video;

[helpline]

[ The Doctor clicks on the camera with a grin. He's sitting in a park and there's a mirage of a small group of Civil War era soldiers practicing drills behind him. ]

Blah blah corpses, blah blah murder, let's talk about something fun. Specifically, these anachronisms. It doesn't take an idiot to know that things have ramped up recently. Going from not speaking to actual interaction? That's different. Makes you wonder if they're going to ramp up even further to a more sustained type of interaction.

[ Those with a keen eye can notice that the soldiers have done the same drill over and over again, repeating the same ten seconds for as long as the Doctor's been speaking. If not...well, he'll point it out anyway. ]

Because this? Limited interaction. These soldiers back here keep doing the same 'sound off' sort of chant no matter how many times I've told them to shut up. It's like they've forgotten I've yelled at them in the first place. Anyway, this is something up my alley so I poked around and bothered some people and I've got a hypothesis! And said hypothesis? Whatever this is, it's unintentional and whoever's causing it doesn't know they've caused it in the first place.

Why is it unintentional, well the answer to that is simple, people've been quiet! If someone caused this, whether on purpose or an accident, guilt or the drive to make a cliche baddie speech would have pushed them to say something. So, how could it be unintentional in the first place? Answer: the Porter.

[ He talks with his hands as he does so, gesturing from one place to another as he talks. ] It only makes sense! What's the biggest cause of timeline strife and what's already probably punctured a hole in this universe web of time? Answer, the Porter. What can yank people from across time and space much like some of these anachronisms are yanked across time and space? Answer, the Porter. [ The Doctor can't help but roll his eyes slightly. ] And if the government official who's inevitably monitoring these communications would just let me look at the Porter, maybe this nonsense would be fixed!

[ said with a very pointed stare at the communicators. C'mon buddy. Just let him poke at things. ]

So, to wrap this all up, question! Who among you've noticed something weird happening timeline wise with you or your buds lately? It's a good place to start.

[ It doesn't occur to the Doctor that for all the conjecture he's made about what the cause of the anachronisms is, there's absolutely no conjecture on how to fix it. Whoops. ]

Comments

[devoutish]

How often do you bother the government about the Porter? Have you made yourself a proper nuisance yet?

[helpline]

I took a break from nuisancing because of life events. I imagine I'll pick right back up where I left off now that things are smoothing themselves out.

[devoutish]

Staged a sit-in yet?

[helpline]

Nah, not yet. I'll need to coordinate schedules before a sit-in actually happens. The best sort of protests are the planned ones, after all.

permatext

[deadtective]

It just took you fifteen fucking minutes to say 'blame the Porter again'. Is the big revelation here supposed to be that you trimmed it down from half an hour..?

permavid!

[helpline]

Considering that nobody else came up with the 'blame the Porter again' realization, I think it's a necessary service!

[deadtective]

More like that's what everybody already figured, but you just haaaad to hear yourself babble.

video

[h2no]

Y'done more than just shout at 'em? I wanted to brick one-- he shot Crobat right out of the air! But by the time I'd got the poor fella outta their way they'd marched off somewhere.

[archie sounds quite put out like this. he's not usually violent, but hurting one of his pokémon for no reason sure is a way to make him flip instantly.]

Eh, gonna go ahead and cancel water polo on Friday, too. I ain't havin' a group of kids coming to a place that a random squad of armed men with swords decided to patrol, lest they decide to do more than just limited stuff.

video

[helpline]

They tried to shoot Crobat?! [ WOW the Doctor is downright offended by that, how dare people hurt Crobat! ]

I've tried to hold conversation with some of them, but it just doesn't work. It's like they've no short term memory. Nothing actually sticks with these anachronisms.

Re: video

[h2no]

They didn't try, they hit him!

[archie shifts the camera to show a thoroughly miserable giant bat sitting on the sofa next to him, part of his wing bandaged.]

Usually we have a spray on insta-heal as trainers, but I don't have any with me... he's gonna have to heal the old fashioned way. Maybe when he's better, I'll get distracted and suddenly that soldier will have all his blood sucked out! Bwaahaha, that would be a shame!

video;

[timeforgotten]

Yes, I did think that was strange. Of course, everything's strange here.

[ Some planets have horrendous anachronisms ramping up as time goes on. He guessed. There was a lot going on at the time. It's easy to assume something's not abnormal when no one's really mentioning it. ]

This really would get settled more quickly if they'd just let you have a look, Doctor. It's like experience doesn't mean anything to them.

video;

[helpline]

Yes, but this isn't normal strange. This is a stranger than the normal strange type of strange.

[ you know how if you use a word a certain amount of times it doesn't look like a word? ]

Really, I've been well-behaved recently, I think a quick peek ought to be reward enough for that.

video;

[timeforgotten]

[ If Adric bothers with school, maybe one day he'll use that kind of elaborate wordiness to help write an essay. ]

I expect I'll have no choice but to learn the difference as long as I'm living here. And who knows? Maybe if they gave you the proper incentive, your good behavior would last longer.

Video

[dun_moch]

[Oh hey, a post criticizing the government and talking about Porter access. Dooku is there.]

Your reasoning seems sound to me, Doctor. It is unfortunate that the local bureaucracy prevents us from gaining the answers we seek.

These illusions have caused a great deal of distress. If your theory is correct, then the responsibility for this disorder must be laid at the government's feet. The Porter is their property, after all.

Video

[helpline]

I don't care about who takes responsibility. I just want things to get fixed before more people get hurt.

Video

[dun_moch]

If this is indeed the Porter, your desire will likely be frustrated. I wonder how many more will suffer before this effect passes... or until the government listens to your reasonable request?

[darwinatrix]

They're terribly protective of their little toy. You're wasting your breath.

[helpline]

I'm afraid wasting my breath is a character flaw I've yet to grow out of. If it's not rambling, it's speeches.

[darwinatrix]

How old did you say you were again?

( voice )

[drizzle]

[This explanation was long, so very long, but it was interesting too. Nike will mull over his explanation as being a possibility, even if she didn't understand most of it.]

The Porter? That's the thing used to bring us here? And give us extra powers? Why would it do this? Is it broken?

[It was a stupid question, but she was curious to learn the reason he believes he can fix it without outright asking.]

As for your next question, um, I don't remember my time in this world despite having been here for half a year. I was treated as though I was new by the natives that are in charge of explaining stuff to us. Not sure if it counts, but...maybe I'm not the only one...? Maybe I'll get my memories back? [She's hoping her slight memory loss may be due to the situation than anything else. She really wants her memories of this world back again.]

permavid!

[helpline]

Nike! [ he says with a grin...and oh, wait, she doesn't remember her time in the world.

Ah. This is a bit of a bummer. People leave and come back and leave all the time. He doesn't like it, but it's to be expected. ]

Well, you're certainly a different case from the anachronisms. But who knows! Maybe fixing whatever Porter nonsense caused this'll fix up your memories as well.

[drizzle]

[Oh, she found someone else who knew her. Nike will blink at that, but offer a rueful smile all the same. It...stings to notice a person's reaction change the way his has. There will be a small wave to try to cover those feelings up.]

...I'm hoping it to be the case. Maybe whatever is happening has been affecting me. With my powers connected to my surroundings and all, you know. I noticed that these -- anachronisms, as you put them as -- are odd. I originally thought those appearing out of nowhere were restless spirits, but I couldn't sense their connection to this world. Normally, you can sense the energy of the decease...

[She has no idea if it is a good thing or not. For these people to be dead or alive as she doesn't understand the meaning of it.]

How long have this been happening? I'm guessing this isn't the first time something like this has happened?

video

[jacksonian]

Maybe you need to prove yourself a little bit better. Maybe you haven't proved you're smart enough yet.

video

[helpline]

I ruined a swear-in one time, that counts.

[ that also literally happened over a year ago. ]

video

[jacksonian]

What did you do?