nysalogs | sat on the bottom of the ocean

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sat on the bottom of the ocean

Who: Soldier: 76 (

personalwar) & Moira O'Deorain (

tellmehowthisfeels)
What: Sunken Treasure quest
When: Following the lifting of Barthala's transformations
Where: Nadril
Warning(s): N/A, unless fighting of carnivorous fish requires a warning.

[ After an unexpected and confusing set of weeks, Jack is finally back in his right mind and body, and while he can't shake the sense that there's still something (in reality, someone) missing, he doesn't know how to just sit around feeling sorry for himself.

No, he'd rather do that while on the move. And maybe this is also because he still doesn't know what to do around Reyes. They'd had their fight after Ana went back into stasis, yet Gabriel had been the one to track him down in the woods and keep him from doing any more damage while he wasn't really aware of himself. Having to feel grateful toward Gabriel, or indebted, is something that Jack doesn't really know how to deal with right now, and so exiting the situation strikes him as the easiest option.

At least this time he isn't wandering into some uncharted forest, although diving to the bottom of a frigid body of water isn't much better, probably. Nadril is at least more familiar territory, and he's got a sturdy enough constitution that he should be able to take on this job without anything too disastrous happening.

Is he throwing himself into this with reckless abandon because he doesn't know what else to do with himself? Maybe. But that doesn't mean he's not a good choice for the task at hand.

He's at the shoreline of the lake in question, already changed into an inky black wetsuit. His headset and breathing pieces aren't in place yet, but he's surveying the lake in front of him, looking down at the map in his hands which has a vague approximation of where the supposed treasure will be.

There's a small boat next to him, and it looks like he's ready to take this on as a solo job. Little does he know someone else has been hired. ]

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[He sure hasn't been given this job alone. It seems that his companion is coming up now, fixing her headset into place as well as making sure she has another one for...well that's for something else entirely. But she pauses when she sees who her companion is.

This is either going to be terrible or entirely amusing. She hasn't decided which.

Hands behind her back now, she casually walks forward, the dim glow of her Biotic Grasp shifting in color a bit before settling on gold. A warning? No. Of course not. She would never do something like that. Warnings are so dull and drab.

Threats and promises though? She's fond of them.

Moira looks bemused as she stops next to him, looking down into the water.]

Well. This should be quite the experience.

[ It's not that 76 has forgotten about Moira's presence here. No, it's the contrary, especially now that Ana's gone and the number of people who he knows from home has dwindled. It's just him, Reyes, and Moira now, which means that Gabriel is positioned squarely between them. Not that he's serving as much of a buffer.

Moira's a good part of the reason why Ana and Jack had come clean to Gabriel about his future, and so it's difficult for Jack to view her as anything more than a thorn in his side.

Who knows what she's been up to since her arrival here. Maybe he'd have a clearer idea if he hadn't spent the better part of a month in the form and mindset of a wolf.

He pulls the headpiece into place, finding the need to keep his face covered now that Moira is here. He'll be less likely to give things away like this. ]

This doesn't seem like your kind of job.

[ She's always been more comfortable in a lab than out doing field work, even if she could excel at both. He's asking a question without actually asking it -- what's her real reason for being here? Did Gabriel send her to keep an eye on him? The two of them are on better terms now than before, but Jack's pretty sure it's still thin ice. ]

[She looks into the water. Not that long ago she pushed Gabriel into icy water without warning to make him fetch something. At least she has the appropriate equipment for her own ventures. Then again, that's really how it's always been hasn't it. She goes in prepared when others do not.

Never mind the fact that Gabriel didn't get a choice in the matter...]

Nor yours.

[After all, he is one to be going out on the hunt for revenge. To be a soldier in combat or some nonsense like that. He's always had a very different way of viewing things than herself. One of the reasons why they simply cannot get along. One of many if one is to be perfectly clear.

As for the unspoken question? Is she pointedly not answering him? It certainly seems to be that way.]

So dear Ana has gone back to her rest.

[She's wandered the pods on her own time. It was quite interesting to see one of the thorns in her side fast asleep again.]

[ While it's true that Jack didn't do a lot of diving for treasure before living on this planet, that's changed in his time here. Odd jobs is the name of the game a lot of the time, both for the extra silver and the fact that it makes the local people more willing to trust him and give him information. It's something that could pay off in the long run.

Using his more familiar skill set usually means something truly disastrous is happening, like an undead dragon killing everything in its wake, so Jack can't say he's too bothered by the change of pace.

He should have been expecting Moira to bring up Ana, and yet somehow it still takes him by surprise. His shoulders go tense and his back straightens, but he isn't going to rise to the bait. He can barely talk about this with Gabriel, let alone Moira. ]

Let's just get this done.

[ With that, he trudges toward the boat and leans down and forward to start pushing it into the icy water. ]

[As he moves ahead of her, she smirks at his back. The fact that he doesn't want to talk about it qualifies as a victory in her eyes. Because it means that it's a fresh wound for him. Something that hurts more than the injuries that led to his scars.

Adjusting her mask and the like, she finally follows after him and gets into the boat since someone will need to start it up. And clearly that will be her. Has she been asked to? Absolutely not.

Exactly the reason she's going to do it.

He should just be glad that she waits until he's in the boat before she starts it to get them further out into the water.]

[ Jack isn't as bothered by Moira being proactive, as they're here to get a job done. The sooner that they've done that, the sooner that he can get away from her. That being said, he also knows that he needs to take this chance to figure out where she and Gabriel stand.

Probably nowhere good, at least from Jack's perspective.

The boat's motor hums to life beneath them, cutting through the frigid water with little trouble. They only have an educated guess of where to dive down for the supposed treasure, but it should be closer to the middle of the lake. ]

So what have you been doing with yourself?

[ He's got about a month of possible mishaps to catch up on. ]

What a less than clever way to find out if I've been up to no good, Jack.

[Which is decidedly not an answer to his question. Instead she's busy adjusting her gauntlets on her wrists, making sure that the tubing attached to the thing on her back isn't getting in the way of the oxygen device. Since she wants to have both, it's important that that they don't disrupt each other.]

What will you do if you find out that I have been doing things you don't approve of?

Would you rather I just ask you outright?

[ It's not like Jack is a fan of beating around the bush, and if he can rely on Moira for one thing, it's her ability to just get straight to the point. Whether she'll actually tell him the truth after she's done playing her games with him is another question.

He's already checked over his own gear, but there's no harm in double-checking everything, given what they're about to do. He's not exactly some expert at scuba diving, which begs the question why he had tried to do this alone. Though for now, all he has to do is adjust the rudder here and there to make sure they don't go off course. ]

And I guess it depends on what it is. [ Specifically, if it's Gabriel related. ]

One can assume I'm always up to no good if we go by your impressive standards.

[Is that commentary on his questionable track record? Quite possibly. Moira certainly doesn't elaborate as she finishes with what she's doing for her own equipment. Adjusting her suit and mask, she covers her face as she looks out.

There will be no more discussion right now. She's ready to head under the water when the boat stops. The end.]

There's no reason for you not to tell me, then.

[ If Moira thinks that he isn't going to approve of anything she's done during her time on this planet, regardless of what it is, then she already knows what to expect from his reaction. She'd probably look for any reason to get under his skin, so why be coy about it?

76 makes an educated guess when it comes to where to stop the boat, and after the water around it settles, he stands up and peers down into it. It's clear enough that he can see down pretty far, but not far enough to know where these treasure caches are located. ]

How do you wanna do this?

[ Despite his disdain for Moira, he can't deny that she's got smarts. ]

[Rather than answer him by taking her mask of, she just levels him with a bemused sort of study with those mismatched eyes of hers. Right before she waves her fingers at him in a mocking little hello.

Then she slips into the water, treading it only long enough to wait for him to get in the water with her.

Guess what, Jack? She's all business right now.]

[ It's obvious that Moira is doing everything she can to avoid answering his questions, and that's an answer all on its own. Jack could try to get this information from Gabriel instead, but he doubts he'll have much more luck there. Reyes is already cagey as a general rule, and that's bound to be even more true when it comes to someone like Moira.

Not knowing everything is something of a sore spot for Jack, especially since Gabriel had kept Moira's assignment to Blackwatch a secret for far too long. There's little that he can do about that right now, though.

He ensures the boat is anchored and then dips into the water after Moira. There's one last check that all of his equipment is in place, and then he speaks up, hopefully loud enough that he can be heard through the mouthpiece. ]

Time to see what all the fuss is about.

[ Then he dives beneath the surface. ]

Likely what they consider to be treasure will be mostly useless bits of garbage.

[But she intends to see if there is anything she can use for her own purposes. It will be challenging to take it and claim it while Jack isn't looking but you can bet she plans to try all the same. And succeed. He's observant but clearly not perfect.

Far from perfect in her opinion.

The little mouthpiece for the mask provides muffled communication but she supposes it will...suffice. Much like most things here. The most impressive thing she's found is the communication device that is linked to Gabriel so they can communicate at any time.]

[ If that's what Moira is expecting to find, then Jack has to wonder why she'd bothered to come here in the first place. Either she's hoping that she's wrong and there will be something of value hidden at the bottom of the lake, or she actually came here to keep an eye on him.

It's not like he has some ulterior motive here, other than trying to get into Nurray's good graces, so if it's the latter then Moira's likely to be disappointed.

There's nothing more to do now but see for themselves, and so once Jack dives below the water he kicks the flippers he's been provided, propelling him deeper and deeper into the lake with an effortless kind of strength. He's almost guaranteed to beat Moira to the bottom, which is good because he'd like to get a look at the supposed treasure before she does. ]

[So that's how he wants to play this, hm? Well that's fine. She knows that her eyes will still spot things he might otherwise dismiss simply because he's unaware of what they could be used for. Not that this stops her from doing what she can to keep up.

Which means that he reaches the location first but she is only a few seconds behind due to her fading ability. Like a puff of smoke, she appears at his side after he slows down.

As if she'd ever let his abilities stop her from doing what she needs to.

With that, she starts looking through what they can find to see what can be found here to take up.]

[ Jack has really only seen Moira's abilities in action a few times. Her presence in Blackwatch had been kept from him until Reyes couldn't get away with it anymore, and so he'd mainly heard of Moira's augmentations through second-hand accounts.

Having someone suddenly appear near you in a puff of black smoke, especially given that it's happening underwater, is more than a little alarming. Jack's startled for a moment, but it would be difficult to tell, given that he's decked out in gear.

He doesn't want to waste any time down here. There are a handful of chests scattered around, and trying to search them while underwater is going to take too long for his liking. He has the luxury of being up to grab two, one with each hand, making use of metal handles bolted to the sides of the chests. Even though they're heavy and the water pressure triples that, Jack's still strong enough to kick his way back to the surface while dragging them along with him.

Whatever's left is for Moira to do with as she will. ]

[She knows she can only take one at a time. That doesn't bother her though as she grabs one to swim to the surface with. It takes longer than it would with Jack but it also gives her time to go back down for another.

Because she doesn't want to leave anything behind. Besides, where can he hide anything from her? They're on a boat in the middle of water right now.

So that means she can take her time with this. Which she might also be doing a little intentionally to force him to either wait for her or to come down and get more just to be done with this faster.

What? She is at least giving him options.]

[ The boat, at least, seems to be sturdy enough to hold all of the chests that they're loading into it. Jack hadn't actually expected to find this much, so he's relieved that they didn't bring some tiny rowboat and hope that was enough.

He's never been one to wait around for someone else to finish things up, so rather than leave the rest of it to Moira, he ends up making another trip down to grab one more of the chests. They end up with five of them in total, loaded next to each other on the boat, though Jack makes sure not to weigh one side down too heavily.

Once that's taken care of, he strips the mouthpiece and headgear away, allowing himself to properly catch his breath. ]

You hold them steady. I'll sail us back.

[Freeing herself from the headgear, she shakes her short hair out. The air is cold but tolerable. Certainly anything is better than the cold in the water if they hadn't been prepared.]

So what will you be doing with these treasures, Jack? I'm actually curious about your answer.

[Especially now that she's part of the equation. She's sure that changes things rather drastically for him whether he wants to admit to that or not.]

Will you keep what they contain?

[ When Moira poses a question, Jack is tempted to evade answering her if only to give her a taste of her own medicine. She's told him next to nothing about herself or what she's been doing on El Nysa, so why should he indulge her?

In this case, though, the truth still involves a vague answer. He glances at her for a few seconds, then shrugs. ]

Depends on what's inside.

[ They'd been asked to do this by Nurray, so chances are she'll want first dibs. If there's weaponry, or something he can glean useful information from, he'd be interested. ]

I suppose that holds true for both of us then. How rare that we actually agree on something.

[Moira smirks, actually amused by the very idea. Of course it's not going to last forever. In the end they're still too different to ever properly agree on anything really.

She's still quite sure he doesn't want her to get her hands on whatever is in here.

Won't that prove to be interesting later.]

[ It's not that consequential of a thing for them to agree on, but Moira's clearly just looking for a way to try and unnerve him.

He stays silent, not interested in rising to her bait and more concerned with making it back to the shore. It's not a long trip, and once the boat has beached itself, he hops out and begins to lift the chests one-by-one from the boat and set them down on the sand.

A few representatives from Nurray, who showed him to this place and gave him the needed equipment, comes over to meet them. Clearly they're smart enough to realize they'll need to supervise the opening of these chests.

Jack's fine with that, especially with Moira being here. ]

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