maskormenace | 001 || VIDEO

Hey. [ yep, that's thomas's great start. it's sort of awkard and stunted, and he clears his throat after. small talk isn't really his thing, and he knows he's talking to A LOT of people, not just one or two. it sets his nerves a little on edge. but there was a purpose to this message, and he tries to get to it quickly. ] We woke up in a lab when these shanks stole us in here, right? That wasn't just me?

[ he remembers it clearly enough. it wasn't easy to see much of it, but thomas knows a lab when he sees it. there's a frown at the corner of his lips, and you can see the street side of Heropa passing by behind him. ]

They gave us these shuck tattoos, yeah, but what else? You guys that didn't have powers before; how do you think they put them in us? You don't just grow stuff like telepathy overnight. [ maybe you do. thomas doesn't really know how he and teresa had been able to talk to each other through their minds, but it doesn't seem like something you should be growing overnight, without a sudden incident with radioactive material or whatever other cliche applies. either way, he's had enough peoples' hands in his head, the thought that more was done to him that he doesn't know about makes his skin crawl. ]

How do we know that's all they did?

[ once you've got your hands on something, people like this? with this kind of power? thomas isn't used to them just doing the bare minimum and getting out. there's a sickened sort of twist in his expression, and his eyes slide away, glancing in some shop windows he passes, before looking back to the screen. ]

Anyway, they didn't leave a manual either. Are there supposed to be classes or training or textbooks to read to figure this klunk out, or just everyone on their own?

[ which seems irresponsible, but he'd sort of rather figure it out himself than have the soldiers he was greeted by teach him. he's about to hang up before he adds on - ]

I'm Thomas, by the way. Not Stiles. [ lookin at you Beacon Hills kids, as he adds one this last part with an exasperated kind of flatness. ] So don't try to kill me.

[ seriously, he doesn't know you people or your weird multipersonalitied clone of him, but you all seem kind of crazy and he's not down with that. ]

[[ ooc; also it'd be super cool if you guys could fill out thomas's telepathy permissions over there for me. thanks a ton! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd like to. Who do you contact for that?

Huh. Yeah, could be. I might have better luck with the technology. We'd have to actually be able to look at the Porter in person to see if there's an interface at all. If getting in to see it is hard already, getting to mess with it's probably impossible. [ legally, anyway. ]

Either Captain Holiday or Lieutenant Ananke. They have listed contact numbers on these devices.

I'm fairly sure the government is "messing around" with it right now - they'd need to be, to figure out any sort of solution to our mutual problem.

Thanks. I'll look into it.

They're trying to find a way to send us back?

Yes. They don't want unwilling individuals... and politically, it's generally been decided before that imPorts are a dangerous commodity.

So send back the ones that don't want to be here. Except they don't know how. I heard someone menton Lachesis. What's that have to do with it?

How much have you heard about the City before this world?

Pretty much nothing.

There's more that isn't relevant about it, but for the sake of detailing Lachesis, she was an entity that took over control of a similar device in another universe, on another Earth. At some point, that world was destroyed by outside forces, one of the "sisters" of Lachesis. During the escape from the one responsible for this destruction, Lachesis made contact with the Porter here, briefly inhabited it, according to the scientists of this world, pulled across a large group of individuals who had survived the destruction along with her, then moved on.

Her presence altered the way the Porter here functioned, possibly even making it fully self-aware. Our contact with the military doesn't seem to believe Lachesis is still present. She may or may not be, but regardless, that initial contact is what sparked the return of imPorts to this world. Since then, people have been pulled in and exPorted sporadically each month, with arrivals favoring the early portion of any given month for reasons unknown.

[ this sounds... completely absurd, and thomas is trying his hardest not to just baulk at it and ask just how crazy all the people are here. but, then again, it's hard to argue with the clear fact that he's here, and something that should be impossible is happening. alright. just going to... go with it for the moment. ]

What exactly is Lachesis? Do we know anything about her aside from 'an entity'? How do her powers work? Where'd her and her sisters come from - if they can travel through worlds like this, could we get a message to them through the Porters? [ welcome to 5 million questions with tom the ridiculously curious(/whiny) glader ]

I'm not the one who can better answer those questions. I suggest asking Kanaya Maryam or Tony Stark for that kind of particulars... as for messages, it's unlikely. Perhaps the kind of Porter that existed here in 2010 would be able to function that way. The one at present doesn't seem to - it's two way, but on its own schedule.

There's a woman who heads most the scientific side of looking at the Porter. She may be worth talking to as well.

[ Annie doesn't mind 5 million questions - she just admits when she doesn't know. ]

I'll look into it, thanks. On its own schedule, what do you mean by that?

What's the woman's name?

I mean there's no predictability, other than a general tendency for the Porter to bring in more people at the start of a month, and take more out toward the end.

Moira Nomos.

Weird. You don't know why it takes people out?

Thanks, I'll look into it. You're Annie, right? [ thats what the id reads, right? ]

No, no more than we know why it takes people in. There's no consistent pattern, only very slight likelihoods.

Yes, I'm Annie. Annie Leonhart. And you're Thomas, not Stiles.

[ There's a vague similarity in their features, she supposes, but from her one time meeting Stiles and this one video, she can already see differences in how they carry themselves and speak. Not that confusing... to someone who's used to hunting for those details. Her referencing his clarification about not being Stiles is for her own personal amusement. ]

How long has it been doing this?

[ oh. ha. he can appreciate the humor in it, and there's a slight twitch of a smile on his end. ]

Not Steve or Fred either, but that's just the one that's mentioned more often.

The porter here regained functionality unexpectedly in January of 2014. We're currently in October of that same year. Do those month names mean anything to you? I'm not sure when calendars line up or not.

Just Thomas. I'll try to remember not to call you whatever other names may come to mind. No promises.

January to October? Not really. 1/14 and 10/14? Do you know the exact day? Or when it was operational before, in the other city? I don't know what month it was when I left my world.

All I ask is a solid effort. Points if you get close.

I'm not sure of the exact date. The porter was active for five years in the City before here. You may want to speak with Tony Stark when it comes down to it - he's been present for the entirety of both places.

Tony Stark. I heard him mentioned before. I'll look into it.

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