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Twisted St. and Park Ave.
Connecting to the Twisted Street just at the base of the East side of the bridge that crosses Lake Emepherea is the entrance to Park Avenue, a wide road with trees on either side of it. Unceremoniously the avenue transitions to a tiny almost trail that winds down over the hill to the South leading down to Zeku-Kari Beach.
Shopping! It's not fun. Well, to be fair, Adam's not doing 'the big shopping trip'. That's something that both he and Shiro will be doing later. Right now he's just picking up a few things he needs for something in particular -- an culinary idea he wants to try. He's just exiting the shop now, with a small bag of groceries.
He's in casual clothes right now -- yellow polo shirt, jeans, and hiking boots -- but that doesn't detract from that military air. It's something that gets drilled into you from pretty much the minute you arrive in basic. By the time you've got any time under your belt (and Adam made lieutenant before ending up here, so he has SOME time under his belt), it's pretty much something you'll never get out of yourself.
Besides that, he's actually got a few features worth looking at other than his military air -- his left arm is covered, under the sleeve of his polo shirt, with a black compression garment. And there's a burn scar on the left side of his face, over his nose too. It's clear that something pretty bad happened to him; even his left eye is almost devoid of color.
Russ is still new to this place-still painfully confused and permanently lost. The pilot has seen things in his time, but nothing really prepares you for this place. However, he sees someone with a soldier's bearing: it's universal, and Russ knows how he himself stands, walks, and and carries himself.
As he takes a moment to size up the man, he gives a nod of respect, as all males must do. He puts his hands behind his back in an 'at ease' sort of pose before looking around and sighing with mild annoyance.
"Sorry to trouble you, but do you have any idea where I am? This is one of the most confusing towns I've ever seen...."
Adam pauses as the man he doesn't know approaches and speaks up. He blinks. And yes, he takes a moment to size Russell up. It's not an assessing look -- well, inasmuch as 'that' sort of assessing. But he recognizes that military bearing too. Russell can see it, the straightening back in response to the question. And the only reason he doesn't salute is because he's got a bag of groceries in his hands!
"It IS pretty confusing," Adam agrees. "Though it helps if you don't think about it too hard." He gives kind of a lopsided smile at that. "But, that said, I can give you a little information. I'm still learning myself, since I came here not too long ago." He pauses then. "...Actually I've been here since January, now that I think about it..."
"I think I've been here a bit over... two months? tops. I still get hopelessly turned around." Russ says, before saying."Lieutenant Russell Anders, UN Spacy." He then blinks, before adding, "Though it seems my entire military branch simply.... doesn't exist here. I'm not sure what to make of that either."
After another few moments of consideration, he adds, "Now that I think about it, your advice seems sound, I'm just going to end up with another headache at this rate."
Adam hasn't heard of a 'UN Spacy', but he doesn't note that. It never feels good to hear that the thing you're familiar with doesn't exist. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Anders," Adam replies instead, offering in return, "Lieutenant Adam Weissman, Galaxy Garrison." Yup. Military. "Though the Garrison doesn't seem to exist here either. I don't know if there IS a 'space' here, honestly."
The mention that Russell still gets lost gets a tilt of Adam's head. "Have you been to the welcome center? It won't alleviate the confusion, but it'll at least give you some information to work with. I don't think we're in 'conventional space' as you or I would know it. I get the feeling that this place is kind of a 'sink trap', sort of, for people that get caught in dimensional eddies. That said, I have no actual proof of that theory."
"The feeling is mutual, Lieutenant." Russ says, offering a hand to shake on reflex before looking at the groceries, then his hand, then the groceries again and simply laughing. "Force of habit is a helluva thing.... And I imagine space exists - or, well, maybe I just hope it does. Not sure how I'm going to take more of basic physics going out the window."
"I think I've been directed that way before, but I was only there once, and hell if I can remember exactly where it was - I recall it being part of a multi-level building, though?" The last part is asked as a question more then a statment of fact.
Adam nods. The groceries are shifted, to free a hand -- it's only one bag, and a small one at that -- so he can return the handshake. If there is a 'military' handshake, that's it. At the mention of possibly not being able to take the violation of physics, Adam offers, "That's why I say don't think too hard about it. From all accounts, I'm supposed to be dead. And I really try not to think about that."
For a number of reasons, actually. None of which he's going into here...
As for the welcome center being in a multi-level building? Adam nods. "That's the courthouse, though it's got a police department and a hospital in there, for some reason," he notes. "I spent a lot of time there when I first came here. I wasn't in great shape."
"Ah, right, I stand corrected." Russ says, "I've been to the medical center right after I got here... ended up in the bushes." His head shook, "I'm sure you can imagine how convinced I was I'd had a concussion."
"Would you mind pointing me in the general direction of the welcome center then? Hopefully they've got maps available for us Newcomers." Russ offers with a short laugh. "It could be a lot worse, I guess."
"Definitely understandable, yes," Adam agrees. "I didn't know what to think, personally. I'm still really not sure. But my... er... someone I know is also here, so that helps. No one's here that you know, is there?"
As for the welcome center? "Oh, of course, I can show you where it is. The layout of the city is a bit weird, and it's not where you'd think it would be," he notes.
"Not that I know of." Russ says to if there was anyone he knew. "The nice gent that helped me to the hospital doesn't count, because I'd never met him before." He looks up at the sky, "I half expect it to be the in the middle of a shopping mall."
Adam chuckles. "No, not quite. It's in the same courthouse as the medical center, I believe," he replies. "They have pamphlets there that give a little bit of background information and tell a bit about this place as it is. If might not answer why you're here, but it might be able to answer some questions about Twisted itself. I can take you there -- it's not far from here, and I'm heading basically that way anyway."
"So I walked right by it. Probably twice." Russ says with a roll of his eyes, "Naturally... Lead the way good sir.... Hopefully I don't stumble into another portal or whatever the hell happened. I'd hate to end up in a world with, like... talking horses or something, that'd be pretty awful."
As he follows the other man, Russ then asks, "So, who's the authority around these parts? I take it, given the, erm, unusual nature of this place, that it's... fairly complicated. Doesn't seem like it's total anarchy, though."
Adam smiles sympathetically. "It's all right. I'm still learning my way around this place, and there's only... I think four streets in the city? But... stumbling into another portal is unlikely, given what I've learned. This seems to be a... well, the 'sink trap' analogy seems apt."
As he speaks, he starts heading west. And he offers as they walk, "That said, I also started on the back foot -- my plane was exploding, shot down by an alien invader, when I came here. A second later and I would have been dead. So I'm still learning about the place, since the first month or so, moving around hurt."
Plane? He's wearing a pair of glasses, he couldn't have been flying it. Pilots have to have perfect vision, don't they? That and his left eye is 'bleached'... and it sits over a clear scar. That said, it might have been made coming here, so it's anybody's guess.
As for who's in charge? "...I haven't figured that out yet, honestly," Adam admits. "There's a police force, and a lot of people with strange powers -- have you seen those ridiculous movies they make based on Miracle Comics? It feels a bit like that. So I'm not sure who's in charge, but they haven't really shown themselves. At least, not to me."
Russ didn't know that particular publisher, but the bizarre nature of comic book movies transcends any demensional gap. "I don't know that publisher, but I do know what you're talking about." He makes a face and then laughs, "This town is going to be... an interesting experiance.... You'd think that they'd have elections, or barring that, the people running the show being more open about doing so. Since if you and I are clearly 'not from around here' as it seems to be, then assuming everyone's going to come from a place where the idea of a 'city' and 'laws' is just going to be foriegn to them... would make sense for the head hanchos to lay down the rules more openly then."
"It's also putting a bigger target on them, if most everyone in this place has weird powers," Adam counter-points out. "One thing those comics got right was that there are all kinds of people, and some kinds of people want to do bad things to other people around them."
Adam tilts his head a bit then. "But, that said... it might be obvious somewhere, and I might just not know," he admits. "I don't know much about the place -- first there was the injuries, and then there was the frantic searching for a job. So I haven't really spent much time looking into the nature of the place."
Russ widens his eyes when Adam points out that he had to look for a job as well. "Shit, hadn't even thought about employment - makes sense that you haven't had a chance to figure out who the professional backside-kissers are yet then. Hopefully the search hasn't given you too much trouble?" His hands cross behind him almost casually. "it seems like there's at least a market of some form, which does make finding work a possibility."
Adam nods. "Luckily there's a school, and I was a teacher in my world too, so that was lucky," he notes. At the end of this western street -- looks like Twisted Street and Fukuoka Street -- the turns north and starts walking towards a fountain to the north. Ironically, they'll need to pass a school on the left as they move up that street. In fact he'll note, "There it is, actually." It doesn't call itself a high school, but an 'academy'.
Rusell takes in the sight as they walk by, and says, "Secondary school or a collage, by the looks of it?" He turns his attention back to the man, "So what do you teach if you don't mind me asking?" He then adds, "Having an education system is good for any young folks unfortunate enough to end up here-, though I suspect a few end up here without their families, which has to be pretty traumatic." He makes a soft 'hmm' at this though.
"It's a bit of everything," Adam replies. "There are kids of most ages that end up here -- young kids, older kids, college-age people, a little bit of every age group." The question of what he teaches gets the reply of, "I'm teaching health and P.E. Though it hasn't been long since I got the job, just a few days ago."
Ah, but then there's another concern. "That's true... there are quite a few without their families. It's pretty common. You'd think this was an anime or something." He chuckles, shaking his head. "I've offered to be there for students that want to talk. There's not much else I can do for them."
"Congratulations are in order then." Russ says, stretching out his arms for a moment, "Ah, I see - yeah, You do have the 'gym teacher' vibe down pat." He thinks back, and adds, "That's strange, my health teacher was also PE teacher as well. Whodathunk?"
The explanation that this is a common problem. "I was hoping to hear that it was rare. That is unfortunate to put it lightly." Russ runs his hand through his hair for a moment as he considers it. "Not much else you can do, you're right. I'd imagine they still manage to settle in as much as can be expected given the circumstance."
Adam looks a little confused at the mention of a 'gym teacher vibe'. "I do?" He seems a little confused about that. Though he chuckles at the mention of health and P.E. sharing teachers. "That tends to be common, too. I thought they'd think I wasn't healthy enough to manage it, given the... well. The face, among other things." He lifts his left arm a bit -- oh right, the compression sleeve on his arm.
As for the kids? Adam sighs a bit. "Fortunately the kids seem to be managing well enough," he offers. "Which I'm thankful for. It's a bit early to start having them come to me with problems, I think, but maybe they'll come to trust me after a while. I don't know how long I'm going to be here, after all."
"Eh, holding an injury against someone like that is dumb, so I'm not suprised they didn't care-" Russ notes, before adding, "Not that I haven't had schools that act just like that."
"That is indeed good news. I'm sure some of them will come around eventually. kids tend to form a connection with one particular instructor or another if they form them at all." He shrugs a bit, and adds, "I'd imagine that this town's been around long enough that there are adults who where brought here as kids, if not born here."
Adam tilts his head. "I'm not sure how long the place has been around, but I'm sure there are adults here who came here as children," he notes. "Being here does seem to be permanent, from what I've seen so far." A pause, and he winces. "Sorry, that's... probably not easy to hear."
Oh hey, here's the fountain! It's a very pretty fountain! But it's covered in weird runes, and makes people want to say 'Truce Fountain' outloud for some reason. This may or may not be why Adam's not looking at it. Instead he's looking at the courthouse, a four-story building with a set of stairs leading up to a pair of wide double doors.
"The welcome center is in here," Adam replies, heading for that four-story building. "I believe it's on the first floor -- that seems like the best place to put it."
Russ can only sigh at the first part of his comment. "I was worried I'd hear that from someone - not that I have any way to leave even if that's possible, my Valkyrie didn't make it here with me it seems, just fixed 'er, too, damnit."
"What the hell is with that fountain, and why the hell must I call it a Truce fountain?" Though the mention of the welcome center gets an approving nod to the man, "That's helpful, thank you very much. I would not have found it on my own. I wager it was all set up fairly hastily."
"Valkyrie... your plane?" Adam inquires. Russell had mentioned a military rank before this, so maybe he was a pilot too? "That's a shame. I lost mine coming here too. Though I doubt she was in any shape to be salvaged after what happened." Siiiigh....
Though the mention of the fountain gets a blink. "That I'm not sure about. It's just one of the weird things about this place. I'm fairly sure there's magic involved in some capacity. And magic tends to operate on 'I don't have to explain myself to you' principles..."
Mabase City Courthouse Welcome Center
As you step into this room from the hallway, you're met with a brightly, warmly lit room. To your right is what appears very much to be a waiting area, complete with a couch and a few easy chairs that are facing a large screen TV, a few couches facing each other, and a table with chairs. And we can't forget the vending machines! Somehow, they seem to be able to take just about any kind of money... Sometimes, it's best not to ask how. Directly across from the door, however, is the reception desk, where there is hopefully someone waiting to assist any who might arrive! And if there's no one there, at least the receptionist has a good view of the TV. While there is a sizable empty space between the door and the reception desk, directly to the left are pair of doors that lead to small rooms that closely resemble offices: these are the heart of the Welcome Center! Where people are hopefully assisted in acclimating themselves to this new(to them, at least) realm!
"Yeah." Russ says after some moments, "Wrecked mine once, and spent several months piecing her back together despite parts being in, well... very short supply - Magic... Really? There's straight-up Magic here?"
Adam gives a sympathetic look. "I'm sory to hear that. I'm sure she was a wonderful plane, for you to want to spend so much time putting her back together." A pause then, as Russel asks about actual magic. He nods. "I saw a dinosaur made of those toy building blocks. It moved. And spoke. It seemed sapient. And then there's the rainbow-haired woman with the medieval armor and futuristic gun. And I'm sure there's something unusual about that man who runs around the city barefoot." Because THAT takes bravery!
He will, however, admit, "That said, I haven't been out and about much, since I've been recovering. Now that I'm better, I expect to run into more people that defy my definition of 'normal'. There's a reason this place is called 'Twisted', after all."
"Older, but a good bird." The comment about there indeed being actual magic makes the man slowly shake his head. Until the description of the Lego Dinosaur enters his ears for his brain to chew upon.
"Twisted does seem like a fitting name." Russ says, rubbing his head and adding, "I half expect someone to have a wand and do actual magic shows now - though given this apperently being normal, I'm not sure there'd be much of an audience..."
Adam chuckles. "There's a blond boy that does contact juggling shows every now and then," he notes. "He's enrolled in the school -- I've seen him in class before, though he's a pretty recent enrollee. I think he busks. It's a dangerous job, but I'm not sure where he could find employment at his age."
And then he smirks. "Yes. It's very much appropriate," he agrees. "I'm still getting used to it. It's a little easier for me, since there's someone here that I know. We're sort of working together to try to get ourselves settled here." He pauses, with a smile that's... almost fond. "I'm glad he's here. Things would be a lot more difficult if either of us were here alone."
"It's nice to know there are other vets around, indeed. Pilots to boot - don't think there happens to be an airport around, eh?"
"Having a freind here does have to make it easier. You've got someone you know in a sea of people you just met. I was done with the 'new kid at school' feeling by the fourth grade, thank you, so I know where you're coming from."
At this, Adam nods. "We're both pilots, yes. That said, he's been through a lot worse than I have. All I really did was 'die' at a technological disadvantage to an alien race I'd never seen before. He was the one who actually met all the aliens out there," he notes. "Apparently he saved his whole universe, though not alone, and he lost some of the people that were instrumental in getting it done. I suppose saving the universe can't come cheap..."
"If it's bad enough that saving the universe becomes necessary, you're going to loose good people in the process of doing so. It's not like the movies, but you already know that. I've lost a few good friends over the years - hope the ones I left behind get on okay." Russ says after Adam finishes. "I wouldn't say I saved the world - but I was lucky enough to be around to see some folks who did... lost my EM warfare dish quite a few times while 'being around' but I can say I've been fortunate enough to have come out mostly unscathed." The pilot then takes a pamphlet and begins flipping through, "I want to bet these things translate themselves to match whatever language you speak."
Adam nods. "There's a very good chance of it, yes," he agrees. "I'm still not sure exactly what happened -- he told me, but admittedly a lot of it was beyond my understanding. I just know he's been through hell."
As for the pamphlets? Adam blinks. "They... might? I'm not sure. I haven't had trouble reading anything here so far. But I speak English. I'm told that a lot of the people who end up here come from Earth, even if it's not the same Earth. So it makes sense that they'd print things in Earth languages, with that kind of statistics."
"Hopefully he won't have to go through hell more then once. Not the sort of situation anyone goes asking for, anyway." Russ says, before looking at the pamphlet and seeming to have an idea... "That would make sense - in my Earth, many decades before I was born, there was a show about these kids that made a machine to go into different versions of Earth, and randomly jumped from one to another - it was cheesy, but now that I think of it, this place is kinda like that, too."
At Russell's mention of Shiro not going through hell again... Adam gets a determined look. He seems about to say something... but then thinks better of it, and his expression returns to normal. "That's unlikely. I've heard of the odd bit of serious trouble here and there, but for the most part, things seem peaceful enough here. This is almost a... 'retirement' for him, I suppose you could call it."
And then the talk of the cheesy show? "That could be," Adam replies, with a nod. "Except I don't know if there are any ways to leave here. There's a lot I haven't learned about this place." He does seem to be the type that wants to learn about his environment. And yes, he'll take a couple of those pamphlets too, and tuck them into the grocery bag for later reading.
"Good. I can't fault anyone a nice retirement by the lake, where the only battle is with the fish that get away." Russ quips, adding, "I would imagine there is, unless we're all dead and this is God's purgatory for the clinically insane - which I don't get that sense." He gives a shrug then. and adds, "But to know how to do that, you have to know how you got here in the first place, which almost certainly requires that you have some way to get back outside. Meaning you have to be able to leave to learn how to leave."
Adam gives a quiet chuckle at the mention of a retirement by the lake. "That sounds fun. Too bad I can't fish," he notes. He doesn't want to address his own situation, since he's supposed to be dead but Shiro isn't... so far as he knows. There's always the possibility that Shiro's hiding something. But... not likely here. Shiro admitted some pretty bad stuff...
"That... does make sense," Adam notes, in response to the latter concern, of knowing how to leave. "You have to find the door before you can figure out how to open it. Maybe no one's found the door yet. Or maybe they have but haven't figured out how to open it."
"Indeed. And if the door's a bank vault sort, it might not even be practical to open it-even with the knowledge how to do so." Russ adds, "There's a whole lot of unknowns there. And the whole issue with unknowns is, well, the not knowing part. Though I'd also wager this place is still an improvement for some."
At this, Adam nods. "Well... speaking personally, it's definitely an improvement over my situation. According to Takashi, I was supposed to be dead." Oh. THAT kind of shot down. The kind where you don't ever get up again. It's also worthy to note that he pronounces that name as if he has some knowledge of the Japanese language.
"Oh shit. I've had to take the short ride in the hot-seat before, but... yikes. Glad you're still with us, even if a bit worse for wear." Russ knows better then to dwell upon it though, "This definately is a sort of purgatory then, just perhaps not of the stereotypical kind."
Adam nods slowly -- commonly known on Earth as a 'sagenod'. "Very unpleasant. I'm glad to still be alive. Takashi is from a few years after it. We're from the same... well, 'where', but not the same 'when', if that makes sense. Though we ended up here around the same time -- sometime in January." He tilts his head. "There are theories that time isn't a constant, unbroken stream, but can be flexible. Maybe we were brought from different times in our world, to the same time here."
"General relativity would indicate that time is definately flexible." Russ rubs his chin, "In fact, if people can come here from different times of the same universe, then that narrows down how this works to a tiny extent." He seems to go quiet for a while, pondering deeply. "I don't know for sure, though. Maybe time just isn't a concept that matters here."
"That's true," Adam agrees. During Russell's quiet moment, he notes, "You're right, there are lots of unknowns, and I think we might just be better off shrugging and accepting it. Otherwise we might end up with massive headaches." He smirks here. "In all seriousness though, I think you're... relatively safe here. Physically, if not mentally, from all the strangeness."
"Definately not safe mentally, my brain is currently the consistancy of pudding" Russ quips. "But it does seem fairly safe besides that." He looks at his pamphlets again, and then says, "Thanks for all of the information. Should see about finding myself some stable lodging...."
Adam nods, offering a polite smile. "Anytime. The Integra's Arms is probably your best bet for semi-stable lodging -- Takashi and I are there. If you need anything else, let me know -- just ask Debbie at the desk, she'll call us. I'd say 'good luck', but I hope you don't need it."
"Will do, thanks again, Adam." Russ laughs and then adds, "Same to you! Take care."
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