text / audio | un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

Alright, let's not be total wallflowers at prom here, if we're going to be stuck together for the foreseeable future, I think it's only right that we (read: I) start getting to know all of my fellow space cadets. If we're ACTUALLY in space and this isn't some humongous simulation. You guys saw how easy it was for this place to manufacture a hyper-realistic simulation earlier, right? Yikes, big yikes.

But if we ARE in space and we're going to be traveling around, that's actually kind of AWESOME.

No offense to anyone who didn't want to actually be here of course, but you're nuts if you're not a LITTLE curious about the vast expanse of outer space. C'mon. OUTER SPACE! How incredible is that? And here I thought me coming face to face with aliens back home was INCREDIBLE, now we've got ACTUAL OUTER SPACE??? Pinch me I'm in a simulation. LOL.

Sorry I'm rambling, my name's Newt. Dr. Newton Geiszler, but but that sounds so much more boring and overcomplicated than 'Newt', so just stick with that. Worked as a xenobiologist on earth (is there multiple earths or what??? a lot of you are crazy unfamiliar with Kaiju, which is wild to me), helped giant robots fight aliens, the usual. Likes are rock music, playing instruments, tattoos, science and tech, dislikes are bossy pushovers who complain about those things.

Speaking of which, my really good pal from home's name is Hermann Gottlieb, and you should call him Herm to make him REALLY feel at home. :)

It's nice to meet you guys on the NEWTwork. ;P

... Actually—

[Suddenly, the text turns into audio, in which a higher voice with some focal fry bleeds in-]

—can I just abruptly switch to an audio function?

[A pause, and then an excitable:]

Holy shit, how awesome is that?! This is amazing; we've made some pretty monumental gains in technology back home, but we're still working on finessing the finer aspects of neuralogically connecting to networks like these for the general population. I'd love to take one of these apart sometime and see what makes them tick. Good to have an idea of what to expect, in case we need modifications or repairs done at any point.

Anyway. Uh. Hey!

... This whole voices-in-your-head thing can't be good for my train of thought, but geronimo, right?

[If anyone listens beyond that, they may catch the accidental thought-to-audio that follows:]

Wha — oh, dammit.

I sure hope this is the last nosebleed, because I would rather not worry about having accidental brain damage from drifting with aliens.

Comments

audio; un: lowell

[vibing]

How does this-- huh.

[ Forgive him, while his world has robots, they have no other technology past, like, really good boats. ]

Hi there, Newt. Never thought I'd hear another person's voice in my head.

So, we're doing this whole getting to know you thing? I'm Yuri. Fighting giant aliens sounds pretty cool. I'd try my hand against them. Fought some pretty big monsters back home, myself.

[ That sounds stupid even in his own head. How does one even communicate without looking them in the face? ]

This is really weird.

Uh, well. Nothing like this exists where I'm from, so I'm on team it's not a simulation, unless the Empire's been hiding stuff from everybody. But in space? Never would have thought it.

Guess we're in this together. It's good to meet you.

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

[Behold, techno-magic! Wowee, huh?]

I've had other people in my head, but nothing like this, man... Wild. I love it.

[Okay, okay, he's had one person and two Kaiju in his head. Semantics!]

And it's nice to meet you, Yuri. I wouldn't say I, uh. Fought any monsters. I mean, not directly. I did a lot of behind the scenes stuff nobody ever mentions, like feeding the pilots information about their weaknesses with my studies. Usual underappreciated work, but I know I'm cool, so whatever.

... You fight monsters, huh?

audio; un: username

[skelepun]

[Figuring out how to place an earpiece when you have no ears is one thing. Having that earpiece pop off in a sudden, lengthy stream of consciousness rant directly into your (in his case, metaphorical) brain... well, that was just another thing to get used to, wasn't it?

Put that up on the list next to the whole 'falling asleep at your desk, waking up in space' thing.

At least this guy had some decent jokes mixed in with all the high-key rambling.]

Lemme guess, your regret was not switching to decaf when you had the chance?

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

['username', oh, how cute, he likes you dude

There's a pause, and then Newt says:]

Switch to decaf? Dude.

Over my dead caffeinated body.

...

You think they have energy drinks anywhere around here?

text to audio (un: major.yzak.jule)

[coordination]

[ Where does one even fucking start with all of this. This guy is saying so much, christ.

He starts out texting back: ]

Kaiju is a genre, isn't it?

[ He was going to type more, but as Newt continues ... if only he could see the way Yzak's expression transforms from curious to exasperatedly annoyed the longer he goes on because he's not stopping and oh god now it's audio and his voice is ringing in his head. ]

Oh my god SHUT UP!

[ Now it is Yzak's turn to accidentally send that audio back, because his short temper doesn't help with filtering much. It's followed by a simple: ]

Fuck.

[ In the tone of, WHOOPS! Didn't want to yell that over audio!

(Not that he didn't mean it or that he's sorry. But. You know.) ]

1/2

[groupiedrifter]

[BLARHASHGISFHAGF HIS BRAIN'S RATTLING]

audio; un: scifo

[thinkfirst]

[ Wow, it is... really so very strange to have a metallic announce that he has a message. Flynn isn't actually sure he even meant to open it, it just kind of starts playing in his head: a completely unfamiliar text, that he's reading somehow, and then a voice—

It's probably a good thing he's alone in his and Yuri's room at the moment, because Flynn has to sit down hard on his bed, pushing a hand against his head like that's going to do anything. He takes the earpiece out mid-message, realizes it cut off, and then pushes it back in only to have the message resume.

How utterly disconcerting.

The more he listens, the more this Newt person reminds him (strongly) of a certain technology-obsessed mage. ]

Hello, Newt. My name is Flynn Scifo. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[ So far so good, probably. Flynn's light voice is a bit stilted, overly-formal. He's speaking aloud to himself, which is absolutely very strange, but easier than just trying to think things. ]

Thank you for providing us with a test of this system. I suppose we will all have to familiarize ourselves with it, and it would be nice to have done that before we go on a real mission. If, indeed, any of those missions are real.

Is this working?

[ That last part wasn't supposed to make it in there. Oops. ]

...are you alright? You mentioned something about a nosebleed?

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

Heya, Flynn! Flynn Scifo. Badass name. Totally fits the lead singer of some underground rock band.

[Unlike the poor lad, Newton takes to the messaging system like a fish's gills hitting water, efficiently as animated and as naturally chatty as he is in real life. There's a lot one could say about Newt, but nobody could deny he was an open book, a personality that is difficult to keep tamed. Poor Hermann. Poor Pentecost. They were tired (tm).]

I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time; I'm more than happy to talk you through whatever, until you know how it all works. [See! He's helpful!] I've just — wait, you heard that? Whoops. Uhh. Just... space allergies? What did you hear, exactly?

audio, un: silent

[callada]

[Ugh there are reasons why he doesn't mess with this earpiece stuff much. It has the potential to be so useful for coordinating on a mission or across long distances, but it's also so much extra unwanted noise sometimes.

But. He's trying. Give him that much credit.]

I'll grant that it's something I never thought possible. Space travel, simulations, this communication system. Lots I've never seen before here.

You mentioned multiple Earths and that does seem like it's the case from the people I've talked to, but there are those of us not from Earth, also. I would love to know how or why this thing picks us out of all those worlds out there.

audio

[groupiedrifter]

For a guy with the username silent, you sure aren't silent.

[:)]

Maybe... convenience? If it's pulling us through some sort of — of wormhole-like astronomical event, something that is just a matter of us being available at the right time and right place for a space kidnapping.

audio; un: oswin

[bossily]

[Okay this is a lot to take in all at once. She really has no idea where to start responding, because she's got a lot of bits and pieces to say. And when she thinks he may stop, he just keeps going and going. She recognizes his voice so of course she listens all the way until he cuts off.]

Nosebleeds, Dr. Newton? [Cue the concern. Time to get nosy.]

How many have you had recently?

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

[Ehem!!!

Well, that was an oopsie on his behalf, so he'll just play it off a bit.]

... A few.

It's just a symptom from home. It's been slowing down over time, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[He is, of course, faking it 'til he makes it, because he has no clue what the symptoms of drifting with a Kaiju mean. Nosebleeds make the Shatterdome uneasy, you know? And when you had the very distinct symptoms of Solo Drifting after your first neural handshake with a Kaiju, you maybe have very minor regrets about the whole thing.

... Granted he'd still do it again. But still.]

Hazards of the workplace, that's all. I'll shove a tissue up one nostril and call it a day.

voice, un: ellie

[thevalley]

[Okay. So she was just going to lay low and take it easy. Get her surroundings. Figure out how to use this thing. She nearly drops it when a voice starts coming out of it and then... she hears two very important words.]

Wait. Back the fuck up to "giant robots" and "aliens".

voice

[groupiedrifter]

I've backed up to the "giant robots" and "aliens". What would you like to know, Ellie?

As your resident giant robot and aliens tour guide, I'm all for telepathically gushing to you about both of those things.

audio; un: WHEATLEY

[testgasm]

A scientist, eh? Haven't seen one of your lot in--well, I'm not sure how long, but it's been--it's been a while. Certainly never met any who made, uh. Giant robots fight aliens? Did I hear you correctly?

Also, uh. Just one thing. Do keep your fluids to yourself, and, ah, off the network. If you don't mind. Not really something everyone wants to see. Or. Imagine. In this case.

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

First off — the fluids thing, total accident. Would have preferred not to.

For another... yes. Yes, I'm talking giant robots. Isn't that badass?

... Though I, uh... I wasn't the one piloting the giant robots. I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. Scientists tend to do that. We're the awesome dudes that find all the weaknesses and upgrade your big walking battlebot.

audio; un: hgottlieb

[bijective]

[Somewhere across Ximilia station is Hermann visibly cringing after experiencing that “colorful” introduction to the rest of the occupants. Your penchant for gaudy introductions is as sharp as ever, Newton.]

I’ve established this before, Newton, and I will go out of my way for the umpteenth time to reiterate that I am to be addressed as doctor. Perhaps if you didn’t spend all those years damaging your ears with that rambunctious racket for music, it would have gone through that skull of yours.

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

[Sorry, Hermann, did you think them having a deep beautiful bonding moment in the drift would stop him from tormenting you still???? Bless you.]

Hermann, come on. How are you supposed to make friends if you have all your friends call you doctor? It'll just go ahead and say it: it's lame, and you need to move on and make better choices.

Also, my music is awesome. You're just mad that you have bad taste.

text; un: aragaki

[petsthedog]

[Goddddd this guy was loud when he met him earlier in the kitchen area and now he is loud directly in his head. Shinji needs a nap.]

geez, warn a guy before you switch like that all of a sudden

[He might have been a little bit startled okay, shut up.]

kaiju is godzilla type shit right
i've seen movies like that, yeah
but we didn't have aliens or anything
we had robots but not giant ones

[Well, maybe it was possible Aigis could become giant, he doesn't know. He was only aware of her existence for a month before he died, after all.]

text;

[groupiedrifter]

Sorry? My bad? I don't really know how to warn a guy yet, it's not like I'm a pro at talking telepathically! Which is essentially what's going on here, only more scientifically speaking.

Godzilla is in fact a Kaiju, yes. Fictional in my world, but it's where we pulled the term. Japanese monster movies! They're awesome! I owned a whole box set that was def worth a good $500 alone.

You've got tiny robots?

audio; un: kitsuragi

[kimballin]

How bad of a headache do you have right now?

[With, like, everyone yowling all at once, he means. It's fascinating, sure, but also holy shit is it fucking loud. Kim sounds fairly amused, though. But ah, more importantly:]

Multiple earths aren't as outlandish as they seem . . . though seeing evidence of it firsthand is more than a little stunning, isn't it?

Hmm. Does being a xenobiologist include any knowledge of medical science?

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

[wiiiiince]

About a six? I guess I should've seen that coming. I'm not bleeding out of my eyes or ears, though, so I'd say this was a success. [He rubs his temple a little, suddenly wishing he had some meds. Or some coffee? Just a little coffee.] I've got experience in medical, sure; if I'm going to study creatures from another planet, I might as well have a pretty solid understanding of our own biology, right? Only seems right.

[Mr. Fancy PhD Boy adjusts his glasses.]

Pharmaceutical science is my better work; spent way too much time back in the day helping develop artificial tissue replication. But — yeah, uh. Little bit of everything. I like to have options, you know? Especially now that the war's over, I'll have to have more to fall back on.

audio | un: sharpshooter

[buoys]

[ voices in his head? sure, why not. at this point, lance shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore right? (hopefully...) fortunately or unfortunately, lance here is just as much a rambler as newt himself seems to be. best buds, or a recipe for disaster? you be the judge. ]

Hold up hold up — you did the giant robots versus aliens thing too? Man, the people in charge here must have a type. Saved the universe once myself, no big deal.

Anyhoo! 'Sup, Newt. I'm Lance. No fancy title or whatever, but don't let that fool you! I may not know my way around a lab — that's definitely more Pidge's deal — but I kicked some alien butt in my time. [ he says "my time" as if he's in his 70s than his 20s... ] No offense to the aliens out there. Though I guess we're all aliens to someone else, huh? Been around the block in space a couple of years and stuff like that can still be pretty wild to me.

—Also, what's "drifting" and why doesn't it sound nearly as fun as an epic car chase movie.

audio

[groupiedrifter]

Kicked some alien butt... I'm guessing you were the pilot of an overly complicated mecha, then. Seems like there's a type. [Jaeger pilots absolutely love to brag about kicking alien ass. Newt likes to brag, too, but he just so happens to brag about things that aren't as acceptable, like how he knows the ins and outs of Kaiju biology. Oh, well. He helped save the world, too, so it counts for something!]

The universe? That kinda seems like a tall order. [Not that he's totally saying you didn't, but. You know. He's just making sure.] You've never heard of drifting? Do you guys pilot solo in your giant robots, or what?

audio; un: Hound 4

[latentforlife]

Way to throw it all out there Newt. Are you serious though? Do you mean like real Kaiju? Like in Kaiju Number 8?

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

If by Kaiju you mean monsters that seem heavily influenced by old Japanese monster movies, then yes, that's practically it. I mean, they're not Japanese — they're from an entirely different planet that has formed a bridge with the earth, but they're close enough. [He pushes up on his glasses.] They're pretty sweet to look at. Not as sweet to deal with.

text, un; dustywolf

[softmouth]

wow, man that's a LOT to process

before I even get into the whole questions about aliens thing, yeah being in space is kind of cool as long as I don't think about how it's specifically built to kill people in the worst ways possible. personally super glad about all that tech stuff keeping space where it's supposed to be

anyway, do you want us to say all those things about ourselves too? likes and jobs and stuff?

text

[groupiedrifter]

I guess that's a good point, but I also always felt like everything was equipped to kill us. Water's pretty nifty, but drowning isn't. :P I see your point, though. Space really is just a big ol' death zone. But hey! We totally got this.

Also yes, you're the only person so far who has asked!!! Tell me all about yourself dude/dudette/duddey, I'm curious!

@fullmetal

[chrysology]

What's a kaiju? No idea on what you mean by 'drifting' with aliens but a nosebleed would hardly rank on my scale of some of the injuries I've had. But uh. Hey, Newt. I'm Ed. What sort of science do you mean exactly? I assume stuff to do with making weapons or engineering with those robots or something? We didn't have robots or aliens back home but we did have. Hm. Some that weren't human. That I fought.

[Was saying even that much in reference to the chimera and homunculi something he should have even mentioned? It isn't like anyone here knows on alchemy and what is allowed or not at least? But really. Ed is so confused with all this? There are so many questions? Newt what is all this? Which. Is probably mostly in part due to Ed's general ???? with being from the 1910s himself to be aware of this sort of thing with technology and also most of what Newt says just raises more questions for him.]

[groupiedrifter]

A Kaiju is a very big, very intimidating, very cool-looking monster cloned by a bunch of less cool aliens that want to destroy humanity and take over our planet. They totally failed to do that — which is honestly just egg on their face, considering they're capable of bridging planets and cloning monsters.

[Newton may think the Kaiju are really cool, but the aliens that send them... are kind of scary in a way Newton can't shake, not since he'd drifted and seen them. Felt them. They were watching, had seen him through the drift, and... dunno. Even just mentioning them makes gooseflesh on his neck. He'll just play it off, of course.]

... Drifting's complicated.

Maybe we should start with what sciences you have, though. Just so I have perspective.

audio; un: ratchet

[neveroutwrenched]

[Ratchet reads all of that with a an almost nostalgic weariness. There was something charming about it, and he made a mental note that he should check in on this guy's thoughts about space in the near future. He mentioned aliens, but didn't seem to come from a world with space travel.

Of course, in his attempt to use the device, it picks up his own first thought.

What a nerd

Oh, crap- sorry...I didn't realise it would do that

[If only there was a delete button on audio]

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

... Wow.

You got a problem with nerds?

[YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD, 'CUS NERDS ARE COOLER THAN ALL Y'ALL, HE WILL STAND UP FOR THE COOLNESS OF NERDS ANY TIME AND ANY PLACE. Don't even doubt him, he's marched for science; that's practically marching for the sanctity of nerdom.]

Nerds probably built the ground you're standing on; be a little grateful, dude.

audio; @majimagoro

[hikae]

Yer a weird guy. [ Actually amused at that pun, god damn, newtwork ] At least someone's havin' fun. Gotta keep a positive outlook on life.

[ Even when there's a Vast Void of Space right behind a wall. Don't think too much about it. Just don't ]

Personally, this whole... telephone in your brain thing, freaks me out? Like, what if yer thoughts give a runnin' commentary durin' the convo. Is that gettin' transmitted too? Suddenly internal sass is the easiest way to get into some shit. If not for that I could swear it's some reality tv prank.

[ He might have suspected it at first, but he's past the denial stage. ]

Anyway, nice to meet ya. I got the reference, of some things you mentioned, ya know— Earth, rock music, kaiju movies, big robots, tattoos and other shit too, not so much the aliens part

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

I'll take weird if it goes along with fun.

There are too many people around in my field with monumental sticks up their asses; someone's gotta balance it out.

[The amount of weirdly snooty, pristine-like scientists who refuse to get drunk at a concert at midnight in a city they don't know full of a language they can't speak is frankly boring. Newt would rather avoid being that kind of weird, even if it ends up a little overbearing, you know?]

... Boy, I sure hope people take their ear pieces out before they bone down.

[Sorry, that's the first thought that came to mind. He's refocusing.]

But right, okay. Kaiju movies works. And mecha anime. My life's kind of full of those things, only it's a teeny less glamorous. I'm sure if we had more funds and time, we could have made our giant robots as glitzy as Gundams, though. Totally.

text; @lilmonix3

[peninhand]

[ Well that's a lot to digest, and the random switch to audio is startling. Still, there is something she can contribute to here. ]

I can confirm that we are in outer space and this is not a simulation.

Since you're a doctor who's dealt with giant robots and other things, I guess I can say it without you thinking I'm a weirdo. I'm an AI, sort of. I've lived my entire life in a video game. But I could feel the other side. The real world. I could mess with the coding, too.

I can feel nothing is real when I'm in the simulation room. I can mess with its coding too, to an extent. But when I'm outside of that room, I can't sense or do anything.

Well, that's not empirical data, but to me that's good enough to conclude everything here is real.

text;

[groupiedrifter]

Well holy shit. Hi, Lil Moni.

If you're an AI, are you implying you live in the running system of this ship like the other AI? Sorry if I'm coming across as skeptical. I'm just 1000% skeptical. You know, that kind of feeling just happens when you wake up in a weird station after weird voices want you to collect magic orbs. I'm still trying to get over the hurdle that is MAGICAL ORBS.

text; @great.explosion.murder.god.dynamight

[comburst]

So all we need to know about you is you're a giant nerd who doesn't know when to shut up.

[ ...which tells everyone they need to know about Katsuki, i.e.: he's a rude bitch. ]

text;

[groupiedrifter]

Oh, am I the nerd?

I'm the nerd, Mr. Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight? YOU sound like a MASSIVE DORK!!! Did you find that username on an edgy message board full of teens, or are you that big of a tryhard?

[NEWTON WILL THROW VERBAL HANDS WITH AN ORNERY TEENAGER]

text; un nightmoves

[ruinously]

[ there is so much to digest in all of this Dean isn't really sure which part he should address.

Easiest thing - names. ]

Hey, Newt. Dean Winchester.

[ next most important thing: ]

Kaiju like...Mothra?

text;

[groupiedrifter]

Hiya Dean. Cool name, really old western warrior with a touch of spooky mystery house.

I'm talking Mothra, yeah, only Mothra is a lot more chill. We see more along the lines of King Ghidorah. Big, mean, and definitely more interested in stomping humans into paste. Pretty wild, huh?

text; un: k

[knived]

( bruh.

b r U H!!! calm down for a second. )

do you always talk this much?

text;

[groupiedrifter]

???? Do we have anything better to do, K?

Other than help you get a user name that isn't just one letter.

At least it's not a pass-aggressive 'kk'.

@astral

[soulbonder]

You mentioned you're a xenobiologist and how you met aliens before. Are you by any chance familiar with astral?

@astral

[groupiedrifter]

Admittedly before now a very specific and limited amount of aliens, but yes, that's me.

Are you talking -- astral as in stars? Or astral as in astral projections?

Very different things to discuss, as you know!

voice; un: clarke

[romancekiller]

[wow okay that was a lot of words and information to take but there were a few things that stand out] Being in space isn't new for me but most of this technology is definitely a lot to adjust to with how it works here.

You've dealt with giant robots and aliens back home?

voice;

[groupiedrifter]

I sure have. Had, anyway. We kind of kicked some major butt and stopped the alien uprising.

Pretty sweet, huh?

[What a dweeb.]

You've been in space before this?

audio; un: kaspbrak

[respirations]

So, uh— I know about Kaiju in that I was nine and still realized Godzilla 1985 sucked. Our giant alien space monster actually looked like a clown so if that's better or worse for us is still up in the air currently.

( Because who the fuck knows what else might be haunting around fucking Maine or anywhere else in the world for that matter. )

But, yeah, I'm Eddie. The space thing is still fucking weird though but I was also dead until the other day so everything is fucking weird for me right now.

audio;

[groupiedrifter]

Heya, Eddie!

And - okay, I would probably like our monster designs a whole lot less if they were clown hybrids, thanks. But no, our giant alien space monsters look like just about everything — especially a Zoobook's worst nightmare. I'm talking fish, birds, lizards, Borises.

I've been hearing all kinds of crazy shit about this place patching people up from pretty fatal injuries. Or at least patching up injuries in general? When it's deemed necessary by the powers that be, anyway; whatever scrapes and bruises I had coming into this station, I sure kept.

...

...

...

Sorry about you, uh. Dying and all. Sounds — awful.

[#nailedit]

un: widow

[nothinglasts]

Something tells me I do want to hear about these Kaiju. I'll tell you about my Earth if you tell me about yours, Newt.

[groupiedrifter]

Sure, I'd be more than happy to tell you about home, Widow. If that is your REAL name. ;)

I guess the best way to start would be to stay that one day in 2013, pretty much out of nowhere, giant monsters the size of the empire state started popping up out of a breach at the bottom of the ocean floor; the first monster was called Trespasser, a 302 foot bag of bad news that flattened a hell of a lot of San Francisco and the surrounding cities.

We'd been tied up in the Kaiju War ever since.