polymods: (Default)
polymods ([personal profile] polymods) wrote in [community profile] polylogs2021-05-01 03:00 pm

Destination: Carcosa

POLYMYTHOS: CARCOSA

Carcosa


Ⅰ. THE TEMPLE
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island's harbour is full of other ships, although not a single one of them seems to actually have a human being aboard. (You could certainly try to steal one, but doing so is an exercise in futility - you will find that even if you set off into the ocean you will wind up right back in the harbour again after spending a few hours lost in the fog.) Beyond the harbour is a glittering city of glass and gold. Curving arches and sharp geometric lines are the hallmarks of the architecture - an art deco paradise that whispers of decadence and hope for the future.

The people who crowd the streets wear suits and hats, drop-waist dresses and furs. Their faces are all blank smiles. It's the roaring twenties, darling, why do you look so concerned?

If it is your first experience of the Endless Isles, you have access to the High Temple. Should you wish, you may also seek out the island's own temple as well, which is located inside the city, in a district mostly forgotten by the residents. Don’t worry - your feet will carry you there.

The building is not large, and it is old and neglected. It has a domed ceiling, with panels of glass crisscrossed with metal painted gold curving upward. Whatever fine pattern may have formed there is lost to time; the glass at the centerpoint of the dome is gone, letting in the smell of the sea.

There are rooms equipped with beds spreading out like a spiderweb from the middle of the building. The temple proper is of course in the exact center, below the broken dome. In the middle of this circular room you will find dead branches gathered together to make a vaguely humanoid shape. This crude figure has been haphazardly painted yellow. A slab of concrete sits in front of it. There is not much to explore here; it is very quiet.

Either temple is a good place to simply rest, or meet some of your fellow Travelers. The High Temple of course has the Temple Chef and its usual Guardians, Flock, and Lantern.

The Island Temple has its own Guardians, which are small, pale humanoids with perfectly blank faces and small antlers like young deer. They will leave you alone unless you try to meddle with the central room. Doing so will result in one of them approaching you, and you will find yourself falling unconscious on the floor.



Ⅱ. THE MASQUERADE
Through happenstance, you find yourself in an enormous ballroom. Low couches are dotted everywhere, and a live band plays somewhere at the end of the massive space. A long bar takes up one side of the room, bottles sparkling under the light cast from the many cut-glass chandeliers hanging overhead. Champagne flows freely, and the scent of gin pervades the air.

All of the attendees are wearing masks.

You're dressed for the occasion, of course - you will find yourself wearing something reminiscent of 1920s America, with a small yellow sigil of some sort pinned to your breast. Ask any of the guests about it and they will tell you, "ah, it's a secret." You too, of course, are wearing a mask. You did not pick this mask, but if you look in the mirror hung over the bar you will find that it nonetheless hints at some aspect of your personality.

Which would be all well and good, except that you can't take the bloody thing off.

Moving around the ballroom, you will discover that a few other people also have the yellow sigil pinned to their clothing. It probably shouldn't surprise you that these people are all other Travelers, equally unable to take their mask off.

No, you can't unmask until you share something with your new-found friend: a secret. A REAL one, the sort you'd never speak aloud.

Of course, you can choose not to share. If you choose that route, however, you'll find that the mask is fusing with your skin. Leave it on past midnight when the cries of "UNMASK! UNMASK!" begin, and it will simply become your new face for the duration of the month.



Ⅲ. THE PLAY
Maybe parties aren't your style. No fear, there's plenty more to do and see in such a wondrous city. There's a theatre - the Meliora Grand as a matter of fact - and perhaps you're just the sort of person who would like to take in the arts.

The theatre has plush seats, and fabulous electric sconces lining the wall. Once you take your seat you'll find yourself looking at the stage, where a blood-red velvet curtain hangs. The theatre doesn't seem to fill up - indeed, it really seems that there's only you and one or two other people there. Curious.


The lights go down and the curtain is drawn open, revealing... well. Not much.

There are two chairs on the stage, a table between them. On the table lays a pallid face: a mask. Just a mask. Why not go on up and take a closer look?

Should you choose to touch the mask, you will feel a deep urge to speak to whoever else is in the theatre. You will, in fact, feel the desire to act out some sort of emotional trauma with them. Perhaps they suddenly look like your mother, your father, a lover who left you. Why don't you tell them how you really feel?

Naturally, you can both just sit in awkward silence instead. You'll be waiting until the morning to be let out, if that's the case.



Ⅳ. LOST CARCOSA
CW: the undead.
You find yourself walking along the beach at night. Along the shore the cloud-waves break, and black stars rise above you.

You can't quite pinpoint when you realise you are no longer alone. Maybe there is only one other person on the beach with you, or perhaps a few; you move as one down the expanse of sand until you realise there is something laying up ahead of you.

There is a heap of yellow cloth there, dry and tattered with age. It smells faintly of spices. Nestled among it is a jewel-encrusted human skull. Its empty sockets compel you to sit down in the cool, bone-white sand, to sit and speak to those around you about loss.

Everyone has lost something important to them. A person, a thing, a place, an aspect of the self. Something that's gone and you're never getting back. The skull grins endlessly, endlessly, encouraging you to speak about something you may not have laid to rest.

You can resist this compulsion. Maybe you were never good at sharing. Refuse the skull's silent request and you may continue down along the beach, or perhaps head back the way you came. As you walk, however, you will notice that there is a fog rolling in. It comes in off the sea/sky, obscuring the beach until you can barely see.

It's a terribly handy cover for the corpses that are shambling out of the surf. Wet, bloated, with eyes that glow a dim gold, they head for you silently. They wish to drag you back with them, into the depths. Better hope you can outrun or outfight them.

Bonus: What's that? You want a Carcosa playlist? You've got it, babes!


Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

kyley_b: (RL_KB_06)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-12 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
He looks at her, with very serious hazel eyes. "Yes. I'm worried about that."

He studies the mask a moment later, and then mutters, "fuck it," before he touches it.

His eyes go distant immediately. He looks at Saxcise and clearly he's seeing someone else as he says, "I can't believe you nearly got your whole family killed just so you could feel superior, Dad."
grayshulk: (pic#12883352)

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-12 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Jennifer looks at Deadpool's ScryWatch with its wavering colors and looks down at her own with its flash of warning yellow. And it makes sense to her in a way she has absolutely no ground for. "Neat trick. Seems like a way for you to keep yourself from jumping in all the way yet. Be all the other versions of yourself but the one who's in the moment until you decide if you're willing to be invested. But that's me assuming you influence it, if only because I'm remember polling the jury for your trial, and I know for a fact people are willing to judge you. Listen to me now."

She settles the mask down on a table for a moment before picking it back up. It's mostly useless, but she doesn't have much of her own here.
kyley_b: (RL_KB_1)

[personal profile] kyley_b 2021-05-12 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
"A really stupid one," Kyle says with a sigh.

"But there were robes and everyone shaved their heads, so they had that whole erasure of individuality thing down."
grayshulk: (pic#12883334)

content warning for mention of abuse

[personal profile] grayshulk 2021-05-12 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
"That's gallant." She offers a smile that might translate a little around the eyes if she's really lucky but mostly carries through in tone as she goes quiet to listen to his secret.

It certainly helps to explain why Carter handled meeting her in another form and state of being with grace. There's an unfamiliar ache of empathy when she connects with why he might want to keep those powers secret and the ways they would connect with loss and pain. She isn't used to thinking of her own abilities in that framework.

"Thank you for trusting me with this. None of that experience sounds like an easy thing to go through." She pauses. "It's not a secret that I'm one of the Hulks, but maybe there's a little comfort to being sure, given the context?"

But that leaves her trying to find her own secret. Something real that can be given to a stranger. "My own abilities are...broken. When I came out of the coma, it was already bad because of whatever weird missile they were trying out, but then I found out that one of my good friends killed my cousin because they thought he might lose control. And that he had been found innocent and justified in court. Everything just broke all at once."

She reaches up to test the mask, then lets her hands fall down, not sure if she wants to know if that was enough.
kneecaptain: (31)

[personal profile] kneecaptain 2021-05-12 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bucky's dealt with aliens— there was that whole Skrull business not too far back— but it isn't his wheelhouse. ]

I dunno. Could be from Mars.

[ It's a joke, right? ]
nightschool: (🖋️ 99)

I

[personal profile] nightschool 2021-05-12 09:49 am (UTC)(link)
Quick-witted, they used to say about him, even to the reluctance of those detractors who'd rather spit at his boots than pay him a compliment. Well, he doesn't feel all that quick or witted at present. It's all too much too soon--the sudden waking, the inhuman being on the boat, demands and requests and unverified promises--before finally the High Temple with the power throbbing in every timber and stone.

His hair is a wreck from repeated passages by his fingers. He'd been in a disordered way before ever leaving the familiarity of the world behind, a toy top in a spin, but now it feels as though he's careening at double the speed just waiting for a wobble to set in.

He had thought to follow one of the shadow guardians into the dining hall, still somewhat unsure if they're outside of his head or in it, but after losing sight of it upon entering had stopped instead to take in the rows of empty tables in need of filling. His wits aren't all gone; anyone can see the amount and variety of people to fill them speaks to an immense facility for marshalling forces.

The door opening behind him reminds Kit he hasn't moved from where he'd stopped, and he turns to look, immediately glancing to the matching robe. "Oh." Faint. Rasping over a note of disquiet. "Not another of those things, then."

Maybe that's a good thing.
medeiun: ᴍᴀʟᴀɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ (pic#14830123)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's a concern that whatever spell the skull emits might have ensnared the girl too powerfully for her to be reached — but thankfully, she seems to come out of it, looking up at Maleficent. The dark fairy stares intently down at the blonde's eyes, as though studying them, trying to see if the thing's affected her physically or not. Sometimes magic gets in, turns one's eyes an odd colour or shows itself beneath the skin.

Perhaps she was able to stop whatever this is before anything unfavourable could happen. ...Or perhaps this is only a temporary lapse. Maleficent will try to coax the girl further away from this display. ]


I am from Earth, [ she answers calmly, eyes still intently studying the girl. ] Though perhaps not your Earth. Is there magic where you are from?
vladpire: (Default)

[personal profile] vladpire 2021-05-12 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"I suppose there's a little irony there on your end, mm? One who doesn't rarely travel winding up so far from home?" Allow him his moment of dark humor, Benedict. There was so little for him to laugh at.

A moment, and a slight dip of his head in an acknowledging nod. "Forgive me. There is nothing wrong with not having cause to leave one's home. But here we both are, far from where we were."
medeiun: ɪᴍᴀᴋᴇʀᴘɪᴄᴏɴs (pic#14876274)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Those questions are ones that Maleficent's been asking herself. Why are these beings testing them? What are their reasons, their perceptions? What is the end goal of all of this? ]

I do not know, [ she answers honestly, sharp eyes moving to the stage yet again for a long moment, to gaze upon it. She can't feel anything strange from the display, but perhaps she's standing too far away. ]

Perhaps killing us is not their ambition. Some curses can do worse than kill a person.

[ Her face tightens slightly, some memory of a thing, a wound, there in her. It's her deepest regret and a guilt still, what she had done to Aurora. What evil she had created from the depths of her own soul. ]

I know of curses where one only has to touch an object, and then will suffer a fate worse than death.
medeiun: ɪᴍᴀᴋᴇʀᴘɪᴄᴏɴs (pic#14876258)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maleficent's eyes flash with an anger that is certainly misplaced; this man has done nothing to warrant it. Yet at the core, her anger stems from disliking, distrusting humanity in general, and she does have her reasons for that. ]

Is that really where your concern lies, in this place? We may be sacrificed to some goddess or god at any moment, and you are speaking of— socks? Is that what you called them?

[ ...Clearly, she doesn't trust their hosts at all, or know what socks are. Her kind don't use them... ]
neverwither: (A happy curious girl)

[personal profile] neverwither 2021-05-12 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Cynicism isn’t a trait Chloe usually hears being attributed to herself. Normally she would protest but, in this situation, it could indeed be healthy. Nice as it would be to bumble along and take everything at face value, she can’t quite bring herself to do so. All the positive chirp she can muster doesn’t take away the lingering feeling of unease.

Story of her life, really. A good chunk of it, anyway.

"Those could be reason enough," she agrees. "Or because they can do all of this, I suppose." Chloe has plenty of experience with powerful figures doing things Just Because. And whatever has brought them here must be more than a mere bored mortal.

Relieved her rambling hasn’t induced eye-rolling, Chloe takes her hand so she can shake it. "Delighted to meet you, Jennifer. It’s a shame it isn’t under better circumstances."
libertalia: (15 - UePCQY1)

[personal profile] libertalia 2021-05-12 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
( ah, yes, he loves being chastised by his little brother. he takes a breath, releases it slowly, as if he's actually considering listening to nate for once. and maybe he is, briefly, but it's quickly outweighed by the gold lighter in the window that seems to be calling to him. look at it, it was meant for him. )

Come on, Nathan, what's the worst that could happen?

( remember that part where he got shot and spent the last fifteen years in a panamanian prison? literally nothing could be worse than that, not even an old-timey 1920s lockup. not that he intends to get caught — he's not exactly itching to go back to any kind of jail anytime soon, but he feels like the odds of getting away with petty thievery are more in his favor here. the police are in the mob's pocket and sam knows a thing or two about how the mob works. they'll be fine. )

Those lighters back there'll last a week, maybe. ( which could be a guess that's totally off base considering he's basing this on how modern lighters work. he's not exactly a historian of cigarette lighters. ) I'm just thinking long-term here. Next place we end up may not be as flush with goods.
libertalia: (68 - HFgzSzR)

[personal profile] libertalia 2021-05-12 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
( if they had to reveal their trauma, sam never would have gotten the damn thing off. that shit is kept locked up in a box and buried in the middle of a deserted island no one even knows exists. he's sure as fuck not about to bust it open for a total stranger — but, sure, divulging some of his shadier past? that's whatever. nathan still doesn't need to know about it, but it's not like it'll hurt telling someone he just met.

he takes a drink of the gin that's been generously offered to him, tipping the glass in kyna's direction in something like a toast.
)

Shitty jobs, mostly. ( not that he'll elaborate on what kind of shitty jobs those were. ) This was the 80s, Boston. I'm not that old.

( you know, just in case she was under the impression he worked for the mob during the height of the mafia back in the 20s and 30s. of course, he certainly looks the part now. )
libertalia: (47 - 7wYwnTo)

[personal profile] libertalia 2021-05-12 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
( alright, okay, he can see she's clearly very worked up about this, so he lifts a hand in an almost apology, not quite deferential but he is backing off a little from being a complete jackass. )

I mean ... ( he downs the rest of his drink, shoving the glass aside to start in on the other. he holds out the newly filled glass, as if he's waiting for her to toast with him. ) A secret.

( and whether or not she decides to clink her glass against his, he'll take another drink anyway, nodding almost solemnly to the mask still on anne's face. )

Only way that thing's coming off your pretty face.
spoilers: (distance:  expectant)

[personal profile] spoilers 2021-05-12 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
River offers a small smile in return. She isn't upset by her words. "No. It's alright." She gives another gentle shake of her head. "You aren't wrong."

But a question has been asked, and she guesses, it isn't an unreasonable one. "Yes. It was like...being in a simulation."
spoilers: (face:  patience)

[personal profile] spoilers 2021-05-12 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Far too curious (and stubborn) for her own good, the more something screams to be left alone, the more River wants to investigate it. The only way they could make it more tempting is to put up a sign saying, 'Do Not Touch.'

"Strange, isn't it, that they'd want their abductees to feel comfortable?" Frankly, it makes River more wary. She doesn't trust those feelings, never has. "It does make one wonder what they have planned for us."
neverwither: (You can tell me all your sins)

[personal profile] neverwither 2021-05-12 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"You're very kind." Chloe figures she's given enough reason for the other to put her in her place. There's a beat or two of silence before she shares something of her own. "I know a man a little like that." Said purely to serve as some sort of explanation for her remarks, not to steer the conversation away from the woman's story.

"But it was safe?" she ventures. "I mean... There's a difference between being alive in some form and living but... You were safe?" A tight lipped smile follows soon after. "Please tell me if I'm prying too much."
medeiun: ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛɪsᴛs (pic#14828228)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maleficent's expression, usually so guarded, as though something kept behind a mask (....despite being literally behind one at the moment), shifts into a rare and open bewilderment, her eyes widening as the other woman tugs her skirt upwards and hoists herself right up onto the bar. The fey jerks her head backwards to avoid being kicked with a heel, her wings giving a very ungraceful flutter of surprise behind her, jutting outwards a bit (possibly knocking any passerby over, she doesn't pay attention to that).

What is happening. Unsure if she's more stunned or appalled, she's just staring widely at the other woman as she proceeds to start making herself quite at home behind the bar counter, chatting away as though nothing had happened. Maleficent takes this opportunity to fluff herself up, ominously, wings extending outwards a bit as she rises to her full height, chin tilted back so that her eyes are looking downwards. Disdainfully. ]


I am quite certain I haven't had the fortune of ascertaining any information about you. Though I'm sure whatever secrets you hold would be..... entertaining. [ Her tone couldn't be dripping with any more sarcasm, because even through her surprise, Maleficent manages to be venomous. It's a defensive mechanism, in its way; the unknown is greeted with thorns, prickly and razorsharp. ...In this case, the unknown is a blonde masked woman parkouring onto the bar and being friendly to her. ]

These masks are obviously secured with magic. Something so simple as a secret couldn't possibly remove them, [ she adds, still glowering. ]
extrasensory_problems: (whuuu)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-12 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
The mention of being in a coma combined with the murder of her cousin causes Carter to start badly, it isn't exactly the same but it is similar enough to some of the other things in his past that it makes his stomach drop. He instantly wants to give comfort in some way to her but doesn't want to over step her boundaries, especially since she just mentioned that her abilities are broken. An unwanted touch might be too much and could cause her to change, which probably isn't what she wants at the moment.

"Fuck Jen, I am so sorry." He says, "That's... a lot to wake up to."

He pauses and then offers her his hand, "You don't have to take that off but if you feel up to it I'd like to go and find us the fucking fanciest and strongest drink they have. Because we earned it."
extrasensory_problems: (baseball_smile)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-12 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Endless Isles - it's for Lovers.
And horrible monsters....

Carter smiles warmly, "Yeah it sounds like bragging but she was the best mom. Although I guess everyone says that about their mom...."
extrasensory_problems: (cute curious)

[personal profile] extrasensory_problems 2021-05-12 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice to meet you Benedict. That's a pretty interesting name, I've never heard it before.

[He also hasn't ever really heard anyone who speaks like him before, the accent is familiar but the cadence in which he speaks is very different from Carter's own patterns and slang.]

So where were you from before you got dropped on this weird island?
medeiun: ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛɪsᴛs (Default)

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
The apology further surprises her, something that parts her tightly pursed mouth a little. There is a strange sensation in her to be apologised to — by someone who has done her no harm. Oh, for those who have, Maleficent delights in it like no other. But this.... After a long moment, she finally speaks again. "Do not be. It was forced upon you."

This whole business sits unwell within her: being coaxed here, dressed in something strange, forced to bear a mask of some reflection within one's self. It is far too personal, and she doesn't care for the autonomy it has scooped out from her, the control it has taken away. And she is not the only one.

The girl's stance does register as slightly odd to the fey, though her experience with humankind is limited, at best. She knows soldiers and kings: knows what they look and sound like. Knows their brutality; their movements are loud and abrasive. And then there is Aurora, who is the complete opposite: as soft as a lamb, but who is very uninhibited, a creature with a free spirit. She moves with the wind, dances when she likes, sings and laughs and hops about.

This young woman is neither of those things, but rather very poised, very polite, seeming very aware of her own body. There's a stiffness to it, as though she is perhaps uncomfortable. Which would be quite understandable, given what Maleficent is, what she's in fact openly stated just now in regards to her own appearance: she is a frightening thing.

And yet....

'I think your appearance is rather lovely, actually.'

Once again, Maleficent is caught off-guard, blinking once, head tilting just slightly to the side. How..... curious. She studies the girl, eyes holding the blue pair underneath that mask, before she will remark, a bit more softly. She thinks not of any hurt regarding how she may be perceived, but more... how her appearance has impacted Aurora. There are those who see the girl as wrong, strange, due to her closeness with the Mistress of Evil.

"Indeed. Though I do not expect much more from them." Them, as though they're a category different from herself. Maleficent gazes out at the crowds of chattering, dancing people, before returning her eyes to her new companion.

"Have you attended many events such as these? I am not experienced."
medeiun: ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛɪsᴛs (✦ — 𝟎𝟐𝟎)

Ⅰ. THE TEMPLE

[personal profile] medeiun 2021-05-12 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Maleficent can find no peace in this place. There are too many people, too much closeness. Mostly she lingers in shadow like a lurking creature: watching and waiting.

But eventually even she too must rest, though she is wary to become vulnerable here for even an instant. The dark fey moves quietly along the row of beds stretching out from the structure's center, in pursuit of a nesting spot that feels as comfortable as it possibly can. She's a tall, imposing figure: large horns curving upwards from her head, and long feathered wings sweeping behind her. But she steps lightly on bare feet, making hardly a sound.

She is passing near a bed when she catches the scent of blood, and quickly turns her head towards it — there, leaned over, is a young woman. A cloth is pressed to her face, and her eyes water with blood as well. The fey tenses, sharp gaze glancing quickly around to see if any others will assist the girl, but they are further way from her position; perhaps they have not noticed.

After a long moment of hesitation, Maleficent moves a little closer, coming to stand in front of the girl's bed.

"Are you in pain?" She announces her presence in a quiet voice, but one that is not warm: cold to the touch, like the side of a stone kept in shadow, not exposed to the sun's rays.
what_fourth_wall: (Eh!)

[personal profile] what_fourth_wall 2021-05-12 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hey man, who doesn't love a good dick joke?? I mean, that was pretty low hanging fruit there, but that's never stopped me from fondling it before."

He looks out over the beach. It looks so perfect for a moonlit walk with gently crashing waves. That was, after all, what had drawn him out there. One wouldn't think it of him, but Wade very much enjoyed solitude sometimes. All the time, actually. But that was another of those secrets he didn't tell at the masquerade.

"What? Oh. Kind of. I've got a few kaiju. Also a wolfman, a blob monster, a kraken thing, a thing that teleports you around by barfing you out...it's a whole medley of the who's who of monsters, and the who isn't, and the who you never thought of. Or...I had them. In a different life."

A pause. "Is it just me, or do you have the perverse urge to go back to the beach and see if it's still a shit show that we just can't see from here?"
what_fourth_wall: (jaw drop)

[personal profile] what_fourth_wall 2021-05-12 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Startled, Wade's eyes jerk to her face and then he quickly looks away. Maybe this was why Jen was such a fascination for him. Calling it a "crush" was probably way too much of an oversimplification. Maybe it wasn't even a crush, but just... She saw him. And as unnerving as that was, it was nice. It was everything he wanted. But it was also everything he was utterly terrified of. Being seen meant someone knew just what a piece of shit he was, like for real, on the inside, underneath all the wacky fun.

"I know exactly who I am." A lie. He had no idea which version of himself he was, but that wasn't something he wanted to say out loud lest he lose his own mask. He never knew which version of himself was the real one. There were so many stories, some horrible, some great, some in between. In some, he had daughters. In some, he had a wife. In at least one he slept with a space hippo and that was a whole thing.

But Jen knew the lie and he knew she knew and that was the point.

He looked at the Scrywatch. "I don't think I have the power to influence it. I tried to kill a little guardian earlier just to see if I could and it just zapped me here. Before I could even finish the title of that prompt option. I think they have their own fourth wall powers. I just think it might be...confused. There's so many versions of my truth, and I access them all, all the time."

Wade looks up. "But I do listen to you. Whenever you speak. I listen."