On the way back to the shack, Juniper continued her explanation of the various adventures she’d gotten up to since Lily left her. It was hard to believe it had only been a few days. Unfortunately, the short distance meant she didn’t get any time to ask her own questions. Those would apparently have to wait. Either way, once they arrived, Juniper headed straight inside to get dressed after leaving the Pals to find a good spot for the new berry bush. She asked Lily to join her since apparently, the other woman had already seen everything that Juniper had to offer. So, there was no point in being shy. Not that she was normally about these sorts of things. Especially when it came to putting more clothes on.
"Living in luxury, I see," Lily remarked after inspecting the inside of the rundown building.
"Oh yes, only the finest here!" The sarcasm was thick in Juniper’s voice and she couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration as she buttoned her shorts. "How do you sleep?"
"Same as you." Lily followed the words by indicating the sleeping back off in one corner. "Minus the wooden platform, of course. Mist makes a nice pillow though."
"I’ll bet she does. Aurora and Vesta do too. I’m sure Flora will as well."
"No doubt.” Lily continued her appraisal for a few moments before her eyes finally settled back on Juniper. “You mentioned wanting to show me something? I was hoping it would involve removing clothes, but that doesn't appear to be the case."
"Not yet…" Juniper spoke the words in a low voice before moving to the cabinets and indicating Lily should do the same. "Business first." Once she joined her, Juniper knelt down and indicated the wires sticking out of the small, metal box.
"Well, that doesn't appear to belong."
"Right? That's what I said. Here, I'll show you where it leads." Once both women stood tall, Juniper wrapped an arm around Lily's and gently tugged to bring her towards the door. After heading back outside, Juniper noticed Mist had set the bucket and tin down and she, Aurora, and Vesta, stood around a kneeling Flora. "Actually, hold on. I want to see this..." She redirected their path toward the group and then joined in next to the Katress.
"Perfect, now everyone is here," Flora remarked before returning her attention to the ground. She then silently began to work on making a small hole in the dirt a few inches deep. Once that was done, she reached into her makeshift hat-turned container and removed one of the berries before placing it in the hole and covering it with dirt. "Alright, now for some water."
"I've got it!" Aurora bent down and grabbed the tin before starting to pour it over the freshly dug earth.
After the Lamball had poured about half, Flora reached over and patted her leg. "Thank you, Aurora. You can stop there."
“You’re welcome!”
Once Aurora moved out of the way, Flora dropped fully onto her knees and closed her eyes. Her hands came up then, palms pointed towards the small mound. At first, nothing happened. However, a faint glow soon emanated from her skin and Juniper could tell the Pal’s breathing had deepened. She didn’t know about everyone else but the anticipation was killing her! Was this a common sight after you’d been here long enough? A quick glance around at the other faces staring intently at the scene unfolding told Juniper that perhaps it wasn’t. Even Mist managed to look interested. Soon, their patience was rewarded with a small, green shoot that popped up through the dirt. Continuing to grow with each passing moment. It must’ve only been a minute before the little plant was happily on its way past a sapling with no signs of slowing down.
“More water…”
Aurora quickly poured the rest from the tin and then stepped back, giving Flora room to work. Another minute and multiple shoots started to protrude from the main stem but the Glumos’ eyes quickly knit together. Oh, this must really take some energy then. A little longer and Flora’s hands finally lowered to lay on her knees. “Sorry, I just need a little break. I’m a little worn out after this morning…”
That admission had everyone’s eyes shifting to Juniper. Who quickly regarded each in turn. “What!?”
“Really took her for a ride, didn’t you? Miss Juniper.” Lily’s tease earned her tongue poking out from between Juniper’s lips.
“Damn right, I’m a good lay.” The boast had all three of her Pals silently nodding their heads towards each other in agreement. Which Juniper found quite amusing. “Besides,” she turned and leaned in closer to Lily’s ear and dropped her voice lower. “I think you’re just jealous…”
"Am not!”
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“Play your cards right and you’ll get worn out too.” Before Lily could inquire just how she might do that, Juniper turned her attention back to Flora where she sat catching her breath. “Good job, Flora.” She followed the words with a few gentle strokes of the brown hair. Subsequently, she turned to Aurora and Vesta before nodding in the direction of the shack. “Why don’t you two give her a tour and let her relax a bit. I’m going to show something to Lily and Mist.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Again, the reply came in unison, promoting giggles from the pair. After they helped Flora up, and the trio made their way inside, Juniper squeezed Lily’s arm again and then started leading her off toward the mysterious door. Naturally, Mist began to follow without even needing to be asked. As they walked, Juniper took the time to explain how she and Aurora had originally stumbled across it buried behind vines in the cliff face. They arrived just as she finished and Juniper let Lily go so she could investigate herself.
“Oh shit, you weren’t kidding.” She stepped forward and let her hands run over the smooth, metal surface much like Juniper had when she first saw it. “Mist, come look at this.” The Katress immediately complied but only put her hands on her hips so she could observe instead of touch.
“Think it could be another outpost?” She asked with her head tilted to the side.
“Could be. Out here though? It’s far from the bigger facilities,” Lily replied while keeping her attention firmly on the door.
“I’m sorry…outpost? Facilities?” Now Juniper was really curious.
The question had Lily turning and indicating the door by bringing a hand up and hooking a thumb over her shoulder. “We’ve found places like this before. Secret facilities tucked away where people and Pals don’t often go. All were abandoned with hardly anything left inside. Most of them look like labs or something.”
So, there were other places like this? And these two had gotten inside? How!? “Laboratories? I don’t get the impression there is a lot of modern technology lying around these islands so that’s surprising.”
"You would be right.” Lily nodded in agreement and then turned back to stare at the wall. “People manage to get their hands on a few items. There is also a budding industry to be found with the help of Pals. However, a lot of that stuff is kept to the bigger islands far from here. Places even I haven’t been.”
Well, that wasn’t very encouraging. Of course, if people had access to that stuff, they probably wouldn’t stay stuck here, right? “You asked what I needed,” Juniper started before pointing at the door. “A crowbar would be a great place to start.”
Lily chuckled at the ask before turning and shaking her head. “You don’t need a crowbar for this, beautiful. You have to remember your Pals are just as good as tools in most circumstances. If not better. You just have to know how to use them.” She turned to Mist then and smiled sweetly. “If you would be so kind…”
Mist nodded and then stepped forward, taking Lily’s place. “As you wish.” Before Juniper could question what Lily was on about, the Katress brought up her hands and opened them wide in dramatic fashion. In response, the doors separated with a whine and creek that betrayed just how long they’d been shut.
“Whoa!” Juniper’s eyes nearly popped out of her head and she just stood there in shock for a few moments. More so that Mist had just opened the doors like some damn wizard. It was hard to tell what was inside, at least past the first room the sunlight flooded. What she could make out looked like a… living room? There was a single, wooden chair inside. A coffee table and a couch. Anything beyond that was bathed in darkness though.
They all silently peered inside until Lily clapped softly. "Oh yeah, now we're getting somewhere." She took a step in and reached into her pocket to pull out a flip-lighter. "Just need to be able to see better." With a clink, a small flame appeared and helped illuminate the shadows as she stepped deeper into the mysterious facility.
"Hey, wait for me!" Juniper didn't hesitate to follow, stepping through the doors but shifting her eyes to Mist as she did so. "Coming?"
The Katress shook her head. "No. I can feel the doors wanting to close so I’ll remain here to prevent that."
Interesting. A fail-safe safe then? She assumed these were normally operated with power so if it lost electricity, they closed tight? What was in here that was worth that kind of backup? "Thank you, we won't linger."
Mist only shrugged and then stepped to the side to lean against the rock. "It's fine, take your time. This isn’t difficult for me."
Juniper nodded and then hurried along to catch up to Lily, who had already moved into the next room.
"Kitchen," was all she said when Juniper arrived beside her, but that assessment may have been a little generous. Sure, there was a sink and a little half fridge. Oh, and a stove off to one corner. However, that was about it. More cabinets though, which was nice even if they all appeared open and empty. Of course, both women tried to use each appliance but nothing worked. No water ran from the faucet. The stove didn't heat. The fridge wasn't cold. Nothing.
"Well, fuck." Juniper sighed.
"Indeed. Come on, looks like two rooms branch off from here. Let's start with this side one."
“Sounds good.” Juniper followed Lily into the next room, which ended up being much smaller than the other two. On the wall farthest from the door sat a console of some kind. One that looked like it had been absolutely gutted on account of the exposed wires and smashed screens. Just like the little box in the shack. “Jeeze, what the hell happened here?” She asked as she stepped up to the broken machine. It looked like some kind of communication console if she had to guess. While not being an expert in that by any stretch, she had spent enough time on and around boats to be able to recognize some of the equipment.
“I don’t know but it sure looks like someone left in a hurry and didn’t want anyone else to be able to use what they left behind.”
Juniper was getting that impression as well and felt reassured once Lily spoke it aloud. She turned then and noted an odd-looking pole in one corner. Almost like something you might see in an old picture of a Tesla coil or something. “And then there is this…” She took a step closer and ran her hands over the dusty top.
“Oh, that?” Lily similarly turned and took a step closer. “That’s a generator of sorts. Well, it doesn’t generate electricity. Pals do and it collects the power.”
“Generate…electricity…” From the note in her tone, it was clear that Juniper was skeptical. However, at this point, she would be more surprised if there wasn’t a Pal that did just that. “Do you have one?”
“No, not for a long time. It’s just me and Mist now. There aren’t any around here to my knowledge either. You’d have to travel deeper into the island to find one.”
“Great.” Just great! Well, that was probably too much to ask for. It seemed that her luck would run out at finding a Pal that could open the door in the first place. “Well, one final room then.” Turning, she brought her hand up to indicate that Lily should go first with the light. Once she did, Juniper took another moment and then followed. Her entrance was preceded by a loud “wow” from Lily ahead of her, causing her mind to race with possibilities. What she found in the dim light when she stepped through may not have been a big deal in her previous life, but now Juniper’s mouth hung open in disbelief.
"A bed!"
"A big bed," Lily added.
True enough, it looked like it could comfortably fit her, her pals, and their guests should they choose to join. Well, if they all squeezed together. Which they no doubt would be. It was also flanked on either side by a pair of end tables. Like everything else, the blankets atop it were thrown into disarray and one of the pillows even sat on the smooth, stone floor.
A moment later, the room was plunged into darkness and Juniper felt Lily press up into her back. "Know any good ways to break in a bed like that?" Her voice was low and played across one of Juniper's ears, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. She chuckled for a moment and then turned her head enough to feel Lily's nose press lightly into her cheek.
"Wash the sheets..." She kept her voice equally as low and was rewarded with a soft giggle in the darkness.
"Very wise."
A light kiss on her cheek followed Lily's words and then the small flame appeared before them. "Who knows how long it's been since they had a good cleaning." She looked around then, searching for anything else in the room. "Or any of this stuff, for that matter."
"Yeah, this place will need some work to get up to snuff." Which Juniper absolutely intended to do.
After nodding her agreement, Lily gestured for her to follow and then started moving to the door. "Come on, I can't afford to use all this fuel up. Let's get back outside and tell the others."
"Let's." After the two made it back outside, Mist let the doors slam shut behind them with a loud thwack. All three turned to look at it before Juniper and Lily focused on Katress. "Pardon me," she offered with a shrug.
The noise caused a curious Aurora to pop her head around the corner of the shack not even 30 seconds later. When Juniper spotted her, she waved her over.
"Oh! Did you get in?" The Lamball's eyes went to the closed door and her head tilted in curiosity.
"We did and we found some interesting things. Most of it doesn't work though and it’s been cleared out like the shack." Juniper sighed in frustration but at least the bed didn’t require any power to work!
Aurora nodded but kept her eyes on the shiny, metal surface. "I see, but how will we get in?"
This prompted Juniper to look back before she bit her lip. "That's actually a good question. We won't always have Mist around to open it for us." The force of the doors coming together all but confirmed her theory about a failsafe. “If we could find the mechanism that keeps it closed, maybe we could disable it?” It would have to be a mechanical one, right? Something simple like a spring.
The Lamball only shrugged but Lily made a “huh” sound from beside her. “That gives me an idea, let me go get my bag. I carry around some basic tools.” She started to walk off towards the shack but snapped her fingers and turned back to point at Juniper. “Oh, can I borrow Vesta? Or bring her over here? Natural light source and all.”
“Sure, go for it.” Yes, Vesta was much better than a lighter! In so many ways
After Lily left to retrieve her things and Vesta, Juniper turned back to Mist. “Can you open that again, please?”
“Of course,” She nodded and then made the same motions with her hand, sending the doors flying apart.
“Wow!” Aurora’s eyes opened wide and she even clapped a few times at the display of Mist’s ability.
“It’s not that impressive…” The Katress muttered under her breath.
“No way, it totally is!”
Further praise had Mist averting her gaze, which only drew out a smirk from Juniper. Luckily for Mist, Aurora’s boundless curiosity quickly had her focus shifting to the murky interior.
"Is it big in there?” She asked before taking a step forward. Though she didn’t cross the threshold just yet.
“Decently, I suppose. Three rooms one after the other in a straight line. There is another, smaller one that branches off from the second too.” Compared to the shack it was practically a mansion! Okay, not exactly. Nothing worked, it was dusty and dark, and they couldn’t even reliably get in. If they solved that last one though, Juniper would move them all in a heartbeat. Mainly for that bed. She didn’t know if her back could take another night sleeping the way they had been. Besides, she just added another Pal to her team. Where the hell else was she going to fit them all? A moment later she spotted Lily, Vesta, and Flora all making their way their way over. Good, Flora must’ve been feeling better then.
“She wanted to see what we found.” Lily indicated the Glumos with a nod of her head before dipping into the room. The Foxparks followed and, once she was inside, she grabbed her tail and brought it around to the front.
“Right here?” Vesta indicated the general area around the door and Lily nodded before dropping her bag and rifling through it.
"Yup. I just need as much light as I can get."
Vesta nodded and her expression changed to one that looked more focused. A few seconds later, a flame appeared to engulf the tip of the tail she held and a soft, orange glow illuminated the area around her. Including the door and the paneling to either side.
"Perfect, thanks, Vesta." The Foxparks nodded and smiled, apparently quite happy to be useful. With the extra light, Lily returned her attention to her bag and eventually pulled out a small, plastic case. Inside was a screwdriver that had a spot at the tip for swapping out various bits. Which all sat neatly aligned in the case as well. A very nice thing to have considering their circumstances.
"Wow, where did you find that?" Juniper couldn’t help but lean in and admire the nifty little toolset.
"Traded for it, actually. At a village on another island."
"Interesting..." Juniper really needed to get to one of these villages and meet others to see what they had. "These villages have a lot of stuff like this for trade?"
"A decent amount. Not as much as your local store but it beats combing the beach looking for crap that's washed ashore." As she spoke, Lily moved to the side of one door and began removing access panels. "Sometimes big stuff like a shipping container washes ashore. That's how we've gotten things like nice clothing in the past. Actual underwear most importantly."
"Something like that sounds very valuable. How are things like that given out?" Juniper followed her question by moving inside and sitting down next to Lily. Happy to help with anything she needed.
"Depends," Lily responded though she kept her eyes on the work in front of her. "Some communities distribute the goods, or the wealth made from trading them, evenly or fund things for the village. Others have a kind of 'finders, keepers' mentality. Outside of the more established groups, you have scavengers and even organized crime trying to get their hands on hauls like that. Lots of people, and Pals, end up fighting over it."
Juniper's face scrunched and she eventually shook it in displeasure. "That's a shame to hear. If there were ever a time people should be coming together. It's now."
"Yeah, you would think..."
Perhaps it was naive of her to think so but Juniper just couldn't help it. Either way, she didn't want to distract Lily with philosophical pining while she was working on something delicate. That was best done over a nice bottle of wine. Ugh, there was another thing she was going to miss!
"Hey, there is a pair of pliers in a pouch in my backpack. Can you get them out, please? They should be in a leather case about the size of a makeup bag."
Another thing Juniper would be going without for the foreseeable future. Not that she really minded. Working in and around water most of her life had long since done away with any regular use of the stuff. "Of course, one second." Juniper turned and pulled the pack closer before reaching inside. Part of her would’ve loved to go rummaging around to see what kinds of things Lily carried with her, but she refrained. After locating the aforementioned case, she pulled it free, opened it, and removed the pliers from the collection of small tools inside. Reaching over, she tapped Lily on the shoulder and placed the pliers in her hand once she made it available.
“Thank you. Now, let’s get this done…”
