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

[contract_star]

Athens? Athens, Greece?

It must be some new technology...if they can bring people into the Gate from all the way in Europe...

[Assuming the newcomer isn't lying, of course, and if he's a Contractor then he probably is, but Hei won't say that aloud.]

[lamb_of_gold]

Yes, that Athens. I don't recall any mention of a 'gate,' but nobody has been exactly forthcoming about their information.

*a curious stare crosses Mu's face as he locks eyes with you for a short minute.*

I do not know what a 'contractor' is, and I am not lying.

[contract_star]

[And here's a very long, very silent stare back.]

If you're a mind reader then you must be a Contractor.

[lamb_of_gold]

It was an ability I was born with. It doesn't change the fact that I do not know what you're referring to.

If you do not wish you mind read, don't think so loudly.

[contract_star]

[Right, a Contractor should always be calm, Hei. He's a Contractor--maybe?--but he's not trying to kill you, so that's good enough for now. And tone down the thinking!]

Contractors are...

...it doesn't matter. You said this place is the Astral Plane? Strange name for the Gate. What's it here for? What's its purpose?

[lamb_of_gold]

Unless you directly threaten my life, I will make sure no harm comes to yours.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to either of your questions. All I can tell you are assumptions based on what I know. First of all, This place seems to be a common ground for those of us the Twins have 'taken an interest' in. Secondly, it seems almost everyone here is from a reality that is separate from everyone else. Third, we've been gathered for an experiment, but there are no details about it as far as I know.

[contract_star]

Different realities...like parallel universes?

But that's...

[But it is possible. You've seen it inside the Gate--in both of them--though in a different form.]

It's hard to believe.

...Then again everything today has been hard to believe.

Do you know how many people are here?

[lamb_of_gold]

That's how it seems to be. Hard to believe, yes, but quite possible.

I'd hazard a guess at a little over 30.

[contract_star]

[His guard slips a little.]

Thirty? But there's...that's not...it's hard enough for one person to enter the Gate and come out alive, but...thirty?

[Long pause. Then, in a quiet voice,] Is this really another world?

[lamb_of_gold]

As I've heard little about a gate, I would highly doubt this is it.

You never gave me your name, sir.

[contract_star]

[Long, long silence before answering.]

Li Shengshun.

[lamb_of_gold]

A pleasure to meet you, Li.

[contract_star]

[A pause as he looks him over. Meets his eyes, puts on a vague smile.]

You too...Mu, was it? Thanks, for, ah...explaining. I'm still not sure what to make of all this.

[lamb_of_gold]

None of us are, really. If you feel brave, you might try asking the Twins for answers, but I would advise against it.

[contract_star]

The Twins from the shop, you mean? Are they running this...thing, whatever it is?

...

Why would you advise against it?

[lamb_of_gold]

The very ones.

I chalk it up to personal paranoia, but they unnerve me greatly. *lowers his voice so only 'Li' can hear* I was told they could restore life to the dead...That alone is enough reason to keep me from wanting to speak with them.

[contract_star]

Bringing the dead back to life?

[Somewhat frustrated.]

All this sounds so similar to my...to where I'm from, and yet not. There's no one and nothing I've heard of that can do something like that.

...I can see why you don't trust them.

[lamb_of_gold]

The closest I know is a man who can walk in death, but not be bound to it. Not even the gods of my world can restore life to the dead.

[contract_star]

[And things just get weirder and weirder. He attempts a smile.]

I suppose you're not saying that as a metaphor, either.

[lamb_of_gold]

*small smile*
I've never been one for metaphors.

[contract_star]

[Lips quirk a little, the best he can manage right now.]

Yeah, me neither.

[Long pause as his gaze shifts to the starlight above and all around. It's been so long, and he can't help but smile, finally.]

[lamb_of_gold]

You seem at peace here.

[contract_star]

[He would laugh--he almost does. A Contractor at peace, wouldn't that be something?]

No, it's just that I haven't seen true stars in a long time.

[lamb_of_gold]

I would think you need only look up at night to see them...

[contract_star]

You really are from another world, aren't you? Or maybe I've just gone insane.

[Sighs. It's hard to know how to act around these people, who don't know about the Gate, the stars, any of it. People who aren't familiar]

Our true stars disappeared ten years ago. The same day that the Gates appeared. We can still see stars, but they're not real. Just fakes.

...

I think people miss that about life before the Gates more than anything. I used to really like stargazing. [Shrugs, too much emotion for his taste.] But it's just how things are now.