shatterverse | (no subject)

"Yeah, exactly. The sun's another way to get it. There are a lot of ways, but the sun is one of the easiest. The problem is, a solar power cell just lying on the ground can't get as much sunlight because of all the air in the way. So somebody built a ring of them around the Earth up above the atmosphere, where there's no air between them and the sun, and the orbital elevators go from that to the ground. They keep it in place and make it easier to send things up and down-- people, power, machines, whatever."

"Cool," Ai-Ling decides, although the concept is a little beyond her. "We have people who get energy from the sun, which they can turn into fire."

Conversational. They've been at tentative peace Ai-Ling's entire life.

"Yeah? What, by thmselves-- no, uh, gadgets?"

Now that's interesting.

She shakes her head. "It's called Firebending. We have Earthbenders and Waterbenders, too. My sister in-law's a Waterbender. It's more useful because she can heal."

"Huh. Okay. Nothing like that where I'm from."

Ai-Ling shakes her head, indicating that she hadn't expected it.

"I think it's unique to my world, but I don't know why."

"That's interesting. I wonder what's unique to my world that I don't know about."

"Orbital electricityvators?" Ai-Ling suggests. "I never heard of them before."

"Could be. I don't think I've met anyone else who's heard of them, either."

"There you go, then!"

Ai-ling's sitting down now, letting the salted meat warm up under her eye.

"That's your world's thing. Every world should have one."

He takes another bite of apple.

"What's this world's thing, then? The flashes?"

"Guess so," Ai-Ling says. "I guess some worlds just pull people into them."

Worlds plural. Not that she's experienced it.

...Now that's intersting.

"Worlds? You mean there's more that do that?"

"I think so," Ai-Ling answers. "I met some people at the farm who've beento other worlds."

She's deliberately not telling him something, but it's not important.

He lets it go. It can't be all that vital, right?

"I guess the real question is, what makes them do that?"

"No idea," she says cheerfully. "Wish someone did know, then we could go back."

"...I'm not so sure I can."

She's silent for as long as it takes (not long) to dish out the meat and hand him a hunk. It'd been pre-cooked, and now it's just warm.

"Why not?" she asks gently.

He takes it and holds it. Apple in one hand, meat in the other.

"When I flashed in it was right out of the end of a battle. I lost."

The shrug is a tiny movement of his shoulders, barely there at all.

"Another few seconds and I think I'd be dead. That's not the kind of thing you really go back to."

"Oh."

She nods, understanding and sympathetic.

"Then this place is a new chance for you."

"I guess so."

Neil half-smiles and takes a bite of his meat.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

That's not said out of sympathy. That's testing the waters to see if she's allowed to ask questions.

"Sure."

"Who were you fighting?"

Venison goes well with apple; Ai-Ling combines them in her mouth.

Now there's a good question.

Simplify, he decides.

"The man who killed my family."