[Console - Video]

[valevectorian]

[The feed opens up with a headshot of a guy at the console. Moppy white hair that barely touches his shoulders, red eyes, pale skin. An expression that seems to embody a mixture of boredom and annoyance. A black choker encircles his neck, with a black box connected to it and wires that go from the box to somewhere behind his ears. A person who doesn't know any better would likely mistake it for a fancy, if unusually designed MP3 player. He takes a moment to glare daggers at the screen before proceeding to speak.]

To start off, I'm only going to bother with three questions.

[The rest could always wait.

Accelerator holds up the pointer finger of one hand.]

One- I don't care whether you're someone I'd hate or tolerate; does the name 'Academy City' mean anything to anyone else here?

[He holds up the middle finger now.]

Two- I need to know if anyone's come across a girl named Misaka who speaks in the third person. She was with me right before I woke up in this weird-ass place.

[He holds up a third finger.]

And three...

[Deliberate pause. His eyes narrow, brow furrowing. He hates to bring this up in case it brings too much attention to the topic he plans to ask about, but it's too important to ignore for the time being.]

Three. What's the norm for supernatural abilities when you're not from here?

[He's felt drained since he woke up. No matter what the truth of the nature of this place was, his connection to the Misaka Network doesn't seem to be compromised. His power, on the other hand, seems to be barely functional, based on the few testing attempts he made when he first woke up. Something was up.]

Comments

[whitelotustile]

[Hmm, Iroh considered this]

I'm afraid I haven't heard of either Academy City or a girl named Misaka.

If you just woke up here, normally abilities are a bit muted. It'll pass in time. If you need to, just sleep it off.

[valevectorian]

And just where do you expect me to sleep it off?

[Half sass, half actual inquiry. And it sounds a lot better to him than outright asking where he's supposed to find someplace to stay when the locals aren't particularly thrilled to so much as speak to him.]

[whitelotustile]

There is always the Midnight Hotel. The owner is a Foreigner himself, so he knows what it is like.

[valevectorian]

Is that right. And where is this "Midnight Hotel"?

text;

[skeletonenigma]

There's no one called Misaka here.

[Skulduggery knows most of the Foreigners by name, if not quite by face, and he would certainly know if someone was speaking in the third person.]

What supernatural abilities are you worried about?

text; assuming that was in English, he'll go ahead and switch to that.

[valevectorian]

Do you need to know to answer that?

text; yep all in English, sorry for not clarifying!

[skeletonenigma]

[Shrewd. More cautious than the average new arrival, it's good to see.]

It depends on the type of ability. Some are more fickle than others. The majority, however, return to full strength within twenty-four hours.

[valevectorian]

How "fickle" has it been for the psychic types?

[That's all the detail Mr. Skully's going to get for the time being. Psychic and magic abilities are the only two kinds Accelerator knows about.]

video;

[wintershepherd]

The first two don't ring any bells, but the third is standard for people arriving, to feel pretty drained at first. It usually goes away within a day.

Can I ask where you woke up? I've been trying to keep track.

[valevectorian]

Tch.

Somewhere in, fuck, what did they call it, the Metal District or whatever, that took me about an hour to get to that shitty excuse for a "Welcome Center" by walking.

[It was one of the first places the kedan directed him to once they decided he had pestered him long enough.]

I'M LAUGHING AHAHA

[wintershepherd]

I run that, you know... the Welcome Center. And it's a lot better looking than it was when we all got back out of the Dreaming two months ago.

He never did see much of a reason for tact, whoops.

[valevectorian]

Then I guess it still needs some improvement.

[Any blatant remaining traces of whatever damage had been done and not fixed up yet are things he may have picked up on during his observations there, but even without that, his natural tendency toward criticism had always made him more insulting about everything than warranted.]

What's this "dreaming" thing?

[video] But aren't the pointer and index finger the same thing?

[theideaguy]

One of the nice perks about not having any of that magic stuff. I felt great when I got here!

Well, except for the excruciating pain that was in my broken leg before it got fixed, so that's something.

But nope, can't say I know the names you've given.

I totally had a brainfart and meant middle finger for the second one whoops /goes to edit

[valevectorian]

Yeah yeah, go on and brag.

[Eyeroll.]

Can't say whether it's better or worse that you don't.

No worries! I figured that's what you meant!

[theideaguy]

And believe me, I will use every minute of these 24 hours, enjoying the temporary smug superiority... so that I might endure the rest of forever being haunted by people with awesome, amazing, supernatural abilities.

[There's no smugness or satisfaction in those words. It's just dry sarcasm.]

You must be new here then? Probably better for your... person friend that we don't know who she is, though probably worse for you that we don't know the Academy City place, seeing as now you're stuck here instead of there.

[valevectorian]

[he narrows his eyes a little at the first part. Wasn't it the attitude of being jealous of those with talent exactly why the talentless had sought out and created the system of magic for themselves and themselves only in the first place? This is bizarre.

After a pause he takes a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes closed, and lets out an annoyed sigh, muttering his next words.]

No shit I'm new. Was that the kind of stuff you'd expect anyone who wasn't to ask? And she's not my friend, for the record. Just someone I know.

[Dismissive handwave, and back to that half blank, half annoyed glare.]

So. Since I'm stuck here and sure as fuck can't test out my preferred escape methods, how about telling me... [slight head tilt, sideglance as if looking away at something offscreen] The top three things a new arrival needs to know or do that they don't tell you right away.

[There's a number of ways to approach answering that.]

[Video]

[stubbornlittleshit]

One...

[Arno leans in, looking interested.]

I have not heard of it, or Two, your Mademoiselle.

However, powers...I would GUESS they work based on how your abilities do.

[He's stretching a bit, thinking about this.]

My own abilities...well they are MINE. They seem to come from me. If you work with a power source though...you might be...I think the term is "screwed".

[valevectorian]

Yeah, the thing about abilities was more like... do they still work at all. Cos mine aren't right now. [Aside from a couple small passive details, but /handwave. Now that several have stated they would come back in time, he doesn't feel as much need to be cautious in volunteering that detail.]

But those details have been noted.

[stubbornlittleshit]

Right, yes...

Wait a moment. At all?

[Arno considers how that might actually feel. He doesn't know if he considers his abilities powers per-say but the idea of functioning without them? It's a terrifying thought. His face, instead of terrified, is one that looks completely disgusted instead.]

That is different then. [And damn, does that suck.] If I were going to be HOPEFUL, I'd say maybe you've had a shock getting here? I was...I think I was on a roof with a bottle, and then I woke up here in a stable. Definitely not what my body OR brain wanted from me. Maybe yours...have you been here long enough they could come back?

Because if not...I'd speculate it's more like I was saying. Power sources being needed and...well, all of that.

video

[backwordscompatible]

[That's one way to make a first impression.]

[...at least, she was assuming this was a first impression, based on the nature of the post itself.]

I guess that depends on what exactly you consider "norm" versus "supernatural."

For some of us, the supernatural is pretty natural.

[For once, she wasn't even being (that) smart. Her magic, for example, had been something she'd had her whole life. If it weren't for the fact that most everyone else she knew didn't do magic, that would have been "normal" to her.]

[valevectorian]

I already got the answer I was looking for. Do you still want me to specify?

[backwordscompatible]

Sure. Why not?

Who said there couldn't necessarily be more than one answer?

[Still not even being (that) smart, given the subjectivity of the...well...subject.]

[gistful]

Hello. I am Anton Shudder, proprietor of the Midnight Hotel. I believe your other questions have already been answered, but I can offer some assistance regarding currency exchange.

[Translocational Hotels kinda sorta need a banking system when they cross national borders.]

[valevectorian]

And a place to stay?

[It's given to reason that if this guy already knows his questions were answered, that he probably knows that the Hotel was brought up more than once as a place to live.]

[gistful]

Of course. That was one of the questions answered. I am not currently able to accept yen as payment, but I have a number of duties with which I would appreciate aid.

[He could exchange the yen for juulan and then pay with that, but it was unlikely anyone carried that amount of yen around just casually. Of course, if he did, then it was an option.]