Tank O The Lake

Myriad Reality

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We'd love to.
*Stands as well with a smile, cup in hand*

@Etcetera

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I—...
*Glances over to Vector*

@Legend

*I turn and head for the door. As we pass through, space warps and seethes for a moment, and we are somewhere else.*

*We stand atop the flat concrete roof of an office building, its tinted windows gleaming in the city lights. Overhead, the night sky roils with dark clouds; it's not raining, but it's not far off from it either. The surroundings form an endless sprawl of urban construction, a yawning monster of steel and glass and asphalt. Jumbotrons mounted atop the various buildings display advertisements for all manner of luxuries, from the mundane--fine dining, cruises, exotic entertainment--to the fantastical--domestic service androids, autonomous cars, and pleasure journeys across the Solar System. Interspersed between the ads are recruitment messages depicting men in mottled camo exo-armor and icons of a black flag with thirteen gold stars arranged in a circle, a single larger star in its center.*

The Sol Cooperative. The City of Union, to be more specific. Beautiful, isn't it? In a brutalist, technocratic sort of way.

This is an illustrative tool of sorts; I'll bring us back in a moment.

Myriad Reality

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*Mumbles*
That matches my personal experience, at least...

@Legend

What fun.

*I stand.*

Care to walk with me?

Myriad Reality

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You don't like suffering or you don't like building character?

@Legend

I find myself perfectly fine just the way I am. So you can say I don't like either.

Myriad Reality

Mr. Lucy doesn't like the concept of "character building" because he can't do that. He's not human, rather some sort of spirit; he doesn't have true free will or the ability to change. That's also why he doesn't like the idea that humanity can rise above its squabbling state.

Myriad Reality

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Mm...
*Raises an eyebrow*
Something wrong?

@Etcetera

It's just not something that normally comes up when I'm in the conversation. I don't... resonate with the concept, as it were. It simply disagrees with my nature.

Myriad Reality

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Ah, suffering produces character. How could I build relationships with those who struggle if not for struggling myself? I must know both hardship and rest.

@Etcetera

Yes. Building character.

*I look to the side, as though hiding something.*

Myriad Reality

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A similar wanderer, joined by a friend—
*Nods toward Katherine*
Assisting me for some time now. We tend toward worlds with... interesting beings such as yourself. Or perhaps interesting in other ways.

@Etcetera

Eh. I've half a mind to move on from this one soon enough. I've done my errands here. I visited another timeline recently; they've their own world government, their own little luxuries that this rather archaic world struggles to match. I might return there for a few months, find a trust fund baby and live on their dime. It's a good life, really; you ought to try it.

Myriad Reality

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Certainly.
*Leans back, leaving both hands wrapped around the cup*
Something we must all sacrifice a bit of for the sake of conversation.

@Etcetera

Indeed. If you'd like something closer to the full story, then I am a wanderer. One who is not... attuned to any particular timeline. In short, I'm a foreigner to all reality, hence my previous statement that I have no home.

*I cock my head.*

Where are you from? What brings you here?

Myriad Reality

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Dreamer is a great word for it.
*Watches the transformation*
And yourself? A shapeshifter?

@Etcetera

Among other things, yes.

*I adjust a blood-red tie as it sits on my chest.*

The rest is a matter of my own privacy.

Myriad Reality

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Mage would be a category more specific than correct. For our purposes, I serve as a humble visionary, reaching for what could be, above what is. I consider that ambition to be more "superhuman" than any trait or lineage I happened to be born with.

@Etcetera

Hmm. A dreamer, then. Forgive me; they so often overlap.

*With a nod, I return to my previous form, a tall, well-built man of what can only be described as impeccable beauty, eyes shining and commanding from their place on a statuesque face.*

I do love how easy it is to make myself up.