Telo briefly peered at Kaz when he mumbled something inaudible to him, before looking ahead again. It didn’t take long before he started to hear the sound of moving water. Nothing like a rushing river or big waterfall - it had to be a smaller stream of some sorts, going through the forest. But that was a good sign at least - liquid water.
Kaz took a deep breath, closing his eyes and then opening them, looking down at the stream. "Well. That's certainly better than nothing." He said after a moment, crouching and dipping his fingers in the water to feel the temperature. He was unsure he wanted to drink it, and he had forgotten to bring a container to test it in. So unless Telo had remembered, then they'd have to make another trip sometime to test it.
“You did bring something to put the water in… Right?” Telo walked up to the stream, just the tips of his boots barely making contact with the water. Telo didn’t - he’d left the majority of his supplies back at the pod, something he normally would not do, but he supposed he was just eager to explore.
"Uhm…no." Kaz replied. "I thought you would, seeing as how I'm the one that grabbed the Scanner." he cocke his head a little bit, splashing his figners in the water and flicking it lightly at Telo, then returning his attention back to the stream. There weren't any fish, or fish-like creatures, that he could see, so he didn't think it would provide food. But water was even more necessary than food, really.
“Nope. Really though you would’ve brought something…” Was that mild disappointment in his tone? “Besides, I grabbed my rifle. One of my first thoughts is defense, and I really, really don’t wanna get ambushed out here.” Telo closed his eyes, nodding to himself. He only opened them when the water droplets landed on his legs.
A light, cool breeze casts through the air, probably the first bit of wind that Telo’s felt since arriving on the moon.
"The scanner isn't picking up any lifeforms." Kaz replied, raising an eyebrow slightly. "So, I'm not really sure what you think we could be attacked by." privately, he knew that Telo could be right; there could be lifeforms here that the scanner just didn't see, but he didn't want to admit that. Besides, he had grabbed a gun too.
“There are certain things that can function as a disruptor to the scanner, preventing it from picking up that specific thing. Believe me, I would know.” Telo explained without looking at him. Instead, he focused his eyes at the sky. “So if there are any animals out that with a ‘disruptor’, we’re probably not picking any of them up.” He didn’t bother to go too into depth with his explanation. It didn’t seem like he was going to explain any further either.
Kaz raised an eyebrow a little, wondering what Telo meant, but not asking. "I see." he said simply. "I'm sure adjustments can be made, though. If you would care to explain how this so-called "disruptor" changes it?" he raised his eyebrows in a slightly challenging manner.
It was a moment before his question came. “What do you mean by changing it? The scanner’s signal or something?” Telo didn’t quite understand what he was asked, but he wasn’t going to directly say that he didn’t understand it.
"Ah– my apologies." he said, thinking to find a way to rephrase his words. "You said that the scanner cannot pick up animals with one of these…"disruptors", yes? Well, there must be a way to reprogram the scanner to pick them up. Do you know of a way to do that?" he studied Telo, hoping that the question made sense now. If it didn't, he wasn't sure how else to ask.
“Nope.” Came Telo’s short answer. To tell the truth, he really didn’t know - that sort of technology was never his specialty. In the past, he only used what he was given, with no questions asked. Though the Scanner did originally make its debut as a scanner to only track humans, not non-humans, so it was probably possible to program it to get past those disruptors. But Telo didn’t know.
He looks to his right, towards other trees.
"Hmm." was the only answer Kaz gave, turning his attention to the scanner and going into the settings to try and figure out if there was a way to try out his idea. The problem would be differentiating between trees and actual lifeforms…and that was running on the assumption that there was lifeforms here. He caught his lower lip between his teeth. He was no programmer, and so he prayed that this would be simple to figure out, and wouldn't require programming expertise.
Telo continued to look at the trees, only pausing when his eyes finally focused on some of the trees closest to him. Particularly, this one tree..
Telo wouldn’t call what showed up in his mind fear, but it definitely made him stiffen, seeing what almost looked to be a quill, or several quills piercing the reddish bark of the tree. Telo turned and slowly approached the tree which wasn’t far from their current position in order to get a closer look.
Kaz continued working at the scanner, a soft frown tugging at his lips as he did so. Telo had managed to get around on his blind side, so he didn't have peripheral awareness of the other man. He swallowed faintly, still tapping at the settings to try and figure out if he could change anything. Anything at all, really. He chewed at his lower lip for a moment.
As Telo approached the base of the tree, he could see a lot more clearly now, that the quills were slightly transparent in the light, with a golden-yellow tint to them. But that wasn’t the only thing he could see - almost burns, marking the tree instead. They weren’t burns like you’d see from lightning or a fire, though. No. These burns almost managed to tear their way through the entire tree, splashing to the other side and managing to scrape the surface.
While Telo was busy inspecting the tree, wondering what exactly had caused these strange markings, for a split second, something else would appear on the scanner. It would show up a bit further East. But it would almost immediately vanish.
Kaz sucked in a breath at the flash, looking up for a moment and then back down at the scanner. He stopped messing with the settings, wondering if they would pick anything else up. "Telo." he said. "The scanner…flashed. Something to the east. It's gone now, but…" he trailed off, unsure if he should be panicking or not.
Telo leaned in towards the tree, inspecting it even closer. From what he could see, there were no scorch marks, and it wasn’t like the entire tree was affected, either. He wondered what were the factors to have caused this sort of situation, and he was about to look around for more clues, until Kaz called out to him.
“Flashed? You mean as in something actually popped up on it?” He only briefly glanced over at the other man, but his main focus was this strange tree. There wasn’t any visible residue aside from the actual damage and the quills.
"Yeah. And then it disappeared again." He replied, tapping at the screen gently to try and get it to do something again. He didn't want to be caught by surprise. Then again, maybe it had just been a glitch? That was quite possible, he supposed. But they couldn't be too careful.
The blip that had shown up on the scanner briefly appeared once more, a bit further back than it was before, and for a bit longer. It then vanished again.
Telo raised a hand towards the quills before pausing. He took a step back and put on gloves that he kept on him, then moved back towards the tree again. It was something about those quills. They weren’t large, but they’d been flung at the tree with such force they’d been able to pierce the bark. Telo decided to take one or two as a sample.
“Probably just a bug or something,” Telo dismissed it.
"It just happened again!" Kaz exclaimed, frowning a little. Was it a glitch? Or was it something else? He had no idea, and honestly…he wasn't sure he wanted to find out, if it truly wasn't a glitch. He found himself hoping that they were alone on this planet, because if he knew anything, it was that alien life couldn't be a good thing. It never was in any of the stories he'd read or movies he had seen, and while he knew that those were sensationalized, the odds of alien life being peaceful was…slim.
“Listen- I’m sure it’s just a glitch or something. Fiddling with that sort of tech usually results in faults.” Even though Telo couldn’t help but glance across the stream, towards the other side. There was more ground foliage on that side, which meant more ways to obscure yourself. And that was where the signal came from..
“And anyways, have you seen this tree? It’s almost like something burnt or melted the bark…” Telo put the quills he’d collected in his pocket, but there were still some left in the tree. He moved back in closer to take a look. No burn marks - just damaged wood, and mysterious quills.
Kaz put the scanner back in his pocket, heading over to take a look. "Weird." He commented, cocking his head faintly. "I…have no idea what that's from." He ran his hands through his hair, frowning. He cocked his head again, trying to get a better look through his one good eye. "We can analyze it back at the pod, if you like."
“Sure. We can do that.” Telo responded.
He could’ve sworn that he had the feeling of someone or something watching him, but when he looked around, there was no one but Kaz. He decided to say nothing on it and dismiss the feeling as minor paranoia. It would all pass within a few days on this moon. At least, he hoped.
Kaz nodded. "Let's go, then." He checked the scanner, and headed in the direction of the pod, chewing on his lip. The blips, the quills…they couldn't be coincidences. Could they? They might…but if they weren't, and something or someone else lived on this moon…how would they react to the sudden appearance of a pair of humans?
Telo moved on. He couldn’t help but look at the other trees, to see if there were any oddities with them, but there didn’t seem to be. It was just that one, specific tree. Telo wondered what happened - and he also questioned how long ago that ‘event’ happened. He worried how his first night on the moon would be.
Kaz kept walking, still a little anxious. Maybe it was nothing…but if it wasn't? If it wasn't, what then? What could he and Telo do, if it wasn't nothing? He swallowed as they entered the clearing with te pod.
Nothing had changed since they’d left. Telo decided to make one of his objectives first and foremost; enter the pod and collect his backpack where he kept most of his stuff that he needed on him. He also took out the two golden tinted quills, and carefully set them on one of the desks in the pod. Part of him almost wanted to imagine what sort of creature these quills belonged to - the other part of him didn’t.
Kaz headed into the pod, flicking a few switches and changing settings around so that the pod would charge via the solar panels embedded in it. That way, it could stay charged and, in turn, charge everything else. He set the scanner down, stretching and then moving to survey everything they had brought. He hoped it was enough.
“I’ve got the jar now, I’ll go and get a sample of the water.” Telo turned, almost immediately deciding to head back. He wouldn’t be long, anyways. The distance between the pod and the stream wasn’t far. At least, to him. The way Telo sees it, is that if they split their tasks, maybe they can cover more ground. But he’s not so sure if the other man agrees with him. Either way, he’s going to get that water.
Kaz nodded a little. "Alright. You want to take a scanner with you? Just in case." he grabbed one of the spares, holding it up, ready to hand it over if Telo wanted it. He might not like the other man, but he knew that their chances of survival were better if they could at least cooperate.