(no subject)

[trickswithsticks]

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The areas turned out to be residential, and every home Leah tried had a personal computer. None, however, had any electricty coming into their (twin round pin) mains sockets, so trying to find people online was out, even if she could use a foreigncomputer with no access software.

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So instead she started collecting batteries and settled down in one of the more secure first floor flats to pull apart a hifi system and construct a useable Short Wave radio. This she tuned through miles of thick white noise while adding a transmitter.

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The morse code transmitter is easy. It's a few days and a lot of cannibalised electrical appliances before she perfects a battery powered motion device that will keep the SOS code on a loop on a fixed frequency, but she manages that.

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That channel stays open while she starts building a new radio.

[OOC: very much open, but please do not tag if your character would be able to locate and rescue Leah. I want to keep her lost for a while]

Comments

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

A reply comes - in morse.

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? DE TARDIS K

Which, as someone familiar with morse, she should recognise as shorthand for 'calling unknown sender, this is TARDIS, listening'.

The narrative would like to reassure readers that further communications will not be spelled out.

[trickswithsticks]

TARDIS?

TARDIS??


Leah's heard less imaginative codenames, she has to admit.

Within seconds, she's at the morse sender, tapping out:

--- Location unknown, prob W or C Europe. Info needed. ---

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

There is a pause - which could imply either that the person at the other end of the communication isn't there, or that they're frowning at various instruments trying to trace the signal. After a minute:

---Cannot track you. Query unknown location.---

[trickswithsticks]

Shit and bollocks.

---Shit---

Leah shrugs to herself.

--- Residential area. Cars L hand drive. Plugs twin round. No other location info to hand. Setting up audio on this channel. ---

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

---Will continue attempts to trace your location. Meanwhile. Are you of this world or elsewhere?---

[trickswithsticks]

Leah considers this, and genuinely doesn't know the correct answer.

--Earth. UK. Bang was transdimensional portal? --

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

---That is one explanation. Cause unknown.---

[trickswithsticks]

It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it makes some. By this point Leah has hooked up her own headset to the same radio -at least temporarily.

--- audio ---

Then, "a'right, Doctor?"

Well, it's worth a try, right?

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

"I hear you, loud and clear," comes the Doctor's voice. A female voice, which might surprise Leah but then again, probably doesn't given that she's just assuming the name is a call-sign.

[trickswithsticks]

It's not the idea of a female Doctor that makes Leah laugh out loud, but the silky voice itself. This is a voice she can approve of.

"Great. Yeah, there was a bang and suddenly I was outside in the street. Going mad from the lack of information, here."

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

"Afraid I can't be much help. As far as I can tell, this world was hit by an unexplained number of portals, which deposited varying beings - and some of those were what we would term monsters. the world has been devastated, it's population vastly reduced and many of it's major cities reduced to rubble. there are still some gateways opening, but far fewer than before. It would be one of these that brought you here."

A pause.

"What is the difficulty with ascertaining your whereabouts?"

[trickswithsticks]

"I keep my GPS in my superhero outfit."

There's a healthy portion of sarcasm in there, so she can take that how she will. "I came in from my kitchen. We're not all equipped with TARDISes and the like, you know."

[13th-doctor.livejournal.com]

"No street signs, telephone books, public libraries?" Comes the question. There is no sarcasm - anyone who can ask for help in morse code must have some brain cells, so it can't be stupidity.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Oracle has two satellites under her control by now. A French weather satellite and an American "weather" satellite. She's trying to bring more online, but it's slow going with everything else going on.

That's why, while she picks up the signal almost as soon as it starts transmitting, it takes more than two hours to get a transmitter in range to send something back.

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message received
location?
situation?

Someone is out there, and they need help. Barbara hopes she's able to get a team to wherever that signal is coming from (somewhere in Europe... she thinks... she really hated having so little equipment).

[trickswithsticks]

"Ow! Shit!"

The incoming message caught Leah by surprise so hard that her hand slipped and the craft kife she'd been using to strip wires sliced into her finger. sucking on that, she crosses over to the completed radio in seconds.

--- Location unknown. Probably Europe.
Isolated, no medical emergency.
Where are you?---

The code is quick to tap out, but she's grinning around her finger. CONTACT.

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

One of the best information experts on the planet and she was reduce to Morse code. Babs could almost scream with frustration except that it wouldn't get anything done.

--- Confirm Europe. Insufficient equipment for better location.
Current base in central United States.
Have access to international transport. ---

Barbara can do Morse code from memory, but she's already got a piece of software to do the translation work for her. It lets her keep an eye on her other systems while still operating low-tech.

[trickswithsticks]

Leah, fortunately, is fluent in Morse. After Braille, it's the alphabet she uses most frequently in her day to day life, not liking too much translation software. But she's also fiddling with the radio to hook up her mic and earpiece, now she has an open channel.

--- Cant give more accurate data than that. Can you tell me whats happened? ---

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Babs slides her glasses from her face and rubs her eyes. "Start with the easy questions why don't you?" she mutters.

--- Basic collapse of civilization.
Estimate 90% global population loss.
Trigger event less than two years ago.
Still acquiring further data. ---

[trickswithsticks]

She can't say it was a surprise, but still:

--- Shite. ---

Then;

--- Do you have audio capacity? Switching to vocal. ---

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

Babs checked over her setup and nodded.

--- Switching to audio. ---

Then, "This is Oracle. Signal check."

[trickswithsticks]

"Oracle?"

Leah's Liverpudlian accent is thick from disuse, and her grin comes through even thicker.

"Codename, or you actually work for the software company?"

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"Old habit," Barbara kept her voice distortion program running. "Did some contract work for them when they needed a pinch hitter though."

"You've got no idea where you are? I've got transport, but I'll need a location if you want pickup."

[trickswithsticks]

"You said," Leah says. Honestly, she's not thrown by the secrecy, but
she's always found it rude, and old habits die hard.

"I got Europe: Western or central.. Left hand drive, twin round pins
on the plug sockets. Computer in every household. I could go looking
for a public information building, but with my luck lately that could
mean me wandering into the Alps on me own, y'know? I figured making
contact would come first.

"I know it's not Madrid, though."

[twiceahero.livejournal.com]

"I definitely don't recommend moving if you're secure. Especially not if you're not packing a serious arsenal. We've lost entire cities."

She sighs, and shakes it off. "Architecture wrong for Madrid?" she asks.

[trickswithsticks]

"Nah, I just ran into a few lads the other day who were lying when they said it was," Leah says cheerfully. "And yeah, seeing as all I got is their pistol, and I'm not a sharp shooter anymore, I reckon I'm gonna stay here as long as the food holds out.

"How come you got transport?"