//------------------------------// // 1.1 - I'm sorry, I have to be a WHAT? // Story: The Silence of the Time Traveler // by Nolamancy //------------------------------// “Just how bad is it?” Konrad asked Ka, who was currently at the main console, analyzing the information that Dispatch sent over. “Well… um....” Ka hesitated for a moment. “Mostly I’m trying to figure out if the anomaly would only be rated in the upper-80s or if it would break the 90-mark.” Even though Konrad maintained a neutral face, Ka knew very damn well that he was probably either freaking out or thinking something along the lines of ‘Not again’. “Going by the face you are giving right now, I presume that we won’t get lucky and be able to land in the eye this time,” Konrad guessed, knowing what the answer was likely to be before Ka responded. “Yup.” Well, that's just great, Konrad thought, sighing audibly. “So, what’s the time frame we're looking…” “I finished with those calculations you asked for, Ka,” Sanny said as she walked into the main control room, interrupting Konrad’s question. She had just finished running some TARDIS wear estimates, which Ka decided to have her do early ever since she blew up the kitchen. "Ah, thanks Sanny," Ka took the data chip and plugged it into the main console, standing still as he processed the data on it. "We were in the middle of a briefing, Sanny," Konrad turned to Sanny and gave her an annoyed look. "Couldn't this have waited?" Sanny looked over at Ka, who was currently muttering and subtly manipulating the console; though this was more of a visual representation of what he was doing. "Sorry. Ka was kinda insistent on getting the info right away; said something about it being relevant to upcoming events." She looked at Konrad and shrugged; neither of them knew what he meant by that. "I swear, he is such a Te'neic de bal'dass sometimes..." Konrad muttered under his breath. [No Translation Available] "Oy!" Ka yelled over towards Konrad, seeming to have finished processing the information. "Did I give you permission to swear?" Konrad stared at Ka with a serious face for a moment, before bursting into laughter. "Ta'rei shei de'narr?" Konrad managed to gasp out between breaths. [ASM: How are you in any position to judge me?] [CDT: Try judge me? No U.] Ka could only shake his head. "Anyway, back to what we were discussing. Where were we again?" Konrad spoke up: "I was just about to ask you the time frame we are looking at once we land," "Oh, right," Ka, now remembering where they were, pulled up the relevant info on the console. "It looks like the range we are looking at is..." Ka's eyes popped, "...5 months to 67 years? For this level of an anomaly?" Sanny's mouth went agape. "That's..." "Actually really good, all things considered," Konrad cut her off. "Huh?" Sanny looked at him with confusion. "Oh, right," Konrad internally facepalmed, "I keep forgetting you are kinda new here, Sanny. 5 months to 67 years is actually an amazing time frame for this kind of temporal anomaly; the typical date range is what, 20 years to 10,000?" "18 to 12,810," Ka corrected. "Thank you, Mr. Dictionary," Konrad shot an annoyed look at Ka before continuing. "But anyways, a time frame this short is going to make for an easy mission. At least, I hope." Sanny sighed. "Sorry. I'm still not used to..." "The time frames we regularly deal with?" Konrad finished, earning a nod from her. "You joined us fairly recently; I don't expect you to wrap your head around these numbers; it isn't even your job. You just get to sit back, relax, and make sure that all of reality doesn't implode." "Now that we've finished this discussion, can we get back to the matter at hand?" Ka asked somewhat impatiently as he rapidly tapped his foot on the ground. "Y'all ready?" Ka asked in his trademark 'I like to pretend that I work on a farm' voice. "As ready as I'll ever be," Sanny said over the intercom. "I still haven't gotten used to this job." "You're not alone in that, Sanny," both Konrad and Ka muttered simultaneously. "Are we going to need to move to the control room?" Konrad asked Ka, who was looking over some kind of data that Konrad couldn't make out. Ka shook his head. "I don't think so. We should be able to manage from the console up here. Despite being a class 89 anomaly, it is surprisingly gentle on the border. So much so that it will be easy enough to fly in and lock down the TARDIS without much issue. It might be a bit bumpier than if we flew from the control room, but that's kinda a given." Konrad nodded his head. He was preoccupied; the last time he had an assignment of this caliper was back with Ketronel Base. But then again, the past is the past. He leaned on the console, taking a deep breath to prepare preparing himself. A moment of zen... "Okay y'all, let's do this!" Konrad shouted out; reverting to his normal chaotic self. "Here we go..." Ka said before he disappeared; he had to do this as it required all his processing power in order to run the TARDIS. Konrad started to manipulate the holographic controls of the console, sending the TARDIS off into the wonderful realm of multiple temporal dimensions. It was a pretty average day in what some refer to as the Space-Time vortex (though this was a highly inaccurate description); a few blips here and there but mostly stable. Then again, Bekka De Narr was one of the most stable universes on this side of the Reality Hurricane, which was why it was often used as a pit stop for time travelers. While they originally wanted to go back to Vetraheil, Konrad was concerned if the TARDIS was flight worthy. And after a call to dispatch, they agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea to fly back to Vetraheil given the state of the kitchen. So they sent a team out with supplies. While they might have patched things up so the TARDIS was flight-worthy, the kitchen still lay in shambles. Thankfully, they brought a lot of frozen burritos with the resupply at his request. While they weren't the most nutritious of foods nor did they provide much variety, they happened to be the only thing Sanny was good at making. Actually, she somehow managed to make them perfectly every time. And this was despite her using a rice cooker and blow torch. While the repairs were underway, Konrad got the idea to ask the resupply team (while Sanny was nearby) if they had "brought along any salsa; preferably something that would explode in your mouth. Ka and the resupply team started laughing their heads off. Sanny, with her face all crimson, looked for a corner to curl up and hide in. He smiled as he thought about that moment (maybe he would turn all this into one of his dreaded by those involved sagas), before returning his concentration to the task at hand. Konrad warmed up the Tellaride circuit in preparation for the universe jump. Even though Ka did most of the work, it was still up to him to fly the damn thing right as they transitioned between universes. Ending up outside of universes was never a fun experience; every cadet has experienced this as they learned to use the system. Even the Quantum Neutralizer couldn't protect them from the effects of being outside of time and space. As he activated the circuit, he felt his body vibrate slightly as the quantum signatures changed. One of the advantages of having an exceptionally high Quantum Fluidity Rating (QFR) was that you didn't have to make as many universe jumps since your body can handle much greater quantum differences. Average QFRs could only make jumps of about a third of what Konrad typically did. "And off we go to U1182M-0012," Konrad spoke out loud to no one in particular. "Only 18 more jumps to go..." "Aaaaannnd, one last jump," Konrad muttered to himself as he activated the circuit for a final time. There wasn't as noticeable a difference jumping this time like there was with the other jumps, only a minuscule vibration; so unnoticeable that if you didn't know what you were looking for you would have easily mistaken it for the engines. But Konrad was very attuned as a time traveler; trained to notice even the smallest details (though this sometimes meant he missed the big picture). 18 of the 19 jumps were only to get to U1182D-0018; the closest stable universe to their destination. When you are dealing with high-level temporal anomalies, it is wise to make as little of a transition as possible when entering the universe. Being over-zealous can lead to unintended consequences. "Okay, now we are in the right universe," Konrad muttered to himself as he looked over the initial statistics for this universe. After looking at the data for a bit, he frowned. "That's odd," Konrad started scrutinizing the data further. "This universe looks fine. I don't see what Dispatch was so worrRRRRIIIEEEE..." Konrad was shocked at the level of Timeline Displacement after tuning the scanners (the scanners have to be tuned to each specific universe, and he forgot to do it before he left due to being engrossed with the kitchen). "No wonder Dispatch sent us; we've got Redline[1] occurring." "Yeah, I kinda noticed that," Ka's voice came over the intercom; now that they were in the right universe, he had the processing power to talk while he flew. "Anyway, the closest point we can get is at 1B6-0291. Everything past that is too unstable." “1B6-0291, roger that,” Konrad confirmed, before setting the temporal navigator to the appropriate coordinates. “How close location-wise can we get to the anomaly?” “We’ll be landing somewhere within a 20-mile radius of it; that’s the best I can do,” Ka responded. “Not ideal, but not horrible.” “Fair enough,” Konrad shrugged before starting the surprisingly non-linear path to their destination. Navigating a timeline is never an easy task, even on the best of days. Some have equated it to being dropped off in the middle of a corn maze that is constantly shifting. Navigating a Redline scenario is like trying to fly an airplane into the Pacific Ocean to find lost treasure; technically possible, but unless you have a LOT of training and the right equipment, it is a guaranteed disaster. So why in the bloody hell am I using the main console instead of the control room? Konrad thought to himself. He positioned the temporal path, set the destination, aaannnnd... No dice. Konrad was frustrated. He should have been at the correct landing coordinates hours ago. But every time he got close, something decided to be an ass and yeet him away from the landing coordinates; each time ending up further than the last. Sanny was probably getting bored. Ka was noticeably pissed. “You know…” Ka spoke as if he was gritting his teeth, even though there weren’t any teeth to grit, “...if you simply moved to the control room, we would be there already.” And just like that, any hope of Konrad moving to the control room was lost. “Meh,” he responded nonchalantly, “I’m lazy; the control room is like what, 700 feet away? I don’t want to walk that far. Plus, I like a challenge. And you did say we should be able to do everything from the main console.” If Ka were physically there, he would have punched Konrad in the face. But as that wasn’t an option, he would have to suffice with muttering swears in UL. Konrad paid no heed to them. Sanny chuckled over the intercom. “I swear, your antics will keep me entertained for millennia. But Konrad, if you don’t land soon, I swear I will drag your ass into the control room to land this thing.” Konrad put up his hands in defeat. If there is one thing Sanny was known for, it was following through on her threats. “Okay, okay. I’ll do what I can.” So with great conviction, Konrad tried to land the TARDIS from the console. But after an hour, nill progress had been made. And true to her word, Sanny dragged Konrad’s ass down to the control room. Literally. In true Sanny fashion, she grabbed his arms, pulled down his pants to expose his tender bottom, and dragged it on the ground from the main console to the control room. While Konrad struggled at first, he eventually submitted to what he referred to as “The Sanny Way.” 3 minutes after he arrived in the control room, the TARDIS was landed, locked, and on cooldown. When Ka appeared, he was laughing his head. “That,” Ka managed between his fits of laughter, “was pure gold. Tarlon is going to love this.” Konrad sighed. “Then I shall prepare my corner to fade out of existence when he hears about it.” Tarlon was a fellow time traveler, who graduated the same year as Konrad. He was also one of his best friends, which mandated that he have a collection of everything embarrassing or cringe about him that he could get his hands on. While Konrad had his own collection on him, it was nowhere NEAR as extensive as his. “Anyway,” Sanny blurted out; interrupting their schisms, “We DO have a job to do. Just because we’re going to be here for a long time doesn’t mean we should just put everything off until the last second." The two of them sighed, knowing she was right. “Very well, mother,” they both muttered under their breaths. Sanny raised an eyebrow, then took a deep breath. It was going to be a long day… The three of them moved to the main console as they began their preparations. Mostly, this involved gathering as much information about the universe as they could, though other smaller tasks (such as gear checks) were also performed. But as it stood, they were having difficulty doing their standard info gathering. Mostly because they couldn't build a timeline map. Timeline maps contained almost everything you needed to know about any given universe, including cultural norms, history, and much more. But they were almost impossible to generate in a redline scenario, so a common backup was a PURRS (Present Universe Records and Registry Search). But for some reason, Error 56-221C (Unable to locate media) kept popping up. This only happened if the civilization did not keep any records (though this is extremely unlikely) or if something was blocking them from receiving the location of any written media. Needless to say, Konrad was getting frustrated. "You know Ka, I would really appreciate having some background info before diving in. Things never seem to go well when I have to work with no background information and I always end up caught in the middle of a marital dispute." Ka sighed. "That happened ONCE. I don't give you the right information and that happens... ONCE." "Ooooo. Is this another story I haven't heard?" Sanny piped up. Konrad chuckled. "That is a story for another time, Sanny." Sanny pouted. "Hey, don't give him that look," Ka piped up. "You were the one who said we shouldn't dilly-dally." Sanny shot Ka a dirty look. "Moving on..." Konrad sighed, "...where do we go from here?" "Well, I'm still trying to make heads or tails of all this gibberish that we got when we tried to generate a timeline map," Ka said as he shifted his focus back to the task at hand. "I'm trying to get at least something basic, but that might take a while. I need a baseline to even begin to reconstruct anything worthwhile." "So the best thing for me to do right now is to go out and find a library or something?" "That would make this job a lot easier." Konrad sat for a moment as he went over the information they were able to gather. "You said that we are parked on a mountain that's on the outskirts of a small town, right?" "Yeah, so?" "Would me just going out with an LBSR[2] help before I actually begin interacting with people?" Ka thought about that for a moment. "Actually, yes. That should be enough to get me the names of everyone and maybe a few personal timelines. I won't be able to match any of those names to actual people, but I'll be able to look them up." "Enough that I won't be flying blind?" "Hopefully. But if you want any useful amount of cultural information, you'll need to find a library." "I'll fetch the BLSR," Sanny piped up. "I don't seem to be of much use right now." "Thanks, Sanny," Ka called out, his head still buried in his work. "Look at me; completely useless when it comes to anything important." Ka didn't hear what Sanny mumbled, but Konrad did. He thought back to their earlier conversation; how scared Sanny looked. And he realized that she had been like this from the moment she stepped on the TARDIS. "Konrad?" Ka called out, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Right, might as well figure out what we're dealing with outside." He moved his immediate concerns back to the present, making a mental note to address this with her later. Konrad made his way over to the door and opened it. But on the other side was something he didn't expect. He blinked. He blinked again. "Well, um," Ka said, trying to find the right word to describe what was outside, "that's very... vibrant." "The word I would have used is high-contrast," Konrad said as he rubbed his eyes. And they were only looking at trees. "Is the whole world going to look like this?" Konrad turned to ask Ka. "Your guess is as good as mine. Sunglasses?" "Definitely." Ka tossed a pair of sunglasses over to Konrad, who graciously put them on. As Konrad was putting on his sunglasses, Ka noticed something he glanced over before. Oh, no... "KONRAD, WAIT..." Were he a half-second earlier, he would have stopped him before his hand crossed the threshold of the TARDIS. But as that didn't happen, Konrad's hand crossed that threshold. A loud electric crack was heard as Konrad shrieked and yanked his hand back from the threshold. He began to mutter a couple of soothing words to his hand as he cradled it like a baby dragon. Sanny, who happened to walk back in precisely at that moment, found the whole thing rather amusing. "You good?" she called out, snickering at his babyishness. "Dentosie Depardan, Kendora!"[3] Konrad swore rather loudly. "Would it have KILLED you to figure out if this universe had a QFL BEFORE I tried going outside? [ASM: Oh, for fuck's sake, Ka!] [CDT: None.] "What's a QFL?" Ka sighed. Apparently, he had to lecture two people today. "A QFL is a Quantum Form Lock, Sanny. And no, you haven't encountered them before. The basic idea is this: some universes for one reason or another really don't like certain kinds of creatures existing in them. In this case, humanoids will have a really hard time trying to stay in their current form." Ka then turned to Konrad: "As for you, I was busy with other things. Maybe you should ask before charging into battle, Jel'tandro."[4] "Well, then. What creature does Konrad have to become in order to walk outside?" Sanny asked, hoping to actually move things along and keep things from devolving into a swearing match. "Yes, that would be nice to know, Ka." Ka turned to the display, sorting through the information on it. "Well, on the plus side, that interaction does give me enough information as to the current forms of the local residents. Apparently you have to..." Ka trailed off as he realized what Konrad would have to be. "Well, Ka?" Sanny walked over to the display. She took one look before she covered her mouth to suppress a guffaw. "Why am I scared all of a sudden?" "Well, um..." Ka stumbled over his words, "...you see, um, this isn't, uh, like anything we've come across in the past. You see, um... nevermind. Just see for yourself." Ka swung the display over to Konrad's view. He blinked. He blinked again. He checked the specs to make sure Ka wasn't screwing around with him. "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me." Konrad was less than enthusiastic. He had been many different creatures. From Dragons to sentient rodents, he thought he had seen it all. But reality has this thing where it likes to take your expectations and yeet them out the window. On one hand, he got to experience a new form that no one else had. Bragging rights were a big thing among time travelers. On the other handHOOF, he had to be a horse. Wait, no. A pony. A multicolored pony. He was not looking forward to the hooves. Sanny chuckled at Konrad's predicament. She was having fun messing around with the BSPS form creating tool and changing the colors of his fur/mane to some horrendously clashing colors. All this fun was at Konrad's expense, of course. "Sanny, I'm trying to be serious right now." "Oh, lighten up," Sanny teased. "It's not like we have to be anywhere for the next several years." "Says the mare who was insistent on getting us to start on the preparations." "Touché." ... "Wait, mare?" "Konrad's working on his local slang. It's... extensively weird." "Aaaaand this year's award for understatement of the decade goes to Karalis Amalo." "Everyone, clop your hooves!" Sanny yelled out with sarcastic enthusiasm. Ka chuckled at their immaturity. Konrad, on the other hand, had a dead serious look on his face. "Um, Sanny, I would avoid using that term around other ponies." Both Sanny and Ka looked at him confused. "Do I seriously have to explain it to you two? Konrad sighed under his breath. "Since neither of you have started reading the language guide that ULMMT generated, 'Clop' is slang for... self-pleasure. In that sense. Both Ka and Konrad caught a glimpse of Sanny's face turning deep crimson as she ran off. "Well, that was awkward," Ka stated rather nonchalantly. Konrad sighed as he continued working on creating his form. A heavy silence had descended on the Main Console. Who better to break it than Tarlon. "I SWEAR TO GOD IMMA KILL YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS FOR CHOOSING THAT RINGTONE, KA!" Konrad yelled out, jamming his hands over his ears. "But Tarlon likes it..." Ka pouted, putting on his most innocent face. "HE ALSO LIKES TO SHOVE LIP BALM UP WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE. NOW ANSWER THE CALL AND END MY SUFFERING." "Okay, okay. Stop yelling. You'll hurt your eardrums." Konrad just gritted his teeth. "Hey, what took so long? Tarlon fell asleep." Sure enough, behind Li (Tarlon's TARDIS AI), Tarlon looked to be sound asleep. "Drama Queen." "Why do you have to betray me like that, Sanny?" Tarlon pouted as he stood up, now obvious that he was faking being asleep. "When did you get here, Sanny?" Konrad asked. "Weren't you hiding in shame?" "I was, at least until SOMEONE decided to nearly give me an aneurysm from the ringtone volume." Li sighed. "Ka, I'm going to say this once: unless you want to blow out everyone's eardrums from the volume level, turn it down to a 2. Nyan cat is bad enough without it being turned up loud enough that even I could hear it." Tarlon frowned. "Wait, you could hear it too?" "As much as you can taste my sarcasm," Li smirked. "I thought we were friends, Li," Ka called out. "Aren't we supposed to cover for each other?" Everyone else turned to look at Ka with a 'What are you talking about' face. Li kept a straight face. "Who said we were friends? Especially after that Teriyaki fiasco?" Ka promptly fainted. Everyone else looked at each other; all with one thing on their mind. "Drama King." "Well, with that out of the way," Tarlon said as he shook his head, "We are actually here on official business." Konrad stared at him with a blank face. I know, it's weird," Li piped up. "He never does official business officially." "Just like how Ka never does Drama dramatically," Sanny added. "Have respect for the burn victim y'all!" Everyone else knew exactly what to say. "No." "Fine, fine. Be like that," Ka muttered as he resumed what he was previously doing. "Anyway, what official business are you on, Tarlon?" Konrad was actually curious about what this was. "Dispatch sent me to check in with you. It is standard procedure after all. It just didn't happen last time because we were in the middle of a war." "Right, I forgot about that. It's been an eventful day. Do you have the data packet ready, Ka?" "Well, everything we were able to gather," Ka replied. "This universe isn't very cooperative in regards to our attempts at data collection. The timeline map is spitting out a lot of junk." "Did you try a PURRS?" "No, Li," Ka sighed indignantly, "We never thought about doing literally the second most useful thing in information gathering. And it's not like we kept on getting error 56-221C. No, we must be complete dumbasses who can't cook frozen burritos." "Sarcasm aside," Konrad interrupted, "It's rather annoying. We were able to piece together some information, but it's not a lot. I'm planning on running out to find a library so we can run the PURRS." "Well, good luck with that," Tarlon muttered as he started reading through the information Ka sent over. "Wait, a QFL for advanced quadrupedic equines? What does that even mean?" "Well, assuming I set up everything correctly, it means... this." As Konrad finished his statement, he activated the Change circuit on the BSPS. A blue glow enveloped his body as his biological form started to get rearranged to his new form. Prominent equine features started to appear. His face, neck, ears, and hair all began to elongate while most of his prominent externalities, such as his hands, disappeared. And as the blue glow died down, the details of his new form started to become visible. His fur was a light brown-gray, with his mane a dual-tone green. Were there any other ponies to compare them to, you would notice that he was marginally taller than average. And adorning his hindquarters in the form of a cutie mark was the symbol of the time traveler. Sanny and Ka stood there taking in his new form. Tarlon was actually somewhat impressed. "That is not like any horse I have seen before." Konrad facehooved. "First off, Li, it's pony. Second, what part about 'advanced quardrupedic equines' would make you think that this form would be even remotely like normal horses?" Li shrugged. Better than Ka at least... "Well, then," Tarlon piped up, "It is time I took my leave. I do have official business to do. I'll be nearby if you need help." "Tarlon, when did you become so serious?" "Well, you're also kinda cute, Konrad." Li, seeing the red start to creep onto Konrad's cheeks, cut off the call. He was a bit more reasonable with these things. "Tarlon, it's strange to see you act so formally. However, if you continue things like... that, then I will insist that you maintain a professional demeanor all the time." Tarlon sighed. It was a bit of an over-the-line remark, especially since Konrad had a... less than pleasant history with that sort of thing. He made a note to apologize to him later. "You're right, Li. But for now, let's get this information to dispatch and move on to our next assignment. Who is that again?" "Gage Vatan." "Oh, the Mela'tossa." [ASM: Know-it-all] Konrad took a deep breath. Sanny, of course, only asked the most important questions. "How can you blush through fur?" "Well, how am I supposed to know?" Konrad snapped. "Go ask Ka once he does his full report on the physiology of this species." Sanny was not expecting him to be so forceful in his response and reeled back slightly. "Sanny," Ka said, almost making it sound like an order, "Go modify the bag the LBSR is in to be more easily carried by a horse. I believe you will be looking for something similar to a saddlebag." Sanny, seeing the You-Really-Should-Get-Out-Of-Here face Ka was making, quietly left. After checking the console to make sure Sanny was out of earshot, Ka finally spoke. "Let me guess, Tarlon was being... insensitive." "Por'bal de Car'sho Les'sai, that's what he was," Konrad managed through gritted teeth. "He should have known better." [ASM: Beyond insensitive.] [CDT: A bitch of astronomical porportions] "Ok, this is what's going to happen. First, off to your room. Nothing good EVER happens when you go out on a mission in a compromised state like this. The mission is hereby postponed until you've calmed down. While that is likely to only take a couple of hours, I WILL scrub the mission if you don't. And no, that is not up for debate. I have specific orders from dispatch regarding how to handle situations like this." Konrad could only nod. "Finally, while I'm sure you'd already do this, please apologize to Sanny once you've calmed down. I don't think you intended to be so harsh with her." The anger in Konrad had subsided, replaced by sadness/anxiety as it always did. He never stayed angry for very long. This, however, stayed much longer than his anger. Konrad took a deep breath before walking off to his room. Ka, after checking to make sure Sanny wasn't eavesdropping, left the console to find her. While he didn't want her to hear this conversation, he still felt he should explain what happened. Thankfully for everyone (especially the mid-level dispatch operator that would have inevitably gotten the call if he didn't get better), Konrad was back to normal... well, operating at a functional level anyway. As he made his final preparations, he said very little. Aside from apologizing to Sanny when he picked up the LBSR (which Sanny showed him how to set it up and operate with hooves), there wasn't much that needed to be said. Ka was watching him closely. While Ka knew he was still very much capable in this mindset, he was always cautious. It unnerved him to see his usual boisterous self become quiet and reserved. He knew he would return to his standard self by tomorrow, but he was still cautious. He didn't want another Diamond's Landing on his hands. Konrad knew that the best thing for him to do was to get out of the TARDIS as soon as possible. It was easier to recover from events like these if you had something to occupy your mind. And devolving into a blubbering mess would not be a good idea by any means on a mission of this level. The only one who could even begin to help him was Helastar. But she was back at Ketronel Base and not likely to be able to make it here in any short amount of time. Ketronel... No, stop. We are not thinking about her. We aren't thinking about the war, or all the pain it caused, or... Thankfully, his thoughts were interrupted by the fact he tripped. Damn rock... He re-absorbed himself in simply trying to walk on an uneven surface. He was still a good half-mile from the observation site. And while it was (thankfully) mostly flat, he was still learning how to properly walk. Thankfully there isn't anybodyPONY around for a good few miles. About an hour later, he made it to the ledge where he was told to set up the LBSR. Even after being shown how to assemble it with hooves, it still took him nearly half an hour to get it set up. Hands would have shortened that to 5 minutes, but that was a moot point. Changing the holographic interface on his watch was interesting. It kept wanting to default to his standard configuration, but that was made for hands, not hooves. But after a bit of persuasion, it finally adapted to something useable. Now it was just a matter of using it to a point where it would refine itself to something natural. Once that was done, he was able to connect to the LBSR and start the pre-programmed survey program. 30 minutes to kill... New universes always took longer to survey. Especially those that didn't conform to the usual standards. half an hour was about average, though it might be longer. He would know in about 10 minutes once it had gathered enough info to give a full estimate. So as he left the BLSR to do its thing, he pulled out what was essentially a telescope with a high-density image sensor attached to it. He would have preferred his binoculars, but those were not designed for equine eyes. The eyes on this form were... weird. They weren't the standard front-facing eyes of a predator, nor were they the side-facing eyes of prey. They were... somewhere in between. They could focus forward for most situations, but could also move independently to gain a wider field of view. Depth perception became almost non-existent when this was done, but it was still occasionally useful. Good to have the ability to check if there was someone behind you. But as that wasn't needed most of the time... Konrad snapped back to what he was doing. He zoomed in on the town that was in the valley below him; a small, quaint town. Its quaintness only ruined by the fact there was a giant purple castle sitting on the edge of town. It was made of a blue and purple crystal; the design seemed to revolve around a star. Probably the owner's cutie mark, if the flags were any indication. Either the owner has a hell of an ego or someone important lives there. Or both, maybe. Either way, that symbol was probably what the mark on their hindquarters was, so those were probably fairly unique. I think it was called a cutie mark? While he was too far away to make out any of the more minor details, he was able to see that the residents were, in fact, generally ponies. So at least Ka wasn't trying to pull his leg by getting him to change into a rarer species like he sometimes likes to do. As he continued looking, he noticed that there seemed to be three denominations of pony types: standard ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Why are there unicorns? Horns seem kinda pointless. And those wings look way too small to... His train of thought was interrupted as he more closely examined what the ponies he was focusing on were doing. Well, it wasn't so much what they were doing. It was how they were doing it. The duo seemed to be a house repair company. But the pegasus seemed to be breaking every law of aerodynamics, zipping about like inertia didn't exist. And the unicorn had a glow around their horn, accompanied by a similar glow around a levitated object. Wait, that looks like magic... Konrad was interrupted by the BLSR pinging him to let him know the exact estimate of how long it would take to do the full survey. 3 Hours, 14 Minutes Remaining And judging by the time frame of the BLSR, this isn't a type of magic we've come across before... Konrad, not in the mood to talk, sent a message to Ka. Looks like we've got a new form of magic. BLSR is going to take 3 hours to finish. Better get the Tsekolvi bracelets. Oh, and it's hella beautiful out here. Konrad sighed as he sent the message. It was incredibly beautiful out here. A bit oversaturated, yes. But still beautiful. Wait, did that pegasus just move that cloud? Konrad decided he should put away the telescope. This reminded him to raise the low-level perception filter over the BLSR. It was enough to keep it unnoticed at a distance without interfering too much with the BLSR. However, he could crank it up at a moment's notice if necessary. Aside from setting a perimeter to alert him if anypony got close, there was nothing else to do except wait. And wait. With so much time to kill, he decided to do something he hadn't done in a long time. He decided to take a nap. It wasn't something he indulged in too much. But nothing more could be reasonably done until the BLSR was finished. He didn't want to go into town without a reasonable backstory, so he might as well indulge himself. He didn't often nap just for the sake of napping. Even when he slept, he generally was conscious and catching up on paperwork. He only truly slept and let his mind wander every 7ish days. Napping was a commodity. But as he sat on that ledge, he felt calm. While he wasn't one for the sun, everything around him seemed to calm him down. The midday sun, the wind rushing through the pine trees, the occasional chirp of birds in the distance. Everything was relaxing. No... Everything was harmonious. And as he slowly drifted off to sleep, he could only think one thing: "Ne'mo necon, sha'parei hass?" [ASM: Could this be a memory that lasts beyond lives?] [CDT: Possibly maybe, a forever memory?] If only he knew then just how much of an impact this mission would have on him.