Pine Quest

[stewartsage]

It's quest time bitches

You're you.  An obvious statement but one frequently neglected in introductions.  Being you isn't terribly interesting or special; you live in an old frame house most would call a shack smack in the middle of a tree covered wilderness in a town that no longer exists.  To say your social life doesn't exist would be the understatement of the decade unless you consider woodland creatures decent companionship.  You isn't awful distinctive either except for being a 'hick' which really doesn't stick out in this, literally, neck of the woods.  You can't afford to dress like Jackie O and you ain't got Twiggy's figure but hey you're still clinging to your health when stronger men are cold dead in the Snake Hill potter's field.  Because that's one thing you do have; a list of 'mental disorders' that reads like a checklist out of the DSM that the government said made you unfit to live with 'normal' people.

That's pretty subjective right?

Normal people were boring anyway so when they took you to the hospital, that was something new to try.  You left years ago, escaped to be specific, and fled as far as you could from that blank hell that was the northern end of the state.  Things are quieter here.  It allows you to concentrate better on the other thing that makes you different from every indigent backwoods hick in the Barrens; your raging lady boner for science.  That's what brought you here to what was once the town of Ong's Hat, to the shack you never bothered to buy (in keeping with local custom), and the second floor bedroom you wallpapered with tar paper to protect your greatest invention.

It sits on a table in front of you, shaped from copper stripped from appliances you've found, car rims, vacuum tubes, an old radio cabinet, and a healthy amount of uninsulated cabling.  You're not entirely sure what it does, but hey, isn't 'try shit out' the only step of the scientific method?

> ___________

[Nichi]

Press buttons and turn knobs at random to see what happens

[NejinOniwa]

Also, ensure that the machine has a well-filled supply of hot tea.

[stewartsage]

As tempting as that is, there's only one button and you ain't sure you want to press it yet.  It is a mighty big button though.

You quietly edge your mug of coffee further away on the table, ignoring the urge to dump it on the electrified machine.  Double checking to make sure the batteries are fully charge, you lean back out.

[NejinOniwa]

I fetch the bug spray from the closet and ensure the area is sealed off from unnecessary pests. Also, I fetch my trusty aluminum foil hat.

[Nichi]

Check my pockets to see if I have anything useful

[stewartsage]

You've got a broom, you remind yourself, which you hastily retrieve to sweep up the bedroom.  It's probably the cleanest in the house to insure a safe and bug free environment for the device itself even though it's up on a table.  After chasing a few crickets out of the baseboard the familiar itch strikes the back of your neck.  You narrow your eyes in annoyance as a car passes by on the road outside.  Slowly, carefully, you lower the goggles resting on top of your neatly combed hair down over your eyes.  To the unobservant, you have put on a pair of welding goggles in a dark room.... you're fully aware that the government lab's radon waves enter through your eyes unlike those quivering fools.  It doesn't help with the signals that beat at your brain but you can't afford tinfoil to remedy the situation.  That was the one good thing about being institutionalized; unlimited free tinfoil.  You place the broom back in the small closet in the hallway.

You reflexively pat down your pockets to make sure nothing's gone missing in the last few minutes.  There's the box of matches for lighting the lamps and candles in one, your keys in the other, and a few personal notes.

[Bella]

It's risky, but I pull up my goggles for a moment. I take out the matches and notes, light one of the candles examine the papers, looking for some useful information. As I feel the weight of the keys in my pocket, the thought suddenly hits me - maybe there's a keyhole someplace in this machine. I put the notes back in my pocket, and by the dim light of the flame I search for any such hole.

[stewartsage]

No reason to waste a match to check your familiar old notes.  You step to one of the windows that remarkable still has glass in the panes and pull out the biggest, a full size sheet folded in quarters.  It's the schematics for your machine; everything looks alright.  No one's rewritten them while you weren't looking.  One of the smaller is a grocery list from last week and the other is a note to yourself to write next week's grocery list with 'APPLES' scrawled underneath it.  As for your keys, there's only three.  Two are padlock keys and one is to the house's locks.

[Nichi]

Check the room to see if there are any apples

[Chocofreak13]

I tenatively go to the door to do a visual sweep for the car. if them gov'ment docs is comin' ta take me back, them's gonna have a fight on their hands.

[NejinOniwa]

With that in mind, I check my secret compartment to make sure my super-secret weapon gadget is still hidden there.

[stewartsage]

Unfortunately, Mrs. Wills hasn't been by to take you to the store since you made that note and are still infuriatingly lacking in apples.  You do decide to go downstairs though, for reasons of your own.  Namely, hunger.

You check out the back door to see if the car is still in sight through the trees.  It didn't sound like it stopped, but sound dies quickly in the woods.  From what you can see it kept on going east towards the coast, and a cloud of dust lingers in the air towards Highway 70.

Entering the kitchen, you check the silverware drawer as you reach the counter just to make sure your SECRET WEAPON is still there.  The scuffed black cloth box is still there.  On the counter,
the radio plays a staticy tune.

[NejinOniwa]

Reassured that THE AGENTS at least haven't penetrated my security web this far, I tap the radio tuner twice before turning it to static
THE SECRET MEDITATION CHANNEL. Can't work with damn noise about the house.

That done, I turn on the stove and fill up a pot of water. I need my daily dose of NOODLES and PINE NEEDLE TEA post haste.

[Chocofreak13]

seeing the potential threat has passed, i wander back to the kitchen to get some water, while trying not to bump into anything (goggles and their damn obscurement of vision).