Wealth in all its forms (Closed)

Danielle kept a short eye on Wolf as he strode off into the nearby rainforest, more to make note of where he'd gone so he didn't get lost than out of personal curiosity. He was indeed a curious individual, however, and she wasn't objecting to some familiarity. After all, as head of the security detail, it was her job to get to know the team, right? Well, she had to make do for that job with the people that were still on the bus. The large walrus, despite his size and possible muscular use in organizing the ground effort, had remained on the bus, and so the cat slinked her way over towards him. Guns were her forte.

The young crocodile, having gotten to know Samantha in the long hours they'd waited, was eager to see her fire magic at work. The teleportation magic was nauseating and he couldn't truly enjoy it all that much, besides he hadn't known the hedgehog at the time. But now, with the two of them on friendlier terms, and his own fears not overriding his sense of adventure, Leonardo peeked around the frame of Francis to catch a glimpse of flame engulfing a tree. "woo" He whispered, the bear pretending to not have noticed.

Crystal too was dragged on back to the Logistic crew with the rest of the Archaeologists, there was much to do, and many hands make like work. Under the guise of Francis, they began to unpack the bus and setup where they could while the Security team, under the guide of John, made a clearing.

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After a few more hours, and the sun having already reached its peak, beginning to lower itself back down the sky, the group had set up the camp. It wasn't getting dark yet, not by a long shot, but the sun was going down, no doubt about it. It was a difficult decision, but after a short bit of collaboration, Francis and John came to the conclusion that Team Alpha would make their way towards the archaeological site and check out the area, then in the morning Team Beta would make their way out and begin the excavation.

That would leave Karn, Wolf, Xenox, Samantha, Crystal, Bryni, and the other members of group Beta behind at the new camp that they'd only just set up. The logistic crew had equipped Alpha with a meal to go while Beta was now seated in the mess.

"Ok ok, so Karn; what's your motivation for coming on the expedition?" 

Of course there was to be conversation. The orange Coyote looked nervously between Crystal and whomever was seated next to him, the rabbit of course being seated across the table, "That... in the confidential form isn't it?" He said, unsure of whether or not he wanted to answer. This naturally caused Crystal's ears to droop, "Hey now, we're friends at this point right? No need to hide it from us."

Karn sighed, looking at the people seated around him, the cheap foldable plastic table doing very little in terms of comfort and the metal food trays only carrying a small quantity of basic food items. "I heard there was going to be pay. And as far as I see it, we've each already earned 104 rings." The rabbits expression dropped further, "-But. I've gotten to know a few of you, and I'll say you're pretty cool."


"What about you guys? Surely there's some other reason you could have come here?" She asked the other seated at the table

(Map of the camp)
https://www.deviantart.com/wolftree47/art/Map-of-the-Expedition-camp-838074505

Samantha kind of enjoyed the fact that someone enjoyed watching her do magic, but didn't let it distract her

_______________________________________________________________________

Samantha was then asked the question of why she's doing this.

"Well, that'd have to be because I just thought it would be fun!" "The rings are nice, yes, but just having something to do is nice as well, especially when you get new friends out of it!"

When it came time for Xenox to answer Crystal's question, the gizoid said,

=I for the most part joined to collect battle data from the other people joining the mission. I knew that the probability of there being skilled mobians here would be high. But it also doesn't hurt to help out when you have the capability to do so.=

Wolf had positioned himself at the end of the table, managing to keep himself just a little bit separate from the rest of the team while he ate. He listens to the conversation as it moves to the reasons for everyone being there, but he just acts like he didn't hear the question, letting others answer instead.

The sky was still blue, but the yellow orb floating above them was slowly growing orange, and the day was becoming afternoon. The air was warm and slightly humid, an honestly mild day given the usual weather around the East Ocean Archipelago, and a cooling breeze coming from some distant ocean blew gently through the mess tent. 

"Aw thanks Samantha!" The excitable blue rabbit said, bouncing in her seat, "I came to get to know some other people with the same appreciation of ancient artifacts as me. Not that I'm any sort of great archaeologist, but I'm studying it at Spagonia University."

Karn sighed, "I studied economics at Spagonia for a couple of years, got a diploma out of it." He confessed, "If we're going to get all chummy again like on the bus." The coyote said, pushing his food tray off to the side with most of it's contents gone.

Crystal clapped her hands together, "Ooh Economics? To be an accountant?" Although to say her attention span was short would be an understatement. "But Xenox, if you're here to learn skills from other people, what are you going to use those skills for? Also how were you able to materialize a sword like Bryni's out of thin air, the laws of physics and the conservation of mass mean that it must have come from somewhere?"

The Red cat, Danielle was also talking the ears off of a fennec and penguin seated a little further along on the table.

"Wow, so you're from Holoska? I didn't know that, no we didn't get to talk a lot on the bus, and it's probably on the forms but I'm not gonna dig through that right now, that's up to Francis instead. But I've never been to Holoska, it's kind of cool that we've got you, Connor from Holoska and you Lucas from Mizuri. Two very different places. Although I heard there was a snowstorm out in the south Mizuri deserts, were you there for that Lucas? Wow!"

The horse had positioned herself away from the group as well, closer towards Wolf but still respecting both his and her own private space. She was quiet, and sat with an eyepatch over one eye with her beefy arms up on the table either side of her food tray. Her denim jacket seemed to be in fairly good condition, but it couldn't hide her muscles at all. She was well built, for sure, and made no effort to interact with any of the other members.

Samantha was beaming when she heard that both Crystal and Karn had studied in Spagonia U.

"Oh my goodness!" "You two studied in Spagonia?!" "That's so cool! I've been living there for decades, but haven't actually been on campus in a while... Wonder how much it's changed!"

Samantha then heard the talk of how Xenox was defying physics, and got a little nervous, as she did a similar thing frequently, and that was going to be weird to explain.

=To answer both your questions Ms. Crystal, I am a Gizoid. My main purpose originally given to me by the Nocturnus Clan was to copy others abilities for the purpose of warfare. But then I met someone who taught me to use those powers for good.= Xenox said to the bunny.

=And to answer your second question, I am not entirely sure how I can defy physics. If my memory banks serve me correctly, the Nocturnus Clan had very powerful magic. Maybe they used some to create me and my brothers.=

( OOC: Skipping. I don't really have anything to add this round. )

If the idea of Samantha's physics defying powers had come to the small blue bunny's mind, she would certainly have brought it up, demanding an explanation as usual. "Magic? But I thought magic was just physics that modern scientists couldn't explain yet? There's a lot of stuff out there in the universe yet to explore, like dark matter, and dark energy." Her food tray was empty, so Crystal was able to focus her full attention on talking the ears off of the gizoid... who didn't have ears.

Karn chuckled, "Well Spagonia certainly has a lot of history to it, one of the best parts of being able to study on campus was being able to view the city from the upper levels. I can't imagine actually living there full time though, it must be nice." The coyote was lost momentarily in thought, there were quite a few beautiful things in the world, and in his eyes, history was one of them. Not that he was particularly mushy about being here on the expedition, but it was certainly a factor.

A bird chirping somewhere deeper into the surrounding tropical rainforest caught the attention of the muscular horse sitting adjacent to the wolf, she let a smile twitch at the edge of her otherwise straightly pressed lips. Although she didn't say anything, she did relax a little, her composure being rather tense leading up to that moment.

The security head, currently chittering away, was interrupted by a quick beep and suddenly finished talking the fennec and penguin's ears off. The red cat slipped a small mobile phone out of her pocket and then her own ears perked up. She stood up from the table and looked out through the moderately thin walls of the mess tent. "Team Alpha is back." She announced to the rest of the the group inside the temporary building.

There weren't any people visible through the trees on the edge of the clearing, but obviously Danielle had received a message from one of the other heads of team.

"Everyone get up, I hope you're all well fed, we have some work to do."

"Oh, it really is wonderful! Though, I can't say I'm there all the time either, just kind of wandering around for the most part." Samantha says in response to Karn.

It was then that Danielle had called them to work.

Samantha rejoiced, finally! Stuff to do! But she was also saddened by the news, as the conversation was very entertaining.

"Oh! It's our turn!" "Here we go!"

When Xenox's audio receptors heard Danielle call their team, the gizoid gave a final response to Crystal before getting up from the table and following the cat.

=While it may be true that magic is merely science we do not fully understand yet, I do not think we will ever have the chance to figure that question out. Considering that the remaining gizoids, along with the Nocturnus Clan, are still imprisoned in the twilight cage.=

Wolf turns his head to glance towards Danielle as she speaks. Once she's done, he pushes his food tray away from the end of the table he was sitting at, then pushes his chair back before standing up. After pushing his chair back in towards the table, he turns and walks over towards Danielle expecting her to offer them further directions.

The first of Team Alpha to arrive back at the camp was the immediately visible, round figure of the expedition leader; Francis. Followed no less than a few seconds behind by some of the logistics team carrying large packs of equipment. Most of the excavation tools will have been left at the site, but it seemed there were some personal, or perhaps team-specific items that the logisticians had on them. They seemed to be in fairly good spirits, obviously nothing bad had happened. It was just an archaeological endeavor after all.

"Oh yes!" Crystal bounced, "Finally!" She practically screeched in excitement. Almost immediately she'd forgotten the conversation about magic with Xenox- which was probably for the better part because she would have then begun delving into the picking at the gizoid's figurative brain in asking about the Twilight Cage. The small blue Rabbit very literally leapt from her chair, causing it to topple over backwards in the cramped Mess Tent and almost clatter into the table behind her. 

Karn too felt himself smiling, he was feeling particularly good that they were going to go and get some action; or as much action as one could expect from this operation. "Spagonia's great, but I like the environment of Mizuri, I think." He said before standing up himself, although certainly with a lot less bulrush than Crystal.

Danielle gave Wolf a smile as he approached, and after clapping her hands together, she turned to address the whole group, "We'll be heading out to archaeological site in 5 minutes, if any of you need to gather personal items or equipment for the detail; particularly you members from the security team." The large horse got up and gave Danielle a raise of her eyebrow, heading outside to collect her equipment. "Have you got everything you need, Wolf?" The red cat asked, no longer talking to the whole group in the tent and now just focusing on her fellow security team member.

By now the rest of Team Alpha had returned to the campsite, the large dual-wielding Walrus closely behind Francis and the other members of the security detail scattered throughout the other members of the team; the ones that were doing the 'real' work. John, the Orca, entered in towards the rear, but was followed by the Black and Red Racoon as the last member of Alpha.

Some of the other members from Team Beta started filing their way into the mess tent to join the crew getting ready to leave. The Mole from logistics came back with A large smile on her face, and the Fennec, who had vacated the discussion with Danielle to collect their personal items returned from the other side of the camp ground with wild flowers neatly tucked into the fur atop his head.

Danielle picked up a small briefcase from beside where she had been sitting in discussion with the Penguin- and the Fennec before he needed to leave -and slung it in both hands. Whatever its contents; it was heavy.

The horse had returned, with a large staff strapped to her back, and so the entire Team Beta were now gathered together and assumedly ready to leave for the site. Unless there was anything anybody needed to do before leaving...

Samantha giggled at the energy Crystal showed, as she started to get up herself.

"Ooh, yes, Mizuri is great too, their savannahs are just wonderful for taking a nice long stroll through!"

Samantha then proceeded to get her things and start moving, wondering what they'd have to do.

Being an android, Xenox didn't have any food waste to clean up. So once Danielle called their group, they got up and started walking towards the front of the tent, following close behind Samantha.

Wolf stops near Danielle as she informs everyone that they'll have a couple of minutes to gather equipment or belongings for their shift on guard duty. As he quietly thought about what he might want to take with him, Danielle interrupted his musing to ask him a similar question. He quickly focuses his attention on her.

"I think I would be fine going as is." he replies, "But it might not be such a bad idea for me to go and grab something from my bag first though. I could probably just do that on the way out."

He watches her as she gets her briefcase.

"That have everything you need?" he then asks her.

With Karn now freed from the bonds of carefully eyeing Crystal to ensure that she doesn't hurt herself in overexcitement, he took a sigh of relief and gave Samantha a warm smile. It had all the kindness of a long-lost friend, but lasted about as long as a first-paycheck would in the hands of a young teenager. "The Savannas of Mizuri have the greatest fields of long grass where I can just lie down and stare at the blue sky." He said, trailing off only somewhat before snapping back to the task at hand; making their way outside of the mess tent to await further instructions from Danielle and the other team leaders.

"I never liked long grass. It's too stuffy for me, and it keeps moisture all too well at the bottom, gets my socks wet when I walk through." Crystal interjected, almost losing her shoes with the amount of bouncing she was doing. "Although that's probably not an issue for someone with long legs like you, Karn." She said, slapping the Coyote's back absentmindedly. "So where haven't you been Samantha? Holoska?" She then immediately changed the topic.

Clearly Karn was lost in something deep at the time of the rabbits energetic interruption, so he shook himself out and turned to the nearest companion; Xenox. "How long have you been on Mobius for, Xe?-" He paused, "-Can I call you Xe? It's just more comfortable than pronouncing both Xs." At least the stoic, burnt-orange fellow was loosing up around the trio of almost-not-any-more-strangers.

Danielle smiled to hear Wolf's voice, as he'd relented to speak for a great portion of the rip, as well as during the meal; only to answer questions that would allow him as much time alone as possible, it seemed. "Why yes it does." She said, blankly, almost as if it would be obvious her briefcase contained everything she needed. "Although Mandy is bringing back my travel pack of ammunition." the small, red cat said with a sweet smile. She bounced the tote against her knees as she held its handle in both hands. It was heavier than just a stack of papers, that much was clear.

And as suggested, the large, one-eyed horse returned with an equally large backpack, holding the shoulder straps out for Danielle to don. A long chain of 7.62 NATO dangled from the shoddily-closed lid of the backpack. "What's your specialty?" She asked Wolf, regarding his suggestion to return and grab something from his own backpack, and especially since his plan seemed to be to hike to the excavation with nothing but that single item.

The Orca had made his own way to Team Beta at this point, sweat beading on his smooth, black and white forehead, and staining the armpits of his white- and slightly dust-covered- lab coat. He tapped a clipboard nervously in his hands, "Well. If you're all quite ready... There's been a discovery, that's for certain."

The Logistics mole clicked his teeth, "What kind of discovery?" He asked, rather pointedly.

"Well, to be frank. The ruins that we've excavated aren't ancient as we'd hoped. Our Government source, the one funding us, doesn't specify that they were going to be ancient, we'd assumed they would be, and that's our fault as the organizers of this expedition." He wiped some sweat from his forehead as it began dripping. John was a fish out of water, and the hot sun wasn't helping his smooth complexion, "But, our source does guarantee that we should find things of scientific and intrinsic value, so bonuses are still available to all of you if you find anything, and your pay is still going to be the same."

Danielle raised an eyebrow, pulling the dangling chain of bullets from her backpack and bringing it a little closer down to her briefcase, "Uhh..." She turned to the group, "Any questions about that before we leave?"

Samantha agreed with Karn's statement on Mizuri's savannahs with a nod, the quick shift in expression reminding her of her son.

Upon hearing Crystal's question, she lit up while thinking about her answer, she had been in pretty much any notable location, but certainly not all...

"Glasby City might be one actually! First time I actually came here was for this mission, and as you can see, we're not exactly doing much in the city."

 After the orca had explained new information about the ruins, Samantha felt his wording was a bit suspicious...

"Wait, not as ancient as you hoped? Yeah, ruins are ruins and there's likely going to be neat stuff to find, but why would you want ancient?"

As Xenox walked, their synthetic brain thought about the coyote's question.

=Actually Mr. Karn, I do not know exactly how long I've been on Mobius. Some friends of mine, a falcon named Rez, and a wisp named Spiral, found me offline in a hidden chamber in the ancient ruins near Station Square. I can tell you it has been about nine months now since I came back online. My memory banks are blank any farther back than that. Everything that I know now is because of them And yes Mr. Karn, I do not mind if you call me Xe.= 

Danielle then asked if there was any questions about the new information.

=While it is a shame it was not what you were expecting, I do not have any questions Ms. Danielle.= 

Xenox then noticed the horse that came into the tent. Or more importantly, what they had on their back. Two soft beams of blue light emitted from Xenox's visual receptors and landed on the horse's staff.

-COPYING BATTLE DATA-

-BATTLE SCAN COMPLETE: COMBAT STAFF-

The beams then receded back to Xenox's visual receptors.

=Who knows. Might come in handy to have a staff later.= The Gizoid said as they gave a shrug to Karn, then waited for further instructions for the group.

Wolf continues to regard the briefcase as Danielle offers her short reply. Once Mandy returned with the backpack for Danielle to wear, filled with her ammunition, it became more obvious that she would be using a firearm, but that was all he really knew at that point. He didn't know much about guns and their ammunition beyond what they vaguely looked like. That left him wondering why Danielle had her weapon inside a case rather than at her side where it could be easily brought to bear if needed.

He was considering asking her about that, when she asked him a question instead, inquiring about his 'specialty'. He actually needed to think about what she meant in that regard, then he had to think on what the actual answer was when he determined that she wanted to know what his useful talent was.

"Surviving, I suppose." he replies to her.

He doesn't elaborate beyond that and there isn't a chance for Danielle to follow up before John arrives to update the team.

Wolf listens attentively, but the details don't really seem to matter much to him. It didn't really change his job in regards to offering security after all. Or at least not in a way he was aware of.

Then once Danielle asks for questions, he remains silent as usual. He had nothing to add to this discussion, but maybe someone else would.

Karn wasn't exactly impressed by the fact that they were going to be overlooking the excavation of "not so ancient" ruins. If it meant what he thought it meant. Apart from the Mole and Samantha, nobody else asked for any more clarity. John let a little bit of heat out from under his collar, stretching it with a wary finger. "Well... We were hoping for ancient because then we discover previously undiscovered history; knowledge that might not have been known without our efforts... Concrete and Rebar aren't exactly... new."

Modern ruins. 

The horse's un-patched and still fully intact eye flickered over to the Xenox as he scanned her staff. His scanners didn't seem to be threatening at all, but they were startling and with her position as a member of the security team, it was her business to afford everything at least a small amount of scrutiny. She raised an eyebrow at the Gizoid, but didn't do anything to show force against him; after all, Xenox himself didn't show any sign of aggression, and as quickly as his scanners had begun their search, they had stopped.

"Well maybe after the expedition we can go back to Glasby and-" Crystal stopped rather suddenly, ears drooping, when she heard that they were not going to be digging up some long-forgotten temple. "Modern is boring Samantha." She said quietly, adding to John response to the elderly hedgehog's question. 

The orange coyote folded his arms, mimicking the large horse, as well as the board-short wearing Penguin. "Is that all Team Alpha was able to dig up? No ties to a modern organization or anything? We aren't in danger are we?" He grumbled.

John sighed, flicking through some of the notes on his clipboard and then looking up at Karn before flicking through a few more, "No. From what we've found there isn't anything incriminating. Your team will be continuing to excavate the ruins and Danielle will report anything you find. As for danger, that's why you, the security detail, are here. Nobody expects there to be any real dangers, but its worth our money to keep everyone feeling safe and secure."

Danielle clapped her hands together, a difficult task with her heavy briefcase in hand, and let out a sharp exhale, "Alright then. Thank you John. If that's everything then we'll start heading out." She gave a flick of her hand to the large horse and turned, heading towards the edge of the camp clearing where Team Alpha were filing their way back in to have their lunch.

(One last timeskip?)

Samantha was glad it didn't sound too suspicious, but it still kinda felt like a question dodge.

"Sure is, Crystal..."

Skip go brrr

(Don't think Xenox would really have anything to say. And I'm fine with skipping again.)

Wolf continues to listen to the explanation from John and then audible reactions from the others to the news.  Nothing else was brought up that radically changed the situation and his job remained the same at the end.

With the discussion apparently done and the team started to head out, Wolf begins following along, before detouring off towards the logistics storage tent where he'd stashed his own belongings. Once he was done retrieving something, he'd catch up with the rest of the team.

(OOC: By all means, feel free to skip ahead.)

And so with everyone's curiosity or disappointment at least satiated enough considering they were all being paid to be there, the group began to make headway towards the supposed site of the ruins. Team Alpha had been their only a half hour ago, and while the barely-beaten track through the rainforest was only just fresh enough to follow most of the way there, the site itself was apparently excavated sufficiently.

At least the entrance, that is. Who knows how much cave-in there was inside the ruins? Let alone why the structure is in ruins in the first place.

When Team Beta arrived at the site, they initially had to make a break through a particularly dense thicket of jungle, which had obviously been very difficult for Team Alpha to break through as well, but once that was dealt with; all that was left was a clearing. The clearing was littered with chunks of stone, local granite and other igneous rock from the Archipelago's pacific nature. But most notable of all the clearing's features was the shallow sinkhole which seemed to taper down towards a single point wherein lay a dilapidated concrete shed.

How disappointing.

The sinkhole had a shallow basin where dirt and moss had gathered amidst the hunks of concrete and stone that lay scattered about, and there were several camp lights the previous team had left behind, all pointed towards the solitary shack.

Although the structure was neither a shack or a shed, it appeared to be more of a garage than anything else, as while it most certainly had been overcome with vegetation, the overgrowth had since been removed, and from what remained of the building, it was anyone's guess that it would likely have once been able to house a small vehicle. The inside of the structure was dark, and there was clearly a lower level beyond just the small building. At least there had better be. If the archeology team dragged themselves all this way out here just to study a single shed, there would be more than just complaints.

"Alright, well..." Danielle began, shambling her way across a ring of debris around the outskirts of the sinkhole, which could only go about 10 feet deep. "It's a bit more shit than I'd've thought. I'll be honest." She said, slogging the heavy ammunition backpack behind her as she leapt into the earthy basin.

"But it looks like Team Alpha saved us all the boring stuff, so if the Logistical team will hurry up and unload their luggage, the rest of you are free to head right on into the ruins." The red cat plopped her back in the rubble-hewn soil.

"You guys are supposed to be a third party organization crew right? But where did you say you got information about these ruins from?" Karn poked at the cat, nimbly weaving his way across some of the jagged rocks, "Watch yourself on this one..." He said, indicating a boulder he'd only just surpassed, and directed at any members of their team who were behind him. 

"Aw c'mon!" Crystal said, her small blue rabbit head finally poking its way into the clearing after only just overcoming the thicket of jungle trees surrounding the clearing, "That's boring!" She shouted, throwing an open palm out to indicate the concrete shed laying at the center of the clearing like some Jones-esque golden idol. "Xenox, your creators have more ancient looking modern structures than even this thing right?"

The Fennec with a myriad of bright flowers tucked neatly into his fur piped up as well, "Zeez ruins are 'ideous. Zere iz just zomsing majestic about ze olden architecture." He said, holding a flower out to Wolf, along with many of the other members of the team such as the Mole and Crystal, while simultaneously appearing very annoyed about the state of their destination. "Givez it zat..." He made an ok sign with one hand and left his complaint at that.

"Our source was government, Karn. Francis knows more about it than I do, I'm just the security officer. Walk around with this-" She kicked the bag of bullets, "-and do my job."