001

[contract_star]

[Hei appears on the Astral Plane, momentarily bewildered until he notices what is around him. Galaxies, planets, and stars, countless stars. The sight makes him stumble, and he can't take his eyes from the glow.]

N-no way...

[Looks around, no longer attempting to keep his face expressionless. Shock? Amazement? Horror? Wonder? There's no one here to see him being so irrational, emotional, so it doesn't matter.]

Stars...real stars...

[Think, you're a Contractor, be rational. There's a logical explanation, must be.]

No, no, this is impossible. This can't be real. Am I inside the Gate? Is this...? But I was miles from the Gate...unless I never left...then was everything since then just an illusion? Damn it.
If this is the Gate I have to get out. But it's...something's off. It doesn't feel like the Gate.

[Fiddles with his earbud] Mao? Huang? ...Yin?

[No answer. A long pause, nothing but silence. His gaze eventually returns to the stars and nebulae wheeling around him.]

The Twins and that woman. The shop. Contractors, I bet. They've either trapped me in the Gate or this is some kind of illusion. Shit.

[Another long pause, eyes half-lidding as he stares at the starlight. Whispering,] They look so real...

Comments

[lamb_of_gold]

Unfortunately, this is no illusion. Welcome to the Astral Plane.

[contract_star]

[Startled, but quickly controls himself. Turns to the newcomer, reaching for a weapon, but there's none to be found. Stupid, stupid, he didn't expect to need weapons today. But no matter, if it comes to a fight, he'll figure something out. Contractor mode now--learn, analyze, react. The newcomer must be part of all this.]

Who are you? What are you doing here?

[lamb_of_gold]

[Doesn't even flinch at the stranger's attitude]

My name is Mu. I, like many others, was brought here by the Twins and Meredith. I do not know why besides that it is an 'experiment' of sorts.

[contract_star]

[Vague surprise.]

Experiment? They they're...are they with PANDORA?

[Play it cool for now. Keep learning. Contractor or regular human, the newcomer seems to know something.]

Where are you from, then? Tokyo?

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

Contractors?

[contract_star]

[People who don't know about Contractors...regular humans then? Act like you know nothing, then, and who knows less than Li? And there's a sudden transformation--the blank stare vanishes, the hostility with it, and he's a totally different person.]

Ah-ha...sorry, I was just babbling to myself. I'm Li Shengshun--and you?

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

Oh... Yeah, that happens.

[Roxas looks a little more relaxed.]

Li? I'm Roxas! It's nice to meet you.

[contract_star]

Nice to meet you, too!

Do you know what this is all about? I think someone said we're part of an experiment...?

[doubledragons.livejournal.com]

Um, no this is all real. What's a contractor?

[contract_star]

[Switching to "Li mode" now--no more blankness and tight-muscled tension, now he's expressive, animated, and enthralled with the stars, since, wow, stars!]

All real? The stars, really? But that's impossible, isn't it?

[doubledragons.livejournal.com]

[Looks very confused] Um, yes? Why wouldn't the stars be real? Are there fake stars in your world?

[contract_star]

[Strange people here, if they don't even know about the stars. Unless...but no, keep playing it safe for now.]

...All the stars disappeared ten years ago, replaced by fake ones. The same time the Gates appeared. I thought everyone knew that.

...Did you say "my world"?

[alwaysdoubt.livejournal.com]

The Gate?

[contract_star]

[Brain just broke a little.]

How are you...you were just over there...

[Trying to process, does not compute. But there's always a logical explanation, right?]

Do you have a twin or something? Because I swear I just met someone who looks exactly like you.

[alwaysdoubt.livejournal.com]

[He starts to look around before catching himself, and gives a :| face.]
You.. could say that we're twins.

What's the Gate?

[contract_star]

[And you've just made him even more curious.]

"Could say"?

...No one here seems to know about the Gate. It's a...

[Good feelings gone.]

It's called Hell's Gate. Appropriate name. It's a place of chaos. It defies all physics and all attempts to explain or rationalize it. Being there is like being...insane. It appeared in Tokyo ten years ago, and...well, let's just say nothing has been the same since.

[Long pause.]

There was another one, too, a few years ago--Heaven's Gate. Less appropriate name. But it's gone now.

[times-witness.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, isn't it? The sky, I mean.

[contract_star]

It is.

...I've missed it.

[times-witness.livejournal.com]

The sky at your home isn't like this? granted it's not usually this colourful where I'm from either.

[noah-dream.livejournal.com]

You're a strange human. What's so unbelievable about these stars?

[contract_star]

In my...or, well, where I'm from the stars were all replaced with fake ones ten years ago. Same time the Gates appeared.

[noah-dream.livejournal.com]

the Gates?

[bluestarprayer.livejournal.com]

[Has no idea of subtlety! ;Db]

Because they are.

[contract_star]

I'm starting to realize that.

[bluestarprayer.livejournal.com]

Why not realize that in the first place?