VIDEO | 07 | Forward dated to Sunday the 21st

[patchricide]

[Boy, Allura looks pretty tired right now. Look carefully, you'll see she has the faintest traces of bags under her eyes. And those stray flyaway hairs! Look at them, they're popping out all over the place, making her hair look even more cloud-like than usual.]

[Despite the lack of attention to her appearance, the whole setup is a degree more professional than usual, with the princess sitting across a table from the communicator camera, ready to talk. Except, that is, for the fact that words seem to be failing her. But it's not for needing more rehearsal — instead, she picks up a glass of water and takes a drink to clear her throat. When she sets it back down, it slams a little harder on the table than needed, an unintended act of aggravation.]

This is Princess Allura, requesting more information on porting out.

I know that this is a regular occurrence, and often temporary... not in every instance, but often enough.

I also know that that when it is temporary, it's common for the imPort to return a mere 24 hours after their departure. But... how often does it take longer than that? What's the longest it's been known take?

I'm asking because Darin... [She falters on his name for a moment, before firming up her mask of professionalism.] ... Darin Altway was ported out sometime between 24 and 36 hours ago. He's missing, both from our Heropa residence and from the list of imPort contacts on the communicators. While this is far too early to declare him gone for good... it occurred to me I never learned the procedures for this.

When my fellow Paladins left, I... truthfully, I waited until everyone else had come to the consensus that they weren't returning anytime soon, and I accepted it as well. Perhaps it was easier because I already knew when I would see them again. [She means 'easier to accept', but let's face it, it's actually 'easier to not make a big stupid emotional vlog about'.] But this time, I would rather track the situation myself.

If anyone could provide any information or advice, it would be appreciated...

Comments

[patchricide]

And what of the ones who saw this world as their home?

Who found a place where they belonged?

[flightforfreedom]

[ He lets out a breath, slowly, and a pained look. ]


... I'm sorry. But I think - until they come back... I think they're just gone.

[patchricide]

[Oof. Yeah, no, that did not go over well, based on Allura's expression.]

... ... ...

I can't accept that. I can't give up so easily.

[flightforfreedom]

I'm not asking you to.

[ Honestly, Poe would never tell anyone to give up. But he also wasn't going to lie about it. ]

And hell, if you figure out that I'm wrong, I will be the happiest of anyone to hear it, trust me.

[patchricide]

Then if I do find a way, I'll make sure you're one of the first to hear about it.

... I know enough about this... I should be able to do it. What I don't understand about these realities, I could learn with time...

But starting from scratch, without energy crystals or scaltrite or anything... it's more than just a simple setback.

[flightforfreedom]

[ He paused, wetting his lips. ]

Alright, you're losing me a little, here. You saying that with the right power source you could figure out what's going on, with all this?

[patchricide]

Well, yes. Altean technology is particularly well-suited to working with the fabric of space. It runs on quintessence, the energy of life itself, which has a way of... interacting with reality in ways that simple electricity cannot.

But it takes an incredible amount of quintessence to start opening wormholes, even ones contained to this reality. If I tried it with my own energy, I... would only deplete myself needlessly.

So, normally, we would use the energy crystals produced by the Balmera, which would have enough quintessence to run an entire ship and then some. But you wouldn't find those in such a young part of the universe...

i'm sorry poe's a moron

[flightforfreedom]

Wormholes.

[ He actually does know what those are, because wookiepedia has an article on them somehow, but all he knows is that they offer faster than light travel between two points in space. Why would that...? ]

How would a wormhole tell you what's going on? Or do you mean just - playing with spacetime would tell you?

it's all right voltron physics is mostly BS

[patchricide]

Because... I believe with some additional power and adjustments, I could create a wormhole that would begin in one universe and end in another. We could explore, and see what's happening for ourselves.

In fact, I was able to go through something of the sort, before the Porter brought me here.

look, he's still a moron lol

[flightforfreedom]

[ He blinks, his eyes widening. ]

Wait, do you mean you could potentially get people home?

[patchricide]

If they wanted to go, then yes, that should be possible.

But... I think more than that, it wouldn't necessarily have to be a one-way trip.

[flightforfreedom]

So we could go and come back?

[ He doesn't want to get his hopes up. He doesn't. He doesn't-- ]

How do we get enough power to do that?

[ Too late. ]

[patchricide]

As I was saying, the best way would be to use the crystals made by a Balmera. They have quintessence to spare.

But... since we wouldn't be able to reach them, currently... we'll have to look into alternatives.

And I'm not sure I like the most readily available alternatives: Using the people here as a collective source, or the planet itself.

[flightforfreedom]

[ Ah. Yeah, that's-- ]

Use them, use them? As in drain them?

Yeah, that's absolutely not going to fly.

[patchricide]

Exactly. I wouldn't allow it either. Not even if we are truly desperate.

We'll have to keep researching some other source. Stranger things have surfaced in this world...

[flightforfreedom]

How exactly would you even do that, anyway? Is that part of your power set? Draining energy from people?

I mean, I can keep an eye out, but I don't really know what the hell I'd be looking for.

[patchricide]

What? No! No, I mean — I technically could, but — that's not it! And I wouldn't!

It's channeling! We Alteans are gifted energy channelers! Which I swear, I normally use to give energy to people, not take it away!

But I can also manipulate it, move it from one body to another... and I can make technology that runs off of it. It's a sacred art called Altean Alchemy.

[flightforfreedom]

So you could suck all the energy out of us, we're just lucky that you wouldn't.

[ There's the slightly uptick to the edge of his mouth, though. Is he teasing her? He might be teasing her. ]

Sounds preeeetty dangerous.

[ Yeah, definitely teasing her now. ]