outsiderslogs | welcome to omega, round two.

Entry tags:

welcome to omega, round two.

who. everyone!
what. in which the new arrivals join the outsiders.
where. landing pads for new arrivals, who then head through the markets to the residential area.
when. today!
warnings. n/a

This time, when the shuttles arrive, the landing pad isn't so empty. There was no saying these people wouldn't show up again, and though Aria isn't going to be happy that they appear to be coming on a schedule while the rest of the system is grounded, there doesn't appear that there's much to be done about it. A group of her batarian agents are there to escort incomers off the ship; some are taken aside for questioning, but when it's clear they know nothing of their origins, they're let go. Some new arrivals may notice that these shuttles don't simply depart -- a number of them are escorted off by other shuttles, deeper into the station.

After that, though, there's little the batarians can do about them. They're sent towards the residential district by way of the markets and financial sectors. The housing areas they arrive in aren't in the best of shape; while there are other outsiders to this galaxy already at work trying to repair the damage, others aren't bothering with it at all.

This is Omega. If you don't find some way to pull your weight, you'll be dead in no time.

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The tiniest of smirks plucks at his face when York calls him a smart kid; most people either tell him he's an idiot, or too smart for his own good.

"Whatcha gonna do if I say yes? Truant officer's pretty far away."

He shrugs and jams his hands into his pockets. Though he's pretty glad that she ran off some creeps for him, part of him doesn't like being hovered over by some strange armored lady. Even if she's being pretty chill, it just meane that there were people (and things that he didn't really want to call people) hovering that he probably doesn't know about.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm not with the school board, then," York says right back with a grin, but she's a little distracted. It's a little delayed, but -- Marco. Seriously? Now she's pretty sure she knows why the kid looks so familiar. There's an age difference of five or so years, but -- man, no way. What are the odds.

"You said your name was Marco, right?"

Marco really, really doesn't like that look that York's suddenly giving him. It raises the hairs on the back of his neck a little, for reasons he can't quite put a finger on. He sort of wants to inch away slowly and bolt, even more so at her question. Shit, should he have given a fake name?

"That's what I said, right? Though I'm not picky, you can call me Matt or Juan or Steve or Isaac."

There was no reason anyone here should be looking at him like they thought they recognized him. He's trying to keep his tone casual, rolling his eyes as if he just can't believe that she needs to ask him his name again, but mostly to cover up the fact that he's trying to check to quick escape routes.

Of course, the more squirmy and dodgy the kid gets, the more it seals the deal. Of course it's Marco -- man, there's no way it could be anyone else. She'd gotten to know him just well enough back on Sacrosanct to know, and she actually lets out a laugh.

"Christ, kiddo, it is you. I mean, yeah, you're younger, but -- " York stops herself, clears her throat a little, and her smile turns half-sheepish. "Hey, I'm sorry, Marco. Not trynna freak you out or anything, so don't look so ready to bolt, all right? But, uh -- we've met. Well, I've met you. Different you. Older. Back at the last death trap I was stuck in. Just took me a minute to recognize you, is all."

"Stop. Don't. What the hell is this? Am I actually stuck in a bad scifi flick?"

Okay, this is really getting too weird. Telling Marco not to bolt while he's half a breath away from doing just that is really not going to bring down the fear-adrenaline prickling up all of the hairs on his body. He's inching backwards slowly the more she tries to explain herself, even though there wasn't really anywhere reasonable for him to run to.

"Prove it. Tell me something about this supposed other me."

Hoo boy. She knew Marco was kind of twitchy, but she hadn't realized how bad it'd been when he was a kid. She holds up a hand in a disarming gesture, shaking her head, but she looks a little less certain now.

"Hey -- don't run on me, all right? The version of you I knew back at Sacrosanct, he was a friend of mine. I'm not lookin' to bust you or anything." She sucks at her teeth in thought for a moment. "He was a few years older, so I dunno if you'd even remember some of this stuff -- he talked about a war, the invasion, all that...oh -- hey." York snaps her fingers, looking up, and she smiles a little. "Y'know, he talked a lot about his buddies from when he was a kid. Your best friend's name is Jake, right? And he talked about this girl he'd had a crush on ever since he was a kid -- damn, what was her name? Rachel! Yeah, that was it. Ring any bells, kiddo?"

York is going to get this cold stare from Marco for a few moments here. Some of the stuff she's saying is kind of right, but still didn't really make a whole lot of sense. For him, the invasion's only just starting. He doesn't like this at all. She sure seems pretty honest and nice, but then again, so did Jake's brother until they found out there was an alien slug in his brain. Can't. Trust. Anyone.

Mentally, he quickly flips through their brief interaction again; running off some Batarians, not recognizing him, now this. Was she faking all of that to get something out of him? What did they even want from him?

"Dude, I was getting shot at by weirdos yesterday, how the hell am I gonna forget something like that?" He's stopped backing away from her, at least, but everything is still rubbing him in all sorts of wrong directions. His response now is less a fear of York but more a horrible gut-twisting from how twilight-zone everything is getting.

"And sure, Jake's my buddy forever, but Rachel's my girlfriend! Why would I say she's only a crush?"

Marco's done making stupid jokes. He would really like an explanation now. Or better yet, to be put right back where they found him.

Ah, Christ. This really wasn't how she'd intended for this conversation to go at all. Still, what he says makes her raise an eyebrow. It sounds kind of familiar, and honestly, after all her time spent on Sacrosanct, not much of this shit surprises her anymore.

"Look, I didn't mean to spook you, all right?" She's trying to sound about as gentle as she can, nonthreatening, but she knows Marco's a suspicious kid. She winces a little, wrinkling her nose. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but just calm down a second. I'm not looking to hurt you, it just caught me by surprise."

She hesitates, just long enough to draw a breath, and she gives him a sort of rueful half-smile. "It's possible you're from a different timeline than the other Marco I met. Hell, everybody from my world knows me as a guy back home. Stranger things have happened." Yeah, that's still weird to think about. Weirder still that she's met the dude version of herself. "Look, you can't deny that this shit's already weird. We got pulled here from other universes -- not even for the first time, for me -- and we still don't know why. You're a smart kid, Marco. Stop and think about it. Is it really that impossible that I might've met an older you somewhere else, maybe somebody from another timeline?"

She's convinced that's it, now. The longer she talks to him, the more certain she is. There are too many similarities for it to be a coincidence -- and given what she's seen, the alternate timeline theory is pretty fucking likely.

'We'? 'Other universes'? And to think that Marco was under the impression that he got kidnapped by Yeerks and dumped here because he knew too much and needed to bee removed from the planet. If this is really just a glitch that pulled him through space and time? Honestly, that made a lot of the weird shit back home make more sense, too.

He takes a deep breath.

"This is all. Completely. INSANE!" Nope, didn't want to believe any of this. "How can you possibly be so relaxed about this?!" Yep, still ranting. "What could actually be weirder than this? My dead mother materializes out of thin air in the middle of the mall, my best friend's brother turns out to be an alien, I'm talking to someone who looks like she fell out of a video game, and on top of that she knows a version of me from an alternate universe where I am older and yet somehow never managed to convince Rachel to go on a date with me??"

Deep breaths, Marco.

"Do I at least get any taller? Please tell me I at least have another foot left to go."

York wrinkles her nose a little, giving Marco an apologetic wince of a smile. "Sorry, kiddo. No such luck. You're still pretty cute, though, if that's any consolation." It's hard to resist the urge to tousle the kid's hair. But that probably won't endear her to him any quicker. "Hey, believe me, I get it. When this first happened to me, it was a trip and a half, and where I wound up at first was a loteasier to adjust to than this place."

She hesitates a moment, wondering if he's going to think she's laying it on a little thick -- and honestly, she wouldn't blame him, but she's feeling sincere. She hadn't known him terribly long back on Sacrosanct, but Marco -- he was a good kid. "But I got through it 'cause I had people I could trust," she adds, crouching down just slightly to be closer to eye level with Marco. "And I know, it sounds like a load of bullshit, me knowing some other version of you. But Marco, he was a friend of mine. Which makes you a friend of mine." She pauses, gives him a little smile. "This isn't the best place to be stuck on your own anyway, right?"

"Wow, York, that's the cheesiest pile of bullshit I've ever heard." Marco folds his arms and gives her a disappointed stare, as if it's somehow her fault he's going to be short until he dies. Of course, if she knows him well enough, she'll hear the same good-natured sarcasm that he only reserved for people he's decided are alright. "You ever think about writing scripts for daytime television?"

Suddenly, he snaps his fingers with a sudden revelation.

"I've got it! The other guy, you said he was in a war, right? It must have been the stress. The stress stunted his growth, and that's why he never broke the five foot glass ceiling. Okay, from now on, I will only have a relaxed, stress-free life, with no alien invasions, people shooting at me for no reason, math quizzes, or girls turning me down for dates."

He laughs ruefully and looks around at where they're standing. Yep. Stress-free living.

Okay, ouch, but she deserved that. It was kinda cheesy, even for her. Man, if he wasn't just a kid -- and Marco -- she probably wouldn't have such a soft spot for him otherwise. She huffs out a laugh, straightening up, and shakes her head with a toss of her hair.

"All right, I had that comin'," she admits. "Look, if you really think this is all too weird, you're fre to go, Marco. I'm not holdin' you here. You just might wanna keep an eye out for vorcha and batarians. Not exactly the friendliest bunch around. But hey, if you're hungry, I was thinkin' about grabbing lunch."

The weirdest part about this for Marco isn't that he just found out that there's another version of himself running around somewhere, but that York is acting way more familiar with him than he's willing to reciprocate, just because he's known her for all of five minutes and she's acting like they've been buddies forever. As if she knew what he likes and dislikes, how to get through to him without trying that hard, bits and pieces of his life that he's never told her.

He doesn't like this feeling, but there's also no real way around it besides melting into the crowd and trying to never run into her again. How many other people were around that knew about bizarro-world copy Marco, though? Maybe it would be smart to stick with a known entity for now.

"You might not be holding me here, but I'm pretty sure this alien parade and also the laws of physics are going to do a great job of keeping me from peacing out." Which is what he would have done now, except he's not going to miss a chance to mooch a free meal. "Is there a Taco Bell around? I've got the worst craving for nachos. Also, you're going to have to spot me, because I have like two US dollars on me and I'm pretty sure that's not valid currency here."

"Don't worry, I got you covered. Like I'm gonna make a kid pay for his own meal." York snorts, looking a touch amused. She can tell this is his hesitant way of accepting, and hell, she can't blame him for being suspicious. Maybe she came on too strong, sure, and she gets that -- ordinarily she'd have played it cool, but she wasn't sure there was the leisure for that in a place like this. But hey, maybe after a meal he'll halfway trust her. It's worth a shot.

York gives him a slightly rueful grin, shaking her head. "Sorry, Marco, I think we're a ways from good old American fast food. But I'm pretty sure I can find us somethin'. There's a decent diner-type joint somewhere around here, mostly caters to humans."

"Sweet! I'll have to call home and get an advance on my allowance at some point, I guess."

He means it as a joke, but his voice wavers for a moment because he realizes this is beginning the inevitable acceptance that he's way, way far from home and who knows if he'll ever get back. There are some things that he doesn't really need to think about right now. Or ever.

But he's willing to tag along at York's heels for a little bit, for lack of any other leads on what to do with himself next.

"It can't be as bad as cafeteria mystery meat."

York hears the waver in his voice, but she doesn't comment on it. No need to deal any extra blows to Marco's pride, given everything that's going. And honestly, all things considered, he does a pretty good job of hiding it. Better than York would've at that age, at least.

"Don't worry, it's better than high school lunches," she promises him, gesturing with a quick nod. "C'mon, they might even do burgers."

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welcome to omega, round two.

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