video;

[douchebag]

[ After about two weeks of playing nice and pretending he's completely comfortable living on some supposedly alternate reality Earth half a millennium in the past, Felix is getting restless. He's read the file on himself about thirty times and there's one section that he's still struggling to believe. And since he can't find an answer himself, he decides to take to the network. ]

All right, I gotta ask. [ Christ, he feels stupid even asking this. It sounds so dumb. ] Is this whole magical powers thing real?

[ He tips his head sideways, gesturing toward the file that isn't visible in the camera's field. ]

Because I got a thing here saying I've got some and I find it a little—[ He rolls his eyes. ]—hard to believe.

[ He pauses then, noticeably mulling something over that clearly has him conflicted, before he continues in Spanish. It isn't his native language, his accent isn't quite right, but he's making an effort. That's the point. He's Making An Effort. ]

Sam, tenemos que hablar.

Comments

video

[rathercommon]

[ Here's a little sparrow, quite literally chirping back at him cheerfully - ]

Completely real! Life here is quite a bit easier if you just suspend all your skepticism. At least for the first few weeks.

[douchebag]

[ He opens his mouth. Closes it. Tries again. ]

Let me guess. Your power's being able to talk?

[ Because talking birds are so not a thing in the future. ]

[rathercommon]

[ She laughs just a little bit. ]

It's a bit more than that. But part of it is being able to chat while I'm in the form of an animal, yes. Which is awfully useful.

[douchebag]

Then you're not an animal all the time?

[ An eyebrow arches. ]

So are you a bird dreaming you're something else or something else dreaming you're a bird?

[ Even in the 26th century, the philosophy of Zhūangzi endures. ]

text; private

[classification]

[ This... is kind of a surprise. Not good or bad, just... a general surprise. Part of him thinks about not responding because what has he said about codenames?! ( He swears, it's like no one ever fucking listens to him. ) But, it's just a small part that is easily ignored. After how things were left when they saw each other the last time, they do need to talk. And, that Felix is the one reaching out makes it all the more important that Locus does respond to it.

Not before making sure the channel of communication is secure, though. He's told no one his name and plans to keep it that way for as long as possible. ]

I'm listening.

[douchebag]

[ Text? Really? Felix scowls at the phone for a moment, then catches himself typing back something scathing and sarcastic. He wants to be scathing and sarcastic. Things are not all right between them and the petty, spiteful part of him wants to remind Locus of it again. And again. And again.

And again.

But that's not conducive to trying to—whatever it is he's trying to do here. Felix doesn't even know. Everything's such a mess. So he deletes it all and starts over. ]

Not over the phone. [ He's about to leave it at that, then restless awkwardness makes him tack on an attempt—it's lame, he doesn't care—at a joke. ] Thought that shit was taboo anyway.

[classification]

[ If he becomes too paranoid, then he'd never use these archaic forms of communication. Anything can be taken and used for some nefarious purpose, cutting voice messages to suit the needs of someone else, changing the text within a message... But, somehow it feels safer with text. For right now. At least until he's had a chance to properly investigate everything.

Paranoia aside, he's trying to make an effort here with Felix. So, he's letting him guide without complaining. For now. ]

All right. Where would you prefer?

[douchebag]

[ That's a good question. He could kick himself for not thinking that one through. But Earth is a big fucking world and the transportation here sucks. What he wouldn't give for a Pelican right about now. ]

I'm in a place called Maurtia Falls. It's in Pennsylvania. You have any idea where that is?

video

[glitterateur]

Totally real! I've got magic pigs and they've been working for two years. [Except for those times when powers went on the fritz, but that shouldn't really count.] So what's your power?

[douchebag]

Wait. Hold up. [ He lifts a hand in a halting gesture. ] You have magic pigs? Like, actual magic pigs?

[glitterateur]

Actual magic pigs! They turn into whatever I ask them to. It's pretty cool.

[Is this false modesty? Yes. Yes, it is.]

[douchebag]

[ What. ]

You have actual magic pigs that can be whatever you want them to be?

[ Why the fuck didn't he get magical pigs???? ]

Can you ask them to money?

[ Video ]

[dualismum]

They are. Though technically, not all are magical, some are biology.

[douchebag]

Biology? What do you mean, like they experimented on us while we were unconscious?

[dualismum]

[ well, technically the porter did, but that's not what Sasaki meant ]

Some people had non-human abilities, in their worlds. And that's natural for them.

[douchebag]

[ He breathes a sigh of relief. ]

Oh. That's a relief. I didn't sign up for any shady experiments. [ He didn't sign up for coming here either, but that's a tiny detail he'll just gloss over. ] There isn't much of this where I'm from. Some supersoldiers, but they got that way through science, and they can't really do anything special.

video;

[hitsujikai]

I didn't believe it when I first arrived here either, but yes, they're very real.

[ Unfortunately. And his are the kind he can't exactly ignore, but.. the fact this guy is asking for clarity makes Gino wonder. ]

What powers do you have that make you doubt their existence? Something subtle, I assume?

[douchebag]

[ Wonderful. He glances sideways at the file again. It's automatic. ]

I don't know if I'd call it subtle. [ He shrugs. ] More like I don't know how to, what's the word? Use it? Activate it?

[ Felix waggles his fingers. ]

Abracadabra didn't do the trick.

[hitsujikai]

[ Gino either doesn't get the reference or he's just choosing to ignore it entirely, because he barely reacts. ]

Perhaps it's better to not know how to activate it rather than being unable to stop it.

[ He's speaking from experience here. ]

text;

[resoundingpledge]

It's real.

I don't have anything like that myself, but the people I knew can do things they never could before. And I've seen people here do things I didn't even think were possible.

It can be a little hard at first, though. Just getting the hang of it all. Practice helps a lot.

[douchebag]

Really? You didn't get any special powers?

How'd you manage that?

[resoundingpledge]

I guess . . . there were things I could do already that count as "powers" here. I've never really thought of them like that, but there's

there's nullifiers, here, that the different governments use sometimes

They suppress anything that's on the papers the government gives you when you first come here. So I'm pretty sure the things I do count.

video

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're real. If they're not then I've been spending weird amounts of time standing in place thinking I'm a baseball.

[douchebag]

Baseball? You can turn into a baseball?

[ What the hell? ]

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Yup. I call it the fastball special.