open to all | questions and apologies

[tresemme]

[ if you’re lucky, you’ve never heard this voice before. if you have, you’ll probably notice that he seems considerably less grouchy than he did making his greeting rounds in springstar and highstorm. tony has had time to settle in, and more importantly, he’s made some big decisions about what side he wants to support here.

…for now, at least, which is the quiet motivation behind his demanding communion. he seems utterly at home invading people’s minds, and there’s the sense of him stretching out like he’s been here the whole time and was just waiting for you to get home. ]

People here are from all different worlds, right?

[ rhetorical question, and he continues. ]

I want to hear from whoever’s been to Terra. The third planet in the Sol System. I know some of you call it Earth—the fact that you have a name for it means that you know about it. [ a pause. ] I’ll torture the knowledge out of you if I have to, but it’s easier for everyone if you just cough it up.

[ that seems to be the end of that, unless you’re a zenite, to which he then narrows his focus. ]

…sorry if you heard me say I want all the humans to die. I know we have to work together.

Comments

[tresemme]

Like I would know that!

[ he’s never been to earth, he doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be like, it’s weird that there are so many terrans here. ]

[clockpunk]

Yeah, that's why you ask normally.

[ a mental sigh. this dude sounds like some other fanatics he knew. ]

Guessin' you don't wanna know just anything, right? What was this torture plan of yours?

[tresemme]

I don’t know what to ask for.

[ tony is not too proud to admit that. ]

I guess it’s different here, but where I’m from, any information about Terra is being kept secret from us. It’s weird that no one minds talking about it.

[clockpunk]

Oh, so that's why.

[ "why didn't you just say that" is fully implied. ]

Well, the Earth I'm from is pretty normal - like we don't have magic, or space travel yet, or stuff like that. So you might be from a different timeline?

[tresemme]

A different timeline… I guess that’s possible, if we all ended up in this place anyway.

[ the universe is vast. it’s even possible in the infinite possibilities that they’re all from the same place, but infinite earths have developed along slightly different timelines…

or not. he doesn’t care that much. ]

…what do you mean, “magic”?

[clockpunk]

See, was that so hard.

[ alternate futures are like a whole thing for him, so it makes sense? probably. ]

...it's magic? You've never heard of magic before?

[tresemme]

Of course I’ve heard of magic!

[ magic is just what people call things they have no scientific explanation for yet, obviously. nevermind that he’s technically already taken spells by harmonizing—to him, they’re merely an extension of his psionics. ]

It’s just not real.

[clockpunk]

Huh? It's totally real. Maybe not for you, though.

[ matter-of-factly. it wasn't real on his earth either, but it was definitely a thing on the other planet he was tied to, so. ]

[tresemme]

You just said there was no magic on Terra.

[clockpunk]

Yeah, none on Earth. There's other worlds out there where magic exists.

[tresemme]

[ he says it so matter-of-factly that it sort of gets on tony’s nerves… but everything was already on tony’s nerves, so this is nothing new. ]

Fine, whatever. But there’s none on “Earth,” so I don’t care what any other worlds can do.

[clockpunk]

Hah.

[ you can just feel the sheer exasperation here. ]

Sure. Well, "Terra" is nice. Was nice, I guess.

[tresemme]

“Was”… oh. Right.

[ despite being attuned to zenith, he’s still getting his bearings on the concept of this whole thing. he’s sure if he looks hard enough, it’s out there. ]

But how nice is it, really? Do you miss it?

[clockpunk]

I miss it. [ firm, fast response. ] I miss my friends, my job, my aunt. It wasn't perfect, but it was home.

[tresemme]

[ tony considers telling him bluntly that he wasn’t asking about the people, but something (empathy) keeps him from the unnecessary scolding. ]

…I miss my friends too.

[ see? olive branch. ]

Everyone here is too sensitive.

[clockpunk]

[ well, chrono certainly wasn't expecting that, considering the torture talk. ]

Yeah, losing everything will do that to you. It's better to be honest with yourself.

[ hypocrite! oh well. ]

[tresemme]

Ugh… even when I look, I can’t really figure out what anyone is thinking. We’re fighting a war, right? So what’s the big deal if I threaten to kill or torture someone?

[ he’s just talking; mercifully, he doesn’t expect chrono to have a real answer to that. ]

[clockpunk]

[ yeah, he's not touching the finer details of that one. ]

Comin' on kinda intense when you were askin' for pretty basic information probably didn't help.

[tresemme]

[ tony feels like he’s well established that it wasn’t basic information to him, so he just rolls his eyes and the sass is easily communicated through the mental link. ]

Whatever. It was normal enough to me, but sure, it’s bad to say that stuff to Terrans, humans, who cares. I get it now.

[clockpunk]

Gotta get used to people bein' weird both ways, I guess.

[ communication is a two-way street, tony. chrono perceives that sass loud and clear, and mentally sends a mirrored eyeroll. ]

So, you're not human.

[tresemme]

[ chrono meeting tony’s indignation with dismissive exasperation is slightly annoying, but it’s also working wonders for making tony more… manageable to converse with. although he’s still grumbling about this and that, look at him, he’s being civil. ]

No. I thought there would be more people who aren’t human here, but I guess there are a lot of you out there.

[clockpunk]

Even the other world I knew before had humans along with a bunch of other sentient species, so I guess we're just kinda everywhere?

[ he's met a few dragons and a minor deity and also an otherworld god before, but humans persist regardless. ]

What're you, then?

[tresemme]

[ like pests…

somehow, though, tony manages to hold his tongue on that. he doesn’t feel strongly enough about humans in that direction to say it, even if it occurs to him. he instead just sighs like chrono is stupid. ]

A Mu. Even if we do exist in your world, you probably haven’t heard of us.

[clockpunk]

You're right, haven't heard of 'em.

[ just ignoring the condescension for now. wasn't the first time someone had sighed at him like that. because. he is a little stupid.

speaking of; ]

Hey, do you know what a dragon is?

[tresemme]

[ tony frowns, searching his short memory. he doesn’t want to just up and admit “no,” of course, because that’s embarrassing… so lying it is. ]

Maybe from a book or something. Why?