The Team Is Together Again

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe we'd better climb down there and try walking beneath the bridge so we don't set those bells off," says Sarah.

OOC,How far down is it to the tracks? Do DSIGFUSS and Kabukiman know that this game is moving again? You might want to let them know.

[Laraqua]

There's only a couple inch gap beneath the path. There's no sign of any larger gap beneath or around it but they can only see a few dozen feet ahead. At this stage they could walk alongside the path rather than risk setting off any bells. At least for the time being. This might change as they move further onward into the depths of this grand dark hall.

Show,last time I started it up Kabukiman didn't come back on for long so I'll let Kabukiman know it's moving again but I'm not expecting any attendance which is understandable considering the long breaks. You'd need the patience of a saint (or a Mr. Handy) to remain engaged with it. I have mentioned it to DSIGFUSS but I don't believe he's interested in coming back onboard. We are pretty close to the end, though, so I figure even if it's just you and me we might as well have an ending even if it's a long time in the making.

[kabukiman]

Agnes finally awakes from her slumber.
-We know that at least another person is alive: the one who tried to kidnap you Miss Sarah. So I think its' better that we go without ringing those bells and call that person; but time is vital here, so I think we should go alongside the path. And if by some error we latter ring them, the person will take some time to get to us.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, you're right, Agnes," says Sarah. She gracefully steps down and helps Lionel join her. "I don't know who he was or why he wanted me, but it can't have been for anything good. He didn't even seem to feel it when I kicked him. But he put me on that lift and sent me down without him, so I don't see how he could be ahead of us. Still, maybe he was sending me down for someone else to receive."

[kabukiman]

Agnes felt a chill: their group being the last one in the world wasn't so bad if any other group alive would be a bunch of cultits and a brute. But she decide to not tell anything to the others.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm frightened," says Sarah with a shiver, her voice cracking.

"Whatever happens, I'm here with you, Sarah," says Lionel, squeezing her hand. "We're together again now, and nobody is going to separate us again."

[Laraqua]

The shadows break apart before them as they walk through the cold silence of the enormous cavern. There's very little ash down here. Almost nothing at all. Instead there is soil and wood and those little silver bells that look to be made from genuine silver that dangle from the boards beside them. Even Ronald is silent as they walk, hugging his puppet against his chest. It's almost ludicrous that he has somehow kept his puppet throughout all this. Even the girls are gone, but there still is that accursed puppet. There's a few other well-beaten paths that cross over the wooden walkway, heading to the left and right of them. They could follow one of those well-trodden paths or they could continue and follow that walkway to wherever it leads.

[Mr. Handy]

"I think we should continue straight ahead, following the walkway," says Sarah quietly. "What do the rest of you think?"

[Laraqua]

"I don't know," says Ronald in a quiet, sad voice. "Maybe we should take a look around. See what we can learn first."

[kabukiman]

-I wouldn't use the word "learn" in a place like this mister Ronald. And I agree with Miss Sara, I think we should go straight and avoid any other way unless we don't have any other choice.

[Laraqua]

"So we go in blind, huh?' asked Ronald, hugging the puppet even tighter to his chest.

[Mr. Handy]

"Perhaps there is something to be said for caution," says Lionel. "I know we want to resolve this quickly, but I get the feeling that time as such doesn't exist any longer. If there's something down here that can give us more information that will increase our chances of success, perhaps we should take a look."

"Well, that does make sense," says Sarah. "I wouldn't mind postponing confronting whatever it is we're looking for."

[kabukiman]

-Very well, let's see if we can discover anything that may help us- says Agnes resigned.

[Laraqua]

"Left or right?" asked Ronald, looking one way then the other. He tries to smile but it just looks terribly sad.

[Mr. Handy]

"Gosh, I don't know," says Sarah, shrugging. "They both look the same to me. I could easily pick the wrong one. Does anyone have a preference? Or we could flip a coin."

[kabukiman]

-Use a coin, this way nobody will be responsible if anything goes wrong.

[Mr. Handy]

"Sarah, don't be afraid to make a decision," says Lionel. "I know you're worried you'll make the wrong one, but you have to trust yourself. Your heart is always in the right place. Just do what you know to be right, and you can't do wrong. We may have some difficult choices ahead, and the worst option could be hesitation or indecision. Don't second guess yourself."

"I'll try, Daddy," says Sarah. "It's just that I've made a really terrible mistake before, and so many people died because of me. I don't want that to ever happen again."

"It won't. You've learned from it, and since then you've done exceptionally well. You saved me and Dahlia back on the roof, and you didn't hesitate. You saved all of us."

Sarah brightens a little. "I never knew I had it in me."

"I did. Don't forget who your grandparents were. Now, in this situation we really have nothing to go on, so we may as well let a coin toss decide it." He fishes a pound coin out of his pocket. "Heads we go left, tails we go right." He flips it up and catches it, then reveals that the coin is showing heads. "Left it is."

[Laraqua]

Ronald looks over at him. "What type of coin is it?"

[kabukiman]

-As long it's not a german coin, there is no problem about it- says Agnes.

[Mr. Handy]

"No worries there," says Lionel, showing the coin to Ronald and Agnes, which bore the portrait of the Queen on the obverse, "the coin's British. It's a quid - a one pound coin. In your time those would only come in note form, Agnes. Nowadays the smallest note is a fiver, but the pound doesn't go as far thanks to all the inflation. That's Queen Elizabeth II on the front, though you'd know her better as Princess Elizabeth. I had an aunt that looked a bit like her, actually."