open ♕ if you're lost you can look and you will find me.

[moveuranus]

After casting her vote for her father, Veronica opts for walking in the rain the gods clearly intended for her to walk in. Dramatic, but Veronica’s walk is clearly one of shame and needs all the dramatics it can get. Instead of opting for an umbrella-or simply waiting for it to subside-she walks in the middle of the pathway, making sure she can

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[pwnspatrickjane]

Look to your left, Veronica.

No, your other left.

If you do, you will happen to see a wiener mobile. Yes, seriously, a wiener mobile, of the Oscar Mayer variety. Shawn got it for Christmas and he's been giving out free hot dogs ever since -- where he's found the money for these hot dogs, as he hasn't gotten Psych 2.0 off the ground yet, we may never know, but he manages. And today is no exception.

So when a tiny blond happens to appear out of nowhere, he's already warming up the grill. Wanderers need to work together for this kind of thing -- and she's in for a doozy of a conversation.

[moveuranus]

Veronica does as you've narrated - she looks to her left, then her other left - and once she looks to her other left, she finds herself looking at a wiener mobile. It's not something she's accustomed to seeing every day back home. She frowns, confused slightly, but figures that if there's a wiener mobile here, then there's got to be someone inside it.

So she walks up to the wiener mobile at a comfortable pace, just in case anything odd should happen, and approaches the window she assumes people can get their hotdogs from. She's only ever had experience with an ice-cream truck when it comes to ordering from a moving vehicle.

"Hello?" Veronica's kind of short, so please forgive her for not noticing anything that is rather obviously standing in front of her or off to her side. Rather hesitantly, as Veronica's never really found herself saying this except in extreme situations, "Can someone help me?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

Shawn gets the hot dogs on the grill, before poking his head back out the window and flashing her a smile. Smiles help. Or at least, he hopes they do.

"How ya doin'?" he says, extending a hand over the edge of the shelf to her. "Shawn Spencer, psychic detective and unofficial Rift welcoming committee. Welcome to Chicago."

Yes, he's aware that that's a lot of information all at once, but he does intend to explain. Eventually.

[moveuranus]

The smile does help, just so you know.

Veronica shakes his hand, though she’s looking at him with a rather confused frown. She’s slowly processing all of this. Unofficial rift committee. Shawn. Psychic detective. Chicago. “How the hell did I get to Chicago?” Apologies for her lack of tact, Veronica’s brain is in over-drive at the moment. Any witty quip or movie reference will have to wait.

Another thing that will have to wait is the whole ‘psychic detective’ thing. As another detective-though, at times, rather unofficial-she finds running into another, who isn’t Vinnie Vanlowe and doesn’t seem to be such a twerp, fascinating. But she’s quite stumped at the ‘psychic’ part of nametag.

[pwnspatrickjane]

"The answer to that would be 'a rift in time and space,'" Shawn explains. "A more in depth explanation would probably just make your head hurt -- trust me -- but to make it simple, it's June 18, 2011, and this Chicago isn't your Chicago. In fact -- I'm guessing it's probably a lot more crazy."

[moveuranus]

Veronica listens, fighting off confusion and the intense need to interrupt and say something smart. The guy seems legit, and he sounds pretty damn sincere, and it's been a while since anyone's ever introduced themselves like they're reading from their business card and shook her hand.

Though, Veronica frowns. "2011? But I'm from 2007!" She looks around the park, trying to find the cameras. Her frown turns playful as she doesn't step away from the truck or Shawn, looking around the place that does look rather normal - despite the "crazy" label pinned on it. "Wait, did Ashton put you up to this?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

"If you're referring to Ashton Kutcher -- no. I doubt he would be able to come up with something this good."

The hot dog finishes, and he plops it in a bun. "How do you like your dog?"

[moveuranus]

"I believe you. There's no way Ashton's patient enough to hold out this long on something of this size." She means it in different ways, of course. She believes Shawn is who he says he is, or will say he is, and that he's someone from her world. Perhaps not hers specifically, but if a shared opinion of Ashton and his lack of creative genius wasn't some kind of symbol that Shawn knew of the general things of planet Earth and specifically America, then Veronica wasn't blond.

Veronica's attention snaps to the hot dog. And then the conversation seems to flow as though they weren't just talking mere minutes before about Ashton Kutcher and some big ass rift. "Boring - got any tomato sauce in there?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

"He totally doesn't know how to wait for the payoff. It's actually a little depressing." Commiserating on Ashton. How he misses the real world.

For a moment, it almost reminds him of Gus, but he swallows it down.

"Dude. This is the best hot dog stand in new Chicago. There's very little I don't have." He slathers up the hot dog as requested, before handing it out over to her. "With the exception of drinks. I need to add in a fridge for sodas."

[moveuranus]

"You sold this hotdog to me under false pretenses," she says, smiling. She takes a bite out of the hotdog and nods. "This is actually pretty good. Thanks." She takes another few bites before she gets her thinking cap back on. "So, this new Chicago, is it anything like the old one?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

"Not even close," he says with a sigh. "First, when you fall through the Rift, it changes you. It could be something small, could be something big, but it happens to anyone. You become what's called a Wanderer, which -- sucks a little because we have no legal standing -- and most of Chicago hates us."

[moveuranus]

"'Most of Chicago'? That's kind of an upside to this place." Considering Veronica was disliked by a large portion of Neptune, this place is looking up - for only a second. "Changes us?" She frowns, looking at her hand. "Did I grow an extra finger? Am I no longer blonde?"

She takes another bite of her hot dog. "If Chicago hates us, this hot dog loves me. I hope you have loyalty cards because I am coming back for more. That is, if I don't fall through the Rift for Los Angeles or something." And cue her taking another bite. She didn't realise she was this hungry when she left the voting booth. "Mind if I inquire how long you've been stuck with the label of 'Wanderer'?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

"You look pretty intact to me, but most of the time it's not always so obvious," he says, before moving one finger to tap the side of his head. "I get visions. Future stuff, past stuff, it all kind of mixes together, but most of the time I can figure it out."

Emphasis on the "most" of that sentence.

"I've been a wanderer for about ten months," he nods. "And the people that hate us? It's a pretty serious gig. They're called the CLF and they've killed others of us. Made examples of it and stuff."

A guy had been crucified in Grant Park not too long ago. Shawn isn't looking to see a repeat performance. "Just be careful who you talk to."

[moveuranus]

Veronica's eyebrows rise at that. "How do those work? You touch something and poof? Vision?" She wonders what's changed about her. Is she able to breathe fire? Piss people off to the point where there's no return? Can she even be a private investigator here?

Dear lord. If Veronica's heart wasn't hammering before (thanks to the hospitality of Shawn) it most definitely was now. "That's awful," Veronica's eyebrows are pinched, her hotdog forgotten. Usually Veronica would take these things at face value, research into it, and if it were a lie, expose it. But she's not sure where to start looking to confirm this - or confirm Shawn's story, for all she knows, he could be one of them - and she's not too keen to be walking out in the middle of the street if a mob wanted her head on a stick. And if he wanted to kill her, he'd have poisoned the hotdog - and it's one of the best she's had in a while. "Is there anyway to decipher who's a CLF?"

[pwnspatrickjane]

"Dreams. Sometimes sudden headaches. I'm still trying to ... figure out how to control it all. It's not easy."

That's the understatement of the year. He shakes his head sadly.

"No. Which is the part that sucks. You never know, but there's a place we can go that's sort of a Wanderer oasis."

[moveuranus]

"It doesn't sound like something you can control. Considering we can get headaches whenever it displeases us. Isn't there a help centre around here for this kind of stuff? Hidden away from the anti-us, of course."

Veronica nods her head. "And it's laced with kryptonite to keep the CLF out?" She sighs. This did not sound good at all. But to know there was a place for people like her ... it was a positive amongst many negatives. And maybe someone there might be able to tell her what's been shifted in her DNA. "Do you know how the CLF know who is a Wanderer and who isn't?"