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[pidgewidgeon]

[ The video clicks on to show Pidge wandering through Heropa. She's meandering through the crowds and down random streets, and would look like any other teen if not for the green lioness at her side. ]

So... this is all strange. One moment I'm being threatened by a giant warship, the next I'm in a weird underground bunker and have a glowy tattoo on my arm and sudden super powers? Which is cool, don't get me wrong, but I sorta already have a universe to save. The Galra threat isn't just going to go away because I was kidnapped.

[Pidge pauses while she maneuvers around a crowd. ]

Wait, is that why I'm here? Am I supposed to save this world... universe... whatever? The soldier guard dude who gave me all my stuff didn't really explain much. Just kinda dropped me off in an apartment and left.[ Rude. ]

I'm Pidge by the way. [ She directs a grin towards her communicator. ] And I'd really appreciate more information.

Comments

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[lasersounds]

Pidge?! [HELLO SMALL FRIEND! Say hello to the grinning face of the most favorite of your fellow Paladins. He's rather excited to see you.]

Man is it good to see you. At this rate...we might get the whole castle here...

[pidgewidgeon]

Lance!!

Oh quiznak am I glad to see you. [ And she's off on a mini ramble before his words can really sink in. Haven't you missed her Lance? ]

Are the others here? Are they okay? The last thing I remember before waking up in that bunker was Zarkon showing up after we rescued the Olkari.

[ And then her brain catches up with what he said. ]

'Whole castle'? So we're not the only ones here?

[lasersounds]

Wait, I need to save this for posterity. One Pidge is actually glad to see me. [Please don't ruin this Pidge, he actually looks really happy to be wanted.]

Woah, woah. Slow it down. For one thing...I uh think I'm a bit ahead of you. Zarkon definitely kept showing up--could sleep for like three quintents. Found out Altean pools are on the ceiling; the ship has one...Keith and Allura ran off thinking Zarkon was tracking us through them. Don't ask me why Keith thinks that--because I have no idea what goes through that jerk's head.

Oh! And we went to a space mall, got a video system that came with a free cow and--[A horrified gasp] Kaltenecker is back on the ship without us. Poor cow.

[A pause and then...]

Oh right...yeah Hunk is here too.

[pidgewidgeon]

[ Don't make her regret being excited to see you Lance. She'll hit you with her bayard again. Don't think she won't. ]

Oh quiznak, that's good to know. I woke up here and expected the worst.

[ She listens intently to what Lance is saying, (After all, for once it's actually relevant), and can't help interjecting. ]

Why would Keith think Zarkon is tracking him? Allura I understand, she's the last Altean and it wouldn't surprise me if Zarkon could track her quintessence, but Keith? Shiro would make more since then Keith. After all, Zarkon was the Black Paladin, there's probably still some form of a bond between him and Black. [ Which is actually really disconcerting to think about... Bad Pidge.

And then the cow comment registers. ]

We got a cow for buying a video game system? At a space mall? Are you sure you didn't dream this? [ Pidge's ability to process the weird shit life throws at them may be a little compromised at the moment. ]

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[hunksmash]

Pidge!

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[hunksmash]

What kinda 'more information' are we talking here, 'cause there's, like... There's a lot. There's time displacement stuff, 'Porter stuff, history stuff, tech stuff... Stuff galore. I wouldn't even know where to start, actually. I really can't overthink aspects of this place too much, 'cause you can seriously get lost in it. Like, theoretical physics isn't even my thing, but damn, you know? Multiverse theory, temporal hiccups...

Oh, hey. Is that Heropa around you? Are you in Heropa right now?

More importantly: are you hungry?

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[pidgewidgeon]

Hunk! You're here! [ Lance had told her, but it was always good to have independent verification. ]

And ugh. I know. How were they even able to get us here? I can't imagine that it's easy to bring someone across a boundary of that type, otherwise we'd have figured it out. Or at least known more about multiverse theory. The energy these people generated had to have been massive. How did they prevent the build up from overloading? And....

[ She stops. ]

Sorry, rambling. And yeah. Damn. This isn't my thing either, but I could probably debate it for ever just because it happened to me.

[ Back on track Pidge. You don't need to ramble away all the time. ]

I think that's what they called this place? [ She pulls the folder the soldier had given her with all her new personal information out and flipped through it quickly. ] Yeah, Heropa. Why? Is t hat where you are??

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[hunksmash]

Yep. Good ol' Heropa, Florida, which... I don't think that's a thing back on our Earth, right? I don't actually know a lot about Florida.

Anyway! Uh. Want us to come meet you? It's your first day back on Earth. There's probably something Earth-y you wanna do, right?

[darwinatrix]

Galra... [And she notes that lion.]

You're one of the ones with those robot cats, then?

[pidgewidgeon]

Yup! [ Pidge directs a grin at the camera even as she pats Green. ]

This is Green. I take it you know Hunk or Lance?

[darwinatrix]

I've seen them around the network. Spoke to the large one once or twice.

[pidgewidgeon]

That has to be Hunk.

The Lions are actually bigger in our world. [ So weird to think and say ] I guess whatever brought us here didn't want robotic lions that were over 15 meters tall wandering about. Not that I blame them.

[ And a thought has occurred to her so she's just gonna muse aloud. ] I wonder if Green can still fly...

[khajidont]

I think that if any one of us could save the universe, we'd have saved it by now. As it is, there's not much to save it from.

[ There's a war on, sure, but that hardly concerns the whole universe, right? Either way, he gives the screen a little smile. ]

You don't have to worry about what's going on at home, though. When you're here, no time's passing back home. Once you're back, it'll be like nothing happened at all and you'll, uh, be right back at that whole warship deal.

[pidgewidgeon]

So... If there isn't a warlord that needs defeating or an empire that needs toppling why are we here? Seems a waste of energy to bring people in from other dimensions if there isn't something world ending happening. [ She shrugs. ] But then again, I'm new here. So what do I really know?

[ Time stands still? That... doesn't seem possible? ]

No time at all? How is that possible? I guess I could understand if this universe tends to run at a slower time rate then others, but there would still have to be some where this 'verse is faster. You sound like you're implying all other universes are slower than this one and the statistical likelihood of that is null. And how do you know this? [ She tends to ramble when out of her element. ]

[khajidont]

[ He laughs. ]

Okay, uh, I'll answer what questions you have for me, but you're going to have to ask them one at a time! I'll take the easy one first: I just got back home from getting ported out earlier this month. I can give you first-hand experience that when you go back, you go right back where you're from - and you don't remember this place to boot.

That's the standard, around here.

[pidgewidgeon]

That's so cool! Whatever tech they use to make that work must be a thing of beauty. [ Can you hear the adoration in her voice? Just thinking about how complex such a thing would have to be has hearts in her eyes. Such a nerd ] I'd love to see whatever makes that possible.

[ And her focus is back on you. ]

Does that happen often? Being sent home then coming back? [ She's totally not asking because she wants to experience it. Not at all. ]

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[lastnerv]

[No warm welcomes here, just a boy starin' at your robocat.]

I can't believe he was actually serious about there being multiple lions.

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[pidgewidgeon]

[ Pidge can't stop the groan that escapes at that comment. ]

Was it Lance? I'm betting it was Lance.

[ She pats Green and pastes a smile on her face. ]

This is Green. And she's much cooler than Blue.

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[lastnerv]

Yeah, it was him. I guess I'm not surprised all you lion people know each other. How else can you combine into your giant lion? [Okay, that was a little flippant. He's still not totally sold on that part.]

Um, anyway, I'm Shinji and welcome to this weird pocket universe. You don't have to save anything. You just kind of...have to exist, at the most.

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[dirtyredneck]

Ain't gotta save shit.

[Said plainly and with no malice, though a bit gruff just due to his accent and the roughness of his voice from a lifetime of cigarettes.]

Not unless ya wanna.

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[pidgewidgeon]

Then why the quiznak did they drag us here?

[ ... ]

Wait, if I want to? Is that what the whole 'Are you ready to be a hero?' thing was about?

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[dirtyredneck]

They didn't do it on purpose. The Porter thing, she dragged you here. No one's sure why. They'd like you to help out, be 'heroes' to the people here, but you ain't gotta. It's your choice if you gonna step up and do shit like that or just go on livin' your life. Or tryin' to. Ain't gotta do the hero thing.

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[postcog]

What manner of mechanical sending is that? It looks very advanced.

[ Far more advanced than Lirael has ever seen, actually. ]

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[pidgewidgeon]

[ 'Sending'? Not a term she's familiar with, but she's just gonna assume you mean Green. Almost every one has been commenting on her after all. ]

This is Green! She's one of the Lions of Voltron, a peacekeeper that was built centuries ago in my universe. She's supposed to be taller, but I guess when we got dragged here they shrunk her down.

[postcog]

[ She understands approximately half those words. They're enough though, if only barely. ]

Built? So it is a mechanical construct. Most curious.