Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

[crushed_pearls]

"A verbal description would be -" Beat. "My brother in spare parts are there fucking diseases here?"

[lovinglefthand]

"Yeeeeeees?" Oh no. Ohhhh he hates where this conversation is going.

"Please, please tell me you don't mean to imply you came from a world without diseases." He looks over Erin's shoulder at the crowd of people, several of whom embraced her in happy greeting before, or after, or while eating the townspeople's food or shaking their hands or just standing in extremely close proximity.

If all these newcomers are immunocompromised, then...then...

"We only just managed to reinvent penicillin," he says blankly. "We don't have any anti-virals. Oh. This is going to suck."

[crushed_pearls]

"Buddy I'll do you one better, we've been stuck in a place without basic fucking thermodynamics." And yet she's very, VISIBLY, excited at the news she's just gotten. "Diseases, plants, real animals...Christ it's so good to be back in a REAL FUCKING REALITY! WOO!"

[lovinglefthand]

Erin has managed to do what Hawkeye could not: First Aid slowly lets his face sink into his open palms.

"I'm glad at least one of us is happy," he says blankly, staring straight down the barrel at his worst localized fear: pandemic conditions.

"...Okay." He pulls a deep draught of air through his vents and raises his head, squaring his shoulders. "I'd like you to come back and see me as soon as you start feeling unwell, okay? And please tell everyone else who was in that world with you. It's too late to prevent a possible infection, but we have medicine that can treat the symptoms and help you stay comfortable while you recuperate."

He may need to discuss the construction of a quarantine ward with the mayor. Or would that be an issue for the Safety Committee? He'll ask Miss Breugaire if he sees her.

[crushed_pearls]

"I'm set up with Doctor Pierce, but yeah, I'll pass the message along. I'm resistant to most infections but not wholly immune. God, I get to like, interact. With real medicine again. I can get surgeries that'll actually stick around, fucksake I might be able to get some new eyes, I -"

Beat.

"...I gotta find an OB/GYN..."

[lovinglefthand]

"Already?" That was fast, but First Aid takes it in stride. "That's fine then, as long as you have a personal physician you're happy with. Happily our town pharmacist, Sally Boyle, also provides OB/GYN services to everyone who needs them. And Doctors Pierce, Watson, and myself all have surgical experience, although mine is the most modernized since I came here from 2007." No condescension there; Drs Watson and Pierce do good work. He's just letting Erin know.

"The pamphlet I gave you includes a map showing where all three clinics are in town, as well as Sally's pharmacy. If you have trouble getting to an appointment you can use the phone in the Oak & Iron, and I'll pick you up." Friendly and just a little mischievous, he adds, "I also happen to be an ambulance."

[crushed_pearls]

"...Doctor...how am I going...to use...the map?"

[lovinglefthand]

"...I assumed you could use it to show people where you want to go." Come on, she can't be that antisocial with all the people he saw hugging her earlier. "Even if they aren't familiar with the town, they could still help you get there."

[crushed_pearls]

"...For a minute there I was living in a mental world where none of my friends can see either. I need sleep, fuck me -"

Wait.

"Two thousand seven, you said. Anno Domini?"

[lovinglefthand]

"I think they're trying to switch over to 'Current Era' in the schools and academic literature. But yes, two thousand and seven Anno Domini, February of the Gregorian calendar. Why?"

[crushed_pearls]

"Because my last year on an Earth was two thousand seventeen," Erin answers, all interest. "What's yours like?"

[lovinglefthand]

"Um..."

Oh Erin, you have no idea what you just asked.

"We're not doing too great," he finally admits slowly. "There's, um. There's actually a pandemic of sorts, that affects both organic and mechanical life. My leader's working on a cure, but...I don't really know what happened after I succumbed." He shrugs slightly. "...Sorry. I know that's kind of a downer."

[crushed_pearls]

Erin reaches up to pat the Transformer on the shoulder. "'s okay buddy, I'm hard to depress. Mechanical life though...humans on your Earth built artificial intelligence? And from the sound of it actually passed out basic rights?"

There's such Hope in her voice on this subject.

[lovinglefthand]

"Um, technically? My people are actual mechanical aliens from the planet Cybertron," First Aid explains, a little chagrined that he failed to realize Erin might not know he's a robot earlier. "Our ship crashed on Earth some six million years ago and knocked all of my comrades into stasis. They woke up in 1984 and built me and the rest of my team later that year. Human-built mechanicals are still a little basic, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time until they catch up. In the meantime my people are proud allies of humanity -- we've even had a seat on the UN security council since 1993!"

Cheerfully, he explains, "They had to tweak the charter a little to let us in, since at the time we didn't technically control a sovereign territory. It was a real honor!"

[crushed_pearls]

"...My dude quick question," Erin says very slowly. "Does a big-ass dude who turns into a long-haul truck, rejoicing in the unlikely name Optimus Prime, happen to be your leader?"

[lovinglefthand]

"Y-yeah?" First Aid stares at her with growing excitement. "You know about Optimus Prime? Is he, are there Autobots on your version of Earth?"

She's...probably not from the version First Aid knows, with those big wings. Maybe. Who knows what all went down in that scary cruise ship dimension?

[crushed_pearls]

"Quick question doc, how good are you at tanking an existential crisis?"

[lovinglefthand]

First Aid tips his head slightly to one side, looking remarkably like a confused puppy for a seven foot tall robot with no face. "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt?" he suggests hopefully.

[crushed_pearls]

"Awesome, your entire life is an old multimedia fiction franchise where I'm from," Erin replies Far Too Casually. "My knowledge of Mister Prime can be summed up as 'he's kinda a dad and he dies a lot'. Fights a dude who turns into a gun? Megaton or something."

[lovinglefthand]

"Megatron," First Aid corrects automatically. He doesn't have a jaw to drop open, but his voice manages to convey complete bewilderment as he sputters for a moment and finally asks, "Is it a good franchise? Do people like it?"

He hands start to wring together. "Am I in it?" he asks quietly.

[crushed_pearls]

"I'll level with you, the only Autobot that I recognize by name who isn't Mister Prime is Arcee. You can laugh at my gay ass at your discretion." She pats First Aid on the shoulder, and her voice gentles, tinges with a faint wonder:

"A good franchise though...that's the wrong way to think about it, Doctor. It's a force of nature, ancient and powerful, the stories of your people are everywhere, in every form. High dramas of war and reconciliation, comedies, action movies your fans argue about incessantly -" she pauses. "- don't ask about those - games, toys, merch. The humans of my Earth write children's shows where the Autobots help demonstrate being good people, because kids love y'all and know you're heroes, hell, a friend of mine made Optimus Prime in a drafting program when he took a class on it - engineering, y'know? From our perspective you're so much bigger than life that we can't always do you justice, but I promise, there's people trying again right now."

[lovinglefthand]

"Oh no, that's okay," First Aid says quickly. "Arcee is really cool, everyone thinks so."

He falls silent, though, as Erin continues speaking. His visor flickers slightly, fixed on her to the exclusion of all else. For a moment all his worries fall away, drowned out by the rising tide of wonder in his spark. "They," he finally says, sounding a little choked up for all that he doesn't have the parts to cry. "They really love us that much, on your Earth? We're...we're really that important, even though they only see us as fictional characters?"

He rubs his face, metal making faint clicks against metal before he pulls a deep breath of air through his vents. "All we've wanted, since we woke up in Oregon, was to be good friends to humanity. It hasn't always been easy -- my presence here being a case in point. But knowing there are humans somewhere who love us enough to tell our story over and over...that's beautiful."

Against all logic, First Aid sniffles a little. "Thank you for telling me," he says quietly.

[crushed_pearls]

Erin squeezes his shoulder and silently regrets this choice because First Aid is, unfortunately, still made of steel. Such is life.

"The world is full of wonder and horror," she murmurs. "You're one of the wonders. Unfortunately this is when I add the third category, annoying bullshit. You got a minute for me to drop some mild medical facts, save you hassle later?"

[lovinglefthand]

"Yes, of course." First Aid takes another deep breath to calm himself and then also takes Erin's hand, holding it gently in his much larger fingers. "I always have time for that. What do you need to tell me?"

[crushed_pearls]

"It's nothing too horrifying, just annoying. Here's the deal - I'm gonna show up human to all tests. Blood? Normal. DNA? Normal. Organs? Bet your ass they're normal." Erin gestures to the All Of Herself. "Think I seem normal?"