Court Records

DootDootDoot wrote:

Kachu wrote:Bennett nodded a few times, and did a few stretches, before heading towards the viney path. "I dunno how much food the each of you brought, and I sure as hell dunno how much each of ya can eat." He eyes Carrie and Nail for a few moments. "If for some ungodly reason we run outta food, I feel like the path that supports life might be a better choice here."

He pats one of the vines on the wall a few times. "'Sides, a path that supports life obviously has water as well. Somethin' else that's pretty important I think."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. That'd be great, if this was a long term thing, but it's not." Charlie waved her hand dismissively at Bennett. "We just gotta find Enola. And do you really think she picked the path with all the prickly vines?"

"We've got bloody tents set up for us to sleep in, that's long term enough to need some damn water to drink. Like I said I sure don't know how much food or water each of ya brought, but it's best to play it safe, isn't it? God forbid this missing person is actually missing down god knows how many tunnels this cave has and we get lost or something..." Bennett sighs.

"Plus I'd certainly go down here if I were one of them artsy types.

"And God forbid she's lost down the right tunnel while we waste time following the tunnel that'll undoubtedly take longer to search!" she huffed.

"And besides, you want art? Look at those stalactites." she pointed at them. They were very stalactitey. "Those are God's sculptures, buddy. Now that's art."

Seb stared with what could be construed as apprehension down the right path, before turning his gaze to the left. "Plants mean light gets into the caves that way. Light means an opening of some kind. That strikes me as the more fruitful place to start." After saying this he eyed the right path again warily.

KamiPanda wrote:Seb stared with what could be construed as apprehension down the right path, before turning his gaze to the left. "Plants mean light gets into the caves that way. Light means an opening of some kind. That strikes me as the more fruitful place to start." After saying this he eyed the right path again warily.

Daniel nods, approaching the left path to take a better look. "Sebastian has the right idea. I wouldn't advise splitting up until we have a better idea of what we're doing and more discipline. In addition, we have no way to communicate with the other group in case they get lost. It'll be better if we all head down one path."

"And we'd have to spend even more time dividing into groups if we were to split up. Let's keep it quick and stick together, and if the route we choose is a dead end, we can just head back."

"We're all, by and large, in favour of staying as one group, it seems," Seb stated, moving a short distance into the vine cave to get a better look at the vegetation. "Yet despite that we're in two minds about which path to actually take." He put on his pink protective gloves and began poking the vines, apparently not having anything else to say on the matter.

"Carrie no care if split up or not. But Carrie expert. And Carrie say..." She slowly raised her finger up. Slowly. Very slowly. Wow she was really taking her time.

She pointed at the left. "Enola went this way. Maybe write poem about plants."

While discussions continued, Shizune looked around her surroundings, typing away. Eventually she pulled the paper from Claudia and tucked it away, then started a fresh message and passed it to Seb.

"She makes a point." Ciro nodded to Shizune. "It's better for us to take the right path, the stalactite one, I think."

“I say we go left since that’s what Carrie thinks. I don’t like the idea of leaving anyone behind though. Maybe we can clear a way?”

Daniel walks over to the left path, turning to the group, slightly raising his tone of voice. "Nobody gets left behind, soldiers! Remember those words. If we have to take another path for everyone to come through, then we will. We can't spend the entire day arguing about the path to pick. To me, the choice seems obvious - the right path. It'll likely be harder to navigate because of how bumpy it is, but that's no challenge for our unit. Am I right, or am I wrong?" He seems to pose this question at everyone else.

“Why Carrie here if not for now? Carrie have good feeling about left. If Carrie go right she die. Carrie not know much but she know this.”

"Dividing our group in this setting would surely be unwise! We must remain united at all times...Just imagine if something terrible were to happen to the unlucky group of people, there would be nothing we could do! They could become lost and we would be unable to locate them. We do not want any accidents on our hands."

“We might be able to take Shizune and her typewriter if we have someone pushing the wheelchair the whole time?” Benjamin suggested, trying to be helpful.

Benjamin sighed, realizing they were getting nowhere. “Alright look, I think we should go left but going right is a better option than just standing here. How about we flip a coin?”

"Yes, why did the mayor send us all down, this is getting nowhere. We could flip a coin... yeah, let's flip the coin, quickest way."

“I’d rather not leave things to chance,” Brandy said. “It tends to end badly. But if we can’t come to a decision on our own...”

She sighed.

“Yeah, sure. I vote we flip a coin too before this process goes and gets dragged out any longer.”

"If we're already at the stage of flipping a coin, then the quickest way is to just go left," Seb reasoned, heading on down the left passage before anyone could object. "Wouldn't want our expert Spelunker to die after all," he could be heard saying, voice echoing backwards as he went deeper.

Benjamin smirked. “Well that’s one way of moving things along.”

Figuring that he wouldn’t be tasked with moving Shizune due to his chain, he picked up his iron ball and scurried down the left path after Seb.

"Completely disregard what the other half wants..." Ciro sighs. "Porco presuntuoso."

"There you have it. Come on, we're on a timer, soldiers. Chop chop." Daniel follows behind in the left tunnel.

“I don’t like this one bit,” Brandy said as she hurried after Seb and Ben. Ben and Seb, a new sitcom for the whole family coming soon, Sundays on FOX.

"Hey! What happened to democracy?! Come back here!" Charlotte said, going left anyways. Sucker.

It seems the group's decision was made for them by Seb now. Since the majority of people seemed in favour of moving forward as a single group, everyone followed, with Nail ducking his head to avoid getting hit and Shizune slowly wheeling her way through.

As the group made it into the overgrown path, they could tell it had an interesting flair to it. Vines were all over the wall, looking quite prickly. There were some small fruits growing on them. Carrie quickly took one of them and chomped into it before anyone could say anything. Thankfully, it appeared to be harmless. Quite tasty too, apparently. Foliage was all over the place, lending it the feel of an underground jungle.

The crew quickly stopped though as they wandered in. In front of them was a pit of some strange looking mud. Carrie picked up a rock and threw it into the mud, only for it to sink. Yup, it was a pile of quicksand. It looked to be a few meters wide. Hard to tell how dangerous it was, but it appeared to be an obstacle nonetheless. How would the team cross this?

Benjamin looked over at the quicksand. Then back at his ankle. Then at Shizune, but his sight kept returning to his ankle.

“Let’s go back.” He decided. “We’ll go right this time.”

"Bennett was right, then. Quicksand means water, in some form at least. It would explain how the plants stay alive... I think?" Even Seb seemed a little unsure as he said this.

"Still, Enola might have gone this way?" he suggested weakly, dropping down to sit on the ground. "Micah, did you manage to notice any gear on her person when she entered the cave?" he asked the archaeologist. He seemed more comfortable addressing her than he had some of the other citizens.

Charlotte kicked another rock into the pit, to watch it sink.

JesusMonroe wrote:Benjamin looked over at the quicksand. Then back at his ankle. Then at Shizune, but his sight kept returning to his ankle.

“Let’s go back.” He decided. “We’ll go right this time.”

"Yeah. Even if she could, it's not like Enola would have gone through the trouble of crossing a quicksand pit. So, let's go back, and this time choose the right path." she said, very pleased with herself.

“You do not need gear to cross quicksand.” Benjamin corrected Seb. “It’s a matter of staying relaxed. There are many possible ways including swimming or wading backwards on an object.” He said all of this as if he were an expert.

“But still, we need to go the other way. I do not know how mobile Shizune is, and I will be weighed down by any method. If the two of us attempt to cross we will die.”

"And yet the other route only leads to death as well," Seb mumbled back. "Isn't that what Carrie said?"

"Still, perhaps we could... um... maybe if Daniel threw the ball across?" Seb suggested. "Or we could construct a makeshift boat?" Using all the boat-building materials just conveniently lying around, presumably.

“This is what happens when ya blindly rush into things,” Brandy lamented. “I say we turn back and go the other way.”

Sadly, there are no boat building materials conveniently lying around. The vines nearby the quicksand could perhaps be used to swing across the quicksand, though...

Daniel looks at the other side of the quicksand puddle before adding, "It doesn't seem likely to me that Enola crossed this path, soldiers. Otherwise, we'd have seen some semblance of materials used to construct a bridge or the likes. It's best if we go to the other path before deciding on committing to this."

Bennett sighs. “Already making us back down Danny? Is a little puddle of sand too much for ya?” Bennett laughs and tries to pull a vine down, and tests it to see just how sturdy it is.

“We might be able to tie a few of these to the wheelchair and send it across.”

Kachu wrote:Bennett sighs. “Already making us back down Danny? Is a little puddle of sand too much for ya?” Bennett laughs and tries to pull a vine down, and tests it to see just how sturdy it is.

“We might be able to tie a few of these to the wheelchair and send it across.”

Daniel shakes his head. "No, soldier. Our unit would be perfectly capable of getting across - be it by making a raft, or a bridge. I only believe this to be a waste of time because Enola clearly didn't pass here, and we didn't investigate the other. I doubt they cleaned up, so there should be debris of some kind around the puddle. In addition, we would have to leave at least one soldier behind, which is not what an unit should do."

The vines seem fairly sturdy, though they appear quite old.

Datamatt wrote:

Kachu wrote:Bennett sighs. “Already making us back down Danny? Is a little puddle of sand too much for ya?” Bennett laughs and tries to pull a vine down, and tests it to see just how sturdy it is.

“We might be able to tie a few of these to the wheelchair and send it across.”

Daniel shakes his head. "No, soldier. Our unit would be perfectly capable of getting across - be it by making a raft, or a bridge. I only believe this to be a waste of time because Enola clearly didn't pass here, and we didn't investigate the other. I doubt they cleaned up, so there should be debris of some kind around the puddle. In addition, we would have to leave at least one soldier behind, which is not what an unit should do."

“How can you be so sure?” Bennett asks, tugging the vine a little. “Seems sturdy enough for a small girl like her to swing across, if that’s what she wanted. In that instance there’s no need for any debris. I’m not opposed to going the other way, but I’d much rather secure some water, especially if we plan on bathing Carrie.”

(Ignore)

Brandy nodded in agreement with Daniel. “He’s right. There’s no evidence Enola, or anythin’ else for that matter, was even here. It’d be a waste of time if we went through this here path.”

Oliver watched in horror as the rocks sank into the quicksand, a drop of sweat running down his face, which he wiped away. "Y-Yes, I, ah, don't believe Miss Gardner would head down the path with quicksand. After all, it seems unnecessarily risky when there seemed to be a far more safer path, in my eyes. Plus, there's the lack of evidence she was here as well."

"Maybe if we just send one person across, they could check for footprints?" Seb suggested, standing up. He seemed entirely willing to volunteer for the task.