1G | VIDEO

[weightoftheworld]

[ there's a pair of thumbs clumsily blocking the camera for a moment, and then a boy's face appears. the kid's barely a teenager, and he looks a little nervous, but he smiles politely for the camera. ]

Looks like it's working. Good. Uhm– [he takes a deep breath, then launches into a clearly-rehearsed speech] –Hi, everyone. My name's Alex Power. Obviously I'm new to this place, but I've already read all those pamphlets they gave us and done some research, so I think I'm mostly caught up on the City and how it works.

[ he smiles wider, though it's a bit forced. ]

It's pretty weird and all, but, my family lives in Manhattan, so I'm kinda used to weird. Superheroes really aren't anything new, ya know? [ he sighs, then catches himself and laughs a bit, awkwardly. ] If my parents were here they'd tell me to try and make the best of it, and that's what I'm going to do. I guess I'm headed to the MAC Building, so...if any of you are living there now, lemme me know if you want to meet up? I don't know anyone here yet.

[ ohgod. being abducted is nothing new, but alex hates being in a weird place without his family. MUST ACT MATURE. ]

Comments

[weightoftheworld]

Are you from the future too, sir? [ belatedly, he switches the feed to PRIVATE. ] Rachel said most of the X-Men were! Although, what that really means is that I'm the one who's from the past...but you are from our world, right?

[professorlionface]

That would seem to be the case, yes. There are temporal inconsistencies between many of us, some just a few days, as Rachel and I, other months or years. It happens, though I think you may be the first I've encountered from so far in the past!

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Darnit...! I don't want to be stuck behind everyone!

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

It's an unpleasant situation, sure, but we'll try to keep it spoiler-free, if that'll make it easier!

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

No, no, I want to know everything! 'Sides, it's not like it really makes a difference--we forget this stuff whenever we go back to our own world, right?

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

That we do. The Porter enforces causality so that we don't have to ourselves, if we don't want to.

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Yeah. It's a total bummer how we can't remember anything when we go back, though. Some of that stuff could be really useful!

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

Ah, but time can be fickle. That's the thing about causality! Introduce a new element, such as someone informed of the future in ways they hadn't been before, and the entire timeline will veer off in another direction, becoming its own separate branch!

You would eventually reach the future to find it was an entirely different result from our experiences, and where would that leave us?

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Well, that depends, sir. Maybe we'd be in a better place. Or a worse one! But I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to fix mistakes before they happen.

But then, is that where all those separate universes come from? And all the different versions of the people from them? Dr. Richards– [ oops, are we not supposed to talk about him? ] –he, um, mentioned some stuff along those lines to me earlier.

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

[Ah, but he won't realize which Dr. Richards he's referring to. It could've been the one at home!]

That is precisely my point, yes. It may be a better future, but it would ultimately be a separate one. It's usually just this sort of divergence that creates such an offshoot, to maintain the internal consistency of time itself.

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

...So there's no getting around failing, huh.

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

Depends on whether you would consider it a failure! The conditions for yourself and your branched timeline could indeed be much more pleasant. For the one the rest of us reside on, however, they would remain unchanged.

So, you could prevent a version of the events from coming to pass, but not the events themselves. Altering a timeline in a way to prevent branching is a very delicate procedure, and can really only effect minor details within the known outcome rather than that overall outcome itself.

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Gee...sounds like you've done a lot of research on this, sir! You sure know a lot about branching timelines!

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

I'm a scientist, it's my job to think about the probability of improbable things! Besides, you're a much more receptive audience than Black Widow.

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Wow, are you friends with Black Widow? I guess you were both in the Avengers. Cool!

[ that plus Hank being a scientist basically equals MOST COOLEST PERSON yes ]

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

Are. Same team, actually. But don't tell, it's a Secret.

[He gives Alex a wide smile as he snickers to himself. Oh puns.]

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Whoa, really? Here in the City, you mean? That's so cool! Are there a lot of you guys?

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

Well, I was talking about home, but we aren't without the team here, either! Along with Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Quicksilver, Ms. Marvel, the Sentry... We've got quite a group!

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Wow! That's so--wow!

[ INTERNAL FANBOY SCREAM ]

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

I'm sure you'll keep yourself occupied collecting all the autographs!

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

No kidding!

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

So, who'll it be first, then?

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Would you mind? I haven't talked to any of the others here yet. [ 'cept Iron Man, but his mind had been on other things at the time. ]

PRIVATE

[professorlionface]

Oh, I'd be flattered! I mean, I'm hardly one of the team's bigger names, so it's a bit gratifying that you'd ask me first.

PRIVATE

[weightoftheworld]

Superheroes are cool. Doesn't matter how 'big-name' they are! [ DUH OR HOW ELSE WOULD POWER PACK BE SO COOL ]