outer_divide | video;

Entry tags:

video;

[it's automatic now; to make a call out that's meant only for a certain telepaths mind. a yell of tell me you're back. tell me you can hear me. please, before it's gone completely. his mind wiping blank in a way that only a person who spent half their lives around telepaths would know how to do

now, he turns his attention to his network device. it's different to his last one, but similar enough that he has no trouble navigating his way through it. the draw of the ship is too strong for him to leave the area yet. so when the video cuts in, the metal hull, gleaming in the sun, is all too clear]

Glory. If this is your doing, congratulations. You got me.

[his face may look familiar, but there are differences there. his hair is slightly longer, styled differently. he seems more relaxed than his other self. even his voice differs slightly. the undercurrents of german are less pronounced. but it's still clear that he's spent a lot of time speaking another language entirely. (hebrew, to those who can tell).]

We've already discussed this, so if you wouldn't mind, I have work to do.

[he adds a ping here to the few people he cares about; to hope summers, snape, caffrey. even givens gets a message sent through. but they're all bouncing back, and that leaves him...confused. annoyed. angry]

Will someone tell me what's going on here? Is this the city playing tricks again, or...

[there's some muttering under his breath then; hebrew now. if anyone listens closely enough, they may register the word ha-satan amongst it all. yes, he's talking about that satan]

I want answers. Now.

ooc; to you pesky telepaths: you're welcome to pick up on that first message. he knows how to project his thoughts well enough to make it rise above the usual surface thoughts people have. he just can't direct it to one person :|b

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I've known two, thus far - one in my own world, and one here. [It still sounds so absurd, but she's utterly serious.

Her gaze only drops for a moment.]

You've been taken from your city via interstellar travel. We don't yet know who was behind it, or what their motives were. Only that they can cross space, time, and reality itself.

[the idea of alternate versions and other worlds came as enough of a shock when he first arrived in bete noire. but now, he doesn't question it. he's seen it with his own eyes, time and time again.]

I'm the third then. [a pause and-] Your name?

Yes.

[She hesitates, just for a moment.]

Jocelyn Xavier.

[he raises an eyebrow at that. charles had never mentioned a relative by that name, so he already has an idea of just what it could mean.]

Well then, Jocelyn Xavier, I don't suppose you could tell me where I can find Glory? Or perhaps just what this place has to do with Bete Noire?

[Her lips quirk, just slightly.]

I'm afraid not, no. Bete Noire was your last residence, I take it?

Not by choice.

[though there were at least a few months spent there that he's still grateful for having experienced. ones that revolved around the other people that'd found themselves trapped in the city.]

So this is similar then. We're trapped in a land that exists as a nexus between worlds, and I assume it doesn't include the option of a return ticket home?

We're trapped on a planet, actually. I couldn't tell you which universe we're actually in, or where precisely in that universe we are.

[A slight shake of her head; the frustration had been entirely overshadowed, in the last few days, but there's more than a hint of it now. She may have decided to help, but that hardly means she enjoys knowing so little, or being abducted in the first place.]

I assume, if we could repair the ship, we could use it to return home - but we don't have the knowledge or the means.

[he looks away from the screen, attention on the ship for a few moments. repairing the hull would be easy enough, but beyond that, he knows he wouldn't be much use. this kind of technology is beyond him.]

What do I need to know beyond that? How many other people are there here?

At my last count, there were thirty people from the ship - and one who crashed his own - though there are many more in the pods. There are native inhabitants in the nearest city, as well, but I don't have a clear count. [Her expression darkens; out of sight, her hands tense, fingers curling tight around her wheels.] And we've lost people, recently.

[She takes a breath, relaxes her fingers.] We've landed in the midst of a fairly brutal conflict, and we seem to be aggravating it.

Another conflict.

[as long as it doesn't involve dealing with beings like satan again, it can be managed. he's fought enough wars in his life already that he's more than prepared to get through another one.]

Who's involved and what are they after?

[That draws a wry, bleak smile.] Isn't there always?

There's another city, surrounded by a great dome. It's policed by the Outer Authorities, who didn't take kindly to our disruption.

Those in the outside world are simply trying to rebuild; there was, I believe, some catastrophic struggle in recent history. The Authorities don't want them to get very far.

[this all sounds far too familiar. but instead of focusing on that, he needs to get the details.]

And I take it we have no idea why the Authorities don't want those out here to rebuild?

[She shakes her head.] We know very little about them at all.

[Another smile, slight and rueful.] The masks they wear block telepathy. [Which is probably for the best now, really. She's still not entirely sure what she'll do, when she sees one next.

Shepard's gun is still strapped to her thigh. Sometimes, she could almost swear she feels the weight of it.]

[now this is definitely more his area of expertise. he has his own way of blocking telepathy, and he knows that various different governments have been attempting the same. for a brief moment there's a thought of that supposed cure that crosses his mind, but it's gone moments later.]

Listen in.

[because this time he's not going to get caught off-guard. but this isn't a conversation to have on a public channel. not until he's worked out how to apply those old locks to this network.]

[She can't help but smile at the invitation, just slightly.

And her mind reaches across the distance to brush his, as gently as she can. She's trying not to let her emotions bleed through, but the raw ache of the past few days lends a ragged edge to her thoughts, and there's just a glimpse of loss-hope-fear.]

I'm listening.

[those walls are still there; an effort he knows would be wasted if she pushed hard enough, but a warning regardless. there are certain memories he doesn't plan on sharing again.]

Has anyone attempted to capture one of the Authorities yet? [considering he's already spoken to three versions of the same telepath, without those helmets it should be easy enough to gain information from them.]

[She respects those boundaries, makes no attempts to push or bend them.]

Not that I'm aware of. We do have someone from the dome - a refugee of sorts - but he's not in very good health.

Then perhaps it's time to move on to more...invasive measures.

[if they can manage to get ahold of one of the authorities, then it shouldn't be a problem at all. and if they've already gotten someone from inside-]

Have you spoken to this 'refugee'?

...Perhaps, yes.

[Lenity vies with fury, pacifism with pragmatism.]

I haven't personally, no; he escaped shortly after I arrived. You may want to ask Charles.

Then it may be time to rectify that.

[there's a hint of longing buried beneath his attempts at indifference as he adds-]

Which Charles? [two versions of the telepath- three, if his hunch is right -and none of them his.]

...Which -

[She pulls back a bit, casting her mind wide - and yes, she can sense him, another Charles. She doesn't touch his mind, after the confirmation; she can introduce herself properly later.]

I had thought there were only two of us.

I'm on my way to get him.

[because whatever the version, he can't abandon him when he needs help.]

Are there any safe places to take him?

[A rush of warmth and fondness, immediately pulled back again.]

We're staying outside the city.

[If he accepts it, she'll show him a secluded route from the ship.]

[there's a pause as he weighs up his options. from the conversations they've already had, he knows that charles will need a kind of help that he's entirely incapable of providing. but at the same time, he doesn't want to leave the other man behind to go off elsewhere.]

I'll bring him to you if he agrees.

[A physical nod, a faint feeling of acquiescence.]

If he doesn't, there's a building in the Old City called the Flop, set aside for people from the ship.

[Hesitance, leaden with guilt and sharp with worry.]

I don't know how safe traversing the city would be for you, however.

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