Perhaps you felt a rumble beneath your feet, a sensation of what you were standing upon giving way underneath you as something
pulled you in and away from what it was you were doing. Or, perhaps it was simply a gentle tap on your shoulder before you had the same tugging sensation from behind your navel. No matter which it was; there is one other constant:
lp...A quiet rustle of the wind, wherever it is coming from as it hits your face.
help... u...The earth grumbling beneath you resounds with something unintelligible. Of course; it's the earth. Dirt can't speak, after all. Yet it won't stop, nor does the wind. All you wanted to do was sleep...
Yet suddenly it stops, and as you begin to stir, you begin to feel the crisp wind still seems to be picking up, yet as it settles, it's almost as if it whispers something to your ear.
'elp... u... sh....Before you can make sense of it, it is gone; and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It looks like...a plaza of some sort? As they look around them, the ground beneath them is an intricate mosaic - a water fountain at the center of the plaza in this foreign world. There are many buildings around its perimeter, making this location seem like a central hub of whatever town this was. Some may even recognize the peculiar design of the buildings and sloped tiled rooftops as a Far Eastern theme. Were they somewhere along the Pacific? Who knows! But what is quite apparent is this: Along with the many buildings surrounding the plaza, the first thing that is noticeable is the amount of people sitting or standing around you in a similar daze.
You are not alone...One building seems to stand out among all the others; one that seems large enough to house all of the completely lost and confused masses gathered here to the welcome plaza. A sign outside the door reads:
WELCOME CENTER
Newcomers: Please come inside for refreshments and your welcome packets!Odd... This wasn't written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't enter on your own, someone comes from inside the double doors to usher you and everyone else inside.
"Welcome to
Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused as to where you are and what's going on, but we promise to explain this to you once we're inside and away from this windstorm!"
Whether you go inside immediately or linger outside a little longer, eventually you must come in from the slight autumn chill, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. ...What
was that shadow from the corner of your vision?
You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. On the wall opposite are a pair of desks, each with a sign and a person seated behind them -
Irene, General AssistanceDevin, Technological AssistanceMai, Medical AssistanceUnlike a few waves before, the only people in charge seem to be the people behind the desks. They look a bit busy.
However, before you can go over and give them a piece of your mind and ask questions, the same person who ushered you inside hands you a manilla envelope that contains your welcome packet, urging you to read this before asking the two figures questions that the packet likely answers.
Inside it, you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a
map and informational guide to the city, and a letter folded neatly on the top -
Welcome to Saeng Seong!
You are among a new group of arrivals to our city, from many far-apart worlds.
We have gathered you here because our city is in a crisis, and we are at our last resorts. The energy of the city is in a slow downward spiral, and is dangerously close to expiring altogether.
That's where you come in - you and everyone else we've brought to the city. Unlike those of us here, you have the potential to generate the energy the city needs, but you'll need to work together to do it.
Why? Because the energy can only be generated when two people touch each other. Any touch will do, but it must be between two of you who are new to the city. If you don't keep in contact with someone, eventually your energy will begin to drain as well, making you dangerously ill.
A few other things:
The closed-off sections of the city are closed off for a reason; approaching them will cause your energy to drain very rapidly. We're working to open the rest of the city to you as soon as we can, but for now, please remain within the four districts in the south and west parts of the city
You have been given a key to a one-bedroom apartment in a complex set aside for you and the other new arrivals, near the riverside in the 1st district. You're free to change your living quarters whenever you like, and we encourage you to move in with someone in one of the larger apartments. When you want to change, just come back to this building to exchange your key.
We've also included a cash card with a living stipend; if you're unfamiliar with this system, or the network established for new arrivals, you can talk to Devin in the lobby for help. It's what he's here for. If you need medical assistance, contact Mai, one of our newest and brightest doctors.
Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help.
Irene
Arrival Liaison
Back behind you, others still linger, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street in the blistering summer day:
WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG
(ENJOY YOUR STAY!)![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rekindlemods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rekindleme2013-10-18 07:17 pm
no subject
Even Looma's resigned herself to the fate. Somewhat. She just has the unusual caveat that once the city's fixed and she's free to leave, she's going to destroy every last one of them and burn the city to the ground. Then possibly bombard the ashes from orbit with her father's personal fleet. The princess carries grudges easily.
"I am from Khoros. Have you heard of it?"
She wouldn't be terribly surprised if he hadn't-- humans, if he was one, were hardly known for the attention they gave to the intergalactic community. Or their awareness that such a thing even existed in the first place. Even if Conner was a little...unusual, it would be far stranger if the name was recognized.
no subject
No one has any choice in the matter? Not if Conner has a say (which he doesn't, but he doesn't know that quite yet). He's pig-headed and he knows it, but his sheer obstinacy is not a trait he's willing to relinquish.
"No. Can't say I have."
In all honesty, his intergalactic knowledge is mostly limited to the planets within his solar system and Krypton.
"Where is this place? What solar system? Alternate dimension?"
no subject
Which was true enough-- even the known races in the intergalactic community could produce a threat every once in a while. It was prudent not to give anyone a place to go first, no matter how confident you were in your ability to repel a foreign threat.
"Satisfy yourself with the knowledge that it is very, very far from your planet. Without my ship however, I do not know how far it is from this one."
no subject
"So we are on a foreign planet, then?"
Somehow, the idea that he might be on a different planet rather than a different, magical plane of existence is comforting to him.
no subject
Or a recognizable race besides humans, but then again, outside of Undertown Looma wasn't quite so sure of how spread out her fellow aliens were. Or where to even start looking for them. One thing that was for certain however, was that none of them were here.
"But sadly, that is not the case. And the local beings are somehow immune from physical harm, so I have no means of sending a distress signal. Otherwise this city would have been burned to the ground months ago, and I would be back in my rightful place in the universe."
She's...oddly cheerful about that, given the subject matter.
no subject
Two moons. Krypton had two moons. But he banishes the thought before it can fully form because he knows he is not on a planet that should no longer exist. Right? Right. The sun isn't red.
At her statement regarding the reaction of the locals as compared to what they would be on Earth, he frowns. Superman and the Martian Manhunter didn't inspire panic, besides a few paranoid fans of G. Gordon Godfrey. Of course, there hasn't been a mass invasion yet in Conner's version of the world. He doesn't like the idea of the people of Earth being xenophobic, especially since he and M'gann would be targets of xenophobia.
The rest of her speech? Well, it smacks of "supervillain" and he doesn't quite like that.
"Just the citizens of this...Saeng Seong? What about imports, like you and me?" Pause. "Is genocide something you're into?"
no subject
So, the good news was, Looma was incredibly prone to violence, but not necessarily blindly so. While she was (and still is) willing to entertain ideas of vengeance on every last resident of the city, her fellow abductees were the exception.
"Genocide, no. We Tetramands are warriors, yes, but we are not savages."
Sure, they may attack the neighbors every once in a while, and even let a conflict spill over into the neighboring system every so often. But they weren't just running around conquering worlds willy-nilly or trying to set up a galactic empire like the Incurseans were. There were rules at play. And one of those rules said if you or your family had been insulted, the best way to deal with that was through force. Usually of the excessive variety, just to make sure it didn't happen again.
"But make no mistake, Earthling. The locals are all complicit in this, and deserve to be punished accordingly. If not directly, then they have at least refused to aid us in escaping from this accursed excuse for a prison. Besides, anyone foolish enough to kidnap a Tetramand princess deserves to be dealt with so harshly that no one would ever be foolish enough to make that same mistake again!"
Juuust in case Superboy doesn't quite get the message, the fact Looma's clenching one of her fists hard enough that it seems entirely possible she's trying to crush a bit of coal into diamond suggests she might be implying that some savage beatings are in order for all involved. Once she figures out how to hurt them, anyway.
no subject
He's not going to share that with Looma, though.
His eyes fall to her fist. The one thing in her speech he chooses to reply to, though, is: "I'm not an Earthling. I mean, I'm from Earth, technically. But I'm not human. Call me Superboy."
And not by the name of my planet is implied.