Open to All Investigators-Beginning of Digital Frontier Jaunt

[purseownerisme]

For those who are experiencing this for the first time, don't worry. Just keep calm and listen to this message.

If you're hearing this, you're what we call an investigator: someone who retains their memories from their home and other worlds if they have them while in a Jaunt. Some of us have blended in with the setting and are called Infiltrators; don't try and jog their memory back otherwise we'll be in a lot of trouble. They also cannot use the network we're on right now.

What we need to know now is who's not thinking they're a program and what they have noticed so far. Anything will help us try and figure out a way to solve this next issue.

Comments

[betrayedblade]

It is not your fault, do not apologize. However, I am grateful for your sympathies and I extend mine as well.

This whole experience is quite overwhelming. [Except, he doesn't seem all that overwhelmed at all. His mental voice is calm and controlled, and gives an impression of confidence backed by skill and wisdom.]

[flatteries]

[ It doesn't go over Inigo's head, honestly. It's almost a little admirable. Even if Inigo is capable of projecting a more calm attitude (.. at times, anyway) than he might feel at any given time, it's never that convincing and he knows it.

Can this guy really feel so calm throughout all of this..? ]

Are you perhaps new to all of this, milord? It grows a little easier over time, but I have to admit the most difficult part is alwasy the beginning.

[betrayedblade]

[He has had a lot of practice over the years at dealing with difficult and unexpected situations. Perhaps not quite like this but. Besides, any anxiety he might have had at first has long since faded; he was taught to adjust and adapt quickly in his line of work and so he does, and became quite good at it.

That.. is all besides the point.]

It is my second experience on one of these ...alternate worlds. [Jaunts.] And my first was as an ... alternate ego, shall we say. To tell the truth, this is quite a bit easier to handle after knowing the ...alternative.

[That's a lot of "alternates," apologies.]

[flatteries]

Are you saying you were an Infiltrator last time around?

[ That's how he's interpreting it, anyway.. this whole alternate ego sounds a lot more complicated than what he's used to otherwise, so he slowly blinks as he thinks about it. ]

[betrayedblade]

[Got it in one!]

Ah, yes. I believe that is the term.

[flatteries]

Ah.. my apologies, milord. It must be difficult to be stuck in that sort of position right off the bat. [ Not that he hasn't been an Infiltrator before - far from it, he intensely remembers his own experiences as one, which is exactly what colored his image of them Not Being Fun to begin with. But at least he didn't get thrown into that role straight away.. ]

It is easier to take things as they come while being yourself. .. er, aside from the time we get attacked by huge monsters, that is.

[betrayedblade]

It made one thing clear: I have no power here.

Or at least that is what they would have me to believe. And it is certainly how it felt.

[However, that's a bit dark, isn't it? Let's move on.]

At least Investigating is something I am intimately more familiar with. [beat] Huge monsters, you said?

[flatteries]

[ It's a bit dark, but it's also a familiar sort of feeling. Realising you don't really have control over anything, feeling useless.. it's a kind of feeling you get from this place that Inigo understands very well too. But if the other isn't bringing up more of it, then he sure isn't going to do so either. ]

Yes, I have heard that our group has had to fight dragons before I arrived here. [ Not that he hasn't done that back home as well.. ] And I was personally part of the fight against a rather large sea creature during one Jaunt.

[betrayedblade]

Dragons...

[The tone is 'airy', perhaps wistful just a tad. It's not something he has ever thought to encounter. Dragons were just myth where he came from. But they were fantastic creatures that appeared in wondrous tales of knights and heroism. Even keeping in mind that fairy tales were always more gruesome than they sometimes appeared from a simple story-telling perspective, what would it be like to live through one? To meet a creature as that? To battle one for glory and honor.

It was hard to imagine. Yet. It came with a certain thrill.]

I've never had experience with situations such as those. I am not sure whether it is more exciting to hear or dread-filling. Though I suppose when the next time comes I will, I'm sure, lean more towards the latter. [Still. Dragons and sea creatures.. It sounded exciting...up until the point you actually faced one.]

[flatteries]

Do not worry, even if such a time were to pass again.

[ Sure, Inigo knows it's not that easy. He knows they almost lost all those battles, he knows how close they got to it with that huge sea monster. But even so, he wants to at least outwardly project his usual optimism like they really can do this. ]

I am a skilled fighter, and many more among our group are. Even back home, I had to fight many of these things. So we will protect anyone who needs it during those times-- feel free to call upon my help at any time. [ Says the kid who cries at just about any social interaction ever. ]

[betrayedblade]

[Giovanni was amused but it did not filter through to his mental voice. He left the cause for the amusement to himself as well.]

I thank you for the offer, amico. It is good to know that there are those of us that would look after our fellow Travelers.

[flatteries]

Ah.. well, there are plenty of those.. [ A little more bashfully.. he's not nearly as good at dealing with compliments as he is at dealing with rejections. And even his ability to deal with the latter isn't particularly good to begin with, so that's saying something. ]

It isn't as if I am the only one around for all the other Travellers to rely on, that would be overstating my abilities by far.