001 x Audio x Day 86

[ablankpage]

Hmmm.

[The strange device around his wrist has been studied as thoroughly as he can manage. Figuring out its secrets is the first step, Robert feels sure, in understanding what happened. He knows this isn't Columbia, and it isn't New York, and it isn't the interim space.

He can actually feel the wind on his skin, the sun in his eyes, and just his own weight. It's the strangest sensation after four years of... nothing.

The thing around his wrist is important, he's sure of that. So is the lighthouse he's found his way to, ignoring all other buildings at first. He's still a few yards away from it, his attention going from the heavy object -- rather like a voxophone, he's discovered -- on him and the looming structure in front of him.]

This is a most curious effect. [The voice is a calm, rolling English accent.

After a certain point, even he hadn't understood what the implications of his work would be. He had known he had to return what was stolen, but he had only glimpsed what that would cause. Was this another layer of that? Wholly possible. But why was he alone? Because, he reminded himself, he had effectively undone everything. A harrowing realization.

Well. He may as well use the device if it's going to be attached to him. Of course, he has no idea that it transmits rather than simply recording.]

Unknown date. [Best to make note of everything for later scientific review.]

I have found myself in a strange place, alone. [A pause and a sound almost like a sigh. Then, he's all business again.]

Is this a sign of failure or success? What are the variables that make this world different? I suppose time will provide me answers.

Comments

[persolvo]

[ Well if it isn't his favourite enigma in the whole world. ]

I had a feeling you had somethin' to do with this.

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Mr. DeWitt.

[The sound of the man's voice surprises him, though it's very slight in his tone.

Still, that introduces some very interesting points about this strange device on his wrist. Perhaps it's a different kind of creation. One of Albert Fink's creations? Or is this a universe he stole from?]

I must admit, I didn't expect to hear from you again.

[Which raises all sorts of questions. Where is Elizabeth? How did this happen? Where are they? When are they? But if DeWitt heard something he didn't know was being shared, Robert is going to think twice before asking anything.]

oops video

[persolvo]

[ If he sounds impatient and a little angry, it's because he is. ] Don't expect you did. Where's your partner?

[ablankpage]

[Well, as far as Robert's concerned... That's just DeWitt being DeWitt.]

Temporarily absent.

And your charge, Mister DeWitt? Have you been separated from her?

[If DeWitt dares to tell him that Comstock has her...

He never thought he'd feel so different. No omnipotence, no control over his placement, just... alive? At this point, it's very different.]

[persolvo]

That's a first. [ It's almost creepier without them finishing each other's sentences. ]

The girl's just fine. Don't suppose this was part of your plan, huh? Detour right into a trap?

voice;

[enchangement]

Time will not help you as time is frozen in this state of not quite inertia. We are stopped in a stop-gap solution, trapped in a fishbowl, unable to budge or comply.

voice;

[ablankpage]

Rather fatalistic. [He sounds almost amused.]

Though-- [a pause] --so I suppose we'll just have to see.

voice;

[enchangement]

No. Fatal implies the end.

Where does the möbius finish?

voice;

[ablankpage]

Where it's cut, of course.

voice;

[enchangement]

Then it ceases to be a möbius at all.

So we are...in the loop, out of the loop, frozen and suspended. This is the theory, this is my theory.

What do you study and who do you experiment upon? Sound of a scientist in tone and presumption.

( video )

[voliere]

[ She knows him - she's spoken with him once, she thinks, though it was brief. But she does know who he is, even if their talk had been for only a moment. That's where she had recognized him from - the books. Rosalind Lutece and her brother Robert, missing since four years prior, the greatest scientists of the time.

She, of course, is eager to speak with him, not only because of who he is but because he's from her world, something that isn't so common, here. She smiles warmly at him through the video function. ]

You aren't alone. There are plenty people here, Mr. Lutece, including those who would recognize you.

( video )

[ablankpage]

[Ah, that voice. It's a relief to hear it. Alive and as well as can be expected. And she knows who he is.

Good, good.]

Two familiar voices.

[He might even be smiling just a little by his voice.

Because he doesn't know he could, if he looked at the thing on his wrist again, see her. Or that he can be seen.

After a beat, he says, as if speaking to someone else.]

Though most unusual.

[voliere]

This whole place is unusual. [ Elizabeth says, amused. She's not sure she's ever seen the two Luteces apart from each other; it's strange. ] People from all times and places seem to have been collected here. Are you alright? The city can be a little - fraught, with danger.

[ablankpage]

It always begins with a lighthouse. [A beat.] Time will tell, I suppose.

[But, ah. She asked a question. Of course.]

I'm quite well. If a little... disoriented.

[voliere]

[ She's curious about the lighthouse, but she doesn't ask, for now. ] I was as well, when I first arrived. [ And she wilts a little. ] I've not found a way out. We seem to all be stuck here.

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[hexappeal]

Failure and success are subjective when it comes to multiversal travel, intentional or otherwise. [Oh, you can hear the smile in her voice.]

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[ablankpage]

Of course.

However, I was in the middle of a particular experiment that may have resulted in my arrival here. It would be advantageous for me to discern whether my presence here is an indication of success, failure, or entirely neutral.

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[hexappeal]

Aside from what we're jamming on, there's not too much in the ways of technology here; you may find that difficult.

Welcome to Cape Kore, techie.

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[ablankpage]

Is there basic electricity?

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[hexappeal]

Seems to all be up and running, yeah.

[She hesitates and it's beyond obvious in her shaky voice.] If you need someone to generate some, I might just be willing to lend a hand.

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[greenisnteasy]

Failure or success depends on where you're coming from and what you were trying to do. [ This place is terrible, and Bruce is hurting from what it's done to him -- giving him Tony, taking Tony away -- but there's a support system here too that's valuable. ]

You're not alone, by the way, if you haven't noticed. You'll probably see signs of life once you get to the lighthouse.

[ Loki had stayed there way back when everyone first showed up, and then they'd kept a prisoner there. He's not sure what else the lighthouse has been put through. ]

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[ablankpage]

I am within sight of the lighthouse you mentioned.

[And still, in his opinion, alone. After having a constant companion for twenty years, the absence of that person is very, very alone. He could be surrounded by a hundred people, and he would still call himself alone.]

[greenisnteasy]

Yeah, I used to live down that way. [ And he's thought about moving back in, living on his own again, but now there are people in his house again... ]

Got a name?

[ablankpage]

Ah. Forgive me. [He's so unused to having to introduce himself. Either it wasn't necessary -- like with Mister DeWitt -- or people knew him -- like in Columbia.]

Robert Lutece.

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce Banner. I do a lot of the doctor stuff around here.