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First Lance - [video]

[The rat woman who may have been seen atop various buildings across the city appears on the screen, sans hat, looking unsure for a moment before appearing to realize the feed is working correctly. She clears her throat quietly before speaking in a serious manner.]

I have a question for you all, if you would be so kind as to answer.

There seem to be many worlds represented in this city, but I have noticed that there are many from a planet called Earth. I am from the planet Gaia, but I have yet to meet anyone from my world, be it the same or an alternate version.

So my question is: What world are you from, and is it similar to this place we've found ourselves in? I would like to see if there is any correlation between the home worlds of people brought here.

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[ That was odd. Not that Zack had beaten him to talking to this...lady?, that was pretty much expected, but that none of the locations she gave seemed to match up with ones on Gaia. ]

By 'alternate version'... you mean the different Gaias are still connected to each other?

That is possible. I couldn't say for certain... it was only once I was brought here that I became aware of so many other worlds existing.

Several of the "Earths" I've been told of seem similar in many ways. Perhaps that is also true of Gaias, or of other worlds of the same name. [There's a pause as she considers it, and then she asks a question to make sure.] I take it you are from Gaia?

Yeah. Same one as the other guy. [ He would say "the one with a Midgar" but haha, Midgar's state. >_> ]

Well... I haven't seen anyone quite like you on my world. No offense. I'm not sure they're similar that way.

Ah. Then you two know each other? [That did give her some amount of hope; she would feel more confident with her friends nearby. She didn't want them to be trapped in this situation, but... it was a selfish thought she couldn't help but entertain.]

No offense taken; my race does not appear to be common on other worlds. [If the stares she's gotten are any indication.] It is still possible they resemble each other in different ways. Would you mind telling me a bit about your Gaia?

We're friends. [ Understatement, but he says it readily, with a very small smile.

It's gone in the next moment as he tries to figure out how to answer her request. What would be interesting about his Gaia? ...And if they might be similar, what does he want to know the most about hers? ]

There's another intelligent race on my Gaia, but mostly it's just humans. [ They are very common for this multiple worlds thing, what's up with that. ] We're spread out throughout the whole Planet, and recently we got into space. ...A lot of that was thanks to mako energy, though, so things are harder with it gone.

I see. [She gives a small smile of her own in return.]

Humans are very wide-spread, it seems, though no one on my world has been able to travel to "space"... [Traveling to other continents is enough of a problem.] And I'm not familiar with "mako energy," either.

[Curious... perhaps they don't have many similarities after all, unlike the Earths.]

Your world's better off for that. Mako was produced from the spirit energy of the Planet. Most people didn't realize, but the Planet was slowly dying. It's fine now, though. Healing.

[ It's humanity that's in trouble. ...In fact, her world's probably healthy enough to not have the similarity he'd be most interested in. ] On your world--have people ever dealt with a disease called 'Geostigma'?

[ It's a cosmically long shot. Literally on the "cosmic" part. But...if the worlds are similar at all, he can't not ask. ]

Using the planet's energy to power technology... [Unbeknownst to her, that's what the mist-powered airships were doing, in a roundabout way, but they weren't exactly the cause of the drain--the people just happened to find a use for the stuff that was already being put there.] The lengths to which some will go to further their goals is... remarkable. [To put it nicely. Those black mages were pretty astounding, for instance, but they'd be better if they hadn't been made for war.]

Geostigma? I have never heard of it, myself. [That didn't mean it didn't exist, but she has traveled a fair bit...]

[ She could just call it stupid, because it was, but Cloud just purses his lips with a short hum. He has to wonder himself now how much Zack is aware of when it comes to mako.

...No go on the Geostigma. His eyebrows furrow, a small frown appearing on his face. ] It's a new disease on my Planet, it's... nothing good. People with Geostigma get open sores on their bodies, and they ooze a black liquid... every case so far has been fatal. Some people think it's come about as an aftereffect of mako energy, and some people think it's a punishment from the Planet. I don't think either of those are right, but I don't know... [ He's getting distracted by his thoughts for the moment, looking off-camera, before he remembers he has a conversational partner. ] ...But you've never heard of anything like that.

[She's usually not blunt unless she gets mad, but that's the idea she was getting across.]

I have not heard of it, no. [Freya pauses briefly, debating with herself.] I am not certain this is my place, but... have you spoken with your friend about this? From our conversation, it appears he is unaware of the problems that come with using this mako energy.

[She shakes her head.] Forgive me. You need not answer that. I am certain you've had your own thoughts on the matter.

[ The first indication that this might be an uncomfortable question is that Cloud's expression goes blank, studiously neutral. If he understood better about how this place worked, he might be content to give the terse but accurate (if slightly misleading) explanation that Zack is from an earlier time, and that's why he doesn't know (it might have a little more to do with Zack being deceased). But he doesn't, and this isn't a conversation he's jumping to have with Zack unless Zack somehow asks about it.

So after a longish pause, and consideration of her last words, he proceeds like none of that even got said: ]

What's your Gaia like?

[ Subject change? Subject change. He has his head backwards regarding some things with Zack at the moment. ]

[She takes the subject change in stride. It's probably the most comfortable way for them to proceed after her... probably too personal question. Oops.]

I'm afraid I can only give you an idea of what life is like on my continent, but people are generally gathered in large cities like Alexandria, Lindblum and Burmecia, with smaller villages here and there. Generally, it is unsafe at lower altitudes due to the monsters spawned by the Mist; Burmecia is the only place I am aware of that lies under it.

[Hmm, what else?] We mainly rely on airships for transportation... though it is not unheard of to use chocobos for shorter distances.

Does Burmecia have some kind of defense against the monsters? [ Curious, because from how she's describing it that doesn't sound like a good spot for a city. ]

[ While he is relieved to have something he can talk more easily about--the slight perk of interest when she mentions chocobos is completely genuine. ]

There are other vehicles to use for short distances on my world, but we do use chocobos. They're reliable, especially for crossing uneven terrain like a marsh. Sometimes they're raced for entertainment, too. We've had airships as well, but they weren't used by most people. Shinra controlled those.

Dragon Knights like myself and the walls of our city usually protect us from them. [The fact that she's been gone from Burmecia a couple years aside. Yeah, it's not the greatest locale, but it's home.]

Raced for entertainment? [She looks curious for a moment, thinking it over.] I have not heard of that, but I suppose I would not be surprised if it were to happen somewhere...

"Shinra"? Is that the name of a kingdom or royalty? [Huge monopolizing companies? What are those.]

Dragon Knights... [ That's interesting for a few reasons--first, because he's pretty sure if he'd been born in older times, he'd have wanted to become a knight. The second reason being it makes it sound like she was born in older times, and he wonders for a few seconds if that could possibly be the difference--Zack's kind of behind too, looking at it that way.

...But on the other hand, he's pretty sure, from knowing Cid that airships are a recent invention. And the "Mist" she's mentioned isn't ringing a bell. But at least he's prepared to be less surprised when she thinks Shinra is a kingdom. ]

...In a way, they might as well have been. But they were actually a business. They controlled everything by controlling the economy.

Yes. It is our duty to protect Burmecia from any threats it may face. [... even if she's been slacking the past few years and didn't do so well the last time she tried. Shh, don't tell anyone.]

A business? [The only real businesses she's encountered have been individual shops. To think that a single business could gain so much power... Well, it's a little out there to her.]

What do you mean when you say "everything"? [Certainly a business couldn't conquer the whole planet. Could it?]

[ He will never tell because he is like the last person to talk about occasionally messing up your goal by a long shot, it's okay Freya. ]

Shinra was the one to discover mako technology. There's hardly a place in the world the company didn't touch. Outside of Midgar and Junon it wasn't as extreme, but a lot of small towns relied on Shinra as well. Mako's much more efficient than steam or coal, so nearly everyone turned to using it. And Shinra used that money to buy power: a city the company controlled, the news everyone watched...[ weapons and a private army, but that goes unsaid. ] Things like that.

I... see.

[It really does sound like the sort of power a kingdom would have. She guesses the power comes exclusively with the money and not with the line of succession... It's a bit different than what she's familiar with, but it isn't too far fetched once she thinks about it.]

What became of this Shinra?

[ Actually explaining would be a long story he'd find tough to stomach telling in the best circumstances, but he's been anticipating something along this question since they started this line of discussion. ]

The control at the top crumbled. They lost a lot of their leaders at once. [ The senior president, Rufus, Hojo, Scarlet and Heidegger. Palmer and Reeve were the only executives left from the board. And Palmer had always been kind of useless on his own; from what Cloud knew he was holed up, doing his damnedest to avoid the fallout from Meteorfall. ] What was left wasn't appealing for anyone to try taking over. Too many problems.

Then it collapsed? [She's all too aware how fleeting power can be. Her kingdom fell in less than a week; how could a company fare any better?] It must have been difficult to adjust to, if they controlled so much.

It's just a shadow of what it was now. The world... it's different. It's... [ Better with the Planet not dying, or worse with so many people dying? Great options here. ] Not easy for people, yeah.

[Well, if the planet dies, everyone dies, right? ~~At least their souls aren't being dispersed into monster-spawning fog?~~]

I hope that things improve for your world--for both of our worlds. My own Gaia is currently in the midst of a war, and I can only imagine how it will end.

[ ~~Well yes. They were being leeched from the earth and consumed for evil energy before, but that's stopped at least.~~. ]

Quickly, hopefully. [ because no matter which side wins, a war still means sadness for both. ]

Yes. I suppose I will have to do my part in ending it quickly. [But that's a though for another time.]

Thank you for explaining things about your Gaia... oh, we haven't exchanged names yet, have we? My name is Freya Crescent.

[ Huh. Her name even sounds like one you'd find in Gaia. ...Well, not the "Freya", but he knows he's heard "Crescent" as a family name somewhere. ] Oh--Cloud. Strife.

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dragoncrest - 2013-09-15 01:14 (UTC) - Expand

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[video] I play a moron

[video] It's okay. He's a loveable moron.

[video] aww. <3 Freya is lovely btw.

[video] waah thanks! <3

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