2025-10-15 - The Xenoi

Michael has been volunteering to go to some of these new worlds that haven't been scouted yet because it's something interesting to do, an opportunity that one rarely gets in one's own world. And so he is here today representing Security in his usual charcoal grey BDUs and long sleeved fitted turtleneck shirt, jacket, boots, gloves, and carrying a pack. He's armed, but the gun is holstered and the knife is sheathed. He seems ready to go, having given and received the usual rundown of what is known and what to do in case of encountering people.

Another world dialed into Kenneth, another set of data to retrieve. The Magical Studies Department hasn't been recklessly pursuing their desire to feed more world data into their algorithm, but it's a priority for some members, like Elmo. He's seen the scouting reports for this one and decided to take a look, curiosity piqued at the mention of new technology.

Now in his favorite pair of jeans, and a t-shirt with a picture of a grumpy cat on front, he finishes his prep and shoulders his pack. "Ready to go?" There's a quick, sharp sound of him adjusting his straps as he looks around at the others.

Jagadish almost never really gets to leave the radio station on Crescent, but with the stabilization of world hopping he's diving into a new project: being seen in public! A frightening concept but it is the spooky season. He's armed but the only thing Jaga is shooting is pics from good angles with a small video rig that's a bit like a gopro mounted to the shoulder strap on his backpack.

In casual attire including relaxed jeans, a plain tee under a button up and unzipped hoodie with Yarble and a couple ghosts he greets. "Afternoon all. Chalo Let's go I guess?"

Dylan too is Here For The Tech -- theirs, as a world that seems like it's clearly got some, and his own, further calibrating some of the sensor improvements he's been working on. The techie portion of the MSD doesn't have uniforms, but one would be forgiven for thinking jeans and t-shirts were part of it. In fact, there's a cat on his too, although less 'grumpy' and more 'chibi and ripping off its shirt and glasses while declaring that This Looks Like A Job For SCIENCE!' He has an open blue plaid flannel over it, and hoodie tied around his waist, just in case it's colder over there than it is on this side. V formal.

Flash, as fairly usual for when he pops across to new worlds, is perched on his shoulder, also recording video and audio, though in this case, also testing out the new sensors. "We set? I think we look set."

When they traverse the portal, nothing much changes from the scouting. There's still that same inside-of-a-techno-egg giant room and the portal with the shiny energy field that blocks them from accessing the rest of the space.

There is the distant sound of servos whirring and what sounds like the opening and closing of a camera aperture. It seems someone is watching, though none of them can spot where exactly in the room the size of a college lecture hall said cameras might be.

Michael steps through into the techno-egg and takes a slow look around, taking in its nigh on featureless whiteness as he does a slow turn, hands in his pockets. The sound of the camera draws his attention in that direction, though he can't actually see the camera at all. "So, hi. As you may have guessed, we're travelers from another world." He just starts talking as though he expects someone to be listening as well as watching. "We come from a place called Earth.. which is really new to this whole traveling thing. So we've kind of showed up here just to explore, say hi, see what we can see. Not looking to bother anybody or cause any problems." He glances at the others and shrugs his shoulders. "Figure we'll either hear something.. or we'll just step back through."

Dylan looks around, opens his mouth, and closes it again when Michael clearly has that part handled. On the theory that 'yeah, what he said' does not qualify as any kind of professional, he instead just gives a grin and wave at the room in general. Which may also not make the 'professional' grade in many situations, but does at least qualify as 'friendly'.

He nods to Michael, and moves a little bit to take a closer look at the energy field, but not... quite touch it. As yet. "Plan," he agrees, glances at the little robot on his shoulder, and pulls out his phone to poke at something on it -- possibly checking what the new sensor array wants to tell him about that energy field thing. 'Will I die if I touch it' is probably high on the list of things to check. "So you think they get a lot of visitors, given this whole set up?" A pause. "Actually, if it's for that, that'd suggest either everyone who dials here gets here specifically, or they have a way to make any visitors that show up end up in this specific spot..." Hm.

Jaga steps through keeping the camera wide of smacking anyone using his camera to take imaging of the room. "What in the KLF-" And he'll give anyone a studio button who gets the White Room reference. Looking to Dylan clocking the point of this being a trap room of sorts he looks around. "Maybe we accidentally hit the lobby. Could be an environmental thing."

He looks for optics and audio equipment that might be useful, sensors and the like. To Michael and Elmo he agrees, "Nothing wrong with that."

Elmo is always glad when someone else speaks up during one of these things. Gives him a chance to look around and not have to be polite or whatever. He shares in Michael's shrug and steps up to the energy field with Dylan. Reaching out with is magic, he peers at the device and slowly turns his head as he tries to get a read on it.

"It's a scanning device," he decides, shooting Jagadish a look over one shoulder. "Weird, though. Feels like something's blocking my magic."

As if on cue, a panel slides up at the far end of the room. The door was completely hidden as part of the wall, and seems to disappear when the figure steps through it.

He's tall, lean and blond. He's wearing a black suit with a cascade of feathers that look like they're attached to his jacket...except a few go up his neck as well. He's carrying a tablet. He gives the air of a very stylish public servant.

"Talk more please," he says in a heavily accented voice.

"I'm guessing that not only do they get visitors, but they get enough of them .. and perhaps not all entirely friendly.. that they've built a whole containment area around them. Which, you know, isn't really a bad idea. We should think about containing the Brass House's portal room in a similar way," Michael muses as he looks around, unsure if they're going to get a response until the door slides open and a figure approaches -- a figure that at least looks relatively human.

"Hey," he says, lifting one hand in a small friendly wave as the figure approaches. "Talk more? Okay.. I'm Michael. We're travelers. We're just interested in meeting new people, seeing new places, and learning what is out there in the world of interdimensional travel. These are my colleagues. We all come from the same place. We brought a gift -- a book about our world -- and some cupcakes. They're a treat on our world. We're kind of making it a habit of bringing gifts when we go somewhere new as a way of saying hello and letting people get to know a little about us." He sets down his bag and slooowly reaches into it to withdraw the book, opening it up to demonstrate, and then closing it again.

Dylan nods to Elmo. "Think so too," he agrees about the 'scanner' diagnosis, "...and I'm not getting much else, so either the sensor changes are way off the mark, or there's some pretty damn serious shielding going on here." The fact that he sounds impressed rather than irritated suggests which of these conclusions he currently finds more likely. Michael gets another nod too, shared with Jagadish, this one more thoughtful. Particularly since he hasn't thought about the environmental part nearly as much as he probably should, yet. "If we can, yeah, we probably should. I've been semi-assuming that arrival spots were part of the address, but if there are only specific spots you can arrive at... and especially if we've now made one..." Mental notes are very definitely being made. And possibly audible ones, since Flash is likely recording them.

And there's a person! With feathers that may or may not be only clothing. Nice. "Hi!" he adds in when the request to talk more is made. "I'm Dylan. This," a little indication to his robot, which lifts off his shoulder to hover on its own, "is Flash. Fascinating room you've got here. Do a lot of people drop by unexpectedly?"

Jaga lets Dylan and Michael speak first at the request. He follows pointing to the camera and then himself, "Jagadish. Apologies for dropping in unannounced. This is for taking images. I'm a reporter. We like to visit new places, learn, and then share that knowledge." For all the changes in the park Jaga doesn't look all that out of the ordinary for a human other than fantastic hair at all times, and shimmering runes on his arms that look possibly metallic. "We're here on personal business. I hope we didn't cause a problem?"

"Yeah, not a bad idea." With as many different worlds as they're making contact with now, the portals are running more than ever. It stands to reason that they may have visitors of their own sooner rather than later. Mental notes of his own are being made for a new project.

it can wait, though, because they have summoned a maybe-bird person. "Elmo," he greets. "This thing is pretty dope." He sticks his thumb in the direction of the scanner, then points to the door he can no longer see. "So was that."

The figure in the black suit listens to everything Michael has to say, but he looks almost bored. "Thank you for talking more. I can now understand your words. My vocabulary will improve the more I hear, so I apologize if I make mistake." His accent is an odd mix of Greek, Italian and posh English. The more he speaks, the milder the accent gets. "My name is Samson Icarii and I am your Xenoi Liaison."

He pauses a moment before gesturing around. "You are on the planet of Kentro in the heart of the Autokratoria of Iras. This field in front of you is for the decontamination. It will not harm you, though no food items are permitted and will be vaporized. Please step through."

He stands up a little straighter and nods to Dylan. "Yes, many. Perhaps too many," he says with a shake of his head. "May I please know the name of your country and your planet?"

Jagadish gets a look. His eyebrow arches. "No problem. This place is for the Xenoi. You are Xenoi." Then the eyebrows stay high for Elmo. "What is...dope? I know all languages with time but sometimes slang...it is difficult."

"Our planet is called Earth and our country is the United States of America," Michael provides for Samson on request. He studies the decontamination field and then asks, "Exactly how does it know what items are food items and what are not?" Because some organic items might still not be food. But after a moment or two of thought, he goes ahead and steps on through 'decontamination' and hopes for the best. What's the worst that could happen? He could be deemed as food and vaporized, perhaps! "We don't.. get visitors, that is, to our world. We weren't even able to open portals until this year." He continues to speak, hoping that whatever he's saying will help Samson to understand their language better.

They're Xenoi? Dylan blinks once, then suddenly grins. "Oh! We're aliens. Yeah, I guess we are, here. Is an Autokratoria what we'd call an autocracy?" An attempt is made not to sound judgemental about the possibility that it is. "Anyway, pleased to meet you, Samson Icarii. And... good question." That to Michael. Now he's mentally running down that path and it's getting really weird. "Where do you generally get visitors coming from? Did you build this here because it's where they show up, or do we all show up here because of what you built here? Like Michael says, we're clearly a lot newer to this than you guys are."

The field gets eyed a moment. He pauses to open his bag and remove a smaller bag of snacks, leaving it on the floor, and then he and his bot move through it as well. Possibly he should have first asked, "What are we being decontaminated of, exactly?"

They're Xenoi. Elmo frowns thoughtfully at the name, then blinks when he's asked to explain the slang he dropped. "Oh, um..." As he thinks some more, his brows come together and wrinkle his features. "It's a word that can mean a lot of things, but in this context it means cool." Is that slang, too? "Neat." Dammit! "Very interesting?" The more he has to explain it, the less inclined he feels to ever use the word again.

Thus, Elmo follows through the decontamination field while mourning the loss of dope. "All that gross-ass bacteria all over you." He teases Dylan as they go through, hoping the water in his water bottle won't get blasted away, because he forgot about that.

Jaga gives Dylan a nod admitting, "I always wanted to be in one of these Star Trek episodes." Call it a crazy hunch but there's trust there that Dylan will just get that. "Humans are filthy. It's true. Our planet is dirt and water. It's quite a thing." He pauses seeming cool with following along but also having no food in his backpack that he remembers. "We have pictures if you'd like to see it, Samson." So much footage with them on every phone really. Looking to Elmo he asks, "Can you really not talk to the room? That's wild. Wonder if it's teh tech or if there's a skill dampener."

When they pass through the field, they get a little warm and the field tingles a bit. But otherwise, they pass through unharmed.

"Bacteria, foreign substances, parasites, things of that nature. This facility is isolated from our population centres. I do not know how it works, simply that it does. If you were to see more than just me and perhaps a few of my colleagues, you would need several vaccinations and a physical exam. To leave this facility requires a period of quarantine," says Samson.

He taps something on his tablet and a new door opens at the rear of the room. "Come this way, please. This will answer many of your questions. Those it does not, I will be happy to answer after the presentation."

Samson leads them into a black room that feels like walking into one of those dome presentations at a natural history museum. There are seats for approximately fifty people facing a large curved screen. As they walk in, the screen activates. A video plays of a drone shot flying between massive marble pillars up to the face of a grand building. The camera pivots up to show a massive marble statue of a woman with an outstretched hand. She is flanked by a peacock statue with a holographic tail, and a bull with holographic horns. Text appears on the screen in Greek writing.

He steps up to a podium with a microphone and hits a button. The presentation begins. There is narration, but in a language that sounds like Greek, but isn't quite. The volume is low to get the flavour of the text, but it's Samson who translates the narration to go along with the visuals.

"Welcome travellers. You find yourself in the Autokratoria of Iras on the planet of Kentro." The visuals pull out to show a view from space. There is one massive continent on one side of the globe. The other side of the globe is dominated by a chain of volcanic islands. "We are a prosperous country that is peaceful. Though we have learned hard lessons about trusting offworlders. This is not a condemnation of you as we have also met many friends. But the past has taught us to be cautious."

As he speaks, the visuals show clean, cosmopolitan cities not unlike those on Earth, though more like the technology of cities like Singapore and Hong Kong in the clean-lined architecture and wide public spaces. Marble and columns give everything a Greco-Roman flavour, including statues in public spaces. "We are ruled by our beloved Empress and the Wise Families in the name of Iras, Mother of All." As he says those words, he touches a spot between his eyes and places a hand over his heart. Although the motion is a sacred one, there is the sense that he's said these words a dozen times before in probably as many languages. Then he hits pause on the video to address Dylan's earlier question. "The Empress serves at the pleasure of the Wise Families. If I have the word right, it would be best described as a Plutocracy. The Autokratoria is a name from our history that we have not seen fit to change."

"There's a presentation," Michael says to the others, brows rising. But then he's quiet as he follows along behind Samson, letting the man do his job and share with them whatever presentation there is. He does nod a little bit about the quarantine and all. "Yeah, we did that too.. with those two who came in as refugees." The one's fleeing the fae prison they were in. He settles himself to watch the presentation, taking in the imagery and listening as Samson describes their leadership and answers Dylan. For now, he seems to feel he's done enough talking and focuses on listening.

Dylan grins at Jaga's admission. "Right?" Hunch confirmed. "Humans are filthy if you're lucky," he murmurs half-under his breath, and nearly as far under his breath aside to Elmo, "Hey, I'm assured my ass-bacteria are sleek and tidy, thank you."

No other smart-ass comments (or smart ass-comments) escape for the moment, thankfully, unless one counts his agreement to Michael, brows also rising, "There's a presentation." And a presentation in a room designed for quite a lot more people than this little group, at that. He takes a seat, getting comfortable to watch, and actually focuses quite a bit on what they're shown. His command of Xenoglossy can't do what their host seems to be doing, but it's enough that the Greek-ness of things is close enough to nearly be something, the visual/aural equivalent of words on the tip of one's tongue. At the pause of the video, he looks back to Samson, slightly startled, and then nods again. "Ah, got it, thanks." Further questions are held for now. After all, there will be question time after, right?

"I really can't." Elmo casts an annoyed look at Jagadish, not because of the question but because of the block on his ability. There's a lot here that interests him even more now, and the tech is only part of it. "Assured how?" He wonders of Dylan.

Following along into the presentation room, he's more struck at the number of seats here. "Do you really get so many visitors at once?" There's nothing really stopping them from sending so many people through a portal, he supposes, and it's not like anyone can get lost in a place like this.

Shrugging, he takes a seat near Michael and sinks down into it, watching the presentation with a lidded look. The cities seem appealing, but sound far out of their reach for now.

Jagadish stops and mutters something Dylan might get that carries a tone of 'are you kidding me?' He follows but looks cautious, "This is how I got stuck in a room in Aspen for two days locked in a time share seminar loop. To this day I have no idea if I'm getting billed yearly in exchange for escape and a decorative keyring."

Following in he finds a seat and pulls out a notepad to jot his notes down on. "Even in another world the furniture is giving me Ikea vibes. Nice."

"This facility hosts Xenoi at all stages of the diplomatic process. This space is often used for presentations on each others' worlds and sharing of audiovisual cultural artifacts," says Samson in answer to Elmo's question while the video is paused. "This facility also contains several conference rooms, a cafeteria, and temporary lodging for our guests."

Samson hits play on the presentation. It shows a dark haired, statuesque woman in her 50s sitting on a ceremonial throne in a temple. That's when things get a little propaganda film-y. "The crime rate in the AOI is very low. All citizens are granted a basic income, healthcare, guaranteed housing and other social supports. We believe in gender and racial equity." Indeed, the crowd shots show people of all kind who look happy and healthy. And notably, several of the people in the crowd show signs of magic, be it through using their powers in a casual way, or with small visual markers such as pointed ears, tails, and horns.

The video shifts to show an exterior shot of the Xenoi facility they're in, which is a massive bean-shaped complex. "This facility was designed around our portal to control access to our world and to screen visitors. It is also a diplomatic centre. It allows us to assess the intentions of our visitors and discover if we wish to continue contact. We have found many benefits to both us and to the Xenoi in contact. Knowledge exchange...." the video changes to show fish-like scientists talking with human-looking scientists in front of an aquarium, "...resource exchange..." the video shows a palette of goods coming through the portal, "...and cultural exchange." The last shows an audience of AOI citizens enjoying a colourful folk dance and with musicians playing strange instruments.

"We hope that your world will be one such partner."

Then the screen fades to black and there is a seal of a peacock and a bull between two laurel leaves.

When it's all over, Samson looks tired. He leans on the podium. "Thank you for your attention. I will now answer any questions I can."

Michael studies Samson as much as he sort of half pays attention to the presentation as it gets into the whole advertisement of the seemingly idyllic world. He's seen enough Sci Fi movies not to take anything entirely at face value. He asks, after a moment or two of thought, "Do you like your job? Greeting people who come through the portal? Does it happen often enough to keep you busy? Or do you get bored?" he wonders. "I suppose repeating the same greeting over and over can also get boring.. and answering these questions," he notes with a self-aware small smile.

"Emphatically," Dylan murmurs back to Elmo, flashing him a grin. Whatever he responds to Jagadish's mutter is similarly quiet and possibly not in the same language they've otherwise been speaking, but it doesn't have the same tone and comes with a reassuring-type pat to the guy's upper arm, so there's that. In English and aloud, he adds, "If it's not enough that you're sure it might've been worth it, but hell, dispute the charge, what are they gonna do, come bring you back?"

He's much quieter during the presentation, even the propaganda-y parts, though hopefully they're all genre-savvy enough to maintain a bit of healthy but polite skepticism around the utopia parts of things. You never put everything in the tourist pamphlet. When the time comes, he looks thoughtful, but starts with, "I'd still really like to know where you generally get Xenoi coming from, and whether you built this here because it's where they show up, or if we show up here because this building is here. Do your people visit other worlds, and if so, is this where you started doing it from, and was that before or after Xenoi started showing up here?"

Elmo watches the remainder of the presentation in silence, tapping a finger against his chin thoughtfully and casting glances around the mostly-empty room. He imagines what the other areas of this facility might look like, especially the temporary quarters. Hmm.

When it's question time, he smirks over at Michael, but ends up piggybacking off Dylan. "And do you ever travel to other worlds?" If they have a portal room of their own, it's likely somewhere else. Somewhere he'd really like to see one day, to compare it against their own.

Jaga chuckles at Dylan's assurance; he is not going to be locked in here until he buys something. He, however, has a totally different focus on this asking, "Where can I forward a presentation on Earth to you at?" There's a pause before he looks to the others admitting, "Broadcasting works closely with marketing. We do all sorts of these things and voiceovers for the park. I actually do not mind putting a thing together if you'd like one." The other big questions are being handled.

Samson blinks at Michael's question. It's very clear just from his body language that no one has ever asked him that. "It can be...interesting, though there are many, many meetings where I am required to translate. And sometimes the visitors react with violence or with malicious intent. You can't see it, but there are many security measures in this facility." He nods to Michael's weapon. "If you tried to pull that on me, you would be unconscious before you could draw it." Then he hits a button to turn the lights up a bit in the room.

Which doesn't really answer his questions, and that was clearly on purpose. But there are most certainly cameras everywhere.

"We do get a fair number of visitors who find us on their own, but we also send out regular diplomatic envoys," he says by way of adding to his answer to Michael and answering Dylan's question. "This facility was built around where portals were forming. I do not understand the magic or the technology, but we have a way to confine portal formation to this and a handful of other facilities. This one was the first for our portal and Xenoi portals, and the one where the vast majority of our incoming traffic comes. It was once a temple, quite fittingly to Ermis. Many say the portal is the will of the gods, which is why we have embraced its use."

Then, he tilts his head as if hearing something from elsewhere. "Gentlemen. This concludes our first contact. It will take me a little time to translate our intake paperwork into your tongue. If your people are interested in continuing diplomatic contact, we will ask that you fill out the basic information on your world. Then a panel will decide whether we have anything to gain by contact. If so, we would ask to visit your world. I will continue to be your main point of contact with your people until and unless things move to the treaty stage."

He inclines his head to Jagadish. "If you wish to send us audio-visual imagery, that is acceptable. Though we would request you supply the device as sometimes technology compatibility can be...questionable."

Then he motions to the door. If it feels like they're getting the bum's rush...well, they are. They clearly have a cadence to these meetings.

"The gun's for protection," Michael says. "I wouldn't draw it unless someone drew on me first." His hands remain in the open where they can be seen and have not once strayed toward the holster the entire time they've been there. "We've been to some places where things were a bit more dangerous and a little less diplomatic." Which he presumes that Samson can understand. He glances briefly around the room, knowing that he's not going to see those defenses, but fully understanding and trusting that they're there. He falls quiet then to listen to the rest of the exchange.

And then it seems that the meeting is over. It's a little unusual but as far as Michael is concerned, everyone is still whole and healthy and that means it went well. He begins to move when directed to and says, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Icarii. We will send through a device within a couple of days time and will check back on the documents." He then dips his head and says, "It was nice to meet you," before making his way back toward the portal.

"If you need on-screen talent," Dylan says, shooting Jaga a grin and pair of fingerguns. At the note on tech compatibility, he adds to him, "...we're gonna need batteries."

He nods to Elmo's question, and glances to him again when Samson answers -- specifically, when he confirms they have a way to confine portal formation. Brows go up. This probably portends a later conversation, but it's clearly interesting. The brows lift again at the declaration that this concludes first contact. Well. All right then. He inclines his head a bit, and then rises, giving a good stretch that Flash just slips barely out of the path of before returning to his position by Dylan's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you," he agrees with Michael, "Definitely a different experience than most of our travels so far. Definitely taking some notes." A bright smile for the guy, and then he, too, is heading back toward the portal. Don't worry, he'll remember to reclaim the abandoned snacks on the way out. Almost certainly.

Elmo opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. This concludes first contact? Hey, that's their line. He stands and shuts his mouth again, looking around at the rest of their party. "Nice to meet you. We'll be in touch." He shrugs then and heads for the door, still eyeing the room in search of where those cameras are hidden.

Provide the tech. He nods, "Should be easy enough. I'll get you what you need." He makes a physical note for a tablet and a solar recharger. As they're given the swift exit he gets up and follows in line, "Appreciate your time." He says to Michael, "I left us on record so in theory we should be able to rewatch the welcome video if we have questions about names and such. That was a lot at once."

Heading back to the portal and coming back to Earth side his hands go in the air, a triumphant sound, "Yes! they didn't make us buy anything. It isa good day. I want a pretzel."