01 - Arrival [Action/Video]

[wizard_redfive]

[Action]

[Anyone near the Bay this afternoon is likely to hear shrill shouting coming from inside. The newest arrival had an extremely bad day yesterday, and waking up somewhere other than her bed has sparked a tantrum. Those outside might catch parts of the rant as her voice gets louder. “Powers… if this is another castle… I’ve had enough!!”

Others are welcome to investigate, though it might be wise to approach with caution. Inside they will find a young red-headed girl standing in the water of the Bay. She gestures her arms wildly as she yells, seeming to be focusing her rant towards a silver laptop sitting inside the pod she woke up in.]

[Video]

[After Dairine calmed down enough to read the pamphlet, the video feed switches on. Her expression is still rather cross, but she will try to be civil. After all, she knows the people watching this are probably in the same situation as herself.]

So... “Genessia,” huh? Let me guess: I won’t be able to travel further than a certain distance, certainly not off planet, and there’s no way of telling when I’ll be sent back home. I haven’t noticed anything missing, so there's no obvious arrival fee. Unless it’s a memory… And this... [She taps on the screen.] ...serves as our communication device. Well, I suppose it's a step up from a journal, but I'd still rather not go through this a second time.

[Dairine runs her fingers through her hair absentmindedly.] Ah, while I'm at this... sorry to anyone I might have worried after I arrived. I wasn't exactly pleased with the situation, so I might have made a bit of a scene.

I get most of our situation now, but if there are any details not mentioned in the usual briefings, I wouldn't mind hearing them. There's just one thing I really want to know...

Please tell me time stops back home while we’re here.

Comments

[eastdetective]

I think I would remember if I had met you before.

[He wasn't buying it. ]

[wizard_redfive]

Not necessarily. Besides, don't you meet a lot of people?

[From what he told her in Paradisa, it sounded like he had solved many cases. Each would include new people. Surely he couldn't remember them all, Dairine figures.]

[eastdetective]

How do you know I meet a lot of people?

[He was not getting any less suspicious. How did she know that? That wasn't something you'd assume about any kid.

Not to mention he was practically insulted by the suggestion that he forgot people that he met. He didn't go around forgetting things just because cases were over. ]

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine's efforts to push the explanation until later clearly weren't working. She probably shouldn't be surprised; Conan was just as suspicious of others back at the castle. Dairine wasn't looking forward to convincing him of the truth.]

It's a long story. Do you think you can listen to the whole thing with an open mind?

[She thinks it's a stretch, but maybe he won't cut her off if she asks.]

[eastdetective]

That isn't a good start to any conversation. [He was so suspicious of her right now. ]

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine figured 'suspicious' was his default setting.]

Yeah, yeah. Just bear with me. [Dairine sits back on the silver cocoon's edge. Perhaps the getting a little closer to his height would help her seem more friendly and trustworthy.]

We met in another place like this, where people would suddenly appear with no obvious reason or culprit. Most of these people lived in a castle, though some preferred the nearby town. Can't say I blame them; the castle was pretty fishy.

You see, new arrivals to the castle were told that the castle was the one who brought them there. That it was a sentient building which grabbed people from various worlds and times. Everyone who found themselves there would be missing something as "payment," either physical or something more personal. What's more, it was suspected that the castle would feed off our emotions and would cause various trouble to incite more. You follow?

[eastdetective]

[ He doesn't believe a word of it. So much skepticism here right now.]

[wizard_redfive]

[That expression is not very promising.]

Anyway, we talked to each other a lot while we lived there. [Mostly because Dairine insisted on butting into his life. She smiles slightly, remembering it.] I was there three years, and you were there longer. So you can imagine we got to know each other pretty well.

It's not so surprising that you don't remember me though. Most people would lose their memories of Paradisa after they left.

[eastdetective]

That memory loss sounds terribly convenient.

[The question here was not whether she was making the whole thing up. That was obvious. But why such an elaborate and ridiculous lie? There had to be some purpose to it.]

[wizard_redfive]

[Of course he wouldn't believe her. Of course. Way to make this more complicated.

Dairine rolls her eyes.]

More like terribly inconvenient. If you remembered, then you could tell me what differences there are between Paradisa and this place.

[And Dairine would have a friend she could count on. Not that she wants to admit to being friends out loud. It was an unspoken rule between them not to say the word "friend" regarding each other. But it had not made Dairine feel any less loyal or caring about the young detective, even if she had a funny way of showing it.]

[eastdetective]

How am I supposed to remember something that didn't happen?

[wizard_redfive]

But it did! [Dairine shouts, before biting her lip to hold back her frustration. Conan had been obnoxiously disbelieving when they first met. It only made sense that he would be the same if he had lost his Paradisa memories. Still, it didn't make her feel any better about it. Taking a deep breath, she starts again.]

Look -- I know it might be hard for you to grasp, but it really did happen. Considering the fact that you're here, I would hope that you'd already learned how probable the situation would be.

[eastdetective]

[Conan crosses his arms and gives her a disbelieving look.]

If you're going to make things up, at least make them more believable.

[wizard_redfive]

What isn't believable about what I said?!

[Yes, she knows there's a lot of things, but humor her. Dairine still feels rather offended by the insinuation that she's lying when she is being perfectly honest.]

[eastdetective]

What in that was believable?

[wizard_redfive]

That depends on your point of view.

[Dairine pinches her nose in irritation, trying really hard not to snap at him again. He is at a disadvantage here after all. Still it is REALLY HARD to avoid.]

You haven't been here long, have you? What did people tell you about this place when you woke up?

[eastdetective]

Some nonsense about alternate realities and time.

[He hadn't given up yet on finding a scientific explanation. ]

[wizard_redfive]

[Yup. He must be pretty new. Though then again, he still was having trouble grasping Paradisa when Dairine met him so it was hard to say how new.]

And you didn't buy that either? At least that's more scientific than a magic castle.

[eastdetective]

Saying something is more scientific than a magical castle doesn't really mean much.

[wizard_redfive]

Sure it does. It means there's more theory and research behind it. "Magic" implies that someone waves a wand and poof! Something happens just like that.

[She uses hand quotes to empathize her point. Although Dairine didn't mind the use of the word magic as much as other wizards, it still implied less work than went into wizardry.]

[eastdetective]

What kind of theory and research is behind telling people that they're in a different reality?

[wizard_redfive]

[Oh, Conan. For a wizard like Dairine, such a question is child's play.]

Well, there's the Onion Multiverse theory, which people use to explain how certain events have a butterfly effect later on. Other theories see alternate worlds as more like a stack of books, with each lined up close to the other.

There's a good deal of research on the topic, though I admit I haven't had time to get into the nitty-gritty details. I'm more interested in its practical uses.

[eastdetective]

The important word here is theory. None of that has ever been proved.

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine's mouth suddenly turns into a smirk as she gets an idea. Sure, it might not completely sell her point to someone as stubborn as Conan, but at least it'll be fun.]

Never been proved, huh? Well, that's certain true for some theories...

[Her fingers hit one key on her laptop, and suddenly both it and Dairine have vanished. There is a 'pop!' noise as she reappears closer to his side of the Bay.]

...but I don't work with those. Anyway, my sister used a pocket dimension like this for a training exercise, so I already know they exist.

[eastdetective]

Illusion. I can think of several different ways that effect could have been created.