✪ 001: Video

[megazero_to_superhero]

[At first, there's only audio. A guy with a pretty thick Rhode Island accent can be heard muttering between keystrokes and clicks.]

—'Kay, where's da video option on dis thing ...

[And suddenly there's video. Oh, look, it's David, broadcasting from one of the library termninals! And boy, from the way he's slouching, does he look really worn out.]

—yeah, dere, dat works.

[In an attempt to try and not look so weak (and also so that people might understand him better through his fatigue), David straightens up with some effort and takes the unlit cigar out of his mouth and holds it between the fingers of his left hand before continuing.]

'Kay, so. All dat talk about da "Second Magic" and operating on parallel worlds got me curious.

See, we got all kindsa people in dis Tower, from all kindsa different dimensions. An' we're all here 'cause dat dimension-killing whatsit got loose in our home towns. But how many people here have actually been to other dimensions before gettin' brought here?

I ask, 'cause I'm one of 'em. It was a big deal where I'm from—even coined a name for our dimension, Primal Earth. Kinda have to come up with a name for da home team when you got entire alternate realities tryin' to make war on you, yanno? [Here, David briefly holds up two fingers with his other hand to illustrate what he's about to say—and he's actually careful to not do it in the way that's obscene to British people.] Went through two of dose. And we had to deal with dis punk who eats entire dimensions, Rularuu da Ravager. For a time I was thinkin' dat dimension-killing thing was actually him runnin' wild.

[David heaves a sigh as he puts the cigar back in his mouth.]

So yeah. I was actually doin' a lot of scoutin' missions for Portal Corp, helpin' explore unknown dimensions and watch for potential threats when da Tower nabbed me. How 'bout you guys? Any of youse done da dimension-hoppin' thing before?

Comments

[Video]

[midgarhorizon]

Nah, man, we barely even got a rocket off the planet.

[Video]

[megazero_to_superhero]

Heh, dat ain't too bad. We ain't done much space exploration in Primal Earth, either. But hey, my country did land some guys on da moon, so dere's dat.

[Video]

[midgarhorizon]

Landing on the moon, huh? Think we're way behind on that.

[megazero_to_superhero]

Eh, like I said, don't feel too bad. We didn't do a whole lot after we got to dat point.

[David takes the cigar out of his mouth momentarily to yawn, though he starts talking again halfway through.]

—eeeeaunno, some day we oughta start goin' back out dere. We get a lot of alien visitors—an' I mean real aliens from outer space, not from another dimension.

[Unbeknownst to David, that was actually in the works in the form of "Gagarin Orbital Platform" and "Armstrong Lunar Facility." Damn you, NCSoft, for killing CoH before we got our Moon Zone!]

[midgarhorizon]

Funny you say that. I'm startin' to wonder if Earth exists in my universe, too.

[It probably does. Not that Spirits Within wasn't a blatant lore rip off. But even if they got their universes back up and running, Reno doubts he'll ever find out.]

I heard legends it used to be possible traveling through stars, but y'know those old tales. When they figure out the reality it's really kinda lame.

[megazero_to_superhero]

Legends, huh ... Well, y'never know, sometimes dey ain't too far from da truth. Guess it depends a lot on da legend.

[Which of course leads David to be curious ...]

What kindsa legends have ya heard?

[midgarhorizon]

Not too many, now that I think 'bout it. Most the ones I know, I had to with the job. Investigative crap.

[megazero_to_superhero]

[His line of work—well, the only thing he knows about would be those crazies Reno mentioned just before David volunteered for power donation ...]

Ya mean like dat "end of da world" cult ya fought against? What, dey wanted to punt everybody off-world or somethin'?

[midgarhorizon]

Nah, different mission. More historical oriented. I don't remember much of it.

Video

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch looks worn down, as well. In fact, he looks like he could fall asleep right there.*

I...I went to another world. One like this one, where those of many worlds came together, but it was because of a natural process...

*He seems to realize he's rambling, and slows down a bit to think.* It was a small world, only a city, called Meridian.

[megazero_to_superhero]

[So he's not the only one feeling crappy ... David looks a little sympathetic while he listens to Enoch's response.]

Oh hey, I think I remember you tellin' me a bit about dat.

[But man it's been almost a year since they spoke of it.]

Whatcha mean by a natural process, though?

[warriorscribe]

A rift, naturally-occurring in that world. Meridian was a world where the barriers between it and other worlds were thin...

*Talking about Meridian was making him miss it though...there was uncertainty but there was more peace than not.*

[megazero_to_superhero]

Huh. Never thought about it bein' easier to get to some dimensions more dan others.

[Then David looks as if he realizes something.]

But I guess it's gotta be a thing, 'cause I remember da Portal Corp guys talkin' a lot about ways to watch other dimensions or hide stuff from people watchin'. Lotta things I did for dem involved makin' sure da Rikti an' Praetorans didn't find another way to Primal Earth.

[warriorscribe]

...Enemies?

*Obviously, given the context, but he just had to ask.*

[megazero_to_superhero]

[David gives a nod.]

Yep. People from two different dimensions. Dose wars I was talkin' about? Had to do with each of dem.

[warriorscribe]

I take it they were trying to conquer yours?

*Who can't be content with a country? Who goes for an entire world?*

[megazero_to_superhero]

[That would make quite the conversation topic with someone like Zero!Rider ...]

Da Praetorians were. Da Rikti just wanted to wipe us out. An' dey came close to doin' it.

[video;]

[wegotlucky]

[Neal, frankly, looks like shit. He's exhausted and David might remember him from the void, but he's alert enough.]

It's possible, but it's not easy.

When I was a kid, I used up one of the last of the easy ways to get around.

[megazero_to_superhero]

Last of da easy ways, huh? What was it, some kinda high tech stuff nobody knew how to repair?

[wegotlucky]

It was a magic bean.

[He just lets that sit there for a long moment.]

Like I said though, it's not the only way. You can hitch a ride on a disembodied shadow, too, if you can catch it.

[megazero_to_superhero]

Magic beans ... okay, dat's a new one on me. What, ya plant dem an' dey grow a portal plant or somethin'?

[The disembodied shadow thing actually sounds less weird, if only because it makes him think of cartoons where somebody paints a black hole and it becomes a real one. And he's pretty sure someone has managed to pull that off before, what with all the people who have darkness powers in Primal Earth ...]

[wegotlucky]

Essentially, yes.

You think about where you want to go after the portal has appeared and you end up there.

[megazero_to_superhero]

So why was it da last? I mean, it's a plant, right? It's gotta be easy to set up a garden or farm or ... somethin'.

[wegotlucky]

I don't know.

It's what I was told. Not sure who grew it, and they were always hard to come by. Maybe the plant went extinct.

[megazero_to_superhero]

Well, dat sucks ... an' boy, whatever made 'em go extinct, I bet da environmentalists were pissed. Somethin' like dat would be like, I dunno, findin' da Tree of Life only for da loggin' industry to cut it down.