video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

[aeturnus]

[ On the screen is one Cain, also known as Romulus, commonly known in the city as Jacob Kane. He looks normal. Normal as he's ever looked, really, but the confidence that he lacked during the recent event is back in full force and he's very nonchalant about it all. He's at a flimsy-ish table with a laptop off to the side where the camera is obviously his propped up phone instead. ]

Hey! Long-time no talk, Riverview Quarantine. Just a few things. If you met me over the last week and a half or so, that was... technically me but not. You know that thing that was going on? Yeah, that. Don't worry about it. Forget about all that.

Quick catch-up for those who have (or haven't!) met me, I go by Jacob Kane nowadays. [ Not Romulus. Nope. This total 180 is completely normal considering he hardly looks any older or different at all. ] My job while I'm here is designing phone apps. I've been here for about two months now and I think this is my first actual post on the network. Anything interesting happen while I wasn't looking?

to Doom; Still good for lessons?

to Shai; Thank you. For everything you did.

to Natsume; Seen anything like our colorful friend lately?

Comments

[aeturnus]

Kassurat? Or a different one?

[ Maybe it's the only one she has from home, or maybe it's her favorite. Whatever the case may be, he pulls a small cardboard box out of his jacket pocket. ]

I brought cards, too, for something new if you wanted.

[greyjane]

Always open to a new experience. Cards aren't something I use much.

[She gestures him to a chair, and drags hers over to it so there's less space to navigate between them, and since she doesn't know the dimensions of whatever table they'll need (and because her only living room table is home to her Kassurat board) she'll just magic one up as needed.]

Not much paper where I'm from.

[aeturnus]

Makes sense.

[ He opens the box and upends the deck into his other hand, setting the box aside for now. Starts shuffling. ]

There's a couple we could go with, but Poker's the classic. Considering all the Earth-like people here, bet you most of them know it.

[scholiast]

Yes. I finally looked my age.

(She smiles ruefully.) I don't remember anything else outside of that, though.

[aeturnus]

Ha. Guess that's true. Actually, same for me.

[ Weird! They caught up with themselves by going the opposite directions. ]

What do you mean?

[leadintheyoung]

I wonder how many there are? Together, of course, but also those who look similar.

[ Just how many realities exist, anyway? But she's laughing now. Excuse the not-quite snort that precedes it. ]

I've always preferred to take my rewards with some immediacy. I am only guaranteed this moment. Better to live now than waste time planning to live in a time that never arrives.

[ The future, that is, what with it being something like a snake with its tail in its mouth. Tomorrow never gets any closer, after all. ]

[scholiast]

(She sniggers.)

Well, I can't remember anything about myself that far ahead in the future. (She's a bit gutted about it, actually.)

[aeturnus]

Huh... like the memories went back with it?

[aeturnus]

Way too many, I bet. [ He says it with a laugh because that isn't a comment on the types of people they would be but counting seems counter-intuitive. ]

Huh. Yeah, I've heard similar sentiments. You're not wrong, it's just a different way than I look at it.

[scholiast]

Yeah, like...

(She gestures uselessly with her hands, brow furrowed.)

I suppose the chalice took the memories back with it.

[hellshot]

[Right, the 'save'. AKA, playing hero. He didn't regret it, but--]

Something tells me you wouldn't have come back from having been digested.

[Haha.]

[aeturnus]

Well, not like they belonged here. [ Much as it sucks, knowing the future is probably worse. ] Doing okay with that?

[aeturnus]

At that point? No.

[ Now, though... well. ]

So, appreciate it. You're all back to status quo, then?

[hellshot]

Lucky for you I was such a good guy, then.

[Can't say he would have enjoyed watching Kane die when he was less than at his 'best'.]

And I'm back to normal. For better or for worse.

...

I've got a shitload of groceries I don't need. You should come and take them.

[aeturnus]

What, seriously? [ Score! ]

I'll do that. Where do I find you?

[hellshot]

Eighth floor. It's communal, just ignore everyone else. I'm on the balcony.

[He never leaves the balcony.]

[aeturnus]

[ How edgy. Cain's definitely going to be up to collect those groceries, though. Who says no to a free meal? ]

>action?

[hellshot]

[By the time the other makes it up to floor eight, Reaper's already in the kitchen, throwing out all the fresh vegetables and meat he'd painstakingly gotten during his trip with Iris. She'd be so irritated if she could see this.]

...

You were quick to agree. [Starving, much?]

>action!

[aeturnus]

[ It's not hard to spot Reaper, and Cain'll even move to bag things up with the backpack he brought to help it go quicker. What? He's not going to make more than one trip if he can help it. ]

I like to defy conventional wisdom. No such thing as a free meal, ha.

[hellshot]

Yeah, well. Lucky you, you actually get a free meal for once.

Hate letting shit go to waste. And I'm not letting the vultures who live here eat food I paid for.

[because, despite everything, he's still a petty bitch towards the Overwatch members here.]

[leadintheyoung]

You truly think so?

[ There's a bit of near child-like wonderment as she turns her eyes upward, wondering for a second. Countless realities, countless peoples... it's really quite beyond anything she might have considered from the Isle. ]

I will consider it, though. You have been kind enough to entertain my questions and that is a task at which a great deal many have failed.

[aeturnus]

Right? First time it's ever happened in my whole life.

[ Cain pls. Behave. ]

What kind of vultures?

[ That could be literal here, but he's going to at least assume metaphorical for now... ]

[aeturnus]

All things considered, the universe is probably more creative than we are.

[ He'll entertain it, because it's cute and imagination should never really be squashed. As long as someone's not living in it too much. ]

Oh please. You haven't heard "too many questions" until you've got a toddler who just learned the word why.

[scholiast]

I...

(She sighs, and shakes her head.) I don't know. I feel like something... happened. But I'm not sure what.

[aeturnus]

Like something on the tip of your brain?

[ He has moments like that. Not of things from the future, but memories that have come and gone by virtue of how old they are. It's why he started writing journals. ]