Wastelands ~ The Game's afoot

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"Certainly. If you would excuse us Nidia."

Sydney waited until he and Virgil got to the lab.

"What's wrong? You're not normally like this, Virgil. You seemed somewhat...off." Sydney said, but rather tersely. Virgil had never asked for a discussion on a personal matter. It must be serious. And something must be wrong with Virgil....

"Whoa, whoa. I can take a hint." She looked vaguely humored as she crossed to the door. "I'll be off to my room and you can talk wherever you like. Goodnight, gentlemen."

"I'm losing it again, I saw Cameron outside the bunker door and I am starting to see my dead friends and relatives when I am alone." Quivering as he spoke Virgil went on. "I'm f*****g losing it again and I need you to assume control of the keycard system untill I am completely sane again."

"Cameron? Who was she?"

((I'm assuming here that Sydney doesn't know about Virgil's past as much. That's why Sydney didn't comment about Cameron during Virgil's flake-out in the entrance.))

"Virgil, they're dead. We're alive. I'll take control of the keycard system if you wish. But I think you should get some rest. And remember, mortuis nil nisi bonum. 'Speak nothing but good of the dead.' They can't hurt you. The past can only hurt if you let it."

As Sydney talked, a voice behind the drums spoke.

At last......

Dun-dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun.....

"You don't remember Cameron?! The woman who lived with me for five years?! The one who we saw die from a sniper's round as we fled into the bunker!?" Virgil finally broke down completlely. "My god, your losing it in ways I am not. I'm probably better off with the codes or I'll give them to Alan."

Walking out of Sydney's lab Virgil tried to have a composed walk, he wasn't sure Sydney was sane anymore either. Luckily he could hack the system and get his control parameters for the greenhouse just incase he went mad.

When Alan got back he'd teach him his codes instead.

WTF was that all about? thought Sydney.

He's losing it. He's never told you about Cameron all his time with you. Not even once. He would have told you by now...

Who are you?

I am you, imbecile. The part of you you have denied all of this time. The drums you have heard since that fateful day, the call....

...to war.....

NO! War was what got us into this predicament.

Think about it. Without you, Virgil will never had had this shelter up in time before the bombs started flying. Without you, he'd be dead, or at least living in a miserable hole instead of comparative luxury.

Shut up!

You cannot silence me. I am you. Perhaps Alan and this new woman may understand, but Virgil and Colonel Blimp would turn on you instantly. You must dispose of them.

I will not!! !!

Sydney, reeling from the inner dialogue, picked up the DEW, clicked it to a setting, and put the barrel in his mouth.

NO!! !! You coward!! ! Why don't you grasp destiny?

If you knew me, then you would know what I am doing, but you don't.

He pulled the trigger over the screams of rage in his head. He felt a shockwave go through his head and collapsed to the floor, his head briefly flaring from positive to negative.

The DEW clattered to the ground, the setting marked clearly as being set to stun....

((He was trying to burn the voice out of his head, people....))

Virgil hoped to death he was wrong about Sydney losing his memory, he honestly hated his personality - he was too meek most of the time and his accent drove him up the wall. But Virgil knew he was critical to keeping things going in the bunker.

He rolled over the options in his mind, he could try and learn about agriculture and work things as Sydney fell apart. Maybe he could that Spainish womans help to - she looked like she could learn well enough. He could just keep going for a while yet and see what happened, but that wasnt the Virgil way.

He should probably tell Alan or the Colonel the keycard codes, both of them had pluses and minuses. He was least trustful of Alan, he could betray him at any time but he was better with computers then the Colonel. The Colonel was loyal to him to the death but would need to be taught how to run the computers.

After a good ten minutes he decided the Colonel was better - more work but in the end the Colonel wouldn't use the codes to kill him.

Sydney's hand twitched, and then he got up. He looked around briefly, and a somewhat bemused, if strangely lopsided, smile came to his face. He looked through the computers.

"So, he actually went ahead and did it." Sydney laughed. His fingers tapped out a tattoo on the desk as thoughts raced through his mind. He called up the comms system (he still had access) and watched as Virgil headed towards the computer room.

"Hmmm, are we being naughty, Virgil?" said Sydney to himself. He hadn't activated the actual PA system or the radio....

He was then caught by an image of Nidia wandering the corridors.

"You should not be doing that alone, my dear..." spoke Sydney softly. He then looked at the equipment. He estimated he had enough time to commit the necessary parts of the system to his memory palace. An hour or so. Then, he knew what he had to do to deal with Virgil....

((Sydney has a look a bit like this ATM:



Freaky, eh??))

((Yes, freaky! I can't wait. )

Virgil was trying to sleep but he was still too confused and crazy feeling.

"Virgie, you always did this when the chips were down, couldn't sleep on decisions. Always kept me awake at night you know, your constant tossing and turning..."

Virgil tried to tell himself the voice wasn't there but just couldn't believe it. Cameron sounded so real. But it still felt so insane and he justed covered his ears and eyes with his pillow. About two minutes later he felt someone was pounding on his head and heard some shouting "Don't give me this "your going insane" BS, I am here goddamnit!"

Unable to stand the pounding anymore he pulled away the pillow, and he could see Cameron - her own aged looking face and strained glare which he had to come love. He thought he was going mad but this was certainly better then covering himself up and hiding from the delusions.

Cameron pulled herself off the bed and walked back towards his books and started rooting through them. "Now thats better, lets get the stupid questions out of the way first."

"One, I don't know why I am here. An atheist would say I am a delusion of your mind made up of what you want to remember about me or a Freudian one would say I am your sexual desires or your penis or some other crazy s**t."

"A spirtual person would say I am her spirt come back to guide you through rough times or your spirit totem. I don't f*****g know."

"A religious person would say I am an angel or a servant of "God" or some s**t."

"Whatever works for you, but for whatever reason your seeing me and I am seeing you. And I know all about you Virgie. That is my old nickname for you, came from me hating your name. Damn upper class morons named you."

When she found the book she wanted she sauntered back over and plopped down back on the bed, it looked like some book by Stephen King - The Gunslinger. "I think you need my companionship for whatever reason I am here and where ever I came from is probably damn boring so lets make the most of it, deal?"

When Cameron extended her hand and opened her palm he couldn't help but shake and say "Deal".

"Good, now get some sleep. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be tough on you poor old f****r."

Not brothering to listen to the last thing she said he Virgil just fell asleep, glad the delusion was gone.

Sydney, meanwhile, worked on the DEW. There were only meagre tools around for this, but he was able to rework the circuitry and charge capacitance of the DEW. There would be a risk of an accidental back flow of electrical power, but it would be worth it, to be able to fire at least 10 killing blasts, if not more. And he had a plan to get out. The decontamination spray was in a pump spray rather than an aerosol for a good reason. He'd accidentally discovered (before the nuclear war, and well before Virgil had even approached him to build the bunker), he was working in his lab on the decontamination spray, hoping it could be used on the old nuclear test sites, like at Maralinga. But he discovered that when mixed with the hydrocarbons that were the propellent in aerosols, the mixture became dangerously explosive.

(And wasn't that when he first heard the drums?)

Pushing that whisper of a thought aside, he pulled out the aerosol cans. Deodorant (for when he had neglected to shower before using the computer), various spray on repair cements, and, of course, computer screen wipe. He smiled.

Sydney want big boom.....

((EDIT: He isn't going to just blow up the door, but rather cause much more havoc than that. He will wait until the right moment.))

Virgil woke oddly refreshed, he'd had the oddest dream. In it he'd seen Cameron and even talked to her for a while. He slowly yanked himself out of bed and slipped back in his beat up out mechanics outfit. Virgil decided he needed to take the Chinese shotgun back to the armory so the Colonel didn't rip his head off for being messy with the military equiqment.

He also had to apolgize to Sydney for calling him insane, neither of them maybe completely sane but he still respected him for being one smart s**t. Picking up the shotgun, his pistol and survival laptop he headed out.

As he closed the door to his room he heard a welcome voice. "Damn, you take a llooonnnggg time to get up and about even after the Apocolypse." Cameron had appeared right beside him, but somehow it wasn't making feel insane anymore. In fact it was downright comforting, she was in her favorite T-Shirt (Ozzfest 07') and a baggy pair of pants. "What? Last night wasn't a delusion ya' know. We made a deal to make the best of this weird arrangement and I am expecting you to hold up your end of the bargain."

"Sure Cam, just don't disaapear on me again. Had me seeing things for a while and thinking I was going mad." Virgil hobbled through the various halls without seeing anything besides Cameron and somehow he didn't mind Cameron any more.

"Should probably go see the Aussie first, you really hurt that guy I think." Cameron pulled a pack of smokes out of her back pocket and lit up, savoring the bite of a minute before they moved on. "I'll stick around with you if you like, that extra confidence ya' know?"

"Thanks Cam"

"Forget about it!"

They walked in slience for the rest of the way to Sydney's lab. Virgil gently rapped on the door and yelled "Yo, Sydney! Came by to talk to you for a minute! Mind opening up?"

"You had better come look at this." The colonel did a sweepsearch around the car, his rifle at the ready. The sun was going down, it was nearing dusk. Snow had started to fall upon the forest road.

"I'm coming." Alan ran to the Colonel and he saw what was inside the station wagon. Alan winced when he saw the ghastly sight. "Looks like that person had a hard time getting out. I wonder what became of the driver?"

"Isn't it blatantly obvious? He was shot and left to rot." Saldana looked at the engine, which looked beyond repair. "We'd better check for footprints and tracks, just in case. You search on the other side, I'll search this area. Be back at the Dune Buggy in half an hour, and message me if you find anything, anything worthy of a look."