In Another Life (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

The thought echoed through the link between the Tulinks, though only the one from Erde was directing it at the entire company. thought Citizen,

"I believe Leutenant Wilder's sonic device will be able to power the unit adequately," said the Erde intelligence evenly, as if no suspicion was being shot his way by his fellow teammates. "The only difficult matter is fine-tuning the power source so that no one else is killed in the transitional process, and his unit is precise enough to perform the proper mechanical adjustments," he said, working with copper wires and some spare tubes alongside his counterpart to build an antenna.

"And Cobalt Templar's ring should provide enough stability for the porthole to open safely," added Sharl as if he and his other had been working together forever. As if they'd been programmed that way. "This dimension has a significant number of dimensional guardians. It would be unwise for you to pass this way again," he added, looking up from his work with his counterpart and giving the Erde group a significant look.

[KnightDisciple]

"Stabilize the portal? I'm up for it, but..."

Cobalt Templar shrugs as Inquisitor Hughes rolls his eyes a bit (though it's unclear who it's directed toward).

"How? I mean, I need to know how to shape my energy. I can't just point it to a dimensional portal and say "stabilize this", I don't understand high-end dimensional physics."

"He's got something of a point there. At any rate, if he's stabilizing from this side, would it be helpful for me to stabilize from the inside?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Tulink had a few ideas for where Inquisitor could stand, but the cybernetic intelligence was all smooth servility as he said, "If you and your counterpart will discharge the energy from your rings at the portal as the machine engages, that should provide the final stability needed to maintain the device's power." He folded his hands neatly before him and cast his eyes down, the perfect picture of a loyal servant.

"We have no guarantee that this device will work for you a second time once you have successfully made the transition," added Sharl as he aped his counterpart's tone, if not quite that look of craven...not even surrender, of simply being _nothing_. "But sufficient empowerment from both sides of the portal should allow you to make this one journey. It is unlikely you would be well-received by the authorities of this dimension if you chose to stay."

[Darksider42]

"Sounds reasonable". Lieutenant Wilder said with a now as he unslung his guitar, switched it off and started unscrewing the panel in the back. Working through the wiring, he managed to pull out one of the batteries powering the advanced functions. He was glad he was not completely defenseless without the device. He took the Teleporter and started hooking it into the power source. Meanwhile, Warren watched on. He was still more than a little put off by Sharl and his double. The whole routine was just creeping him out. Thank god this is gonna be over soon...

[Electra]

With little to do besides watch the rebuilding process, the Koshiros once again migrated to one side of the room and began speaking quietly in Japanese. Curiosity was natural in a situation like this, even if it was tempered with some suspicion. "I don't know how close we could really be," Koshiro said dubiously, "if you're from the West Coast, the, um, Co-Prosperity Sphere. I grew up in Detroit, like my whole family."

"I grew up in Detroit too," Koshiro admitted. "After the shame with Grandmother, it was decided that we might do better for ourselves if we served the Empire from outside its borders." The deep sarcasm there was easy for his counterpart to appreciate. "That's why I was tapped for this mission, I already speak German and English, and I understand their customs. Most of them, anyway. And I got in some trouble, they wanted to teach me a lesson..."

Koshiro nodded, though he couldn't help bridling at the aspersion on his grandparents. But in a world controlled by Nazis and the xenophobic Japanese Empire of the mid-20th century, it wasn't hard to see where miscegenation would be a very big deal. "The trouble you got in, I had some too," he admitted. "But it was after Takeshi disappeared. Did he... He didn't have to finish the sentence before his counterpart was nodding, his face tight. "They barely investigated here, didn't find anything about what happened to him. Did they find anything in your world?" he asked curious despite himself.

"The Krauts weren't too interested in an investigation that might turn up a crime of one of theirs against one of us," Koshiro told his counterpart, his own face tight with banked anger. "They marked it as a disappearance, but suggested it was desertion. He added a few choice obscenities, then went on. "Aside from the symbols in the room-"

"Symbols? What symbols?" Koshiro demanded, leaning in with sudden urgent interest.

"There was a ring of symbols," Koshiro explained with some surprise, "On the floor of the room where his things were found, the same one where I found the book. They were written in soot or something, but the police took photos before they were wiped away. The police didn't think they meant anything, graffiti or some crap, but I know they mean something. I haven't been able to find out what, though."

Koshiro listened to the recitation, hardly breathing, hardly able to control his own anger. "They "didn't say anything about symbols here," he told his counterpart, voice low and intense. "They said they found Takeshi's things outside the abandoned building, not in the room with the book."

"But that's stupid," Koshiro pointed out, his brow furrowed. "Takeshi would never go into a building without his gear, he was too smart for that!"

"I know!" Koshiro replied, his voice abruptly rising to nearly a shout. He forcibly brought himself back under control. "It never made any sense. Either they were just lazy or they were lying about something, but the story never rang true. I couldn't prove a damn thing." He looked over at the others, at the work that was nearing completion. "Do you remember what the symbols look like?" he asked his counterpart.

Koshiro nodded with great certainty. "Burned into my brain," he told the other. Taking a sheet of paper and a pen from his pocket, he quickly sketched a circle of crude symbols, then handed them over. "I've looked into it however I could, but that sort of research is not exactly sanctioned where I'm from."

Koshiro took the paper and scanned it eagerly, but the symbols meant nothing to him. "Nobody's going to stop me here," he told his counterpart. "Someone's got to know what it means."

"Maybe you'll be the lucky one then," Koshiro replied sardonically. "Maybe you'll finally get some answers. It's not going to happen for me."

"There are ways around any block," Koshiro told him. "You just have to find them. Ask Tulink," he suggested impulsively. "He can help you. Find something he wants and get it for him."

"Tulink?" Koshiro repeated incredulously. "What could it even want, it's a computer program!"

"Maybe you're not looking hard enough," Koshiro replied cryptically. "Worth a try, right?" Noise from the center of the room drew both of their attention, and suddenly the time for chatting was over. "Anyway, good luck with the search."

"Yeah, you too." The Koshiros nodded curtly at each other before returning to their respective teams.

[KnightDisciple]

The two Hughes men nodded in sync at the instructions, before stopping and giving each other sidelong looks. They then returned to their own conversations for a few moments while the last steps of work were completed.

"So. Um. Mom and Dad still kicking around in your world?"

His double blinked at the random question, then spoke cautiously.

"Yes. Are they not...around...in this one? What about Catherine?"

"No, they're still around, they got some jobs out here in Freedom City. Who's Cahterine?"

"What do you mean, "Who's Catherine?"? My, our, sister."

CT stared blankly at the Inquisitor for several moments before answering slowly, uncertainty in his voice.

"I don't have a sister. Never did."

The Inquisitor frowned, then shrugged.

"I would wager our worlds are different in many ways, Mr. Hughes."

"Somehow that feels like an understatement."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl thought to Tulink as the electronic teenager lined up with his equally-dimensionally-displaced masters. Sharl was no fool; he knew how incredibly difficult what he was promising was going to be. But he was Sharl Tulink, Citizen of Tronik, and that meant he'd defend his people wherever they were. And punish those who'd been hurting them.

thought Tulink bleakly as he watched that impossibly lucky version of himself take his place alongside his friends. Real, actual human friends.

And with that, and one last eruption of light and noise from the teleporter, the castaways from Erde were gone.