11-08-2016, 03:42 AM
Kelly stayed at the fountain for almost an hour, and by the time he left he was feeling a lot better about his situation. He may not have had more than a vague idea of who he was supposed to be, and yes, the more he thought about it the more he felt like he'd lost something of infinite value. Balancing that out was the fact that he seemed to have retained a massive reserve of easily-brought-to-mind skills, habits, and knowledge that were working out for him very well so far.
Careful examination of the horizon had revealed seven more doors, evenly spaced in a colossal circle within this strange, featureless space. They were free-standing, and very diverse in their design. Combined with the traffic he'd observed, both coming and going from the portals the door contained, trekking or riding across the ivory expanse on everything from horses to hover-bikes, the conclusion was obvious - he'd been dropped in some kind of a cross-roads.
Many of the people he spotted through his spyglass were armed, and the range of species, weapon types and tech-levels on display was vast. Whatever else this place was, 'peaceful' didn't seem to be it, though a strong case could be made for 'diverse'. That meant allies and equipment were going to be priorities.
The plan then, was simple: Talk to someone, and find out where the doors led. If language was a problem, improvise. If at all possible, find someone to travel with. Most importantly, gather information - once Kelly knew what kind of a place this was, he'd be able to create a more detailed scenario, and he'd know what kind of equipment would be most helpful.
Creating a weapon could wait - going armed was an excellent way to put people on their guard, and Kelly preferred to keep things as relaxed as possible until he'd learned more. Besides, even in his diminished state it wasn't as though he was totally helpless.
He knew he'd done this before, and sense of repetition was reassuring. It gave the traveler a sense of connection to the misty ocean of lost time in his head, and it brought flashes of shadowy recollection.
Arrive. Learn. Plan. Find your place. Survive, establish, observe, and do what you can for as long as you can.
Travel on.
It was a mode of behavior so familiar that returning to it almost felt like coming home.
As Kelly set out into the blank whiteness with no sky above him, he felt a sense of existential frisson, and tried very not to grin.
Careful examination of the horizon had revealed seven more doors, evenly spaced in a colossal circle within this strange, featureless space. They were free-standing, and very diverse in their design. Combined with the traffic he'd observed, both coming and going from the portals the door contained, trekking or riding across the ivory expanse on everything from horses to hover-bikes, the conclusion was obvious - he'd been dropped in some kind of a cross-roads.
Many of the people he spotted through his spyglass were armed, and the range of species, weapon types and tech-levels on display was vast. Whatever else this place was, 'peaceful' didn't seem to be it, though a strong case could be made for 'diverse'. That meant allies and equipment were going to be priorities.
The plan then, was simple: Talk to someone, and find out where the doors led. If language was a problem, improvise. If at all possible, find someone to travel with. Most importantly, gather information - once Kelly knew what kind of a place this was, he'd be able to create a more detailed scenario, and he'd know what kind of equipment would be most helpful.
Creating a weapon could wait - going armed was an excellent way to put people on their guard, and Kelly preferred to keep things as relaxed as possible until he'd learned more. Besides, even in his diminished state it wasn't as though he was totally helpless.
He knew he'd done this before, and sense of repetition was reassuring. It gave the traveler a sense of connection to the misty ocean of lost time in his head, and it brought flashes of shadowy recollection.
Arrive. Learn. Plan. Find your place. Survive, establish, observe, and do what you can for as long as you can.
Travel on.
It was a mode of behavior so familiar that returning to it almost felt like coming home.
As Kelly set out into the blank whiteness with no sky above him, he felt a sense of existential frisson, and tried very not to grin.