Oscar was a little frustrated with himself, a little frustrated with Rachel, and when she sided up to him and told him that he must not have been perceiving things correctly, a little frustrated with Dr. Wilson. "I know what I felt," he said in a neutral tone. Even though he was frustrated, being as old as Oscar was taught you not to vent on other people. Well, perhaps Oscar had always known that, but he saw on a day-to-day basis how some people blamed their own problems on others. A grin cracked on his face, though he had no idea where the sudden burst of mirth had come from. He took Jane's hand before she could pull away from him, and said, "This? I know when this thing is working. I can tell you're a bit surprised right now. I know what I felt," he repeated. "That totem knew we were there. It was<em>alive</em>." Self-consciously he released her hand, and kept walking, his mind still jumping like the arcs of electricity from Voltaje's fingers.<br/><br/>When they came to the flat-topped hillock that Voltaje had in mind, they began to build up their camp. Usually Athena was the director of all activities, and Oscar just pitched in where four hands were needed in place of two, but Voltaje immediately began to help. Much to his amusement, she spread wide leaves over the top of Athena's mosquito net, and where Athena tied everything down with elastic cables and rope, Voltaje then re-tied with vines she had pulled right out of the earth. The woman clearly had little to no military background, but she knew how to prepare camp. Even when Athena passed out their MRE's, the curious Latino woman insisted on fire- fuego, as she said it, though Oscar knew what she said when she first said it anyways.<br/><br/>Oscar grabbed about three MRE's and pulled Talpert and Dr. Wilson to one side. Athena knew how to figure out the things, and she could help JD and Voltaje. He didn't think a couple civvies like Jane and Talp knew how to even open the thick plastic wrap, let alone how to prepare the contents inside. "Military food," he explained as he bit the top of his bag open, motioning for them to follow suit with their own MRE's. "It's... Pretty awful. But it's nourishment." The meal came with the main course, sealed into a smaller plastic package which itself was sealed into a cardboard box, a 'side', a desert and any condiments necessary. Oh, and of course, a spork. "Dip the package inside of the heat sheath, make sure everything's nice and flat. Take your canteen and pour just a little water inside, don't go over the line on the bottom. That's going to activate the heating element. Wrap it back up, shove it inside of the box, and let it lean against... Something for two minutes, then come back." His meal was already heating as he watched Jane and Talpert confusedly toil with their packages. It was a lot of plastic for one meal; Environmentalists must have gone bonkers when they saw modern, super-packaged MRE's introduced in the 80's.<br/><br/>Oscar gave a sigh and swatted at one of the few insects that had been trapped beneath the mosquito net. That was when he noticed the red glow off in the distance... His breath caught in his throat. He couldn't feel anything coming from it, like he had the last two times he had seen that light, but it still made his hairs stand on end. "You see that?"