(no subject)

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Robin
Broadcast: Video!
Action: None!
When: Now!

---

[hey, it's Robin. he's lounging around in his captain's chair, feet up on the control panel. he's twirling something around in his fingers--it looks kind of like a glow stick? it's a glass cylinder filled with some sort of glowing, red liquid.]

Back in those casino stations, I won one of these.

[he stops twirling the cylinder. when he holds it up closer to the camera, you can see that it's capped with silver on one end. the insides seem to be bubbling a little, as if the liquid is carbonated.]

This is a Luxilizer... though most people below the surface just called them Dummy Sticks, as in, you were an idiot if you walked around the lower levels without them. They're filled with a liquid extracted from a luminescent fungus that grows in the caves of my hometown.

[he twirls it again. Robin himself doesn't seem particularly delighted about the thing, he's just casually explaining, perhaps out of boredom.]

They were originally designed as a backup light source, in case a person got lost in the tunnels. It also makes it easier for others to see them. It can get pretty dangerous down there, in the dark...

[after a pause, he grips the glowing tube and smiles at the camera.]

It's funny to me. No one where I'm from would give these a second thought, but I've learned that underground cities are not a familiar concept in most worlds.

---

[PRIVATE TO JASON | TOTALLY HACKABLE, HE AIN'T NO COMMS OFFICER]

Hey, remember me? [waving from his side of the video feed.] Mr. Mean Everything?

Comments

Video;

[justamobster]

[ Congrats, Robin, you get an ultra rare video transmission from Ladon. He holds up a folded clip full of colorful paper money. ]

Not the only one who got somethin' from their world, huh? Yours's flashier and prob'ly more useful than mine. [ But from the way he runs his thumb over the edge of the bills, he doesn't seem to mind. ]

Video;

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Well, isn't this a treat.

[he leans forward in his chair, pleased that he's being graced with said rare video. he's also genuinely interested in the bills.]

Is that money?

[justamobster]

[ He's not sure what the treat comment is about. But he does hold the billfold up so Robin can get a better look at it through the device. The bills are all different colors and depict various scenes that could be recognized as Arthurian in nature by anyone familiar with the mythos.

He sits back then and thumbs through it, a wicked little smirk on his face. ] Yeah. Lise, from my world. Ain't that much here-- maybe 'nough t'buy some junk heap of a car-- but the folks at the casino weren't interested. Strange, since it came outta one of their machines. In the money clip and all.

Worthless, like I said, but it feels good t'have an ellemeno on me again.

video;

[ino]

[ She's got her chin in her palm, watching with interest as he twirls it around ]

You don't seem all that excited about it.

video;

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ah, well. I was excited when I first got it...

[he twirls it around again, expertly.]

But thinking about home always puts me in an odd mood.

Video

[hearsthesea]

Did you grow up in one of those underground cities, then?

[Shirley for one finds that kind of curious.]

Video

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Not quite, but I did spend enough time in one to consider it more of a home than most places.

[thankfully, it's a question he can answer without really diving into his age and how he's been around much longer than said underground settlements.]

Skeleton City, it was called.

video;

[asinisterkid]

[ Jason's looking a little scruffier than usual. Funny how some people he only sees when he's some flavor of unhappy. Still, when he sees who's calling he grins in a way that's at least 50% genuine. ]

I remember. My face helped with that. Also my ribs.

[ He's still grinning -- really, good job kicking his ass, sir. Well done! ]

What's up?

video;

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[aw, he likes 50% genuine. his own smile is really more of a smirk, but it falls into the same percentile.]

Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind returning the favor. This time I can have a bad day, get wasted, and get the shit knocked out of me.

[coppermarigolds]

Your home sounds a bit like Orzammar, though you don't look like a dwarf. I didn't realise it was such a strange concept.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he should hope he doesn't look like a dwarf... give him a moment of pause to wonder if there's a tactful way to ask why this is dependent on particularly short people.]

That's also an underground city, then? What's it like?

[thezerothlaw]

Partially underground, fully-enclosed domed Cities are common on the Earth I am familiar with. The majority of the residents of these Cities experience severe trauma on being exposed to an open environment, primarily psychological but also with physiological symptoms. They require time and assistance to adapt to an outdoor environment, or even to large windows. Is this the case for you?

[He's partly interested, partly worried.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he listens with only mild surprise edging his expression. the expositional delivery was not expected. he's also never heard of an Earth like that, before. his answer remains smooth:]

Not me, in particular, but I have known people who were born and raised on the lower levels that have a psychological aversion to the world above. It's not very good for them. Our government tries to enforce regular trips to the surface for that very reason, but you can't catch everyone.

Video

[onlyanapple]

So it's basically a fancy torch?

Video

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[appropriately deadpan:] It's basically a fancy torch.

[video]

[pompous_today]

Sounds useful- I wouldn't be surprised at all if we lose electricity on the ships next.

[video]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

You're not wrong. [he twirls the stick around in his fingers again.] Tega, we've lost lights a couple of times just with me dicking around in the mainframe, and this little thing would have been a big help...

So, hey. It's at least not the junkiest prize I could have gotten.

video;

[onegreythread]

[Really, video is kinda pointless with Bobbin but he feels like it's the correct thing to respond with! All you can see is a shadowy face inside a hood, though maybe if you're good at reading body language, he is leaned forward, fascinated.]

That's beautiful... Does it stay lit forever?

video;

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he... leans forward a little as well, but it's clearly a move of confusion. as if getting closer to the camera would help him see who he's talking to better. that's not really how it works.]

Ah, this... [he holds it up again, though.] Average shelf-life is about fifty years, if you don't crack it. Some of the really nice ones can be passed down for several generations. So, not forever, but long enough for most people.

[openhands]

I wouldn't think underground cities to be such a strange concept. There are not many underground dwellings in my world, but those who remain there wouldn't dream of living on the surface willingly.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Really.

[that's odd. sure, a lot of people where he's from feel the same, but that's because most of his planet's surface is either irradiated or hungry for human flesh.]

Why is that, if I may ask?

/late

[worththetrouble]

Is it common to find technology from your hometown that specifically is derived from fungus from the same place?

never too late!

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Actually, not a bad question. No, fungus-based technology is kind of a rarity.

[he twirls the tube around in his fingers.]

The food, on the other hand...

[forcemageure]

Robin, you must stop winning all these friends and influencing people.

[ Try to alienate him, go on. ]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he.... sighs at the camera. hello, friend...]

If this is about what I think it's about, I'm not apologizing to the loud one a second time.