x. voice

[firstroar]

The reports seem to be mixed. Have those of you who have returned found yourselves safe places and warm clothing? Some have offered already; I should hope the message has reached those in need.

I'm not certain of what remaining here could be of use to you Earthside, but it can be brought when I join you. But not just yet.

[a beat.]

The people...

What are they like now?

Comments

voice.

[selfequipped]

I'm kind of wondering what they were like before.

[Kate doesn't like that time travel has apparently changed so much. In her experience, that just breeds terrible things, even if good can hypothetically come out of it.]

So far, they aren't all bad, for what's going on with them. Helpful, but that's because that's how people are.

But people keep talking about different, so I'm curious.

[firstroar]

Are you one of the new ones? Not acquainted with the citizens of Exsilium prior to this...

[selfequipped]

Yeah, pretty new. I haven't been here that long at all.

[firstroar]

[ah. hm.

a beat.]

There was a mounting tension and dislike in the city, prior to its decimation. For all that had been done, too much still left their world in ruins to forgive readily. It's not something so surprising, of course... [but even so.]

[selfequipped]

[So tension existed prior to everything. Kate has a feeling that while things are fine right now, or as fine as they'll ever be, the necessary-evil-like quality of their goals will eventually come to work against them. The tensions will return, which Kate isn't pleased about.]

So, mounting tension, it's bound to happen again, probably. I'll keep that in mind.

[firstroar]

Should these people remember us at all. Should our presence threaten their peace...and it's hard to imagine it won't.

It's hard to gauge just how much the world's development until know has shifted for all that's been done. It's something I still struggle to grasp.

[selfequipped]

Well, given that what's out there isn't exactly a desired thing, I can't imagine they're going to take too kindly to whatever changes will happen.

But there's gotta be a way to track these things better. I'm sure we could figure it out.

[firstroar]

[a soft sound.]

Beyond relying on our own memories, I'm not sure how much could stay so consistent. And even that...it's not certain.

[selfequipped]

I think the part I'm not entirely grasping is how we're not rolling with the changes. That might be part of the mechanical know-how, though. Or we just don't realize we aren't.

[firstroar]

The similarities this world shares with my own are too many for my liking...if memory alteration is in greater play than first perceived, then it would be one more facet.

It's like looking at what the world of my birth was like, perhaps, centuries ago.

[selfequipped]

[That gives her pause, because while this was already a heavy conversation, it just got heavier. Kate debates over what to say next.

She knows Nate and his future, but his future wasn't bleak. She also knows of space, of the different worlds that Noh-Varr has encountered, and of the many possibilities that the Avengers have fought to stop from coming into fruition. She's also seen the stray possibilities from the man doomed dimensions; they are haunting figures that she somehow keeps out of her nightmares. They are the result of worlds that were never meant to be. Still, they're different. They're marked in a way that is so dark and scary, and so unreal, that they don't contrast the suddenness of this conversation.

(She can't deny this. Perhaps that's it.)

So Kate takes a moment, just a moment, to piece together her answer.]

I'm sorry. [A weak beginning, but it feels more appropriate than letting it go.] It can't be easy. Either way.

But it can give us a goal. [She does find her resolve with these words. They may not be the best, but they're a start. Kate will take a start.]

[firstroar]

[it's harder to discern the intentions behind voices separated by screens and distance. for this reason and more, Blue is silent for a moment.

then,] You're right, of course. It's what helps me continue to move forward. That, and everyone here.

[selfequipped]

People are pretty amazing when they put their minds to it. It's pretty much why I was worried when I heard they really weren't putting their minds to it, so to speak, around when I got here.

I think it's good to tell people about that. [There's a pause.] About your world. It might help, anyway. You can be one to help others move forward, too. [Even if it isn't the easiest thing to hear, even with just the implications laid out.]

[firstroar]

[another prod. Collette, Jaime...this one, now. it makes Blue feel tired, though he knows he needs to be anything but now.]

If that's what I can do, I will. I've learned about a means to discovering more about our shared enemy...but I can't be the one alone to seek it out. Others... [too young. they don't deserve this.] Many of us will have to. Must...we can't continue lashing out in the dark like this.

[selfequipped]

What's the means? [She agrees that they can't go lashing out into the dark. Having no idea who they're facing is a bad thing, especially if those people are said to be bad people, but are using a front that could almost be sympathetic.] Experience tells me the dark isn't going to help us. We might hit our target, but sometimes there's more than one.

[firstroar]

[an affirmative sound, followed by a pause.]

If we find particular points in time related to the United Earth's artificial intelligence, how it came to be...we may learn something key. Key enough to dismantling it safer.

[selfequipped]

So more time traveling as the solution. I'm not a big fan of it, but it does seem to be the thing that keeps on coming back. Which is strange. Why that?

[firstroar]

Humans giving up their right to rule themselves...it's an important moment. If it's not something that can be stopped, it has to at least be understood. Altered, even, if it can be. For the sake of a better future...

[selfequipped]

Yeah. Back home, that sort of thing is usually synonymous with something named Ultron. Bad enough that everyone hears about it. He'd do this kind of thing, too, if I've got it right.

[firstroar]

Manipulating time, you mean?

[selfequipped]

No, creating a thing called the United Earth and then deciding that he needs to expand into other worlds to screw them up.

[firstroar]

[ah.]

Has he been stopped? Or does he persist?

[selfequipped]

From what I know, he gets stopped a lot. But he's capable of evolving.

[firstroar]

As opposed to computerized structure and logic. We may have an advantage in this case.

[selfequipped]

Yeah. We're sure that's the case, right? Then again, this place doesn't really seem to have a Hank Pym. [Which is both a good thing and a bad thing, not that Kate has an opinion on the matter.]