the box here...

[He clicks open the internet browser, and then opens the search, and types in 'car engine' before pressing go. The results auto-populate in just a few seconds.]

If you put any word or phrase in there, you can find information about it. See, uh, this site, Wikipedia, has a lot of information about pretty much anything you could be curious about.

[He's so glad he's wearing his mask right now, because he can feel his ears burning.]

Phone. Right. [He's committing that to memory as he peers down at the screen intently. If this phone thing can give him information, then he wants to learn. His eyes widen as the search results pop up - it's almost instantaneous.]

This is amazing! How much information does this have? Can I really put any word in and get results like this??

[It's okay buddy, Martin won't tease you for this. You look like you're doing your best, especially if you're asking about how a car works. Instead, he just gives a gentle and hopefully encouraging smile.]

Yeah! It's uh, it's a function called the internet. If you've seen, uhm-- well when we're back at ADI headquarters, you can ask someone to show you a computer. It can do the same thing, but it's uh-- it's bigger, so, it's easier to see. Stop me if, uhm, I-I'm going too fast.

[He appreciates the lack of teasing, thank you Martin. He gets enough of that back home, and around here with Eda.

He's eager to take his phone back and start scrolling through this 'internet' thing.]

You aren't. [He shakes his head.] I've never heard of it before. It sounds like an entire library is in here.

[It's okay, he'll only start teasing if they become friends. Then he will absolutely do that.]

It is! More than a library, really. You can add to it yourself, as well, if you have anything you want to share. Anyone can, so, it-- you can find answers to almost anything on here, provided you've got the time, o-of course.

I see. [Oh man, a library he can add his knowledge to! That's even better.]

I'm sure I have plenty of knowledge to contribute to this. [He sounds excited, having no clue how big of a mistake the internet is. He's doomed.] Thanks for telling me about this.

[Martin really feels like he should caveat this somehow about all the kinds of people who can be on the internet, but trying to protect someone from Twitter is like trying to stop a baby from figuring out the sky is blue. Once they're outside, they fuckin' know.]

Just remember to be a little cautious about who you're talking to, it's-- people can lie very easily online, so sometimes they'll try to get you to tell them things by pretending to be a friend or a colleague. As long as you're good about it others will too, okay?

[He has no idea how old Hunter is or if this is patronizing but god is he trying so fucking hard.]

[Hunter should really know about stranger danger when it comes to the internet given he is sixteen and the Boiling Isles has social media, but he doesn't. He's woefully uninformed about this part of life, so he's taking all of this very seriously and nodding at the advice Martin is giving.

Even if he also looks a bit put off at the idea of people lying.]

I don't see why anyone would want to lie on these things, but I can be careful. I'll be fine.

[He'll be a disaster.]

[I'm sorry Hunter, people do go on the internet and just tell lies. Martin hasn't the slightest what kind of world this dude is from, but if he didn't know what a phone was Martin is going to give the entire rundown, even if he will still likely get messed up online at some point.]

Oh I, I'm sure! Just, you know, friendly warning and all. What's your name, by the way...?

[Not that he'll be able to keep an eye on him or anything, but like. Friendly, being friendly, ect ect.]

[Oh, at that question Hunter straightens up, more than eager to give out all of his titles.]

The Golden Guard. The right hand of Emperor Belos, and the head of the Emperor's Coven.

[He's very, very important!

And after a moment, he remembers all those other encounters with people asking for his name, and he reluctantly adds:]

My name is Hunter.

[He's glad that Hunter supplied the name and not just the title, on account of the fact that Martin doesn't know what any of those titles mean. Thankfully he's a decent liar, and he keeps his face straight until the name comes up and gives a nod.]

It's nice to meet you, Hunter. I'm Martin. And uh, if you have any more questions about anything, uhm, the internet can't answer, I'm happy to help.

[Hunter, being Hunter, doesn't notice anything off-putting at all.]

I'll keep that in mind. [He gives a small nod.] Thank you.

Great! Well, enjoy your new, uhm-- car knowledge? I, I guess. I'll see you around!

[It's better Hunter doesn't know, because it lets Martin save even a little bit of face. Still, good kid, and it will certainly only hit him later he didn't actually see their face at all. Whoops.]

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Event - Appalachia: Into the Pines

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