the times they are a'changing

[retropolis]

WHO: NELSON GARDNER and YOU
WHERE: Around the City! Locations specified.
WHEN: January 28th - February 2nd
WARNINGS: Will edit if needed.
SUMMARY: Nelson copes with the unpleasant surprise of arriving in faux-New York almost fifty years in the future the rational way: varying levels of hysteria and despair.
FORMAT: Tagger's choice.



It wasn't often that Nelson's asthma acted up -- not noticeably, not for years -- but he had been having on-and-off hyperventilation attacks of increasing severity since he arrived in this... wherever he was. He coughed and gasped and the pain in his chest seemed to tell him (scream to him) that whatever this was, it at least wasn't a hallucination. He knew plenty about pain, after all, and you didn't feel it from simple fantasies. That knowledge didn't help his confusion any.

In a way it was both everything he wanted and everything he didn't want all in one (hah) breath. A team of heroes could protect the world (a team of the right heroes), but what good did a whole city of them do? How could they do more than stumble over each other and cause more problems for themselves and everyone in their paths? It was tactically clumsy, at least from Nelson's perspective. More than anything it was overwhelming. How could anyone stand out this way? But that was a selfish thought. He was old and he was out of shape -- really, if he hadn't been obsolete already this seemed like the final nail in his coffin, and the worst of it was that this city looked like every social ill Nelson could imagine multiplied by ten; where was he? What had happened to New York? Just looking at the communicator in his hand perplexed him. It was apparently some kind of combination telephone and walkie-talkie, which was already beyond his comprehension.

Get ahold of yourself, he coached himself, willing himself the confidence to stand up straight again and walk steady until he could find somewhere to sit, or someone that could help. Of course he could do this -- with his USMC experience, he could do anything if he stayed alert, confident, optimistic… and strong. He was going to put his best foot forward and try to meet this situation with all the dignity he could muster.

Or if not dignity, at least steady breathing.

( I can be contacted on PM or plurk if further planning for any thread is wanted. Obviously most of these scenarios are pretty flexible; I'm open to location changes and/or time jumps occurring (e.g. they meet at coffee, then go to a movie, or the tag-in doesn't occur directly after the specific moment the set-up implies but rather an hour later) after the initial set-up unfolds, or if someone else has tagged and using a different time of day or slightly different (but nearby) location makes more sense. Tagging multiple days is also totally fine if desired! )

Comments

[retropolis]

[ Nelson nods in agreement. ]

I take it you're like me. Out of time. [ From... he doesn't know, but, it's certainly closer to what Nelson's used to than this, surely. ]

[invoking]

[ More than he'll ever know. ]

Something like that. I'm not sure what my world will be like in over one hundred years from now. It might not be like this country at all. [ Maybe Americans are different from... whatever they're called in PH. ]

[retropolis]

[ Nelson raises his eyebrow. ]

What country are you from?

[invoking]

[ Insert... some possibly French-sounding country name haha canon hasn't somehow clarified that... cries... ]

It may be um, England in this world? I'm not too sure myself how the geography lines up at all.

[retropolis]

[ He frowns a little, having no idea what that means. ALTERNATE UNIVERSES.....,, ]

I might of guessed England, but I didn't want to assume. [ He's just going to go with the easier way of thinking about it. Gil u crazy. ]

[invoking]

That's alright. Everyone here assumes I'm from that place or a tourist, but I'm not sure we get many of those from England anymore. [ He shrugs; he doesn't exactly keep up with tourism here. ]

[retropolis]

I was under the impression you got types from all over. The nature of the beast and all that. [ He means the Porter. ]

[invoking]

ImPorts anyway. [ Gil nods, looking at Nelson again. ] Not just humans; ghosts, aliens... [ It's still so unreal for Gil. ]

[retropolis]

[ Nelson stares at him, eyes widening a little. It's unreal to him too. ]

What? [ He smiles a little like he's being kidded. ] You aren't serious, are you?

[invoking]

[ He can only rub the back of his head sheepishly. ]

It's hard to imagine... but there are people here who aren't human. People who can use magic or fly without wings. [ This guy seems so... normal. In a way, it's a slight comfort to someone "ordinary" like Gil. ] Then there are those who aren't...

[retropolis]

[ Nelson frowns, looking at his hands and feeling very much the way he'd felt when he'd first heard about Dr. Manhattan, who could walk through walls and see the future and dozens of other things Nelson couldn't wrap his mind around. People like that just didn't belong in the world with people like him, he thought. It's a slight comfort to him as well that Gil seems so down-to-earth. ]

Normalcy seems to be a dying breed nowadays.

[invoking]

[ Can't the same be said back home? He used to live a decent and quiet life before Oz fell into the Abyss. Everything since has been chaotic. ]

I suppose it's what the Porter wants... heroes.

[retropolis]

Those aren't heroes.

[ His lips tighten in a line, then he decides he should amend his statement slightly: ]

You don't have to be "super" to make a difference.

[invoking]

[ He looks taken aback by Nelson's firm stance on all this. He hasn't met many people who would insist normalcy is fine and that it's possible to do what's right without the... whatever it is many others have. ]

That's true, I guess.

Does your world not have these "superheroes"?

[retropolis]

We have one.

[ His tone is a little stern but also a little begrudging. He doesn't bear Dr. Manhattan ill-will or anything, just, how do you compete with that... ]

The rest of us are just normal folks.

[invoking]

Just one? [ That's odd, he thinks. ] Ah, well... we have none.

It's the duty of those who work for the law to catch criminals.

[retropolis]

Just one with powers of some kind. Some... radiation accident, I never understood it completely.

Oh, we have law enforcement as well. The heroes are there to add a little extra man-power to the cause.

[invoking]

Sometimes, it's more trouble than it's worth. [ He presses a couple of fingers to his temple at the thought.

[retropolis]

Well. [ He can't argue with that, really. ] Sometimes it is, yes. That's a decision a person has to make for himself. Especially around here.

closing bracket where did you go...

[invoking]

Not everyone will make the wisest decisions here. Unfortunately the Porter brings in criminals, too.

[ Still bitter over HABIT? Always. He's half determined to find him at this point. ]

it ran and hid

[retropolis]

[ That, of everything, sounds the most natural to Nelson. It makes some sense, at least, even if it gives the whole arrangement a more perverted feeling; like they're being pitted against each other purely for someone's twisted amusement. He shrugs half-heartedly. ]

The heroes do need something to fight against.

[invoking]

[ There is that... ]

It just seems so... illogical. Counterproductive.

[retropolis]

I can agree with that. Might as well just leave us all to our normal lives, in that case. [ A little sardonically: ] Someone up there's playing a game with us.

[invoking]

[ If he's making a reference to God, that bit flies over Gil's head. Godless heathen. ]

Perhaps there is someone controlling the Porter.

[retropolis]

[ He's not necessarily. THIS IS A GODLESS PLACE... he looks at Gil, surprised. ]

How could there not be?