maskormenacelogs | I’ve traveled all this way for something

Entry tags:

I’ve traveled all this way for something

WHO: YOU.
WHERE: Eden East's cruiseship
WHEN: Saturday February 15th, around 5 PM EST
WHAT: Registration in motion... among other things.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; let us know if this should be edited.

" The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises -- it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not to their pocketbook -- it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security. But I tell you the new frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. "
( from jfk's speech "the new frontier," 7/15/1960. )

The sun hasn't set yet and the temperature hovers somewhere just below 70 degrees this evening; imPorts, both recently arrived and not, will have been escorted to this event so that they can meet each other, have a good time, and of course officially state their registration status. Or lack thereof. It's your decision, they emphasize, even though the unspoken "but" is always there.

It's an elaborate spread, certainly much more elegant than last time. Eden East herself, elegant in her backless champagne-colored dress, meets and greets each and every imPort as she flutters to and fro. She'll find you and chat for a few moments, shaking your hand and complimenting your dress. She'll know your name, and she'll have an entourage of aids and cameras following her wake. Captain Holiday, in contrast, maintains the energy of someone who feels out of place holding the Swear-In ceremony somewhere so extravagant. As imPorts arrive he tells them where to be for the ceremony part of the evening, but that they are free to enjoy themselves until then and after.

( Please state your character's official status -- REGISTERED or UNSETTLED -- in the subject header of your thread. Characters who are UNDECIDED may be contacted later in the week for their decision via their IC contact post. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Gil actually mulls over his question, quickly glimpsing around the room where waiters pass with drinks on trays and Eden East laughs aloud among a group of journalists. ]

Given how much they're willing to offer imPorts, I think it would be alright to ask.

Offer the imPorts that align with their ideals, of course. It would be silly if they did it the other way.

[and there's a pause, and a curious statement follows. it may be mostly to himself.]

I wonder if Stockholm Syndrome carries those variances.

[he shrugs the question away and tosses a small pastry into his mouth, as if he was just being casual about the entire imPort ordeal.]

[ He nods in agreement at first. Of course, this extravagant party is sweet and innocent on the exterior, but he knows a political ploy when he sees one. Well, sometimes. It's an attempt to soften them up to their ... whatever they're supposed to be to imPorts.

He tilts his head quizzically then. ]

Stockholm?

[ He's not familiar. ]

[this was a very obvious political ploy. something that anyone could've seen from a mile away (and probably was, he adds to his own amusement).]

It's a phrase coined by the Midgardians in response to a certain event that left those individuals sympathetic to their captors. [he's popping a truffle in his mouth, chewing. mouth full.] Generally, kidnapping is frowned upon, and then kidnapping from one universe to another to do the right thing and help someone else fulfill their duties because our absolutely awesome and gracious hosts find themselves unable? [chew chew chew. casual chew.] A tactical decision for them.

But I'd probably be best not to speak too freely on the subject here among—[he waves his hand back and forth.]—so many hungry eyes. You know how it goes, don't you? Certain questions caught under surveillance get you smacked on the head and you're put on the—oh, what's that called...? Something-something with some unpleasant toilet humor, the list edition.

["Shit list."]

Mid-guardians?

[ While the explanation is a strange one, he thinks he understands the main idea behind it. He nods to convey he's following along for the most part.

Though he has to bring up something that he isn't sold on just yet: ] The first group was saved. We ended up here by chance or by Lachesis' own doing.

... Toilet humor?

[ ... He doesn't want to know. ]

[he waves the word "toilet humor" away with a dark-nailed hand and looks at him with mild interest again.]

Lachesis? Sounds familiar.

[of course it did, it was one of those mythological story-type resonances. that's curious, isn't it?]

Does it?

[ He doesn't know anything about Asgardians, or the mythology that surrounds them. For all Gil knows, he's talking to a young man with in strange garbs and with an accent he's never heard before. (Or has forgotten.) ]

That's what the Porter in the other world was called. [ His expression darkens. ] One of the three sisters: Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos.

[Loki certainly has a presence when he speaks. not just the accent, but there's something about the way that he holds himself in the reality around him. it sort of ... bends to fit him, maybe? it's an odd phenomena. to those more spiritually sensitive it may be something else, to mortals, he looked like someone that gained a bunch of unneeded attention.]

An idea that seems to resonates through many universes. Three fates, predestination, cut the red thread and all that. You hail from that universe?

[ Whoever he is, he's captured Gil's attention quickly. A bit of an oddball, but so is Xerxes Break, and his eccentric behaviour often disguised his cunning and ruthlessness. Perhaps this man is similar and while he should be wary of strangers, Gil can't help but feel drawn to him. ]

Yes, I've read the myth. Atropos is the one who destroyed that universe. [ A beat, then a shake of his head. ] Not originally. All of us had come from different universes.

[perhaps in another life, ruthlessness may take its part in creating some fine chaos. for Loki, those times are gone, and he tries to wiggle and settle uncomfortably in his new role. Other-Loki spent most of his time trying to figure out how to stop his own destination in the universe—and was ruthless in the process. it fit together horribly, really.

ruthless now? it was debatable.]

Yet still ones that had the same myths. They may differ by the tongue or text. [he waves a hand, absently.] But they're the same base. Do you think that they could be here? Perhaps in another form, another pantheon. Perhaps brought like us.

A curious thing to wonder.

[ His question elicits a wide-eyed, non-verbal response from Gil. He stands there, suddenly his mind flooding with brand new questions about the Sisters. He remembers some of the information and stories passed around back in the City; how their Porter forms were not the first or possibly meant to be the last. ]

I hadn't thought of it... it's possible they've come over, but haven't made themselves known. Two of them, at least. [ He lets out a small sigh. ] Lachesis may have sacrificed herself for us.

Perhaps she's immune to the cycle, or maybe that's simply the end for her. Different worlds, a million prospects for possibility.

[though it's curious to see that there were some who were ported and then ported once again from a dying world. he was ... familiar with those—he had passed through many—and none were no more pleasant than the next. traversing across the multiverse had its poor points.]

[ But then the possibility of going back home? His gaze falls for a moment. ]

It's confusing when put like that.

[ Oh, where are his manners? He looks up, composing himself once more. ]

Ah, I'm Gilbert.

Confusing, and possibly overwhelming?

[he wondered if overwhelming beat confusing in that regard--but things like that never bothered him, his mind worked a bit differently.]

Well-met, Gilbert. I'm Loki.

Rather, both.

[ He has to admit it; it goes beyond his realm of understanding. He doesn't know if he'll ever be able to comprehend a power or being like that. There are things back home, similar to it that he doesn't quite grasp yet either. ]

Loki. [ ... Nope, not ringing a bell. He carries on without a clue. ] It's ah, nice to meet you, too.

You seem quite familiar with the myth of those three sisters.

All myths kind of hold a few common threads. If not in name, then in idea. It's simple to fill in the rest if you've the general notion how these things go.

[it's always nice to meet someone who didn't know him. in the string of multiverses there were many Lokis, and if there weren't Lokis, there were always legends of Lokis. they never really worked out for him, the universe seemed to like his constant of terrible fiendishness, and fighting against it was like looking for the surface of the water when you were drowning. at least he knew he was turned in the right direction.]

I'm familiar with a lot of myths, and many of them have three sisters of all that pre-ordained fate mumbo-jumbo.

I'm not well read in these mythologies.

[ In retrospect, he should have done his research before Atropos decided to take a bite out of the fake Big Apple. ]

We've had brief contact with Clotho and Atropos... even Lachesis. It was difficult to contact her.

[that's curious enough to get his full attention.]

What do you mean "difficult"?

Though she's... [ He pauses, wondering if he should correct that. What became of her? ] Though she was a machine, it was impossible for anyone to get too close to her without being injured or ported away.

Getting anything out of her was often out of the question.

[Loki offers over a pastry. Gilbert still seems to have his focus.]

And what did she say when you did?

[ How thoughtful! But he raises a hand to politely decline, thrown off by the gesture for a second. ]

Erm, no thank you...

[ Clearing his voice to continue: ]

... Nothing. She spoke to the network at large rarely. [ He pauses, recalling a heated, mostly one-sided conversation. ] She would mostly talk about this hero business.

[there's not even a shrug of his shoulders as his offer is declined. instead he turns the pastry and nibbles off the end as he listens.]

"Hero business" sounds familiar to our current situation.

[ It's what makes him cautious about all of this in the first place; Lachesis put them here for a reason. ]

Perhaps Lachesis still has a hand in porting others here.

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