arcanarum | Mark I - [action + video]

(please refer to his third-person sample for what's happened immediately before this.)

[he woke up a second time. It was unexpected, but extremely welcome. He expected to feel little pieces of metal stabbing away at his heart since his arc reactor was missing. But strangely, he didn't feel any different than normal. Just groggy.

Deciding to take advantage of this reprieve from death's embrace, Tony flipped open the little communication's device and activated the video function. As an after thought he grabbed the little card]

So, this is a new one, kidnapped by insane cosplay enthusiasts? Your jokes can use some work, though. Really, the Tin Man? Is that the best you could come up with? What do ya want, anyways? Money? Weapons? My armor? I'll tell you where to shove it, but you won't listen until I have a better microphone.

And who is this... [he mouths Yaldabaoth, trying to figure out the pronunciation, gives up and continues] Who is this Yogi Bear character with a name that looks like it belongs to something Lovecraft invented? I'm not living with a tentacle monster, am I? [he looks really unsure about that]

Is there anyone who happens to know where I can get 1.5 grams of palladium and a few other odds and ends? [even though it was a bad design, he would be more comfortable with his Mark I reactor in his chest than a great gaping hole]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How can you be sure they are not human?

Hah hah hah. They don't act like any human I've met, and I've met millions. They're not computers, either, computers are too logical... they're on the other end of the spectrum. They're too emotional. Well, maybe they could be very complex AIs, but I would sooner assume that they are fae or spirits, like in fairy tales.

I could be mislead, perhaps - I've never spoken to them. That would be like asking an audience with the Queen of Hearts.

I've made some complex AIs, kidnapping is not something any of them do.

[that was a fairy tale] Is she here? [referring to the Queen of Hearts]

Hah hah hah hah hah!

[She laughs immediately at his comment about AIs - it seems she finds it rather funny. As though she knows AIs better - which she does, but there's no indication of that besides the tone of her laugh. She pauses in thought after his next comment, though.]

Hmm... I don't know. Perhaps the Cheshire Cat knows, but I've been "Mia" for a while, so I don't really recall what "he" knows.

[he seems a little disturbed by the laugh, but decides to ignore it]

So, that's what it said on your card? That you're the Cheshire Cat?

That's right. When you change, you're not yourself anymore. It's not just filling the role... you become them.

Then I need to find the Wizard.

The Tin Man wants to find the wizard, not you.

You need to be careful. That's an important distinction to make, in this place.

Well, considering this place already ripped out my heart... [he gives a helpless shrug]

You'll find another one. Isn't that how the story goes? ...No, wait, it's that you "had it all along".

I don't hear the story quoted quite as much as other stories.

I doubt the ruby slippers would take any of us home.

Not unless the Rulers allowed it. Or got bored. I think that's the best thing to do, is to simply wait for them to be bored with us.

People are sent back at random all the time.

Are you sure they're sent back?

They come back, now and then. They come back knowing more of their world, or even knowing less.

They're returned to where they come from. Which would make a lot more sense, if this place is what I think it is.

What do you think this place is?

Hmm... no, I don't think I'll tell you, yet.

[That'd require an explanation she doesn't want to give.]

[he raises an eyebrow] Keeping secrets already?

It's no fun to tell you everything at once.

I'm a genius, Playgirl, the more I know, the better chances we all have of getting out of here.

"Playgirl"?

Your ears remind me of a Playboy bunny.

Oh. I've heard that before.

[Shrug!]

I'm not a rabbit. Or a cat, really. I'm Mia.

[he raised an eyebrow]

Cats must be different wherever you're from, Mrs. Norris.

No, they're probably what you know them as. They just don't exist in the place that I live. My World... The World is a part of a world like yours. It could even be yours.

[It all depends on whether or not you recognize the emphasis she's putting on "The World".]

[well, he can tell it's a name]

So you're from a world within a world. Like Harry Potter.

[Video]

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