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[angermanaging]

[He's seen a lot, experienced a lot, that would be considered unbelievable, but this is something else. Bruce had taken a few hours to himself to make sure he was calm, do his breathing exercises, and trawl the network with a frown. But ultimately he has to say something, he realizes. This isn't a place he can remain in isolation, as uncomfortable as that makes him.

The camera shows a serious-minded man with dark hair, face lined with tiredness but nonetheless alert and attentive. He can't resist taking a moment to complain about the illogic of it all first.]

You know, I'm pretty sure the many worlds interpretation is time asymmetric. Even if world splitting happens, why would world merging ever... [He stops himself. Sighs. Okay, yeah, physics isn't going to help him much here, is it? He can't even be surprised.

Bruce runs a hand through his hair, pushing onto practicalities without transition.] So what exactly is the process for getting a job around here? I'm not picky, but-- I have the most experience in mechanics.

And, uh. If anyone knows where I could get some superglue, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks. [He finishes the broadcast intentionally without giving his name; there's one split second of awkward pause, and then he switches it off.]


[ooc: People from other Marvel verses, you're free to recognize him as Bruce Banner or not as you want. And his permissions are over here if you need them!]

Comments

video; anonymous location

[beganwithamask]

I just go around seein' what they'll pay me to do. [He's in one of the cafes in the Wood Sector, wearing a somewhat worn white t-shirt with his Army-issue trousers; he looks pretty young, all things considered, maybe seventeen (even though he's actually 20), and his hair is combed neatly in a very 40s sort of style.] What's all that stuff you were goin' on about before?

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[angermanaging]

That's usually what I do, [he admits wryly, taking in these details but not sure what to make of them yet. Being in a different dimension makes Bruce try to put aside all of his preconceptions.] I wasn't sure if it'd be different here.

[A moment's pause, because he really doesn't talk physics much anymore, not face to face.] It's quantum mechanics, part of physics. It says that time goes forward, not backward, so it should be impossible for simultaneously existing alternate realities to meet up. [That's boiled down simplistically, but Bruce assumes no one else wants the nitty gritty details.]

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[beganwithamask]

Nah, doesn't seem like. Least you've got skills, I guess. [He hasn't found much use around here for a soldier, let alone one with his particular... skills.] Some of the kedan'll look at you funny cause you're a foreigner but it ain't awful.

[Yeah, you know that blank look when a student is understanding basically nothing their teacher is saying? He starts to get that look. Bucky dropped out of school to fight a war, don't mind him.] Buddy, you're in for a nasty shock if you ain't familiar with time travel.

audio -->video; Avengers; 100% JARVIS-assisted encryption

[iron_ego]

[Bruce Banner. Tony recognises him in an instant, but Bruce... Bruce doesn't recognise this place by what he said. Scratch it being a rerun of the Hulk he worked with. A reboot? He can deal with that. Realistically, he can deal with anything, but the intel helps.]

Mechanic work? [There's a questioning tone to his voice -- if on ignores the amusement there.] Cute, but that's a little grade school for a brain like yours, Dr. Banner.

[There's a beat in which, unseen, Tony stretches and pushes aside one more sample of water from the deteriorating canals.]

Lucky you that I'm looking to hire. Good pay, benefits. I could even fit the other guy in under a spousal clause. What do you say?

Oh, and before you fire off the rhetoric about names and credentials, allow me. [He kicks on the video, showing his workshop, with Mark VI armour and a veritable mess of samples strewn about. He's the focal point of the video and grins.] Tony Stark. Iron Man.

[And whether Bruce admits to knowing him will tell him a lot about the timing of his arrival. Rather, of his departure from the normal stream.]

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[angermanaging]

[You're going to give him a heart attack, Tony. It takes a few minutes to get a response, because Bruce is sitting there rewatching this, trying to make sense of it.

He eventually does reply, although he looks forcibly calm in a way that someone that knows him will recognize. His room in Water is visible and completely barren yet, with nothing more than a battered backpack set on the bed.]

I know who you are, Mr. Stark. [Controlled, measured, uncertain. It breaks a moment later as he says,] --And, really, spousal clause? That's not the word I'd use.

Why exactly do you know who I am? Much less want to hire me. I'd think the insurance premiums would be a little high even for you.

[He's probably seen him on the news, Bruce knows; it's not like you could miss him tearing up the quad at Culver, and then New York. But he's speaking familiarly, too much so, and it makes him suspicious. Maybe Tony Stark is just like that with everyone-- he wouldn't be surprised-- but this is such a strange situation, he thinks it has to be something more.]

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[iron_ego]

[Banner didn't immediately hang up and that is a good thing. He does, however, seem a bit stressed -- no. Cautious is the better word. He looks cautious in his reply and Tony makes a note to help him re-learn the value of hitting the ground running. Nary a care. That kind of thing. So it turned him into a giant green rage monster once in the past, big deal.]

You think spousal doesn't work because it's the other guy? Wake up and welcome to the twenty-first century, Banner. The world's changing and civil unions were just the start.

[Yeup. Went there. No Regrets Stark.]

And I know because it's my business to know. Thank Fury for his little initiative on that note, because without his one-eyed vision, I would never have gotten your autograph. [Which, by his tone, would be a darn shame.] But, since you look as familiar with that as Thor is dandruff, I'll make it short and sweet. We'll be working together, you and I. And the big guy. And you'll do well when we do, so consider it a reference from your future self that convinced me.

[Not that he ever had a doubt.]

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[trainwrecked]

[... well. This is a face Bucky hasn't seen in a while.]

Bruce?

I mean... right. Sorry. You don't remember having been here before, right?

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[angermanaging]

[That gives him some pause.] No, I don't remember. I didn't think to... [To check if he'd posted on the network before. He'd looked for information, but the idea that he could've been here and didn't remember was so far out there it hadn't occurred to him.]

Does this happen often?

video; encrypted 30% because... other version

[trainwrecked]

We-ell, not often, but it's not unheard of. Some people come back and don't remember having been here before. Some people wake up and find out they've been missing for weeks and don't remember that time.

Bucky Barnes. Just so you aren't wondering who you're talking with.

[willofjustice]

[This man must come from a very strange world indeed if it has the tendency to split.]

I don't . . . think it split or merged?

[Of course, Amelia's nowhere near a physicist. But she's not even thinking about what he said in that direction.]

omg Amelia! you make my day

[angermanaging]

No, ah, it's... theoretical. It's generally accepted that even if alternate universes exist, there's no way for them to cross over or meet. This should be impossible.

[He was really just talking to himself, and he sounds a little awkward about having to explain it. Bruce hasn't been in a position to do that for years.]

[Video right back at you Bruce// a secure line with JARVIS encription]

[the_other_eight]

[She noticed the fact that he didn't give his name and plans to respect that by keeping this to a secure line. All the same though Bruce gets a smiling and professional Pepper Potts (which is impressive since she hasn't been smiling much since Valentine's day).

Pepper wasn't here for the last time that Bruce was, and 'technically' all she knows about him is what's been shown on the TV and in articles. Also what Tony has said about him of course.]

Under the circumstances it's a pleasure to see you Mister Banner. I'm sure Mister Stark has already extended an invitation to work at Stark Industries current base of operations.

As for questions ask anything you need to know and I'll do my best to answer them as completely as I can.

[Video// a secure line with JARVIS encription]

[angermanaging]

[Bruce greatly appreciates the effort toward secrecy, even if he's starting to realize it's pointless. He'd still like to keep things as private as he can. Being treated so professionally is weirding him out a little, though; it's been a long time since that happened.

For his part, it takes a few long moments for him to place where he knows her from. Bruce doesn't watch the news that often, but he'd have to be deaf and under a rock to miss everything that was happening at Stark Industries. He comes up with her name eventually.]

I have so many questions I'm not sure where to start. Though, uh, thank you for the welcome, Ms. Potts.

He did offer, and... I guess I could start with, what has the company been doing here? You can't have all the resources you do at home. [It's said with a slight questioning note, as if he's not sure he can trust even basic logic right now.]

[video]

[suoxi]

I suppose it would depend upon the work you are looking for.

[video]

[angermanaging]

I've done a lot of different things. [A moment's pause as he realizes he can be at least this honest--] By training I'm a physicist, but I've been taking whatever I could get for a while. A lot of menial labor.

... Though if there's anything I could do to help with the food shortage, I'd like to.

[video]

[polyhistor]

[Oh Bruce. Have you ever seen a grown man sparkle? Because Reid is doing his damndest to impersonate a twilight vampire over here.]

I've actually been thinking about that since my arrival, and I Einstein and Hawking were on the right track. Of course it's entirely theoretical and I haven't been able to apply it situationally to the specific scenarios present, but a colleague of mine-- [Don't think about Will. Don't think about him.] was here briefly, and he was from a later point in the 'timeline' than I was, knew and had experienced things I had no knowledge or memory of.

Eddington's asymmetry appeals precisely because it encapsulates everything that humans fear about the passage of time. It exposits that the 'now' is the single most important moment. But if we were to apply relativity to time itself, and assume that all time exists concurrently, then the idea that we come from multiple times is no more ludicrous than the fact that we come from a variety of different worlds. Even though the many worlds theory isn't practically compatible with temporal concurrence, I think we're in the unique position to have actual fundamental proof of contradictory boundary conditions.

And, um, I'm not sure I'd call this a world-merge, per se. Since it's only us as individuals that have been brought here. It's more of a sort of... transdimensional refugee camp.

[video]

[angermanaging]

[Bruce is not used to this kind of enthusiasm at all, and is nonplussed for several long seconds. He blinks at the message, but he does listen and nod in the right places along the lecture.]

Somehow I don't think Hugh Everett was thinking of transdimensional refugee camps when he derived the Born rule, [he quips,] so I can't blame the theory for not holding up.

I'm not usually a huge fan of the ekpyrotic model, but being here is making me reconsider. If we assume that the collision of two branes began the universe, then it's a little limiting to assume that the branes touched in only one place, and created exclusively ours. It's possible that the collision met more like two waves, and each point of contact created another instance.

[He stops abruptly and realizes that he somehow got caught up in verbal theorizing, which isn't something he's done in years. Granted, he hasn't had anyone to theorize with, but it's a strange feeling.]

Applying relativity to time is a good idea, though, [he finishes.] At least... it makes me feel a little better that this might not be against all the laws of physics. [He gives his characteristically wry, self-deprecating smile.]

[lostundercover]

Now's not a great time to be looking for a job. The city's on rations and people are.. unsettled. If I were you, I'd try Bruce Wayne or someone like him and keep your head down.

[angermanaging]

I've been hearing about that. It looks like someone from home is here and offered me a position -- I got lucky.

Who's Bruce Wayne?

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[squint]

Unsure about the superglue. We're rationed at the moment.
You seem like quite the intellect.

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[angermanaging]

Heard about the rations. Wasn't sure about relative technology level available.

Could say that. I try not to brag.

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[usavatar]

Dr. Banner. Welcome aboard. [He's seen some of the other conversations and is going to TRY HARD not to treat Bruce like he knows him. Even though he does.

Which is sad and a little painful.] Is there- how are you settling in?

[Right, he should introduce himself, probably.] Captain Steve Rogers. I'm an associate of Mr. Stark's.

totally not too late video; Avengers; 100% JARVIS-assisted encryption

[angermanaging]

[I'll say that this is happening after his conversation with Bucky, not to mention Tony and Pepper, so he's gotten all the info already. It's okay, Steve, Bruce is well on the road to accepting everything.]

No, I... I know who you are, Captain. [He runs a hand over his face briefly, but when it lowers he has a small, wry smile.] I think I've gotten the hard parts over with. Not that I'm not thankful for the, uh, delicacy. [It's just a little too late, he's already had his mind blown four different ways.]

Gotta say, it's a little strange to be meeting you. Given everything. [He'd read plenty about Captain America once he'd realized what Ross's program was really after, but he'd never thought he'd meet him.]

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[tendnottoweep]

[ Have a calm, friendly, professional smile, Bruce. Because that's going to put you right at ease. Okay, really nothing will, but she can hope this will go better than their actual first meeting.

Having a screen between them and no actual threat of SHIELD hanging over his head will probably help. ]

Dr. Banner. I see the others have already filled you in... extensively, but if you have any questions I can answer, I'd be happy to. My name's Natasha Romanoff; I work with SHIELD.

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[angermanaging]

[If Bruce knew what happened at their actual first meeting, he'd be sharing her hope. As it is, not having SHIELD there as an immediate threat does make a big difference. He's just suspicious instead of outright provoking.]

You're one of the... superspies? [Since everyone else Bucky mentioned is accounted for. Also, that was literally the word he used; Bruce doesn't default to words like 'superspy'.

He pauses for a moment, but heck, why not, he does have one question.] You probably won't want to answer this, but am I right in assuming that SHIELD's been keeping track of me this whole time?