001. Video.

[crawfordstone]

[ The scene is unnecessarily dramatic. Dark brick wall behind him. Standing right at the edge of a harsh pool of yellow light cast by a street lamp. Is he smoking, or is that just his breath clouding from the cold? The answer is both, the ember of his cigarette visible in the shadows.

In truth, he's just near the train station in Nonah, stopped for a smoke, and decided it was time to make himself known on the network. Pure chance, really.

When he speaks, it's with hard, gruff, New Yorker accent. ]

So what's the fuckin' secret? How do we get out of this dump and back to where we're supposed to be?

[ He hasn't been around the Porter cities at all since he arrived and he kind of missed the Swear In. Because he was making very bad choices in a certain city further north. And he may have spent most of today yelling at government people.

But he might be coming to terms with things. Slowly. ]

Comments

[crawfordstone]

Keep hearing about some fuckers coming and going. So what's the damn secret.

[ Translation: They explained porting out to him at the base. He only heard bits and pieces. ]

[crawfordstone]

Bullshit. There's a way out if there's a way in.

[ That's how logic works, right? ]

Text; UN: D33

[d33tached]

There is no secret.

I am afraid that you are trapped here just as the rest of us are and will remain so until the Porter ceases to find you useful.

[He resists adding a bitter "Get over it" to the end of his message.]

Text

[crawfordstone]

how the hell do i do that then

[ Cause he's pretty good at not being useful already. ]

[d33tached]

[You seem to be doing a rather good job of it already-- No. Be nice, D33.]

Do you truly believe that if any one of us knew the way with which to return to our home worlds that we would still be here?

There is no way out. You'll accept so soon enough, I'm sure.

You don't have a choice.

[crawfordstone]

[ He might actively be trying to be as useless as possible. Old habits. ]

how the fuck should i know. some people stick with shit jobs when there's ways out.

people have left. how.

voice; god fine have some cr

[reek]

Wait.

[ It's spoken in a craggy voice that sounds as though it hasn't gotten enough use in the last few months. Work with him here. He's working through some things. ]

It's no real secret.

well i WILL then

[crawfordstone]

I don't got the TIME to wait!

MAYBE YOU OUGHT TO

[reek]

[ He snorts, then laughs. It's humorless, more bitter than anything else, but it's what he's got left in him to be an asshole. ]

You must be so busy with all the free time you've been given here.

WHAT IF I DON'T

[crawfordstone]

That's none of your fuckin' business!

[ Because yelling makes everything better, right? ]

vid

[h2no]

Same way you got in. You remember that, right?

what a smart ass

[crawfordstone]

Ha Ha fucking HA. Tried that. The jack boots around the thing won't let me near it.

IS HE WRONG THO

[h2no]

Well, that's your answer, then. There's only one way out and we sure as shit ain't got control over it.

BUT LOOK AT WHO HE IS

[crawfordstone]

You could! There's hundreds of you fucks. They GAVE you powers! You could fuckin' take that place. BUT EVERYONE'S SITTING ON THEIR ASSES LIKE THEY BELONG HERE!

Voice;

[foralways]

[Such language.]

So far, no one has been able to puzzle that out. But by all means, do enlighten the rest of us if you should find an exit.

[crawfordstone]

[ And he was being nice, too. ]

If you're all too lazy to figure it out, I sure as fuck won't be sharing.

[foralways]

[She has had A Week(tm) please forgive her for being a bit short.]

It is not as though we wish to be trapped here, simply that there have been no answers.

text.

[k31rfree]

I'm still no more enlightened than you, I'm afraid.

It seems as though we are at the whim of something we cannot understand.

Not that I am complaining. I'm more than content here already.

[crawfordstone]

how the hell can you be content here

[k31rfree]

Unlike the imPorts who came from lives of happiness and fulfillment, I arrived here from a world barely even alive.

Is that how it was for you? Were you happy where you were?

Do you have a family you wish to return to?

audio

[devoutish]

[Alfie waits until some level explanation has happened, reading over a few of the public conversations before replying.]

Have you got the lay of it, then?

audio

[crawfordstone]

[ That would imply Crawford was capable of accepting things he didn't want to hear. ]

The lay of WHAT

audio

[devoutish]

The unfortunate fucking situation that you have found yourself in, mate.