exsilium | video;

[There's a certain dog snuffling at the communicator when it turns on. In fact, his nose actually turns the device off and onto audio for several moments, the sound of his heavy breathing filling the microphone.]

Off, you lush. I need that.

[The mic is covered by something - fabric, actually, in an attempt to clean off the device - and then it switches back to video. A woman with red hair can be seen looking over the communicator critically, looking for scratches and cracks. The dog is gone and she settles back. It's easy from this angle to see the Warden-Commander's crest on her armor, even if it's partly covered by a curtain of hair.]

I wish to speak to whomever's in charge of bringing recruits here. They have no authority to conscript a Warden in any way, not without first making an appeal to Weisshaupt. If I cannot have an audience with the leader of this outpost - [or whatever it is] - then I would speak with anyone else who carries a position of authority.

[She knows her stuff, clearly. She frowns into the camera, tapping it once. She sighs, glancing at her dog. The commanding aura nearly vanishes, replaced by exasperation.]

...I'm speaking to myself, aren't I?

[Elissa glances back to the device, fussing with it once more. It turns off.]

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[He barks excitedly at the device.]

Oh, don't. Now he's going to bask in your compliments and preen.

[She shakes her head.]

Well, it could be worse, though I imagine it will be when we're called to fight.

Everyone deserves a little of praise and the right to preen. Isn't that right, boy? [She's in love.]

We've been called on a mission recently, but I wouldn't... Call it a fight. Fighting was involved but it wasn't like a regular battle. [For other people, at least. When you bust out of a military prison...]

Right, where are my manners. I'm Commander Shepard.

[He's totally smitten. She sighs and lets Shepard get a good look at the dog, who is now bounding around playfully and wagging his big butt and small tail.]

Elissa Cousland, Warden-Commander of Vigil's Keep.

[She'll skip the other titles. She hates them.]

What was it like, then?

[She's so amused by his antics. It's almost like Legion. If... Legion wiggled around a lot. And barked.]

Nice to meet you, Cousland. Especially a fellow commander at that.

[Titles, fft.]

We were sent on a mission to make sure a man wrote an article on time travel. Most of us got a little turned around, ended up lost in time. It was more like a survival training practice.

[Excellent. No titles.]

That's... How is that even possible? It's not magic that causes all of it, is it?

[Ugh, technology. She's not going to get used to this.]

No one was harmed in the process, correct?

[Now that's... something that gives Shepard pause. She's seen crazy, impossible things back home, but not time travel.]

Despite how it looks, this place is a lot more technologically developed than even some of the races I know back home. [A long pause and then a laugh.] Not that you understood a word of what I just said. It's not magic, but technology. Science.

[She's about to shake her head when she stops, shrugs.] Depends on how you define "harm".

[She laughs as well, even at her own ignorance on the matter.]

Indeed. It was only by a little prodding that I got this device to even respond properly. I'll still need to learn it, I suppose, especially if there's nothing simpler here. [She smiles.] I know very little of magic as it is, anyhow.

[Elissa watches her a moment.]

Was anyone injured? Was anyone lost?

You just need someone to show you how these things work. Nothing to it, really. I'd hate to see how you'd react to the vehicles around here. [She grins.] Magic's a strange concept.

Injured? Yeah. My team got themselves into a little bit of trouble. [Understatement.] As for lost? I don't know. I've heard mention of one person, but that could be a rumor.

Vehicles?

[Oh, this is going to be a very interesting stay. She can already tell.]

What was the rumor? I have heard of some people disappearing and returning home, but not in them losing their way.

[Okay, what did fantasy land D&D people have... Wagons?] Like carts or wagons, but made of metal.

Just that someone had lost their life, but I'm not totally for sure on that, so don't quote me. I'm pretty sure everyone can back alive.

Ah.

[She shakes her head.]

The dead can be revived here, I heard. Is this true?

So I've heard. Strange, isn't it?

Quite. I spoke with someone who claimed she perished in her own world.

[So many questions. Most of them would start with "But aren't you an abomination...?" which is NOT a good way to talk to people.]

[Shepard doesn't really say anything. She's died and been brought back in the realm of her own universe. Finally she just settles for a smirk.] They're dragging people from different times and universes. Reviving the dead seems simple enough.

[Oh, Elissa.]

[She chuckles.]

I suppose that's true. I should expect some more impossible things.

It's going to get hard to find the impossible at this rate.

I'm sure we'll manage to find something.