september 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Third Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of September 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. turrets.

That power surge kicked off some sh... stuff, all right. It took a while for the systems to cycle back on, but two new areas of Anchor are now accessible and usable. One of them is nice and relaxing and safe, and we'll get to that one in a minute. The other one, addressed first, is not very nice and not very relaxing and definitely not safe.

The internal defense systems on the upper levels have come to life, and have targeted anyone within their range as a hostile entity. Get ready to run the gauntlet if you want to turn them off - you'll have to dodge lasers, bullets, and aggressive defense bots (that can be rewired and/or rebooted to assist characters instead of trying to murder them). The reward? Getting to the heavily protected (think many many murderbots and lasers) security control room. If you can make it, you'll be able to reboot the internal defenses, turning off the aggressive targeting and having access for the first time to surveillance of almost all of Anchor. Those areas your characters didn't know were there? Revealed. Those dense patches of jungle-like growth in the agricultural center? You've got a spotlight into their heart.

Though, huh, not all the cameras seem to be working. What's with those screens that show up from time to time that are nothing but static?

Oh well, doesn't really matter, does it?

b. hot springs episode.

One of the areas adjacent to the bar and intimacy lounge has been sputtering on and off ever since the power surge. One evening, with a loud crack and a humming sound that slowly dissipates, the lights come on and water starts flowing down the artificial waterfall into the fountain out front. The spa is back online!

The lobby is inviting and zen, with holographic walls that depict scenic locations (some of them very unlike Earth), with fountains splashing delicately on either side of the door. The attendants are slightly malfunctioning bots, but the most harm they'll do is bring you six towels when you ask for one, or a bucket of massage oil to work on those knots in your back with.

There are three areas in the spa, each of them fully-outfitted with towels, robes of all sizes, fuzzy slippers, the works. One has all the amenities of a Turkish bath, right down to the fantastically arched roofs and mosaics of Istanbul. One is designed not unlike a Japanese hot spring, though the spring is heated artificially rather than naturally. The springs are large enough to be communal in some areas and small enough to be private in others, varying in depth from deep enough to swim on one end and shallow enough to sit on the bottom on the other. All hot springs have a stone shelf around the edges where those who don't want to swim can sit. The last area is more Western, with steam rooms, saunas, massage tables, and mud baths for the adventurous.

One thing all of these areas have in common: the settings on virtually everything can be adjusted to taste. Not in the traditional way, either. The steams and waters can be tweaked to be soporific, can serve as muscle relaxants, can ease anxiety, and can even bolster moods. None of these effects are involuntary, and none of them are brought on by drugs - it's more an advanced mix of pheromones and harmless compounds that can affect a single person or a given pool or room. Also, the baths and hot springs have adjustable bubble settings. The water colors can change, some of them even allowing characters to dye their hair the color that's been selected for the tub without staining their skin. Bubbles of all kinds can rise up out of the water, from the foamy comfort of childhood bubble baths to hovering golden bubbles that chime when you pop them. Characters can choose from a variety of bath salts, scents, and oils - the spas were designed not just for relaxation, but for pure and simple fun.

c. joe's dirt.

So you've survived the security malfunction. You've washed off the dirt and anxiety at the spa. But the newly reactivated security stations throughout Anchor have revealed something odd. There's a blip in the power systems in one area of the agricultural level, like something is siphoning off power from the main lines. Tracking down the source in the deep tangle of underbrush won't be easy, and there may be a few mutated, fanged, clawed cattle that maneuver shockingly well between the trees, but eventually you'll come to a breach in Anchor's wall. At first it just looks like a crack, but it's large enough to squeeze through and there's the darkness of an open space behind it. A tunnel, leading down into the earth outside, well below surface level and thus largely safe.
Wires run along the roof and floor, though the tunnel itself is dark. Walk long enough and you'll come to a wider space, open enough for two or three people to move around comfortably at the same time. It's still dark, lit only by screens that show the same security feeds that are available at the stations throughout the city. And others. Angles on the surface that show Anchor from a distance, and other visuals that don't show Anchor at all, trained instead on massive structures or formations or lakes out on the surface somewhere. But there's something more disturbing: there are cameras set to record some people's rooms. And the only rooms that are shown are occupied.

Someone has been here, recently enough to track where new people have moved in.

On the floor in one corner, there's a crumpled photograph of a man some might recognize as Creepy Joe, happy and whole, with a little girl sitting on his shoulder. It looks like it's been stamped into the dirt.

Navigation.

Comments

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben widens his eyes, eyebrows raising in an expression of "Sure did hear that crazy shit!". He touches a finger to his lips, reaches out and grabs Peter's shoulder, pointing to the ground. He mouths: ]

Stay here.

[ Then he is moving ahead, heart hammering, in the direction he thought that awful lowing sound had come from. The creatures behind the portal are even more restless, now, and Ben clenches his hands. This was always the worst moment. That calm just before the violence, when everything was uncertain. He knew something would happen, there would be blood, but not how yet, or when.

He doesn't stray too far from Peter, however. There could be more than one, could be something distorting the direction of the sound.

And sure enough, there is a crashing of branches breaking and leaves rustling, and it is not coming from the direction Ben had gone in, but to the side. Whirling, he cries out: ]

Peter, look out!

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter sure does stay here, crouching in that spidery way that he does while Ben moves off to investigate.

And then Ben's yelling at him, and a split second later Peter's spider-sense finally picks up that some shit is about to go down. He leaps straight up and snags a tree branch, and a second later this mutant cow tears right through the underbrush and plows straight through the spot Peter had just been standing. Well shit, that was alarming.

Peter's first thought is something along the lines of "I am so making a cheeseburger out of you", but he quickly gets his head back in the game because that is one angry cow, holy hit.]

I'm clear! This things pissed, are you good?

[Because if he needs to drop down and web that thing up he totally will]

cw for gore

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben is too far away to get between the rampaging thing and Peter, but that doesn't matter; Peter jumps up and just sticks to a tree branch and god, that just never stops being cool. There's no time to be jealous of Peter's powers, though, because the cow is bellowing, enraged, and Ben sees that its teeth are definitely way sharper and there are way more rows of them than a cow out to have. It snorts, scraping hooves in the earth, and rams its horned head into the tree Peter is clinging in. Like it's going to try to knock it down. Ben doesn't know enough about cows to know if that's normal, either.

He hesitates for just a few seconds. The animal seems fixated on Peter for now, and Ben furiously calculates in his head if there is any other way. Any way to stop this without killing it. He could climb a tree, too. Scare it off somehow. Peter could use his webs...

But then the thing is winding up, and ramming into that tree again, and Ben hears a groan from the wood. Fuck.

So he shouts: ]

I- I got it. Just- stay still.

[ It will be easier for Ben to control the creatures, keep them from wanting to go after Peter too, if he is not moving like prey. He plants his feet, opens the portal. It's all over much more quickly than things had gone, with that swarm of nanites. Even a super-strong, super-pissed mutant cow can't do much about a tidal wave of otherworldly tentacles slamming into it, wrapping around its neck and horns and legs and slamming it against the ground a few times. Ben keeps himself from screaming this time, at least, even though his vision is blurred around the edges with pain. He feels the moment when the cow's neck is broken, and he slams the portal shut at once, staggering and dropping to one knee.

There wasn't too much blood, at least. Ben wipes the little that has splashed on his face off with the sleeve of his hoodie, breaths shaky with revulsion. When he can manage a few words, he asks: ]

You okay?

[itsnotaonesie]

[EAT SHIT MUTANT COW. Peter refrains from cheering Been on during this whole cattle mutilation thing, but he totally pumps his fist like FUCK YES. Once the cow is good and dead, Peter drops from the tree and rushes to Ben's side, offering him a hand up]

Man, that thing did not like me. C'mon, we better go before it's buddies show up.

[He's not entirely sure he's going to feel them coming the way he should be. He hadn't felt that first one until it was practically on top of him, which is alarming, but something he's going to have to try to figure out later.]

[benhargreeves]

[ The hand up is appreciated - and not only because his knees feel like they're mostly made of jello at the moment. The fact that Peter doesn't even hesitate before rushing back over to him, getting close enough to grab his hand and help him up... well it means a lot. Peter really isn't scared of him. Really doesn't find him disgusting. Those weren't just words - his actions show it, too. ]

No. It only went after you.

[ Even as Ben is following in the direction Peter takes, and keeping an ear out for more trouble, he speculates: ]

Maybe it... you smelled like a big spider? Or it could be a color thing? Can cows see color?

[ Ben is, as usual, wearing black and black and some more black for variety. It's possible that is a factor. Bulls chase after red, right? Was that a real thing or only a myth in cartoons?

Then, because he's still all full of adrenaline and trying to distract himself from what he'd just done, he asks: ]

How do you think it got like that, anyway? All... messed up, and ragey?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Not gonna lie, now that Peter's seen that power a couple times, he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. What he doesn't like about it is that it hurts Ben to use it. So uncool.

After helping Ben to his feet, Peter pauses, tugs his shirt collar up over his nose and sniffs.]

I mean, I might need a shower after all this, but I have no idea what spiders even smell like.

[He's wearing a green plaid button down over a grey tee shirt, maybe the space cows just hate green? Who even knows, man.]

Not sure what pissed it off, but the messed upness is probably the result of too much exposure to radiation. Like, we could be looking at the result of several generations worth of genetic mutations.

[benhargreeves]

[ Even though he is joking about the smell and colors, Ben is a little alarmed in the back of his mind that Peter was the exclusive target for some reason. He'd only come here to help keep Peter safe, but he hadn't realized Peter might be in some kind of specific danger like this. But maybe he's overthinking it. One fixated cow does not a pattern make. ]

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess. I don't actually know shit about radiation I just pretend. Anyway it's more the rage I was worried about.

[ But worry doesn't accomplish anything, and so, after a few more moments of carefully checking the surroundings, he motions Peter to lead the way again. There is a mystery to be solved, after all.

Ben is listening hard for any further danger, but asks, quietly: ]

Do you have any idea what this energy drain might be? I mean - guesses? Theories?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Yeah man, maybe if they attract more cows, they'll try to trample both of them! that'll be fair right]

Could just be in their territory. Maybe we're close to a... a cow... nest. Of radioactive baby cows. Which is literally the stupidest thing I've ever said. Ignore that. Theories, okay. Either there's damaged wiring or equipment in here somewhere sending power where it doesn't belong, or someone is deliberately siphoning power for... something. Once we figure out where it's going and what it's being used for, it might be easier to figure out who's doing it.

[He hopes. Peter takes point again, eventually leading the way to the back wall, where nothing is immediately obvious. Well that's frustrating, huh.]

[benhargreeves]

Do cows do territory? Man, I really don't know shit about animals.

[ He laughs at Peter's theory that they might have been near a cow nest, and a little portion of that heavy weight of worry is lifted off his shoulders. They had dealt with the first one; they would deal with the next, if it came.

The theories both are sound, as far as Ben can tell, but he presses: ]

Yeah, but do you think it's a damaged wire, or do you suspect someone here is using the power for something unsavory?

[ The real question is who Peter might think is doing this, because it would never occur to Ben to be suspicious of anyone other than the small group of them all captive here together. And if he needs to start worrying about some kind of threat or danger in the ranks... well that's information he'd like sooner rather than later.

And even as Peter is progressing, Ben can't help noticing they are getting closer and closer to the wall. Perhaps there is wiring in there, and it is nothing more than some old copper causing a fuss or who knows... ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter can just shrug like MAN, he doesn't know anything about cows either. Other than they are delicious. They most definitely don't have nests, though. Then again, these are mutant space cows, so who even knows man.

The rest of this though, Peter's less jokey about.]

If you want my honest thoughts on this? I think that just judging by the amount of power we're losing, this has to have been deliberate. Whether or not it's for unsavory purposes, I have no idea. Nobody I've met so far seems like the sort that would actively go out of their way to screw the rest of us over, they either seem like good people or... y'know, they're just lazy in some cases.

[benhargreeves]

[ And that's why Peter is the best.

Ben listens through his explanation, nodding along as he does. It sounds reasonable enough to him - although unlike Peter he doubts anyone would secretly be draining a significant amount of power for any savory reasons. If they were, wouldn't that person have responded already to Peter's post on the network to give some explanation?

No, someone is up to no good. ]

Good people can make really really bad decisions, sometimes, when they feel like they haven't got any other options.

[ And with that little bit of pessimism, they hit the actual wall of the Anchor. A dead end. Except... ]

What is that?

[ And Ben points to what looks like a ... gap, in the wall. But that can't be possible, can it? ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[We keep saying "savory" and it's just making me want steak.

But anyway. Yeeep, Peter knows all too well what that's like, in that "doing a bad thing for the greater good" sort of way. Maybe some day he'll tell Ben all about how he helped annihilate an entire race of robot people back in Hadriel, but for now he's just going to silently nod in agreement.

And then Ben points out that nice gap in the wall, and Peter's heart sinks a little.]

That's... exactly what I was hoping we wouldn't find. Look, I think I can see wires coming out of it.

[He doesn't get too far ahead of Ben, but he's definitely picking up the pace on his way over to investigate.]

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben hadn't noticed the wires, but he does when Peter points to them. And... yeah, even without being a tech guy like Peter that's a pretty bad sign. That wouldn't happen accidentally, it looks like someone has fed them inside. It's not just some access point, either... ]

Is that, like... is there something through there?

[ The gap had looked smaller from further away, but once they reach it Ben sees it is person-sized. Not comfortably, but he could get through, and he sees the wires continuing on, into the dark. He unslings his back from one shoulder, searches around inside for a little flashlight. When he pulls it up and aims the beam into the wall, he frowns. ]

Yyyyep. That's for sure a confirmed creepy tunnel.

[ And he looks over to Peter, a mute what should we do? ]

[itsnotaonesie]

I am so going in that creepy tunnel.

[There, that probably answers Ben's question. He also probably sounds a little more excited about this than he should be, but there's a MYSTERY, BEN!!!!!]

Okay, I'm thinking no flashlights. If there's someone in there creepin' around, I wanna get the drop on them.

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben gives a fond, exasperated little shake of his head and rolls his eyes because of course Peter is going in that creepy tunnel. Ben hadn't expected anything different, and he can see why it's necessary. Ignoring whatever the hell this is won't make it go away and they could be preventing some kind of real threat here. It's what has to be done, and he is curious, himself. But... ]

Do you have to be so stoked about it?

[ Grumbling and helping anyway is just the Ben Hargreeves way. He doesn't hesitate to shut off that flashlight, tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie rather than putting it away, so he can get at it in a hurry. ]

Okay. I'm right behind you. Just - go carefully, okay?

[ And the two of them move into the tunnel together. Ben doesn't know if Peter's powers help with the dark, but he keeps one of his hands on the wall of the tunnel, feet feeling carefully in front of him even though he's not in the lead. Fortunately, the dirt floor is smooth, its angle is sloping steadily downwards. Ben can actually feel the air getting a little cooler as they walk, no sound but their breaths for a while. Occasionally, he feels himself stepping on one of those many wires leading them further and further.

After a bit, he dares a whisper: ]

Just how far do you think this goes?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter just shoots Ben a mischievous grin in reply. You bet your ASS he's gotta be stoked about it.

He's maybe a little less cautious as he makes his way deeper into the tunnel, of only because he's relying on his spider sense to warn him if danger is coming. He doesn't let himself get too far ahead of Ben, though, because that would be rude. And probably dangerous.]

If there's someone down here trying to avoid getting caught, I'd guess pretty far.

[Which is vague, but hey. Eventually they do come to a wider spot in the tunnel, which is apparently the end of the line. I mean it obviously is, there are all kinds of viewing screens that are very much on. No other people, though. Which is a shame because Peter kind of wanted to punch someone, but hey.]

Holy shit! Ben, look at this!

[benhargreeves]

[ They see the light for a little ways before they actually reach that small control room. Ben follows the wires, sees them plugged into that array of screens. They've found the answer to their mystery of where that power drain was coming from. But this answer is only raising more questions. Like a fuckton more questions. ]

Whaaaaaat.

[ Ben moves out from behind Peter, coming up to the screens, eyes flicking through them. Some locations are indoors, others are not. Some he recognizes, some he doesn't. The feeds are continuous and judging by the time that is given in small numbers in the corner of every screen, these are live feeds, not recordings. But they are being recorded, Ben thinks. They must be. Why else have all this.

Which is when he notices... ]

Wait.

[ His voice is tight, tense, all the humor from a moment ago gone. Ben's heart is beating hard as he moves in closer to one screen in particular. He recognizes the book that is laying on the desk just in view. Recognizes the distinctive mark on the corner of the desk where Klaus had spilled his stupid nailpolish and then not cleaned it up in time to not leave a mark. He recognizes his own jacket draped on the back of the chair. ]

That's. My room.

[ Ben taps the screen with his fingertip, feeling frozen and... completely numb. The kind of completely numb that comes just before feeling very, very, very bad. He looks around, sees other bedrooms on other screens, eyes taking in the way the numbers on the timestamp are constantly rolling, shifting. His limbs feel cold, all at once. ]

How long do you think this has been...?

[itsnotaonesie]

[It would have been one thing if someone had just been spying on them in public locations, but these are also straight up people's private rooms. He recognizes his own, not that he really spends a lot of time there, but it's hard to miss with the glowing kitten sleeping in the middle of his bed. Poison's room is easy to recognize as well thanks to her freaky octopus cat.

Peter's reaction is less of a creeped out numbness and more of a quiet, seething rage sort of thing. He doesn't say anything for a moment, but he does rip the screen showing Poison's room off the wall and toss it on the floor. That's about all the fit throwing he does before he manages to reel himself back in, though. When he replies, his voice is calm. Like just ignore that ok Ben.]

Just... judging by how intricate this set up is, I think it would be safe to assume that this whole set up was here before we even arrived. At the very least this tunnel would have already been here.

[He goes quiet again, studying the screens more carefully. Aside from the creepy spying-on-people's-rooms feeds, there are others he recognizes from around anchor, but there are others that he's never seen before. He taps one of the screens showing a mystery outdoor location.]

Whoever set this up has access to cameras that the security stations don't, I'm gonna reroute these ones to the security stations. The rest of these... shit, um. We need to tell people that their rooms are bugged, get the cameras out of their rooms.

[benhargreeves]

[ Tense and upset as he is, Ben doesn't quite hide his flinch when Peter suddenly rips one of those screens from the array and throws it down onto the dirt. He hadn't forgotten about Peter's super strength, of course, but he'd done it so suddenly, and the whole thing is just - uncharacteristic and very jarring.

But Ben doesn't blame him for it. It seems apt. He doesn't know it is Poison's room, or any of the context there. For all he knows, Peter just chose a screen at random to vent his emotions on. The anger makes sense and the rest doesn't seem to matter right now.

He hears Peter's reply, but it takes a while for the words to actually sink in. He can't parse them at first. His thoughts have gone sluggish and icy and thick. Belatedly, rather numbly, he nods. Here longer than they were. Watching the whole time. Ben swallows. It's not a big deal. It's a problem they need to deal with, a mystery they need to solve. But it isn't a huge deal. Definitely not worth the amount of nausea roiling in his guts right now.

('Cause he ought to be used to this, right?).

Peter is talking more, and Ben catches bits - security stations and reroute and Peter sounds like he's got the situation well in hand. Ben crosses his arms tightly over his chest, and manages a tight nod. He's pretty sure whatever he's agreeing to is a good plan. Peter's smart and good. It must be a good plan. A plan he will help with as soon as he can shake off this... whatever and just. Be fine.

But he definitely doesn't look fine, isn't acting fine. He's standing well back from those monitors, hands gripping his arms, jaw set, completely silent. Ben tends towards the quiet side - less so with Peter now that the two of them have gotten closer - but this is way beyond the norm for him.

Finally, a thought manages to push its way through the haze and he actually articulates it, words coming out stilted and a bit odd: ]

There could be tapes. Archived. Can you - find out?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter might sound like he's got the situation well in hand, but now that he's done being super pissed, he's starting to realize just how fucked up all of this really is. To be honest, he's a little bit on the terrified side, but faking calmness is something he's starting to get pretty good at.

Unfortunately, that mask is cracking just a bit, if only because he's trying to maybe think too hard about all of this all at once. He's so caught up in his thoughts that it almost startles him when Ben speaks again.]

A-archives. Yeah, uh, yeah. If there's anything saved, I can find it.

[Having a specific thing to focus on definitely helps. He turns his attention to the computer console in the room and pulls up his search on one of the monitors. He's getting a whole lot of nothing right off the bat and lets out an annoyed little huff.]

Dammit, it's all encrypted. Uhh... This is gonna take some time, maybe see if there's anything else laying around in here? Not that this place is exactly covered in clues, but... I dunno, y'know?

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben is not in a state right now where he can tell whether Peter genuinely thinks there might be some clues strewn around that will help them figure out who has been surveilling them, or whether Peter can tell he's silently freaking out and is just giving him a task to do. Either way, Ben nods, pulls the flashlight from his pocket, and begins a methodical investigation of the room itself. If it can be called that. Control center? Lair?

He is pretty sure he's not going to find anything after about the first twenty seconds of searching, but he keeps at it, looking for anything hidden in the walls - any cracks, anything that might be a hidden switch or who the hell knows. When the walls yield nothing, he moves on to the floor. It's pretty much just ... dirt. Not even any footprints he can make out distinctly. Ben crouches down to gently lift the smashed screen that Peter had thrown down, propping it against the wall so he can search underneath it - but all he feels (at least, at first) are broken bits of the screen itself.

Peter had shattered it, when he ripped it from the wall. The outburst was so... unlike him. So, even though Peter is still doing computer stuff or whatever, Ben manages to ask: ]

Are you. Okay?

[ The pointedness of him asking it after moving that screen is hard to miss. He keeps feeling around in the dirt for all the little fragments of plastic and other materials, gathering them up. Maybe they would be useful to Peter in the lab or who knows.

Just as he thinks he's gotten them all, Ben feels something else in the dirt. Something bigger. Lighter. He turns his attention to what he's doing, unearthing it and then brushing the dirt off with his palm, squinting at the photograph. ]

There's a picture.

[itsnotaonesie]

I'm fine.

[His reply isn't harsh, but it does come a little too quickly. Like it's just something he's used to saying rather than something that is actually true. It's half because he's focused on trying to break into some of these files, but that in itself is part of his habit of hyper-focusing on work in an effort to not think about his issues too hard.

What Ben says next makes him pause, and he glances over his shoulder.]

A picture? Like a photo?

[Sure enough, that seems to be what Ben's holding in his hand. Peter steps away from the console to join Ben and take a look at the picture for himself. The man in the photo looks familiar. Really familiar. But also kind of different. Peter's only like half aware that he's taking Ben by the wrist and tugging him closer to the light of the screens so that he can make out the photo better. All of his brain power is focused on trying to remember where he'd seen this dude before, don't mind him.

When it finally does dawn on him, all the color drains from his face. Now it's his turn to get that creeped out numbness feeling]

Oh my God. I know this guy. This is-- this is Joe. [He taps the photo like THERE HE IS RIGHT THERE and turns his attention to Ben.] He was from Anchor, like, before all of us. This guy Drake and I found him out in the... the uh, I dunno, wasteland, I guess. Only he was all fucked up and mutated, probably from all the radiation out there. He said he didn't wanna come back here, I don't... I don't know what this means.

[it means that Peter is confused and pissed and kind of scared, but shhhh. He goes back to staring at the picture, his grip on Ben's wrist not tight enough to hurt, but it's definitely not getting any looser. sorry dude.]

[benhargreeves]

[ So that is a definite no: Peter is not okay. Ben can tell that, because he's not blind or deaf or an idiot, but he doesn't push the issue. Peter needs to say he's fine right now and so Ben is going to let him. Weirdly, it is Peter's own distress that steadies Ben, helps lift him out of his funk. Nothing to make him get a handle on his shit like someone else not doing great. Works like a charm.

(He'll probably unravel later, in an hour or two, but for right now, he's got it under control).

Ben looks at the picture along with Peter. It is unquestionably a clue - some real Agatha Christie shit - but he doesn't feel any closer to understanding just what the hell they've stumbled on here. He listens to Peter's explanation of where he's seen the man before and when Peter says he doesn't know what it means, adds: ]

I don't know either. [ Then, considering: ] It was in the dirt. Crumpled up. Not framed.

[ Ben's eyes are drawn back up to those screens. On the one showing his own room, he sees Klaus wander in, start rifling through his stuff. Who even knows what he's looking for. Definitely Klaus doesn't realize he's being recorded; if he did, would he care? Would he have felt that same cold wave of nausea and fear that Ben had?

He shuts his eyes, jaw tight, skin crawling. But at least, even how cold all his extremities feel and the quick terrible beating of his heart, his thoughts are no longer sluggish. And that means he has an idea. ]

Can we set a trap? Leave - the tunnel looking normal but. Set up a camera of our own. At the entrance. See who shows up?

[ They would only get one shot at it - once whoever is operating this place sees that smashed screen, they'll know their little creepy spying hidey-hole has been compromised. But unless they have a way of monitoring in here, they won't know anything's wrong until they make it all the way here. If they recorded the entrance to this place... might they get some answers? ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter finally releases Ben's wrist and crosses his arms, his gaze falling on the smashed screen that he'd busted earlier. Shit, maybe he shouldn't have done that.

Eventually he answers, huffing in frustration.]

We can-- we can try it. It would be pretty simple, all we really need to do is reposition a couple of the cameras that are already in this area. I wouldn't even need to rewire anything.

[As simple as it sounds, Peter doesn't seem too pumped about it. He approaches the computer console again and gets back to work trying to get into those encrypted file again while he speaks.]

I kind of have a feeling that they woulda known that their position was compromised as soon as the security systems all came back online, though. If someone's been watching us this whole time, they'd already know what we're capable of, right? They'd already know that we'd be able to find them here. They're gonna set up somewhere new as soon as they can, and it's gonna be somewhere that doesn't stick out as much as this place does.

[benhargreeves]

[ The little flicker of hope that Ben had felt when Peter talked about how easy it would be to set a trap according to his plan is stamped out when Peter turns back to the console and keeps talking. Explaining how probably all of this has been pointless, their actions foreseen and accounted for. How whoever has been recording them probably knows they're here now and will just set up somewhere else, where they won't be able to find them.

Which is around when Ben's ability to cope runs right out. He should have considered it earlier, that there might be some kind of backup station, or that whoever has been operating here might try again. Peter is right. Logically he knows that. But Ben had just assumed, now they'd found this place, it was going to be over. They would remove the cameras like Peter had said, and the only awful thing was the knowledge it had been happening all along.

But from the way Peter's talking, they're still going to be recorded, and there's no possible way to stop it. Peter said it himself: these people know what they're capable of. Know what they'll do. They have no options, no control, no point in trying to resist. (At least, that is how it sounds to Ben.) ]

Oh. Okay.

[ It's not the end of the world. He had lived like this for 16 years. He can do it again. He has a lot of practice. So it should be easy.

Ben's knees are shaking really badly, and Peter doesn't look like he's about to be done too soon, so he goes ahead and just sits down on the floor, quietly. His entire body is numb and tingling with adrenaline, heart pounding hard; but on the outside he is very still. But he doesn't offer any more suggestions, or look at Peter. He knows him losing his shit right now isn't helpful, so the least he can do is do it as quiet and as contained as possible. The only thing that really gives him away as anything other than chill is the sound of his quick, shaky breathing. ]