NATHALIE EMMANUEL // have you seen ATHENA HOWARDS around the crash site? we’re trying to make sure they’re still alive after the crash! according to the manifesto, THEY/SHE ARE a THIRTY year old NONBINARY**. i hear they’re known being a/an MARINE PALEONTOLOGIST. ATHENA is also known to be PRECISE yet also CYNICAL at times. we have a couple questions for ATHENA when we find THEM, we heard something about a secret they might have? such as ACCIDENTALLY WRECKED A RARE FOSSIL JUST BEFORE HER VACATION, STILL CRIES ABOUT IT! (admin rey, 26, est, they/them)
THE PAST:
athena grew up in cambridge right down the street from the harvard museum of natural history. the museum that grabbed her attention as a young child prodigy and never quite let go of them, the busy streets of cambridge only served as a way to get to the museum as fast as possible which served their impatience.
after her classes, they would escape to the local universities where she would sit in on classes from a young age to sate their thirst for knowledge. they would make day trips every possible chance to woods hole, nantucket, and mystic to see the ocean.
recently she accepted a job at the california academy of sciences in san francisco as the department head of marine paleontology, meaning she needed to uproot her life to make the move thousands of miles away from the waters they knew. as a young department head, they knew they needed to make a positive impression asap while juggling the move.
their new apartment didn’t feel like home as of yet as their stuff was barely out of the shipping boxes, aside from clothing in the closet and books on a side table, the walls stayed bare. decorating would make it real.
THE PRESENT & SURVIVIAL SKILLS:
athenas new job at the california academy of sciences put athena name up for a work trip to sydney, Australia. the trip was supposed to foster connections with other museums worldwide and to create better programs for fossil discovery digs.
athena is used to the outdoors, their undergrad and grad school experiences were often spent all over the world from deserts to mountain ranges to doing digs underwater. they cannot cook to save their life but they can certainly make a shelter that's weatherproof due to protect their dig sites.
SOCIAL:
athena can be a little aloof and shy upon meeting people due to wanting to be a professional, after all, you didn't get to such a high position this young without making professional connections. this has all gone out the window on the island and 'thena is now struggling to connect to others. they're supporting others but floundering when it comes to asking for it themselves.
even when being aloof athena is kind but its the new england type of kind where she'll be a bit rude when talking while doing something unexpectedly nice for you.
athena has a small close support network due to their distrust and wanting to keep everything professional at work. she does have connections even with previous ex-partners as most of her breakups have been amicable (aside from that one breakup in undergrad that got way too messy and almost caused 'thena to drop out). they haven't really had any enemies or rivals and are not very close to their family any longer.
✏️ + a starter for @athena featuring ❝ whats that you've found? ❞
lula sighs, kicking at the sand beneath her feet, walking barefoot on the beach. ❝ whats that you've found? ❞ she asks, looking over at athena with brows furrowed. this was exhausting. she kept thinking about the hotel she'd been booked into and fantasizing about the massages she would have been having. she just wanted a little pampering. when she'd been dreaming of a mud mask, this was not what she'd envisioned.
looking up athena squinted into the sun in an attempt to see the other clearly, their hands movement stopped momentarily before kicking up again. the stick wasn't an actual shovel but it was helping when they weren't scoring the sand with their hands to get it out of the way.
''theres something under the sand, can you see that black bit peeking out?'' it was thick, black, and rubbery looking. almost like a cable oddly enough. athena knew they were far from both the lake facility and the abandoned outpost but the two had to get their electricity from more than just the solar panels seen on the outside of the buildings themselves. could this be an alternate source?
@athenahowards sent: “ I think we’ve established that “ca-caw” and “tookie-tookie” don’t work. ”
“ of course i doesn't work, have your hear how stupid it sounds? ” they knew they sounded rude, but they were tired, they'd been following these weird creatures for hours now and they still couldn't get close enough to know what the hell they were. at least, they knew they weren't predators, and that was a good discovery and a relief at the same time. “ for how long are we gonna keep trying? i'm ... getting tired. ”
athena let out a growl of frustration, ''okay and just what do you suggest we try?! look how cute it is!'' the things small little legs splayed out as it laid on its side looking content as can be... and why shouldn't it be content, it was fooling two full-grown humans just by ignoring them. if athena didn't want to get closer so badly she might've laughed.
they half wanted to tell the other that they were fine by themselves but knew the survivors all rarely did anything alone now. it was still something that chafed someone like athena who was used to being extremely solitary.
Myles looked around at the sunny surroundings to the beach, "Man, is it weird I look at that bright blue ocean and this sunny weather and just can't help but think a BBQ would be perfect right now?"
athena sighed while gently tracing their fingers through the fine and grains. ''no I get it... its hard to remember that this isn't some weird vacation camp experience when we have these random days of just relaxing.''
''though I will say... the idea of BBQ and BBQ seasonings... sounds absolutely mouthwatering right now. that and a cold beer.''
their eyebrows raised at athena’s answer, and immediately considered everything they would need to make that juice a reality. that was an amazing idea and noah’s mouth watered at the thought. “ mate, that’s awesome, i haven’t thought about that, everyone is so desperate to feel heaviness in their stomachs i totally forgot about juices. ” they got excited in a heartbeat, especially because the berries a mile away from their current spot were brilliant and colorful, which meant they were at their finest ripe point. and juices meant a shot of vitamin and fiber more than one person in their group would be grateful for. “ then, please follow me ” they asked with a smile, passing by athena’s side in the direction of their infamous berries bush. “ it’s this way, and be careful, please, there are bushes with some bizarre kind of thorns? i don’t know mate this island has quite the weird amount of things. ” the comment came with a funny scrunch of their nose, they’d been freaked out at first, especially when they pinched one of their hands with said thorns, but since nothing happened, they started to calm down. it was weird, nonetheless, and they still felt a little bit wary about it.
athena saw the others smile and already wanted to cheer about a successful mission, it as criminal how little it took to get them excited at this point but here they were! excited about hunting down berries with noah. humming, they replied, ''yes well food is all well and great, would be better with some seasoning, but its been months! why can't we figure out some type of juice? we found the coconuts and can even use those to help sweeten them a bit...''
watching the other practically prance away in their excitement, athena giggled before forcing it down out of habit and fear of it being a strange sound. especially on such an island filled with tragedies. ''dont worry, I'm following, I'm following!'' quickly catching up to the other and swatting a big out of the air, ''shall I call you leader or will the name noah still suffice?''
"So," Lillian let out a multiple sigh, "Do you think anyone is keeping track anymore of how long we've been here? I tried at the beginning, but I can no longer tell if it's been weeks, months, or how long," She put her head in her hands before looking back up, "Just definitely not days, it's felt like forever."
''my sense of time was crap before this whole thing started due to being in labs or researching most of the time, I can safely say though we have been here at LEAST a week.'' they answered with a small grin just for amusing themselves while knowing all too well they'd been here far too long. long enough to realize this island was most certainly not normal. it wasn't funny but they needed the humor to cope.
noah was determined, they were gonna do this. whatever shit was behind those bushes they were gonna fight it, no matter what. they weren’t the type to chicken out just because of the faint sound of broken branches and stupid, terrifying grunts. but athena seemed to have a very different idea, and as it had been stated before, noah had always had a terribly hard time saying no to whatever pretty people wanted. “ okay, okay! ” they whispered through greeted teeth, allowing themself to be dragged away from the place. when they were at —what noah thought— was a safe distance, they swiftly grabbed athena’s hand to start running in the opposite direction.
the pale things' claws tore into the meat of the tree like the wood was tissue, the bark popping like punctured skin. chills erupted down their spine as they grasped noahs hand just a bit tighter. their legs pumped into a cautious run as heavy footsteps lumbered after them.
''what the fuck is this place... ''
forget worrying about their rescue not happing, the damn island had things that she had never seen even in her studies of various animals throughout history. even the extinct sloths did NOT look like that --pale, white, and over twelve feet tall. it wasn't natural. they glanced at the other as athena ducked behind a large cliff hidden by roots. they knew they wouldn't be able to outpace something that the majority of the modern world thought was slow. especially since there was just no possible way that was a normal sloth. it couldn't be!
''noah, do we tell the others...'' the words fell out in a small whisper filled with fear.
"Right? Is it bad I'd consider selling my soul for a Chicken Quesadilla right now? heck I'd take a Big Mac too." they sighed, "Man just something filling and greasy, fuck the consequences."
"I know right. It's been a bloody nightmare," they complained, "I just miss easy meals, you know. My mum makes the best food I'd probably sell my soul for some of my mum's cooking right now." Autumn laughed, shaking her head slightly, "Look at me whinging."
athena nodded in agreement almost aggressively, ''I want something that isn't fish or wild boar for meat! I want junk food so bad I could cry... well that and seasoning.'' between eating the same shit on a different day and it being bland like a high school cafeteria, they were experiencing extreme food fatigue. the little rationed snacks found in the lake facility did little to turn it around for her.
chuckling she replied, ''I think we all deserve a good complaint at this point. or a good scream.''
Q1 - where are you from and where did you live prior to the crash? do you have an accent from one of those locations?
''I grew up in the cambridge area of boston but prior to getting on the flight I had lived in san francisco for a short time, I do have a boston accent but it isn't strong due to losing a lot of it when I was in college.''
Q2 - do they have any distinctive scars, tattoos, or marks?
''I have a small scar on my right wrist from the oven when I was a child. I also have the constellation of draco the dragon on my left thigh.''
Q3 - are you responsible for anyone other than yourself?
''not really? I have my coworkers and I think I saw another couple of people I recognized but only barely.''
Q4 - do you believe rescue is possible at this point? why or why not?
''no. I think at this point we're unlikely to get rescue unless someone is tech-savvy enough to be able to make a long-range radio or something. this island is weird but I think its our new home.''
Q5 - what did you dream about last night?
''dreamed about that fucking nightmare sloth I ran into with noah! what kind of fucked u island has a 12-foot sloth!''
Q6 - what is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you?
''...there is something deeply embarrassing about the first few days on the island and figuring out the bathroom situation. no, I will not elaborate.''
" that'd be fuckin' 'nanas. i hope not, though. i'd probably end up blowing us all up by leaning against it to take a nap. "
" maybe we'll find something helpful, like abandoned alien technology that cures disease or some shit. i dunno. you're a scientist, right? you make a guess. a real one, though. not my fantasy bs."
''with my luck, I'd accidentally nudge the damn thing while digging for those wild potatoes and then BOOM, island ruined!'' athena laughed awkwardly while trying to dig just a little slower as their own words got to them. ''alien tech would be amazing... bit scary since I don't think anyone would be able to read or figure out but fascinating to think about. I am but mostly for extinct shit in the ocean truthfully I wouldn't have a good guess. not unless you want me to guess a random dinosaur or extinct whale!''
