THE FRACTURED WORLD: ARRIVAL

[modormenace]

 

A

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.

 

F

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...

 

A

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

Comments

w-w-w-wildcard!

[nobilitease]

[ Caspar is just strolling by the stables where Claude is attending to his wyvern - a brilliant white beast, unusual looking and fitting for a member of the nobility - when Claude turns, seeing a glimpse of light blue hair that used to be so familiar to him.

Well, he thinks to himself. This is awkward. He always liked Caspar well enough, in the way he likes anyone who's as simple as he is, but he'd been perfectly willing to kill the man in battle just weeks before. Well, no reason for Caspar to know that, if he already doesn't. So he calls out to him, voice light and airy: ] Hey, Caspar. Long time no see.

[genuinewrestleboy]

[ Since Caspar's wyvern can become small he doesn't tend to keep her in the stables, but after a flight he does do a check-up and brush her down (or. you know. the Wyvern equivalent. work with me here.) He was just about to leave, his wyvern back to large cat size when he hears his name and turns with surprise, eyes widening. ]

Whoa, Claude?!

[ He immediately comes over, his wyvern curling about his shoulders. Him and Edelgard have been the only ones from their world for a while now, and the war had only just started when he left so his thoughts and feelings are more along the lines of surprise than hostility or awkwardness. ]

No kidding, I haven't seen you in years! When'd you turn up?

[nobilitease]

To this world? A few weeks ago. To Eden? Today. You've got uncanny timing, Caspar, I'll give you that.

[ He gives his wyvern's snout one last pat before turning to take in Caspar in full. He hasn't changed a whole lot - he's still on the shorter side, like him, or at least they're on the shorter side next to some of the giants roaming the Monastery - but he's definitely older. He also doesn't look immediately angry, which is a good sign. He shouldn't be. Claude's hopes were that his machinations in the Alliance were swept under the rug as they faced the far more immediate and dangerous threat that was King Dimitri's rampage, but one never knows. ]

How long have you been here?

[genuinewrestleboy]

I want to say... four, five years ago? Something like that!

[ He hasn't really been tracking anniversaries. He shrugs, not particularly concerned with the exact details though if he thinks about how old he is he'll figure it out.

Claude is definitely older, which means if he only arrived a few weeks ago he must have aged at home, a thought Caspar doesn't really dwell on at all. He's always focused on the present or looking towards the future - the past doesn't interest him much. The politics of his world barely mattered to him at the time and hasn't mattered to him in years, so to him this is a run-in with an old classmate. Even if Edelgard might treat Claude differently.

On that thought, Caspar does raise his eyebrows. ]

Have you talked to Edelgard yet?

[nobilitease]

That long?

[ Not a whole lot can shatter Claude's easygoing facade. He's managed to largely maintain it through any number of mishaps and conflicts at the Monastery, seemingly gliding above it. This, though. This breaks it, his eyes widening and mouth falling slightly open. ]

Five years, Caspar? I -- [ He presses one hand to his temple, shaking his head. ] Yes. Yes, of course I did. It's the first thing I did when I got here.

[genuinewrestleboy]

Edelgard's been here for longer.

[ He's a bit surprised at Claude's surprise, but he really hasn't had to deal with the arrival of someone from home before. Like he said, Edelgard was already established when he arrived - actually, he remembered his surprise at finding out how long she'd been here too. So maybe he can relate. ]

Weird, right? I kinda gave up expecting anyone else from home to show up!

[nobilitease]

I suppose that makes sense. You can't build all of this in a year's time. But I admit, I was hoping that her, uh... natural charisma - [ he does not believe that ] - carried her through.

We can't go home. Can we.

[ He's going to die. ]