video; not the big one, but:

[shotinhead]

[ It sounds like Courier Six hasn't been sleeping much, and his voice is quiet. No, not today, he won't tell them today. That thought echoes slightly, before he gives a grunt, visible on the camera, on his usual walk. He's deep in thought, though. ]

Hey. What do you think's goin' on back home? Your homes, I mean. I-- fuck, it's been more then a year, so probably lots of shit we've missed.

I mean, if weird shit isn't going on with home, either. I dunno, it's just all a bit worrying. Don't you think? It's not like we're not missed, unless you're the sorta person who'd not be missed...

...Fuck, I'm bad at this speakin' thing.

[ He hopes to just get people talking, honestly. Maybe he'll learn more, maybe he won't. (yes, that is an invite to use this like a mingle post--) ]

Comments

audio;

[edgewater]

They've probably moved on without me. [ shrug. hard to wait around when something so time imperative as overthrowing the government is at stake, even ignoring video game mechanics for a second. ]

I. Uh. Well-- I'd hope Junlei hasn't? But we only ever went on one date, and if my emails stopped comin' I don't think I'd blame her. [ she sounds genuinely upset at the idea. ] Maybe time is flowing slower, or somethin'. I dunno. I'm not into all of that science-y stuff.

video;

[notyourbloodymessiah]

I'd really like to hope everything stopped.

[ jack being here has thrown something of a spanner in the works for that coping strategy, but her heart aches at her sisters being all alone in the middle of the atlantic. especially with her mother. ]

I still have unfinished business to attend to.

video

[fromsprouts]

[His ears are all droopy, and his voice comes through very quiet, especially by Shonen Hero Ume standards.]

I left a good structure in place. My folks can carry on without me. Like, I'm sure they do miss me, yeah, but they'll be able to function as a team in my absence.

Hell, maybe Hiragi's ulcer has healed without me causing him stress.

audio (OTA/open to threadjacking)

[friendlyflower]

[An initial pulse of I don't care followed by the quiet, suppressed notion that he is overwhelmingly, insatiably curious about what happened to the ones back home.

He quickly covers this by adding what he wanted to say.]

Who's to say that time is flowing normally back home?

[As if predicting the counterargument:] It's not like I really have anything to base this on. The people back home could have forgotten you all by now. Or maybe time is frozen at the exact moment you wound up here.

I don't think anyone here has ever met someone from home who wound up here and the first thing they said was, "is THIS where you've been for this past year?" [He knows that lack of proof doesn't equate to proof, as it were. But still.]

It's strangely even more likely to meet someone from a universe parallel to your own. [Briefly, he casts his mind to Kris-- and then closes it off from anyone who might have seen that.]

[notyourbloodymessiah]

It gets weirder. Jack and I are from the same place, but he's from about eight years in the past relative to where I came from. And I got here first.

[ it's not much, but that threw her off exponentially. jack is from a time when eleanor was about nine years old. ] I'm not sure if that means anything, exactly. I can't be sure we're from the same reality.

[shotinhead]

A snort, mostly to himself. From the emotions coming from him - the vague emotions - it seems he's telling the truth. Not baring his heart, but... ]

I've already accepted they've moved on, if shit's kept moving.

Though, you know. I did meet [ though there's that bleed, in his feelings, that doesn't trust meeting anybody here if they don't linger ] a weird version of somebody I knew. She was a hero, though, instead of just a leader. It was weird. Nice, but weird.

video;

[shotinhead]

[ His voice is neutral, like normal. Alas, he struggles with empathy, but: ] You think they'd look for you, or just accept you're gone.

video;

[shotinhead]

...It'd be weird if lots of places stopped just because of one place, though. [ His voice is quiet. He Is Trying. ] But this is the place of weird shit happening.

audio;

[shotinhead]

I'm more into machines then proper science. [ perrin your science is Not. ] I just-- I don't want to be th'only one thinking about this stuff.

[ His voice grows quieter. He's trying to be open and honest, but it's hard for the guy. ] Love can survive a bunch, though. Or so I like to think.

[edgewater]

It's you and me both. I just didn't wanna make anyone else worry, you know?

[ she sighs. ] I'd like to hope you're right. I just-- poor Junlei, she and her last gal didn't break up on the nicest terms, y'know? Imagine getting with someone else and then she goes missing.

[fromsprouts]

They'd look.

[He's certain of that, even though he's coming from before the arc where a different member of his gang goes missing and there's a manhunt for him.]

Probably ask around the other local gangs, to see if they've heard anything, too.

[notyourbloodymessiah]

There's someone else, from where I'm from. Here. Except, he's from the past, relatively speaking. And he got here after me? It's a bit of a paradox I can't quite wrap my head around.

[ she shakes her head with her flippers for added effect. ]

I'm trying not to think about it too hard. If I worry about my sisters too much something might happen to me.

[shotinhead]

God, you'd feel like you were cursed! [ He can't help but laugh. ] Least you'll come barrelling' back someday.

Unless we're stuck as Pokemon.

[shotinhead]

[ Hm. He is thinking. ]

Family, huh. Yeah, that'd suck. I mean, my family doesn't see me too much - my bestie probably was expectin' me to saddle her with th'whole place anyway. But maybe we're in a Narnia situation.

[fromsprouts]

"Which world is the world we exist in? Which world does the world exist in?"

[It has the air of a quote; thrown into the conversation with as little context as Umemiya first received it on a heavy quest back last August.]

[shotinhead]

Right, make sure they didn't kill ya or something. [ Nod nod. ] I'm guessin' that's what my pals would have done as well. Havin' an army of Securitrons lookin' for one guy might have caused chaos, though.

...You think they'd still be lookin'?

[fromsprouts]

After a whole year? I'm not sure. The other third-year students would have graduated by now. Mizuki probably joined the military. Sakura might be leading Bofurin, at this point. I don't know if he'd still be focusing on me, or settling into his role.

[edgewater]

[ not sure if junlei would still love her if she was a worm. ]

I hope not. I kinda miss having a body made for doing my job. And I don't know if Pokemon have it in 'em to adapt to where I'm from.

[notyourbloodymessiah]

Narnia...? [ perrin's statement has opened up more than a few questions, but that's not a word she's heard before. ]

[notyourbloodymessiah]

[ yeah yeah the godhead we've all seen it. ]

Does that even matter when the more we question it the farther we stray?

[shotinhead]

I just hope-- well, one of th'people I'd met back home in my quest has probably passed by now. The others, well. I hope they haven't had shit go wrong.

I should have told 'em everything before I fucked off.

[friendlyflower]

Thanks for your input, Socrates. [Somewhere, a sign labeled 'Days Since Flowey has been an Asshole' resets to 0.]

[shotinhead]

--Oh my god. [ Suddenly his mood has brightened, but in an odd way. ] Haven't you heard of the book series? They're some of my favorite.

[shotinhead]

Same here. If I came stumblin' out like this, I'd be hunted down. Or called a weird Mutie and then hunted down. People can't handle weird things.

[friendlyflower]

I'll take that as more proof for my theory. [And more proof that all of this is some kind of mass hallucination.] Have you compared notes regarding world events? Any point where timelines could have split off?