Coralian shrugs, indicating she has no objections to this plan.

Dr. Lewis gives a shaky smile as introductions are exchanged all around, and gives the hadro mamma one final pat.  Its leg slash has been given a tough bandage that will encourage healing in a short time before pealing off naturally and biodegrading.  "Right, of course, if anyone else's dino is hurt let me take a look at them!  Ajax, you big boy, let's get those plates back together.  Then I can look at Tarla and... Tap and Blue, right?" she says, taking a few steadying breaths before digging into her pack for salves and bio-bandages.

OOC: Reminder to anyone that if you yourself use a recovery action, your dino companion gains one health back.

In regards to a time anomaly nearby, Rebekah tilts her head, as if listening to something, and looks at Hemon.  "Didn't we see one off a bit more north?  We had to steer the hadros around that sandy slope, so we didn't get to check it out, but if we come at it from the south, we won't have to worry about the slope.  It wasn't more than half a mile away at best."

In talking about working together, Rebekah gives a nod.

"Fair enough.  We were headed off to grazing land west a bit, maybe a day to get there.  Once we get the hadros in their protected paddock, we're a bit more free to figure out what's going on here. I'm very curious as to who decided to ambush this trail," she says.  "Anyone better at machines than me?  I was considering seeing where this one goes if I tell it to 'go home'."

Kerensa's skill is quite apparent as she cleans wounds and applies bandages.  Within a half hour, all of the dinos are tended, and looking far better for the attention.

OOC: All wounded dinos regain 2 Health.

Coralian expresses her gratitude to Dr. Lewis for the work on Ajax.  She then turns to Rebekah and Hemon.  "If the time anomaly is only half a mile or so to the north, I'd like to visit that first, if it's still there.  After that, I'm fine with helping to escort your hadros to your paddock before continuing."

Turning to Dr. Lewis, she asks, "Might you be able to do any research at their paddock?"

When Kerensa attends to Tap, Hemon smiles gently to the woman. "Thanks for your help Doctor. Tap appreciates it as well." The man looks at his companion and pets it on the head. He also removes the clothing from his Nerezza and looks at the small creature. "You really need a name." he says mostly to himself before hearing Rebekah speaking about the anomaly.

"Yeah. I spotted an anomaly while flying on Tap. Pretty close from where we are now." Then turning to Coralian, he adds. "I'm not sure about the hadros. We have a bit more away from here that we left unattended while running after this mama. I don't feel like going to that anomaly without securing the hadrosaurs first after what happened." He stopped a moment to look at Rebekah to gauge her reaction. "But I won't force you to help us in this task if you wish to go and visit the anomaly. What do you think Rebekah?"

"Well, is it on the way or out of the way?"
Roam went over to the baby Hadrosaur and made sure it was acceptable to the others.  He reached out to hold it and pet it.  Activating the secrets stored in his DNA, his hands gathered a bit of a white light as he stroked the animal.  The light faded quickly but after a moment he moved away from it.
Before Roam was able to move back to his equipment and Tarla, the little Hadro had already gained an inch or two.  It will continue growing now, until it reaches full height.  It should take 24 hours or less."

"If the anomaly is close,  I'd like to do that first.  I can get there myself and come back, if you'll wait.  I'm hoping there aren't multiple packs of remote-directed raptors trying to hunt you.  Or us.  If you'll be patient, we can likely accomplish both, and I'd be happy to help you get the hadros to a safe space after I've fully recovered from that battle."

"I can certain look around the paddock and see what's there.  If there's nothing, well that just means we eliminated one area.  And if there's something, then I get to test some of my work early," Dr. Lewis says cheerfully.  "Ooo, and a time anomaly!  I've only had a chance to see a few!"

The jaunt up to the area where the time anomaly doesn't take very long, not much more than an hour, and that's only because of the limping hadro and somewhat overgrown nature of the trail.  The shimmering, bubble-like aspect of the time anomaly is visible against the lush foliage of the jungle, with a few specks of color on the forest floor within that likely mark the position of a remnant or three.

OOC: Who's diving into the anomaly?  Anyone time-tapping for information?  And how many cyphers are those entering in need of?

Studying the raptor and its augmentation long the way, the group can put their head together and learn the following:

The augmentation seems to be used for more direct control of the raptor, or for implementing a set of implanted commands ("attack all in this area" "threaten those on the trail" "guard this person") without the need for extended training.  SATI used controllers like these in the early Commuter days (Rebekah will recognize it as a variation on a design she had seen when she was younger) when it was more important to get the dinos to work with you right away than building a relationship with a companion animal.  The raptors have had slightly augmentation for increased claw length, eye improvements (for infravision and allowing for scan captures of its surroundings), and rapid chromatophore reflexes for camouflage.  These kinds of raptors would be used for remote guarding, likely by someone who was in a hurry to protect something and could not take the time to build physical deterrents like walls or coded doors.

"I think we can go to both place together. Indeed..." Hemon stops talking and looks around. He then gathers a wooden stick and starts drawing a map on the ground. "We are here. And there, it's the place of the anomaly." Saying that, he draws a point to the North of their current position. And a bit to the West, he draws a third mark. "And the paddocks are here. It's a bit out of the way but it wouldn't take long to go there first."

He looks at the others and give them time to consider the crude map. "Maybe we can split in two teams? A small group can go and scout the anomaly's surroundings while the rest of us take a detour to the paddocks before going to the anomaly. What do you think?"

To Hemon, Coralian says,"Perhaps we should all stick together.  If there are more guardian dinos around, we are safer as a single group.

"If the paddock isn't too far out of the way, and all of us are mobile, let's head to the anomaly first. The paddock will always be there, but the anomaly could vanish at any moment."

OOC: Coralian will just dive right into the anomaly, and needs 2 cyphers, please.

Roam agrees, being familiar with the temporary nature of the anomalies.  He will make sure that there is no interference when Coralian dives in.  After she is out and with Ajax, Roam will step in <redd>“Back in a sec.”</red>

OOC: Roam is down 1 cypher

Roam, Coralian, Kerensa (excitedly), and reluctantly, Rebekah (after seeing the others come out all right), step into the time anomaly to have cyphers coded into their DNA.



In addition, some remnants are found. Roam finds a small clear rubber ball with an odd, crude little yellow plastic mammal of some sort embedded into it, some vaguely rodent-like thing with red cheeks with a zig-zag tail. Coralian finds a string of metallic plastic green beads with a vaguely insect-like claws creature made of the same material as a pendent. And Kerensa finds a ceramic flower-like thing, with tightly-furled red petals, the whole thing limned in gold paint.

Coralian holds up her string of beads with a curious expression.  "If nothing else, I can trade it.  Maybe my sister will want it for a festival outfit."  She stuffs the trinket into her pack and turns to the others.  "To your paddock now for the hadros?"

Hemon waits while the others enter the anomaly. Then, when Coralian suggests they can go to the paddock now, he smiles. "Sure. If you are all good, then we can go. The faster we put the hadro in their paddock, the better."

After collecting remnants and cyphers, the newly-formed group can head back off to the paddock where the hadros are supposed to be.  Rebekah spends a little time working with the raptor under her control, but can't get much more out of its implant than she already had.  Kerensa's expertise lies along genetics and biology rather than robotics or mechanical implants, so she can't say much about the implant, but can say a thing or three about the raptor itself.

"She's healthy, less than two years old, and other than that gene splicing Rebekah saw earlier, I don't see anything odd.  Claws look reinforced, though," Dr. Lewis says.

The trek to the paddock is quiet for the few hours it takes to get there, but finally they find the boundary markers: ward-off generators powered with solar crystals, keyed to the hadros implants.  Chivied across the boundaries, the hadros give happy honks as they sink into the marshy land and begin to graze.  Hemon and Rebekah can make a circuit of the boundaries, just to be certain all is well.

Unfortunately, not everything is.  The northernmost boundary marker has been swapped out with a different model... one with similarities to the raptor implant!

"How would you like to proceed, Dr. Lewis?  My job is to guide you and try to keep you alive.  If you think we can spare the time here to investigate this or if your research might apply, I'm content to help these people."  She pats Ajax gently on the spot where the raptors wounded him earlier, a reminder that their group may not have survived that encounter without the hadro herders' help.

Kerensa had been absorbed in taking notes on the hadrosaur habitat, the raptor, the fencing, and a few other things besides (including copious notes on the time anomaly they had encountered), and jumps a little at Coralian's suggestion.  "Oh!  Um... we can spare a little bit of time to see what's going on, right?  If there are dinos attacking people on the roads, shouldn't we know who they are before we go more north?"

As they reach the paddock and leave the Hadrosaurs in safety, Hemon takes the time to thanks the new people. "Thanks a lot for your help. I will pay you all a drink or two if we meet in town."

Once he has done his patrol around the fences with Rebekah, he comes back and explains his finding. He is happy to see that the newcomers are offering their help once more. "Oh, thanks for helping us sort this problem. I wonder who could have an interest in doing such changes."

OOC: sorry for that really big delay in my answer. I had my head elsewhere. :(

Roam was happy to hear Hemon thanking them.
Really it was nothing.  The good doctor was the one that was helping.  Everything else was those damn raptors.  Speaking of, Coralian or anyone else interested in seeing if we can track those bastards and see who was controlling them?  I'm not particularly happy with the idea of someone sending their sharp clawed pets to scratch our eyes out.
Roam was toying with his transaluminal knife.  It was obviously a mindless habit and for comfort.  Tarla placed her chin on his shoulder and chirped at him.

Coralian nodded. "Sounds sensible to me.  We have to pass this way out and back.  I'd rather neutralize a threat like that before we go any further, if that's possible.  If not, then we know to alter our plans."

Decided to neutralize any immanent threat before proceeding, the group can cast around for any tracks.  Roam picks up a set of velociraptor tracks as well as those of at least two booted humans.  Taking point, he follows them carefully northward, with the wilderness-experienced Coralian and Hemon flanking, looking for danger.  Dr. Lewis and Rebekah take the middle and watch the rear for anything sneaking up behind them.  All seems well for a couple of hours, until the tracks take a turn to the west.  The path here gets into areas of thicker undergrowth, which makes tracking more difficult, but by late afternoon there is a sight of something odd ahead.

The trees clear slightly, and as Roam gestures for everyone to stop, through the foliage you can see a clearing, and within it a pre-fab metallic structure, the kind commonly used before the Last Commute, now grown over with thick vines and trees.  The structure looks to be some twenty feet high and forty across, in an oblong, dome-like shape. The door (large enough for a human or medium dinosaur), however, is free of debris and looks well-used.  The clearing is completely clear of any vegetation whatsoever for fifty feet all around, exposing bare earth that seems oddly clear of tracks.  There is a faint hum in the air reminiscent of some kind of generator or engine, though the exact source is difficult to pinpoint.

"Nice job getting us here, Roam.  Looks like we might benefit from checking out the entire perimeter, within the tree line, of course.  Sensors, traps, paths in or out ... those would be good to know about.  I'm ok to go clockwise, if that's ok?"

Coralian pats Ajax gently to keep him calm.  She doesn't want him getting anxious about some little bug when there are greater dangers about.  When he was younger, he got so fixated on a chirping frog that he didn't notice a young T. rex until Coralian started shouting.