@keith.kogane

[secondnature]

[Being back is ... strange. Right out of where they went to face Haggar, to get a better understanding of her mind. Keith stood and spoke to a younger version of Zarkon. He told Keith that he took things too far, that he was willing to lead his team into anything. Keith felt certain, felt like he knew what he was doing—but the doubts creep in now. Steadily. Certainly.

Allura was gone when they got back. In a coma, it seemed. What sounded like a good idea at the time doesn't seem like it now.

But if nothing else, he feels ... like he understands things here better. More than ever. Pockets of resistance. People being wiped out. Having to keep fighting. Keith has seen Earth in that position, and he's seen them not give up. Their enemies back home were external, but here, it's ... everything. It's the world that's been built.

(And in timey-wimey stuff, Keith was gone for a week.)]

Hi everyone. I'm back.

This is weird to even talk about. A lot of us don't know what happens when we disappear. I don't even know if what happened to me is what happens to everyone. But I went home.

I lived a year of my life. More than that, really. It was almost two years. I woke up and I had ... I knew what it was like to experience that. But I remembered being here, too. Has anyone heard of something like that happening? My experience with other dimensions doesn't seem to include this.

I look like myself again. That ... might not make sense, actually. But I have all my hair back. All of it. And not just what I was letting grow out because I had no choice to get it back. [This is where Keith puts in a picture of himself. Unlike before, his hair is shaped, rather than growing loosely, and it's long. Like on the verge of being long enough to pull back into a ponytail. It is a Definite Difference in hair growth, even if he got off that bus in that wild accident a couple months ago.]

Anyway. I think we should look into this. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I'm not the guy to look into it. And I don't mean that just to put myself down, so hold off, Jughead. I mean it because I'm not the guy who gets any of this time and space stuff. That's not really my thing.

Oh, and my chest hurts. Kinda like how it did when I got my knife back. Or exactly like it.

Comments

[secondnature]

Are you using "solid" literally?

[retravel]

Yes, though I think "anchor" might be a better word for it.
I mean to say what's keeping us locked in this specific point in space-time as well as what's keeping us corporeal.

[secondnature]

I never went incorporeal when I crossed dimensions before.

[retravel]

I have, when I've jumped between two dimensions.
And I wouldn't recommend it.

[secondnature]

Yeah.

I think I'll pass on that.

[retravel]

[ at least robbie reyes was there... looking damn fine as they were nearly dragged to hell... ]

Happy to advise you.

[ but also, ]

The bit you said about looking through other realities. I think it could play a role in all this. Not necessarily as means of control over us, but as a potential motive for messing with the fabric of reality in the first place.

[secondnature]

I think so. I was pulled back before we saw that person put that plan into action, but I trust my team. If they say it can destroy all of reality, that could impact things.

Either way, this world is messed up. It's not on the verge of being dead, but that's because it's obviously trying to reverse course.

If someone had a way of changing that, they would. Right?

[retravel]

Right on both counts. Someone had to consider it — to look for a better way.

[ he turns over the coin that Connor gave him. no, that's not the only option. humanity seeks advances, regardless of the cost. ]

Or for more valuable resources.
The government and corporations already attempted to use the colonies to do just that, outsourcing land, relocating undesirables. Spacetime's only a few steps further than, well, space.

[ maybe it's about change, survival, pioneering. maybe it's the dark obverse of those things: a want for greater resources, edging out competitors or simply seeking power, like the energy suffusing the displaced. ]

Interuniversal surveying. Perhaps even interuniversal mining and fracking. They're all on the table, different prologues with the same end result: When someone starting exploring spacetime, they cracked open a faultline in the process.

[ that's one theory, anyway. an intentional pursuit with unintended consequences. ]

[secondnature]

I think whatever they did, they didn't do it on purpose. Maybe they wanted a better world for the people here. Maybe they wanted to control how people go. My world isn't that different from this one, but it isn't as advanced. After World War III, everyone united under one government. But that government isn't as questionable. It doesn't invade people's homes at night, trying to stomp out anyone bad. Some higher ups make mistakes, but you can't deny that it's for the greater good.

[Cartoon Earth is a lot rosier, essentially.]

Interdimensional travel was an accident in my world. Some of what we brought over hurt the entire universe for thousands of years. But I guess you could try it a different way, too.

I guess the real question is whether we assume they have control or if this is new. I don't think they do. They brought the wrong person over from my world. I can't help. So I think it's an accident.