The Communications Tent

[DeputyDirectorWhite]

"...communications with the outside world, as promised." Deputy Director White gestures towards a desktop computer the size and color of a microwave oven, a rotary dial phone, and an apparently underpowered radio set. "I was trying for better, but these seem to be all that work up here for some reason. So. We also have showers and lavatories over there, and..."

[Nick Sleet]

*After the tour*

Nick Sleet slips away the moment the group heads towards the Director's office, making a beeline for the computer. Logging on, he fires off a rapid stream of innocuous emails, and then barely manages to log out in time before the information-starved herd thunders into the tent. Getting up from the computer, he sighs "ahh, connectivity! Enjoy, guys!"

Threading his way through the rush, he heads off towards the dormitories, lugging his suitcase along with him.

[personsmichael]

Tobias leaves the tour at this point, and walks calmly towards the shower. He starts to undress, hanging his coat on the door.
"Great! They have showers! I knew it wouldn't be that bad."

[tykiran]

Jacob walks up to the phone and dials out. He is on the phone for a few minutes, but only says a few words at low volume. When he's finished he checks his watch, and then leaves the way he came from.

[cathy]

Zoey walks into the tent and picks up the phone. She keeps a low voice and flips through her notebook and her fingers click away at the keys on the keyboard. After a lengthy conversation, she dials two more numbers. After the phone is back in the cradle Zoey zones out and begins writing in her notebook staring at the phone.

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry walked into the Comm tent an almost new man. His hair was damp from a long overdue shower and he was wearing a new white T-shirt and pants offered by the nice people in the White Haz-mat suits. His torn and stained coat however remained with him.

Henry saw Dr. Zoey sitting in front of the phone. Not one to be rude he thought about using the radio to get his call out. The problem was what he had in mind might to make this happen might not be the greatest of plans. Henry did not see too many other options left to him. He needed a answer fast without one of the code wizards among them chasing it down.

"Sorry, Doc," Henry said as polite as possible, "I have to reach out and annoy someone." Henry worked the rotary dial like it never had gone out of style. A few moments later there a click on the other end. "Hey there. It's Henry..."

A tide of profanity crashed out the receiver. If it had been a digital connection on both ends a person might be able to make out what was being said. Henry allowed it for a minute longer. "Hey. Hey? HEY, WILL YOU SAHDAP A SECOND!?" Henry yelled back. The angry sounds from the phone quieted down some. "Look, I...no I am not under arrest. No, I don't know why the ID did not warn you it was me. Listen, a long story short...funny, got me in stitches there. I followed your advice, got almost gone and then well, An EMP went off. For crying out loud, no it WAS NOT my fault. Anyway I am taking easy now but I found a side job to keep me from getting soft." Henry got quiet as he relayed the details. "Got it," he said at the end. "Good, by the way. Never take up travel agent as a hobby. I might have to punch you in the throat." Henry hung up the phone before his friend got off a retort. He gave Dr. Zoey a polite nod and left the tent.

[cathy]

After jumping out of her skin at the first loud outburst she watched Henry walk out of the tent. Her hand shaking, she stilled it and put her notebook back and walked out of the tent.

[Eden Jones]

Eden slipped into the tent, nodding at Henry and Zoe as they left. She sat down at the computer, pausing a moment to marvel at the antiquated technology, then sent off a few emails. She grinned to herself at one point, shaking her head slightly as she typed.

When she finished her emails, Eden looked at the phone briefly for a moment, decided against making any calls, then got up and left the tent.

[Merana33]

Bob slips into the communications tent one evening, just as the dinner rush is starting.
Firing up the computer he taps a few keys, pulling up a major news website and navigates to the sports page. After a moment pondering the latest baseball news, he tugs a short cable from his pocket and connects his smartphone to the computer, tapping at the screen until a blackstone logo appears.
"Time to find out if this fancy gadget 'kin do what it's really supposed 'ta do.. an' do like E.T."
The security guard clicks around for a bit on the computer and opens up a terminal window, buried deep in the arcane depths of the settings and tools folder and taps out a brief message to his superiors.
"Only so long I can run interference for our boys 'for them medical types will want to get to poking and prodding. I'd much rather have someone who's got the right clearance doing it, than some mook in a lab coat.. There, that should do it.."
Closing the windows, he takes a moment to re-read what he sees on the baseball news, shaking his head in disbelief. "Now that there is the oddest thing I've seen in a while.." He shuts the computer down after confirming that the logo on his phone had stopped spinning, indicating it was done with whatever it was doing. He disconnects the phone and tucks the cable away into a pocket, the phone returning to his belt.
"Red Sox won the pennant. Now I know 'm in tha twilight zone..."