003 - Besides, by and large she was having a very good time.

[una_persson]

[AUDIO, public. Una sounds as composed and friendly as ever, her cut-glass accent as reassuring as a BBC news anchor's.]

To those of you I've not met before—hello. My name's Una Persson. I'd like to canvass the foreigner population here with just a brief question—who here is familiar with time travel, in the world from which they come? I'll be quite transparent: it's something with which I'm very familiar, and I'm curious to know who else is as well. Should you prefer to discuss this face-to-face, I live in the Wood sector. [A pause.] And if you're familiar with the technology behind it, I'd be especially interested in hearing from you.

---

[TEXT, separate messages sent privately to Bruce Wayne and Dorian Gray, basic encryption. Subsequent to her conversation with Iorveth, after his fail!private post.]

You may recall that there was a name in my notes that I showed you. Do not speak it out loud and be very careful with whom you share it.

Comments

[una_persson]

Prudent. Well, I'm willing to let you give it a try, if you're willing to chance it. If nothing else it might help me figure out what's out of whack.

[Possibly nothing could happen at all. Or perhaps he'd find that there was something wrong but not be able to clearly identify what. Or Chaos could break out too; that was always possible.

The possibility that he might be able to correctly diagnose and/or fix the thing was set aside as remote. Una might be an optimist, but she's also pragmatic.]

[imaginate]

[He nods, raises his ring. It emanates a soft green glow, and a screen appears, showing him the different parts of the bicycle. It's attempting to annotate with the names of parts (because he usually scans something in order to re-create it) and starts to spark and sputter. Kyle shakes it.]

Does your bicycle have something against scanners?

[una_persson]

Er. This, I believe, is where I awkwardly admit that it has never been subjected to such a thing outside of a Time Centre. [She frowns.] Something might be causing metatemporal interference—either whatever's wrong with the instruments, or they're reacting against unfamiliar ... technology.

[imaginate]

[He rubs his chin thoughtfully.]

That's possible. Let me try something else.

[He bends down and scans it carefully, bit by bit. As he does, each wedge appears on the screen, putting together a complete picture. The process is a lot easier this time, and twenty minutes later he gets up and turns the screen towards Una so she can see it.]

This is probably the best I can manage, I hope it's enough.

[una_persson]

[She tilts her head to look at the screen, raises her eyebrows.]

I'm impressed. Looks like they're actually functioning, but can't get a lock on the megaflow or chronoflow. My friend Alvarez would make more sense of it, probably, but ... hmm.

[Privately she swears she's never going to zone out during one of Alvarez's technical rambles again.]

Still, that's more than I knew from the start. Thank you.

[While she's talking, there's a sort of stutter in time, very minor.]

Still, that's more than I knew from the start. Thank you.

[Pause.]

Didn't I just say that?

[imaginate]

Let's hope there's someone like him here, that you trust to have a look at it, because time travel is way above my pay grade.

[He holds up both hands, and comes to stand at a professional distance from her, before the stutter in time happens. He frowns.]

I'm not sure, but I just got a really weird sense of deja vu.

[una_persson]

Right. Not just me then.

[She takes a step back from the bicycle and gestures for him to do so as well.]

Better leave off anything else, then. I don't want temporal ripples around here on top of everything else.

[imaginate]

[He obeys.]

Good idea. Let me know if you need anything else.

[una_persson]

Thanks. I do appreciate the help—and if there's ever anytime I can return the favour, don't hesitate to ring me up.

[imaginate]

[He nods and wanders towards the door.]

I'll keep that in mind.