one █ voice

[uzi]

_{( The voice is clipped, sharp, and to the point-- no scuffling with controls or stopping to take things in, here. Also? Whoever this woman is, she sounds pissed off. )}

So, City—great name, by the way, though I think someone beat you to it—stop me if I’ve got any of this wrong.

Alternate dimension, time travel, and duplicates of people we might already know. Superpowers, overly ambitious AI, and absolutely no discretion about who it pulls in, despite claiming to want “heroes.”

And apparently no reliable way back, since you’re all sitting on your hands, here. Perfect.

Just one question—is the universe as I know it going to implode because of all this crap?

Comments

[uzi]

So I'm supposed to be grateful she makes the dimensionally displaced thing convenient?

[catcherintherye]

"Possibly. I don't know if that's her intention or not, and I'm not grateful for it in the least bit because it's basically less interesting. It's less interesting, and I generally think that people who try to make everything too convenient are trying to hide something that probably isn't."

[uzi]

I wouldn't disagree, on that point.

And I don't even want to think about the logistics of being able to bend time and space and whatever the hell else, to that extent.

[catcherintherye]

"She's very powerful. It's probably why she's so uppity, I guess."

[uzi]

The robot's a bitch. I'll jot that down for future reference.

[catcherintherye]

"She's uppity and I don't care for her much, but I don't think anybody does like her like that."

"What will you do here, do you think? I ask because you'll probably be here for at least one month, and most people end up stuck here longer. Last time I was here from June until February of the next year."

[uzi]

Well, right now I'm going to get myself a very tall, very black cup of coffee.

From there? We'll see.

[catcherintherye]

"Can I make a recommendation? If I can make a recommendation, I would recommend against attacking her too much head on. She can be pretty petty about that kind of thing and she might send you back or do something worse if she's just having a bad day. A lot of people say she can do worse than just send you back."

[uzi]

I wasn't planning in on busting in guns blazing, anyway.

But I'll keep that in mind.

[catcherintherye]

"No, I suppose that's an unreasonable assumption to make on my part. But then, a few people have done it and I guess I did something similar back when I attacked her, so maybe it's not so unreasonable. It's still faulty to for me to project the assumption onto you."

"Do they have superheroes in your world, too? Or just coffee. Generally she takes people from worlds where they have superheroes."

[uzi]

We've got both. Though I think the term "superhero" is a little generous.

But freaks with powers blundering their way and trying to save the day? Yeah, we definitely have those.

[catcherintherye]

"I kind of question the use of the term "superhero" too, but that seems to be what most people here consider themselves. If you have people with powers in your world, though, that's at least more similar than anything with which I am familiar. But even so, she gives people powers if they didn't have them before and even if they aren't really able to control them too hot at first."

[uzi]

Well, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Giving people a means to be destructive when you've got them trapped. Brilliant, really.

[catcherintherye]

"In my world, most people are photographed nearly 1600 times a day through security cameras and global positioning systems. Added to that, the over abundance of cyberization and the subpar quality of most personal security systems and barrier mazes and the potential for individuals being monitored by the government is relatively high. One time I had a reason to go underground, so I did, which was difficult but my security system is generally much better, so I managed. It was only then that I really appreciated how free it was to know that I was off the grid and couldn't be traced. Before I didn't really care like that."

"I don't trust the government back home, but criminals can be found when they need to be and I guess that's something worth noting. People also don't have powers. Here people do and there's not really a system like that in place. In fact, most people exist off the grid just because they aren't usually carrying any records when she brings them here and it's not like we're issued conventional IDs. If you think it's dangerous, you're probably right. I think it's dangerous anyway."

[uzi]

Given the choice between the big brother scenario and a little anonymity, I'd choose the latter for myself in a heartbeat.

But you're right. It's a dangerous situation. And volatile.