[Video + Action] | Sunday morning

[professorwolf]

[Lyall's showing his face again, this morning, before he heads off back to the Old City for the work-week. The background is the common room of the Flop, just inside. He clears his throat, almost as if he isn't entirely sure how to begin, but he manages well enough.]

I was thinking that some of us have lost track of our numbers. We keep appearing and disappearing, returning to pods or vanishing off on adventures. I was hoping that perhaps we could get a headcount.

[He holds up a clipboard.]

Or rather, I could, and I'd share it with the network as a whole, since I'm doing the work as it is. In a more electronic form, I assure you, this--

[He taps the clipboard, then sets it down again.]

--is just for myself. I am a bit old-fashioned still, I fear. If everyone still about could check in, I would appreciate it. I'm in the lobby of the Flop, if anyone would prefer to come calling rather than speak here. I'll be here until sundown, though I may be back after a day or two, as well.

Thank you, everyone.

[And he signs off, waiting for, he hopes, people to give him a buzz. He hopes. He's not too sure about all this, but he's giving it a shot.]

Comments

[ourlastbesthope]

Has anyone ever done something like that before?

[Video]

[frostedoverland]

I'm still here. Between you and Akito, I don't think I'll be able to go anywhere without letting you guys know I'm still here.

[He's being good-natured about it though]

text;

[akito]

I'm still here.

[cantcatchme]

I'm back. Just took a little vacation on the ship, apparently.

[Video]

[professorwolf]

Try to keep track of everyone, or make a list of us specifically? There may well have been a list, but if there was, it was lost in the recent changes in the timeline.

So I imagine it is probably time we make an effort. And who might you be? I believe I missed your appearance. My name is Randolph Lyall, of London, England, from eighteen seventy-five.

[Video]

[professorwolf]

And yet, sometimes we have no choice on the matter.

[He sounds resigned, but understanding, in Jack's case.]

It is good to see you, though, Jack.

[Text, though the video is still rolling]

[professorwolf]

Akito, wasn't it? It's good to hear from you. I'll mark you down, shall I?

[He still can't see this one, though he'd like to. If only wishing was enough, right? Akito needs to do some magic in front of him, or something.]

[Video]

[professorwolf]

Rather like I did. Though yours was a tad longer, wasn't it?

[He recognizes the boy, but only vaguely. They hadn't interacted much. He does have to wrack his brain for a name, though.]

[Video]

[frostedoverland]

I know.

Yeah, you too. Been awhile, hasn't it? What have you been up to?

[Video]

[professorwolf]

Sleeping on the ship for a week, apparently.

[He looks a bit sheepish, at that. After all, it wasn't his idea.]

But mostly working and hunting, I suppose. I spend the workweek in the Old City, though I'm starting to think that may not have been the best plan.

[heartofasun]

I'm here, unless I'm not really here, which is a possibility.

[text]

[akito]

Yes! I'm Akito :)

[ he really does. :|a ]

Re: [Video]

[ourlastbesthope]

It just seems intuitive.

And I'm Robert Capa. From...two thousand fifty seven.

Re: [Video]

[cantcatchme]

Last time I was here, the Authorities still wanted all our heads on stakes. Or in those collars.

[unofficial_ambassador]

Have there always been a rash of disappearances all at once like this, or is this new since the timeline change?

[Video]

[professorwolf]

Things were much less organized and modern, in the last incarnation of this place.

[He doesn't seem particularly surprised at the year.]

I dare say you'll fit in better than I have. There are several people here from even further in my version of Earth's future. How long have you been with us?

[Text]

[professorwolf]

Excellent. Though what is that mixture of punctuation you added to the end, there? If you don't mind my asking.

[Emoticons are still very new to him. So, in fact, are smiley faces. That's a little after his time.]

[Video]

[professorwolf]

It has been a while, then. Did you still have anything here, from the last time? Most of us came back to find our "other selves", as it were, had whole lives to return to.

[professorwolf]

I am fairly certain you are here, madam. I can see you and hear you, at any rate. If you came by the Flop, I could probably even smell you to assure you of your presence.

[He's somewhere between curious and amused. He can imagine the philosophical thoughts behind her statement, but it seems unnecessarily deep for a simple headcount reply.]

[professorwolf]

No, this has happened before, though not generally with more than a couple at a time. And not often, I admit, with us waking back up again in such short order.

Though not all of us seem to have woken up.

I'm not certain we have actually been introduced. I am Randolph Lyall, of London, England, eighteen seventy-five. On Earth, if that requires clarification.

[unofficial_ambassador]

Inara Serra, citizen of the Union of Allied Planets, twenty-five seventeen. It's a pleasure.

Do you remember what happened?

[Video]

[ourlastbesthope]

I hope so. And I've only been here a week or so. I don't keep track of the time here.

[heartofasun]

Oh, I know you can! But you might not be real. See?

[Trance braced herself for the man not understanding. Most thought she was crazy, although she supposed from their point of view, she was.]

[Video]

[professorwolf]

I assume you have not found employment yet, then. What is it that you do, in your own universe and time, Mr. Capa?

[professorwolf]

So either of us might not be real, is your concern? It seems that thoughts of that nature would only lead one in circles, and encourage one to never do anything it all. Would it not be simpler to simply assume we are all here and act accordingly?

[He appreciates philosophy in theory, but as a practical matter, it tends to just confuse things. He is above all practical, after all.]