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]

We have the internet. I haven't had much reason to use it. I understand why the consoles work, I'm just having a little trouble figuring out how.

[That's all in the past, though. And by 'the past,' he means the last hour. He totally gets it now.]

[manofiron]

But you've got it now, right?

[ He waves a hand at the monitor. ]

You're using it now, nothing's smoking, the keys haven't fallen off the keyboard?

[skeletonenigma]

Yes, no, no, and no.

[Yes, he's fully aware of what he's saying there, even if he moves smoothly on like he doesn't.]

Was that all?

[manofiron]

Seems like it.

[ Tony gives a little negligent shrug. ]

You have any other tech snafus you can't fix, I'll sort 'em out.

[skeletonenigma]

[He wouldn't normally ask - he wouldn't normally even think of it - but after talking with Captain Amelia, Skulduggery's intrigued with the theory of individual perceptions. He's never come across a mortal who didn't so much as react. Hell, he barely ever meets sorcerers who don't react.]

I do have one question, actually. Is your console any different from the others?

[manofiron]

My console?

[ He looks down at it like maybe something's changed in the last five seconds that he hasn't noticed. It looks the same as it always has, and when he looks up, he shakes his head. ]

No, not really. I'd like it to be, it's a little archaic, but it's kind of tamper-resistant. [ His nose wrinkles. ] Hard to imagine, but there it is. Why?

[skeletonenigma]

Do you come from a world where existential anomalies are frequent, or do you not see anything strange on your screen?

[The question is solely for the sake of discovery, of course, and not in the slightest because Skulduggery's a little put-out at not being recognised right away. He was rather enjoying the attention, after a point.]

[manofiron]

That depends on how you define the world I come from.

[ It could be the one he remembers. It could be this one. These days, he's not really sure what the truth is anymore. ]

But hey, question for you. You ever seen a flying space whale?

[skeletonenigma]

A flying space whale? [He chuckles.] I can't say I have. I did meet someone who probably has, though.

[It's possible this man is a tad insane. In Skulduggery's experience, pushing men who are a tad insane has never led to anything good.]

[manofiron]

I have.

[ He waves a hand dismissively, like it's no big deal. Keeping it to the level of a joke is really the only thing that lets him talk about it with people. ]

A bunch of them. So, to answer your question, no. A talking skeleton isn't as strange as that.

[skeletonenigma]

[That makes him laugh.] I suppose it isn't.

[Flying space whales. Another captain of a space-ship, perhaps, but Skulduggery doubts it. If the sight of flying space whales was enough to jade this man to talking skeletons, he's probably not used to them. A world without magic where magic was thrust into his life, somehow? That makes a little more sense, but it's still probably not the full story.

He points at the console screen, as though the other man would know what it is he's pointing at just for seeing that he is.] Do you realise your chest is glowing?

[manofiron]

[ He doesn't bat an eye at the question. ]

Weird world, huh?

[ There's a kind of ironic lilt to his voice. After all, he is talking to a talking skeleton about weird. ]

They got stuff like this where you're from? The gigantic turtles, I mean. Or are they like giant skeleton turtles?

[skeletonenigma]

No giant skeleton turtles, no. Not even the regular sort of gigantic turtle. We certainly have plenty of other strange things, though.

[But they all tend to be the right size. Apart from certain spiders.]

What about you? Any giant turtles to go along with the flying space whales?

[manofiron]

Nope. Giant space whales were it. Unless you count the robots, but those weren't really a natural occurrence.

[ The one from Asgard might have been, but Tony is erring on the side of probability with that one and assuming that it wasn't. ]

What kind of strange things have you got where you're from?

[skeletonenigma]

Magic. [And all of the many things that come with it, though Skulduggery doesn't see those as strange so much as nuisances he could do without.] Goblins. Werewolves. Were-fish. Banshees. Vampires. Evil gods. Dark little spirits that can possess a person. [He hesitates.] We have pretty much everything except leprechauns, come to think of it.

[manofiron]

So it's like every horror movie Hollywood ever made.

[ That sounds like a mess. Potentially more of a mess than being stuck in some modern day Space Invaders remake.

There's a moment of silence. Then, because he can't help himself, he asks; ]

Your world isn't run by the Pumpkin King, is it?

[skeletonenigma]

[He nods.] Except stranger. And real.

And not run by the Pumpkin King. We have systems of self-government, the same as any country.