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

[legalcy]

A sigh. "This sint the time for blatant lies. You will face trial and pay for your crimes."

At this, he transforms into a truck hauler again, watching Finn despite the lack of visible eyes. "Get inside."

[fireandhoney]

Finn makes no move to get in, standing firm. "Please, before you guys have me killed, I can give you information on the White Tower. I can't tell you much right now but I can spy on them for you guys."

[legalcy]

The hauler doesn't move. The plea sounds familiar - spare one criminal in exchange for information on another. The last time it happened, both Swindle and Scorponok went free. There many never be a chance to catch Finn again.

"Even if the others decided your sentence was other than death, how could we trust you?"

[fireandhoney]

"Okay, you'd have to take a leap of faith, granted, but I promise you that I'm not that tyrant you're more familiar with. I can help you bring down the White Tower." Finn tries to raise a handed to swear by it, but ends up raising both since he's still cuffed. "Take me to the others if you want, but I can try and get you information to bring back to them. I'm good at finding things out."

[legalcy]

"You have my word that you will receive a fair trial." The outcome is likely to be unfavorable, but Ultra Magnus' duty is to see that Finn is treated like every other person that has faced their crimes. "You may start earning trust by following order. Get inside."

[fireandhoney]

Finn hangs his head in defeat. "Fine. But I swear I'm worth more alive to you guys than dead." He steps into the hauler. This might actually be his first time riding inside of a Transformer.

[legalcy]

The ride is silent for the most part. The inside of the hauler is fairly empty - Magnus was not usually in espionage during the war, so there was no need to modify his frame to appear as if it required a driver. The hauler drives itself, turning and speeding and slowing as if an AI was piloting it.

About an hour passes.

"What were you doing out in the woods?" He asks out of mostly curiosity, but if there is something occurring out there, he must inform the other members of the Resistance.

[fireandhoney]

"I just needed to get away for a while, and clear my head. At my mansion, my servants kept fussing over me, and looked like they expected me to kick them." Finn's unsure if his other self has ever kicked a servant, but perhaps he was the sort of boss who just got by with threats and that's enough to scare the staff.

[legalcy]

"Is there a reason why they would be afraid?" Minimus thinks of in-faction fighting - if there is political strife among the leaders, this could be a sign that they are vulnerable to a final takedown.

[fireandhoney]

"I mean, perhaps the other me just wasn't a good boss, or he might have been under some distress because things aren't looking good for faction alliances. Or maybe the other me has just been in a bad mood ever since his lover left him."

Finn has the distinct impression that the other him didn't take that very well.

[legalcy]

"Why do you refer to yourself with that term?" Finn didn't erase his criminal past by acting as if he were a different person. This was going to be a frustrating trial.

[fireandhoney]

"Because I'm a version of him who didn't go power hungry and go full Miraak, and I'm just inhabiting his body for some reason I'm not entirely sure of." Finn knows this because other him got a tattoo that he certainly never got in his reality.

[legalcy]

There is a long pause. The truck turns onto a mountain road.

"If you are implying that you are some sort of clone or lab creation inserting into that body, you could have been straightforward about that."

Ultra Magnus does not appear to understand that someone could possess themselves in another universe.

[fireandhoney]

"Not a clone, no. More like my mind and soul somehow jumped realities and possessed the Finn Onaru that exists in this reality."

When he says it out loud, it just sounds far-fetched. But there's still an earnestness in his voice, with none of his usual snark.

[legalcy]

This sounds like utter nonsense.

However, Ultra Magnus remains professional and does not put his thoughts into words. That idea is filed into the massive filing cabinet in his brain module.

"Noted."

[fireandhoney]

Finn resists the urge to make some cheeky comment, since his captor could choose to just pull over and chuck him into the ocean or something. Even if he probably won't do that, Finn knows better than to antagonize a resistance member when it's more beneficial to argue his case and possibly escape later if he must.

For now, he sits back to wait out the ride.