[VIDEO]

[janus_scholar]

[The video feed presents an older british gentleman at his desk, surrounded by stacks of history books. He looks up into the camera and smiles warmly.]

Good evening, my name is Walter Strickler. I'm a new arrival here, and I thought it best that I introduce myself. More than that, actually, I was hoping to ask a question.

I am in the midst of familiarizing myself with the history of this world, and how it differs from my own... Most of the discrepancies have been fairly minute, others less so, but it lead me to wondering about other worlds. Your worlds, and the histories theirin; if you care to share them. I suppose I'm just curious, is it common for most of us... "imports" to be from worlds that are similar, or ones that are vastly different? Is there anything here that has struck you as odd?

[There's a small pause, an aside glance, as he arranges the wording of his next question carefully.]

And, are 'powers' common where you're from? Whether it be mutations, magic, or anything of the sort. Are these things familiar to you?

Please do forgive me if I take a moment to understand anything you have to share. I must admit, I am still attempting to process all of this... But I would not want to have anyone feeling put-out for my misgivings. Thank you. I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Comments

video

[continuousgroaning]

I never had powers in my world. We're also a long way from putting a colony on the moon. [A pause.] Oh, uh, this world has a base on the moon. It's pretty neat.

Re: video

[janus_scholar]

[He writes something down on a nearby notebook. There's a lot to catch up on with this world's history. He also marks his paper with a dash, score 1 for similar worlds.]

How interesting, it sounds like we may have that in common. The technology here is much more advanced than what I've seen, but it's not beyond the imagination.

Video

[craftpunk]

Oh, we could have quite the familiar discussion, if powers, magic, and mutations are familiar to you. Particularly someone who is interested in history at that.

[ A beat. ]

You will, however, need to be a touch more targeted with your questions, I'm afraid. I'm well-versed in my own world's history, and it's a vast subject. Unless you want to sit for a lecture.

[janus_scholar]

These things are only familiar to me in the form of fiction, I'm afraid. I teach- well, taught world history, and I've studied a wide variety mythology in kind. Modern myths interest me as well, when I have time to read them.

[It's a lie. Well, a half-lie, as everything is for him. He does study those things, does enjoy fiction, but magic and mutants are as real as he is. What he is. But no one needs to know that.]

Ah, but we're well beyond the realm of fiction, here. I'm still learning what I can of this world, but I would like to know about everyone else's as well, and what reality means for them. Both for the purposes of my own education, and to know my fellow "imports" on a more personal level.

I don't mind a lecture. I would be more than happy to hear whatever you have to share.

Voice

[bindsthedead]

Magic is everywhere in the Old Kingdom, but it's rarely spoken of and little known in Ancelstierre.

Voice

[janus_scholar]

Interesting.

[There's a scratch of pen to paper as "different world" gains a tentative point. Old Kingdom could feasibly exist at some time or place on earth, but Ancelstierre is an unfamiliar name.]

Would you mind telling me more? Either about this "Old Kingdom", or the magic within it.

video;

[ralltiir]

There don't seem to be many trends that predict who the Porter will bring in, and from what sort of universe, but there are a few. There are a number of individuals here from my galaxy, albeit from differing points in time, but overwhelmingly most of the imPorts are from this planet, Earth-- or some version of it anyway. I can't speak to how closely each Earth-native imPort's history does or doesn't line up. I'd never heard of any planet called Earth before arriving here.

[ As to Walter's second question... Akobi's expression sours. ]

There is a precedent for certain people in my galaxy having 'powers,' although it is not common. Not anymore. I believe there is only one such individual still living.

Video

[janus_scholar]

[How very unsettling. Walter can't help but feel a pang of sympathy for this single, powerful individual. He's in a similar circumstance, there aren't many changelings left back home. But getting to the matter at hand...]

Hm. I suppose that has some logic to it. If the Porter was created on Earth, it stands to reason that it would have some connection to other, similar versions of Earth.

I notice you refer to your home as a galaxy, not as a world. I'm assuming this means that you're from a time or place with more advanced technology than our own, correct?

[ +1 for non-similar worlds. He's not sure what all this information leads to, but it's interesting to inspect.]

video; un: Julian Delphiki | Bean

[justlittle]

[ Yes, Bean knows they've already conducted one conversation on the Nets, but this is a different topic, and one that interests him. ]

This world has almost two hundred years of catching up to do to match up with history as I know it. Most of the events that shaped the way my Earth functions haven't happened yet here.

[ He doesn't touch on whether powers are common. They're not. There's no magic, no superpowers. Mutations, though... Only scientifically-created ones, and Bean isn't about to out himself as genetically altered when he doesn't fully understand those alterations himself. ]

Video

[janus_scholar]

[With each conversation, Bean is becoming more and more interesting.]

That's... It's shocking- On some level I knew that times are affected differently here, but I never imagined such a leap. [He chuckles.] I've gone forward in time, albeit only a year and a half.

[He crosses his arms and contemplates for a moment.]

There is a part of me that would like to ask what has changed, and another part that may be better off without the information. I can't imagine trying to explain what the modern day is like to someone from two centuries ago.

video; ...I'm just going to give you all three of mine

[recommendations]

Powers are extremely common where I come from! Approximately 80% of the world population develops a quirk by the time they're around four years old. It's not magic, though. Mutation is closer... It's just naturally occurring. Sometimes quirks can be passed down from parent to child. Other times it's more random.

[ Have an overly knowledgeable sixteen year old explain how quirks work to you. ]

I love it! 👍

[janus_scholar]

[Overly knowledgeable teens are a wonderful thing! Knowledge is power, go to school, etc, etc.]

So it's genetic where you're from. That's sounds very different from most of what I've heard. What kind of powers do these 'quirks' entail?

video

[khajidont]

Okay, those are some really big questions. When it comes to whether our worlds are more similar than not, I'm gonna say that they err towards being more similar? There's people from different worlds, but when you look at, like, the entire galaxy, the likelihood of so many of us being from such similar worlds by chance doesn't really hold up.

And powers are common in most people's worlds. Not all of ours, but most. It sure is where I'm from.

video

[janus_scholar]

So I've heard. My current theory is that this may be due to the Porter itself. It exists here on a version of Earth, ergo, it's more likely to find individuals from other Earths. Everyone else may be outliers, but I'm not sure that there's any rhyme or reason to that either.

Hm.. And again, I wonder if that may be the Porter's choosing, to try finding people who are familiar with this sort of thing... In which case, I'm an outlier. There's a lot to learn, hence my wide berth of questions.

[ video ] » ID: Psylocke

[violetnce]

Powers are very familiar in my world — I'm what's called a mutant. I have the same powers here as I do there. The history of my world is ... kind of shitty, actually.

[ Her violet hair and violet irises are natural, yes. And her Maldon, Essex, accented voice. ]

[ video ]

[janus_scholar]

You are under no obligation to share if you don't wish to. I'm fine with just taking tally of the fact that you're from a place that has powers and is different from this world.

[He can piece together that Psylocke has probably been mistreated. Being referred to as "mutant", rather than having a "quirk" as another import has, is rather telling.]

video;

[mildmanneredwriter]

It's kind of half-and-half for mine. I'm not a history scholar, but it seems like a lot of events here match the ones in my world, until they didn't anymore. Plus where I'm from, any kind of special power is something out of a comic book.

video;

[janus_scholar]

[He nods.] That's been the case for me, as well.

I'm finding that the most disturbing aspect of all is when things are almost exactly the same as you know them to be, but the details are wrong. Have you had that experience?

[VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

In my experience, it's a pretty mixed bag. A lot of people are from some version of Earth, whereas I'm from a world called Anmaral.

Technologically speaking, we're kind of on the verge of an industrial boom, but most of our technology revolves around magic. As you can imagine, me dropping in here was a bit of a culture shock.

That said, magic is common in my world but I was born without being able to use it. I have my own...sorta unique powers.

[VIDEO]

[janus_scholar]

[Different world gains a point in Walter's notes.]

I imagine that was quite a change. I'm lucky to be familiar with this world, for the most part.

Do you mind if I ask what "sorta unique powers" entails?

video

[heartslight]

[ Oh ... Kairi loves talking about other worlds. She's been curious about others, as well. And he's lucky she can't sense his darkness through a video. ]

The world I'm from ... it's nothing like this one. [ Laughing softly. ] It's a lot smaller.

[ Like ... way smaller. This world seems to be huge, and she's from ... a small group of islands. Very small.

But to answer his other question. ]

And I guess powers like the ones we have here aren't common in my world. [ Everyone on the Destiny Islands are pretty normal. ] But they are in other worlds out there.

[ From what she'd seen through Sora's heart. And the Organization. And Master Yen Sid. And ... well, everything happening outside of her quiet little home world. ]

video

[janus_scholar]

[Very lucky indeed.]

It's rather interesting, I've heard a multitude of answers along this spectrum. Worlds that are like this Earth, ones that are very different and full of power - or as in your case, very different but without common powers.

Though I will say, you are the first to mention the size of your world as being a differing factor. I hadn't even considered that.

video

[melodramagic]

Mine seems to follow the history of this world to a point, but it's the part where the Cold War supposedly never ended that it branches off.

[ And to tell a fib, because Sabrina isn't out about her being a witch: ]

People with special abilities don't exist where I'm from either.

Re: video

[janus_scholar]

[If he were aware, he wouldn't take it personally. Magic is secret for a reason.]

Then we're of a similar sort. Though it brings me to wonder, in cases like ours, if we are coming from the same world, or ones that are nearly identical? I imagine there's no way to know.

video;

[forkingbullshirt]

I guess it's common where I'm from but not for humans so this whole thing is new to me still.

I'm from Earth though maybe not the same Earth as everyone else. It's weird but it helps not to think about it too hard.

Re: video;

[janus_scholar]

Perhaps I should take that advice. I'm getting more questions than answers for all the effort I'm putting into it.

Though, it is helping me to understand my fellow Porter abductees a bit better. You say that powers aren't common for humans where you're from, could you clarify what that means?

audio;

[dragony]

As far as humans from Earth go, the divergences usually aren't very large. Even if the reason why they've diverted should seem as though it would make everything different.

As for powers, I suppose it depends on what you mean by common.

Re: audio;

[janus_scholar]

I find it interesting on an existential level, if nothing else.

By common, I suppose I mean real. Where I come from, "powers" exist widely in fiction, but nowhere in reality.

voice;

[dreamprotector]

[Well, Kairi is already talking about their home, so Riku is going to skip that part at least.]

Aren't things usually a little odd when you enter a new world?

We didn't have magic back on my home island… and we didn't have mutations either. Doesn't mean I'm not familiar with former though.

Re: voice;

[janus_scholar]

I suppose they would be, yes. An excellent point.

So you became familiar with magic later, then?

Video

[drivesadesk]

We don't have magic where I'm from, but we have aliens. From a human perspective I guess we have powers.

Other than that, my world is kind of similar to this one. The history's a bit different, since the Cold War ended in my universe, and the tech is a bit different, too. Not quite as advanced. And the humans here are way more comfortable seeing someone like me. Still, the two worlds have a lot in common.

Video

[janus_scholar]

[Walter does not stare for long, but he does take a moment to examine Jonathan's features while he speaks.]

Yes, your world's history sounds very similar to my own, though we've yet to make contact with aliens.

[He chuckles.] There's something oddly encouraging about the fact that so many of us come from worlds in which the Cold War has ended. Maybe there's even hope for this world, somewhere down the line.

video

[ghoulking]

Mine is similar in appearance and some history, but it does have a very big difference. This world only has one sentient species - Humans - and mine has a second one, the Ghouls.

Any non-human ability the ghouls have comes from their biology and physiology.

Re: video

[janus_scholar]

That is a significant difference. What exactly sets them apart, biologically? Ghouls have an unfortunate connotation in the myths of my world, but that's as more of a.... dark spirit, rather than a living being.

video;

[baetiful]

There are talks of those possessing a dark magic in my world. Though I cannot say I've experienced it and do find myself rather skeptical to the whole thing. But my world otherwise is drastically different from this one. You are fortunate, Walter, to be largely familiar with this....Earth. It does make the adjustment period easier.

Video;

[janus_scholar]

No, I don't take my luck lightly. I can't imagine how hard it must be to find oneself in a strange land, dealing with strange powers that you're still trying to learn. And to add in culture shock or time travel... It's a good thing that there are so many support systems in place, or this entire situation would be much more chaotic.

You've mentioned that dark magic is unlikely in your world, but it is still drastically different. How so?

text;

[pillz]

yeah but in my world it a big secret cuz u dont want to end p on a table cut open wit all your guts tacked out for scientiss to look at.

do you know what scientists are




& do you got magic in your own world
im gonna rpetend i can leverage that for like 5 seconds b4 u meet this kid called ronan lynch who just tells u everyhting

text;

[janus_scholar]

Point taken. I can see why you would want to keep it discreet.

No, there's no magic in my world that I'm aware of. Is Ronan a friend of yours?

[permavideo | id: kasia nyx]

[iliveidie]

[The video feed opens up with a blue-skinned woman with pink hair and glowing white-purple eyes sitting on the end of the bed in her room. If one looks closely enough at the video there appears to be an electric wave that pulsates over her skin.]

I can't say much in the way of history, I wasn't born on Earth and have spent very little time there.

As for powers, magic or otherwise, they're not particularly common outside of the Guardians.

Permavid

[janus_scholar]

[He does take notice of her appearance, but he's polite enough to not ask about it. She's definitely from a different world though, so he writes that down.]

I see. Where do you come from, then?

[He's curious about the Guardians too, but one question at a time..]

video;

[bassriff]

[ sure, fuck it, okay. inspecting her flaking nail polish as she talks. ]

My Earth hasn't been like this for about a thousand years, but it used to be...kinda close? I guess. The humans blew themselves up, and things started getting pretty wild and weird after that.

video;

[janus_scholar]

Ah. I've spoken to another that came from a distant time like yours.

[He looks away, eyes lost in some obscure thought. The apocalypse brings a few things to mind.]

I'm glad to hear that life goes on, even in the event that we blow ourselves away.