fluxscape | OPEN - I wanna know, can you show me?

Who: Darling and YOU!
Where: Starkbucks
When: Throughout July
What: Darling wants to hear from you! Yes you! Even you! And he isn't above a bit of light bribery.
Warnings: None at the moment, will edit if I must!

After a few days of settling in, Darling has decided it's time to gather more information about the world he has found himself in. His asking on the network netted very few results, and he can only research so much on his own. Sure, he's already got piles of notes and an apartment wall responsible for the emptying of a sizeable box of thumbtacks, but he needs More!

He understands that his reputation here is nonexistent. He doesn't have the pull he had at the Bureau, or any manner of name recognition at all - he's just a middle aged man in a lab coat and sweater vest in desert heat, doing his best to understand all he can about the situation.

That is why, now, he has set himself up in the corner of Starkbucks with a thick notepad, at least four pens, a welcoming smile, and a sign that reads:

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF, WHERE YOU COME FROM, AND/OR THIS DIMENSION AND I WILL BUY YOU A COFFEE!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's... a little eerie. Next thing to learn is that the FBC knows how she likes her cheeseburgers.

Her head tilts as she thinks about. "Definitely... informative. But, you needed to know a lot of context in order to follow them? Then again, maybe I saw them out of order. There wasn't really a straight line of where to go and what sectors to visit first."

Order like that doesn't really exist in the Oldest House.

"...You were there when they shut down the Investigations Sector, right?"

Oh, they do.

Her comment about the nature of linear...well, anything in the Oldest House gets a chuckle out of the scientist. "You have a good point there. I'm glad if they helped, even a little, though."

Then she asks the question, and he blinks. "I was, yes. Why?"

Well, at least it'll be easy to tell what sort of food the mess hall should serve when they get that back up and running.

She nods. "Did you often show them to the new employees? That was the feel I got from them anyways."

'That and everyone would know who Dr. Casper Darling is.' Jesse presses a smile down.

"Well... it's taken care of now." A pause. "Although I still haven't figured out what our astronaut friend wants."

"I did! Or, er, the Department did. I was...well, I was busy." A little clearing of the throat. Sheepishness. He knows full well there was a lot of his own vanity involved.

Then he stares as he processes what she's saying.

"Oh. Oh! Well! That's - that's wonderful. A shame I wasn't there to see it." His tone turns a little wistful. "And honestly, Fra was a special kind of challenge for everyone. Cheerful voice, though."

'It's kind of hard to believe this guy is easily embarrassed when he has his videos everywhere in the Bureau... maybe that's easier than giving seminars?' Jesse tilts her head just to the side as she thinks to Polaris.

"I'm guessing you've been here all this time?" Her eyebrow raises. "Wait. You figured out how to talk to them?"

You would be surprised, Jesse, at the amount of humbling perspective you gain when you decide to launch yourself into the next dimension on blind faith.

"All this time? Well, not that long, comparatively," Darling ventures, trying to work out timelines in his head. "Time where I was was...not much of a concept. I'm still finding my feet again, I'm afraid."

A blink - then a laugh.

"Oh, no, no, not even close! Fra was the name we used for them in short. I certainly tried to decode what they were saying, but before the wing was locked down, I couldn't get more than a few words sorted out."

"When you exposed yourself to Hedron. Right?" Jesse leans forward. She's trying to piece it all together from his perspective. Given how everything was spread out and in pieces as the Bureau fell into chaos. "What was that like?"

Damn. Here she had hoped someone could better understand their... guest.

"I'm surprised Fra hasn't tried to leave."

"Oh, well, Fra always seemed...comfortable. Maybe they just likes it where they are."

Maybe he's just a little taken aback to hear her ask about Hedron so directly - he stares for a second before chuckling, adjusting his glasses in an idle fidget. His smile is still there, but it's sort of far away, sort of dim. It's a heavy topic, still.

"Right. Yes. Exactly." A deep breath in, out. "Well, the full exposure...it was...exhilarating. Terrifying. Like...I had just opened a dam, and the water took a little time to start moving. I learned a lot about the water on the other side right away - but by the time it crashed over me, I almost didn't feel it. I'm...still trying to understand it, myself. But," and he slides his notepad over for Jesse to look at, "I'm not quite the same as I was before, even now."

On the notepad, there's some of Darling's notes - a loping, speedy hand with lots of abbreviation. But every so often, such as on this page, there are blocks that don't match. Blocky, mechanical lettering, strange words that may seem gibberish to anyone else...but Jesse would know very well how the Board expresses concepts.

His smile is strained.

"Can you tell me what happened to Hedron, once I was gone?"

"Maybe."

Then again, Jesse hadn't expected to be so comfortable in the Oldest House after her arrival. Maybe it's the same for Fra. Where else would someone like them go after everything? The normal world seems almost impossible to relate to. Not that she really related to the normal world anyways. A bit hard to do that after what she had.

"I'm not sure any of us are the same after all of it." She nods, understanding the point he makes over all. There's the faintest hint of a smile on her face. Even she's not the exact same.

At his question though...

"You know, it still doesn't make all that much sense to me. What happened, I mean." Jesse drums her fingers on the coffee cup. "But, what we knew as Hedron... she's gone."

Probably best that Fra remained where they were, after all, yes. If they really wanted to leave, Darling always figured...they would just find a way.

"No," he chuckles, "I expect you're probably right about that."

As she moves to answer the question, however, the laughter disappears...and he looks down at the table, nodding a little to himself. He had already known, on some level. It was how it was going to be, even before he jettisoned himself onto the next plane.

"...I see. Thank you for the...update. Are you all right?"

Jesse shrugs at his question, looking down at herself for a brief moment. It's not like she's not alright. Different - a little? It feels like how it always has been just on a different level. That might be weird to try and explain though.

"I... think so? It's almost like whatever was in Hedron, or a part of her, sort of joined with what was there from Polaris?" Jesse frowns. "That's not exactly it but, that's sort of how it feels. If it makes any sense at all."

If anyone can understand it, it's definitely Darling.

His eyebrows furrow - he sits in silence with the explanation for a long moment, checking over his notes briefly before looking back to Jesse.

"...I'm sorry - Polaris? What is Polaris?"

...Oh.

"It's who Dylan and I connected to through the Slide Projector. My name for her, anyways." Jesse clarifies that. "I had to reconnect with her after Hedron ...died."

Is that even the best word for it?

"I'm not sure if Polaris was always in side me, or if Hedron and I both connected to Polaris's resonance." She sighs and leans back in her chair again. "We're still connected here though."

"...Ah. I see, so then-"

More shuffling of notes, and a few new ones jotted down. He knew of Something that Dylan had seemed to talk to occasionally, but had never found any information as to what. Perhaps it was too little, too late now, but an answer is an answer.

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you there," he sighs. "But the fact that you're still connected is interesting. Maybe you have a passenger in there."

OPEN - I wanna know, can you show me?

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