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[worsetodie]

So I'm not at all unfamiliar with the notion of moving between worlds, but having taken the time to study and ponder what information has been granted me, I'm beginning to see that this ship has a rather unique way of doing that. (That brochure was most helpful, by the way. Madame, I don't believe I got your name and therefore can only say "thank you.") 

You see, to do what this ship does, a person from my world or any other world I've traveled to [of which there is one, maybe two] has to have something that can open a doorway between one and the other. There is little talk of the space in between, which is, essentially, where you would have us believe we are now. But this is something different. I say that because while there are certain fixed ideas that tend to carry from one world to the other -- a place without magic cannot, with almost no exceptions, make magic of its own, for instance -- it tends to affect a visitor only so much. But then we just experienced a breach, which affected each of us so much that we became new people.

This is not a foreign concept to me, but where I've been, that sort of thing only happened because an additional curse was involved -- as far as we know. Since it has been broken many have been led to question the nature of that world in itself.

What I mean to say is that, if nothing else, this place has given me a new perspective from which to ponder certain...irregularities back in Storybrooke, where I last came from.

Just to clarify: This does not always happen when the ship stops in a world, correct? Other than intention, what stops us from changing when the barge docks deliberately? 

And by the by: I really do hate to hurry things along, Wardens, but are any of you intending to tell the rest of the population exactly what is going on, or are you going to continue to lie about food contaminants and command everyone to keep calm and go back to work? 

Comments

[mistconduct]

Hang on. Just. Hold the fuck up a second.

Your theory is that magic can't come from nowhere, and for the people who don't come from worlds without magic, it shouldn't be able to thrive as much as it does whenever the fucking Admiral makes drunken stop-overs?

What about latent magic? What if there's floating, non-reacting magic that's triggered in these people that you think don't have anything?

[worsetodie]

One of us is very confused right now.

[mistconduct]

Well, it doesn't fucking help there's a million different kinds of magic all over the fucking place.

Just. Break it down.

[worsetodie]

I can give you my understanding of it thus far.

We're going to accept that there are multiple worlds. This is accepted where I come from. It is accepted here.

In some worlds, there is no magic. None at all. Not in the people, the plants, the animals, the objects -- nothing. I was in a place like that before I came here, called Storybrooke, because a curse sent many people there from my home world, which is quite magical. The only magic that could be used came from objects that were brought to that world, from my world. Magic did not become a reality or constant in Storybrooke until someone from the outside put it there.

The curse these people were under caused them to become normal people in that world without magic -- much like we became during the breach. But as I said, for the people of Storybrooke, that was caused by an outside force. What happened to us was not. If I'm to believe what I am told of this place, when the Barge chooses to dock and doesn't crash, no one changes. An outside force, presumably the Barge, prevents us from changing.

I want to know why and how. I want to know if the rules differ from the world traveling I am accustomed to, or if these are layers I've simply never encountered.

[mistconduct]

Fuck, see, I was looking at it like it was the reverse: that the crashing and the changing is the anomaly and that when people don't change and the fucking boat docks like it's supposed to, that's the natural occurrence.

But you're suggesting that people can't jump in and out of worlds without being changed to fit the environment unless something else is interfering. Right?

[worsetodie]

That is how it appears, and experience has led me to believe that the rules go in the exact opposite direction where I come from. I would like to know why.

[mistconduct]

You think knowing what's behind it will give you a chance in hell of being in control of it? These fuckers get off on keeping you off balance. As soon as you figure something out they'll throw something else your way.

[worsetodie]

As they say: Knowledge is power.

[mistconduct]

And you think any of these fuckers are going to tell you the truth?

[worsetodie]

I think that they need the Inmates' trust as a whole right now more than the Inmates need theirs.

[mistconduct]

So you're...going to hold your trust hostage.

[worsetodie]

I'm going to hold my hosts accountable.

[mistconduct]

Welp.


Good luck, man.

[timesbureaucrat]

That's a very interesting question. [And not one Narvin has considered. It raises his scientific interest.]

I can tell you that sometimes at ports people do change. If they fall off the ship instead of disembarking properly, they become integrated into the world with a new identity, new memories...much like a breach. Which is further evidence to the hypothesis that the ship does something during the disembarkation process to prevent us from changing. Not magic, but some sort of advanced technology.

[And Narvin doesn't like this conclusion at all. The idea that only the Admiral's erratic will might be what is keeping the dimensional alterations at bay during every port.

He says nothing about the investigation of the mess hall, though. That's still classified information as far as Narvin is concerned, until they find the culprits.]

[worsetodie]

I'll go with magic, I think.

[magisterus]

By and large, the worlds I have traveled to did not influence who I was in any way.

[ Granted, wielders of the Keyblade were protected my ancient magics tied to said blade so that may very well be the reason why. ]

There were places, however, where physical changes did occur in order to blend in more easily with the inhabitants of that world.

The rules operate somewhat differently here, but a 'breach' by its very definition, implies the influence of external forces on the ship itself. Or perhaps, a failure of the Barge itself in maintaining itself as an entity separated from other worlds.

It is difficult to say which. It may even be both.

[worsetodie]

What I've consulted seems to suggest that a breach is a flood that has somehow done considerable damage to the ship, so you are not incorrect if what I've been told is true.

[magisterus]

The Lanes Between are not without their dangers.

[ How knows this quite well. ]

I wonder at the feasibility of fortifying the ship itself, but it may be problematic since the Barge is its own entity.