009 - I can't go back to yesterday

[notdreaming]

[ Since learning what's going on with the network, Kara has changed into her ceremonial armor. If she's broadcasting to the multiverse, past present and future, she wants to be wearing her family crest when she does it. Her expression is hesitantly hopeful. ]

If there are any Kryptonians out there, please, I'd like to speak with you. I am Kara Zor-El, daughter of Alura and Zor-El, and I am very, very far from home.

[ Yeah that's all she's got for today. ]

Comments

[lookedtothestars]

[He did not expect the equipment he was experimenting with to pick up any messages from the direction it was angled to receive from, much less attached to a name that held historic importance, from someone whose ship had vanished thousands of years ago.]

Your message has reached at least one of us, Kara Zor-El.

[notdreaming]

[ Well, this is strange. He sounds like her uncle, and he looks a bit like her uncle too, but there's none of the recognition she was looking for in his voice.

But he's Kryptonian, and that? Well, that's wonderful. ]

Hi! Oh, hello. Rao, it's so good to hear from you.

[lookedtothestars]

I am Jor-El, of the Science Guild. If you are Captain Kara Zor-El, you have been missing for some time. [Enough time for dozens of generations to live and die and Krypton to leave its golden age.] Where are you? [He's allowed more than a measure of warmth to enter his voice in response to her.]

[notdreaming]

[ For a moment she's just stunned. She's heard about alternate versions of people, of course. She just... hadn't really expected it to hit home quite like that. She bites her lip and shakes her head. ]

I'm not a captain of anything. I hadn't even graduated yet. I... I'm on a ship that's going to take me home. [ She can't explain that Krypton is gone, and she doesn't want to. This version of Krypton isn't gone, clearly. ]

[lookedtothestars]

[Her reaction doesn't escape him entirely. His own is reserved, however, kept back, even as he hears she is returning, presumably, to Krypton. While the planet is still intact, his warnings to the council so far are being ignored...]

I apologize for the mistaken assumption. I know of no other Kara Zor-El in the history of our house.

[notdreaming]

[ She shakes her head, tries not to think of the familiar face in her device as her uncle Jor. This is someone else entirely. She'll just keep telling herself that. ]

It happens here. There are different universes, and different versions of universes. We must be from different worlds.

[ Or else you would know her :c ]

[lookedtothestars]

[And with her words, one cautiously constructed idea to at least save their people is quickly dismissed. Tentative proof of one of their seed ships and its crew surviving may have helped convince the council that colonizing other worlds was still tenable.

Saying he made contact with a Kryptonian from an alternate universe would make him both a laughingstock and potentially prevent him from doing anything to save their people.

Her explanation makes him wonder if it is at cause for her previous reaction, however.]

From your own Krypton, do you know some alternate version of me?

[If there is no expansive time dilation at fault, it is a reasonable question; she identified herself as part of the House of El, after all.]

[notdreaming]

[ She isn't entirely sure she wants to tell him, but she doesn't want to lie either. There's just no helping it. After a moment she recovers her voice. ]



You're my uncle.

[lookedtothestars]

[That is not an answer that he was expecting, but there were very few options for how she could be a member of the House of El. The daughter of a nonexistent brother- or rather, one that does not exist in his own world- is as good an option as any.]

I see.

[He's going to need a moment to process this. And be thankful that Lara is busy elsewhere.]

[notdreaming]

I know this must be strange for you.

[ It's strange for her too. Please don't leave. She misses you. A lot. All the time. ]

[lookedtothestars]

As it must be for you.

[Her reveal had rendered him as close to speechless as he has ever been. No small task.]

You spoke of traveling board a ship. What is it like?

[The questions he is interested in asking of her he is avoiding, for now.]

[notdreaming]

[ Yes, good, something to talk about that doesn't make her want to burst into tears. ]

It's an interdimensional prison barge. I'm working here as a warden, and if I can help an inmate to graduate I get a favor from the Admiral. Mine is to go home.

[lookedtothestars]

[That is honorable work, helping others rehabilitate. But the favor she mentions brings a question to his lips.

Is there any reason why you would need a favor to accomplish that?

[If the stay is only a temporary one, she should be able to do so, unless...]

[notdreaming]

[ Rao, oh Rao, no, she can't tell him. She can't even hint to him. They are not talking about this, nope. ]

I, like I said, I'm very, very far from home.

[lookedtothestars]

[Sometimes what isn't said at all is telling enough. While he may not know her personally, he's still one of the sharpest and observant minds Krypton possesses.]

You must be very far away indeed. You must miss it.

[His words may be going soft, towards the end.]

[notdreaming]

I do.

[ No crying no crying no crying damnit all she wasn't going to cry. ]

More than anything. I've been doing my best, but I'm still no closer to getting my deal than I was when I got here.

[lookedtothestars]

Your best will be enough, with time. Do not despair, when you can hope instead.

[She is a perfect stranger, but still family. He is confident that any member of the house of El is able to undertake any task they set their mind to- it is sometimes others who are the problem.]

[notdreaming]

[ See that, that sounds like her uncle, and it makes her heart ache. If only she could get herself assigned an inmate already. ]

You're right, of course. You always are.

[lookedtothestars]

Sometimes I wish it was otherwise. I try to not allow it to stop me.

[Something he would not admit to even Lara, much less his closest friend- though Zod has drifted away, as of late. But admitting it to Kara... He does not know her. And he doesn't know how long this connection will last. Letting her know he has doubts at times does not seem like something that would hurt- instead, he's hoping maybe it can serve as a form of reassurance.]

[notdreaming]

[ She wants more than anything to confide in him, to talk about her parents and her home and her friends, but she has to remind herself again that this isn't her uncle. This is just a man a whole lot like him. ]

I know it's not my world, but how are things in Argo? How is the family?

[lookedtothestars]

[Also one quite willing to accept her as family- the shared crest marks her as such, and he will treat her so, even with as strange as this is. The philosophical conundrum of a nonexistent brother aside.]

They go acceptably. Avoid involving yourself in any matters that are political, if you are able.

[There is barely any hint of faltering there, even though he is being repeatedly blocked by the council with his warnings against the drilling. Krypton may have a dire resource shortage, but there are other ways.]

My wife and I are well. [Does she know of Lara?]

[notdreaming]

[ She chuckles. Jor-El complaining about politics. All is right in the world. ]

That's what they tell me. Don't worry, I try to stay away from the politics.

Is it... is she Lara?

[lookedtothestars]

[He can only assume it's due to that piece of advice, though why she gained such amusement from it, he has no idea.]

Yes. That is my wife's name. [It's readily apparent from his voice how much he cares for her.]

[notdreaming]

I'm glad. You two always seemed so perfect for each other. In my world, I mean.

[lookedtothestars]

I am glad some things remain the same.

[Though he has concerns as to what else may be commonalities.]