maskormenacelogs | catch-all for May

Entry tags:

catch-all for May

WHO: Tadashi Hamada + various + YOU
WHERE: De Chima locations + probably Heropa
WHEN: throughout May *vague hand wave gesture*
WHAT: A lot of stuff? A lot of stuff: open prompts for anyone after the cut + pre-prepared starters in the comments!
WARNINGS: Nothing I can think of atm

[OPEN to anyone: De Chima]

You're walking in De Chima. There's people around and your phone is charged. Out of the corner of your eye you spot him: Tadashi Hamada.

It's a relatively nice day (for once) with not as much rain. And Tadashi is out on a day off buying some new supplies for their garage-lab and a few other things. Tacky ass thrift green jacket and everything to hopefully cover how burn-scarred his arms and hands are from his fire abilities.

But always making a stop for coffee. He waits in line patiently, smiles when he sees anyone looking at him. And you know, he's proud? He's proud of how well everyone worked together during the mess that was April. Working together to find a cure, to help keep the uninfected safe and quarantined, the unbelievable team work he saw when Heropa came under fire (literally and figuratively) to evacuate everyone they could and put out fires. Why not pass that on?

When it's his turn to order, he doesn't even think twice. Orders his regular and then pays for the orders of the next four people behind him, whether it's an espresso shot or a mass bulk order for the entire office. People deserve something good happening after all that.

He stops by the grocery to pick up some things for dinner next week and - man these people are having a hard time carrying everything. He'll stop and help them carry some bags, even help load their car on his way in. That one person needing help reaching something on a high shelf, he'll reach up and get. Help this person put a heavier item into their shopping cart. If the person at the register in front of him is short a few dollars, who would he be if he didn't offer to cover it?

All in all, a pretty good day! Out and about helping people and imPorts who need a hand with something.

[OPEN to anyone: Heropa]

Eventually Tadashi will make his way to Heropa to assess damage. All things considered, it's still... No, it's terrible. Buildings and homes alike in smolders and ashes. People still recovering from the plague on top of the fires. He's not sure what there is he can do to help here. But. Well, there are still people needing to be healed from burns and other injuries. He'll do what he can with that, native and imPort alike.

He'll stop anyone that looks like they're having trouble with an inury and offer to heal, or help them look for that one missing keepsake in the wreckage.

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Dunno. But you're right, it's a little spooky with or without a reason for it.

[He bites on the inside of his cheek while they walk, considering...]

What other patterns are there?

Uh... I think I ran most of 'em past you. We get people from worlds with superheroes, or worlds that have a lot of trouble in them. We get a few kids here and there, but it's mostly, eh... ages 13 to, like, 40, I wanna say? They keep us at ages we can actually fight at, and from worlds where it's more likely that we actually know how to fight. Most of the people here have come from pretty crappy lives, honestly.

[He shrugs.]

Makes this world look better in comparison, I guess.

Yeah, I guess it would from some that I've heard.

[A beat. Maybe he should tell him..]

Jaime, thanks for answering all my questions about this, know it's probably weird.

Hey, no problem. If I can help, I will.

[Tadashi's probably cottoned onto that by now.]

I don't think it's that weird, though. It's only normal to want to know more about the thing that controls us, don't you think?

[He doesn't think that his detailed notes are that odd. Are they?]

And I appreciate it, because you're right. I- we, my brother and me and some others from our home. We need to understand it.

[Deep breath and he watches as the bus pulls up to the stop.]

You know there are a lot of us here now, right? Me and Hiro, a couple of my classmates, and the other two. How much do you know about them?

Nothing about the people from your home. [Jaime glances at Tadashi, a little curious.] I know a fair bit about Hiro, though. Why, what's up?

[He lets the silence fall between them for a few steps, trying to figure out the best way to explain things.]

The other two, not my classmates. Robert Callaghan is my robotics professor, and Alistair Krei is a tech developer. Old acquaintances [putting it in the ...least friendly term he can, given what he knows now.] that worked on a project years ago. Hiro and me have asked if they'll work together and continue that project here.

It... Might benefit a lot of imPorts.

[Jaime shifts his weight back, even with his heavy load. It's clear that Tadashi's definitely got his attention here.]

We do have a lot of tech geniuses here, [he comments, but it's mildly said, simply a placefiller as he tries to read Tadashi's expression, trying to fill in the gaps of Tadashi's uncharacteristic hesitance.]

So? What's the big project?

[Man if only his wrist wasn't so bad, he'd help with that, feels an odd pang of guilt that he can't. But. Right, topic at hand.]

Between you and me, no one else.

[He takes a quick visual sweep, no government folks around. When did he start to get so paranoid? Certainly only after this place happened to him.]

They'd managed to make a single set of prototype transport portals.

Deal.

[Jaime sees the way Tadashi's eyes flit back and forth, taking in their surroundings, and he finds himself unconsciously mirroring the gesture. Helpfully, Khaji lets him know that there's nobody suspicious hanging around (unless you count that individual with a concealed firearm, of course, or that woman with a very large dog, or...), and he makes a mental note to thank Khaji for double checking for them later.]

So by transport portals, do you mean just for transportation? We've already got a few people who can do that.

[There's no reason that should be a secret.]

But if you could do other kinds of transportation with it, then we'd be talking.

Why do you think I've been asking so much about it?

[They all shared each others' notes, and what they were planning. No one knows more than anyone else.]

The thing is, we have a working theory. All we have to do is build it. I think we could do it. Build our own way home.

[It's a little bit funny, actually. If someone said this to him a year ago, he would be elated. A chance to go back home? To where he belongs? He would have done darn near anything for that chance. Now, though, he's got some different feelings mixed in there.

It's still a good thing, he knows. It means that it ensures that a second chance for the dead here is in the cards, that the people who want to go home can... but he knows what else it means too. It means that Kaidan and Shepard, Ellie and Isaac, Armin and Sasha, they'll all be hurtling headfirst to what may very well be their certain deaths.

And what of everyone else? Would he ever be able to see them again, these people he's learned to love as family? They've known all along that it's temporary, but somewhere down the line, he forgot.

Bart would go back home, back to his Jaime.

He swallows, and buries the feeling deep down. Not what Tadashi wants to hear, he's sure, and it's nothing he's ready to give voice to.] That -- that would be amazing. Have you guys thought much beyond the whole science part of it, though?

[He waits - waits and senses that hesitation. He shouldn't have said it. He gets it, to an extent. He does really, really love the friends he's made here, cares about them. And if they can do what he thinks they can do, it'd be a two way street. And if it means he could change his death and stop Callaghan from setting the fire and stealing Hiro's tech, and stop him from trying to kill Krei, and find a way to still save Abigail... Only if it actually works. And all resting on him if he can make it in time and convince Callaghan to believe him.]

A bit. We - imPorts - would be in control of it, so no one going through unless they choose to.

[Ah. But Jaime... doesn't sound like it's a super great idea, despite (Tadashi assumes) knowing what it means for Tadashi. The enthusiasm and energy behind his initial words deflate a bit, leaving him tired. Jaime has family back home, a good loving family, and he thought if anyone would be optimistic about the idea of being able to choose to go home instead of at random against his will...]

Anyway, like I said, it's still just a working theory. There's no way to tell if it'd actually work.

[He shakes his head.] C'mon, don't be like that. It's not gonna work unless you guys actually believe in the project, and it's a really good idea. This is what we've been waiting for, or -- or working for this whole time, y'know? I've just been talking with a few people about the logistics of getting it to work, and who gets to go where.

[He's never one hundred percent aware of the shift in his expression whenever he begins to talk about research and reason, logistics and game plans. That's always been the purview of the Blue Beetle, not Jaime Reyes, and he usually winds up standing a little straighter, eyes becoming a little more focused.]

There's one imPort who wants to bring other imPorts with her, to help win a war. You get this thing built, and we have to figure out a way for people to get back to where they belong, you need to slap down some limitations on it before it's functional. You know what I mean?

No, I-- I totally get that. Definitely something to consider in the parameters we're setting as we develop it.

[He doesn't have much choice but to believe in it. If this doesn't work... he doesn't have a chance to live.]

It's just. We have to do this. There's something I have to change, and if we build this ourselves, we can remember this place if we go home.

...how do you figure?

[That's the real sticking point for Jaime, when it comes down to it. If they go back home, they might not remember, they might not be able to change anything. He should chase after that nugget of information, the mention of Tadashi having to change something, and he would if his mind didn't focus on one thing: Wally.

One day, he'll find out that Tadashi's focus isn't so very different from his own.]

You think that us forgetting has something to do with the Porter and not with interdimensional travel?

Transporters, interdimensional or not, shouldn't have any effect on our minds or our memories. Not without real brain damage in the process, and if you consider how some of us get ported in and out constantly...

That has to be Lachesis' doing.

So if we take her out of the equation...

It's not like this is the first place to start pulling people from different versions of the same world.

[He sounds thoughtful. It would be nice if he knew more about interdimensional travel from home, but he just accepted the existence of alternate universes and moved on with it. In hindsight, he should have asked more, but the other Titans seemed to have it under control.]

Did you guys account for that? People needing to get sent back to different versions of the same world?

[That.... does give him some pause. Everyone working on it only were interested in San Fransokyo, in saving Tadashi. Tadashi's the one who's trying to think more outwardly, about helping everyone else here.

Just more holes poked into the theory. More voices in the back of his mind telling him this can't be done. All the potential angles disappearing.

He shifts with the weight of the bags he's carrying, tries not to be so obvious that the wind's out of his sails at the thought of all this now. He knew talking to Jaime about this was the right decision, as far as information went, just... It's also probably the worst decision he's made.]

I think... that might take some time. Right now, we're just focusing on one place, and we don't even know if it'll work yet.

[With how concerned Tadashi had been about staying with Hiro, Jaime hadn't realized just how much Tadashi must miss home. Stupid of him, perhaps; he knows he missed home like crazy when he had only been here as long as Tadashi. Maybe he got a little too wrapped up in his own worries, fact and reason presiding over just being supportive.]

Hey, you'll never know if it'll work until you try. Just heading to one place might actually be a pretty good way of taking it for a spin. So you guys were just focusing on your world?

[Surprise, the guy that goes around supporting everyone... Sometimes needs support from people he respects for his dumb ideas. He ducks his head a minute, like he's inspecting this bag in his hand, before looking back up with a smile.]

Yeah. Yeah, probably. [Maybe.] We'll see, just... Don't mention it? Don't want to get it around if it ends up not working, y'know?

Oh man, no, I won't tell anyone. Promise. This is the sort of thing you need to keep pretty tightly under wraps especially with... you know. [He shrugs.] The authorities wouldn't be so chill with this.

[But there are others out there who could help, aren't there?]

If you needed to bring it up for whatever reason, though, use the MirrorNet. It'll be safer that way.

MirrorNet?

[Hi Jaime, he's been here for almost almost five months and this is the first he's heard of that. Isn't he just the most innocent near-adult here.]

Guessing a ...private network, word of mouth kind of thing?

Yeah? Oh, man, we really have to get better at getting this thing spread around... okay, so. It's a network set up so we can talk away from the government. It's just one more step towards being secure, you know?

[He shrugs the best he can.]

It's still open to all the imPorts though so it's not like you're going to be running your mouth like crazy. [Some imPorts are more eager to work with the government than others, after all. And Jaime? Well, Jaime's satisfied to act as if he's really on the government's side and work with them when it conveniences them, but to spread their information to unsettled imPorts behind their backs.

Nobody said that being good meant that you had to be nice.]

But it's a way better place for fishing for information, is all I'm saying.

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catch-all for May

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