@clarke.griffin

[strove]

Thank you to Yalena for getting us sorted. [Sort of sorted. Sort of.] Now that we've arrived in New Tokyo and we're stuck inside for a little while, I think we should talk about some new changes that we're facing. I can't be the only one.

But first: a good number of us are here unwillingly, but we have to wait until we're fully prepped before we can go anywhere. Heading outside in these temperatures while unprepared could cost you your life. We all hate being trapped somewhere. I think that's pretty well-established. We also hate having to do anything or be anywhere when we didn't ask for that to happen. At least it doesn't seem like we were drugged, though it wouldn't hurt for Katelin and I to take some blood samples to confirm that. We'll have to store them until we get back.

As for the changes in your lives: have you noticed any? For instance, apparently I'm a lab tech at Giles Bell. I tried to set myself up for a new internship there that I could get easily, but I got ... elevated. Or hired beyond that? I'm not sure what the right terminology is here. Has anyone else noticed this? Or had it happen to them? I got permissions to take leaves from both of my jobs. And no, I'm really not prepared to work as a lab tech. I don't even know the first thing about setting up gels.

As a bit of a personal request ... does anyone think we can make pancakes in the small kitchen here? I have a craving for them. I've not really had cakes of the "pancake" variety before, but I want them now. And if you think we can, can you make them?

[This last bit is Loki's fault.]

Comments

[revlon]

What makes you so certain? Perhaps the same thing that caused the storms caused us to dream, too.

[forcevisions]

That doesn't make any sense. The storms happened after the dreams. Not at the time we fell asleep.

ELECTRIC SLIDES IN

[retravel]

Correlation isn't causation.

That is to say: The sequence of events being dreams then blizzard doesn't necessarily mean the dreams caused the blizzard. This entire reality is unstable, and now we've a second reality to contend with as well. It's possible we're missing a factor that's impacting various phenomena, from the unnatural weather, like the quakes and blizzard, to our own strange experiences, flickering in and out of this reality and now the "dreams," as we're calling them.

[forcevisions]

I still don't understand.
If the same thing had caused the snowstorm, wouldn't it have happened on the 12th, while we were dreaming?

[ She's talking about time travel like it's normal. Trying not to sweat that too much. ]

[retravel]

Not necessarily. There's a force at work that seems to affect us and the world as a whole unpredictably. Perhaps the monsters were it flaring previously, and the blizzard is it flaring now, under changed circumstances.

[ Fitz doesn't think they time-travelled. He reckons realities are warping together. Similar but ultimately different hypotheses. ]

[revlon]

Right. In other words — for all we know, the weather, the dreams, the monsters, our very presence in this world are all symptoms of a bigger problem. One we haven't yet identified. Not to discount that we could be a factor; but without concrete proof, all we've got is speculation.

[retravel]

Thanks for the translation, Carter.

[ of his nerdspeak... soz... ]

I'll add that our lot is wont to thinking of themselves as the deciding factor in any scenario. I'm certainly guilty of it, but even if we're responsible for everything that has changed, that still begs the question of who or what was responsible for the dreams, in the first place.

And are they responsible for us?

[revlon]

[ She does speak several languages, thanks. And Fitz is quickly becoming another on the list. ]

Assuming responsibility also suggests we have some sort of control over any of it and we don't; at least, not consciously. The dreams could be a side effect or a byproduct of whatever changed us or what tried to change the world. Whatever the case, it's all a jumble of puzzle pieces: us, the problems this world is facing, the mysterious third party that may or may not be responsible for part of it (or all, or none).

[ Are they part of the issue or the solution? Do they all impact or just interfere with each other and this world is spinning on to chaos and they're simply along for the ride? She and Fitz have discussed these theories roundly and still haven't come up with a sure answer. ]

With so many disparate factors, it's as you said: correlation, not causation.

[forcevisions]

You really think that's possible? That the same source is responsible for everything that's happened?

[ To Rey, it just sounds wild and unconnected. But then, Fitz Nye is the Science Guy, so. ]

[retravel]

I do.

Can't say what, if anything, is connected, but there's evidence that this world has been in flux for some time now. ln September 2510, unpredicted quakes struck three megacities: New Amsterdam, New Oslo, and New Venice. Despite the disparity in these locations, each was also hit with a massive power outage.

The same as New Tokyo now.

[ correlation isn't causation here, either, but -- he has to consider the parallels. no theory left undiscussed. ]

[forcevisions]

How do we even begin to start investigating what's causing something so massive?

[ Because Rey's go-to of "the Force" isn't an option here. ]

[retravel]

The steps you take don't have to be big, they just have to take you in the right direction.
We keep pursuing the people who dropped us off, keep noting the weather and electrical anomalies, and keep working to help Morningstar.

[ their lot has many investigations underway already, including rey's into the leak and missing agents. the dreams haven't changed the need for that, though they've complicated everything all the same. ]

[forcevisions]

It doesn't feel like enough.

[retravel]

Then we work harder and get bolder.
We find and rescue our lost agents.
We collaborate more than we ever have before.
And we don't stop until it's enough.

[ and if they fail — ]