savetheearth | [network/action combo; march 7th, late afternoon]

[ Well, hello. A flood of posts of various mediums is not what Daniel had been expecting when he relented to jotting his Number on his smartphone's notepad app. As he waits for a waiter to bring him a box to take his leftovers home, he scrolls past the video posts and skims the text posts, trying to make sense of what sort of forum he's stumbled upon. Debating the pros and cons to taking the bus or hailing down a cab to his new apartment has been temporarily put on hold.

Through one of the posts from another "newbie", Daniel finds Mordin's FAQ post.

"a string of numbers that you cannot forget", yes.

"discovery of a new memory", yes -- wait. Memory?

"observing civilians will see blank pages or device equivalent." Daniel casts a glance around the pedestrians and other loiterers, then returns his attention to his screen.

Corrupt policemen? Ah, that's nothing new. "Police willing to execute teenagers (video evidence)", though -- what in the world? Not something he's willing to watch in public, even with that tidbit about civilians seeing a blank screen.

He continues scrolling. He's barely into the timeline when his blood goes cold.

"evidence suggests family killed and house burned down by Vincent Albero."

By Vincent Albero.

He continues reading, but with greater intensity, more interest. A hint of trepidation. The earthquake in December -- that had made national news because of how unexpected it had been. That had been related to this- this Number? This 'memory'?

Hell. Like many others, he first instinct is to turn tail and run, but he hasn't got that option.

He silently frets over this new information as he packs his food, pays his check and waits for his change. He nearly forgets to leave a tip, and in fact makes it several tables away before remembering and hurrying back to shove the bills under the condiments. He spends the next ten minutes taking shelter from the light rain beneath an overhang and wondering if he should stop by a store to boost his stock of cheap wine.

No. No, he'd rather just go straight back.

He looks down at that link again, the video link to Paul Ben's death. He swallows.

He opens his keypad and thumbs in his Number. Lifting the phone to his ear, he glances around before speaking. ]

[ voice ]
[ Just above a whisper: ] Hi there. [ He glances around again. No sign that the people around him have noticed. A little louder, then. ] On old Olympus' towering tops, a Finn and German viewed some hops...

[ Another quick glance about and-- no? Nothing for that, either? (Those who are going or have gone through medical school might recognize that as a mnemonic for the twelve cranial nerves.)

He lets out a shaky sigh of relief. ]

That proves that, I guess.

[ He sucks in a breath. ]

Well, then. I've got a question. Does anyone remember knowing a warrior named Thor? Like the god of thunder from Norse mythology, but not... exactly. Or- or a frozen wasteland. Blue giants with the power to freeze?

That was my 'memory', my... 'Echo' or 'Pulse.' What I find most peculiar about it, though, is that I remember fighting-- fighting against these giants with knives and magic. Have any of you remembered the same? Doing something so... astonishing, but completely unfathomable? I just-- I can't imagine doing any of tha-- oh! Oh!

[ action, open to one party ]
[ There's a woosh of indiscriminate sound as Daniel drops the phone to his side, rushing to hail down a taxi before it passes by. In his haste, he collides into another person and staggers backwards.

It's a Numbered person.

Of course, he doesn't know it and they wouldn't know he's one, either, but here's a hint: he's dropped his phone and while, miraculously, it hasn't shattered, the phone call was ended. Thus, the app behind it is the one in full view on the screen and that happens to be the notepad window with a bunch of Network posts on it, easy to see.

At the moment, Daniel's more concerned about damage control on the person he rushed into. ]

Shit-- sorry. Are you alright?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He covers his mouth, mulling over Thorir's answer.

So he's been on the wrong track. It isn't 'why', but 'why not?' An intangible network of communication, memories of previous lives, magical powers, and Daniel is wondering about the language used in them?

He sighs and lifts his hand in feeble concession. ]

Looks like I still need to work on expanding my mind.

Your experience with all of this... Would you consider it negative or positive?

I would not have wished it upon myself and those that I hold dear, but it is better to know of it since some of them are on it, some much longer than I've been. [Though he only learned of Killian being his nephew after knowing that he was on the network - not through it, though, so it can't be said that he would not have learned about that otherwise.

Still, between friends and family and friends of the family, so many people that he cares about to some or other degree...]

Those memories can be more than troubling, though. It is not positive.

[ As Thorir speaks, Daniel tenses and holds his breath as an Echo reverberates inside of him. A red-haired woman in black questions him through a glass-like barrier.

He's on the inside of it.

The memory is short, fifteen seconds. After it ends, Daniel briefly closes his eyes, shakes it out of the forefront of his attention, and scrambles to remember what Thorir had just said. People held dear involved. Troubling memories.

Not positive. ]

What of the power? The skills and abilities not found in this world?

[ The memories are intriguing, but the powers more so. ]

Some get them, and some don't.

There are those that can do magic or turn in other beings, but there are also those that get little more from their former lives than heightened strength or glowing eyes.

[He looks at Daniel sharply at that, trying to judge where the question came from, what the approach behind it is.]

[ The scrutiny is palpable. Daniel brings the side of his finger to his lip in thought. ]

Even heightened strength can help stop a war... if it is war. [ He makes a vague, sweeping hand gesture. ] This situation between ourselves and the parties mentioned in that informational post.

I hope that it is no war.

[He doesn't remember as much war yet as he will in ten days, but the little that he already remembers doesn't make him want to see more of it.]

But it might well become one.

Would you be ready?

No. We do what we can, but I don't think there is an actual "readiness".

At least here, the pulses may make things easier instead of harder in the long run.

I hope so. I've gained nothing useful thus far.

What have you gained?

Only 'memories' of a hostile, frozen wasteland and a woman speaking of mountain kings.

Of "mountain kings"?

[Sure, their worlds don't seem to be the same, but combinations of mountains and kingdoms, or kings, still ping him.]

'King of the mountain' to be exact. [ He waves his hand in front of him dismissively. ] The conversation is gibberish to me.

[ It... isn't, but the implications of it are not ones Daniel wishes to share. ]

[Thorir nods, and then frowns faintly - the familiar vertigo of a pulse is hitting him and he starts to open his mouth but halts the motion. No, it's different, the same time it was different with Gabriel - not of, not over. Under. It's always "under the mountain".

King under the mountain. Thorin was king under the mountain. King of the last of the great dwarven kingdoms of Middle Earth, before it's ruin...

And Fíli - his nephew - was his heir. Does that mean Thorin had no children of his own?

There is a pause here, a silence that follows Daniel's words, and it stretches, as Thorir's thoughts race at the implications of this tiny pulse of a title.]

[network/action combo; march 7th, late afternoon]

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