Welcome to the Program

[airlockedmods]

Good Morning, Champions. In the interest of maintaining healthy sleep patterns, a day/night cycle is in effect. Your presence is expected in the cafeteria in exactly one hour.

[The voice comes through not a large speaker, but through the device that's attached to each Champion's arm. Further investigation of the features of the device will reveal a list of profiles, a mini-map, and a list of rules. The hallways are shiny white and silver, with running lights along the floor and lights on the ceiling, and at the junction of the hallways is a sign with a knife and fork icon and an arrow pointing down the hall.

Welcome to the Excellence Program, Champions. Time to get to know your teammates.]

Comments

[bylight]

[Lightning awoke not on the purge train, but somewhere else. She had just been on her way to be thrown onto Pulse. This... This was not Cocoon. This was not where she was after derailing that train with that man who she never got the name of.

Her clothes are different, she feels different.

Wait!

She looks around in a hurry. Where was her gunblade? She stands in a hurry, looking under anything she can before rushing out of the room. That's when she notices the device on her arm. It's about as advanced as the technology from her world. Maybe it held the answers.

Scrolling through the screens she find the rules, and then she happens upon the profiles.]

.... I am not 521. What the hell kind of typo is that? [And that title... No, she was far from a Champion Sister. Not with how she treated Serah...]

[ratherdoweddings]

I was going to say! If you were, it must be one of those mysterious time travel things, and I don't understand any of that at all.

[bylight]

[Time travel?]

Time travel doesn't exist. At least not where I'm from.

[ratherdoweddings]

I thought that too, but my crew and I just made an eight-month jump when we went through that Chulip! Maybe it just hasn't made the news yet. [Yurika taps her chin. The mark on her hand goes a dull grey.] But I still have no idea how any of it worked.

[bylight]

[She has no idea what you just said.] An eight month jump... I take it you're not from my world. [Because really, what are you talking about? And what's with the mark?]

[ratherdoweddings]

Oh, I'm originally from Mars, but I moved back to Earth when I was just a kid! But what does that have to do with anything?

[bylight]

[.... Yeah.] Never heard of either of those places.

[ratherdoweddings]

What? Then you're not from Mars, Earth, or the Moon?

[kingshaming]

You certainly don't pass as that old.

[His tone is so bland it's hard to say if that was supposed to be a joke or what]

[bylight]

[Eh. She's come across blander. Ever hear a politician talk?]

If I was then I must have found the fountain of youth.

[kingshaming]

Indeed. If I had to guess I'd say you were younger then myself at least.

[Though with the frown lines on his face he could be anywhere from 25 to 45 so who knows]

[bylight]

I'm 21. This profile is off by 500 years.

[Mid-20's to early 30's if you were ask her.]

[kingshaming]

Then yes, that sounds much more fitting. Seems an odd number to just add on- is every thing else correct?

[bylight]

No. Some of it isn't. I don't know what the hell a Savior is, why I dislike chaos, and I'm not caring.

[kingshaming]

Just enough to be confusing then. Perhaps it's better not to concern yourself with it at all.

[stitch_in_time]

No? That'd be the first thing these people've got wrong, then.

[And it's pretty old for a human, anyway. Without one hell of a healthcare plan, anyway.]

Sorry, couldn't help but overhearing. Lightning, isn't it? I'm the Doctor.

[bylight]

They have quite a few things wrong.

[Though she can't complain too much about it. Most of the information is correct. She does like food quite a bit.]

It's fine. Someone was bound to. [...] That's really your name?

[stitch_in_time]

Yeah, is there a reason it shouldn't be?

[He's been just the Doctor for almost his entire lives, at this point.]

I travel a lot, one name keeps things simple.

[bylight]

[She shrugs at that.]

It's unique. Hard to forget when it really comes down to it. You should feel lucky there's no one else with Doctor in their name. Else we might have to call you Doc.

[stitch_in_time]

Oh, don't even joke about that.

[Do you see this? This is now retroactively your fault. Way to go, Light.]

That'd just make me sound like I should be mining for shiny rocks and singin' hi-ho, I see enough quarries even if my singing voice weren't rubbish.

[bylight]

[She doesn't understand the reference...]

Right. You're safe from me calling you that. Nicknames can be pretty annoying.

[stitch_in_time]

[Be glad it's this version of him, Light. The next one's known to reference his own past as a completely inside joke.]

Thanks for that. I'll assume you don't want to be called just 'Light' then, yeah?

[fatherofsin]

[ That catches his attention. ]

Are you quite sure?

[ Time to make a note of that mentally. ]

[bylight]

[She glances over at the man (she'll check his profile later), nodding.]

I just turned 21. So unless I missed 500 years of life, I'm sure.

[fatherofsin]

...Good to note. Thank you.

[ That's suspicious. He doubts they got info that wrong... ]