Video || Census Call

[detectiveforhierophant]

Type: Video
Sender ID: detectiveforhierophant (Ryotaro Dojima)
To: General Public
Subject: Census Call
Warnings: None!


[ The screen would flick on, and man of Japanese origin would pop on screen, sitting at a desk that may look familiar to some. ]

Hey, this is Ryotaro Dojima, part of the Raiders of the Lost Arts.

[Ignore that Strabby with a pink bow walking around in the background behind him... ]

I've been here for a few months now, and I've noticed a few patterns talking to folks about where and when they're all from. Call me curious, but I'm interested in actually getting info of this, making a record-- a census, I guess.

So-- If you guys wouldn't mind telling me; where are you from-- town, country, planet even if you can, and what year?

If you don't feel comfortable posting your information publicly, feel free to private message me.

[ A pause as he thought, before continuing. ]

--To be fair, I can provide my own. I'm from a small rural town in Japan, Inaba, on the planet Earth. It was 2012 when I arrived here.

--Ah, one last thing. If you remember where someone who was here before but vanished is from, I'll take that info too.

[ Reaching to turn off the phone as he spoke-- ]

Dojima out.

Comments

video; un:catsgothistongue

[catsgothistongue]

[Squinting hard at the crew name because why does that sound vaguely familiar????

Another survey? One that doesn't dwell into their personal lives... Their REALLY personal lives that should only be kept to their bedrooms cough cough alhaitham cough cough. Ranma doesn't see why he shouldn't answer and try to help out.

He turned his video feed on, currently sitting atop one of the buildings in Eltrut — he was busy doing some jogs and roofhopping by the time Dojima made his census. His end showcased a raven-haired braided-pigtailed teen of Japanese origin, even if the blue eyes and his attire — a red silk tangzhuang — might lead one to believe otherwise.]

The name's Ranma Saotome. Currently, before I ended up in this place, I'm living in the Nerima ward of Tokyo, Japan. That's on Earth too, though can't say I've ever visited or even heard of Inaba before. Unless it got established later down the line, cause it was 1994 when I got here.

[So either there's time-travel shenanigans going on, or alternate universe shenanigans going on. Either way, that's bound to be a confusing quandary.]

[detectiveforhierophant]

[ Well, at least all of this was familiar. Looked like the kid was... on a roof top and some kind of martial artist.

He'd definitely read the guy's posts before. ]

Thank's for the info, Ranma. I appreciate it.

[ Making notes. Brushing away the Strabby with the bow that had come into view and was getting onto his notebook gently-- ]

Mm, Inaba's an old town, but it's also pretty rural, so either you didn't hear about it, it doesn't exist... or it got named something else.

[ Who knew, really? ]

Mind if I ask about the tech level in your version of Tokyo, and if there was any magic to speak of?

[ He had lived through 1994, after all, so he knew the tech level that should be from that era, but always good to check. ]

[catsgothistongue]

Could honestly be any of the three. Maybe we're from different Japans?

[The last two seem more likely to him. He's certain he kept track and made notes about any nearby towns, metropolises and districts in Japan since getting back from China. Inaba would've come up once at minimum, unless it truly was changed to a different sounding name.]

You're old, like what, 40-50s? If you're from the future, you should've lived through it already. [Was Ranma just being cheeky, a dick, or missed the social cue? Any one of those could be it tbh.] I don't know what future tech's like in the 2000s, but we've got stuff like cars, TVs and video games if that's what you're asking about. I'll say the phones here are night and day compared to back home. Those need coins to operate, don't have screens, and you'd need to rip it out of the sidewalk if you wanna carry it around.

[He's gotten a bit of culture shock seeing some of the tech here that makes back home look archaic. It... might be why it's taken him a while to actually get working the shellphone down.

For the last question, Ranma made a slight face before leaning back to relax on the edge of the roof.]

Haven't been able to stop encountering it for the past couple of years. Yeah, there's magic here. Spells, magic stuff that can do all sort of crap like make you fall in love or turn you into a kid, curses, etcetera.

[detectiveforhierophant]

As strange as it feels to say that, it's entirely possible we are from different 'Japan's'

[ He made a face at the note about being 'old', because he sure as hell didn't feel like an old guy. But to a teenager like Ranma, he probably seemed ancient. ]

I'm 42 if you got to know. And yeah, I remember the usual tech from the 90s, but someone else is only 10 years ahead of me and has completely different technology, so it's a fair questions-- wait, what was that about ripping it out of the side walk?

[ What was this guy, Kanji Tatsumi? ]

...Tech in 2012 is about that level for transportation in the 90s, but we've got a lot more focus on the internet and telecommunications. The shellphone's slightly more advanced than the best phones we have now. We usually stick to --ah. Hang on a sec.

He leaned out of frame, and you could hear him rummaging around--

[ Before coming back into view, holding a black cellphone-- up to the shellphone's screen. ]

This is my cellphone from home, to give you an idea were we are tech wise.

[ And then, onto magic, a frown. Interesting... ]

Is your magic and curses just... common knowledge, or something only specialists would know?

[catsgothistongue]

The phones back home are bigger and blockier than the ones we've got right now. Not exactly what I'd call mobile by conventional standards. Only times I've seen them being carried or ripped out of the ground is if one of us got knocked through one, or they tear it out of the ground to chuck at me.

[He and Kanji are completely different! Kanji's a street brawler, he's a martial artist! They're completely different people with no similar traits or flaws with each other whatsoever!

Staring at the cellphone Dojima produced, Ranma nodded his head with an 'Ah'.]

Definitely a lot smaller than what I'm used to. Do you still need to put money in it to make calls, or does it just work?

[Shifting a bit to adjust his legs.]

To us, I'd say it's common knowledge with how often we see it and how much of a pain in the ass it is to deal with. Some people are better suited in understanding how it works than me. Only thing I can tell you is if you can avoid it, try not getting cursed. It sucks, a lot.