[Hoooolo | Sanctuary Arrival Room]

[imperial_long]

It was raining outside, which was not uncommon in San Francisco. Long gave a grunt of satisfaction and settled into his comfortable chair by the window, eying the pile of books on his coffee table and considering which to resume reading. A cup of tea first, perhaps. He stood back up to set the red kettle onto the hot plate

Comments

[Visual]

[midwesten]

A voice crackled from the device on pedestal: male, American, probably young, otherwise unmarked. It didn't address what Long had just said, which was sort of unsurprising, given the circumstances, but it did speak up in hesitant, proper, thickly American-accented Cantonese:

"Do you speak Cantonese? Mine is not very good but it may be safer than English. This is not a secure connection."

[Holo]

[imperial_long]

Long started minutely as the small black case-- box-- blinked into life and a voice came from it. Hrm! He stepped closer, head cocking further to one side as he realized the small box had a tiny screen set into it, like a television or a computer's but smaller. And there was a face, and the face was speaking to him. He arched his brows at the words

[visual]

[justaddmarbles]

The new arrival's formality got Glitch's attention as it sparked along the empty edge of his mind and summoned forth some Ambrose-esque diplomacy.

"I'm sorry, sir, but none of us are given a reason for being brought here," he began. "You've been taken to a city called Taxon, and..."

And it all fell apart. Should he mention the hamsters or the vampires or the demigod living in his spare room first? Or maybe warn him about the mistletoe? Was it time for an introduction, an explanation of the zipper, a suggestion for a good place to go dancing?

Nope, it was definitely time for a blink, a sheepish grin, and an absent tug at one of his curls. "...and things might be a bit weirder than you're used to."

Re: [visual]

[imperial_long]

Long's head tilted 45 degrees to the side and he looked at the little picture and the man within it-- more specifically, the man with the zipper on his head-- with undisguised curiosity.

"They might be," he admitted in grave tones. "I am not accustomed to abductions of my person. Especially ones carried out in, apparently, instantaneous fashion. I confess myself impressed. I take it you are also an abductee, then?"

[visual]

[justaddmarbles]

"Yes, I am," he replied with a nod, and the wayward hand left his hair to wave at the tablet. "And...yeah, it's way better than my world's dimension-hopping methods. Just poof, no muss, no fuss, no property damage."

Because tornadoes are problematic like that.

"I'm Glitch, by the by. Hello."

[Holo]

[imperial_long]

"How do you do, Mr. Glitch?" Long responded very politely, and placed his hands together at his chest to offer Glitch a formal little bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, even under such less-than-ideal circumstances.

"Do we know why our captors have apparently decided to spirit us all to this location?"

Do not ask about the zipper. That would be rude.

[Visual]

[just_axe_me]

It was becoming a disturbing habit to pick up the tablet and flick to Visual when there was a global message. In different rooms of the Westen house, Michael and Sam just about did it in sync. There were, in Sam's opinion, less embarrassing habits to have: you could start with 'crack,' or 'buying collector's plates with designs of wolves howling at the moon'.

Encyclopedia Grammatica on the screen there seemed pretty calm about his captivity. Looked like a rich boy, which went in line with kidnapping; that was one thing that had never even crossed Sam's mind, as in his opinion nobody but Mike and Fi would pay more than a handful of Chuck E. Cheese tokens for him.

"Sorry, bud," he said, with the genuine sympathy this kind of thing always dredged up in him. Sounded like he'd spoken in Mandarin or Cantonese, but that was Mike's gig, not his. "No ransom money's gonna get you out of this one. Only line you got is to the rest of the peanut gallery, here."

Re: [Visual]

[imperial_long]

Long arched a brow as yet another face flicked on to the... device. An older gentleman, a bit unshaven at that (Long felt a tiny quiver of horror at the quick speculation that this place, wherever it was, might not have razors).

Still, the man seemed amiable enough, and he nodded at him. "And are you a member of said gallery, sir?" he asked politely, tapping his chin. "What an interesting assortment of people seem to be sharing this situation. How may I leave this room, or is this permitted?"

[garg_elisa]

Her tablet seems to have a sense of humor, because it had yet to let Elisa respond to new arrivals with anything other than a visual response.

"Well, while this is a kidnapping," she said, "as far as I know, no one who can respond is behind it. We're kind of all stuck here."

[imperial_long]

Both of Long's eyebrows rose in unison towards his hairline at the appearance of the woman who greeted him.

Curioser and curioser, as Alice said.

"I see," he said mildly enough, although his eyes showed he was intently intrigued. He leaned forward a little, peering down into the tiny screen.

"--forgive me, I am aware this is a highly impertinent question, madam, but what exactly are you?"

[garg_elisa]

Elisa shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Just about everyone asks, sooner or later."

She went on, "I'm a Gargoyle."

[imperial_long]

"A gargoyle!" Long repeated after her, brows still arched inquisitively.

"You are oddly animate for stone, madam," he said, with the faintest of smiles.

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

[ the languages part is what catches dawn's interest. ]

What other languages do you speak?

[Holo]

[imperial_long]

The voice on the other end sounded... young, American, female certainly, quite possibly-- he hazarded an educated guess-- from the west coast, with that accent that most people did indeed think of as 'American' but was in reality partly a construction of Hollywood.

He smiled slightly at the unknown speaker, and raised a hand in a vaguely dismissive gesture.

"Is it customary to poll newcomers as to skills and resources, then, miss?" A shrug, he lowered his hand.

"I have worked as a translator; I am fluent in several tongues. Is there a particular language you need interpreted, or is this in the way of a general question?"

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

Dawn. And no, I'm just a languages geek. Sorry, I should have, like... been polite and not started the pop quiz thing right off the bat.

[ way to make a good impression on the newbies, dawn. ]

Re: [ voice ]

[imperial_long]

"I believe that when one has been mysteriously abducted by forces unknown some of the customary courtesies may be understandably forgotten, and their omission forgiven."

Long paused a moment in study of the little device the girl's voice was emanating from. He considered a moment, then said:

"Russian, Japanese, the Romance trifecta of course, Gaelic... others." A shrug of one thin shoulder in his excellent-if-somewhat-stuffy suit. 'Others' was better than the full list which could have gone on for some time.

"And now I shall ask you a question. This device we are conversing through: it is a telephone, or something similar? But with a capability to transmit an image also?"