queenofheartsrp | Urbanite Lost, day 1. [internal monologue & video communication]

Urbanite Lost, day 1. [internal monologue & video communication]

[Together we will build. In this setting? Reeve hasn't ever really believed in any kind of afterlife, but she guesses this might come close for her. At least at first glance. Not that she believes she's really dead. There are miles of Midgar and scores of failsafes between her office and the Sector One reactor. Though the Shinra Times is almost eerily fast and thorough, there is no word yet on the extent of the damage to the residential blocks in closest to the reactor, or how many lives have been lost. Not that she knows of, anyhow. She sighs, thinking that if she were having some sort of hallucination, she might at least be able to enjoy it. Instead, she's standing with her bare feet in the grass of wherever she is mourning an unknown number of the people of her city. Terrorists, the Times had said. She doesn't understand the destruction. Isn't there a better way? There must be.

Not a hallucination then. Not the afterlife either. What, then? She checks the front pocket of her trousers and finds her mobile. Which is about as responsive as a brick. No signal. No recognizable power or communications structures. She looks down at her feet in the grass and wiggles her toes, which seems to gain the interest of one of the cats wandering close by. She smiles. She hasn't been anywhere like this since she was much younger. They'd lived in the country then. Just the three of them, mom and dad and Reeve makes three. The phone in her hand is useless, but her grip tightens on it anyhow. Even if she could call Ruvi now, what would she say? "Hello, Mom! It's me. I have no idea where I am. Except it's a sort of garden and I saw a real fox and there doesn't seem to be a way for me to get home. At least not yet." Maybe it's just as well she can't call.

Call. She was going to make some calls, reminding herself to keep calm. Cait had been somewhere in the building and she'd thought of calling him back to the office, for moral support, but she hadn't. Apparently, there hadn't been time.

Two things there seem to be plenty of here are time and cats. So for the moment, she resolves to carry on. It's easy for her to recall the written instructions regarding the use of the vine, and the technology does look interesting to say the least. If this is a hallucination, it's an extremely elaborate one. In preparation for her debut, she redoes her ponytail and finishes doing the buttons on her dress shirt, which she leaves untucked. She folds her necktie and slips it into her back pocket. What the hell, this is probably about as casual as Friday is ever likely to get. There.]

(video)
(A woman of something below middle-age appears in view. She has a olive complexion and wears a plain white dress shirt with the collar open. Her dark hair is held back in a simple, low ponytail. At first she sounds distracted, as though she's talking to herself, which she is.)

Haha, is this thing on? Well, even if it were, I wouldn't know how it came to be on. Looks about as likely as anything else, really-- and it's not as if I'm above taking instruction from a cat, after all. All right, here goes.
Ah, for anyone who might be listening, I'm Reeve Tuesti, of Shinra. I'm not sure what I'm doing here, or how I came to be here. Or why the communications set-up seems to be cat and plant based, but yes. Here I am, at least for the moment!

(She pauses, sounding a bit more serious.)

Is anyone there?

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[Her mouth is open again. There's a moment before any words come out of it, but it's not a very long one.]

You-- it really is you, isn't it? But I thought-- but you're alive, and you're a-- well, you're a woman, aren't you! I don't know how that happened, but it's certainly a change! Ah, you look well-- and I have no idea what to say other than it's good to see you, sir. In spite of the part about the unknown captor. And--

[She takes a step forward, realizing that she intends to shake Sephiroth's hand. Which she suddenly wants to do very badly, because that would mean that this is real.]

[She considers Reeve's reaction and her words. You're alive. That sobers her at once. Then she realizes that Reeve is attempting to shake her hand, so she offers it to her.]

As I said, I am Sephiroth. [She nods again, taking little notice of Reeve's pleasantries.]

You're familiar with a male Sephiroth? [This does not surprise her. Tifa told her about her male self. She explains to Reeve.] Some of us come from alternate worlds that are very similar, but with slight differences. In my world, I have always been a woman, and you are a man.

I take it that I am also dead, in your world. [So is this Reeve from Tifa's world? Her reaction is so different, but then, she is from Shinra.]

She can't recall having shaken the General's hand before. He did hold an elevator for her once, but sharing an elevator is not a handshake. The Sephiroth's hand is strong and cool. Which seems right, somehow. In fact, outside of the fact that the General is a woman, he--no, she seems much the same. Tall and pale, with terrific posture and eyes the color of Mako.
She breaks the handshake, which was perhaps a little long.]

Yes, yes you are. Sephiroth. Ah, I mean "yes", that you certainly seem to be Sephiroth, and that in my world you are a man. Or, you were. No one at Shinra knows where you are for certain, but you've been missing in action for five years now. The president declared a national day of mourning, and they hung a black banner on the building for a month. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, but in my world you're very much missed.

[She smiles, feeling a little awkward now-- but that's never stopped her before.]
But you know, I've always wondered if such thing as an alternate reality could truly exist. I couldn't be more pleased to find out that it can and does. Even if being spirited away from my own reality without warning wouldn't be the way I'd choose to make that discovery.
So, I'm a man! I know it's vain of me to ask, but am I still head of Urban Development?

Missing in action? [That is preferable to death, although it is very puzzling. She has never received so much as a minor injury in combat. A mysterious disappearance, a day of mourning...] Was there another war?

I believe I must come from an earlier time. In my time period, I am not yet a general, and the Wutai War is still ongoing. You are older than the Reeve I am familiar with. He is the designer of the Mako reactors and highly influential in the construction of Midgar, but he does not yet possess that title. I have no doubt that he will, just as I will most likely be promoted to general.

Yes, these alternate realities are a fascinating discovery, aren't they? I have met people from so many different worlds here. I never thought such travel was possible. Though I too wish we'd made this discovery under better circumstances.

Edited 2011-03-29 23:12 (UTC)

[She wishes she'd tempered her reaction a bit, but it really couldn't be helped.]

So do I, Gen-- what should I call you, if not "general"? If you'd rather I didn't call you general, that is. In any case, no, there hasn't been another war since the conflict in Wutai. I wish I had some explanation for you. It's true I'm an executive, but they don't tell me everything. [Her smile is a wry affair.]] "Missing in action" is the extent of what I know officially-- and unofficially, too. At least it was.

Whatever world or time period you're from, it's good to find you here. Today has been very strange all around and it's nice to see a familiar face. Even if it's one I wasn't expecting to see. [She smiles, not at all wryly.]

It's good to know I'm pretty much myself in your reality. With a few key differences, of course. So you've met others here from other worlds? That must mean you've been here for a while. What can you tell me?

You may call me Sephiroth, or simply sir, if you don't feel comfortable addressing me by name. I would rather not be referred to by a title I have not yet earned. [She is still unsettled by Reeve's news, but the Sephiroth in her world does not seem to have done anything like what Tifa has hinted at. Not that Tifa is someone she can truly trust.]

Thank you, Reeve. [She nods, finally acknowledging a pleasantry.] You're the first person here I have recognized, as well. [She would have preferred to see Angeal or Genesis, though she will not say that, but as far as Shinra employees go, considering the possibilities--Reeve is one of the best she could have hoped for.] I'm pleased to have someone else from Shinra here.

I have been here a little more than a month. I have been gathering intelligence for most of that time. I know a great deal. Do you have any particular questions you'd like answered?

[She returns the nod, smiling. This Sephiroth isn't so different from the one she knows. Knew. It's reassuring somehow.]

Sephiroth it is, then. I understand. As for questions, I can think of at least a few dozen right off the top of my head, but I'll try to pace myself.

Any idea who our mysterious captor is? Or his motivation in bringing us here? Speaking of which, how many people exactly am I including in that question?

We have no shortage of time in which to discuss matters. I will do my best to answer all your questions.

Our captor is a being of unknown origin who purports to be female and refers to herself as the "Queen of Hearts". [She hesitates. The matter is slightly more complex at the moment.] She has recently been overthrown by her servants, but I'm not convinced that that was an actual event rather than a deception. This place can be quite misleading.

Apparently, our reason for being brought here is twofold. The Queen wants us to build, and also wants us to engage in romantic relationships with each other. [From Sephiroth's tone, it's clear that she considers the romantic part completely ridiculous.] There are a fair number of us here, all female, but it's difficult to get an accurate count, as the number fluctuates. Certainly more than seventy-five, I'd say.

Oh, does she now! Well, that is certainly a large complement of ladies. Women. Yes. "Queen of Hearts", I see.
[It's not that she's a prude, but she's never imagined being invited (or kidnapped) to some sort of-- erotic garden of women. If she ever had done, she'd have bet that General Sephiroth (in any form) would have been an extremely unlikely inclusion in such a scenario. She can feel her face heating slightly, but it's hard to tell when she blushes, so she makes a go at laughing off her reaction.]
Well, this is certainly the strangest reason I've ever been pulled away from my work. And since you know Shinra, you know just how strange strange reasons can get.
Yes. Well, building is more my line. But I don't usually do it under duress. Has there been very much of that? Duress, that is?

I know Shinra very well. [She smiles faintly. It is pleasant to have someone here who understands such things. Tifa and Aerith might be familiar with Shinra, but if so, they do not talk to her about it.] You are right.

There has been no duress, in the sense of physical compulsion. Although the simple fact that we are being kept here against our will is duress enough. We are also exposed to various dangers and odd situations in what seems to be an attempt to cause us to band together to combat adversity and thus form stronger bonds.

[Sephiroth sobers, then.] As I said, I will allow no harm to come to you.

[If she had been harboring doubts, they'd be long gone. The person speaking those words couldn't be anyone but Sephiroth.]

Thank you. Sephiroth. I don't doubt it. [She smiles.] I've got a feeling that the "various dangers" I might run the risk of here weren't exactly covered in my Executive Self-defense Training class. I know "bonding" wasn't, though considering the temperaments of some of my fellow board-members, I don't think it would have been a success in any case.

So! [She squares her shoulders.] Here we are. Is it all like this? The gardens? I mean, are there any structures? Have you built anything of your own, a place to live?

[She smiles, faintly. Reeve might be from a time period later than her own, but she speaks of things that are familiar.] So Shinra has not changed. President Shinra is still in power?

The Gardens are a strange place. There are structures, but the laws of this world are not the same as those of our own.

I will discuss the matter with you further as we walk. Please, follow me. [She turns, gesturing for Reeve to accompany her.]

[She slings her suit jacket over her shoulder. Carrying her shoes in her free hand, she takes a few quick steps to catch up with Sephiroth. She's still feeling a bit overwhelmed, and she's still quite concerned with events back in Midgar, but this is exciting.]

Ah, yes! Yes he is.

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Urbanite Lost, day 1. [internal monologue & video communication]

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