Futuristic Interdimensional Travel: Lightspeed & Chrestomanci

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

Bencanto is a prosperous world with advanced technology. It is quite a small planet with only a few island continents but all countries live in harmony with one another. High-speed public transportation allows denizens to move between countries in an astoundingly short period of time. Borders are open, with all countries members of the Union. While each country has an autonomous governing body, the Union has jurisdiction over all countries, which allows for the existence of a world court in the event of international crimes. The Union is also able to arrange for support in the event that there are countries that are lacking in resources. While the planet has come to a relatively stable equilibrium, there are occasional natural disasters that arise. The Union is able to pool resources to support struggling nations.

As an overarching governing body, the Union keeps databases full of information regarding the autonomous regions from census information to arguably sensitive material as to the various ruling regimes for each country. They are able to issue international edicts that have been voted upon by the Stability Council. The Stability Council is composed of representatives from each country that have sworn to impartiality when it comes to judging disputes between two countries. If they cannot be impartial, they are to be recused from the case. Luckily, disputes on Bencanto are few and far between. For centuries now, the planet has been stable and peaceful, until the emergence of the disease.

In the year 1201 of the Unified Calendar, a plague began in the country of Alabastria in the north of the planet. While there were few cases, the virus appeared to be highly infectious and lethal. As of yet, there was no cure nor was there a way to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Although it was unknown to the general populace, as to why the entire country was put in quarantine and travel and trade between the northern island and the rest of the planet were halted. All communications between Alabastria and the rest of the world were cut off. The public statement released by the Union was that there was a severe geological event occurring in the North Klion sea and there was nothing to worry about, as it would be cleared up eventually.

In the meantime, researchers began to look into possible ways to deal with the virus. It appeared to survive indefinitely, so even if the country were to remain under quarantine forever, the virus would still be active and it would find a way to spread to the rest of the world. They failed to find anything from their world that could save the denizens of the planet and so they decided to look elsewhere. It was not feasible to look to the stars, as the closest planets that might have a solution were lightyears away. It was because of this that they turned to an experimental system. This system would allow for travel between dimensions by exploiting Fracture Points. These points could be broken through with very specific technology and could be used to connect two dimensions, allowing for travel.

The Union began to gather a group of adventurers to embark on a journey through the multiverse in search of a way to save the planet from death at the hands of this disease. The Union used multiple recruiting agencies and methods in order to gather a crew of specialists that might have some use in the endeavour. Some of these specialists were Mundane and lacked any sort of ability while others were capable of supernatural feats with the aid of their Bursts. As of the beginning of the expedition, there was no way to direct which world specifically they would visit, nor was there any way to view the information in each world. The group only had the ability to find fracture points. The world they chose would be completely random.

Bursts are as diverse as personalities. While there may be Bursts with similar functions, there are no two Bursts that are exactly the same, even in twins. The ratio of those with Bursts to Mundanes on Bencanto is approximately one to three. There is no particular inclination for Bursts to rule over the Mundanes, which allowed the groups to live harmoniously.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

He was not the first to arrive in the meeting room, nor was he the last. His recruiter had only said that there were five in the group that would be venturing into the unknown in search of a cure, a way to save Alabastria. While the general populace knew not of the reason for the quarantine, or even that there was a quarantine, there were those in the government, researchers working on a cure, and now the five members of the crew that were to traverse dimensions who did. While he had been briefed on the nature of his mission and his role, he did not have access to the case files of the other members. He would be meeting them once they convened in the meeting room of the Bengion research complex, the point of embarkment for the group, and from there, they would do introductions.

The building was tall, much taller than any of the others he had seen in his life, save for the Union headquarters opposite the research complex. It was a tall cylindrical tower connected by a bridge to the Union building that spanned the tracks of the metro far below. From what he heard, the Bengion research complex was more of a formality than anything. The bulk of the research was done for the Union was done in a hangar-like building near the southern coast. And even then, many of the labs and workshops were below ground. Still, it seemed a rather extravagant waste of resources to build a ten-storey-tall building for something as trivial as a formality. The walls of glass seemed expensive as well.

While the research complex itself was located in Herculania, the capital city of Ariddion, the crew members came from all over the planet. He, himself was from Veldsparin in the country of Lyndenor. It was a country of modest means and lower-than-average technology, but never was a citizen in danger. The last natural disaster had occurred decades prior, so no one had really lived through any sort of devastating adversity. There was a deserted island juxtapose to Lyndenor that could only be visited by the antiquated means of travel known as a ship, which was where he did the majority of his study.

The island had been named Aridonna and appeared to contain layers upon layers of ancient civilisations. At some point, the land had become barren and regardless of anyone's best efforts, the land refused to heal. Because of that, people decided to revive the retired profession of archaeology in hopes of discovering the root of the issue. The position had been well-documented in records but reproducing the techniques employed was no small feat. There was probably a bit of history that had been destroyed before the new archaeologists had finally gotten the hang of things. He had entered university a few years after archaeology had finally been established as a solid profession after its hiatus.

The young man strode into the conference room that had been written down on the invitation from his recruiter, Darius. Although he was fifteen minutes early, there was already a young woman sitting in a chair cross-legged. He could not be sure whether she was older or younger than him. Her brown eyes had a maturity about them due to her confidence in her proficiency in whatever she specialised in, but they also held a sort of child-like awkwardness. She had taken a seat at approximately four o'clock on the round table that sat in the middle of the room, assuming that twelve was opposite the door. There were several chairs placed around the table. Although there were more than five, the fact that the holographic screen at the front of the room was on standby meant that their instructions would be issued electronically. He took a seat at about six o'clock, nodding his head in acknowledgement of the young woman. Judging by her body language, he ventured a guess that she was not interested in idle conversation.

--

She had arrived at the building twenty-five minutes before the designated meeting time, anxious about the social interactions that would be outside of her professional setting. While she had learned to adapt to the small talk required of her when she interacted with co-workers on break time, she still had very little data on interacting with people without many shared interests. Her hands had tightened into fists before she realised it as she sat cross-legged in her chair, waiting for others to appear. She hoped that she would be able to watch some conversations between other members of the group before she, herself had to engage.

Jigo, her recruiter, had only told her that there would be four other members of the group and nothing more than that. She had no data on their occupations or roles. They could be hitmen for all she knew, although she highly doubted it, seeing as this was more of an exploration mission than anything. As the minutes ticked by and her fears seemed to coalesce. What if she was so awkward that she became an outcast within the small group? What if the rest of them were really talkative and got offended when she didn't make conversation? These dark thoughts swirled in her mind and her pulse increased.

She wished that she was back in her lab in Gerania, an outlying city of Arridion. She was perfectly satisfied in the basement of the building, working away at whatever technological challenges arose to be overcome. She had been working in the technology division for quite a while, longer than those without Bursts and needed to specialise through schooling. She had been allowed to skip upper-level education due to her understanding of machines that far exceeded almost all others on the planet. Because of her specialisation and lack of socialisation with those her age, she was a tad awkward and navigated through interactions with algorithms. Without data, she was not confident enough in improvisation skills to proceed.

She released an audible sigh of relief when it appeared that the man who had just entered had decided against making conversation. From her experience someone like him would have been the chatty type, so why he avoided conversation was beyond her. Although it seemed as though he was avoiding conversation, the way that he nodded his head seemed to imply that he was respecting her boundaries in some regard and that was a great relief. If he had made eye contact and then turned away without a word, that would have felt to her more like avoidance of her and would have sent her into an absolute state of panic.

 

[Dumbledoof]

As far as he knew, he was being released for a suicide mission. A mission that would put all the others to shame—visiting other dimensions for a cure. Going beyond where anybody has ever dared to go was his specialty, once upon a time... until he got himself locked up. Placed in a psyche ward for his, well, more violent tendencies. The most notable one of those being setting things on fire. It was just plain fun to watch things to burn! Who were they to judge?

The very idea of traveling to another dimension was absurd. Everybody knew about the theory at this point in time. Multiverse theory, where it is said that a seemingly infinite number of universes exists together. It coincided pretty well with the idea of multiple dimensions existing—alternate timelines, different realities, where events could be slightly different, radically changed, or even exactly the same. You never really knew because nobody has even gone there. Nobody that he knew about anyway. The idea in of itself was rather absurd, but oddly intriguing still.

What probably led mostly to his release was his Burst. While not particularly unique or 'out there', as some others were, it was still a very powerful one. Enhancement of all your physical traits, barring appearance and body shape, was great on paper. He could do things other people could only dream of by themselves. It's probably why he was kept around for so long. They just finally found a use for him, ailed mind and all.

He arrived at the building only a few minutes before the meeting time. Surprisingly enough, he was alone, but that didn't mean he was not being watched. There were a lot of safety hazards of releasing a pyromaniac, combined with a very dangerous Burst, and leaving them to their own devices. He humored them for now... sure, he'll go along on this little field trip, but that didn't necessarily mean he was coming back. Going into a psyche ward again was not ideal. Find a world where he could live freely, to burn and explode things at his leisure, and just forget this place ever existed. Who needed it when there were an infinite number of worlds out there to live in instead?

Entering the meeting room, there were already two people there before him. A woman with brown eyes, cross-legged,w ith some sort of maturity to her. The other, a man, who looked like a total nerd. He wasn't exactly one to judge... his own outfit was pretty foreign. Not to mention it looked like he got caught in a fire and somebody forgot to actually douse him completely. It was all part of the aesthetic! There was something missing...

"Where's the other two?" He rumbled, pulling out a chair and haphazardly falling into it. He leaned back into the seat instead of sitting up straight, putting his feet up on the table, arms crossed. "Told there was gonna be five of us, eh? That's bad rap when even the ex-psychopath is more punctual than they are, hehe."

They didn't seem like the chatty types, but he was going to chat whether they liked it or not.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

He could not help his eyebrows from raising as he watched the newcomer plop down into a nearby seat. It was quite the entrance for someone as dishevelled as the man who had strode in as though he owned the place. Perhaps it was some sort of desirable aesthetic of those who lived in the capital, who was he to judge when he was not a denizen of this city?

"There should be five embarking on this journey," he confirmed, "However, the other two have a few minutes yet to arrive before the meeting is to start." He had a soothing voice, something befitting a social worker or instructor of some sort or even a musician. "A little more waiting wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Almost on cue, a young woman wandered into the room, opening the door very quietly, as though she were trying to creep through a bedroom without waking the occupants in the deep of the night. Small hands clung to the strap of the satchel slung over her shoulder, as though the object she carried with her could protect her from whatever ills of the world might come for her. In her case, the ills were simple interpersonal interactions. A medical mask covered her face, but it was not as though she was infectious. Rather, she just wanted an excuse to say silent. Eventually, she would have to express herself verbally. It was a small group and any given person only had so much patience with only communicating with texts. It had been so long since she had last spoken, would her voice even come out? That was a problem for another time.

Looking around, it appeared that she was the youngest of the group but she could not be sure, considering that one of the members of the group was dressed even more strangely than she. What sort of person would walk around in such an absurd costume, one that even covered the entirety of their face? It was not her place to question his fashion choices, as she was also hiding a portion of her face. Although she had only recently graduated from university in the eastern island continent of Draxus, she had been selected to embark with this motley crew in search of a cure for the citizens of Alabastria, her home. Perhaps it was her talent coupled with an emotional connection to the case that resulted in Myrhia nominating her for a position within the group.

Regardless of their motives and the decisions that led to this point in her life, she was here now and was expected to cooperate with this batch of strangers to achieve a common goal. With eyes turned toward the floor, she slunk to an empty seat next to the other young woman in the room. At the very least, she felt a little more comfortable joining the young woman as opposed to the bright young man or the questionably dressed individual. Although the older was originally startled that the young woman had decided to take a seat beside her, the fact that the young woman with multicoloured hair seemed just as socially uncertain as she did was a relief of sorts.

It seemed logical enough to wait for the last member to arrive before beginning introductions so, for now, the younger woman decided to watch the exchange between the two young men that appeared to only have moderate success in maintaining the sound in the room.

 

[Dumbledoof]

It couldn't be seen, but he was grinning behind the mask... helmet... the thing. He was grinning behind the thing and he did not know what to think of it as. It was a hood with a helmet underneath it. Or a helmet with a hood over top of it? Same difference, right? That thought process was strung along for a while, trying to judge how others would refer to it as now. Somebody here would probably think of it as over top, some would think of it as down underneath. The thought process behind it was the interesting bits, not the conclusion.

He turned his head to the social worker, regarding them almost judgmentally. There was a bad rap with these types—obviously, judging by the fact that he was in a psyche ward for years. They always tried to understand him. See what makes him tick, to change, to control, to make them fit in with the others. Some puzzle pieces just are defected and they refuse to admit this fact. His piece wouldn't fit. Honestly, he didn't want to fit.

Instead of responding, he turned his head away, observing the woman that came into the room. The oddity of the surgical mask covering her mouth was what immediately caught his attention. There were a couple things which came to his mind immediately; either she was a germophobe, or there was something in particular that didn't serve. Likely not the original function, he could guess that much. Putting the mask aside briefly, filing away to ask about it later, his eyes were drawn to her hair next. It was a bit different from the norm. He liked that. She didn't seem too afraid of the fact that her hair wasn't the most normal thing in the world. Two colors instead of one. Black and pink...

Taking his feet off of the table, he turned his attention to her fully, swiveling in the chair to face the woman. He propped his head on his hand, elbow to the table, examining her. His eyes couldn't be seen, but his gaze was surely critical. "Didn't know we'd be having a surgeon on board here—bit of a dangerous job for you, ain't it?" He questioned. His fingers started drumming against the table, slowly at first, but soon was picking up intensity. Faster and faster. Almost like he was getting anxious. He continued more quietly. "A surgeon... surgeon. No, not a surgeon, are you? Scientist? Medical. Medical worker... for that disease. Yes, the disease... disease, disease, disease..."

He wasn't a social butterfly. However, he was very vocal. His gaze tracked the woman all the way to her seat. His mind switched once more, and he was back on the other male in the room. "Hey, you—what do you do? You're not some councilor from that damn asylum to keep me sane, are you? I quite like being insane, thanks." He snorted. "Get it? In sane? I totally am. Promise."

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

She seemed to shrink under the uncomfortable gaze of the masked figure. He did not seem right in the head and she was not quite sure whether she trusted him enough to be in a confined area for extended periods of time. The way he spoke was disconcerting, to say the least, as though he were some sort of android on its last leg. She exhaled a breath she didn't realise she had been holding once he turned his attention back to the young man at the other side of the table.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. That was a strange first guess, but there were those who said that he was well suited to working with others. There was even the fact that he did have a significant background in psychology; however, his application of psychology in his profession was a little different from others'. "It's a pretty obscure occupation," he replied with a chuckle of sorts. "I'm an archaeologist and linguist but will be acting more as a cultural analyst. While we will have the means to overcome language barriers with technology, there is only so much that can be done in relation to interpersonal relations. It would be much better to interact peacefully with those on the world we visit, would it not?" Any reply that might have come was interrupted by the entry of an individual into the room.

The last to arrive at the designated meeting place was a beautiful young woman. She had managed to time her arrival such that she arrived exactly on time. A pleasant smile rested on her lips that did not quite reach the eyes that had curved into crescents to match her smile. There was something a tad unsettling about the newest addition to the room. Perhaps it was the fact that she looked much too young to be embarking on the mission or perhaps it was the guarded smile that seemed to hide all of her thoughts.

"It would appear that I am the last to arrive." She scanned the room before taking an empty seat. "Shall we go around the table and introduce ourselves before the debriefing begins?" The mysterious aura about the woman was not necessarily offputting, but there was something that kindled a sense of apprehension for someone who might be more finely attuned to the atmosphere of a conversation. It piqued his interest ever so slightly as he watched her speak. She had a sort of presence that demanded attention but on her terms. He had no doubt that if she wanted to slip away from perception and hide in the shadows of one's periphery it would be child's play for her.

He looked to the other two women in the room and it appeared that they did not have the same sort of sense that allowed them to precisely read the natures of others or they would have shrunk away or shown visible signs of distress about working together with this mysterious woman.

"My name is Zexel and as I stated prior, I am a linguist and cultural analyst." He turned to the masked figure, inviting him to introduce himself next.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Clasping his hands together, the fiery man, brought his legs up and off the table, leaning over the front of it, resting his full forearms on the surface. He stared down the other male, as if trying to discern whether they were lying to him or not. They certainly gave him that feeling... somebody who was trying to psycho-analyze him. Adapt to his behavior. He was pretty used to it normally, but traveling around with somebody of the sort was going to be annoying. A changing mood depending on who was in the room was just annoying.

However, before he formulated a response, his eyes were drawn to the new figure. Yet another female, but this one was different. The aura surrounding her was mysterious, full of secrets, and it was intriguing. He found that he should be unsettled, but was instead just interested. They felt different. An oddity in the room. They weren't quite like him, clinically proven to be quite insane, he could tell that much. But what was insane to somebody who believed themselves to be completely normal?

His eyes followed the woman, only just barely paying attention to what anybody else was saying.

But he did have something to say. "Strange, odd, weird, unusual, and then normal." He said, head tilting slightly. "All of these and more. I wonder..."

Rather than continue down that train of thought, he seemed to come out of a trance, and just leaned backwards in his chair. Instead of the strangely focused, internal monologue that found its way externally through talking to himself, he seemed instantly relaxed again. Slouching in the chair, tapping his fingers on the table, the arm rest, his legs, he couldn't seem to keep his hands in one spot.

"Fenik. That's all... Fenik, Fenik, like the phoenix. Cultural analyst, surely you know where it's from." Fenik, the fiery man, turned his eyes onto the other momentarily, and then swept across the group again. "They pulled me to make sure nothing kills you. Oh, it'd be nice to watch, but a promise is a promise. A promise is something that I keep!"

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

It was an interesting introduction, to say the least, but the position was quite necessary so Zexel merely turned his attention to the next person in the circle. It happened to be the woman with the unreadable face and dainty smile that held more secrets than she let on.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," replied the woman with silver hair. "You may call me," she paused for a moment either for dramatic effect or for some other reason one could not quite be sure, "Marianne. If it tickles your fancy, you may use some familiar abbreviation. As to the role that I occupy, I am a jack of all trades, master of none. I am here to support you all with skills you may need but do not have." From what Zexel could tell, she was not lying about her role, but there was something about her words that did not hold the entire truth of the matter. "I hope that you will take good care of me." It was a rather antiquated greeting but there were some regions where it was still in use. Perhaps she had come from the southern deserts of Muair where there were still those with a more traditional speech pattern.

It appeared that the next to be forced to speak was the young woman wearing the mask that covered her face. "Ehm. You can call me Juliet," she began. The cloth material of her mask muted her speech but also removed the sort of scratchy quality from the unused vocal cords finally being put to work. "I'm a chemist and will be working both on analysis of the different substances we find on remote planets and also I will be the acting medic." Her shoulders raised with her inhaled breath as she thought to continue but no words came out as she exhaled, having been swallowed by her shyness. Juliet simply finished her introduction with a bob of her head and waited for the last member of the group to introduce herself.

"My name is Lilith and I am the technician for this journey. I'll be the one in charge of piloting and maintaining our vessel in addition to adapting to new technology on other worlds, should the need arise. It's a pleasure to meet you all and I look forward to the journey ahead." Lilith was satisfied enough with her introduction. It was short and said everything she wanted to say.

"Now then," Zexel sighed, "Shall we contact our employers for additional information? I was told that everyone had their part explained thoroughly to them so this is merely a formality, to tell them that we're off or something."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Fenik tilted his head slightly, much like a dog would when they heard a strange sound. Something about this woman, Marianne, continued to bother him. They were far too formal for his liking anyway, but she also just gave off the strangest of feelings. A jack of all trades, master of none, meant to support them with more unusual skills... that didn't sound out of the ordinary. There are a lot of general positions like that. Something was not being said here...

It was interesting to say the least. Somebody peculiar enough to grab his rapt attention did not come by often. Zexel only had it momentarily because of their occupation, and he had gotten a sense for those with psychology in the background somewhere. Always that strange feeling about them. Marianne was even more different than that. She felt... unnatural.

But she had given him permission for a nickname! "Mari. You are now Mari." He said absolutely, staring her down, as if challenging her to deny him.

With the introductions of the other, he wasn't very interested in the chemist, Juliet. Instead, he refocused on the technological expert of the group, Lilith, observing her curiously now. If she was going to be the technician, he had really one thing to ask. His particular weapon wasn't exactly the usual. "Do you know how to make arrows?" He asked out loud, reaching up, as if stroking some long beard he did not have.

 

[Cat.Chrestomanci]

Marianne merely smiled in response; although, this smile seemed to fall somewhere between bemusement and pity. There was nothing really to challenge. She had invited any sort of nicknames that they might devise, and yet the young man felt the need to produce such a strong yet juvenile reaction. She felt that it did not deign a response and merely turned back to the other members of the party after a short glance at him. It was times like this that she was reminded that she was a tad bit older than the others who had been recruited. Contrary to the rest of the group, she had been given the files on the other members of their party with very basic information to know what sort of role she was to adopt and what personality would best fit with the group. She crossed her legs and allowed the conversation to continue its flow.

"Arrows?" Her brows furrowed ever so slightly. The word seemed to ring a bell but she could not quite place where she had heard of it previously. She was not particularly well-versed in antiquated machinery, having specialised in contemporary tools and devices. Perhaps these arrows of which he spoke were some obscure invention on the further continents or perhaps it was something that had long ago fallen out of use. Regardless of whichever it was, the term did not bring anything to mind. Since her assignment, she had been working closely with a chemistry lab within the city to outfit their vessel with the necessary tools required for compound analysis and other tasks that would help to create a cure.

 

[Dumbledoof]

With nothing really to challenge, that meant the nickname was sticking. He acted like a child, but in reality, it was just how he handled other people. They didn't really try to change the way he ever acted, just to try and make him less prone to... destructive tendencies. Like setting other objects on fire, making fires in the bathroom, setting somebody else on fire... like a normal person wouldn't. Being a normal person was never very fun anyway.

"Yeah, an arrow." Fenik said, using his hands to somewhat try to form the shape in the air. "They're like... long thin sticks, with one end having a pointed end made of metal or something else. There were these things called 'light arrows' that I used... a concentrated ray or somethin'. Were better than the more primitive variety, but I can use both..." He explained, drawing the shape with his fingers in the air. "Really quiet. I like them better than guns. Can show you if they give me my damn bow back."