Name: Selin Bulut
Age: 29
Gender & Pronouns: cis woman & she/her
Previous Occupation: Elementary School Teacher
Power/Ability:Â Enhanced Horticulture
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@selinswonderland
Name: Selin Bulut
Age: 29
Gender & Pronouns: cis woman & she/her
Previous Occupation: Elementary School Teacher
Power/Ability:Â Enhanced Horticulture
Skeleton | Biography | Stats | Musings | Playlist | Tasks | Timeskip Update
Selin's response genuinely surprised Zaid. He'd thought this whole surprise appearance today was meant to be a way to coax him back into the community, such as it was. Maybe - very gently, very Selin-style - get him to stop jaunting off into the woods, chasing windmills. Chasing shadows.
Instead, her reply was pragmatic, big-picture. An agreement that 'somebody's got to do it', and that somebody was Zaid, self-volunteered. And Zaid didn't realize how much he would appreciate hearing that from someone else, until this moment. "You're an odd little duck," he murmured. "But bloody well respectable duck, you are."
A small, appreciative laugh at Selin's disapproving outlook. "Rosey King is alright. I don't reckon she's got any love for FLOWR and that. She's even got her husband here, apparently. All these years surviving. That's all it is, innit. Some bloody wankers who think survival means beating others, not working together." In truth, Zaid didn't care either way. Or rather, he'd made a choice not to care. It was a selfish choice, very much so. It was Selin who was doing the hard labour in all this, not him. She still wanted the best from people and that was a difficult battle.
"I'll help you, any way I can," he decided. Not because he believed in her cause, but Zaid figured he could at least believe in Selin...Selin.... "Oi, what's your last name again?"
His good spirits came crashing into a middling swirl of desire and indignance, when he saw the half-finished mural, recognized that beautiful, complex style. Selin's words underscoring a loud, high buzz in his other ear, like a mechanized hornet. Or a kazoo that Inika loved singing into at 4:00am in the morning to wake them up for play.
Nag him. Creative process. He'll come back.
Zaid shook his head. "No....no. He won't come back." Zaid turned physically away from the mural, to stare directly at Selin. Doing so took a feat of strength, in his opinion. "He won't finish it."
Maybe.
Maybe? A crooked smile slid across Zaid's face.
"How about you and I finish it? Yeah. We might not be artistic geniuses like...like - like him of course, but. I've got a bit of talent, and I'm sure Miss Schoolteacher's got some elementary skills with paints and brushes, yeah? Working together and all that. Finish what...finish what he started. Yeah?" His tone a forced buoyant that didn't hide the desperate please in his gaze.
An odd little duck. But at least a respectable one. Coming from Zaid, that was some high praise. Their lifestyles and outlooks were so different, but at least the two of them could still find this common ground of appreciation for each other inspite of that. She gave him a wide smile and gently nudged him with her shoulder.
"Maybe you can be one of my little ducklings following me around. I do still miss my flock, but I'm happy to start trying to build a new one."
The offer of helping her in her pursuit of making this island more empathetic towards each other made her eyes widen in glee. Selin didn't know how much they could do to fix the lack of care people had for others, but even though Zaid didn't fully agree with her, he still had her back. But the follow up of his inquiry about needing a reminder of her last name felt both out of the blue but also on brand for Zaid. Throwing her for a loop, making her feel important enough to help her, but not important enough to remember her full name. Was it intentional or maybe a subconscious mind game he played to remind people not to get too attached.
"Bulut. Not that it's all that important to know. I don't expect you to be calling me by anything other than my first name. Unless you're trying to downgrade me from being on a first name basis with you, Mr. Shair."
The opening of the music room cut off any playfulness she was feeling, trying her best to navigate the situation properly. To her it felt like he must have been witnessing a betrayal. Not that Selin had stated outright whether or not she was choosing sides in this relationship, but after all of her attempts to keep Zaid's spirits up, working on this library and dragging him to witness it, only for her to have a room (partially) decorated by his ex? She wouldn't blame him for being unnerved by it.
"He mightâŠ" she answered softly to his definitive statement that Tej would not be returning to finish the mural. How did she know? Zaid probably knew Tej better than anyone. Selin had hoped that Lokni might have insight into whether Tej would come to finish what he started, or to help in other artistic endeavors, but she also felt like Lokni was as optimistic as she was, and wouldn't want to disappoint her with the truth if he wasn't.
"I assumed a commission for something he wasn't passion about would be more of a hindrance, so I told him he could do whatever he wanted. Thinking that would help more. But it's been a while since he came back to work on it." It was almost embarrassing, her optimism versus Zaid's realism, those seemed to always be at odds. But a little of his own optimism came out in a way, suggesting the two of them finish up the mural instead. "Really? Are you sure? It's not a big deal, really, and I'm sure you have more important things you'd rather be doing." She tried to wave off, not wanting to either inconvenience him or make him feel obligated to pick up where Tej left off.
"I don't even really know what he was going for with it, it might just be a weird looking mish-mash of nonsense."
Mr. Hook and Dr. Pan probably wiped everything they could in the bungalows and the surrounding areas of anything that would suggest concretely that other people used to live here, Rosey decided, so really, it made sense the small stuff was not here anymore by the time these people arrived.
She didn't think, however, that Selin would put the little comment together. She gave a warm smile. "Yes, it was. I lived here with my husband, Tiago, when we arrived here." Totally did not think somebody knew that somehow and when they saw that she arrived back here, spruced it up a bit before she realized it was turned into a whole different place. Nope, Rosey would never. "That was our bedroom with these really pretty floral bedsheet that somehow we always got full of sand, there were little charms hanging outside, there were a couple of chairs out where we watched the sunset while he played on his guitar. " As shitty of a place and experiment this turned out to be, she probably remembered too much of it. But those first few weeks of memories were actually great, and it was all spent with Tiago, how could she not remember them fondly?
Rosey gave a small nod. "I shall. And who knows, if those tapes are all fun movies to watch, maybe a later addition to this place could be a movie theater room." Was that a selfish hope? Without a doubt, she would have given probably a questionably lot of things to watch movies again, even if they were the shitty ones. And if by any chance some of them were hers... But she couldn't get her hopes up. Instead she smiled, "Thank you for the invite, I will definitely come back around."
Selin said they lost quite a few people, and Rosey couldn't help but wonder what happened to them, what they did to their dead. She couldn't remember seeing any memorials or graves for them, but she also didn't specifically go and look for them, either. The existence of the mass grave pit sort of overshadowed everything else in that regard. And it wasn't really something she wanted to ask about, either. The thing that Selin said after, however. "What do you mean you gained more people than you lost?"
"No, I haven't met them yet, but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later." Despite this damn situation - or maybe exactly because of it, she didn't know if these two people would be against her and Hana and want or even demand them to leave, or if they'd be okay with them staying. (Really, she could have been happy herself with Hana leaving just so she couldn't get close to the two assholes, but not this way, not where that feeds into what the assholes wanted. And this was yet another reason to hate them, really, they made her side with Hana on something.) "But that's good to know, that the IDs are in the medcenter. It is something I wanted to seek out. Maybe do something for those who passed." Something that she didn't actually think would be a focus of hers, and yet, she kept thinking about it.
It sounded like something of a sci-fi movie, really - but considering she looked now exactly like she did twenty years ago (putting aside two decades of living in the wild, of course), she really should not be surprised by anything now. "That's okay, you're probably right and just didn't disclose it. They've gotten better, with how to handle your experiment. This memory loss addition, how to keep things secluded, how not to have mass casualties right out of the gate. Even the fact that nobody running the experiment is actually around, it is all controlled remotely." It was terrifying, to see the upgrades, she didn't even want to start thinking about what kind of experiment they'd run in additional twenty years.
There was a moment where Rosey spoke about the memories of this bungalow and the time spent with her husband where Selin just stood there and listened, completely enamoured. She was the type of person that loved to listen to elderly couples talk about how they managed to stay married for forty, fifty, or sixty years and still not get tired of each other, and Rosey's reminiscing felt similar to that. How nice it must feel to have such fond memories even on a place like this about someone who you loved and cared for so deeply. But soon after it hit her, she had completely bulldozed over the place those memories formed with her project.
To Selin, this was just a house, left abandoned or went unclaimed, but to Rosey this was where she and her husband lived and got through the hard times together. "I'm so sorry." Ended up being Selin's response to Rosey's sweet recounting of what this building used to look like. "I wish I had knownâŠI wouldn't have set all this up here if I knew I'd be taking over a house with so many memories." She told her, holding her hands close to her chest, trying not to let herself get too filled with guilt. It wasn't like she could take this all down now. "Maybe I can help you set up a new bungalow? I'm sure you'll need somewhere to stay anyway rather than sleeping out on the beach. And we can find pretty bedsheets and some charms to hang out on the windowsâŠ"
Selin hoped that she could add more to this, it seemed like the project that would keep on going. Truly, she hoped that whatever videos were left behind by Mr. Hook was just some fun movies that all of them could have the opportunity to enjoy rather than something awful.
"Well...some people arrived later? A lot of us arrived all at once but...we also had a few people show up seemingly out of the blue after the fact too." She explained, shrugging preemptively to the follow up questions she assumed Rosey would have. "I have no idea how it worked. But some people died...some to their powers, we lost a few to the hornets. And then new people showed up later. Almost like...replacements? I don't know. And now you guys are here as well!"
"You'll probably have a better chance of seeing Lokni around more than Zaid if I'm honest." Selin started to explain, not intentionally trying to sound like a gossip or call out Zaid's recent hermit lifestyle. She just wanted an excuse to gush about Lokni to someone who hadn't met him yet. "He's a great guy, he's always somewhere, willing to help someone with anything. If you need something built or if you need help with hunting or fishing, or if you just want a soothing presence in all this craziness, Lokni's your guy." She went on, a wide, bright smile on her face as she did so. When Rosey mentioned doing something for those who had passed though, her smile got softer, appreciative, and maybe even a little surprised by her consideration given her celebrity status.
"That sounds like a great idea. You know, actually there's this sort of central area we have, we call it The Hub. It has a stone wall around it that actually has names carved into it andâŠI never actually checked it out fully but I wonder if the names match up with the names of the others in your experiment. Maybe you could do something for them there?" A much nicer memorial than what was forced to be dug up behind the medcenter. "They've been working on this for a long time I guess." Selin muttered, lips pursed together as Rosey brought up the differences between their groups. "I guess they needed to make sure this was more successful. Can't say it was a full success, we still lost people, justâŠnot on the same scale. And their reasonings for trying to separate us from you guys? What difference does it make? Did you and your group find anything while you were out in the woods? Any other kind of civilization or clues orâŠI don't know, something that would make them wary of us comingling?"
Adarsh did realise that he could, if he wanted to, just walk off now. He'd done his job, people had been pushed aside, the food was secure, or well... on the floor. And he'd been able to show himself from his best side. He felt pretty good about himself, and so he stayed.
At the compliment - because it was clearly a compliment - he turned to her, a grin on his face. He decided to ignore the feeling of betrayal, especially now his help had been appreciated. "Well, I would've probably made things worse if you hadn't been here to be the voice of reason," he said. He did mean it as a joke, but he also genuinely thought he would've somehow made things explode. He would've probably punched someone. That was very likely. Mister Entitled would've been top candidate.
"So thank you, for having my back, and being more sane than that bunch."
"You didn't sing a clean up song?" he asked, surprised that he had the thought, and that he cared to ask it. Despite having some of his memories back, he hadn't shared them with most people. He wondered if he'd gotten his daughters to clean up with a song.
He hummed, then started helping her. It would look terrible if he walked away now. And also it wouldn't be nice to Selin to make her do all the heavy lifting. He put as much into his arms as he could carry. "Maybe we should put a lock on this door. Or put someone on guard."
Even though Selin didn't expect that Adarsh would stay, it was nice to see him stick around. Maybe she wasn't his first choice of company, but he looked to be putting her lying to him behind them (or, at the very least he chose to ignore it.) "It sounds like we make a good team then. The voice of reason and the muscle." She had to admit, having someone like Adarsh back you up was helpful, like having a guard dog defending you.
His comment about singing a cleanup song made her snort. "Yeah. I know I give off Disney Princess vibes, but I don't really break out into song while I clean." At least not with anyone around. If she was at home alone with her earbuds in. she would easily start Singing while she cleaned, but right now, in front of Adarsh? No way.
"I might want to talk to someone before going that far. Gaurding it might be the best option for now, but we can't guarantee it will be protected 24/7. We might just have to set up a group meeting ASAP." That couldn't be that difficult, everyone must be concerned about how to proceed with this new development.
Right now though, Selin was also concerned about the lingering awkwardness and possible animosity in the air. Did she go and ruin the moment of peace they were having by speaking up? Or should she leave it alone? Holding it in didn't end well for her last time, so it would be best to address it...right?
"Look...it probably doesn't mean anything, but I do really want to say I'm sorry again. I know my silence on what I knew wasn't helpful but I promise I wasn't trying to make things worse. I really thought saying less was the better option."
"The principle of the matter!" Alex repeated, latching on to her phrasing. "Or at least the vice-principal of the matter if we don't wanna make it sound too serious a crime." He did a badum-pum-ching motion and sound effect, then laughed. "Sorry. Bad habit I have, making jokes related to somebody's career. The ol' tv show host instincts die hard, y'know?"
He did pay close attention, though, to where Selin drew her lines to define what was allowable and what was plain unfair bad manners; Alex couldn't say he would've expected any different from her. Teaching kids, after all, would necessarily involve giving them a sense of morals and fair play, wherever possible.
Selin's stance on dust covers wasn't out of character, her solid logical points made sense, but all the same Alex shrugged.
"They're sometimes nice but most of the time they're way uglier than the real cover. I just feel like ... if you're so scared of getting the much more beautiful, thoughtfully designed cover wrecked that you go through life with the cheapo dust jacket on -- even if it's a convenient bookmark -- then you're missing out on part of what the entire book experience was intended to be, y'know?"
Selin did smile and chuckle at Alex's quip, but she was still stuck on her annoyance of the matter at hand. "But I do think it's serious, even if it doesn't feel like it should be." Maybe Alex was better at brushing things off, not letting things get to him. It was admirable, but Sellin worried about how things would escalate if people like him remained compliant to others bad behaviour.
"I wish there was some way I could help make this right..." She sighed, pausing for a moment, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the book in front for her to make her brain work. "Do you know who did it? I could go talk to them maybe? See if I can get them to return it to you?" Even as she said it, it felt like a long not, but her tone was filled with genuine hope she could convince the thieves to give back their loot.
"Or at the very least they could share. That isn't such a difficult concept to grasp. My second graders understand sharing just fine."
"If I'm honest, love, I've never really...been a curious sort. Back in - erm, back before - " How did one word it? Back in the real world? Back in our old lives? " - I'd always just sort of accepted the way things were, yeah? Worked with it, but hardly questioned it. It was Tej who - erm." Zaid cut himself off, knowing Selin would both see where the sentence was supposed to go, but also why he stopped. He just muttered under his breath a small 'fuck' and then carried on. "Anyway, so, no. Haven't got a clue what to make of what I see on them screens, don't understand what's real and what's another trick. I suppose that's why I just go into the woods and find out. What's the worst that could happen, right."
He gave her a bleak smile, and a half-shrug. The announcement ended, and Zaid added, "These people - the FLOWR company or whatever - they're sadists. Always tricking us. Them camera feeds might just be another trick."
Maybe that was a theory, in and of itself; but to Zaid, it just sounded like his usual brand of paranoia.
Selin found little humour in Zaid's Austen quip, instead sticking to her stern admonishment of people's selfishness, offering up empathy as the compromise. "Well, okay. So what do you suggest, Miss Conviction? Can't just tell people to go find some empathy, no one will listen." Or care. People just didn't care...
...except Selin did. Selin had the capacity to care, and Zaid wanted her to. He would even encourage her, so he could feed off her like some kind of emotional vampire.
Sheepishly, Zaid folded his arms right across his chest, but stood straighter when Selin presented her work. A lot of her effort and time had gone into this; Zaid had slowly abandoned the work once the shelving and majority of books were in here, all still in crates and boxes. Now it was all unpacked, clean and organized. Zaid walked slowly around, as Selin described each sections. "You had a vision and you made it real, darling. That's brill," he murmured. Not everyone could do that, not everyone could finish what they started.
Especially on this island, and especially after learning the truth about their contracts.
Case in point, as Zaid turned into the music room, and stared at the half-done mural on the wall. Not everyone could finish what they started.
"Is he coming back to finish this?" Zaid called out to ask Selin, his voice sounding more high and strangled than he intended. He'd wanted to sound calm and authoritative, but apparently his throat and tight chest had other ideas.
Selin could understand the complacency of not wanting or needing to question anything. Even though she was the type to embrace curiosity, that was for kids who were still learning how to understand things. For her, things were the way they were because of the systems put in place that the people in charge won't change unless it benefits them more. There was no need for being curious. But here, it was impossible to not ask questions every time they were faced with a new challenge. "Well, given how we have no idea what's out there, I guess there's a lot of worsts that can happen. But I think it's good to look and be sure. You can't know the truth without seeing it with your own eyes."
Maybe it was a sense of justice within her, but Zaid's sarcastic remark about telling people to get some empathy upset her. Not at him, but the fact that he was right. People didn't care and telling them that they should have empathy and they suddenly would. She inarticulately fumbled over her words, trying to respond only to huff and just say, "well I wish they would. We're stuck in this mess together, and I just want to tell people to care about others. Care about the collective community we have here. We can survive and thrive if we're all looking out for each other, instead of treating it like a last man standing contest." Selin sighed after getting her feelings out, knowing that it was too much to ask, too much to hope for. But it would be nice if they could make it work nonetheless.
She chose to focus on what she could and did accomplish. The library was something she had control over around here, even if she couldn't control people and their actions. For a moment, as Zaid complimented the work she did, she wanted to give him a piece of the accomplishment, but she refrained from saying anything. He surely would have thought it rang hollow. Offering him pity by including him as any major help in this.
In her attempts to think of what to say to him, something that didn't sound patronizing, he found himself drifting towards the one room she didn't want him to go into. "Oh, waitâ!" Selin tried to call out but he was already looking around at the space, eyeing that incomplete mural by Tej. "Um...I'm not sure." Selin answered as she walked over and poked her head into the room.
"I don't want to nag him, you know. Don't wanna...put a damper on his creative process. I did kind of give him free reign to do what he wanted so...I'm sure he'll come back...at some point. Maybe."
Smiling reassuringly with his chin resting atop Selin's head, Lokni replied, "Tej is like the tide; his inspiration seems to come and go with the cycles of the moon. He might at least teach me- I think he might actually like me enough to do so." It was an ongoing joke, as Tej was hard to pin down and get a read on. Though he wasn't maliciously inclined, he had his spines among his flowers, similar to a cactus. It was hard to know if Tej liked someone or not- at least if he chose to hide it. This past year of cohabiting with Tej had been a pleasant one. Although Lokni felt a bit self-conscious about living in close proximity with someone that he wasn't related to, he had grown a soft spot for the artist. When Tej wasn't around, Lokni found himself more uneasy. Tej was Lokni's steady, a constant in a world that changed faster than a cow pony cuttin' cattle. Although Lokni was aware of Tej's former relationship with Zaid, it wasn't something they often discussed. Albeit, it was a sore spot for both Tej and Zaid. Since Lokni had 'picked his side,' things with Zaid were a little more tense. To counteract that, Selin seemed to be doing her best to keep the peace and mediate between the two brightly burning personalities. Lokni didn't know how she did it. Then again, Selin was, in many ways, charming, charismatic- irresistible- the list was ever-growing as Lokni discovered new sides to her over time. "That sounds just dandy, Sweetheart," Lokni smiled broadly at her suggestion of the vines and sunflower motifs. He could picture her in his mind, clear as day, walking through a field of sunflowers with a straw hat over her head. "I'll see what I can do," he winked. Could he? He wasn't so sure. Would he try? Absolutely. He would try to move mountains as long as there was the chance that he'd get to see Selin's radiant smile. There she went again- Turnin' the tables on him. Selin was an expert in that. Meeting her eyes, Lokni couldn't stop the color from racing to his cheeks, heat radiating off of them. Any words that he had been prepared to say died in his throat- the gears of his mind groaning to a halt. Clearing his throat, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small digital camera, "I found this the last time I was on the Odyssey. Thought we could record our time here on the island- maybe commemorate the opening of your library." His throat was dry as he awkwardly tried to backpedal. He could never win against Selin. At length, he groaned before finally saying, "And for the record, I don't have 'librarian fantasies,' my only fantasies involve you."
"He might like you? Come on, that's ridiculous." Selin said with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. "You know you're most likely his favourite person on this island. And the only reason I don't say it with absolute certainty is cause I don't think I can ever read him with absolute certainty. I'm sure whatever you want to know, he'll teach you." Though Lokni was joking about his relationship with Tej, Selin wasn't sure hers was a joke. To her, their relationship felt rocky, though not from a lack of trying. She did her best to bond and get to know him, but maybe she was trying too hard to find common ground between them.
"Thank you. You're the best, you know that? I'm so happy I have you." She told him with a fondness in her eyes as she met his that said she didn't mean just as her island contractor. Lokni's presence was so soothing and comforting, Selin easily felt a sense of security next to him. If she wanted something, it would get done, and if it couldn't they would figure it out together.
An almost embarrassed smile spread across Selin's face as Lokni pulled out the digital camera and explained his true intention with his suggestion to make memories. "You're the cutest. I think that's a great idea." She gently pressed her hands to his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss. It wasn't what she expected but this was a more appropriate way to celebrate the completion of the library.
Though Selin had been the one teasing him at first, he managed to throw her off as well by giving it right back. She rested her forehead against his chest to hide her blushing face for a moment before looking back up at him. "Well you don't have to disclose any of those fantasies right now. I'm sure we can find a better time for that. Right now though..." Selin took the digital camera from him, inspecting it and turning it on to get them back on track. "I haven't used a camera like this in years. Got so used to just using my phone."
Selin pulled Lokni over with her to try and pose the two of them for a photo. Since he was taller than her, she sat on one of the tables in front of one of the bookshelves and kept Lokni close to her. One hand rested on one of his shoulders, while she reached out her arm out with the camera pointed in their direction. "Ok, ready?" She asked, before snapping a couple selfies of them, without any preview screen to show her how she did.
Adarsh very much wanted to get rid of the two who were the source of all this commotion, but he didnât think violence and force were the best way to do it. In his mind: they had until food actually started running out before people who turn violent, and by then heâd hoped to already have convinced them to leave of their own volition. Heâd been carefully working on his reputation, the last thing he wanted was to ruin it by standing up against the more sane people in their midst. No, he was going to make sure people looked up to him.
He smirked as Selin bit back. He knew she had a back bone, she wasnât all goody-two-shoes-y. But as he thought that the smirk disappeared, remembering that sheâd kept the fact that their paths had crossed from him for a long time. Now, angry as he had been those first weeks, and violent as heâd proven himself, he could sort of understand why⊠but that didnât mean he liked it.
If he had been more of a wallflower on the island, he mightâve raided the warehouse after deflecting everyone from it. But he wasnât going to have anyone call him a liar.
âMaybe you wouldnât! But he might!â
Adarsh scoffed. âAnnoyed to see Iâm not there with you giving into histeria?â
His words mightâve put oil on the fire again, if not for Selinâs soothing argument. He was glad, though heâd never admit it, to have former school teacher Selin with him.
His arms crossed again, he joined her side, watching as the crowd slowly dispersed, the last few people leaving cans and what not on the ground - he threw those an annoyed look, since they couldnât be bothered to bring it back in. A last slight as they slithered off.
âSheep always need someone to follow, youâre a good sheppard,â he joked, but his tone was off. âCan you call any of them back to clean up everything theyâve left behind? The idiots.â
She was thankful that things didn't pick up more, that arguments and tension wasn't instigated with further objections. Even with the speculation of whether they could trust Adarsh, didn't reignite the flame. She didn't want to spend all day arguing and debating, all she wanted was for everyone to understand the consequences and how things can go very wrong very fast if everyone started caring only for themselves.
Maybe later people would come back and ignore her request. That's all it was at this point anyway given their lack of any real authority. But, Selin was real good at using the honor system. At this point, people were slowly filing out, so she trusted that for now, maybe at least today, nobody would go back in and take more than they need.
"I don't know about that. I think I've just got a good grasp on the sharing is caring policy. It's a common lesson you need to remind eight year olds about every now and again." She responded back playfully, wanting to keep the air light with Adarsh. She was already surprised by the fact he was sticking around, and she wasn't going to make things worse by making things awkward. "And I don't think they would have listened to me fully if you didn't back me up. So I appreciate that."
As she began to pick up the dropped cans and boxes off the warehouse floor, she shook her head at Adarsh's suggestion to call people back. "No, it's ok. I'm used to cleaning up other people's messes, so this isn't anything new. But...you don't have to worry about it. I'll get this stuff back on the shelves and...uh...figure something out. I'm sure."
There was nothing too big of an idea from Selin for the space, and yet, something told Rosey that even if it was a pile of dust that the woman added, she'd make sure it was actually homey by the end. There was just something about Selin. And maybe that charm was what made her say, "Maybe a couple of hanging charms around the windows, or on the outside. There used to be some outside." Memories of Tiago and her laughing, the world blocked out and forgotten for both of them, those little chimes' sounds in the background as a light breeze moved them before it all turned to hell flashed before Rosey's eyes for a moment.
Rosey frowned. "If they were in Mr. Hook's room, they could easily be creepy surveilance footages of all of us, but he might just secretly love watching romantic comedies and hoped nobody would ever think twice about not watching his stash." She made a note to herself to, at some point when she got herself to actually look at the insides of the Tower, check out those VHS tapes. If they were surveilence, if they were records of the experiences, it was better to know. A scoff, "Of course he'd be that person. And probably thought he was better than any of these books all combined, that he knew better." Not that Rosey was the self-help book kind of person, but she'd read them just to be the complete opposite of Mr. Hook in this situation.
If she didn't know better, Rosey could have so easily believed this was nothing more than a sweet project somewhere right in the heart of civilization, and yet, the fact that it was right here, among all of this chaos and death and uncertainty, it made the existence of this place that much greater. And as much as part of her loved this and she already knew she'd spend time here, part of her also hated it and felt like she needed to get out of here immediately. But she pushed the thought back down and smiled and said, "I think both could be useful for different reasons for sure. And overall what you built here is great, Selin, truly. I was not expecting anything like this to be here - didn't think it was possible, really. Makes the beach feel a bit lighter than what it really is."
The gigantic robot hornets weren't even aiming to kill. Just hearing that made Rosey's stomach lurch in anger. Her group was chased and attacked what felt like countless times before they were finally left alone in peace, definitely aiming to take care of them for good, and then these people were tested but it wasn't real danger. Why couldn't they just leave them alone as well? And then she pushed the thought aside - she couldn't be angry at the others for this shit, even if they had it better so far. Even if it was hard to not feel a bit of anger at least. "Did you guys lose a lot of people since all of it began?"
Her stomach lurched at the mention of the pit. "I heard about the digging up, yes." She gave a short nod. "Safe to say, worst experience of my life. Or the beginning of it at least, the past 20 years wasn't rainbows and sunshine either." And still, they were the lucky ones. Somehow. "You say you found ID cards - do you have those as well in here? Or are they collected somewhere else?"
That made sense, who would ever sign up for something like this if they knew death and major trauma were options during the experiment. "Guess they probably were one of the best at putting stuff in the fine print nobody would actually find." There was a tiny part of it that should have been, to a degree, disclosed, though. "Did they ever mention having run another experience before? Or they kept quiet about that too?" She assumed they did, but she needed to know for sure.
Selin looked towards the window as Rosey suggested some hanging charms, picturing some shells on a string that would dangle in the breeze. She was about to turn back and agree that it would be a good addition, until the off-handed remark about how there used to be hanging charms outside. "There were? I don't think I saw any..." She commented before the thought came to mind about how and why Rosey would know that. "Wait...this bungalow. It wasn't yours before, was it?"
There were endless possibilities about what those VHS tapes were recordings of. It was easy to assume the worst, this was one of the people who trapped them here after all. Though the optimistic hope Rosey provided that maybe he enjoyed rom-coms did make her smile and chuckle in amusement. "Well if you find something good on those tapes, make sure to let me know. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies."
It would be wrong to say that Selin wasn't at least a little pleased with the praise on her work. "Thank you. It really means a lot to hear that. That really was what I was going for essentially. Please, stop by whenever you want, everyone is welcome to enjoy everything that's been collected." It was hard work and she wanted it to be enjoyed and used by everyone here so having a member of the community share their appreciation for it was a big self esteem boost.
Selin had to stop and think about just how many people they lost during their time here. She certainly couldn't forget Maria. That explosion into dust or salt or whatever fine particles that caused Selin's own powers to activate out of fear. "We lost...quite a few. More than we could have anticipated but...it felt like we've gained more people than we've lost." She answered, realizing that, though it wasn't a competition, their deaths weren't as horrendous as Rosey's. They had the whole mass grave to prove it.
"The IDs are still in the medcenter, I think. I didn't think it was appropriate to take those. I wasn't even the one to find them. Zaid and Lokni did, have you met them yet?" Zaid might have been harder to get an audience with given his residence in the tower, but Lokni would have been a lot easier to come into contact with.
Rosey had a lot of questions regarding the sign up and as much as she wanted to he helpful, Selin didn't have all the answers. Plus, she had no idea how far this questioning would go, but sharing too much about the contract and what she remembered could lead to questions about why she agreed to come here, and Selin definitely didn't want to answer that. "Honestly...I couldn't really tell you. All of it is a bit of a blur. Even though we found the documents, some of the memories of the day we signed up are foggy. I don't think they mentioned it? Talking about a failed experiment to get people to sign up for a new one might not be the best move. Or maybe they did bring it up and just lied. I'm not sure. I'm sorry I can't be more help."
"There's the cameras set around the bungalows, and the other buildings, of course. No cameras inside the bungalows, thankfully. I do not want to see what people get up to in their, erm, homes." When he'd first started his vigil in the control room, some people assumed he wanted to spy, or be perverted about it. Zaid wasn't sure how to explain that his dick died the day Tej jumped both off the Tower's catwalk, unto certain death.
"But there are other cameras, Selin. Set up in places that I don't recognize, but I assume are on the island. Forested areas, clearing - even buildings. The feeds don't stay on permanently, they flicker on sometimes for seconds, sometimes minutes long. I write down everything I observe, then try to...I don't know. Map it, somehow. I'm not a scientist or whatever, but I've got to know." He eyed her uneasily. "I thought I saw the back alley of a restaurant on the screen. My restaurant, in London. Tej, he was with me in the control room, he saw it too." Or, he'd deny seeing anything. Zaid simply wasn't sure. He finished feebly. "I just have to know, love. I...I don't have anything else going on."
Zaid didn't mind confessing this to Selin. They weren't bosom buddies, but he'd seen her lowest, and she'd seen his. There was a bond there, even if it was informal and underdeveloped. But Selin wouldn't judge or deride him - that, Zaid knew.
Selin's outlook was pure and simple, but Zaid felt it was likely more complicated, for others. "But the food situation, darling..." He grimaced, then said: "'Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.' Austen wrote that, I'd always liked that quote." He gave a wry smile at Selin. "Maybe there's a point in there."
They got to the library, and Zaid opened the door, motioning for Selin to lead the way in. As he motioned with his arm, he sniffed, then sniffed at his shoulder. "Fuck me. I smell like a teenage boy's mouldy basement. Why didn't you tell me! I should've showered first."
Selin didn't have any preconceived notions about what Zaid might have been doing up in the tower this whole time. What he was looking for, whether he was trying to be a creep. She knew that much wasn't true at the very least, his attachment to Tej made it clear he wouldn't be perving on anyone else any time soon. But the news that he was seeing places on the island they've never been to before, and even crazier, his restaurant, she could understand the intrigue. "What do you make of it then? Genuinely, any theories or speculations? Other places on the island I can understand, especially with the people from the experiment before ours, there must be places we haven't reached yet. But your restaurantâŠdid the brief glimpses look recent? I don't even know how you would tell, there's no way old footage would just show up randomly."
She didn't blame Zaid for wanting to know, Selin felt that she might drive herself mad trying to know everything. She barely wanted to know what she already knew, finding out more about their situation after being stuck here for so long felt like it wouldn't do them any good. "If you find anything out, like where these spots are that we've never seen, let me know. Don't keep everything to yourself."
His quoting of Jane Austen made her purse her lips together, a little annoyed that he was right that there may be a point in there. Of course, she had spent some time struggling with her own perceived selfishness. But her being selfish when it came to forming a romantic relationship wasn't the same as hoarding food for oneself with no regard for others going hungry. "I think the cure for it is empathy. Putting yourself in other people's shoes. People need to eat, Zaid. Maybe in some situations you can forgive selfishness, but I think if it's at the expense of other peoples well being and survival, you can't just sit back and accept it as a fact of life. There's a time and place for selfishness and I don't think now is one of those times."
She tried to let the debate go when they reached the library, a fine achievement of hers that she wanted Zaid to see. "Well, I wasn't going to be rude and say anything so just keep your arms down and it'll be fine. Just check this out." She told him before opening the door to the library. An expanded bungalow, now full of well stocked shelves and seats and tables, in her attempts to make the layout look like an actual library. "Ta-daaa! See, so all the books I got out of the tower and the ship and the warehouse are all in one place now. I got a section for magazines, the books are organized on the shelves by genre, oh and the room in the back that was the bungalows bedroom is now a music section which I thought would be nice. And the added outdoor section too." Selin made sure not to mention the unfinished mural in the music room, hoping Zaid might focus on the rest of the library instead of honing in on the one spot that involved Tej's collaboration.
Rosey shook her head, "Thank you for saying that, but it's okay." She didn't look like the kind of person who'd want to send her away, but Rosey couldn't fully be sure. She didn't know the woman, she didn't know these people in general, so she was keeping her walls up high. "All the work and effort shows. What kind of homey touches are you thinking of?" It was so much more than what they were given - or what Rosey remembered they were given. Maybe if they had enough time in peace, if all those people didn't die, she would have found the stashes of books and casettes herself.
"I might check out those VHS tapes in the Tower then, see if there are any movies in there. They really could have upgraded to at least some available televisions in these two decades." Not the priority for sure, nor her desire to watch a movie, any movie, and still, Roseyjust wanted to have a little bit of fun. "But either way, I'll definitely take advantage of what you built here - what kind of system are you thinking? Anyone taking something just lets you know about it, or there'll be a book to sign stuff out in?"
Deadly tests. Fucking amazing, the people running this place upgrated. "I think one of those giant hornets got washed up on our shores, it had a bunch of different screens on it and some flickered a couple of moments from here. That is how we realized you are here. Did those hornets fully try to kill you guys?" Maybe a bit of a too direct question, but Rosey didn't really think twice about it.
"We didn't have deadly tests, no, but we signed up for something else and we didn't really stay here long enough for them to throw challenges at us." It was a good question from Selin, though - if the catastrophe of all of those people dying wouldn't have happened, would they have been somehow tested too? To see just how much the serum actually worked? Probably not something they'd ever find out. "Once the others died-- we revolted and then eventually we fled," Rosey explained. "They did try to take us out, though, for the longest time they kept sending things after us to take care of us. I wouldn't call them challenges though. Did you guys know the challenges would be happening when you signed up?"
"More plants and decorations really. Anything to make it more comfortable here. Um, if you have any ideas of what you might like to see here. I've kind of been making this a group effort. Make everyone feel part of a team for putting this all together. Cause I definitely couldn't have done it alone." Maybe the basics of the project was something she could handle by herself. The collecting the organizing, but it would have probably taken even longer than it already did. But with everyone's help she was able to get tables, chairs and shelves out from the tower and off the ship and into the bungalow. She was able to get the place remodeled and get extra space added for the sheer amount of books they had. and she was able to get extra creative touches she never would have been able to make by herself.
"I honestly can't even remember what the VHS tapes were. I found them in what I assumed was where the investor guy stayed. Mr. Hook I think he went by in all the different documents. I assume they're either something pretentious or unsavoury. All the books and music records I found in that room, same deal." She explained, walking over to one of the bookshelves where she remembered placing all his stuff. "Like. Self help books, books that are meant to teach you the tricks of being the next big entrepreneur, and stuff that you'd think they were so intelligent if they sat down and read it and understood it. And they were covered in dust! Completely untouched and unopened!"
Selin started putting down the books she was showing off, trying not to get overworked at the idea of this loser billionaire holed up in his fancy room in the tower, surrounded by beautifully crafted bookshelves and expensive record players and television, just to not be reading the books, or enjoying the music. "Yeah right now I'm kind of going with an honor system of letting me know, but also I made these little sign out slips to put in the books, just to record who had it last and for how long. A sign out book might be easier to keep track of what's gone if anyone is ever looking for something specific."
At least Rosey and Hana had seen these things too, so she wasn't sounding completely deranged. "They...actually didn't try to kill us outright. They stung us if we threatened them, but most of them were just destroying things rather than targeting people. But...people did die during that." It was sad to hear that they went through, maybe not exactly similar, but just as horrific of an experience. All of them signing up thinking good things would happen, only to be surrounded by death and suffering. "Some people in our group found old ID cards from your group of people. And those hornets dug up this pit where those who died were buried. It was...horrific. I'm sorry you and the other survivors went through that. It must have been so scary."
Selin refrained from mentioning anything about the one person from that group that she knew. They weren't necessarily close but she was a friend of the family, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to find out the answer if she survived or not. "Well, I don't think they necessarily laid out what these challenges would entail. And everything was all science and legal jargon. It must have said something about keeping us to test the effects of the experiment without disclosing what those tests would entail. I don't think I would have signed up if I saw 'you'll be expected to use the powers you get to fight and survive robotic murder hornets' in my contract."
Adarsh did not try to recall the conversation in which Selin had told him that from the moment they'd met, she'd actually seen him before. Right now, not on his mind - perhaps a little - but not enough to make this situation even more difficult. After all, he was right here to be the good guy, to save the day.
Admitting to the tension between him and Selin wasn't going to help that situation.
He'd much rather play good cop, bad cop. Or some version of that. He smirked when Selin called it a little tantrum, that was bound to set mister entitled in his place.
"I suggest you all put the food you took down, or better yet place it back where you got it from, we'll make sure all of you get plenty to make it through the day."
"And until then, I suggest you start learning how to fish, hunt, or harvest, because the fact that you're all here means you have too much time on your hands!"
He felt like he could say that: after all, he spend most of his time at the medicentre taking care of minor incidents.
Some people actually started to move, putting the food down or returning to the warehouse. But some kept standing.
"How do we know you won't raid the warehouse when we turn our backs?"
It was kind of weird to be on the same page as Adarsh. The two of them felt so different in a lot of ways, Selin was proud that they could at least agree on this situation. Had he been one to side with the hoarders, or worse, want to get rid of or exile the two from the old experiment, she wasn't sure how long she'd last standing up to him.
But this was more simple. The people here for the most part seemed scared and confused. That lockdown mentality hitting and making them feel defenseless. At least they weren't calling for harm to come to Rosey and Hana...at least not yet.
"I can help people with fishing, and having more hands with the garden just means more crops. And I'm sure if anyone asks, Lokni would be willing to take you hunting with him if it means we're not working against each other." Selin added on to Adarsh's more straight forward response to peoples concerns.
When someone made the accusation that the two of them might raid the warehouse the moment they put their stuff back, Selin couldn't help but scoff. "Really? I have not spent my time on this island making sure everyone on this island felt safe, secure, and comfortable, just for you to think I would be so self serving." It was difficult to hide the annoyance in her voice. She thought by now she had made enough of a name for herself that an assumption like that wouldn't cross anyone's mind.
"Whether any of you like it or not, we're all stuck here together. And the only way we survive is by putting in the work, working together and trusting each other. So put down the excess, take what you need, and give us time to figure this out. Got it?" She eyed the crowd, a stern attempt at authority that, to her surprise, seemed to be that last little push people needed. Some people started walking out, hands empty as everything they had clattered to the floor. Others, put their stuff away on the shelves and only took what would be their daily rations.
"People can be such a pain sometimes." she sighed, trying to keep her voice low.
location: the little library costar: @selinswonderland
"--and the thing is," Alex continued, even though his voice had been the only thing in the air for what felt like the last small eternity other than the quiet thumpy sound of book-sorting and page turning and Selin's occasional notes aloud about what she wanted to do with a particular book, "that it's not like I'm a huge drinker or anything! When your work means that there's always the potential thread of paps around waiting to snap a photo of you getting sloppy, you learn fast not to give them that opportunity. Not in public."
He paused to run his hand over the dust jacket of some volume from the seventies, muttering mostly to himself, "I hate these. The books look so much better without them but nobody ever takes off the dustcoats and throws them out even though I'm sure that's what they were meant for. Why keep a stupid fakey cover instead of letting the book breathe and look nice?"
Selin nodded along as if she was well versed in the lifestyle Alex explained. Maybe in a way she did in this specific case, just instead of paps it was a students parents with conservative and puritanical views. Getting sloppy with a few drinks was no longer given a first or second thought now that she remembered this life ruining moment that was being held close to her chest. "I just don't understand why people are so willing to stoop to stealing. Even if you're not a big drinker, it's the principle of the matter. Hoarding is already bad enough, but instead of taking from the warehouse, now people are actively taking things that people have already claimed as their own? It's greedy. It's not fair."
She let out a sigh, brows furrowed about Alex's situation, slipping one of her handmade sign out slips into the book in her hand. "I don't know, I think they're nice. It helps protect them from damage and dirt, and in a place like this, I think they need that protection more than ever. Plus, I've always liked using it as a bookmark if I don't have one handy." She explained, demonstrating with the book in her hand, slipping the inside part of the dust jacket between a random page and closing it. "See? Useful."
Zaid gave a grim sort of laugh, surprisingly more humourous than he expected. He'd once viewed Selin Bulut as a sweet if irritatingly naive sort of creature. Well-meaning but ineffectual - as he'd smugly felt was proven, when she'd fallen into that depression.
But time - and Zaid's own taste of cutting humility - had changed that. Selin did embody the brightness of youth, and that was a good thing. She helped, even when Zaid rebutted and self-deprecated, she still persistently came up with offers to help. Or make him helpful.
Here she was, once again, making that same small yet brilliant offer.
Zaid could never figure out how to be sincere enough to say 'thank you' for it, either. Instead, he nodded along with her reasoning for getting him out of the control room. "You're absolutely right. Since I've gotten back from the woods, I've just been holed up in there. It's sometimes interesting, you know. Seeing everything on them cameras. Reckon it feels like a sense of control, or that."
A turf war. Zaid considered Selin's point of view, as he followed along after her, stuffing the cables into a pocket of his FLOWR cargo trousers (ugh. So unfashionable and worker class, yet so pragmatic. He hated himself). "You think we should...erm. I don't know. Try to...meet as a group about it? Might be Lindi should do something?" It wasn't his problem, and yet he was still nosing into it.
"Or you. People like you, and they listen. Though I suspect that's more because they're into the stern pretty librarian thing."
"What kind of stuff do you see by the way?" She asked, knowing that even though they had their time of cohabitating in the tower, they had completely different goals. "Like, it's only ever footage from here, right? It's not like you're getting any outside feed." That might have been a stupid question to ask, but she also wasn't sure what the appeal of watching the island camera feed had. Selin didn't have any interest in keeping tabs on everyone by way of surveillance. So maybe Zaid hoped there might be a glimmer of hope that he gets glimpses from outside. Or...maybe he was going a little crazy.
The idea to maybe hold another meeting was a good one. Surely everyone coming together to discuss what their options were would help people's mindset on the situation. "I think a lot of people would be in agreement if we had an island wide meeting about it. How can you justify getting rid of two people when we have so many options!" She agreed that maybe this would be something to bring up to Lindi, she easily held a good standing, and oozed authority even though they weren't designating leadership to anyone. When she spoke, they listened.
Zaid including her right after, made her chuckle softly. "Well thank goodness for the 'stern pretty librarian thing'. I guess nobody would listen to me without it." She replied sarcastically. He didn't mean anything by it of course, just a little complimentary teasing, but she'd hope that people didn't solely like and listen to her for that reason. "I just hope nobody does anything drastic. We're all in the same boat here. All of us stuck, all of us having made this bed we're laying in. They others are just the easy scapegoat to blame right now when all they did was come out of hiding. People can be so selfish."
Helping Selin organise the library material had been an oddly soothing job for Jin. It was something tangible, and something that made sense in a place where very little else did. The quiet productivity was almost enough to make him forget about the weird circumstances that had led him to this island to begin with.Â
The speakers cracking to life, the sound was sharp enough to send chills down his spine. His hands stilled mid-motion, a half-finished check-out slip caught between his fingers. The announcement sounded like something out of a horror film. He didnât believe it was real at first. It made no sense. Previous experiments, food supply⊠removing people? Surely they didnât meanâŠ?Â
Jinâs jaw tightened as the transmission cut out. When he looked up at Selin, her wide eyes and worry told him that the announcement wasnât fake after all. âAgain,â he repeated, his voice coming out a little flat. It wasnât really a question, though he did wonder what she meant by that.Â
He chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully, placing the slip he had been working on down on the table in front of him. The relatively peaceful days were bound to come to an end at some point anyway, right? Nothing about this place had been normal. âHow weird are we talking? And what do you mean âagainâ? What happened before I got here?âÂ
When it came to helping Jin get adjusted to the island, Selin (who designated herself as part of the welcoming committee) thought it best not to tell him too much about the things they experienced before he showed up. Sure, he was an adult and not a child she needed to protect, but that didn't mean he would react well to hearing about the things they were put through. And from her perspective, Selin had no idea they would suddenly present them with new problems to deal with after so long.
"So, um...how do I even begin?" She hummed softly trying to think of how to explain this in the least concerning way possible. "A lot of us woke up on that cruise ship out there. Most of us, really. Completely confused and having no idea where we were, how we got here, why the beach was full of camera's watching us. And had these things on our wrists." She started to explain, holding up her wrist to show off her bracelet with the purple and yellow gemstone encased inside.
"We get here, told its paradise and to enjoy ourselves. Next thing we know, these bracelets are giving us weird powers, a lady explodes into a giant puff of sand, and over the course of the year before you arrived we've had different things come out of the woodwork trying their best to...I don't know, hurt us? Test us?" Testing them was certainly the goal, in hindsight now that they were aware of their willing participation in this experiment.
"Those little furby looking monkey's in the Tower have an aggressive side if you step out of line, they still make me anxious even if they probably need to be ordered to attack and have been minding their business lately. There were also giant robotic hornets, destroying stuff on the island, attacking people if they got too close." Selin shook her head, the memory of it bringing back the phantom pain in her neck from her encounter, though any sign of bruising or injury was nonexistent now.
"People got hurt, some people...didn't survive. But it's been quiet for a while! Ever since we managed to get into the Tower and found all our files and got some answers. I wasn't going to tell you about the stuff we went through if it didn't seem like it would happen again, you know? But I guess they've been watching this whole time, just deciding to mess with us again now that these new...well, old people have arrived. It's so unfair."
Adarsh had in fact attempted to lighten the mood. Clearly Selin wasnât the sort you set on people, if anyone was willingly violent, it would be him. Though he liked to think he could be the voice of reason as well. Though right now, his voice-of-reason behaviour was born out of the feeling of superiority. He knew hoarding was something fools did, something done by those who were not smart enough to think of the bigger picture.Â
He crossed his arms at the retort. His attempt dismissed. Selin made hers, definitely the voice of reason, with him just standing beside her and nodding. He didnât try to look menacing, but he had a frown on his face that only sunk lower as Mister Entitled started speaking again.Â
Usually he was eager to choose violence, now someone else made the first move, and Adarsh felt entitled to respond. He hulked forward, grabbing the manâs arm before he could hurl another can at either of them. âI suggest you drop all of that before I make sure you donât have any arms to carry anything anymore,â he growled. Then turned back to the crowd, some of whom had been flabbergasted by mister entitledâs action, others more by his threat.Â
âWhat will we do when the food runs out?âÂ
âHow do you know for how long to ration?âÂ
Fair questions, none that Adarsh could answer. âI suggest you give us some time to figure that out, huh? Before you start raiding the place and make some people end up with none. For instance, the very people currently working around the camp to do shit for you. What about those people, huh?âÂ
He put a little too much pressure on the manâs arm and heard him yelp.
Selin flinched and ducked her head as the can came flying in their direction. Her reflexes weren't as great as they were back in high school but at the very least she managed to avoid getting hit. Yeah, she definitely wasn't the kind of person you sick on others.
Considering the way Adarsh easily leapt into action, he was certainly the enforcer out of the two of them here. Both of them now forced to work together against a mostly tame mob of people. It felt strange, after not talking at all since Selin revealed the familiarity with him that she had been keeping secret for the past year. At least in this moment her secret keeping didn't really matter.
"We don't need to fight, or get aggressive with each other. You threw your little tantrum now we can use our heads and think logically about this." She spoke slowly, too much in her teacher brain, not intending to be condescending but it could have been interpreted that way. The man removed his arm from Adarsh's grasp when he felt the pressure, trying to still seem tough even though that pained yelp didn't do him any favours. "Exactly," Selin spoke up in agreement with Adarsh's stance on people's questions. "Mass hysteria from the get-go will just make things worse. We have the garden, we have the fishing hole, I'm sure in the woods there are animals to hunt for those up to it. We have the means to survive beyond just what's in here."
There were murmurs among the crowd, some people in agreement, others still skeptical. Not everyone was willing to drop what they already had in their arms but at least nothing was being flung at her head. "We can't control anyone but if you put the stuff down now, we can use this time to figure things out and make sure none of us go hungry, okay?"
Rosey King, part of the old experiment. Not "Rosey King, actress". Not "Rosey King, who played that one character from that one movie, you know that one". No, just somebody who was part of the old experiment. Not that there was anyone to recognize her during the two decades, but being associated with the biggest mistake of her entire life was not really comforting to hear, to say the least.
Still, she nodded. "Yeah, that would be me. Though, if I am being honest, I'd rather be known for anything else other than being part of that experiment." A pause, and then carefully, tenderly, she added, "But I'm assuming to a degree you guys probably get that feeling regarding this one."
Rosey stepped up to the shelf closest to her and ran a finger along the spine of one of the books as she listened to Selin explain the library and the events leading up to the decision. "That's a really nice project, yeah. Are you done with it or is there more to catalogue and move over here? Did you get any movies that will be part of the collection as well? And if you don't mind me asking, what happened that the warehouse was getting destroyed?"
Rosey's response to her words made her realize how insensitive the call out was. Being recognized purely for this messy situation wasn't exactly refreshing, especially when knowing the reasons you did it. If someone addressed her like that, all the memories of the lead up to this decision would flash before her eyes. "Sorry, you're right. That was rude of me, I didn't mean it like that. I guess I'm just not thinking straight." she apologized, shaking her head out of embarrassment for herself.
"Thanks, it's mostly done. I spent a lot of time and got a lot of help collecting and moving things in here. Still working on the homey touches to make it more cozy, but collection should be done. Well. In the tower there were some VHS tapes. I didn't really collect those though, the only place to watch them is in the tower. None of the bungalows have TVs to watch anything." Though now that they were talking about it, the idea of installing a TV or two might have been a good idea. But she wasn't savvy enough in electrical to try that out. She would make a mental note to check with Lokni how much he knew.
Selin let out an uncomfortable chuckle at the question of what happened to put the warehouse in disarray. She had no idea what the older group had to deal with when it came to their experiment, but it felt insane to explain what happened to them. "We...had a few moments where the ones in charge tried to test our powers I guess. Like, deadly tests. We had this swarm of giant robot hornets with tv's for heads and a few got into the warehouse and they didn't completely destroy everything but it got pretty beat up. We managed to fix the place up but I was worried about the CDs and cassettes getting smashed to pieces or the books and magazines getting torn apart. Did...you guys ever deal with anything like that during your run?"