We have to plan as though a version of the world intends to still be here in a few days time.
Meditation is hard. It looks like just sitting and staying still, but doing it properly is like doing training your body to run a marathon when it's used to sitting on the couch all day. It takes time, practice, and building up your endurance.
So right now, when you're sitting and breathing, what are you focusing on?
[ Here's a very merry christmas present addressed to stephen from apollo... it's a cd mix (very 90s, he knows) with a note scribbled on the disc itself: here's a good place to start - A. ]
[A few days before Christmas a package shall arrive for Stephen, wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper. In it will be an antique doctor's field kit, complete with leather bag to hold it in. And with it a card.
Because forgetting where we come from can make us lose our way. But I know you'll always remember that first, we do no harm.]
Hello. We don't know each other and I apologize for the intrusion. I found your details on the network. My name is Shepard and since arriving I've been trying to understand a couple of things that don't make sense. From what you've previously said on the network I figured you might be the man with information that could help? Appreciate this is out of the blue and I'll owe you for any information you can provide. Thanks.
audio; because he's always too fucking lazy and vaguely sore to type
Right. [ An agreement lanced through an exhaled laugh, not that it sounds all that amused in any way. More uncomfortable than anything. ] I'm starting to get that impression.
Are layman's terms alright? I'm not familiar with how any of it works...
[ And he really doesn't want to insult anybody's intelligence. He takes a deep breath as far away from his communicator as possible because while he's willing to sacrifice privacy in order to get information, he knows it's a lot to put on somebody else. ]
Full disclosure: I was dead before I arrived. Not just dead but... dispersed DNA. There's been a couple theories I've heard about how exactly we're pulled in regardless of medical status prior. I have no idea which if any are close to the mark. But now I'm wondering what exactly I left behind if I'm here now... with a body.
[Stephen makes a low, throaty affirmative noise at the question of whether non-technical speak is fine, just a casual 'mmhmm.' At its most generous, it sounds like he doesn't want to interrupt Shepard's trail of thought. At worst (and maybe more likely) it could sound like he's multitasking and only partly listening.
There's no additional noise from Stephen's side initially as Shepard explains, though as soon as there's a pause Stephen makes a thoughtful sound.]
There are a possible options and they can relate to a few different ares, both separate and overlapping--physical, temporal, and dimensional.
I can't tell you exactly which would necessarily relate to your specific situation, but I can tell you some possibilities I've heard about and noticed in this particular dimension.
One possibility is that you were brought here a fraction of a second before your death and upon arrival the nanites went to work. You technically hadn't died yet, so you were removed not only from your world but also from your projected timeline to create something else here.
Saying you had dispersed DNA back in your world sounds pretty final, like you're saying you were atomised on some level, is that right? [He doesn't really pause for confirmation.] If that's so, you probably don't have a body to return to and you're now existing in a totally different trajectory of yourself in a very different plane of existence. It's even possible that being reduced to matter in your work meant some kind of reassembly in this one via the imPort process.
How am I doing so far? This lining up with what you've been hearing?
It's... a lot to comprehend but not because the doctor is talking above his level of understanding. If anything, Shepard understands in painful detail the theories being shared.
Neither are ideas he likes, but he has a strong preference towards one of them. He's not the kind of man to believe something just to make himself feel better, but he's hoping the reality is closer to the second option. Leaving his own world behind without a resolution for the Reapers isn't one he can personally bear.
Realization hits him belatedly, the fact he hasn't said a word in response ricocheting to the forefront of his mind. When he speaks, his tone is even, level despite how upside down and sideways reality feels. ]
Something like that, yeah.
[ Ultimately, it's the lack of closure he can feel himself already struggling with. Has he left behind all the people he cares about, the entire galaxy, to be wiped out by the Reapers? How's he ever going to find out? And, if he does, what can he do about it from here? ]
Couple of people mentioned getting sent back to their world. Guessing that's not a choice that can be made?
[ Backing down from difficult conversations isn't in his DNA, so whatever the answer he wants to know. If he can't actively choose to go back, to return to whatever state his world is in, that's something else to grapple with mentally. ]
[amid the crisis of the porter, a video call comes in.]
Potts, Strange.
[this spectacle is strikingly familiar. a man's face haloed by the darkness of a power armour head-up display, shaking subtly from impact and movement. holographic callouts and circular elements ghost around him.
it's the iron man communications interface. but that isn't tony.]
This is Joseph Kavinsky, Second to High Chancellor Rey Palpatine. Your leadership is managing the crisis on the ground. The Tower needs you to evacuate former Chancellor Tony Stark to the Train staging area immediately and protect him from structural instabilities. He's in a psychically-induced coma. I'm sending you his location.
[new video slides in. first a 2d map, which blooms into 3d, and zooms into holographic pathways.
the maps are interactive, showing the way to tony and rey's hotel suite, downloading into their devices. kavinsky's tone stays brisk; whatever he knows about the unique history these three share with tony stark, there's zero sentimentality on his face.]
This is definitely not the time to talk about duty.
[He sounds a little strained and impatient, obviously multitasking in a way that taking a bit of a toll, though he's obviously not so busy he can't make his displeasure known.
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in the wee-est hours of the morning after her prophecy post
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What ever gave you that impression?
[Which is to say, she’s right.]
Pls pretend this is htmled thank
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What do you want to know?
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Force, I shouldn't even be bothering you with this.
I just need to do something.
Basically I just want to know how to do it without reading every mind in a two block radius.
That's an exaggeration. But when I try the whole 'sit and breathe' thing it's like I just open up and invite things in.
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Meditation is hard. It looks like just sitting and staying still, but doing it properly is like doing training your body to run a marathon when it's used to sitting on the couch all day. It takes time, practice, and building up your endurance.
So right now, when you're sitting and breathing, what are you focusing on?
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arriving on christmas eve
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Thank you for the gift.
Christmas Present - NO response needed
Because forgetting where we come from can make us lose our way. But I know you'll always remember that first, we do no harm.]
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but seriously i need to not be haunted for a few days
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You need an exorcism at well now? Do I need to worry about the next full moon when it rolls around too?
I'm going to need more details.
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look he doesn't usually bother me
the paranormal activity isn't the problem
he follows me around and i need him to not do that while i work on this reality breaking thing
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text; having scoured the network to track down a ~space & time specialist~
audio; because he's always too fucking lazy and vaguely sore to type
What's on your mind, Shepard? I'll offer whatever insight I'm able to.
audio; because it's easier to explain what he means out loud than try typing it out
Are layman's terms alright? I'm not familiar with how any of it works...
[ And he really doesn't want to insult anybody's intelligence. He takes a deep breath as far away from his communicator as possible because while he's willing to sacrifice privacy in order to get information, he knows it's a lot to put on somebody else. ]
Full disclosure: I was dead before I arrived. Not just dead but... dispersed DNA. There's been a couple theories I've heard about how exactly we're pulled in regardless of medical status prior. I have no idea which if any are close to the mark. But now I'm wondering what exactly I left behind if I'm here now... with a body.
Sorry. That's a lot to just uh... yeah.
This is stupid late, I'm so sorry :<
There's no additional noise from Stephen's side initially as Shepard explains, though as soon as there's a pause Stephen makes a thoughtful sound.]
There are a possible options and they can relate to a few different ares, both separate and overlapping--physical, temporal, and dimensional.
I can't tell you exactly which would necessarily relate to your specific situation, but I can tell you some possibilities I've heard about and noticed in this particular dimension.
One possibility is that you were brought here a fraction of a second before your death and upon arrival the nanites went to work. You technically hadn't died yet, so you were removed not only from your world but also from your projected timeline to create something else here.
Saying you had dispersed DNA back in your world sounds pretty final, like you're saying you were atomised on some level, is that right? [He doesn't really pause for confirmation.] If that's so, you probably don't have a body to return to and you're now existing in a totally different trajectory of yourself in a very different plane of existence. It's even possible that being reduced to matter in your work meant some kind of reassembly in this one via the imPort process.
How am I doing so far? This lining up with what you've been hearing?
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It's... a lot to comprehend but not because the doctor is talking above his level of understanding. If anything, Shepard understands in painful detail the theories being shared.
Neither are ideas he likes, but he has a strong preference towards one of them. He's not the kind of man to believe something just to make himself feel better, but he's hoping the reality is closer to the second option. Leaving his own world behind without a resolution for the Reapers isn't one he can personally bear.
Realization hits him belatedly, the fact he hasn't said a word in response ricocheting to the forefront of his mind. When he speaks, his tone is even, level despite how upside down and sideways reality feels. ]
Something like that, yeah.
[ Ultimately, it's the lack of closure he can feel himself already struggling with. Has he left behind all the people he cares about, the entire galaxy, to be wiped out by the Reapers? How's he ever going to find out? And, if he does, what can he do about it from here? ]
Couple of people mentioned getting sent back to their world. Guessing that's not a choice that can be made?
[ Backing down from difficult conversations isn't in his DNA, so whatever the answer he wants to know. If he can't actively choose to go back, to return to whatever state his world is in, that's something else to grapple with mentally. ]
fractured world au;
audio;
[He sounds a little strained and impatient, obviously multitasking in a way that taking a bit of a toll, though he's obviously not so busy he can't make his displeasure known.
There's a exasperated sigh.]
We'll get him.
audio;
[someday there will be a universe where kavinsky speaks to him with the proper title and name. someday.
there's a background rumble. something lands on kavinsky but the power armor spares him real damage.]
audio;
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[don't say it. don't say it. don't--]
2/2
[🤷🏻♂️]
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