One rainy street looks much like another

[cptn_carrot]

When: Friday night, August 26
Where: Coming into town along Main Street
Who: Carrot Ironfoundersson & OPEN
What: Someone's about to be very, very, very confused
Rating: Depends on who finds him! For Carrot's part, probably no higher than G

Comments

[icthyo_taco]

Abe couldn't smile noticeably but he came closer.

"Good evening," he greeted back, increasingly intrigued by the person in front of him. His accent reminded him of being from England, but there was something not right about that assessment. He tilted his head the other way.

"I'm Abraham Sapien," Abe said, putting a hand on his chest which he just remembered was uncovered. "Oh!" He shrugged off his side bag and worked his shirt back on. It wasn't that Abe found it rude for him to be shirtless. But introducing himself to someone he'd want to be a little more approachable, he decided. He talked while he worked his fins and webbing into the shirt in a way that wouldn't chafe.

"I believe you'd be correct if you say you're lost," he explained. "Or perhaps you are found," he mused and then shook his head.

"I'm afraid you might not be the same place you were before, Captain Ironfoundersson. You'll find many here are in the same situation, myself included. May I ask what era you're from? I can't quite tell from your matter of dress," Abe asked, finally zipping the shirt up.

[cptn_carrot]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sapien." This person's appearance was really quite striking. Carrot wasn't bothered by the lack of a shirt; he himself often went shirtless when he was laboring at something, and maybe Abraham had been trying to keep his shirt dry as he walked home. But he recognized the attempt at courtesy and appreciated it, so he let it pass unremarked-upon. While it was generally acknowledged that men might appear in public sans shirt without causing offense, it was equally understood that on social occasions, shirts were to be worn.

"The Century of the Anchovy," the young man replied, politely refraining from adding 'of course'. Perhaps Abraham, being foreign, used a different calendar, but the centuries were marked the same Disc-wide. "This is the standard Watch uniform." His brow furrowed. "What situation is this, that you're saying I've found myself in? Is this not Ankh-Morpork?"

Which, if it were the case, would explain the street and also Carrot's not recognizing Abraham (face or species). But it would certainly open the door to a whole lot of other questions.

[icthyo_taco]

"The Century of..." Abe started, then trailed off. At first he thought it might have been a joke on his behalf. He shook his head in honest confusion. He could tell that the captain was being genuine, though, as soon as he met his eyes. You didn't need to be an empath to get a very honest sense from Carrot's face.

"Ah, yes," Abe replied looking at the 'uniform' again. Though he thought that perhaps the sandals were a bit less than standard in work situations, he would not question what he did not know about this man. Thus far, this was a lot. And for the life of him he could not place a culture that used Anchovy as one of their Centuries. Boar, Rat, Dragon, yes, but Anchovy? His vertical eyelids slid over his eyes rapidly in obvious confusion.

"Ah. No, no it's not...Ankh-Morpork," Abe replied, finally being able to explain rather than question. He sounded out the word very carefully to be sure he got the pronunciation correct. He opened his mouth, then closed it again considering. His stomach gurgled involuntarily. He covered it with his hand.

"Perhaps there is need to discuss this over a midnight meal? The Love Craft Diner is just across the street. They have been open any time I've gone so I assume they are a 24 hour restaurant. I think it will be easier to understand while sitting in a well-lit establishment than here in a darkened street in the rain," Abe said attempting a smile which comprised of a subtle pull of the lips and a stubborn showing of his tooth plate.

[cptn_carrot]

Abraham's face was very difficult to read, but Carrot would swear that he didn't even recognize the name of the current century. Which, admittedly, was only a few years old, but still. Maybe he lived in a cave - or the ocean, Carrot amended to himself, taking note again of Abe's apparent physiology - and didn't keep up with the times? Then again, he was in the city now, and wearing clothes and all. Perhaps his people came ashore when it rained?

Well, now Carrot was just speculating. None of his books had mentioned anything like Abraham. He'd get the answers eventually, he figured.

"Until 1989 UC it was the Century of the Fruit Bat," he offered, in case that helped.

The rain covered the sound of Abe's stomach, but Carrot did notice the gesture. Then he seemed to remember they were getting rained on. "Oh, of course. I'd appreciate that very much. It seems like I've got a lot..." A lot to learn? He didn't even know what he needed to learn about yet. "A lot of questions.

"Unless - I've got nothing against your city, you understand, but I don't suppose that I could just turn around and walk back to Ankh-Morpork the way I came?" Something about Abe's manner made him doubt it, but he thought it worth asking.

[icthyo_taco]

"1989...U..." Abraham definitely shook his head this time. "The year here is 2011 B.C. You must come from an entirely different dimension altogether! Fascinating!" Abe's voice became a little higher with excitement. One might expect him to even clap his hands with the realization.

"I shall try to answer them all to the best of my ability. I'm afraid even those who have been here quite a while still do not possess all of the answers to the secrets the town has," Abe said.

"I'm afraid that might not be advisable, no. But I have no qualms against your trying. Though I do insist that you sit down and eat, first. I am very interested in where you came from," Abe said coming next to him and putting a hand softly on his shoulder as a guide. "I suppose a name to this town would help? You're now on Aternaville. I don't suppose you've heard of a place called Canada?" He subtly led the increasingly intriguing man toward the diner.

[cptn_carrot]

A different dimension? The furrow in Carrot's forehead deepened. The only different dimensions he knew of were hardly livable for ordinary species. The Dungeon Dimensions, for one vivid example, or the Castle of Bones - unless - had he somehow slipped sideways into a different leg of the Trousers of Time?

A very, very different leg, if years weren't even reckoned the same. "B.C...." he repeated, slowly, letting all this sink in. "As in... Borogravian Calendar? Only I think they share their calendar with Überwald. All part of the former Dark Empire, you know." He was just sort of letting his mouth go at this point. Reciting interesting (to him, anyway) trivia about various cities and cultures came easily to Carrot, even while his brain was busy puzzling over his current situation, which almost undoubtedly had nothing to do with Borogravia.

He found he was being steered gently across the street, and didn't try to resist. Once you got wet enough, you sort of stopped noticing, but it would certainly be easier to hold this conversation indoors. And it was rather rude of him to keep this helpful stranger standing out in the rain.

"Aternaville," he repeated, taking the same care Abe had to get the pronunciation correct. "And Canada. No, I'm sorry, I haven't." And that was very unusual for Carrot too. He wasn't widely traveled, but there weren't many places on the Discworld that he hadn't at least read about.

He held the door open for Abe, noting that it was quite the best quality glass he'd ever seen. And glass for a door? That alone would tell him he wasn't in Ankh-Morpork anymore. Wooden doors got broken on a weekly basis when customers got overenthusiastic, even in the nicer eateries. Glass would be sheer folly.

And then he saw the interior, and the door was forgotten. Absently he removed his helmet and ran his fingers through his dripping red hair, staring around at the place.

[icthyo_taco]

"Yes, B.C.--er. I believe in my excitement I might have misspoken, captain. How embarrassing!" Abe babbled with a flamboyant flapping of his hands. Not that Carrot would have noticed the difference between B.C. and A.D. anyway. "But actually B.C. stands for the phrase Before Christ," Abe said, his speech getting quicker in attempts to both catch up with the new information he was receiving and rectifying his own error. "Christ being a symbol of a religious institution whose beliefs are shared with an impressive portion of the world. Before Christ refers to the time before this symbol was born." His hands waved emphatically now trying to somehow try to explain an ages old religion in a very simplified way. "A.D. is what era we are in currently. It stands for Anno Domini, loosely translated from Latin to mean 'the year of our Lord' which...is...also a reference to the religion in where the Lord, being represented by Christ, is prevalent and worshiped. And though more people do not follow this religion than do it has become the standard by which those who live in the developed countries of this world use, often called the Gregorian calender. As-uh-for the Dark Empire, I have only heard of such a thing in a movie called Star Wars. At least I believe it was called the Dark Empire. Red would know better," he said trailing off with a finger to his mouth in consideration. All of that might have been a bit overwhelming but Abe was oblivious to it.

"Oh, well, I suppose that's no surprise," Abe said with a shrug of his shoulder. "Your world seems entirely different in structure and possibly geography. How fascinating, a dimension not parallel but possibly in tangent with our own! It really is the stuff of legends, you must understand."

Abe walked backwards into the diner narrowly missing colliding with a patron walking out. "Pardon...Uh. Captain? Are you alright?"

Abe looked around him but didn't notice anything spectacular as the emotions that were radiating from the man inferred.

"Hey, sweet. You wanna put that fire out for me, huh?" A woman's voice behind the counter pointed to the lantern that Carrot held.

Abe turned sharply at the lantern and looked up at the broad man curiously. Had he never seen electricity?

[cptn_carrot]

Carrot listened quietly to the explanation, absorbing everything Abraham was telling him. He was good at that, absorbing new information. He didn't quite know what to do with it yet, but he filed it away for future reference. "So there is one universal calendar, based upon the reckoning of the world's dominant religion, which holds that there is a single god and His representative?" He thought that about summed it up. It was a very peculiar idea, though. Of all the 3000+ gods on the Discworld, only the worshipers of Om ever tried to claim theirs was the One and Only, and nobody ever listened to them. Carrot had met at least a dozen of the gods himself. They weren't particularly impressive up close, and certainly nothing to base a calendar on.

"U.C. stands for the Unseen University Calendar," he offered in return. "It's more popular for common use than the Ankh-Morpork Calendar. It counts in half-years, which most people find more intuitive, I think."

A man the size of Carrot makes a very effective door block, which he realized after a few moments when he blinked and noticed the patron trying to squeeze past him. Hastily he stepped aside. "Oh, yes, of course. Pardon me." Opening one of the lantern's cloudy glass panels, he blew out the flame. During all of this, his eyes never stopped moving around the room.

It was definitely the lights which had his primary focus. As he finally followed Abe further inside, he leaned a little closer. "The light - it's magic? Salamanders? Or... some sort of alchemist's device?"

[icthyo_taco]

"I believe that's a very good summary, captain, yes!" Abe replied enthusiastically.

"Unseen University Calender," he recited. "I assume the Ankh-Morpork Calender chooses full years? Is that the time it takes for your world to revolve around its sun, then? How...unique...to count half that time."

Abe was finding a booth when Carrot murmured the statement that sealed Abe's suspicions. "Very close...except for the part about...salamanders. It is actually a work of science! If you have ever witnessed the meteorological phenomena known as lightning then the lights you see now is a harnessing of that power. The same concept that a bolt from the sky uses to create its show is utilized in small glass bulbs," he said pointing upward to the fixtures. "Its discovery has lead to several advancements in this world. Though they might seem magical," he explained as he sat down in the booth, "they are simply an advancement of technology. For instance, armor would seem a great mystery to those of your past who had not yet invented the protective wear."

The waitress from behind the bar came up to the table leaning herself on one hip.

"Abe. Three hard boiled eggs, a side of lightly toasted bread with strawberry jam and a glass of water?"

"Oh dear. Am I that predictable?" Abe stuttered.

"No. I'm just that good. Hey handsome, need some time to look over the menu?," the waitress then asked Carrot, sliding a menu toward him with a wink seemingly oblivious to his obviously out of date outfit.

[cptn_carrot]

Wait. What?

"A full astronomical year is the time it takes for the Disc to complete one full rotation," Carrot said slowly. Maybe Abraham had misspoken again. Carrot wanted to make sure they were clear. "A half-year is the length of a single orbit of the sun around the Disc. That's the reason most people prefer it. Only four seasons, only four hundred days." For some reason, the throwaway world revolving around the sun comment was more upsetting than anything Abe had said so far. Because... well, it was the world. Religions were one thing, but you couldn't just go around changing how the world worked.

After that, the explanation about the light seemed like nothing. It sounded sort of alchemical, without (he hoped) the explosions. "Harnessing lightning in small glass enclosures, and you say it isn't magic?" he murmured, not really expecting an answer, as he shifted his sword awkwardly to allow him to slide into the booth.

The material of the bench was strange. The material of the table was strange. The material of the floor was strange. And then a serving woman was there, handing him a menu coated in some other strange substance. Carrot was feeling more unbalanced by the moment. At least eggs, bread, and jam were familiar.

Despite his discomfiture, he smiled at the serving woman as he accepted the menu. "Yes, thank you. May I have a glass of milk to start?" Good gods, he hoped they had milk here.

[icthyo_taco]

Abe blinked at what the captain had said. He didn't reply as he let it settle in his mind. What was his next comment? The question was did Carrot live on a disc shape world that defied common physics because it was in another dimension or did Carrot not have the knowledge that his world, like the Earth, was round instead of flat. He had a feeling he'd have to implement tact in this. Abe was terrible with tact.

Even more disconcerting was Captain Ironfoundersson's disgruntled reply to electricity. Abe felt Carrot's discontentment from across the table. He was treading on very unsteady floors here. He suddenly found himself in a position where he could likely shake Carrot's concept of reality as he'd known it.

"Sure thing," the waitress replied with a smirk.

A moment passed after she left in where Abe's fingers danced soundlessly on the table.

"I feel as if I might have upset you, Captain Ironfoundersson," he started. "Perhaps if I explain. And then you may explain your world to me we might have a better idea of how things differ. The world you are on now is of a very...different...shape than the world you originate. It is a sphere, as a ball is, and it rotates as such on an axis." Abe mimed this all with his hands. "In this rotation it also revolves around our sun. It is my understanding from your reply that your world does not follow these...physics. Rather, your world is a disc and its sun revolves around it? Am I right in that assumption?"

[cptn_carrot]

Carrot wasn't disgruntled, not really. He didn't get disgruntled. He was just... unsettled. More than he was used to. But that wasn't Abraham's fault.

He listened carefully to Abe's explanation, sensing that Abe, too, was trying to make sure they were clear. And there were other worlds. Carrot knew there were other worlds. He'd just never expected to find himself on one.

"A round world." His voice was quiet and thoughtful. "A... round world. The wizards at the University sometimes mention a world like that. I had the impression it was something they'd created in the High Energy Magic Building. A project they used to drain off some of the extra magic buildup. A fully operational Roundworld, they said. I never knew much more about it." Was that where he was? Transported into the wizards' experiment?

He took a deep breath. "Yes, the Discworld is... well, yes, a disc. It's supported on the backs of four tremendous elephants, which are themselves standing on the shell of Great A'Tuin, the World Turtle, as it swims through space." There was no sign in his face or voice that he thought he was saying anything in any way absurd. It made more sense than a round world. "It rotates around the Hub, and the sun orbits it. Once every eight hundred days."

Logic asserted itself even as he said that. If 'years' didn't mean the same thing, and the world itself wasn't structured the same way... "A day is twenty-four hours," he added, watching Abe's face carefully. It was difficult to read, but it might give some sign of whether he was uncovering more differences. If he could intercept some of them now, that might prevent them ambushing him later. "And a week is eight days. Each month is thirty-two days, except for Ick; that's sixteen. And there are twenty-six months in a full year. Eight hundred days."

icon for you

[icthyo_taco]

"Fascinating," Abe said, "There are several legends about the Earth including animals and desires to explain the existence of the Earth, sun, and moon before space travel was possible. In fact, if I'm not mistaking, the Hindu mythology is nearly identical to your--" Abe stopped with a snap to his mouth. Tact. Right. "Not to imply that-that your view of the world--" Snap again. "It is...that is...Once every eight hundred days, you say? Fascinating!"

He took a breath and clenched and unclenched his fists, embarrassed at implying that Carrot's view of his world could be anything but true. Now was not to time to shake foundations of his own reality of where he originated.

"A day here is twenty-four hours as well," he said with a nod. "Though our week is only seven days. Our months vary from 30 to 31 days each though February is 28 days except every fourth year when it gains a day. There are 12 months, though a very long time ago there used to be a 13th. A full year is three hundred and sixty-five days, three hundred and sixty-six every fourth year when February gains that day. Hm. Your sun must make a slower or wider orbit about your...Discworld than our world makes around our sun even though both of our worlds tend to rotate at the same speed, that is if an hour is even analogous to both of us."

He still looked sheepish at his comment before.

Re: icon for you

[cptn_carrot]

Carrot noticed Abe's discomfort, and guessed at the reason for it. He didn't look offended; rather, he shook his head with a small smile. "It's all right. To be perfectly straight with you, Mr. Sapien, I'm not sure I really believed in it all myself for a long time. Oh, it's what they tell you growing up, and you nod, but it's difficult to get your head around, isn't it? Elephants that size. But I saw it." His eyes grew wistful. "I traveled to the moon in a flying machine and I saw the whole Disc spread out below, and an elephant's head that filled half the sky. It was... Well, I don't have a word to properly describe how it was. But I know it's the truth, because I've seen it."

The numbers Abe was offering clanged awkwardly in his head. The trouble was, not one of those numbers was a multiple of eight. How could one have an ordered world if it wasn't begun on a common base? Where did one get all these numbers? They seemed so arbitrary.

All right, it was based on some religion that sounded like a more widely-accepted version of Omnianism, but where had they got it?

It was an interesting question, and one which Carrot might have to research if he were here long.

"Your year is only a bit shorter than our half-year," he mused, "so I suppose that means... our sun's orbit around our world is just a bit longer than your world's orbit around your sun. But the rotation of our world - did you say your world makes a full rotation in an hour? That seems awfully fast. Wouldn't people fly off?"

Re: icon for you

[icthyo_taco]

"Amazing!" Abe replied to the man's genuine answer. "It is fascinating that such a similar species to that of a human, identical from the looks, would exist in a universe where the physics are so different! Though I'm sure you're having as difficult a time wrapping your head around our reality as I am around yours. It is the same awe you express that many astronauts of our dimension have at seeing the earth from afar for the first time. I understand it's a perspective that's not soon forgotten."

Abe nodded at everything Carrot said except the last.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood. It takes 24 of our hours to rotate completely. A day. But even if we were to rotate at that speed I doubt that we'd fall off. A concept known as gravity provides explanation to why when we jump we fall back down to earth. I don't believe the momentum would be as such to come into contrary with that. Though I'd have to check the exact math on it. Ah! Thank you, Pamela," Abe asked before he could clarify his curiosity about how long an hour was to the captain. 60 minutes? How long was a minute then? 60 seconds? Was their second the same? It was a growing list of questions.

The waitress put down Carrot's milk as well.

"Decide on anything?" she asked, her red cheeks meeting her eyes in a smile.

[cptn_carrot]

"I am human," Carrot protested, looking faintly wounded. "Well, and a dwarf. By adoption."

His discomfort was fading pretty quickly. Not because the situation had changed any - he was still apparently in an unfamiliar city on a completely alien world. But there didn't seem to be very much he could do about that just now. He could worry about getting home later.

New things, modern things, new ideas had always excited him. And there was quite literally a whole world of new ideas being laid out in front of him.

"I know about gravity, it's the force that pulls everything downward. Only wouldn't the people around where the world curves start to slip? And what about the folk on the other side, do they walk about upside down? Feet on the ceiling, that sort of thing?" A round world. He wished he'd asked the wizards more about their experiment when he'd had the chance. Disc physics did not apply well to a sphere.

For instance, their whole world turned once every twenty-four hours. While a greater time than one hour, that still seemed very fast for something the size of a world to be spinning.

Carrot's honest face was lined with intense concentration, his lips moving silently as he tried to recollect what he'd read about the calendars and the way they worked. He was no scholar; he just collected interesting facts as they presented themselves, and they tended to sit around in the back of his head, awaiting their opportunity to be shared again when a conversation got 'round to them. He was afraid he might have got these a bit twisted up.

"The sun," he tried again, checking each statement for accuracy before he let it out of his mouth, "circles the Disc once every day. The Disc's rotation takes a half-year. Sorry, Mr. Sapien, I think I may have been the one to misspeak this time. It's all getting a bit confusing."

Before he could go on, the serving woman came back, and Carrot realized with a start that he hadn't even looked at the menu. "Oh - yes, of course, sorry." He picked it up and studied the words. A few familiar ones jumped out at him, but Carrot was a slow reader at the best of times, and he didn't want to keep the woman waiting. "Uh... I'll have the same, please, ma'am." He pointed at Abe with a sheepish smile. Egg and toast seemed safe. "Thank you very much."