"The miniseries I watched dealt with these ideas," said Cologne as the little campfire caught. "These others are reflections of ourselves, as seen in the mirrors of other realities. The term the series used was 'Analogues' and they can be very different due to the different circumstances of their backgrounds."
"Huh, don't suppose you've got a disc on the series?" asked Sir Ranma.
"Sorry," said Cologne.
"This stairway is a linkage between various universes, and the doors are the paths in and out," said Yuka-tech, bringing up a display on something like a laptop computer. "So what both our groups need are worlds that are NOT currently caught up in major disasters, right?"
"Yeah, but the ways in and out are discontinuities," said Ku Lon. "Neither my spells nor your technology can penetrate past until we've stepped across. And you saw what happened with THAT one."
"Yes," said Ku Lon, clearly unhappy with the memory. "Spells did not work there at all."
"Was that in the 'target rich environment' you mentioned earlier?" asked Cologne.
"No, that's two doors up," said Ku Lon. "We came down to try the other side, which appears to be the door to your world."
"Which is no good to you because the tech-stuff won't work," realized schoolgirl-Yuka.
"We've got to find at least a temporary refuge," said Sir Ranma. "Vampire hordes and a Splugorth Slave Squad fighting in an area dominated by an Alien Intelligence. Not a healthy situation."
Akane considered a long moment before deciding the obvious needed to be said. "Let's not go there."
"Well, magic not working wouldn't hurt our group," tried Ranma. "What about that no-magic world? What else is there?"
Yuka-tech's display shifted to mark the three doors in the spiral currently explored. Then flicked to show an image. "From two examples, we think the Earth itself remains the same - geographic features will remain mostly the same. I was able to see enough to figure out that the door there exited in Peru. The night sky was clear - so we were able to determine that the time was about two hundred years in a future."
"If we'd exited in OUR Peru, it would have placed us on the other side of the Vampire Kingdoms, but we've allies in that part of the world and could have met up with them," said Ku Lon. "Therefore we'll check the door on the other side past your door and see if that one enters into anyplace palatable."
"In any case, I sent a probe out," said Yuka-tech, holding up a long tube. "Not much in the way of plants, and no animals spotted at all. We'd need more provisions than we have to try and explore, and there wasn't anything to indicate we could replace those provisions on site. Might have been something more than a few miles out, but that's the best range I could do with what I've got."
"Yeah, and even the psychic stuff didn't work right," said Sir Ranma. "If we gotta, we can always send Ryoga to search around."
"I'm a mining Borg armored for heavy combat," said the borg-Ryoga, spreading his hands. "If there's anything dangerous, I've got the best chance for surviving it."
"How about we send someone from both groups into the next one down?" asked Cologne. "A small group would be stealthier than if we all go."
"Well," said Yuka-tech. "As long as electronics work in THAT world, I'm a logical choice. My probes can cover a wide area before I need to bring them back and recharge."
"Fine," said Ranma. "If it's a 'stealth operation' then I guess that-"
"I should go," said Konatsu. "Stealth and reconnaisance are part of a ninja's duties."
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(Posted Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:40)
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