video | action

[waitingforhope]

VIDEO

[It had been some time since Mai made her presence known over the network.  Time for her to settle in, so to speak.  Adjust to a more peaceful life, where she had a bed to be slept in nightly.  Food readily available without having to scavenge.  Friends and the closest thing she had to a 'family' nearby.  More of whom continued to arrive the longer she was here.]

[Somehow, all of that was stranger to her than the idea of being 'trapped' in an alternate universe.]

I was wondering...  [A pause, and she pressed her lips together in thought.  Knowing exactly what she wanted to ask, but attempting the most diplomatic means of phrasing her question.]  ...if there were any current prevailing theories or ongoing experiments with regards to the means of time travel and inter-dimensional transport that seems to be responsible for bringing so many individuals from so many different worlds and points in time here?

[A conversation that had begun with a select few, and was perhaps more interesting to her at this time than...almost anything else.  For all her years as the head commander of Earth's resistance force, her scientific mind had never wavered.]

ACTION

[Mind lost in thought, the (apparently) young woman could be found walking the streets of Genessia later that morning, pausing just long enough to collect herself a copy of the local newspaper.]

[She'd been hearing some very interesting stories about a certain paperboy as of late, and as such, was hesitant to subscribe to the delivery service...but deemed the information located within to be important enough to still seek out each issue.  Even if it meant taking a seat on a nearby bench and reading in public, rather in the privacy of the residence she currently shared with Bulma and the others.]

Let's see...weather...horoscopes...bounties?

Comments

Video

[youfool]

Good afternoon, Mai. One theory pertaining to our origin is that we weren't so much brought as made; fully formed from those cocoons we came from, like hatching from an egg.

[Not weird at all.]

Video

[waitingforhope]

[...truthfully? She'd heard weirder. Experienced weirder. Heck, her current physical form was a result of said experience, and probably would make less sense than a cocoon-hatched clone if she were to attempt to explain right there and then.]

[Which was precisely why she allowed herself a moment of honest contemplation before lightly shaking her head.]

It's not...completely disprovable, but it still would bring up a lot of questions.

Our memories, for one. And how they would have managed to acquire our DNA for cloning in the first place.

Re: Video

[youfool]

[Well at least he's not getting any "NO I'M REAL HOW DARE YOU" hysterics. That's good. The theory doesn't comfort him, but truth isn't known to be gentle or sane, especially not here.]

Well, memories are very fungible, here. You might've heard how they can be a price used to stave off death or make a Subarchway. Wouldn't recommend either, of course.

You may have also heard of the Dream Docks, where one's memories can be...well, "updated" to be more in line with whatever ongoing records the world has with others.

Video

[waitingforhope]

[Mai had heard of...precisely none of this.]

[She was far from the point of hysterics, but there was a notable change in her expression from the beginning of his response to the end. Eyes widened. Lips slightly parted. One could almost see the gears within turning as she processed the idea of fungible memories and Dream Docks.]

And all this is...proven? The ability to trade in memories? ...do people get to choose which memories, for that matter?

Re: Video

[youfool]

Yes; done it myself, actually. And yes, I got to choose. Even tried to cheat the system and journaled what I might sacrifice. It has to be something cherished, by the way.

It was a middling success; I still *know* of what's forgotten, but it's not quite the same. Like a noetic phantom limb.

[He's not sure why the pamphlets or hologram leave that part out.]

[Video]--->Action?

[light_of_willpower]

[They're sharing an apartment, so it's not like she's hard to find. Trunks waits until she's done with the video though, and seems to be not busy, before clearing his throat in case she hadn't realized he was there.

He has a notebook with him.]

You are not allowed to read my mind anymore.

[He's teasing, as said by the smile.]

Action!

[waitingforhope]

[She looked up at the sound of someone entering her room, and her eyes fell on Trunks' notebook before she looked to him. Returning the smile all too easily. Of course they would be following the same line of thought.]

How much were you able to come up with?

Re: Action!

[light_of_willpower]

[Coming in more fully, Trunks passes her the notebook if she wants to look at it, and settles on the floor. Slumped a bit, but relaxed for a change instead of exhausted all the time and on guard.]

Not as much as I want yet. Mostly I've written down what I've been able to get from others here, and who told me. My next plan was to head to the Genessia Scientific Research Foundation, and see what information they have available. At least to the public, since I'm sure there's probably more they know that they aren't sharing right away, but it'll give us a start.

[Ever the explorer type, apparently.]

I'm also pretty sure I know my way around Nova City pretty well now with little trouble, and most of Attleton, although not as well.

Action!

[waitingforhope]

[It was somewhat ironic how comfortable she was with him entering her room--not even needing a verbal invite--considering her typical reactions to gestures as innocent as hand-holding.]

[...granted, the fact that they had shared squatting space for months had almost certainly reconditioned her thoughts on the matter.]

[As he settled on the floor, Mai scooted close enough to the edge of her bed to take the notebook from him. She flipped to that first page and began reading. Most of the top part, she was able to skip. But the latter two points, in particular, captured her interest enough to warrant a second reread. So that she could probably absorb them as well before adding her own recently acquired information:]

I spoke with a man who said that these trips to and from our worlds--like you indicated here--aren't the only way memories can be impacted here.

Apparently, you can use them as bargaining chips. Trading in memories to come back from dying...or to gain something called a SubArchway. Have you heard anything about that?

Re: Action!

[light_of_willpower]

[Likewise, Trunks honestly wouldn't think too much about it for Mai to just show up in his room and space. They'd been in such a survival situation for months that it was just practical. His own thoughts and feelings otherwise were kept under wraps for the most part, in lieu of dealing with everything else; which included now and a whole new set of 'everything else'.

There wasn't much in the notebook yet, but Trunks knew Mai'd want to see it. WIth her commentary, he raises an eyebrow and listens intently.]

Interesting. Do you know who you spoke with? I plan to try and make notes on the Barriers and information about them too, but that'll be more from a practical standpoint than trying to figure them out right now.

[Not that learning about them wouldn't lead to some understanding of them, and vice versa. But the interest in Barriers and what was outside was more base don practicality for him at the moment. Less in the 'why' and more of the 'how does this work so we don't break it'.]

[Action]

[4starsaviour]

[Goku's floating over her shoulder, looking at the paper and not realizing how weird that is.]

Bounties are kind of fun. There's never anybody really strong, though.

[Action]

[waitingforhope]

[She looked up at the sound of Goku's voice, and over her shoulder and....]

[Yeah, that seemed like a very Goku thing to do. Randomly appearing over her shoulder, and hovering there all the while engaging in casual conversation. Fortunately, she had enough experience with individuals who could fly not to think much more on that end.]

You've done a bounty hunt before, Goku? What was it like?

[Action]

[4starsaviour]

Once or twice, though it was just by accident. Some guys were tryin' to rob a place, an' they bumped into me when they were escapin'.

Other than that, I've been checkin' the board to see if anybody really strong is out there, but I haven't really found anyone like that yet.

[Action]

[waitingforhope]

...you mean, you haven't accepted any official bounties because you don't think they're strong enough?

[Action]

[4starsaviour]

Yep! It's only fun if there's a challenge, and I don't wanna be a bully and pick on people who are a lot weaker than me.

video;

[truesmiles]

Even though I have been here a long, this is something that I don't actually know how to answer that question.

[Unless you count for stuff back home because that was a whole other confusing factor that he was pretty sure does not count for anything here. So he will be keeping quiet on that front.]

video;

[waitingforhope]

[There were times when a lack of information was actually informative in its own right. For Mai, this was one of those times.]

May I ask how long?

video;

[truesmiles]

Four years since last month.

[Which is a very long time really. He didn't mind it much except when he missed his friends.]

video;

[waitingforhope]

[Her brows rose slightly at the admission. That was...longer than she would have guessed, especially considering the expression on his face.]

You don't seem that dismayed by the thought.

[Which she could very nearly understand. But her circumstances were fairly unique...or, at least, Mai had been under the assumption they were. That she and Trunks had no world of their own to return to. That they had been on their way to attempt making a new world their home when they were brought here instead. Someplace with many of their friends and most of Trunks' family. ]

[All things considered, Mai was...not overly dismayed at the thought of spending years here, herself. Faltering only when she thought of Haru and Maki and the others.]

This world must be rather pleasant to some.

video;

[truesmiles]

While I have my moments of worrying about friends back home. I also am aware they can take care of themselves without me.

[So it makes him worry less at least.]

It is. Minus when bad stuff does happen, but most worlds always have something.

[Video]

[k2so]

There people who had been in this world for years and so far no one had been able to come up with a logical explanation of how those work.

[ Hello Mai, have a 7ft tall droid. ]

The best theory seems to be that someone or something is 'winging it'.

[Video]

[waitingforhope]

[Hello, 7ft tall droid. Have a very reflexive flinch upon first sight.]

[Of course, the reaction was fleeting at most, and barely noticeable unless one was watching her every subtle movement. A result of certain long-term traumatic experiences with androids of the past--or, in Mai's case, technically the "future". But she had already encountered an alternate "past" version of Android 17, and witnessed first-hand how he had changed...quite drastically...]

[Which meant she was willing to give this unfamiliar droid a chance as well.]

I suppose it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of somebody improvising with that kind of ability...although, admittedly, never to this degree.

[Video]

[k2so]

Even if Kay would have noticed her reaction, he wouldn't have said anything. He's far too used to people sometimes finding him scary. Back in his galaxy he didn't care but here it makes him feel bad. His posture is a bit slouched, relaxed, and he tries to look as harmless as he can.

there are people in my galaxy who are capable of doing incredible feats and even magic but not t this degree either. I think that no matter how much we investigate until one of the responsibles for this makes themselves know, all we can do is speculate.

I'm K-2S0, Kaytoo for short, one of the Attleton's deputies. And you are?

[Video]

[waitingforhope]

[So far, so...interesting a conversation. She was even willing to accept the 'magic' part -- one might as well describe the dragon balls as such. Though it just furthered the idea that there were an array of individuals from powerful worlds gathered.]

It's very nice to meet you, Kaytoo. [And she immediately filed his position away for future reference, recalling Cassian's information about the Guardians and this world's equivalent of law enforcement.] I'm Mai.

[Video]

[k2so]

[She only has to go to Fayren or Everglade to see real magic if she wants to. It could be an interesting experience. ]

Likewise Mai. Oh! Are you Trunk's Mai?