video | un: Barton

[pretendtoneedme]

This is gonna piss off Ross and I'm all for that, but even after all the shit that's gone down in the last six years I don't know how I'll explain this.

[The video had opened on what there is to be seen of a partially overcast sky between two of the taller buildings of Dualis before tilting down; obviously whoever's broadcasting is walking along the road, because the picture continues to move at a steady pace down what looks to be a slightly less metropolitan-city-ish shopping district. Part of the hand holding the phone is visible, but nothing else about the person speaking can be seen yet.]

And my limit of pissing him off got blown by about the time I woke up in cyberpunk Egypt, so I've got two questions for anyone with any kind of answer - how in the hell do we get home, and does anyone have some tools I can borrow so I can break some sensitive electronics?

[...yeah, that's all he's volunteering for now. Sorry about that.]

Comments

Video | UN: RankA

[skyward_eyes]

[What a lovely spot this stranger is in. Perhaps Nida should find it, the look of it is amazing ,and if he gets his boyfriend up there, clearly he can get make-outs. Too bad Billy can't fly anymore. But he does respond to the stranger, with a video too. A video of a mechanic's toolbox.]

Would any of this too? Also, what's Egypt?

video

[pretendtoneedme]

[It is actually a pretty nice place, for somewhere he absolutely didn't want to be. It reminds him some of the last time he was in Lisbon five years back; not a perfect match, but there's some architectural similarities.]

[He just really doesn't want to be here right now. Or ever.]

[At the words, he has to look at the picture to see what Nida's referring to, so Nida's actually the first one to see his face. And he just looks like a guy, obviously healthy, maybe middle aged, apparently goes outside a lot, normal blue shirt. Just... a guy.]

That might work - is anything in there small, or is it all the kind of stuff you work on a vehicle's transmission with?

[There's a short pause at the question, but it's very, very brief, less than a second as Clint reminds himself he knows very literal aliens so this young person's probably not from Earth and don't go being stupid.]

A place from home - they created those sphinxes that you saw when you woke up, a long time ago.

Re: video

[skyward_eyes]

[Maybe just a guy, but sorta cute. In that whole 'middle-aged dad who could probably build a table or something' way. Which isn't his normal, but whatever.]

Well, I am a mechanic. Of course there are things for transmission. Even things for wiring, seeing as some cars here apparently fly or hover. Of course they don't use repulsion rings, but who cares? Hover is hover.

[Clint isn't wrong. Nida's an alien. But a human alien. He does turn his phone back to his face and offers a brief smile.]

Sphinxes? Sounds similar to a Sphinxara. They aren't any fun to fight. Did yours just attack because they thought your mug wasn't pretty enough, or do they eat you?

video

[pretendtoneedme]

[The pause this time is longer, and though Clint is ridiculously good at hiding his emotions when he needs to, well, now he doesn't need to, and the confusion at Nida's words is evident. There's a look that clearly reads as p r o c e s s i n g before he shakes his head, shaking it off at the same time.]

We don't have anything like that where I'm from - maybe on some other planet, but I've never been to any. In the stories, sphinxes would just ask you questions or guard places, and if you got them wrong it would kill you. There was also something about prophecy, I don't remember what, it wasn't my subject.

Do you have any small screwdrivers and some needle-nose pliers?

Re: video

[skyward_eyes]

Check on both items.

You're going to tell me your world doesn't have dragons either, right?

[Dammit, he's going to lose a point there. Silly inter-dimensional dragon spotting. Oh well, he will move on.]

So what are you trying to break?

video; un: SPEED

[expeditiousness]

[hi clint, have a white-haired teen boy looking at you with the approximate expression of dude.]

Did ya miss the orientation? We gotta wait a year to get home, according to the giant computer that brought us here. And as for question number two - how sensitive are we talking, and how many pieces do you want it broken into?

video

[pretendtoneedme]

[He's not looking at the screen, so he doesn't see the odd sort of echo of someone he knew. That tone of voice is something he's pretty familiar with, though.]

I've been through too many orientations to not know that you're never told the entire story on your first day, if you ever are. There's always something left out - you just gotta figure out what that is. And like hell am I waiting on a computer to send me home. Part two, well-constructed but delicate, and I don't care, I just want it off.

[expeditiousness]

I dunno, this place is like a five-star resort compared to where I was stuck before. I’m not in a huge hurry to leave.

[shrug!! but high-tech electronics that are worn but unwanted - tommy’s guessing some kind of tracking device or restraint. definitely something he can help with removing.]

Well, I don’t know a lot about tech, but I do know about breaking stuff. I can move things on a molecular level, so it won’t be too hard for me to get whatever it is off.

[pretendtoneedme]

[Tommy's comment gives him a brief pause, less than a second, but there's a lot to read into that, none of it good. There's a lot he could say, but for now he just lets it go - he knows a lot about not wanting to talk, and he doesn't know a damn thing about Tommy to know if he doesn't want to or not. Let it go for now.]

Right. Sounds like- [He cuts himself off from what he was going to say, clearly thinking about something, before starting a question.] You can move anything or just yourself?

[expeditiousness]

Uhh ... both, maybe? I dunno - I'm a mutant, not a nerd, so I don't know a lot about the physics of it all. I just know I can move really fast and sometimes I can sorta blow things up, or slip through solid walls, stuff like that.

Text | UN: NotTechSupport

[helpdesk_hero]

[Of course someone needs tech support. Well, David actually is qualified for this, so yes, that is something he's going to answer.]

What kind of sensitive electronics?

Re: Text | UN: NotTechSupport

[pretendtoneedme]

[Well, sort of, but not exactly. What he needs is equipment. Which he can get, but he'd rather not have to spend money on the first day he shows up here... wherever and whatever "here" is, not when he knows he's likely going to need it for future endeavors. Not spending money when he can avoid it is how he's got college funds for his kids, after all.]

The really high tech kind the government likes to claim is indestructible. They never are, you just have to know where to hit them

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh, tracking device. Ankle bracelet. Make and model? Want to make sure I'm providing the appropriate tools.

Oh, and what you did to warrant the thing. So I don't let someone who deserves it free. Not that it matters much here.

[pretendtoneedme]

Bullseye. If I'm somewhere the monitoring software's never even HEARD of, I want it off my leg

It's a ProTrak J-17, a year old, no kind of monitoring other than GPS. I'm one of the ones that broke the Sokovia Accords and struck a deal to not go back in the Raft after Cap busted us out

[yondu]

UN: yudonta

I got some tools but I don't think you'll get too far. They're pretty strict about that sorta thing.

Yeah, it's a real pain in the ass.

[pretendtoneedme]

There's a lot of people that're strict about a lot of stuff. You just gotta know how to get around it.

[And that's always kind of been his job.]

[yondu]

They don't even let you bitch about businesses on here. So you better bet they'll be tightenin' things up after what you're sayin'. Especially after the bombin'.

[Yondu's going to hurry and warn him. Because he doesn't know Clint. But he does know these assholes are looking for any reason to bring suspects in.]

I'm 601 in the newbie buildin' by the way. [If he still wants to make use of those tools.]

[pretendtoneedme]

[Well, he can safely say he didn't expect that. Clint's voice goes from a bit lackadaisical and annoyed to suddenly more sharp and focused, without changing his volume or much in the way of intonation at all.]

Bombing?

[He notes the room number, but the other topic is much more important to get information on if there is that level of restriction.]

voice | UN: lionheart

[silentnarration]

No one knows how to get home but there are people looking. It's not a good idea to talk about that on the network though. The admins are watching.

[pretendtoneedme]

Huh. One of those, then.

[There's a moment where Clint doesn't respond, obviously thinking. After about three seconds, he comes back, with a fairly generic statement.]

Thanks for letting me know.

[silentnarration]

[There's a pause on his end.]

Find the dorms. I can meet you at the lobby.

[pretendtoneedme]

[And a matching pause.]

Five minutes.

[Then he ends the call.]

video | un: DrakeWayne

[mrsarcastic003]

Looks like you've got pretty solid answers on when you're going home and how to deal with your personal GPS situation, so I guess I'm just here to add 'Welcome to Cyberpunk Egypt,' which is a lot less Egyptian the farther away from the bizarre temple that you get.

I'd love to hear more about the past six years for you that something like this is just one more thing on the pile.

[pretendtoneedme]

I'm noticing that. This area's pretty European-looking.

[Which he doesn't mind, because Europe is cool, but it's not Missouri. It's not home.]

Aliens, superheroes, mind control, registration lockdowns, a city turned into a meteor, megalomaniac possibly bi-polar robots, and some other stuff. After all that waking up somewhere like this isn't as much of a shock as it should be.

[mrsarcastic003]

[It's not Gotham either, though it's a lot closer than the last place Tim found himself in. He raises his eyebrows curiously.]

Okay, that is a hell of a few years. Sounds a lot like some of the things that have happened back home where I'm from, though the details are definitely different. But aliens, superheroes, megalomaniac robots... If we're not from the same world, I think our worlds are pretty close neighbors.