Expedition notes 2

[bratfarrar]

This entry got away from me a bit, and as you can tell, I'm still figuring what order things actually happen in.
Expedition 3 (June 30) - Caves 2-3: Empty, Geometric Paintings

• On the 29th, their parents are home and also it rains, so they instead put together packing lists and the basics of “The Rules” as seen in the other document file.
• The empty cave is really more of a large shelf cut into the side of the main tunnel - they decide to call it a cave only because the body of it is significantly bigger than the opening crack. (Jane and James have different but definite ideas about how to do this whole thing Properly; George doesn’t care in the slightest, as long as he can figure out how to get to and from the caves he likes.)
• The opening has to be entered on hands and knees, but the body of it is high enough for George to stand upright. The floor of it is flattish, but definitely slants downhill a bit. Over the course of their expeditions, they’ll bring out the milkcrates collecting dust in the basement (leftover from their move; empty but too nice to throw away) and use them to store non-perishable gear.
• James is mostly the one behind this; he doesn’t say anything about it to his siblings, but he’s definitely worried about them getting trapped in the cave system for an extended period of time. Supplies include changes of clothing (sealed in plastic bags), an ever-increasing cache of power bars (swapped out every time they visit the caves), disposable water bottles, and the package of thermal blankets from that time their dad went through an emergency preparation phase, and extra batteries (with a battery meter so they know when to bring them inside for a recharge). He has a tendency to squirrel things away like he’s expecting they’ll be forced to live in the caves due to a natural disaster or something. This eases off a lot once the caves start getting sufficiently weird - forces him to reclassify the kind of video game they’re living in.
• James is also the one behind The Rules; he’s played enough survival video games to be leery of things going horribly wrong, and is also keenly aware that his siblings are In His Charge and if anything goes wrong it’ll be his fault.
• (The capitals are more Jane’s interpretation than James’ intent, but since Jane has the best handwriting she does most of the recording, so James will just have to live with it.)

• ANYHOW - this first time through, they don’t actually leave anything in the supply cave, just figure out that it’s empty and large enough to be useful. A few more minutes of hiking/squeezing through the main corridor (which is mostly easily traversed, but every now and then has an odd little jag that’s awkward to maneuver around), and they find another opening, very narrow and low and just long enough to be uncomfortable - James has to shuffle in on his hands and knees, and his siblings hand their packs through to him before following.
• Inside, every inch of the cave is covered in paint - intricate, almost dizzying geometric patterns in nearly the full spectrum of color. The cave itself is sort of oblong, with fairly smooth sides, like it had been worn away by water; there’s signs of seepage in the corner near the entrance and on the far side of the cave. Otherwise the paint seems to be pristine - at least, as far as they can tell with their flashlights. (This is the cave that makes James think of taking photos, though he hasn’t yet realized the issue with digital electronics.)
• [The author has no idea what kind of patterns we’re talking about, but perhaps something fractal-ish?]
• [[Just realized the bunny has been forgotten! I want the bunny to be exploring the caves with them later on, as things get weird/dangerous, but I don’t think James would want it to come along at this stage of things.]]
• Actually - this might be when Jame realizes that there’s something weird going on with what kind of items do/don’t work. He tries taking a picture with his phone, but it’s dead. At the time he thinks it’s just a weird battery drain, but when he goes to plug it in when they’re home again, it’s at 89% and fully functional. Flashlights work, or they wouldn’t have been able to do much exploring at all (candles/oil lamps as an option never occur to any of them, as their family uses battery-operated stuff during power outages/camping), but anything digital simply shuts off and won’t resume working until removed from the cave system.
• Jane is the one to suggest their mom’s old Polaroid, once they’ve figured out the digital electronics problem-if flashlights work, that thing should too. (It does.)
• George wants to keep going, but James is spooked by his phone being off, and doesn’t like that he has no way of keeping time. Jane isn’t worried so much about that, but she wants to come back with map-making supplies and white or yellow chalk, so that they can easily keep track of where they’ve been, and maybe bring better lighting options for the bigger caves like this one.
• [[Author’s note: This should probably be the first cave. It’s weird, but not impossible, unlike the marble machine room. We want to ease into the strangeness.]]
• George sulks the whole way back, and this is probably when he comes up with the plan to sneak the rabbit along on their next expedition; he has just enough foresight/understanding of his brother to realize that the more tempting forms of rebellion would almost certainly cause James to call the whole thing off/inform their parents who would call the whole thing off.
• Jane is surprised by just how disoriented she’s become by being underground. When they exit she half expects it to be either noon or dinner time, but it’s actually 2:15ish when they get home again.