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

[onederfulhero]

Toshinori freezes when he hears himself being addressed. The fact that he was being called out by name means this particular Twice is different... possibly the original? He turns to face Twice. Toshinori's not exactly glad to see him, but he at least hopes this will lead to some answers.

"... Yeah, it's me. What the hell's going on?"

[ttwwiiccee]

Jin isn't really sure if he's glad to see the hero or not. To a villain, All Might's 'don't worry, I am here' is a warning, not a reassurance. But he doesn't hate All Might the way Shigaraki does, and he'd been fairly kind in that last world they were in. But Jin has no way of knowing whether or not All Might even remembers that world - so he's a bit cautious.

He approaches closer, if keeping a bit of a respectful distance. "No idea! I've got a handle on it! I can fill you in, but gotta ask first, how long have you been in this world?"

[onederfulhero]

"I just got here... maybe an hour or so ago," Toshinori says with a bit of a shrug. "But this isn't either of the worlds I knew, not by any means. So I came here because I hoped I would at least run into someone familiar."

[ttwwiiccee]

That phrasing pings him, Twice's eyes widening. "Hey wait, d'you remember that other world too? The other one with imPorts - I'm not crazy, that happened too?"

Everybody else just seemed to know this one only, he was starting to contribute it to the rest of his everything.