[mingle] the space (january).

[fracturamods]

interim mingle

( WELCOME BACK, TRAVELERS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably. Or did you get something back recently?

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble. It might've changed since the last time you saw it.

You might have changed since the last time you saw yourself too - perhaps with a new emblem on your clothes, or a portrait on your skin.

There's no need to fret that much though. You've already gone through the ordeal once, and you might be able to see results from it. Even so, it's best that you don't get too comfortable, because there is still the unshakeable feeling:

There's still much more ahead of you.

Comments

[suddenlybees]

[ All worlds are like this but hers. Kano will try to push this worldview until somebody else proves to her otherwise. ]

How to explain power lines... Hm... Okay, so let's start with the basics. Do you know what fire is?

[ How primitive does he have to go for her to be familiar with things?? ]

[lightmage]

I'm familiar with fire, yes.

[ That question is almost insulting! Honestly! Jeeeez! ]

[suddenlybees]

[ He's working his way up there, okay? We gotta start somewhere. ]

Okay, so that's good! Hang onto the concept of fire! Now, we're gonna take a leap and saaaaaaaayy... electricity! What do you know about electricity?

[lightmage]

I know of it.

[ Not, like, intimately, but she's heard stories! ]

[suddenlybees]

[ How convenient. This means he can ditch fire altogether, because it doesn't have anything to do with power lines to begin with. ]

Well, then, power lines are long wires bringing electricity from one place to another! And they're hung in the air, 'cause if we had them on the ground, people would trip over 'em and get themselves electrocuted.

[lightmage]

[ It's debatable if she really understands, honestly. ]

That still sounds dangerous...

[suddenlybees]

[ Hopefully it won't ever matter, or maybe power lines exist in mafialand. ]

They sure are. Gotta be careful 'bout flying around those sorts of places, you know? Don't want to get zapped~ But we don't have to worry about that sort of thing here, 'cause there's just tracks and not lines! The worst thing that can happen is flying around and getting run over by a speeding train!

[lightmage]

[ That is not any better!? ]

Is flight commonplace, here? Or where you're from?

[ Do people just??? Fly????? ]

[suddenlybees]

That's right~ Both here and back home!

[ Does Lux know what a bird is? He wants to ask, but he feels she'll be similarly insulted if he does. ]

[lightmage]

[ Her family crest they're looking for is of a bird!! She knows birds!!!!!

But she hasn't seen any, here. She was asking about people! ]

I... I see. I'll keep that in mind. [ No!!! ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Maybe it's some mythical creature to her, he doesn't know!! ]

New worlds sure get overwhelming, huh? If you ever get stuck on something, you can always ask for me, and I'll help you out! Call me Gel-P.

[ Which is not his name, but she can call him that in exchange for being fed lies. ]

[lightmage]

[ I hate that she has no reason to question what he's telling her!! I hate this!!! And she can't even go 'wow what a weird name' because different worlds and different cultures, she doesn't know! She doesn't want to be rude! ]

It's certainly a lot to take in. I appreciate all of your help, um, Gel-P.

I know that you said time is relative, but... Have you been here... For days? Weeks? [ She doesn't want to think that 'months' is on the table. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ I am so glad everybody's such weirdos, they literally cannot tell Kano off. New batches of newbies is the only time he can play this game, until the AU comes and spoils his real name for everybody. ]

Hm~ Well, I was here for a bit, then I was somewhere else for a bit, and then here again... Overall a couple weeks? Yeah. We'll be spirited away at any time, so hopefully we can find your emblem thing before then.

[lightmage]

[ She nods... She wants her emblem back... ]

Spirited away? What does that mean?

[suddenlybees]

Like, poof!

[ It's more of a blink, a "one second you're here and one second you're somewhere else" but poof works too. ]

Sorta like how you found yourself here all of the sudden? You were somewhere else before, right?

[lightmage]

So we're brought here to be brought other places?

Where?

[suddenlybees]

That's right, that's it~ But, ah, we sorta just go where the wind takes us, I guess? Nothing really happens— you just sorta sit tight until you're yanked out and plopped somewhere else, so you might as well make yourself comfortable and enjoy what's there when you can.

[ This is how Kano can be the way he is, leaping off moving trains and squeezing ketchup into snowballs. ]

[lightmage]

And in doing so... We can repair ourselves?

I don't understand. What sort of places? Places like this?

[suddenlybees]

[ ... ]

Places like this! Yes, absolutely~

[ He can be very generous with his usage of "like" and it works. ]

Repairing ourselves is sorta... mm... Say, you've read the message carved into this huge slab of rock, right? With the faces?

[lightmage]

I've read it, but it doesn't make that much sense to me.

[ And she's only just now figuring out Oooooh those were FACES, okay. ]

[suddenlybees]

It's the very last line! The last one~ If it hasn't changed, it was something like... "Laugh! Cry! And Murder~!!" or something? That's what you gotta do~ Which one do you want to do first?

[ They have to do all three! Surely he remembered right and this isn't misinformation. ]

[lightmage]

[ Hm, that's not a question she wants to answer. ]

I thought that it was a joke. In poor taste, certainly, but given the tone of the rest of the message...

[suddenlybees]

Whoever wrote that went out of their way to carve their message into a rock, right? That takes tons of patience... so I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and give it a try! What do you say?

[ Laughs, cry, or murder? He's sure they can fit in one or two before they get flung across dimensions. ]

[lightmage]

[ You know what, she's going to assume he's at least kind of joking. ]

Well, I can't cry on command, and it would be foolish to get violent for no reason at all.

... But I don't feel as if I have much to laugh at, either.

[suddenlybees]

So, out of the three, murder is still the easiest, huh? I guess we can work with that...

[ The other two is basically what Kano does all the time, effortlessly faking for no reason, but it's going to take some extra special effort for him to fake a murder. ]

Well! If looking foolish is your concern, don't worry about it! No one here to judge you but me~ [ And he will judge her. ] I can give you a reason to be violent, and we can go from there?