⚘ [ fringe event #1] || arrival

[entangles]

Astrid, I need you to check for all reports of unexplained, mass disappearances within the last 24 hours. Not just livestock-- any sort of unexplained disappearance. Start with stations in Boston, then expand out toward Maine and Pennsylvania. I'm heading over to the farm right now.

Astrid? Astrid? Can you hear me--

[ The line suddenly cuts off. ]

[ A moment is all it takes for the world to change. The cacophony of the busy mid-day City has replaced the quiet privacy of Olivia's room, as she's pushed and shoved through a busy crowd. A man slams against her shoulder, nearly knocking the laptop underneath her arm to the floor. A woman runs into her heels. Her first instinct, amidst all this confusion, is to place her hand on the grip of her gun. A reassurance that wherever this is, she'll be ready for any sort of attack--

Olivia sidesteps the crowd, turning a full circle as she looks for those foreign, yet familiar markers: the twin towers, the floating Zeppelin - except what she expects isn't there. This isn't the alternate world, this is another world. Instead, she finds her eyes trailing across the gilded poles of that polychromatic carnival, that bubbling liar's fountain that decorates the square. It's like she's stepped into an amusement park. ]

Where the hell am I?

[ooc: Both action or network responses are welcomed. ♥ I will try to stagger the action threads so that they make sense chronologically. ]

Comments

aqqction

[entangles]

What sort of "stuff?"

[ As much as she has every intention to leave, she's also becoming aware that finding a solution to Peter and the doomsday device might lie here. ]

action

[inmyothertights]

Well, I guess, whatever I want.

[Pause]

I mean, my mom, she made...her own, uh.

Alternate dimension. I could do that too, I guess.

[Pause]

I would really prefer you not share that last tidbit, though.

action

[entangles]

I'm good at keeping secrets.

[ You've just opened a can of worms, Billy. But first things first. ]

By the way, I need to ask you-- Did Walter ever mention anything about me or our world?

action

[inmyothertights]

Well, you, yeah. Not much about your world except that he has a son named Peter and a cow named Gene, and I assume a dog named Astro.

action

[entangles]

[ Cough. ]

Astro isn't a dog. At least not in my world.

[ Olivia crosses her arms, shifting her weight onto her left foot. ]

Assuming we're talking about the same Walter, how could he have been here three years ago? Unless Walter found a way to exist in two places at once, it's impossible.

action

[inmyothertights]

[Billy just snorts a little]

Well, good to know that he doesn't ruv Reorge.

Oh, time moves funny around here. We don't know exactly why, but when you get back, time doesn't pass. So he was here three years ago but technically he was never gone at all....does that make sense?

action

[entangles]

Surprisingly, it does - in some absurd way.

I'm guessing memory loss is also a part of the package?

action

[inmyothertights]

Yeah, it is.

action

[entangles]

If anyone made sense of any of this, it was Walter.

[ But he's not here. ]

I'd like you to show me his lab, and then I'll leave you alone. [ For now. ] Also, anything that I've told you, that Walter's told you, about me or our world, please don't tell anyone. Even names.

action

[inmyothertights]

[He nods]

Soul of discretion. Most people probably don't remember him anyway.

So, uh. Want to teleport there, or just walk? It's kind of cold, but it's up to you.

action

[entangles]

Just a precaution.

[ eyebrow. ]

Will we arrive in one piece?

action

[inmyothertights]

I have never in my life made a teleportation error. Once I made my twin hurl [and Freddy] but he has a weak stomach.

action

[entangles]

[ She grabs onto his shoulder, and looks at him, smiling gently. ]

Let's go, then.

action

[inmyothertights]

[The smell of ozone is distinct for a second, and then they're surrounded in blue light. The next thing they know they're standing in Walter's old lab. It's covered in tarps and dusty, but it's pretty untouched.]

I let the pigeons go, it seemed kind of cruel to keep them, but otherwise it's the same.

action

[entangles]

[ She may have tightened her grip on Billy's shoulder, but all al, Olivia seems pretty unfazed by what would be an impossible experience for most people in her world. She steps backwards, then turns around to survey the lab. Knowing Walter and his attachment to his Harvard lab, his lab in the city appears to be a reflection. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that doesn't make finding things any easier. What she's looking for - if it exists - is bound to be hidden in some strange place . ]

Of course.

[ She seems distracted. ]

Did Walter ever tell you what he was working on? [ ... ] Anything to maybe figuring out how this place works?

action

[inmyothertights]

Something about peaches. Peaches and also possibly cotton candy.

action

[entangles]

[ Billy's answer goes ignored as the distracted Olivia Dunham sets off into the lab for something very specific. She makes a straight line for a large tarp-covered mass, which she uncovers in a cloud of dust and spiderwebs to reveal a large tank. ]

I need you to help me get some water.

[ She opens the door with a shrill creak. ]

There should be buckets in the closet next to Walter's office.

action

[inmyothertights]

Hold the phone, you want me to do what?

[He stares at the tank and scowls]

Why?

action

[entangles]

Nevermind. I found the hose- [ Before she even finishes her sentence, she's placed the tube above the tank's opening. ] Walter should have rock salt somewhere around here. Check the closet?

[ Oh wait, he asked a question. She breaks her focus for a moment, turning to look at him. ]

I need to go home.

: action

[inmyothertights]

You can go home with water and rock salt?

[He mutters and rock salt appears in a in front of him]

Well, I guess it can't hurt to try.

action

[entangles]

You can wish for things to appear?

[ She grabs the bags and starts emptying them into the tank. ]

action

[inmyothertights]

Yeah, that falls under 'bending reality.'

action

[entangles]

That was a rhetorical question.

[ Meanwhile, as the rock salt starts to melt and coalesce with the water, Olivia begins removing her clothing. Her shirt. Then her pants. Then that spare gun strapped to her ankle.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia seems to be preparing herself for something. An event important enough for her to ignore both social convention and teenage (young adult?) hormones, in the face of getting the job done. ]

This has to work.

action

[inmyothertights]

[Oh holy crap, naked lady bits]

Right so.

Um.

[His eyes are shut. Very tightly]

I'm gay, I just think you should know that, though you don't seem at all bothered or anything.

[Spazzing.]

Do you, uh, need me to do anything?

action

[entangles]

My entire universe is in danger, Billy.

[ Meaning: I don't have the time. ]

One foot in, then another, and soon she's halfway submerged. Before closing the doors, she pauses. ]

Just take care of Gene for Walter. [ She was lucky this time, meeting someone decent and honest. ] Thank you.