Why were rivers made? What force decided once upon a time that a river needed to be at a specific place, in a specific line, going a specific way? Cassandra did not mean the question in the sense of an actual being making the decision, but more along the lines of what force made it happen.
Was it the rain coming down from the sky, pulled downwards because of gravity? That one did make sense, in some way. Water wanted to go down and did so in the easiest way it could. And… water was also powerful, in a sense, dragging along whatever it found in small bits. That would then lead to a large-scale erosion, if given enough time, making the water an elongated half-dome of sorts, which… was essentially a river.
Cassandra had no real idea if that was true or not, and neither did she really want to know. It was but another idle thought she had while waiting for her equipment to give yet another negative reading, just like it had given her before and the time before that.
Somehow, she could feel a bit of cold water down at her feet. The suit she was wearing should have protected her from such a fate, yet it had happened nonetheless. Was this annoying? Most definitely. Could she do something about it? Most definitely not. Therefore, the woman would have to suffer in silence, feeling a squelch of water being displaced every time she took a step forward.
“Did you find anything yet?” Jules shouted from the other side of the river. The automation stood to the side of the cliff that the thief had jumped off of yesterday. Looking up at it, Cassandra had begun to grow doubtful if there actually was any chance of survival from such an full. Though… that might just have been some of her faulty instincts talking. She couldn't be sure yet.
As Jared had mentioned the day before, there had yet to be any proof of the criminal's demise. They knew that the young thief had jumped from the cliff, that he had landed with a loud splash, and that he had not resurfaced in the minutes after the dive. This did, of course, heavily implied that the criminal was dead, and there was nothing to do about it.
According to the standards of reports, however, there was a requirement to have more than ideas. There needed to be some form of proof. Her boss had many times stated how important it was to make sure who the group were, and if they located the dead body… they could identify it easily. The ones that the man had been in contact with about the group were apparently very adamant about the face needing to be seen.
This meant somebody had to check out the scene where it had all transpired, and hopefully the corpse in the process. And that somebody was Cassandra. And Jules, if that useless thing counted. There had been an idea about the body becoming lodged in the rocks on the bottom since it was quite easy to be impaled upon them. That had forced the two to bring underwater scanning equipment.
As one might have guessed, there was not much variety to come for, in that line of specialities. The city itself was situated close to a border, yes, but they were nowhere near the sea or a lake, where such equipment might have been useful. The river she currently stood on the edge of was the only natural stream of water for miles, and even it was only close to the town at one point. Both ends naturally diverted away from the population quickly, leading to no real need for any equipment for it. Because… who would ever actually need it?
Cassandra was the answer. In the back of the equipment lockers, there had been two gear-outfitted suits, made to be used in high-rising-water situations. If the packaging was to have been believed, it was made to withhold water up the chest, while still making it easy to move around.
As it had been found out rather quickly, this was a big fat lie. The water was barely up to her knees, and Cassandra was barely withstanding the small amount of water slowly leaking in to surround her toes. It was cold, and the water on both sides made the walk rather slippery.
The suit was also equipped with high-standing scanning equipment. Specifically, it had been made to find dead beings situated in water environments. Cassandra was actually very happy that this function worked well. Almost a little too well.
With the help of fine lines, she had been able to reel in three dead deers, a half-eaten bear, and what looked like an overgrown rabbit. All of them had not been what was looked for, but the device was just too good. It had the sensitivity to the max, and it showed very much.
Cassandra wished it could be turned down, but… there was no way that would happen. Why ruin something already perfect? That had to have been the creators’ thoughts when making the device. That ability to find anything had clearly been its main selling point, seeing as it had nothing else that was noteworthy.
For one, why did she even need to be in the water for it to work? Could she not have stayed up on the dry land, putting it under the water from a distance? Not a chance of that happening, nope. The creators had made the line for the scanner short enough that she could barely extend her arm with it. Also… it was attached to the stomach area of the suit, forcing her to go out more than she wanted to in the river.
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It was a good thing that she knew how to traverse such a strong current. Without training, she might have gone under, which would have been extremely bad. The current form would force on under fully. It would take a lot of skill to get up. Even worse when not wearing a proper swimsuit.
Jules was somehow loving the whole trip. Maybe the automation just wanted to do something else than the normal work? Cassandra could not understand that logic, even if it came from herself. A rock did not love when the sun came upon it, for it had no mind to think in such a way. It might grow hot when exposed to it, and cold when left in the dark, but that was only a natural reaction. There was no sentience shown off because of it. It was just a rock, and Cassandra needed to remember that, or she would misjudge situations as something else entirely.
… Thinking back, she was supposed to have answered the automation a good thirty seconds ago. Looking over at it, Cassandra could see Jules looking at her impatiently, its face twisted into a mild frown. What had it asked again?... Oh, right.
“I have found nothing of importance. You would have been informed if it was any different,” Cassandra said, pausing a small second to reorganise her approach this time. “Have you found anything on your end?”
“I have the same answer to you. Nothing that would work our case, but… I have an alternate proposal for us?” Jules said. While Cassandra could not see too many details, since they were upwards of twenty meters apart, she could still observe the twitching fingers being pushed together. It was not done well. “Do you think we could fish here sometime?”
Fishing. The act of catching fish. The automation wanted to go fishing. Jules, a pile of moving scrap metal, wanted to locate itself to a place filled with water out of its own free will? Or what counted as will in its case, since there was no mind to consent.
“I am not sure it would be allowed by our chief-in-command,” Cassandra answered warily. Not that she sounded wary, really. It was hard to when having to positively shout at one another. The river was still a river, showing off that fact by deafening her ears through pure volume. How people somehow enjoyed the sound confused her to no end. It was just pure static, unweaving, random, and without any coherence. “Why would you want to fish?”
There had to be another way to communicate. Her throat was getting sore from all the shouting. A good part of her body was actually sore, now that she thought about it. Maybe that was the consequence of not sleeping? Pills could hold her awake, but the body still needed to rest.
Had she not had enough of that already? Cassandra had spent a full five hours in her bed, motionless. She had laid there with her eyes closed, doing nothing but concentrating on her breathing. She had thought that would be enough to equal out the side effects, but maybe there really was a need for melatonin to heal. Wariness could only be removed in one way, after all.
It had been a long time since Cassandra had felt the need for them, but there was a chance that her body required pills to sleep again. She had gotten the problem back in training, always stressed about being on top and keeping that position indefinitely. It had come to a point where insomnia instilled her to collapse during training. What a night that had been, brought to the hospital in a helicopter and all.
What had the doctors said again? The woman could not remember the words themself, but the ways they had told them was more than just imprinted to the forefront of her memory banks. If there hadn't been a requirement of professionalism, they would have surely called her an idiot in need of electrical currents through the tits. Instead, they showed off diagrams of how her brain was eating itself, and how she needed medication for that, lest her mental capacity would dwindle at a rapid pace. That had been a fun year for her. Not. It had, in fact, been one of the most terrible experiences for her.
Oh, the reputation loss still made her shiver. From her collapse to everybody knowing what happened to her. Cassandra wished they would have just forgotten it back then, her image switching from a respected leader to a burn-out child trying to do too much at once. She still cursed herself for that slight, knowing she could have made the information private.
“Well…” Jules began, but Cassandra just had to cut the automation off. The distance and sound were doing nothing for her mood, making it a requirement to fix the communication issue. And, what better way to fix it than to change the way that the words were transmitted.
‘We are switching over to the channels. The distance is too great,’ Cassandra sent. She understood that the channels were supposed to be used for professional work only, but there was no need to leave them without use. They cost the same in operational costs no matter what, so why not utilize them in a way that would benefit everybody?
‘Fine with me,’ Jules sent back within a second, showing off just how quick the automation’s comprehension was. It had gone from talking verbally to sending a full-blown message in the span of half a second. Cassandra knew this fact because she counted it with the help of a digital assistant. She needed that information, for it was yet another piece of proof that the automation was nothing more than an unthinking piece of metal. ‘I wanted to know if you would mind going fishing at some point since I just found these two fishing rods! Look at them! Arent they just dandy?’
From twenty meters away, Cassandra was able to see the automation swirl around two rusty fishing rods. From her automatic item scanning, they must have been in the water for a bit over two decades, only allowed to survive through their outer covering.
If not for her disgusting gear, the woman would have slapped her face at the display. She was wholly unsure what to think about Jules in its current state, making a little dance, while using the rods as sticks of a sort. If it continued on, there might even be a few throwing tricks added in. While Cassandra might have used that to alleviate her boredom, her need for some manner of professionalism kicked in, making her do her best to make the automation knock off the display.
‘Is this how you choose to tell me that you have searched through everything in your designated area?’ Cassandra sent back, pointedly not acknowledging the automation’s question anymore, and substituting it with her own instead.
‘Yes,’ was Jules' immediate response. Nothing to sugar-coat the truth, it seemed. Somehow, that surprised Cassandra even less than what else would have been stated. Again, a slap to the forehead felt appropriate, if not for the muck which would have hit her from the glove she currently wore. Rivers were decidedly not known for their cleanliness.
‘You can just go ahead and search other areas, then’ Cassandra said, not wanting to bother with any of the fishing. ‘There is a chance that the body might have floated upstream without Jared’s notice. Go see if there is anything close by. Don't go more than two kilometres out, however.’
And… the automation had already begun to run the moment that the first sentence had been said. How had Cassandra expected anything less? Looking ahead, it was clear there was still much ground to cover. She was barely halfway through the possible landing area as it was.
She could only hope that the automation would come back soon. She was much too fatigued as it was.