001 | Introduction | Anonymous Text

[codeoracle]

[The post is headed with an icon, source unknown.]

Hello. It's nice to meet all of you. I am the one they call Alibaba. Or I would be if I wasn't dragged from home to a place where I have no reputation.

I'll make this simple. I'm looking to make a deal--information is what I need. Specifically, I want to know more about this porting process.

I don't expect anyone to be able to tell me how it works, but anything you might know would be...helpful. I would be especially interested in speaking with anyone that was able to go home before being brought back.

You can answer freely or we can see if we can reach a deal that works for both of us. I'll be waiting.

Comments

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[prostheticbody]

I was ported out and then came back about six months later, though a much longer time passed back home. What do you want to know?

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[codeoracle]

I think that's the longest period I've heard of.
Did your time back home...lead to any important changes? I've heard of people gaining powers...or having them change.

[prostheticbody]

I don't have any powers that I didn't already possess back home, so nothing changed there. I was given a new job, though one equally unsuited for my skills.

[codeoracle]

Interesting. Most of my powers remained the same as those back home as well.

Was there any specific timing with this port back home? If there's a pattern, or a connection...I'd want to find it.

[prostheticbody]

People that already had superhuman abilities seem more likely to keep those rather than acquire new ones.

Not as far as I'm aware. I'd been here for about nine months, and one day I was here, the next I was back home with no memory of my time here. When I returned, those memories were restored like a long-forgotten dream that comes back to you all of a sudden.

[codeoracle]

That would make sense. If the powers already exist,
then there would be no need to replace them or augment them further--that's assuming someone or something controls that.

...That seems to be the story I'm getting from everyone. I was hoping there would be something that stood out, something that was different.

[prostheticbody]

There seems to be some intelligence behind power assignment. Most people tend to receive abilities that complement their personalities or occupations in some way. I imagine that if the Porter itself has some form of intelligence, it's responsible for the powers as well as the importing.

Lots of Imports have tried to unravel the mystery, but no one's made too much headway thus far.

[codeoracle]

It wouldn't put the idea of the Porter having intelligence out of the realm of possibility. Either it has the power to make all of the decisions or there's someone that's in control.

Either way, it's obvious there's a lot to figure out here.

[prostheticbody]

If there is someone--that is, a human--in control, then their motives are fairly inscrutable. I can understand bringing ImPorts here as a means of combating the Soviets, but the Porter brings in people that could actively undermine that goal. Either the Porter operates on its own authority, or the technology is so obscure that those in charge can't utilize it perfectly.

[codeoracle]

And either scenario isn't one I'm fond of. One has sentient technology with an agenda we can't figure out, and the other has...people abusing power they don't understand.

Take your pick, both of them suck.

[prostheticbody]

True. At least with the latter, there's the possibility of unraveling the mysteries of the technology. For all of humanities deficiencies, when presented with a challenge, we tend to eventually overcome it. Provided that we don't use this power to destroy ourselves if this cold war ever goes hot.

[codeoracle]

The second option would require them letting people close enough to study it--and that's not happening anytime soon. But I guess it offers more hope than column A.

You think it will ever..."go hot?" Back home there were similar situations, but it never really kicked up into anything. Then again back home we didn't have a porter bringing in people with powers either.

[prostheticbody]

It's a possibility. The point of nuclear weapons--or superpowered heroes, I suppose--is that as long as cooler heads prevail, war can't really break out without risking mutually-assured destruction. But that may not always be the case. My world went through a global nuclear war that completely reshaped geopolitics, so I can imagine something similar happening here as well.

[codeoracle]

Well that's reassuring. Here's hoping the people in power can keep level heads about that sort of thing. I would like to avoid any kind of war, thanks.

[prostheticbody]

Most of us would agree with that. Though I'm sure the powers that be just consider us soldiers, and soldiers are expendable. Especially ones with nanites that prevent us from dying permanently.