*You dream about wood, smoke, a fire elemental and a wood elemental doing a dance on your head, with sirens going off in the background. You then feel cold all over, and you are prone, you smell, hot dogs?*
*There are no flames, you are intact and healthy*
*You see an alley, you also see a man in a hotdog cart, you see people walking the streets of a busy city, it looks modern, but has the familiar brownstones that have become fashionable in the last half century, you do catch glimpse of a tall ultramodern skyscraper from your vantage point though*
*You look around, you feel a vector(s) to your west, it is where your home would be you think if everything were layed out like in your last world.*
*You cover yourself up, and walk out into the street, you are getting looks about your clothing, everyone is wearing ultra high end clothing, most of it form and fuctional, it looks like jumpsuits are the new Jacket and Tie, the streets are clean, and perfect. Other than the smell of hotdogs, there is none of that city smell, and that is usually a good thing.*
*You see old buildings mixed with new, cars are all hovercraft, no wheels, no emissions, very I Robot like, you see a man rush past you very fast, way too fast for normal, being perused by what are obviously cops, he runs into the alley and zips behind corners really fast.*
*You head west, there is a busy street, 53rd Ave, you follow it for a about a mile, still not there yet, you see many billboards, this is defiantly New York City, just not the NY you have been to. It is clean, and bright, and safe to walk down the streets. You see smiling posters for HAND Law Enforcement, with slogans like "We are here to keep all of us safe." and "Crime will lead to punishment."*
*You goto what looks to be a park, and Arabella there in her dress, sitting on a bench, with both of your things surrounding her, she does not see you yet and looks confused*
((6 GE roll))
((Did you let her know of your situation before this happened? This will affect the GE roll and then rolls of your Charisma and her Willpower))
*GE roll 20, Charisma 19, best result, Willpower 36, failed, Slap 98 botch, miss attack*
*She hears you being flippant, and just hears liar, and tries to slap you, and misses, your voice and tone calm her down, and then she starts sobbing uncontrollably, not knowing what is going on, but knows it's likely life changing*
*After 20 minutes, she calms down enough to ask a question in a semi defiant tone*
"Who are you really and why did you lie to me?"
*She nods slowly*
"I guess I have a few questions, what does that make me, it sounds like I died, or you die, and I came with, is it the same thing? So where are we, where is this? Why is our stuff just laying here with us? So what do I do now? If I am not in the same world, and with you, my purpose is not there anymore, other than being married. I was looking for a husband to take the burden off my family and improve our lot in life, but now, I guess I will never see them again will I?
*she isn't sobbing anymore, just in shock*
*She nods slowly as you tell her the whole story*
"So the question is, what do we do now, our stuff is here, shall we gather it and figure out what to do here? I won't age, or grow old and die? Well that makes sense, it was a dangerous job."
*She seems content to leave this spot*
((GE 14))
*You gather your things, and Arabella packs hers away. She has a trunk, and it doesn't have wheels on it, it is not suited for travel without being carried*
"That doesn't sound pleasant at all, I shall have to think more on how to react to this."
*You make it back out to a main street, you see a lot of jumpsuits on men, and women, but then on some women, next to no clothes, small halter tops, and boy shorts, and no one bats an eyelash, but Arabella stops and tugs on your sleeve.*
"Why are those women almost naked, and in public, with men? *She seems half repulsed, and half curious about this situation.*
*She is in a heavy dress, you in clothes that are heavy, and it is 95 degrees out, so yes you both are hot and not comfortable. Do you really want to TK pulse it when you get tired?*
*It is very heavy, and you do get looks from the various passers bye, Ari is looking around in shock and awe, and isn't very much help right now, you realize that there are no bridges anymore, so how will you get off the island?"
*She looks at you*
"Well at least I'm not the only one off balance."
*You look around, no ferries, the cars to hover, and fly, but not by any means you can discern, you do see taxies, and buses, both hovering, and you do see lights in the water to maybe discern a road to follow?*
((Sorry Harry I was looking for new posts, somehow it didn't show up as it, and went down the list))
*She nods, confused*
"Doesn't everyone use diktar? I am getting peckish, perhaps we can find some employment?"
*You look around there look to be terminals on every street corner*
((GE Roll 14))
*They aren't like they were when you were in NYC, but there is a shop that looks like an upscale place, but you can only dress up a pawn shop so much*
*She nods*
"I will follow your lead, since I don't know what I am doing"
*You see a man in one of the jumpsuits, behind the counter, you see various electronics, but nothing that looks like what you know, you see weapons, gold, jewelry, knick knacks, you see nothing twentieth century or earlier.*
"How may I help you sir?"
J
*Newspapers do not look like they exist, there are no newspaper stands, nor do you see the sidewalk stores selling anything, this New York City is very, sterile, compared to what you are used to. The only thing that resembles anything are the thin terminals posted on the corners people see to browse through*
*You see the terminal has a very apple Ipad like face, and in fact it's a 200th Generation Ipad, you navigate through the apps, and you find gold is worth $240,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 an ounce. You also find a dollar back in your time is worth about 100x more than now, so you can do the math on your own that something has changed.*
*Aribella had no idea what you are doing, but she is looking at the screen in wide eyed wonder*
*She is interested, this is quite a jump up, so we'll see how the roll is, wow a 12 with your example and teaching will give her a 1@1 Advanced Touch Screen Interface T11@3, she picks it up easily with your instruction, perhaps giving you pause*
"Ok, so the this screen you say has moving pictures that represents information, so it's a bit like an newspaper that you can manipulate without turning the pages."
*She beams*
"Not that I'm a greedy woman, but I would like to see what the fruits of the future has to offer. That sounds like we are not going to have for want here."
*She kisses you back*
*You slip into an alley, the cleanest you've ever seen, and it doesn't smell like piss, and you check your pistol, make sure it's shot is loaded*
*You walk in, you see the man above saying the same thing above.*
*He has a look on his face, half shock, half greed.*
"If what you have really is Gold, no man could ever afford to buy one ounce, unless you were willing to take far less. Even half of it's value, is more than most will see in 10 lifetimes. We haven't had gold since the Psionics Wars of the 2060's. Most countries base their currency on having one ounce of gold. The USE, has six ounces, three more than any other, and is the world power. I mean, maybe if you will willing to barter, I could hit all the other shops in New York, get you items, legal and illegal, perhaps some genetic alteration, to give you the half the value of one ounce of gold."
*He waits for your response*
*She nods*
"Yes, it would be wise to be concerned, so how are you going to deal with this? I mean it's not like we have any identification, so what legitimate routes do we have?"
*She shrugs*
"Maybe forget the coin and trade other things for some immediate money and or ID. I'm sure your pistol is an antique here, among other things."
*He nods and presses a button and relaxes*
"Let me check out this "antique" hmm."
*He checks it over for a good 10 minutes*
"Well the wood and metal is aged right, nothing fake about the age, it's marking don't match anything in the book. Either this is a really good fake, or a one of a kind offering. Either way, I would have to bring in an expert to verify. He's in the city, for something like this he would be here within two hours. If you would like to wait, I can offer you something to drink, and some pastries."
*He nods and makes the call*
*You head outside, and to the terminal, you wait for a young lady to finish using it. The Psionics War was 50 years ago, when people with Psionic abilities were forced to register with the government. Most did not, some did, and a war was fought. It is now illegal for any who practice Psionics to do so without being licensed and part of HAND.*
*HAND stands for Humans Against Neurological Disorders, they consider Psionics a mental disease it seams. Penalties range from fines, to incarceration, to death, and the worse is live vivisection. There are HAND offices throughout all the major cities. If you are unlicensed and turn yourself in for training, there are no penalties. They think that is humane. You find there is a location 5 blocks west, in the Central Plaza*
*She quizzically says*
"A boat?"
*When further pressed on the idea*
"It doesn't sound like it is a choice really, but if that is what you want."
*She laughs*
"Well you were a shipmate on a boat, and used that to travel. Just responding to your "next stop" question. Ok Husband, if that is what you want, I will support you in this decision, shall we go?"
*Heading that way?*
*He says the expert will be there, and hands you an electronic tag with the other end on the pistol*
"So you have a record of where it is."
*You head over there, no distractions or disruptions, you see the building, it has HAND with a symbol of a Hand grasping a fleeing person, there are two guards at the front gate, dressed in SWAT type gear, but more futeristic.*
"Halt, state your business!"
*They look at each other and then you and get on their radios, by which I mean they just start taking*
*First one*
"We have a code 10-82, out in the lobby."
*You hear back over the air*
"10-82 is disappearing a dead hooker from Ben Affleck's trailer, you mean a 10-81 Psionic Deviant turning them self in."
*Second one*
"Roger Wilco good buddy."
*First one*
"Please wait here, while the Recruitment Officer comes down to um, greet you."
*Ari turns to you*
"Who is this Ben Affleck, and why does he have his own code for dead hookers?"
*The Recruitment Officer comes down into view, she is 6'4" 200 lbs of solid muscle, buzzcut, large chest, face that could turn a man to stone, with a HAND badge that says Stone*
*She looks you up and down, in a non sexual way*
"So you are the Psionic Deviant, turning themselves in for evaluation and training." *she pulls out a pair of latex gloves and snaps them as she puts them on* "The first step in evaluation is the full body cavity search and physical to make sure you are not carrying any bombs, microphones, recording equipment, interference devices, poisons, conceiled weapons, biological weapons, cultures, diseases, viruses and lastly drugs into this facility."
*She pauses*
"Oh and welcome to HAND, We give it coming and going, for the United States of America"
*The recruitment officer agrees, you have a problem though, as does Arabella, you came through a secure front door with a bunch of guards there. The place looks easy to get into, hard to get out. Are you just going to try to walk back out, or do you have something in mind?*
((Failed Persuasion Check))
*It was assumed you were going to walk through, if not, you wouldn't have gotten anything other then a "Move Along".*
((Not for you, should be plenty of fun for me when the time comes))
*I am going to assume you will mill around for two hours, then go back to the pawn shop for the expert. The expert is a living, breathing, Simpson's Comic Book guy.*
*He turns to you and says*
"Most of the time, I wouldn't get out of bed for something like this, that would be an obvious fake. This one time out of a hundred, it was worth it. This device is unique, one of a kind, and real. You can easily get $5,000,000 for it."
*The pawn shop owner, pays him, and off he goes.*
"My offer is $2.5 million, or 80% trade on what I have and cash for the rest."
I make sure my eyes are open, then sit up, breathe, pat myself down to make sure I'm all there, and then look around.
"OW!"
Pant, pant, look around some more.
This post is simply to connect this thread back to the previous one, Harry's Game.
--M. J. Young
"Ah, crap," I think, "Modern world. No magic, probably no psionics. But at least they have modern facilities. Flush toilets..."
I get up and feel around, not physically but looking for my vectors. I don't know if Arabella came with me or not - I hope she did, awkward though this is going to be to explain.
First thing I need to do is make sure my Watch coat is covering my swords and gun. It might have been a sign of station in Durnmist but that sort of thing is a good way to get arrested anywhere modern. Best to keep my armaments out of the public eye.
Once that's done, I'll bypass the hotdog guy and have a look around, trying to get my bearings on my vectors.
Right... super-tech world. Lovely. Looks like I get to learn how to drive rocket...
I'll set out for the west, following the vector home.
I walk over and sit beside her, let her register that it's me, and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Welcome to the weirdest reality of my life. I'd hoped to have a few more decades before I had to explain about this, but I suppose the gods are not subtle, and now is the time..."
I'll see how she reacts before going on.
((No. She has no idea about the whole Verser thing at all. From her perspective I'm a pirate-hunting merchant sailor turned policeman/firefighter.))
When she goes to sobbing, I'll hold her again, stroke her hair, tell her it's going to be alright, promise I'll tell her all about it as soon as she's ready to hear it.
I think for a moment. There's really nothing about "Harry" that I miss any more. After three years of living better than I ever did at home, and knowing that by now there's no one left who misses me... There is no "Harry" any more. I'll never pick that name up again.
"I really am John Caldwell Sevenwind, but I was never a fisherman's nephew. Before I went to sea I was a librarian and an actor.
"As for why I lied to you... this is all very new to me, too. Where we are now is not your world, and your world was not my world. But your world was the first one I ever really landed on after mine. I wasn't really sure how to explain it in a way that would make any sense. If I hadn't seen it first before anybody explained it to me, I probably wouldn't have gotten it myself, and I didn't want you to think I was crazy, or making something up to try to impress you.
"If you want to know what's going on, I can tell you all about it. Tell you everything... I want you to stick with me. Being married to you is the best thing that ever happened to me."