video 001

[morallygrayson]

[The feed clicks on, showing a surprised masked man.]

Okay, what did I just--

[He clears his throat.]

Hi. I’ve been trying to hack this terminal for an hour or so, to see if I can verify the information I’ve been given. It’s not really working, so I guess the next option is to ask around.

[He rubs the back of his neck, clearly not used to having to ask for help.

He’s not alone, either. Behind him someone happens to be hovering past the doorway silently at first, but then backtracks and stops in the entrance. Since his back is facing her he probably won’t notice, but she’s definitely noticed him. Her eyes open wide and her jaw drops with an audible gasp.

Yeah, her surprise is definitely apparent.]

Nightwing?! You are here??

[He jerks around in surprise, already brandishing a pair of escrima sticks.]

Who are you?

[Who she is might just have to wait, because (heedless of the weapons, she’s just that excited) before the last word has left his mouth she’s already halfway across the room, throwing her arms around him in relief and accidentally sending them both against the terminal. The last thing that the feed picks up from either of them is a shout (“What in--?!”) from “Nightwing” and a relieved string of WORDS (“I am so relieved to see you are undamaged!”) from the weird orange girl before the feed cuts off rather abruptly.]

[OOC: Answers will come from both Starfire and Nightwing!]

Comments

Permaaction;

[thenameofscreen]

[It takes a minute, but she finally registers that he's not very relaxed or very... ah... "happy" to see her. Did he just ask who she was? ... Does he not remember?

She lets go and draws back to give him his space, confused.] You do not remember...? It is I, Starfire! Koriand'r! [If this is like that one time when you disappeared for a week...]

Permaaction;

[morallygrayson]

[...the obvious despair encourages him to drop the escrima there on the floor. He does step on the tip of one, in case he needs to flip it back up into his hands, but non-threatening is gonna be good here.]

I just-- got here. I don't know what I remember.

Re: Permaaction;

[thenameofscreen]

[Feet officially touching the floor now. This is... still good news in a way? If he's here then maybe the part about their homes being destroyed is a fresh load of yarnax. She takes a step or two more to give him proper space now, not just breathing room. He looks much older, just like in Cassie's dream. The emblem on his chest is almost identical to the Nightwing of her future as well. His hair, the mask, it's all the same, HE'S the same, just... bigger, older. Wow this kinda hurts.]

My apologies. I thought perhaps- [No, hm, try again.] -I have also just arrived. I do not understand what is happening. I was with you just moments ago, but you were... younger.

Permaaction;

[morallygrayson]

[Nightwing shakes his head, slowly.]

I'm sorry. I've never-- I can tell you're probably not human, but you're also not any kind of alien I've ever seen before.

Much less when I was... younger.

[thenameofscreen]

[She'd normally probably press the issue, but these circumstances are a bit extreme, and even if he doesn't have any reason to believe it she knows him well enough to recognize the signs of distress-- for Dick, that is. She just swallows back the urge to insist he remember for now, because making sense of things is more important at present. Besides, it wasn't the first time someone from his world had gone and returned older and with no memories of her. This just hurt more.

She lowers her voice and switches to German, then, because she picked that up from Superboy and even though it takes conscious effort to form the words-]

"The story is complicated and long, but please, know that I am a friend, Dick."

[redbranch]

...Newbies, huh?

[Lancer is rather amused at the "reunion" that must have happened.]

[thenameofscreen]

[One confused alien is intrigued by this response, and at the same time, concerned about this situation. Collars, world destruction, a strange tower-- what the heck man.]

We are new arrivals, yes. Please, might I ask the questions as to where we are?

[redbranch]

Sure. Ask right away.

[A pause.]

And if you're after the name of this place. It's a Tower. The admins call it Animus.

[thenameofscreen]

You have my thanks. [Her expression turns to one of gratitude, a friendly smile, if a bit unsure still. She takes up a "seat" in mid-air, legs folded and hands on her knees as she floats.] Is it true then, that our homes have been destroyed? They have not explained for what reason or in what way this is possible. How are we to know that this is not simply deception?

[She kinda thinks she's still dreaming, to be honest.]

[redbranch]

[He slowly shakes his head.]

I don't know.

[Frankly, he doesn't really care.]

But I've heard people say that they've gone to the remains of their world before. And other people say that it might have been a virus that killed everything off.

[morallygrayson]

Guessing that's a regular occurrence, then.

[People just showing up and getting... he doesn't even know.]

While I've got you on the line. The one who wrote the "let's be happy here" thing -- does he bother to show his face?

[Or is he afraid it'll be punched? Because Nightwing would kind of like to.]

[redbranch]

People showing up and asking about stuff? Yeah, it was pretty regular sometime back.

[And then it had "stopped" for a while.]

Riki? Well, he texts people. Doesn't really show his "face" per say. And even if he did, you probably won't be able to get to him, seeing how he and all the other admins have their place in the basement and the elevator to that part is inaccessible.

also sorry this is late!

[morallygrayson]

Right... I'm not really comfortable with that, if I'm being honest. Do the admins not mix with the people they save?

[He frowns a bit, trying to phrase this right...]

Why'd it stop? Are... um, the two of us, did they run out of people to save or something?

It's okay! Backtags are welcome!

[redbranch]

Nah, probably because they're afraid we'd punch them in the face or something.

I don't know. The two of you aren't the only new people to suddenly show up. Maybe they ran out of energy bringing people in regularly and only saved it back up now.

[Video]

[superprogrammer]

I'm afraid it's not that easy to hack... I've been doing so for quite a while now without much success.

[Video] sorry about how late this is!

[morallygrayson]

How long is a "while?" Do you think any kind of breakthrough is likely?

[Video] It's okay~

[superprogrammer]

... 10 years. I've managed to have Alter Ego... [That's the advanced AI he created] ... infiltrate the network but she's been unable to access any of the important files. The encryption on them is way beyond the ability of the equipment I have... and to do it manually would take more than a lifetime.

[Video]

[morallygrayson]

[While it doesn't show, he's rather dismayed to hear "ten years." It's... whelming, because really, why wouldn't someone be here that long when they have nowhere else to go? Whelming, but dismaying all the same.]

Do you think it's the sophistication of the tech? How similar is it to what you knew in your own world?

[video]

[warriorscribe]

*Oh dear. That looked like quite the reunion.*

Are you both all right?

[video] sorry about how late this is!

[morallygrayson]

I-- yeah.

[He runs a hand through his hair and tugs.]

I mean, once you factor in this... place and stuff. As all right as you can be.

What are the odds we stay all right around here?

[video] It's okay! I'm kind of slow myself!

[warriorscribe]

*The tinge of concern in his nervous smile becomes ever stronger as the smile itself fades away.*

...Not good. It may be relatively calm next month, but the man who watches over us the month after next is...known for his cruelty.

[video] ohgood

[morallygrayson]

Known, huh.

[Slips into a bit of a deadpan.]

What is it that people know about him? There's not some-- organized way to prevent this cruelty, is there?

[Video]

[thenameofscreen]

I am also undamaged, simply confused. I apologize for concerning you.

[Video]

[warriorscribe]

No need to apologize. It only sounded...as if you were confused. It sounds as if you come from two different worlds...

*Naturally, he has no way of knowing his question will probably be taken in a much more mundane way.*

[Video]

[thenameofscreen]

You are correct. I was brought here from a world that was neither Earth or my birth planet. There were many others who had also been taken from their homes as well. [Let's not even go into the fact she was hurtling through time when she ended up THERE. GOD THIS IS CONFUSING.] I remain uncertain what has become of them, as they were all my homes in some way.