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[chiron_survivor]

It is starting to dawn on Adia that this might not be the Nexus she remembers.

It is the first time in months that she has been able to leave New Caprica without risking awareness from either the Cylons or her fellow humans. She has never told anyone about the strange, wonderful place she stumbled upon, nor does she plan to. It won't be much help to the colonists, and it'd be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the Cylons.

But in the short time she has been sitting on a stone bench, reading an old paperback, she hasn't seen a single familiar face. And come to think of it, none of the landmarks look the same to her, either. True, the Nexus is always changing, but shouldn't she recognize at least some of it?

Curious, and a little nervous, she gets up and brushes off her dusty but serviceable coat, then walks over to a convenient Nexus computer terminal. That hasn't changed, at least.

How do you go about finding someone that you used to know? When is it not worth the risk to try and find them?

There is no giant blinking neon sign in her line of sight instructing her to ask a question, but she hopes someone answers anyway.

((ooc: Hey everybody, Adia is an OC from Battlestar Galactica, her timeline currently in the beginning of Season Three. I used to RP her at dear_multiverse on Livejournal, hence all the "not the same Nexus" references. She's a human with no special powers. Have fun!))

Comments

Incoming Text

[brother_alone]

Texts from strangers are--for better or worse-- a semi common appearance in the nexus and very rarely 'just spam'. (Though it only takes one text offering to help you get a more rotund squiddlyspooch before one realizes spam is the same in any universe).

Because of that, the young man who receives the text doesn't make too much of a fuss about not recognizing the source. At least this person or creature isn't hijacking his phone.

When social media isn't an option? Then you gotta do it the old fashioned way. Just keep in mind. Some people don't want to be found.

Speaking from experience, there. josh pauses though, before shooting off one more text in reply.

Out of curiosity, who are you looking for? Maybe it's someone I know.

A long shot, but. Never hurts to ask.

Re: Incoming Text

[chiron_survivor]

Social media isn't an option, unfortunately. What do you consider the old-fashioned way?

Adia winces at the second part of that text. While she hopes that her old friends would be glad to get back in touch with her, there is someone on her own world who probably fits that statement. After all, if he hasn't tried to find her in all this time...

She sighs and shakes her head. No need to dwell on that.

A number of people, really... I used to come here, but it's been some time. Or I'm not in the right place anymore, I'm not sure.

And then, because she really can't help herself, and if she is in a different Nexus, he might be here after all --

Have you seen a man in his thirties, short brown hair, about 5'8"? He'd probably be wearing a suit and looking serious.

[brother_alone]

Talk to people, consult those who specialize in finding things, footwork. You know, old film noir detective stuff.

Josh swipes his reply on his smartphone idly from where he's wandering around the Plaza. He has to stop walking to text though. His best friend would tease him so much for that if he could see Josh right now. Not everyone can be a phone savant though.

I do know someone fitting that description, actually.

[chiron_survivor]

Well, that was pretty much what she expected. At least she was headed in the right direction, asking others. But before she can reply, the second text comes in and her blood runs cold.

Really?

She peers anxiously from behind her terminal, as if the man she is thinking of would suddenly materialize in the Plaza.

Did he tell you his name?

[brother_alone]

Most of the people in the Plaza are wandering around, asking questions or going about their days. Depending on her perception roll how closely she's paying attention though, she may spot a young man stopping to pull a phone out of his pocket right after she sends her reply. He stops and looks down at it and then starts working on a reply.

Sure enough, a moment later.

I haven't talked to him more than once or twice. But a friend of mine works with him. Suit, short brown hair, extremely serious. Seems to fit.

[chiron_survivor]

She realizes belatedly that it makes no sense to look for someone that she is only asking about, but she's so nervous, she can't help it. The one person she didn't want to find in the Nexus, and he might be --

Wait... wait. She takes a deep breath, then another. Why would Caspar or one of his copies be working for anyone other than another Cylon? Maybe this person is thinking of someone else.

Her gaze sweeps across the Plaza, less anxious. She does not see Josh when he responds to her text, but he might notice the anxious-looking woman typing at a computer terminal, her clothing grungy in a way that living somewhere dusty with limited laundry facilities will do.

What sort of work does your friend do?

[brother_alone]

Josh is looking around the plaza, and does in fact approach a woman who is busy with her computer, though it turns out to be a very confused and slightly startled lady checking her work emails. She leaves rather quickly after Josh apologizes and turns away.

Freaking weirdos in the Nexus.

[He just opened a new business nearish downtown. Small place, great food though. I think the guy in question is a police officer by trade, but he's working as their baker now. Suma? Suou? I don't know him but he's very Japanese.]

[shardofwinter]

While Reynard isn't usually the type to be fond of technology, there are some things he comes around on. Eventually. Any source of music has an advantage, which is why he's sitting back, arms folded and hat tipped over his eyes while he waits for an MP3 player to recharge. He assumes that's what it's doing. He plugged it in and all of that.

When the terminal plings at him he assumes it's to do with his device. Instead he finds a question waiting for him once he sets his hat aside. He crooks an eyebrow and then stretches his arms. Prepare for the slowest typing in typing history.

One index finger poke at a time, he responds:

Ask around. Or check spots that you know they like. Failing that, there must be someone here who makes a business out of finding people.

But people change. Sometimes your memories of them are better than reconnecting.

[chiron_survivor]

It's all very sensible advice, but it is Reynard's second sentence that has Adia frowning self-consciously. She's been left behind before, in the way that many friendships fade out, but it's now more than ever that she needs a good listener, someone who understands how difficult these past three months have been.

I would hope that they haven't changed enough that they wouldn't want to see me again. I made some good friends here. Or a place that is very much like here.

[shardofwinter]

Hope can be such an insidious thing, in Reynard's opinion. Certainly no friend of survival instincts. And yet, good company is indeed a valuable thing.

You might not want to see them again. Some people are quick to lose their shine.

He sits back and mulls over his own words, slowly sitting forward again when he decides to add, But if you are sure you know them, and you meet them in a safe place like this, then the only risk should be an emotional one. It would be as dangerous as making new friends.

It rarely hurts to tread carefully.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia would agree with Reynard about hope. Then again, giving up on a dream of finding Earth didn't do the humans in her universe much good, either.

She types out several replies, but deletes each one before hitting enter. They either seems too harsh or capitulate too much. She decides that whoever is offering her advice has not had the best luck with friendships in the Nexus. Or perhaps in general.

I'm no social savant, but I'm willing to give anyone I meet a fair chance. New or old.

She looks around again and sighs in frustration.

I think it bothers me more that this Nexus is not the one I remember.

[shardofwinter]

That's the spirit!

At first, he goes to write out a bit on how everything changes, between time and passing events. A moment later and he thinks better of it. There is a time and place for heavy realities. Here and now is neither.

I don't think stability is in the nature of this place. Adventure, on the other hand, is.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia smiles a little at the screen. It seems that she typed the right thing.

I'm guessing we haven't met before. Not here, anyway. My name is Adia.

Fair enough. And honestly, stability has not worked out so well for me. So adventure it is.

glad you're here! <3 I've been super slow this week but finally I can tag you!

[conjuredskies]

It's amazing the sorts of people that technology can bring together, especially when you toss a question into the Nexus aether. Today luck brings it to the attention of an Imperial Legion mage playing with his phone. (That is, doing important academic research on foreign technologies. Of course.)

He's gotten quite a bit of practice picking the little letters on the screen by now. His reply is a bit slow but comes much more easily than if he had to hunt around on one of those big keyboards the serious computers have.

If I can't use one of the easy methods like finding their family, I usually turn to official records or contacts of one kind or another. Use whatever you know about their habits and temperament.

He thinks about it for a minute and adds, I suppose I'd have to decide if finding them was more likely to kill me than forgetting them.

thanks! <3

[chiron_survivor]

It's good, practical advice. Too bad Adia can't implement it, either in the Nexus, or on New Caprica. I'm not sure I'm in the right place. Or, the place I used to go to that my friends went to, also. It makes it harder to find anyone familiar.

She winces a bit at the second text. Is that a possibility, for you?

[conjuredskies]

Not sure? Well, that sounds like an interesting problem. Another place like the Nexus, you mean?

It's surprising to him, but most people who come here aren't mages already familiar with multiple planes of existence, or even the concept of them. He tries to tailor his questions accordingly.

It depends mainly on the person I'm looking for, but even traveling the roads means some risk of bandits or worse. That's not the only risk, of course, but it does tend to be my first concern.

[chiron_survivor]

Yes, exactly. It was a crossroads of realities, like here, and it had shops and vending machines and computer terminals, like here, but this place feels different, somehow.

She shakes her head at herself. She's being selfish. It's enough that she gets any sort of break from New Caprica. Especially with the way things are now.

It's dangerous, where you're from? The story of bandits reminds her of a friend, and that feeling of bittersweet nostalgia returns. What is your world like, if you don't mind me asking? Is it Earth?

[conjuredskies]

That's a little worrying, he almost texts, but on second thought it seems too likely to alarm the poor person on the other end. There's enough risk of that in what he needs to send.

Please forgive my questions, but you came here the same way as the other place? And you've been able to return to your home realm just the same?

Talking about beasts and bandits is by far the lighter topic, already. He takes a few minutes to compose an answer. Being able to draw comparisons with Earth does make things easier.

Not Earth, Nirn. We usually just refer to the continent of Tamriel, though. Compared to Earth it has much less focus on advanced technology and far more magic. No phones or mechanical vehicles etc. I hail from the most powerful state, the Empire of Tamriel. In fact, I'm an apprentice battlemage in the Imperial Legion.

For now, anyway. He's admitting to the soldier part because it makes him sound respectable, and to the apprentice part because he really ought to. It's liable to come out anyway if he makes a new friend here.

[chiron_survivor]

I have a device called a PINpoint. I used the same coordinates to come here that I always do.

His second question gives her pause. She hasn't tried to leave this unfamiliar Nexus yet. What if her coordinates home no longer work? What if she's stuck here?

She wonders if it would really be that bad, to not have to return to New Caprica, to no longer be under the watchful eye of Cylons, to be at their whim and mercy, but she shoves the traitorous thought away quickly. She has friends back home, and a boyfriend. She can't let herself be yet another human who disappears from the human settlements, presumed dead.

I haven't gone home yet. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

It's a lighter subject, for certain. I'm not from Earth, either. But the colonies didn't have magic. Is a battlemage someone who uses magic to fight?

[protolawyer]

((Hey, more old school dear-multiverse people!! Same here!))

Shark got the app for this place (who made it? Who knows!) in the hopes it'd get him in touch with more clients. But all that ever turns up when the notification pings his datachron is questions. But hey, if that's what it takes to reach a user base...

The lawyer, seated in some dark bar somewhere in the Nexus, rapidly taps out a text reply back.

Try old contacts, I guess?? Datachron numbers, skyplot addresses. Check the company directory if they were a coworker. Not worth tracking them down if you owe them money. Make a clean break in that case.

[chiron_survivor]

((Woohoo! Represent! :) ))

Adia gets the gist of Shark's advice, even if "datachron" and "skyplot" mean nothing to her. The problem is that I don't think I'm in the same Nexus that I used to be, so the contact information I have is no longer valid.

The people I'm looking for (here, anyway), are friends. I don't owe them anything. Except maybe an explanation for why she disappeared.

[protolawyer]

His reply is briefly delayed, as he takes a moment to order another drink (straight vodka, thanks) and plink his empty glass to the edge of the table. Another moment to read the response and then send his own.

Nexus like this place, or Nexus the planet? I'm from the latter here. Well, not FROM. Made for it. Whatever. The place with the Eldan garbage.

The odds are low she's also from the same world he is, but might wanna check before he gets in too deep with advice. Or business solicitation.

[chiron_survivor]

Nexus like this place. I did not know that there a planet called Nexus. What is it like?

She frowns a bit as his wording. What do you mean made for it?

[protolawyer]

Nexus the planet is a shitshow, full stop. All this tech and trash left behind by some big deal aliens who made the Dominion what it is and now everyone's fighting over who gets to claim it AND the planet? Protostar made landfall eight(??) years ago to make sure no one got smart about trying to make the place an entrepreneurial venture breeding ground lol.

Yeah, made? I'm a clone. It's not weird. The whole company is clones. I was made to head one of the legal departments on Nexus. I'm a huge deal, actually haha what up.

[chiron_survivor]

It does sound messy. What's the technology like? Do you have faster-than-light travel?

Adia rubs her hands together nervously. She does not have good associations with clones. (Or, rather, Cylons, which are like sentient robot clones, so close enough). She's willing to keep an open mind, though. What's it like to be a clone?