[From here.]The sound and scent of water had grown stronger as they approached the general area where the ruined town was said to be located
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He shot Lunge a sidelong look, all wide dark eyes and aggressive sincerity. "Yes," he replied, sounding grave, "I suppose in your place I would have done the same." Then, he added, with a resigned sigh, as if the outcome couldn't be helped: "But you would have found that I'm tenacious." No one could dismiss him from his own investigation. The insinuation that it might be possible didn't affect his mood; it was true that he wouldn't have blamed Lunge, but all the same, it would have been Lunge's loss.
He looked around, at first seeming delighted and almost entranced, a peculiar reaction to a site that had obviously suffered some unimaginable catastrophe. "I see everything now. Yes. How strange."
It was figurative, of course: most of what he saw was mist. Yet... the fact that he had been unable to see anything but open ground through Daniel Laurier's eyes had to mean something. A theory -- not of what was happening, but of how he might proceed in the future -- was coalescing in his mind, and the revelation of all the wreckage and decay was one of its final elements. It convinced him that he had something to go on.
After a few seconds, though, the gratified expression faded, replaced by determination: the pensive countenance that was probably more familiar to his companions. It was both his job and his nature to imagine the unimaginable, to concentrate on unpleasant truths that most people would rather put out of their minds. If the reports were accurate, they would be experiencing more than their share of them tonight.
"We can go to the church first, but now that I've had a moment to consider it... if there is an ambush, it will still be there after we have made a general survey of the area. There are therefore only two reasons to prioritize that location. Because it was the only place that Mr. Lunge and I were able to visit the other night, I would like to compare the differences. Also, someone else may choose to follow Jill's insinuations and join us here. That might be advantageous in that they would occupy the attention of anything unpleasant that might be waiting, but on the other hand, we could lose access to useful or interesting items or information." He paused, unable to make up his mind.
"I also have a kitchen knife," he added, to Jones, in an offhand way. He wondered whether he and Lunge actually had the same knife, down to any small identifying marks on its surface. He suspected they might, although it was also possible that Howell had taken the twin, or that there wasn't one. He'd had the idea of comparing them, but it could wait, or he could make another trip to the upstairs kitchen, with the acquisition of duplicates as his specific goal.
Indy reached up to adjust his hat, which was the closest tactful analogue to the gesture he really wanted to make: smacking his forehead in disgust. Kitchen knives. Jesus. Indy empathized with the relative lack of decent weapons around here, but at least he wasn't staking his life solely on something that was designed to cut tomatoes. Even Marcus would have had more sense.
All right, he was forced to admit that last one might be pushing it. But that didn't negate his point.
"And because we have no idea when the night might end," he pointed out as the third reason to look around the church first. Maybe Ryuuzaki and Lunge hadn't been around long enough to realize how wildly your allotted time could vary in here, but Indy had found himself sitting up in bed before he'd even made it out the front door. "And if there's something waiting in there, we have no guarantee it won't come out and try to find us. Maybe we're better off making the first move."
Except that they were carrying kitchen knives, for crying out loud, which meant that he'd have to do the lion's share of the fighting against any lab rats or anything else that might be lurking inside the church. But Indy was used to working alone, including in a fight. They might actually be doing him a favor if they just stayed out of his way.
He flashed his light down the main street ahead of them; the fog was like a wall. Indy sighed. Like it or not, he wasn't going to put together all the pieces of the puzzle by himself. He still couldn't say he trusted or even necessarily liked these two, but they seemed to be the kind of people who assembled puzzles. Once in a while, that necessitated a compromise of some kind. "I don't mind taking a quick look around if you want to get the lay of the land. But trap or not, I don't think we can afford to risk letting that clue out of our grasp."
"Tenacious, hmm?" Lunge caught the man's expression, raising his eyebrow just a fraction- if doe-eyed innocence had a face, that right there would be it. He didn't doubt that for a second. But if L thought for a second tenacity would be enough to get his own way... His smile was ambiguous and, if one were so inclined to see it, challenging. "We'll see."
Meanwhile, Jones appeared to be doing a startlingly good job of covering a minor breakdown at the thought that his two co-workers had armed themselves with cooking equipment. He brushed it off without a second thought- he'd have been at a physical disadvantage, no matter what he'd been carrying- and nodded. "We might never get another chance to get a look at what's in that church- particularly when, as far as I can see, we are the only team to have made it to the town so far."
Even if they weren't, nothing guaranteed that anyone else who arrived would be willing to share the fruits of their labour in the morning. Notices on found treasures were almost nonexistent- 'weapons' was about as specific an answer as one could find to the question of what the fastest of the treasure hunters had found in the night. And that wasn't even taking into account the censorship.
Logically speaking, there was only one course of action: decisive action for what would hopefully be decisive findings. "You're right, Dr. Jones. We don't have any time to waste." Now. If he remembered correctly, the church would be the first building to their right after the crossroads; with the cold of his knife against his waist, he moved towards their destination.
He looked around, at first seeming delighted and almost entranced, a peculiar reaction to a site that had obviously suffered some unimaginable catastrophe. "I see everything now. Yes. How strange."
It was figurative, of course: most of what he saw was mist. Yet... the fact that he had been unable to see anything but open ground through Daniel Laurier's eyes had to mean something. A theory -- not of what was happening, but of how he might proceed in the future -- was coalescing in his mind, and the revelation of all the wreckage and decay was one of its final elements. It convinced him that he had something to go on.
After a few seconds, though, the gratified expression faded, replaced by determination: the pensive countenance that was probably more familiar to his companions. It was both his job and his nature to imagine the unimaginable, to concentrate on unpleasant truths that most people would rather put out of their minds. If the reports were accurate, they would be experiencing more than their share of them tonight.
"We can go to the church first, but now that I've had a moment to consider it... if there is an ambush, it will still be there after we have made a general survey of the area. There are therefore only two reasons to prioritize that location. Because it was the only place that Mr. Lunge and I were able to visit the other night, I would like to compare the differences. Also, someone else may choose to follow Jill's insinuations and join us here. That might be advantageous in that they would occupy the attention of anything unpleasant that might be waiting, but on the other hand, we could lose access to useful or interesting items or information." He paused, unable to make up his mind.
"I also have a kitchen knife," he added, to Jones, in an offhand way. He wondered whether he and Lunge actually had the same knife, down to any small identifying marks on its surface. He suspected they might, although it was also possible that Howell had taken the twin, or that there wasn't one. He'd had the idea of comparing them, but it could wait, or he could make another trip to the upstairs kitchen, with the acquisition of duplicates as his specific goal.
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All right, he was forced to admit that last one might be pushing it. But that didn't negate his point.
"And because we have no idea when the night might end," he pointed out as the third reason to look around the church first. Maybe Ryuuzaki and Lunge hadn't been around long enough to realize how wildly your allotted time could vary in here, but Indy had found himself sitting up in bed before he'd even made it out the front door. "And if there's something waiting in there, we have no guarantee it won't come out and try to find us. Maybe we're better off making the first move."
Except that they were carrying kitchen knives, for crying out loud, which meant that he'd have to do the lion's share of the fighting against any lab rats or anything else that might be lurking inside the church. But Indy was used to working alone, including in a fight. They might actually be doing him a favor if they just stayed out of his way.
He flashed his light down the main street ahead of them; the fog was like a wall. Indy sighed. Like it or not, he wasn't going to put together all the pieces of the puzzle by himself. He still couldn't say he trusted or even necessarily liked these two, but they seemed to be the kind of people who assembled puzzles. Once in a while, that necessitated a compromise of some kind. "I don't mind taking a quick look around if you want to get the lay of the land. But trap or not, I don't think we can afford to risk letting that clue out of our grasp."
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Meanwhile, Jones appeared to be doing a startlingly good job of covering a minor breakdown at the thought that his two co-workers had armed themselves with cooking equipment. He brushed it off without a second thought- he'd have been at a physical disadvantage, no matter what he'd been carrying- and nodded. "We might never get another chance to get a look at what's in that church- particularly when, as far as I can see, we are the only team to have made it to the town so far."
Even if they weren't, nothing guaranteed that anyone else who arrived would be willing to share the fruits of their labour in the morning. Notices on found treasures were almost nonexistent- 'weapons' was about as specific an answer as one could find to the question of what the fastest of the treasure hunters had found in the night. And that wasn't even taking into account the censorship.
Logically speaking, there was only one course of action: decisive action for what would hopefully be decisive findings. "You're right, Dr. Jones. We don't have any time to waste." Now. If he remembered correctly, the church would be the first building to their right after the crossroads; with the cold of his knife against his waist, he moved towards their destination.
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