(IC) Lost In Dreams [Peter]

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Sarge: "Do you claim to be a US citizen* then? What's your full name. I'm sure we can look you up. Do you know your Social Security Number yet?"
*I was curious if you'd take this line, and I'm still curious where it will go.

"regardless of how you answer, you will not be tortured or mistreated, though you will be detained, and we will figure out what you are."

"That's actually a little complicated. I'm a US Citizen, but I don't want to give more details than that right now, because it could affect other people."

Which is true, Peter is concerned there may be a Nichols family here who may be harassed by the government if he is identified.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Sarge: "Or you're a spy who has really done their homework. If you are truly responsible for their release, then thank you. I think you'll understand if we exercise a little paranoia about people coming through the gates. If you're that capable and that diplomatic you can exercise a little patience, I think."

"This is that! This is totally patient me! It would be easier to be patient somewhere nicer."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"I'm interested. How do we close the portals? And how did you find that out?"

"With incense and a ritual I learned in Thuroma. Hopefully you guys have some people with a knack for magic on this side. If you don't know it, I'm hoping there are some who can do it but don't realize it. But I figured I would lead you guys to a portal and show you how it's done. I sensed a few on the way over here, so I think we should work with ones the guys on the other side might not be watching."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"That chessesteak and cherry coke are on their way. We're taking good care of the dog. Don't worry about him. Just keep talking. Can you explain the clothes you were wearing?"

Peter has been making an effort to keep the tone playful and light despite the soldiers and guns... But his tone becomes more serious and there is no trace left of the quick and mirthful responses Peter has been providing. That all vanishes when Peter is told not to worry about Goliath.


"Okay, I'm done playing the spy interrogation game. Please release me and get my dog. Have I made a mistake coming here? Do you want to be friends or not?"

Peter extends his cuffed hands towards Sarge expectantly. His expression is quizzical in a "How can you be blowing this so badly?" sort of a way. If Sarge thought Peter was impatient before, Peter has just asked him to hold his beer.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"That's actually a little complicated. I'm a US Citizen, but I don't want to give more details than that right now, because it could affect other people."

Sarge: "Come on, you know I can't take that answer. I need to verify if you're a spy or not. You can't just vaugely say 'I'm a citizen' and hope I go with it. I can tell you know a lot about Modern Culture, but that doesn't mean you're from here."

"With incense and a ritual I learned in Thuroma. Hopefully you guys have some people with a knack for magic on this side. If you don't know it, I'm hoping there are some who can do it but don't realize it. But I figured I would lead you guys to a portal and show you how it's done. I sensed a few on the way over here, so I think we should work with ones the guys on the other side might not be watching."

"As far as I know, the portals are limited to the priests. We don't know how its done, and we don't use the word 'magic'. I doubt David Copperfield is going to be of much use. If you can open and shut the portals, and show us how to do it, that would be useful and appreciated. It'd get you out of this room."

"Okay, I'm done playing the spy interrogation game. Please release me and get my dog. Have I made a mistake coming here? Do you want to be friends or not?"


Peter extends his cuffed hands towards Sarge expectantly. His expression is quizzical in a "How can you be blowing this so badly?" sort of a way. If Sarge thought Peter was impatient before, Peter has just asked him to hold his beer.

"Kid, I understand you want your dog. He's fine, I just can't justify keeping the only weapon you brought with you in the room during our conversation."



"This is not a game. I want to be friends with you. I want your gift to turn things around in this crisis. But I also don't want to send an enemy spy loose in our bureaucracy with who-knows-what agenda and abilities. We think mind control is among the things they can do. So help me be friends with you."


"And no, I can't just release you. You've come across a lot of information, most of it classified. And you know more than most. We need your help, and we need your silence. We'll get you back to your life, but its going to take time. And no, we won't have your dog impounded the whole time."

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter continues to look at the man like he's an idiot.

Sarge: "Come on, you know I can't take that answer. I need to verify if you're a spy or not. You can't just vaugely say 'I'm a citizen' and hope I go with it. I can tell you know a lot about Modern Culture, but that doesn't mean you're from here."

"No you don't Sarge, If I were you I would assume that I AM a spy no matter what I say. You do it with ambassadors and foreign VIPs and stuff all the time. If I told you everything and you verified it, you would still have to assume I was lying based on stolen records or something, wouldn't you?"

"Kid, I understand you want your dog. He's fine, I just can't justify keeping the only weapon you brought with you in the room during our conversation.""

"You could have put him in a muzzle. You don't think you and your soldiers can handle me and my muzzled dog with your guns? Not worth the gamble that someone gets scratched for me to feel safer and more comfortable while I rain on you with intel gold?"

"This is not a game. I want to be friends with you. I want your gift to turn things around in this crisis. But I also don't want to send an enemy spy loose in our bureaucracy with who-knows-what agenda and abilities. We think mind control is among the things they can do. So help me be friends with you."

"If it isn't a game then stop playing with me. You can control my access without putting me in a basement in handcuffs. If I could mind control you, none of it would make any difference. Help you? I've been helping you! I've been busting my ass! How many Americans were released?"

Peter shakes his head and thinks...

'I should have told the cat girl her purpose was to be my girlfriend and run off to live in the jungle and got a pet dinosaur for Goliath to play with...'

"And no, I can't just release you. You've come across a lot of information, most of it classified. And you know more than most. We need your help, and we need your silence. We'll get you back to your life, but its going to take time. And no, we won't have your dog impounded the whole time."

"I'm done being a prisoner cooperating with captors. The last Americans returned home knew that I made the deal to get all the people released, and got them to agree to not attack and take prisoners from here any more, so I'm sure you know all about it... They are supposed to be setting up some sort of trade deals to cement the peace. I'm assuming you prefer things now to before I got involved a few weeks ago?"


"This is unbelievable... If the people on the other side of those portals realize you have their Emissary against his will, I hope they honor the agreement... Good luck with that. I would not want to be you when you file this report, Sarge."

Peter has nothing else to say or show them until he is reunited to Goliath and they remove his cuffs. If that doesn't happen in the next hour or so, Peter will lean back and take a power nap and hope to wake elsewhere.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"No you don't Sarge, If I were you I would assume that I AM a spy no matter what I say. You do it with ambassadors and foreign VIPs and stuff all the time. If I told you everything and you verified it, you would still have to assume I was lying based on stolen records or something, wouldn't you?"

Sarge: "But what am I supposed to think if you tell us nothing at all?"

"You could have put him in a muzzle. You don't think you and your soldiers can handle me and my muzzled dog with your guns? Not worth the gamble that someone gets scratched for me to feel safer and more comfortable while I rain on you with intel gold?"

Sarge: "People are being kidnapped, shot, roasted, and murdered. Your personal comfort doesn't register on that scale. And given what's at stake, I suspect you'll help us or not regardless of if you're in cuffs or not."

"Now, if you answered my question about where in America you're from, or told me where you fit into the clockwork hierarchy, we can see about changing your comfort."

"If it isn't a game then stop playing with me. You can control my access without putting me in a basement in handcuffs. If I could mind control you, none of it would make any difference. Help you? I've been helping you! I've been busting my ass! How many Americans were released?"

"I'm done being a prisoner cooperating with captors. The last Americans returned home knew that I made the deal to get all the people released, and got them to agree to not attack and take prisoners from here any more, so I'm sure you know all about it... They are supposed to be setting up some sort of trade deals to cement the peace. I'm assuming you prefer things now to before I got involved a few weeks ago?"

"You didn't stop all the attacks. You might have stopped some of them. We've still got murders happening all over the place, as well as kidnappings. If you're getting our people released, can you give me their names? It'd be nice to verify your story with them."

"This is unbelievable... If the people on the other side of those portals realize you have their Emissary against his will, I hope they honor the agreement... Good luck with that. I would not want to be you when you file this report, Sarge."

"You're their emissary? To their Gods? You worked your way into their religious hierarchy?"


OCC: the weird thing about this scene is that from an in-game perspective, its about Sarge getting information from Peter, but from a meta-game perspective, its about Sarge giving Peter information.

[the_matrix_walker]

"You didn't stop all the attacks. You might have stopped some of them. We've still got murders happening all over the place, as well as kidnappings. If you're getting our people released, can you give me their names? It'd be nice to verify your story with them."

At the revelation that Peter has not saved the world and turned this into the land of puppies and fuzzy bunnies on swings hung from rainbows, his arrogance cracks.

"Crap... Of course some cities are still doing it. I only stopped the ones in the deal with Thuroma. What was I thinking? I still have so much work to do... "

Peter seems deflated.

"You don't know about the releases? A bunch of people coming through in waves? I came through the portal they were sent back through. In the last one there was Dr. Goslin, a nuclear scientist from South Carolina; Mr. Cardin, a refinery owner from Wyoming; Mr. Patterson, the mayor of Springfield, Iowa; and a Dr. Caldwell, an inspector at a pharmaceutical plant."

"You're their emissary? To their Gods? You worked your way into their religious hierarchy?"

"Kinda. I run messages back and forth to their gods in exchange for letting their prisoners go, and for playing nice with this world, but it sounds like not everyone got the memo. Really, I should have known better to think the deal would cover every city under the clockwork sky."

[ericthered]

Sarge: "I can check and see if we got them, and if their stories match yours. It'd go a long way towards verifying who you are."

Sarge is a touch skeptical:

"You've met their Gods. Like physically. Like shaken hands with Arn-Oda? Or did you just convince them you did that?"

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"You've met their Gods. Like physically. Like shaken hands with Arn-Oda? Or did you just convince them you did that?"

Peter recalls dragging Arn-Oda's corpse back and forth across the ground by the heel and says...

"Kinda?

I haven't met all of them.

You have to understand I'm kind of walking a line here. I'm trying to be helpful to this world, without screwing up the Thuroman deal to reduce the attacks on this world. And I need to protect myself and my family. So I think it's safe to try and teach you to close portals, give you general info and make suggestions , but I'm not going to tell you anything they would consider a full on betrayal. They do have some weird magic and they might be able to sense it."

[ericthered]

"Kinda? so you have physically met some of them? I'm sure the locals love that. Their gods will only speak to a foreigner."


"Why are you hiding your family? You didn't run away from home, did you? I'd think you'd be happy to reunite with them by now."



"You might have to tell us more just to be allowed to go back son. For now, I'm sending you to the debriefing site. I'll verify your story and we'll what your new status is."

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter is still a bit embarrassed by his behavior after learning the great victories he's achieved in Thuroma has only translated into a moderate improvement of the situation for this world.


"Okay... this opens a can of worms, but I already told Dr. Goslin and Mr. Cardin...

I am from a place called Massachusetts in the USA on planet Earth, and this world is very much like it, but this is not my world.

I don't tell you more than my first name because I don't know if there is a me, or another member of my family who has a copy here, and I don't want them harassed if they exist.

The reason I am the Emissary, is that under very special circumstances, I find my way to other worlds, and I don't get to choose where sometimes and I can't bring anything with me.

My aim is getting better, and I've used it to leverage the stuff I've gotten done so far by running messages back and forth with their gods.

If you give me something to write on..."

Peter will write, or dictate if needed, the process for opening and closing a portal as he understands it, and the composition (and variants) he had asked about when he got it. He will draw their attention to the incense he brought to them as a gift and to try and teach them with.

"If you want me to keep trying to help on this side, I'm going to need some kind of diplomatic status, because I need to come and go to do my duties as Emissary. I think the best thing is for you to run what I've said up the chain and get your orders."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

"Okay... this opens a can of worms, but I already told Dr. Goslin and Mr. Cardin...

I am from a place called Massachusetts in the USA on planet Earth, and this world is very much like it, but this is not my world.

I don't tell you more than my first name because I don't know if there is a me, or another member of my family who has a copy here, and I don't want them harassed if they exist.

The reason I am the Emissary, is that under very special circumstances, I find my way to other worlds, and I don't get to choose where sometimes and I can't bring anything with me.

My aim is getting better, and I've used it to leverage the stuff I've gotten done so far by running messages back and forth with their gods.

"So you're a citizen of a United States of America, but not our united states of america. And you have a way to travel that doesn't involve portals. And you somehow convinced one of the more aggressive cities on the other side of all of this to the point that they stopped attacking us. "

"Do these very special circumstances require us giving you a solid gold nugget or letting you out of holding or something else convenient for you? Sounds like the best way to verify your story is to show us how you travel without the portals."

If you give me something to write on..."

Peter will write, or dictate if needed, the process for opening and closing a portal as he understands it, and the composition (and variants) he had asked about when he got it. He will draw their attention to the incense he brought to them as a gift and to try and teach them with.

"And can anybody do this? or just some people? do you know of anyone other than you?"

"If you want me to keep trying to help on this side, I'm going to need some kind of diplomatic status, because I need to come and go to do my duties as Emissary. I think the best thing is for you to run what I've said up the chain and get your orders."

"I got to do due diligence kid. I'll send you to the debriefing site and see if I can verify your story. I'll see you later. How I see you will depend on if the story is true or not."