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broken_time ([info]broken_time) wrote in [info]exiles,
@ 2011-01-24 14:57:00


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Entry tags:dorrek, gwenny

More travelers, lost in time
Suddenly, everything changes.

Complex worlds - space-scapes, WWII as a backdrop, friends, allies, enemies - all disappear to be replaced with... sand.

Miles and miles of sand. Rolling hills, dunes, not an oasis in sight.


Well, except that, from somewhere just beyond the hills, there's a smell of fresh coffee.



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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 09:47 pm UTC (link)
Gwenny blinked. "Davy? Davy? Bucky? Toro?"
This was definitely not camp.

"Goodness gracious. What's going on?"

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 10:11 pm UTC (link)
Dorrek stumbles in the unexpected sand, switching immediately into high-alert mode. That had not felt like one of Billy's teleports, and if it's an illusion, it's a very effective one -- the only sign that all is not what it seems is that coffee smell.

He spots the girl at about the same moment he hears her voice. Teenage human female, Asian, looks like she stumbled out of some historical reenactment project. She sounds confused and her accent definitely isn't New York. All of that can be faked of course, but it's probably in his best interest to at least pretend to accept her at face-value for the moment.

"I have no idea," he answers her rhetorical question, slipping the ring box into a pocket so that he can have both hands free. "Who are you?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 10:20 pm UTC (link)
Gwenny looks. Blonde. Blue-eyed. Carries himself like he's ready for a fight. Unfortunately, that still didn't tell her whether it was one of Our Boys or a Nazi. The accent helped, though. Still, with one thing and another, best to handle this formally.

Gwenny raised her hands in an 'unarmed' kind of way. "Sabuki, Gwendolyne Lou, of Sandy Flat Internment Center, California. American Auxiliary, No rank. Unarmed."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 10:41 pm UTC (link)
Now Dorrek's even more confused. She definitely doesn't want to be seen as a threat, but what she's just told him doesn't seem to make sense. He forces himself to go loose and looks around to make sure that she's not confusing him to focus his attention on her while someone sneaks up.

"Dorian Valentine," he says, using his 'just a normal human' identity. "New York. I'm not armed either." Aside from his two literal arms, which are usually more than enough. "...I take it you don't know any more about this situation than I do."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 10:46 pm UTC (link)
"No, Mr. Valentine. I was on my way back to Sandy Flat with my team. This is Sandy, but not Flat. I and betcha you haven't seen my team, huh?"

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 10:52 pm UTC (link)
"Can't say I have, since I was in New York City a minute ago," Dorrek answers. "Who's on your team?" That might give him at least some of the information he needs to make sense of this mess.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 10:57 pm UTC (link)
"Bucky, Toro, and the Human Top." Pause. "Do you think the Axis could be experimenting with teleportation equipment?" Pause. "Gosh, I could sure use some of that coffee."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 11:07 pm UTC (link)
Surprisingly, that does give him some information. Some really weird information. Dorrek frowns and looks the girl over again. "This may seem like an odd question, but what year is it?"

He glances around again, discreetly shifting his nasal passages and sniffing the air. "I don't know if I'd trust it enough to drink it, but I think the smell is coming from that direction."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 11:13 pm UTC (link)
"It's 1944." A pause. "Should we check it out?"

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 11:22 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, that's what he thought. Dorrek rolls his shoulders and stretches the kinks out of his neck. Somewhere in this mess is a psycho who thinks that purple thigh-highs and a green poncho are a good combination. Dorrek just doesn't know why Kang's dumped him here and why this Gwendolyn girl's gotten the same treatment.

"I guess we should," he says. "It's either someone who can tell us what's going on or it's a trap, which is basically the same thing." He gestures her forward. "We'll go together."

Just because it doesn't seem like she's involved in this doesn't mean that he wants her where he can't see her.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 11:27 pm UTC (link)
Gwenny nods and takes point. She's the superheroine here, after all. She walks carefully and attentively, her hands out, palms front

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-24 11:32 pm UTC (link)
The building, such as it is, is the only sign of civilization. Despite which, it seems to have electricity - or something. There's two walls of a kitchen, laid out with a stove, a table, a microwave, etc.
There's also a blackboard against one of the walls, a little out of place.

Its otherwise open, occupied only by a middle aged, balding man, who seems to be baking muffins.

"Ahhh, Miss Sabuki, Mr. Valentine - you're expected, of course. Please, have a seat. Have a muffin, fresh baked. I've found that baked goods are wonderful for softening great trauma."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-24 11:39 pm UTC (link)
Well, that's definitely not Kang the Conqueror. Nor is it, as far as Dorrek can recall, anyone in the Avengers' databases. Even the fact that the man is calling him by his assumed name doesn't soothe his jangling nerves.

"I'm not traumatized, I don't need pastries," he says shortly. "And I'd prefer to stand. What's going on here?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-24 11:47 pm UTC (link)
"If this is another kidnapping, you might as well kill me and let the civilian go, because your demands will not be met."

Boy, those muffins look good, though.

Real good.

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-24 11:55 pm UTC (link)
"I am afraid, Mr. Valentine, that the operative phrase is 'you are not traumatized, yet' - because you are about to receive very bad news. But..." *sigh* "Suit yourselves. This is not a kidnapping, at least in the traditional sense. There is no malice involved, and I'm certainly not your enemy. Nonetheless, neither of you can go home."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 12:09 am UTC (link)
Dorrek's no stranger to being kidnapped 'for his own good' by people who claim not to be his enemies, though that's the only thing that's even slightly familiar about this situation.

"You still haven't answered my question," he says, narrowing his eyes. "And I warn you, people will notice that I'm gone and they will come looking for me. And if you haven't released me by the time they find me, it will go very poorly for you."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 12:12 am UTC (link)
Gwenny does take a seat and stare at the man. "Why can't we go home?"

...Okay, the food and drink have no business smelling that good. They'd been taking out scum all last night, and she's a growing girl.

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-25 12:18 am UTC (link)
"I would love to release you, if I could. However, I'm not your kidnapper. I'm not even your rescuer, to get specific. I am a construct of your subconscious minds intended to try and explain your current fate. You sure you don't want a muffin? Or coffee? This is complicated."

He offers the tin of fresh baked pastries one more time, hopefully, then shrugs.

"Alright... you have become unhinged in time. Everything you remember about your worlds is currently a lie. Those worlds no longer exist as you remember them. You are the last vestiges of the old order.
The long and short of it is that all timelines, all universes, are tied together at some level. What affects one also has minor ripples in others. The majority of the time this is nothing of importance. Someone takes a different path to work, or forgets to eat breakfast. However, there has been a sizeable disturbance, and it has carried through countless timelines, including both of yours. The good news is that by stabilizing one, you give the worlds around it a little more stability. By fixing the timelines, you can restore other worlds... and possibly, if you're lucky, if you survive, your own worlds will eventually be the ones you recognize again."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 12:30 am UTC (link)
Dorrek eyes the man -- construct? -- and slowly sits down next to Gwendolyn. This...being, whatever he is, is either a phenomenal actor or is telling them the truth. And it's not a truth that is outside the range of possibility.

"Say that we buy what you're selling," he says slowly. "How exactly are we supposed to 'fix' the other timelines without knowing what's supposed to happen?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 12:33 am UTC (link)
Gwenny....takes a long sip of coffee.

How can she be telling herself things she doesn't know about things she's never heard of? It doesn't make any sense.

She nods a little at Mr. Valentine's question, then adds "And what's wrong with home? What happened to the boys?"

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-25 12:43 am UTC (link)
"Aha! Now we're getting down to the practical questions. Very good... so you have an idea of the gravity of the situation, we'll start with 'what's wrong with home'.

Mr. Valentine - you never left home. You never met your fiance or your friends. You bought into the propeganda instead... and became a very effective leader. So effective, in fact, that your fiance's head is currently among your trophies, though you have no idea who that person is other than an opponent who managed to give you a challenge.

Miss Sabuki - ultimately, America decided that the greatest risk possible was from possible traitors in their midst. For the good of the country, your family was quietly executed. Mr. Einstein's ideas were never adopted - and the war rages on into the 1950's - and, having no choice following the execution of your family, which you escaped, you are currently one of Axis Japan's most capable super agents, having been recently promoted after killing the Human Top.

As for how you can change these fates back to lies... that's going to take some additional explanation."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 12:54 am UTC (link)
One of the benefits to growing up a shape shifter in the royal palace on the Throneworld is an utterly amazing poker face. Slipping into that poker face is almost reflexive. Technically, so is crushing the edge of the counter top in his grip.

He doesn't say a word, but his mind is reeling.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 12:56 am UTC (link)
"They killed my... and I'm a .... And Davy..."

Gwenny, tears in her eyes, clears her throat. "Let's start that additional explanation, Mister. I don't care of it kills me; we're fixing this. All of it."

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-25 01:05 am UTC (link)
The counter top breaks easily. Then it sort of turns hazy, and in a moment, is back the way it was. The Timebroker looks mildly annoyed, but only mildly.

"The counter isn't really there. Its just your minds trying to find a shape to give this place... its a bit beyond your brains' collective paygrade, trying to comprehend being in a state of only sort of existing... now, if we're done... the muffins are still available, if you're traumatized yet?"

He turns back to better address them both at once.

"You're actually newcomers. The ripples hit your world fairly recently, but the overall effect has been going much longer. The only remaining original has been at work on this rather large project for over four years. There is a group of others who have also become unstuck in time. Each of their worlds has been hit by the same effect. Via a device called the Tallus, you will move from world to world. The Tallus will guide you as best it can to tell you how to fix each world and stabilize its timestream. If you succeed, you and the group will then move to the next world. Fix the right combination of worlds, and your own will be repaired - at which point, I will send you home to the moment from which you disappeared. However, You can fail, and you can die. If you fail, you will be stuck wherever you failed, or possibly return home, forgetting everything that was and buying into what your world has become. If you die... you die. And we try and find a replacement."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 01:22 am UTC (link)
Four years?! Dorrek's attention shifts abruptly to the shape and weight of the small box in his pocket. He can't be separated from Billy for that long!

But...if what this construct has told them is the only other option...

"If we die, will our worlds still be stabilized?" he asks. He hopes that it won't come to that, but if it happens, he wants to know that Billy will still be restored. Even if he's not there to see it.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 01:23 am UTC (link)
"Exactly. Can it still be fixed without our personally surviving?"

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-25 01:26 am UTC (link)
"Yes. Your teammates can still stabilize the timelines. You, personally, will still be dead - the timeline will find a way to iron that out, but your universe could otherwise still be restored."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 01:31 am UTC (link)
Dorrek lets out a sigh of relief, slumping back in his chair. That's good. Whatever happens, Billy and his friends will be all right. Dorrek can handle this with that knowledge.

"When do we start?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 01:32 am UTC (link)
Gwenny, too, looks relieved. Going to stuff her face with muffins now, but relieved.

"I'm guessing right after breakfast. Not a lot to do here in Not-Really-Existing-Ville."

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[info]broken_time
2011-01-25 01:35 am UTC (link)
The Timebroker eyes Valentine. "That is only if you die. If the team fails... well, you're all stuck... so do be conscious, the missions you get aren't just suggestions. However, that said... Miss Sabuki is correct. The team is just about to save a cheerleader, thus saving that world. When they do, they will be moved to the next world, and you'll join them."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 01:42 am UTC (link)
All right, so not 'whatever happens'. And he gets the feeling that not all the missions are going to be as easy as saving cheerleaders. Dorrek returns the Timebroker's stare. "Understood," he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 01:43 am UTC (link)
Gwenny nods, and soon she's finishing her muffins.

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 02:41 am UTC (link)
Dorrek has finally given in and started on the muffins. They're probably also just constructs of his mind, the same way this place supposedly is, so they shouldn't do anything terrible to him.

He's a little curious as to why the Timebroker called him by his assumed name, but not enough to ask in front of Gwendolyn. That's probably also because of the construct-nature of the area. Never the less, she has to be curious. While the Timebroker hadn't say anything about him being an alien hybrid, what he'd said about propaganda probably sounds odd paired with his (admittedly, false) New York accent. Best to get that dealt with sooner rather than later.

He turns in his chair to face her, making sure not to twist so far that he loses sight of the Timebroker puttering around the kitchen. "So, I suppose you have questions," he prompts her with his most polite voice.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 02:49 am UTC (link)
Gwenny smiles. "It's okay, Mr. Valentine," she says. "I understand. My grandparents were foreign, too. But even if they tried to recruit you in your real world, you're not a foreign officer any more than I am. We're going to fix this, and Dad and Davy and your fiancee will be okay."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 03:06 am UTC (link)
Dorrek blinks once and then can't help but smile back at her. It's so convenient when people fill in their own details, it means less work for him. And, now that he's not worried that she's secretly a threat, he's realizing that she's a very sweet girl. It almost makes him feel bad for not filling her in on the real details.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he says. He glances down at the edge of the counter top that is no longer broken. "You also probably noticed that I'm not exactly 'normal' either. I guess that you could say that we're in similar lines of work."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 03:11 am UTC (link)
Gwenny smiles. Her hands glow. "Well, let's get to business, Mr. Valentine."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 03:54 am UTC (link)
"You saw the super-strength earlier," Dorrek said, laying his hand down on the counter top and briefly shifting his fingers into razor sharp claws. "Also shape shifting. This is what I actually look like, though."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 04:11 am UTC (link)
"That's real handy." No wonder the Enemy had tried to recruit him.

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 04:16 am UTC (link)
"I like to think so, yes," Dorrek said. "And you? Do your hands just glow?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 04:18 am UTC (link)
The glow increases, and the radiant energy sears into the counter for a moment, until it heals itself.

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 05:46 am UTC (link)
Dorrek's eyebrows rise toward his hairline. "Very impressive. Natural mutation?"

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 05:47 am UTC (link)
She shakes her head. "Lab accident. Agent Axis hooked Davy and me up to some machines to get my father to cooperate. It didn't work out like he'd planned. Are yours natural? Like Namor?"

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 06:47 am UTC (link)
"I'm glad that it worked out as well as it did, then." Dorrek says. "Yes, I was born with mine. People call humans who naturally develop unusual abilities 'mutants'."

He'll let her draw the apparently natural conclusion from there.

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 06:50 am UTC (link)
"Thanks." Gwenny listens. "Good to know."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 07:15 am UTC (link)
Dorrek rubs the back of his neck. "...I should also probably tell you that I'm from about sixty-five years in your future, and I'm not quite sure what the protocol is for meeting people from alternate pasts."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 07:18 am UTC (link)
"Sixty-five... oh gosh...."

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[info]notallhunkydory
2011-01-25 07:44 am UTC (link)
"Yeah." Dorrek gestures at his clothes. "So if it seems like I'm dressed improperly, that's why. And I apologize in advance if I behave in a way you feel is inappropriate; just tell me and I'll stop."

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[info]a_pal
2011-01-25 07:47 am UTC (link)
Gwenny listens and nods earnestly. "Thanks. Everything's okay right now."

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