001 | Video

[skeletonenigma]

[To be honest, he would have preferred text, but this is a perfect opportunity to test out the console. The keyboard is self-explanatory. The video function isn't. One of the kedan had offered to show Skulduggery how it worked, but he’d politely declined. He didn’t particularly feel like being saddled with a guide for the entirety of his time here.]

Ah, there we go. Excellent.

[This does, of course, mean that he can now be seen. He was a little concerned about that when all of this was first being explained to him, but then he saw someone walking around in the city with blue skin and two heads. He’s rather less concerned now.

... He doesn't really have anything to ask, though, now that he’s thinking about it.]

Thank you. Carry on.

[Yes, that was a skull talking just then, Irish accent and moving jaw and all. Why do you ask?]

Comments

[skeletonenigma]

That's certainly a way to describe it. [He hesitates, but then decides if they do come from the same expansive universe, it's hardly going to matter what he decides to say here and now.] The planet is called Earth. If the universe itself has a name, I don't know it.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

Ah, well then you'll be in good company here. There are quite a number of foreigners from Earth, although from differing iterations of it.

[She's in the minority, truly. No one else here has heard of the Terran Empire.]

As for my own universe, Earth is not a planet familiar to me, if it even exists where I come from.

[skeletonenigma]

I'd be surprised. [Surprised, and a little wary. The universe is too big for coincidences like that, although Skulduggery still doesn't know much about the place he ended up.] Have you heard of any of the species that come from it? Humans? Cats?

[loquaciouslyfeline]

Frankly, I find it more surprising that, as far as I'm aware, I am the sole representative of my own universe on this place.

[Funny how so many could be brought from a single planet (admittedly different versions of it, but the same planet nonetheless), yet she be the only one from a galaxy-spanning empire.]

Indeed I have. Humans are a part of the Terran Empire; Queen Illysa herself is human. And for cats, I assure you I am fully aware of my kind's resemblance to the house pet, but make no mistake, we are not related. [There's a slight edge to the last part. Amelia does not wish to be referred to as a cat or cat-person yet again.]

[skeletonenigma]

You know what humans and cats are, but you hadn't heard of Earth before this? [Enough time must have passed in her Terran Empire for humanity not only to develop space-travel, but to spread out among the stars and colonise multiple planets - and that's assuming humanity had the same origins in Captain Amelia's universe. It's an interesting thought that Skulduggery files away for later, in favour of a different one.]

What language are you speaking?

[loquaciouslyfeline]

I'd heard of Earth before you mentioned it, but no, before my arrival here the name was unfamiliar to me. [She thought she'd made that clear, but apparently not.]

Common. The main tongue of the Empire. [And now she pauses to reflect on this. To be perfectly honest, she hasn't given much thought to the ease of communication on Tu Vishan, despite the widely differing origins she has from most of its other inhabitants. Though it would make sense that Eshai - and now Evandau - would make certain the foreigners summoned would be able to coordinate. They were capable of bringing people across worlds, after all.] Which is either remarkably similar to the language that you speak, or there is some force in play allowing us to communicate through otherwise insurmountable linguistic barriers.

[skeletonenigma]

I'd predict the latter. The interesting question, then, is why you have an accent that's very recognisable back on my world, but not from my country. It suggests that I'm interpreting your words using my own experience, somehow. If the force in play is magic, then it's possible our perceptions of each other are being dramatically altered. And if that's the case, it could be more than language. It could be appearance.

[Which makes a little more sense than there being a race of cat-people somewhere out in the cosmos.]

[loquaciouslyfeline]

It wouldn't happen to be a British accent, now would it? [She says it with a wry smile. Oh yes, this has been pointed out to her.] Your own accent is not unheard of in the Empire, although it's not particularly common.

[Accents tend to be a matter of upbringing, rather than nationality in her world. One cohesive empire and all that.]

I don't see a reason why our appearances would be changed upon being brought here. The kedan are more varied among themselves than any single species normally would be, and there is at least one dragon among us foreigners. And unless your skeletal visage is unusual for you - doubtful, since you don't seem to be bothered by it - then, Mr. Pleasant, I believe it's safe to say our normal forms have remained intact.

[skeletonenigma]

Oh, they probably have. But I've learned over the years never to underestimate people who have more power than I do.

[That, and an alternative theory would be that whatever brought them here only uses universes markedly similar to each other in some fashion, either to cut down on foreigner confusion or simply because that's the limit of their power. Skulduggery doesn't mention this out loud for two reasons - first, he's still not fully confident of who he can trust. Second, Amelia seems very attached to her appearance. Far be it from him to continue frustrating her with potential truths about individual perception when he doesn't have to.

She's probably right, after all.]

[loquaciouslyfeline]

If it's bothering you that much, you could ask the Emperor at his next hearing. They are held every so often. I've yet to go myself, but I'll be attending the next one.

[She has... questions regarding the selection process. To put it lightly.]

[skeletonenigma]

Good idea. When is the next one?

[loquaciouslyfeline]

Unfortunately, it hasn't been announced yet. We'll both have to wait until Evandau decides he'll welcome our company.

[Amelia is still intrigued by simply communicating with a talking skeleton. The entire affair is quite amusing to her, and she can't deny an interest in a world where this sort of thing happens.]

If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Pleasant, is your... condition common where you come from?

[skeletonenigma]

Unfortunately, no. Grace, balance, and intelligence are sadly difficult to come by.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

[That wasn't what she meant, of course, but it's unexpected enough to get a small chuckle out of her.]

Indeed they are. We are equals in that regard, then.

[Oh, she'll indulge in a little self-flattery every now and then.]

So how does one come about being nothing but bones?

[skeletonenigma]

Dying, usually. Being flayed alive.

[And now he's had his fun and he'll grow a little more serious. He already respects Amelia enough for that.]

That wasn't what happened to me, thankfully. I was murdered, and then my body was burned on a pike as a warning. I was quite dead at the time. No recollection of what it felt like.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

Ah, yes, that would do it.

[But finally Skulduggery comes forward with a straight answer.]

I'm sorry to hear that. [A sincere response; murder is not something to be taken lightly, nor is post-mortem desecration.] It does not seem to have kept in your case, though.

[skeletonenigma]

My consciousness reattached itself to my skeleton, after about a year.

[And a few years ago, that would have been all he could say on the subject. That was all he knew. Now, he can go into further detail about how and why it was done, knowledge he'd been searching for most of his life. But he won't. Now that he has that knowledge, he wishes he didn't.]

Naturally, I decided to wait until my bones had been stuffed in a bag and tossed in a river. That was a marvellous new experience right there.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

That sounds wholly unpleasant.

[She can't even imagine what that must have been like. Reawakening in a bag in a river.

Now that she's had a bit of time to process, of course, something he had already mentioned stuck out.]

Burned on a pike? Sounds quite medieval, if you don't mind my saying.

[skeletonenigma]

It was around the turn of the 18th century. Not quite medieval, but probably close enough for your purposes.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

[18th century would place his death centuries ago in her own world.]

For my purposes, yes, it is. Have you been like this long? [She has no time reference for Skulduggery's world, so it's a valid question, in her mind. This entire discussion is quite fascinating!]

[skeletonenigma]

Oh, a little over four hundred years.

[That's nothing for sorcerers. It's not even half their lifespan.]

While we're on the subject of unusual aging, how old are you?

[loquaciouslyfeline]

That's quite a while. [She's actually a bit impressed at that age.] I've not heard of any species living that long before, but I suppose exceptions are to be made for those who have passed and returned.

[An undead being really throws the wrench in traditional lifespans.]

I turned thirty-two this past year. Not exactly unusual, sadly, but there you are.

[skeletonenigma]

[She certainly doesn't age in cat-years, then. Curiouser and curiouser.]

You said you're a captain of the Terran Royal Navy. I assume that, in a universe which has achieved space travel, that doesn't mean precisely what I think it means.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

I suppose that would depend entirely on your definition of space travel. [As if it could mean anything besides the obvious.]

[skeletonenigma]

I've never been to outer space. Let's pretend, for one wild moment, that when I hear 'Navy,' I think of water.