text; computer;

[hotshots]

[It had been one hell of a strange couple weeks for Neil Dylandy. Running afoul of a few scattered members of the Blood Keys at the very beginning of the month was not necessarily that unusual in and of itself, from reports he'd heard. But those numbers, that flash of... memory? That was another matter entirely. Neither were things he could rightly get out of his head.

The past few weeks, then, had been served investigating this "Network." To say it was... suspicious would be putting it in the most mild of terms. If any of it were to be believed, it was something that could change the world. Some videos seemed almost remotely convincing - a horse? Really?! Beyond just your standard viral video crap.

There was still some skepticism, though. He could see that was frequent with newcomers. It probably wouldn't get him anywhere fast, and fast was how he wanted to get to the bottom of things here. He may have been retired from the military, but he still felt some sense of civic duty... There were most definitely some people on here that he would describe as "volatile." If these so called powers were also true - something he wouldn't have even started to buy if not for the Network itself materializing on a damned notepad when he wrote the numbers down on it one day - then... That was sure as hell worrying. So was this nonsense about the police.

Aliens.

...holy shit, there was a lot of kids on here...]

Yo!

So, let me cut to the chase. You don't want a bunch of ooh-ing and ahh-ing over this strange, new, magical network or your so-called super powers or whatever. I can see you get that a lot.

Tried the paper trick, that works, so it's clear SOMETHING weird as hell is going on. I'll buy that much.
I read the FAQ.
Watch out for the cops, I know.
Aliens might be coming to probe us anally. Or have they already started that already?

Either way - all I guess I'm interested in for a start is this stuff about memory pulses. If you knew what caused them, or anything, I'm sure that'd be up here... Well. Somewhere.

So let's try this: Fancy-assed futuristic cockpit. Way beyond anything we've got nowadays, like something out of a sci-fi movie that costs way too much money to make. Also a little too roomy to be a fighter jet's cockpit, but... Obviously I - or whoever the hell - was piloting something, just nothing to tell me what it was.

Maybe a shot in the dark, but... Hey. Work with what you've got.

If you want something to call me, lets just go with "Lockon Stratos" for now.

Yeah, yeah.

It's pretty great.

I know.

[No, seriously.

He legitimately thinks that sounds awesome.]

Comments

[buildyourworld]

I'm never having it purple, ever.

Yeah, right. As if you can shoot all the way up the stratosphere.

[hotshots]

[Okay, there's ANOTHER one. What the hell, man?

A memory of introducing himself to a boy of... probable Middle Eastern descent. A woman, another man, "Tieria," and...

Something out of the corner of his eye. Machines.

Large machines, but he can't quite make them out.]

...apparently I can, if what I just remembered is right.

Love the pink sweater, by the way. Very Mr. Rogers.

[buildyourworld]

Claim is cheap, Lockon Stratos.

Stop slandering my supposed appearance.

[ He's actually a little peeved by the fact that he hasn't been able to see himself in the pulse but this Lockon Stratos did. And he doesn't like a thing that he described about his supposed self. Purple hair? Pink sweater? Seriously? ]

In any case, if we're connected somehow, I want to meet you. I don't quite understand all this pulse matter but if something were to happen, I want to know how to find you other than hitting this network blindly.

text; private;

[hotshots]

[Hm. He hadn't wanted to reveal himself this quickly. It was a decided risk, but... This guy was confirming a lot of things by simply existing. His "memories," and this network's validity...

It was a risk, but no one got anywhere by sitting around, either.]

I'm not slandering anything, man. Just calling it how I see it.

Either way, I guess that can be arranged.

Find Dylandy Auto Repair downtown. You'll find me there.

text; private;

[buildyourworld]

[ Even though he proposed to meet up, he's not actually expecting him to agree so soon but it's a pleasant surprise nonetheless. ]

I don't care. Lay off it.

I'll be free in about an hour. Will you be around then?

text; private;

[hotshots]

I'd better be.

I own the place.

text; private; >> Action

[buildyourworld]

Later.

[ About an hour an a half later, he arrives at the Dylandy Auto Repair with his bicycle. Thankfully, it's fairly well known repair shop and he's able to find it without much hassle. Parking his bicycle by the side of the shop, he slings his messenger bag over his shoulder before walking in. ]

Is anyone here? [ He calls out, wondering if "Lockon Stratos" looks anything like he has seen. ]

[hotshots]

[And he will find, coming out of the office of the shop... he indeed does. A bit older, hair's a bit shorter, but... He looks very much like the man Eugen would have seen in his memories.

As does Eugen, lack of a pink sweater and brown hair aside. He crosses his arm and purses his lips. This is easily the weirdest thing he's experienced in his life, and it's getting weirder by the moment.]

Tieria Erde, I presume?

[buildyourworld]

[ Talk about weird, there's nothing weirder than seeing the person in his memories in person. The slightly older look and shorter hair somehow make it feels somewhat eerie. It's as if he has lived on from his memories. ]

Yes. You're Lockon Stratos.

[ What else is he supposed to say to him? A small frown creeps up between his brows as he rakes his brain for something to say. ]

... [ Pause. ] Nice place you've got here...

[ That's not awkward at all, nope... ]

[hotshots]

Neil.

[He grabs a chair by the front desk and swings it out, plopping himself down into it.]

My name's Neil Dylandy.

[He observes him for another few moments. It was the strangest thing in the world, meeting a stranger that he felt like he knew, if not how. Or whether this "Tieria" was a different sort of person. Still... he had a bit more to prove to himself on this whole matter. There was no sense in beating around the bush, either.]

So, before anything else... lemme ask you a question, "Tieria." [He tilts his head to one side.] What's a "Gundam?"

1/2 Because what is echo land

[buildyourworld]

[ He raises a brow at Nei taking a seat before offering him any but that's fine. He can deal with rudeness, sometimes. What he isn't expecting is the moment he heard 'Neil Dylandy', he gets a brain full of a confidential file.

Lockon Stratos's file. He couldn't make out what's the file for but from what he saw, the name Neil Dylandy is listed under the 'Real Name' category. The remaining of the file has scores of numerous combat related things. Scores that in Eugen's opinion, that qualifies as being too good to be true.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he speaks up with a bemused tone. ]

At least your real name is consistent.

[ When Neil uses his ...other name, he frowns at how ridiculous it sounds. ]

It's Eugen. Eugen Lambert.

2/2

[buildyourworld]

Gundam?

[ He's going to start hating Neil if every other thing they talk about will trigger a pulse for him. Especially when he's already doubtful of the whole situation in the first place.

But yes, instead of being given the chance to tell Neil he has never heard of Gundam, the memory of a huge giant robot crashes into his memory. A grey and white robot loaded with enough firepower against an army that belongs to him.

Gundam.

GN-005 Gundam Virtue.

He takes a few second to recover and when he does, he nods. ]

A really huge war machine... I have one. Had one.

[ Which again, has Eugen wondering just what sort of connection do they share. ]

You too...?

[hotshots]

[He wasn't going to say he pulled out the seat because he's been working on his feet all day and his wounded leg hurts like hell.

Neil watches him carefully. He notes the pause, and nods.]

Yep. Same thing, here.

[He sighs and leans back in his chair.]

Spent a couple tours in the Middle East after 9/11. I'm betting that would have gone a lot quicker with those things.

[He crosses his arms, frowning.]

Eugen, you and me just wandered right into some weird shit.

[buildyourworld]

[ Feeling the need to sit down, he closes the distance between them so he could at least lean on the counter if there's no other chair available. ]

I need to sit down.

[ Adjusting his glasses, he observes the man for a while. It's weird how he could look at a total stranger but feels like he has known him for his whole life. It's strange and kind of creepy at the same time. ]

Military? [ Ah, so that's why he was boasting about his aim... ]

I suppose. But something of that size is going to cost a lot to mobilize, wouldn't it?

[ He frowns too, tightening his grip on the bag's strap. ]

Weird is an understatement, Neil.

[hotshots]

[He just waves at the first comment, and then gives another nod to the second.]

I was in the Rangers. With all this going on, I'm thinking I need to maybe hit up some old Army buddies, and see if I can get hold of an old C.O. eventually. Won't do us much good now, because they'd lock me up like I was crazy, but...

[He looks up at the ceiling, though more than that, he's considering past it. Space.]

Good to think about for the future.

[At that, he gives a small snort.]

The "future." I got the phrase "Gundam" from another guy on the Network. Apparently, he's seen similar things. Also apparently, these things are from sometime in the far future, which... hey. Giant robot. Guess that makes sense.

[buildyourworld]

[ Adjusting his posture so he could be more comfortable, shrug to the first statement since he's not interested with the army beyond engineering scope. ]

I think it's messy enough with the local authorities. I'm not sure if pulling another branch in would be all that helpful.

[ He observes the ex-Ranger, wondering what kind of person he is. ]

The future huh? Weren't we supposed to be reincarnated from our past life? If that was the future, then where does that put us?

[ The future... how much has technology evolved that they are capable of building such gigantic machine that's capable of doing so much? From his standpoint, the Gundam would have been an engineering feat that could easily earn him a Nobel Prize. ]

[hotshots]

At the same time, we won't know until we poke around. If this gets big enough, eventually it's going to involve those branches whether we want to or not... I think I'd rather that be on our terms than theirs.

[He glances back down at Eugen.]

That's kind of the question, isn't it? To just what this so-called "reincarnation" really means. Where the hell this stuff could come from... [Half a shrug.] It feels like something I could lose a lot of sleep over, but for right now I think it's best to just focus on what we've got here and now, eh?

[buildyourworld]

Even considering that, how much leverage have you got that they would let you pull your weight in the matter? Unless you're a commander or someone higher in the command chain, it's not going to count for much, especially considering the sort of troubles brewing here.

[ He glances back, a little annoyed now since it has been a while since he expressed his need to sit down. ]

Aren't you going to offer me a chair?

[ Back to the topic at hand though, he shakes his head. ]

I could fathom a few guesses but they are rather outrageous, not that whatever happening here aren't. It's possible that the aliens we're dealing with or the forces giving us memories and powers are messing up with space time continuum. That would explain the timeline disparity...