<i>"Did you just fucking ask me to stab you!?"</i>he demanded, his voice somewhat shrill. "You--Malia!" He shoved the knife back where it belonged and kept both hands over it protectively. "I am not going to stab you so we can test out some technology that's at the very<i>least</i>sixty years old!" Still, he was curious, albeit morbidly so. Not enough to stab the love of his life, but curious. He took a cautious step away from her in the event that she tried to make another grab for the weapon--not that she'd have much luck even if she did try. "We'll try it out on someone who isn't badly hurt but who can't fit in the smaller thingy. I cannot<i>believe</i>you asked me to stab you."<br/><br/>He stepped back out of the room and left the medical section entirely, shaking his head. He crossed the hall toward the CIC, glancing back at her as he went. "The only kind of stabbing you're allowed to encourage me to do is in the bedroom, just for the record. Good<i>grief.</i>" His distaste continued all the way into the CIC, which had a pair of doors rather than one. Above the door, etched into the metal, were the words 'COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER'. On the other side of the door were dozens of monitors and desks, all arrayed in a semicircular pattern around a large open space against the far wall. A table sat in that space, made of metal, with a carefully-detailed map on its surface. It wasn't just a paper map, however; it was made out of a series of metal pins, all colored to reflect the landscape, and showed the local region for miles and miles.<br/><br/>Carson approached it slowly, between the rows of defunct monitors. He leaned over the map slowly, squinting at familiar, yet alien landscape. He could recognize Central, located right in the middle, appropriately enough. He could even recognize the slight decline in the trail that led to it, and the rise of the hill that concealed the bunker's blast doors. Down near the edge he could find where Little Lake lay, along with the other settlements he guarded. The others were all on there, too, Letto and Natya and Sunny's towns. "Holy hell," he whispered. "How pointless." He turned away, toward another set of double doors labeled 'GENERAL QUARTERS', and frowned. More housing? He shrugged and pushed the doors open, and his eyes widened. Within was a full-on bedroom; a large, wide bed with blankets, drawers built into the walls, a full-body mirror, even a half-open door in the wall with 'WASHROOM' barely visible on the front. Carson caught himself grinning. He wouldn't need to pilfer a mattress from the dorms after all.