001 | Video

[pidgewidgeon]

Okay, so I have a question. [ Pidge is sitting at an outdoor cafe, people watching even as she address the communicator. ]

Why are there so many kids and teenagers around? I've seen a few adults but it's mostly been kids, and they appear to be without supervision for the most part. It's a bit strange to be honest.

Unless... [ She pales a bit. ] I'm not going to be in charge of any children right? I'm only 15. I'm way too young to have kids!

[ Before Pidge can truly begin to freak out chuffs can heard from behind her as Green makes her presence known. The robot moves into the camera's sights and sits down while staring at her human, the chuffs almost sounding like laughter. ]

Hey! You're supposed to be on my side Green! Why are you laughing at me?

[ The video cuts out as Pidge turns to argue with her rude space robot. ]

Comments

[VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[So, Darin was about to comment on the fact that he too noticed a surprising amount of teenagers with little supervision. It really was kinda weird. He was all set to comment, perhaps make a snarky witticism. You know, something endearing.]

[Then the green robot lion enters the frame and anything intelligent Darin was going to say just launched right out of his stupid brain.]

[Instead, Pidge is treated to this blue-haired stranger staring dumbly, trying to process exactly what it is he's seeing until finally, all he can manage to say is the following.]

I can't believe the cranky space princess wasn't lying about the robot space lions.

[pidgewidgeon]

[ Pidge was only sort of paying attention to the person who was trying to respond to her message. They were obviously having difficulties coming to terms with Green (the lion was amazing after all) and Pidge was content to just wait it out. Not the first time, won't be the last.

It's the mention of a cranky space princess that gets her attention; that sounded like Allura, especially if she mentioned robot lions. And she hadn't been expecting to find anyone else from home here... ]

Wait. 'Cranky Space Princess'? Do you mean Allura?!? [ Pidge is visibly excited at this news and draws the communicator closer so all that can be seen is her face. ] White hair, has pink things by her eyes, and pointed ears? Does she have a blue lion?

Are there others with lions?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah, that'd be her. As for a lion? I'm pretty sure if she did have one, she'd have attacked me with it already so I'm gonna go ahead and say that's a negative.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're one of the Paladins she happened to mention? Name's Darin Altway, Master Blacksmith at your service.

...Is your giant robot lion friendly? I sure hope so.

[pidgewidgeon]

Attacked you? I'd say that's unlike her, but... yeah. At war. [ We're just gonna move on here. ]

I'm Pidge, the Green Paladin of Voltron, and Green here is the Green Lion. Obviously. Nice to meet you.

And Green's pretty friendly. This is the most active I've seen her, in our world she's much bigger, and is a ship that needs a pilot. She almost seems alive here. Which is really cool.

[ Pidge reaches over and gives Green a head rub. Good lion. ]

VIDEO

[patchricide]

[Allura had been looking away as she queued up the video, absent-mindedly. So she heard the familiar voice before she sat up and saw the familiar face to accompany it.]

[And she is thrilled. So excited she could shout. Luckily, by the time she starts her response, she's had the opportunity to regain her... uh, princess-ly composure.]

It isn't normally like this, Pidge. I can't explain it, other than... well... you've come at an odd time?

All the more reason why I'm glad to see you.

[pidgewidgeon]

Allura! [ Pidge is so happy to see a familiar face here; she hadn't been expecting it at all. ]

Someone had mentioned you were here, but I hadn't really believed them. I mean, what are the chances two of us would be stolen away?

What is this place? How did we get here? Where is here? I got the basics from the people in the room when I woke up, but I'm not really willing to believe the people who kidnapped me from home And what do you mean it's not normally like this? What's odd about right now?

[ Pidge took a huge breath after that bit of rambling, and if Allura wants to get a word in she should do it quickly... ]

[patchricide]

It's better than you might think! It's not just the two of us — Lance and Shiro are here as well. And Keith had been here, but...

[You know what, let's deal with that and most of Pidge's questions in one big answer.]

This world is your Earth, but... it's not from the space-time continuum we're familiar with. We've all been brought to another reality. With significant differences in history, from what I've told. That is normal.

All the children, however, are new. [She touches her temple, as if to apply pressure to a migraine. Probably from all the ankle-biters, right? Right. Let's go with that.]

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[setmatch]

[ Look. He's not going to question the robot lion. Icing on the cake for the month he's been here. But the teenager does bring up an important question. One that David has been trying to work on in his capacity as a lawyer. ]

It appears the government has a rather... laissez-faire policy regarding underaged imPorts.

I would recommend speaking to Linda Belcher in Maurita Falls to her Lind-a-Care program. I also would be interested in hearing your complaints and suggestions.

[ He's trying to at least lobby for some city-wide reforms and programs in Maurita Falls... ]

[pidgewidgeon]

I've only been here about 2 vargas, so I don't really know enough about this place to give complaints or suggestions.

[ Give Pidge like a month. She'll have opinions then. ]

One of my friends is here, she said something about people either aging or regressing randomly. Is this normal? Because that's just weird.

[setmatch]

Vargas?

Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with that term. Or language.

[ It sounds vaguely like a romance language, but he'd never studied much beyond a few phrases in Spanish from that particular tree. ]

No, it's not normal. It appears to be one of the never-ended strange events that pop up around here. You'll get used to the abnormal.

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[lasersounds]

Hell of a time to show up Pidgeon.

[Hope you weren't expecting a weeping welcome, Pidge. But if the grin is anything to go by, he is glad to see you.]

Trust me, things around here aren't normally Rugrats Central. We uh...we're just going through something right now?

[pidgewidgeon]

Lance! Allura had said you were here. [ Pidge sends Lance a grin, thrilled to see her fellow arm. ]

Allura mentioned that too. People woke up older or younger? I've been here about 3 vargas and I'm already over it.

[lasersounds]

Yeah? [He grins.] She uh, probably mentioned Shiro then, too. Not sure if she brought up the Beach House of Lions though. It's pretty sweet.


Buddy, three vargas with kids ain't nothing. At least some of them realize they aren't supposed to be kids. Eyes up though, this place is full of surprises.

text;

[unconchonable]

in my experience adults are the last thing you wwant around
besides its not like wwe cant handle ourselvves just fine
wwe did on my planet not a single adult at all wwhich wwas honestly for the fuckin best
not that this situation is a bloody good one or nothin

[It took him way longer than he'd like to admit to type all of that. But, you know, grub arms don't really make typing the easiest, but while he's like this it isn't like he has much else to do...]

text

[pidgewidgeon]

No adults at all? How does that work?

My friends and I had been doing pretty well with only 1, maybe 2 adults depending on how you define 'adult', but I can't imagine a planet without any

[ Curious Pidge is curious ]

text

[unconchonable]

not a one
all adults leavve the planet and join the military
and its better that wway honestly
im no cowward but an adult troll aint nothin like your adult humans theyre terrifyin
but it wworks much the same as here in some regards theres stores and evverythin just ran by us and wwhat not
wwe havve drones that assist in keepin the order as wwell as construction of our hivves
us trolls arent as fragile as humans so wwe get by and those wwho dont wwerent fit to regardless

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[pale_blue_arrow]

Doubt they'll put any of us in charge of kids now if they haven't already. B'sides, I practically raised myself and that worked out, give or take some rough patches. [There's a faint smirk there, as if he's privately amused by something, though he doesn't go into what, instead leaning back in his chair to think harder about the rest of her questions. He's at home, clearly, sorting out his room as a new arrival and stocking up his new bookshelves with every book at the thrift store that caught his eye. Glasses catching the light as he tilts his head, he frowns.]

But as to why the demographics here are screwed, which is a damn good question, I dunno for certain, but I've got a working theory. The Porter nabs people allegedly at random. If random's a reality, then it may just be that across worlds kids 'nd teens are the bigger age groups, hence the higher chance of us popping in here than other people. Remember, historically the number of kids in post-war societies spike, so kids and teens can outnumber adults in some places at point. [He pauses, though, clearly not sold on the idea, not completely.] In theory, anyway. Truth be told, I'm beginning to wonder if it's really random, but. 'm an English Lit major in the making, not a scientist. You're gonna want to hit up the techie types if you want more info, baby doll. Sorry I can't be more help.

...also: you named your green robokitty Green? [He's not saying it's the worst name, but it's not the height of creativity.]

[pidgewidgeon]

I've only been here about 3 var... [ She cuts herself off ] hours. About 3 hours. So they haven't put me in charge of anything. I was handed a folder, dropped off by a house, and left. Which is really just irresponsible. [ Not the point Pidge. ]

I guess that could be a reason? Although someone I know from home is here, and she was saying people were affected by random age changes. I'm going to have to rebuild my computer setup from home. [ Which she's not looking forward to. The tech here just seems so... dated.

But have a scowl for the comment about Green's name. Rude. ]

I didn't name her, it's the name she came with. She's the Green Lion of Voltron and I'm the Green Paladin. [ The pride in her voice is unmistakable. ]

[pale_blue_arrow]

That's pretty standard operating procedure, from what I can tell. I mean, the government did the same thing for me an' I came in here coughing up blood. Their idea of responsible seems to be kinda relative, here.

Yeah, but even without that, I haven't met a single person over the age of thirty. And I've been told by people that the age shift is not the weirdest thing to happen. Apparently, normal is as relative as anything else. But I did get the sense these things usually pass after a few days.

[He shrugs at her, clueless and too tired to get into an argument about how he wasn't trying to be rude. People here are remarkably touchy and the best thing to do is ease off and back away, nine times out of ten.] Not sure what those titles mean. Good on you, I guess? Sounds impressive. [Probably. Paladin's a word he vaguely recalls from his friend Brian's Dungeons and Dragons games and he thinks he remembers it being a rank of some kind.] But I got here last night, I'm still playing catch up on everything.

video

[continuousgroaning]

Your robot lion is cute!

[yes, because that's totally the point here, Tina.]

Uhm, there seems to be something screwy going on. I'm normally 14 but now I'm in my 20's, I think? So this isn't the most accurate first impression you'll get...

[pidgewidgeon]

Thank you!

[ Who cares if it's the point? Pidge and Green will always take a compliment. Speaking of Green, she gives a chuffing roar at the communicator. ]

Green says 'thanks' as well.

According to a few people I talked to 'something screwy' is pretty much normal here.

[continuousgroaning]

You're welcome! Hey... do you know Keith and Lance?

[She nods.]

I'd say it's all going to return to normal soon, but normal's relative. So we've learned to roll with it as best we can.

[Video]

[winningkatsudon]

I...I think something with the porter was messed up again.

[ Yuuri just sounds tired. He misses his world, where the only weird thing that could happen was the man you idolized randomly showing up in your family's onsen. ]

People have been aged down or up. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it... some of them don't remember anything either...

[ He paused, peering at the person on screen. ]

...are you even sure you're really supposed to be fifteen?

[pidgewidgeon]

The porter itself is messed up in my opinion. [ Pidge grumbles it a bit. She's still not happy about being kidnapped to be here.

Her voice clears up as she continues. ]

Yes? There are others here from my world who know me and they don't seem to be surprised at my age.

[ 1... 2... 3... ]

Wait, are you saying that memories were effected as well as age?

[winningkatsudon]

For everyone I've seen, yes. Though that may not be typical.

[ Of course, the Russian skaters would have to be the most extra and cause the most problems. He wouldn't be surprised if Yuri and Viktor were unique out of everyone affected by this. ]