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.

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

Contractors?

[doubledragons.livejournal.com]

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

[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?

[lamb_of_gold]

If they operate under an organization, they haven't said so.

Tokyo? Goddess no. I'm from Athens.

[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]

[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?

[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...?

[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.

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure everything out. I just know that we can leave this place just by willing it, but a lady named Meredith said we can never leave, and I don't know what that means...

[scratches the back of his head.] We're pretty much all in the dark.

[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]

You mean we can leave but never...leave-leave?

[Another mystery, because that's nothing like the Gate. Question is, is the kid telling the truth? Unlikely. But no harm in trying.]

You mean like thi-*poof*

[And he reappears a second later, looking thoroughly rattled. Long silence, wide stare.]

This is impossible.

[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?

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

That's what it sounds like! But... I mean, when I go home... I'm home, and nothing feels any different. So.

[Watches Li disappear, and then appear again.]

Yeah, but you did it! [a laugh and a small smile.]

[contract_star]

But, but...this kind of thing is impossible. I reappeared and I wasn't anywhere near the Gate!

And why are the true stars here?

[glassboxmemory.livejournal.com]

[blink.] What's the Gate?

I'm not sure... Maybe we're in outer space!

[looks thoughtful, and then shakes his head.] That wouldn't work... There's no oxygen out there. We'd be dead.

[contract_star]

[Veeerrry confused now, because everyone knows about the Gate.]

You've never heard of the Gate?

And these stars...we shouldn't be able to see them at all, except inside the Gate. Because these are real, aren't they?

...

Except you don't seem to be as...as shocked about that as I am.

[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.

[doubledragons.livejournal.com]

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

[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?