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Snippet #2471843

located in The Onyx, a part of Temporal Conscripts, one of the many universes on RPG.

The Onyx

A star ship in the Dathidan Republic military.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Commander Viridin Character Portrait: Sir James Fritswick Character Portrait: Lieutenant Sophie Victors Character Portrait: Onyx-Soul
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Fritswick delicately placed both feet firmly on the floor; though he had strength in both legs, he could not feel anything in them - from the temperature of the air, it was clear that this was a good thing, as it prevented his toes from freezing.
"So, Mr Fritswick," began Sophie. "Would you care for a new set of clothes?"
Sophie pulled out a drawer at the far end of the room; inside were three vacuum packed unisex clothes, each item of clothing embroidered with a small 'recycled materials' logo.
Sophie handed Fritswick a set of clothes, and walked to a corner of the room; she drew a curtain attached to a rail in the ceiling.
"If you wanted get changed behind here, that'd be fine," she said. "The set comes with a vest and underwear, so..."
Fritswick, speechless from contemplation, nodded simply and walked over to the curtain concealed corner.
"Thank you kindly," he said, finding the opening clip to the plastic bag.
Sophie pulled the curtains over completely as Fritswick began changing.
"So," she began, back turned to the portieres. "Tell me about where you're from."
"Could you give me a minute while I get changed?"
"Just trying to break the ice, sir."
"Sir? I'm not a Sir, I've never been knighted - as far as I can tell."
Sophie exhaled a sharp sigh.
She walked over to her desk, pressing a few buttons to log herself back in.
Following that, she opened the file that the Onyx's AI had automatically generated - one listing the known physical details of Fritswick.
"Can you tell me your age, Fritswick?"
"Is that necessary to - urg - to know?" he replied, struggling with something halfway through.
"I need to write down everything you can tell us, because you'll be staying with us for a while."
"Thirty seven, if you must know. Born in eighteen-fifty two."
"Eighteen hundreds, huh..." Sophie muttered to herself, doing a quick calculation with her fingers. "Pre exodus makes that... right."
"What happened to my evening wear?" asked Fritswick. "Is it being washed, sewn up, or what?"
"Well, what little was left of them is probably part of the recycling system by now," she replied. "They were pretty burnt up when we found you - speaking of which, were you carrying anything metal in your pockets?"
"My watches - two of them, in fact."
"Ah, sorry then, both of them melted before arrival. Anyway, as part of our ship's regulations on material conservation, all damaged or unusable items are taken apart and used as something else. In fact, the replacement for what you're wearing is probably being made right now."

Fritswick drew the curtains back sharply. He was now dressed in a plain, silvery-blue work outfit with two logos - the recycling logo on the front, and an Onyx production code on the back.
"You look dashing, Mister Fritswick." Sophie said with a complacent grin. "Do you feel healthy?"
Fritswick made a deliberate frown on his face, trying to convey his disappointment.
"I feel frustrated that my clothes and timekeepers have apparently been dismantled and re-used, but otherwise, yes I am quite well."
"How's your limp?"
"My... well, how strange, I don't actually feel crooked anymore."
"That's temporary, I'm afraid." Sophie elaborated. "The regenerator picked up on it; it isn't a physical issue, more of a psychological one, so once the pain killers wear off, it'll come back again. Do you normally have a walking implement?"
"A cane, yes - it was wooden, so I assume none of it came through hell's blaze?"
"Ah - no, we didn't find anything like that. Give me a second."
Sophie began rummaging through the cupboards next to her desk; eventually, she found a retractable metal cane, and unfolded it before Fritswick.
"This should do for when you need it," she said. "You can retract it for easier storage."
Fritswick took the metal cane carefully; he tapped it against the floor a few times, getting used to leaning his weight on it.
"Thank you, lady Victors."
Sophie made a noise mixed between a cough and a chortle.
"Just call me Sophie, you don't need to be that formal to anyone except Commander Viridin."
"I see," he replied. "Tell me, what exactly is he Commander of? I assume this is a ship, so, where are we sailing?"
Sophie contemplated for a moment.
"I see; you're used to 'ships' being water-runners only..."
She began wandering towards the far side of the room. At the wall opposite the door was what appeared to be a metal hatch, firmly secured by a mechanical lock. Sophie pressed a small button next to the hatch.
"Requesting permission to open Med-Bay Port-side observation hatch."
There was a few seconds of delay, before the calming voice of the ship replied "Permission granted."

With a mechanical clunk, the fastening bolt of the hatch retracted; following this, the panel itself retracted into the wall, revealing a thick chunk of reinforced glass, beyond which was apparently nothing but darkness.
"Lowering solar shield for Med-Bay observation window." the voice added.
Seconds later, the darkness was replaced by an indescribable light; Sophie motioned for Fritswick to get a closer view.
Fritswick felt his legs go weak as he took in the view; stars in every observable direction, no land or sky to obscure their view. Ripples of cosmic energy fluttered in and out of view as the ship travelled at low-warp speeds, distorting space by miniscule, yet still barely comprehensible amounts.
"We... are sailing through space."
"Yeah."
Fritswick took a few steps back."
"This is... a work of fiction, surely. I... I must have fallen asleep reading something..."
"I can assure you, Mr Fritswick, this is no fantasy. Seal the Med-Bay observation window."
"Med-Bay observation window, sealed."
"These words, this place..." Fritswick muttered to himself.
"Are you alright?" said Sophie, her face growing with concern. "You might want to sit down."
"I'll be fine," he said, regaining his balance with his cane. "I... I just don't quite understand why I'm here."
Sophie sighed, her disappointment now visible.
"A shame that you don't know, because we don't really know. Does the term 'Temporal Conscript' mean anything to you?"
Fritswick shook his head.
"I feel like I should sit down for this explanation," he said, making his way to a nearby stool.
"Alright," Sophie began, twisting her fingers together. "I'm not sure how much you know in your era... do you understand time?"
Fritswick looked at her blankly.
"I mentioned having two watches. I have- rather I had, twelve watches in total, and spent hours of my time getting them into exact synchronous. Of course I understand time, my lady, and how it works forwards and backwards and all sorts - why, I remember having this theory explained to me about travelling through time itself, how the present might not be the only present."
Sophie blinked twice, slightly dumbstruck.
"I-alright-okay then. You have a grasp of time travel already, that's-that helps a lot."
Sophie cleared her throat, regaining her composure.
"While it isn't exactly an every-day occurrence, by this point in time we are aware of an organisation known at the 'Temporal Guild'. I'm not sure why myself, but on occasion they have taken people out of history in order to resolve a situation. These situations are... vastly different, and often kept secret, but we do know they happen."
"I see," nodded Fritswick. "And, for some reason, they have called upon me to assist them?"
"Indeed," said Sophie. "And, apparently, our ship as well - they must have a purpose for us if they went out of their way to bring you to us."
Fritswick nodded in continual understanding.
"I can follow what you say," he said. "Though this place - rather, this time - frightens me, I can say that I know almost as much about the situation as you do now."
"Indeed," said Sophie. "Though, I have to ask something important; do you know what a Computer is?"
Fritswick thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, I do; I have had two computers myself."
"Really?" said Sophie, slightly taken aback.
"Indeed," continued Fritswick. "Both of them were excellent at what they did - I needed them to handle the complicated side of business matters, you see. The first was John - he was a bit of a grump, to be honest - and the second, whom should still be hired by me, is named Austin - "
"Hang on, hang on," Sophie fumbled, waving her hands. "You think computer means... a person who does calculations?"
"Indeed - why, what else could it mean?"
Sophie felt her whole body go stiff. After a few moments of panic, she let herself relax.
"Alright," she said. "I was right then; from your perspective, computers are nowhere near close to being invented yet, so I'm not allowed to tell you a lot."
Sophie walked over, and then pointed at, her computer setup at her desk.
"This is a computer; it does many things, all of them at a much faster rate than a human."
Sophie lowered her hand.
"That's basically all I can tell you; I'm not allowed to let you see any internal components, and I can't let you use one unless absolutely necessary."
Fritswick finally seemed to be confused.
"I must admit, I am confused by what you're trying to tell me," he said. "If you want me to avoid your metal Computers, I shall."
"Alright, thanks, just had to clear that up," Sophie said. "Your time period was so long ago, I just needed to establish what technology level you're currently at."
Fritswick stood up slowly, using his cane properly now that the pain killing medicine was wearing off.
"I have a question of my own." Fritswick said, a look of absolute importance on his face.
"Alright, go ahead." said Sophie, readying her best speech about preserving the timeline.
"Could you perhaps point me in the direction of the lavatory?"
"I- oh." said Sophie, physically deflating at her lack of opportunity. "I can lead you to it."