01 | video

[khajidont]

[The feed flicks on to reveal Jaime, an entirely normal looking teenager, sitting on the curb outdoors, watching the world go by. Why not? It’s a nice day out, and being outside of his supposed residence makes this all seem a bit less permanent. He's not overly eager to start what is supposedly day one of his new life, after all. He wasn't going to bother with this thing at all, but he's hopeful that there will be someone he knows around here. Titans Together? Anyone? Can that still be a thing?]

You know what’s weird? The cars here. I mean, yeah, flying cars are pretty cool and everything, but they really went all out with the designs. I was thinking that by the time people made flying cars, they’d go for something a little less... old school. Something more like the Jetsons, maybe, [he says with a quiet, subdued laugh, mostly at himself for the absurdity of the comment, the absurdity of the situation.]

Something else that’s weird is being shuttled here and branded like a bunch of cows, but I’m thinking you guys get that complaint a lot. [He sounds a hell of a lot less chipper about the tattoos than the flying cars, but leaves it at that with a muttered,] At least they stuck with just tattooing our wrists.

[Always try to look on the bright side, even if that bright side is 'they didn't brand our butts'. He sets his jaw, and moves on.]

Instead of asking the usual questions - [which he’s received answers to mainly by snooping around the network’s backlog] - I guess I’ll just go ahead and introduce myself. So, uh, hi. I’m Jaime. [That greeting gets punctuated with an awkward little wave. And then, because Mama Reyes taught him manners even when kidnapped by some sort of interdimensional doohickey, he adds on an unconvincing,] S’nice to meet you.

Comments

[khajidont]

Hey, nice. [That sounds like something worth being boastful about, anyway.]

Never described myself as vanilla before, but I've gotta go with the third option.

[hothead]

I do what I can. [ Probably also something he should take more seriously, but whatever. ] But hey, welcome to the new world. I hope you're enjoying whatever powers they set you up with.

[khajidont]

Yeah, thanks.

[The answer to that one is that he's had his powers all along, and they're awesome.] Hey, did they give you anything new, or did they just stick you with what you had already?

[hothead]

Just the old ones. Which are actually pretty new ones, just didn't get them here. [ But they're also awesome, thank you. ] Is that something they're doing? Because if I missed out on the free upgrades, I'm filing a complaint.

[khajidont]

I dunno, that's what I was wondering. If they're not that picky with who they drag here in the first place, maybe they're not that picky with who they give powers to. You could ask and see if you could score a freebie or two.

[hothead]

Yeah, that's a great idea. I'll just call up Uncle Sam and ask for some extra juice. [ Slightly skeptical, mostly amused. The idea of a government that's okay with powers is going to take some getting used to. ] And speak for yourself, man. I'm the cream of the crop.

[ ... although. ] There are definitely some weirdos here. Kind of lends credibility to the claim that they can't control who shows up.