Rio - Southern Beach

The pure white sands of the beach continue here, the southern edges of the coastline. The buildings here are much larger than the other shorefront properties, some are custom made and futuristic even for this age. Much of the beach is for public use, and in many places you can find the neverending laughter of children playing and sometimes, even adults. The waters here are a deep azure blue, their beauty neverending and expanding as far as the eyes can see be they of human or reploid design.

West <W> leads to Rio - Southern Downtown.

North <N> leads to Rio - Guanabara Harbor.

Somehow, Kalinka has lost some of her shyness to be seen in public with her bathing suit on. She certainly doesn't feel any reluctance to be in it with Bowie around...she always feels comfortable with him. "Hey, do you know how to swim?" she asks.

Bowie strolls along the beach with Kalinka, a beach towel slung lazily over one shoulder, and a tube of sunblock hooked to his belt. For her benefit, of course - reploids don't get sunburn. He holds her hand as they walk along. "Ah do, but Ah'm not real good at it. Don't have enough buoyancy, so Ah tend t'sink."

Kalinka grins a little. "Well, you and me have something in common, then. I am not a great swimmer, too. -- Either, I mean. And I think there is lead balloon inside of me, because when I paddle along, I begin to sink, and sink...slowly...heheh." She grins widely. "The shore is safer!"

Bowie returns the grin. Once again, her mood is infectious. Though he loves being in the Hunters, the mood in the base has grown rather oppressive. Getting out for a while will do them both some good. "Definitely," he agrees. "A little wadin, meybe, but no further. Or else the lifeguards will be draggin us both out." He looks around for a good spot to lie out in the sun.

Kalinka sighs, and smiles, pointing to a place where the sand is fairly even. "How about over there?" she asks. "There is a tree kind of providing shade...I burn kind of quick."

Bowie nods, and heads in the direction of the palm tree she points out. Flicking a fallen frond out of the way, he spreads out the towel. Instant base camp.

Kalinka helps to straighten out the towel on the other side. "Hey, have you been listening to all of the Stardroid chatter on the global channel? Or are you tuning it out?"

Bowie frowns slightly, though it's not directed at her. "Ah've muted the channel," he admits. He busies himself with smoothing out a wrinkle, not saying anything further on the topic. He then tosses her the tube of sunscreen. "Here."

Kalinka catches the sunscreen tube, then pops it open and begins applying it to her slender shoulders as she sits down on the blanket. "I know how it is...a bunch of crap," she says. "I can totally understand why you do not listen to it. I keep it off, also."

With no further preamble, Bowie flops down on the towel. The tree trunk makes for a nice backrest. "...almost lost mah temper over it last night. Better fer me t'leave it be."

Kalinka glances over, a bit startled that Bowie almost lost his temper...Bowie NEVER loses his temper! "What in the world did someone say to upset you?"

Bowie's brow furrows slightly, looking off towards the ocean. "Not whut thay said, but whut thay didn't say. The Stardroids keep talkin 'bout tests and judgments, but shut up when Ah ask mah own questions." He pauses. "Ah hate them, Kali. Ah wish thay'd jus go an leave us alone."

Kalinka nods. "Me too. And I wish also, that they would take their problems away with them. I think it is...obvious, that they are using us to help them to get out of mess they have created...true?"

Bowie turns his gaze back to her, and nods. The scowl remains. "An Ah don't see why we should. Meybe, if thay hadn't gone around demonstratin thair might the first times thay were here, Ah'd be willin t'help. But not after errythang thay've done t'us."

"I know, handsome," Kalinka says in a gentler tone. "Let the others chase powers, and pendants, and answers that do not exist."

Bowie waves a hand in a dismissive gestures. "Thay can keep thair pendants an powers. All Ah'd like is answers."

Kalinka nods. "They will give the answers freely, though. Everyone thinks they will. But there is a catch to everything they do."

Bowie pats the corner of blanket next to him, offering her a seat. "Ah know. If thay really wanted us t'trust 'em, thay'd talk t'us like ordinary folks. Ah thank thay thank we're pets, or little kids."

Kalinka accepts the invitation cheerfully, having a seat and scooting in close. "=Exactly=," she agrees, bobbing her blonde head. "It is...what is the word..." She adds in Russian, "<< Whatever the word is for 'condescending'. That's what those Stardroids are. >>"

Bowie provides her with the English word. "Condescending. Exactly." He moves to wrap an arm about her shoulders. So a little sunblock rubs off on him. Big deal. "Are thay really that much above us?" he asks, almost rhetorically.

Kalinka snuggles in close, resting her head gently against Bowie. "They are the same as us...no better and no worse. How do I know this? They are no more immortal than we are. They die the same way we die."

Bowie grumps, "Someone should tell them that..." He trails off as she snuggles against him, the frown capitulating to his usual smile. He never stays angry for long, especially not when she's with him.

Kalinka smiles slowly, when she spots that grin. "You have the most wonderful smile," she murmurs. "I never get to say that enough, but you do. It dazzles me, always."

Bowie, of course, smiles more when she says that. "An you have the most beautiful eyes. Ah don't thank Ah've told ya that..."

Kalinka blushes faintly...or maybe that's the beginning of the tan/burn she's been anxiously awaiting. "Thank you, that is sweet..." She averts her gaze to look out at the ocean, as if struggling with some inner thoughts she hasn't yet given voice.

Bowie follows her gaze across the beach to the ocean, idly noting the cluster of children playing in the surf. He also lapses into silence, though possibly for different reasons. There are times words are superfluous.

"...Bowie?" Kalinka asks after a little while of silence. "If I treated you differently than I treated my past boyfriends, would you feel mad about that? Would you want me to feel just the same?"

Bowie glances down at her, though since she's nestled against him all he can really see is her blond hair. "Differently how?"

Kalinka says, "Well...I feel different about you, more than any other guy I have dated. And I feel like you are the most special one. I feel like...when I was with the other boys, I was trying hard to impress them, and I acted a lot like a child. I do not feel like I have to be fake like that, with you. I can just be myself. I just...do not know -your- needs. Do you feel like I listen to you enough? Or am I talking too much about myself and not doing enough listening?"

Bowie doesn't answer for a moment. "Well..." he finally ventures, "Ah've never felt about anyone the way Ah feel about you. So this whole relationship thang is new t'me...all Ah want is fer ya t'be yerself, an let me be mahself. No Doc Cossack's daughter an Texas Ranger between us. Jus Kalinka an Bowie. Does that make sense?"

Kalinka giggles softly. "Yeah," she says fondly, reaching over to give your hand a squeeze. "Time to let the hair down and be ourselves. Not the labels people put on us. Hear, hear."

Bowie squeezes her hand in return. "An Ah don't mind ya talkin 'bout yerself," he says, still smiling. "Ah know Ah'm not much good talkin 'about me, even before Ah fergot who Ah was."

Aldebaran has arrived.

Kalinka says, "Well, you are remembering -enough- that you at least have some memories, you know? You are not robbed of everything. You should give thanks for that. Which reminds me...are you having Thanksgiving dinner at the base? I will cook a very good one. No borscht or weird Russian food...only turkey and trimmings!"

Kalinka is, at the moment, sitting on a beach blanket on the picturesque Rio beach, chatting with Bowie.

Bowie cuddles with Kalinka under a palm tree, shielding them both from the sun. Though only one of them has to worry about being burned. "Ah'm very thankful," he replies. "An yeah, Ah'm stayin in fer Thanksgivin. Besides, aren't Ah helpin with the dressin an the cranberry sauce?" he adds with a grin.

The earth below the beach begins to shake and quake. Very subtly. Not quite an Earthquake - it's likely some equipment. Stupid, noisy equipment.

Kalinka ohs! "That is right, you are," she chuckles. Suddenly, as the ground begins quaking, she clutches her companion's arm nervously. "...An earthquake, at the beach? What is this?"

Bowie initially dismisses the tremor as construction equipment. Progress never stops, even in times like this. He gives Kalinka a reassuring squeeze. "Somebody drillin a basement, Ah bet. Though how thay'll squeeze in another skyscraper, Ah'll never know."

The ground shakes more. Apparently they're going to put that skyscraper on the beach, considering all the shaking. Of course, perhaps they're doing work on the sewers...

Kalinka looks around nervously, and remarks... "They do not put pipe lines in this close to sea level...which means..."

*SCHLORP!*

A large, LARGE red hand sticks out of the ground.

A second later, it begins to drag itself out of the sand, in no particular hurry.

Bowie's smile is lost to a frown again as palm fronds flutter down from above, landing on and around them. "...somethang's comin," he finishes for her. "Somethang big." He begins to rise to his feet, offering his arm to help her up.

And then...a giant hand bursts out of the beach, sprinking them with sand. The Texan raises both eysbrows at this, then furrows them again. "..."

Kalinka leaps to her feet -- hastened right along with the sudden appearence of The Hand! She leans against Bowie nervously, watching said Hand intently.

*SCHLORP!* Another one... and then in a spray of sand, a large, orb-like Stardroid drags himself out of the sand and dirt. Whether or not his injuries are still visible is a question of debate, considering not much is yet visible.

Bowie holds Kalinka, this time in a protective gesture than a romantic one. He has weapons lurking in armorspace, but he doesn't summon them just yet. He'd rather ask questions first, then shoot. How they let him into the Hunters with that attitude is a good question. His scowl deepens a notch as he realizes just who and what their mysterious beach burrower is. "Stardroid," he says, in a tone of voices usually reserved for words not used in polite company.

Aldebaran's massive chassis half-turns in the sand... covered in the stuff. His small, tuna-can-like head regards Bowie evenly, as well as Kalinka. "...a Hunter." he says. He wobbles slightly. It appears that his injuries aren't entirely repaired, but he's doing somewhat better. With some effort he frees himself from the sand, looking somewhat comical.

Kalinka ohs. "Well...!" Her brow furrows, and she gives Bowie a significant look before turning back to look up at the huge new arrival. "To what do we owe this visit?" she asks, eyeing him with a combination of curiosity and skepticism. "You look like you have been in a scrap."

You whisper 'That's the one that got in t'the command center.' to Kalinka.

Bowie leans to murmur something to Kalinka, then stands straight again. She's posed the question, and so he does not add his own. Yet. All the Stardroid receives from him is an angry scowl.

Aldebaran dusts himself off roughly. "That would be a correct analysis... though I have been somewhat restored since we last met." The dust storm is probably less than visually appealing, but it's somewhat contained - it won't kill anyone. "I cannot remain here..." he says, trailing off, and half-turns, as if to leave.

"Wait," Kalinka calls out to the newcomer. "I would like to know what you were doing under the beach." She squints in irritation, swatting at the stirred-up sand.

Bowie squints as sand gets into his eyes, blinking several times to get rid of it. "Hey!" he says irritably, "She's talkin t'ya."

Aldebaran glances back towards Kalinka. Noticing, perhaps, the distress he's causing, some of the offending sand seems to be subtly dispelled with a very small gravitational wave. "...primarily, attempting to regenerate. But I cannot remain here any longer..." He sounds healthier than last time, anyway.

Undaunted, Kalinka reaches into her nearby beach bag, pulling out a scanner to see if she can determine the extent to which the Stardroid is injured. She doesn't even know if it will work, but she aims to try. "Why can you not stay here?" she asks, attempting to stall him.

Kalinka takes out a medical scanner and scans Aldebaran.

In a rare display of temper, Bowie raises his voice. Not his police sergeant voice, something angrier. "Why, so ya can go cause more death an destruction?"

Aldebaran's readings mostly make no sense - perhaps if you're astute you can pick up an odd thing or ten that vaguely resemble systems that you'd recognize. Some of the readings simply don't even register. The most disturbing thing, however, is the large burn mark on the side of his head... if Bowie is observant, he'll notice it's smaller, but it's still indicative of a healing head injury.

"It will find me." he says, simply enough. "And I doubt that it will be satisfied simply with myself."

His gaze moves towards Bowie... perhaps looking just a tad apologetic? Saddened? It's hard to tell; he's not that great with expressions, or so it seems. "No." he says, in a softer voice. "If we wanted death and destruction... it would be very manifest by now. We are trying to avert them."

"You know, before you go," Kalinka addresses the visitor, as she runs her hand soothingly over Bowie's angry back. "I would wonder if...you could see why we are angry at your kind, and not impressed. Do you understand why we are maybe...skeptical, to lend aid or help?"

Bowie 's expression darkens. It's not an expression Kalinka's seen before on him, and it is one that does not become him at all. Synthetic muscles have tensed, like a rattlesnake poised to strike. "An why should we believe ya?" he asks, almost demands. "Erry time y'all have been here, people have died. Innocent people. Hell, y'all have wiped whole cities off the face a the Earth! An fer what?"

Aldebaran's optics shift towards Kalinka. "I do." he says, after a moment, with a slight, barely visible, nod. "Perhaps more than you can imagine."

And towards Bowie?... "I can hardly blame you for... nnng..." his body quakes as he touches his damaged head. "...nnn... not... wanting to help us. If... if I were in your position, I would not, either... but even if you should not, and do not, join us for your assistance... do it for yourselves. Even if our fate is sealed... perhaps yours will not be."

Kalinka says, "Fate...sealed? ...Do you mean to say that...you KNOW somehow, that all of your kind are going to die??"

Bowie falls silent again, though it is an angry silence. One hand curls into a fist, but it remains at his side. Kalinka has asked the question, and he would also like to know the answer.

Aldebaran shakes his head. "The future is... far beyond our grasp, in this matter. Much is not yet known... much I cannot remember. We are in grave danger." he says. It's that simple, apparently. "As you may be, and likely are. Far graver than the first visitation to this world."

Kalinka frowns, pondering this answer. She looks over at Bowie, a bit nervous of him more than the Stardroid...she's never seen this side of Bowie before, though she knew it must exist.

Though Bowie hasn't near the famous temper of the Cossack family, he still possesses one. Most of the time it's hidden, reigned in with calm and patience. All of that has evaporated, leaving one angry, bitter reploid. "How?" he growls. "How could it be werse than yer promise a destoyin our world? How many more a our cities are goin t'join El Paso an Vancouver? How many people are goin t'die because a what ya Stardoids have started?"

"Because." says Aldebaran... looking... sad?... himself. Perhaps this Stardroid is... different. Not that likely, of course, but...

"If it prevails against you, it will utterly obliterate everything that you ever were, are, and ever shall be. Far beyond what the Stardroids would have done."

He turns, as though to leave.

"...although this will mean little... I am sorry for your loss."

Kalinka stares down at the sand, saddened and troubled by the conversation. Having nothing more to add to it, she simply broods in silence...perhaps remembering those times when entire cities were obliterated off the map.

Six simple words...and they bring Bowie up short. They were the last words he ever expected to hear from a Stardroid. He falls silent again, this time a stunned silence. There is no rejoinder from him, nothing he could possibly think of to say after that.

From somewhere behind them, a scattering of gulls flock to the beach once again, now that the earth has settled.

Aldebaran simply begins stalking down the sandy beach. He does not have a witty response, or any response at all. A glow begins coalescing around him... perhaps he's about to blink away.

Kalinka sits back down on the beach towel, and turns to watch the large visitor head away. There's no anger from the young girl, though she's in full agreement with the things Bowie's said...facts are facts. Anger, however, isn't her reaction from this latest exchange. Only sadness.

Bowie does nothing to stop the Stardroid from leaving. As if he could. He lands heavily on the blanket next to Kalinka. His anger has left him, though whether it's only temporary not even he can say.

Aldebaran's body dissolves in a reddish mist. Hopefully he blinked away. If not... well, don't breathe too deeply. Stardroid is probably a carcinogen.

Kalinka reaches over, giving Bowie's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze.

Bowie's head slumps, eyes fixed on the abstract pattern of the disturbed sand, as if expecting to find some answers written there. After a few moments, he lays his hand over the hand Kalinka rests on his shoulder. If he has any words, he's not able to share them just yet.

============================ BB Post in Progress =============================

Group: Maverick Hunter

Title: Stardroid Encounter Report

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<Message, audio only. Allies may read. Er, hear.>

There's the sounds of ocean waves breaking on shore in the background, along with the occasional cry of a gull or other seabird. Bowie's voice is noticeably tense as he speaks. "Kalinka an Ah got t'meet a Stardroid when we were in Rio. Aldebaran, Ah thank. He buried himself on the beach t'heal up, an apparently we bothered him. He wusn't any more forthcomin about whutever's got them all riled up than the others. Whut he did say wus this. That we should werk with the Stardroids, if not fer them, then fer ourselves. Whutever's comin after them is goin t'make Judgement Day look nice. An if Ah unnerstood him right, if we don't stop whutever it is, we're goin t'be more than dead. It'll be like we were never here at all. Don't know how much that helps fill in our Stardroid puzzle. Bowie out."

==============================================================================

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "Pac Pac!"

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "Is he still there?"

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "Nope. He left."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "aww... He's okay though?"

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "Ah didn't shoot him, if that's whut yer askin."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "Please don't shoot Pac Pac Koosh, he's a nice person. Did he have a cactus with him?"

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "..."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "...no, Ah didn't see a cactus."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "I guess it's back at his house."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "...could be."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Bowie transmits, "Back later. Got some thankin t'do."

[Radio: (B) H-Chat] Alpha transmits, "Good night."