Ep 1.5 - Vantage Points (Closed)

[Feldspar]

Green light washed over a small clearing as the portal opened up onto a new landscape.

Once again, the mech would find himself surrounded by pines. These ones were not the same as the wet and wooded area he'd just left. They were tall trees, twisted and changed by high wind and deep snow. Their needles were long and grew in bundles of three long their scaled branches.

A sweetness hung in the air that even the most nose blind mech or human could pick out. To a human, it would have been reminiscent of vanilla. Max's heavy treads would dig into the clumps of yellow grass that kept the thin soil in place. However, he had plenty of room to maneuver, and could see and scan around him for a long distance.

If anything approached, he'd be able to tell immediately, be it by ground or by air.

Any sort of disturbance to the ground caused it to puff dry dust and a pale, ashy grey. It was an andisol soil, composed of numerous cobbles, gravel and stones. When it rained it no doubt drained freely and excessively, this was apparent by the long runoff grooves in the landscape around him.

Odd stone formations rose in the distance, nestled along the trees. Needle-like, these massive spires that jaggedly rose towards the sky. They were sharp and narrow, totally unlike the hoodoos of Nevada.

In front of Max stretched a long swell of land, a gentle rise out of this valley he was now in. It angled upwards rather suddenly, interspersed with huge white patches of snow.

These remained on the fissures of the slope of this mountain even during the summer months. Compact ice reflected bright in the sun, while long blue shadows trailed and licked along the soft edges. There were several of these patches in the lower spots of the mountain.

The closest one had a dark curve at the bottom that seemed a bit different than the rest...

[Deleted]

When the disorientation of driving through the ground bridge had faded, Maximus once again found himself among a grove of pine trees.

But these ones were different than those he had left behind, as was soil and the surrounding rock formations. With an internal frown he locked one set of brakes and let the tracks on the other side of his alternate mode spin through the grass and dirt, throwing it up in clods behind him. Ashy dust clouded into the air before drifting on his plating. Huh. That was odd.

Maximus settled over his treads and scanned around himself, his whip aerials wagging. He seemed to be at a higher elevation now, while at the same time resting in a valley surrounded by distant rocky peaks. It was clearly a mountainous area - some of the loftier peaks were even capped with snow and ice. He could detect a sweet, cold tang to the air.

He eyed the valley warily. It didn't seem like a place that would be heavily travelled by human hikers, as the last one had been. Still. It would be wise to hide himself as best he could before reforming his avatar.

The big tank backed into the deepest part of the trees he could find, crushing fallen debris beneath him as he did so. He clipped one tree and allowed it to crash down over himself, draping its pine boughs over his full length. Good. All the better. One when his engine was shut down did he pop the top hatch and allow his avatar to climb out, its hands and the knees of its jeans becoming dusted with ash.

Max dropped to the earth and looked around himself. There had been a strange patch of ice nearby that he had spotted before backing up. Perhaps it was worth exploring. He set out towards it, picking his way carefully across the valley floor.

[Feldspar]

No humans. Not even a trace of them here in this particular place. No paths or walkways or anything in this part the terrain. No well-groomed trails picked their way up the side of the mountain. There were many lines though worn by water and wind.

Max would soon come to that dark spot on the ice and instantly realize what it was. A natural cave in the compact ice and snow, caused by water melting from underneath. It was not deep, it didn't go back into the hillside far- in fact, once he'd crested the lip of the earth, he could see all the way back to where the end of it curved. Scanning it would prove that it was utterly empty.

Light filtered in through the somewhat transparent areas. Pale blue, gleaming and glimmering, illuminating the dry grey ground softly within in shades of turquoise and sky.

Easily deep enough to fit his tank form, protected from overhead. If something flew over, they'd never notice, this had to be walked up on the ground to be spotted.

This time, Max would realize something else as well after peering around. Off to one side there was a patch were the ground was scuffed out of place. To a human it might be a tiny rockfall, caused by unstable ground and thin plant cover. However, there was plant cover here, grass between the stones. The earth should have been stable...?

No, it was as something large had accidentally slipped against the edge of a rock. Fingerholes that no one might recognize as such, four of them, spread wide and light. Memories of a long and lanky frame; a lean and touch down on the landscape to brace. Not flailing or panicking, a simple hiker's grab, up and gone again.

It was not recent though. The edges of the holes had softened with wind and rain, and tiny bits of grass were re-growing within poking up into the sun through the disturbed soil.

Off to one side, hoofprints. A long deer trail. It appeared that the animals seemed to know instinctively where to find solid footing. Myriads of sharp hooves had worn it smooth as they traveled up and down the mountain to forage and lick at the salts along the corners of melting snow patches.

[Deleted]

The ice cave was a perfect hiding place, sheltered from sight both from above and below.

It was also quite beautiful, which Max had not been expecting.

Startled, he stood for a moment and took it in, his head angled back. Light glowed through the thinner patches in the roof, casting deep blue shadows across the floor. A natural cathedral of ice and snow, cold and radiant. And empty. He was alone.

Max closed his eyes and breathed in. It wasn't necessary, his holomatter avatar couldn’t draw in air if it tried. Felt right for the moment, though.

He turned from the cave. In doing so he caught sight of the odd scuff marks nearby. He studied them, his eyes narrowed, and appreciated the scale of the fingerprints. A Cybertronian had touched down here, resting her hand against the ground. Max had a pretty good idea who it had been.

That was good. The Dece– the courier had struck him as a skittish sort. If she had been here boldly in her root mode, then it had to be a secure location. No one to see her for miles in all directions. Or him.

Which meant he could finally stretch his legs a little.

He walked to the cave, clearing the distance with long, easy strides. Maximus grimaced and laid one hand on his shoulder. He rotated his arm and flexed out his fingers. His tank mode was built for combat, not for comfort. Sitting in it for hours could get tiring fast.

Still, he transformed back into it before backing into the cave, his turret pointed outwards. His avatar watched silently the entire time, its hands in its pockets. Only when the tank was still did Max turn back to the valley. He struck off down the deer path, the only visible route he could find.

[Feldspar]

Once Max had cleared the low curve of the entrance, the mech could easily have transformed and sat upright inside. Standing might prove a bit more difficult; he'd have to duck a bit not to smash his head into the ceiling. Inside it was bare and surprisingly dry, save for a thin trickle of constant water that had cut a groove neatly along the far side, smoothing down a trench. The flow had pulled away the fine grey soil and left the bottom scattered with smooth, rounded stones, striated with grey. Some of them gleamed a little deeper, reflecting that blue from the waves in the ceiling ice above.

Outside, when the mech looked up, he could see that the mountain slope rose sharp and high ahead of him. Sharp slopes bare and open, wooded and thick in others. Long areas of snowpack fingered down in places, pressed down on the mountain's flanks. The undertone of the soil everywhere was ashen grey, not the deep thick black of the area he had left. Very few decidous trees dropping leaves, and nor was the very air damp and wet.

Underneath the hiking boots of the avatar that the mech wore, the trail was was narrow and winding. A grey line that angled with the slope of the mountain. This was not a path made by humans, who tended to take the most direct route through the landscape. Their old winding senic highways were fading into obscurity as drivers simply wanted point to point as quickly as possible.

Modern human machinery could blast through rock, tear down sections of the mountains, fill the rivers, pave it over. It could wash the hillsides into the ocean to create deltas of soil to build a harbor.

Wildlife really had none of that (well, except for very determined beavers, who had to build a lake at every stream...) so they simply created their paths with the landscape.

The game trail meandered, it moved sideways across the landscape, picking the natural route among the stones and the trees and the boulders. It rose sharply in some places, smoothed out in others, and the gradient steadily carried him upwards. If he simply stood back and looked up, the top of the massive mountain was towering above him, touched gold with the afternoon light.

It was going to be a long climb. At least a few hours.

[Deleted]

Max climbed the trail steadily, his strides even and untiring.

It was a lucky thing, he thought, that his avatar drew little power from his systems. His holomatter generator was a simple one; though it had decent solidity and range its basic programming would allow for only one template. That was fine. He had never wanted more than one face, and humans seemed to accept the one he had chosen.

Now he was glad for the minimal power draw the simple software brought with it. As Max picked his way up the winding trail it occurred to him that he had been at this odd game for almost half a day already. It had not escaped his notice that the locations the courier had picked to send him to so far all fell within the same western region of the country. He wondered if she walked these paths frequently too, as he was doing now.

His boots slid on the loose dirt. Max grunted and caught himself, using a young tree for support. He huffed and looked up the slope, squinting against the light. Still had a long climb ahead up the mountainous terrain, through thicket and over rough ground. That was fine. He was in no hurry.

Oh a whim he ran his scanners ahead of himself as he resumed hiking upwards, searching for any familiar blips.

[Feldspar]

The needles of the tree Max had grabbed bent under his hand. They were smooth and long; soft instead of sharp, rigid points. Scaley bark crumbled slightly under the avatar's touch. His boots had scuffed long grey stripes into the soil beneath him; the ground was dry and light.

His scanners would reveal a few things.

First of all it told him that he was nowhere near any human facilities. No buildings. No parking lots. Not even an informational pullout tucked into the landscape. In fact, there wasn't a paved road within twelve miles of where the groundbridge had let him out. At least that's what his maps would inform him. He was absolutely out in a place with no civilization; the chances of him coming across a human being on his way up the mountain were remote.

Second was a deep grey grouping of formations in the distance. He'd have to hike several miles off his trail to get to them but he'd no doubt be able to see them as he continued upwards.

The pamphlet he had picked up earlier at Multinomah Falls would also prove helpful. Crater Lake was a National Park and as such had rules and regulations that flagged up. Backcountry hiking was only allowed through a permit. It was free, but you had to apply for it. It appeared though that the backcountry permits were for the 90 miles of trails that the park offered on foot; and the mech was nowhere near any sort of trail like that.

Also - pets, bicycles, and motorized vehicles were not permitted in the back-country.

Good thing Max wasn't a dog driving a tank with a bicycle strapped to the front of it. He'd probably be in real trouble.

It looked as if this deer trail angled him up towards the crater's highest point. Likely there were humans up there as well. Maybe an actual trail to criss-cross?

Other than that the only familiar blip was that of a squirrel. It saw him and ran quickly up the nearest pine to chide at him until he had passed.

[Deleted]

Hm. Max frowned at the results of his scan. No humans in close range. No human settlements even, or outlying buildings. It was strange - he had become accustomed to seeing signs of their presence everywhere in this country. It was making his life damn difficult in fact.

The empty scan range made him relax a little.

As he climbed up the slope Max found himself thinking back upon the courier. She had travelled here on foot - not as a human avatar, but in her own root form. Walked the land as a robot and then drove across it freely as whatever car she transformed into, able to blend and mingle among the native population with ease. No hiding in caves, no restricted patrols. A Decepticon. Meanwhile he was on the side that was defending the damn planet, and the only place he could travel freely was the Autobot base. And its walls had been closing in on him rapidly as of late.

With savage ease Max hurtled up a rocky outcrop and stood on top of it, fuming.

The wind ruffled through his hair and shirt. He looked out through the pines, saw more grey rock between them beneath the wide blue sky. A little of his irritation faded as he studied the view, then turned to look up the trail. It wound through the forest towards the peak of the crater. Nothing up there but trees and wildlife.

Max sighed and stepped back onto the trail. He was well on his way up. Might as well keep climbing.

[Feldspar]

The trail persistently carried him up the mountainside. It took his avatar through angles, through rocks, over areas of dry grass barely clinging to the patches between stones. It curved up and took him over a stream fed by a tiny waterfall which seemed to just come out of nowhere on the rough landscape and flourished a tiny oasis of green around it. Bright yellow flowers scattered around it like tiny stars; along with tufts of lavender colored Lupine and bright red poker plants.

The deer knew how to pick their footing; up and down the slope from one grazing area to another. A solid, safe trail, it didn't lead him through dangerous rockfall areas, or too close to tree snags and steep edges. It just carried him quietly upwards, one step at a time, and the dusty grey soil carried him up through the thinning trees and into truly rocky terrain...

Before it thinned and gently nudged him out onto a wide trail. This one wasn't animal in nature, sharp hooves pressed over and over into the grey. It was as human as the avatar he now sported; there were bootprints in the dust and it was wide enough for two or three people to walk abreast. It was by no means an easy trail though; the scramble was hard, and if he looked behind him he'd see no gentle handrails or paved areas like back at the falls. This was simply a back country hiker's trail, not some easy little meandering walk that tourists took to go experience nature.

Black columns of basalt loomed to the side of him, casting cool shadows.

This trail continued to climb.

Fifteen minutes. Thirty. Then one last hard pull, one last put your head down and dig your boots into the trail. Heave and move, put the landscape underneath you. Just Max and the trail, and it lifted him up and up. No sounds but the stone under his boot and the wind. Rocks were on either side; grab and grip, use them to balance. Scramble over a fall that had happened a while back; one platform, the next, and then up---

He would find himself at the top of the mountain and staring over the huge glass blue caldera of Crater Lake.

The co-ordinates she'd given him were right here, and they indicated a stacked rock pile off to one side at the utmost tip of the path.

[Deleted]

For a minute or two Max simply stood at the end of the trail and stared out over the blue water in awe.

He had seen the pictures on the brochures. But they had not adequately prepared him for this. It was a vast lake, clear and impossibly crystal blue. The water was deep and yet he could look out over it and spy rocks at the bottom, fathoms down. Cradled within the crater at the top of the mountain, it was as if a piece of the sky lay cupped within the rocky slopes of the surrounding mountains

Max did not move. He let out a low whistle instead, his eyes roaming over the view. For the first time in millions of years he felt... small. Next to this peaceful caldera he was little more than a speck, a tiny point of life standing upon a frontier landscape that teemed with it. It was not a feeling he was used to, and it unsettled him for reasons he could not quite put his finger on.

Subdued, he tore his gaze from the lake and looked around himself. The coordinates pinged a location nearby - there. He spied the rock pile, which stood like a beacon at the end of the path. That had to be it.

He picked his way over, his boots crunching on lichen and pine needles. At the side of the pile he paused, studying it. Dismantling this was going to take a while.

At least he would be left alone to the task.

With the great blue lake shining in the distance Max bent and began to clear away the rocks, lifting each one patiently and setting it aside.

[Feldspar]

In the distance, the soft grey cone of Wizard Island peeked through the glassy lake. A bird fluttered past and landed on one of the stones; it shook itself and then bounced back into the air, disappearing quickly as it soared over the edge and into the slopes towards the lake. Behind Max, the sun was beginning to throw longer shadows as it slipped towards the horizon. A few scrubby trees curled upwards; twisted by wind and deep snow. They survived though, even thrived in the acidic, thin soil.

Wind ruffled against the black and red plaid of the avatar's shirt. The stones were solid grey basalt and heavy in his hands. They started small, but as Max removed them one by one, he'd realize that they were stacked up crosswise to create a hollow area that was no deeper than his arm. The last few stones few below were flat, heavy support stones.

It did take a while, mostly because he'd have to carefully set the stones aside if he'd want to put them quickly back in the right order.

A faded and scratched tupperware container with the same green sticker as the last cache. There was a note scribbled on top of the sticker in black pen that gave the actual coordinates and then also said, 'please seal tightly before returning.' When his fingers came it across it, the contents rattled and shifted. More coins perhaps, and the click of something plastic within. Paper shifted as well.

Vague outlines of a plastic bag rumpled up inside and the angles and corners of another small log book with a brilliant orange cover with words that just couldn't be made out yet on it. It no doubt would become clear when he popped it open.

[Deleted]

Max worked methodically, taking each stone down in turn and stacking it aside. He did not bother moving the lower ones – it was plain to see that removing the container this time would as simple as reaching down and pulling it from its rocky cairn.

No bucket or ammunition case this time. This container was small and flat and plastic, with simple latches clamping down the lid. Max studied the green and white sticker on top. Like the marking on the case before it, it seemed to suggest that this geocaching game the humans played was taken more seriously than he initially thought. Huh.

The big mech wasn’t one for games. He had no time or patience for them, and saw little point in the indulgence. The formality of this one made it a little more palatable to him.

He knelt down onto one knee beside the rock pile and set he container on his thigh. With one hand he worked off the lid. The container rattled at the motion. Sounded like it was full of random bits of human miscellanea as well. Already he could spy another logbook inside.

[Feldspar]

When he opened it, the journal was right on the top, bent at a bit of an angle to put it into the box. It had an old Bic pen in there with it, stuffed through the flimsy wire spiral back. Someone had slapped an orange sticker on the front. It said, "I use multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods! What's your hobby?" It was sealed in a plastic sandwich bag.

The trinkets and bits inside were becoming familiar now. Wooden tokens, personal geocaching tokens with bright colors and names on them. Pens. A keychain with a googly-eyed, cheerful penguin. Individual packets of "OFF" insect repellent. A Starbucks card. 2 chemical light sticks, the kind that if you broke, they turned bright luminescent green. A few golf balls, and then a handful of foreign coins.

A flash of familiar silver gel pen on the back of what appeared to be a stiff piece of paper. No, the back of a postcard. Where someone would normally fill out the going to address her careful handwriting was instead.

"To: Professor Freeman" it started out.

Hi. Hope things are good. Haven't been up to the rim in a while here. Had a tough time finding a trail that was quiet. More people than I remembered up here since they changed the highway loop.

Crater Lake is amazing though. It's that clear because it's not fed by streams and rivers. No silt. It's one of the deepest lakes in the world.

Here's the coordinates for the next cache. Unfortunately, there's a lot of hikers. But at night... well, I think it's beautiful too. Warning you now, this cache isn't as easy as the last few!

Also, if you climb up to the top point here - that very top rock? There's something neat there. Er, well I think so, but I like rocks.

- R.

33° 59? 06.86?N 116° 00? 59.35?W

As always, there was another set of coordinates a little farther out.

Underneath it though was a little arrow, drawn just so, pointing to...

PS: You're the only one I know who can appreciate this, Professor, so...

There was a strange looking bit of black plastic. Something weighed down one corner; a crisp black stopper. If he looked closer at it, he'd find that there was a word imbedded in it as well - Multinomah. Something had been poked through the card and was being held in place. His fingers would find the edge of it, no bigger than an inch, a cool circle of metal with well worn edges.

When he turned it over, it was a round brass pin, the sort of pin military humans tended to wear on a lapel or a collar. It was obviously old; some of the letters had worn down, smoothed out with age and time. It didn't match the pin back, probably the original one had been the same brass as the pin...?

The postcard was one from Multinomah Falls. It was sepia toned, an old shot of the building with equally old cars around the lodge. He'd likely seen a rack of them on his tour through the gift shop. Fifty cents, or three for a dollar.

[Deleted]

Max read the postcard, still resting in a crouch.

The silver pen was easy to recognise now. So was the courier’s distinct style of writing. He hummed to himself. So that was why the lake was so clear looking, why he could catch glimpses of its bottom despite its great depth. Fed by neither spring nor creek.

He frowned at the next set of coordinates. Hm. Perhaps it would be better to go at night. He couldn't imagine why, but if the courier said there were plenty of hikers she likely meant it in earnest. It would be easier to hide his alternate mode after dark as well. If he waited a few hours...

Max thumbed over the pin.

The words embossed on it leapt out at him at once. His eyes widened slightly as he remembered the cover story that the courier had established for him down in the Canyon. The United States Geological Survey. The pin was tiny, warm in his fingers. He ran his thumb lightly over its face. Something about its familiar, almost military air briefly cheered him. Then he very carefully tucked it into the pocket of his jeans. Wasn't sure if he could pin it upon his holoform or not.

The image on the postcard was instantly recognizable as well. Max studied the graceful old sepia lodge before laying the postcard on his knee. He reached for the pen and notebook, already thinking upon what to write in it this time.

’Long hike. Worth it for the view. Never seen a lake like this. Wish I could stay.’

The pen paused. Did he mean that? Hm.

’Fort

Working slowly, Max gathered the little items together and packed them back into the tupperware container. As he did so he looked about himself, curious. The courier had mentioned something about the top point – the top rock. He scanned his surroundings, checking the path and the ridge for something that fit that description.

[Feldspar]

In the journal there was the familiar silver pen. Her handwriting had smoothed out more, and some of her letters were joined together in a bit of angled precision. The courier had written a line as well; part of the game, where your words remained long after you had left this place and moved onto another.

It was dated several days after the date she'd given at Vantage.

'Haven't been up here in years, I think it was when I watched the Perseids from Cleetwood Cove. Missed being home.'

- Trackpony

The geocache stash packed back into the Tupperware box neatly, tucked here and there and flattened out under Max's hand. The last thing he would have to reseal and replace would be the journal, and that laid neatly on top of the contents.

Around the mech, the wind pushed and tugged lightly on the avatar's sleeves. It touched across the grey rock and grey dirt. The twisted pines rippled with it; the long needles ruffling, bowing to the pressure. Yellowed tufts of grass did the same; seed heads bowing to the dirt before they lifted back up again.

Max's scanners would touch on something on the absolute highest point of rock. A circular flat disk of metal, hammered into that point of the stone outcrop and cemented down around the edges. It appeared to be made of brass. Not huge, at the most maybe five or six inches in diameter. Out of place within the wilderness though; an obviously artificial point in this otherwise wild landscape.

It wouldn't be hard to climb to. Just a few more meters up on the path.