(IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

The woman assures Julian they will take good care of him.

The group goes back and forth... ... about "Guardians" and about "A Registry"... maybe he's on the registry?

I sit down and breath a sigh of relief. If it really is fourteen hundred years into the future, there's no way I'll be sent back to that place. And even if there's an entry on me in a registry somewhere, it'd be fourteen hundred years old. They probably wouldn't believe it or wouldn't really care.

Maybe I had some kind of time dilation effect travelling at really high warp speeds? That'd explain the lost time and why they've never heard of Riask. Probably means everyone I've ever known is dead. Twice over.

Originally Posted by ericthered

The group goes back and forth... something about their "Game"

Huh? "Game? What game?"

[ericthered]

"The Holo-game we came down here to play. hey, we're going to get you checked out medically, make sure you aren't hurt in some way. I think you might have some sort of brain injury."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"The Holo-game we came down here to play."

"Strange place to stick starpus housing. Unless this is like an apartment building with a common entertainment area."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"hey, we're going to get you checked out medically, make sure you aren't hurt in some way. I think you might have some sort of brain injury."

Well given how much I've been smacked around and how I fell off a cliff, I'd be inclined to agree.

"So do you want me to sit tight and wait or...?"

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Strange place to stick starpus housing. Unless this is like an apartment building with a common entertainment area."

"They've got to put it somewhere. Everything is next to everything else, even if it is a big station. It is an odd place to have next to the starpus quarters though."

Well given how much I've been smacked around and how I fell off a cliff, I'd be inclined to agree.

"So do you want me to sit tight and wait or...?"

The folks eventually agree two of them, the woman and a man, will take Julian to the "Medical Center".



They go to a door in the wall, and the woman sticks a plastic card in, and an elevator opens. It takes them to a sort of subway station, and they climb into a passenger car. The lobby area is quite busy. Julian sees a little more variation in clothing... some of it manages to not cling to the body, and there are a few more styles, like the clothes with the impossibly poofy shoulders and ankles, tight unadorned clothing that looks likes its trying to invoke athletic lines with its seems and color blocks, and flowing robe-like garments overflowing with pockets. There's also strange crustacean people with four legs and four hands, standing only four and a half feet tall but having as much mass as any of the humans walking here.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"They've got to put it somewhere. Everything is next to everything else, even if it is a big station. It is an odd place to have next to the starpus quarters though."

"Station?" I say, surprised, "Like a space station? But we're not floating around..."

Originally Posted by ericthered

The folks eventually agree two of them, the woman and a man,

I guess it's easier to differentiate up close.

Originally Posted by ericthered

They go to a door in the wall, and the woman sticks a plastic card in, and an elevator opens.

"Is that like a credit card or something?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

It takes them to a sort of subway station, and they climb into a passenger car. The lobby area is quite busy. Julian sees a little more variation in clothing... some of it manages to not cling to the body, and there are a few more styles, like the clothes with the impossibly poofy shoulders and ankles, tight unadorned clothing that looks likes its trying to invoke athletic lines with its seems and color blocks, and flowing robe-like garments overflowing with pockets.

I look over all the odd clothing, wondering how poofy shoulders that look better suited to Disney princesses came into fashion. I end up deciding that even ridiculous puffy shirts are better than nothing at all.

Originally Posted by ericthered

There's also strange crustacean people with four legs and four hands, standing only four and a half feet tall but having as much mass as any of the humans walking here.

I quietly ask one of the two I'm travelling with about the crabs. Of course, in my head I'm already calling them Mr. Crabs.

So what are the crustaceans wearing?

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Station?" I say, surprised, "Like a space station? But we're not floating around..."

The woman looks at Julian like he's been hit on the head (which has not been ruled out yet): "They spin the station around to create gravity. We're not on the docks or anything"

I guess it's easier to differentiate up close.

Oh, its not normally too difficult to tell, unless your primary way to determine gender is makeup. Is that the case for Julian?

"Is that like a credit card or something?"

"That's my Identity Card. What's a Credit Card? some sort of Bank Authorization?"

I quietly ask one of the two I'm travelling with about the crabs. Of course, in my head I'm already calling them Mr. Crabs.

"Those are Chelonos. The concordance discovered their planet during the early reunification, and they've been a core part of it. Don't stare, they're just a normal part of the concordance."

So what are the crustaceans wearing?

Satchels to hold things in, plus some body paint and a few blocky decorations attached to their body.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

The woman looks at Julian like he's been hit on the head (which has not been ruled out yet): "They spin the station around to create gravity. We're not on the docks or anything"

"Centrifugal force, I see."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Oh, its not normally too difficult to tell, unless your primary way to determine gender is makeup. Is that the case for Julian?

OK, just shaping the picture. So it's just the makeup, not other fashions or secondary characteristics.

Originally Posted by ericthered

"That's my Identity Card. What's a Credit Card? some sort of Bank Authorization?"

"Yeah it's a money thing. They let you spend or borrow money without having to carry it around."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Those are Chelonos. The concordance discovered their planet during the early reunification, and they've been a core part of it. Don't stare, they're just a normal part of the concordance."

"I see." I quit staring.

"Reunification? Did the concordance collapse some time ago?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Satchels to hold things in, plus some body paint and a few blocky decorations attached to their body.

I guess if you're shelled and cold-blooded wearing a shirt makes no sense.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Yeah it's a money thing. They let you spend or borrow money without having to carry it around."

"So like my ID card."

"Reunification? Did the concordance collapse some time ago?"

"Oh no, the reunification of humanity. After the slow-ship radiation."

I guess if you're shelled and cold-blooded wearing a shirt makes no sense.

I mean, possibly privacy, social expectations, or decoration... but yeah.

They take the subway to a "medical center". Julian is stuck on a bed and stuck in some sort of full-body scanner. And they draw a little of his blood. Everyone seems to be a technician, with no doctor in sight. Once in the machine, Peter is told to think about eating... about running... about relaxing... and they ask him to move various limbs.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"So like my ID card."

"I dunno; having ID and finance and everything all mixed together seems a bit odd."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Oh no, the reunification of humanity. After the slow-ship radiation."

I think for a moment, "So there were star-ships before warp-ships, but there was a radiation problem with the old slow-ships and so humanity became isolated until warp-ships became a thing?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

I mean, possibly privacy, social expectations, or decoration... but yeah.

Maybe to shield against UV radiation?

Originally Posted by ericthered

They take the subway to a "medical center". Peter is stuck on a bed and stuck in some sort of full-body scanner. And they draw a little of his blood. Everyone seems to be a technician, with no doctor in sight. Once in the machine, Peter is told to think about eating... about running... about relaxing... and they ask him to move various limbs.

Well I'm sure Peter is thrilled to escape military custody so easily.

"Does the doctor work remotely?"

I follow their directions, but relaxing proves difficult...

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"I dunno; having ID and finance and everything all mixed together seems a bit odd."

"Maybe in Riask or wherever that place is."

I think for a moment, "So there were star-ships before warp-ships, but there was a radiation problem with the old slow-ships and so humanity became isolated until warp-ships became a thing?"

"Not that kind of radiation. Migratory Radiation: The spreading of a civilization, idea, species, clade, or other reproducing entity."

"Does the doctor work remotely?"

The technician looks surprised "Doctor? We don't use doctors here. We use Diagnosticians. Where are from? we don't have any records for you yet. Not even..." she does a little bit of frowning at a screen. "Can we get another blood sample? I think there's an error in your blood tests. Everything but that looks good so far though, at least on my end. Your advocate will sum up everything for you at the end."