forum Halp- boredom sucks- (Open OxO)

Started April 13, 2023 by @lord-of-the-carnival group

tune

Dustin nods, pushing off the wall, smiling at her.

Renat smiles back and leads Dustin over to the shaft that would lead them back up to the surface.

"I'll send you up. Stay safe, alright? Come back as soon as you can. I miss having someone to talk to."

Dustin nods, smiling slightly, sliding his hands into his pockets, “I will, Ren.”

Renata goes for a hug, but decides against it, instead just sending Dustin up the shaft with a movement like she was deadlifting something quite heavy.

She stands there for a moment longer before collapsing onto the couch, face down.

It would be a while before Dust got time, she figured, so she consigned herself to just the usual bored shenanigans.

Dustin closes his eyes, silent and steps outside sighing heavily. He looks up at the sky, debating for a moment before going off at a jog.

(entirely up to you- some ideas may be a bill about allowing more deforestation or preventing the homeless from finding shelter anywhere)

A couple weeks go by before she hears from Dustin again.

She'd been keeping tabs on any new projects herself, but Dustin's help would reduce the work she herself had to do, allowing her to focus more energy on her self-assigned projects.

One of her proximity alarms trips and she goes to the back to check the cameras, finding Dust standing near the hidden entrance to her house. She jogs over to the shaft - forgetting that she was in very short shorts and a loose t-shirt and nothing else - and lowering the platform of earth so Dust could get in.

Dustin enters Ren’s place, humming softly. He blinks when he sees her and then laughs softly, “I brought news.” He offers her a folder, “Some new bills and plans they’re trying to pass. Something about a new mall that would encroach on the national park on the edge of the city. And something about getting rid of most of the homeless shelters due to ‘lack of funding’.”

Renata skims through them then pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I hate this state and this country. . ." she mutters, tossing the folder on an end table and flopping onto one of the couches.

"So. . . April 23 and August 5 are the dates I need to have solutions by, huh? 2 months and 6 months, for the homeless shelter issue and then the mall." she thinks. "If I get started next week on the homeless shelter issue I can have that done in time to ruin the land they're planning to build on."

Dustin sighs, “Why don’t you just. . . Move the forest? Or, the one or two square miles they want to build on? Don’t work against them, just. . . Protect the forest. And make your own homeless shelters. Or buy the old ones. I know a guy who could help. . .”

"Move an entire forest? Do you realize the implications of that? The ammount of damage to the local ecosystem would be astounding, plus about a quarter of the national park would then be outside the land grant, rendering it vulnerable to cutting and that shit. The easiest way is rendering the area incapable of human habitation. If I don't do that, they'll just keep trying to build there." Renata explains quietly.

"As for your homeless shelter idea, that could work. I'd have to buy through a proxy, since I'm a wanted criminal, but it could work." she nods thoughtfully.

Dustin huffs, “They’re obviously trying to build a mall on the ‘protected’ land, so what the fuck is the point of it anymore?” He sighs, sitting in a chair, “I don’t know, it was an idea. But if you make it inhabitable for humans you’re making it inhabitable for anything. Humans have taken land that’s ‘inhabitable’ and made it habitable.”

"Then what about mountain goats, cougars, bears. . . wolves. Get out of the mindset of 'human,' jackass. There are so many things that can live where humans can't. Sharks and fish can live in the deep oceans, some species of snail can live in volcanoes. Both supposedly 'uninhabitable' places, right?" Renata replies bluntly. "What humans have done is they've taken land and made it habitable only for theirselves, rendering it inhospitable to many species of birds, canines, felines and insects. We've wiped out entire species of plants and animals just for the simple expansion of our fossil-fueled empire."

Dustin glares at her. “And what I’m saying is that humans have taken that land. That was considered inhabitable and made it habitable for themselves. Anything they see as a challenge, or ‘inhabitable’ they will try to overcome! “They’ve made palaces on the maintains, they’ve made submarines and containers to withstand water pressure! And if you fight them by trying to make it inhabitable, then how the fuck are you,” he pointa at her, “Better than them?” He makes an open gesture towards the capital.

"Humans have only ever though of how to better life for theirself! All we do is tear down everything around us to make things suit us! We have never thought of what the effects of that are on wildlife. And now that we are, it's too late! How can you possibly defend the shitty actions of our race as a whole, Dustin? How can you justify the eradication of the rhinoceri, the elephants, the wolves, the cougars, the eagles and parrots? The elimination of forests, of marshlands, mountains and rivers? How is all of that loss so worth the expansion of human betterment?!" Renata snaps.

“I am not! I’m asking you how the fuck you expect to make that damn forest inhabitable for humans with out destroying the whole thing in the fucking process!” He crosses his arms, “Humans can make anything habitable, they did it to fucking Mars..”

"I'm not going to fuck with the damn forest itself! I'm not fucking stupid. I'd be building up jagged rock mounds around the edge of the park. As for Mars, that's not my issue. That place is as dead as dead gets already." Renata growls.

Dustin sighs, “And what’s stopping them from around the rocks? From blowing them up?” He rubs his forehead.

Renata smirks. "A lot, as a matter of fact. Granite is pretty damn solid, and layer that with rebar and concrete, well. . . pretty hard to blow up. As for going around, it's a simple enough task to spike it up at the front edges and top, and having it encircle the land grant."

Dustin sighs, “Whatever you think is best. . .” He waves his hand slightly, closing his eyes and slumping back.

Renata sighs.

"You've been using your power lately, haven't you?"

He looks at her, “Not really. . . I’m just tired. . .”