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[ The omnicom feed turns on, but there's a few second of shaky cam showing someone's shirt, and then something black, and then the purple shirt is back again as Joe tries to get it propped up to the correct angle.

When he's satisfied, he sits down square to the camera, far enough back that he's in frame from the waist up. He smiles and waves, before he begins signing. ]

Hi! I'm Joe Wilson. The translating earplugs seem to work through video, so I thought I'd start this way. Everyone's been able to understand me so far, which is surreal. I feel like I'm a point in a Seurat, and the universe took a big enough step back for me to take a place in the painting. It's fantastic! I'm so glad I was able to see it.

Oh, but this is going to be strange. I'm going to have to watch what I say from now on.

[ He grins widely, as he caught what he said there. It's somewhere between a double entendre and a pun. ]

I think I'll continue by typing though so no one misunderstands because they've looked away.

[ Joey picks the device back up and swaps the format. He restarts, briefly. ]

Hi everyone! My name's Joseph Wilson, but feel free to call me Joe or Joey. I'm going to get this out of the way and ask you to please not feel bad about using phrases like "speak up" or "did you say anything?" It doesn't bother me, and, trust me, it's more awkward when a conversation screeches to a halt while people dance around it. I'd love to be able to get to know my teammates before anything happens that requires a team. I wish nothing would happen that required a team of metahumans, but I'm not naive. Is anyone planning an activity they'd like a plus one for, or is there a certain time everyone hits the mess hall? Until then, you're free to ask me whatever you'd like to know. I'll get the ball rolling. I'm a middle child, I like prog rock, and I think you can tell a lot about a person from the kind of salad dressing they buy.

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Wow, I had no idea the translators could do that. That's impressive.

[Maybe it shouldn't be surprising, all things considered, but it still kind of is. Future technology was wild.]

It's nice to meet you, Joey. I'm Kyle, the White Lantern. When I'm not trying to be a superhero, I'm an artist. I think we're going to get along.

It's beautiful. Free and open communication that's no longer restricted by linguistic borders. Good to meet you too, Kyle. I'm not familiar with the White Lantern, but, if you're anything like the Green Lanterns, we're going to get along great. I guess I gave myself away when I mentioned Seurat. Artist is very broad, though. What's your preferred medium?

A little bit of everything, honestly. I draw, mostly. Pencil, paper, whatever's around. But I like to change it up every now and then.

And it's okay, there aren't many White Lanterns where I'm from, either. I USED to be a Green Lantern, but I guess my situation called for a little more color, so I'm kind of a bit of everything now, too. [In other words, he'd tasted the rainbow (at least as far as the emotional spectrum was concerned), but that probably didn't have the best connotation.] Besides, GL is already taken here. I figure it's less confusing this way.

I paint, mostly. Sometimes, I sketch, but that tends to be for ideas instead of finished products. I'd love to see your work.

[ Sorry, Joey missed the Lantern Skittles (some of them haven't even happened yet. ]

I never knew there was more than one kind of Lantern. I think they've all been green, but I could be wrong. They're more of a Justice League thing, although I think we'd take Teen Green. There have been... I think there have been 4.

Only if you promise you'll show me some of yours, too.

Oh man, we've got way more than that now, but we're pretty easy to miss, I think. It's a miracle if we even get to BE on Earth sometimes. The rainbow Lanterns don't hang around much, either, but they're mostly from other planets anyway. I don't want to bore you with all those details, though. The point is, you know another Lantern now, right?

When I make some! I was on a hostile planet yesterday. I need some time to settle in and find an art shop. I don't think it's boring! I think it's fascinating. I still have dreams about being on Tamaran. It was absolutely beautiful. I've never seen colors like that before. If you want to share stories, I'm all ears.

Hey, I totally get it. But if you ever need anything, let me know. I wouldn't mind sharing with a fellow artist.

[At first, he wasn't sure what to choose for his biome, but it turns out that using his old apartment, the one he rarely had the time to visit before he got here, was actually a pretty good choice. All those unused art supplies and references, all just waiting to be used.]

Oh, in that case, I've got stories for days. But it's really something, isn't it? There's just so much out there. I worry that I take it for granted sometimes.

I wouldn't mind seeing what you have. I don't think there's much to improve on brushes and paints, but what do I know? The future might surprise me. It'll give me a chance to hear a story or two. I don't think you can take it for granted when you're worried you might. It means that you're still aware of how inspiring it is.

Hi Joe. I'm Jason Grace. That's pretty cool that the translators can do that -- I didn't even think of them being able to do that, honestly. It does kind of take the fun out of cursing in Latin though since it all gets translated, whether you want it to or not.

Unfortunately, we've already had several incidents crop up that required teams, so I imagine that pattern is going to hold. I'm like you in that experience has taught me that much -- no matter how much we'd like for things to just be and STAY quiet for once.

I'm the youngest child myself -- though for the longest time I thought I was an only child. It's a long story and my family can be a bit complicated.

And probably a dumb question to start with but what is prog rock?

Edited 2017-01-19 02:25 (UTC)

Hi Jason! It's nice to meet you. I think it's the sort of use most people don't think about until it's something they need. I know people who turn on closed captioning during movies because they can't understand a Southern American accent. I'm not sure if closed captioning still exists - it's a video that displays the script simultaneously. I thought as much. I'll still hope for better. I think that all families are complicated. I thought I was the youngest for most of my life, but I can make the long story short. I found out I have a younger sister, and she's great. I hope your surprise turns out as well as mine. We're about a thousand years post neo-prog rock. I don't think it's a dumb question. It's basically the morphing of early rock music, which most people thought was very low brow, into something that began to vie for the word art. Until the late 1960s, lyrics were basic. They told stories, or they waxed poetic on love and not much else. Lyricists started to see themselves as poets, songs grew to need interpretation. On the music side of things, Moog synthesizers meant that they could score an entire orchestra and only need to bring a keyboardist on tour. I'm sorry. I don't mean to lecture about it. If you're familiar with the 20th century, it's bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, and King Crimson.

Yeah, I guess most families are and especially the ones I know. It was definitely a good surprise -- though I still don't get to see my sister much because she's with a different group that travels a lot and, well, now she's in an entirely different universe I guess.

I've heard of Pink Floyd...that's about it. But it sounds like we might come from close to the same era? I mean, certainly closer than the time period we're in now. At least, the terminology you're using is making a lot more sense than some of the stuff I hear thrown around here.

Especially the ones I, but they're full of great people, too. You should think about traveling with her. Being a groupie, in keeping with the music discussion. I mean when you get home. I keep expecting to get a message from Rose. Even now, there's something that says "Any minute now, she's going to text me." She isn't here though. We lived a long time ago. I think we're close, if we know the same band. I've been listening to some of the modern music, and I don't know what to think of it. It's not bad, but it's so foreign that I feel like I need to spend a few weeks immersing myself in it before I can say whether or not I like it. So - if you're not into older rock, and you're not into this future's music, what do you like?

[ Ina is...a little distracted by the signing. (And also sticking to video because I'm from 1600 and what is this. ]

That's...a language?

[ Her time isn't exactly the most enlightened about this kind of thing; the idea of a way for people who can't talk to still talk isn't something she's ever seen before. That's...kind of amazing! ]

[ Here, let him help with the distraction by showing her even more of it. ]

Yes! This is kind of a dialect of ASL - American Sign Language. I'm signing words using English's grammar. It tends to translate better to people who are Hearing.

[ He pauses, clearly thinking about that. ]

I wonder if the ear plugs could handle a language with that much interpretation required.

We don't have anything like that in my time.

[ She sounds positively delighted. There are lots of cool things they don't have yet, to be fair. Like electricity, ice cream, and cat macros. ]

It's still amazing to think that one little thing can translate more languages than I ever imagined existed!

I hope it's because you don't need anything like that.

[ Ice cream and electricity, he would agree, are boons to the universe, but it's nice to imagine a world where everyone can communicate in the same fashion. Cat macros - he doesn't know those either. ]

It is amazing. Have you found anything else as inspiring? I've only just arrived. I'd love your opinion - what's your name?

We're...very far behind most of the worlds represented here, I admit. Japan, as of the...sixteenth century, I believe they said it would be? The calendar's been an adjustment, too.

[ Like, you know. Basically everything. ]

My name is Ina.

It's lovely to meet you, Ina.

[ As for the rest, Joey can see pluses and minuses to being another 400 years behind him. Those were an important 400 years, in terms of technology. ]

It must be hard for you, coming from such a beautiful culture and simpler time. I'm working at adjusting to the new modern culture too. I've always wanted to belong in a museum, but not like this.

It's been difficult, but most people here have been very accommodating.

[ And perhaps more importantly, most of them have been careful about not making her feel stupid, which is a relief. ]

The habitat deck has been a blessing, whenever it's all a bit more than I'm in the mood to handle, though.

It's nice to know that they're willing to work with us.

I haven't had the opportunity to see the habitat deck. They said it was broken up into areas that represent everyone's home? I think I'm going to check it out when I find a map or a tour guide.

It is, and they're very good at giving you exactly what you want out of it. I think I'd be hard-pressed to tell this Ueda Castle from the real one.

Is that what you have? I should have asked for something more dramatic. Or did you always live in a castle?

I did grow up between castles, but my father's lands weren't so extensive until after I'd married and left them. Ueda is the capital of my husband's domain. Truly...he is what makes it feel most like home, but it's still a comfort to have it.

Home is always about the people who live in it, but I understand how it would help to have a familiar place when everything is so different, even the food.

[ Joey gives his head a small shake and then smiles a little. ]

I said I'm going to see the Habitat Deck soon, but I don't know if I'll go to my section right away. I don't know how I'd feel about an empty Tower. It's usually so full of life. At the same time... it is home.

That is the downside, yes. But there's so little that's familiar here.

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video is fine!

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