Fight Or Flight

In the meantime, I suppose I'll find somewhere to change.

*sigh* Good morning, Stitch.

What happened to me?

Do you still remember how you fainted?

I was steering the boat, and then old Edge came running over, and then... oof, my head...

And then the boat went out of control, crashed against the shore, and flung the two of you out.

And how about Master Edge?

He woke up before you, and he's taken Elysium with him to survey for now.

Wait, the gear on the boat!

The equipment's all essentially wrecked. As for the survey gear... we had Deculture make that on the fly.

The cutting equipment won't be necessary, though.

Why?

You didn't notice the terribly loud noise ever since you woke up?

Gavial, what in your right mind are you doing...?

Looks obvious to me. I'm sorting out this cliff face.

The boat did put a considerable dent in the caved-in area, but clearing a passage was never going to be that simple.

And with our cutting equipment down, I thought we'd be waiting for a while, but it turns out—

Well, seeing is believing.

HAHA! Forget rail repairs and surveys, any bozo can tell THIS is my strong suit!

Oh, hey, Elysium. How come you're back so soon?

......

What happened? Where's Master Edge?

Things have gone a little south, Gavial.

Huh? You mean some giant Originium slug showed up, or what? I heard Provence saw something like that in Siesta.

If it was just some creature, I guarantee I'd be happy to wisecrack with you right now.

Follow me.

How can this be?!

We'd detected the presence of Originium veins in this direction back in the city's founding times, but they should've been much further out—

Is there any chance the earthquake pulled them here? I heard about a few small aftershocks in the wake.

The suddenness of this vein definitely matches, after all.

It's not impossible...

Right, that's it! Chances are that earthquake shifted it right over here!

And what's more, it gave it that push, got its activity slowly warming up.

And because the dome's Originium sensor facilities have been down all this time, that's why we only just now found this out—

I...

Stitch, calm now. This isn't your fault.

We made this decision as the collective inhabitants of Zeruertza.

Thing's just...

We haven't gone even a half kilometer from outside, I'd wager. If a full vein of active Originium explodes only that deep in...

Then Zeruertza's out of luck.

Attention all residents of Zeruertza, we interrupt this broadcast with an urgent notice.

Following the conclusion of our swimming competition prior, Master Edge has taken the initiative in leading a selection of other contestants through the cave-in to survey the tunnel.

The results of this survey are not optimistic.

Master Edge has discovered an Originium vein in the tunnel, located approximately one kilometer from the city.

We tentatively speculate this Originium vein's existence was known at the time of Zeruertza's founding, in a stratum approximately three kilometers out.

However, tectonic shift originating in the earthquake half a year ago caused this vein to warp and extend closer to our city, and kickstarted its activation in the process.

Currently, Master Edge is leading experts to urgently evaluate this Originium vein's level of activity, and thus determine at what point in the future it will explode.

We will provide further updates once accurate conclusions can be drawn.

As of now, we ask all residents to be prepared to evacuate.

Huh? An active Originium vein's going to explode? Where's this coming from?

Judging by the broadcast, we never picked it up after the earthquake wrecked the dome, since the Originium sensor functions never got fixed since.

Now that you mention, I'm pretty sure I've heard Master Edge make mention of the sort.

Well, nothing to do about it now, such as it is.

Don't you... feel as though it was a poor decision to build 'The Great Aquapit?'

What for? It's an outcome we're willing to take.

True, that. We've never rejected any of the naysay from Master Edge.

He warned as much when we decided to build this 'Great Aquapit' instead of repairing that hole in the dome.

And we only made that decision once we understood and accepted the potential danger.

All it is now is taking responsibility for the outcome of our choice.

......

So it is, surface-dweller. You don't need to give us any pity.

Think about it this way: we've spent a good long summer at least, haven't we?

I completely agree.

Though, evacuating, eh... Haven't decided what I'm going to leave behind. Have you?

I'm nothing like you are. If you ask me right now, my house here's my most wanted and most satisfying design yet.

That's fair. I hope that Originium vein's not going off too easily. I still need to think a little.

How about we go for a drink for now? Some Old Karl Mead?

Not my poison. I'll rather be having a No. 7 Whiskey.

I'd taken Durins to all be buffoons barely smarter than the Archosauria above them... It seems that was hardly the case.

*sigh*...

What's the outlook, Master Edge?

We'll need a little more time to be sure, but based on my experience—

It'll go off within a month.

A month?

Then we should lay the railway while we have the chance, and arrange to evacuate the residents through the tunnel.

Not a chance. Not enough time.

Much more feasible if we dig a temporary shelter deeper in.

We're all aware the dome might be able to suppress some of the vein's explosive force, should it go off.

But the real issue is the Originium dust scattering afterwards!

Once it happens, that dust will fill this entire space, and all of us will be affected by it!

We have to repair the railway despite any danger at this point, and then we clear any obstructions and have everyone take refuge in Ortzimuga!

But the tunnel's already wall to wall with Originium now! It'll be a nightmare to pass through safely!

Zeruertza's home to hundreds of thousands! Do you not understand how much time it'll take to feed them carefully through that tunnel? It's two by two at most in there, you realize that?!

Hey... cool the quibbling.

Gavial, I'll get to you in a moment. Master Edge, do you honestly have a better plan?

I believe we should begin immediately digging away from the Originium vein.

We dig a small-scale shelter, big enough to hold everyone, then we seal off the way to it. It's just a question of digging deep enough...

It'll be a harrowing feat to construct a shelter for hundreds of thousands in this short a time, even with all the technology Zeruertza has.

And besides, that's hundreds of thousands of lives to support! What do you propose there?!

And you think waltzing through the tunnel solves that?!

At least there'll be leeway to begin to do so, provided we pass the most dangerous part of the vein!

But if we stay in a temporary shelter, then consider what happens once the Originium seals off our singular passage to any other city.

We'll have nothing to look forward to but a drawn-out death!

Ugh, I can see your point there, but I still believe...

Of course I understand the risk in my argument! But it's the least worst option we have now!

Y'know... Avdotya.

If it's not important, can you hold your peace for now, Gavial?

Don't really want to disturb you guys either, but—

Seeing as the tunnel's blocked...

Our only option left is to fix that Super Convenient Lift-o-Matic #1 Tomimi mentioned, bring all the Durins to the surface and let 'em live with our tribes for a while, right?

I mean, anything wrong with that idea? You guys have been arguing over this forever.

We head for the... surface?

Yeah.

Uh, guys... did you never consider that before?