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Post by elizar on Apr 9, 2007 20:54:32 GMT -5
"What tipped you off?" Aron asked. He knew that question was better than to ask what the secret was. Chance was she didn't know. He assured himself that the Rover was okay, then checked the cave walls out of curiousity.
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Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 20:56:45 GMT -5
Drew Acheson, a tall, robust man of thirty-five years, fell into line with the rest of the family in the chow line at the dining hall, still brushing ashes out of his close-cropped medium-brown hair. He had been one of the party of men who had donned Hazmat suits, masks and Draeger packs to venture outside, into a pitch-black hell of toxic volcanic ash. He had helped the Seekers rig up several mirror-like contraptions on poles at various points around the mountain, with everyone connected by a line to keep them from getting lost. He didn't know what the hell this task was supposed to accomplish, just that Mama Tess wanted it done. For now, the population of the bunker subsisted on an adequate and varied diet, but he had no idea how long this would be the case. He was just glad to be alive along with his wife and family and a motley assortment of Seekers, Mormons, Mexicans, Ute Indians and miscellaneous stragglers, all 847 of them.
From various areas of the hall, the more devout muttered prayers, giving thanks for what they were about to receive...
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 21:02:49 GMT -5
"Well, for one thing, it's all those outside visits she makes with the reconnaissance party," said Delfina, "in which only a select group of men go with her. No one else is allowed to go outside and I have no idea what she does out there. The other is that she's told us that we can't go further into the caverns that are not marked for our use. This is what got me to thinking. What is it that we shouldn't know about and what's it supposed to mean for us?"
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Post by elizar on Apr 9, 2007 21:15:14 GMT -5
"I don't have the best experience with cults. I know they tend to look out for number one and only that charimacated person. And get money, that's what they want also. I simply chose the speedier option out of fright, hoping I wont get brainwashed these six months." Aron said. He was not entierly happy with the arrangements, with the doubt in his mind knowing that there was the chance he could have gotten into the NORAD base if he had waited longer. The reason for why he was so open with his opinions was that if he managed to piss someone off, they would at least know his opinions and he would not surprise them later.
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 21:22:34 GMT -5
"I don't think anyone's going to be brainwashed," replied Delfina, "not if I have anything to say about it. They needed my geologic knowledge, so that's one of the reasons that I joined. It's how I'm useful to them. I don't really follow their beliefs at all. I just like the simple life and it's basic amenities. Something that hectic city life doesn't offer."
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Post by elizar on Apr 9, 2007 21:32:46 GMT -5
"If you were looking closely at the Rover, you notice that I am somewhat the same, but I go a different way with it." Aron said, pointing at where the Rover was. "I just saught shelter from the upcoming storm. And as for the brainwash thing, everyone can be brainwashed. Just need the right triggers. I did say I had some experience with cults."
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Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 21:34:00 GMT -5
"Mama Tess" Dolinger had been a woman of means long before she had set up the Seekers organization, so it wasn't for money and glory that she had arranged things as they now were. It was just that it was easier and more effective if everyone outside thought you were just another somewhat loony New Age cult. Talk about upsetting apple carts in any serious way, and one would have the Feds and any number of their alphabet-agency tentacles to deal with. The last thing she wanted was unwelcome attention from the IRS, the FBI, the BATF, or anyone else of that ilk. So far, she had been quite successful in her camouflage. Of course people would wonder, and explore, and poke their faces beyond the NO-ADMITTANCE signs. Human nature was the one thing on this side of the Heaven/Earth divide that she trusted absolutely. So, she shrugged, made her final calculations, and brought out the clear, multifaceted chrystalline vessel that had been in her family for 162 years. In her central chamber, she placed it on a marble plinth, watching it sparkle in the bluish LED lighting. She made a call to Joshua, her stepson and manager; the countdown would soon begin. The angular, fiftyish woman sat down on a bench against the wall, smoothed her wavy black-and-silver hair, adjusted her jeans and waited for Joshua and the other executive members.
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 21:46:05 GMT -5
"Maybe the Seekers have something to fear and want to control its members from speaking out against them," suggested Delfina, "The no admittance signs might be just to prevent curious people from exploring where they can't go. What experience with cults did you have?"
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Post by elizar on Apr 9, 2007 21:51:21 GMT -5
"You know how it is supposed to be teenagers that do that crazy stuff, join the cults to rebel? I am just wondering what my parents were rebelling against when they joined a cult. One of those extreme chatholic cults which thinks that the pope is the worst sinner there is. My sister was in the process of de-brainwashing them, but - " Aron paused, figuring that Delfina was able to fill in the rest.
((ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. translation, I am going to bed.))
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Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 22:09:59 GMT -5
Dawn had sat through the entire meal watching her aunt and uncle converse in hushed tones. Her cousins, twelve-year-old Brian and eight-year-old Charity, restlessly pushed what was left of their food around their plates. Dessert was Jello... AGAIN. Dawn disliked Jello. She excused herself and wandered out of the dining hall before anyone could catch her leaving.
<<< Anyone can talk to her>>>
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 22:18:18 GMT -5
(((((OOC: G'night, Elizar.))))) "But it doesn't always work out, I'd bet," Delfina said with a frown, "I've heard of these kinds of cults before. Religion does seem to be the bane of most cults' downfalls. Some even to their deaths, which is sad, in my opinion. They don't even realize that the cults that they join fail." In her most personal opinion, cults were a dead end for anyone who joined them. She didn't join the Seekers for the beliefs, but for the simple life and to use her knowledge of geology. Delfina liked to be alone most of her waking hours while she worked, and rarely went to any gatherings, unless her knowledge was needed by Mother Tess. Being alone also meant that she didn't have to talk to anyone about her personal history and the secret grief that she felt for the loss of her family. Nobody wants a whiner or a crier. So she held it all in and carried on like nothing was bothering her at all. She would only cry in her own personal living chamber where no one else could see her. It was one of the privileges of being a member, only partially, of the Seekers. ~~~~~ In the meantime, the gray-blue husky mix had become bored as she watched her owner and Aron converse about some innane subject she didn't even know or care about, Shadow had wandered off in search of adventure. Presently, she came upon a little girl walking in the halls by herself. Her tongue lolling in a friendly manner and her tail wagging, Shadow trotted up to Dawn. (((((OOC: Shadow is the only character that I have free right now. I can't think of any other characters to create at the moment. ^^;; ))))
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Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 22:44:48 GMT -5
Dawn had seen the husky around before, trailing its mistress, but up until now, she hadn't had much contact with the animal. She put her hand out for the dog to sniff. "Hi..."
She was just outside the radio room, where an operator was talking into the ether, and answered mostly by static. The adults hadn't allowed the children to see much of TV for as long as broadcasts continued, not after one newsroom camera shifted and caught an image of several bodies in the studio itself. Nearly everything ceased after that, with only a few hams responding from the other side of the world. It was like a huge chunk of North America had been obliterated.
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 22:54:31 GMT -5
Shadow padded up to Dawn and sniffed the girl's hand. Then, in a gesture of acceptance and friendship, she licked that hand and gave soft whine in greeting. Delfina was the only human she knew, but it was nice, in her view anyway, to be with another human being for a change. She felt suddenly protective of Dawn as she was with Delfina.
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Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 23:29:52 GMT -5
<<< Uh, Raine, the atmosphere outside is unbreathable right now. Very little would be alive out there.>>>
Dawn stroked the husky's head. "So where's your owner right now?"
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Post by ebonyviper on Apr 9, 2007 23:33:58 GMT -5
If Shadow could speak like a human, she would've been able to tell Dawn where Delfina was at the moment. She just turned her head in the general direction of the storage chambers where the ATVs were stored, as well as something else, to indicate where Delfina was and nosed Dawn's hand, as if to say FOLLOW-ME.
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