video; oo1

[criesforharry]

[There's a rather familiar face greeting those of Siren's Port today. One with rather fly-away (yet rather amazing) hair, a splattering of freckles across his nose, and skin sort of carrot-y thanks to the orange space-suit he'd arrived in.

Oh, and. He doesn't really look pleased to be here, to say the least.]

Rrrrrrrrrright then! As those

Comments

video;

[refrigeratormom]

The welcoming committee isn't that bad. I don't know why everyone insults it.

video;

[criesforharry]

A bunch of people standing around offering hugs and hot cocoa? They might as well be carrying SMITH PARTY signs and driving a limo.

.... Well, a limo wouldn't be bad right now. ... Same with the cocoa, really.

video;

[refrigeratormom]

Okay, but what are we supposed to do? Say "life sucks, here's your helmet"?

You're lucky, you know. I arrived at night, and there were no Greeters out at all.

video;

[criesforharry]

... Well... Okay, point. Spreading hope and welcome is always a bit better than simply leaving people hung out to dry.

... What's so bad about night? Other than stumbling around without a torch, that is.

[deathknellgrell]

Hmmm~?

[ Lazily ]

What's this about DEATH?

[criesforharry]

Exactly what I said. If I don't get back, if I can't change things, the whole of human history will be built on a death. Instead of a life.

[ Video ]

[deathknellgrell]

Human history is based on death.

Or d'you think you can cheat fate?

video;

[tiny_schemer]

[Why hello, pin-striped suit stranger. This one is small - about ten years old - wearing a little bow-tie and a newsboy cap.]

A future without death, mister? Like immortality or something? Is that even possible?

video;

[criesforharry]

[.... oh. 'Allo there kid! He can't help but calm down a little, talking to this one.]

Immortality? Naah, nothing like that. More just... a slightly better outlook. By changing one thing, making one simple thing just that much better, easier, more positive... who knows what else can change? To start out from a miracle, instead of a tragedy.

Anything's possible, with the right amount of weaseling about.

[tiny_schemer]

[Wow. This guy's a talker.]

Better, easier, more positive... you sound like a commercial. [smile]

So what are you selling, exactly? [His voice gains a harder, more cynical tone.] What's the idea if it's not immortality? 'Anything's possible?' Really?

[criesforharry]

[He lets out a laugh at that]

A commercial? I suppose I do! [And with a quick clearing of his throat, he puts on a fake little accent, sounding rather like some sort of british newscaster from the 1950's] And if you call in the next five minutes, you can get this brighter outlook today, ladies and gentlemen! Why wait? Trauma-be-gone could be in your home quick as you can dial!

[But then, to match that cynical tone, the grin pulling at his lips is hardening a little, one eyebrow arching up curiously.] Have you ever just wanted to do something? To save one life and see the entirety of history change, to see people just a little happier as they walk around? To maybe... give a daughter back her mother, to give a person years they should have had? Stolen years.

That is the idea.

video;

[sealbait]

It's a fucked up version of Canada with two asshole companies having constant pissing contests and a thing called The Core that's an even bigger asshole that brought us all here and throws people back without any warning. That's what this place is.

[Veser is, uh, a little bitter at the Core right now.]

Wait, what about death?

video;

[criesforharry]

So basically like any part of Earth in the early twenty first century? Well, not just that century, mind. More... well. All of Earth. Any time. Not too surprising, really. Bit predictable, if anything.

But what's this Core, then? Hm?

[Oh. Right. Death.] Oh, nothing too out of the ordinary. Just trying to stop it. The usual human condition... for non-humans.

video;

[sealbait]

Pretty much. Except with more Darkness monsters who want to eat your face.

Like I said, it's what dragged us all here and what kicks us out. It pretty much exists to fuck with your life the minute you end up here and keeps doing it until it maybe decides to throw you out.

...Uh-huh. You're going to stop death.

video;

[criesforharry]

.... Right then. Core is bad, Core's the thing that's brought us all here, and its what decides when we can go back? Any way to see it, tinker with it? Or is it one of those things everyone knows about, but no one's actually seen?

[He shrugs] Not impossible. I've done it before.

[youandoblivion]

[Enjoy your pseudo-loli, Doctor.]

You'll find the people know about as much about the details as just about anyone else, welcoming committee or not. All that really changes is how they present the facts, which, I'll admit, is almost worth the asking. The people here are just colorful like that.

[criesforharry]

Exactamundo! Precisely what I'm saying. You ask a committee, no matter who they are, and the answers tend to be uniform. Scripted. Even if there are one or two wild cards, nothing lets you know how a city is run and how its built than taking a general poll. Than asking the real people.

Not that the welcoming committee is fake, but most with a title tend to act a certain way. At least while they're supposed to be whatever it is they're introducing themselves as.

[youandoblivion]

You can only be asked to explain something so many times before it just becomes second nature and loses all the nuance. [You're clever, Doctor. She likes you.] But now that we've gotten past that. What're you looking to know? I've done as much research as one can about this place. I may not have time and experience, but I have science on my side.

[criesforharry]

Science is always the best thing to have. Facts and figures, calculations and proven theories better than half-formed speculations and whimsical fantasies.

The Core. Whatever it is, wherever it is, its what's causing all this, yeah? Any information on that? And these universes people come from. The fact that it has the power to reach through space, time, and reality... where is it getting all this power?

Better yet, where did it come from? Because if I know one thing about Canada in the twenty first century, just one thing... its that there is no possible way this kind of technology could exist. Not here. Not on Earth.