InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "what's behind door number 3?"

John Connor (johnbaum) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2013-06-06 08:31:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2013 06, character: john connor, character: sam hanna

RP: John and Sam
Who: John Connor and Sam Hanna
Where: Camp
When: Thursday, June 6, 2013
Summary: John's got some ideas to float if he can get a little more information.

John would never, ever tell anyone because they would think he had lost his mind, but for all it's downfalls, the camp was the first place that felt like home since he arrived in Omega. Being with Brian, that always felt like home. But, it was different. It was...well, this was practically his childhood home. He'd spent the first half of his life growing up in various parts of the jungles and rainforests in Central and South America. It wasn't until they'd ventured north and Mom had gotten caught taking out Cyberdyne that he truly lived in a city. This...well, this reminded him of hikes with his mother and playing hide and seek as training. He almost expected to see his mom come out from the forest with her backpack and riffle, wearing clothing remarkably similar to what he now wore in the T-shirt and fatigues.

Of course, his rainforests hadn't had dinosaurs. But, really? Except for the big ones, that wasn't much different from machines. Actually, it was surprisingly similar when he stopped to think abut it: beings much more powerful than himself, hunting him without emotional influence, just survival.

He'd checked the machine over yesterday, made sure it was intact and functioning. It needed to recharge. But otherwise seemed to be fine. He hadn't risked opening a rift to check. That would have been stupid. But the diagnostic software he'd designed didn't seem to find any problems other than no power, which they could rectify with time.

So, his thoughts turned back to the immediate concerns of survival and some of the things he'd been considering, remembering, planning, trying to work into Derek's training as they could. But, while the terrain was familiar, he couldn't let himself fall into the trap of thinking it was exactly the same. And with that in mind, he sought out his best source of information: Sam Hanna.

"Hey, got a minute?" he asked with a grin when he found the man in what looked like a rare moment of being only busy and not super busy. "It's good to have you back, by the way. Didn't get to say that yesterday. Anyway, since we only have thirteen to fourteen hours of usable daylight, I'll get to the point. If you've got the time, I was hoping I could compare notes with you on what plant life you've observed here and how it compares to what I know. When I told everyone I moved around a lot, what I didn't mention is that the first ten years of my life all that moving was primarily through tropical jungle and rainforest areas. Most kids got taught to look both ways when they crossed the street, I got how to find water without relying on lakes and rivers. But, my rainforests were definitely not this rainforest. Since we don't have time for it to take five months for me to learn what you already know, I was thinking if I could describe some species to you that could be useful, or point out some I can see along the edge of the forest from here, you could tell me if there's something comparable to what I know. I figure it wastes less time than if I go through a list of grand schemes for twenty minutes only for you to say we don't have the materials available."

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sam_hanna
2013-06-07 01:27 pm UTC (link)

Plants weren't Sam's things. He knew how to keep his garden clean, he learned about native plants when on a mission, he even knew the names of the major plants, but he wouldn't be able to name plants spread across the continent unless once again were plants that could poison or cure you and located where he had missions. The Rain Forest was not exactly the hubbub of terrorist activities, so he wouldn't know names and descriptions would still take time.

"I have something better to start," he said with a smirk. "Hold on." He went to their car and took out the notebook. "I've been keeping records of what's poisonous, what's edible with visuals. You got the different leaves. Among all of us, we're been able to identify some plants. Coconuts, really like coconut and good for water. Also we don't know how much is evolution and how much is dimension, but flip through first and then you can ask me."

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johnbaum
2013-06-12 02:59 am UTC (link)

"See? I knew you were the one to talk to about this," John said, laughing softly as Sam went to the car. Taking the notebook, he scanned the pages while he listened to Sam. "Coconut is awesome and you can make use out of just about every part of the plant from the fruit to the roots. I won't bore you with the dimensional theories. But, judging from what I've seen, there are differences between dimensions, but evolution seems to have gone along similar paths just without the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Without that kind of drastic climate change, we're probably looking at something close to what our worlds would have seen 70 million years or so ago. But, the nice thing about plants is you can tell a lot about their function by looking at their design. Even easier than a computer. And a lot of trees and grasses were already in existence. Well, the latter's still a relatively new discovery but...sorry, rambling. My mom used to make me talk out loud as a kid when I was figuring things like this out. That way she knew I was on the right track." He hadn't done that in ages. But, being here brought up a lot more memories than he thought he'd have since he was such a little kid.

There were plenty of things he'd seen just at the edge of the camp that he could add to Sam's notes and plenty about each plant Sam had cataloged that John could possibly add to as well. But, when he found the type of leaf that looked quite a bit like what he was hoping for, he finally looked up. "Any chance this came off one of those?" He pointed to something just beyond the edge of the camp, a stand of what looked like bamboo stalks if bamboo stalks in their worlds had grown more than two hundred feet tall. "Because if it is, that's what I was hoping to find."

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sam_hanna
2013-06-12 03:11 am UTC (link)

"I thought you knew you should talk to me about everything. All right, with the possible exception of physics. I will not even attempt to take over for Dom." Although from what he was hearing, someone should have taken over for Dom and made him spent time with Blaze. "Yes, we found coconut and we also know how useful it is. Do you know that with the sap from the flower you can make wine?" Sam had discovered it by mistake as he collected samples for the notebook, but the sap had a strange smell and it turned out that it fermented by itself. They didn't have to do anything, but save it and store it. "We learned about the truly important things in this dimension s you can see, since you can't have a SEAL without alcohol."

Sam knew that John would never think of wine, but if they were stuck here for an undetermined amount of time, they all might benefit from some alcohol.

He looked at the plant that John was pointing to and nodded. "Yes, that would be it. Now, I'm pretty sure that you're not thinking alcohol, so why do we care?"

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johnbaum
2013-06-15 03:39 am UTC (link)

"And Russian lessons. That's Callen," John replied with a grin. "And political tutoring. That's...well, I guess that's done." Right. Not dwelling on that. No time for sentiment.

"I did know that, actually. Just like I knew coconut wine is a good medium for administering some medicinal herbs. You can use the coir to make rope and mats that act like cheesecloth, the husk can be used as a sponge, the trunk as a boat, the fronds as spears, and the copra pressed for oil as a saponifiable substance. Banana peel is good for saponification, as well, but also to treat insect bites and remove splinters. There's some evidence for it's ability to absorb toxins out of water, as well. And the pseudostems can be used to create fishing line."

Chuckling, he shook his head. "Nope, not alcohol. Water and shelter, or camouflage. I'd forgotten how big ancient bamboo was said to have grown. So, it would probably need Troy and Claudia to do this. But, you can get water from the large green stalks. Bamboo is hollow, since it's a grass, not a tree. So, when it absorbs water, it collects inside the sections. And, the best part is you don't kill the plant by harvesting it, if you do it right. Bamboo grows ridiculously fast, even the modern varieties. Now, I'm not sure how well ones this size will bend. If they do, it's easy. Bend the stalk, cut off the top and leave it overnight, you have drinking water for the next day in the morning. As long as the stalk is alive, it will continue to draw water up through it. Otherwise, if it doesn't bend, it's just a mater of tapping the sections. With a stand of bamboo nearby, we could easily supplement the collected rainwater for a fairly long period of time.

"Also, bamboo has a strength to weight ratio comparable to granite and a tensile strength equal to steel. Structures made entirely out of bamboo have even withstood earthquakes the size of the one we had in April. It's probably why it's able to survive so well in this environment. Difficult to trample, especially at this size except by the very largest animals, which should be herbivores. Covering the cars with mud is only going to help so much, since it has to be reapplied frequently with the rains each afternoon. But, I was thinking, if we build a bamboo trellis, use live stalks or stands of stalks for the supports to keep a water supply inside the cover, then cover the top with a latticework of bamboo and vines and some of the edible plants. Build it right alongside the mountain in such a way it looks like a natural growth. It wouldn't be as secure as the thing you've got going with the cave and the car. But, it would be enough to slow the largest animals down and give people a chance to get in the cars. And it would allow movement around the camp without attracting the airborne predators. This might also be the time to see how far Thomas can push his power. If he can find the right pheromone, it's possible he could use it in a similar manner to what you're already doing with the fires, put up a scent barrier that turns creatures away on an instinctive level.

"Actually, we could even construct the trellis roof from plants with drip points on the leaves, built-in channels to direct rain water into receptacles below. Any chance you've found some primeval bromeliads?" he asked, returning to flip through the pages of the notebook. "It's the family of plants pineapple comes from. Several species are basically nature's barrels. They can hold several gallons of water each. But, the earliest known species are only 12 million years old. So, I'm not sure if they'd evolve in this dimension."

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sam_hanna
2013-06-15 04:50 am UTC (link)

"And Russian with G," he said, before reaching out and squeezing John's shoulder. "And a lot of other things with a lot of other people. I know it's not the same, but we make do."

Sam listened, trying hard not to laugh. First Claudia, now John. "Hold on there. I'm glad that you're all Ryu, the Stone Age Boy," he said, showing that maybe he was a little bit of a nerd, but the comparison was too good to pass up. "Lots of ideas, and great, we'll listen to them, but one, we need to discuss them, and two, fires and complete lack of vegetation have done a pretty good job at keeping things, large and small at bay. Before we start putting vegetation anywhere, I want to make sure that the advantages don't outweigh the risks. Having water right here is nice, but staying alive is so much better. Also having barriers, even strong one, might put us at a disadvantage. Right now, we can see what's coming. we start putting things up, we can't, but they can still smell us. Ad some of those carnivores are over ten feet tall."

He sighed. "I'll tell you what I told Claudia. We'll listen, but you might want to take a few days, maybe a little longer to see what we're dealing with, before we start revolutionizing everything." He really hated the idea of anything that would block their view, but he wouldn't dismiss John's idea, just like he didn't dismiss Claudia's. He'd bring them up with Morgan and G, but he'd still deal with the discomfort of having to scavenge for things that bringing anything that would make their camp attractive into the camp. Rotting bones were good enough. "Let me ask you a question. If the bamboo is so great for water, what makes you think that there aren't animals already using it? There are hundreds of species just of reptiles and mammals, bugs that are bigger than our birds. What stops animals from coming here if we move them? What prevents those bugs from biting someone with who knows what consequences? You know how we work. You bring up an idea, and we find a million and one thing that could go wrong. Find me the answers to those questions and then we have a go. Is that agreeable?"

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johnbaum
2013-06-15 11:27 pm UTC (link)

John shrugged, but smiled a little at the gesture. "Story of my life. I'm used to it."

He did look puzzled, though, as Sam went on. "Who, the what?" Totally lost on the reference. "Grew up in a rainforest and then the middle of a war, Sam. I might be a near genius according to Nell, but if you start sounding like Claudia with the pop culture references, you're going to lose me. But, those weren't suggestions. That was...ingrained oneupsmanship, I guess. It was how Mom would teach me. She'd say something like that, something that implied I didn't know enough. And we'd see how much I could reply back with from memory, repeat daily with higher expectations as I got older. None of that is something to be made a priority now as none of it addresses immediate needs.

"The bamboo does. But, I think you're imagining something very different from what I'm describing. I'm not saying put up barriers or walls. I'm saying put up supports, more like the supports in a parking complex, vertical beams. The only more solid portion would be the trellis-work roof, which would still be semi-open because of the design.You told Claudia to start with the two hundred fifty feet, which means you expect the camp to expand. So, don't cover the entire area with the trellis. Keep it close to the mountain, cover the cars and the space right here, leave any expanded area exposed. And look at that stalk, Sam. It's probably close to fifty feet tall as it is, which makes it young. The earliest varieties of bamboo could grow up to two hundred fifty feet high. The tallest herbivores could eat the leaves. Even if we bend them in half and use those as the supports, you'll still be able to see and hear anything that big coming for us.

"As for animals, fifty percent of the world's plant and animal species are found in the two percent of the planet's landmass that contains rainforests. I would assume this to be just as varied, if not moreso, than where I grew up. And I would assume insects of some variety do use the stalks as a water source. Burrowing mammals very well could be as well. But, any standing water is going to attract insects if you don't cover it. Any and all containers used to store water obtained from any source, even the pits you've been using. We need the stalks alive or they don't collect water. Claudia's power can accomplish that by reversing their growth like yesterday, but without killing them. It will force the insect populations out much like we saw some of with what she did in clearing the camp area we have. Move the shoots to this side of the fires and put them into position before induce growth again. Cover containers, fill tap holes.

"The animals are going to come no matter what we're a good-sized meal here. And even the fires aren't going to be as effective because the amount of food that can be gained by braving the area has increased. We need to minimize our visibility and make the hassle of getting at us not worth the potential meal without trapping ourselves in the process. The trellis design allows for dappling of sunlight, vines provide movement in the breeze, both of which will hide our own movements from the large predators, on land and in the air. We use the same methods for keeping them away that nature uses: keep the fires going, use Thomas' power to create a second barrier layer, mark our territory. And while a bullet may not do much damage to the hides on these things, splintered bamboo will. Use plants poisonous to them in the trellis. Transplant pitchers and flytraps and sundew to the edge of the forest to draw the insects there."

Sighing, John shook his head. "I do know how you work, Sam, but this isn't Omega. Omega was a vacation. Do we really have time for you to send me away with questions and wait for me to come back with answers? I've been doing this with Vance since before you guys disappeared. Ask your questions. I'll give you everything I have. It's not like I can exactly do the research necessary to formulate a plan in the time we have. Water, shelter, food, those are the things we need immediately and the things we're most lacking in at the moment. We're vulnerable right now. We're never going to find a perfect solution quickly."

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sam_hanna
2013-06-15 11:52 pm UTC (link)

Sam snorted. "You keep comparing me to Claudia and you might get hurt," he said, chuckling, but ir was strange to say something and not have people understand. He knew how much G knew, even pop reference from things he'd never watched, simply because it might come useful on the job, but he hadn't expected Morgan and Prentiss to cover such wide range of subjects as well. "It's an anime from the 70s. A kid, younger than you, who looked a little like you, who lived in the Stone Age, except that it wasn't the most accurate when it came to animals."

He looked at the bamboo. "I see what you're saying, but how much would that invite animals. Maybe not the dinosaurs, but things from the sky and those bugs. God, I hate those bugs. They are huge. Completely arid soil keeps them away, but again, I'm not dismissing it, John. I'm just wondering about the possibilities." He listened and tried not to get annoyed. People had been here a grand total of two days and were in a rush to tell them all that they were doing wrong. And one wondered why they saw this as a vacation? Dealing with people was more stressful than the freaking dinosaurs. "I'll bring it up to G and Morgan, okay? Omega or not, they still make the final decisions. I also know that things are different here. We're the ones who've been living and surviving here, without the help of trucks and supplies. You might have grown up in a rain forest, but we've survived with dinosaurs, so yeah, we're okay with the status quo until we find a better solution. Everyone has ideas and that's great, but we're not going to rush, because it's dangerous. That only makes it more dangerous in the end. So anything else before I speak with them?"

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johnbaum
2013-06-16 01:12 am UTC (link)

"She's not that bad once you get passed the pop culture references." John chuckled. "A little over enthusiastic, maybe. But, I think that's her making up for the losses, trying to hold on to the people she has left. Losing Eric and Nick hit her hard and Dom pulled away from everyone. She wasn't really close to anyone else until Helena came through. I don't think they were showing that particular show on television by the time I got to civilization, though."

He shook his head, lips pursed. "Look, I don't know what other ideas have been brought to you. I saw a potential problem, I presented a potential solution. If there are other plans, other solutions, I haven't heard them. So, I brought you mine. And I'm not saying rush, just that some things are more pressing than others. The status quo isn't going to be enough water for this many people for long. But, I'm not belittling or dismissing your experience, Sam. That's why I said I wanted to discuss it with you. I'm not throwing out an idea expecting it to happen. I'm expecting you to be able to find the flaws. I'm not arguing with you, either. You asked questions, I'm trying to answer them. I am not going to know if it works if you don't tell me those flaws. So, it'd be unbelievably stupid not to listen to you. I know what I know and that's the best I can do without your input. So, if you don't have any more questions, then no, there isn't anything else."

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