(no subject)

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

...what is this? Bugenhagen's machine...?

[Cloud frowns, and anxiously tugs at his gloves to tighten them just in case. He takes a brief walk to explore the area, though his eyes are drawn to the sky several times and he can't seem to concentrate. As a sort of nervous habit -oh Holy help him, if he's stuck in his own head again- Cloud began to mutter to himself as he started for a nearby bar.]

I was in Midgar...went to sleep in a tent outside. Tifa was there, Cid was there. Barret's in Kalm with Marlene. There was that building...

[Cloud pauses; that building. He'd written it off as exhaustion, residual hallucinations. A memory that wasn't quite what it was supposed to be. But- Wait, he'd gone back inside. ...why had he done that?

He stops just as he passed through the door, a hand to his forehead and brow furrowed in confusion. Damn.]

Comments

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{Diva stares for a moment in surprise, but steps closer to peer at him carefully}

...Wait, you are... Your name is Cloud, right? Mm, it doesn't sound like you remember, though.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

[Emil watches the interesting blonde guy from a reasonable distance.

Man, he has a huge sword. And he looks kind of agitated. Maybe Emil shouldn't bother him.

But what if he's lost? He looks kind of lost... Maybe he needs help. But Emil isn't very good at helping people.

... Damn it.

Okay, he'll just stand here uselessly for a while.]

[oliverplus]

[from the bar, Oliver turns and waves at the unfamiliar person standing in the doorway looking confused] Hey! New here, I take it?

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

[Confused person wandering around the Plane? Dino can think of several causes of that, but he'll go with the most obvious] This is your first time here, isn't it?

[lamb_of_gold]

[He recognizes the face, but the passing of time and seeing the young man so confused, it's easy for Mu to push that aside now]

Should you wish to return, you need only think about it.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[What. Cloud stares, trying to make a connection; did they meet in Shinra, or somewhere in Midgar, oh crap...]

...Yeah, that's...

Who're you?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud's not sure, but-

Okay he tends to err on the side of paranoia, but he's pretty sure that someone is staring at him from a reasonable distance. So he takes a look around the room and-

Blond kid at twelve o'clock, looking at him. So Cloud will look right back.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Uh...yeah. [Cloud decides to head over since this is the first person who isn't staring at him or recognizing him from some imaginary place.]

Does this kind of thing happen a lot?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Sweet Shiva, did he have "newbie" written on his forehead or something? Though at least there's people here. Cloud probably would've been a lot more frazzled if he'd poofed into some creepy ghost town.]

Yeah...guess it's pretty obvious. Do you have any idea what exactly is going on?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[What-

Oh. Drive-by advice. Cloud is familiar with this type of conversation.]

Um- thanks. But how exactly does that...y'know, work?

[lamb_of_gold]

[Just FYI. I read your app and nearly choked on my water I was laughing so hard]

I, unfortunately, do not understand the mechanics behind it.

pfffft thank you

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Well that is unfortunate. But Cloud doesn't want to really try here because you look kind of stupid standing still and thinking real hard.]

...is that how I ended up here in the first place?

~!

[lamb_of_gold]

Entering the woefully out-of-place building is what brought you here initially.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[This look.]

I meant here as in...y'know, here. [He waves his hands. Obviously HERE.]

[lamb_of_gold]

And I told you.

[oliverplus]

What, coming to the Plane or new people coming to it?

[sheepishly] Or maybe I should ask if anybody's explained where you are first.

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

[Dino's just knows what that brand of confusion looks like] Well the short version is that we've been dragged here to be part of an experiment. What the experiment is for, we don't have a clue. You can return home anytime you want by just thinking about it but it's still connected to here. You come back the same way, just by thinking about it.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[It's like he's a cryptic explanation magnet. It really is. Cloud's expression is dry and he gives a nod, waving his hand as he continues on his way.]

Right, thanks. Good to know.

[lamb_of_gold]

[Calling somewhat after him] If you return home, you'll find that no time has passed. Everything will be as you left it.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud points at him at the final suggestion.] The last one would be great, actually. Since the answer's "no."

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[...should he just...keep walking by and let this guy continue to spout advice at him? Is that the best way to get answers? The direct approach doesn't seem to be working.

He pauses, then returns and folds his arms.]

And I guess you don't know how that works either.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud immediately bristles at the mention of experiments. He folds his arms and shifts his weight defensively.]

So if I never think about coming back here again, I won't?

[lamb_of_gold]

There are many aspects of this Machine we still don't know of. I do know, however, that it has a habit of playing fast-and-lose with the passage of time in relation to this Plane - A week to you could be months to those here. Conversely, an hour here may have passed as days in your home reality.

[oliverplus]

Oh! Well, in that case, welcome to the Astral Plane. It's basically a place where a bunch of universes come together and lots of people get to visit. Irving wrote this great information brochure that you can find at a kiosk, but... [starts fishing in his pockets] I might have one around here...

Anyway, uh, basics! You go home by thinking about it, time doesn't pass at home while you're here, there are crazy experiments that go on. Oh, and it's never rained like this before. Most things here are temporary, so hopefully it'll stop soon. [makes a face at the thought of the very unpleasant rain. then his expression brightens as he pulls a crumpled brochure from his pocket] Hah! Thought I'd left it in there. Here you go. [passes over the brochure]

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

[Sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets] Technically yes. As long as you don't think about it, you can stay in your world. But, like I said, this place will still be connected to your world. That means your world will be affected by something this place does sooner or later and you'll end up being drawn back here anyway.