Labyrinth

[raptorcanaria]

Here's the thing about Milliways: It's not the Real World. Dinah has a very clear delineation in her mind: there're things that happen in the bar, and there are things that happen at home, and even if people visit from one to the other, they're very different places.

Justice League, supervillains, Oliver. Those things don't follow her in. Which is good and bad, because it becomes a place to escape. And escape becomes too safe, somewhere where actual threats aren't real. That's the problem with the place. It's not home, and it doesn't touch home, and if she wanted, she could stay in the bar, rent a room, and never have to worry about outside. And that's what's so dangerous.

Not that she's thinking of danger right now, even deep in the forest where there might be demon rabbits. She's just thinking of the run, and the exercise, and also where she wants to take Ollie for dinner tonight. That's how she manages to get lost.

And how she finds herself facing a rough hewn stone wall, with a door cut into it.

Dinah stands in front of it, stretching out her warm muscles, staring at the door. Has that always been here?

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

It doesn't take long at all for Voodoo to reach a decision.

"Let's check out those cows," he says. "Least we won't get lost."

[raptorcanaria]

"Works for me."

She glances over her shoulder at the door, hoping it might decide to open again, and walks one with him.

"So what were you doing in the forest with all your gear on?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Nav refresher exercise," he says. "You don't practice reading a topo map and compass every once in a while, eventually you forget how. What about you?"

[raptorcanaria]

"I was out for a run," is the answer.

Trying to clear her head about things at home is unneccessary details.

"Thought I'd explore the forest instead of just circling the lake over and over again. Won't do that again."

The cows, she can see as they get close, don't look like normal cows. They're grey - presumably lots of cows are grey - but also shiny, and as they approach, the nearest turns its head towards them and she can see that it, and all of them, has glowing red eyes.

"Auditory response: Moo."

Dinah stops walking.

[boston_bruiser]

And so does Voodoo.

The MP5 goes up again, pointed right at the cow's red eye.

"Okay," he says, "belay that. What do you say we haul ass back to the wall?


"Like, right now?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Grass length deviation detected," the cow continues. "Resizing in progress."

Two laser beams shoot out of its eyes, converging at a spot not three inches from Dinah's foot. She darts backwards, watching the grass fizzle away from the beam.

"Yes," she agrees, with forced cheeriness. "The wall sounds good."

She's already walking backwards fast.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo follows, his aim never wavering from the cow's head.

"We gettin' any closer to that wall?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Yeah."

Dinah turns around so she's walking forward, and then stops again.

"Uh, you might want to look at this."

Because the wall? Doesn't have a door in it anymore.

[boston_bruiser]

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me."

Voodoo pats it down again - nothing.

Strikes it with his tricep - nothing.

Kicks it - nothing.

Remy, Korra, Ellen, Shephard, Tommy - they're all on the other side of the wall. Fuck, everything's on the other side of the wall. They're stuck.

He takes a deep breath, suppressing a growl of irritation. "Okay. First things first. We need to find a source of drinking water. After that, food and shelter."

He looks up at the sky. "Before nightfall. I didn't bring NODs."

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah moves her gaze from looking up and down the wall to stare at him.

"Really? You go straight into survivalist mode without even pausing on 'let's find another way out?'"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo holds up his hands. "Hey, if you spotted a way out that don't involve goin' past no cows with laser eyes or breakin' our feet tryin' to bust this Great Wall of..."

He looks up.

"...Stuff down - I'm all ears."

(It's been a long day.)

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah looks up at the wall as well - just enough to quickly dismiss any chance of scaling it.

"Alright," she says, and points along the wall. "I figure we've got two options. One, to check the length for alternative ways through, or to try and circle the cowbots, in case there's a way on the other side."

Worse comes to the worst, she figures they could probably go through the cows, but she likes not being shot at.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shakes his head. "Goin' the length of this wall? With no idea how long it goes on? Fuck that. Let's try'n get by the cows."

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah was sort of hoping he'd say that. Cows are more interesting, after all. Even if she's not sure about that definition of interesting.

She glances down at the gun in his hand.

"So not that I want this to be an issue," she says, as she starts back in the rough cow direction, "but how much ammo do you have for that thing?"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo glances down at the MP5. "Countin' this?" he asks, tapping the magazine that's already in. "Three mags, 30 rounds each. Didn't expect a fight when I went out here."

[raptorcanaria]

"Oh well," she says, "we'll just have to make do with ninety bullets."

That's ninety more than she has, but it's about ninety more than she needs. She just wanted to make sure.

As they approach the cows again, one lifts a head and looks at them.

"Observation: The humans are still here.

[boston_bruiser]

Um.

(As ums go, this is about...pint-sized. If that pint consisted of jaegerbombs.)

"Uh. Hey," Voodoo says, lifting a hand.

There's a beat.

"Listen, I don't know if you guys understand the words comin' outta my mouth right now, but...if you could find it in your kindly bovine hearts to, uh - let us pass or tell us where we are, we'd really, really appreciate it."

He jerks a thumb at Dinah.

"She might even scratch you behind the ears."

He looks to her, shrugs, then back at the cows.

"Or, I dunno. Feed you some grass?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Me?"

Dinah loads the syllable with as much emotion as she can to express her indignation at being designated robot cow feeder.

One of the other cows raises its head.

"Query: Did he just offer us grass?"

The cow closest to them takes a couple of steps towards Voodoo.

"Observation: we are standing in a field of grass."

[boston_bruiser]

"Well, yeah, okay, I get that, but I'm tryin' to be civil here, y'dig? Now where in the fuck are we?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Response: Standing in the same field of grass."

The second cow lowers its head, focuses on some of that grass, and shoots out another pair of laser beams, cutting a blade shorter.


Dinah, meanwhile, has left the conversation, giving the cows a decent berth, but her eyes on the tree.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shakes his head. "Fuckin' wiseasses." He turns to Dinah. "Okay, so, no answer from our bovine...friends..."

Huh.


"Y'see something there?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Analogy: I am rubber. Further analogy: You are glue."


"Dunno," Dinah says, slowly. She stops because there is a robot cow standing right between her and the tree, but she nods up, then points at the point where the first branches flare out from the trunk, about fifteen feet up.

"You see a triangle carved there?"

It could just be her imagination.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo squints, walking over to Dinah before looking up at the specified branch.


"I...think I do, yeah."

It's faint, but it's there.

He looks to her. "Maybe it's another door?"

[raptorcanaria]

"That," she says, "is what I'm thinking."

She looks up at him then over at Voodoo. "The last one just opened when you touched it, right?"

[boston_bruiser]

He shrugs. "Pretty much, yeah."

A beat.

"I ain't so sure this is a bright idea, though. Goin' further in to find a way out?"