[Visual] the great big city's a wondrous toy

[tinynarcissist]

In the hours since he awakened in a room not his own, in a building definitely not his parents' house, Adrian has quietly gathered as much information as he possibly can. He knows the room belongs to someone older, but a little trial and error shows him how to get clothes his own size from the kind of science-fictiony cupboard. And some time spent

Comments

why do I always forget to include [Visual]

[imperial_long]

What a delightfully well-mannered child. Long smiles despite himself.

"Ah; so then. English it is. Yes, the city seems to be, hm, impossible to exit by any means attempted thus far-- there is a barrier which results in one always coming back into the city. What lies outside of our rather grandiose cage, I am afraid to say I do not know, although I have heard reference to a gargantuan cave.

"The précis of the situation is that, like yourself, most of us here are the prisoners of some entities whose exact nature is as yet unknown. Go to sleep in one's own familiar surroundings, wake up here."

This is not 100% accurate, as Long has already surmised (by the fact that the child did not appear in the arrival room) that this is merely a glitched adult, but it seems the simplest option- he's certainly not going to try and explain to a youth that he is a temporarily-age-regressed version of himself. Adrian is getting considerable forthrightness from him already simply because the boy strikes him as mature for his years-- handling this all very calmly.

"People come and go with some regularity, though; being returned to their own homes seems to be the common consensus for what happens when they disappear from the city."

[Visual]

[tinynarcissist]

"Impossible to exit." That doesn't bode well at all. Adrian wants to ask what's already been tried, but instead he sits quietly and listens to the man's explanations. (It's nice to be spoken to like an adult for a change.)

Something doesn't fit together quite right, though, and finally he asks, "If it's impossible to leave, how do people come and go regularly? Does someone come and take them? Who does it?"

[Visual]

[imperial_long]

A shrug from the man, one hand gesturing vaguely (the fingers of that hand are oddly long).

"These-- entities-- whom you will likely hear referred to as aliens, or as hamsters although I find the latter designation too silly to regularly employ-- they possess what can only be called considerable power, power beyond anything most of us have experienced, and we are... a diverse bunch. They seem capable of bringing people into and out of the city when it suits them, without actually needing to be visible here to do so.

"I don't have the requisite knowledge of the sciences, myself, but with what little I have read I would posit perhaps some minor folding of space..."

This is said partially to himself; Long thinks Adrian is bright, certainly, but in the sense of bright for a child, and not with any idea that Adrian might, even at this age, be more than bright enough to follow.

[Visual]

[tinynarcissist]

"Aliens is almost as silly as hamsters," Adrian asserts, momentarily coaxed out of his characteristic reserve by the strange but fascinating things the man is telling him. It sounds like science fiction, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. Things like that are only fiction until someone smart enough comes along to make them fact.

"Do you mean like an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" None of Adrian's readings on quantum theory have suggested the capability of manufacturing a fold in space, but then he's been mostly interested in electrodynamics lately. Maybe it's time to hit the library and see if anything new has been written.

[Visual]

[imperial_long]

"Almost!" Long says with an appreciative laugh. But his brows arch at young Adrian's next words, and he leans forward slightly with interest.

"You're familiar with Schwarzschild?" he asked, both delighted and impressed. "Good heavens, and here I was under the impression the education system everywhere was in irreparable decline. My reading in the field has been quite limited--" (what Long means by 'limited reading' is not always the same as what most people mean by the phrase) "--but from what I know I think it is possible, yes."

He almost launches into some discourse on what he thinks the aliens might be capable, but reminds himself that he is speaking to a child, however intelligent.

"--forgive me. The theoretical is all very fascinating, but I am sure you have practical concerns at the moment as well, no?"

[Visual]

[tinynarcissist]

"I read Über das Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der Einstein’schen Theorie and Zur Elektrodynamik. On my own, we don't study things like that in school." Which is so much more information than he ought to be giving out, but Adrian's pretty proud of his grasp on scientific theory, and Long seems like the kind of person who'd actually think it was a good thing, not something he needs to be hiding.

Adrian shrugs one shoulder and glances around, half expecting to see one of his parents open the door and ask what he's doing. "I figured out how to get clothes and the man who owns the building said I could stay if I wanted to. I just want to go home before I'm missed. My parents will be worried."

[Visual]

[imperial_long]

Adrian's guess is rewarded- Long only smiles broadly, teeth very white in his dark face, at Adrian's quasi-boast.

"How marvelous! Your initiative is to be commended.

"...ah, as for your parents... Well, from past reports it seems that when people return to their homes there is no missing time-- they go back to when they have left. I can only theorize extraordinarily wildly on the mechanics of how this might be possible, alas."