video

[harnas]

[Straight-up, the first thing you notice on the video isn't necessarily the man sitting face-first, dead center in the camera with a somewhat stern expression. No, the first noticeable thing is the miniature white board and dry-erase markers just floating mid-air behind him. There are various equations and unintelligible scribbles and what looks like a music scale written on it, but it isn't sitting on anything and it doesn't seem like anything is holding it up.

He isn't paying it any mind. Instead, once he can confirm that the feed is broadcasting, the stern expression disappears, and he smiles, raising a hand in greeting.]

Hallo. My name is Dr. Siebren de Kuiper, and I am doing something of an interest check. As... well as a general inquiry, I suppose. I was an esteemed astrophysicist back home, and I was wondering if anyone has used the observatory here. I'd like to know what I'm working with.

But also on that note... we had what we call 'star parties' back home, as well. Group stargazing parties, essentially. Would anyone be interested? There's a whole new night sky to map out, after all, and observations are... quite frankly, more fun when done in groups. Fresh sets of eyes and whatnot. Besides, I do like seeing a healthy interest in space sciences!

[He gets more excited as he talks, and the objects floating in the background start to rise and shake a little. He seems to see the reflection in the stream and settles back down, clearing his throat somewhat sheepishly. The whiteboard sinks back down as well.]

Oh. Pardon me. Anyways, I do plan on joining the trip to Amegahara, so the actual events won't happen immediately. But if anyone would like to join me, do let me know.

Comments

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[itsknighttime]

[[Didn't know that actual people could do things that he only knew trolls to be able to do and it's damn cool. Okay, Dave, don't fuck this up.]]

whats up doc

[[Perfect. Exceptional job.]]

fuck i always wanted to say that
anyway cool yeah
i lived on a meteor for about three years does that count as experience?

[harnas]

I'm happy to be of service.

[sometimes, you just gotta. A+ dave, you're doing amazing, sweetie]

You lived on a meteor? Fascinating! I would love to hear about that sometime. I've been to our moon colony before but creating a base on a meteor sounds like it would be quite the undertaking!

[itsknighttime]

[[Sometimes can stick the hero landing and other times he falls on his face. This is perfect. For him that is, now the poor Doctor won't escape bad jokes in the future.]]

sure bro any time
it was pretty fuckin dope had a true bro on there my sister on there her girlfriend on there
a couple others too
it had a mayor
everyone loves the mayor
i still dont think its as cool as a moon colony we didnt have one of those
whats someone do on a moon colony? i'm betting it was the actual moon and not just a drop trou party to annoy the neighbors
did you teach there?

[harnas]

A mayor on a meteor. At least you weren’t alone!

For us, we colonized the actual moon to test the effects of extraterrestrial habitation. Humanity’s interest in the stars stagnated a bit, and it was a good excuse to drum up excitement for space exploration again.

I wasn’t stationed there, but I visited. Helped handle logistics. And a good friend was stationed there as well. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard from him in some time.

Can I ask how you ended up there?

[itsknighttime]

haha he was pretty cool
fun guy

[[Okay, that's both cool and exciting and the word vomit that ensues is his excitement over it.]]

oh holy shit
so technically you became an alien
damn thats deep humans becoming their own aliens
sorry about your buddy i get being away from friends and it sucks but it doesnt suck to go up there and own the ever loving fuck out of logistics on the motherfucking moon
that had to be cool
question for question what kindve logistics? i know the definition but were you pounding out the science trail
please tell me you said one small step for man one giant leap for man kind too

[[The next bit has him pausing in thought while he tries to figure out how to explain himself.]]

im trying to think of a simple way to put it

[[There's a little more time between the response and the next one.]]

alright fuck it youre a smart guy and even the shit you may not be down with youre goin to magic brain out im sure
ok uh our world got blown up by not livable meteors so its not like i had a choice
the meteor we were on was an... uh

a lab?

some other shit happened with my sister and me
then the other guys came and got us so we didnt have to chill in the dead of space and pick our asses i guess
ngl though i probably could have found it myself eventually just sayin that im a little better than just sitting around waiting in space when i got shit to do
ok maybe not i was new to shit back then
but fuck it right? at least it was a free guide
then one of the guys that came to get us two whos got psionics like your cool ass board trick but flashier was like
okay bros we out of here
bled from his eyes like a boss and fucked us off on a three year chillax by moving the meteor along
not as cool as a moon colony in my open opinion cause you did that shit willingly

[[Dave is capable of having entire conversations with himself. Doing this with someone else is a treat, even if he's the worst one to explain anything from his world.]]

[harnas]

I usually deal with mathematics and data, so it was mostly examining and archiving the colony's findings. Helping to project long-term plans and solutions.
I assure you, a trail of copious amounts of science was trekked. ;)
I didn't say it, unfortunately, but I'm fairly certain there's a plaque up there.

[...Give him a second, Dave, that was a lot.]

So clearly another case of an alternate dimension.
I'm sorry about what happened to your world.
But that sounds fascinating to have lived through. I'm curious though - how did you not asphyxiate?

[itsknighttime]

awwww shit son
so youre like a smart guys smart guy out saving the world?
fuck thats really cool and i keep saying cool but i mean it so i guess thats why i keep saying it
copious amounts of science... ill even forgive the missed opportunity

[[That's standard and par for the course for someone to need a second when Dave gets excited over something. Usually he's told to shut up by now, head-nodding aplenty until he moves on or someone that knows how to handle Dave's insistent rambling helps him move to another shorter topic. This is heaven for him and hell for anyone else more than likely.]]

yeah totally its ok about earth tho well make a better one with blackjack and hookers but not really with blackjack and hookers
speaking of time since youre a space guy
if theres one thing i know its time timelines and consequences thereof
but tbh doc there arent any other timelines here i can access and there should be a metric fuckload right
ive tried a few times and only ended up in the same timeline so if that helps?

[[Yet another pause.]]
that is a good fuckin question i didnt stop to ask and really wish i did
probably has to do with the medium we were in? idk a few things were happening at once

[[Or his ascension to godhood, that may do it too.]]

[harnas]

I suppose - I never saw it as saving the world though!
I'm glad you're interested, though. The universe is magnificent and I always appreciate an open mind

Accessing timelines?

[oh boy, give him a second]

If I understand, you can manipulate the time stream?
Theoretically, yes, there should always be a multitude of alternate possibilities.
Perhaps the fact that this is not our - or your - original dimension might be interfering?
🎶...

[He stops responding for a second.]

Well, there are other things that humans should not be able to survive that they have.

[itsknighttime]

course it is
and yeah no problem i think itd be cool to learn shit like that more than just whatever was on discovery channel

[[Which is about how he felt about it too. He needed a few and then needed to mess up terribly to learn not to mess around anymore.]]

you got it doc thats the one
im figurin the same thing but there shouldnt be just one timeline i just got to find where this one splits
im going to keep trying but im also not excited about fucking up this timeline either

[[Dave doesn't mind, the topic of surviving things can be touchy and as lack lustre as he treats it, sometimes it's not as easy as that.]]

ok true enough
everyones got someone or something bigger and badder but we get to cheat death along the way
my bro always said the cliche crap like what doesnt kill you makes you stronger but he wasnt wrong

[harnas]

Yes, I would certainly exercise caution.
If you're having trouble accessing a separate timeline - [man, he never thought that would be something he'd say to another person] it could be an indicator that somehow this place works outside of our understanding of the space-time continuum.
Which could be a plausible theory, considering the variety of people I've met so far.

At any rate, you'd be surprised how many cliches hold some truth to them.
Especially in this case, I suppose.
Although it truly depends on your definition of 'stronger'.

[itsknighttime]

dont worry man i learned my lessons
probably just by talking to a few people around here i can tell theres no one i know and everyone ever is dead who isnt already in the contact list if you get me
small pool of people to draw from so this dont make sense
im not going to dick around until i can manage some smaller jumps if i can at all i promise
[[Considering he's never been able to talk to anyone about this and the other time player on the troll team is the weirdest piece of work... It's nice to speak frankly.]]

man no clue
maybe even just luckier?
sometimes it isnt skill its luck and circumstance too so
idk man it could be both but it didnt kill us that i know of so we still got a chance

[harnas]

You seem to have a handle on your abilities, so I trust you.
This is one of the downsides of aging, I’m afraid. A heightened tendency to quite literally become the ’dad friend’. 😅

Regardless.
That’s a very good way of thinking about it.
I should remember that.

[itsknighttime]

i better or were all fucked
idk man you didnt feel like you were dading
i didnt really get a lot of parenting but i know what my friends dad was like and considered it normal
christ either that or im old enough to be dad too
i dont think so but now ill never know