f2020 | THE FRACTURED WORLD: ARRIVAL

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THE FRACTURED WORLD: ARRIVAL

rrival for some goes all but unnoticed. It's a sudden shiver, the sensation of being watched... and then nothing at all. Life continues serenely as it always has. The only indication of any change comes with sleep, wrapped in dreams: vague and distant echo imagery of another life, melting away in the morning.

or others, arrival is a sharp jolt. In the space of a single blink, they find themselves in an unfamiliar world, surrounded by the trappings of a life they have not lived. They are replacements, spirits taking possession of bodies belonging to people very much like themselves...

nd for the rest, arrival is a procedure. Routine. Those ported in to the Fractured World wake hazily in the comfortably dim light of the Porter room, laid out on an exam table. Their wounds, if they remember having any, have been healed— and even those who remember their own deaths find themselves miraculously restored. As they regain consciousness, an automatic audio-visual presentation is triggered. Regardless of their backgrounds or physiology, all imPorts 'see' and 'hear' this message as if in their own language:

"Greetings, imPort."

The voice is calm and gently authoritative, almost certainly selected by committee.

"On behalf of the Synod and all imPorts it represents, we welcome you to the planet Earth."

A decidedly non-humanoid robotic arm holds out a palm-sized device and rather insistently demands the new arrival take it. This is the imPort's comm, used for accessing the Porter's database of information, as well as the communications Network— though it won't receive communications from outside the Porter building until carried through one of the many Gates set up in a long, crescent-shaped array on the far side of the room.

As each Gate is approached, information about the faction it leads to flashes up on the comm device's screen. Which will you choose?

THE WHITE TOWER SANCTUM AURORAE KRAKOA HOUSE OF M EMPIRE OF LIGHT EQUALITY BEFORE LAW THE TWIN CITIES OLIN VALE EDEN SEEKERS OF THE NEW DAWN NORTHWESTERN IMPERIUM GREEN PIECE MAD BURNISH LUMINARY

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"What a relief," she mutters flatly, pushing through carved oak doors and into the mansion. "It wouldn't do for you to be so unaffected while I'm left to sort it out myself. This way."

Down a wide, elegant hall that seems ill-suited for the space outside (ah, magic), Cecelia makes a beeline for a staircase and a stately room right at the landing. Once he's entered, she closes the doors and turns around, a hand still lingering on one of the brass handles as she eyes him.

"Sit down." She nods to one of the velvet-cushioned chairs in the room. "Start at the beginning: The last thing you did or said before your eyes opened here."

What a space. Beautiful. But in a very sort of place than he was used to. Interesting. He moves immediately to the chair and settles himself.

"I brushed my teeth, shaved my head smooth, and laid down to go to sleep in my bed in Nonah."

So really, it was as simple as sleeping in one place, waking in another.

"I'm sorry, it's not very interesting."

Instead of scoff or scowl, Cecelia purses her lips as she listens, then pushes herself away from the door, over to a rosewood desk and rummages through a few drawers before finding what she wants.

"You didn't chat with anyone? Hear anything unusual? Strange words or melodies?"

As she asks, she rounds the desk and moves over to him, holding a palm-sized prism that she lifts to eye-level to peer at him through like some oddball physician.

"None of those things," he agrees, frowning. "A few hours before I had spoken to Rufus Shinra. If your Rodolfo has had a similar experience to me, then you are aware that we're from the same world and he was my boss."

No strange words, though. And no melodies.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm trying to rule out a few things," she says, peering through the prism for a moment longer before withdrawing it from her line of sight.

"It wouldn't be the first time feywild magics caused mischief...only the first time in this realm. That I can recall, anyway." She shrugs.

"In any case, there's no Nonah here. Not the sort you would mean, anyway. Not if you're from where I think you are."

"And where do you think I'm from?"

Because he doesn't know where he is. So why not tell him that much?

"While we're at it. Where am I?"

"I was there before, you know." She leans against the desk, setting the prism down. "That realm. Everyone chatted on that network, remember? All in one spot.

"Not like here."

Is she saying...? Rude needs a moment, to process all of this. He was in a new world. A new realm? Except was this somehow the same Cecelia? Just older? Rude's hand comes up to rub at a temple.

"If I understand you, this is another version of that world. And you've been in both."

She smiles grimly.

"That's right. I was still a silly child then, but...it was better there than here. At least there, the consequence of being so fussy wasn't quite so dire.

"But yes. More than one realm with that strange machine. More than one realm where others are drawn. It just turns out this one is a great deal more strained in its reaction to that fact."

Her expression grows more distant and somber as she speaks, her gaze drifting past him.

"I can't say I've heard of anyone else...remembering that place besides me, though," she murmurs. "I thought I was the only one."

"Silly child, maybe. But you had good taste in books," he offers. Hardly a consolation if she was so far removed from the young woman who had the time. Who didn't look so... strained.

Still, he takes what she says in silence. Considers her. Considers all that is presented to him. He had thought himself about to be punished for not being the man she had known. Instead, a strange confession.

He'd wanted knowledge. Here, he had received it. Just not in a way he would have wanted.

"Perhaps they chose silence, to bear a seemingly singular burden unremarked on. Or perhaps you were, until now."

His remark pulls her attention back, and she blinks a few times, showing unguarded surprise for a moment. A bit of red creeps up her neck to her cheeks, but after a few breaths, she swallows back that alarm.

She didn't expect to be remembered. Of course, she never expected anyone to remember that world in general, but making it personal is always more poignant.

"Yes. Well. Speculation, obviously." She waves her hand a bit. "I can't confirm any of that myself -- that would expose the Vale's location to less friendly sorts, and I've worked very hard to keep this place from being a place worth...acquiring."

Well, for him it wasn't nearly so long ago as it was for her. For him it's months, and she had given him more than a few things he'd read recently.

"The Vale? Acquiring? I'm still lost here, Cecelia. This place is beautiful, but I don't know what to do. Or what I should be doing."

She sighs heavily (Elle picks good journal names) and runs a hand through her hair, smoothing it out for maybe a second before frizzy bits pop out.

"Right, you're fresh as a daisy now, aren't you? That's inconvenient. Hold on..."

Pushing away from the desk, Cecelia walks around his chair to a bookshelf on the wall behind him, picking at spines and stray folders before pulling a binder out. Walking back around, she offers it to him. It's a simple office binder, but inside are collections of clippings, printed or hand-transcribed articles and announcements, and transcriptions of interviews covering the early events of the fracturing of society.

"You've got some reading to keep you busy for now, I would say. Start here."

Well, at least she's giving him resource materials. And in a way that he will appreciate and tear through quickly. His attention goes to her after he's had a chance to look at the cover of the book.

"I'll read it. But... I might have questions."

"You will," she assures, shrugging. "And you'll find maybe a few answers to satisfy, but not all of them from me. I don't keep up with every detail of the goings-on in the world as it stands now; I don't want part of their parade. It's why I made this place and keep it secret.

"You'll have to speak to others who reside here. More recent transplants."

Edited 2020-09-14 19:39 (UTC)

Of course. Rude even nods his understanding. But he pauses as well, thoughtful.

"Why am I here. Not me, Me. Him me."

He needs to know what led him to an idyllic looking place such as this.

She had begun to say I don't know before he clarified Him me. At that, she closes her mouth, pursing her lips together. After a moment to consider her wording, she nods slightly.

"You'd had enough," she says. "Enough of Eden -- one of those factions out there in the world. You mentioned it being too reminiscent of home in unpleasant ways, and while you meant to disengage, you also carried the risk of death should you be anywhere else in the public eye. So..."

She gestures lightly, her mouth curving on one side slightly.

"You had to prove you didn't mean to turn me in to that former-Eden of yours, but...you did.

"And here you reamin."

Home but in unpleasant ways. That's... sad to hear. But at least the man had found some peace. Rude... just hated to take it away from him.

"So if I step foot out of here, I could be killed," he supplies. That isn't very pleasing. But he might have to leave. Being here in peace might be too much.

"Thank you, for your help. I will read this. Would you like me to return after I do?"

There was a chance he could provide more insight to her once he understood what was happening to him.

"I would," she affirms, turning away from him. "In the meantime, I have to see if this is happening elsewhere; isolated incidents are strange, but when it grows larger than that..."

She pinches the bridge of her nose, her mind already running miles ahead in wonder as to what disaster may befall.

It stops, though, reflecting on how he quickly came to realize who she was. Despite her age, despite time and place...

"Did you...truly know me?" She looks over her shoulder, wary, but strangely wistful. "When I was there. You remember who I was?"

Well, maybe she's matured into her looks, but she's still the same woman. Same freckles, same hair, same ears. The differences so very, very minor.

"I don't know Cecelia from the world I was in very well. But when I have seen her she has proved to be bright. Perhaps reluctant to speak her mind when she things it could cause judgement. But bright."

If nothing else, Rude was a very quick judge of character.

"Nervous too. You've grown out of that. I hope the process that brought you to the powerful wonder of a woman you are today was not painful."

"Ha."

She smirks blandly before looking away.

"You're here all of an hour and it's 'powerful wonder'? Nonsense like that won't change your odds by much.

"...Maybe a little."

She shrugs, starting for the hall.

"The valley is not so big; you'll find me easily when you have questions."

"You leave impressions quickly, Cecelia," Rude counters with a soft smile.

But he stands and holds the book.

"If... I didn't look my space over. What do I do about food?"

She stops and turns back slightly.

"...You go and get food. Ask around if you're not sure. It's not terribly complicated. I need to go alert Anathema about this; doubtless she'll be keen to ferrying you around more than I."

Keen to ferry him around? Rude pauses and looks at her, suddenly looking concerned.

"She's not a lover of mine, is she?"

He genuinely doesn't even know. And he's worried that he's going to get slapped by someone for not remembering them.

"Y--Sh--"

Cecelia's eyes suddenly bugle, and she sputters, having to quickly clap a hand over her mouth to smother the laugh she's about to bark. She coughs, waving the hand in front of her face.

"Oh my gods no! Ha! Pf--" Ahem. "No, no. She's just. She helps take charge of newcomers. And since you technically are one now..."

Her voice wavers, because she almost laughs again, and she must clear her throat once more.

"Anyway: No. She's not."

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looking_sharp - 2020-09-17 21:01 (UTC) - Expand

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