001 ✦ Video

[xenocide]

[ It had taken Ender a few days before he even checked the network, and a few more days before he decided to place himself upon it. When the video starts, it's the face of just another child -- but one that's exhausted. From his serious demeanor and lack of a smile, he seems much older than he is in all actuality. ]

Earth -- I'm not talking about the sector -- does the name hold any significance to you? I've been wondering how many people here come from a place called Earth and just how many Earths haven't had to face the Bugger Wars. From what I've seen of the guests, many appear human overall and some even with the same technological advancements and understanding that are prominent in my world. If we're trapped in this place between life, dreaming and death, then I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to dream of the existence of alternate Earths.

[ Ender forces a smile, but that's just what it is. Forced. He's really in no mood to showcase good cheer. ]

If it isn't asking too much, even if you don't come from some variation of Earth, I'd like to know about your world. Subsequently, I can tell you anything you wish to know about mine. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that we're being kept in the dark by the natives here. What they know and what they're planning doesn't concern me as much as our lack of understanding about the universes that surround us. I feel the better we understand one another, the more trust we can put in each other and the better equipped we become as a whole to any crisis that may arise. Sometimes, in a war, the most crippling blow can be dealt not by the enemy but by lies and mistrust.

That's all. Thank you for your time.

Comments

[demon_brat]

Of course. Thank you.

The earliest attempt by anyone here to leave the turtle, other than during landfall, was made by Namorita Prentiss and Kon-El, also known as Superboy. Both of them can fly, Prentiss also swims rather well. Kal-El, Superman, also made an attempt, when he arrived, despite the fact that he'd been informed about the earlier occasion.

I would think people would learn from other people's experience, but it seems - rather hopeless.

[xenocide]

When one has escape in mind, they tend not to think rationally.

[ Ender shrugs slightly. ]

Still, my survival instincts say that diving into the water and making a swim for it would probably yield in far worse results than remaining on turtleback.

[ Then again, if Castiel was an angel and the people Damian listed off were people of extraordinary powers (and they had to be to earn the title 'superboy' and 'superman') then maybe that was a non-issue. ]

[demon_brat]

I suppose.

[Okay, he actually hadn't thought about it that way. Too much reasonable for him to register that possibility, oops.]

[He cants his head, slightly.]

I suppose adding the information that Namorita Prentiss is - resident of a version of the underwater empire, Atlantis. The ocean is her natural habitat, more than dry land.

[xenocide]

True. I did meet someone else from Atlantis. Or perhaps it was the same person under a different name. Mera?

[ You can never be too sure. A lot of people seemed to have two names. Including himself. ]

I never imagined there would be so many different worlds out there. I guess that's the issue -- I didn't imagine. Imagining is supposed to be a natural thing for children our age.

[ But then again, children like him and Damian and Bean probably take that imagination and put it into strategies -- things adults wouldn't imagine were possible. ]

[demon_brat]

No, Mera and Namorita are both from Atlantis, but from different worlds. Namorita is also a blonde, unlike-- [the Queen] --Mera.

[Nah, Damian knows enough to be aware that, yes, there is a difference.]

[And then he tilts his head, the next words coming far more quietly and less forcefully than any adult would have heard them.]

I believe my mother was trying to see how far she could improve on 'natural,' with me. But... different worlds are something that gets media coverage, at home, the same as the superheroes. It was more a question of research. As far as imagining things...

[Those were focused on how many ways I could kill. Or be killed, so as to avoid that.]

... creativity was encouraged. Wasting it on random subjects was not.