Voice: Un: Diggs

[justoscar]

[It had been nearly a week, and Oscar was becoming worried.

Lessons he has learned on the other side of the Dream had taught him that sitting in the worry and letting it overcome him did no one any good-- least of all himself. Knowing this, Oscar tentatively turned on the Audio function of his new device and, with an obvious case of awkward nerves, started talking.]

Um... Hi.

I'm Oscar Pine and... I'm sure some of you know me already, but some of you don't and that's okay.

There was just a couple of things I wanted to say.

First: I know that things have been stressful lately and that we all need something to do, so I'm willing to teach people how to garden if they want a hobby that lasts a little longer than baking all the time. I'm a farmhand... And I did the baking thing. Growing and taking care of your own vegetables helps a little more, for a longer time.

And-- you can share your extra zucchini with your friends and loved ones. Isn't that cool?

I managed to bring along some seeds to get started. Just... Contact me if you're interested.

... and thanks, Mako, for the idea.

Second: is anyone else having trouble sleeping since they got here? I know being nervous makes sleeping hard, but this feels different. Anyone have any ideas about why this is happening, or how to help?

Last: ... I don't know about everyone else, but there's still some people I'm looking for that haven't come ashore yet. Can people just...chime in to let everyone know that they're safe? And let us know if there's anyone else you're looking for?

Maybe we can make everything a little easier if we work together. I don't know...

I'm just kinda worried, and some of you all probably are too.

Comments

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

It feels familiar enough to me.

Deerington was in a place called Maine, I think. Or, what the little girl, Julia Sodder, believed to be Maine. We had to sort through memories of her life, her nightmares, and her memories of the people who put her in the position she was in to learn anything about what happened to her.

Honestly, I'm still confused. But, some of the people around her were kinda squid-like. Like the people here, and the people we apparently are.

All I know is that we tried to release her, her parents, and a couple of close family friends of her's from whatever was binding them to the pain. We were hoping to succeed and go to the world that Julia called her home when she woke up.

And she never did.

So this place... I guess this must be a place that she called home. But, it doesn't really look like Maine at all.

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

Well, I got news for you, Oscar.
I knew someone from Maine and from what he's said about how weird that place can get?
I totally believe you guys were in regular, normal Maine, and that's just how Maine is.
But this ain't Maine anymore. Too many people transforming from squids, and, like. Actual, real pirates? That we have now?
Plus something about blood. Lots of stuff about blood, which I was pretty sure I didn't have anymore but I've stopped being surprised by this stuff so if I end up having it again then whatever.

Anyway.
Even when you're sure you're doing everything right, you can't know until you get there.
Hell, I was pretty sure my story was over after I stopped a eugenicist asshole from creating a race of übermenschen from everyone else's souls.
Imagine my surprise.

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

You mean Maine is SUPPOSED to have mothmen, jackalopes, and lake monsters? Does that mean that California is supposed to have giant trees and the rest of the Pacific coast is supposed to have weird things happen all the time?

This is news. I'm not from any place called Earth, so everything I know about it is from friends I met in that dream town.

Also, why does everyone need to fight someone who turns people into weird monsters? I just found out recently that the immortal witch my friends and I are trying to stop back home has used Actual People to make super intelligent beasts that can talk and think like we do.

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

Mothmen usually show up a little more south, down with the country roads that took John Denver home, but, like. Could probably show up in Maine. Bunch of shitty infrastructure up there.
California's got a whole forest of the tallest and oldest trees in the world, or something. Never been myself but it's a huge tourist trap.
Basically, everything you've heard about Earth is real.

Oh, cool, immortal witches, haven't run into one of those before. My dude was a time traveller who tried to make himself immortal by altering the timeline so nobody could track him down and kill him.
Worked until it didn't.
That's the thing, though. Everyone who gets in their head that they're somehow special or more important than everyone else? They look at everyone who isn't them as a tool. A pawn. Less than a person.
It's been that way with every single atrocity Earth has ever had to deal with.

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

You're totally right. I've seen that a lot of times myself, even with just being in that Dream.

There was a weird evil triangle called Bill who was there for a little while. He was some kinda multi-dimensional demon or something, and he used the entire town to try to break through the dream.

It didn't work, but everything did start falling apart not long after that. I can't help but wonder if that whole mess triggered the Actual End Of The World.

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

I'd say no self-respecting evil overlord would call himself Bill, but my guy was named Clarence, so maybe it was his fault.
Not much of a point in dwelling on it, though, right? Even if you guys come up with time travel or whatever, going back to kill Bill (ha) is just gonna fork the timeline.
At least that's what Marty McFly tells me.

We just gotta live with what it's like now.
Which reminds me, I'm gonna be roaming the streets for a while to try to get a feel for this place.
Who are you hoping shows up? I can keep an eye out.

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

Marty McFly.

He's from a movie, right? Now that the world isn't ending, this is a good time to watch. Let's hope the library has a tape in stock.

And, thank you.

I'm looking mostly for three people-- a pair of tall blonds, a guy and a girl. The girl has a prosthetic arm and packs a hard punch, and the guy is nice but has a bad habit of talking before he thinks.

The other is a girl with a white coat and green hair. I made her a promise... and it feels weird not being able to keep it.

There's a few others, like a tall gentleman with silver hair and gills, but they're not part of my team from home. It would be nice to see them, but if they're not here then they made their choices for a reason and I want to respect that.

And, Anna? If you need a place to have a cold drink or a meal while you're getting settled, I'm in the crazy looking green mansion in Gaze. It's kinda overrun with flowers right now, but we're working on that.

No, the decor was NOT my idea.

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

I know a thing or two about not being able to keep promises.
I'll look out for all of them. See if we can't get that message delivered.

...And as long as you're okay having a five foot ten robot girl chilling in your all-natural flower garden, I might take you up on that offer.
I've been wondering who lived in there.
Not all by yourself, right?

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

A five foot ten robot girl?

That's really cool! You won't stand out at all with the six foot six wizard, the pair of goths who are the blond girl's uncle and younger sister respectively, and the couple of witches in the house.

No, I'm not here alone. The people who live here are great, and I'm sure they won't mind. Honestly, we've had a few weird people in here already.

Thank you for your help, Anna. I look forward to meeting you in person.

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

Damn, it'll be like I never left the city.
It's not as cool as you think it is, but hey, it's definitely not NOT cool.
I'll take some walks around, get the feel of the place under my feet, see if I can fish up any information about the people you're looking for.
One way or another, I'll let you know.

Let's hope for some good news, kid.

(frozen comment)

[justoscar]

Yes, let's. Hope is all we got right now.

Thanks for all this, Anna. Let me know if there's any way I can help you, okay?

(frozen comment)

[hauntedsavior]

Yeah, for sure.
Just stay alive, I guess. New world, new dangers.
But if you made it this far, you don't need me telling you that.