(a few hours into the Jaunt, open broadcast)

[protect_and_serve]

[Joscelin's voice, sent across the network, is warm, dry, composed - instilled with enough confidence, he hopes, to reassure the new and uncertain.]

A calm beginning makes for a welcome change. We should still start sharing what we know. Who's with us, and who is missing? Who is infiltrating? What do we know about this world?

If this is your first Jaunt - and there were many new faces in Liminal Space - ask for assistance, and we'll give it.

I'll begin. This is Joscelin Verreuil. We're on the coast of an island, somewhere between Alba and Terre D'Ange- England and France, I think, locally. Magic of some sort appears to be open and commonplace. I can't make sense of their calendar, but we're in or just after the Twentieth Century, as.... Christians... reckon time. This is a port where foreigners are common and unremarked. I have clothes that fit the era, and in my pockets were ten five-pound notes. The Trumps don't mean for us to be spotted immediately, or starve, but I can't guess more than that.

Comments

[loyalrebel]

Malik present, I have found shelter for the time being.

I do not understand half of what anyone is going on about, or the fascination with thin glowing bricks everyone seems to have. Do I require one to blend in? What is this ""pokemans""? Is it a threat?

[oftoomuchfaith]

Only if you withhold your Pikachu from us! Prepare for Trouble!

[ ignore her melodrama, she is kind of scrambling to steal someone's smartphone so she can play, okay? ]

[mysunnydisposition]

And make it double?

[ She's got your back, Persephone. ...not so much for the stealing, but she can't just leave that hanging. ]

[oftoomuchfaith]

[ YOU HAVE MADE A NEW FRIEND STEPHANIE ]

To protect the world from devastation!

[mysunnydisposition]

...okay, I honestly can't remember anything that comes after that. I just thought you could use some backup from a fellow 90s kid.

[oftoomuchfaith]

Honestly, I don't think I can either. There's more, then they say their names, and then Meowth comes in. [ laughs ] And boy, I'm only a 90s kid if you count "was born in the 90s" as being a 90s kid, I think I was three when that ended.

[mysunnydisposition]

Pfft. Close enough, compared to Middle Ages Man.

[ Thoughtful pause. ] That's a terrible superhero name.

[oftoomuchfaith]

[ Cackles ]

Not much better than Map Man, which is what I would've picked.

[loyalrebel]

...What is a pikachu and why should I care?

[oftoomuchfaith]

It is, for some reason, one of the most popular little cartoon monsters called Pokemon, even though it's so not the cutest.

[ she is a little picky about her pokemon. ]

[loyalrebel]

...cartoon?

Are the ones considered cute better than the others?

[oftoomuchfaith]

Um... [ FINE, she'll actually be helpful. ] Well, it's moving drawings. Some of them you just watch, but some - like the ones on the smart phones, the bricks? Those you can interact with. It's a game. It's technically meant for little kids, but it's been around for ages, so a lot of grownups are into it too.

[loyalrebel]

[Thank you, it's not nice to trick the elderly... or those deeply displaced through time.]

But they... seem to be ignoring their jobs in favor of this? Will they not get in trouble?

[oftoomuchfaith]

Probably. I haven't heard of it before, so it's probably new. People get like that sometimes. If it's new, things'll probably go back to normal before we even leave.

[asinisterkid]

The thin glowing bricks are smartphones -- you can use them to call other people, send them text messages, play games, look up information, all sorts of things. One of them might be useful social camouflage, but don't just steal one... the same technology that gives you up-to-date maps of wherever you are can also track a stolen phone.

And Pokemon isn't a threat, it's a game. The name's an abbreviation of Pocket Monsters, and you collect those monsters, train them, and make them fight other people's Pokemon. I don't know more than that, really... I missed out on Pokemon Fever or whatever the hell they called it.

Oh, and they're not literal monsters. They only exist in the game.

[loyalrebel]

[There's a rather long pause.]

But... why? I understand not wanting to talk to people but why do you need a collecting game to do it? Does nobody play physical games anymore? What happened to playing catch? Or kicking a ball about?

[asinisterkid]

People still do that. Especially us poor kids who don't have the money for the latest video games.

[ Or, you know, to eat every night. ]

If it's any consolation, you could pass for an older person in the here and now with those questions. You'd just need to shake your cane and tell all those young whippersnappers to get off your lawn.

...Really, though, I don't see how it has to be an either/or thing. There are more options these days, is all. And with video games, no one cares if you have to use a wheelchair, or you can't catch a ball to save your life, or you're just the ugly weird kid nobody likes. You can play anyway. I only ever got to play video games a little bit, after I got adopted, and I had more interesting ways to spend my time by then, but I can see the appeal.

[awitchdidit]

A training tool for young binders and summoners of demons.

[loyalrebel]

I somehow do not trust you.

[awitchdidit]

I simply describe things as they appear to be, Malik.

[loyalrebel]

What something appears to be and what it is are two different things.

[awitchdidit]

Normally, that depends on the perspective of the observer. Absolute truth is a preciously rare thing.

And besides, even a game can teach.

[highsteaks]

They look like this world's version of DemiKids? Uh, back home that's a franchise of monster collecting games? And the glowing bricks are really fancy phones.

Ugh, I want a new phone. That game looks really fun.

sorry about him

[loyalrebel]

We are not here to play games. We are here to find out some problem that needs intervention and fix it.

Re: sorry about him

[highsteaks]

Yeah, I know, okay? I'm gonna do that. But I can still want to play the dumb game.