maskormenace | Second Misfortune [Video]

[Touma was homesick. While he may have been here only a few months, he has been an unwilling traveler long before he arrived in Heropa. He has long since accepted the fact that he will never see his original world, but that didn't make the reality any less painful.

And yet, he couldn't help himself from desiring to see even a fragment of his home. Seeing others being reunited with their friends reminded him of what he lost and a small part of him selfishly wished that someone from his world would turn up. It definitely seemed possible.

Perhaps the Network can provide him with something more concrete?]

I've been pondering some things. How many people have peers from their world here? Since arriving here a little over two months ago, I've noticed something strange about the people being dragged here; some of them are familiar with each other and those already here. Given how the Porter has an infinite amount of worlds to chose from and its random nature when concerning its victims, just what are the chances of it pulling in people from the same world? How about the same timeline. Location? Social circle? Not only that, but to repeat it multiple times? There is no way this is a coincidence.

Not only that, but it's very possible that there are people who belong to the same world and have no idea that they do. If the Porter can gather people who coincidentally happen to know each other, I don't think this is too improbable. Of course, it would be incredibly difficult to prove without a doubt due to all the factors that could muddle the connection and the fact we only have anecdotal evidence to go by. Time can greatly shift a world even within a few years. Location can influence your perspective on your surroundings in a world. Just those two factors alone can make it outright impossible to tell.

So, what does everybody think of all this? These thoughts have been rattling around in my brain for awhile now and I just wanted to share it with you guys.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ No ID printed.

Power Girl's seated atop a roof, perched on the edge that overlooks the town. Not that that view can be seen. It's just her face and the sky behind her. ]

For the first part, I'm wondering if it's something due to the Porter. Maybe a kind of residue or radiation that the Porter traces back to our home universes. I've always found it odd, but it's difficult to pin whether it's random or intentional after all.

[This one's young and blond, looking thoughtful.] You're right about it being difficult to prove. Correlation isn't causation, but one can't ignore the correlation when a dozen people, all known to each other or even comrades, appear within a few months of each other.

I was under the impression that it seeks who to bring here and they're selected intentionally. After all, my sister and I arrived at the same time to find a significant number of my peers here waiting for us.

[ hey??? do you remember him??? this is the man you almost puked on...!!! ]

Yang and I were brought in at about the same time. The two of us are pretty new to this world as whole.

I suppose it makes us both lucky and unlucky.

I agree with your sentiment. There is likely a method to the madness of these abductions. Large groups of associates are brought in at a time. And if there was logic to it, I would assume that it was because these people functioned more effectively as a group.

[A pensive look shadows his look as he slowly shakes his head.]

But as for people coming from the same dimension and not knowing it, I'd say that's very likely. Especially when you take into consideration that galaxies have numerous planets that can sustain life and we could be neighbors without knowing it. I think it's safe to say that the only people who can know for sure they are from different dimensions are those that originate from the different variants of the same planet, namely Earth.

[I hope Touma wanted a full scholarly discourse on the subject matter. Cause that's what he's gunna get.]

[He notes the nonexistent ID and wonders why she's using the Video function. Anonymity works better with text.]

That's the problem. It's too coincidental to be truly random and yet some of the people that end up here couldn't have been brought in intentionally. Not everybody being pulled in are certified superheroes.

Another possibility is that it truly is random, but the range of worlds it can pull people from is finite. Some worlds could be easier to reach and thus more likely to get selected.

Pretty much. The problem is figuring out the rules that influence the randomness of which world gets chosen and why it seems to favor certain worlds over others. I highly doubt it's purely coincidental that the Porter pulls in multiple people from the same world, but that doesn't make it intentional.

[Touma has never seen this man is his life. Nope. Not at all. All he remembers is something about pretty colors and feeling really dizzy.]

That's the thing. The Porter is random and yet it manages to select the same worlds repeatedly. There has to be something else influencing the process.

Out of curiosity, just how many people from your world is here?

I understand what you mean. It's comforting to have someone familiar with you when you're stuck in an alien situation. Having someone there really helps.

[It was fleeting, but longing could be heard in his voice.]

So you think most of us are more like neighbours.

There are five allies, but with myself that makes six. Then there are two others, but they aren't exactly aligned with us. [ They're evil, but he's not going to go into that because of Obvious Reasons. ]

I was led to believe the porter wasn't random because of how many people from my world are here! Otherwise, it just doesn't quite add up. [ I mean, what's the point of calling it random when you drag in brother and sister???? ]

Perhaps the presence of someone from a world somehow increases the likelihood of more being brought - since the data is already in the machine, or something like that. Just a guess, though. I'm not great with math and worse with all these new machines.

[She nods.]

The familiarity can be nice, but that also means that she's stuck here with me.

Second Misfortune [Video]

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