1 ♡ audio (backdated to 11am, 2/14)

[dragony]

There's a number of new faces around here. But, in a way, we're all relatively new faces to this neighborhood. Maybe it would make more sense to say, this is a new experience for some, and an old for others. Isn't that right?

[ The voice speaking is a level, feminine voice: teenager, middling pitch, with words that are well-enunciated. While there is an accent—noticeably not American—it's caught in a threshold between others, and difficult to place.

It's hard to tell if she sounds bored, or if that's just how she naturally talks. ]

To get everyone on the same page, I thought it would be best to tell you how we came here, and what came before. It's something of a long story, though, and I'm not the best person to tell it, but better something than nothing. Right? Though, if you're not interested, you can skip the rest of this broadcast.

The "world before" this one, the one people mean when they refer to "the City," was Earth. Another Earth, similar enough to this one, and to the Earths you may have known—"the City" was their name for "New York City," if that means anything to you. At some point, a teleportation device was built, and on October 10th, 2008 by its calendar, and by this one, the "Porter" was activated, and brought the first "imPorts." At that time, it was controlled by an artificial intelligence in a suit of armor, but that being was later destroyed by the artificial intelligence of the Porter itself.

She calls herself Lachesis. Like the Fate.

For five years, she controlled our lives there. She determined who was imPorted, who was exPorted; who would return there with their memory intact, and who would not. If they would come back the same, or from some different history than the one we knew. She determined who was raised from the dead, if we died, and whose soul never came back. She could change the powers we were born with, and she could take them away. She could change our species, as it suited her. She's capricious, a fan of practical jokes and snide cruelties, and chess. Hers was the voice that welcomed us as "heroes."

Two years after it all started, she changed that world. Countries emerged, fully realized, emerged from nothing. The history of that world was rewritten; the memories of its inhabitants, too. The damage done by her enemies, erased. Those of us who were there could remember what the world was like, before she changed it, but we're the only ones who could.

After that, our shared enemy was Vulcanus. Others can tell you more about them, but they wished to take what made us powerful and use it to their own ends. Kidnapping, torture, genetic experimentation—that sort of thing. [ Though the content of the statement is serious, "torture" may as well be synonym for "toothbrush," for the easy, careless way she says it. ] But, when they could not... that is to say, "beat us," the way things were, they sought to gain power on other worlds, other dimensions. And we would follow them. Not by choice, and not with any sort of plan, but for months and months, you couldn't trust that placing one foot in front of the other would land on the same ground.

We're rather weary of traveling, I think.

In one of those worlds, we met her "sister", Clotho. But the third of them... you may have already heard. She destroyed that world, were we lived before. I don't... I'm not sure how it all happened, in the end, but in rescuing Lachesis, she saved us. Brought us here, to this world.

I can't tell you much about the state of this world, but there's two things I do know. One, large gatherings will almost always end in some chaos, so you should be prepared for that. And two, you can't trust people to act in anybody's interest but their own. The people of this world will not be kind to us for kindness alone.

[ There's pause enough that it might be mistaken for the end of the broadcast, before: ]

We should decide on names for all of these different worlds soon. This sort of thing will only get harder to explain later on without them.

Comments

[dragony]

Mmm.

[ #judging?? ]

I wondered.

[viced]

About?

[dragony]

That.

If you say so, I suppose it doesn't matter.

[viced]

I'm being serious. We're friends, but -- [ A sigh. ]

We're going to have to go our own ways here.

[dragony]

Really? I assumed... well, if you were going into office here, sometime, he'd be with you.

[viced]

That's up to him, but I can't predict what he'll want to do.

I mean, I think politics suited Edward, but... it's not for everyone.

[dragony]

So, you haven't talked to him about that, yet? If I understand you correctly....

[viced]

Have to decide where I'm running, first.

[dragony]

But you still believe you'll go your separate ways.

[viced]

I think it's more than possible. Not everyone can stay in politics, it's a field that can fucking ruin you, if you're not careful.

[dragony]

So it really wouldn't hurt you much, if the worst were to happen.

It's one thing to say you'll part because of a job, but... mmm. I suppose it's impossible to say for certain, if you haven't already lost someone important to you.

[ And since he's old as balls, he obv has. ]

[viced]

What makes you think I have?

[ God. Has he ever. ]

I can do what I have to, if that's what my job requires.

[dragony]

Mitchell, please. You're still human.

[viced]

Of course I am, but that doesn't mean I can't put things aside if I have to. People can go pretty far, if we have to. Especially if it's something that we need to do.

[dragony]

That's not what I'm referring to, and you know it.

[viced]

I know, but you have to understand that in my line of work, we may be human, but we still give a lot up.

[dragony]

You're going to bury yourself.

[ a beat. ]

In an early grave, or under the weight of your own shadowed heart, I mean. Not the "buried in work" line you would prefer.

[viced]

Ah, shadowed heart?

[dragony]

[ god
how small of words does she need to use here ]

The weight of emotion you wouldn't dare show in the light of day?

[viced]

The weight? Ruka, there's not some weight that I'm hiding from everyone else. I think you read into this a bit more than you needed to.

[dragony]

Oh? Should I take that as permission, then? If you're not hiding anything, then surely you won't mind.

[viced]

Permission to what, read my emotions? No, that's not fucking permission. That's like giving access to your thoughts, it's violating.

[dragony]

To share with the class, I meant, but that's answer enough.

[ Queen Hypocrite shrug. ] It doesn't matter to me anymore, one way or the other. You won't have to worry about further violations from me.

[viced]

It's not -- I mean, it is a violation, but you can't help it any more than I can help listening to your phone, or someone's laptop, or TiVO.

But I'd hope you'd be responsible enough not to share it. I appreciate the concern, but I really do understand my emotions well enough to know what I'm doing with them.

[dragony]

You really need to work on your skills of persuasion. [ There's no fight to it, or even insult. It barely ranks as a criticism. ] But if that's the line you'll stick to, that's fine.