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!)
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rekindlemods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rekindleme2013-10-18 07:17 pm
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When the second glance doesn't make the mysterious suited man vanish, Stein blows out a stream of smoke, contemplative, and decides that the best course of action is to actually turn his head and stare back.
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Then, suddenly, the man vanishes. And reappears on Stein's other side, just as expressionless, his gaze just as keen.
It appears as though he wanted to see if that screw went all the way through Stein's head or if it was just embedded.
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"That's not very polite," he says slowly, but despite his posture and expression there's hardly any inflection in his voice.
And, for the record, that screw does indeed go all the way. So to speak.
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"Apologies. Rudeness was not my intention. Traversing small distances in this manner is preferable for avoiding the paths of others."
In other words, he teleports so he won't end up walking in front of people? Ohhhh...kay.....
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Stein reaches up and gives the screw two quick turns; as soon as he's done his expression fades back to the neutral (if slightly perturbed) expression he wore before. Almost like he considered the situation and physically dialed down his response.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just go around? I mean surely the energy required to," there's a short pause as he summons an appropriate word, "teleport, even over a short distance like from here to here," he gestures from one side of himself to the other to illustrate the point, "would be excessive compared to taking a few steps."
His tone is so flat the question barely sounds like one, but there's a keen gleam in his eyes. Apparently he's decided to treat the encounter as 'not a hallucination' and see what happens. He's seen stranger things, after all.
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They really are a little too similar.
"It is not. The difference in energy expended is negligible." He pauses for a moment to put together the words to describe a phenomenon he's been familiar with all his life. "The shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line. It is not teleportation, it is more... knowing how space can be folded, bringing the two points together."
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He grins suddenly, a sly expression on his face, and when he speaks again the apathy in his voice has been replaced with eagerness. It's quite a switch.
"There must be something special inside you to cross that barrier, I wonder what it could be."
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But if it means he's in any danger, it doesn't register to him.
"Yes. It is something my people have discovered how to do long before I was born." For a given value of 'born,' that is.
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There's no immediate danger, or at least no more danger than there ever is when something catches Stein's interest. He's not likely to break out the scalpel in a place like the room they're in, at least.
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"Why do you wish to know?"
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"Is it for your own purposes?"
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"Rather, I wish to know if you pursue the knowledge for someone else's benefit or your own."
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"That's easy, I want to know for myself!"
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...He really is going to end up being the perfect guinea pig, isn't he?
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"That's right! It's science for the sake of science!" A beat passes and Stein, with no shame whatsoever, adds as an afterthought: "Though I won't deny it is a little selfish."
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No, really, he's not. No feelings here, honest. Model Observer, this one.
So he's very much not feeling at all philosophical when he muses, "It is in the human condition to be somewhat selfish." It sounds like an outside perspective.
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There's that gleam in his eye again. Of course Stein is zooming in on that little tell.
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Nnnnot entirely the truth. Oh, not about himself, about his people.
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Well, at least he's honest.
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"You will not learn much. I am still genetically similar to humans of your time. My physiology is identical to yours."
Well, technically it is, anyway.
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He shrugs when he's done stating his case. He doesn't expect a positive response to the idea, mostly because no one ever volunteers for his experiments, whether he asks first or not. It's why he never asked first as a child, and why he usually just experiments on himself as an adult.
Not that that's stopped him from trying to jump on this opportunity, obviously. A guy can hope, right?
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The resemblance to Walter Bishop continues to grow, however, and he is moved to ask a question he'd never would have thought he'd ask a few personal timeline years ago:
"Do you know a man named Walter Bishop? You and he are... similar."
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