001 | [video]

[codeofiron]

[The man in front of the camera is broad-shouldered, dressed in a black suit of respectable quality. His hair, also black, is slicked back, and even the strands that have escaped to hang in front of his forehead appear deliberate. With the square glasses he's wearing, the look is more than a little "corporate executive." He's glancing nervously at his wrist, though, and when he speaks it's with a mild tenor that doesn't match the sharpness of his appearance.]

Nanites... [The pause as he turns to stare at the camera stretches out.] Are we dead when we arrive? [He speaks haltingly. He's never been good with words- that's Harry's skill.] Do they use these to make us work for them?

[The video continues for several more seconds, before with a small "ah" he seems to realize he won't get replies until he actually posts this, and taps the screen.]

Comments

[video]

[calltheundertaker]

[The man who replies look like a cowboy, beat up Stetson, serape, beard that could use a trim, he even has a lit cigar in one corner of his mouth. About the polar opposite of Brandon. But he seems friendly at least?]

Perty sure I'd remember if'n I died. Last time I checked, I was alive.

[His face goes serious for a moment]

And there ain't no one gettin' me t' work fer 'em if I don't wanna. Nanites or not.

[video]

[codeofiron]

Would we remember? If it was part of the process of arriving... [He's speaking a bit more easily, but the tone is thoughtfully distant, as is his expression. He glances at his wrist again.]

They asked. [They didn't order him to work for them. Which is, honestly, confusing him, as is the fact that they said imPorts could say no.]

[video]

[calltheundertaker]

I been perty close b'fore, I think if they'd done somethin' like that someone woulda noticed somethin'.

[He shrugs]

There's askin', an' then there's only givin' you one real option. An' what all do th' nanites do anyway? Other'n be th' most borin' tattoo on the planet.

[video]

[codeofiron]

[He shrugs as well. He's been close himself, and whatever happened here certainly didn't seem to come with as much adrenaline. It's a fair assessment, even if...well, Brandon doesn't trust this whole Porting and nanite business.]

They say they heal us.

[video]

[foralways]

...You are very much alive upon arrival. However, if you had died back home before coming here, it can be a jarring experience.

[A thoughtful frown.]

I do not believe they force us to work for anyone, but the government here would prefer you register with them and their military. I have...refused to do so.

[video]

[codeofiron]

I didn't, I just... [He's seen accelerated healing and inhuman powers once before, and it didn't involve the living.]

You haven't been punished? [He's...skeptical of the idea that they just let you not register.]

[foralways]

Then you are fortunate in that regard. As I have said, it is jarring.


...And no, I haven't been thus far. Whether or not that will change with recent events, I am not sure.

[Video]

[centelha]

[He can't speak to the first part of that, nor does he try to. But the latter half of the video, he has some insight on. Well, as much as a new arrival who's also a teenager can have insight.] If they wanted to make us work for them, I'd think they would just bribe us and threaten us. That had a pretty solid record of working out back home.

[Video]

[codeofiron]

[Those are, indeed, the bedrock tactics of society. Or at least, those parts of society Brandon's always belonged to.]

You don't think they'll threaten us with these?

[Video]

[centelha]

Not overtly. Really overt threats like that are what you do when the subtle ones and the bribing tactics have failed. And they've already given us all free housing, jobs and travel perks, so I think they're probably going to try the gentler route first.

[Which is fine by him. He's no stranger to the idea of institutionalized bribe; it makes up the bulk of his country's peacetime record. It's a broken system, sure, but Ezequiel's sure the government here will try to keep heaping up benefits rather than risk the potential disaster that would be angering people with superpowers - something no nanites and threats could fully mitigate.]

video

[h2no]

Depends. On a scale of one to Worry Seed, how paranoid are ya?

[his answer will depend on brandon's.]

video

[codeofiron]

[He squints.]

"Worry Seed"?

Re: video

[h2no]

Oh, it's-- a thing from home. Just means you're so paranoid and anxious about stuff you stay up all night all the time.

[ Video ]

[ghoulking]

In fact, we are all alive when we arrive. The Porter even brings in those who have died.

But so far, no, the government has not used the nanites or anything to force us to do something. If we wish to aid them and work for them, it'll be on a volunteer basis for now.

[ Video ]

[codeofiron]

If it does that...[Then dying likely isn't part of the process of being Ported. It still seems suspicious. It all seems suspicious.]

For now. [Yeah, suspicious.]

[ Video ]

[ghoulking]

For now, yes. [ kaneki repeats ]

We never know what will happen in the future.

[ video ] » ID: Psylocke

[violetnce]

I've only been here a few days myself, but no, we don't seem to be dead here. I've been dead enough times I should bloody well hope I know the feeling by now, even in a world not my own.

[Just a biiiit of sardonic humor, there.

Her accent is an English one -- more specifically, from Maldon, Essex, England. She seems to be sitting in a cafe inside, sipping on a cup of hot tea.

Most of the woman's features look Japanese, though her violet hair and irises are not there by the use of hair dye and colored contacts; those are both as natural as the rest of this body (this isn't her original body; there was a body swap debacle back home, and with her original body destroyed along with the psyche of the woman who occupied this body originally before they could switch back - again - she's sort of living in two current and former lives at once).]

And if anyone's intent is to use the nanites to control us, they should prepare to have a meeting with my katana.

[Just saying. Also, no she doesn't have a metal one back yet, but her psionic blade will do just fine.]

[video]

[codeofiron]

You've...died before?

[He's a bit hung up on that part. She certainly doesn't look like she's died, even if the hair and eyes are strikingly unusual. He's certain that if you come back from death you come back with less color, not more.]

[violetnce]

More than once. [It's kind of A Thing in her world.] It can get rather old rather quickly. Had a whole body swap mess too.

voice;

[blacktemper]

Not yet. It wouldn't surprise me if that changed in the future.

[video]

[codeofiron]

[There's approval in his nod.]

How long have you been here?

[blacktemper]

Several months. It's hardly much in comparison to others, but the world is simple.

voice.

[functusofficio]

Some of us were dead before we arrived, but not all of us. You should be aware enough to remember, though, if you died in your world before being brought here.

video.

[codeofiron]

[He shakes his head.]

I just thought...since we're changed... [That the Porter may kill and resurrect people as part of the process.]

video.

[functusofficio]

[ It is not a line of thought that would remotely occur to her, and it still doesn't even with his hesitating lead in, so she simply blinks and shakes her head. ]

It seems to simply be something the nanites cause. Though I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly those are, I'll admit.