Event: Consolidation Theory, Part One and Two

[snowblindmods]

Characters: red-marked characters
Location: ???
Date: Morning & Day 353
Summary: You wake up in a cell.
Warnings: general horror warnings; please note in subject lines for anything specific that comes up

Consolidation Theory OOC Post
Part Two OOC Post

Comments

[fiftheclipse]

Well, probably where the first consciousness left from?

[thewarningafter]

...And that doesn't bother you?

[fiftheclipse]

Of course it does. But those other versions of myself are still me. Shouldn't I be able to choose my own fate?

[thewarningafter]

Seems kind of unfair that the you who made the right choice the first time is the one that gets shunted off to die.

How is it I keep meeting people with even shittier consequences for time travel than mine?

[fiftheclipse]

[... Die?

He hadn't.. said that part...

Well, if he knows how it works, it's less that Junpei has to be careful about.]

Maybe. But I think the me who died in a rain of bullets still got off easier than having to be trapped here. At least there was an end.

You know a better way, or something? Don't tell me you've got a time machine back home.

[thewarningafter]

[It seems a natural enough assumption to Stephen. Why go to all the trouble of changing timelines if you didn't do something as drastic as die? It's not just him who uses time travel to cheat death (or use death as a tool), right?]

Don't be ridiculous; there's no such thing as a time machine. I'm a sorcerer; temporal magic is one of my areas of study.

[fiftheclipse]

[Well, it's a.. nicer assumption, than the reality, for sure. It's probably a good thing that as long as they remain unaware of the misunderstanding, Junpei has no reason to point out dying is required to activate it.]

... Wait, what? A sorcerer?

What do you do, go around fighting dragons and all that?

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen snorts.]

I protect my native reality from extradimensional incursions.

Close, though.

[fiftheclipse]

[Extradimensional what, now?]

Th-there's stuff invading your world..?

[Under different circumstances, he'd wonder if that was even possible. But if Norfinbury's like this, there might not be any reason to doubt it.

Still,]

There some reason they think your reality's better than all the others?

[thewarningafter]

I don't know; ask Dormammu, the devourer of worlds, why he devours worlds. I've never understood it.

[fiftheclipse]

[Well, this is just...]

... Someone really turned up the crazy dial in your timeline. So, what's the problem? Does shifting over to the reality where Dor-what's-his-face doesn't exist mean you'll be a regular guy with no magic, like the rest of us?

[thewarningafter]

It's possible. That that's not how it works, anyway--and even if I could, the bigger problem would be that I'd be leaving everyone in my original reality to die.

[fiftheclipse]

Everyone..?

[That's.. not great to think about.

Diana, Sigma, Phi... He hadn't considered any of them, back then. And the way things had happened... Sure, Junpei hadn't caused that explosion himself, but he had been willing to sacrifice anyone necessary. Maybe that made him just as guilty.]

W-well, they're still the same people, though. I mean, mostly. Right? Your friends, family, they wouldn't know the difference when they see you. Probably. So you just gotta pretend everything's normal.

...

I guess it's easier when you don't have that option.

[thewarningafter]

[He's hit a sore spot. Made the guy think about something he hadn't before, and maybe that's unfair when that's just the way time travel works for Junpei and he didn't necessarily have a choice. Stephen's never believed in fairness, though, or in accepting limitations.]

Sure. Easier. But I'd know.

[fiftheclipse]

[It's the other way around. Being able to choose means being stuck with the guilt. He's jealous of Stephen's claim that he can't, and takes that misunderstanding as bragging. It's.. probably better not to stay on that part of the topic, in that case.]

...

You think he could come destroy this world, for us? Maybe we'd all get back home without doing anything.

[thewarningafter]

[It's usually safe to assume Stephen Strange is bragging on some level.]

Only if you want to spend eternity as part of the One with him. Wouldn't recommend it, personally.

[fiftheclipse]

Can't blame you. If I had to be trapped somewhere, I'd at least want the name to be a little cooler than that...

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen chuckles.]

A world outside time. No death, no decay. No escape from the unending torment, either, but there's always got to be some kind of catch.

[fiftheclipse]

Not exactly the best sales pitch, is it?

[thewarningafter]

You'd be surprised what people will go for.