CHAPTER ONE

[perturbator]

[The video comes in rather unfocused at first, until some noisy fiddling brings a pair of 80s style Air Jordans into view.]

There's probably other things I should be asking first, but I only have two questions right now. One: How's the weather in California this time of year?

[If this place really is different, the forecast won't be nuclear fallout. People will be there again. America might be whole again.

Quickly, the camera shifts to a small coffee table with several different newspapers strewn all over it, but with a DVD copy of Terminator 2 on top.]

Two: How the fuck do you rewind this thing?

Comments

video

[huntergames]

I've never been to California, but I hear it doesn't get that cold. Maybe in the winter months?

[video]

[perturbator]

[The poster is still off camera, distracted by whatever the hell he's doing.]

Yeah? [He didn't expect kids to show up on here. Isn't much used to kids at all, really, not in the shitholes he's used to.] Got a friend from out there, told me San Francisco could get pretty windy. Just wondered if it's the same here.

[huntergames]

[ She's peering around her screen, as if by doing that she'll be able to see his face. ]

I think I've heard about it having cool winds... and fog. [ She rolls her shoulders. ] It must be the same. I don't know if cities change that much between [ slight pause ] universes? Those cities, anyway.

[perturbator]

[People don't usually see his face, and for good reason. But these aren't security cameras, are they? As if he just notices her curiosity, he turns the camera around to face him, though only the varsity jacket he's wearing and some of his chin can be seen. He's not great at operating this thing yet.

You'd be surprised. He doesn't say that, though.]

You're not from around here, then?

[Or there. Or whatever all that shit meant back at the base. Maybe he's hallucinating again.]

[huntergames]

Eh?

[ The questions throws her off a moment. ]

None of us are. The people with these devices.

[textualhealing]

[Something resembling a genuine laugh. This is proof that there needs to be an 'ImPort's React To...' show on whatever youtube version there is.]

Rewind. I like that.

It's a DVD. You just... put it in and play. No rewind necessary. [But my God does he remember the days of having to rewind rentals.]

[perturbator]

No, I mean like-- [Christ, this doesn't make any sense, and he doesn't have patience to figure it out. It shows in fidgets.]

Somewhere that doesn't have the same countries.

[perturbator]

[Don't be jealous that he's from 1989 Jeff ok]

No rewind?

[His voice, despite his situation, has stayed fairly blase, but he almost sounds appalled now.]

How do you go back, then?

Video

[timeshares]

[This is the straightest of faces.]

It's like the cassettes, man. Put your finger in the hole and spin in backwards for a bit. Then it's good to go.

video

[perturbator]

That joke was hilarious when CDs came out.

[A thing he remembers. The silent "asshole" on the end of his sentence hangs there pointedly.]

[timeshares]

[The grin from the jackass on the other side is not at all shame faced.]

Hey, if you've got those, I'm just going at assume you're trolling for the best replies. Someone has to call the classics.

[textualhealing]

[He is so jealous. Great times, man.]

Just skip back. I mean you can still technically rewind but now you got chapters and crap for ease, or just skip frames.

[perturbator]

Individual frames? No shit.

[He may have found this DVD player in a dumpster. It may not have a remote. He'll get there.]

[textualhealing]

Yup. Motherfucking wizardry. And pause actually pauses crap now, rather than sends the whole screen into some crazy jive. And wait until you see blu ray on a hi-def TV.

[huntergames]

I'm not sure what countries are left in my world.

[ What a delightfully casual answer. ]

[perturbator]

Oh. Yours get nuked too?

[Also weirdly casual about it.]

[huntergames]

Ah, no. Nothing like that.

[ Atomic and nuclear bombs are pretty terrifying. She thought cannons could be scary. ]

There are monsters humankind has been at war with for a century. They've wiped out most of the population.

[perturbator]

[He doesn't really think too hard about it anymore. Better things to do. Better ways to die.]

Sounds about the same as nukes to me.

[huntergames]

[ Well, there is the ongoing mystery on where titans come from, exactly. For all they know they may have been dropped on them not unlike the way bombs are. ]

So your world... there aren't many humans left?

[perturbator]

Pause paused before.

[Doesn't sound like he'll be moved on that opinion.]

What the fuck is blue ray? That like that laser disc shit?

[perturbator]

They only play music where I come from.

[You've found the most humorous guy in the room. Totally.]

[animalage]

Why would you need to rewind it?

[Kids from the 2000s just don't understand.]

[perturbator]

[That's up for interpretation.

And there's always too many people around.]

A little less than here, but not much. There's a cease fire. [While the US borders keep shrinking.]

[perturbator]

You ever watch a movie at home?

[Man from 80s understands even less.]

[huntergames]

A war?