[muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

[geonomy]

Who: You! Me! Everybody!
Broadcast: idk but we've sure got a pretty broad cast of folks eh, eh
Action: HECK YEAH PLANET MINGLE
When: 10/7 until plot update or recaptcha

It's a deep, deep forest filled to the brim with fungi, mysterious life forms, and pitch black darkness. Explore if you dare and discover all these things and more! Just don't get lost...

Comments

[avocadoatlaw]

I did, but from 2016.

Does that mean the person you know here is from 1947, too?

[mucked]

[ her laughter is sudden -- low, and a little bit brittle. ]

I'm afraid that's a far trickier question than it has any right to be. Technically? No. He never saw '47.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt considers the comment. ]

Because he was brought here? Stop me if I'm prying too much, it's habit.

[mucked]

I don't mind. [ but that's a knee-jerk answer. pausing, briefly, she corrects herself: ] Or I do mind, but it's a rather academic sort of protest -- as it seems everything I might say on the matter has since become a matter of public record.

[ she steels herself. ] The man in question was in a plane crash. [ that's one way of putting it. ] Shortly before the war ended. Everyone thought him dead.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ There's a strange moment where Matt puts the pieces together, but feels silly asking the obvious question. ]

Are you talking about Captain America? Steve Rogers?

[mucked]

You're familiar with the story? [ well. fancy that. peggy hums -- and if she allows herself to look troubled, then it's only because she understands he cannot see it. ] Yes, I served with Captain Rogers. So to speak. [ ... ] And that may mean you and I might very well share a world, Matt, if not a year.

[ sharply curious, because many who have arrived have been: ] Are you a friend of the Captain's?

[avocadoatlaw]

Everyone is. After what happened in New York, he's sort of a household name.

[ He chuckles at the second question. ]

And no. We don't really run in the same circles.

[mucked]

[ a snort. a household name, indeed. softly: ] He was one of those in my time, also. New York's bona fide war hero. [ and yet it was all a little more complicated than simple heroics. but she'd kept mum on muddying those waters. ]

But I've heard a little of what happened in New York. And then with the organization they called SHIELD.

[ they. as if it isn't herself, in the near future, who's destined to chose that name. ]

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt nods. ]

It's been a pretty major shift in national security. Global security.

[mucked]

From what I've heard, the organization itself wasn't all that secure -- [ hydra had rotted it from the inside out. it's a failure that isn't hers, technically speaking. but she feels it acutely. ]

[avocadoatlaw]

[ He smiles wryly. ]

I wasn't going to say it.

[ He pauses before speaking again. ]

But I know they mean well. Even with the damage to the city, I think we all know it would have been worse if they weren't there.

[mucked]

That's a very generous perspective. [ and a nuanced one, at that. ] Generous enough to help me feel a little bit better about telling you I work for an agency that is -- as far as I understand it -- the precursor to SHIELD.

[ a tight, unhappy sort of smile. for no one's benefit but her own. ] Or so the Captain tells me.

[avocadoatlaw]

Then it's hear say for both of us. Though I'm sure any part you had in it back then didn't contribute to their recent... security issues. [ He smiles. ] And if it did, I don't know any better anyway.

[mucked]

Is that your particular opinion, Matt? [ her laughter is strained. she's dancing around something -- it can't be helped. ] Or does history look kindly upon the S.S.R.?

[avocadoatlaw]

You all created Captain America and fought the Nazis, I'd sad it's pretty positive.

[mucked]

I would hesitate to say we created him. I'm afraid it's better to give credit where credit is due. Steve Rogers was always a remarkable person -- we merely...offered him some polish, so to speak.

[ and some biceps for his biceps. regardless, she speaks fondly of the man -- even before the serum, she admired him. ]

[avocadoatlaw]

Polish in the form of very ahead of its time science. You should also take credit where it's due.

[mucked]

Aha -- well. That particular credit belongs to two very clever minds. I was there to wrangle the recruits. So to speak. Captain Rogers wasn't the only candidate put forward for the program.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ That he does look surprised by. ]

He wasn't?

[mucked]

He wasn't. [ she confirms. ] There were a whole brace of possible super-soldiers. Only the one was found to be a fine fit for the procedure, however.

[ erskine might have had final say, but she'd not remained silent during the deliberation process. ]

[avocadoatlaw]

Huh. The more you know.

[ They walk a few more paces. ]

I'd ask how you're liking the future, but I'm not sure if this is a good approximation of it.

[mucked]

I can at least say I've much experienced by 'future' by way of anecdotes. It sounds -- remarkable. [ and loud. and frustrating. and bright. and beautiful. ] But also perilous.

[avocadoatlaw]

Yeah, I've heard cell phones'll give you cancer.

[mucked]

Good Lord. Do you believe it?

[ -- a crinkle of her nose. that sounds rather tragic. ]

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt laughs. ]

I believe that even if it's true, it won't be my phone that kills me.