"..." sigh "Sure.
Back... on the other side? Back home? Whatever. I was a voidcraft pilot- oh, ah, has anyone let you know we've started colonizing the sol system? Mars gets greener every decade.
Anyway, working on a voidcraft, you need to know how to work with and be able to fix all the equipment on board, even if it's not technically your job. Even aside from that, I've always enjoyed figuring out new developments. So I'm not really a specialist in anything if it's not related to a voidcraft, but I should be able to help to some degree with everything."
[processing, processing]
“Wait, did you say they’re from different realities?!”
+1
+1
With a sigh, you lay your head on Carlisle's shoulder. It feels awkward as hell, but you were told that favors were how you got shit done here, and posing for a manga artist seems relatively innocuous. If moderately degrading.
"I'm having second thoug-"Layli takes the shot.
"Way too late for regrets now, big guy," she says, fullscreening the image she just captured on her expanded phone.
"Nice. That's definitely my wallpaper for a while.""Anywho, yeah, other realities. Otherwhen refers to realities that are primarily displaced in time, Otherwheres are realities that are primarily displaced in terms of events within a time. So, every Otherwhen and Otherwhere is an alternate reality, but it's not necessarily try in reverse." She shrugs, dispelling her phone.
"The finer details are something you'll have to see Sirrin for, but the basic gist of is that settlements seem 'grouped' in terms of who arrives by a relatively similar subset of 'when' and 'where'. So, for the most part, you'll meet people here who share a world that's mostly like yours, who died sometime relatively proximate to you -- though they may have died before or after you. Again, Sirrin's got the whole thing mapped out as best we know how.""Honest to whatever God is still left, you could not have made me happier. Self-taught and inquisitive beats the shit out of the best academy doctorates in this place. Years of the finest lectures means jack when you're facing something that was designed in a reality that's just a teensy-tinsy bit off. The rules usually play the same way, but the fine print is always in a whole new language." She glances over at Carlisle, her entire demeanor shifting into something entirely more serious.
"How long do I have him for?"Carlisle is still rubbing his neck, bearing the expression of a man who may have just made a grave tactical error.
"I'd hoped to get him in a home tonight. We've got shadows in twenty, and a night of sleep-"Which he doesn't need to waste time with," Layli interrupts.
"is a good way to start processing everything that's happened and get started on normal footing." Carlisle finishes, unfazed.
"You can show him the ropes of the project tonight, half an hour, and then I can get him settled."Layli snorts and crosses her arms.
"Half an hour? Not nearly enough to even begin to get him settled. I might be able to finish introductions to the current team in half an hour." Layli looks at you, eyes intent.
"C'mon, best way through a bad situation is hard work, right?""And then what? After you've gotten him interested and he's worked for fifty hours straight because he no longer feels tired, needs to eat, needs to sleep, needs to piss, after he suddenly has the crashing realization that everything has changed, then where does he go?" Carlisle's tone at the end is closest you've heard him to sounding actually annoyed with Layli.
"People have needs. Work is a delaying mechanism so you don't have to cope with those needs. If you want 'new guy' to last long enough for you to think of him as something other than 'new guy', he needs a place to have as home.""Wow, nice, do you have Amystis' panties to go along with the speech notes you stole? Or are those still a bit big for you to fill?"There's a sudden chill in the air that has nothing to do with the server room below. Carlisle's jaw is set, and his red eyes are flat and hard. His good nature, festive overshirt, and casual demeanor had, momentarily, made you see completely past the fact that he was a seven foot tall orc with the build of a heavy-weight boxer and wearing modern SWAT armor. Now, even though he's technically at your side, you can't help but consciously feel just how easy it would be for him to literally crush you.
Layli's expression is at first triumphan derision, but that wilts away under Carlisle's continued stare.
"Uh. I mean, it's not like we don't have bunks here that he could use..."Carlisle doesn't blink, red eyes burning into Layli like embers.
Layli takes a step back, her bob ruffling as she looks away and itches the back of her head.
"I... Sorry, Carlisle, I didn't mean it like that. I just feel like it was Sarill who wanted to come here, and so whisking him away again isn't really doing him any favors. He stays here for a bit, he at least gets a chance to decompress and normalize around people. People who are, or were, like him. You get it?"It's a long, slow minute before Carlisle jaw unclenches.
"Accepted, and I take your point." The orc exhales, long and slow, turning his attention to you.
"What's your take? I can leave you here for a few hours, run a few errands, and then find you a place to get make your own. I'd intended to go while there was still some natural light, let you find a place, and leave you to a mostly normal evening, but we're well enough lit that can be done after dark." 
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Topic: [SG] Arisen (Read 5602 times)