Act Two: Rhodes Island, huh?

Day One

6:11 AM

Dewville, Kazimierz

The endless horizon stretched across the plains; with streaks of clouds moving lazily across the clear turquoise sky. To one side were taupe and cragged mountains; to another was a thick and dense spruce forest. In the middle sat the quiet village of Dewville.

The Kuranta who resided there live a simple life of farming and bartering with other villages. It was also unimportant in the grand scale of Terra.

However, three strangers could affect that.

These "travelers" were currently helping to tend the crops of the villagers. Two of them had rope tied around their waists as they both helped to carry away the wheat that was recently reaped. The slightly larger of their group was slicing away with a scythe; sweat dripping and staining his T-shirt.

Even though it was steaming, Lu kept his balaclava on. He needed to keep himself as unidentifiable as possible especially after the fiasco in the tavern. The knight was fortunately cowardly and listened to him, but who knows; he may have friends. Friends that will be a problem.

That's why the trio had decided that they must move out for the sake and safety of the villagers. As to where, they have a slight idea. Carol had finally finished what she was about to say back in the tavern: it was named after Grani, a former Victorian Mounted Police Officer and current Rhodes Island Operator. The latter was what peaked Lu's interest: an international pharmaceutical organization that treats the "Infected". And accepted just about anyone. Perfect.

From what he could learn from Carol and the little information he could glean from books and newspapers; the world was basically run with this world's version of Tibernium: powerful crystals that can cause a uncurable 'cancer' but is used everywhere; from powering vehicles to even magic called Arts. However, those who get affected with "magic-rock-cancer" are discriminated rather...harshly. There were no Infected in the village, but Carol said that Grani was one. Lu had no idea if humans could get the disease. They don't wanna bring it back to their reality...

So, note to self: stay away from black translucent crystals. Period.

7:45 AM

Carol's Home

After hard work in the fields; Lu, Iris and Steve took some rest while planning out where to go. "So...an equipment check is in order," Lu mused. The SCPs nodded and took out whatever they had on their person.

Lu had his M16A4 with 4 30-round magazines, a Glock 17 with 6 17-round mags, the expandable baton, a Taser 7 with two cartridges and his Kevlar vest and helmet. Steve had his revolver (albeit with only 6 rubber rounds), a K-Bar bayonet, his Canon camera, a small scuba gear kit that was stored in a waterproof duffle bag. Iris only had her Polaroid, eight Polaroid films she managed to pocket (Thank God) and some candy.

"Oh God, this is going to be embarrassing..." Lu grimaced as he took out two paper magazines from his pouch on his vest. Steve and Iris came and looked at what it was about...and immediately averted their eyes.

"Uhh...why do you have these?" Steve sheepishly asked.

"I can explain...these are...ESSDs. Emergency Supply Storage Devices. Definitely not hentai..."

"Huh?" Steve and Iris exclaimed as Lu turned over the pages. Instead of what the cover advertised, the pages contained lots and lots of pictures. "Check this out," Lu showed as he looked around. Carol was busy collecting parting gifts from all the villagers so he turned to a page with a picture of a can of Coca-Cola. He then reached into the page and pulled out...a can of Coca-Cola.

"...wow," Iris spoke softly with her mouth agape.

"That is so cool!" Steve remarked.

"I managed to 'liberate' a few of these from an old archive room. And thank God I had the idea to put survival stuff in this..." Lu mentioned as he put the can back into the magazine. "So we have at least two weeks' worth of food, drinks and basic medical supplies in this one while I think we can store stuff in the other. So, no need to worry about hauling ass...just need to keep them dry and untorn, though."

That was when Carol came back laden with bread and clothes. "So... how are you planning to go to Rhodes Island?" she questioned. "I don't know much about the outside of Kaimeriz, so I can't quite help you..."

"Oh? About that. We know where it is! A city-state called Lungmen," Lu answered with a smile.

"Huh? How did you know? And where even is Lungmen?" Carol was suprised.

"From here," Lu pointed towards a newspaper that Carol didn't quite recognize the language of. But what she did recognize was the logo of Rhodes Island: a lone castle tower in a triangle with the name 'Rhodes Island' under it. "If I'm not mistaken, that should be the company you were talking about, right?"

"...yes, that is where Grani said she was from," she spoke.

"Do you have a map, by any chance?"

9:00 AM

After a decent time of planning and preparation, it was time to say goodbye to Dewville. The plan was they would take the nearest route to Lungmen; and according to the map (that was also from the outdated newspapers pile) that would be via Ursus. But Lu was surprised at one thing: cities aren't stationary. That...would be a slight problem. However, the map was nice enough to include where frequent stops were made, so there's that. Although the map shows mostly Ursus lands so shit luck if they go to the one stop and Lungmen's not there.

Steve and Iris were a little frazzled after learning how far Dewville and Lungmen were: if Lu's estimates were correct; it would take them at least three weeks on foot to get there. And Lu has to make some tough decisions: the one newspaper that he could read (because it so happened to be in German, apparently) described that Ursus was fighting a losing battle against an organization called Reunion. But they could go unnoticed amid the chaos if they can manage to avoid the major cities...

"Thanks for letting us stay in your village free-of-charge. I hope that our help in the fields were enough repayment for your kindness," Steve thanked. "But we do hope that we haven't caused any trouble by attacking that knight, however he deserved it."

"Uhh, it's alright. It was self-defense after all..." Carol replied.

"If he or his friends do bother you, say that we left and thus have to come find us, alright?" Lu

smirked. "But seriously, do say that."

"I'll...keep that in mind."

"But again, thanks."

With that, the three 'strangers' left the small village in the direction of Ursus, amid the villagers waving goodbye. But Carol couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't quite...belong. To Terra, in fact.

End of Act Three

Author's Notes

This was a short act and I updated it because I goofed up and forgot the title. But expect tense action in the border forests…