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. ]

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[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.]

[notdreaming]

Me too. And here I thought I couldn't be any more homesick.

[ She laughs again, but it's a self depreciating laugh. She really is quite homesick. ]

It's nice, talking to you. Even if you aren't my uncle Jor.

[lookedtothestars]

I may not be, though he and your father must be proud of you.

I am willing to speak to you as long as the connection lasts.

Sometimes our emotions have ways of surprising us. [It is not a hard thing to admit, any of these things; even if Kryptonian society prefers to suppress, it is largely in public.

The idea of being separated from their people is a strange one, and if he can help her gain some relief from that, he will. ]

[notdreaming]

[ She lights up like a freaking bulb. She's always wanted her father to be proud of her. She'd been hoping that bringing the planet back was something he would approve of. ]

Thank you, so much. Can you tell me about your Krypton? Is there a crystalline forest there?

[lookedtothestars]

You are welcome.

[The reaction makes his own eyes light up in return. If this was the sort of warmth that came from interaction with a younger quasi-family member from another universe, perhaps he and Lara...]

There is not. I can, but I do not know how it differs from your own. I take it your own Krypton has a crystalline forest?

[If she is homesick, an emphasis on Krypton may not be for the better, even discounting his concerns for its current state and future...]

[notdreaming]

It does. Well, several actually, but there's one in particular just outside of Argo.

[ Since she got here she's been trying to cope by learning everything she can about other worlds. Maybe she'll find some similarity with his Krypton that she can cling to, some sense of his reality out there in the great wide multiverse. ]

What about the bridges? There are more than a dozen bridges in Argo, all in different designs.

[lookedtothestars]

Those we do not have either. Though both them and the forests must be quite memorable to warrant mention. The crystal formations on my own Krypton are rare, and small.

[No less in beauty for it, however.]

Our architecture is designed, and grown.

[There is a short pause as he considers something.]

Let's see if this works.

[He steps away out of sight for a moment, but his next words are still audible: 'Kelex, follow, and connect to the feed'.

And then he is in sight again, at a different angle, one which gives a much better view of the interior surrounding walls, shaped, dark and nacreous, and gently rounding and stretching upwards into the high ceiling.]

This will work better for this purpose.

[notdreaming]

[ Her smile only brightens. Yes, she's familiar with this sort of architecture. ]

Where are you?

[lookedtothestars]

[He's within sight of Kelex enough to appreciate it, minute as the change is on the robot's display face. After all, the intent at this point is to allow her to see his surroundings, rather than just him.]

The citadel. The House of El's ancestral home.

[He walks to an open archway, that leads out onto a balcony, Kelex trailing behind, the feed never jarring or shaking.

Rao is low in the sky, and the city with its dark shaped formed ridges is within view, with ships and the occasional kite with sole riders trailing through the air.]

[notdreaming]

[ She gasps in delight. The skyline is drastically different from her home's, but familiar enough to feel right. ]

It's so different, but at the same time... not.

[lookedtothestars]

[It is also what he is hoping to preserve, and convince the council before it is too late.]

What are the differences, from your own Krypton?

[The curiosity and interest in pursuing new knowledge is readily apparent in his voice; it is something he has never attempted to hide.]

[notdreaming]

The buildings are a bit more curved. The architecture is just... not quite the same. [ It's difficult to explain. ]

And your vehicles go a lot higher than ours. Oh, but the sky is exactly the same.

[lookedtothestars]

Krypton owes its sky to Rao.

[It may be difficult for her to explain, and it is not enough to build an image from, but the sky being the same must be a comfort of sorts- that some aspects of Krypton do not change.]

Before you left, what did your studies consist of?

[notdreaming]

[ It is, more than he could possibly know. The knowledge that it's the real sky, and not a fabrication of the CES helps too. ]

Oh, everything. I was getting ready for the trails.

[lookedtothestars]

[With that the question as to any differences in education is answered.]

Had any subject caught your interest as something to focus on in the future?

[The Els, on his Krypton, at least, had been part of the Science Guild for generations, but it is not necessarily the same for her own- it is highly possible that she may be intended to join one of the others. The question, as gentle as it is, serves twofold- to know her better and to learn more of this alternate Krypton she came from.]

[notdreaming]

I'll probably join the science guild, like Father.

[ Some things are the same across the multiverse, it seems. ]

[lookedtothestars]

[The difference in phrasing is more than noticeable to make it clear that some things were not.

'Probably'. He's looking at the feed somewhat more intently now.]

This is a choice left for you to make?

[notdreaming]

Oh, only if more than one offers me membership. I can't just not join a guild. Mother would kill me.

[lookedtothestars]

[The hyperbole is amusing, but he's focused more on what she has to say. It turns what he has been musing on for some time now from an idea, possibly unworkable, to one that is feasible.]

I see.

Here, it is determined well before you are born.