outer_divide | [Audio]

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What the hell happened back there?

[Even without any video feed to give an idea of her expression, Ashley's obviously agitated, and three days in what is apparently an entirely new timestream hasn't done anything to help things make sense.]

Not the basics - I get it. Most of you were off time traveling. But where? How scattered were we all? What started it? Did everyone make it back, or are we still missing people?

[She already knows "back in one piece" is too much to ask for.]

I don't know about anyone else, but I really don't want to be caught with my pants down next time.

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[At his desk in the Outer Authorities' offices-- ironic, that-- Lyall goes for a slightly distracted-sounding reply while he jots down notes.]

As far as I've been able to gather from people, there were at least four groups-- one from the time when the domes were just in the planning stages during the war with Antiqua, one from even earlier than that before the war, one from the far future as Commander Shepard just said, and one from the ship itself before it crashed. There were I believe twelve of us in the wartime version of Hyperion, and I know at least one hasn't made it back. She vanished sometime before we were pulled back here.

[Details. He likes them, and he did at least try to keep tabs on the rest of the group from his timeline.]

As for what caused it-- I haven't the foggiest. If anyone does, I would love to hear about it. I can't figure anything that might serve as a warning for it happening again, either, except I suppose to pay attention to the ship.

[He also likes to talk. He's done now, though, he promises.]

Who? And what circumstances did she disappear under?

[Does she sound suspicious? Hell yes.]

Natasha Romanoff, and I am under the impression she was captured by the local authorities. Either that, or she abandoned us. I couldn't track her scent very far-- I didn't know her very well, I'm afraid, and had very little to work with for knowing where she might have hidden.

We did lose two people since, under much more certain circumstances, but they returned to this timeline without any trouble, it seems.

If she abandoned you, there's no reason she shouldn't have shown back up with the rest of us. I get the feeling the radius of whatever happened is a lot further than anyone could get on foot.

Agreed. Whatever pulled us into that place-that-wasn't even pulled in my aethographer-- this thing I am speaking to you on, the communicator from the ship. I didn't even have it on me at the time, it was downstairs in my room.

So. Either she did not make it back, or she made it back and into her pod again. Someone perhaps ought to make a list of who is missing and go check the ship for them.

Tall order. If no one knows where their pod's supposed to be, there are thousands to check. You'd need a whole team.

[And it's the last that she sounds dubious on - the people from the ship aren't really all that great at working together, in her opinion.]

Their friends might know. I do believe in Miss Romanoff's case, there are several people here from her version of Earth. But you're right, in general, it would be quite an undertaking.

There are people set to work on the ship itself, though, in this time. Perhaps a deal could be worked out with them.

Mostly the same people who were working on it in the first place. I'm pretty sure they have more important things to do than canvas the pods.

[Like make sure they don't all go involuntarily time traveling again. She hopes.]

Maybe there's a way to trace them with the communicators instead. You said yours got pulled back with you - if theirs are here, it stands to reason they're here, too.

I'm not sure. I believe they may deactivate... though if they have been modified ahead of time to produce some kind of signal, I suppose it might be possible. On the other hand, it... hmm. It may be possible to track them by scent. I'm not entirely sure how air-tight those pods are. I haven't admittedly spent much time on the ship, much less poking around the pods.

Actually air-tight. Cryo pods need to be - they won't work without a completely controlled environment. That ship might be something out of science fiction, but I don't think they could change that.

Ah. Then I imagine I won't be of much use, after all.

[A little disappointing, but then, he really isn't that surprised, either. He hasn't been particularly useful in regards to that ship, in general, aside from that one lack-of-breathing thing.]

Perhaps your idea of tracking is the better one. Do you have some means of picking out the individual signals?

Me? No. I get the principles behind it - we use that sort of tech at home - but my omni-tool won't talk to the network, and I'm not one of nature's tech geeks. But we have a whole pack of them up at the ship. One of them could probably help.

Someone had best get them on the job, then. I suppose I can stop off by the ship in the morning and see who is at work and available, if you aren't in the area.

[Since he's apparently spending the better part of his time here in the Old City, already.]

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