01 | Video

[monster_san]

[There are a few clicking noises.]

Hm, modern technology is far too modern... [the video feed turns on, displaying a blonde Japanese girl who looks like she didn't mean to turn the video feed on, but she quickly replaces that with a wide, friendly smile.]

Hello there! Please allow me to introduce myself; my name is Fuu Hououji. I have read through the official pamphlet, but... I still believe that there's been some kind of mixup.

I'm not intimately familiar with American law, but I had thought that the minimum age to join a military service was seventeen, and I would have assumed that drafting foreign nationals would be out of the question... to say nothing of taking them out of the past.

I'll be looking for a Japanese consulate, but I've never been involved in a diplomatic incident before. I don't suppose anyone has advice?

Comments

[video]

[timecapture]

Hello, Fuu! I'm Max.

[She smiles.]

Well, this place is... weird. For one thing, I don't think this is an Earth any of us are from. For another, moe than a few of us have been pulled out of time.

[Herself included.]

[monster_san]

How nice to meet you, Miss Max!

Yes, I was quite surprised to end up in 2015... the last I knew, it was 1993. It's quite interesting to see what's different and what isn't. I suppose "when are you from" is as relevant as the question "where."

[timecapture]

... You can just call me Max.

Wowser. 1993? I came from 2013.

[monster_san]

My my... [MAKING HER FEEL SO OLD, MAX] I suppose it is over twenty years ago, isn't it? My birthday is December, so I should really be thirty-six.

[timecapture]

My birthday's in September. I should be 20.

[monster_san]

Ah, so it looks like you aren't quite so far away from your proper age, then.

[timecapture]

Not really. Not as far away as you are.

[monster_san]

With all the talk of alternate Earths, it makes me wonder if this world has its own Fuu Hououji... I do hope she's having a successful career, if so.

[timecapture]

That's so nice of you! I haven't really thought about another Max being around.

[monster_san]

I wonder, if they are out there, how our alternate selves would feel about meeting us.

[timecapture]

I think it'd be weird to meet another me.

[monster_san]

It could be quite unsettling. I wouldn't be surprised if people took pains to avoid it.

[timecapture]

Seriously. I don't think I could do it.

[Besides, she's already done it once... sort of.]