HAVE A NICE FLIGHT

[strangerpeople]

HAVE A NICE FLIGHT

[The thing that jolts you awake is the sudden drop.

Maybe you gasp. Maybe you hold onto your seat as tightly as you can. Whatever you do, it doesn't help your stomach, or stop the overwhelming scent of flowers from tickling your nostrils. Nor does it unbuckle your seat belt, as you are strapped into a seat that is...well, it's comfortable, but not helpful when you don't know where you are.

You'll figure it out soon enough. You're inside a strange room of some kind, and opening the windows reveals nothing but clouds, lightning flashing across the sky...and a moon as red as blood. Its light seems to be much stronger than any light that comes from within the place you are now, which seem to flicker and lose power at the worst intervals.

Not only that, but you're not alone. There are 14 others with you, and only those 14. And--you have power. You don't know what it is, not yet. But instantly you know you have a power. It's just a matter of you figuring out that power, since the doo-hickey you find in your room doesn't help you figure it out.

And yes, you're flying. If you don't know what an airplane is, well. Welcome to the future, friend. It's looking to be a not-so-great one so far.]

Comments

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

Probably not too hard. People fight all the time without powers. As long as your smart about it, it should be easy.

[Suddenly, a thought comes to his head.]

I-if you need any help, I'm pretty good at some things. I could be useful.

[handsoffmysprite]

How sweet of you.

[Smile! And...head pat?]

I don't think I've ever had anyone help me fight before. Well, aside from my Nulls, of course.

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

[He can't help but flinch before he feels her just...patting his head. It's...surprising, that someone's showing him a bit of affection, rather than scolding him for something again.]

Um, it's no problem.

Is Nulls your friend?

[handsoffmysprite]

You've never heard of a Null? Doesn't your system have Games?

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

My...system?

[Back to the question mark eyes.]

I'm not sure what you're talking about...

[handsoffmysprite]

The system you live in. Or...is this your first contact with someone from a different system?

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

I...don't live in a system. I lived in a desert...until recently.

[Many weird things happened between his life in a desert to him being here, most of which he'll probably be silent about, but being a system of some sort isn't one of them.]

[handsoffmysprite]

Ooooh, are you a Game Sprite?

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

A game sprite? Like...like a computer game?

[Does she think this is a computer world??]

[handsoffmysprite]

I did mention Games before, didn't I?

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

Um, yes, but...I don't live in a game. I...live in real life.

[He assumed she did too, but now he's getting curious.]

[handsoffmysprite]

But you've never heard of a system? What, have you been running behind a partitian?

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

I mean, if you mean a computer system, I've heard of one, I just don't really use them that often.

[Deserts don't exactly have good wifi.]

And, sorry, but...what's a partition?

[He feels bad for asking so many questions, but he doesn't know what else to do here.]

[handsoffmysprite]

A part of a system that's walled off from the rest. 'Running behind a partition' is an expression, it means you haven't been paying attention to things that are hard to miss.

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

Oh. Well, then I guess that's right. I haven't really dealt with technology much recently, so I wouldn't really know what's going on with it.

[handsoffmysprite]

I used to live on an abandoned island, and even I knew about the system right across the energy strait.

[Hex, you're also a busybody snoop with a scrying mirror.]

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

I-I thought you lived in a computer?

[Islands =/= Computers???]

[handsoffmysprite]

I lived in a destroyed system, it was reduced to a small island in the energy sea by the explosion that created me.

[...Wait a nano.]

You almost sound like...you're not even a program at all.

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

Okay, I...guess that makes sense.

[He has no idea how computers work, so-]

I'm really not! I'm just a circus performer! Er, former circus performer, I guess.

[handsoffmysprite]

Oh my! I didn't think I'd ever meet someone from outside the Net!

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

And I didn't think I'd meet someone from inside a computer.

But...how did you get here if this is the real world? Or...how did I get here if this is a computer?

1/2

[handsoffmysprite]

I don't know! Programs and Users have never been able to interact before...

[handsoffmysprite]

Which means...there's no telling what might happen!

[Her laughter sounds...entirely too amused by the prospect of a completely unprecedented situation.]

[poorpurplepunchingbag]

[Potentially psychotic laughter: what you always what to hear in situations like this!]

Aren't you...worried about how some us are supposed to go home?

[Either you or him are going to have issues, and he isn't sure which it is.]

[handsoffmysprite]

Oh, I wasn't expecting to go home again, anyway. When you fragment yourself across the entire Net, you don't exactly expect to keep processing.

[She says the last two words like the fact that she's here anyway is the punchline to some joke.]

It sounds like you might have a problem if this is a system, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.