[action - fisherman's horizon]

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

[A small, white-haired boy in a futuristic blue uniform has been intermittently wandering through the area, looking as though something's going to jump out of the shadows and eat him at any moment.  His fingers are knitted together nervously, and he appears to be searching for someone and might occasionally flag down a stranger to ask them of the whereabouts of his twin.  Assuming they look human, that is.  He still doesn't want to let it sink in that he may be separated from the other URTVs for a good while now.]

Has anybody seen my brother?  He looks just like me but with red hair and his name is Rubedo.  We're supposed to be together but I haven't seen him since I came here...

Comments

[blessedbylight.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but I don't think I've seen anyone named Rubedo, but he can still be around here someone.

orz sorry for the late tag, life ate me

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

[Frown. It feels like he's been out here all day and nobody's seen his brother!]

I hope so. If you see someone like me with red hair, um... I'll be staying at the inn, just ask for Albedo! [He tries to smile up at Alice, rubbing the back of his neck.]

it's okay, life eats everyone.

[blessedbylight.livejournal.com]

I'll make sure to keep an eye out for you, after all I have to patrol here sometimes, so odds are I might come across him.

[alienfromkansas]

I'm afraid I have not seen him... do you do need any kind of help? Are you new in this place?

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

I just got here not too long ago. I thought it was another simulation, but there's real people here and... I've never left the Institute before...

[alienfromkansas]

No, I'm afraid this isn't a simulation.

Have you seen the letter? They usually give you one explaining everything when you get here.

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

I haven't, but that doesn't mean much here. This universe is prone to doing unpredicted backflips when it comes to time and space.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

I-is that normal? Do you know if U-DO did that?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure what events caused this world to act in such an aggressive fashion to other timelines, but from all accounts it seems to be perfectly normal for here. Not that it makes it any less enjoyable to be caught up in, of course.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

--It doesn't spit people out into other worlds, does it?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

If it does, no one's come back to explain the mix-up to us. The options seem to be either this world or the one you were in initially.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Damn! [An unusually loaded word for someone who looked like he was about to cry just moments ago.]

So I'm stuck here while Rubedo's back home without me? I... I hope he's okay!

I'm guessing I can't just get a ship and go back, huh?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

[she tilts her head as she shrugs lightly] Unless this hypothetical ship is also equipped with the ability to pierce space and time itself, I doubt it.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

They could where I came from!

...well, maybe not time. But space! And hyperspace! I've never really been on a real one though.

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

That would have been incredibly useful here. Perhaps we should hope that the Time Compression will see fit to make such a ship its next victim. [sob wouldn't that be great they could all leeeeeeave]

You're not the only one who's never ridden something like that, though - where I come from something of that nature would be relegated to the dusty world of science fiction.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Science fiction? You mean like from those old books?

My father had us all read books even though the lab techs looked at him funny for it. Some of them had some funny ideas about what the future would be like.

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

Yes, those strange contraptions made of paper and ink. [wry smile]

No one can quite agree on their vision of the future, although in the past certain authors proved nigh prophetic with their works.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was definitely kind of uncanny how much those things got right! I kinda wish the predictions about contacting aliens came true though. We did get spaceships, but in nearly 5,000 years of roaming the universe we haven't found anyone else but us.

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

There's where my world has you beat. My friends and I have been in contact with a race of aliens for some time now, enough to make the novelty of the concept wear thin.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Really? What were they like?

Are they scary?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

They're gullible, self-important, and insecure little things for the most part. Honestly they're just humans in a different package and with a larger propensity for violence.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

What did they look like? Did they have big googly eyes and mouths full of sharp teeth?

How did you meet them? Did they invade your planet?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

They're gray, with yellow eyes and horns. There's an overabundance of them here, so if you like you can ogle them to your heart's content.

We never technically met on our world, although we became acquainted through a series of ludicrous and overly complicated events.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Are they hostile to humans? Is this their homeworld, or did the... time thing happen to them too?

[Ludicrous and overly complicated events? Gosh that doesn't sound familiar at all.] So what happened?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

Time Compression. You'll find that most of the more bizarre residents here have it to blame for their new abode.

A video game ended the world, and my friends and I embarked on a quest to build a new one. Our alien companions contacted us and claimed that they had created the universe we resided in through the same means, but through some fault of our doing had locked them out of it. That's it in a nutshell.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Weird... I've never heard of a video game doing that back home. We had some pretty realistic simulations, but nothing that actually happened in real life, much less anything that took out entire planets. [Little does he know, right?]

So the aliens made your universe? Does that mean they're really... gods?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

Every world is different, and that was the lovely curse floating over ours. You should count yourself lucky you don't have to deal with it.

[that makes her snort] As much as a beaver damming a river makes it god of the lake. They're accidental architects and nothing more.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Well, I honestly never heard of other universes colliding with each other until now, so... yeah, I guess I have a lot to learn!

But beavers don't make entire universes. It may have been accidental, but I wouldn't liken it to the handiwork of an extinct animal. Something like that seems more... involved, you know?

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

You'll certainly have ample time to catch up here.

To a beaver, their universe is that dam. But I'm digressing into the philosophical, aren't I? The point is that while the trolls may have crafted our universe, after it was created they had no further hand in it.

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

So like a bird laying an egg and then leaving it after it hatches, right? Maybe they just wanted to check in on it.

And they created it with a video game? How? [Headtilt]

[bookshrew.livejournal.com]

They wanted to vent their impotent frustration on the only source available to them, which would be my friends and I. There's nothing noble or nurturing about it.

...I don't really understand the underlying mechanics of the game. [ugh that burns her to say] Only the obvious implications.

[one-part-saint.livejournal.com]

[Zak is heading back to the Garden proper with an arm full--he's taking the upcoming trip to the beach with some seriousness, and has gotten some nonperishable items and sunscreen to put aside. But the lost look on the kid's face gets his attention, and he listens.]

Sorry, I haven't seen anyone who looks like you, redhead or not. Are you all right besides? When did you get here?

[tinybedo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess I'm fine... [Sigh.]

I just... I really miss Rubedo, i-it's only been a little while since I got here, but... [He can't sense any of the other URTVs anywhere. It's really discomforting!]

[one-part-saint.livejournal.com]

I know how that goes. Are you finding your way around okay anyway? [Yeah, Zak knows how being alone in a new place sucks. He at least had someone he knew to take the sting out.]

You a student too? The Headmaster find you a place to stay all right?

[nobleidealist.livejournal.com]

Your brother?

I can definitely look for him! Leave it to me!