an arrival | action

[cuteandquarky]

1 | Farm

[Jade isn't sure what she was expecting from the new universe, but pumpkins were not it. The underwater dome is also kind of a shock. What's bothering her more than any of that, though, is that she appears to be alone. Again.

Jade extracts herself from the pumpkin patch and begins to poke around. Things feel weird here - she can't feel out everything with her space powers like she used to, or at least not the to same extent. She can feel out most of the farm area, but beyond that... nothing. Is this what it means to be out of the Medium, finally? She begins to float around idly, taking everything in. There's a lot of different kinds of plants here, so at least she doesn't need to worry about starving. But who set all of this up?

Jade cups her hands around her mouth and calls out:]

Hello? Is anybody here? I like your plants!

2 | Base

[Eventually, Jade finds her way to the base through use of the underground tunnel and a little bit of teleportation along the way. She's a little tired after all of that, but her curiosity far outweighs any exhaustion.

Anybody who happens across her will find a teenage girl with fluffy white dog ears floating a couple of inches above the ground, her "Fun Survival Pack" clutched to her chest, mumbling and unended stream of questions to herself as she takes everything in. She may not be entirely paying attention to where she's going.]

How did all of this end up in the new universe? Is this just Sburb trying to give us a headstart in colonizing the new world? Why is there all this water here? And what happened to- oof!

[Guess who just floated into a wall. Maybe offer the new girl some help?]

Comments

[cuteandquarky]

I guess it is my first time! Though I think it is also my first time just being in this universe in general. Are there places other than the farm to go to?

[She looks up at the dome surrounding the farm, then back at Al.]

Also, is everything under a dome like this?

[armoured]

I don't think I'm the best person to ask, sorry. I've only been here for about an hour myself, this is the first place I came to explore.

[He's so apologetic, he hates not being able to be helpful.]

You're taking this really well...

[cuteandquarky]

I don't see what there is to take badly. It's a little weird that everything's underwater, I guess, but it's nice that there are all these fresh fruits and vegetables here. I was worried we'd have to alchemize all of those ourselves.

[Jade shrugs. If nothing else, it seems kind of peaceful here, which is a big step up from where she'd come from.]

And it's nice to meet somebody else who's new here! Maybe we can explore together.

[armoured]

[He has nothing against exploring together, he'll actually be glad for the company, but he's sort of stuck on her reaction for now.]

You really mean that? You don't see what there is to take badly about suddenly being on a different planet underwater?!

[IS HE THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES HOW INSANE THAT IS?]

[cuteandquarky]

Of course I'd end up on a different planet - that's the whole point of going through the door! I guess the water is a bit of a surprise, but the earth from the scratched universe got flooded, so it does not seem that far-fetched.

[She shrugs. Really, this all seems pretty standard to her!]

[armoured]

What door?

[It's such a minimal question when compared to all the things he wants to ask, but it's the important one. He feels cold all of a sudden, ready for her to describe the Gate of Truth.]

[cuteandquarky]

The... door at the end of the game?

[Jade isn't sure if there's a better way to describe it. There's probably some fancy game term for it, but fancy game terms had lost their flair a while ago.]

It was a little white door that showed up in the middle of the house logo. John opened it up, and we all went through, and then I ended up here. I assume it's the new universe we made together!

[armoured]

[Okay, definitely not the Gate of Truth.

But that doesn't mean she's making any sort of sense right now.]

You mean you created this place? It's some kind of game? That doesn't make any sense, how would I be here if it wasn't real?

[cuteandquarky]

Oh, no, it's entirely real! SBURB is a lot more than a game, I guess. It's... very hard to describe.

[Jade takes a moment to process what he said. So he's also new here, which means he isn't a local... but he doesn't seem to know about the game either. That doesn't seem quite right. Surely it would be one or the other?]

How did you get here?

[armoured]

I'm still not entirely sure.

[He is.

He knows it's something that went wrong with the Gate of Truth, he knows Father was likely involved, but these aren't things he can tell to a stranger.]

I know it's not a game, though, and I've never heard of surberb?

[That's what it sounded like to him.]

[cuteandquarky]

[If he doesn't know about Sburb, then he has to be a local, right? Jade decides to operate under that assumption for the time being. Maybe their arrival in the new universe caused some sort of temporal-spatial distortion that displaced the locals. She still needs to develop more evidence for that theory, first.]

You're not sure? Well, what's the last thing you remember before coming here? Was anything weird going on?

[armoured]

[That's a very loaded question, and for once he's quite glad of the helmet because it means the discomfort can't be read on his expression.]

Yeah, but I'm not the only one. I've spoken to others who are trapped here, and they've all said that they came from different places and aren't quite sure how they ended up here. Nobody else has mentioned a game, though?

[cuteandquarky]

[Jade cocks her head to the side slightly. He isn't giving her details for some reason, which is frustrating to her more scientific side. If she had more data, maybe she could figure it out! But if he doesn't want to share, then Jade isn't going to force it out of him either. Data's not so important that she would risk getting a potential friendship off on the wrong foot for it.]

Hm... Really weird! There must be some kind of teleportation mechanic behind it then, right?

[armoured]

Of course, or how else would we all be here?

[And don't say a game! It's not a game!]

But everyone seems to have a different story for how they got here... or, at least, the people I've spoken to so far do.

[cuteandquarky]

Hm... Maybe there were weaknesses in spacetime during the points that people came from, and something about this base is acting as like... a big spacetime black hole that's sucking everybody in?

[She definitely thinks it's because of SBurb, but she's going to let that bit rest for now.]

I have never seen something like that before, but it seems like a solid working theory to me! At least until we can get more information.

[armoured]

I think it has something to do with travel. Everyone was trying to get from one place to another, even if it was just, uh, through a door. But everyone ended up here instead... maybe the answer is in there somewhere?

[He has no idea, basically.]

I had no idea anything like this was even possible until a couple of hours ago.

[cuteandquarky]

Hm.... so doors are a common theme? That is very interesting! Maybe it serves as some kind of marker that spacetime inconsistencies can latch onto. Or...

[She trails off, remembering the few times she had encountered the dream bubbles. She doesn't want to consider the possibility that they're all dead, though.]

Well, I guess we'll just have to do more research and collect more data! That's how science is done, after all.

[armoured]

Right.

[That's a good plan, latch onto this from a scientific point of view, it's definitely one that Al can get behind and a thread of enthusiasm worms its way into his voice.]

I think we should probably start by talking to as many people as we find and figure out how they all got here, how long they've been here, and anything else weird they've noticed. We can collate data after that.

[cuteandquarky]

That sounds like a great idea!

[Jade ponders for a moment.]

Do you think we should send out surveys? That would make it very easy to standardize the data we get! I have not done any social science, but I am pretty sure that's how it works, right?

[armoured]

That's actually not a bad idea at all.

[Yeah! Go team!]

Here, I've got this thing that lets me talk to everyone. I don't really understand it yet, but we could probably send something out that way.

[cuteandquarky]

[Jade peers over at said thing. She doesn't recognize the technology offhand, but she's at least familiar with the concept of computers and sci fi gadgets.]

Oh, does that have an Internet connection? That would be perfect! We just need to draft something up first. We can't send out a biased survey, after all!

[armoured]

Uh... what's the internet?

[He was shown how to use it (sort of) by a very friendly geek squad helper, but he has no idea what most of it is.]

[cuteandquarky]

[Wow, not knowing what the internet is! The idea almost boggles Jade, but she tries to take it in stride.]

It's a network that connects computers and phones and things together. Anybody can look at or read something on the Internet if they are connected and know where it is, and you can also instantly send messages, pictures, and videos to other people.

[armoured]

That sounds amazing. We have telephones where I'm from that let you talk to someone else instantly, but that's it. You can't share information immediately, you have to use a telegram or send a letter for that.

[Also, all his telephones are wired.]

And you think the internet is here on this thing?

[cuteandquarky]

Oh, it sounds like you must have older technology, wherever you're from! That's so cool! It must be like you stepped right into the future.

[Granted, Jade's original time period wasn't this high-tech either, but being able to make crazy gadgets via game mechanics is enough to skew ones sense of "feasible technology."]

Anyways, I am very certain that the Internet is on there. Or at least something very similar! They may have picked a different name for it here. Like.... the Connecti-web?

[She does a little giggle-snort at her own name. How silly!]