♞ one :: there will be no vernacular here B|

[violenthearted]

[No doubt by this point the City is overwhelmingly used to what appear to be lost idiots appearing in their midst, and everyone is very, very, tired of giving the same spiel. 'No, you can't leave, no, no one has any real idea what's going on, yes, that Clock is a right bastard, isn't it?'

Etc.

So fortunately the man - tall even though he's sitting down, wearing an air of vague menace, too many teeth in his mouth - who appears in the video monitor has questions which require none of these answers. Erik has what could probably be called a severe psychological problem with displaying any kind of active weakness, and looking out of his depth certainly qualifies. By the time he deigns to contact the Network he's gathered some idea of what's happened to him (which he's not so blase as to accept as normal, but then again the last couple of weeks have included women who can turn into living diamond, hauling submarines ass over tea kettle out of the water, and a gentleman who bears a marked resemblance to Goethe's idea of Satan) and figured out at least the basics of the helpful device with which he's been outfitted. Incidentally he's holding this video conference in what appears to be one of the city's many coffee shops, imbibing a cup of something approximately the consistency of pitch.

He speaks with no clearly discernible accent, although those with the correctly trained ear will observe a melting pot of Europeanness in there: Germany by way of everywhere. EXCEPT IRELAND]

So this is the future.

[Close enough for horseshoes, hand grenades and government work, anyway.]

I have to say--it's not exactly as I pictured it.

[A dry laugh, and the spindling of some small, shiny object like a coin across the knuckles of one hand. Said object appears to be floating, which is ...interesting. It may also be a little marred by some dark, rusty stain, but that's harder to see. Some people are reticent about their bizarro abilities, and some people are Erik Lehnsherr.]

The mechanics of where I am are somewhat beyond me - [he shrugs with infinite nonchalance] - not really my area. But the half century between 1962 and today seem to have left rather a gap in my life, so who better than the populace of this city to fill it? There are books for this sort of inquiry, of course, but those are always written by the victors. [Erik favors the camera with a sharky little smile.] Rarely to be trusted. It's the stories no one writes down that are always more interesting, at least to someone like me.

I've been told I'm a quick study, so--enlighten me, City. What's happened in the last sixty years that the history books have missed? Or blotted out, for the sake of the delicate masses.

There's no need to restrict yourself to the history of humankind - [he pronounces this as though he's accidentally bitten into a live grub], for the record. I'm not human, and I'm just as interested in species who haven't made a hobby of killing one another.

Comments

video:

[charring]

In the last sixty years here? That's kind of hard to answer, since the City isn't on Earth from what I've been told.

video

[violenthearted]

Are you from Earth? Because if so that's ultimately much more useful to me. I can find out about this place on my own.

[studmuffin]

[ Stiles is pretty much having a nerd attack right now because of course, of course Magneto turns up days after Professor X. Because they're two sides of the same coin and a nerd's delight yada yada yada. So Erik is probably not expecting the grinning countenance of a seventeen year old to appear but who cares -. ]

Oh my god, you're Magneto.

[ How soon he can develop an excuse to go to that coffee shop is going to be left for time to tell, but he's working on it. ]

video forever! {ps I LAUGHED}

[violenthearted]

[Of all the Network devices in all the world, Stiles had to walk into Erik's--because there IS only the one Network device, never mind. Suffice to say, uh. No, he is not expecting this. His eyebrows crease.]

I'm-- [what]--well. Maybe after today I am.

[...that's cryptic.] Who are you?

Permavideo

[doeswhathewants]

Stiles. Stiles.

Did you not see Charles Xavier arrived days ago, too? We are being overrun.

audio; stiles was video oops i forgot to say.

[yourbestguysgun]

[ Bucky's ear isn't trained per say but he's got an inkling. ]

Believe me buddy, if it's the future you're looking for it's best left well alone.

audio;

[violenthearted]

[Erik ...pokes his device sourly; if he's putting his face out there, then other people should have to show their faces, damnit.]

It'd be hard pressed to top the circumstances of my present.

[eiremagic]

Ireland still isn't united.

That's the only shite you really have to know.

[violenthearted]

[SOMEONE ACTUALLY ANSWERING HIS QUESTION. He almost spits out his coffee--no he doesn't.]

Thank you for that. Are they still using internment without trial?

[A) Of course he knows about this, B) Of course he sympathizes with the IRA PB notwithstanding.]

voice; BECAUSE HE CAN'T RUN AND RECORD VIDEO AT THE SAME TIME

[unwheeled]

Oh, you're late.

[Is that the sound of someone grabbing their keys and running down a flight of stairs? Yes, yes it is.]

dammit charles

[violenthearted]

[Erik's own video suddenly swoops, since he has grabbed up the Network device and is clutching it like small and fragile electronic things should never be clutched.]

Charles?

[If that is just some random British person, he will be sad. :( ]

Video

[deadmanbusiness]

What sixty years have you missed? It depends on what earth you're from, I imagine. And I doubt it has anything to do with here though.

Video

[violenthearted]

I've just left a spectacular series of fiascoes involving the United States military and Russia--[Erik that information is classified oh okay you don't care, good] if that tells you anything.

Beggars can't be choosers, in any event. It was 1962 and now it's not, I'd like to know anything I can.

video; have a British teenager

[fiveagainstradley]

1962? I can't help you much with history, I'm afraid; I'm only from 1978.

video; why is everyone so young o_o

[violenthearted]

[Shall we be dry and sardonic? Is it Tuesday? ...yes.] Not unless anything worth mentioning happened in that decade and a half.

[coyote_walking]

A lot of us aren't human - or at least not strictly human - either, whether we come from an Earthlike place or not.

But if you're talking about 60 years here... I'm not sure we could find a history that goes back that far.

[violenthearted]

Then I'm in good company.

No, I can - and will - learn about this place on my own time. I'm asking about what it's like coming from your point of origin. Even if I don't find anyone who can tell me what's happened in my own time it adds to my general fund of knowledge.

Video

[trenchknives]

Sad to say I can't answer your question. I'm from 1920, and I gotta imagine that shit is pretty different.

Video

[violenthearted]

Well, since I'm in a unique position to offer my own insight, in case it interests you let me say that eventually your government does recognize the spectacular failure of Prohibition.

[He is just ...making a guess that he's talking to an American.]

Permavideo

[doeswhathewants]

I've always wished to ask but never had the chance- do magnets stick to you?

Permavideo

[violenthearted]

[Imagine if this had happened before ...whatever the hell happened with Stiles. As it is Erik just rolls with it, since it's either that or display human emotion or something.]

Yes. Which is why when I say the earth revolves around me I'm being completely literal. Magnetic poles, et cetera.

[valentineluke]

What exactly are you then?

[violenthearted]

A mutant.

voice;

[hexuality]

[Something rubs her the wrong way like there's an odd familiarity to home, here, something in the tone or the words. Someone she knew, once, (or rather, knew her) a little too deeply. Still, it doesn't stop her from replying.]

The thing is, everyone's got a different idea of the past sixty years depending on where they've come from.

voice;

[violenthearted]

[Conversely, Ginny's accent reminds Erik of 'home' inasmuch as he is reminded of Charles, whose stupidly opulent house was, however briefly, probably the closest to a home he had since he was a child.]

So I've been told. But that can only be a benefit to me, as far as I'm concerned. Your differences interest me.

And besides, the information I've been given so far suggests certain aspects remain the same from one place to the next.

[Video/late reply in-character too]

[brothertragedy]

Hello, there!

I am Nobori. Will you please give me your name, Sir? [He keeps a record of new arrivals to the City!]

In sixty years time? ... well, in my world, our Japan had been at war with our America at some point during that time... and New York is now known as the Isshu Region, rather than as a part of that America. [He pauses hesitantly and chooses his words carefully; he's scared of offending.]

[Video]

[violenthearted]

Erik Lehnsherr.

[Erik isn't American, despite having had kind of an interesting time in th...at ....conflict, so he remains unoffended. And STOIC AS EVER. B|]

Really. [Hrm.] How did that come about?

[ Video ] I know this is super late, but I had to push him over.

[bettercallit]

Well, good luck finding one of those species.

[ He's got his eyes on the coin that appears to be bobbing up and down in mid-air; he's wary, of the man in general, even if he can't quite put his finger on why, and even warier of the possible magic that's taking place. Magic never ends well. But, still, he's got the upper-hand, he knows where he is and how things work, and this guy is the newcomer. ]

In answer to your question, it depends. [ He shrugs, lazy, but visible on the screen. ] Everyone here? Mostly from different universes. If you're looking for a history lesson, you're gonna have to be more specific in what's relevant to you.

[ Video ] And I am delighted to see him :3

[violenthearted]

[Erik laughs; the sound has a distinct bite to it.]

Call it wishful thinking.

[He does not look anything like man who ever does anything of the sort, so Clint may take that as he likes.] That was the lesson I was looking for. If any version of the human race has ever learned to stop waging atrocity on anything it doesn't understand.

[He shrugs back; when he closes his palm around the coin it sticks to his hand like it's been magnetized.] Failing I may just find oral history interesting. Since I'd have to be possessed of much greater arrogance to assume my own world is the only one to have ever done anything of substance.

[Much greater arrogance than Magneto imagine it.]