beware the patient woman ((for outpostcook, nexus_crossings))

[eumenis]

Literally no one else in the Wasteland grows fish or other aquatic food of any kind. This, Furiosa is willing to stake her right arm on. She’s never heard of anyone seeing the ocean in her lifetime, except Max, and he’s a crazy smeg who rides the dusty roads like he belongs to them. Maybe they took him somewhere else, somewhere further away than anyone else could reach.

Well. In a way, she has, too, although the path to the Nexus came to her rather than her seeking it out.

In any case, if anyone can make aquatic animals viable in the desert, it’s the Citadel, with their aquifer, with their giant pumps and their vast body of people capable of learning and innovating. Bartertown is the undisputed trade center of their world, but the Green Towers are the seed from which a better world may yet grow. And so, Furiosa always has an eye to anything that might give them an edge over the more brutal societies around them, but as soon as something new they have can be shared and traded, she’ll do that, too. She’s already disseminated writings taken from the Nexus, seeds from plants bought there, and the plans for moisture condensing machines that could provide vital water for settlements in the desert.

Kinner is part of her plans now, but he can rely on her sense of justice. She’ll pay fairly for whatever he gives them, one way or another. When she arrives to pick him up at the fish stand, she has a double-layer jar containing about half a gallon of camel milk, and a palm-sized sliver of soft cheese made from the same. She whistles at the door to catch his attention, holding out the gifts she’s brought. “Ready? How are the sea-bugs today?” She nods at the lobster tank.

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[outpostcook]

"Hey! Furiosa!" Kinner waves on seeing her, inviting her over. "Good to see you! The lobsters are healthy, and I've got plenty left." He gestures to the tank and pats his pocket. "I copied down the aquaculture instructions for you and your group as I promised. It's all yours." He notices the cheese and milk. "Mind if I have a small sample? Just as a test. I've never had camel milk or cheese before. Mostly cow."

Kinner finds the idea of a world without the ocean or rivers unthinkable. He was a boy of the rivers, well-used to sitting on the shore of the Missouri River with a baited fishing rod, both to relax and to catch that night's dinner if he could. The Nexus has allowed him to relive those memories as an adult. He didn't see the ocean until later in life, and never in relaxing circumstances - either in the middle of a war or on his way to the polar station that would be his death. The great irony of Antarctica is that he was literally standing on top of water, and yet it was undrinkable. Attempting to eat snow would only dehydrate him further. Still, a never-ending desert sounds nightmarish in its own way. He would have never gone to such a place without Furiosa's offered protection, and a deal's a deal. He's never ventured to another world outright before. Everyone's got their first time for everything. It would be a good way to expand his business.

"I'm ready to go. Is there anything I should get from my shop before we leave?" He wants to make sure he has everything he needs. "You got something to wear? I'm pretty sure my polar gear will boil me alive."

He wonders how well he'll fit in in Furiosa's world of strange cars and ferocious warriors. He was a former soldier. As such, he has fired a gun, been shot at, and killed people. Still, he doesn't particularly enjoy violence and, while he could survive, even tolerate, harsh conditions, didn't like them. His scars, which he recieved during a war after all, wouldn't be so bad compared to some of the things he was bracing himself to see. He' been reading up on nuclear weapons, which is something he somewhat regrets doing, since now he can see why Furiosa's world would be such a mess.

[eumenis]

"Well," she teases, "I didn't bring it just for you to look at it. It's not that pretty."

She sets the goods on the counter for him, grinning, and makes a 'be my guest' gesture. He'll find the milk very creamy and frothy and thick. It might make a tasty cocoa with some additions, but it's probably best for cooking or baking. The cheese, meanwhile, is a little bit sweet, and very thick, somewhere between cream cheese and chevre.

"'Boil' implies there would be moisture involved," she tells him dryly. "You'd be mummified. It wouldn't be pretty."

She has a bag on her shoulders, and slings it down easily, pulling out a loose tunic in mottled taupes and greens, and a pair of war-boy trousers with patches in the knees. "Your boots will be fine. You want foot protection in the desert, trust me. These are secondhand but they're clean. I have a belt and canteen for you, too."

Because it would be remiss to bring anyone to her world without their own water source. Even if she intends to keep an eye on him, accidents happen.

[outpostcook]

Kinner eats the cheese and drinks the milk. He figures the taste will take some getting used to, he thinks as he still feels the tang in his mouth, but he doesn't really mind - he's used to things that don't necessarily taste the best.

"Thanks. Doesn't taste bad - a bit strong, sure, but not bad at all."

Kinner accepts the clothes, wondering how he'd look in them. He thinks the rugged look fits him, to be honest. "I'll have them on in a few minutes, and I'll rejoin you back here. Thanks for the canteen. I kind of guessed your world doesn't have much in the way of water, if all the oceans and ice caps have dried up." He can only imagine the implications of that on humans and wildlife. If there's any wildlife left. Dehydration's a quicker killer than starvation.

And the idea of being mummified doesn't appeal to him, at all, in any way. He'd prefer not to think about that, to be completely honest. He's already suffered one slow, unpleasant death and isn't rushing to repeat the experience.

He picks up the clothes and scampers into his shop to properly change, emerging a short while later in the clothes Furiosa gave him while keeping the boots. "So...how do I look?"

[eumenis]

Furiosa has had precious little cow's milk in her life, so she's not really in a position to compare the taste of the two. There's probably more of a tang and aftertaste to the camel milk, though, and it's definitely creamy, with a high fat content. He also might want to keep in mind they don't pasteurize it, but the Nexus AV field must take care of some contagion simply by existing, otherwise there would be weird alien infections running through the population constantly.

"Yeah," she nods. "Our water is safe at the Citadel, but fill it before you leave here. You can never have too much."

She's back to looking at the lobsters when he reappears, but glances up and smiles at the question. "Hey...not bad at all," Her eyes sparkle, and whether it's a flirt or a platonic gesture is hard to tell, but she reaches out and ruffles his hair. "We'll keep you out of the sun so you don't burn, too. Ready?"

[outpostcook]

Kinner goes over to the sink where he works, filling the canteen with water and fastening it to his side. He has to say, the rough look of the clothes suit him. Kinner's used to heavy clothes, and he has little trouble moving in them. He's expecting that at the very least there won't be the same kinds of visibility problems that there were in Antarctica. Those were bad enough.

Furiosa seems to think so, too, and he's flattered, his usual gruffness melting away at the compliment.

He isn't sure how to respond to the flirting, if that's what it is, but he's flattered by it. He blushes slightly when she finishes ruffling his hair. It's a nice gesture. Kinner stands up straight, knapsack on his back and canteen secured. "I'm ready when you are." He flashes Furiosa a quick grin. "I'm pretty new to this visiting other worlds business - I thought Antarctica would be the farthest I'd ever go. Guess that's another advantage of bein' dead. So, I'm guessin' there's some kinda portal to help us get to your world?"

[eumenis]

Most of the visibility problems in the Wasteland are due to dust storms. When the air is clear it's terribly bright, and some people do have to squint and shield themselves from the glare, but it's not as bad as the reflection of sun-on-snow. If they were going out on the road, she'd find him some goggles like the Ace wears, but inside the Citadel proper they'll be fine without.

"There is," she tells him with a smile and beckons him after her down a path away from the Plaza. "Although I use a PINpoint, as well, when it suits me. I'll show you where the gate is in case you need something. I used to worry about strangers coming through but not any more. No one's even tried, and there are so many wealthier, prettier places people could visit I doubt anyone would stay long enough to cause trouble if they did."

"What made you decide to go to Antarctica in the first place? I mean, you personally, not the expedition."

[outpostcook]

"Me? Well..." Kinner grimaced. "Not for any great or noble reason, I'll have you know. I ain't a hero. I was in it for the paycheck, to be completely blunt with you. It was the Depression. I needed any money I could get, and I always wanted to do some exploring. Wasn't much in the way of well-paying jobs where I was from. I thought it was lucky Commander Garry accepted me."

Kinner's well used to bad visibility - not that he likes it, it's actually almost gotten him killed back in Antarctica, but he's dealt with it before.

"Handy things, PINpoints," he says as he fingers for his own in his pocket. "If we'd had those back in Antarctica, they woulda saved us a lot of trouble, but that's the way things are, I guess." He's grown used to his, and it's been a godsend for his shop and keeping his supplies fresh. He can hardly imagine having lived without one for so long, but he's spent some time in the Nexus learning about and exploring technology that was developed long after his time period. He especially likes computers, though some of the movies he's seen aren't bad.

[eumenis]

"There's nothing wrong with not being a hero," she observes, watching him in her peripheral vision. "I think as long as you're not a monster, that's doing pretty well for yourself. We all have to make a living."

Granted, her world doesn't have the monetary system his does, but she understands. Survival is pretty universal.

"The technology is remarkable, isn't it?" She nods. "I've thought about using them for supply runs, but it seems like hubris to take too much from the Nexus to fix things here. And we should never be dependent on anything we can't produce ourselves."

The door to Furiosa's world is pretty nondescript, just a cleft in some concrete rubble at the edge of an empty lot. She slips into it smoothly, and holds her hand out to lead him after her. It's dark, but the floor feels like hard-packed earth and very smooth, so it's an easy, short walk through the tunnel. The air on the other side feels hot and dry, like stepping into a giant dryer.

[outpostcook]

Kinner's used to not being wealthy, and the laid-back system of the Nexus works well for him. The scrawny cook likes having a easy source of money, and he likes his job.

"You're right about that," says Kinner as he adjusts his knapsack. "I ain't cut out to be a hero, but there's other ways to do the right thing and make good for myself. And I think I've been doin' pretty well for myself, if you're askin' me. A roof over my head, three square meals a day, a good job in the Plaza...yeah, I'm pretty happy. I'm a basic man with basic needs, and I like to think I'm adaptable." Kinner could have done a lot worse than wind up in the Nexus after he was killed by the Thing.

He follows Furiosa into the pathway cautiously, not entirely sure how traveling between worlds works. After all, such a thing didn't exist in his world or his time outside of stories. He lets her lead him through, unable to see in the dark.

Once on the other side of the tunnel, he breathes in, grateful for the supply of water he has with him. Even in appropriate clothing, he can almost feel the heat in his lungs. He can believe a human being would be mummified in these conditions, just as Furiosa warned him back in the Nexus. "So," he asks Furiosa, "where to next?"

[eumenis]

Furiosa is about as close to a superhero (antihero?) as her world gets, as far as the esteem of her people is concerned. She, the one who stays to protect her people, and the mythical Max, who comes and goes as he pleases and brings disaster to their enemies (really, the man is a wrecking ball; Kinner ought to meet him sometime). For all that, though, she's essentially just a practical person trying to make sure her duty to feed and defend her home is properly carried out. She likes simplicity, and she likes hard work.

"This is the lower garage bay," she tells him. As they come out into the open, he can see the ceiling open up and the walls open out. A few steps up a rocky little slope and it's easy to tell this is a huge room, dug into the rock. There are worktables, tools and vehicles scattered about, many undergoing engine repairs and tinkering. The walls have some sort of electric lighting, and a number of the mechanics have electric or battery-operated torches around the engine blocks, but there are also a few oil lamps on tables.

The people working on the cars look up at the sound of Furiosa's voice, and some nudge each other. She's not an unusual sight in this space, but seeing her with a guest is somewhat uncommon. The men are mostly bald and shirtless, scarified and some painted with clay or tattooed. The women are also short-haired for the most part, but more subtle in their styling, dressed in snug sleeveless shirts and heavy with utility belts.

"Most of our Blackthumbs work in here," Furiosa says. "Keeping up the supply rigs and the armada. There are some that work in the upper bays on specialty projects, or travel around the place and teach, too."

[outpostcook]

Kinner is a practical man himself, with skills he learned from the military and from Antarctica. All of them have served him well during his new life in the Nexus. He admires Furiosa's ingenuity and leadership abilities - he's outclassed utterly, and he respects her a great deal.

"Blackthumbs?" Kinner figures this is a word in Furiosa's world's local dialect, probably meaning engineer or mechanic, and he can't help but be curious about the local slang. He's a bit of a slang-user himself, but the words he knows would probably be alien to Furiosa's people. Maybe not, though. He considers tossing out slang words in the future to see if anyone recognizes them, as a kind of test. However, there are other things to do first. Kinner starts by stepping forward, listening to Furiosa's explanation. This must be some kind of engine room.

Kinner's never seen an engine room like this before, though, and he quickly realizes that Furiosa's description of her world's people was accurate. Kinner's scars, unsightly though they were, were nothing compared to some of the things he sees here, and he manages not to be rude or show any signs of disgust. He's seen some ugly wounds during his time in the Army. Whatever happened in Furiosa's world to ravage the people so badly must've been an atomic bomb. Kinner thinks it's a wonder there are people left at all.

"Hello there," he says, deciding it would be polite to introduce himself before the real business starts. He bows, stepping back behind Furiosa, He's here as a guest, and he'll defer to her on anything he's asked to do, but he's willing to tentatively start explaining things. "My name's Joseph Kinner. Furiosa hired me to help you set up some aquaculture tanks." He rummages in his knapsack for the instructions he copied down from the Great Library. If he's going to teach them how to take care of water animals, he'll have to start with the basics. There's a lot to learn, and he's prepared to come back for multiple lessons if he's asked to.

[eumenis]

"Mechanics," she explains, clarifying 'Blackthumbs' for him obligingly. "On account of the motor oil. Blackthumbs, or Blackfingers."

Furiosa's Citadel culture has some weird slang, indeed. Wait until someone starts telling Kinner about McFeasting in Valhalla.

A lot of the mechanics here have deliberate scarification, and one or two have amputations. Some have lumps in their skin, usually around the neck or armpit area. Furiosa has been told by their medical personnel that these are benign lumps, lipomas, and even if they're a little unsightly, the people who have them tolerate them well enough.

"What's this, now?" After Kinner introduces himself, a big man wanders over. This is one of the one's with lumps, and he's wearing goggles, and there are wrenches carved into his skin just below the collarbones. He's got a limp. "This your Nexus friend, Boss?"

Furiosa puts her hand on Kinner's shoulder. "We'll take those up to the Council. You don't have to get them out yet. I just wanted you to see."

She grins up at the strange man and goes up on her tiptoes to bump her forehead into his. "Yeah, Ace, this is Kinner. Be nice."

The tinted goggles get pushed up on the man's forehead. He looks like he might be around sixty, but he's all muscle, well over six feet tall. His eyes are pale grey, and he looks to be evaluating Kinner closely. Ace is protective of Furiosa, sometimes inordinately so, but he's not unfair. Just slow to trust.

[outpostcook]

"Gotcha." Kinner's from the thirties, so he knows some period slang himself. "That's right, I came from the Nexus. My world's pretty different from yours - we still have water and sea creatures. Furiosa hired me to help set up some aquaculture tanks here - it'd be a good source of protein."

Still, he wonders how he looks in the clothes. It's not what he's used to wearing, but Furiosa seemed to think he looked good in clothes from her world. Kinner takes a quick draft from his canteen, though he's preserving his water for later. He needs it to last, and it's hot even indoors.

Kinner looks up at Ace - at roughly 5'4, Kinner is significantly shorter than the other man. Kinner isn't a big man, either. There's a wiry strength to him, but he isn't muscular.

"Hello there, Ace. Good to meet you." He nods, a gesture of respect. Whoever Ace is, he's clearly an important member of Furiosa's community.

Kinner wonders how much he'll learn about Furiosa's world - it's an interesting place, and very different from home.

"I'm guessin' Ace is second-in-command here. Like McReady was for Garry." He explains a little for Ace's benefit. "They were people I knew back in mt world. We were on an expedition team together. Garry was the boss and McReady was kinda his deputy."

He touches his own scars lightly, though his scars aren't nearly as extensive as Ace's. "War wounds. I was in a big war back in my home world, and I cut myself on barbed wire. It was a long time ago." Kinner isn't sure if the Great War happened in this world, so he leaves the exact war he participated in vague. "I used to be a soldier, and I fought in battle as one, but it was a very long time ago."

[eumenis]

Furiosa seems content to let Kinner and Ace talk. Ace is, by and large, a decent judge of character, and she sort of feels like the two of them ought to get along. Ace is essentially an old soldier, himself, even if the army he fought in was not quite so organized as Kinner's.

"Never saw a fish in my life," Ace tells Kinner, and he still looks a little wary, but not hostile. Maybe a little bemused. "There were a billabong outside the village I grew up in, but nothin' much lived there but frogs and bugs."

"Ace is one of the few around here who was born outside the Citadel," Furiosa says. "Before the world finished falling, maybe."

Ace shrugs. "Don't know about that. And I'm the on the Council. Kinda the head Blackthumb, I guess. I was the Second, on the Boss' crew, but..."

"Still are," Furiosa says. "I just don't go on the road as often now."

That wins a little smile from the man.

[outpostcook]

"I was born in a farmhouse near the Missouri River," Kinner says, feeling nostalgic with the talk about their respective homes. He was a little intimidated by Ace at first, but he's warming to him. A friend of Furiosa's is a friend of his. "Used to go fishing there for supper sometimes. Caught the occasional frog, too."

Kinner figures that the Missouri in this world was long gone, which is a shame - but it sounds like there's a few small animals clinging to life here, which is a good surprise. Maybe there's some hope left for this desert future, the cook thinks with a faint smile.

"World hasn't fallen where I'm from, not yet, anyway. Assuming my team back home was able to defeat the Thing, and I hope they did."

Ace doesn't know what the Thing is, so Kinner quickly explains.

"There's a monster back where I came from. A creature from space - very dangerous. Powerful enough to destroy the world, by replacing all life on Earth with copies of itself. Animal life, at the very least."

Kinner isn't sure if the Thing can assimilate plant life. He doesn't really want to find out.

"I'm no one special where I came from - just the team's cook."