Poem: "That Strength You Get from a Team"
Nov. 30th, 2018 04:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the September 18, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from wispfox and lone_cat. It also fills the "trust" square in my 9-1-18 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, bairnsidhe, lone_cat, and janetmiles. It belongs to the Big One and Calliope threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.
WARNING: This poem contains graphic scenes that many readers may find disturbing. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features a cataclysmic earthquake, decisions about where to volunteer for aid, past and present vomiting, widespread devastation, consensual bondage for safety purposes, mental and emotional stress, mass casualty incident, child injury and death, broken wings, messy medical details, platonic showering together, platonic bed sharing, and other mayhem. This poem may be rough reading for survivors of earthquake or child loss. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding whether this is something you want to read.
"That Strength You Get from a Team"
[Saturday, May 28, 2016]
Calliope and Vagary were walking
through Rocky Fellows Park, which was
crowded because of the holiday weekend.
They headed toward the far end of the park,
where the lawns and prairie gardens would
attract less traffic than the playgrounds.
Beautiful late-spring weather drew people
outdoors, fluffy clouds dotting the sky.
Calliope and Vagary were coming
to rely on nature walks as a way of
coping with stress in their life and
smoothing over the rough spots
in their relationship. It helped.
Both of their smartphones went off,
shrill emergency alarms slicing the air.
"Both of us at the same time,
that can't be good," Vagary muttered.
"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it,"
Calliope said. Then she looked at
her phone and swore in Chickasaw.
"The West Coast is ... gone."
"We're more use together than apart,"
Vagary said. "Your side or mine?"
Calliope hesitated for a moment.
"Yours," she said firmly. "Everyone
and their search dog will be pouring in
to help the white capes and civilians.
Someone needs to cover the gray capes
and the supervillains, who won't get
a fraction of that help. Tell your friends
that we'll go wherever they need us."
"Bless you," Vagary said. "I'll log us in."
A few minutes later, Kong Vault arrived,
blotting at his shirt with a paper napkin.
"Okay, fair warning," he said. "Unlike
most teleporters, unstable coordinates
don't bother me at all. However, if that
happens, it's going to feel like landing
on jello. Are you smooth with that?
Because the last guy barfed on me."
That explained the wet spots on his shirt.
"No problem," Calliope said. "I've handled
tornadoes, and I've ridden with you before.
I think that I can handle earthquakes."
"It's bad," Kong Vault said quietly.
"They're sending us to Rain City,
what's left of it anyway. I hear that
the main quake hit 9.2 there, and
even the aftershocks are 6s and 7s.
Most of the city is reduced to rubble."
"What about Chihuly Garden and Glass?
The University of Washington, Seattle?
The Seattle Aquarium?" Vagary said.
"There's almost nothing left, man,"
said Kong Vault. "Whole neighborhoods
are flattened. Tall buildings either pancaked
or fell over sideways. Even the streets
are ripped apart into big chunks."
"Fuck," Vagary said, hugging himself.
"I liked Rain City. It had a whole lot
of fun things to do and great scenery.
"How much weight can you carry?"
Calliope asked, eyeing Kong Vault.
"Plenty more than you, sister,"
he said with a broad smirk.
"Jump us back to the Visitor Center,
and I can ask the staff to give us
some emergency supplies,"
Calliope said. "It'll help."
Kong Vault shaded his eyes
with his hands and looked
for the Visitor Center.
"I stashed a beacon in
the fountain," Vagary said.
"Just feel for the big pile of rocks
and aim a few feet from there."
"Awesome," Kong Vault said.
"Okay, grab on and let's go."
He popped them into the lobby,
making the receptionist squeak.
"There's been an earthquake on
the West Coast and we're heading
there for disaster relief," Calliope said.
"Can you spare us some supplies?"
"Uh, yeah, if you sign off on
the Distant Support form,"
the receptionist said, offering
Calliope a clipboard and page.
"Can do," she said, signing briskly.
"Okay, I've got a disaster backpack
and a ship bucket," said the receptionist.
"They're chosen for local needs after
a tornado, so I don't know how well
they'll suit for an earthquake."
"We'll take what we can get,"
Vagary said as he put on
the backpack. "Thanks."
Calliope picked up the bucket,
which contained supplies and
would convert to a toilet once
it had been emptied of them.
"Everyone hang on tight,"
Kong Vault said. "This
could be a rough landing."
The transit was smooth enough,
but they landed on rubble, and
the bucket of supplies made it
harder for Calliope to balance.
Nobody fell over, though, and
Kong Vault pointed them toward
the relief station before he left.
It was set up in what had been
the tennis courts and a parking lot
of Seward Park, just beyond
the Bailey Peninsula.
Now the parking lot was
a buckled mess of pavement
and the tennis courts beyond had
weird ripples in them, although
they were made of something
coarse and rubbery that had
bent instead of broken.
As they jumped from
one chunk of the asphalt to
another, Vagary muttered, "This
is like playing Lava, only not fun."
Calliope couldn't help but agree.
Seaplanes hummed overhead
as they brought in bundles
of much-needed supplies
for people to haul ashore
with canoes and kayaks.
The command center and
first aid station occupied
the least-wrinkled part
of the tennis courts.
Vagary marched over
to the first aid station.
"We need a hand-harness,
heavy-duty if you have it,"
he said. "We can Phase
to rescue survivors, and we
work better in tandem mode."
A medic clocked them in and
keyed their vidwatches. Then she
passed them a pair of wrist braces
that looked like snowboard equipment,
clipped together with a short black strap
that had a panic snap on each end.
In exchange, Calliope set down
the ship bucket she had brought,
although Vagary kept the backpack.
"Flip you for it?" Calliope offered as
she took hold of the hand-harness.
Vagary shook his head. "You
volunteered for my side today, so
you get your dominant hand free."
He fastened his end over
his right hand, leaving her
to attach on the left.
They clasped hands,
carefully reaching out
with their superpowers.
It was awkward, because
they were still learning how
to trust each other after
the disastrous attempt
to break the bond.
The connection thickened
as they concentrated on it,
boosting both their Phasing
and their Telempathy.
Calliope winced as
the distressed thoughts
and feelings rolled over her,
far stronger than when she
had only her own abilities.
"Yeah, I feel it too," Vagary said.
"Button up as best we can."
Calliope was better at shielding
than he was, so she took over
the focus on that for both of them.
"That's better," Vagary said
after a moment. "Let's get going."
Nearby, some of the big trees
had toppled onto cars, and
firefighters struggled to free
the trapped occupants.
"Easy fix," Vagary said
to Calliope, tilting his head
at the crushed vehicles.
"Let's do this," she said,
squeezing his hand tighter.
So they Phased through
the wreckage, quickly
pulling out the survivors
and passing them to
firefighters for triage.
By the time they reached
the end of the short row of
cars, their bond felt happy,
even excited by the activity.
"Our bond really is a dog,"
Vagary muttered. "See,
this is why I call it Rover."
"A search-and-rescue dog,
apparently," Calliope said.
"Well, you're not wrong,"
Vagary said, flicking his hand.
"We need to find our contact."
A minute later, Calliope
saw but could not interpret
the subtle hand signal that
caught at Vagary's attention.
"I'm Vagary and this is
my partner Calliope,"
he said quietly. "We're
Telempaths who can
also Phase for rescue."
"Souzan Tallwood,"
the older woman replied,
her black hair and copper skin
marking her as a native. "We're
trying to get through to the school, but
the whole neighborhood is flattened.
"What school?" Calliope wondered. She
couldn't see anything like that from here.
"The Martha Washington Montessori School
for Gifted Girls," Souzan explained. "They're
hosting an open house this weekend for
prospective students and their families."
"How far is it from here?" Vagary asked.
"Only a couple of blocks, but the roads
are rubble and the houses are kindling,"
Souzan said. "We've been hoping
that we might get more backup."
"Here we are," Vagary said.
"Please, lead the way."
It took a while, because they
had to conserve their strength,
so they couldn't simply Phase
and wade through all of
the ruins in their way.
Now and then, aftershocks
shook the ground, some
of them quite strong.
Bricks and other debris
rained down from the walls
still standing, but most of
the neighborhood had already
been reduced to rubble.
From the look of it, these
had been nice houses once,
big buildings overlooking
wide blue water, but now
they were splinters and dust.
Calliope trudged over the mess
and tried not to think about
how she was stepping on
the remains of people's lives.
Several times, they had to stop
and pull people out of the wreckage.
When they reached the school,
though, it looked even worse --
little more than a pile of bricks
with a few partial walls standing.
"They were historic buildings,"
Souzan said quietly. "They were
built in 1921. I went to school here."
"This is a refuge for girls with
special gifts, super or otherwise,"
Vagary said. "Or at least it was."
"Renovations strengthened the walls,
but it wasn't enough," Souzan said.
The shaking ... I thought that it would
never end. It lasted over five minutes."
Calliope shuddered. "What about
the gas lines? Could it catch fire?"
"You don't need to worry about that,"
Souzan said. "It won't burn."
Calliope looked at Vagary,
who gave her a little nod.
Apparently something -- or
someone -- would prevent
that from happening.
"Where would the people
most likely be in there?"
Calliope asked next.
Souzan pointed out places,
her stoic face beginning
to show signs of strain.
"I don't know whether we have
enough people here to cover
this much territory," she said.
"We'll need more hands if there
are a lot of survivors to handle."
Calliope spotted several more teams
of rescue workers headed for them,
picking their way across the debris.
"There is that interdependence and
that strength you get from a team,
that the group is greater than
any individual," Calliope said.
"I've taken teamwork training."
"Thank you," Souzan said.
"That should help a lot."
"Okay, we need to triage this,"
Vagary said, surveying the site.
"Get us some marking tape, or
flags, whatever you want to use."
Another worker held up a bundle of
green, yellow, red, and black survey flags.
"I brought these for marking buried victims."
"That'll do," Vagary said as he shrugged off
the emergency backpack. "Calliope and I
will go over the surface with Telempathy
to find survivors. Once they're marked,
the rest of you can start digging. Then
we'll Phase down to start pulling out
as many of the Reds as we can."
They went as fast as they could,
scrambling and stumbling over
the shattered buildings.
Their superpower swept
back and forth like a search dog
casting around for a scent.
There weren't many survivors.
Judging from the number of
crushed cars in the parking lot,
there had been plenty of people
visiting the school today.
Most of the ones they located
were in clusters -- probably
tour groups -- so they placed
a flag for each individual.
When they found what had been
a cafeteria or gymnasium, they
felt a whole bunch of survivors
huddled together below them
in a little pocket of safety.
"It feels like some of the walls
held here," Calliope said,
pointing to the area.
"This was a safe room,"
Souzan said. "It was
heavily reinforced."
"Well, it sort of worked,"
Vagary said. "We'll go down
and pull out as many as we can."
More rescue workers had
converged on the scene
and were doing their best
to dig out less-buried victims.
Calliope and Vagary held on to
each other and Phased, sinking
down through the debris.
They groped their way through
the mess until they reached
the space where the survivors
huddled, sheltered in what had
been a corner of the big room.
The girls screamed at first,
then quieted when they
realized they were seeing
rescuers instead of ghosts.
Calliope and Vagary pulled
them out six at a time -- they
didn't dare try for more.
It only took three trips, and
the last wasn't a full load.
Under the pink dust, some of
the girls had the bright colors
of crayon soups, and one victim
even had wings, both of them
now broken in several places.
As soon as he set down
the last girl, Vagary gulped.
"Scuseme," he said, and
unclipped the hand-harness.
Then he ran behind a wall.
When Calliope heard him
being noisily sick, she
raided a first aid kit for
a packet of wet wipes and
Chuckie's tummy tabs.
She reached Vagary
just in time to keep him
from falling face-first into
the bricks underfoot.
"Careful," said Calliope
as she helped him sit down.
Vagary readily accepted
the wet wipes, but he
waved off the medication.
"Can't," he said. "That stuff
makes me drowsy. I can't
work when I'm on Chuckies."
"Oh, you two are done for today,"
Souzan said, coming around the ruins
of the wall. "Thank you for helping."
"But we just got here," Calliope protested.
"That says otherwise," Souzan replied,
pointing to the vidwatch on Calliope's wrist.
Calliope looked down. The pie face was
nearly full and had turned yellow.
"You've been here over three hours,"
Souzan said. "Maximum shift is eight,
and only four in hard labor like this."
"I'm okay," Calliope said. "I can
keep going for the full eight hours."
"Nobody is okay after wading
through a building full of dead kids,"
Souzan said grimly. "Go the fuck home."
"Cal," Vagary said, and she looked
down at him. "I could use the break.
I'll take that tummy tab now."
"All right," Calliope said,
handing him the sticky dot
which he put behind his ear.
Just then, a girl with blue skin
tottered over the rubble to them
and tugged on Souzan's sleeve.
"Miss Souzan, Micha can't hold it
much longer," she whispered.
"I'll come help her," Souzan said.
"Go, go," said Vagary, leaning
on Calliope. "Thank you for
being our local guide today."
"Souzan is some kind of soup,
isn't she?" Calliope said as
she watched them go.
"Don't know, don't care,"
Vagary said. "The rule is,
if they don't tell, you don't ask."
"Oh ... sorry," Calliope said.
She was still learning the quirks
of supervillain etiquette.
"It's okay, no harm done,"
Vagary said. "You'll get
the hang of this eventually."
"Do you want to crash
at your place or mine?"
Calliope asked him.
"Yours, if you don't mind,"
Vagary said. "Mine will be
swarming with refugees."
"It's no trouble," Calliope said.
She pushed a few buttons on
her vidwatch to send a signal for
a teleporter to take them home.
It took almost twenty minutes
before Kong Vault arrived.
By then Vagary was half-asleep
draped over Calliope's shoulder, but
at least he wasn't sick anymore.
"Is he okay?" Kong Vault asked.
"He's not physically injured,"
Calliope said. "It's been ... hard.
Just take us to my house, please.
You can drop us on the porch."
"Home field advantage, coming
right up," Kong Vault said, and
jumped them all home.
Calliope helped Vagary
into the house. "Do you
want the first shower,
or the second one?"
He mumbled something
and almost fell over.
"Together it is," she said
with a sigh. "I hope you
don't hate me for this
in the morning."
Vagary did not protest
as Calliope peeled off
their filthy clothes.
She turned on the water
and went for a quick rinse,
using just enough soap
to chase the dust away.
Then she shut off the water
and stepped out, making sure
that Vagary couldn't trip.
After rubbing them both
as dry as possible, Calliope
pulled on her sleep shirt and
stuffed Vagary into a spare one.
She started to turn toward
the living room and its hide-a-bed,
but their bond was whimpering in a way
that suggested separation would
not be a good idea right now.
So Calliope steered them
into her bedroom, where
she used one hand to throw
some spare pillows down
the middle of her bed.
She settled Vagary on
one side and crawled
into the other herself.
It wasn't that late,
but Calliope still felt
a bone-deep exhaustion
dragging her down.
As she drifted to sleep,
she let one hand trail over
the line of pillows to rest
on Vagary's shoulder.
The bond curled up
between them, warm
and fuzzy and content.
* * *
Notes:
Vagary (Abelardo Bennett) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and dark hair with a short beard and moustache. His very mixed heritage includes Jewish, Spanish, German, and Italian. He enjoys taking tours at museums, art galleries, caves, parks, monuments, anywhere he can be part of a group without people expecting him to be charming. He also loves strategy games, with a particular taste for area-control ones. He drinks decaffeinated coffee because caffeine can make him feel wired and anxious.
Vagary currently works for the supervillain organization Kraken. He is a competent spy, adept at both planting and stealing small items as well as eavesdropping. He specializes in fishing for information by hanging around places of power in semi-public or taking tours, and skimming for valuable thoughts. Kraken has considered him for officer training, held back primarily by his shyness and poor social skills; so far he has only taken the lead in a few small teams.
Origin: Abelardo was kicked out of his rather conservative home for "sexual confusion." A Kraken officer recruited him by providing acceptance of whatever he turned out to be. Abelardo never has really nailed down his sexual orientation or identity, but unlike his family, Kraken doesn't care. The organization offered him the gamble of taking a potent metagen; he accepted, and developed superpowers.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery; the jumpsuits is sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. It provides Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turns garish neon colors. The utility belt contains a multitude of small gizmos and other tools, along with a holster for the Confusticator zap gun which causes disorientation and short-term memory loss. Off-duty, Abelardo favors business casual, most often trousers and a polo shirt.
Qualities: Good (+2) Flexible, Good (+2) Gamer, Good (+2) Patience, Good (+2) Spy, Good (+2) Touring
Poor (-2) Social Skills
Powers: Good (+2) Phase, Good (+2) Telempathy
In tandem mode, Calliope and Vagary have Phasing at Master (+6) and Telempathy at Expert (+4).
Motivation: To explore while unobserved.
Calliope (Calvin Sanna) -- Calliope comes from Oklahoma; the father's family is Greek-American, while the mother's family is American. Calliope has light olive skin with gray eyes and short hair in shades of lighter and darker blond. Cal is demiromantic demisexual. She speaks Chickasaw, English, Greek, and Esperanto.
Origin: Sucked into a tornado.
Uniform: Feminine-styled costume of dexflan and capery in dusty shades of pink, blue, lavender, and cream.
Qualities: Good (+2) Consideration, Good (+2) Flexible, Good (+2) Handiwork, Good (+2) Listener, Good (+2) Word Puzzles
Poor (-2) Distractible
Powers: Expert (+4) Air Powers (meta-power including Flight, Phasing, Sonic Blast, Tornado Straws, Whirlwind, Windtalking), Good (+2) Telempathy, Average (0) Shapeshifting
In tandem mode, Calliope and Vagary have Phasing at Master (+6) and Telempathy at Expert (+4).
Vulnerability: Air Powers are opposed by Earth Powers. Some Air abilities do not work on an Earth-powered opponent, and vice versa, typically those meant to affect a person directly. Others gain an upshift on damage, typically attacks.
Limitation: So far the Shapeshifting only works to switch between Calvin and Calliope. As the power improves, additional shapes may be gained.
Motivation: Self-discovery.
Kong Vault (Jenner Debenport) -- He has fair skin, blue eyes, and long blond hair in dreadlocks. He is short and muscular. Kong Vault works as a teleporter for Kraken, but he's nearly neutral in personal opinion, with no particular beef against superheroes. However, he's a sucker for seduction attempts, and superheras have gotten to him more than once this way. It hasn't changed either his opinions or his love life.
Origin: Jenner was a young troublemaker until a teacher got him into track & field, where he excelled. Unfortunately for his budding sports career, puberty brought superpowers, and that disqualified him from competition. He promptly returned to making trouble, even worse than ever. A Kraken operative extracted him from Juvenile Hall and offered him an opportunity to use both his athletic and his super abilities. He accepted.
Uniform: On duty, Kong Vault wears a Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, he favors athletic men's wear.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Reliable, Good (+2) Concentration, Good (+2) Courage, Good (+2) Parkour
Poor (-2) Can't Say No to a Pretty Face
Powers: Expert (+4) Teleportation
His cargo capacity and distance are typical for his strength level, but his agility in transit is much better. Kong Vault can easily jump to or from a moving target, which many teleporters cannot, and he is very difficult to trace.
Motivation: To move efficiently through space.
A Kong vault is when the body passes over an obstacle with the legs placed between the arms. Among the most versatile vaults, it's ideal for clearing long, high objects or reaching extra distance.
-- Parkour Terminology
Souzan Tallwood -- She has copper skin, black eyes, and long straight hair of coffee brown. She has a chain tattoo around her left arm. She belongs to the Suquamish Tribe. She speaks English and Lushootseed natively, but knows basic emergency phrases in Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, and Korean. Souzan lives in the Seattle suburb of Rain City, Washington where she works as a firefighter-paramedic. She also belongs to Kraken. As a child, Souzan bounced around the homes of different relatives because her alcoholic parents couldn't care for her properly. Once her superpowers manifested, fewer people were willing to take care of her. That's when Kraken stepped in and invited her to the Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls. After graduating, Souzan worked for them as a wild young activist for a number of years. Then she came back to Rain City and trained in rescue work.
Origin: Her superpowers emerged at puberty.
Uniform: On duty, Souzan wears the black uniform of a firefighter or paramedic, depending on current role. Off duty, she favors dark colors such as black, blue, or brown. She always wears a fire agate pendant.
Qualities: Good (+2) Firefighter-Paramedic, Good (+2) Helpful, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Strength, Good (+2) Water Sports
Poor (-2) Adult Child of Alcoholics
Powers: Good (+2) Fire Medicine
She is better at stopping fires than starting them. She can also use her power to support someone's natural healing capacity, and it gains an Upshift for thermal problems.
Motivation: To keep her people safe.
It reflects the ideas of ƛ̓ubƛubƛ̓ub, kʷaxʷalikʷ, ʔabalikʷ ‘Be kind, be helpful, be sharing’, which are basic virtues of Lushootseed culture.
* * *
"There is that interdependence and that strength you get from a team, that the group is greater than any individual."
-- Pete Newell
Calliope and Vagary wind up in Rain City, where the earthquake hit at 3:58 PM with magnitude 9.2 and intensity XII, hard enough to bounce people and objects off the ground, total devastation. It lasted for 5 minutes 15 seconds. Even some specially reinforced structures have failed, and everything less robust is rubble. Roads and bridges are demolished.
9.0 and above < 1 XI – XII great – extensive damage over broad areas, most buildings destroyed
IX. Damage considerable in specially designed structures; well-designed frame structures thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off foundations.
X. Some well-built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and frame structures destroyed with foundations. Rails bent.
XI. Few, if any (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent greatly.
XII. Damage total. Lines of sight and level are distorted. Objects thrown into the air.
The Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls is located in the Columbia Area of Seattle, just south of Bailey Peninsula. Here is a map of Washington neighborhoods. This is an aerial view. See the inland houses and waterfront houses.
Seward Park occupies the Bailey Peninsula, extending slightly onto the land beyond it. A neighborhood assembly point is located at the tennis courts. The parking lot is asphalt, but the tennis courts are paved with a flexible, porous material made from recycled car tires.
Many trees have fallen on top of cars.
Kraken contributed to running the Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls, modified from a historic schoolthat once occupied the same grounds. Students ranged in age from 10-18. Only a handful of them were superkids, but all were extraordinary in their own ways. Dormitories provided boarding space for out-of-town students. A small house near the parking lot held some school staff who lived onsite but outside the dormitories. A larger house near the waterfront was the STEMZ building. The school was designed to nurture young female intellectuals with a robust STEMZ program, while shielding them from the harsh criticism of a world that often wants girls to sit down and shut up.
Here is the school campus circa 1966. See the modern exterior.
Rocky Fellows Park lies on the outskirts of T-Stillwater, nestled against a quiet suburb. The playground area consists of local stone built into a naturescape, and lies at the end closest to the houses. A large grassy field extends toward nearby farmland.
A wheelchair ramp leads to the lobby of the Visitor Center.
Here's an overview of the park; the houses visible from this direction are small single-family ones, mostly 2-3 bedrooms. Paved paths provide access to different parts of the park. Here you can see the pony corral. A large section of the park consists of prairie with native grasses and wildflowers. Meandering paths are mowed through this area in a different configuration each year. Houses here are bigger 4-5 bedroom ones. Another large part of the park consists of lawn for unstructured play.
Chihuly Garden and Glass is among the best of Seattle attractions. Classes include glass-blowing, fusing, and flame-working. In T-Seattle, the facility is even more active. Yoga Under The Glass happens every day before the center opens to the public, typically from 7-8 AM.
The Seattle Aquarium is another famous attraction.
The University of Washington, Seattle is a large state college.
Rain City has many seaplanes for tourism as well as practical purposes. Anything in the air at the time of the earthquake would be safe. Some docked planes might be damaged, but others probably survived. This leaves the city some means of transportation via open water and air.
(Several paragraphs of terrifying disaster links follow.)
Earthquakes occur along fault lines. North American faults come in various types. They correspond to different areas of geology, forming a network of cracks that behave according to certain parameters.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a major part of the Ring of Fire which encircles much of the Pacific Ocean, a loop of terrain prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Because the crust is a jumble of comparatively thin plates rubbing together, and faults can form long branching lines, it is possible for an earthquake in one place to trigger quakes in other places along the line, although scientists have not paid much attention to this. But you can see analogs in any crackle system, such as ice on a lake, where disturbing one part of it can destabilize something quite far away. Since Cascadia is over 315 years into a 234-year cycle, and southern California is over 300 years into a 110-140 year cycle, the whole West Coast is overdue for action. That makes the probability of a megaquake high -- and the longer the pressure builds up before releasing, the worse it tends to get when it does let go. Look at the plates and faults in Cascadia and you can see why this poses such a huge threat. Here is a video about one such scenario, although the true worst case would be in high summer at peak tourist season.
Earthquake magnitude relates to the seismic waves, measured by science. (The earlier Richter scale has been replaced by the more versatile moment scale.) Earthquake intensity relates to effects, measured by observation of impact on people and structures.
In theory, scientists can measure the features of a fault line and estimate its maximum magnitude. In practice, sometimes scientists are wrong, often because of variables they simply haven't been able to observe. The San Andreas fault maxes out around 8.3. Model earthquakes predict extensive damage. T-America is somewhat more prepared than L-America, and regularly holds large-scale drills, but there's no getting the damage down to zero. Cascadia is massively worse, with a maximum magnitude around 9 in an earthquake lasting 3-5 minutes, a death toll over 14,000 plus more than 30,000 casualties. That's about 30 times stronger than the San Andreas can muster. Then there's the tsunami, because the Cascadian Subduction Zone is 40-80 miles offshore while the San Andreas is mostly landlocked. About 20 minutes after the earthquake comes the wave. The best way to survive is to avoid the inundation zone, especially at night: visit the beach by day if you wish, but don't live there or even rent a hotel room. T-America has done a better job of discouraging development in the kill zone, but it's not enough even there.
I found one person being brutally honest about the threat in Cascadia, which is largely unprepared because the faults there were just discovered (by white people, the local tribes have always known) several decades ago.
"These lax safety policies guarantee that many people inside the inundation zone will not get out. Twenty-two per cent of Oregon’s coastal population is sixty-five or older. Twenty-nine per cent of the state’s population is disabled, and that figure rises in many coastal counties. “We can’t save them,” Kevin Cupples says. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll go around and check on the elderly.’ No. We won’t.” Nor will anyone save the tourists. Washington State Park properties within the inundation zone see an average of seventeen thousand and twenty-nine guests a day. Madin estimates that up to a hundred and fifty thousand people visit Oregon’s beaches on summer weekends. “Most of them won’t have a clue as to how to evacuate,” he says. “And the beaches are the hardest place to evacuate from.”
Washington is at risk also. Rain City is largely protected from ocean tsunamis, but if the Seattle Fault goes, the effects could be devastating.
In terms of impact, consider that about 51,085,172 people live in the three states of the West Coast. That's just over 15% of the entire population. All of those people will be heavily impacted. That means about 1 in 7 Americans are more-or-less directly affected, before counting all the friends and relatives of people living in those states. There are 9 cities in the coastline counties with a population over 250,000. In California, 68.5% of the population (25,161,295 people) lives in coastline counties, in Oregon 17% of the population (643,872 people) does, and in Washington 64.9% of the population (4,250,984, people) does. With coastline counties taking the worst damage, that's over 30 million people whose lives are totaled. Almost all of them have lost homes, businesses, friends and family, infrastructure; they'll become internally displaced persons. Many coastline counties will be effectively uninhabitable for months or years. If you imagine the West Coast as an economy of its own, it's the fifth-largest in the world, just ahead of the United Kingdom (although it drops a bit lower if you account for its high cost of living). California alone is 13.3% of America's economy, Oregon is 1.2%, and Washington is 2.5% for a total of 17%. Most of that just collapsed, what's left is scrambling for survival, and a major economic generator just turned into the biggest sump the country has ever seen. BOOM! Smaaaash.
The Earthquake Country Alliance offers resources on how to prepare for and survive earthquakes. You should secure objects, make safety plans, stock emergency supplies, and copy important documents. During an earthquake, drop and cover. Afterwards, render aid and work toward recovery.
Choose an out-of-state friend or relative to be your contact person in case of a disaster. Ideally, they should be able to host you if you need a place to stay for a few days or weeks. Most people in T-America have such arrangements, often reciprocal with several friends in different places.
Personal devices can detect ground movement through GPS and motion sensors. L-America is testing the use of cellphones to track earthquakes. There are also apps that alert you to earthquake activity worldwide. T-America has more advanced features, such as manual or automatic timers to measure the duration of a quake. They also have an option to choose manual or automatic transmission of the data to a monitoring station for scientific benefit; T-America protects location as private information, so there has to be a shutoff method for that. In practice, most people in earthquake zones leave their quake apps on automatic. T-American earthquake apps also tend to come with emergency beacon features.
Emergency notification systems aid coordination in times of crisis. Consider selling points and best practices before choosing one. Some can also be used for other communication purposes. Here are some popular emergency notification systems.
M-FYN in T-America is one of several programs designed to identify survivors immediately after a disaster and help them contact friends or family. Registered members can log in from any device to record their status. The original release just offered "I'm fine" but quickly expanded to "I need assistance," "I'm fine," and "I can help." Later upgrades added more options such as "In care," "Missing," and "Confirmed dead." Those account not just for personal updates but also official ones. After logging their basic status, members can add details like their current location and anything they need (e.g. a place to stay, clothes, emergency funds). Members can also link accounts to friends and family in the network, to receive notifications of safety or need after an incident. An array of Mute tools can be set in different ways to account for mass-casualty events, such as turning off alerts about nearby members to avoid getting deluged with messages, or turning them down to just immediate family. The original acronym stands for Massacre-Find Your Name, and is pronounced "I'm fine."
4 Person Premium Emergency Survival Kit
5-Person Emergency Evacuation Kit Survival Pack
In April of 2015 an earthquake struck Nepal with magnitude 7.8-8.1 and intensity VIII. It tore the roads into large chunks.
On October 8, 2005, an earthquake in Kashmir measured 7.6 magnitude. It flattened whole neighborhoods.
Lava is played by jumping from one piece of furniture to another. It actually provides excellent practice for disaster environments. I imagine that most children do not think of such scenarios while playing it, but then I am weird.
Striationary marks are characteristic injuries left when a speedster, or certain types of teleporter, pulls away from restraint. It leaves long wounds, ranging from scrapes to deep lacerations, sometimes with joint injury such as sprains or dislocations, and some people have managed to tear off a limb that way. Medics and police staff have learned to look for them as signs that someone was forcibly (and not very competently) restrained. The fact that traumatized people in general, and some types of soups in particular, tend to panic under constraint is one reason why Terramagne authorities prefer to minimize the use of restraints or other confinement; it's too hard to do without causing additional damage in some cases. There have also been examples of striationary marks on an officer who made the mistake of handcuffing himself to a captive. So that technique is outright banned, except in cases where both parties are willing; it's a safety technique that emergency workers use occasionally, but that's with a soft medical type of hand-harness which is much safer for everyone. Some superpowers have a tandem mode, in which a hand-harness helps maintain contact.
This style of hand-harness is based on snowboard gear, so the wrist brace protects against sudden-shock injuries. They are usually connected with a loop at the wrist, often running under the wrist strap so it can orient toward the hand or toward the elbow.
An elastic coupler with panic snaps will reduce the chance of injury. Elastic stretches to diffuse sudden force, and panic snaps can be flicked open instantly even under tension. Conversely, a rigid coupler helps keep people closely connected, useful for tandem work.
Buildings face many challeges from earthquakes. In that context, earthquake resistant structures tend to fare much better than historic buildings. Sadly, San Bernardino has a high concentration of unreinforced brick buildings. One reason SPOON picked that lovely old building was so they could reinforce it. One factor aiding resilience in T-America is the greater popularity of dome homes, whose structure makes them resistant to disasters whether they are geodesic, shotcrete, or sprayfoam. You'll see this in action with the Archivist's monolithic dome in Rain City.
(These links are sad.)
The human impact of disasters can be tremendous. One key difference between L-American and T-American disaster response is the handling of refugees. L-America tends to keep them close to ground zero in makeshift shelters. T-America acts to move people fast and far from danger. If the disaster is localized, people are moved to nearby cities; if statewide, to surrounding states. Regional disasters transport people all across the country. For anyone whose "sister city" is outside the affected area, they follow the predetermined plans for taking refuge there, and many T-American cities have such arrangements. The West Coast has two primary dangers, of which earthquakes can hit anytime and wildfires peak in summer. So most of their sister cities are in the northerly parts of the central and eastern regions where the key threat is winter storms. That means a lot of refugees will be pouring east into a system of shelters and other resources ready to receive them. Citizen Emergency Response Training offers one way to prepare.
Emergency preparedness largely began with Civil Defense. In local-America it hasn't developed into a very cohesive system, as much of it fell apart after the Cold War ended. In Terramagne-America they have a thriving system of bunkers useful in all types of emergency, and people generally have a good level of family preparation. Emergency response includes making plans for businesses and events in case of mishap. Terramagne divides emergencies into two broad categories based on response: evacuation vs. shelter.
Being a hero, or a superhero, requires understanding how to handle emergencies.
Emergency supplies are essential in earthquake areas. Many parks stock emergency supplies because they're public places.
Survey flags can be used to mark buried victims. Match the colors (red, yellow, green, black) to triage flagging tape.
(Messy medical details here.)
Triage is the process of separating casualties according to severity. This flow chart gives an example of how it works. You can see the opportunity for mistakes -- an unconscious person might seem much worse than they are, while a walking person might be quite badly hurt but too shocky to feel the pain. (Note that some groups, such as soldiers and people living with chronic pain, may obscure quite serious injuries for different reasons.) Triage sacrifices precision for speed in hope of saving as many people as possible. It mostly works. Triage tags record information on the scene for use in sorting casualties and treating them at a hospital. A simple tag such as MET is good for major disasters or nonmedical responders such as police, and is usually the kind included in disaster response kits. A more complex tag such as AIIRisk is good for local disasters or trained medics. These tags can also be paired in primary/secondary triage with large numbers of casualties waiting.
While researching conventional triage systems, I also found this empath triage system. It's aimed at everyday encounters, however, rather than disaster scenes. I have personally handled emotional first aid at a disaster scene, so I created a basic triage routine for that.
(These links are intense.)
A mass casualty incident is one where the number of casualties exceeds the personnel and/or supplies available to treat them. It doesn't take a huge number -- a handful will do it if you only have one medic and a couple of beds. This requires special planning to handle critical resource shortages. It's also important to account for sudden peaks in demand. A few local-American hospitals have a proper surge plan, but many do not. Read about how one hospital developed a surge plan and see what it looks like. Terramagne has much wider use of surge plans. T-America requires them for emergency services such as hospitals, police, and fire departments.
Signature injuries from earthquakes include fractures, dislocations, and head wounds caused by foreign objects or crushing. The first step after the shaking stops is to check for injuries and give first aid as needed.
Rule #1: Don't make yourself another casualty. T-America teaches responders to take care of themselves during an emergency, including breaks for food and rest, along with shift limits. You can't help anyone else if you keel over from hunger, exhaustion, or emotional overwhelm. L-America has rampant problems with health issues among first responders.
(These links are upsetting.)
Natural disasters can cause mass cases of PTSD, along with traumatic brain injury that interfaces with traumatic stress. Risk rates vary. In a disaster, the widespread emotional trauma leads to lots of traumatic stress. Acute stress reaction is a normal response to abnormal events, and for most people, it needs no more than emotional first aid and it resolves after a few days or weeks. Acute stress disorder is an extreme reaction to trauma that sets in quickly and interferes with everyday life for more than several days. Because it can easily turn into PTSD, expert care is prudent if available. Here is a self-help guide to dealing with trauma. Know how to support trauma survivors.
"Everything Is Awful and I'm Not Okay" gives a list of practical care questions and suggested actions for times of distress. It works for care of self or others. If you just memorize this list, you've got a basic care plan for catastrophes small or large.
wispfox and lone_cat. It also fills the "trust" square in my 9-1-18 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth, bairnsidhe, lone_cat, and janetmiles. It belongs to the Big One and Calliope threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.WARNING: This poem contains graphic scenes that many readers may find disturbing. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features a cataclysmic earthquake, decisions about where to volunteer for aid, past and present vomiting, widespread devastation, consensual bondage for safety purposes, mental and emotional stress, mass casualty incident, child injury and death, broken wings, messy medical details, platonic showering together, platonic bed sharing, and other mayhem. This poem may be rough reading for survivors of earthquake or child loss. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding whether this is something you want to read.
"That Strength You Get from a Team"
[Saturday, May 28, 2016]
Calliope and Vagary were walking
through Rocky Fellows Park, which was
crowded because of the holiday weekend.
They headed toward the far end of the park,
where the lawns and prairie gardens would
attract less traffic than the playgrounds.
Beautiful late-spring weather drew people
outdoors, fluffy clouds dotting the sky.
Calliope and Vagary were coming
to rely on nature walks as a way of
coping with stress in their life and
smoothing over the rough spots
in their relationship. It helped.
Both of their smartphones went off,
shrill emergency alarms slicing the air.
"Both of us at the same time,
that can't be good," Vagary muttered.
"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it,"
Calliope said. Then she looked at
her phone and swore in Chickasaw.
"The West Coast is ... gone."
"We're more use together than apart,"
Vagary said. "Your side or mine?"
Calliope hesitated for a moment.
"Yours," she said firmly. "Everyone
and their search dog will be pouring in
to help the white capes and civilians.
Someone needs to cover the gray capes
and the supervillains, who won't get
a fraction of that help. Tell your friends
that we'll go wherever they need us."
"Bless you," Vagary said. "I'll log us in."
A few minutes later, Kong Vault arrived,
blotting at his shirt with a paper napkin.
"Okay, fair warning," he said. "Unlike
most teleporters, unstable coordinates
don't bother me at all. However, if that
happens, it's going to feel like landing
on jello. Are you smooth with that?
Because the last guy barfed on me."
That explained the wet spots on his shirt.
"No problem," Calliope said. "I've handled
tornadoes, and I've ridden with you before.
I think that I can handle earthquakes."
"It's bad," Kong Vault said quietly.
"They're sending us to Rain City,
what's left of it anyway. I hear that
the main quake hit 9.2 there, and
even the aftershocks are 6s and 7s.
Most of the city is reduced to rubble."
"What about Chihuly Garden and Glass?
The University of Washington, Seattle?
The Seattle Aquarium?" Vagary said.
"There's almost nothing left, man,"
said Kong Vault. "Whole neighborhoods
are flattened. Tall buildings either pancaked
or fell over sideways. Even the streets
are ripped apart into big chunks."
"Fuck," Vagary said, hugging himself.
"I liked Rain City. It had a whole lot
of fun things to do and great scenery.
"How much weight can you carry?"
Calliope asked, eyeing Kong Vault.
"Plenty more than you, sister,"
he said with a broad smirk.
"Jump us back to the Visitor Center,
and I can ask the staff to give us
some emergency supplies,"
Calliope said. "It'll help."
Kong Vault shaded his eyes
with his hands and looked
for the Visitor Center.
"I stashed a beacon in
the fountain," Vagary said.
"Just feel for the big pile of rocks
and aim a few feet from there."
"Awesome," Kong Vault said.
"Okay, grab on and let's go."
He popped them into the lobby,
making the receptionist squeak.
"There's been an earthquake on
the West Coast and we're heading
there for disaster relief," Calliope said.
"Can you spare us some supplies?"
"Uh, yeah, if you sign off on
the Distant Support form,"
the receptionist said, offering
Calliope a clipboard and page.
"Can do," she said, signing briskly.
"Okay, I've got a disaster backpack
and a ship bucket," said the receptionist.
"They're chosen for local needs after
a tornado, so I don't know how well
they'll suit for an earthquake."
"We'll take what we can get,"
Vagary said as he put on
the backpack. "Thanks."
Calliope picked up the bucket,
which contained supplies and
would convert to a toilet once
it had been emptied of them.
"Everyone hang on tight,"
Kong Vault said. "This
could be a rough landing."
The transit was smooth enough,
but they landed on rubble, and
the bucket of supplies made it
harder for Calliope to balance.
Nobody fell over, though, and
Kong Vault pointed them toward
the relief station before he left.
It was set up in what had been
the tennis courts and a parking lot
of Seward Park, just beyond
the Bailey Peninsula.
Now the parking lot was
a buckled mess of pavement
and the tennis courts beyond had
weird ripples in them, although
they were made of something
coarse and rubbery that had
bent instead of broken.
As they jumped from
one chunk of the asphalt to
another, Vagary muttered, "This
is like playing Lava, only not fun."
Calliope couldn't help but agree.
Seaplanes hummed overhead
as they brought in bundles
of much-needed supplies
for people to haul ashore
with canoes and kayaks.
The command center and
first aid station occupied
the least-wrinkled part
of the tennis courts.
Vagary marched over
to the first aid station.
"We need a hand-harness,
heavy-duty if you have it,"
he said. "We can Phase
to rescue survivors, and we
work better in tandem mode."
A medic clocked them in and
keyed their vidwatches. Then she
passed them a pair of wrist braces
that looked like snowboard equipment,
clipped together with a short black strap
that had a panic snap on each end.
In exchange, Calliope set down
the ship bucket she had brought,
although Vagary kept the backpack.
"Flip you for it?" Calliope offered as
she took hold of the hand-harness.
Vagary shook his head. "You
volunteered for my side today, so
you get your dominant hand free."
He fastened his end over
his right hand, leaving her
to attach on the left.
They clasped hands,
carefully reaching out
with their superpowers.
It was awkward, because
they were still learning how
to trust each other after
the disastrous attempt
to break the bond.
The connection thickened
as they concentrated on it,
boosting both their Phasing
and their Telempathy.
Calliope winced as
the distressed thoughts
and feelings rolled over her,
far stronger than when she
had only her own abilities.
"Yeah, I feel it too," Vagary said.
"Button up as best we can."
Calliope was better at shielding
than he was, so she took over
the focus on that for both of them.
"That's better," Vagary said
after a moment. "Let's get going."
Nearby, some of the big trees
had toppled onto cars, and
firefighters struggled to free
the trapped occupants.
"Easy fix," Vagary said
to Calliope, tilting his head
at the crushed vehicles.
"Let's do this," she said,
squeezing his hand tighter.
So they Phased through
the wreckage, quickly
pulling out the survivors
and passing them to
firefighters for triage.
By the time they reached
the end of the short row of
cars, their bond felt happy,
even excited by the activity.
"Our bond really is a dog,"
Vagary muttered. "See,
this is why I call it Rover."
"A search-and-rescue dog,
apparently," Calliope said.
"Well, you're not wrong,"
Vagary said, flicking his hand.
"We need to find our contact."
A minute later, Calliope
saw but could not interpret
the subtle hand signal that
caught at Vagary's attention.
"I'm Vagary and this is
my partner Calliope,"
he said quietly. "We're
Telempaths who can
also Phase for rescue."
"Souzan Tallwood,"
the older woman replied,
her black hair and copper skin
marking her as a native. "We're
trying to get through to the school, but
the whole neighborhood is flattened.
"What school?" Calliope wondered. She
couldn't see anything like that from here.
"The Martha Washington Montessori School
for Gifted Girls," Souzan explained. "They're
hosting an open house this weekend for
prospective students and their families."
"How far is it from here?" Vagary asked.
"Only a couple of blocks, but the roads
are rubble and the houses are kindling,"
Souzan said. "We've been hoping
that we might get more backup."
"Here we are," Vagary said.
"Please, lead the way."
It took a while, because they
had to conserve their strength,
so they couldn't simply Phase
and wade through all of
the ruins in their way.
Now and then, aftershocks
shook the ground, some
of them quite strong.
Bricks and other debris
rained down from the walls
still standing, but most of
the neighborhood had already
been reduced to rubble.
From the look of it, these
had been nice houses once,
big buildings overlooking
wide blue water, but now
they were splinters and dust.
Calliope trudged over the mess
and tried not to think about
how she was stepping on
the remains of people's lives.
Several times, they had to stop
and pull people out of the wreckage.
When they reached the school,
though, it looked even worse --
little more than a pile of bricks
with a few partial walls standing.
"They were historic buildings,"
Souzan said quietly. "They were
built in 1921. I went to school here."
"This is a refuge for girls with
special gifts, super or otherwise,"
Vagary said. "Or at least it was."
"Renovations strengthened the walls,
but it wasn't enough," Souzan said.
The shaking ... I thought that it would
never end. It lasted over five minutes."
Calliope shuddered. "What about
the gas lines? Could it catch fire?"
"You don't need to worry about that,"
Souzan said. "It won't burn."
Calliope looked at Vagary,
who gave her a little nod.
Apparently something -- or
someone -- would prevent
that from happening.
"Where would the people
most likely be in there?"
Calliope asked next.
Souzan pointed out places,
her stoic face beginning
to show signs of strain.
"I don't know whether we have
enough people here to cover
this much territory," she said.
"We'll need more hands if there
are a lot of survivors to handle."
Calliope spotted several more teams
of rescue workers headed for them,
picking their way across the debris.
"There is that interdependence and
that strength you get from a team,
that the group is greater than
any individual," Calliope said.
"I've taken teamwork training."
"Thank you," Souzan said.
"That should help a lot."
"Okay, we need to triage this,"
Vagary said, surveying the site.
"Get us some marking tape, or
flags, whatever you want to use."
Another worker held up a bundle of
green, yellow, red, and black survey flags.
"I brought these for marking buried victims."
"That'll do," Vagary said as he shrugged off
the emergency backpack. "Calliope and I
will go over the surface with Telempathy
to find survivors. Once they're marked,
the rest of you can start digging. Then
we'll Phase down to start pulling out
as many of the Reds as we can."
They went as fast as they could,
scrambling and stumbling over
the shattered buildings.
Their superpower swept
back and forth like a search dog
casting around for a scent.
There weren't many survivors.
Judging from the number of
crushed cars in the parking lot,
there had been plenty of people
visiting the school today.
Most of the ones they located
were in clusters -- probably
tour groups -- so they placed
a flag for each individual.
When they found what had been
a cafeteria or gymnasium, they
felt a whole bunch of survivors
huddled together below them
in a little pocket of safety.
"It feels like some of the walls
held here," Calliope said,
pointing to the area.
"This was a safe room,"
Souzan said. "It was
heavily reinforced."
"Well, it sort of worked,"
Vagary said. "We'll go down
and pull out as many as we can."
More rescue workers had
converged on the scene
and were doing their best
to dig out less-buried victims.
Calliope and Vagary held on to
each other and Phased, sinking
down through the debris.
They groped their way through
the mess until they reached
the space where the survivors
huddled, sheltered in what had
been a corner of the big room.
The girls screamed at first,
then quieted when they
realized they were seeing
rescuers instead of ghosts.
Calliope and Vagary pulled
them out six at a time -- they
didn't dare try for more.
It only took three trips, and
the last wasn't a full load.
Under the pink dust, some of
the girls had the bright colors
of crayon soups, and one victim
even had wings, both of them
now broken in several places.
As soon as he set down
the last girl, Vagary gulped.
"Scuseme," he said, and
unclipped the hand-harness.
Then he ran behind a wall.
When Calliope heard him
being noisily sick, she
raided a first aid kit for
a packet of wet wipes and
Chuckie's tummy tabs.
She reached Vagary
just in time to keep him
from falling face-first into
the bricks underfoot.
"Careful," said Calliope
as she helped him sit down.
Vagary readily accepted
the wet wipes, but he
waved off the medication.
"Can't," he said. "That stuff
makes me drowsy. I can't
work when I'm on Chuckies."
"Oh, you two are done for today,"
Souzan said, coming around the ruins
of the wall. "Thank you for helping."
"But we just got here," Calliope protested.
"That says otherwise," Souzan replied,
pointing to the vidwatch on Calliope's wrist.
Calliope looked down. The pie face was
nearly full and had turned yellow.
"You've been here over three hours,"
Souzan said. "Maximum shift is eight,
and only four in hard labor like this."
"I'm okay," Calliope said. "I can
keep going for the full eight hours."
"Nobody is okay after wading
through a building full of dead kids,"
Souzan said grimly. "Go the fuck home."
"Cal," Vagary said, and she looked
down at him. "I could use the break.
I'll take that tummy tab now."
"All right," Calliope said,
handing him the sticky dot
which he put behind his ear.
Just then, a girl with blue skin
tottered over the rubble to them
and tugged on Souzan's sleeve.
"Miss Souzan, Micha can't hold it
much longer," she whispered.
"I'll come help her," Souzan said.
"Go, go," said Vagary, leaning
on Calliope. "Thank you for
being our local guide today."
"Souzan is some kind of soup,
isn't she?" Calliope said as
she watched them go.
"Don't know, don't care,"
Vagary said. "The rule is,
if they don't tell, you don't ask."
"Oh ... sorry," Calliope said.
She was still learning the quirks
of supervillain etiquette.
"It's okay, no harm done,"
Vagary said. "You'll get
the hang of this eventually."
"Do you want to crash
at your place or mine?"
Calliope asked him.
"Yours, if you don't mind,"
Vagary said. "Mine will be
swarming with refugees."
"It's no trouble," Calliope said.
She pushed a few buttons on
her vidwatch to send a signal for
a teleporter to take them home.
It took almost twenty minutes
before Kong Vault arrived.
By then Vagary was half-asleep
draped over Calliope's shoulder, but
at least he wasn't sick anymore.
"Is he okay?" Kong Vault asked.
"He's not physically injured,"
Calliope said. "It's been ... hard.
Just take us to my house, please.
You can drop us on the porch."
"Home field advantage, coming
right up," Kong Vault said, and
jumped them all home.
Calliope helped Vagary
into the house. "Do you
want the first shower,
or the second one?"
He mumbled something
and almost fell over.
"Together it is," she said
with a sigh. "I hope you
don't hate me for this
in the morning."
Vagary did not protest
as Calliope peeled off
their filthy clothes.
She turned on the water
and went for a quick rinse,
using just enough soap
to chase the dust away.
Then she shut off the water
and stepped out, making sure
that Vagary couldn't trip.
After rubbing them both
as dry as possible, Calliope
pulled on her sleep shirt and
stuffed Vagary into a spare one.
She started to turn toward
the living room and its hide-a-bed,
but their bond was whimpering in a way
that suggested separation would
not be a good idea right now.
So Calliope steered them
into her bedroom, where
she used one hand to throw
some spare pillows down
the middle of her bed.
She settled Vagary on
one side and crawled
into the other herself.
It wasn't that late,
but Calliope still felt
a bone-deep exhaustion
dragging her down.
As she drifted to sleep,
she let one hand trail over
the line of pillows to rest
on Vagary's shoulder.
The bond curled up
between them, warm
and fuzzy and content.
* * *
Notes:
Vagary (Abelardo Bennett) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and dark hair with a short beard and moustache. His very mixed heritage includes Jewish, Spanish, German, and Italian. He enjoys taking tours at museums, art galleries, caves, parks, monuments, anywhere he can be part of a group without people expecting him to be charming. He also loves strategy games, with a particular taste for area-control ones. He drinks decaffeinated coffee because caffeine can make him feel wired and anxious.
Vagary currently works for the supervillain organization Kraken. He is a competent spy, adept at both planting and stealing small items as well as eavesdropping. He specializes in fishing for information by hanging around places of power in semi-public or taking tours, and skimming for valuable thoughts. Kraken has considered him for officer training, held back primarily by his shyness and poor social skills; so far he has only taken the lead in a few small teams.
Origin: Abelardo was kicked out of his rather conservative home for "sexual confusion." A Kraken officer recruited him by providing acceptance of whatever he turned out to be. Abelardo never has really nailed down his sexual orientation or identity, but unlike his family, Kraken doesn't care. The organization offered him the gamble of taking a potent metagen; he accepted, and developed superpowers.
Uniform: Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery; the jumpsuits is sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. It provides Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turns garish neon colors. The utility belt contains a multitude of small gizmos and other tools, along with a holster for the Confusticator zap gun which causes disorientation and short-term memory loss. Off-duty, Abelardo favors business casual, most often trousers and a polo shirt.
Qualities: Good (+2) Flexible, Good (+2) Gamer, Good (+2) Patience, Good (+2) Spy, Good (+2) Touring
Poor (-2) Social Skills
Powers: Good (+2) Phase, Good (+2) Telempathy
In tandem mode, Calliope and Vagary have Phasing at Master (+6) and Telempathy at Expert (+4).
Motivation: To explore while unobserved.
Calliope (Calvin Sanna) -- Calliope comes from Oklahoma; the father's family is Greek-American, while the mother's family is American. Calliope has light olive skin with gray eyes and short hair in shades of lighter and darker blond. Cal is demiromantic demisexual. She speaks Chickasaw, English, Greek, and Esperanto.
Origin: Sucked into a tornado.
Uniform: Feminine-styled costume of dexflan and capery in dusty shades of pink, blue, lavender, and cream.
Qualities: Good (+2) Consideration, Good (+2) Flexible, Good (+2) Handiwork, Good (+2) Listener, Good (+2) Word Puzzles
Poor (-2) Distractible
Powers: Expert (+4) Air Powers (meta-power including Flight, Phasing, Sonic Blast, Tornado Straws, Whirlwind, Windtalking), Good (+2) Telempathy, Average (0) Shapeshifting
In tandem mode, Calliope and Vagary have Phasing at Master (+6) and Telempathy at Expert (+4).
Vulnerability: Air Powers are opposed by Earth Powers. Some Air abilities do not work on an Earth-powered opponent, and vice versa, typically those meant to affect a person directly. Others gain an upshift on damage, typically attacks.
Limitation: So far the Shapeshifting only works to switch between Calvin and Calliope. As the power improves, additional shapes may be gained.
Motivation: Self-discovery.
Kong Vault (Jenner Debenport) -- He has fair skin, blue eyes, and long blond hair in dreadlocks. He is short and muscular. Kong Vault works as a teleporter for Kraken, but he's nearly neutral in personal opinion, with no particular beef against superheroes. However, he's a sucker for seduction attempts, and superheras have gotten to him more than once this way. It hasn't changed either his opinions or his love life.
Origin: Jenner was a young troublemaker until a teacher got him into track & field, where he excelled. Unfortunately for his budding sports career, puberty brought superpowers, and that disqualified him from competition. He promptly returned to making trouble, even worse than ever. A Kraken operative extracted him from Juvenile Hall and offered him an opportunity to use both his athletic and his super abilities. He accepted.
Uniform: On duty, Kong Vault wears a Kraken uniform of dexflan and capery. The jumpsuits are sensibly designed with sleek fit, plenty of pockets and fasteners for equipment. They provide Expert (+4) Camouflage to a designated user, but if worn by anyone else, turn garish neon colors. Off duty, he favors athletic men's wear.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Reliable, Good (+2) Concentration, Good (+2) Courage, Good (+2) Parkour
Poor (-2) Can't Say No to a Pretty Face
Powers: Expert (+4) Teleportation
His cargo capacity and distance are typical for his strength level, but his agility in transit is much better. Kong Vault can easily jump to or from a moving target, which many teleporters cannot, and he is very difficult to trace.
Motivation: To move efficiently through space.
A Kong vault is when the body passes over an obstacle with the legs placed between the arms. Among the most versatile vaults, it's ideal for clearing long, high objects or reaching extra distance.
-- Parkour Terminology
Souzan Tallwood -- She has copper skin, black eyes, and long straight hair of coffee brown. She has a chain tattoo around her left arm. She belongs to the Suquamish Tribe. She speaks English and Lushootseed natively, but knows basic emergency phrases in Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, and Korean. Souzan lives in the Seattle suburb of Rain City, Washington where she works as a firefighter-paramedic. She also belongs to Kraken. As a child, Souzan bounced around the homes of different relatives because her alcoholic parents couldn't care for her properly. Once her superpowers manifested, fewer people were willing to take care of her. That's when Kraken stepped in and invited her to the Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls. After graduating, Souzan worked for them as a wild young activist for a number of years. Then she came back to Rain City and trained in rescue work.
Origin: Her superpowers emerged at puberty.
Uniform: On duty, Souzan wears the black uniform of a firefighter or paramedic, depending on current role. Off duty, she favors dark colors such as black, blue, or brown. She always wears a fire agate pendant.
Qualities: Good (+2) Firefighter-Paramedic, Good (+2) Helpful, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Strength, Good (+2) Water Sports
Poor (-2) Adult Child of Alcoholics
Powers: Good (+2) Fire Medicine
She is better at stopping fires than starting them. She can also use her power to support someone's natural healing capacity, and it gains an Upshift for thermal problems.
Motivation: To keep her people safe.
It reflects the ideas of ƛ̓ubƛubƛ̓ub, kʷaxʷalikʷ, ʔabalikʷ ‘Be kind, be helpful, be sharing’, which are basic virtues of Lushootseed culture.
* * *
"There is that interdependence and that strength you get from a team, that the group is greater than any individual."
-- Pete Newell
Calliope and Vagary wind up in Rain City, where the earthquake hit at 3:58 PM with magnitude 9.2 and intensity XII, hard enough to bounce people and objects off the ground, total devastation. It lasted for 5 minutes 15 seconds. Even some specially reinforced structures have failed, and everything less robust is rubble. Roads and bridges are demolished.
9.0 and above < 1 XI – XII great – extensive damage over broad areas, most buildings destroyed
IX. Damage considerable in specially designed structures; well-designed frame structures thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off foundations.
X. Some well-built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and frame structures destroyed with foundations. Rails bent.
XI. Few, if any (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent greatly.
XII. Damage total. Lines of sight and level are distorted. Objects thrown into the air.
The Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls is located in the Columbia Area of Seattle, just south of Bailey Peninsula. Here is a map of Washington neighborhoods. This is an aerial view. See the inland houses and waterfront houses.
Seward Park occupies the Bailey Peninsula, extending slightly onto the land beyond it. A neighborhood assembly point is located at the tennis courts. The parking lot is asphalt, but the tennis courts are paved with a flexible, porous material made from recycled car tires.
Many trees have fallen on top of cars.
Kraken contributed to running the Martha Washington Montessori School for Gifted Girls, modified from a historic schoolthat once occupied the same grounds. Students ranged in age from 10-18. Only a handful of them were superkids, but all were extraordinary in their own ways. Dormitories provided boarding space for out-of-town students. A small house near the parking lot held some school staff who lived onsite but outside the dormitories. A larger house near the waterfront was the STEMZ building. The school was designed to nurture young female intellectuals with a robust STEMZ program, while shielding them from the harsh criticism of a world that often wants girls to sit down and shut up.
Here is the school campus circa 1966. See the modern exterior.
Rocky Fellows Park lies on the outskirts of T-Stillwater, nestled against a quiet suburb. The playground area consists of local stone built into a naturescape, and lies at the end closest to the houses. A large grassy field extends toward nearby farmland.
A wheelchair ramp leads to the lobby of the Visitor Center.
Here's an overview of the park; the houses visible from this direction are small single-family ones, mostly 2-3 bedrooms. Paved paths provide access to different parts of the park. Here you can see the pony corral. A large section of the park consists of prairie with native grasses and wildflowers. Meandering paths are mowed through this area in a different configuration each year. Houses here are bigger 4-5 bedroom ones. Another large part of the park consists of lawn for unstructured play.
Chihuly Garden and Glass is among the best of Seattle attractions. Classes include glass-blowing, fusing, and flame-working. In T-Seattle, the facility is even more active. Yoga Under The Glass happens every day before the center opens to the public, typically from 7-8 AM.
The Seattle Aquarium is another famous attraction.
The University of Washington, Seattle is a large state college.
Rain City has many seaplanes for tourism as well as practical purposes. Anything in the air at the time of the earthquake would be safe. Some docked planes might be damaged, but others probably survived. This leaves the city some means of transportation via open water and air.
(Several paragraphs of terrifying disaster links follow.)
Earthquakes occur along fault lines. North American faults come in various types. They correspond to different areas of geology, forming a network of cracks that behave according to certain parameters.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a major part of the Ring of Fire which encircles much of the Pacific Ocean, a loop of terrain prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Because the crust is a jumble of comparatively thin plates rubbing together, and faults can form long branching lines, it is possible for an earthquake in one place to trigger quakes in other places along the line, although scientists have not paid much attention to this. But you can see analogs in any crackle system, such as ice on a lake, where disturbing one part of it can destabilize something quite far away. Since Cascadia is over 315 years into a 234-year cycle, and southern California is over 300 years into a 110-140 year cycle, the whole West Coast is overdue for action. That makes the probability of a megaquake high -- and the longer the pressure builds up before releasing, the worse it tends to get when it does let go. Look at the plates and faults in Cascadia and you can see why this poses such a huge threat. Here is a video about one such scenario, although the true worst case would be in high summer at peak tourist season.
Earthquake magnitude relates to the seismic waves, measured by science. (The earlier Richter scale has been replaced by the more versatile moment scale.) Earthquake intensity relates to effects, measured by observation of impact on people and structures.
In theory, scientists can measure the features of a fault line and estimate its maximum magnitude. In practice, sometimes scientists are wrong, often because of variables they simply haven't been able to observe. The San Andreas fault maxes out around 8.3. Model earthquakes predict extensive damage. T-America is somewhat more prepared than L-America, and regularly holds large-scale drills, but there's no getting the damage down to zero. Cascadia is massively worse, with a maximum magnitude around 9 in an earthquake lasting 3-5 minutes, a death toll over 14,000 plus more than 30,000 casualties. That's about 30 times stronger than the San Andreas can muster. Then there's the tsunami, because the Cascadian Subduction Zone is 40-80 miles offshore while the San Andreas is mostly landlocked. About 20 minutes after the earthquake comes the wave. The best way to survive is to avoid the inundation zone, especially at night: visit the beach by day if you wish, but don't live there or even rent a hotel room. T-America has done a better job of discouraging development in the kill zone, but it's not enough even there.
I found one person being brutally honest about the threat in Cascadia, which is largely unprepared because the faults there were just discovered (by white people, the local tribes have always known) several decades ago.
"These lax safety policies guarantee that many people inside the inundation zone will not get out. Twenty-two per cent of Oregon’s coastal population is sixty-five or older. Twenty-nine per cent of the state’s population is disabled, and that figure rises in many coastal counties. “We can’t save them,” Kevin Cupples says. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll go around and check on the elderly.’ No. We won’t.” Nor will anyone save the tourists. Washington State Park properties within the inundation zone see an average of seventeen thousand and twenty-nine guests a day. Madin estimates that up to a hundred and fifty thousand people visit Oregon’s beaches on summer weekends. “Most of them won’t have a clue as to how to evacuate,” he says. “And the beaches are the hardest place to evacuate from.”
Washington is at risk also. Rain City is largely protected from ocean tsunamis, but if the Seattle Fault goes, the effects could be devastating.
In terms of impact, consider that about 51,085,172 people live in the three states of the West Coast. That's just over 15% of the entire population. All of those people will be heavily impacted. That means about 1 in 7 Americans are more-or-less directly affected, before counting all the friends and relatives of people living in those states. There are 9 cities in the coastline counties with a population over 250,000. In California, 68.5% of the population (25,161,295 people) lives in coastline counties, in Oregon 17% of the population (643,872 people) does, and in Washington 64.9% of the population (4,250,984, people) does. With coastline counties taking the worst damage, that's over 30 million people whose lives are totaled. Almost all of them have lost homes, businesses, friends and family, infrastructure; they'll become internally displaced persons. Many coastline counties will be effectively uninhabitable for months or years. If you imagine the West Coast as an economy of its own, it's the fifth-largest in the world, just ahead of the United Kingdom (although it drops a bit lower if you account for its high cost of living). California alone is 13.3% of America's economy, Oregon is 1.2%, and Washington is 2.5% for a total of 17%. Most of that just collapsed, what's left is scrambling for survival, and a major economic generator just turned into the biggest sump the country has ever seen. BOOM! Smaaaash.
The Earthquake Country Alliance offers resources on how to prepare for and survive earthquakes. You should secure objects, make safety plans, stock emergency supplies, and copy important documents. During an earthquake, drop and cover. Afterwards, render aid and work toward recovery.
Choose an out-of-state friend or relative to be your contact person in case of a disaster. Ideally, they should be able to host you if you need a place to stay for a few days or weeks. Most people in T-America have such arrangements, often reciprocal with several friends in different places.
Personal devices can detect ground movement through GPS and motion sensors. L-America is testing the use of cellphones to track earthquakes. There are also apps that alert you to earthquake activity worldwide. T-America has more advanced features, such as manual or automatic timers to measure the duration of a quake. They also have an option to choose manual or automatic transmission of the data to a monitoring station for scientific benefit; T-America protects location as private information, so there has to be a shutoff method for that. In practice, most people in earthquake zones leave their quake apps on automatic. T-American earthquake apps also tend to come with emergency beacon features.
Emergency notification systems aid coordination in times of crisis. Consider selling points and best practices before choosing one. Some can also be used for other communication purposes. Here are some popular emergency notification systems.
M-FYN in T-America is one of several programs designed to identify survivors immediately after a disaster and help them contact friends or family. Registered members can log in from any device to record their status. The original release just offered "I'm fine" but quickly expanded to "I need assistance," "I'm fine," and "I can help." Later upgrades added more options such as "In care," "Missing," and "Confirmed dead." Those account not just for personal updates but also official ones. After logging their basic status, members can add details like their current location and anything they need (e.g. a place to stay, clothes, emergency funds). Members can also link accounts to friends and family in the network, to receive notifications of safety or need after an incident. An array of Mute tools can be set in different ways to account for mass-casualty events, such as turning off alerts about nearby members to avoid getting deluged with messages, or turning them down to just immediate family. The original acronym stands for Massacre-Find Your Name, and is pronounced "I'm fine."
4 Person Premium Emergency Survival Kit
5-Person Emergency Evacuation Kit Survival Pack
In April of 2015 an earthquake struck Nepal with magnitude 7.8-8.1 and intensity VIII. It tore the roads into large chunks.
On October 8, 2005, an earthquake in Kashmir measured 7.6 magnitude. It flattened whole neighborhoods.
Lava is played by jumping from one piece of furniture to another. It actually provides excellent practice for disaster environments. I imagine that most children do not think of such scenarios while playing it, but then I am weird.
Striationary marks are characteristic injuries left when a speedster, or certain types of teleporter, pulls away from restraint. It leaves long wounds, ranging from scrapes to deep lacerations, sometimes with joint injury such as sprains or dislocations, and some people have managed to tear off a limb that way. Medics and police staff have learned to look for them as signs that someone was forcibly (and not very competently) restrained. The fact that traumatized people in general, and some types of soups in particular, tend to panic under constraint is one reason why Terramagne authorities prefer to minimize the use of restraints or other confinement; it's too hard to do without causing additional damage in some cases. There have also been examples of striationary marks on an officer who made the mistake of handcuffing himself to a captive. So that technique is outright banned, except in cases where both parties are willing; it's a safety technique that emergency workers use occasionally, but that's with a soft medical type of hand-harness which is much safer for everyone. Some superpowers have a tandem mode, in which a hand-harness helps maintain contact.
This style of hand-harness is based on snowboard gear, so the wrist brace protects against sudden-shock injuries. They are usually connected with a loop at the wrist, often running under the wrist strap so it can orient toward the hand or toward the elbow.
An elastic coupler with panic snaps will reduce the chance of injury. Elastic stretches to diffuse sudden force, and panic snaps can be flicked open instantly even under tension. Conversely, a rigid coupler helps keep people closely connected, useful for tandem work.
Buildings face many challeges from earthquakes. In that context, earthquake resistant structures tend to fare much better than historic buildings. Sadly, San Bernardino has a high concentration of unreinforced brick buildings. One reason SPOON picked that lovely old building was so they could reinforce it. One factor aiding resilience in T-America is the greater popularity of dome homes, whose structure makes them resistant to disasters whether they are geodesic, shotcrete, or sprayfoam. You'll see this in action with the Archivist's monolithic dome in Rain City.
(These links are sad.)
The human impact of disasters can be tremendous. One key difference between L-American and T-American disaster response is the handling of refugees. L-America tends to keep them close to ground zero in makeshift shelters. T-America acts to move people fast and far from danger. If the disaster is localized, people are moved to nearby cities; if statewide, to surrounding states. Regional disasters transport people all across the country. For anyone whose "sister city" is outside the affected area, they follow the predetermined plans for taking refuge there, and many T-American cities have such arrangements. The West Coast has two primary dangers, of which earthquakes can hit anytime and wildfires peak in summer. So most of their sister cities are in the northerly parts of the central and eastern regions where the key threat is winter storms. That means a lot of refugees will be pouring east into a system of shelters and other resources ready to receive them. Citizen Emergency Response Training offers one way to prepare.
Emergency preparedness largely began with Civil Defense. In local-America it hasn't developed into a very cohesive system, as much of it fell apart after the Cold War ended. In Terramagne-America they have a thriving system of bunkers useful in all types of emergency, and people generally have a good level of family preparation. Emergency response includes making plans for businesses and events in case of mishap. Terramagne divides emergencies into two broad categories based on response: evacuation vs. shelter.
Being a hero, or a superhero, requires understanding how to handle emergencies.
Emergency supplies are essential in earthquake areas. Many parks stock emergency supplies because they're public places.
Survey flags can be used to mark buried victims. Match the colors (red, yellow, green, black) to triage flagging tape.
(Messy medical details here.)
Triage is the process of separating casualties according to severity. This flow chart gives an example of how it works. You can see the opportunity for mistakes -- an unconscious person might seem much worse than they are, while a walking person might be quite badly hurt but too shocky to feel the pain. (Note that some groups, such as soldiers and people living with chronic pain, may obscure quite serious injuries for different reasons.) Triage sacrifices precision for speed in hope of saving as many people as possible. It mostly works. Triage tags record information on the scene for use in sorting casualties and treating them at a hospital. A simple tag such as MET is good for major disasters or nonmedical responders such as police, and is usually the kind included in disaster response kits. A more complex tag such as AIIRisk is good for local disasters or trained medics. These tags can also be paired in primary/secondary triage with large numbers of casualties waiting.
While researching conventional triage systems, I also found this empath triage system. It's aimed at everyday encounters, however, rather than disaster scenes. I have personally handled emotional first aid at a disaster scene, so I created a basic triage routine for that.
(These links are intense.)
A mass casualty incident is one where the number of casualties exceeds the personnel and/or supplies available to treat them. It doesn't take a huge number -- a handful will do it if you only have one medic and a couple of beds. This requires special planning to handle critical resource shortages. It's also important to account for sudden peaks in demand. A few local-American hospitals have a proper surge plan, but many do not. Read about how one hospital developed a surge plan and see what it looks like. Terramagne has much wider use of surge plans. T-America requires them for emergency services such as hospitals, police, and fire departments.
Signature injuries from earthquakes include fractures, dislocations, and head wounds caused by foreign objects or crushing. The first step after the shaking stops is to check for injuries and give first aid as needed.
Rule #1: Don't make yourself another casualty. T-America teaches responders to take care of themselves during an emergency, including breaks for food and rest, along with shift limits. You can't help anyone else if you keel over from hunger, exhaustion, or emotional overwhelm. L-America has rampant problems with health issues among first responders.
(These links are upsetting.)
Natural disasters can cause mass cases of PTSD, along with traumatic brain injury that interfaces with traumatic stress. Risk rates vary. In a disaster, the widespread emotional trauma leads to lots of traumatic stress. Acute stress reaction is a normal response to abnormal events, and for most people, it needs no more than emotional first aid and it resolves after a few days or weeks. Acute stress disorder is an extreme reaction to trauma that sets in quickly and interferes with everyday life for more than several days. Because it can easily turn into PTSD, expert care is prudent if available. Here is a self-help guide to dealing with trauma. Know how to support trauma survivors.
"Everything Is Awful and I'm Not Okay" gives a list of practical care questions and suggested actions for times of distress. It works for care of self or others. If you just memorize this list, you've got a basic care plan for catastrophes small or large.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-11-30 01:21 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4y802_Ot-k
Yes ...
Date: 2018-11-30 10:21 pm (UTC)Looking at it in retrospect, I realize that -- oddly for Leslie Fish, who writes a lot of pretty dark stuff -- it's actually a very Terramagne song. That's how they get a lot of their street nurses and other underworld medical workers. Because where do you go when you care more about saving lives than following rules? You go to the crooks and the supervillains, who can't always get to or tolerate a conventional facility. They'll take you in, because A) they know what it's like not to fit in, and B) they'd rather not die.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2018-12-01 12:32 am (UTC)I've got a recording of Leslie doing it in a filk circle, and at that point she makes an aside "Type 0? Wonderful!"
There are a lot of fat cats and politicians who need to hear The Digwell Carol
If the song happened on Terramagne, I expect Kraken would be looking for the doctor.