Someone had a realization [Late in the first day of the Jaunt]

[mytearsaremine]

So um. Just how much are worlds we go to like the ones we came from?

Like, you know, this is California. I just figured that out. But there aren't any cities in California called Santa Carlita, that I remember. But it's still California, so some things are the same.

Right?

Comments

[sees_red]

I'm from Angel Grove, California, but I checked out a map - here it's Santa Barbara.

Still. Same Monterey Bay...

[unconventionalelf]

I'm still a little lost with all this, it's so, different from my world, and from what I have caught so far, I'm not the only one lost.

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

Yes, though it's difficult to say what might be, and what might not. Often these version are alternate timelines, and without pinpointing exactly where the split took place, or what the primary differences are, one cannot say what will and won't be the same as your own timeline. For example, there may be a version of yourself or friends or family here, but they may be somewhere else geographically entirely, different sorts of people, or completely missing.

From what I've seen, our captors don't send us anywhere which is actually our home timeline, nor does there appear to be any alternate versions of ourselves, so the likelihood of finding familiar faces is perhaps less that one might hope.

[thornsofmalkav]

It depends. It really depends.

Like, Santa Carlita is Santa Carla where I come from--I mean, literally where I come from, my family's house was in Soquel--and I think Sara said it was Santa Cruz where she comes from. And there's a lot of things that are the same or similar under different names, but. It's not exactly the same.

... you're also Californian, aren't you?

[thornsofmalkav]

Santa Barbara's a city in my world too. And yeah, it's still the Monterey Bay in mine.

[mytearsaremine]

Yeah, it's Santa Barbara where I come from, too. And Monterey Bay, too.

I guess there's kind of a lot of Californians here.

[mytearsaremine]

Yeah... this is Earth. And not everybody here is from Earth.

Is there anything I can do to help? Like explain things or anything?

[mytearsaremine]

Well, I mean, I'm not even born yet, if this is the 80s. So I wouldn't find me, anyway.

[But her family... that's another story.]

So what you're saying is you don't think there's any chance it's like home, here?

[mytearsaremine]

... yeah. I am.

[That may sound a little bit guilty, not because she feels badly about being from California, but because of what she's thinking and what Thorne might be able to guess about it from her question.]

[thornsofmalkav]

There's a Greyhound station in downtown Santa Carlita if you want to go home and check on things.

[mytearsaremine]

[Yep, exactly what she's thinking, Thorne. Jolie isn't normally hesitant, but this is a special circumstance, and she's afraid of what she might or might not find.]

Can I do that?

[thornsofmalkav]

I don't mind. Your family might not be there or they might be an AU of your family, but I don't mind. It should be feasible, though--but you might want to check the bus fare.

[mytearsaremine]

I mean, I wasn't really asking your permission. Or permission at all. But will the Arcana freak out if we just-- don't stick to where we were put?

[She ignores the part about her family maybe not being there. She knows that. But she may have to find out, either way.]

[thornsofmalkav]

Only one way to find out. Besides, if you were in-state, you can probably just make a day trip of it.

[unconventionalelf]

Someone tried to explain the meaning of the... She called it a board walk. But I'm still confused as to why people seem happy to ride in the belly of metal beasts.

Or how so many people can fit unseen in one to play music.

[ She's not meaning to sound silly! ] Truly this Earth has stronger magi than those of Krynn.

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

Certainly not. There's every chance it's a bit like your home, but I think it unlikely it would have the same people, unless someone's gotten sloppy.

[mytearsaremine]

[It's okay, Jolie is taking it as unbearably cute rather than silly. Also, explaining things is a nice distraction.]

That's because they aren't beasts. They're machines. Um. Do you have carriages where you come from? Or wagons? They're like those, only instead of being pulled by horses, they're powered by fire inside them. That's why they smoke or steam sometimes.

The music part, though... that's-- hmm. Do you have magic where you come from? Illusions? It's like that. They aren't really playing inside the tape or record or whatever they're using in the 80s, pretty sure they don't have CDs. Anyway, it's a recording, something that happened a long time ago but they made a copy of, so that people who weren't there can listen to it, too. It's not really magic, but it's kind of like it.

[mytearsaremine]

What do you mean by sloppy?

[mytearsaremine]

It's down just north of Santa Barbara, on the 1. So... not too far, I guess. It'll take most of the day to get there, though, unless I leave early. Longer if I take the bus.

[unconventionalelf]

Why don't they just use horses? Seems like these machines are stuck to those trails... It seems like it causes more damage to the world around them than they would be good.

We have magic. I know some spells. Not many and they're hard to learn. [ She thinks it over.] Then the wizards of this place are greater than ones back home. Illusions like that take a lot of power. Not many can pull it off.

[thornsofmalkav]

At least four of us. Amanda's from SoCal, but she's Infiltrated.

[thornsofmalkav]

I've got stuff I have to do here, so I can't drive you, but maybe see if someone else with a license would rent a car and drive you down? Some of us got bonus money from the Arcana, I know.

[sees_red]

Hey, if you want people who can roll with 'weird,' where better to go to, right?

[mytearsaremine]

Yeah, not quite the same thing.

I wonder if that's just... random. Or on purpose. Out of all the places people can be from.

Though I guess there's probably more people from Japan, huh?

[mytearsaremine]

Japan, probably. You should hear some of the stuff the other kids from there talk about.

I don't think we've met. I'm Jolie.