vidya

[zealous_steiner]

[The webcam starts rolling with an eye pressed up to it; it's grainy and dark enough that details are difficult to make out, and the picture is striated with thin lines that scan down the iris like laser beams. In reality, this is a piece of shit webcam that was retrieved for 500 fat yen from an off-brand Akiba shop, but it's a setup. The voice pipes into the microphone from slightly below, hissy and noisy like the picture but deep with the tenor of a man just exiting adolescence.]

So, an internet nexus for multiple worlds, huh? Not something I'd believe until I see it with my own eyes, but hey, stranger things have happened... [It's like a switch flips when he realizes he's being watched.] Aha! This is Steins;Gate's offer for me to make my debut to the world! Not bad, not bad...

[Sure, Okabe. Whatever you say.]

[A slight whoosh hits the microphone as the figure pulls away, a tall, thin guy with mussed hair and a lab coat, posturing for the camera like a natural mad scientist. He has a grin on his face, a devilish look in his eye (because by God is he enjoying this), and a mess of wires, parts, and textbooks on the table behind him.]

Denizens of the multiverse, I am mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, come to discuss intellectual pursuits on behalf of the Future Gadgets Laboratory! [Cue evil laugh... and it actually comes. About ten seconds of hacking laughter ensue, and then a couple coughs before he's back to talking.] Upon being invited to this place, you all have... certainly piqued my interest. [He twists his face briefly, trying to think on his five-minute impression.] There's the Akihabara set, to be expected, then there's the terminally confused... and the few creatures - I will forever be mystified as to how they manage to operate computers without thumbs.

And to be frank, I'm curious on how a supposed nexus of multi-worldly communication manages to connect with parallel universes in the first place. Does anyone know how the backend is structured? Transporting data through black holes, perhaps? Weird space magic?

Comments

[shinjaeba]

You actually call yourself a mad scientist? Suddenly I'm having flashbacks to poorly made science fiction movies with bad subtitles.

[zealous_steiner]

[Okabe spies... a goth-loli questioning his schtick? Ah, nothing he hasn't dealt with before here! He smirks; time to pull out some (what he's sure is) Sparkling Wit.]

Well, with the advent of this particular network, how would you know you aren't seeing a window to my universe through one of those "poorly made science fiction movies"? Like one of those hidden camera flicks... [A quiet cackle.]

[shinjaeba]

At least say you've created mutated tomatoes that eat people. That would be interesting.

[This gothic loli is not impressed at all.]

[zealous_steiner]

Wasn't there a movie about people-eating plants, though? That's so unoriginal. [Yeah, say it like your cliche isn't overplayed!] My lab's created things that shouldn't even be possible, escaped the terrible clutches of the Organization unscathed...

[The word interest strikes a chord - he raises an eyebrow before he goes back to being smug.]

Be careful what 'interesting things' you wish for - you never know who's listening, after all...

[shinjaeba]

Hah...you're right. I hate unoriginal things. It's the mark of the old and feeble.

[She shrugs, with a smirk of her own.]

What, are you going to tell me that fairies or pixies are going to grant my wishes? And I thought you were a man of science.

[zealous_steiner]

See, that's it! Society gets nowhere without a willingness to break from simple theory - from words and rote rehashes of the same ideas! It's just as quantum mechanics was built on the charred remains of theories not borne out from evidence! If you're not willing to burn the old guard, you will get- [he points at the camera for effect-] ab-so-lute-ly nowhere.

And I speak not of fairies, but of spies. There are those who listen. [There's a sudden seriousness upon his voice - he's speaking from experience here.]

[shinjaeba]

I was about to agree with your sound thinking about burning the old guard but then you started talking about spies. A mad scientist obsessed with conspiracy theories? Now I've seen everything.

[zealous_steiner]

As a mad scientist [and yes, the "mad" part is important], it's critical to examine each bit of data placed before you. Why dismiss that out of hand which you can test?

[shinjaeba]

So you'd rather create these wild theories of spies?