Logs:The Explosion

The Explosion
FUCK.
RL Date: 2 April, 2015
Who: Rafevan
Involves: High Reaches Weyr
Type: Log
What: Happy birthday, Rafevan. You get an explosion! And you get an explosion! Everyone gets an explosion!!!
Where: High Reaches Weyr
When: Day 5, Month 6, Turn 37 (Interval 10)


Storyteller: Irianke/ST



It's not the first time Rafe has slipped away to some unfrequented part of the Weyr to work his own version of mad science. Sometimes you just need more freedom to experiment than the forge and workrooms will give you, what with other students underfoot to scoop your discovery and masters worrying about little things like 'workplace safety'. This string of caverns has proven an optimal testing ground so far: several rooms, thick walls, and--so far--no traffic. After a few days spent going back and forth, mixing chemicals and preparing charges, he's nearly finished for the time being. The sensitive explosive he's manufactured is handled with extreme care, safe from any kind of shock throughout the process. The charge is very carefully laid out in one of the cavern rooms, a cord for detonation strung down through the hallway to a reasonable distance: when it comes to his own safety, Rafe apparently knows what he's doing. No traffic turns into minimal traffic, a pair of male voices heard up the hallway and then the higher pitch of a female voice. The words themselves are indistinct, muffled for the distance but every so often one word stands out. "Seafood... Storage... Cold cellars. Room?" Are those voices getting closer? Wait, pause. Are they? No... they come by turning one corner and then go a different direction. The voices are enough to pause Rafe, though, pulling him up short before he can actually get to the true test of his product. He straightens up, tracking the voices with a few steps in that direction to make sure they're not coming closer. They're not. He's good. Even so, Rafevan gives it a few more minutes to steel up his nerves. Deep breath. "Here's for a new turn and finally journeyman," he tells himself: half pep talk, half commemoration of the day. And then, it's time to light the cord. "Have you seen Rafe?" Cause that's not coincidental at all? The voice echoes down empty hallways. "I thought I saw him go to the stables earlier," says another one, drawing the original back up. "I swear I saw him head this direction after lunch. I hate having to do his boring paperwork. How does he get away with that kind of shit?" "Almost a journeyman is why. Just cause he's a few years senior." Grumble grumble. The lit cord splutters and fizzles out before it gets far. Damn. Rafe, focused entirely on his own experiments, doesn't really seem to register at first just who those voices are gossiping about. He's staring hard at the fizzling cord. When he moves to go closer, about to relight it, though, he catches the conversation and pauses, mouth pulling into a frown. Rafevan's head tilts to listen, taking in the conversation with an increasingly stubborn expression on his face. "Fuck you both," he says aloud to the empty hallway in front of him. And then he relights his cord. It's just before dinner time. Not far off, people are streaming like lemmings towards the living cavern for food, drink, and the company of people they may or may not like. But here, in this cavern of Rafe's there's seeming quiet. The lit cord flickers. Once. Twice. Then flares to life and dances down the length in an expedient fashion. Faster than Rafe might have expected. Faster than it should've. Happy turnday to you, Rafevan! What's supposed to happen? Versus what actually does? Will anyone know? Because what happens is the fire reaches the charges and for the longest second in Rafe's life nothing happens. Then... the sound is not quite as impressive as what happens. Isn't that always the case? The louder the noise, the less impressive the damage So it stands to reason, a quieter explosion starts a chain reaction of spiderweb cracks along the wall of the cave, traveling up quickly to the ceiling and spreading with a speed reminiscent of that dancing fire. Then, silence. When he's sure the cord is well and truly lit, Rafe ducks back a few steps out of the way, hunching down, covering his ears. He's prepared for the big boom and shockwave that follows, only... it doesn't. That instant of quiet has him straightening up, dropping his hands in favor of staring at the cavern he's charged with explosives. Nothing's happening? Against his wiser instincts, he steps forward, walking toward the blast, when the sound of cracking stone reaches his ears. At once, Rafevan looks up, eyes widening as he sees the spiderweb of cracks running over the roof of the cavern now. It sounds like rodents skittering all over the ceiling. Then a stone falls, disintegrating before it hits the ground. And then another. More silence. The spiderwebs seem to have stopped, having, hopefully, hit some structural beam. The shower of rock dust also seems to have.... but wait, no. A larger pebble falls, followed by a rain of them all over the room, including the area the rest of Rafevan's experiment supplies were, at the time, safely ensconced. Shit. Rafe lifts one arm to cover his head against the dust falling on him, dark blond hair left ashy in return. But it stops. He relaxes, takes a deep breath. And then, in the silence, he hears the sound of more rocks collapsing nearby, and his head swivels to look that way. The chemicals--. "FUCK." His face has gone white now, and this time, he just scrambles back with the urgency of someone who knows this is about to go very very poorly indeed. Oh, Rafe. Happy Turnday indeed. The pebbles, some large some small, do exactly what his fuck fears it might. This explosion is far more noteworthy, rattling the base of the Weyr and bringing with it, people. Eventually.

Comments

Azaylia (01:22, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" - Marvin Martian

...Oh, there it is! Geez, Rafe. Happy Turnday indeed! This was a... *lowers sunglasses* ...blast to read. YEAH~

Alida (01:25, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawHawHawhaw!

Edyis (01:33, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

Well. That explains a few things.

Laine (02:40, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

Innocent until proven guilty! Innocent until proven guilty!

Faryn (10:47, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

More like innocent til we read the log. DAMMIT RAFE.

Sky (17:42, 3 April 2015 (EDT)) said...

And here you had Sky thinking you were an innocent victim in all of this!