[Voice]

[faceguy]

You know, I never got to do the big road trip thing. I never thought this is how I'd get to do it, but hey, new experiences!

[It's good to look on the bright side, right?]

So what fun road trip games do you guys know? There's gotta be some good ones! Some of you guys are from totally different worlds, right?

Here, I'll kick us off. I spy with my little eye something... blue!

Comments

[constantvrunning]

Counting games - more like mathematics games, solving a puzzle or equation the fastest, or finding the most answers. But counting how many of a given kind of tree or animal we saw came up as well.

[A pause; it takes a few moments for them to pull away from just feeling the memories.]

And word games - if something was brown, or green, or red, we'd combine those words with the name of the actual thing we were talking about. The more absurd the result, the better.

[faceguy]

Wow. Both of those sound... incredibly nerdy.

[He is not spending his time solving equations.]

But I guess the word game one doesn't sound too bad. Give me an example.

[constantvrunning]

[V manages to keep any eyerolling strictly theoretical. Just because Leo is accurate doesn't mean he deserves snark!]

Start with 'skuu' for sky-blue, and it's fairly easy to top.

[faceguy]

Oooooh, so like... treen?

[Actually, this particular game might feed into his love of puns.]

[constantvrunning]

[V has no idea what they've unleashed... not that they'd mind, in this case.]

Precisely. Roads could have more than one combination, depending on what color looks most accurate.

[Because... bloads? Groads?]

[faceguy]

Hmmm... Rack? Rolack? Bload? Heh.

[Okay, this is kind of fun.]

[constantvrunning]

And then there is the ocean - many variations there, including alternate words for ocean.

[Sea, Bay...]

[faceguy]

Yeah, but we can’t see the ocean from here… Wherever we are, we’re landlocked.

[constantvrunning]

That is a pity.

[Both in a 'no additional puns' sense, and in a more general sort of way - when there's not a major chance of drowning, being around the ocean has been a familiar part of their life for rather a long time.]

One of the things we should be looking for is maps. Those shrines didn't have much in the way of navigational material, and the Convoy itself hasn't provided any either.

[All there is is the road...]

[faceguy]

Hmm... do the screen thingies get Google Maps?

[Hold while Leo pokes around it to see.]

[constantvrunning]

The computer infrastructure has been fairly simple thus far, from my investigations.

[Just a homing-beacon tied to the keys, and this network.

Still, that does not prevent V from anticipating if Leo is successful.]

[faceguy]

[Click click click... smack... tap tap... click...]

...Nope.

[constantvrunning]

[And V... sighs.]

We'll have to keep a lookout for one as we travel, then.

[Pity this isn't THAT much like a video game, or instead of just stat boosts killing monsters could yield items!]

Still, I appreciate you humoring me. Talking like this is... a better distraction than the alternative.

[Aka existential crises]

[faceguy]

[No one wants an existential crisis!]

Yeah, no problem. I guess it was too much to hope for, though... These things aren't as nice as my smartphone.

[Which he doesn't even have because he lost it before he came here.]

If we find a map... will anyone even know how to read it?

[He's never used a physical map before.]

[constantvrunning]

... Possibly in the same fashion we were able to understand the shrines.

[Though from their tone of voice, they hope it's not THAT direct a parallel.]

If it is a topographical map, features like mountains and rivers will mostly be self-demonstrating.

[faceguy]

The shrines? You got close to those things?

[After his experience with the grove, Leo gave that one a wide berth.]

[constantvrunning]

Only the one. I wanted to see if there was anything readable. Names, places...

[Their tone sours.] I had no intention of taking anything, and something pressed that message into my skin regardless. I made my post to the Network after that happened.

M-Bot and I were able to take some pictures of the shrine, however. They're blurry, but not hazardous.

[Small consolation though it was.]

[faceguy]

Oh yeah.

[Leo didn't join in the lore gathering because he didn't have anything to contribute.]

Do the pictures tell you anything useful?

[constantvrunning]

They mostly just qualify as a point of reference for how the shrines are set up in general - to make it easier to identify any in future, I suppose.

[V sighs.]

I wasn't particularly keen on taking pictures of the message I'd been given, though I did record it elsewhere so the Convoy as a whole can access it.

[faceguy]

Having info is never a bad thing, though... Even if the way you got it kinda sucks.

[He'll read it all... eventually...]

[constantvrunning]

There's definitely limits,

[V points out.]

But, in general, I agree with your view.

[faceguy]

Limits? Like what?

[constantvrunning]

[How to put this?]

... There are far worse ways learning it could 'suck'.

If the cost was to the people around me instead of myself, I would not want to learn it without everyone's agreement.

[faceguy]

[Oh.]

If the cost was to others and not myself... I'd rather just not pay it.

[Whether they agreed or not.]

[constantvrunning]

If we are careful... perhaps we'll have the opportunity to do just that. A third option.

So no one else is forced into this situation.