video; 001.

[ihope]

[The video flickers on without any trouble. The console's familiar enough that Lex doesn't have to fumble with it to get it working the way he wants. Behind him is the large space of a luxurious room that obviously originates from the Metal Sector. He couldn't see the harm in letting the, uh, 'citizens' of this In-Between see where he stands on trivial matters like his choice of interior decoration and he'd even gone and tidied up some before the broadcast, or at least that's what it looks like with two small cuts above his right eyebrow nothing but thin red lines now as opposed to the angry marks of earlier.]

[And the young man himself is seated comfortably, leaning to one side, legs crossed somewhere off-screen, left arm propped up on the table where the communicating device rests. A finger twitches and, right, he doesn't have anything around to grab a hold of at the moment. And so he begins to speak.] 'Tu Vishan. An In-Between of life, death, and dreaming.'

[And he has a sort of hushed voice despite the obvious intention to project to, well, the audience. And there's some light in his eyes that signals amusement-- or something resembling it. Excitement is either good or bad, never both. There's no upturn of his lips, no creased brow. He shifts, sitting straighter, peering closer into the camera, damn well expecting someone out there to listen.]

I'm supposed to believe this?

[He expects someone to listen, not to answer, because he just goes on.] The Kedan were generous enough to offer the explanation that I might not be dead, and to be frank, I appreciate any attempt of reassurance on the matter. I'd put more faith in it if I hadn't also heard the turtle had been in danger of dying. Spending the rest of my years aboard an ailing reptile wasn't exactly the life I envisioned. [He can believe abduction and drugs, but no deep sleep of his will ever revolve around an animal so stupid and slow. His voice turns wry. He knows he's not dead. He knows he can't be fully alive. The... Kedan were nothing from his waking world. That could only mean one thing left to figure out.]

[He's still seemingly calm. He's still only just sitting, just talking like he can see the company across the screen already. Like it's only a conference call he's taking from his desk. But now he sighs and he wants to smirk, but he doesn't. And now he'll be waiting for an answer.]

So who's the big dreamer?

[Show yourself, mastermind. A clear challenge, but after a second he tacks on a detail with clear concern and some well meaning urgency.] I also heard something about a clinic in trouble. Is there anything I can do to help?

Comments

HI BB HI

[urbanmagic]

As far as I can tell, most people ignore the whole life and death part of the situation and believe it's nonsense. [She thinks it's possible, but their presence is an anomaly here if they never really died, but that's a whole magic explanation thing she is not getting into with a stranger who sounds like he'd be as skeptical as dad.]

Also, keyword is 'had'. He's getting better, way better than when I got here at least.

Hello hello again!

[ihope]

I wouldn't blame them. [Who could? Alien worlds didn't just present themselves like this. Just how wrong he is, he doesn't know. He's discarded life and death himself-- but he'll be damned if this wasn't an excruciatingly lucid dream.]

[Lex's eyes widen a bit. He might even look relieved, but that's soon gone.]

What was hurting him? ['He'. No different than calling Earth a 'mother', he presumes.]

audio; /CRASHES INTO

[imaginate]

[It's "clinic in trouble" that attracts his attention, more than anything else, and he sounds very distracted when he replies, because he's occupied with other things.]

Our clinic, and we're fine, thanks. Do you have any experience with medicine or magic?

video; OH NO

[ihope]

[The point of this was to present himself; it'd mean nothing if he switched the feed to audio just to follow suit. But he's making a show now, wondering how difficult it'd be for the man to just press 'video'. How bad was the damage, then?]

[He leans slightly forward once more, he brings down his left arm from where it had been resting, clasps his hands together casually. Tilts his head to one side, curious.] 'Our' clinic? [His offer isn't being extended to a nobody. Names are always good to know.]

[And there's a slight pause as he ponders the question he's asked. Funny choice of words, stranger.] I'm not a miracle worker, no. [No experience with medicine, either.]

video;

[notdreaming]

I thought about that, and honestly, if someone else is dreaming this then it's very real. [ Kara is very serious about this.

This place is bananas. ]

video;

[ihope]

[She's attractive, sure, but he's looking closely because of her clothes. He doesn't recognize the symbol on her chest as being from any band or outfitter. The material doesn't seem familiar, but what can he know? He's not seeing it in person.]

And if you're the one dreaming this? [He knows she's not. She would have taken responsibility for it. He'd still like to keep her talking.]

video:

[victoria_stay]

[Hey, Lex. How goes it? Confusing as hell? Victoria understands that entirely. She's only been here a couple days and this place still bothers her.

And, speaking of kids. You know how kids are supposed to be noisy and animated and all over the place and talk a lot?

This one doesn't. Her tone is even, her expression cautious and she's sitting very still as she speaks.]

I'm not the Big Dreamer.

[In case he was wondering.]

I want to go home, too.

video:

[ihope]

[He not a... great judge of age at first sight. All he can register is that she's too young to be on a computer unsupervised, striking up talk with a big bad Luthor. Her body language might mean that she's new to this, so that's... some comfort. That she's alone doesn't cross his mind, and instead his lips slip into a warm smile, sympathetic, understanding.]

[Well thank God an eight year old isn't behind all this.]

Where are your parents, huh?

This is coming to you from the future

[backinakidflash]

[OOC: Pretend this comment is from late on the 15th or on the 16th.]

[Have a rather subdued ginger.]

Supposed to, maybe. I don't think they care what we believe.

How do you know that it's not all a collective dream? I saw that in a video game once. No. Really. How do know that your life wasn't always someone else's dream? Not to get totally existential on you.

[Bart shrugs without really meaning to; the gesture is to himself really.]

Bold haircut, by the way. I shaved my head once.

Classic Bart.

[ihope]

[He's about to open his mouth and quote Descartes. Really, does the kid think he doesn't read? Existentialism is interesting and it takes on a new meaning here, wherever 'here' is. Lex would only be glad to discuss some theories only to be led back to his own current belief, but.]

[But then his attention's drawn elsewhere quite effectively. Through the slight reflection of the monitor before him, he can see it: yes, he's bald. So what? So a lot of things, but he'd dealt with this since he was nine. It just gets tiring. So, so tiring.]

It's not a haircut. [Congratulations on being so bold, though.]

video;

[andaway]

[Clark takes... a while before he actually replies to this, listening to the post and making sure he isn't seeing visions. But no, the post is still there and it's really happening and for a while he doesn't know if he should be Clark or Kal-El. He decides for the man wearing glasses in the end.

It's honestly not the physical similarities that tip him off, Lex is not the only bald with green eyes in the world.

But the way he carries himself, the way he words things. The way he's dealing with all this in such a matter-of-factly way and how he's already trying to be in charge of things the first time he shows up in the network... over the time Clark has developed a lot of 'Luthor red flags' and Lex is hitting them all. But until he gets confirmation it will only be a gut feeling, he can't judge someone just because he looks like a certain someone.]

The polite thing would probably be to... well, present yourself in your first post.

video;

[ihope]

[He's known the farm boy for months now. He'd been committed to memory a nanosecond before he'd ever struck him with his car, branded eternally into his thoughts after the rescue. He's the one man Lex isn't so afraid to admit faults to. He'd gone so far as to call Clark a little brother, only now-- only now he's not so little anymore, is he? And Lex idly wonders why he never imagined Clark to look more like Jonathan when he'd grow up, adoption aside.]

[Instead now there's this moose in the screen. That's all well and good, but as Lex waits and waits, there's something that's not coming to him. Something he's not being given, despite deserving that and so much more. Something he expects, and which now he's wonder if he's only expected too much. Whatever facade he'd been wearing dissipates for a moment, disappointment bleeding through, before the fortifications worm their way in again.]

Lex Luthor. [There's no small pride in saying his name- he'd never been ashamed of it, exactly.] But I thought you'd know better, Clark.

[This only solidifies that this isn't real. Lex sighs, long suffering and theatrical.]

I'm hurt. [Joke aside-- what is he supposed to do with this? He doesn't know and it's eating at him.]

[fearlessherosheart]

Some of us were most certainly brought here as our souls were on the way to the Paths of the Dead, or whatever afterlife your people have, though I cannot speak for everyone.

[Tazendra is... pretty chill about being dead, actually. Because she had the most badass death she could imagine.]

[ihope]

No, you can't. [But thanks for the input, his tone says, and there's even a slight smile. Confusing? This? Terribly so. He can't hide it well and that much he's starting to realize. He's not even sure why he wants to trust her and believe he's speaking to a ghost.]

Funny your afterlife gave your soul a body as well.

[angermanaging]

If you're considering 'alive' as a state where it's possible to die, then you're alive. [There's no doubt about that, and Bruce isn't all that interested in the philosophical dilemma that goes any deeper.]

Tu Vishan... the turtle, that is, should be getting better. We've been working on it.

[ihope]

One of us 'foreigners' has died on this thing? [There's hardly a pause before he asks. He just has to know. The man was resolved when he answered, Lex wants to know why. In all his dreams, death only meant he'd live his life in the real world again after he'd woken up.]

[As for the turtle itself... it's not nearly as important anymore.]

[Video]

[fuzzyelf]

It is a little hard to believe for a lot of people, and I don't think everyone is going to say you have to. Though it might make life a little easier during your stay.

[He's sitting back already and he shrugs.]

The turtle's on the road to recovery, so you're lucky not to have been caught up in everything that was going on.

[Video]

[ihope]

[Blue ma-- thing, talking to him. Lex wonders if its a Kedan, if he should bother replying at all since their kind obviously didn't feel like conversing with him when they were given the chance.]

[But that'd be petty. Still, all he can muster is] Good to hear.

[video]

[takeittothemax]

I'd like to think that if we were dead, we'd have much better things to do than hang out on the back of a turtle. But that's just me.

[video]

[ihope]

[It's not just you, Max.]

I find it hard to believe we'd be in control of our environment after we've gotten ourselves killed. [Because who dies a natural death nowadays?]

And I have better things to do than hang out on the back of a turtle while I'm alive. [Meaning: it's a dream.]

video

[wherethestoryis]

[Clark's not the only one with a million 'Luthor buttons;' after all, Lois dated him once. But... she's never seen a Lex who looked this...

Young.

Still, Clark and Lex make her facepalm. A lot. Honestly, boys... but all the same, she rings in from work. So Lex will get a face she assumes will be familiar. Funny, that...]

Trust me, if I knew who this dreamer was, I'd give him a good swift kick--or however many it took to get us all home again.

As for reassurance: As many times as you've cheated death I'm starting to think you made a bargain to avoid it altogether.

video

[ihope]

[Sad life when Lex doesn't think anything odd of the comment. It makes him smirk. It makes him forget the morons he's spoken to previously, because the woman is now deserving of all of his attention.]

[She knew him. She wasn't bad looking, either, but of course that's something of less importance right now. He leans against the back of his chair, fully aware of the haughty nature he's broadcasting. He hopes it comes off as playful.]

If I could do that, I'd be a god.

video;

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley stalks the replies for awhile before she finally responds herself. Anyone who knows Clark or Lois is a person of interest in her book.

The video flicks on and shows a 14-year-old girl with her left arm in a sling and a red jacket worn over her good shoulder but slung haphazardly over the bum one.]

You're not dead and neither is the turtle, but I'm not sure this is a dream either. Do you really think anyone would dream up stuff like this?

video;

[ihope]

[The second kid, though this one is considerably older than the little girl from before. Lex wants to ask about her arm, and he probably will later. And he wonders why so many kids are just roaming on the network without really wondering about it-- they're kids. They roam. That's what they do. He'd know-- he has a friendship with the nosiest bunch from Smallville.]

I know some twisted minds. [But his father would have him dead, for sure.] I wouldn't put it past certain people. [Dreams don't have to make sense. They're like wishes.]

[Video]

[tactile_telekinesis]

[So guess who went back through the entries made on the network without checking any of his messages or looking at any of the threads! If you said Kon, you get a highfive.

Kon doesn't really have much of an idea who this guy is. There's plenty of bald people in the world and jumping straight to names just doesn't work. He also doesn't know Lex like Kal or Lois do. He's only met him once and even then the guy was in disguise.

He's sat back, looking a little paler thanks to a few days being kept in complete darkness (except at night but it wasn't exactly sunlight). He has his uniform on so the symbol is in clear view.]

She's called the Emperor. She brought us here and didn't even think to ask. I mean vaycay is great but if I wanted to chill in a place of destruction and stuff, I coulda just stayed back in Metropolis.

[Video]

[ihope]

[One, that kid is sick and Lex doesn't want to ask what of. He figures the boy knows himself well enough to have figured it out on his own, anyway. Two, Metropolis was plenty safe-- well. No. But Lex had taken to reading previous entries as well when he could, and he'd seen things he never thought he would and he'd heard of even worse. It was as if the meteor rocks had found their way into the turtle's shell, something he's now not going to give up on searching for explanations on.]

[Three, that haircut is obnoxious and he looks a little familiar, but most importantly--]

[He'd seen that symbol before, that 'S' shape, presented courteously on the chest of one Kara Zor-El.]

But whoever the Emperor is, she doesn't seem to like talking to us little people.

[bonvivant]

As someone who has dedicated much of his life to the study of the mind and perception of reality, I can assure you that this is no afterlife. You are alive.

[ihope]

[So back to the quack psychic thing--]

Your credentials being...?

[Nowhere in sight, obviously, that's fine. Lex very much believes him, because it's Stating the Obvious. But the man's far too well dressed (but any fool can buy), has far too an important hold of himself to dedicate himself to nonsense. Lex would very much like to know his name, at least.]

video;

[candystriped]

You say that you like expect anyone to give a shit what you believe.

video;

[ihope]

[--hey, there's nothing to argue here. Would you look at that.]

[Lex huffs out an amused breath- it's a chuckle. It's a quick confirmation that the light air around him is true. He goes so far as to duck his head, smile in place (oh no, you caught me), and twiddle his thumbs for a second before turning back to her.]

I can only hope someone out there does.

video;

[demon_brat]

[Oh... Damian gets who this is. So he'll poke, obviously.]

What would be an explanation of finding yourself in this place that you would believe?

video;

[ihope]

[There need to be parental controls or. Hell. Who's he trying to kid? The boy startles a slight widening of his eyes out of Lex. He wasn't expecting something so forward from someone so young, despite the fact that the question was entirely tame.]

I'll let you know when I run across it.

[When he turns over enough stones, digs out the truth. The theories were... exhilarating. Some. Stupid, most.]

video; anon- so late, backtimed okay?

[lookedtothestars]

[Jor-El hadn't checked what else was said in response; the initial message is interesting enough to warrant a response without it.

So, another person, and again the same crest. This man, however, is in one of the cafes throughout the city.]

Our minds have the ability to judge what we see and experience through reason. Were this a dream, would you be able to distinguish this from reality?

[He doesn't sound like he's challenging, just asking a philosophical question in return to what Lex had to say.]

video; always okay!

[ihope]

[It's the first thing he notices, naturally. By now he knows it's a sort of brand, an indicator that he's about to contact what's supposed to be an alien. That the so-called Kryptonians look so human may make his skin crawl at another time, a time when maybe he's not attempting to brush off previous explanations, previous stories that make him doubt.]

[Then he thinks he's seen this man before, but that's a common theme in dreams.]

[Of course I could, he wants to say. He doubts everything, but not his abilities. Even the nightmares that take supposed months in his head all draw to an end, and he wakes up remembering he knew what they were long before then. Of course, now he's being questioned- well then why don't you make up your mind and get on with it? Well, because these things take time.]

I tend not to lose myself in my own works of fiction, if that's what you're asking.