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pumpkinhollow) wrote2000-02-08 08:52 pm
TDM #4 - Aurora Borealis Bust? [REPRINT]
[Find our plain text version here!]
Pumpkin Hollow Gazette
2/8/24 | TDM #4 - AURORA BOREALIS BLITZ BUST?
Content Warnings: "Further Details" section has independent CW labels.
Forecast: SEVERE BLIZZARD WARNING
REBUILDING HELP REQUESTED
By Cecil Gershwin Palmer
A photo taken of the damage.
ACROSS PUMPKIN HOLLOW - City government is requesting aid with repairs to public buildings and local fixtures after the recent earthquakes on Tuesday, January 8th. While there was minimal damage to Town Hall itself, several important buildings sustained damage, including the Magpie National Bank, the South Train Station and the Clock Tower, which is now stuck with hands at 8pm.
Regarding the cause of the earthquake, local biologist Dr. Elias Coldwood was heard to say “There's never been seismic activity here.” And he’s a scientist, so he would know! But clearly this is no longer the case. Perhaps Pumpkin Hollow has a mysterious tiny civilization underground worshiping a destroyer god, planning to attack through the bowling alley, the moment we create a bowling alley. Perhaps not. More on this story as it unfolds, faithful readers.
In the meantime, volunteers to help with the damage to city buildings are invited to meet with Mayor Hellen Poe for assignments.
AURORA TURNS VIOLENT - MYSTERIOUS BLIZZARD INTERRUPTS CHAOS
By Yorick Aberdeen
An artist's rendition of last year's view.
ABOVE MARROW ISLE - Despite our earlier report, it turns out that this year's annual aurora borealis season did not turn out to be a pleasant or romantic viewing experience. Instead, starry monsters based off of classic constellations have been attacking the town each time the aurora is in the sky! However, due to some extreme blizzards that have been occurring most nights each month since late January, the aurora has been interrupted more nights than not and the monsters intercepted. Still, the Pumpkin Hollow Safety Board would like to remind everyone to take appropriate precautions during inclement weather, and to tread carefully on clear nights as monsters may still be attacking until late February!
HOROSCOPES
By Cecil Gershwin Palmer
What do the stars say about you today?
Capricorn: Do you feel as if you’ve lost something? If not, it’s wise to double-check. Perhaps it’s not something like a button or a key, but your sense of wonder or your self-confidence. Remember, things tend to be in the last place you look.
Aquarius: Something about the year ending made you feel lighter, like taking off a heavy wool coat. Ride this burst of energy as far as it will take you, because the shiny of a fresh beginning tends to wear off quickly.
Pisces: Don’t worry, I don’t believe what everyone says behind your back. You’re not too sensitive or too naive. They’re just jealous. Really, most of the time when they’re whispering, it’s not even about you.
Aries: You’re the sort of warm individual that babies and animals are drawn to. Unfortunately, this may include hungry wolves and swarms of insects. But don’t let that bring you down! We need that sort of personality around here.
Taurus: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the best, until you work to stop others from also being the best. That’s called cheating and may lead to you being disqualified from competitions. If you get caught, that is.
Gemini: You know those riddles about the two guards, one who always tells the truth and one who always lies? Well, everyone hates those riddles with a passion. You’ll see for yourself, soon.
Cancer: Wouldn’t you like to know?
Leo: Your incandescent personality often makes you the center of attention. However, that’s not the only thing about you that glows. Moths may flock to you in the dark this week, and so might children afraid to sleep with the lights out.
Virgo: Be careful with your words–they aren’t just the precursors to your deeds, but the manifestation of your will. This is not a week for idioms and metaphors, not for you. Even something like bemoaning a lack of spoons may make eating cereal harder.
Libra: You are, inevitably, the first one heard to say a situation isn’t fair. And it’s not, nor will it ever be. Instead of getting upset, have you ever considered getting revenge? That’s usually more satisfying in the long run.
Scorpio: Ugh, Scorpios. The position of Venus means your usually volatile emotions will be in the doldrums instead. Enjoy this while it lasts I guess. Who knows if you’ll ever experience such peace again, given, well. You’re kind of an emotional mess and no one likes you.
Sagittarius: There will never be another day like today. You must strive to make the day everything you want it to be. No mistakes, now! Consider your choices very carefully. Consider your choice to consider, very carefully.
SUNFIRE'S HEARTH
By Yorick Aberdeen
A photo of Mayor Poe's cats, Toffee and Butter, enjoying the view.
ASSORTED LOCATIONS - As the coldest part of the year settles over our fair isle, it is time for Sunfire’s Hearth--- an informal celebration of bonfires and hearth flames, for those unfamiliar! For the months of January and February, a raised platform for bonfires will be lit on weekends, and restaurants and taverns across town will keep their fireplaces lit. Unlike many of our other festivities, there is no structured celebration--- simply make some time during this time to bask in the warmth of a fire! You can even celebrate at home.
An additional benefit of this time of year is that Merrymeet is well on its way. So take this time and get snuggly in front of a fire with your special person to get in the mood for romance! (Or they could be platonic snuggles. Whatever suits you best.)
LOCAL ALCHEMIST REPORTS MISSING POTION
By Yorick Aberdeen
Some of Mx. Sallek's usual stock. Could stand to have better labels./p>
LOCATION UNCERTAIN - Early Monday morning, local alchemist Aeryn Sallek reported that a large container of magical potion has been swapped with another, and it would seem that the mistaken jug has been sent out for delivery. According to Mx. Sallek, they sent a number of jugs out for delivery in a case with our local delivery extraordinaire, Sam Porter Bridges. The jugs were meant to contain a harmless, potable freeze-resistance potion for our town’s various water sources, in the interest of keeping water reserves drinkable in sub-freezing winter weather. However, when they returned to the shop, one of these potions remained on their counter while a love potion they’d been working on went missing.
“‘Love potion’ is kind of a misnomer, honestly,” Mx. Sallek is quoted to have said on the matter. “But ‘emotional acuity’ potion doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Basically what it actually does is enhance existing romantic desire and embolden the user to be emotionally open. But Yorick should already know all this, since he’s the one who ordered it.” [Editing note: don’t forget to cut the last part of that comment before publishing. Cecil, you don’t need to include personal statements directed at reporters from these interviews!]
It’s unclear which area of town this particular potion ended up being injected into the water source, but according to Mx. Sallek, the potion was not particularly intense to begin with. It should be significantly diluted as to be harmless. Still, if you notice any strange symptoms such as butterflies in your stomach, a desire to burst into song, or inexplicable yearning, please file a report with the Safety Board at your earliest convenience.
FOOD SHORTAGES PUT STRAIN ON ISLAND ECONOMY
By Yorick Aberdeen
MARKET DISTRICT - While there are many things to celebrate this time of year, Marrow Isle is not without its adversity. Over these past months, many new members of our community have arrived by ferry after our numbers remained small and stagnant for many years. And the presence of our newfound neighbors has been a boon to all of us. Many artisans have opened useful businesses, medical professionals have expanded our access to healthcare, and a new fishing vessel has taken to the seas. However, despite a few additions, our farming community remains quite modest and planting was not planned with such incredible new growth in mind.
The unfortunate result of this is that food reserves on the island this year are uncharacteristically low. As such, Town Council has made the difficult decision to allow for the temporary inflation of food prices and the rationing of food staples.
“We understand the hardship this will place on the residents of Pumpkin Hollow,” said Mayor Poe in a statement after this decision was made. “But please know that we are all in this together. We hope to be able to offer a better incentive package for those interested in farming in the coming springtime.”
Page 1
Aurora
The dead of winter sheds all colors of the trees and flowers across Marrow Isle, but tonight, there are no stark whites and grays and browns.
Tonight, in the sky sprawling with stars above the dreary town, there are lights.
Sprawling trails of violet and green twist and wave through the sky, brightening the earth below and the sea beyond Jack's Marina in magical colors. The return of the borealis is something many Pumpkin Hollowites look forward to, and their reactions are very clear: people scurry down to the shores to watch with wide eyes, many retrieve telescopes, and some even borrow the decks of ships, abandoned for the night at the docks, to watch the sights.
It doesn't take long for this to change, however; the sea nor land are safe from the curse, and it's made quickly apparent that the sky is no exception.
At first, the sight seems like none more than an illusion, perhaps someone blinking and missing a strange shift of the lights. A glimmering outline forms around a cluster of stars, only slightly harder than any of the lines that define the aurora's rays. Several of these shapes form, each array of stars different from the last, some larger, some smaller.
And then, the stars begin to fall.
Seeming to peel off the painted sky, the ebbing colors surrounding the starlight drop, crashing to the world below. Some fall to the streets and beaches, while others fall into the forest, leaving view, or drop into the sea, leaving splashes and waves in their wake that ensure any watching knows full and well that this is not a trick of the light. At first, these shapes are unmoving, glowing masses of aurora-light with stars shining brightly within them. Most townsfolk are uneasy, but this seems to pale in severity to the other disasters, even if they lack any idea of what it could mean for them.
That is, of course, until the masses begin to move.
Each one is as varied as the constellation it stole from the sky: stars form suggestions of skeletal structures, and their "flesh", only consisting of swimming lights and liquid sky that steals any lights around them. Two identical glowing shapes rise to a face finally taking form, and slowly, moving more like gel than animal as it rises to freshly-formed legs, it settles on the closest living thing it can find.
There is no calculation in it, nor what seems to be a glimmer of thought.
It simply lunges with intent to kill.
Cecil’s disconcerting horoscopes have the following effects for the next few days:Horoscopes
[CW: Altered emotional states ]
(Don’t know your character’s sign? Feel free to just decide on one!)
The effects are not particularly intense. However, anyone who drinks any of the tavern’s housemade ale or cider, drinks the coffee, or eats any food that might require water to cook will experience symptoms of “emotional acuity”. This involves feeling more emotionally open, more receptive to positive feelings about others, a strong desire for physical or verbal affection, and the intensification of romantic or sexual attraction that you might already be experiencing. It will last about half a day. Just in time to help potentially land you a date for Merrymeet, a flower and fertility festival in early spring!Love Potion
[CW: Altered Emotional States ]
Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, the “love” potion ended up in the water supply of the Oak & Iron. As promised by Aeryn, it is thoroughly diluted, as its recipients believed it to be a normal freeze-resistance potion to be mixed with their water.
Food rationing and inflation will have the following impact: Grocery budgets for apped-in characters will be reduced in their efficacy. Bonuses and Discounts associated with the Farmer and Fisherman jobs are also reduced. Oak & Iron Residents will only be able to receive bland, repetitive meals with their food vouchers consisting of simple broth, plain bread, bland potato dishes, and the like. It is enough to be fed and comfortable but it is incredibly unsatisfying. (This includes all new characters that are not apped-in.) Drinks, however, are still plentiful. Characters who do not eat will find that their respective sources of fuel will be reduced to just barely enough to keep them functional, provided that they ration carefully. (Ex. Transformers may want to be less active. Vampires will find that victims cannot handle excessive blood loss without fainting and generally prefer to stay home.) Characters who were present to fight the Mother Crab back in late summer and chose to can some of their crab can use it now! Hunting, foraging, and fishing can help reduce the impact of these reductions, and people can share their food. You can absolutely die of starvation. After Merrymeet in February, food will return to normal.Famine
[CW: Starvation and food scarcity ]
Basic groceries will be only the most minimal of staples. You will likely go hungry if you do not find a way to supplement this.
Bountiful groceries will be reduced to the amount of food normally contained in basic.
Lavish groceries will not be available at all.
Your grocery choices from Activity Check are not able to be modified for this month unless otherwise stated.
Level 1 bonuses will be reduced to standard, which is to say how they would function for a non-Farmer/Fisherman character during a normal, pre-famine month. (ex. Whereas normally a Level 1 Farmer would get free Basic groceries, they will now have to pay the 50 Brass, but do not have the efficacy of Basic groceries reduced as described above.)
Level 2 bonuses will be reduced to that of a Level 1 Farmer/Fisherman. (ex. Whereas a Level 2 Fisherman would normally be able to have Bountiful groceries discounted to 50 Brass, they now must pay full price for Bountiful groceries. However, they can still get Basic groceries for free and don’t suffer from the famine induced efficacy reduction for either budget.)
Living in that frying pan...
"Sorry, sorry!" he stammers, and spins in place to get around the man before realizing that they're flanked on either side, an amorphous humanoid shape stalking toward them from behind. It means that his back ends up pressed against Leon's. He's shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "Nonono not again-"
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"Hey, no problem, the more the merrier," he says, deadpan. "You got any idea what these things are? It'd be real helpful if they happen to have some secret weakness I don't know about."
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"They come from the stars, possibly the starlight itself, impossible as that sounds. They may actually be antimatter in their nascent state, it would make sense considering how they come after anything living," he replies in a shaky voice. "Don't get close enough for one to touch you, it'll try and absorb you. Projectiles have been effective, Comrade Jean has themself a company of archers and other distance fighters, and explosive force seems to work well enough."
Sorry if you didn't catch all of that, Leon. He's got a tendency to rattle off a lot very quickly.
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"Little short on projectile weapons right now," he says, though it's less backsass and more thinking aloud. He runs a thumb along the handle of the knife, considering its weight and his position relative to the two aurora creatures. The restaurant they're standing next to is locked up for the night, so they're probably not getting in there as an escape, but there's an inn down the road, past the humanoid figure behind him. They should be able to hole up in there, and hopefully find someone better equipped to deal with this problem.
"Hey, how fast can you run? If I can get these guys off your back, you think you can make it to the inn?"
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The scorpion creature is advancing, claws raised in a facsimile of a threat display, while the humanoid lurches forward with its face toward them, bulky arms coming up as if to grab.
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He's joking - it's not like this man has any good reason to think his offer to fight these things is more calculated risk than noble sacrifice. His grip shift on the knife, gaze darting between the two starry figures. Getting in close and trying to push them back in melee is a non-starter, since apparently they'll try to absorb him if he does that, but the scorpion at least seems to consistently rear back before striking, giving them a little bit of breathing room. The humanoid is a little trickier though, but since it's the one between them and the inn that does mean he's got one good option.
"Think fast!" he shouts, and pivots on his heels to hurl the knife at the aurora creature's chest. It staggers back, stunned, and Leon grabs the other guy's arm and starts running, aiming to make it past the thing before it recovers.
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He is not a graceful person. He stumbles on long legs and nearly hits the ground as Leon makes a break for it, but thankfully with the snow finally melting off it's easier to regain his footing and take off in kind. the monster wouldn't stay staggered for long, but for now it's enough. Catching up and rounding a corner that would at least put a building between them and the creatures, Bart digs with his free hand into a pocket of a jacket that's honestly too thin for the season, picking out a stone that flickers a moment as he uses it to call ahead a brief SOS message. It would mean the door would be open for them to get inside before they were tracked down.
"Come on, come on!" he urges, glancing back over his shoulder again then dipping back out onto the street with his hand fastened firmly around Leon's for the last stretch of the run to the inn. They would be safe when they made it inside.
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Wrenching the door open with more force than is probably necessary, Leon all but shoves the man inside before following after, slamming it behind them and leaning heavily against it just in case.
"Man, I knew there was a reason I never liked astrology," he says, flatly.
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"Clearly it doesn't think particularly highly of you either," he quips in return, then jumps at the approach of one of the staffers of the inn. He is visibly frightened of the tall woman staring at the two of them with her hand on her hip and a set of brass knuckles on her belt shaped like cat faces.
"Sorry miss Magne, didn't mean to cause a fuss," he says quickly, and reaches for Leon's hand to drag him toward a table instead before they could be scolded for being out late enough to get caught.
CW: blood
“Jesus,” he says, sitting down across from him. “That’s enough excitement for one night, I think.”
Cracking his neck, he rolls his shoulders to try to ease some of the lingering tension, only to notice as he does so a mild, stinging pain in his shoulder. Frowning, he looks over, touching a hand to it that comes away bloody.
“Shit.” He grimaces, tugging at the hole in his shirt to get a better look. The thing must’ve gotten him as he was turning his back to run, and he didn’t even notice with all the excitement. “You think that thing was venomous?”
cw continues
As soon as she's gone off to see to other patrons with the hope that Bart would be able to take care of getting the new boy squared away, Bart himself straightens up, starting to put a hand up to stop Leon from touching the wound as soon as he realizes that he can see blood seeping into the fabric of his new clothes.
"Ah- don't touch it," he admonishes quietly, pulling Leon's hand down by the wrist with just his fingers on the inside of the man's wrist. Dark eyes look over the little bit of the wound that he can see, and he can't help the soft frown on his face. "I don't think that creatures like that can have venom, but I don't trust that they can't leave something. Would you mind terribly if I looked at it? I work at one of the local clinics and there is an open bathroom here. Not the most private, but having access to warm water will be necessary."
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Standing, he'll head to the bathroom as requested, talking as he goes.
"Sorry about all your papers, by the way. Uh, hopefully they weren't anything too irreplaceable." It might be possible to salvage some of them, but seeing as it doesn't seem too safe to get out there again right now, that might have to wait, and by then who knows where they'll have gotten off to.
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"What's your name?" he asks as he moves to help Leon out of his shirt to get to the wound. "There wasn't much time to ask, before."
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"It's Leon," he says, leaning against one of the counters while the other man gets ready. "Leon S. Kennedy. Good to meet you, by the way. You know, despite the circumstances."
Not every day you run into someone when the sky is literally falling on you. Or is it, around here? Either way.
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As he talks, he carefully wets a soft rag in warm water from the tap, using it to clean immediate around the wound while inspecting it for anything worse than just the puncture. Thankfully, aside from some subtle residue that seems to have rubbed off of the creature. He's careful in tending to it, though his eyes wander back to the scars time and again. "If you've got the time later, I would like for you to come to one of the clinics in town to get a more proper rundown on your health. I work with doctor Watson and doctor Anzu, and we're all transplants. Likewise with doctor Pierce, and doctor Winterbottom's a long time resident, working with doctor Freeman and First Aid. You've got a lot of options, is what I'm saying."
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He kinda hates getting stitches, but at least he's got options here other than doing it himself in the field. That's definitely a plus. He sits perfectly still for Bart, though, not even wincing at the cleanup and inspection.
"Thanks for the rundown. I guess it's a good thing this town has so many doctors, if giant antimatter scorpions are falling out of the sky all the time."
Even without correctly parsing 'First Aid' as someone's name instead of the practice, that's still a fair number of them running around. He resolves to ask around tomorrow, not least because there's the issue of medication that he'll have to figure out sooner or later.
"You got a name yourself, though?"
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Rather than resorting to sutures, he leans past Leon to retrieve a kit from under the sink, having insisted on making sure there was one here for new arrivals that might get injured and be unable to get to one of the clinics. From this he takes a few butterfly bandages to close the edges of the wound.
"We certainly are lucky in that respect at least," he agrees. "Though, unfortunately Watson's a bit out of date. This place grabs us all from disparate times and places, after all. It was such a a shock learning that I'm from a timeline approximately two centuries ahead of most of my colleagues.
"My name is Bart," he adds as he smooths medical tape around the edges of a folded gauze strip to protect the wound.
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He frowns, trying to talk himself through the process of getting his head around it. It's bizarre to think about, but he thinks he might sort of have it. Huffing, he shakes his head.
"Still. Two hundred years, huh? I can't even imagine what the world would look like that far forward. Must be real interesting being here, if you're used to something more advanced."
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Which he'll probably realize very quickly as Bart continues at the same time that he's carefully straightening Leon's shirt. He would like to clean the blood out of it, but he doesn't have any clothes to offer in exchange and nothing that he's wearing would fit Leon anyway, the man is so much bulkier than he himself is. He doesn't even know yet that Leon is only a year or two older than himself, even while looking so much more stressed and aged.
"Oh absolutely, I'm finding it such an interesting challenge to be in an environment like this where I don't have access to any of my normal tools. Before this I was in a similar predicament, though I still had access to a fabrication unit and plenty of titanium salvage to build with. Here, there's no such thing as titanium, and they haven't figured out the process for making steel yet. I've done more writing here than I've ever done in my life! I'm sure my penmanship is utterly atrocious."
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"Yeah," he says, a little distantly. "At least we're past the lead pipes phase."
A pause, and he comes crashing back into the present moment as something occurs to him.
"We are past the lead pipes phase, right? I have no idea when we stopped doing that." Fuck, if he'd known he was gonna wind up in a weird time-unstuck island between life and death he would've paid way more attention in history class.
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"I'm...not actually sure," he admits, clearly worried. He looks back at Leon as his thoughts run along similar lines. "If it helps at all, I haven't actually seen evidence of lead poisoning in the records that were copied over from the first clinic. I went through a lot of them when I first signed on as an assistant to be able to address some issues that could benefit from a more advanced perspective." He's done a lot of work in trying to get some of their resident doctors a little more up to speed in the hopes of preventing unintentional malpractice.
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That's the kind of thing that would be obvious, right? Other things Leon doesn't know: what the signs of lead poisoning are or the timescale on which it occurs.
"Glad you're here, though. I mean. Not glad about... how we got here specifically, but it's good to have people around who know what they're doing." And are being helpful and open about it, instead of cryptic and weird. That also counts for a lot. "You got anything in particular I should be watching out for? Stuff people here keep trying to put in their mouths that they've realized you shouldn't, by your time?"
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Bart washes his hands in the basin to rid them of traces of blood, draining it when that's done and drying off, then offering a hand back up to Leon now that he's been patched up. Something to eat to replenish a bit of his energy would likely go a long way.
"Honestly I'm very glad that I'm here in spite of the challenges and setbacks. It's a much warmer place than I've ever been, where the people are concerned. Some of them are a bit set in their ways, but they're generally easy to get along with. We've got miners that have been working underground for a very long time that knows the realities of the job, and I've been trying to figure out how to get them all equipped with proper respirators. Asbestos is... unfortunately a bit of a problem, but it isn't terrible the way it was back in the twentieth century. The boom hasn't necessarily happened just yet. I want to get people moving away from it rather than relying on it, but my field of expertise is agricultural biology and xenobiology. There's only so much that I can do here." The regret is probably clear, even as he tries to maintain a more upbeat tone.
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"Yeah, I can imagine that'd be stressful. I mean, that sounds pretty useful to me, but I'm guessing between the equipment here being older than you're used to and not every problem being a biology problem it'd be hard to fix everything you know just enough to notice," he says. Then pauses, and adds, "Wait, is First Aid someone's name?"
It took him this long to cotton on to that.
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He has a lot of thoughts about people's tendency to do that sort of thing no matter where (or when) they're from.
He makes a soft sound and nods at the comments about the equipment. "My good friend Tarantulas and I have a project going to start producing the batteries to make a radio network viable, but the materials are hard to come by. I'm still not used to the complete lack of titanium.
"Yes, he's one of the doctors at Winterbottom's clinic," he replies with a small smile. "His people are called Autobots. It is...decidedly on the nose."
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I LOST THIS TAG sorry
it happens!
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Wrap!