He's what? Really? But that makes even less sense than before.
[They're so surprised by the news that they even forget to protest the 'not funny' comment. Before, they thought it was a more simple case of time travel weirdness, and now it's... very much not. Morph is completely out of their depth with this whole thing.]
The Kurt I'm familiar with is around my age, give or take a couple years. He's a priest, and was on Genosha's ruling council. He hasn't been on the team long, so I don't know him all that well yet.
[They can't begin to imagine what Kurt would be like as a teenager. Probably nice, though. The adult version of him was a real stand-up guy from what Morph had seen.]
Is that everyone? There's no other kid X-Men running around I need to know about?
[He doesn't like the tone Gogol is using, and it's clear on Chuuya's face that if he wasn't choosing to play nice, he might try to make more of an issue of it. But right now?
He's got his priorities.] What do you think I've been doing? People thinkin' they know me means they'll talk freely, but it's not like anyone's handing out a tourist brochure for this place.
[He shifts in the sand enough to properly face the clown, gaze sharp.] Unless you're offering to be the tour guide, that is.
Hmmm... [Describing each member of their party of nine would be a hassle, and that's too much to keep track of. But he knows exactly what to start with:]
He's not a person, per se, but I do have a companion that's this tall.
[Yuri lowers his hand down to near his knees, palm lying flat against the air.]
Repede's dark blue with some light gray fur on the underside, and he always has a pipe in his mouth. He's usually by my side, but I guess this place separated us apart.
He's smarter than he looks, and once I find him it'll be easier to locate my friends.
Yuri unsheathes his sword regardless - a sleek and simple katana - and while it looked like he was going to stab Childe out of nowhere, the blade sinks to the ground by his side instead. Light draws out from the soil, scratching out runic symbols in the ground, forming a magic circle.
Whatever it is, it mends the worst of Childe's injuries.]
Hmm. I'm not sure how to describe it, to be honest. Hard to explain something that has been normal for all your life.
[He tries, regardless. If he's some kind of tour guide for Terca Lumireis, how would he start it?]
It's not the most friendly of places. There's monsters everywhere, and we have to rely on blastia to construct barriers for our cities. That's also the technology that we use in our everyday lives.
[And right before this, they were supposed to get rid of it for good, but that's gonna start another spiel that he'd have to explain. Best to stick to the basics.]
The Empire pretty much rules most of the continent, but there are also independent groups that operate outside of it, known as guilds. Does that sound like a great vacation spot for you?
[ His casualness is almost entirely put-on. The idea of facing the righteous reaction of someone who knows damn well what sort of responsibilities he's left behind isn't an appealing one, and to that end, he sobers considerably. It's something that's caused him no end of worry every day -- for all that others here seem to have moved on with their lives, Claude hasn't been able to do the same, dwelling on home more and more as time goes by. ]
Now Lorenz, just... stay calm when I tell you this. [ Never a good start. He takes a breath. ] Marianne was brought here a few months before I was. And I've been here for an entire calendar year. Though... you don't seem to have missed us.
[ Lorenz's hair is longer than Claude remembers, in fact. If this is more alternate world nonsense, he's going to scream. ]
Y-you're right. It definitely is difficult to explain something that would seem ordinary.
[He listens carefully to Yuri's introduction to Terca Lumireis like a good student he is, nodding a few times and keeping the questions for the end.]
It... doesn't sound too different from the place I lived in. We have monsters running around outside cities, too. And there are guilds who give work to adventurers. I used to work with them, too.
[Now the things that differ..]
I've never heard about blastia before. We use steam technology most of the time and... I guess our biggest problem is the war and natural disasters that have been occurring ever since the Fall.
[Ah, that's probably something he should explain.]
T-the Fall is... Well, in the past the Church would be granted the power of Artes from Heavens but one day suddenly they lost the Heaven's blessing and ever since then the world has had all kinds of problems.
[With all gods dead and Heaven destroyed, the world is in imbalance. Ruca had an idea how this could be fixed, but now that he's here... that will have to wait. Hopefully it can wait...]
Yeah, nah, [ he says, and at least sounds like he knows what an android is — a robot of some kind, right? he's pretty sure of that. ]
Sorry to burst your bubble, but definitely died and became a ghost. [ he shrugs again. he sounds terribly nonchalant talking about his own death. ]
Sure I can, hop through mirrors, too. Not sure if I can here, though. Normally people don't see me unless they're, like, witches, or psychics, but... [ charles waves his hand in a haphazard gesture towards junpei, as if to say, here we are, talking. ] So seems like not all the usual rules work here.
[ Nah, accusing Marco of always falling asleep to the news is incredibly fair - this is a kid who has no idea who the governor of his state is or even the fact that she's a woman. Though these days, he pays a lot more attention in case there's ever any mentions of aliens or alien-adjacent topics, so he's pretty confident that mutants have never made the front-page paper, or the back-page, or the gossip column, or anything else except Conspiracy Nuts Tabloid. It would have made their war efforts a lot easier if there'd been some group of non-cannibal morph-capable humans with actual experience running around town, instead of just a bunch of children way in over their heads.
...great, this is another alternate dimension/timeline/galaxy situation, isn't it? As if being kidnapped wasn't already tough enough. ]
< Superpowers? What, like from a comic book? Ooh, do you fight crime in your tights? Do you have a codename? Wait, hold on, let me guess...The Amazing Presto Change-o. >
[ This is immensely hypocritical on Marco's part, given that a) he's the one who came up with the equally cheesy name 'Animorphs, b) his own morph outfit is, by necessity, basically tights, and c) he has more than just a little extra DNA floating in his bloodstream. But at least he's not a superhero! Superheroes don't have to still do homework! ]
< Ha! I wish. I did bite a telepath once though...tasted like chicken. > [ He hesitates, debating on how much to reveal. He's pretty sure at this point that this guy isn't infested, and in that case he needs to be warned to keep a look out for Yeerks...but at the same time, he knows all too well that a person doesn't need to be a Controller to be an absolute dick with a power as abusable as morphing. Still, maybe it won't hurt to test the waters a little. ] < Crazy as it sounds, aliens did this. >
like intentionally or accidentally? because i'm pretty sure whatever the lunch ladies are serving up at my school cafeteria is of an origin not of this earth.
Yes, I imagine so. Perhaps putting out a call to all local artists would prove fruitful... [much to think about!!] Ah, but I have been here only a day, so familiarizing myself with the town must come first.
[After already trying to get a portrait done, anyway... don't think too hard about this.]
[Oh, absolutely never a good start. Lorenz finally manages to hold still for this artist, except that he's actually gone very still to stare at Claude, on instinct after being told to stay calm. A terrible sign.]
Pardon?
[A terrible sign and a calendar year! What! That doesn't make an ounce of sense, he'd seen the pair of them so recently he'd have assumed they all arrived within hours of each other, not calendar years. It makes no sense, but even worse than that--]
And you have been frittering away your time here doing what, exactly? Leaving the whole of your duties to others—to me- [obviously.] in such— such tumultuous times, without warning! You know better.
[And yet how could Claude be here for an entire year, when Lorenz is so certain... Well, the disapproval is the same, regardless of the logic or lack thereof. Lorenz pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. Okay, okay. Logic. He can be fair, mm, now that he's already gotten the mini-lecture out.]
It hasn't been long since I last saw you both. That much is correct. How is this possible?
[Please, the android thing felt goofy as soon as he said it, they don't need to keep talking about it. Either way, Junpei doesn't know enough about ghosts to confirm or deny any of this; he's met a lot of... uniquely situated people, say, but not ghosts.
Still.]
Wait, uh... [Uhhhhhh--] Hooow many people have you talked to besides me? Like a nonzero, definitely-confirmed-not-psychic amount?
Please! You owe me dinner now, do you want to pay now or shall we make a nicer date of it?!
(bitch???? bitch!!!!!!!)
Oh, okay! I will let you know when I decide to forfeit, but wouldn't it be fun if you forfeited first?! I'm solely trying to ignite that twisted mind of yours into working very hard!
[ as if this is somehow not a concerning fact, charles just gives junpei a bright grin — the charles rowland special that makes him look more like a human ray of sunshine than an actual boy. ]
I didn't exactly stop and chat with people, see, until your paper thing smacked me in the face.
( Chagrin flickers across his face, as Bones realizes he might not look as quite together as he assumed of himself, even without his new, blue splash. While his pride's feeling that extra ding, potential fuel to brush off any helpful concern, he glances back up the beach the way he came. Finding his way back in the dark doesn't exactly present itself as an attractive option, so. )
That's real kind of you. ( His gaze slides back to her, and he manages a thankful little smile. )
[He guesses Art must be very important to this guy. Or getting a portrait is.]
Well, we can explore this place together, if you like. As I said before, I'm an adventurer, so finding myself in new places is something I'm pretty used to.
Trust me, the barometer for weird can and will get worse. [ Jim snorts, offering a noncommittal shrug. ] But I guess if they are short on processing power, that's one area they might try to cut corners with.
[ They approach the beach area, where the festival really appears to be in full swing. Stalls of food and local wares, streamers hanging over the street, more people - natives and Chosen alike - spilling out onto the beach for festival activities. Bones trots ahead, ambling their way through the hustle and bustle. ] Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can't offer you a way home, but we can get you fed and watered.
Seems like a battlefield promotion is in your future, Tendi. [ It's a joke that's not really a joke, but Jim bumps her shoulder companionably with his own, hoping to ease some of the nerves. Much as he wishes she weren't here, it is something of a relief to have another officer on deck. So far it's been him, Spock, and two (albeit superpowered) teenagers - which, don't get him wrong, Peter and Gwen were great but - it's easier when you have an actual adult who signed up for this kind of bullshit on hand. ]
I like the way you think. I've tried everything I can think of, though I'd appreciate a second set of eyes on it. Cryptographic codebreaker protocol didn't get me anywhere. [ The AI in particular had ripped through his anony864 commands like they were tissue paper. Not exactly encouraging. ] We're building a telemeter. Technology is primitive - 21st century at best, for most of it - but when we're done, we'll be able to see where the greatest electromagnetic disturbances are. An AI as powerful as this one has to be draining a lot of power from somewhere.
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expiationlogs2024-06-10 07:58 am
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