#how do gps antennas work

[foone]

i saw your post about GPS receivers and i was wondering how they work well for like. Aviation. my GPS receiver is SBAS and WAAS equipped. Does that happen to do something different from a phone receiver? or does it work similarly to cell towers

So those both work by having extra satellites with newer protocols (GPS was originally designed in 1973!)

They both transfer the data much faster/accurately, so your GPS receiver gets started fast by listening to the info from them and then combining it with the slow GPS satellite datastreams.

They're similarly passive, though. Your GPS unit doesn't need to transmit anything to pick up those signals. It just needs different decoding circuits and maybe an extra antenna.

[zmediaoutlet]

ww: letters (3)

for the @wincestwednesdays prompt: radio

I figured out one benefit to you being gone: spent three hours on I-40 listening to an educational podcast, and I didn’t have to tell anyone to shut up or slap hands away from the tapedeck or even forcibly cover a mouth that wouldn’t stop telling me this was boring, and then suffer getting licked, which even with everything else we’ve done—that’s just gross, you know? So. That’s something.

Turns out all kinds of stuff counts as electromagnetic frequencies. Not just what we get from ghosts or what comes across the stereo but GPS and phones, too. All depends on the hertz being transmitted and what’s being used to receive it. People even used to get reception in those old metal fillings, with their whole body acting as an antenna. I guess that’s how angels must work when they’re in human bodies, right? The vessel receiving rays of light.

I’m going to have to re-listen to the part about how sound gets captured in the waves. Somehow, at just the right frequency, the mic captures one kind of wave and sends it to the tranceiver and that can travel all over the country, handed off quicker than you can think, so two people can be standing on opposite coasts and hear each other breathing. The waves dissipate eventually in the open air but we can catch them, reuse them, make them replay. In the old days the recordings would fray and tear apart but if you have something captured digitally you can keep it as clean as you want. So the sound appears fresh, every time, like the musician’s playing in the bar right in front of you. If you close your eyes you can almost pretend you’re there.

I have six saved voicemails. None of them are interesting.

Hey, you about done? I’m gonna swing by the liquor mart and then I’ll come pick you up. Text me if you’re knee-deep in granny panties and need another five minutes. Ha.

Dude, you have got to remember to charge your main phone. I’m calling your burner next but you know what? This is shame. This is a shame voicemail.

Sheriff says the husband’s got a clean alibi. Grab something for dinner when you’re done with the coroner, huh?

[muffled noise, then:] Oh—hey—look, I’m butt-dialing you. And you’re not answering? I can see that you’re standing right there. Look, it’s the principle—

Jody broke her ankle. Again. I told her you guys could be gimpy buddies. You better be taking a coma-nap on pain pills, pal. Home soon.

Why do you go to lame art movies immediately after doing laundry? Where the hell did you hide my socks?

A digital file downloaded onto my backup drives, played through speakers, transmits waves directly against the structure of my ear. Vibrations inside my head that traveled from years ago, from a thousand miles away, from a different location of the planet. Crazy to me that we treat it like something mundane. Like there isn’t something amazing happening, when I can close my eyes and the speaker makes electricity and magnetism and motion into you, tuned exactly as though you were standing five feet from me. With my eyes closed I can imagine it like that. Your phone to your ear, your face turned away, waiting for me to pick up. Transmitter, receiver. Your breath, before the call drops. Crisp and clear as the day I first heard them. As long as my eyes are closed it’s a miracle.

[ilearnedthistodaysblog]

#1174 How do submarines navigate?

How do submarines navigate? Submarines navigate using a mix of sonar, inertial navigation systems, and GPS. There are a lot of naval and civilian submarines in the world. The number of civilian submarines would probably be easier to work out than the number of military ones because most countries keep that number a secret. Or, they release information on how many old submarines they have, which is probably already public knowledge, but keep the number of new ones they have a secret. That makes sense because you don’t want to give your enemies fair warning of what submarines you are building. That being said, there are lists online, which may be reasonably close. That puts Russia and the US in joint first place with between 65 and 70 submarines each. Then comes China and, rather worryingly, North Korea is in fourth place with 35 submarines. North Korea has created nuclear weapons and wants to have a strong navy to provide a base to fire these missiles, rather than trying to feed their starving population. Modern nuclear-powered submarines could stay at sea forever if it wasn’t for the people on board who need supplying and changing. They can also stay underwater for months at a time because they can make oxygen from the seawater. So, how do they navigate in the deep dark sea? They do have GPS navigation, which can show them where they are on Earth by triangulating their position between three satellites. The problem is, the radio waves the GPS uses to work out where something is cannot penetrate water. Radio waves just bounce off water and head back into space. That means, GPS is only useful when the submarine has surfaced, and so is not much use as a navigation system. Underwater, submarines make use of an inertial navigation system and of sonar. An inertial navigation system is a good way of working out movement and modern smartphones have tiny versions inside of them. That is how your phone is able to count your steps. An inertial navigation system used to be analog, but these days they are digital. They consist of three accelerometers and three gyroscopes. The accelerometers can work out the speed of the vessel and the gyroscopes can work out how quickly the submarine is turning. There are usually three of them, but there can be more. There have to be at least three of them because all submarines can move in any direction. The accelerometers and gyroscopes are on the X, Y, and Z axis. They feed information to a computer, which can then calculate where they are. It does this by knowing the starting point and calculating speeds and how much and how fast they have turned along the way. The inertial navigation system is good, but it is only accurate to 150 hours. Small errors can creep in and there can be some uncertainty in where they are. The system has to be realigned by using GPS. The submarine will either have to surface or come close enough to the surface to put up an antenna. Submarines also use sonar to navigate. This isn’t much use in completely open sea, but it is useful when close to the seabed, objects, or other ships. Sonar works by sending out a sound wave and then calculating how long it takes to come back. By knowing the speed of sound in water, the onboard computer can work out how far objects are. It doesn’t work in the open sea because there is nothing for the sound wave to bounce off. One of the problems with sonar is that other submarines will be able to hear it. Submarines monitor for their own sonar, but they also have passive sonar, which is always listening for sounds in the sea. It will easily pick up the sound of another submarine’s sonar and give away its position. Submarines also use magnetometers and pressure sensors to navigate. The Earth has magnetic fields and by measuring these, the submarine can have some idea of where it is. A lot of animals also use these to steer and to navigate long distances. The pressure sensors tell the submarine its depth. As the pressure increases, the submarine is getting deeper. By combining all of these systems, the onboard computer for a submarine can work out pretty accurately where on Earth the submarine is and navigate it safely. And this is what I learned today. Try these: - #218 How deep can a submarine go? - #221 What is the difference between sonar and radar? - #40 How does GPS know where I am? - #557 How does a naval mine work? - #347 How did the Polynesians navigate? Sources https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/satellite-navigation/reliable-global-navigation/first-satellite-navigation-system/navigating-a-submarine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_navigation https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/submarine4.htm https://www.advancednavigation.com/tech-articles/inertial-navigation-systems-ins-an-introduction https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/submarines-by-country https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/north-korea-submarine-capabilities Photo by Vitali Adutskevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/submarine-in-the-harbor-14754974/ Read the full article

[best-car-transport-in-bangalore]

Best Car Transport in Bangalore: A Comprehensive Guide to Hassle-Free Vehicle Relocation

Bangalore, known as India’s Silicon Valley, is a bustling hub with people frequently moving in and out for work, studies, and family. With the rising need for reliable car transport services, finding the right car transport company in Bangalore has become essential. This article is tailored to help you understand the factors influencing car transport choices, costs involved, and tips for a safe car relocation. Let’s dive in!

Why Opt for Professional Car Transport Services in Bangalore?

Relocating a car, especially over long distances, can be challenging without professional help. Here are key reasons why hiring a reliable car transport service is beneficial:

Safety: Professional transport services ensure that your vehicle is securely loaded and transported, reducing the risk of damage.

Convenience: Avoiding the need to drive long hours means you can save time and energy while focusing on other aspects of relocation.

Insurance Coverage: Reputable car transport services often include insurance, giving you peace of mind knowing that your vehicle is protected.

Types of Car Transport Services Available in Bangalore

When choosing a car transport service in Bangalore, it’s essential to know the options available:

Open Car Transport: An affordable option, open car transport involves transporting your car on an open carrier. While it’s cost-effective, there is a risk of exposure to weather conditions.

Enclosed Car Transport: For added protection, enclosed transport is a preferred choice. Though pricier, it shields your car from dust, weather, and road debris.

Door-to-Door Service: Many companies offer door-to-door service, where they pick up your car from your current location and deliver it to your new address. This option is ideal for convenience.

How Much Does Car Transport in Bangalore Cost?

Several factors influence the cost of car transport services in Bangalore:

Distance: Longer distances typically mean higher transportation costs.

Type of Transport: Enclosed transport is generally more expensive than open transport.

Vehicle Size and Model: Larger or high-end vehicles may incur additional charges.

Seasonal Demand: Peak seasons, such as festivals or year-end, may increase the cost due to high demand.

On average, transporting a car within the city may range from ₹4,000 to ₹10,000, while interstate transport can go up to ₹15,000 or more. It’s advisable to compare quotes from multiple companies to get the best deal.

Top Tips for Choosing the Best Car Transport Service in Bangalore

Research the Company’s Reputation: Look for reviews and ratings online to check the company’s track record.

Verify Insurance Coverage: Always ensure the transport service provides comprehensive insurance for your vehicle.

Check for License and Certifications: Confirm that the company is licensed and certified for car transportation.

Inquire About Tracking Options: Some companies offer real-time tracking, which can give you peace of mind during transit.

Preparing Your Car for Transport: A Quick Checklist

Before handing over your vehicle to the car transport company, take these precautionary steps:

Inspect for Damages: Document any existing scratches, dents, or damages with photos.

Remove Personal Belongings: Transport companies usually advise removing personal items for safety.

Reduce Fuel Level: Keep the fuel tank around 25% full to reduce weight and costs.

Disable Alarms and Antennas: This prevents any unnecessary triggering during transit.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: How long does it take to transport a car from Bangalore to another city? A: Typically, it may take anywhere from 3 to 10 days, depending on the destination and route conditions.

Q2: Can I keep personal items in the car during transport? A: Most companies recommend removing personal items for safety and insurance reasons.

Q3: How do I track my car during transit? A: Many companies offer GPS tracking, allowing you to monitor the vehicle’s location in real time.

Conclusion

Choosing the best car transport in Bangalore doesn’t have to be complicated. With a bit of research and preparation, you can ensure that your vehicle reaches its destination safely and on time. By considering factors like service type, cost, and company reputation, you can select the best car transport service to meet your needs. Safe travels!

[citynewsglobe]

[ad_1] Seven months in the past, I took my canine to play within the mountains close to my house. He ended up operating off whereas chasing a deer. After ready for an hour, he nonetheless had not returned. My good friend and I began in search of him. I misplaced my canine with out doing any security measures. I skilled the anxiousness of looking for him. I blamed myself so much and regretted not buying a canine tracker for him. Lastly, after three hours my good friend and I discovered him subsequent to a puddle. He was exhausted and had injured his leg in a fall. My good friend and I instantly took him to the vet for remedy. Fortunately, my canine solely suffered a superficial harm. To keep away from this case taking place once more, I spent 1000's of dollars making an attempt out completely different canine trackers (together with subscription charges). In the long run, solely Aorkuler's canine tracker glad me. My canine and I dwell within the rural mountains of North Carolina. There may be nearly no cellular phone reception close to us. I bought Tractive with out understanding the way it labored. At first, I used to be capable of see my canine's location on my cellular phone. After some time, I noticed that Tractive doesn't monitor my canine in real-time. After I walked to the lake with my canine, my telephone confirmed he was nonetheless close to house. This was clearly incorrect, and it was not updating in real-time. I contacted the Tractive employees and requested for a refund of the tracker and subscription payment. Getting the subscription payment refunded was significantly troublesome. After many days of communication, Tractive lastly refunded the subscription payment to my card. The difficulty with the subscription payment gave me a headache. So, for the second time, I bought PitPat's canine tracker. The benefit of it not requiring a subscription payment made me blissful.  Nevertheless, like Tractive, it can not find my canine in real-time. It even confirmed the incorrect location generally and my canine did not go there! After two failed makes an attempt, I did a whole lot of analysis on Reddit and Quora about canine trackers. Tractive and PitPat require mobile sign to work. However our surroundings cannot assist this situation. So, these two trackers have been unable to trace my canine in real-time. I've seen folks recommending Garmin and Aorkuler for canine dad and mom in areas with out mobile alerts. They use radio know-how to transmit location information, so there isn't any want to make use of a mobile community. I did not select the Garmin as a result of it was too costly for me. Moreover, the Garmin was too heavy for my canine to put on comfortably. I made a decision to strive the Aorkuler canine GPS tracker. It was the primary time I heard about this model and I by no means knew about it earlier than. The field contained a tracker, controller, antenna, and charging cable. I adopted the directions to arrange the product. After my good friend took the canine out for a stroll for some time, I noticed their course and distance on the controller. I needed to see if the Aorkuler's positioning was correct. So, I began to exit and search for them within the course proven on the controller. To my shock, a couple of minutes later, I discovered them resting on a bench. Later, when my canine chased critters within the hills, I might see his location on the controller. I did not want to fret that I would not be capable to discover him if he obtained misplaced or injured. I'm very pleased with the situation characteristic of the Aorkuler canine tracker. It might monitor my canine in actual time round my home. And to my delight, it has no subscription payment. So, I returned the PitPat and selected to maintain the Aorkuler. Sadly, after utilizing Aorkuler for some time, I lose it. After I took my canine on a hike, I did not fasten his collar as a result of I used to be in a rush. He adopted us your entire time, so I did not use the controller. 

After we obtained house and I used to be about to feed him, I noticed his collar and tracker had been lacking. We hiked removed from house. I do not know the place he misplaced his collar. I emailed the Aorkuler staff for assist they usually obtained again to me the following day with an answer. A product might be thought of the greatest canine tracker if it meets your wants and the customer support is on level. Anybody who has beforehand bought an Aorkuler canine tracker will get a reduction when shopping for a brand new product. So, I repurchased an Aorkuler canine tracker with the assistance of a coupon. I'm grateful to the Aorkuler employees for serving to me. They reply to my emails promptly and resolve my points effectively. After three months of testing, the Aorkuler canine tracker has handed with flying colours. I feel it's the greatest canine tracker with out subscription. At the moment, I have never encountered any troubles whereas utilizing the Aorkuler canine tracker. I extremely suggest this product to rural canine house owners. It does a wonderful job of preserving canine protected. [ad_2] Supply hyperlink

[eteily4]

Understanding RF Antennas: The Backbone of Wireless Communication

Radio frequency (RF) antennas are essential components in the field of wireless communication. They are the unsung heroes who make radio waves possible to send and receive, opening up a wide range of uses from mobile communication to broadcasting. The definition, operation, and wide range of uses of radio frequency antennas are examined in this article.

What is an RF Antenna?

A device used to send and receive radio waves is called an RF antenna. It allows for wireless communication over a range of distances by converting electrical signals into electromagnetic waves and vice versa. Radar systems, mobile phones, satellite communication, Wi-Fi networks, and television and radio broadcasts are just a few of the many uses for RF antennas.

How Do RF Antennas Work?

Electromagnetism's foundational ideas govern how RF antennas function. This is a condensed description of the procedure: Transfer: An alternating current is produced when a radio transmitter transmits an electrical signal to the antenna (AC). The antenna radiates radio waves into the surrounding space as a result of the electromagnetic field this AC creates around it.

Reception:

When radio waves from a transmitter reach an antenna, they induce an AC in the antenna.

The antenna converts these electromagnetic waves back into electrical signals, which are then processed by the receiver.

Types of RF Antennas

Each size and shape of an RF antenna is intended for a particular use and frequency range. These are a few typical kinds: Dipole antenna: consists of two conducting components, usually with the same length. Use Case: Broadly utilized in wireless communication systems and radio and television transmission.

A single-pole antenna A solitary conductive component positioned above a ground plane is described. Use Case: Frequently found in walkie-talkies, cell phones, and antennae installed on vehicles.

The Yagi-Uda antenna consists of several parallel elements, such as a reflector, a driving element, and a number of directors. Use Case: Common for point-to-point communication, amateur radio, and television reception.

Antenna Patch: Describe: Usually placed on a level surface, this antenna is rectangular and flat. Use Case: Frequently utilized in satellite communication, cell phones, and GPS equipment.

Antenna Parabolic: Has a parabolic reflector that concentrates radio waves into a slender beam. Use Case: In radar systems, satellite dishes, and long-distance communications.

The Antenna Performance Factors

The following variables affect how well RF antennas work: Frequently: Various frequency ranges are intended for use with particular types of antennas. The antenna's resonance frequency is determined by its dimensions and form.

Gain: An antenna's ability to concentrate energy in a certain direction is measured by its gain. Longer signal transmission and reception ranges are possible with higher gain antennas.

polarization The electromagnetic waves' orientation is referred to as polarization. The polarization of antennas—vertical, horizontal, or circular—affects how they interact with transmitted signals.

Volume of bandwidth: The range of frequencies that an antenna can function well over is called its bandwidth. A wider range of frequencies may be handled by wideband antennas.

[shinygiverwonderland]

 Mobile Phone Sections and Parts in Every Section

Introduction:-

Do you know what's inside your phone? Although mobile phones have many intricate parts, we don't always consider them when we purchase a new one. Nonetheless, it's still critical to understand the essential components and how they work in a phone. Do you think this is interesting? Now let's get started.

Essential components of a phone

1. IC  chargingCharging IC is in charge of the charging part. It provides the phone's whole internal component with current. It's located next to R22 in the Power Section, Situations where an IC charger malfunctions, the phone stops charging. Faulty phone charger connection, when charging, a mobile phone gets hot.

2. The point of antenna every cell phone has at least one antenna for sending and receiving radio signals. Many small antennas are present in modern cell phones. They might have a GPS antenna, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, and more than one antenna. Should an issue arise with the antenna, your mobile phone will not have a network connection. It is choose a reputed service centre like VIVO AUTHORISED SERVICE CENTRE IN OMKAR NAGAR.

3.RAM Memory that can be accessed instantly is necessary for smartphones to multitask. RAM meets this demand. Games and apps load into RAM. With RAM, you can run multiple apps at once. With RAM being a crucial component of a phone, Android phones have gone from 2GB to 4GB, and now 6GB or 8GB. When it comes to iPhones, the iPhone 7 plus manages to have 3GB of RAM. When you use numerous apps at once or your phone has low RAM, it slows down. It's time to clear up space on your phone.

4. VCO It is located in the network portion and provides the CPU and RF IC with data voltage. Setting frequency comes from the VCO after receiving a directive from the CPU. Your phone will not function and display the messages "Call ended" or "Call failed" if there is a VCO malfunction.

5. TX and filters RX Rx filter:-The component of a phone that filters mobile phone frequencies during incoming calls is known as the RX filter. It is located on the phone's network section. If it's broken, there will be a network issue when the call comes in. TX filter: The component of a cell phone that blocks mobile phone frequencies when making outbound calls. It is located on the phone's network section. If it's broken, there will be a network issue when a call comes in.

6. P.F.O. This kind of integrated circuit, also known as a band pass filter or amplifier, is located in the network area close to the antenna switch. It amplifies and filters network frequency. When a PCO malfunctions, the mobile network is not functional, Poor mobile network performance possible causes of a dead mobile phone include P.F.O, shorts and other network-related issues.

7. IC Flash it is also known as a memory IC, EEPROM, ROM IC, or RAM IC and is located in the PCB's power area. IC has mobile phone software installed. The malfunctioning flash integrated circuit (IC) in your phone could cause it

8. Processor Every mobile device's functionality is managed by the CPU. It's on the power part of the PCB. The CPU controls each segment. If the CPU is broken, then, your smartphone dies entirely, Keyboard malfunctions nothing is visible on the screen.

CONCLUSION:-

As technology continues to advance, mobile phones evolve with new and improved sections and parts, offering enhanced performance, innovative features, and a more immersive user experience. Understanding the intricacies of these sections and parts provides users with a deeper appreciation for the sophistication and engineering behind these indispensable devices. In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile technology, continued exploration and innovation in each section contribute to the ongoing transformation of how we communicate, work, and engage with the world through our mobile devices. If the issue is occurred in any of the above parts then it can be resolved in VIVO AUTHORISED SERVICE CENTRE.

[biggelectronics]

Understanding Arduino Shields: What They Are and How They Work

Arduino is a popular microcontroller platform that has gained immense popularity among electronics enthusiasts and hobbyists. It is easy to use, affordable, and offers a range of capabilities that can be used to build a wide range of projects. One of the key reasons for the popularity of Arduino is the availability of add-on boards called shields that can be used to expand the capabilities of an Arduino board.

In this article, we will explore what Arduino shields are, how they work, and popular types of Arduino shields.

What Are Arduino Shields?

Arduino shields are add-on boards that can be connected to an Arduino board to add additional functionality. They are called shields because they sit on top of an Arduino board like a shield, with pins that align with the headers on the Arduino board.

There are different types of Arduino shields available, each designed to perform a specific function. For example, there are shields for adding WiFi connectivity, Ethernet connectivity, GPS functionality, motor control, and more. Some shields are designed to provide a specific input or output function, while others are designed to provide more complex functionality, such as LCD or Ethernet connectivity.

How Do Arduino Shields Work?

Arduino shields work by connecting to the Arduino board using the header pins that are aligned with the Arduino’s headers. They typically use one of several communication protocols, such as SPI or I2C, to communicate with the Arduino board. This allows the Arduino to communicate with the shield and control its functions.

Popular Arduino Shields and Their Functions

There are many different types of Arduino shields available, each designed to perform a specific function. Here are some popular Arduino shields and their functions:

Ethernet Shield: The Ethernet shield is used to add Ethernet connectivity to an Arduino board. This allows the Arduino to communicate with other devices over a local network or the internet.

2. LCD Shield: The LCD shield is used to add a display to an Arduino board. It typically includes a backlit LCD display and a few buttons for user input.

3. Motor Shield: The motor shield is used to control DC motors and stepper motors. It typically includes several motor driver circuits and can be used to control multiple motors simultaneously.

4. WiFi Shield: The WiFi shield is used to add WiFi connectivity to an Arduino board. This allows the Arduino to communicate with other devices over a wireless network.

5. GPS Shield: The GPS shield is used to add GPS functionality to an Arduino board. It typically includes a GPS module and an antenna and can be used to track the location of an object.

6. Sensor Shield: The sensor shield is used to interface with various sensors and other input devices. It typically includes headers for connecting to sensors and other input devices and may include some basic signal conditioning circuitry.

How to Choose the Right Arduino Shield

When choosing an Arduino shield, it is important to consider several factors, including compatibility with your Arduino board, required functionality, and cost. Different shields are designed to work with different types of Arduino boards, so it is important to ensure that the shield you choose is compatible with your board.

You should also consider the functionality that you require. If you need to add Ethernet connectivity, for example, then you will need to choose an Ethernet shield. If you need to control motors, then you will need to choose a motor shield. Finally, you should consider the cost of the shield. Some shields can be quite expensive, so it is important to choose a shield that fits within your budget.

Conclusion

Arduino ecosystem that allows users to add new functionality to their projects easily. They are designed to be simple to use and allow users to rapidly prototype and build projects without needing to design custom circuitry. With the wide range of shields available, there is a shield for almost any project that you can imagine.

In this article, we have discussed what Arduino shields are and how they work, as well as some of the popular types of shields and their functions. We have also discussed some important factors to consider when choosing the right shield for your project.

We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of Arduino shields and how they can be used to expand the capabilities of an Arduino board. We encourage you to try using Arduino shields in your projects and explore the possibilities they offer for rapid prototyping and building innovative projects.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

An Illuminating Tale of Tracking Turtles

by Amanda K. Martin

*All research was conducted under approved permits from by IACUC, ODNR, and Metroparks. Do not try this at home with local wildlife. Photos by A. Martin unless noted otherwise.

Where do eastern box turtles go? When I started my graduate schooling in Dr. Karen Root’s lab at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, I was quite intrigued by this question. To address it, I conducted a study of box turtle movements in the Oak Openings Region, the distinctive landscape of oak savannas, woodlands, and wet prairies that stretches across seven counties in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

A method called radio telemetry was vital to my work. I walked around under the forest canopy searching for individuals (female or male) and whenever I found one, typically sitting still on the ground, I would pick it up while wearing gloves. In order to track its movements, I attached a radio transmitter onto the carapace (upper shell) using a special type of glue (Fig. 1A). After about a month of searching, I was able to track box turtles at two locations in the Toledo Metroparks system, six individuals in Oak Openings Preserve, and three individuals in Secor Metroparks.

Two to three times a week, I would travel to these local parks and track each turtle using a silver three-pronged antenna and attached receiver. This portable combination detects the signal frequency produced by the transmitter on the tagged turtles, generating a “beeping” sound as it receives the electronic pulse. Guided by “beeps” I could re-find each turtle within an hour (Fig. 1B) depending on how dense the forest understory was. If I walked in the wrong direction, the noise would fade away and become quieter, but as I moved closer to the turtle’s location, the “beeping” sound would get louder and more frequent until I reached the turtle. Sometimes I would walk right past an individual sitting quietly in the leaf litter or under a log as their shell is often highly camouflaged to blend with the sunlit and shadowed patterns of a forest floor. One nice aspect of tracking box turtles with radio telemetry is that they do not run away very quickly, so they are easy to follow!

Fig. 1A (top) and Fig. 1B (bottom): A box turtles with a transmitter (A) tracked by A. Martin using radio telemetry (antenna and receiver; B) in Oak Openings Region, Ohio, USA. Photo by S. Martin (B).

Radio telemetry is an excellent method for re-locating individuals, and provides a snapshot of where the individual is at a given time. With long-term tracking over the active season (mid-March to early November), researchers can better understand movements within a turtle’s home range, the area the animal regularly travels to meet its daily requirements, including food, shelter, and thermoregulation. Home ranges are estimated by drawing an outline around the outermost locations where a turtle was detected throughout the year, and assuming that the individual uses the area inside this boundary (Fig. 2A). Each time a turtle was found, I recorded the GPS coordinates of its location, and could then measure how far the turtle traveled by drawing a straight line between each location point. However, turtles may not always travel in a straight line, but rather follow an indirect route between detection points (Fig. 2B), so this method likely underestimates actual travel distance.

Fig. 2A (top) and Fig. 2B (bottom): Box turtle home range (blue area) with daily movements (each color represents one day of travel) using fluorescent powder (A) and an example of an estimated distance traveled (solid black straight line) and actual distance traveled (dotted black curvier line) between location points (black circles; B).

A research technique involving fluorescent powder can produce a far more accurate picture of daily box turtle movements. Non-toxic fluorescent powder is applied to the turtle’s plastron (underside; Fig. 3A) which then leaves a distinct trail as the turtle travels throughout its environment. At night, with the use of an ultraviolet light (Fig. 3B) these trails can then be illuminated, traced, and mapped. Since box turtles tend to travel near or over the same pathways, and because individual home ranges frequently overlap, multiple powder colors are required for some tracking studies.

I used multiple colors (red, blue, yellow, orange) for different days and individuals. The results of my tracking work using this technique demonstrated that box turtles traveled 32 meters per day, with females traveling slightly less than males, and that 95% of movements were less than 6 meters.

Fig. 3A (top), Fig. 3B (middle), and Fig. 3C (bottom): A freshly painted plastron of a male box turtle (A), A. Martin with a field assistant illuminating the fluorescent powder trail with an ultraviolet light (B, photo by A. Kappler), and A. Martin measuring leaf litter along a box turtle’s pathway (C).

Tracking animals with fluorescent powder is more laborious than radio telemetry but demonstrates fine scale movement patterns not detected by radio telemetry. The frequent use of short movements, for example, is likely related to thermoregulation requirements (the need to move in and out of cool, shady patches), or encounters with multiple obstacles ranging from small to large logs, dense shrubs, and trees. Radio telemetry provides an estimation of home range size, while fluorescent powder tracking provides details on how that home range is utilized. In tandem, these research tools can provide important information on habitat use for local land managers, who can facilitate preservation of these reptiles.

For more information on this project, including data on eastern garter snake movements, check out Chapter 4 of my dissertation.

Amanda K. Martin is a Post-doctoral Researcher in Section of Amphibians and Reptiles. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[mainhazard]

A Homesick Vaquero (Jackie Welles x F!V)

---

V stared put the window of her car as Jackie drove them to meet a new fixer. The orange dirt of the desert and vibrant greens of the cacti caused her pain. Not physical pain, but the pain you felt when reminiscing about your childhood.

"Earth to Vidalia, do you copy?" Jackie laughed, pulling her from her daze. She loved the way he pronounced her name. Vee-dahlia. Not Vi-dale-ya, like the clan called her.

"Sorry, what were you saying, Jackie?"

"How much longer we got on this highway? There's no sights to see."

V checked her GPS. "2.500 kilometers. Wanna listen to some music? My antenna is busted, but my aux still works."

"Nah, it's fine." The bigger man shrugged. "Besides, all you listen to is Samurai and hokey nomad music, eh?"

"Funny." She scowled jokingly. "I'm not a dumb country hick, Jackie. My life wasn't so different from yours growing up."

He rolled his eyes and leaned over, tapping the brim of her snakeskin cowboy hat. "Right, vaquero. I'm sure the desert was just like streets of Heywood."

"Not what I meant." V swatted his hand away, then looked back out the window. "I was beat, too, Jackie... Not by my dad, but by the other kids in the clan. I was isolated from them because my mom was from Night City. Me and her weren't part of their community like my dad."

She was quiet for a minute, then took a deep breath and continued. "She would tell me about growing up in the city, and I fell in love with it. She said she'd take me someday, but abandoned the plan after a while. I left not too long before I met you on that job with the iguana. It was just me, the rod, and this car for about a month."

She paused again and smiled at him. "Then you came along."

"Glad I did. You're one tough girl, you know?" Jackie smiled back. He was quiet for a while, taking in what she had said. "So, is the city what you hoped it would be?"

"Not really." She laughed bitterly. "My main source of income is tracking down goons for the cops. I'm like an old western bounty hunter who was transported into the future. Most of the time, I'm clueless as to what I'm doing. Makes me miss the nomad life sometimes."

V felt tears prickling in her eyes. She cursed under her breath and wiped them on her sleeve, hoping Jackie didn't notice. He did, but he didn't let her know it.

"If it ever gets too much for you," he said. "Bounty hunting, you know, I could hook you up with a job at the Coyote. The ambience resembles the desert. Make you feel more at home."

V grinned at him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Jackie. But I think I'd pick a job cleaning bedpans at Vik's before bartending. No offense, but if I had to serve Kirk every night, I'd either shoot him or myself."

"Dont blame you there, chica. Now let's hurry up and get to this fixer."

[love-and-monsters]

Moth Fae Boyfriend

Male moth fae X gender neutral human

Word count: 2931

The trees rustled above you as you walked through the chilly forest. You hadn’t really expected it to get so cold. When it was day, the sun had warmed you adequately, but now, wrapped only in a thin sweatshirt and jeans, you were starting to freeze.

It shouldn’t have been that much of a problem, but unfortunately, you were also completely and totally lost.

You had never been good with directions, making you almost completely dependent on your phone’s GPS whenever you went for a hike. Usually, that was fine. You just made sure you were always in range of a cell tower and had your portable charger.

But somehow, your portable charger had been missed when you packed and you hadn’t noticed until your phone was almost dead. You’d done your best to follow what you could remember of the directions, but it had been twenty minutes past when you were supposed to arrive at your car and you couldn’t even see any familiar landmarks.

You stumbled to a stop as the wind picked up again, piercing you to your core. After some fumbling, you pulled your phone out of your pocket and poked desperately at the screen, hoping it had a tiny scrap of power left and you could at least ascertain your location and the next direction to travel in. But the screen remained stubbornly and firmly black. No dice. You crammed it back into your pocket and looked around.

The last few rays of the sun still offered you a little light, but within thirty minutes, the forest would be pitch black. Even with your flashlight, you weren’t sure how much luck you’d have navigating a pitch black forest.

Panic and despair welled in your chest. Your breath started to come in shallow gasps as you sank to the ground, your back pressed to the rough trunk of the tree. Tears stung at your eyes. You knew, logically, that if you just kept walking, you would eventually get somewhere you could at least charge your phone, but panic at being stranded in the woods at night was overwhelming you.

Just before you could completely give into your terror and sob like a baby, you heard something rustling. Your head snapped up. Wolves? Did wolves live around your home? A mountain lion, maybe? A fox? A bear?

What you actually saw was not any of those things. Not even close, really. Instead, you saw something strange crouched several feet away from you.

It was humanoid in shape, but not human in any way. It had enormous wings, like a lunar moth, attached to its back and antennae pointing back from its head. The dim light of the forest let you see that the shape was glowing faintly in the dark.

It was strange and startling enough that you stopped panicking and just stared. Your first thought was that you were having some sort of strange, terror-induced hallucination. Your second thought was that you were encountering some form of cryptid. You could see it watching you, antennae twitching as it half-crouched in the leaf litter. Then it started to move toward you.

You squeaked and pressed your back firmly against the tree, legs scrambling uselessly in the leaf litter. The creature stopped moving. It blinked at you with large, silver flecked eyes. For several moments, you just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Finally, the creature opened its enormous wings. They were a pale shade of green and they glowed in the dark. Two enormous eyespots decorated the tops of the wings, surrounded by little circling lines. Your eyes were drawn to them like magnets. The spots were hypnotic. Everything outside of them faded to a sort of swirling black while you stared into the fathomless, swirling eyes.

And then they snapped shut. You blinked your eyes rapidly, your head clearing, and realized that the moth thing had moved. Now it was less than a foot in front of you.

Up close, you could see that the creature was covered in an exoskeleton that caught any light in an iridescent glow. Thick, white fur covered its neck like a ruff and covered the top of its head in soft curls. It had four arms, with four long, black fingers on each hand. Its expression, despite a set of mandibles covering its mouth and large, black eyes, was almost readable. It looked curious.

“Hello.” Its voice was male, but there was an odd trill to it.

“Hi,” you answered automatically. His expression crinkled in a way that made him look like he was smiling.

“Are you lost?” he asked. “You look scared.”

“Uh.” Was it a good idea to tell this mysterious moth man that you were lost? What if he thought you were an easy target and led you astray. “No?”

The creature tilted his head back and forth, staring with his large eyes. Their silver flecks were quite pretty, especially when they caught the light shining off his wings. “You must be lost,” he said. “Otherwise, how did you summon me?”

You pressed yourself more firmly against the tree and tried to take stock of any weapons you might have on your person. There was your pocket knife, but it was in your backpack and probably buried under the rest of your supplies. You couldn’t think of a way to get it out without alerting him that’s what you were doing. “I didn’t summon you,” you said, trying to stall for time.

“You did,” he insisted, antennae twitching. “You are lost at night, crying in the woods. You called for a guide.” He spread all four of his arms. “I can guide you.”

“I wasn’t crying,” you said. He said nothing, just blinked at you. “Where are you going to guide me to?”

“Wherever you desire to be,” he said. He considered you for a moment. “I mean you no harm.” He stretched out a long hand. “Do you accept the offer?”

You stood, carefully bending back so you didn’t brush against him. “I think I’m good. You can go back to wherever you came from.” You seized your bag and took off into the woods at a brisk walk.

It took only a few moments to realize he was following you.

He moved almost silently through the forest, but it would have been impossible to miss, thanks to his subtle-but-present glow. Eventually, you turned around to glare at him. “I don’t need your help. I’m not lost.”

He seemed both curious and confused at that statement, from the little of his expression you could make out. “You are lying.”

“I am not!” You started to pull out your phone and paused. Right, no battery. And meeting up with a giant moth had completely trashed any sense of where you were in relation to your car.

“My name is Willow,” he offered, approaching you. “Who are you?”

“None of your business,” you said. Willow’s antennae drooped and he gave you a look you could only associate with a kicked puppy. A flicker of guilt stirred in your stomach. “Look, I’m okay, so maybe you should just go home?”

He stared. “You are still lying.”

“How do you know?” you snapped.

He clicked his mandibles and smiled. “It is obvious. You are lost.” He said the phrase like he was trying to poke fun at you this time, instead of stating a fact. “I cannot leave until you have returned home. Or wherever it is you won’t feel lost anymore.”

You weighed your options. On one hand, you could refuse his help, keep wandering the forest and get increasingly lost while he followed you, or give in and let him lead you somewhere, possibly home. “Fine. I want to get to my car.”

He gave his odd, rather hidden smile and turned around in a full circle, antennae twitching wildly. After a few moments, the antennae stopped twitching and pointed together in a single direction. He started walking that way and you had no choice but to follow him.

“So,” you said, trotting up so you were right next to him. He was at least a foot taller than you. “What are you exactly?”

“I am fae,” he said. He tilted his head so he was staring at you with one of his eyes. His antennae kept pointing in the same direction. “A forest guide spirit. I used to guide people through this forest in the old days with my glow.” He shifted his wings, glow flickering over the area around him. “But I haven’t been able to help anyone for a long time. That’s why I presented myself to you.”

“Yeah, that’ll be modern technology.” You waved your phone at him. “I wouldn’t have needed your help if my phone hadn’t died.”

“I’m glad your phone died,” he said.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re happy I’m lost?”

He looked at you uncomprehendingly. “That is not what I meant.”

“No, I know- I was joking.” His expression didn’t change. “Uh, never mind.”

“Can I see what a phone is?” he asked. You hesitated, but you couldn’t imagine him taking off into the forest with a phone. What did a fae even want with a phone? You held it out to him and he delicately took it. His sharp fingertips grazed your palm.

He clumsily poked at the buttons and rotated it in his hands. You winced when he tapped his sharp claw against the screen. “It seems useless,” he said.

“Yeah, because it’s out of power,” you said, taking it back and examining the screen. There were no new scratches, thank god. “I need to charge it. But when it works, it can give me directions.”

“That is interesting,” he said, though he didn’t look like he was actually all that interested. His antennae twitched and he readjusted his course. “Can your phone-”

You never learned what he was going to say next because one of your feet caught on a branch and you tumbled head over heels down the slope you were on. Willow let out a cry of surprise as you rolled down the hill, thudding on rocks that jutted up from the leaf litter. You came to a sharp stop when your back hit a tree, thankfully not hard enough to damage anything.

Willow skidded to a stop next to you. “Are you all right?” He looked ruffled. His mane was fluffed up, his wings were half extended and his antennae were pointing down at you.

“Ow.” You sat up slowly, feeling the ache of multiple bruises on your body. “That sucked.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Willow asked, all four of his hands hovering awkwardly over your body.

“Technically, I am hurt everywhere,” you said, standing up. “But not that bad. I’m just banged up.”

Willow’s antennae rotated back in the direction of your car. “Maybe you shouldn’t try walking in the dark anymore,” he suggested.

“What else are we supposed to do?” you asked.

Willow offered you his four arms. “I can fly and I could carry you, if you desired.”

You regarded him suspiciously. Not only did that seem like an ideal strategy if he wanted to kidnap you, but there was also the very real fact that he could drop you. “Uh.”

“I promise I will not drop you,” he said. He gave one of his slightly strange smiles and you found it hard to say no. You couldn’t stand to hurt his feelings.

If he was trying to kidnap you, he was amazingly effective at it. Had any other kidnappers attempted to weaponize their cuteness? It was apparently a good strategy.

“Fine. Carry me back to my car, then.” Before you could even try to prepare, he grabbed you in all four of his arms, bridal style, and took off.

His wings worked to carry the pair of you higher and higher into the sky. Within seconds, you had cleared the tops of the trees and were heading up toward the full moon.

It was quite a beautiful night. The moon was large in the sky and the stars were mirrored by the little lights on the ground. Up above the trees, you could see Willow’s glow even more clearly. It was a perfect pale green, soft against the darkness without being harsh.

He was fuzzy too, which you hadn’t really thought about. But the ruff around his neck was soft and warm and you were pretty happy that your position let you press your cheek into it.

You had been expecting flying to be sort of terrifying. After all, you were flying in the arms of a fae with nothing to protect you if you fell. But it was oddly peaceful in the sky. There was only the wind whistling by and the gentle flapping of Willow’s wings.

“It’s nice up here,” you observed. You leaned over, trying to get a better look at the ground. Willow’s hands tightened around you.

“Try not to move,” he said. “I really don’t want to drop you.” He considered for a moment. “I would be able to catch you, of course, but I don’t want to have to do that.”

“Right,” you agreed. “That would be bad.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, just in case. He didn’t seem to mind all that much. His arms tightened around you gently.

It only took you a few minutes of flying over the forest to reach your car. Willow circled for a moment before dropping down next to it. His wings gave a few extra flutters, then he placed you in the ground. You wobbled for a moment, Willow keeping one of his upper hands on your back in order to steady you. “Here is your car!” he said cheerfully. “We made it!”

“Oh, thank god,” you said, slumping across the hood of your car. “Oh, I have never been happier to see this stupid gas guzzler.”

His antennae twitched and he gave one of his soft little smiles. “I’m glad that my services were appreciated.” He dipped his torso in a little bow. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

You hesitated. “I don’t think so. I know my way home from here, so I guess we can part ways now.” You turned fully to face him. “Thank you, by the way. I don’t know if I said that already.”

“You didn’t. I appreciate it.” Willow smiled, eyes shining in the moonlight. His wings opened and he took a step back. “Perhaps we will see each other again someday.”

“Maybe,” you said. His wings fluttered and he retreated into the woods. Within a few seconds, his faint glow had vanished.

You stared after him for a few seconds, until you were sure he was really gone, then you turned and got into your car. Your headlights flared to life, illuminating the darkness, and you drove into the night.

A few weeks later, you returned to the forest. It was midday when you hiked back up to the spot you’d met Willow in. Or, at least, where you thought it was. Maybe it was a good thing if you couldn’t fine it? Might draw him out sooner.

There was a rustling from behind you. You whirled around in time to see Willow stepping out from behind a tree. He peered at you curiously, antennae twitching. “Hello. What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you,” you said. He tilted his head at you. His wings fluttered.

“Why? Are you lost again?” He stepped closer to you, gaze curious.

“Uh. Not exactly. I just wanted to see you.”

Willow blinked at you. After a moment, he smiled, though it was still a little confused. “Why would you want to see me if you aren’t lost?”

You gave a shy grin. “Because the last time we met was nice and I wanted to see you again.”

His antennae twitched rapidly and his wings fluttered. His glow, faint as it was in the sunlight, deepened slightly. You wondered if that was his form of blushing. “You just wanted to see me?”

“Yeah. I’ve never net a fae before. I thought it would be cool to see you again. And, uh, I thought you might like to see this.” You pulled your phone out of your pocket and held it out to him. “I charged it, so I thought you might like to see it, if you wanted.”

“Really?” His antennae poked straight up and he held out his hands. You tilted your phone into it and watched his eyes widen as the screen lit up. “Oh… It’s beautiful!”

“You haven’t done anything with it yet,” you said. He just stared into the phone screen, glossy eyes reflecting its light.

“The light is so pretty,” he mumbled, eyes widening more than you thought was possible. You couldn’t help but giggle at his ridiculously entranced expression. Gently, you took the phone from him. He blinked a few times, shaking himself out of his trance.

“But that still doesn’t explain how you were able to summon me,” he said. “Usually only people who are lost can bring me out.”

You grinned, feeling a blush touch your cheeks. “I guess I just felt lost without you, then.”

 He stared at you with eyes almost as wide as when he’d looked into your phone screen. Then he leaned forward and pressed his forehead gently to yours. His soft hair tickled your skin. You grinned, holding him close. You no longer felt lost.

[wildshub]

WHO: The Twilight of Adams WHAT: The boys head over to the cliff to turn on the repaired radio, hoping to get into contact with someone who can rescue them.  WHEN: Day 2 NOTE: For future reference.

Callum Callum would rather hike to the cliff and back with broken legs twenty times over than do it once with all of the other boys from the plane. Between two of the boys having to be carried and Warren teaching them all a song about how English was his favorite subject the entire way there, the Canadian felt thisclose to offing himself. The only thing keeping Callum from doing so was knowing that when they reached the cliff, they could finally turn the radio on. The radio that was now all fixed thanks to Jorts and JJ. “Yo, hey!” He called out to Sebastian when he first caught a glimpse of the boy and the fire they'd started. “They fixed the antenna. Let’s get this thing going." He practically yanked Warren off of Blue's back and dragged him over to Sebastian once they reached their destination. Not even bothering to ask Warren if he could touch his bag, Callum unzipped it and got the radio out, showing it off to Sebastian like it was the Stanley fucking Cup. "The twerps fucking did it."

Sebastian Sebastian could have waved at Callum, he could have given him any more of a greeting than the simple nod of acknowledgement that he did but he wasn't trying to be hella gay or anything, so alas, he remained fairly static. "Shit, you're kidding me," he found it hard to believe that Jorts could accomplish anything other than being chronically annoying but he didn't say that, instead he allowed himself to relish in the feeling of success, as limited as it was. "Wait, wait, wait, before we go too crazy, we need a strat," he instructed with his hands out in front of him, warning the other boys. "You said we've got limited battery on this thing- we don't want to waste it stuttering like idiots. We need to know how we're gonna handle the frequency and we need to know what we're gonna say and we need to know it by heart before we even touch that on button,"

Lukas "Yo, the fuck, dude, " Lukas objected half-assed-ly as he witnessed Callum pull Warren from Blue's back and basically dragged him over to Sebastian and the fire like they were about to sacrifice the Nordic cripple. Though he'd stuck towards the back of the group the hike up, now shit seemed to be happening he pushed the pace to catch up. Nudging Blue on the arm as he passed, he asked " You good? " with raised brow, referencing the bullshit Callum was on. But he didn't linger long, making his way to Thing 1 and Thing 2 but on steroids before they ruined his whole day of work on that stupid radio. " Bro, just because you couldn't even think to turn the thing on doesn't make the rest of us Stephen Hawking or whatever the fuck, " He said, announcing his presence with dry tone. He cast a glance to Warren, just to make sure the fucker hadn't lost a leg in the last thirty seconds thanks to Callum and his island famous manners. " If we're lucky, and, really fucking stupid lucky, " he was trying his best to be serious but even with his best efforts he still sounded kind of like he was taking the piss, " the frequency hasn't moved far from whatever channel it was on to begin with. But, it was in the ocean, " and Callum basically dry humped it all night, " so chances aren't looking too hot. Whatever we say it's gotta be short enough that we can say it, wait a few seconds on that channel for response, then move on without wasting a fuckload of battery. "

Sawyer With an extra hundred-and-some pounds on Sawyer’s back, the hike up the cliff had been a bitch on his ankle. But it was considerably less damage than Liam would’ve done if he’d tried to climb up on his own – and Lord knew they needed all the manpower they could get if they were stuck here any longer than a couple nights. After letting him down, Sawyer wandered over to where the rest of the group had congregated, clapping Canada on the shoulder and standing on his tiptoes to get a good look at the radio. "Shame we can't tap into a police frequency," he said. That would be his first try if a radio happened to wash up onshore with its batteries still intact. "How about our plane number, the number of guys stranded here, and, uh...shit, to bring us some fuckin' life rafts or somethin'."

Liam while liam was extremely grateful that sawyer offered to carry him up to the cliff, he couldn't help the feeling of guilt the entire way. he may be the shortest guy out of the group, but he was still pretty stocky and muscular. lukas probably weighed less than him. but thankfully they made it and the other boy let him down, liam hopping a few times before getting steady on his feet, making sure to not put too much pressure on his bad leg. "does anyone remember the plane number?" he spoke up, feeling like he was going to be shot with a bunch of sass from the meaner members of the group. "but uh, yeah, definitely say how many of us are here..."

Blue blue nodded in response as people check in on him, and he didnt mind shooing them off but the truth was carrying warren was tiring. he leaned against a tree, catching his breath while watching the others regroup, rallying around the radio. "is there like....a global mayday code?" his words came between breaths, occassionally glsncing around. "how many of us are injured too maybe....?"

Callum Callum shrugged the Hick's hand off of his shoulder, shooting him a clear dude, the fuck? look. "Who even remembers a plane number?" He pointed out. "Does anyone know it?" A question for the rest of the huddle. "Number of guys is good. And the injured thing too." He gave Blue props in the form of a nod for that. "But global mayday code? So like what, 911?" Nothing else came to mind.

Sebastian Sebastian listened to the others, some more carefully than others. "I don't think we need to waste time talking about who's injured and who's not, nobody's dying and they'll figure it out when they get there," he suggested, though the number of people in need of rescue was definitely worth mentioning. "Nah, 911 is just the U.S. bro, there's another one for international emergencies but that's on cell phones. Radios are a whole different ball game, it doesn't work like a dial-in service"

Liam liam froze for a second as everyone started talking over each other to figure out the best way to go about this. he always had a bad habit of freezing in stressful situations, and this was about as stressful as it could get. but after some talk about 911, he tried to find his voice and speak up. "i'm pretty sure you just say, like, mayday three times or something. the other people will figure it out. you don't need a code. at least that's what they do in movies."

Lukas Lukas didn't know why telling whoever might be listening how many were injured was necessary at all but maybe they would edit before the decided on a final message. For the most part he stayed quiet (shockingly) while ideas were thrown around, just watching the two meatheads with the radio. Afraid they might get a little too riled up and break the thing, like he hadn't been basically tossing it around that very morning. He didn't know the flight number, even though his mother had said it a million and one times just yesterday, but Lukas did know an international mayday code. " Like, SOS? " He asked, looking to the group, surely these dumb motherfuckers didn't mean that and not be able to think of it. " That's the international distress code, " or if it wasn't technically, at least anyone on a boat or plane out there would know what the fuck it was.

Blue as he sat beside his pal liam, he listened in, but looked to sky like he'd see a helicoptor and could say nevermind to all this. "so..sos, uh...what 9 stranded...mayday?" it wasnt like he expected his word to make an impact but he has hoped he could organize all this before having to carry warren back down.

Sawyer Sawyer feigned hurt when Callum shrugged his hand off, rolling his lips together to stifle a chuckle when he looked away again. He couldn’t see shit with everyone huddled together like this, so he opted to step back from the group and poke a rock around with his toe. “It don’t work like a GPS,” he interjected, “so nobody’s gonna know what the hell we’re talkin’ about if we just go in with a stress signal. Flight number’s our best bet of being located, with the name of the island we were s'posed to land on second.”

Sebastian Sebastian found himself getting increasingly frustrated with the group he'd unfortunately become a part of by way of disaster. "That's a fucking morse code distress signal- not a stress signal and it's for when you don't have a radio, this is different," his voice became a little harsher as he continued. "Yes, you say mayday, we got that part sorted, okay, we need to tune into a frequency so that we're actually saying it to somebody that can actually do something about our situation and not some fucking ninety year old ham radio loser in Iowa trying to make a friend," he explained. "-but you're right. We need flight number or anybody with a unique enough name. I'm Sebastian Claude Sergeant," he announced, though he wasn't convinced it was unique enough. "Blue, Dash- those your legal names? You're probably our best bet if so unless your last names are Smith,"

Sawyer Sawyer raised his hand, still kicking a rock around. "I got a criminal record."

Warren For once, this conversation got interesting to him. He turned to Sawyer. "That's sexy. For what?"

Sebastian Sebastian turned to Sawyer suddenly at the revelation, "What the fuck?" perhaps it was the suddenness of the statement or perhaps it was the fact itself but either way, it had surprised Sebastian in that moment. "Okay, you're out, nobody's coming for you," he decided, as if a criminal record immediately made Sawyer disposable, regardless of what it was for. "Shut up, Von Trapp, now is not the time," he spat at Warren a moment later, "Names, who has a good one," he reminded the group.

Blue blue was ready to responde but hearing sebastian's full name caught him off guard. "word? ok. blue barrowcliffe. legal name." he offered an understanding look to sawyer, not based on shared experience but moreso on wanting sawyer to feel alright. unless he murdered someone.

Sawyer "Hotwirin' a 1500," he replied, winking and clicking his tongue. "Meanin'~" Sawyer spun around on his foot. "They can legally look me up in state records. You got state records in your name, Claude?"

Liam liam's eyes widened when sawyer say that out of nowhere. of course that annoyed sebastian and the two went at each other. liam just looked down at his feet and mumbled to himself, "i do." not that anyone asked him. but he just hated how heated everything was getting and wasn't really thinking.

Sebastian Sebastian did not, for a second like being referred to by his middle name, especially not with such a facetious fucking tone from Deliverance. "Yeah, cowboy, I got a birth certificate, a social security number, enrollment in school, my car is registered, I've got medical records- do you want me to continue, genius?" he asked bitterly before Liam piped up. "You do what, bro? If you've got something to say, use your words,"

Lukas " It's a radio thing, dude, " Lukas said, mainly just to be contrary to Sebastian but he was also fairly certain he was right. He snorted a laugh when Sebastian revealed his middle name, but didn't risk saying anything about it. The snort was enough to let Gigantor know that it sounded fucking stupid. Looking to Sawyer when he revealed his criminal record, he didn't think now was the time to bring up his own. And plus, high school drug dealing didn't really compare to auto theft. But, it was still a good idea. " Yo, that's smart. " He complimented, though Liam's confession was far more surprising. Unlike Sebastian he could put together context clues. " A criminal record? Does it beat auto theft? " He asked, not really able to imagine short king doing anything besides maybe some smoking. " I'm thinking it's between Big Blue and GTA right now, " no one cares what you're thinking, Lukas.

Liam he looked up when sebastian addressed him, not realizing anyone heard him. "nothing," he said quietly, deciding to stay quiet for the rest of the time.

Callum "Okay, so... fuck." He shook his head, keeping up with that entire exchange made his brain feel like mush. "We'll use Blue's name, mention how many of us are here and... shit,  really does no one remember the plane number?"

Blue blues proximity allowed him another front row view to liam’s emotions and he gave him a soft pat on the back. while he hadn’t wanted to rock claude’s boat, he felt protective to the guys he was so critical of. "hey, we're getting sidetracked. let’s agree on a message and get home. I domt know the plane number or the pilot’s name.....what fucking company even set this retreat up?"

Liam "no, it does," he said to lukas when he asked, feeling like he was just wasting everyone's time anytime he spoke. he glanced over to blue and gave him a small smile when he tried to comfort him. "it was the twilight of adam," he remembers because his lawyer kept repeating it to the judge as if it was some church thing to rehabilitate him.

Warren Warren was never one for idle moments. He was the type of person who hated being still for too long. Nothing bored him like conversations that seemed to go nowhere. He was a person of action. The only way he could tolerate another minute of these boys not recalling information and sharing their gay middle names was if he was drunk, and unfortunately, there was not a drop of Dom Perignon Brut in him. He sighed. "Okay, you know what–" He had a lot of energy saved up from being carried up here. He could do this. He hopped over and snatched the radio out of Callum's hands, making quick work of getting away by prancing over to the ledge where he knew everyone would be careful around him. He turned the radio on. "Mayday, mayday, 911, this is Blue Cliffebarrel, I'm on an unknown island with 15 other boys and one of us have a criminal record, over."

Lukas Maybe they all should have expected Warren to be the one to cause trouble, but it certainly surprised Lukas when he made a grab for the radio, succeeded, and then hobbled away to the edge of the cliff before anyone could do anything about it. " What the fuck, " he reacted, more statement than question but it quickly got more heated when the cripple started talking " Dude! " He raced over, though Warren's plan worked and he slowed down when he got close to the edge. " Did you not hear any of that shit about the battery? " He snatched the walkie out of his hands, feeling a lot better now he had it rather than Warren or either of the Hulk impersonators. " And none of that even made any fucking sense, if anyone heard that they're just gonna think we're some idiot kids fucking around. " He said irritably, turning the thing back off. Too be fair, they were some idiot kids but he thought they were trying their best not to fuck around.

Sebastian�� Sebastian's patience had been wearing thing, needless to say. Not that it had been particularly in tact even before the other boys had started squawking at each other. When Warren snatched the radio, however, regardless of his precarious position, Sebastian launched. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you want to fucking die today? You said nothing- nothing of any value and nobody understands your goddamn hurdy durdy bullshit anyway," his was easily the most offensive of all the accents on the island in Sebastian's firm opinion. He couldn't believe he was in agreement with Jorts but for the first and perhaps the last time, Jorts was right, this was not the time to fuck around and he was glad the radio was turned off again. "Thank you" he offered the smaller boy genuinely, slightly relieved that the radio was seemingly in the hands of somebody that was taking this shit seriously now.

Warren "I said everything you all were talking about," Warren launched into his own defense as the walkie was snatched away from him. " Did I miss anything?" He asked the group, not waiting around for their answers. "I didn't miss a beat!" And then of course, Sebastian had to go off on him because if he didn't go off on someone every hour, his penis would shrink in size and that clearly couldn't happen. "Oh fuck off, Claude. Je m'en fous, frère. Coller l'antenne dans ton cul! Vous vous sentirez mieux."

Sawyer Right. Sawyer didn't speak French, but those sounded enough like fighting words for him to step between Claudia and the angry little Swedish man, putting a sizable distance between them. "Yeah, alright, oui oui. Last thing we need is to start fightin' with each other, so let's just...re-calibrate. Curly can take it from here, yeah?"

Sebastian Sebastian squared his shoulders at Warren's squealing, "Yeah you missed the part where you did anything fucking useful- Barrel-cliff, are you fucking kidding me?" he had registered it the first time but reminded of the mistake, he fired up all over again. Then came yet another Claude jab, "Call me Claude one more fucking time, I dare you, I'll hit you so goddamn hard you'll have to learn to speak French without teeth," he warned, whether Warren was on the cliff or not didn't matter much to Sebastian when his patience was being tested. He inhaled sharply at Sawyer's advice and nodded his head, "Yeah," he agreed, cracking the knuckles of one hand in his palm, "Back to square one,"

Lukas Ask him an hour ago if Lukas ever thought him and Sebastian would be on the same side of an argument Lukas would have made a fart noise in response. But now look at them, Lukas was having to hold back another Claude comment after he was thanked. Hyper aware of the cliff edge seeing as Claude was basically shaking Warren over it he took a few steps back towards the group and the fire. " Yeah, " He confirmed, looking up when Sawyer spoke. He actually didn't want this responsibility but he did not trust any of these idiots with it, not even the idiots he liked, so it had to fall to him. " So, " he started, running over all the suggestions from before Warren's interjection in his head. " Mayday, flight number, Twilight of Adam. How many of us there are, and a name they can look up easily. " He listed the things off, counting them on his fingers and conveniently leaving out the ones he thought were dumb. " That it? " He asked the group, letting it sit for a beat before he brought up the point Callum had just before. " Does anyone have any idea of the flight number? " Because he sure as fuck didn't.

JJ with all the bickering in the air, Jacob got lost in thought trying to figure out if the geographical landmarks of the island could tell him any more of their current location. Other than tropical and approaching rain season, he didn’t seem to notice much else. It wasn’t until Lukas had presented the questions again that his mind was pulled back to reality. “Private hire Boeing 12596...” he replied calmly. “Fifteen survivors. Heading through South-West links. Jacob Sanders, that’s my name. Plane crashed roughly two hours and fourty minutes from the expected arrival time to Hawaii. If the pilot flew the right route, they should be able to find us.” He said all he had to say and left the others to decide what to do with it. Of course, he felt he knew a better way to do so but did not want to be met with Sebastians anger issues, Warrents utter imbecility or anyone else’s need for explanations.

Sebastian Sebastian pointed at JJ and clicked his fingers, "That's it- fucking perfect- almost. A few changes- you're gonna say you're Blue Barrowcliffe, Canadian national- and make sure you mention that the plane went down. Private hire Boeing- whatever- down," he corrected, "Don't waste time we don't have," he justified a moment later.

Warren Warren rolled his eyes at all of Sebastian's threats. Hagrid didn't scare him one bit. He made faces behind Stumbo the Giant's back as JJ swooped in to save the day, doing his best to stay standing on his good foot as he listened in. He supposed what JJ said was far better than what he'd come up with. He didn't like how Sebastian seemed to be happy about it. He was going to do something to change that. "Are we sure we don't want to go with Sebastian Claude Sergeant? Because I would cross oceans in seconds just to see what kind of person that gay ass name belongs to."

Sebastian If it wasn't clear that Sebastian had had enough of Warren by now, the look on his face after his most recent comment would surely make it clear, even to NASA. He spun around to face the male and wrapped his hand around his neck firmly, "Good idea, I'll throw you across the fucking ocean to show you what kind of person I am," he suggested savagely, tugging ruthlessly at the other boy's throat as he got in close to his face.

Warren "Not really my kink but choking is close. Do it harder," Warren gasped out, grinning like an idiot as his face grew red.

Sawyer Their brief moment of triumph was quickly overshadowed by Sebastian’s short temper, and none of them were currently in the position to weather that storm. Sawyer acted on reflex, reaching out to grip Sebastian’s shoulder in a feeble attempt to pull him away from Warren and the edge of the cliff they were standing on. “Woah woah, hey - fuck, man, enough, you’re gonna kill him!”

Lukas Thank God JJ had enough braincells to make up for the rest of this sorry gang of misfits. Lukas felt a wave of relief wash over him as JJ was able to answer all the questions he had and without being an absolute moron about it. " Boeing 12596, heading through South-West links, " he repeated those details, nodding as he tried to commit them to memory. But on top of that, JJ had been calm about most things so far, approaching everything with reason, so it made Lukas think he'd be the least likely to stumble under pressure. Plus, JJ was probably the only person besides himself that he didn't need to watch like a hawk with the radio. " Alright, do you wann– " he starts to offer the radio, but before he can finish Gigantor and the Nordic cripple were having at it. " What the fuck, " he uttered for the third time in about five minutes, looking over at the interaction but with the radio still in hand he made no move to get between them like Sawyer did. Even in the weird circumstances an abrupt laugh escaped him at Warren's gasped comment. Then he looked to Callum, probably one of the only guys in the group that had any chance of taking on Sebastian. " You wanna fucking get control of your buddy there? " He raised his brows and tilted head towards the situation aka Warren getting murked and liking it.

Sebastian Sebastian stumbled back with hands on his shoulders but he didn't take Sawyer's words as a warning, "Then I'd be doing everybody a goddamn favor," he shot back, it didn't seem like a bad thing if the loudmouth European took a plunge off the edge of this conveniently placed cliff if it meant he didn't take any more shots at fucking up their plans for survival...or call him Claude again. He shrugged Sawyer's grip off of him but it didn't do much to ease his hostility toward Warren who was pressing just about every button Sebastian had at this point.

Callum Callum was fixated on the radio. He just wanted everyone to shut the fuck up so JJ could turn that thing on and spout all the information they took forever to agree on already. But then Warren. The fucking invalid idiot just couldn't keep his mouth shut. He sighed, moving away from JJ to assist Sawyer in deescalating the situation. "Yo, hey, Sebastian-" His concern for the situation grew when the Hick was shrugged off and the pressure around Warren's neck didn't ease. "Hey! C'mon!" He grabbed onto Sebastian's shoulders and pulled, hoping a more aggressive approach would make a difference.

Warren Warren was suffering. But he was also: thriving. Seeing the anger on Sebastian's face brought him joy like you would not believe. It was the only fun he's had on this island so far. "Is this all you got, Claude? Did Daddy not show you how it's done? You have to do it like this-" His hands left their position over Sebastian's, moving to grip Claude's neck with his own fingers.

Sebastian It was the name, it was the mention of his father, it was the shit-eating grin on Warren's face. Sebastian was immediately seeing red again and no amount of 'hey come on's from any of the other boys was enough for him to simmer down. "You wanna lose this fucking hand?" he asked, gripping onto the other boy's wrist still with Warren's  hand wrapped around, "Try it, I fucking dare you, see what happens,"

JJ He was mildly amused by the situation at hand. He found Sebastian’s irrational anger to Warrens imbecilic digs to be a waste of time and energy. Perhaps neither of them were aware just how important energy was in situations such as these, where the distance between them and their next meal was unknown and so was the distance between them and the rescue. Trying to speed the situation up, he’ll take the radio over from Lukas and move aside from the dick measuring contest. He adjusts the antenna until he can hear out the clear static. “Mayday, mayday” he will repeat, hoping the channel would pass through their call for help. “Maybe we could..” he skips through different channels, trying his best to find something intelligible, in any language. “We should get higher.”

Radio "92.1–" Static noises.

Lukas Unlike JJ, even preoccupied by the radio, Lukas was growing increasingly concerned about the whole Warren and Sebastian situation. Maybe if they weren't so close to a cliff, he wouldn't be so concerned– but then again Dash's words about Sebastian being their very own General Zaroff came to mind. His attention snapped back to JJ and the radio when the radio seemed to spurt something out, though it was hard to hear. " Did that just say something? " He asked looking back up at JJ, maybe he'd watched Ghost Adventures too many fucking times and was just making himself hear shit in the static. He nodded in agreement at the idea of getting higher, their makeshift antenna needed all the help it could get. Though, he couldn't leave without saying anything. " You think they're good? Like Sawyer and Callum probably have it handled, right? " He asked, glancing to the group by the cliff and then back to JJ, once again asking him for some reassurance that they weren't all gonna die here.

Sawyer Sawyer’s gaze flickered between the two groups of boys, spine stiffening as the radio whirred and crackled to life. That was it—that light at the end of the tunnel they were all so desperately chasing after. It was too fucking close for them to turn their backs on it now. He shot an urgent look at Callum, tilting his head toward Sebastian as if to say, fucking pull him off.

JJ With Lukas' attention dancing between the radio and the bikini contest, JJ focused entirely on quickly securing the antenna further using the string coming off his sleeve. As the static started coming through he could feel his body buzz with surprise and he'll press the button to the right. "Mayday, Mayday, Boeing 12596 coming through, do you copy?" he releases the button to allow the other side to process and continues to walk further up the hill, unsure if the change of location was actually helping the process or if they would have had a better chance sticking to the coast. "Come on..." he says, turning towards the group. "We might have something."

Callum The radio! It was obvious to anyone what Callum cared about more. Honestly, would it be the worst thing if Sebastian crushed Warren's windpipes? They could use all the quiet they could get to hear that thing. "Sebastian, come on, quit it-" He hooked an arm over Sebastian and leaned back, hoping his weight and the force would successfully separate the two. "Yo, Texas! A hand!"

Warren Warren has never been so close to death before. And he's taken a dangerous cocktail of party favors with nothing but a shot of absinth in his stomach once before. "Come on, Daddy Claude! Harder! Show me how you do it back home!" He laughed maniacally.

Sebastian That was the last straw, or maybe it was the laugh, or maybe Sebastian was just over tired but he wasn't fucking around anymore and without a moment more of hesitation he threw his weight into a punch that connected seamlessly with the other boy's face.

Sawyer “Jesus Christ,” Sawyer muttered beneath his breath; the first time he’d ever considered calling for God to help them escape from this apocalyptic hellhole. He hadn’t been quick enough to grab Sebastian’s arm before it reeled back, releasing with a sharp punch that caused a crack so loud it sent chills down Sawyer’s spine. He did, however, have the sense to grab Warren’s arm and yank him forward—at least enough to keep him from plummeting to his early death. “Alright, we need to cool it. Now.”

Lukas Okay, so, JJ's non-response didn't fucking settle Lukas' nerves at all. So instead he simply had to focus on the radio, the yelling all getting a little too fucking real for him real quickly. When he suggested moving, Lukas followed, though not without casting a glance over his shoulder to catch the argument getting more and more heated by the second. When a fist connected with Warren's face, Lukas was shocked. Not that Sebastian had hit someone, that was fairly predictable, but just at the whole fucking situation. " Yo, we gotta fucking get to someone before Gigantor fucking kills him. " He said, not bothering to hide the growing panic, turning back to JJ and continuing to follow him further up the hill. Using the ideal of not witnessing a death on top of all the trauma of surviving a plane crash to focus him on helping with the radio.

JJ He would have continued walking as he was and expecting everyone to fall in line. Once again, as per usual, he was let down by the sheer lack of ability some humans possessed to prioritise. Looking over his shoulder, he witnesses the argument, teasing and pinning had now gotten much too real and he'll stop in his tracks, passing the radio over to Lukas before heading back for the group. For the first time, he will approach Sebastian directly. His voice remains calm, almost quiet. "If you walk front of the line, you won't be able to hear the next thing coming out his mouth. Come on, radio is buzzing." he'll give Warren a look filled with pity, uncontrollably so and with the same tone he'll not even bother to check if the others head was still in place. "You walk the back of the line. Your leg is fucked enough." with a sigh, he'll look over at everyone else. "Everyone good? Can we keep moving?" they still had to reach the peak and walk all the way back before the sun sets. Otherwise, they might have just made a fatal mistake.

Warren Warren spat, a spatter of red and enamel on the ground when he did so. "Fuck..." Coughing, he gripped onto Sawyer to stay standing. He accidentally put weight on his bad foot in the middle of the chaos he'd started, so in addition to his mouth throbbing from the impact of Sebastian's fist, his leg now twinged with pain too. "He started it..." Warren had the audacity to say, holding onto to Sawyer a little tighter in anticipation for how Sebastian would react to that.

Sebastian Sebastian looked at the male with pure and utter disdain at how pathetic he looked and sounded. "-and I'll finish it too, don't think I won't," he barked in response, more than happy to give him another smack to even out the bruising on each side.

Callum Callum clapped a hand over Sebastian's shoulder. "Stop. C'mon, man." He was tired. He just wanted to get to the fucking peak like JJ said and try to reach out to someone. This shit, whatever was going on between Sebastian and Warren, it was a pointless waste of time.

Sawyer Normally, Sawyer liked to think of himself as the one with his head screwed on (somewhat) straight in times of disarray, but the calm coldness of JJ’s voice as he addressed the other boys was eerie—even to him. He stumbled a little as Warren shifted his weight into Sawyer’s side, looking down to see splatters of blood painted across his own white undershirt. Shit. He’d just bought this one for the trip, too. “Yeah, nah, JJ’s right. We’re done with all...this.”

Lukas The next couple seconds happen way too fast for Lukas to process in the moment. One second, he'd handed off the radio duty to JJ and the next JJ was successfully pulling the two that were fighting (if you could call what Warren was doing fighting back,) apart and seemingly ending the commotion. He was paused on the hill, watching it all unfold, but after a second another unintentional chuckle tumbled from his lips. " Are y'all done? " He called out to the group by the cliff, amusement on his tongue and shit eating grin back on his features as if he hadn't been scared shitless moments ago. " 'Cause we actually got fucking signal on this mother fucker, " He said enthusiastically, holding up the walkie in celebratory manner. A small and probably shit attempt to stop another fight from breaking out any second.

Sebastian Sebastian raised his hands, though there was a self-satisfied smugness coloring his features that made it obvious that he was pretty pleased with himself, despite the blood shed- or perhaps because of it. "I'm done," he announced plainly, happy for all things to be said and done as long as Warren didn't dare open his fat mouth again, at least for another half an hour or so. He wiped his hand on his shorts, whether it was spit or blood he didn't know, nor did he care, "So we're high enough to get a signal, now we need to find a better channel, right- is that what we're saying?"

Lukas Okay was it just Lukas or were he and Sebastian actually getting along? Nothing brings people together like almost murdering and almost witnessing murder. " Pretty much, " Lukas confirmed, though it was mainly just an assumption. His radio knowledge was still relatively basic, even after rebuilding this one with JJ. " We're gonna go a little higher, see if it can get any clearer. 'Cause while you guys were jacking each other off or whatever, " he had to make a joke, even dismissively, he couldn't actually acknowledge what he had just witnessed " I swear to God, this thing said something. " He insisted, though he hadn't actually caught what it had said in the moment.  " So let's go, " he said, turning on his heel and returning to the mission of getting a bit higher before anyone could get back to the murder.

Sawyer The snort that escaped Sawyer after Curly’s little dig was entirely involuntary, but also entirely deserved. He was just glad he didn’t have to be an accessory to murder today—that’d be a hard one to explain to his parole officer when he got home. With a final, mournful sigh for his dirtied, bloodied shirt, he chucked the thing off over his head and handed it to Warren. “For the bleeding, Bateman.” Sawyer clapped his hands together. “Now let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Warren "Thank you, Yeehaw." His lips pushed into whatever form of a smile he could manage. Warren bunched up the shirt and pressed it to his mouth, giving Sebastian a nasty glance as he did so.

Callum "Alright." Callum clapped his hands together, glad JJ was able to settle the commotion. "Let's fucking do this." He was more than ready to put this dumb shit behind them for the sake of accomplishing what they actually came to do today. He jogged up to Jort's side, wanting to be up close to the action in case the thing crackled to life again.

Lukas As the group continued up the hill, Lukas returned his attention to the radio. Turning it back on, he adjusts the antenna until he's satisfied with the static settling and speaks into the machine. " Mayday, mayday. This is Blue Barrowcliffe, one of fifteen survivors of flight Boeing 12596. Do you copy? " It felt completely silly to say he was Blue, the Canadian that looked literally nothing like his scrawny New Jerseyan self, but aside from JJ he didn't know if he could trust any of these guys with the radio. " I repeat, fifteen survivors of flight Boeing 12596, " he said the numbers slowly and clearly, if someone heard them the numbers would be their saving grace. " Do you copy? "

Sebastian Sebastian could hardly fucking believe that Jorts had actually managed to stick to the script, he'd nailed it. "Canadian- say you're Canadian," he reminded Lukas, waving his hand a little with encouragement as he listened carefully to the static on the other end of the radio device, praying that words in any language came from it- even one of the languages Von Trapp spoke would do. "Keep going," he insisted, his heart in his throat as he awaited a response from somebody with the potential to save their sorry asses.

Radio Lengthy static noises. "Ha-" Static noises. "Gehen-" Static noises. "Liest du-" Static noises. "-nächsten hafen." Static.

Sawyer The excitement was palpable now, eyes lighting up and heads perking with hope. Sawyer grasped the shoulder of the boy nearest to him and shook it, laughing. “Fuckin’ A, we got a fuckin’ German!”

Liam liam stood off to the side as everything went down. his hand flying up to over his own mouth as he watched the altercation between sebastian and warren, but the last thing he was going to do was step in between them and end up in the same position because sebastian redirects his rage to him. but finally lukas can get a message out. static and a few broken words that he couldn’t understand, heart sinking when sawyer announces that it’s a german. “does anyone know german?” he asks, looking around at the others.

Blue blue hadnt said much during the saga, other than an extremely confused "why the hell did i have to carry him" when warren zoomed into chaos at a speed blue's exhausted mind and body couldnt keep up to. he sat away from the drama, and while he would normally intervene to save morale but his body seemed glued to ground. hearing his name echoed by the others tothe radio, he imagined his parents and his sister, and a lump in his throat had to be swallowed down, tears avoided for now. as the confrontation got more violent, blue rested his head between his knees, fighting sleep or panic, the yelling and tension a little too intense of a reminder of...her. he resumed his role helping the injured, though more resentkful of helping mr instigator. "warren......youre swiss, eh? dont your people speak like swiss french and german? what'd they say, man?"

Lukas Lukas is about to tell Sebastian that he doesn't even sound Canadian, not even a little bit, and that saying he was would be kind of fucking stupid when the radio spattered to life in his hands. He looked down at it, amazed. After half a second of awe at his own handiwork he tried moving the antenna and pushed himself to move up the hill faster to help get rid of the static. Sawyer picked up on the language before he did and he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group. He sort of had his toes crossed for JJ to come through again, even if his behaviour was a little unsettling– but then Blue addressed the European. And while he was probably their best chance, Lukas wasn't feeling especially eager to let him have the radio again. " Anyone else? " He asked, looking around the group and avoiding the now toothless Nordic cripple. " Don't need to be fluent, just enough to say we need help. "

Dash Dash watched the entire shitshow with varying degrees of amusement and disturbance. Initially he didn’t see much point in following everyone up the hill, like, logically speaking, mostly because didn’t know jack about radios or distress signals or even their flight number. But he did want to be there if they made contact with anyone. So he ambled up near the back of the line, and spent the first few minutes of the hike looking at a cloud in the shape of Marge Simpson’s head, glad that Lukas and JJ seemed to have things covered on the radio front. Douchebag Callum was there too or whatever, he guessed, and Sebastian came through, even if he took his roid rage to the max and punched Eurotrash in the mug over a couple gay jokes. Dash’s lip curled at the blood spat out on the ground. He didn’t really vibe with all the sadistic shit, and he’d take bets that the little guy had half a chub through the whole thing. “Nein, bro,” Dash shook his head. He had maybe a handful of phrases in Spanish and Tagalog in his repertoire at max. And if any anxious fact stuck with him, it was that the battery was on its last legs, so he glanced toward JJ in hopes he could step in ASAP.  He reminded Dash of a guy he went to elementary school with who learned those wack languages from Lord of the Rings for fun and hid under desks to hiss at people as they walked by. Surely he knew some German. “American public schools kinda fell off with the whole foreign language thing.”

JJ As the radio went on, he tried his best to decipher what was being said. His German was rusty at best, mostly based on old philosophical texts he picked up at college. Extending his hand to get the radio back, he’ll rub the top of his brow as he recalls the words. “Hilfe, Hilfe! D-das ist Jacob Sanders. Fünfzehn Menschen am Leben. Privatflugzeug Boeing 12596 kaputt. Wir brauchen hilfe.” He knew the German was butchered, but he believed he’d said the most important things in the process. “Hallo? Kopierst du?” He’ll shift the radio around, trying his best to get the signal.

Warren Warren was tired. His mouth hurt. On top of losing a tooth, one other in his mouth felt loose and he hated it. He didn't really care that they'd made it to the peak, leaving the business of getting into contact with help to whoever had a hard-on for talking to strangers in the group – Mister Moley Man and the smart one. They seemed to have it figured out and he really needed to pee. Besides, with the space at the peak much smaller than where they were before and everyone so excited about it, he felt as though he'd be caught up through overhearing while he tried to take a piss where he was at the back of the group. He was halfway done with his leak when he heard German, making him turn on instinct and accidentally getting piss on shoes. "Agh, nein–" Two quick shakes and he pulled his track pants back up, hopping over to the front. With his bad leg, he had to touch some shoulders on the way so he wouldn't fall over. What the boys didn't know wouldn't hurt them. "Du sprichst Deutsch?" He asked the smart one as he hobbled up. Schlecht, but he left that in his head. Stretching out his hand, he opened and closed his fist a couple of times, asking for the device.

Sawyer Sawyer held up a finger and thumb. "S'German, actually."

Sebastian Sebastian rolled his eyes at the budding discourse, "Which is the same thing- moving on. What did they say?" he gathered the gist of what JJ had relayed back, he's a lesbian, the private flight number, uh whatever else- it didn't matter, Sebastian was pretty sure he'd pretty much stuck to the script. "Does that mean we're near Germany or a country that speaks German? What countries outside of Germany speak German?" he couldn't think of a single one that wasn't landlocked or anything but tropical- no freakin' way they were near Western Europe.

Sawyer Sawyer just looked at him like he felt even worse for him than he did when they found out his middle name was Claude. "Dude."

Dash Dash pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek to fight back a fleeting grin at Sawyer’s emphatic dude. “I dunno dick about who’s speaking German other than the Krauts, but could be a passing ship, right? Maybe we’re in international waters or some shit.”

JJ He looks at Warren and his eyes wonder for a moment if the other is genuinely fluent or just proceeding to be a more persistent human equivalent of hpv. “I speak limited amount.” he answers honestly as Sebastian proceeds to throw in a question which would by all metrics be considered dumb if it wasn’t somewhat valid. Before he can answer, Dash adds to it a more plausible explanation and he’ll nod. “German speaking countries are Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. German is also an official language in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but it sounds different. It is highly unlikely we’re close to any of those...” his eyes now on Dash. “It may very well be the case. Any other ideas?”

Liam watched as everyone silently as they freaked out over who may or may not speak german. his anxiety rising with each moment as their chances of rescue started to lessen the more they used up the battery of the radio. he stayed away from the group, off to the side and pulled out his tech deck out of his pocket and started spinning one of the wheels anxiously to try and calm himself down.

Sawyer "Maybe," Sawyer said, leaning in close to the other boys like he was about to tell a secret, "the operator's just bilingual."

Warren "I live in Switzerland, I speak German," he told JJ. To emphasize his point, he stretched out his hand more blatantly. "Give it to me. Or do you want to stay on this island forever?"

JJ Instinctively JJ will look over at Lukas as if to get some type of blessing or permission to pass the radio to the village idiot. Still, he didn’t have any real ownership of the thing so he stretched his hand out, anxiety rising. He was almost certain the other would either send off a message too ridiculous for the other end to decipher or fully throw the thing on the floor just to get his other leg broken and bleed out in the woods. “Go on then. Careful with the antenna...”

Joe Joe's initial relief at hearing a voice on the other side of the radio was dimming as Henry Bowsers but hopefully redeemable starting asking irrelevant questions that made no sense."Pinky's right it's probably a ship. There's no way there's no way there's a hermit nearby that just happens to hack into radio signals." Who the fuck still used radios besides sailors and boy wonder (not that JJ counted he seemed to have swallow an encyclopedia) ? Watching boy wonder hand over the walkietalkie to Warren was an extremely nerve wracking experience."Be careful Warren."

Lukas With only a couple Hebrew words along with his questionable at best English skills Lukas was mainly sitting this conversation out. If it could be called a conversation, mainly it just felt like a lot of bullshit but what else was new on this island. When Warren revealed he could speak German, and they all kind of knew that because of the song he'd sung on the way up the hill, Lukas had to grimace. It was their best chance, so he gave a small nod to JJ as it was passed over. " Remember, flight Boeing 12596. " Again he said the numbers slowly, fingers and toes crossed old gap tooth wouldnt fuck them all over.

Warren Finally, Warren thought as the radio came into contact with his hand. "Danke, wunderkind." That was so drawn out and dramatic. It's not like he's done anything crazy with the radio before. He hopped over and lifted a hand, swatting it in the group's general direction to settle their apparent nerves. Then he pressed the transmit button spoke. "Ja hallo? Kannst du mich hören? Wir sind auf einer Insel gestrandet. Wir brauchen deine Hilfe."

Radio Static noises. "kannst du-" Static noises.

Lukas It's like watching a toddler handle a bomb, Lukas is just waiting for it to fuck them all up big time. But somehow, it doesn't. Not yet at least. He doesn't hear anything that sounds like numbers come out of Warren's mouth but he also knew literally no German at all. When the radio responded he raised his brows, as if the two words the voice said could possibly mean anything useful. " What's going on? Do we need to go higher still? " He asked, because he was like 65% certain the voice had been cut off by the static.

Warren For once, Warren was invested. He shook the walkie slightly and held it against his ear. Then he spoke into it again, thumb on the transmit button. "Ja? Hallo? Hallo? Kannst du mich hören?" He hopped forward a little, perhaps needing to get a little higher. "Yeah, I think so," he answered Lukas. It was a shame. They were at the peak already. But the edge had a slight lift so Warren was going to take the chance. "Hallo?" He tried again. He heard some static, some response in German before the walkie went dead suddenly. "Shit." He shook the thing. Perhaps a little too vigorously. "Hallo??" He turned on the foot he was balancing. "I think it– Ahh!" The ground beneath him crumbled. Warren slipped. Quickly, he used grabbed onto whatever of the edge he could, releasing the walkie from his grasp to do. "Help! Help!"

Sebastian Sebastian had his arms folded tightly across his chest to keep them at bay as he listened to the chatted shift from person to person. It seemed as if everybody had something to say but nobody was saying anything useful to the situation. "We might just be in a dead zone, I mean look at this place- who knows where the next tower is," he explained, worried that there wouldn't be another radio tower or any man-made structure for hundreds and hundreds of miles from where they stood. He heard the crumbling rock before he truly registered what had happened and as the walkie hit the ground, Sebastian reacted to try and catch it, though his efforts were thwarted at the last moment, his attention divided by Warren's shrieking. "Fuck, Warren!" the words spilled from his mouth as he stumbled as close to the edge of the cliff as he could without risking another rockfall. "Bro-" he looked back at the other guys over his shoulder, "What the fuck- do something!" he practically squealed.

Lukas When Warren moved past the bulk of the group, so did Lukas. Eyes on that radio. He really did not think he was gonna care so much about it. " Hey! " He reacted when Warren fucking shook the thing, as if it wasn't already fucking precarious. Moving towards him, more to take the radio off him than pull him away from the edge of the cliff– but then the fucking dude took a dive off it. " Holy shit, " Lukas moved quickly when he fell, he thought he cared about the radio but he didn't even notice Warren had dropped it yet. Instead falling to his knees, scraping skin since the alterations he'd made that morning. Leaning over the edge he reached out his hand to Warren, holding onto stable ground as best as he could, but he was still a fraction too far away. " Grab my fucking hand, dude! "

Sawyer "Fuck-" Disaster struck in such quick succession: the radio, the crumbling peak, Warren--Sawyer's heart fell to his stomach with such force, he felt like he was about to shit it out of his asshole. He raced to the edge of the cliff, grabbing onto Lukas's free arm. "Pull him up, I'll anchor you!"

Sebastian Sebastian's breath caught in his lungs at the sight. Ten minutes ago he'd wanted to slay Warren where he stood and now, the thought of the other male plummeting to his death right before him made Sebastian want to throw up. "Grab his arm, grab each other's arms, lock in," he insisted, certain that Jorts' clammy ass hands were going to just help Warren fall to his death quicker than ever. "Fuck it- grab me," he insisted, wiping his hand and arm on his shirt before grabbing Warren's forearm firmly.

JJ All he could think about was the exact impossibility of seeing the radio again and for a second he thought about stepping on Warrens hand to push him off with it. As he paused to think, the others jumped to help, and he offered a hand to yeh guys as they moved into action. The stability of the cliff was unknown at this point and a dangerous place to be placing weight so he tried his best to focus on the situation at hand as opposed to possible catastrophe.

Warren Sebastian? Sebastian wanted to help him? Warren knew now wasn't the time to be picky. Beggars couldn't be choosers after all when their arms were aching and they were hanging off a cliff. He pictured his 8th grade English teacher's cleavage one last time before throwing all caution to the wind and letting go of his grip on the ledge to hold onto to Sebastian's arm for dear life.

Sawyer The harder Sebastian pulled, the more unstable the ground became. Sawyer's pulse rocketed, heartbeat thundering in his ears as earth crumbled from the very edges of the cliff Warren was dangling from. He whipped around to face the rest of the group--all frozen in various stages of shock and panic--eyes wild: "Guys--"

Dash Dash saw it all happen in slow motion. Warren turned on his foot, then plummeted. One second he was there and in the next he was dangling from the edge like some kind of Wiley Coyote bit. Dash stood frozen, panic seizing his chest. In what world was he equipped for this shit? “Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked no one particular, his voice inching up high and reedy with shaky incredulity. He watched as Sebastian, then Lukas, and finally JJ leapt forward to help. “What the cucking shitfuck this is so fucking fucked.” It was Sawyer’s panicky voice that made him take a step forward, half-wondering if he ought to grab a hold of the back of Lukas’ shirt as some kind of useless backup for a second before he finally did it. “Guys — Jesus, the whole thing’s gonna come down.” But what was the alternative? Letting Warren eat shit and die?

Lukas Lukas was willing to admit (to himself) he was fucking grateful Gigantor joined him on the edge of the cliff. Lukas Skinny Arms Tozer was gonna have no hope of pulling Warren up on his own though he actually hadn't thought of that in the moment. He thought he nearly felt his stomach fall out his asshole when Warren made the move to cling to Sebastian's arm. Feeling a tightness on the back of his shirt he took that as a cue to move again, pushing himself back up, on his feet but still crouched by Sebastian and the dangling Swiss. Glancing over his shoulder to see it was Dash that pulled him up, see Lukas knew he got good vibes off that dude. He'd give a proper thanks later but for now he gave an out of breath nod before he looked back to Sebastian. " You got him? " He asked, barely allowing time for an answer before he's looking back to Dash, Sawyer and anyone else that was braving the cliff edge. " Let's pull them up. " He said, trying not to think about the the precarious cliff face everyone was so desperate to point out.

Callum This was all too fucking insane. How was Warren in a near death situation for the second time that day? Not wanting to deal with a dead body on top of trying to survive on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, Callum dove headfirst into the chaos, grabbing onto Dash to give him support because there was no way this skinny fucker could realistically help Warren, Sebastian and Jorts. "Pull 'em up, pull 'em up!" He urged, mentally preparing himself for the energy he was about to exert.

Dash Dash nodded back once toward Lukas and if his thoughts weren’t too preoccupied with the fact that they were all surely about to plummet to their deaths, he might’ve twisted around and mocked Callum’s deep, booming pUlL ‘eM uP pUlL ‘eM uP to his face. The guy’s hand gripped tightly to Dash’s arm though, pretty effectively making extra sure to keep that petty, poorly timed instinct in check—and probably ensuring that he didn’t full-on Kermit over the edge of the cliff, too. Fuckin’ jocks. Dash gritted his teeth; he didn’t know if it was in his head or not, but the ground felt shaky under his feet. He dug his heels in and used his other hand to grab hold of Lukas’ arm to create some kind of human chain, his breath coming fast and shallow, and did his damned best to keep their skulls intact.

Sebastian Sebastian's heart was in his throat as Warren grabbed onto his arms, his grip pinching the skin though he was far, far too drenched in adrenaline to notice the pain. "Come on, come on," he bellowed, urging the other boys to give it all they had, lest both he and Warren tumble over the edge and into the rocky waters below. At least it would be a quick death, he supposed.

JJ Several things have happened in a span of seconds that JJ could not process. First, Warren hanging off a suspiciously strong cliff. Second, Sebastian of all people putting his ass on the like to save the other. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. If maybe all the years of shit sleep had caught up to him and he was now stuck in some hallucination limbo making shit up. Either way, he didn’t say anything, he balanced his weight and pulled onto the guy in front of him and prayed to God and Saints and whoever might have been listening, for this to be over soon. — He was still pissed about the radio, pissed that he’d even passed it to the other, pissed that there was no way now to make his phone work either. Not without the parts he used for the antenna.

Liam liam watched in horror as warren grabbed the radio, babbling into it before eventually stepping off the cliff. in the split second between him falling and everyone snapping into action, liam actually though he had falling to his death. and with most things since the crash, he froze yet again. but a second later, he shoved his toy back into his pocket and ran over to everyone else. which he later realized was a bad idea because pain was shooting up his leg as he grabbed on to one of the other guys to help pull the kid up. thankfully the stress of it all, he was able to ignore his own leg and focus on getting warren back on to solid ground.

Blue everything appeared to blue in flashes, the group heading up the cliff, and the chaos when the cliff crumbled. he watched the other spring into action, and took a deep breath to pump himself up. "Get him! Is he okay" He pulled on whatever body parts or clothes he could to help the others, blue felt the solidarity that he felt with his teammates back home. "Is the radio grabbable?" he was sweating, panting, and the desperation was coursing through everyone it seemed. "Save warren. Get the radio. Save Warren. Get the radio." He chanted to himself, pulling along with the rest of the group. "Save. Warren. Get. The. Radio."

Warren With everyone pitching in to help him, it seemed that Warren would live to see another day. His body was yanked up and onto solid ground again thanks to the efforts of Arsch mit Ohren and the rest of the boys hanging onto him. The second he felt firm rock below him, he wriggled as best he as he could past the boys to further in, wanting desperately to put as much distance between himself and ledge as possible. When he felt it was safe, he dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back to stare at the orange sky above. "Heilige Scheiß..." He was breathless, chest heaving up and down rapidly. Never in his life has he felt such a rush. It was a terrible thing to think about but he wondered how much 'near death experiences' would sell for. Thrill seekers like him would surely pay a hefty price. What Warren really should have been thinking about though was the radio, and how it was no longer in his hand and probably in a million little pieces hundreds of feet below them or lost to the waves of the ocean. He had yet to recall the reality he and the boys were in and how dire it was that they got into contact with someone.

Sawyer Sawyer fell back with the rest of the boys into a sweaty, adrenaline-clouded heap, wincing at the harsh impact of solid rock against his elbow. Nobody dared speak for those first fragile seconds, as though the silence was a crumbling cliff and puncturing it with words would cause it all to come tumbling down. This wasn't a game anymore. The isle was no longer a midpoint in their journey, a pit stop on the way to a boys' retreat in Hawaii; it was a living, breathing thing, with the power to swallow any of them whole at a moment's notice. He rolled to his side, dog tags clinking together as he let out a shaky breath: "the radio...fuck are we gonna do now without the radio?"

JJ He falls back and for a moment he just sits there in silence with the rest of them. He will then get back to his feet, wipe his hands and dust his trousers and look over at Sawyer having considered the exact question throughout the conundrum. “Nothing to do. It’s gone, it’s done.” all they could do now is hope that the Germans or whoever the fuck, heard their message and was on the way. Regardless, the sun began to set so he pointed towards the downhill path. “We should head back before it gets dark...”

Lukas Relief of not having to witness Warren's death washed over him, for the second time that day. But it only lasted a moment. Pulling himself free of the cluster of boys that had pulled him back up off the cliff face, he moved back towards the edge, looking over it in hopes of seeing the walkie on a ledge or something. Perfectly in tact and working a dream, ideally. But nothing. All that fucking hard work, and for fucking nothing. He turns back to the group, eyes landing on the culprit and any relief that he was alive long gone. " You fucking moron, fuck's sake, " If Warren had managed to stand before Lukas turned around, he absolutely would have shoved the bastard. Not over the cliff, but at least back to the ground. Seeing as he was still down, Lukas tried to not let the anger build. JJ, who with each passing moment seemed to be closer and closer to having the emotional complexity of Chucky the fucking Doll, made a good point. They should head back before it gets dark. Seeing as he was already up, he offered his hand to help up the guy closest to him (and who was not Warren).

Blue blue accepted lukas' hand, grateful for any assistance the guys had to give. "thank you." his tone was somber, torn between gratitude for jort's work with the radio, and like the others devastation for what they lost. "im sorry." a reflex more than a habit, a conditioning she taught him. the thought of spending another night was unappealing, and with each hour the fantasy of this being a camping trip was disappearing. he moved towards the front of the group. "alright, we did good. I know this wasnt the outcome we wanted, but their was some macgyver inspector gadget shit that was amazing...and out teamwork pulling a man up. Thats the kind of trust we gotta lean into......carry the injured and lets head back. Warren, when your concussion or whatever gets better, we NEED you to tell us what they said."

Dash Gravity proved itself to be a bitch not once, but twice. Warren luckily managed to get back up from the side of the cliff face, but once the tension of holding tightly and pulling released, Dash fell back and into Paul fuckin’ Bunyan behind him. Even with the air knocked out of lungs, he managed to release a hybrid relieved-slash-disbelieving laugh after a moment's silence when any rescue mission for the radio was declared null and void. Because what the fuck. He hoped his elbow at least got one of Callum’s soft spots as he struggled to his feet, clasping onto Lukas’ hand as soon as he let go of Blue’s. “Well that was a total shitshow.” And like, who knew what the lederhosen-looking dickhead was telling the Fuehrer over the line? The u-boats could’ve been well on their way to haul them to some undisclosed lab by morning. He cracked the knuckles of his right hand, his limbs left a little shaky post-adrenaline rush, and shook his head. With a sharp exhale, he edged away from the sudden drop. His heart racketed just looking where Warren had been clinging on. “Yeah, yeah, down before dark, but what’s the punishment for the high crime of nuking what was probably our one chance at direct communication, man?” In a half-assed attempt at fairness, he tacked on: “I know he didn’t like, spike it on purpose here, but.” Cue: womp womp. “Be real. Are we or are we not totally fucked?”

JJ The corner of his lip lifts slightly as Dash asks what the punishment is for the accidental crime of losing their best chance out of this Island. It’s not that he found it particularly amusing, it’s just that he thought punishment was rather obvious. “The punishment is being stuck here.” He will reply simply. “What impacts one of us - impacts us all.” It’s time we start acting like it, he thinks as he shoots a look towards Warren and Sebastian and then down to his hands. “One fucks up, we all fucked up.” Trying to remain positive he will face Dash and start walking further from the edge of the cliff. “Perhaps whoever’s on the other side has got our message. We’ve only been here for little over a day so it’s also possible the search party separate from the radio is underway. We should stick to the beach for now, keep the fire going...as of right now —“ with the radio gone “it’s the best option.”

[teddy-bear-surprise]

Chapter 5: 3… 2… 1… Boom

|| Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 Part 1 || Chapter 7 Part 2 || Chapter 8 || Almost The End || Chapter 9 ||

WARNING: Mentions of explosion, kidnapping, death (no, I won’t tell you who died), fire, and injury

Rossi decided to drive this time, JJ had to call Will and Spencer was in no condition– mentally– to drive today. He drove quickly and with expert precision, he did not want Ophelia to have a chance to even think about running away. As he drove, he sang along to ridiculous music from the seventies and cracked jokes about mother-daughter murder duos. Implying that he believed Ophelia's partner was actually her mother, and though unlikely, it was not an entirely baseless theory.

"Hey, Reid," Rossi snapped in front of Reid's face, "did you hear a word I said?"

Spencer looked sheepishly at the dashboard, "Uh, no. Sorry about that. What were you saying, Rossi?"

"Nevermind, kid. I'll just tell you on the way back. Try not to drool on the seats though, they're leather." Rossi joked about Reid's half-asleep behavior.

While Rossi enjoyed his ABBA, Spencer leaned his head against the window. He was trying to drown out the sounds of the music to hear what JJ was saying. It was not that he wanted to eavesdrop perse, but he overheard his name when JJ whisper-shouted it into the phone and could not help but wonder why he was brought up in conversation. Spencer was able to pick out short phrases and words like 'unstable', 'worried', and 'I don't know'. He felt embarrassed to an extent, wondering if their conversation still lingered on the topic of him, or if it had moved on and those words had nothing to do with him. Rossi, of course, was completely oblivious and did not even register that JJ was still on the phone.

They got to the house, the S.W.A.T. cars arriving shortly before them, and started prepping for their ambush. JJ got out of the car after Spencer and put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, as she did this, however, the condescending look in her eyes only made him feel worse so he smiled and shrugged off her hand. He walked over to the leader of the S.W.A.T. and feigned confidence as he asked the leader to go over their plan once more.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Reid, can we all go over the plan one more time to make sure everyone knows what they're doing?"

"Hello, Dr. Reid, I'm Sargeant Bishop, I'm leading the team today. I will call everyone in for a quick rundown," he grabbed his walkie-talkie and spoke quietly into it, giving his team instructions to remain quiet and move quickly.

Soon, the entire S.W.A.T. team was surrounding Rossi, JJ, and Reid and awaiting Bishop's instruction, "Team A, you will be surrounding the posterior side of the house. Team B and C, you will be covering the roads. And Team D will come with me through the front. After we clear the house, you three," he motioned to the BAU agents, "can come in and do whatever you need to do."

"Thank you, Sargeant."

The teams moved quickly to surround the house, they got into their respective positions and began approaching the entrances. Teams A and D kicked down the doors, filling the house with over a dozen men. It felt like an eternity had passed before they called out 'CLEAR' to the rest of the agents outside and mentioning something about a hole in the ground. Spencer felt himself relax at the thought of not having to face Ophelia and took a moment to appreciate the feeling as Rossi and JJ approached the house.

Reid turned around to join them, but when he tried to approach the house, he could not move. He was laying on the ground now, struggling to breathe and comprehend what was happening. A wave of thick, hot smoke blew over him and he could smell burning flesh filling his nostrils. The smell was repulsive. He felt a ringing in his ear, preventing him from thinking properly or hearing anything. The sound surrounded him and he curled up on the ground, feeling helpless and pained. Spencer shut his eyes tightly and let a tear escape, clearing the dust that had accumulated around his eyes. Maybe their plan was not as good as they thought.

Earlier That Day

Ophelia stumbled around her house anxiously, not completely drunk, but not fully sober either. She landed in her study and crawled over to the furthest corner from the door. Once there, she yanked back the carpet and started tapping the floor with her hand, hoping to hear a hollow noise. As soon as she heard the noise she was searching for, she smiled, knowing that her memory had not yet betrayed her. Holding a hammer in her uninjured hand, Ophelia began hacking away at the wooden floor. Pieces of the bright wood flew everywhere, covering her clothing and hitting her skin. Soon, a small hole opened up beneath her and she pulled a little leather bag from it.

She sat down next to the hole and opened up the bag on her lap. Inside was a heavyweight, metal remote with only two buttons and a large pull-out antenna. Ophelia surveyed the contraption, holding it carefully.

When her house was built, she installed a large net of explosives beneath it in the case of a situation like the one she was in. It extended from the center of her home to fifty feet on either side, effectively destroying the roads in and out of the area. She had watched enough crime TV to know that that was where police, or in this case the FBI, would park if they ever came after her. Sometimes Cat would make fun of her for having such extensive precautions, but ultimately, she knew it was to protect them both.

With the remote now in her possession, Ophelia packed a small go-bag with what she could not leave behind. She filled it with some clothing, a few 'gadgets', toiletries, and a handful of memorabilia items. The first thing she grabbed– unconsciously– was the photo of her and Spencer. Though she could no longer remember his name sober, she still felt a strong connection to the photo. After that, she began grabbing more arbitrary things like her CD collection and the ticket from her and Cat's first date.

After her bag was full, she covered the hole with the carpet again. Ophelia strategically placed a few items around the house, including her phone and wallet before saying goodbye to the empty building. She walked quickly across the road, hearing the rumble of nearby cars already approaching her. Her feet moved carefully up and down the rocks as she climbed over the canyon's obstacles. In search of the perfect location which she had found a few years prior, Ophelia climbed with determination. She had already been climbing for three minutes when she reached the spot. It was a rocky little cavern that looked over her house. From the outside, it was impossible to see Ophelia crouched inside, but from the inside, she could see everything.

The cars arrived soon after and threw clouds of dust up into the air. Ophelia heard their car doors slamming and peeked her head out to see how the scene was progressing. A few non-S.W.A.T. people also seemed to be on the scene and Ophelia wondered who they were. From this height, it was quite difficult to see who was who, all she could tell was that aside from the S.W.A.T. team, there were two men in suits and one woman wearing business casual. Her eyes traveled around intently, watching as each S.W.A.T. officer spread out across her land. She smiled as they did exactly what she had predicted. These dumb cops were too predictable, they almost made Ophelia's little game feel boring. They stormed her house, obviously finding nothing more than what she had planted, and called out for the rest of the people to go inside. This was her chance.

She saw the FBI agents approaching her house and pressed the button. The remote control emitted a high-pitched beep and flashed a single red light for a split second. Immediately after, the house was reduced to rubble, ash, and fire. The cavern where she hid shook slightly at the explosion's aftershock and spilled a little bit of dust on her, but it stayed intact. Ophelia laughed at their stupidity– they did not even put up a fight– and began climbing down from her outlook. Her adrenaline and excitement sobered her up as she made her way down.

It happened to be much easier to climb down than it was to climb up, and she was thankful. She approached the scene nonchalantly, since everyone was either dead, unconscious, or severely injured and posed no threat to her. Ophelia sauntered around, observing the fruits of her labor, taking in the beauty of the scene she had created.

Soon, she came across Reid, still not recognizing him, but still very interested in him because one, he was very attractive; two, he was one of the FBI agents; three, he seemed to be the least injured. Ophelia nudged him with her foot and saw his eyes opening lazily. She smirked at the response and started to help him up. He was still so disoriented that he could not process the fact that Ophelia was the enemy here. Spencer allowed her to tie his hands together with some rope from her bag and carry him away from the scene.

The two of them walked across the rubble and around burnt bodies. They moved quickly, but Spencer's feet were only doing some of the work, Ophelia's strong arms did the most. They had been walking for nearly half an hour when Spencer finally regained enough of his consciousness to ask Ophelia a question, "What's happening?"

Ophelia chuckled at the drunken way he spoke, "Nothing much, we're just walking. We're almost there though. Don't worry, everything is okay."

"Oh, okay. Where exactly is 'there'?"

"You'll see, just be patient and stop talking, you'll make yourself more tired."

Spencer accepted the explanation gladly and continued to move along with Ophelia. If she had known he would be this cooperative, she would not have even bothered tying his hands up. They soon reached the car and Ophelia put Reid in the passenger seat, careful not to hit his head and damage his brain any further.

It was an old car, made before GPS's were even invented and she had bought it with cash, meaning that she did not have to worry about being tracked in the slightest. Ophelia grabbed a pack of wipes from her bag and began wiping away the grime that covered her face so no one would find her suspicious. She also took the time to wipe the dirt and dust that covered Spencer's face. As she carefully dragged the wipe across his skin, she heard him giggling like a child. Though she should not feel such sympathy for someone she was holding captive, his laughter sounded like music to her ears. She looked down at him and saw that he seemed extremely calm, something about her cleaning his face must have brought him comfort because his eyes were drifting closed and the smile on his face softened. By the time she had finished cleaning his face and neck, she felt almost guilty for having to wake him up, but his clothes were extremely dirty and had to be changed quickly.

She untied his hands and lifted his back from the seat gently before slipping his jacket off of his arms. When she went to unbutton his shirt, however, she hesitated. Ophelia spent her whole life preaching the importance of consent and care, so she could not remove someone's shirt while they were unconscious, it simply went against her beliefs... even if these were the same beliefs that permitted the killing of abusive men.

Ophelia raised her hand to his shoulder and shook him until his eyes opened once more.

"Hey, can you get undressed really quickly? You need to change," she paused to think of a good lie, "I don't want you to get my car seats dirty."

Spencer looked at her with a puzzled expression consistent with a foggy mind and agreed. He removed his shirt and pants with ease and handed them to Ophelia, "Do you have something else for me to wear? It's kind of cold here."

It was the middle of December and they were in the mountains so Spencer's grievance made sense, but Ophelia secretly did not want him to put a shirt back on, "Yeah, sorry. Here's some sweatpants and a T-shirt."

Ophelia pushed the clothes into his hands and shut the door quickly. When she got around to the driver's side, Spencer was already dressed again. She leaned over to buckle his seatbelt and slid a cable tie around his wrists to restrain him, just in case. Spencer looked up at her with doe eyes and seemed upset, possibly even betrayed, but he said nothing.

They drove in silence, leaving the metropolis of Los Angeles. As they approached San Bernardino, south of where they had been, Ophelia stopped to get some gasoline. She chose the gas station solely because it was old, run-down, and did not have any security cameras. While she was not planning on doing anything explicitly illegal there, she was fully aware that holding an FBI agent captive was frowned upon by the government and did not want to give herself up just yet.

She got back into the car, this time turning on the radio to ease her nerves, and got prepared to drive for another six and a half hours. Spencer slept most of the time and though she knew it probably was not a great idea since he likely had a concussion, she could not really do anything about it. Whenever he was not sleeping though, he looked up at the sky and quietly counted the clouds.

Ophelia appreciated the scenery surrounding them, taking in the orange landscape and blue sky. She never really had the opportunity to go on a road trip as a child and this escape plan of hers almost felt like one. Driving was an easy task for Ophelia and she always thoroughly enjoyed it, but it did surprise her how nice it felt to drive when no one was honking at her or rushing to get somewhere.

By the time they reached Ophelia's safe house in Sedona, the sky was already setting. It was probably the most beautiful thing Ophelia had ever seen, the purples, pinks, and oranges mixed together to form the most surreal scene she had ever witnessed. The setting was serene and she hoped all of her free nights could feel like this.

The safe house had been built three years ago under the radar. She knew a few people in the construction business who owed her some favors and since she was versed in civil engineering as well, she did not even need to hire anyone to design the house's floor plan. It had been left unused since they finished construction, but she still made sure that someone went over to clean the house once a month. Hopefully, when they went in, it would not be covered in dust.

Ophelia stopped her car outside of the large, brown building. It looked like any other Arizona home, but it had a few little secrets of its own. She got out and jogged over to the passenger's side, hauling Reid out of the car. Despite him being slightly more conscious now, he still did not resist any of Ophelia's actions.

They walked into the house which was luckily just as clean as she had hoped and went down the stairs to the basement which had cost her a lot of extra money to build. Down there, there was a medium-sized isolation chamber, resembling the design of a solitary confinement cell. She let Spencer inside of the chamber and closed the door while she searched for a pair of scissors to remove the zip tie around his wrists. Unfortunately, an unused house does not come with a lot of things in it, so she had to make do with a letter opener she found in a drawer.

She opened the cell and beckoned for Reid to come to the door, he did so eagerly and she cut off the tie. Ophelia immediately shut the door, slightly afraid that he would attempt an escape. On the wall next to the door there was a little intercom which she used to speak to him, "Hey, FBI guy, go to sleep, it's been a long day and you'll need your energy tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" Spencer asked innocently, but Ophelia thought it best not to respond so she walked upstairs in silence, leaving Spencer alone in the dark.

[systemtek]

Thinkware F70 PRO Dashcam - Product Review

The world-leading dash cam brand Thinkware has launched its latest product, the F70 PRO. This is a great performing dashcam with a super compact size, 1080p Full HD front camera, parking surveillance, and anti-file corruption software, plus many other features. One thing that sets this apart from many other dashcams on the market is that when you order this dashcam via the Thinkware website or other vendors such as Amazon you have the option of either plug and play or hardwire, at no extra cost ! No need to buy extra cables, just choose the option that is right for you. Plus you also get a 32GB MicroSD included, so you have everything you need to start using this dashcam. The F70 Pro accepts up to a 128GB MicroSD card. At around 100MBps per minute with 30fps/1080p captures, that will store approximately 21 hours of video footage. As with most products you don't get a big thick manual in the box, there is a small booklet which has QR code links to manuals that you can view in PDF format online. One thing to note about the manuals is that they are well written and very easy to understand, there is detailed instructions on how to install the dashcam and how to download the app and connect it to your phone. The manual also covers all the relevant features and explains how each option works. If you go for the hardwired installation option (or OBD2 Connector) you get an additional feature called "Parking mode". This allows the dashcam to continue recording while your car is parked and turned off. The manual states that all Thinkware dashcams continuously monitor the health of the vehicle’s battery and will shut down if it detects any issues. It has a time lapse parking mode which is designed to catch any potential bumps, scrapes and other incidents by recording footage from your vehicle when you are not nearby. Time-lapse mode records at 2 frame per second (FPS) to reduce the size of the video file. This allows the dash cam to record longer than other dashcams whilst in parking mode. This dashcam is quite small in size (3.23-inches wide, by around 1.35 inches thick) one of the reasons for this is that it does not have a screen. All the options and settings can be controlled by the app when you link it to your phone. This is a good idea, as a dashcam user for many years I find that other than the initial setup you never need to touch any of the settings. You just link the dashcam to your phone using the Thinkware dashcam link app and when required you can download any saved video footage. It has advanced Video Clear technology, a 140° wide angle lens, and 2.1MP CMOS sensor which is able to capture footage at 30 frames per second (fps), the F70 PRO ensures that every second of your journey is covered. Don't know who Thinkware are ? - They are a well established manufacturer who was founded in Korea in 1997, they are one of the market leaders in various sectors such as dashcams, electronic maps, navigation, mobile applications, and tablet PCs. Key Features Optional Extras You can buy an optional GPS antenna which adds date, time, position & optional speed stamp to the video. Activates safety camera alerts & ADAS features. You can also get an option of an OBD power cable which connects to your vehicles OBDII socket, this cable allows the activation of the Thinkware dash cam parking mode. Daily use and operation As with most dashcams once installed you just leave it running, there is nothing to do. There is only two buttons on the dashcam on one end there is a Wi-Fi-enable/Bluetooth-connect button this is next to the GPS port and just in front of the status LED. The other end has the the Rec button, which saves your current recording so it isn’t overwritten, this is the button you need to press if you have an accident or spot something that you wish to save. There is a number of ways you can get the video files from the dashcam. You can use the Thinkware dashcam link app to view any saved recordings and download them to your phone. There is also PC viewer software which is available for both Windows and MAC (download link here) using this option requires you to remove the MicroSD card from the dashcam and connect it to your PC via a suitable memory card reader. Video Review In this video review we take a look at what you get in the box, a quick overview of the Thinkware dashcam link app and most important of all we will take a look at some recorded video footage from day and night. https://youtu.be/Jw90_N8p7hE In the box - Thinkware F70 PRO Dashcam - 12V Power Cable or Hardwiring Cable - 32GB MicroSD Card - Trim tool - Windshield Mount - Spare 3M Mounting Tape - Adhesive Cable Clips - Quick Start Guide - GPS Antenna (If selected) Specification - Resolution: Front – Full HD (1920 x 1080) - Camera: Front – CMOS Image Sensor - Frame Rate: 30 fps - Viewing Angle: 140° (Diagonal) - Dimensions(WxDxH): 82 X 33.8 X 34.6 mm (3.22 x 1.33 X 1.36 inch) - Weight: 42.4g (0.096 lb) - Storage Temperature:   -20°~ 70°C (-4°~ 158°F) - Operating Temperature:   -10°~ 60°C (14°~ 140°F) - Capacity:   MicroSD card 8/16/32/64/128 GB (UHS-I) (32GB MicroSD card included) - Input Power:  DC 12/24V, Built-in Super Capacitor - GPS:  GPS Antenna Full detailed specification can be found here Read the full article