The Network: May, Arrivals from Distant Lands

[faileas]

The Network: May, Arrivals from Distant Lands

The Watches Everyone who arrives in an unorthodox way and eventually shows up at the Coven for 'orientation', will receive a strange, watch-like device compliments of the Coven and Parliament. Miss Nessie or one of the welcome wagon crew will give characters a run-down of how to use the various functions and they are encouraged to test them out for themselves. It would be good for them to get in touch with their fellow Mirrorbound, of course! Fourth wall characters will not be able to make their own posts in the communities, so they may use this post to make "network posts" of their own by top-leveling. The log post is right over here. Fourth Wall characters can comment on posts made by others in both aefenglom and middaeg until June 1st. Current players: Please specify in your posts if you do NOT want fourth wall characters replying!

Comments

[deadtective]

[tell her about it. it's immensely annoying having to just take people's words for things rather than do a quick dive on the internet to get a more accurate reading on things. what is she supposed to fucking do, canvass the neighborhoods??]

It's definitely another world. I know that for sure.

[she wouldn't be alive if it weren't...or free, for whatever degree of 'freedom' this place would allow.]

Whether it's sunshine and fucking rainbows or not, though...well, you know that stupid saying. Not like anyone's really here to make friends either way, might as well be safe about it.

[justamachine]

[Connor does not, in fact, make the connection, even if "better safe than sorry" is technically in his memory. He'd agree with the sentiment to some extent, but asking what saying she's referring to is extremely low in priority.

He's been partly working on the assumption that this is some kind of virtual corruption of his senses brought on by something in another android's memory... which would be strange but not completely bizarre. Accepting this world as it is would be bizarre. He has to ask:]

What makes you so sure?

[deadtective]

[Hazel pauses and takes quite a bit of time deliberating on how to answer this. she's not longer undead in this world, apparently, but that doesn't make her any more eager to inform people she had been undead. gentle inquiries into necromancy here had garnered her the same disgusted reactions of home...and that's enough. so what to say here?]

The way that I am now isn't possible if this was my own world.

[another pause, and:]

I don't mean the monster changes.

[justamachine]

[Although Connor could certainly argue he's also changed in ways that should be impossible, he doesn't know if they're strictly associated with monster transformation. There are far too many questions and not nearly enough answers, and he's finding that he'd taken always knowing how he functioned for granted...

Despite the obvious vague nature of the reply, he has no issue with digging deeper. Nothing in his programming requires him to be polite.]

What way is that?

[deadtective]

[dude, come on. unzip a little subtlety from one of those files already.]

A way that I'm not putting out on a network for a bunch of strangers to look at if they fucking feel like it, outdated watch or no. It's not something that could happen to anybody else anyway, so it doesn't really matter outside of making me really sure this is somewhere fucking else.

[justamachine]

[tact.zip not found]

I see.

[Well, that's disappointing. Having more concrete evidence he really was in a different world would have... not exactly been a solution, but it would have been helpful to some extent.]

It seems like we have no real option but to treat it as such, either way.

[deadtective]

Pretty much. When magic's involved even illusions can push your shit in if you take things too easy. So, you know...really doesn't matter if it's 'real' or not in the end if you think about it like that.

But I dunno, that feels a little too philosophical for a place with catpeople.

[justamachine]

Magic is something that's entirely new to me, so I'll have to take your word for it.

[magic is just as weird as catpeople, just sayin]

It does seem to come with a number of challenges. I'm sure there's danger no matter the location, however.

[He just is a little more prepared for the firearm and physical assault kind, is all.]

[deadtective]

Lucky bastard.

[she hates magic. she hates magic sooooo much.]

But it's all degrees, you know? Like some shit's a lot easier to handle than others. And this is...like, the biggest fucking bullshit possible.

[justamachine]

[it does seem to suck!]

It might depend on what a person is prepared to handle. It's certainly out of the scope of my understanding.

[The natives here sure seem to have it all in hand, meanwhile... for the most part.]

[deadtective]

Look, I'm gonna be honest here: my world has magic too. You don't get any more prepared to handle it the longer you're exposed, no matter what these fuckheads say. They're only excited because they're assholes.

[justamachine]

The Coven doesn't seem to have too much trouble with it.

[You can't knock enthusiasm for the unknown on the whole just because you're a stick in the mud, ma'am. The main reason it sucks for Connor right now is because he doesn't know how the hell to deal with being organic.]

Is that your official judgment?

[deadtective]

People from other worlds are flooding their city for no particular reason and that's not fucking 'trouble'?

[she can and she will because in her experience enthusiasm very quickly moves into 'I want to dissect you and see how you're still functioning' territory very quickly.]

But, yeah, that's what I'm handing down from fucking on high. Magic's bullshit and that's forever.

[justamachine]

Understood.

[It would be preferable for it to not exist, as far as Connor is concerned...]

They don't seem to think of it as such, or at least, not significant trouble. I've seen stronger reactions to some of the ship's crew than to the those of us who appeared in the ocean.

[deadtective]

Mm, thought that was a little weird. I get that there's been the magic apocalypse or what the fuck ever going on for a while now, but you really expect me to believe no one here has ever heard of these dudes even in a bedtime story?

[justamachine]

It does seem odd. The presence of a port and seafaring trade ships suggests that contact with the outside world isn't rare, but information regarding places other than this island seems disproportionately scarce.

[It's definitely weird!]

I don't have enough information to come up with any theories, either.

[deadtective]

I mean, could just be that they're fucking lying. Always a good standby of a theory, even if we're probably gonna have to dig to figure out what they've got to gain from it.

[justamachine]

[Well. Again, he doesn't have enough information to argue with the theory.]

It would require more investigation, whatever the reason might be. I'm certain there are at least some people around who are willing to be truthful, even if it may not immediately make sense to us.

[Caution is important, but he's not so cynical as to think everything he's being told is a lie...]

[deadtective]

Oh, I'm sure. But the truth's never free, so either we haven't found the right people to ask yet or the pricetag on this red carpet treatment from the Coven is going to end up being a lot more fucking expensive than having to fight some infectious goop.

[she almost hopes it's the former. there's something especially insidious about envisioning such a large establishment as scheming, and what sort of "repayment" a group so influential might require.]