[Text] - Terminally Online

[elbowroom]

[This isn't the first time Jonesy has found herself waking up in a strange place she didn't remember going to sleep in. It isn't the first time a robot has woken her up, either.

The stone slab is new, though. As is the explanation that she's on an entirely different world than the one she knows.

She doesn't believe it at first, until she steps outside into an entire city of robots
- and their claim is further backed up by the fact that none of her implants can connect to a satellite to get her GPS location. Or the fact that the wireless matrix of this place is set up way differently than the matrix she's accustomed to.

There is a wireless network, though. And the robots even gave her a tablet to use. So, of course, Jonesy does what any hacker would do in her position: She searches the internet for answers.

And when she fails to find a quick and easy explanation of how to get home, she goes on the internet to complain.]


ok so ive been running the numbers in my head and its starting to seem very likely that this is all real, and that i'm not just experiencing biofeedback induced brain damage OR trapped in a hyper realistic VR sim from which i cannot escape.

in which case i must ask:

what the FUCK

you kidnap the best hacker in LA , take me to an alternate fucking planet in a city filled with sapient robots and dragons and gods and no one wants me to DO anything??

no hacking, no repairs, no IT work? i didnt get grabbed because someone was planning a cool space heist that they need my skills for? i'm just supposed to hug people?

i am feeling EXTREMELY undervalued here.

if i got picked because of the arms then i'm not hugging anyone. you robots can go fuck yourselves if thats what this is about.

Comments

[elbowroom]

oh so hes like a REALLY big deal then. im definitely gonna want to talk to him, it's been a solid minute since ive had anyone worth talking to about tech stuff.

what's his name?

[astralera]

He is. He is also a bit of a dramatic arsehole.

He goes by Solus.

[elbowroom]

yeah that comes with the territory lol

did you meet him here or were you brought here together?

[astralera]

I met him at home.

[elbowroom]

interesting. do you think you both got brought here because the gods thought you'd be more likely to do the touchy feely stuff that they need?

sorry if this line of questioning is too personal, it just brings up some fascinating questions. like if they're really pulling people in at random, the odds are ASTRONOMICAL that two people that know each other would get grabbed. let alone two people that are dating. right?

[astralera]

lol gods no. If they had any choice they would never have brought me here.

The odds of people from the same world arriving is actually quite high. Every time a person is brought here a link is carved between their world and this one. Instead of reaching blindly the gods can simply follow that link between worlds.

This can't be proven of course, but it seems to be the most likely explanation given what information we have.

1/2

[elbowroom]

or maybe grabbing you was a mistake so they grabbed your boyfriend too to try to keep you happy.

interesting theory though. i wonder if we can figure out how many worlds are represented here.

also i wonder if there's anyone from my world already here.

2/2

[elbowroom]

christ, i hope my boyfriend isn't here.

[astralera]

😂 at home we were mortal enemies. He tried to destroy my soul and my world, so I killed him.

Before this place I'd never engaged in physical affection nor had interest in it. That, combined with slaying gods being my specialty, makes me a rather shite option.


Would he not like being here with you?

[elbowroom]

i think i
just straight up have no grasp on what your life is/was like, so i'm gonna stop theorizing lol

its not that. his name is brrbrr and he's very sweet, but we haven't been dating long enough to go on a cross dimensional vacation together. it would be awkward.

[astralera]

Imagine a high fantasy world with a bit of science fiction mixed in that is too dark and unforgiving to be child-friendly, then give that world a 'chosen one' type hero that everyone depends on.


Why would it be awkward?

[elbowroom]

i understand what you mean but its very strange to hear someone to describe the real world they came from as being "high fantasy" and "science fiction"

also other than the chosen hero thing, that might have been a description of my world and i'm pretty sure we come from two very different places.

and idk. he's very sweet but we've only been dating a couple of weeks. i want to get to know him but this doesn't seem like the best place for us to do that. also he's a sasquatch so he can't speak and i don't know if american sign language is covered under whatever magic is translating everything here.

imagine if i was the only one here who could understand him and then we broke up. that would be awful.

[astralera]

I learned that the sapient races of my home are most often seen in fiction on 'Earth', whether it be novels, video games, or anything else. Elves, dragons, cat people, lizard people, sylphs, goblins, pixies, et cetera.

It is mostly 'high fantasy', but in places without magic it is more science fiction.

Can he type? Sometimes I lose my voice for stretches of time and these devices have made it easier to communicate during those periods.

[elbowroom]

that's funny. im from a version of earth, but mine has elves, dwarves, orks, trolls, pixies, dragons, sasquatches and a bunch of other ones. we don't have cat people but we do have changelings which can look like whatever - i actually just worked with a changeling that looks like a big lizard man.

(i'm a changeling, btw. used to be human though)

he can type, yeah. he's slow at it though - what first got us talking was when he realized that i knew sign language and he could talk with me more freely

[astralera]

How can you used to be human?

I am not 'human', I am an Au Ra. My kind has features oft seen as 'draconic', though we've no relation to dragons.

I have an ability that translates the language of all beings with souls. I have never encountered someone who speaks only sign language, but I should be able to understand it. My husband and Solus both have the same gift.

That aside, if you ever wish to teach sign language I would be happy to learn it. I learned a little bit a few years ago, but not much.

[elbowroom]

changeling isn't a species its a classification. we were changed, hence the name, in a process called the sudden unexplained recessive genetic expression, or SURGE.

when i was 12 a magical comet passed over my planet and mutated a bunch of people. i was one of them. i don't look like a human anymore but i still pretty much think of myself as one.

thats a convenient power. i don't know how it works but brrbrr definitely has a soul so you could probably talk to him if he showed up. he'd like that.

i could definitely teach you sign language too though. seems like a good way to pass the time here.

[astralera]

That is rather odd. Aside from the physical mutations you are all well, I hope?

It is an innate ability Ardbert and I have no active control over. I couldn't tell you how it worked either.

There are many ways to pass the time here, though it gets boring after a while.

[elbowroom]

yeah. it was the worst couple days of my life but it was also 11 years ago so i'm fine now.

i mean, i'm still a freak, and that causes social problems sometimes. but for the most part i'm fine.

yeah it seems like there's not a lot for people to do around here. what do you tend to do for fun?

[astralera]

I am glad to hear you're doing well now. Society is a load of shite sometimes.

I keep busy with maintaining and improving my combat skills, adjacent crafting skills, and furthering my scientific education.

[elbowroom]

yeah society's fucked, but that's life. at least i made something of myself.

[Not that the thing she made of herself matters here. Even with all her know-how, she can't really do jack shit to make a magical god send her home.

....she's going to try not to think about how helpless that makes her feel.]

ok but what do you do for FUN.

do you party? cook? watch movies? do hard drugs? what do you do when you aren't working

[astralera]

I enjoy improving my skills and ensuring my loved ones are cared for. If they want to do something I am happy to join them.

[elbowroom]

more than the god killing stuff, that tells me how different our lives are lol.

that's sweet though. sounds like your boys are very lucky.

[astralera]

I'm glad to hear it. The life of a Warrior of Light is unenviable.

I am the lucky one. I do not deserve their affection and yet they offer it to me all the same. That they are both lovely to look at adds to my good fortune 🥰

[elbowroom]

i dunno, i bet i could envy it. plus youre like some kind of chosen hero, right? sounds enviable as hell.

[This is supposed to be banter. Era doesn't seem to be the type who does a whole lot of banter, but this is one thing that Jonesy does for fun.]

actually speaking of which, your world isn't like... doomed now that their legendary warrior of light is gone, is it?

[astralera]

There is nothing enviable about it. Many of your friends and loved ones will die, because you cannot be everywhere at once. Everyone will look to you to save them and resent you when you cannot. Your life will never belong to you, and you must carry the fate of your world in your hands, all while knowing that you will never be as strong as you need to be because for all your strength you are subject to the frailty of flesh.


We are returned from the moment we are taken, as though we were never gone at all.