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

[faithfulson]

For a moment, it did not seem like Luke would believe her, and it was clear in that moment he was different. It went beyond the fact that he was wearing robes drastically different from the beach bum wear he typically wore at home, more reminiscent of the "uniform" he wore for work than anything else. It was largely in his usual pleasant expression; where before he was always open and honest, here it seemed like his soft smile didn't even reach his eyes, and a chill seemed to radiate from his ice blue gaze. After a moment, however, his expression softened, turning into something a little more genuine.

"You dreamed of the death of your princess from home, didn't you?" he asked softly, his tone gentle and understanding.

[pidgewidgeon]

Oh god.

Oh god.

Allura died?

Grief shot through her and tears started to burn at her eyes. What happened to cause that? And why did she have to learn this way? She wanted her friends around her, not these weird caricatures she'd woken up to.

She just could not deal with that on top of her circumstances at the moment, and she just barely got her hands over her face as she choked back a sob.

[faithfulson]

Fortunately, Luke seemed to take that as a reminder of her grief, not a sudden realization of what would come. He let out a faint noise, reaching over and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Katie..." he said softly, comfortingly. "Forgive me for being so blunt."

He steered her over to the couch in the room after a moment, helping her sit down.

[pidgewidgeon]

She allowed herself to be placed on the couch as she fought to keep control of herself. Despite the familiar face and voice in front of her this wasn't her friend and it could be catastrophic if she said or did something wrong.

But knowing that wasn't enough to stop the tears from streaming down her face. She'd give herself two minutes to grieve her situation and what she'd learned about Allura's fate, and then she'd force herself to stop.

Minutes passed, and it took her longer than she'd planned to regain control, but eventually the tears stopped and she was able to lift her head so she could look at the imposter in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't expect to fall apart like that."

[faithfulson]

Imposter or not, that was still Luke's smile returned to her, though he looked tired and worn down himself. He moved away for a moment, picking up a box of tissues before returning and handing them to her.

"I understand how you feel," he said gently. "You don't need to apologize for it."

He was silent for a moment, giving Katie a moment more to pull herself together.

"If it helps, you don't need to come to the council meeting today, if you rather take some time to yourself," he continued, his voice still soft and soothing.

[pidgewidgeon]

Pidge shook her head at the last statement.

"No, I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes to clean myself up."

She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Splashing cold water on her face helped reduce the redness and soon enough she looked presentable enough and exited.

"I may not be fully on my game today but I don't want to miss anything.

How do I look? Is it obvious I was crying?"

[faithfulson]

Luke gave her a gentle smile as she came out. He looked like Luke, acted like Luke, but he was off in a way that only a roommate of several months now would know.

"You look as good as ever," he said sincerely, before he glanced behind him. "Do you mind if we check the cameras before heading out?"

[pidgewidgeon]

"Yeah, we can do that."

Pidge walked to the computers and brought up the camera feeds and the recordings from the night before. She'd figured out the passwords earlier so she didn't have to worry about fumbling at the keyboard and with a few taps on keys she had all the appropriate folders pulled up.

"Here you go."