01 - Video

[camebefore]

[The voice that comes across the network has a note of disconnection to it, maybe from shock of someone finding themselves bustled through Surprise! Superhero introduction. An accent twists his words, something guttural from the Baltic states. The occasional lilt of French pronunciation can make it a little harder to identify.]

My name is Doctor Hannibal Lecter.

[The video finally pops in, a young man shown in the view. His open study of the device (and the occasional too close view - maroon red irises are not attractive in most people) shows his unfamiliarity with technology. Take a good look at what frustration looks like on Hannibal Lecter. It isn't something he lets happen often. There's an abbreviated startle when he realizes that he has gotten it to work. Immediately the placid look comes back, a pure professional instead of an eighteen year old that couldn't make this alien communicator work like it was supposed to.]

[A young man who is a fully qualified doctor and is now a sous chef according to what he's been told. A chef isn't terrible, and while he liked the medical profession as much as he could be said to like anything, it's the being reduced to an assistant that bothers him the most.]

Needless to say, I am one of the new arrivals, and I am having difficulty finding Residence #12. I would appreciate any assistance. This layout is a bit confusing.

[Meaning 1951 person is a little concerned about Cars That Float And Defy Science along with figuring out the rest of it. Or that is the impression he wants to project. Hannibal is a fast learner, can accept what he cannot disprove. In a situation where he doesn't know what is surrounding him, he would prefer to seem like someone who needs the help of others. There will always be those quick to assist, to be the Good Guy. Something he finds bitterly amusing given that he's in a city of 'heroes'.]

I see what they said about this not being 1951 any longer is very true.

Comments

video.

[isaytheeneigh]

For some of us, it's a new world altogether.

[It's not altogether necessary to point out, but point it out he does.]

Where are you, anyway?

video.

[camebefore]

Quite.

[He's read about things of this sort in the few science fiction novels he allowed to waste his time, but seeing it in practice is another matter altogether. Maybe he shouldn't have dismissed them out of hand as he did before.]

A street of some sort of residential neighborhood. I believe there's a soda fountain ahead.

video

[highhealplz]

That's a convenient coincidence! I just became an expert on finding Residence #12, myself. [ bright smile! ] I could be convinced to lend a hand.

video

[camebefore]

[Anyone who smiles that happily at a stranger cannot be a good thing. No matter his feelings on it, Hannibal returns the smile politely but not as enthusiastically. 'Convincing'? Rude.]

I am sure I can locate it myself soon enough. I would hate to trouble you with any unnecessary 'convincing'.

VOICE.

[enabeled]

[ Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The name is familiar, obviously, and Gideon feels his skin grow clammy hearing it said (following "my name is") even though the voice speaking it is entirely new to him, the face that soon accompanies it equally so.

It could be a different person altogether, he considers. People turn up from various points in time, true, but Hannibal Lecter would not be this old in 1951 if he were even born yet at all. A different person who happened to have the same unusual name and a similar profession, a similar accent -- it could be possible, even if Gideon is too ruined by Hannibal now to truly be able to set aside his paranoia and allow himself to be completely convinced. His mouth feels dry, but there's no evidence of it when he speaks. ]

What would be your field of specialty, Dr. Lecter?

VOICE.

[camebefore]

[It's a good thing no one is watching Hannibal. He studies the device in irritation as the little picture shuts off and a disembodied voice speaks from it. His reply is delayed a few seconds while he figures out that the stranger on the other end is responsible instead of technology already trying to rebel.]

I was a surgeon in the emergency department at Johns Hopkins. I hadn't decided yet on a specialized field or whether to remain a general surgeon.

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[heartlessglitch]

[ Hannibal Lecter. ]

[heartlessglitch]

Hello, Dr. Lecter.
I assume you do not remember me.

text;

[infomodder]

[Will takes some time to try rationalizing this. It's possible that in this world that takes people from other worlds, it's possible that there will be people with the same names. Similar professions. Similar accents. People that are like the people he knows but aren't them, can't be them. He's already well aware that it can draw them in from different times, why not people like the ones he knows but not quite them? There's some sense there. A lot of sense, he wants to believe. Weirder things have happened. He's seen them, he's felt them, he has them. Young for a doctor, but his Hannibal Lecter had a long, impressive resume. His Hannibal Lecter, however, had not had a long enough life to be this old in 1951.

As much sense as he can make of it, it's still difficult. There's hurt that he's not used to associating with that name. That name's always stood for safety and something like companionship. Advice. Comfort, a warm meal, a rock. He'd never say as much out loud, but he couldn't deny it, especially not now. Not now that hearing his name and seeing a face that wasn't the same as the Hannibal he knew actually gave him pain. He tries to swallow it down, spends time fixing his hair, and just when he thinks he can show his face...he can't do it. So he reverts back to text, not because he looks a mess or doesn't want to deal with face-to-face communication for all the usual reasons. He just can't afford his first impression to be someone who's both disappointed and hurt for reasons this Hannibal Lecter can't know.]

Hello, Dr. Lecter. Very true that it's no longer 1951. It seems someone from #12 has already spoken up. If you'd like a tour of Heropa once you've had some time, I'd be glad to guide you around. I haven't been here as long as some others, but long enough to know my way around.

[He can't bring himself to even type his name. Having to say he's Will Graham in the face of the name Hannibal Lecter is another smack in the face. His name's right there to be seen, anyway, which has tripped him up before in regards to what is polite and what's forced. It's a tricky thing. He knows his Hannibal appreciates politeness. If he takes it the wrong way...things can be explained and perhaps this young, not quite his Hannibal Lecter can be as understanding as the one he knows.]

text;

[camebefore]

[gdi, Will. Hannibal believes he had the video part of it figured out and then the audio. Now it starts printing out words rapidly across the screen. There's less concern that he's somehow pushed a button or done something to it this time. A text function is a little easier to understand for him after a little investigation. In his time, color television wasn't widespread. This is getting to be a challenge.]

[But this does lead to why change the format. The question is dismissed for now. There are too many possible causes. All right. Texting. He can do this.]

A very kind offer, Mr Graham. Do you know some of the history to go along with a walking tour of that sort?

Video

[foreshadower]

Why no, it is quite true, although they do seem to like the aesthetic quite a bit.

Are you still looking for assistance with the housing?

[ He remembered Lecter, and the fact that the man had been very thoroughly into food. He could hardly say no to any person who loved food. ]

Video

[camebefore]

[Thoroughly into food is one way to describe it. Disgruntled to be demoted to a sous chef is another right now. Unfortunate that Hannibal doesn't recognize anyone who does him.]

I believe I may have found someone. Thank you for your concern.

You are correct. I do recognize some of the bodywork on the vehicles, although they are more American than I was used to. Strange to see the two types so garishly meshed.

voice;

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Having resided for some time in this cosmic wilderness, the concept of a multiverse is not a foreign one to Frederick Chilton. That name he heard, the one that could pulp his heart to panic, it didn't synchronize with that youthful face, nor that implied fact. 1951? Hannibal Lecter was distinguished, but hardly a man of his eighties. His Hannibal Lecter wasn't, anyway.

Uncomfortable, wasn't it, to think of the individual with such possession? His Hannibal Lecter.

Chilton cleared his throat, managing a brief (and neutral) sentence:]

And will you be soon establishing your practice, Doctor Lecter?

[That dialect had been so strikingly similar to the one he remembered -- a parallel cataclysmic enough to bubble panic in his blood, like some infusion of champagne anxiety. It almost eclipsed the sneaking envy that slithered down his spine: a doctor, already? Lecter looked as if he could have been a freshman in university.

A doctor already.]

voice;

[camebefore]

[A cool measuring tone answers this stranger without recognition in his voice. For a young man, he does have self-possession in spades.]

I do not. I was an emergency room surgeon intern at Johns Hopkins yesterday. I would require a more experienced doctor to second check my work for ethical and legal reasons.

[A flicker of annoyance comes into his voice that the elder Hannibal would have quashed before allowing it to show. Such is the difference between the man he will become and who he is now.] It also appears the employment I have been assigned is that of a sous chef.

voice;

[incorporated]

[ The unsettling curiosity in Kevin's voice when he replies is... well, unsettling. It's coupled with a tone of eagerness. ]

You're not from this time either? Gosh, there sure are a lot of you. This place really is not very discriminate it seems.

voice;

[camebefore]

[Hannibal isn't quite sure what to make of this one either. In his time, people are often more restrained in speech. His own formal nature and word use shows that.]

I would have difficulty saying what 'time' I think this is. I am sure someone told me, but I must confess to missing it in the rush of information. Some of the architectural and vehicular stylings are familiar, but little else.

video;

[iampretty]

A doctor? Well, color me impressed! [ Hans seems all smiles and happiness as he looks at the video and gives it a little wave. ]

I'm Hans. Hopefully the government gave you a job that relates somehow to your work back home--of course, if they didn't you can always change it.

video;

[camebefore]

[Hannibal has already promised himself that he'll check the food for any happy drugs. He now adds the water to that list. Some of these people are far too cheerful for this to be normal.]

I cannot say that they did. It relates to a hobby of mine.

[In more than one way.]

But it is not what my profession was.

[video]

[glassinine]

Of what are you a doctor, sir?

[video]

[camebefore]

I was an emergency room surgeon before arriving here.

[Some his age might find it odd to be addressed as 'sir' by his elders, but Hannibal seems perfectly good with it.]

An interesting city you all have here.

[Video]

[5thchild]

Welcome. I understand this might be quite different from what you know, but I hope you will enjoy the place.

What sort of doctor are you?

[Video]

[camebefore]

[Oh yes, he's taking a good look at anything he eats or drinks here. These people are far too complacent for being hijacked to elsewhere.]

Given what I was told, I hope that I do as well.

I was an emergency room surgeon. There must not be much call for that here with a city of 'heroes'.

video;

[godly]

Ah, 1951? No, you'll soon learn that your previous year, timeline, et cetera, has little bearing on the so-called "now" of 2014.

video;

[camebefore]

So I am seeing. I hadn't believed things such as this would exist sixty-three years in the future. Science must have grown by leaps and bounds.

video

[aggressiveapathy]

You're a magical hero. Just tell someone in a car to take you.

video

[camebefore]

I see no reason to trouble someone to ferry me about when I am capable of walking. It was only a direction that I needed.

text

[lyingheart]

[ The need to introduce over something that's still a poor substitute for in person is a fascinating one, were she inclined to want to evaluate why it is that people have that need for recognition and identification from the start. What does it say, to introduce yourself like this to strangers? You're not facing a room of unfamiliar places, or moving through a crowd of people decidedly unlike you. It's impersonal and strange, and it's why Annie sticks with her increasingly quicker writing; fewer small people stuck in small frames, or disembodied voices speaking with her like it's natural to be so completely removed and unable to read the things a person says with every move they make.

Thoughts she doesn't need to indulge. What she learns from this is the following: he's from Earth, from a year over sixty years in the past, and as likely to be from a completely different timeline as to share any "modern" history with this place. He's educated, and a doctor. That he seems young is neither here nor there - more surprising if no one contests the fact of his education. She's met too many people here who call themselves adults and argue semantics about the abilities of the young instead of acknowledging the possibilities they might not know. Normal and average are all relative to a given perspective and cultural experience, after all.

So in the end, it isn't remarkable, but it is something she sees. In the spare time she has now, waiting on an answer for a question she's asked of a person behind an official looking counter, Annie types out a simple response. ]

Welcome to Heropa, Doctor Hannibal Lector. [ tap tap tap tap tap tap tap to spell it all out, his full name. ] My name is Annie Leonhart. [ of no particular importance, least of all here. that takes care of introductions, in the stark, clean-lettered way of text messaging. it's so much less personal than writing. so much less invasive than the rest. ] Will they have you working as a doctor while you're here?

[ She does find it more curious what kinds of strange work the military finds for people pulled here - if they manage to bastardize the skilled practitioners across all disciplines into some strange, throw-away profession instead of capitalizing on their known skills. Or perhaps they were... in indirect ways. ]

text

[camebefore]

[Unsurprisingly, Hannibal is finding he has a distaste for the text function. He prefers to see them, watch their faces and try to read intentions. Even with a voice, there are some subtle cues that he can pick up. It's nothing compared to what he will be able to do in the future, but it's something. Texts are coldly impersonal even with the name the system provides him with.]

Thank you, Miss Leonhart. I appreciate the welcome.

[But a name is somewhere to start and shouldn't be underestimated.]

It appears that they felt my talents were in another area than medicine. Is it common for such a shift to be made from what one is trained in to another field? I find myself curious as to how they assigned me such.

[It's a question he'd like to know the answer to but nothing critical. A rapport must be built, of course.]

[transuniversal]

[Other people are polite. Other people are not Noh-Varr, who will use his alienness as an excuse any time it suits him to not bother with that sort of thing, even though he knows relatively well how human social niceties work.]

Is there something wrong with your vision?

[camebefore]

Pardon me? My vision?

[It's a question he didn't see coming.]