video; un: Julian Delphiki | Bean

[justlittle]

[ Bean hasn't made a video post to the Nets in a while. Not since last July, when he first started his growth spurt. And now here he is, having returned from a universe where that growth had gotten much farther out of hand.

He knows what awaits him now. It scares him. Maybe someday, he'll ask for help on the Nets for it. But for now, he's here with a different question. ]

Just got back from... Well, from that other universe, and from a brief trip back home. But the point is, I have a new power and I want to put it to use.

[ He cups his hands together within view of the camera and they spontaneously begin filling with... beans. Pinto beans, to be exact. ]

It's a bit on the nose, but I figured I could at least help feed people who are hungry. Food like this would have saved my life when I was younger. Does anyone know of any soup kitchens in need of a volunteer?

[ He dumps the beans into a jar that's already half full of more pinto beans, then reaches to turn off the camera. ]

Comments

Private | Voice

[spaceforged]

And the places were are similar yet different? [He asks, his voice a little quieter.]

Six years is a lot of time for the mind to process. Especially, [Shiro pauses, then presses on.] Especially when it almost feels like everything has to settle on a compromise somehow?

Private | Voice

[justlittle]

I'm lucky enough to have come from an Earth to begin with. I've never been to New York City before, on any Earth, but I'm pretty sure the City was meant to be a stand in for New York. It was... Worse than the city I grew up in, which is saying a lot.

[ It is a lot for a mind to process, but thankfully Bean's mind is no ordinary mind.

...Which is part of the problem, actually. ]

I can compartmentalize easy enough. The hardest part is just... dealing with a glimpse into my future that I don't want to think about.

Private | Voice

[spaceforged]

[He falls silent. That he can relate to too. In ways he doesn’t want to discuss.]

It is a possibility. I know that doesn’t help but the future might not go that way. So, it was a stand in for New York. ...I’m over thinking this.

[As he so often does when he worries.] The fact is we know this other reality is out there. We don’t know how you were transported. It’s possible it wasn’t anything done in this one.

We don’t have anything else about it for now, do we?

[justlittle]

Some elements of that future might not happen. Some... definitely will.

[ Specifically Bean's body growing to enormous proportions until his heart weakens and he dies. That part is the part he's afraid of. ]

We know this reality is out there. We know lots of realities are out there. We all come from different worlds, after all. I assume we were transported there by way of a Porter. Maybe not ours, but some Porter in some universe...

This is probably one of the consequences the Fates warned us about.

[spaceforged]

...with what you know now, could a solution be found before this comes to pass? And yes, this may be one of the consequences they warned us about.

I can confirm that some prices didn’t affect whether someone was taken or not. ...it can be assumed if they decide we go. We go.

Not that we didn’t know that before.

[justlittle]

It... [ He stops. It's not like the possibility hadn't occurred to him, to try to find an antidote to Anton's Key. The thought scared him when he first found out about his genetic alteration. He didn't want to lose his mind, even if it meant prolonging his lifespan. But now that he knows what that life is going to look like, years down the line...? ]

I don't know. I would need experts in a certain field. I haven't studied any of this.

[ But enough about him and his problems. ]

We're all at the whims of the Porter, and by extension, the Fates. Even if they're not actually present on this plane of reality.

[spaceforged]

Yes, I agree. And no matter what those whims are we could have to deal with them without warning. Kind of frustrating but, that was the situation before and can’t do much about that.

[There’s a pause as he makes a decision.] ...if you start looking into a solution. My medical records might be of some use. The before and after I came back. We don’t have to discuss it right now.

Later, maybe.

[justlittle]

Your medical records?

[ Having never spoken to this "Black Paladin" before, Bean doesn't know why his medical records might be useful. Could he have a similar genetic alteration? ]

Maybe later.

Thank you for the list of places to bring my beans.


.....That sentence will never not be weird.

[spaceforged]

[He laughs and it's light. Completely at odds with all the topics they've discussed.]

Probably. Kind of like you're a one person farmer. Just with a faster growth rate than normal.

[justlittle]

A really specific kind of farmer. I can't make any other type of vegetable. Only legumes.

[spaceforged]

Not too bad a crop. It's pretty useful, just like you've said before. It can be dried for later use too. Was sort of the easiest thing to work with as a cadet when stuck on Kp duty.

[A pause. Why not. Seems like they could both use the laugh.] Before they banned me from kp duty and I got stuck on patrols all the time.

[justlittle]

[ Bean chuckles. He appreciates the attempt at levity. ]

They wouldn't let us anywhere near the kitchens. We all had to eat whatever the nutritionists set out for us.

[ Bean used to get in trouble, eating less than his full portion and giving the leftovers to other boys. ]

[spaceforged]

That's an extremely rigid way to handle any kind of force. [And sounds very like a prison but he won't say it.]

If you don't mind my asking. What do you do these days?

[justlittle]

No one ever called the International Fleet "flexible."

[ Military school... Prison... What's the difference? Still better than how Bean was living before Battle School. ]

I'm a teacher, at H.O.P.E., the imPort-run school in Heropa.

[spaceforged]

I admit I don't know much about the schools. I sort of focused on figuring out what was going on here and never slowed down since.

[Until he had no choice but to slow down.]

How many imPort run schools do we have?

[justlittle]

As far as I know, it's just H.O.P.E. It was started a few years ago, then reopened shortly after I first got here, last March.

[ It was being run by Walter Strickler, at the time. Bean briefly wonders how his old teacher is doing, wherever he came from. ]

[spaceforged]

...is just education on the usual subjects one would expect out of a school?

[It can't hurt to know. He can pass the information on to others if they don't feel comfortable with non-imPort run schools.]

[justlittle]

Not just that. The imPorts who teach there also give lessons in their fields of expertise. I teach a class on military history and theory.

[spaceforged]

[Ah.] That makes the name a little clearer.

Who is the head of the school right now? Just curious.

[justlittle]

A native. Ever since Professor Strickler left, the school's been in native hands. But they pretty much let us do what we want to with our own classes.

[spaceforged]

[He considers that. Then says,] I’m glad to hear it. Both that the school exists and we have freedom with it.

I might be able to lend a hand in the future. After I sort out this mess of memories in my head.

[justlittle]

I'm sure we'd be glad to have more imPort staff on the faculty. What do you think you would want to teach?

[spaceforged]

[He'd made the offer with a clear idea in mind. Now that idea settles spreading roots out through out his mind.]

Survival and team building. Or I could teach the basics of flight theory and piloting most crafts. I feel like the first is more important in the event of a crisis and in general. When we first founded our team back home...most of us had the basics of both under our belts.

[justlittle]

Those are good things to know. I know I'm a teacher, but I would probably enroll in that class, or at least audit it.

[ He's done his fair share of survival and worked on a number of teams, but there's always room for improvement. ]

[spaceforged]

I'd welcome either one. The more of us know these things...the more they can spread and endure. Even just improvements to what we know. If I can lean on my partner a bit we could have a bit more to give.

[The better the program structure, the more well-rounded the results. Or so he hopes.]