11-11-2016, 02:33 PM
Two hours later, and the hopeful expression had long-since given way to a thoughtful sort of frown.
After leaving the fountain, Kelly had taken a meandering path through the seemingly endless white expanse. He avoided people on horses or motorcycles or more exotic vehicles, as he would have to flag them down, and they were likely in a hurry - too small a margin for success there. He gave a wide berth to a gathering that looked like it was shaping up to be a fight over, if he read the snatches of conversation drifting through the air correctly, a sword. This wasn't the time to be throwing himself headfirst into a conflict and the participants looked like they meant business.
The traveler had silently interviewed and rejected several dozen potential sources of information without ever coming near them, before finally settling on a short, thin, bespectacled man in an expensive-looking three-piece suit traveling with a grizzly bear wearing an eyepatch and a tricorner hat. The two appeared to be in animated, friendly conversation, although the bear mostly seemed to be nodding and grunting.
The duo paused as Kelly approached, sizing him up. The well-dressed man spoke first, asking in clipped, precise tones, "can we help you sir? If you intend mischief, I should warn you that in addition to being a nine-hundred pound bear with many razor-sharp claws, my client possesses not inconsiderable magical talents."
Kelly looked at the bear. The bear looked back with a monocular stare. It had the unsettling, square-pupiled eye of a goat, but there was a suggestion of keen intelligence. The traveler nodded and said, "I understand. I don't mean any harm. It's just that I'm new here, you see. I was hoping you could spare the time to answer some questions."
The man in the suit looked at the bear. The bear snorted, shaking itself, and adjusted its hat. The man looked back at Kelly and said, "My client doesn't have a problem with that, so long as they are brief. As his advocate, neither do I. Are you a Prime or a Secondary?"
Kelly blinked, nonplussed. "That depends. What are those?" he asked.
"Were you summoned to the fountain by Omni himself," the man explained, his voice dripping with syrupy patience, "or were you made or brought here by someone else using Omnilium?"
The traveler took a moment to process the implications of that before responding. He hadn't even asked any questions yet and he was already learning a lot. "The first one".
The man in the suit smiled a very thin, very mild smile and said, "Then allow me to congratulate you on your newfound immortality. It must be... nice. What do you want to know?"
Kelly got right to the point. "Everything," he said, "but seeing as how that isn't practical, I'll settle for finding out where all those portals on the horizon lead." The man in the suit nodded, clasping his hands behind his back as though he were about to give a lecture. "You mean the gates," he said. "The gates lead to the various 'verses' that make up the Omniverse. Think of them as... enormously large pocket realities. Each one is quite distinct. For instance -"
He was interrupted by his client, who gave a truncated, rumbling groan and scratched at his furry jowls with one paw. The message was clear: "wrap it up."
The man in the suit shrugged and gave Kelly a very tired look. "I'm afraid that's all the time we can spare. My client is eager to return to our urgent business. I would recommend you visit Coruscant if you want to learn more - it's on the other side of the metal gate with the guards in the white armor. In addition to the public dataverse terminals, they have a quite excellent library, which a prime of an inquisitive bent such as yourself will certainly find most - "
The bear in the tricorner hat roared, and began to walk away.
"Good luck to you," said the man in the suit, and with a slight, hurried bow, turned away to follow his client.
Kelly's mind whirled with possibilities. Immortality and resurrection were, he had the feeling, old hat for him, and sorcery didn't seem like a novel concept either. Magical bears with lawyers was new - but the suggestion that he could summon or possibly create people with Omnilium was jarring for a number of reasons. Was there really no limit on what the stuff could do? How smart was it, that it could fill in the complexity of a biological system? He'd have to investigate further.
And with that in mind, he used his telescope to find the metal gate and he started walking.
After leaving the fountain, Kelly had taken a meandering path through the seemingly endless white expanse. He avoided people on horses or motorcycles or more exotic vehicles, as he would have to flag them down, and they were likely in a hurry - too small a margin for success there. He gave a wide berth to a gathering that looked like it was shaping up to be a fight over, if he read the snatches of conversation drifting through the air correctly, a sword. This wasn't the time to be throwing himself headfirst into a conflict and the participants looked like they meant business.
The traveler had silently interviewed and rejected several dozen potential sources of information without ever coming near them, before finally settling on a short, thin, bespectacled man in an expensive-looking three-piece suit traveling with a grizzly bear wearing an eyepatch and a tricorner hat. The two appeared to be in animated, friendly conversation, although the bear mostly seemed to be nodding and grunting.
The duo paused as Kelly approached, sizing him up. The well-dressed man spoke first, asking in clipped, precise tones, "can we help you sir? If you intend mischief, I should warn you that in addition to being a nine-hundred pound bear with many razor-sharp claws, my client possesses not inconsiderable magical talents."
Kelly looked at the bear. The bear looked back with a monocular stare. It had the unsettling, square-pupiled eye of a goat, but there was a suggestion of keen intelligence. The traveler nodded and said, "I understand. I don't mean any harm. It's just that I'm new here, you see. I was hoping you could spare the time to answer some questions."
The man in the suit looked at the bear. The bear snorted, shaking itself, and adjusted its hat. The man looked back at Kelly and said, "My client doesn't have a problem with that, so long as they are brief. As his advocate, neither do I. Are you a Prime or a Secondary?"
Kelly blinked, nonplussed. "That depends. What are those?" he asked.
"Were you summoned to the fountain by Omni himself," the man explained, his voice dripping with syrupy patience, "or were you made or brought here by someone else using Omnilium?"
The traveler took a moment to process the implications of that before responding. He hadn't even asked any questions yet and he was already learning a lot. "The first one".
The man in the suit smiled a very thin, very mild smile and said, "Then allow me to congratulate you on your newfound immortality. It must be... nice. What do you want to know?"
Kelly got right to the point. "Everything," he said, "but seeing as how that isn't practical, I'll settle for finding out where all those portals on the horizon lead." The man in the suit nodded, clasping his hands behind his back as though he were about to give a lecture. "You mean the gates," he said. "The gates lead to the various 'verses' that make up the Omniverse. Think of them as... enormously large pocket realities. Each one is quite distinct. For instance -"
He was interrupted by his client, who gave a truncated, rumbling groan and scratched at his furry jowls with one paw. The message was clear: "wrap it up."
The man in the suit shrugged and gave Kelly a very tired look. "I'm afraid that's all the time we can spare. My client is eager to return to our urgent business. I would recommend you visit Coruscant if you want to learn more - it's on the other side of the metal gate with the guards in the white armor. In addition to the public dataverse terminals, they have a quite excellent library, which a prime of an inquisitive bent such as yourself will certainly find most - "
The bear in the tricorner hat roared, and began to walk away.
"Good luck to you," said the man in the suit, and with a slight, hurried bow, turned away to follow his client.
Kelly's mind whirled with possibilities. Immortality and resurrection were, he had the feeling, old hat for him, and sorcery didn't seem like a novel concept either. Magical bears with lawyers was new - but the suggestion that he could summon or possibly create people with Omnilium was jarring for a number of reasons. Was there really no limit on what the stuff could do? How smart was it, that it could fill in the complexity of a biological system? He'd have to investigate further.
And with that in mind, he used his telescope to find the metal gate and he started walking.