video | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

Besides all this mumbo-jumbo about portals and the fact I've obviously lost my mind and am lying strapped to a hospital bed somewhere, I've got a few things I'd like to clear up—

[The blonde woman frowns deeply at the screen, brows drawn tightly together in displeasure.]

—namely, it's been told to me that we can't leave this place until they've scrounged up enough 'resources' to send us back, which seems oddly convenient. Does anyone know if there's been success with that yet? Has anyone been sent back home, or is that some nebulous 'someday' thing they're telling us? Second of all...

[Her hand comes up to gently cup a small gold locket hanging around her neck; a gift from the city to her, it seemed. Her mouth works for a moment, trying to find the words.]

Trixie, baby, if you can hear me, mommy's here and going to find you. I promise. Just sit tight, monkey.

Comments

audio; user: katsuki

[yokunaru]

[Oh no...a mother? While Yuuri isn't a parent himself, he has people that he misses and worries about back home. He could only imagine how worried she must be if she's been separated from her kid.

His voice is soft when he replies.]

I haven't heard of anyone successfully returning home yet, but so far that's what they've been telling everyone who arrives through the portal.

audio | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

[There's a quiet sigh on her end at that.]

That's what I thought. I know some of the new arrivals have been here longer than others, so it sounds like something they've been saying for awhile.

[yokunaru]

I'm sorry. [He says quietly.] It's not an easy thing to hear, even if you're expecting it.

I've been here a couple months already. I could try to answer any questions you have about the city, if you want?

[couldkillthedevil]

What questions don't I have at this point?

[More muttered to herself than at him, though the sentiment rang true.]

Anything you can tell me about this place would be helpful. Who runs it? What do they want with us, aside from workers? And what's the deal with the whole fountain gift-giving thing?

[yokunaru]

I know the feeling. [He doesn't blame her for feeling that way, honestly.]

Ah, I'll start with the easiest one. The fountain's part of the festival called Prijata. Apparently this place has a themed festival about every month or so--or at least, that's what I'm guessing. There's been one every month that I've been here.

video | un: fall3n1

[hellicious]

[Lucifer was bored. You see one city, you've seen them all -- even if it was in another reality. People were still people, after all. But there was a little bit of interest in the fact that this particular city seemed to be willfully drawing in individuals from realities outside their own. He had to idly wonder what Dad would think about all this. Then he had to wonder if He didn't already know.

Still, bored Lucifer meant scrolling through his device Lucifer, popping onto the Friendr app to see if there was anyone worth ogling. There were, of course, but he found his desire to ogle, or do more than that a little deflated lately. Maybe it had something to do with being taken away just before he was about to have himself a rather important epiphany. A 'moment', as it were. Bored with the not-Tindr, he flicked over to the little posts people seemed to be making; some locked, some not. He was about to turn the bloody thing off and toss it aside when something caught his attention. Blonde. Blue eyes. Earnest expression. It took him a moment... more than a moment, truthfully, since he was busy staring and trying to convince himself it wasn't real. But then he clicked on the icon, watching her face pop up and that familiar tone filter through the tiny speakers on his new 'phone'.

There she was. Right there. In front of him. Speaking as if her spawn could hear her. Asking questions. Being all... her. He felt something pinch almost painfully inside him before he was fumbling to press 'reply'.]

Detective?! What in... you're here! What are you doing here? You're...

Here?!

[Yes. Eloquent as always.]

video | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

Lucifer?!

[There's a note of incredulity to her voice as her face swims closer into view, as if taking a closer look will reveal whether he's a figment of her imagination or not. Sure enough, Lucifer Morningstar was on the other end. Her mouth fell open in blatant confusion and surprise, before she closed it again. Now wasn't the time. She needed to actually find him.]

I could say the same thing to you. Where are you?

[hellicious]

Here.

[Excuse him, Chloe. He was going to just close his eyes and lift a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in disgust at himself.]

I mean, I'm here in my quarters. In the city. Where are you?

[And it was apparent from the fact that everything around him was moving that Lucifer was no longer sitting and scrolling, but getting up and leaving his room, already heading out into the hall to try to decide which floor to get to -- or perhaps which window to jump out of to get outside.]

Are you inside? At the housing center? Which floor?

[couldkillthedevil]

[Seems they both had the same idea, because now Chloe was getting up from her seat to head out the door. Could it be possible that they were in the same building and not even realize it?]

I'm in my room, in Community Housing. The large skyscraper overlooking the river— floor 6.

[She stood outside in the hall for a moment, considering her next move.]

Tell me where to go.

audio ; un: RE-L124C41+

[realimperfect]

[ She's not quite sure how to react to this at first. Re-L has never been a mother, nor does she aspire to it or have the functions bodily to achieve it, but... the thought that someone is separated from their child thanks to this whole portal fiasco is mildly infuriating. For her, sh's separated from one man and two robots, and all of that doesn't seem to amount up to a child in the same, strictest of terms.

But, she does offer: ]

I know of a few who have gone home. Not sure how they managed to accomplish that, though, unfortunately.

audio | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

[She hums thoughtfully, considering that for a moment before she replies.]

Really? Are you sure they actually went home, or is it possible they just... left?

[realimperfect]

Well considering I didn't follow them, there's no way I can be absolutely sure, no. [ There's a bit of sarcasm in there, just because this is Re-L Mayer and sh just cannot help herself when it comes to the intonation of how she speaks, but.. well, it's true so far as she sees it. So far as they knew, those who had gone were back in their own worlds. Of course, there's no guarantee, but - ]

Realistically they could've ended up anywhere. Optimistically.. they're back home safe and sound.

[couldkillthedevil]

Right. Hopefully so, yes.

[That put a bit of a damper on things, but it was still something.]

Someone told me there were public records that should detail these, uh, travels back home, so I plan to look at those soon. Doesn't really help that the portals seem to be a mystery for the most part, though.

audio, @jb.barnes

[anotheroldsoldier]

[Well, it looks like the portal has tossed out a new batch of people. Bucky isn't a parent, but... well, he imagines it must be hard.]

Some people have gone home. I think it's all public record down at the city offices. The portal is a natural phenomenon on this moon; they can't exactly control it. [He gets being suspicious, he still has his own private reservations, but so far the people here have been generous and kind.]

Did they mention that when they can send you home, it'll be to the same point in time that you left?

audio | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

I see. I'll have to take a look at those later, then.

[She's usually a pretty good judge of character, and even she has to admit that the people here don't come across as particularly devious or untrustworthy. She's just... in shock, perhaps. And maybe trying to convince herself this is all some crazy dream.]

No, they didn't tell me that. I didn't even think to ask something like that— how would that even be possible? They did say that I was brought here because I was feeling 'displaced', though, whatever that means.

[anotheroldsoldier]

For the most part, the city has been pretty transparent about things. [He hasn't gone down to read any of the public records himself but his roommate has.]

The one fault is that they don't volunteer certain information if you don't ask. They want people to stay, but they don't seem to force it. I don't know how much truth there is to the 'feeling displaced' theory, but practically speaking, we're here and there isn't much use in wondering why.

Your daughter won't even know you've been gone, though. I know it's hard to trust that promise, but I'm from an earlier point in the timeline than one of my friends here. He would have known if I had gone missing from our world.

[couldkillthedevil]

Maybe not. But since they seem to want us to contribute somehow in the meantime, it's not unreasonable to ask why we were pulled into it in the first place. I'm all for practical solutions, but my head is admittedly swimming here trying to put it all together and figure out how this is even possible.

'An earlier point in the timeline'? So to your friend, you've been there the whole time even though none of it's happened to you yet? [That... is vaguely comforting, but she is indeed struggling to accept it. She sighs.] As much as I'd like to believe that, you'll have to excuse me for not relying on it. Magic portals and alternate... timelines aren't exactly normal where I'm from.

video, un: j.k.

[aeturnus]

I don't think your girl came with you.

[ Cain sounds pretty genuinely sympathetic to this. He doesn't have any children right now but he knows what it's like to be separated from your own and how nerve-wracking it must be when it sounds like this detdecker's child is still young. ]

As for the portal, I haven't heard anything yet but they've been pretty open about the functions of it and allowing people to study it for themselves.

video | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

Maybe not. I won't stop looking until I know for sure, though.

[She's only just recently got here, after all. Like hell she was just going to assume Trixie wasn't here without exhausting all her options.]

Someone else told me they keep records on people who've been sent back home, so I plan to look into that soon. I'm not exactly a scientist, much less an expert on magic portals, but it's good to hear they're not shutting us out.

[aeturnus]

What does she look like?

I'm in the same position. Frankly, I'm tempted to become a scientist just to help out around here. I get the impression they aren't nearly as staffed as they'd like to be.

[couldkillthedevil]

[There's a brief hesitation there, because she doesn't know this person at all. But she's also desperate, and he seems genuine enough.] She's a little over three feet. Dark hair and eyes, very sweet and full of energy. She's 8 years old. Wait —

[She reaches down to the small heart-shaped locket around her neck, fiddling with it until it opens. She presses it up to the screen, revealing a picture of her little girl.]

I wouldn't be surprised. If they're requesting our help while we're stuck here, it's likely they're short on manpower.

video; @p.dameron

[followhim]

One of my friends was sent back home. They have public records of who enters and exits the portals. But it seems arbitrary. I don't know if she actually wanted to go back yet.

video | un: detdecker

[couldkillthedevil]

What, you mean they forced her to go back?

[followhim]

We were from the same place. We talked about going back together. Then one day she just ... disappeared. I was worried something worse happened to her until someone showed me the records.

[couldkillthedevil]

[She grew quiet for a moment, the reality of those words washing over her. She knows what it's like for someone to just up and disappear without a word.]

Yeah. I can see why you'd be worried. That's awful. And weird that it'd happen so suddenly.