1. (voice)

[homomachinis]

You know what people are supposed to say when they wake up in some ass-backwards location with no fucking clue where they are? I’m sure it has something to do with asking if this is a kidnapping, but it doesn’t seem like I’m the only one here, does it? At least according to, [ he stops for a moment, as if he's listening to something ] the

Comments

voice

[harriedosborn]

[ He sounds slightly out of breath. ]

Technology like what? Cell phones? Or...

voice

[homomachinis]

[ His own voice is...a bit low, concerned. ] No, nothing so normal. I guess it doesn't necessarily have to be technology, but... [ He trails off, not really willing to say much more on that ]

Whatever caused me to not be in Canada instead of DC.

voice

[harriedosborn]

Ever consider that we might be dreaming?

voice

[homomachinis]

For about a minute, but this doesn't feel like any dream I've ever had.

voice

[midnighting]

Seems to be a pretty common problem. All things considered.

voice

[homomachinis]

A-- [ he stumbles over his words, freaked out. ]

A common problem? You think?

voice

[midnighting]

What, every advance in [he's assuming extraterrestrial] technology was made responsibly where you're from?

[a beat] You gonna need a fucking minute?

voice

[homomachinis]

Sorry, this is kind of the sci-fi fantasy realm. I mean, this is not--

I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore. [ His voice now is bewildered, like he's just coming to accept that fact. ]

[Voice]

[boundbytreason]

[ In deference to his request for one person's response, Caster reviews the others' answers to avoid any needless reiterations. She takes a moment to consider and weigh in the information that she knows, before she speaks, a calm voice that clearly belongs to a woman. ]

No one knows what runs the Core or where it came from. Nearly all the people who understood it are no longer alive.

But it's a common belief that its original purpose was to trap those who are different. Such as those belonging to a different species or those with supernatural capability. They were kept here in hopes of freeing society from their prejudice -- and to keep them from exerting their strength over others.

[Voice]

[homomachinis]

Okay. [ He stops, and there's an audible breath on his end. The New Yorker accent is a little thick. ]

What runs it? Shit, what is it? [ A moment, and then as an afterthought ] Wait, it fucking pulls in people with powers?

[Voice]

[boundbytreason]

Yes, it does. But the Core suffers from a series of malfunctions. It will bring in people without any power and mutate them to give them an ability.

[ She pauses to give him time to process that. ] So, it's a guarantee that everyone in this city will have at least one power. It just isn't necessarily active.

[Voice]

[homomachinis]

[ He does take a minute, but it's not the powers thing that gets him, it's the malfunction part. ]

It's a goddamned machine?

[Voice

[gaveherwings]

I presume you're speaking about The Core?

[There's a terribly young looking lab assistant (because he is) in labcoat without the scrubs tonight, and less identifiable as a doctor, in some non-descript, sterile hallway.]

That's something many of us- all of us, I'd venture to say, would like answered.

Unfortunately they're not putting forth much effort towards unearthing it, and research. It's too violate, too unpredictable. The companies would squabble over it, if permitted to.

[homomachinis]

[ Off-mic, there's a slight 'uh', before he actually speaks, a laugh, even. ]

At least some things aren't so different than what I know. So nobody knows what it is, where it comes from, or anything really about it? That sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[gaveherwings]

It's been a recipe for disaster.

Whoever tampered with it last, some...90 years ago? Triggered a disaster which killed off most life on the island in its first colonization, back when Siren's Port was called Missionsworth. They say that's when the Darkness Decay Effect was created, too. So it's little wonder they play it cautious. The administration isn't in any kind of position to regulate or negotiate tampering or experimentation- it's questionable whether its even safe for anyone to be down there within range of the energy fields.

Something of that kind of power has significant implications. Maybe it's better to keep it an unknown, at least till there is a way of holding people accountable for their potential mistakes.

I'm Dr. Yumeno, by the way. You must be one of our newer arrivals.

[homomachinis]

Yeah, I suppose I am. Mitchell Hundred.

I can't say I've ever seen anything like this before. So this Core is why I'm here, essentially, right? [ He pauses, the implications of that is enough to make him stop and think about it ]

I can't say I blame them if it wiped things out once already.

voice;

[kingofrooks]

I have a pretty good idea you don't mean the NV.

voice;

[homomachinis]

No, I definitely don't mean that.

voice;

[kingofrooks]

I figured, mainly because you don't sound like you come from a couple of centuries past.

You know, it's a damn good question. Where the Core came from.

voice;

[homomachinis]

One that's been asked before, I take it? A lot?