text | day 008 | HE412T

[timaeus]

While I did anticipate finding myself in a brave new world upon stepping through that door, this isn't exactly what I was expecting.
Nor is this the company I was expecting to have.
I've been hearing a whole lot of strangers' voices coming out of this ancient piece of shit, and a notable lack of any familiar ones.
I also find myself somehow bereft of a number of items and abilities I should have had, many of which would have been pretty handy in what seems like a deserted island situation.
The rational question to ask here would be "what the fuck".
But just from eavesdropping on a few of y'all's conversations, it doesn't seem like anyone actually has the answer to that question.
So I'll skip the useless panic and confusion and whatnot and instead just ask:
Who was poking me and ran off before I fully woke up?
Fess up.

Comments

[lonelynotforsaken]

No one is killing anyone.
We're all trying to help each other.
Most of us, anyway.
I don't think anyone who's on the radio here was the one poking you.
But you might be in a dangerous area.
Someone's already been attacked by other people on the island who aren't on the radio.
If you're in the same area, it would help to know so we can maybe direct you away from it.
If you don't trust the whole network, at least reach out to TO994M for deets on where NOT to be.

[timaeus]

You can't claim it's totally safe and then follow up with "oh, except for those other people".
How do I know those people aren't actually on the radios?
How do YOU know?

[lonelynotforsaken]

I never said it was totally safe.
I said no one on the radios is trying to kill each other.
It's definitely not safe here.
And fine.
I don't know for sure that they're not on the radios.
But they haven't said anything if they are.
And they're using bows and arrows to attack.
And sticks to poke.
They don't seem super tech advanced.
I've been talking to someone on another island and this place feels post-apocalyptic.
They have a whole mythology built around it.
Calling military drones 'guardians' and there's 'scripture' around them.

[timaeus]

[Huh.]

Not the worst apocalypse I've seen.
I mean, at least there's dry land.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[Well, he'd been working his way around to this, but thank you for the in-road, sir or madam.]

What apocalypse were you in, exactly???
You said something about a door.

[timaeus]

It's complicated.
To make a very long and bloody story short, my version of Earth was eventually flooded by the melting of the ice caps, leading to the death of what was left of humanity at that point.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[Okay. Okay, breathe out. They're not from Martin's apocalyptic world. But... possibly still someone affected by what he and the others did. That sounds like the Extinction?]

Oh, gosh!
I'm so sorry.
I mean, they've theorized about that happening.
What year is it for you?
People are from all over.
700s-5000s.
I'm from 2019.

[timaeus]

Not a global warming situation.
But it was 2424 when I was last on Earth.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[... Desolation?]

Okay.
I guess... was it something supernatural that ended everything?
Talk about scripture and guardians has got me wondering.
Like, maybe there's a spooky explanation for all this.

[timaeus]

Yes and no.
It was a fish alien that flooded the Earth after years of tyranny.
But the end of the universe as a whole was arguably more supernatural.
It's some genre-bending shit that defies easy categorization.

[lonelynotforsaken]

[On the one hand, his life isn't any more sensible. On the other...]

Sorry.
This is really starting to sound like you're making up incredibly outrageous things.
I guess Senku sounds that way, too.
And Shaw.
And... a lot of people, actually.
Maybe that's what most people have in common?
Weird lives.

[timaeus]

[ s i g h ]

This is why I generally wouldn't tell complete strangers these things.
Figured all your apocalypse talk meant you'd be more accepting of weird shit, but fuck me for assuming I guess.

[lonelynotforsaken]

I'm not saying you're lying.
Just that you're, like, the fourth or fifth person to talk about really wild-sounding stuff.
Someone thinks this is all a simulation because we might come back if we get killed.
(She did. Maybe. Hard to be sure.)
And then someone's talked about everyone in the world getting turned into stone.
And another person talked about being from a place with superheroes.
It's just a lot.

[timaeus]

Randomly waking up on a beach in an alternate universe is "a lot".
The rest is just gravy at this point.

[But he does file away all those details in the giant computer that is his brain. Simulation theory, superheroes, Gorgon-world, gotcha.

TO994M; text

[cactusy]

HE4 has a point. If they're listening in, it would be to their advantage not to speak up.

[lonelynotforsaken]

His name is Dirk.

[Free information from your resident network stalker. Or one of them, anyway.]

Maybe they are listening in.
But the people who are speaking up don't seem to want to kill each other.

[cactusy]

Sure. But I'm just saying, it pays to be careful and not assume only friendly people can hear you.

[lonelynotforsaken]

Sure.
But there's also no feasible way for us to coordinate over long distances without talking on these.
At least for right now until we can all meet up in one place, in-person, and figure out a code.
That we didn't discuss on the radios first.

[cactusy]

Don't worry, Blackwood, I'm not saying we shouldn't use them at all.

[lonelynotforsaken]

I don't think coming up with a code would be a bad idea.
Again.
It just needs us all to meet in person.
Or most in person.
Then spread to others who weren't there.

[cactusy]

Agreed.

[timaeus]

You're putting an awful lot of weight on that "don't seem to".

[lonelynotforsaken]

I really feel like I'm NOT the weird one for not assuming everyone here is really a murdering psychopath.

[All of you are as bad as Jon used to be. Gosh!]

[timaeus]

That's awfully insensitive to those of us coming from universes where the chances of any random stranger being a murderous psychopath are pretty fucking high.

[lonelynotforsaken]

Okay.
Well, I'm not playing this game.
So.

[And that's it.]