@marcos.diaz

[heliophilous]

with everything that's gone on lately, i had a question.

if given the choice, how many people would stay here and how many people would leave? i get that it's a pretty personal question and don't feel like you've gotta answer. i'm just curious considering the way the place has changed lately and the people that have been lost.

could you live your life here? or would you leave and take your chances?

Comments

@caroline.forbes

[gasping]

do you think we won't get a choice?

[ what is Not Answering The Question for 200, alex ]

@peter.benjamin

[thwipandrelease]

should-i-stay-or-should-i-go.mp3

[how's that for a non-answer, marcos?]

[heliophilous]

i don't know.

i don't think everyone's gotten a choice. this is just hypothetical.

[ and you didn't answer the question, caroline. ]

[heliophilous]

helpful.

i'm sure that'll earworm at least one person.

[gasping]

well, i like it here, even if it is hypothetical.
so i guess i would stay.

[ sat words and everything ]

[thwipandrelease]

hey it's a great song.

jokes aside, as great as some of the people i've met here are, i'd really like to go home.
i think i've seen more than my fair share of other universes.

[heliophilous]

nothing wrong with that.

i don't think you're the only one, you know. you've been here a little while now so you know how this place can be, at least. you'd be prepared.

[heliophilous]

you've had something like this happen before?

[ look, if they were gonna be roomies, you had to share, peter b. ]

[thwipandrelease]

yeah. bad guy builds super collider which rips holes in parallel worlds.
bad guy brings me to his universe where i'm dead, blonde, and kind of perfect.
my molecules scramble and shit shows up in brooklyn looking like some post-modern art.

it's a little less immediately dire here, but i'm not any happier about it
i've got people i want to see and food i really miss. don't you?

[heliophilous]

sounds complicated. so, there were two of you in existence at one time? the same but different?

[ complicated and way above his pay grade. ]

yeah. there's plenty of people i wanna see back home. there's...yeah, there's people.

[ his kid being the big one even if he's not sure if he'll ever see her again. ]

but there's people here too. it'd suck to leave them behind.

[gasping]

is anybody ever prepared for this place?

[ you think you have your life together and then you wind up kidnapped by gangbangers. ]

[thwipandrelease]

there's like an infinite number of yous. maybe in one world you're a rock star.
in another you're evil.
in another you're a girl.
it's like the plot of a million sci-fi films, dude.

[don't make him rattle some off, marcos.]

complicated is a sentiment i keep hearing
i suppose it boils down to how much you want it, right?

i asked a friend what was stopping her from taking the things that she loves from here and bringing them home.
i mean it might destroy her universe or it might have zero effect.

i don't think the rules are the same everywhere, which is frustrating to say the least.

[heliophilous]

more prepared than most, then.

you're better prepared than i am.

[heliophilous]

there's already been one of me in this place before. i don't know if i can really think about there being even more. that's too much for today.

[ one person with a life like his was enough. ]

it might destroy her universe. would you take that risk if it were you?

@steve.rogers

[shield]

I don't know about making a life here, but for whatever reason this world seems to need our help, so I wouldn't choose to leave yet. But once we accomplish what we're here for, then yes, I would choose to go back if I had the chance.

[heliophilous]

you think you owe this place your help?

i'm not arguing against that but i could see it both ways. this place brought you here somehow. not your choice. no one has to help but most people do.

so either there's really good people being kidnapped or people don't wanna be bored.

[shield]

I don't know about owing my help. I try not to think of it that way.

In all honesty, I haven't been here that long, and I've spent most of that time searching for a way back. But I've seen enough of this world now to realize that there are a lot of very real people here who don't deserve to watch their home fall apart. If I feel an obligation to anyone, it's to them. So even if I don't understand our role here yet, if there's a chance that I can help this world, I have to try.

And if any of us Displaced want to stay after all is said and done, then that's all the more reason to help.

[heliophilous]

that's noble.

[ in a way that almost reminds him of john and his to try and help everyone in an effort to atone for those that he couldn't help. it doesn't always work out so marcos can't help but wonder if that'll be the case here. ]

seems like people have been trying to destroy this place for awhile now. [ looking at you, cassius. ] the fact that it's still standing and in relatively good shape says something. like maybe we're not the first people here to help them.

[gasping]

didn't you tell me that's what kevlar is for?

[ if "being prepared" means "being able to take a shot", they don't necessarily have to be so different. ]

[heliophilous]

you're taking being prepared very literally, aren't you?

i don't like wearing kevlar all the time. it's hot.

[ plus he doesn't have kevlar here. left the vest at home with carmen guerra and her merry band of men. ]

[gasping]

[ she doesn't say "you're already hot" and for that she deserves a prize ]

being able to throw a party is not the same thing as being prepared for disaster

[heliophilous]

you realize i've seen how you deal with stressful situations, right? i know you're prepared and not just for throwing parties.

[ take the compliment!! ]

you're prepared. trust me on this.

[gasping]

[ this is weirdly intimate for futuristic facebook status updates... ]

i do trust you.
but i think you're a little biased.

[shield]

From the looks of it, the people native to this universe have been doing everything they can to keep this world afloat. Maybe they've reached the extent of what they can accomplish through technology and cooperation.

[ Cooperation here used loosely, because Steve has some Opinions about the UNA and how the world government has gone about achieving its ends, but that's another conversation. ]

Maybe that's where we come in.

[heliophilous]

why am i a little biased?

[ you said it, now you get to explain it, caroline. ]