[Open] Working on a Unified Theory
Open Arrival Thread
Joshua Sheppard
Private Investigator

Age: 42 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#1
See how the brain plays around
And you fall inside a hole you couldn't see
CthuluCryptical: (15:46:11) Frankly dude, if you can't be assed to actually look into this stuff, get off the IRC
UFOddity: (15:48:14) I've looked into it more than any of you idiots. Why do you think LHU-2s are still going, dipshit? They're UFO investigators. It's obvious when you look at the actual information out there.

Typing so furiously his keyboard was beginning to sound worryingly over-worked, Josh continued to write out his proof. Honestly, he didn't know why he bothered with these amateurs, uninformed and close-minded as they were, but arguing with anonymous assholes on a messageboard was easier than calling the news nowadays, as he'd found out.

He remembered a time when the stations had listened to him. His name had had weight. Now he'd had to stop using it for his calls, or they'd hang up immediately.

Josh was just about to hit enter on the most convincing argument ever, several paragraphs of source-checked secret UFO footage...when the screen blinked dark, along with the slow death hum of all the trailers electronics going out at once. Groaning, he ran a hand over his face and kicked his chair back, crawling under the desk to see what had gone this time; when the noise happened.

It was like a choking, gasping breath, an electronic buzz, an explosion, all at once; it came with a bright light shining in through his windows that made Josh immediately turn and run to the door, unsure of what was happening but knowing he didn't want to miss it. Grabbing his camera just as he opened the door he raised it to take a photo, clasped the print in his fingers--

--Then he was holding the photo still, still dressed in his orange suit and with his glasses, the dirt from his door frame on his sleeve...but he was in a field, at the bottom of a large...black...obelisk structure? Turning to stare at it, still half-laid on the floor, Josh tried to process what happened, hands wobbly reaching for the notepad in his pocket.
Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me
JOSH
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Observer

Age: 26 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 30 - Luck: 4 - Int:
MERAKI - Mythical - Spriggan (life-cycle acceleration) 物の哀れ - Mythical - Luxere (Magical fire)
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#2
but no one seems to care about honesty
so i spend too much time in my head
You're having lunch, discussing the merits of just how much the human-animals have tried to ignore their fight or fight instincts. "Though I approve of rational responses to situations, it makes many of their normal adaptations and instincts completely useless. They are slowly losing traits that were once advantageous but I don't see that they are gaining any, largely because they continue to live in large societies." That is, human-animals no longer needed good eye sight or to be in shape, because there were medicines and magics and other herd-mates to tend to their needs.

Suddenly, there is a man. A man in bright orange. You cease chewing with your mouth half open, nearly mirroring the man's movements exactly as you too reach for your notebook. "Can we go see him?" You ask Kai, as if Joshua is the latest exhibit at the zoo.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
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#3
kaimana
how beautiful the leaves grow old

You've been spending more time around the Spire despite your deep and visceral dislike of the structure, trying to face your fears a bit better and figure out, well, why.

Also, you've been on the lookout for new outlanders, because all the ones you've met so far are biased due to prior experience and you and Oia really really want to observe one from moment one.

Two goals: a good basis for any experiment, really, though it means there's a lot to keep track of. Your own feelings and the goings on, because your heartbeat is accelerating in the shadow of the structure and you're keeping an eye out for Outlanders and you and Oia are eating lunch and debating human animal responses and adaptations and why they seem so bad at being alive sometimes.

That's when the new Outlander appears.

Your head pops up at the same time as your sisters, two merecats staring up from the grass. He just appeared, out of a portal, right before your eyes---! "Yes!" you declare exuberantly, already rising to your feet, clearly thrilled by the possibility the stranger presents. "An' maybe if we observe him from now until he's assimilated we can learn more about Outlander adaptations to the Hollowed Grounds without memory an' experience to bias it!"

how full of light and color are their last days
Joshua Sheppard
Private Investigator

Age: 42 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Lancy Offline
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Posts: 198 | Total: 198
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#4
See how the brain plays around
And you fall inside a hole you couldn't see
Bright light -- ufo beams? Gov. plane?
dimensional theory. knew too much? Taken somewhere else?
black obelisk. Asterix and Obelix. no
Europe.


Josh's notes were disjointed and scribbled quick, hand shaking as he put the pencil and pad back in his pocket, going to pick up the polaroid at his side that had now developed; it was badly washed out. A photo of the wasteland in the middle of nowhere he'd been living in, tyres and bottles in the foreground and a tree in the back, but the centre of the photo was overtaken by a smudge of bright white light.

He could have easily studied it for a further ten minutes had he not heard voices nearby. Instantly Josh stood and stuffed the photo in his pocket, turned around expecting to find some kind of police force, maybe a hideous creature from another world ready to exterminate...he was looking at two teenagers.

Knowing that many things could take many forms, he wasn't completely calm yet, but he let his guard down just a little. Frowning, he yelled out to them, catching onto the word he'd heard. "Assimilated. You said assimilated. Are you going to take me to become one with your...collective?"

No, fuck, that was Star Trek.
Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me
JOSH
Base Code by Sky!
Observer

Age: 26 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 30 - Luck: 4 - Int:
MERAKI - Mythical - Spriggan (life-cycle acceleration) 物の哀れ - Mythical - Luxere (Magical fire)
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#5
but no one seems to care about honesty
so i spend too much time in my head
You're taller than he is, but that's hardly novel. Already you've flipped to a new section of your notebook and are writing like crazy. A short distance away 物の哀れ raises his head from where he's been grazing. None of this is as interesting as scrounging around for fresh clover, so quickly he turns and ignores everything. Still though, there is a fiery white deer just casually loitering about.

"We don't have a collective." You reply, voice neutral, head cocked to the side as you regard the man. "Describe your symptoms using as clear language as you can." You hold up your notebook to indicate that you will be transcribing what he has to say.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
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#6
kaimana
how beautiful the leaves grow old

Oia's neutral tone is offset by your bright and curious grin as you regard the newcomer man. He's wearing rectangles on his face - some sort of protective eyewear? - and seems remarkably calm about being in a new world, all things considered.

Stepping closer to him, you bounce up on your toes excitedly. "We don't wanna assimilate you," you reassure him. "But you're in a different world from the one you were in before. The culture an' everythin' is probably pretty different, so you'll get assimilated into that over time. An' we wanna see how that happens."

Yup. Totally just as simple as that.

how full of light and color are their last days
Joshua Sheppard
Private Investigator

Age: 42 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Lancy Offline
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#7
See how the brain plays around
And you fall inside a hole you couldn't see
Josh's eyes flicked to the side to take in the the deer...moose...thing on fire off to the side, but he quickly trained his eyes back to Kaimana and Oia. One thing at a time.

Their conflicting natures made it hard to work out quite what they were trying to gain from him, but Oia's mentions of symptoms made Josh pretty sure he immediately knew what shit they were trying to pull. A sardonic smile on his face, he took a step back and shook his head. "Alright. Who are you working for? CIA? Deeper than that? Inter-planetary? Yeah, I know about all that."

He kept his hands on his pockets, intending to protect his notebook and the photo as best he could; they were his keys to finding out just what had happened. "Where is this? Europe..? Or somewhere off-Earth?" Admittedly it would be harder to get home if that were the case, but he'd make it work. He'd gotten close to jumping dimensions once; surely planets couldn't be that hard.
Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me
JOSH
Base Code by Sky!
Observer

Age: 26 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 30 - Luck: 4 - Int:
MERAKI - Mythical - Spriggan (life-cycle acceleration) 物の哀れ - Mythical - Luxere (Magical fire)
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#8
but no one seems to care about honesty
so i spend too much time in my head
You don't need to know what the CIA is to know that no, you don't work for it. "We don't work for the CIA." You say with a decisive nod, though your lack of interest might suggest to a wandering mind that you're being intentionally vague. You aren't of course.

"Off-earth." You say with a nod. You don't know what earth is, but given you aren't on it, by default that means you're off it.

Holding up your notebook, you fix this strange man with a look. "Symptoms." You repeat, tapping your pen against the blank pages.
Scientist

Age: 26 | Height: 5'8 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
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#9
kaimana
how beautiful the leaves grow old

You'd anticipated a certain amount of denial, or perhaps confusion, but overall the stranger seems to be taking this pretty well in stride. "What's a CIA?" you ask, tilting your head thoughtfully. "We work for Rae. We're observin' the Hollowed Grounds for 'em."

You have never heard of Europe or Earth, but like your sister you feel fairly confident in the assessment that they are not here. "This is Caido," you explain. "Well, this whole continent is. Right here is the Hollowed Ground. An' that-" you point to the decrepit, offensive structure with a wrinkle of your nose "-is the Spire."

Oia is interested in symptoms and science, but you're more interested in stories and social adjustment. "Who're you? What were you doin' before y'came here? What did the portal look like in your world? Didja know it was gonna happen?"

how full of light and color are their last days
Joshua Sheppard
Private Investigator

Age: 42 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Lancy Offline
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Posts: 198 | Total: 198
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#10
See how the brain plays around
And you fall inside a hole you couldn't see
Josh really didn't know what to make of the two interrogators. Not CIA, they said, and he found that he believed them on that; not that that meant they were safe. "Rae." He repeated from the more helpful one, turning to him and ignoring Oia and her symptom question (which he did not understand and didn't have time for). "The Hollowed Grounds? Is that here? RAE. What does RAE stand for?"

His first question was answered a moment later. He looked up at the 'Spire' (an apt name, if one he felt was a tad dull) then back to Kaimana for the flood of questions.

"Portal. You know about the--" Deciding to put his hand on the table, Josh dug about in his pocket until he found the polaroid, which he held out towards them, making sure to keep a tight grip on it. "This. This was a portal? I thought it might be some kind of tractor beam. A dimensional rift - portal could be a term for that, though. Hm." Rambling to himself while still holding out the photo, Josh began to consider the terminology of world-crossing.
Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me
JOSH
Base Code by Sky!
Observer

Age: 26 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 30 - Luck: 4 - Int:
MERAKI - Mythical - Spriggan (life-cycle acceleration) 物の哀れ - Mythical - Luxere (Magical fire)
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#11
but no one seems to care about honesty
so i spend too much time in my head
'Excuse me." You interrupt loudly, making eye contact for just a second before giving the man's shoulder a stern glare. "You haven't answered my question and I would like to know if you're doing that intentionally or if you don't know what symptoms are, or if there is something else making it so you can't answer."

The man shoves something towards you, a thin piece of parchment that's strangely shiny with an image on it. Whoever painted it had captured the scene in incredible detail. "So...you're an artist?" You ask. Human-animals like showing off their work, and you think that's what he's doing now. "The portal was created by the Voice to bring human-animals from different worlds here. She's achieved her purpose and has gotten out of the barrier. We expected Outlanders to stop coming after that, but they haven't." You shrug.


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