realityshifted | Astrophobia

Entry tags:

dcu (d1) jonathan crane/scarecrow

Astrophobia

[Jonathan Crane, PhD, scans the Plane with bespectacled eyes in his very nice suit. To all appearances, the Plane has just won itself a new university professor]

Acrophobia would hardly be an irrational fear at present. Indeed, it would be very [takes a step] very [another step] practical. This is possibly one of the very few instances in a normal individual’s life where siderophobia might be considered rational as well. And so they would cease to be phobias.

Incongruous but coherent structure... far too lucid to be any breed of hallucination or dream. The idea of it being true space is out of the question, of course.

[picks up a discarded hat, examining it] The two most likely options are thus illusion or reality. I wonder which it is. [sets the hat down again and carries on his way]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...There are doctors for that? That hardly seems like something that needs doctors.

In Gotham City, it is a very common affliction.

{Diva frowns. This is a conflict! On one hand she does not like doctors or scientists. On the other, larger hand, she is fatally curious. Damn.}

...What sort of city is Gotham, then?

A city where the corrupt don't often bother pretending they're not corrupt, where the government will abandon us after an Earthquake on the belief that there is nothing worth saving, and where masked lunatics play out deadly games in the streets every night. If it is a riot, it's a murder spree from one of the escaped asylum inmates. If it isn't a murder spree, then it's gang warfare between the Russians and the Chinese and the Italian - and, of course, Scarface's mob and Two-Face's gang.

So it sounds like you have all the evils of the world in one place! How cheerful.

[he smiles slightly, fondly]

It's home. I don't believe I could bring myself to leave it for long after all these years.

{oh that sounds like someone she knows}

So you really like living there despite that? Amazing. I don't think I'd be able to.

The city has its good. Its people. Even our layabout wealthy do-nothings believe in the city and will do what they must to save us.

[the smile widens] I believe in Gotham. I believe in Jim Gordon. I believe in Harvey Dent. I believe Bruce Wayne said something like that. Harvey, of course, didn't wipe out the mafia quite was Mr Wayne may've hoped, but Commissioner Gordon has done much good for the city since his arrival.

...Well, then I hope it gets better for you. Ne, you'll find the Plane much nicer, at least.

It seems to have all the food and drink I could ask for.

Well, there's that, but that's not really the important part. There are so many wonderful, interesting people here. That's the best, really.

What sorts of people?

Oh, all kinds of people! Mostly, they're all very nice. There are a few rude people here, but it's not like you have to talk to people you don't like. Ne, but the people themselves, they're pretty different too. There are humans, time travelers, vampires, and all kinds of other people. It's really fun.

That is quite the sample of people. And they all coexist peacefully?

[there is nothing in his voice to indicate that he means 'sample population' by that]

...I wouldn't say peacefully. For the most part, it's fine, but on occasion, something bad happens. And, well, when that happens, it tends to be really bad.

[frowns]

Such as?

{After a moment} Well, murder, torture, things like that. It's not like everyone here is a good person.

[Crane's face darkens] I'll ask what I asked when I heard of the Twins' experiments: is there nothing to stop these people?

Oh, it's the people that try and stop them that become the targets! For the Twins, there's really nothing since they're like...well, I guess they're like Gods here, but the people are powerful. The problem is that the people trying to stop them, they're really weak in comparison.

Is everyone who hurts, by some fluke of genetic lottery, bigger and stronger than all of the good people here? What about--there must be some technology to deal with it. Are there no prisons to hold them?

Of course not. Not since you can just leave the Plane so easily, and we're all separated, for the most part.

So there are no prisons, no asylums - no way to contain those who hurt others.

[~~that's very good to know~~ how terrible!]

Your police force, if you even have one, must be tried beyond their means.

{She frowns, thinking of poor CID}

We don't really have one officially, but there's a group of police officers here that have tried very hard to make this place safer. But...They haven't had much luck. They were the most recent to be the victims of one of those bad things.

{But she looks back to Crane, not really smiling, but it's an odd expression on her face} But it's a little alright, at least. That person that tortured them, he died for a little while, and not very pleasantly, I would guess.

[he sees that smile and wonders]

As much as that person may have deserved their suffering, that isn't justice or the law. The d--[wait] Did you say he died for a little while?

[Handy already brought it up, but let's get us some independent verification!]

Oh, yes. No one actually dies here. The Twins will bring you back in a few days, and all that's different is that your blood is black and...well, it sparkles.

{She pauses, looking at him, the decides to demonstrate. He seems alright for a doctor-scientist. So she bites into her palm, which shows some of the black blood before the wound closes as easily as it was opened.}

See? I don't really know how they do it, but I'm glad.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject