Through the sea of sand (Open)

[Roger Smith]

Erik leaned forward slightly, nodding his head at the Kid's words. "Ah, excellent; then it was not entirely inhospitable! That is always preferable to the alternative, I find." His lips curled up in a mischievous expression, as if he knew or wanted to say more than he was letting on. "But, oh, hohoho, my, what an interesting world you must come from, to have such colorful-sounding beasts!" At the mention of what a dataverse was, Erik tilted his head to one side, lifting one hand to idly scratch at his cheek in confusion. "Ah...forgive me. I forget how often things I take for granted can be so foreign to new arrivals." He tapped at his chin for a few short moments. "Consider it another verse, much like any other, but composed entirely of information given a tangible, visible form. That is as close as I can put into easy words. It can be accessed from most locations, with a compatible device, and is useful for a great many functions."

"Time moving at its own whim most certainly is a rather distressing thought. I have always concerned myself more with the particulars of Space, personally; but Time is equally as important. One cannot very well tell someone to meet them tomorrow and not arrive until three days later, thanks to differing time rates." He laughed at this point, as if he had personal experience with that. "I suspect there is some rhyme and reason to time's strangeness here in this Omniverse...but I have not found reason to look into them. And as for people..." He shrugged with both hands, an open gesture of complete cluelessness. "I'm afraid i haven't the foggiest. You could guess right, or you could be grossly over or under estimate."

He left it at that, listening to the Kid's dilemma with an intent look on his face. "Well... I can certainly understand your plight, my young friend," he said after a moment. "But I imagine you needn't worry too much... While the particulars and specifics are no doubt different enough to put me at a disadvantage, I have some experience jumping across universes and timestreams." He paused for a moment, looking as if fond memories were playing about in his head. "...let us assume you were to find a way to return home. There is, of course, the possibility that every moment here is just as much time passed there. But imagine if you will, you were to return, and find that only the space of an eyeblink had passed in your home. You hadn't really ever been gone at all!" He steepled his fingers together before his face, a chuckle of amusement that bordered on outright sinister bubbling up from his chest. "It is fascinating to consider, when your mind turns to that possibility, is it not? I have no proof one way or the other...but I advise you to not stress over the possibility of the former, and hope for the latter. It is, after all, precisely what I do, myself. And I am thus quite content with my lot here."

"But I do encourage you to look as hard a you can. Omni is not quite impossible to reach, though it most certainly will not be easy. With your determination, I've no doubt you could manage it!"

He turned his head to take in the sight of Alex, and merely inclined his head slightly in a half-nod. "Ah, and please excuse me for the delay...I merely grow so caught up in my musings sometimes, it is hard to keep track of my surroundings." He gestured lightly in the affirmative at Alex's question of smoking, and produced what looked to be an old-fashioned desk alarm clock out of the folds of his long coat, and seemingly checked the time. "Ah...I suppose I have time, yet... I will gladly answer what I can!" He stowed the clock away again. "This Verse we stand in, fittingly enough, is known as the Endless Dunes. I would wager they are not, in fact. entirely endless, of course. But hyperbole does often make for much more fluid and easily-envisioned descriptors."

"There are a number of settlements within the area. The Town With no Name lies but a few miles away, and much closer by you might find the town of Carrefore. I personally dislike all this sand and spend little time here, so I cannot say much more than that...but I can also advise caution when roaming the dunes, as you are likely to come across rather unsavory sorts of characters. Bandits and psychopaths, not to mention all manner of wild beasts that would love to kill you." He paused, before his lips spread wide in a deranged grin and he had to cover it with one hand, barely suppressing the giggle of dark amusement that came with it. "....or worse..."

"As for differences between Primes and Secondaries, well..." He paused again, tapping his chin with one finger in thought. "My, oh, my....I suppose I could tell you that...it isn't exactly a secret." He lowered his gaze back down and held up one hand, palm upward. In short order, a small bubble of raw Omnilium started to coalesce. "This is the primary difference...Primes, summoned by Omni himself, can use omnilium. They can summon things with it, improve their own abilities, and many other tasks. Secondaries, however..." He closed his hand into a fist, and the liquid-looking bubble of omnilium shattered like glass, flowing back up his sleeve rather than just dropping to the sand below. "...cannot." He shrugged with his opposite arm. "It's really just that simple."

"Of course....there is one more thing..." He steepled his fingers again, looking intensely thoughtful. "Primes may be resurrected, should they be killed...and simply awaken several days later back at the Fountain, in the Nexus...so long as they continue to 'interest' Omni." The uncharacteristic frown flitted across his features again. "Secondaries will not. They remain dead if they die."