Whale Man Tries to Turn Around And Walk Back Into the Rift

[encoreinthedeep]

Type: Text
Sender ID: encoreinthedeep (Ulpianus)
To: Everyone
Subject: Return
Warnings: None

Requesting all available information on how to return to my own world.

[ He sends this message within ten seconds of receiving his shellphone. ]

Comments

[encoreinthedeep]

[ ... Is she a Predecessor? This is the first time Ulpianus meets someone from a civilization he would deem more advanced than his own. ]

Define multiverse. I am unfamiliar with the term.

[serendipitously]

I really should start opening with an explanation of that. I'm sorry.

The multiverse refers to different universes entirely. Like this place, or how we're all from different worlds from one another. Where I'm from we're very aware of the existence of different realties. Places where the same 'world' may exist with the same historical figures or even people you may know, but they're different. Something changed, perhaps just one small thing, and so the entire course of the world itself changed. There's a countless number of them out there.

[encoreinthedeep]

[ ... Huh. That implies that, perhaps, there is a Terra out there that is not always on the brink of destruction, whether brought on by itself or from outside sources. That thought almost makes him laugh. ]

I am not a historian or philosopher, but my people have discussed similar concepts. I prefer to deal with the current reality.

Is your civilization under threat of being wiped out by an enemy you can neither define nor stop?

[ AN IMPORTANT QUESTION WHEN GETTING TO KNOW SOMEONE, OKAY.]

[serendipitously]

[ You know, she appreciates the blunt question. ]

It has been before. Several of the realities I've been to have also been under that threat. Some even sought our help.

Is your civilization under that threat?

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Finally, someone who can converse with Ulpianus! ]

Not yet, but it will be.

I will be blunt. It is possible that you are a member of the civilization preceding mine. And it is possible that the disaster my home faces stems from that civilization's remnants. I need to find a way to confirm whether you truly are a Predecessor.

[serendipitously]

Then there might be time to stop it?

While anything is possible, I find it highly unlikely that might be the case. What exactly is this disaster? Can you give details?

[encoreinthedeep]

[ The problem is that he barely HAS any details... Serves him right for not being a historian. ]

The disaster we face is twofold.

First is that which befell the Predecessors. Records give scant information on what it is. It is shapeless, impossible to stop, spreading through the galaxy at a slow speed. Eventually it will reach Terra.

Second is that which befell Aegir. A swarm of constantly evolving organisms driven by the directive to grow, spread, and migrate. They possess a hivemind, but likely several hiveminds.

[serendipitously]

we have a few things like that in my world. I doubt they're the same entities, but I am familiar with the concept.

I assume you've become involved with stopping it or something of that nature?

[encoreinthedeep]

Yes.

I will need all information you can offer. Please and thank you.

[serendipitously]

I'm not certain how much it will help you. There's varying information but from what I've heard people do not recall their time here when they return back to their own worlds.

[encoreinthedeep]

I will find a way to retain information.

[ Well, more like he INTENDS to, but he damn well really intends to. ]

[serendipitously]

Then I'll send you the information through this as a document to read at your leisure.

You seem very confident in that. Do you have any ideas on how?

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Inasmuch as Ulpianus can have favorite people, she's his favorite person so far. ]

I will still need to learn more from those who left and came back.

Perhaps changes recorded on a microscopic enough level can be carried over.

[serendipitously]

[ a rare win for her ]

I've thought about trying to interview people who have gone and returned in detail. A part of me wonders if it's possible the memories remain but somehow become locked when we return to our own homes. If that were the case then there might be a way to unlock them too.

[encoreinthedeep]

Share the interviews, if you do.

Input from specialists on the psyche and the brain would be of most use. I can approach the issue from the angle of genetics.

What is your expertise?

[serendipitously]

The psyche and brain. I'm a psychic myself.

[encoreinthedeep]

[ ... ]

Define "psychic" and its scientific basis.

[serendipitously]

Do you want an entire explanation for what my kind are and how we came to our powers, or just a description of my powers themselves?

[encoreinthedeep]

Entire explanation.

[ Look they've never had magic powers where he's from, it's all SCIENCE so he needs psychic powers to also be SCIENCE-based. ]

[serendipitously]

As you wish. My people are called mutants, sometimes referred to as homo superiors. We're born with a gene referred to as the X-Gene. It's this gene that separates us from regular humans, homo sapiens.

When puberty hits the gene activates and mutates us, causing a variety of different gifts to form. There's no real way to predict what mutation one may end up with, some are merely abilities while others are physical mutations such as wings or fur.

Originally my gift was telepathy, the ability to read minds among other things. It's made me rather adapt at understanding the mind, from it's traumas to it's motives.

[encoreinthedeep]

[ Oh hell YEAH genetics!!! He knows all about that (while his player doesn't).

... But what he also knows is how divided humanity is. He can't help the brief thought that there must be tension between mutants and regular humans. ]

Then you are indeed not who I hoped you to be.

You say "originally". How did your gift change over time?