001 [ voice ]

[zenthing]

[There's no fumbling with the Forge before the audio kicks in. The newcomer's tone is equal parts serene and curious; he would have wanted the former, and been unable to avoid the latter. He sounds American and on the older side, with a diluted West coast accent more indicative of education than birthplace.]

Greetings. Namaste.

You would not believe

Comments

Video.

[impossibly]

[ The video flickers to life simply so River can perform the pranamasana. ]

There's only the city.

[ voice ]

[zenthing]

[A little familiarity goes a long way. His smile might touch his voice, but he's sticking with audio.]

Nothing beyond that? No next town over?

[Which isn't to say that he'd want to head out there, if there were.]

[ video ]

[impossibly]

Unknown. It's dangerous to explore.

[ voice ]

[zenthing]

All right.

[It's a pretty conversational tone he's taking. He won't mind if she doesn't have - or doesn't want to provide - the answers.]

What about inside the city? Is that dangerous, too?

Video

[isoalgorithm]

[She knows as soon as she hears that voice coming from her Forge. In her haste and excitement to answer the call, Quorra fumbles the device and it drops heavily to the ground, so Flynn's first view is of the ISO's feet. She crouches, coming back into view as she picks it up again.]

Flynn! You're here! [She turns the Forge the right way up, not even bothering to hide the joy writ large on her beaming face.]

[ video ]

[zenthing]

[This warrants video straight off the bat; luckily, that's not difficult to figure out how to do. He's sitting on his bed, holding the Forge at bent arm's length in front of him.]

Quorra. You're looking well.

[That curious intonation's a touch stronger now, as if this doesn't quite add up with whatever theory he'd begun to formulate. Still, she's happy to see him, and he's happy about that. The lines of his face crinkle into a cautious smile.]

Yeah, it's a recent development. That I'm here is about all I know, so far. Are you... How are you?

[He's got a lot of questions for her, but relatively few pertaining to their location. They'll get to it.]

[isoalgorithm]

I'm so glad you're here. [His fate, along with Sam's, has been preying on her mind ever since finding herself in Anatole. She'd managed to distract herself with other things, but it's always there - a niggling worry in the back of her mind. And some of it remains; she can't see Sam anywhere in the feed.

She ducks her head, almost shamefully. She failed Flynn and endangered them all by sending his son to Zuse. It was a mistake...She can only hope Sam hasn't had to pay for it.]

Did - did you make it to the Portal? Where's Sam?

[zenthing]

[Judging from his expression, he wasn't expecting either of those questions.]

He's not with you?

[Flynn couldn't help the unguarded reply, even if he might have inferred the answer from being asked himself. Quorra should be with Sam. He saw them in the Portal, together, just as clearly as he's seeing this now.]

We got there. [Not untrue.] You don't remember?

[zenthing]

Thanks, man. [Seems he's interpreting that as a compliment.]

I wasn't worried about where I'd end up. If anything, I think I might be better off. I'm guessing that's not the case for everyone here.

[zenthing]

That was the plan, yeah. It was really more of an escape attempt than a process. The exit, if you want to call it that, only opened from one side; I was on the other.

[He's calm about this, too.]

Text

[hebime]

[Just for a moment, he wonders if the Hard Master lives and has followed him here. He hasn't heard that kind of talk since his genin days. It's refreshing.]

You sound like you've travelled that much already.

[ voice ]

[zenthing]

I think mine's a journey without goal and without measure, but that's kind. Thank you.

Text

[hebime]

[Then if he looks at being in Anatole as another chapter in his journey:]

Just know there are goals to be had in this city, if you want them. Measure's something else. We're pretty much stuck here indefinitely.

[ voice ]

[zenthing]

I don't think I have another thousand cycles to give, but... I can deal with "stuck here indefinitely".

[Which prompts him to ask:] How long has it been for you?