(Gamma World) Not a Test #136 - Twelve Years Without Incident

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn. After side-quests, distractions, blue surges of strange auras, and beings definitely  not from around Riverbend, they've finally arrived at an odd softrock (concreate) planform with the water of the the Black Reeds... and by accident and incompetence, Squiggles, Poppy, Lathar have been rescued from the strange apparatus inside... and now the group is getting surrounded by mutant otters with uzis... and a strange man on the shoreline, eyeing up No-Name.

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Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock.   He had recently received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and stealth take center stage in their mission, although he is apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.   Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge.  Also pregnant for the third time, heavily wounded by the underwater apparatus, and due to deliver badly out of season

Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest.   And we have learned the Poppy... can't swim.

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Lathar stood on the far side of the softrock platform, staring at the man far off on the shore.  It had been well over a decade since he had seen his absentee father... It could be him, but he wasn't quite sure what to do.

One of the otters shouted up from the water, "We want you to leave!"

Sonny: We're not opposed to that either! 

Pete had been so preoccupied with transporting the supplies across the water, and ridding himself of the small metal debris forming in the water, that the sound of other voices shocked him. He ran over, past the motionless, staring Lathar to the otter side...

Pete: "Hello friends!"

The otters ignored him, arguing with each other...

"Do we board our own facility, is that a thing?"

"No that's for boats, you ninny!  Start climbing the ladder!  If they get dangerous, shoot them!"

Pete threw out his hands in peace, "We mean no harm?"

There was considerable questions regarding the logistics of arriving on the platform, what happened to the chewed up Squigles.  They were unimpressed with the weasel's similarity.... 

The otters all finally reached the platform, one of them dispatching the others to the four corners for a security check.

Pete: "What is this place?"

Otter #1: "It's a research facility?"

Pete: "What's it research?"

Otter #2: "If you haven't figured it out, you aren't smart enough for it!"

Otter #4, looking down at the flooded great:  "Otis, this does not look good at all."

Sonny, his massive height allowing him peering down at the damage control, "That's how we found it."

Meanwhile, Lathar could only manage to raise a hand to the stranger.  There was no reaction from the man.  

The otters scrambled around, and the De Facto Explorers inquired and argued with them, Lathar discarded his shield and sword, suddenly took a running start, and dove into the water, towards the shoreline.

As he neared the shoreline,  the man looked at him incredulously, and No-Name the staggon looked at the Pure-Strain humans non-plussed.

Lathar emerged from the water, wiping off a small amount of metal particles off of his skin. 

"Alright.  Congrats. You can fucking swim, I figured that's how you nitwits got over there. What do you want? 

Lathar: "Are you Bracken?"

It's at that moment, that the man pushed aside some of his tattered clothing to reveal a black, angular pistol of the Ancients, "It depends on who's asking..."

Lathar: "How about his son?"

The man smirks, "Really?  Where is he?"

Lathar turns to the supplies on shore, rummaging through a moment to pick out his own black, angular gun.

"Right here, Dad.  I have one of those two!"

Harkonn Bracken, in the flesh...

Harkonn: "What the fuck did you guys do out there? I've had alerts going on my communicator for forty five minutes. What the fuck?"

Lathar: "I got your letter... black reeds, gathered some friends, and we're here!"

Harkonn: "This facility has been running incident-free for over TWELVE YEARS! What the hell did you throw in there?"

Lathar: "Our friends???"

Harkonn: " For Crispin's sake... you have any food?  I've been eating swamp vermin and bland stale crackers for twelve years.. anything with flavor.  

Lathar and his father did not embrace, but grabbed rations and some of Pete's yellow curry powder for a meal and a talk.

Harkonn oversaw security and maintenance for this facility, a water purifying system for the Big River.  KIA had over two dozen of these up and down the river, removing debris, poisons, and the glow.  Eighteen sets of filters inside the complex clean the water, and that was after the water is drawn through the reeds.  This was the furthest plant downriver.  To the best of his knowledge, it was allowing for development of warring factions, including an army of mental psychics, and a cadre of angry Pure Strain Knights of Genetic Purity. 

The reeds were part of one single eco-system... best yet, it was entirely trainable. 

"You come down on a raft?"

"Yes?"

"Not anymore..."

Harkonn questioned the type of friends that accompanied Lathar on his quest, "You were supposed to stay with your own kind.  I told Justinian to keep you safe. You were supposed to be an indoor servant, keep you safe....  Don't tell me you're a freaking adventurer!"

Lathar: "You're the one living among the reeds with a bunch of weird otters... What do you want?"

A ruckus occurred on the platform.

"It's the eight-inch pipe... it's gone?"

Harkonn: "Where am I going to find an eight-inch pipe that hasn't been made in hundreds of years!"

The others finally emerged from the reeds.  

Varka, "The Ledger", a KIA refugee like Harkonn

"Nerd!"

"Chitter" a six-foot tall mutant weasel who did not speak...

"He'll rip apart a herd of deer, just to bring one carcass back to us to cook..."

Sister Halcyra, from the human lands downriver.

Grindle, "The Anchor" a survivor from the Wildlands 

All cast-offs from KIA and other civilizations.  All of them protecting the secrets cleaning the water..

Until today. 

Harkonn: "The otters are all from Parr.  Never asked for much, I've followed a few back over the years. 

As the others tried to get back across to the shore, Lathar asked his father about the numerous references they found in records and files, across multiple sites. 

"You've met the Pharoah.  They're still looking for me?  That's nice.  They won't like me for the next five weeks. "

The Explorers finally made it across, meeting with Lathar's dad.  Harkonn was very confused as to what Squiggles and his obvious spawn were..  Squiggles was indignant, given his luck with the machines. 

Harkonn: "There's no way my son is part of this outfit.  Who's in charge?"

Squiggles "It's a collaborative effort."

Harkonn: "Buncha god-damned hippies."

Sonny: "We each have our strengths, some more than others."

Harkonn: "Diplomatic... so you're in charge?"

Sonny: "Usually..."

Harkonn admitted that he took the job from KIA for the money, and stayed even after the money... then the rations... dried up. Knowing what happened to the water if the pumps stopped. 

Despite the helpful otters, there was a steady neutral truce with Parr.  So long as he didn't interact with the Zoopremacist faction, they were fine.  

Harkonn seemed to communicate with Sonny the sunflower the most.  

Sonny: "Harkonn, what's the deal with KIA? Why did they sour on you?"

Harkonn: "You can't deal with some alleged techno-utopian society and not bloody somebody's nose.  This, and the other two dozen were supposed to be charity for all living things. KIA is charity, with way too many dark sides."

Before it got dark, an audible machine-like sound emitted out of the platform, much louder than any sound it made before.

The otters cheered.

Harkonn:  "The figured out a buck-up...we're good for now.  Pack up all of your stuff, we're heading back to the bunker. "

Next: #137 -