I don't know what time it is. I don't know where this is. I don't know when this is. I don't know what I am.
Right. Deep breath, Ryan, we can do this. We can do this. I can do this. Okay, good. The others can't hear me here. God only knows how this recording is going to turn out when this is all said and done, but if I don't get it all down, then I never will.
I'm going to die in this desert, and no one will ever find it. But hey, at least if future archeologists ever find this voice recorder they’ll be able to know everything I went through. Presumably those future archeologists are themselves explorers of this impossible portal. You came here through Paris just like we did, right?
You ended up trapped here, just like we did. And probably you died of dehydration between here and some unpronounceable alien city. I guess you didn't, since you found this. But okay.
Deep breaths Ryan, you can do this. Come on. So a lot has happened since my last recording, which would have been right before we went into the catacombs.
I expected to be telling everyone about all the exciting historical artifacts we saw. There is supposed to be a movie theater down here, and a speakeasy, and all kinds of other relics. All that shit leftover from… it doesn't matter. The point is, we didn't find what we were looking for. It seemed like maybe we were going to die instead.
I guess I should go into a little of the detail, but it doesn't matter right now. We planned on making a few hour expedition for our first trip. Then we would return over the next few days to explore further out. But now the good cameras are sitting in the hotel room, and here we are sitting in another universe.
I couldn't give you an explanation for how we got here. Short answer is that we found a way across and apparently something didn't like that we found this place because it chased us back in here. Or maybe it was just trying to kill us? We escaped either way. We're here now on the other side of who knows where.
What I can say is that it seems to have a single moon, single sun, and a day and night, similar to what you would expect from Earth. Maybe this is Earth far in the future, or some other insert your own dystopian explanation. The physical transportation to another place might actually make the trip interesting, except that unfortunately it had a significant physical effect on all those who traveled to this side.
None of us are human anymore, some less so than others. Unfortunately, I appear to be the most severely affected. Maybe in a future entry I'll go into biological detail. When I understand what it is I've become.
Two of the others appear horse-like, that would be the best description. Kaelynn is a fish or a fish horse. But not a seahorse, that's something else. I appear to be some kind of insect, and that isn't close to the most disturbing reality. Nor is the inevitable death waiting for us.
We can’t go back. There’s something in the catacombs, something we pissed off by opening the door into this place. Our only chance of seeing Earth again, of being human again, is a map Jordan found on the Earth side. Looks leftover from when people built and used this portal, though I couldn’t tell you what they did with it or why.
Apparently there are numerous cities on this end, perhaps the descendants of those first explorers from long ago. I guess they decided to adapt to the strange bodies they've been given.
I can't imagine doing that. It's not just that I resemble an insect. There's something wrong with me. Let me try to explain.
We didn't have food. Of course, we intended to only be down for a few hours, but we found some old cans leftover in the ruin. Simple vegetables and familiar things, not alien fruits to go with this alien planet. String beans and barley. The others ate them and seemed to tolerate them, even Kaelynn. She ate them soggy. But I couldn't. Couldn’t make myself swallow, no matter how hard I tried. God, what does this body eat?
Just made sure no one's listening. I know how they’re thinking, or at least how they’re feeling. It’s like a smell they leak around them, bad BO I can’t ignore except by running away. I know when Blake is frustrated. I know that Kaelynn is growing increasingly fearful, trapped in her spring. She only has two legs, and her body is worse off for the setting than the rest of us.
I don't know why that portal would have created a creature that can’t exist in the desert. But there is so little we understand.
I guess I should back up.
So we returned, we fled here for our lives. No one even got a good look at the damn thing. But I saw the eyes glowing in the dark, and I wasn’t the only one. We didn’t know whether the monster would follow us across and kill Kaelynn in the water. But it didn't, so little blessings.
No one quite had the courage to turn around and go back to Earth, not after that. It was resolved by unanimous consent that we would go with Jordan's original plan, which was to cross to the city on this side. According to this map, it connects to New York back on Earth. Thus we forfeit our hotel deposit and likely lose our expensive DSLRs.
But if we returned to Earth, we'll still be the greatest explorers to live. Suck my dick Lewis and Clark.
But once we were sure that creature wasn't going to come through after us, we searched the nearby buildings for supplies. There was food here. Almost as though the stockpile was left intentionally for us. There were a number of other supplies, camping gear, nothing as good as what we carried. A couple of cargo carts.
There are landmarks on our map. Not very many, but after walking some distance, we should be able to confirm whether or not we're heading towards the city. Based on Jordan's map, I believe the city is approximately 150 miles away. At a fast human pace, that trip would take a week and a half, minimum.
But these are alien bodies, and we will have to bring water for Kaelynn. No telling how hard it will be for horse-creatures to pull a cart.
At least the portal gave Kaelynn one mercy. One detail I haven't mentioned yet is that it isn't just our bodies that have changed when we crossed. Everything we carried transformed as well. Clothing adapts to fit these new bodies (but it doesn’t cover anything useful anymore).
All gear that we carry is altered in subtle ways to be more usable. For instance, my emergency lighter no longer has a guard around the activation button. Instead the button is large and rotated to the side so that it's easy to press with these flat hoof-things. This transformation applied to Kaelynn’s fancy rebreather. It holds water with a strange mechanism that attaches to the side of her neck. She has tested it and found it seems to work, allowing her to leave the water without drowning.
She is still nearly mute, and you need to stand right beside the mask to make sense of what she's trying to say. The bigger problem is that she still has two legs and a large muscular fin, which will not permit travel across this desert.
When the sun comes up again, we'll make use of all the plastic sheeting we have and attempt to adapt one of the carts here to hold as much water as we can. The one advantage to being quadrupedal creatures is that we can pull a cart. Indeed there are harnesses on them that would fit either of the other two. Not me, though—I’m smaller than either of them. More bug more problems.
Perhaps extended use will prove the rebreather will allow Kaelynn significant time outside the water. But none of us are willing to take the chance of the other, darker possibility. What if there’s only a few hours of breathing in that thing, and she suffocates out in the desert somewhere?
We did consider another plan. The water appears to source from a spring on this side and is not in danger of draining. We could pile all the food beside the spring and leave her here. Then the rest of us would cross to the city on this side, travel to New York, build some apparatus or prosthetic for her, then return through New York City. Cross the desert again on this side, return to this oasis, and finally bring her back with us.
Kaelynn rejected that plan. She doesn’t want to be alone for so long. Personally, I'm glad she decided to risk the desert. She's the only one who doesn't look at me like I'm some sort of monster.
Hopefully we'll be able to set out tomorrow. But the food here does seem like it would last for several days. We won't leave until we're sure of whatever we build for her. That should give Kaelynn a little more time to test her rebreather.
Unfortunately, there are no surviving records within the buildings on this side, only supplies. There are empty shelves and storage drawers, which may have once held written records, but either they've been stolen or have decayed to nothing. The construction of the ancient portal room we found looked to be centuries old.
It's possible no one has been here in that time. Though I don't think canned food brought here after Napoleon would still be edible.
We've been trying to figure out more details about where we are. I can confirm that none of the familiar constellations are present in the sky. Though with only a single night and a few minutes of observation, I don't know whether there might be familiar stars yet unseen. This would allow us to determine whether we've shifted in time or space. And of course, there are stranger possibilities. We don’t really have a precedent for people who traveled universes to compare against.
If we survive, we will be more than just the greatest explorers who ever lived. We'll be famous for life. So hey, at least I won't be unemployed anymore. I can go on an interview circuit.
I feel bad for Kaelynn in the water like that. Who knows how long she'll be alone? And once we set off, she'll be trapped in an even smaller space.
The others have already fallen asleep, even her, but I just don't feel tired anymore. I don't feel a lot of things in this body. Part of me wonders if I even have the same range of biological interactions. What I can say with grim certainty is that the familiar organs of mammals are present on the other two members of the group.
Maybe I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth, considering what happened to Jordan. While I have become some kind of insect, he has become a she. I don't know a she of what, since none of the species we've become are even familiar. We don’t resemble any earth species enough to guess at what animals these are. But none of the others have said a word about instincts or strange thoughts. I’m jealous.
I can tell that Jordan isn't taking this change very well. Silent consent between the rest of us has left us with the unanimous decision to continue to use male pronouns for Jordan and politely pretend that it has not happened.
I wish the others would be similarly polite for the strangeness of what I have suffered. But there’s no justice. Jordan and Blake don’t say they’re disgusted by me, but they don’t have to. I can taste it whenever they look.
Maybe I should make better use of this time and sketch some crude prosthetics. I doubt we'll get our hands on a welder in here, the ball and socket joints necessary for a decent prosthetic. But at the very worst, a brace with large wheels on the end that she could drag along behind her would be better than having no independence at all.
Then maybe she'd be in here with me instead of swimming around in circles. I wish I couldn't know what they're feeling. They don’t mean it, but I think they can’t help their instincts. I’m repulsive. I’ve seen my reflection, I can see why.
I’m so screwed.
He may not feel it now, but once he gets the hang of his abilities, he's probably going to wind up being the most versatile member of their party.
So, will all of Ryan's chapters be like this?
Interesting assumption. One could assume that there are natives, but I suppose making the leap from "equinoid bodies that can support sapient minds" to "sapient equinoid locals" isn't that intuitive. Especially when you're living through a nightmare of body horror and uncertain death. Not good for the analytical faculties, that.
There is that. Unless there's magical preservation involved... but I'd think even those spells have finite durations. One of the bigger overarching themes of Starscribe stories is "nothing lasts forever."
But yeah, that's a big ol' swarm of bug problems. And Ryan would be better served getting it out in the open, if only to clear the air. We'll see how they handle the emotivore in the room in time.
Ah yes, changeling feeding habits (normal group interaction may work for minor feedings though their current situation doesn't seem promising) ... will need to clear the air first (wonder if he knows what 'empathic' really means) though saying straight out that he can tell what they feeling might work against him (course he hasn't mention Kaelynn's feeling yet) ...
They are going to attract all kinds of attention, considering how 'exotic' the group is.
And dragging a wagon full of water across the desert... how long until a significant amount of that evaporates?
Nice journal entry, Ryan. That actually helps a lot. Good to know your take on things.
If the boys are repulsed by him, that's certainly not going to help with his feeding habits. Looks like he and Kaelynn are going to be getting a lot closer. Who knows? A relationship may blossom out of that. But they'll need to get her a method of transport put together for her first. And speaking of which:
Fishbowl! (I kid, but it's nice to know she won't drown)
They're disgusted by him now, but if they don't figure out how he feeds before it's too late, they may end up being a lot more than disgusted with him.
Ryan's situation is even more unfortunate than Jordan's. But it looks like he's the best person that can make sense and adapt to the world. Level-headed as well. No doubt with his emotion sensing and eventually his transformation abilities, he'll be an incredible asset dealing with the locals. Though, he'll have to feed eventually.
If that thing was a guardian, there's no way it came from Earth. Though, why did it attack the group leaving the Equestrian side instead of immediately when they breached the wall? Is it trying to protect Earth from something in Equestria? Or is it a warden?
An interesting theory. We'll have to look through their past to determine the nature of things. Though it might be easier to believe parallel civilizations. The gates seem rare enough that considerable contact probably wasn't a thing.
Equestrian canned goods? I doubt something from the early 19th century would look good or edible now. They must be all sorts of desperate to eat something like that.
For all the rules of the gates, I've wondered what the situation was to cause a Starscribe switch. Though, I'm guessing if Jordan was named Jackie, we'd all have attribute it to fate.
When you learn to transform, many paths will be opened to you.
Okay, but WHAT was the thing that chased them? Will we ever get to find out?
10660456
My thoughts exactly. I'm strongly reminded of Dragonfly in The Maretian. If the group isn't happy, the bug can't eat.
On that note, I'm very curious to see how this particular bug handles the discovery of his new diet. Gotta get those three square hugs a day!
10660692
Is there new insight on the identity of the mapmaker based on food can technology and its availability at the time?
10660712
It does definitively prove that the portal was used for some time after 1810. Canning wouldn't really become a thing until 1812, and that was in New York. My suspicion is that they were bringing some over to France to share the new invention since they did have an earlier proof of concept in 1810, found it was closed, left some behind in case the gate got remembered so they could see. (Possibly the message on the map? But then why put it back?) and they could learn about it then. Then they head back to New York.
Of course, this could be pone canning magic, which then would have been shown to humans. Given that's something worth copying, that's probably very close to that 1810 mark. I'm starting to suspect that it wasn't walled off because it was forgotten. Someone, or multiple someones, wanted to seal it off.
Lewis and Clark were able to get help from friendly locals and had a general idea of the territory they were mapping.
The closest we have to our protagonists would be either naval explorers in the age of sail (Columbus, de Gama, Magellan) or the Antarctic explorers (Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton).
10660564
If theyre smart a drooping plastic cover should be able to collect a significant portion of evaporating moisture and drip it back into the cart. Not all or even a majority, but it would help.
10660451
No, but some will.
10660989
That is a good idea. Though some of them will also have to drink water I am guessing? Water is even more of a precious commodity for them in the desert than for most travelers.
Being stuck as a fish in the middle of a desert, nightmare scenario.
Ryan will become very valuable in this journey soon enough.
Shapeshifting...check
Emotion sensory....check
No need to sleep... check and mate!
10661428
do changelings not need to sleep? neat. learn something new everyday!
as for the chapter I'm a fan of the perspective changes from one to the other and hope Ryan get some much needed love and support both for the emotional, "we're still your friends even though we thought you were kinda gross looking at first- sorry we can't help it" and for the very real sustenance he needs. A sad bug does not a happy reader make... just an entertained one
also whats up with the ominous airship in the background of the cover art? possible hint or simply background flavor?
10660692
How do you investigate something you don't know is there? The portal existing under Paris does not necessarily mean Parisians had any knowledge of its existence.
The only timeline we can say for certain is that at some point the portal existed under what is now Paris. Then at some point the temple or whatever was built around it. Then someone created a map marking locations of portals between Earth and Equestria. That map had to have been created after the temple area could access Paris, because Paris is labeled on the map. But that does not mean the map was created at the same time as the temple. There could have been a thousand years in between, for all we know right now.
10661804
The mines were extensively traveled during the 1350ish-1600ish time frame and a wall would be noticeably out of place pre-catacombs as no mining methods used walls like that in that time frame, thus that wall would be worthy of investigation by any of the miners who, armed with mining equipment, would make short work of that wall. There's no reason to build the temple Earthside if there's nothing there to show off to on Earthside and there's only Lutetian limestone there until the mines get put up. The portal is completely meaningless in its existence except as "That weird cave where we aren't the same shape" if it exists before then, so is traveled very seldomly. Possibly used as a cache, but not really a commonly used thing because of the whole transformation aspect. Once there is a connection, there needs to be something to justify the construction as that level of construction isn't going up overnight and is going to use a significant amount of resources for the time period. That, once again, is going to draw the attention of any miner in there.
If we see random temples with grand construction in the middle of nowhere shown on either side, then I could see the argument for the temple going up before a meaningful connection. Until then, I don't see it as a realistic possibility. As far as I'm concerned, the first time we see any meaningful level of travel is, at the earliest, 1300. Any earlier doesn't make sense because it's a cave surrounded by rock. Good cache. Bad vacation site.
10661649
Good catch! Ominous Sighting is (probably) Ominous
Probably something related to Kludgetown...
"Years in the future, but not many..."
10779708
You mean,
"Years in the future, but
notmany..."That strike through is kinda important :-)
Feelsbad, man
Ryan! No! Don’t feel bad man! Your the coolest looking one of the group! Embrace the BugHorse! Become one with the TransformationPony! Accept the FluidicEquine!
(Not gunna lie, changeling are cool.)
10917223
Buck yea changelings are cool imagine all the cool pranks you could do looking like discord or luna and celestia!!!