one | audio; un: j.doe (go tell the world that i’m still alive)

[bamboozlement]

[this new voice is a little gruff and a lot to the point:]

Who wants to tell me which of these domes has a gym?

[meet jason todd, a guy who uses his fists to solve most problems, including his own brainspiders. he’s decided it doesn’t seem entirely fair that this place healed up all of the injuries he sustained back in gotham before his arrival - jason sorta thinks he deserved that broken arm, thanks. maybe if he’s lucky, he’ll end up with a sparring partner or two and a fresh set of bruises.]

Comments

audio: un: justaaron

[dadenergy]

[He's right about one thing: Aaron doesn't recognize his voice. Of course, having just woken up from a dream in which 6 years passed, he's still working on sorting through a lot of the memories of this place, of yesterday, and the ones he collected in his dreams.]

The Rec dome is your best bet. [There's a brief pause.] J.doe, huh? You're new. I can understand wanting to maintain your anonymity, I can assure you we're not going to use anything against you. We probably can't. Not many of us are from the same worlds. [Another beat, as he lets that sink in for a moment.] I'm Aaron.

[bamboozlement]

[anything can be used against you, by anyone, and jason’s shorter on trust than his usual short amount, after what happened back in gotham. i was a fool for ever believing in you, bruce said, beating jason’s face in, and jason couldn’t even argue with that. he was a fool for trusting in bruce’s belief in him, for believing that he could could play by batman’s rules and make a difference, for thinking the family he’d cobbled together with artemis and bizarro would last.]

It’s kind of an inside joke. [because he died, get it? and all record of jason todd no longer exists. so that means he doesn’t exist. hilarious, right?] I wouldn’t read too much into it.

[but refusing to give his name would make him an immediate target of suspicion, which is one thing jason doesn’t need in this weirdass place, so.] Jason. Thanks for the tip - I could use a good workout.

[dadenergy]

Right. [It's possible, and Aaron doesn't know the kid. He's met people with sicker senses of humor, after all. Not all of them were funny, either.]

Welcome to the Sphere, Jason, for what it's worth. [There's a beat.] Yeah, keeping sharp's important. Here, it's easy to forget that sometimes. I could show you if you like.

[bamboozlement]

[he never forgets about the importance of staying alert and on his toes. that would be an excellent way to get dead - again.]

Is that dome hard to find?

[dadenergy]

No. Just take the tram. It's one of the ones that never moves.

[But he can respect when someone would rather be left alone.]

Tell you what, Jason. I'll answer any questions you may have about this place, or I can let you go. That's fair, too.

[bamboozlement]

[jason is pretty used to being left alone - that’s how he’s lived most of his life. and keeping to himself is probably for the best, he thinks, because look what happened to artemis and bizarro. look what happened to roy. anyone who gets close to him ends up hurt or hurting him.

but this aaron guy’s only trying to help. it’s weird, someone else trying to help him, but jason feels a tug of guilt for his standoffishness when aaron offers to leave him alone. letting a guy show him to the gym isn’t going to hurt anyone. probably.]

Waking up here’s kinda disorienting. [which is as close to an apology as jason can muster.] Some of the domes move?

audio - un; angel

[unknownmoirai]

[The voice that replies back to him is sweet and undeniably feminine.]

Why do you want to know where a gym is?

[Asks the person who's never set foot inside a gym before.]

[bamboozlement]

Because I’m in need of something sturdy to punch, and I’m guessing there would be a few complaints if i put my fist through a wall and made a hole that let the water in.

[unknownmoirai]

There are many walls to punch that don't have water on the other side.

[A beat.]

I can introduce you to them.

[It's hard to tell if she's joking or entirely serious.]

[bamboozlement]

I may take you up on that, if I can’t find a good punching bag.

[is he joking? could go either way tbh.]

[unknownmoirai]

The offer won't expire.

[She likes to help when she can.]

I think we can find something for you to punch.

[She is totally not joking.]

[bamboozlement]

[jason makes a quiet sound that almost could be considered a laugh.]

Trust me - finding something to punch isn’t a problem I’ve ever had.

[inthewink]

Like for Working out?

[bamboozlement]

[dryly:] Nah, the other kind of gym.

audio un:pnwsalex

[11calls]

[Yeah, she sounds a little amused.]

J.Doe, huh? Unfortunate name. There's one in the rec dome.

[bamboozlement]

Yeah, I know. I didn’t really have a say in what my folks picked out, though.

[which is true, though not true for his chosen username.]

Thanks. I haven’t come across the rec dome yet, obviously.

[11calls]

Do you want some directions?

[bamboozlement]

Might not be a bad idea. Don’t suppose there’s a map hanging around somewhere?

[11calls]

The network will show you one if you want to see one, it's normally the best way of getting around. Kinda like a GPS in your head.

[bamboozlement]

[interesting. he tries it out, and ... ]

... That is both creepy and invasive. People here are OK with this setup?

[gristle]

There's one in the rec dome where I spar with Ubbe if that's the kind of gym you mean.

[bamboozlement]

Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant. You any good at sparring?

[gristle]

I think so. I’m getting better anyway.

[bamboozlement]

How long’ve you been at it?

[gristle]

Four months.