stop pressing buttons dammit!

[realitymods]

[There is a rather unassuming man on the Plane. His hair is curly, messy in a boyish way. He looks like he hasn't slept for some time, and the wrinkled state of his vaguely Victorian suit shows as much.

He's frantically pressing buttons on what seems to be a floating HUD of some sort, not seen for a while around these parts. Anyone close enough ought to see the equivalent of a lot of charts in a different language, arcane-like runes bouncing and graphs flashing frantically.]

No, no, no! Don't sass me, you post-Cedural piece of—

[Oh, so it's the British... sounding fellow from earlier. Eventually the whole thing goes red, and he's forced to close it with a swipe of his hand.]

Well, I guess that's that. Ah, how do I put this... hello, nice to meet you all. Oh, and-- I'm sorry. Very sorry. It's nothing bad. I tried to do something, and it did something else. The intended effect ought to happen still, but... er, it has a side-effect. A mild side-effect. Very mild. Totally not dangerous, just a minor annoyance, like having to spend time with your in-laws.

Again. I'm sorry.

Comments

[lamb_of_gold]

What did you do?

[Hello, meet a guy who is almost completely fed up with this place and it's shenanigans.]

[realitymods]

[He takes a step back.]

I thought I'd try to make things a li'l easier. I put a wish matrix into the code and it, uh, it's goin' to make some of you stick together. Not permanently-- I'm working on a cure for that-- but you might be able to break it before I can finish the reversal.

[lamb_of_gold]

[...]

Define stick together, please. You understand that the last several months has been considerably less than pleasant, and I'd rather this trend not continue.

[realitymods]

I'm not entirely sure of the ramifications, but you might be spending time in someone else's world. Or someone might be spending time in yours.

[punkblaze]

[Eithan hears the fuss, makes his way over just in time for him to say hello and then immediately apologize. And you know, given the shit the Plane keeps pulling, he can't help but to squint at him, more than a little bit suspicious.

But then the next thing out of his mouth is a joke about in-laws, and of course Eithan has to snicker at that, shake his head with a roll of his shoulders.]

I dunno, man. My future in-laws are, uh... a little more than just a minor annoyance. [He says it pretty fondly, though. But then, he gets more seroius.] What happened, though? What's goin' on?

[realitymods]

I hope your in-laws aren't life-threatening. It's bad for the marriage.

[The man, really not much older than Eithan himself, manages a half-smile before trying to be professional again.]

Well, it's like this. I was trying to make it so you all could have something you wanted, like a present. And the Machine somehow interpreted that as 'you have to be present'. You might end up stuck to someone else, as it were.

I'm quite sorry.

[punkblaze]

[Snort!] Nah. Just... real tough customers.

[He runs a hand through his hair before crossing his arms. That doesn't sound too awful! But he's still wary and a little bit nervous.]

Well, uh. At least you tried? [beat] Wait stuck how, exactly?

[realitymods]

[Not that he blames Eithan.]

Not literally, but you'll prolly feel a hard tug if you try to run away from them.

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies strides over to him, arms crossed, looking him up and down] Hello and I'm sorry? That's a new one. I suppose we should be grateful. [her voice is dripping with sarcasm]

[realitymods]

[Despite being a couple inches taller than Menzies, he still feels a bit like he's being interrogated. He holds his palms up in a gesture of surrender.]

That's, uh, look-- I didn't ask for a thank-you. I don't want one. I mucked it up rather thoroughly anyway. [He runs a hand through his hair.] Look, I'm sorry. I'm trying, but the technology on my world is half broken, so I'm still getting used to this.

[grip_on_reality]

[she wasn't expecting that reaction, to say the least. to his credit, he's caused her expression to become slightly less accusatory and slightly more curious] Right. So what's got you mucking about with the Plane in the first place? You don't seem the usual type, ah... [and she leaves an expectant pause, waiting for his name]

[realitymods]

Wolfgang Albrecht. How do you do.

[He sucks on his bottom lip for a moment, thinking.]

The usual type? If you're talking about how I'm skinnier than that Kross guy, I suppose that's accurate. He could probably wipe the shop with me. But anyway. I'm here for a reason, though I'm not sure I'm supposed to really... talk about that kind of stuff with you guys.

The rules are a bit vague in my opinion though.

[desertdaggers]

[this is definitely something that inspires a desire to investigate.]

Nice to meet you too I hope. Did it not like what you were trying?

[realitymods]

[He nods, runs a hand through his messy hair.]

A bit. I'm trying to place one command and it says the syntax is wrong, even though it works the same with similar commands. It's just stubborn. Stubborn like it has a life of its own.

[desertdaggers]

Do you think it does, then? What kind of thing were you trying to tell it to do?

[realitymods]

That's hard to say. Sometimes machines really do have a life of their own, and sometimes it's just broken. It's hard to see the entire picture when you're standing right next to it.

I was trying for a present, you know, to give to you all. A wish, specifically.

[dododo]

[ Oh wow look at that. ]

Do any of you actually know what you're doing around here?

[realitymods]

[His shoulders slump.]

I do! Most of the time. If I was completely inept I wouldn't have made it this far, but I... look, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make things better for you and I mean this honestly.

Nothing I do will make up for what the people before me did, and I understand that. I'm just asking for a chance.

[dododo]

[ A pause. ]

New, then?

[realitymods]

[A beat. He smiles awkwardly.]

That obvious?

[caelus]

[jim watches the man from a distance, the floating hud is at least more sophisticated than a lot of things he has seen so far on the plane, but then he hasn't really been around all that much to do a proper survey. he also has no idea of the shenanigans that the people running the joint get up to.

but he knows that displays going red like that normally don't mean good things.]

I'm sorry, but what, exactly, are you apologizing for? Was there some sort of malfunction with your equipment?

[but then he's mentioning side-effects, he blanches a bit. this is a guy that's allergic to probably half of the known universe. ask bones, he keeps a list.]

---wait, wait, wait. Did you say side-effect? What kind of side-effect?

[realitymods]

A malfunction, yeah. Like a-- a glitch, really.

[He makes a worried face, mirroring Kirk's own.]

From what I gathered, there's a chance you'll have to stick around someone else. Maybe in your own world. Rough estimates say the maximum distance is going to be around a meter, but don't quote me on that.

No one told me the Machine takes things this literally.

[bit_impossible]

[For a very, very brief moment, he wonders if this is how he sounds to people sometimes, because all he can feel is very annoyed, but ohhh what he wouldn't do to see that HUD again. He caught some of what it looked like, but it's sort of like looking at all the pieces in a Lego set before you look at the directions--or even see what the outside of the box looks like. You know the pieces go together, and the wheels will turns, and the spindle things will spin and move things about, but it's anyone's guess what it could all form in the end. Fortunately, the Doctor isn't who he is for nothing--he's terribly clever always and a certified genius--and he can easily guess that it has to do with the Machine itself. What other thing could it be for, after all?

Plus it's good to properly meet the man he heard when the stars went out.]

Post-Cedural, eh? You know, I've heard of many post-things before. Post-modernism, post-Thatcher, post-disco, post-Thallian--and believe you me, you do not want to see pre- or during-Thallian either--but never post-Cedural. I don't suppose this side-effect has anything to do with that origin, does it?

[He sounds all kinds of curious, and he is, but for the first time in a long time, the Doctor feels like he's finally getting down to business with this place.]

[realitymods]

[The man looks thrilled but also a little intimidated. He never thought someone might call him on that remark, haha.]

Ah, no, that's just a term from my world for this sort of technology. Cedural was all about making machines with fairly shallow benefit. Only meant to serve the most privileged man, like a machine that will pop grapes in your mouth, that sort of... narrow-minded, egotistical view. Post-Cedural was like a revolution-- actually it was a revolution considering the bloodbath at Mithya thirty years ago-- that is, post-Cedural is a term describing technology for the sake of bettering scientific understanding, specifically technology so advanced that the notion it might do something simple and only exist for that purpose... Well, it's insulting not only to the machine's creator but the machine itself. Which sometimes have minds of their own.

[He straightens.]

Anyway, your question. The side-effect is purely from the Machine, which I didn't create. I put in a string of code and the outcome was different than expected. You, ah, you might have some company.

[bit_impossible]

[Never underestimate a Time Lord with really brilliant hearing! The Doctor nods, taking in all this info like a sponge. It doesn't sound anything like remotely like Earth which makes him all the more curious. There's nothing he takes joy in more than learning about new things.]

So is this--our Machine here--part of all that? Has it gained a mind of its own? I mean, a side effect that'll give me some company isn't all that bad when you really think about it. Well, I suppose it depends on how I get it. Don't suppose you could tell me that, could you?