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Third | Action | Three Parts

Date & Time: Thursday, December 27th; Afternoon to Evening
Location: The Hold; then Apartment 207
Characters: Blaine Thorps + Lee Chaolan + OPEN
Summary: A bit of exercise, a bit of snark with dinner, then showtime ~~at the Apollo~~
Warnings: Blaine himself counts as a warning, right?

[First part: Open to everyone in the Hold training room]

Blaine did most of his exercising in his room instead of the hold. It wasn't too cold for him to run, but after the snow and with risks of ice patches he didn't feel like falling and busting his ass. So he's using the treadmill to do a comfortable five miles. Once he's done, he'll leave and use the walk home as a cool down.

[Second part: Open to his roommates in Room 207, Gordon and Chloe]

Once home, Blaine cleared the table and couches in the living area so he could stretch while his muscles were still warm and flexible. He sat on the floor in shorts and a white, ribbed undershirt and took a good hour to stretch his legs and arms. He was more flexible than a man his size usually was and he had to work on it. The balance between flexibility and enough muscle was a line he carefully walked.

After he stretched, he settled for some push-ups and curl-ups, just to keep it light. Then he gave a final stretch and got a satisfying pop from his back before he ambled off to shower.

[Third part: Open to his roommates and Lee Chaolan]

Dressed in a comfortable, fitted t-shirt and shorts, Blaine is chopping up what passes for vegetables. He's sauteing them and adding seasonings and making the entire apartment smell amazing to entice his roommates to come out. Food will do that. It also looks like he's cooking for 6-8 people when it's really just three. Maybe four, if Chloe pops up.

[[OOC: Action or Log tags welcome! Anyone can feel free to catch him before, during, after, or even on his way back to his room after his run.]]

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"I figure they take the body from the closest point of viability--that is, whatever would take the least amount of work to reconstruct. That could be... a half a second, or two weeks, depending on the cause."

"As for paradox, don't get me started... The whole damned Initiative project is based on weakening the United Earth in the present by changing the past. Say we want to make a fortification go away, so we send people back to ensure that it never gets built. But once they succeed, it's gone and always has been; how would we know to go back in the first place? By all rights, just the paradox tension what we've done so far should have rendered us into a roiling batch of quantum foam."

He takes a drink.

"And yet, here we are. Perfectly cogent; still alive. That conundrum has taken up most of my time while I've been here."

Blaine stirred the simmering liquid in the skillet. That's part of what had him confused. "Maybe because we don't belong to this time our memories stay the same. Since we went back in time, they weren't rewritten. That or we're creating alternative realities every time we go back in time."

He snerks, because that really makes no sense to him. It's straight out of TV show. What kind of science that actually was, he had no idea. "Maybe right after this dinner we're all going to explode. Well, a different kind of exploding than I had planned," he mused. He put large spoons into the food and brought the bowl of chicken and the one of vegetables to the table.

"Give me another minute to get the glaze," he said, forewarning anyone digging in yet.

Lee didn't touch his yet until everything was set but he did close his eyes to take in the aromas and that was just getting him started through the rest of the conversation. His eyes opened and laughed softly at Blaine's assessment about exploding. "Well, I think that all depends if the pressure is right, of course. My, this smells delectable and just as wonderful as the chef that prepared it."

His gaze turned toward Gordon with a smirk. "Ah, the reality that comes forth through the string theory. I believe the Doctor and I were discussing something similar my first day upon arrival. Just think how the math would tremendously effect the outcome should we so much as attempt the jumps. Each time we move so much as a slip of paper, events can change in this time.

Personally, I find it a horrible way to change the world. It's a passive aggressive assault and one that I'm sure the United Earth is working to undo the damage we created.

Let's face it, what's to say that we are not the cause of the United Earth's presence to begin with, yes? As much as I enjoy a good field trip, there are things that I would rather not do. Events are set in motion for a reason and now, oh, let's add alien conspiracy theory to the mix. In fact, how did all those scientists get that information to begin with, hm? We're already a complicated lot." Lee said as he leaned forward to take his glass.

"To Bigfoot."

The scent is torturous, but somehow he keeps it together.

"To all of life's mysteries. Up to, and including, spontaneous human combustion." He drinks. "For the record, Blaine... you're right, at least as far as my calculations have gone. See, causality is a conservational law: It only applies when the system is isolated. In this case the system is this entire world, past present and future. You add new elements from the outside--like us--and the rules change. Have you noticed that only Transports are sent on missions? No other Initiative personnel?"

He sneaks a bit of what he assumes is carrot, and continues with his mouth full. "There's a very good reason for that."

Edited 2012-12-28 19:31 (UTC)

Good, because Blaine was going to smack some hands with a wooden spoon if they couldn't wait. The sauce was almost ready anyway, and he prepared another container for it. This one had a lip for pouring. It wasn't quite a gravy boat, but it was good enough. They clinked their glasses in a toast and he turned the heat off under the skillet.

"I figured they couldn't bring their own citizens back to life, so they didn't risk them. If you have a limited native population but can bring in mercenaries, that's what I would do." A few final stirs and then he poured the glaze into the container and brought it to the table, smacking Gordon on the back of the head for that stolen bite. He put it by the chicken and then sat.

"Of course, it's totally possible all this is possible because they're sending us into the past. How would we be able to tell in the first place?"

Lee watched Blaine for a moment or two and thought about what was said. Something within him wanted to know more and he was running out of options. He was only here for a month and already he was growing antsy.

Once the host had sat himself down, Lee's smirk was replaced with contemplation. He trailed the tip of his index finger along the mouth of the glass. His tongue clicked before he spoke and looked to each member. "Of course. We wouldn't know much better and even worse, we don't know what we are stopping either should we travel to a time that isn't our own."

His hand wrapped around the glass and lifted it toward Blaine. "However, this doesn't mean that we are not without fault or reason to fully understand what it is that we are stopping. The effects are...could be, too great to understand even if it's only on the surface. Are either of you familiar with David Koresh?" He hoped the answer was no.

He grunts when Blaine whaps him, giving him a sharp smirk over his shoulder as he rubs the back of his head. Still worth it.

"Can't say I am."

Edited 2012-12-30 07:46 (UTC)

"They could tell us what it's supposed to do. Maybe even lie about it if they thought it was too shady, but other than 'Weaken the United Earth so we can take it back over' I haven't heard many explanations. How do they come up with these targets? How do they even know how that would affect the future? Look at what happened last time. We came back to monsters."

Blaine poured himself a glass and then took a few sips of it. "No, I haven't heard of that guy. Should I be happy about that?"

It was a sad reality that had awakened in Lee that nothing in his world made any sense to anyone else and it was almost a relief in some intrinsic way. He lifted his glass and took a small sip before he turned his thoughts outward into a verbal response. "It seems almost odd that everything that we do in the past can be changed in some way here in the present. I would rather not risk another outbreak than venture into a time that could damage our own existence here. Hurting the United Earth's chances through time travel is risky as it stands."

He raised his eyes toward Blaine and shook his head slightly. "He's of no consequence other than he tried to change the world through his twisted views and caused a mass suicide before he took his own life by claiming he was the messiah. I wish not to see a repeat."

At the time he was heading the Zaibatsu when the event happened and he couldn't stop it. The mess alone was not only traumatic, it was talked about for years thereafter and something like that doesn't simply go away on its own no matter how many times one goes back in time to try to keep it from happening. "I hope no one decides to follow in his footsteps here."

He switched the topic and smirked. "So, saying that we could change the future and our present, our usefulness here won't last too long. They would have to return us and honestly, I believe that there are some that are willing to do just that to prevent their return if they are liking their existence here. I for one would rather not."

Something in what Lee said causes him to tense a little as he reaches for the pitcher again. Multiple somethings, actually.

"Winning out against the United Earth does not mean we will be immediately shoved back through the portal from whence we came, Lee. Remember, they don't know HOW to send us back. It would take time, and more manpower than they can spare at the moment. If the war were won, then that manpower wouldn't be divided and the journey home would come sooner. If it comes at all."

"As for the rest... people need someone to follow. You show people a man who's capable, and they make him a leader. Throw in a few coincidences, some silly voodoo symbolism, and you get a messiah. You don't want to see it happen. I think that's just a matter of WHO and WHEN, and I hope when it happens it's someone who knows the right thing to do with the mantle once it's given to them."

"If they won the war," Blaine said, picking up the bowl and scooping out some vegetables onto his plate, "would it even be during this time? If they change the past enough, the UE might not even get as powerful as it is now. They could win the war in some battle in the past. Then none of this would have happened in the first place. Then what happens to us now? We wouldn't have been drawn from our worlds in the first place."

The blonde shrugged. That's the problem with time travel. This was not just some simple cause and effect shit. He passed the bowl to Lee and picked up the meat. "They don't have to be capable. As long as you look like you know what you're doing people will follow you." History shows that time and time again.

There is a lot of truth, however subjective to the three parties, spoken at this table. It was refreshing to Lee. He waited patiently for Blaine to serve himself although the smack with the spoon to Gordon's hand didn't go ignored as he leaned forward slightly with beguiling smirk. All three men had something worthy to contribute and these things were committed to his memory. Politics was something he played at but never really got involved in simply because it often became too messy for his purposes.

Lee's form of manipulation wouldn't do well in that form of setting. His plans were something far more beneficial and he needed to complete them in order to bring back the lost honor the Zaibatsu slipped away from when his adoptive father took control and later his brother shortly after Lee was exiled.

With skilled yet strong hands, he took the bowl that was offered to him and smiled. "Thank you." He began to scoop the carefully prepared meal onto his plate.

He spoke calmly. "While time travel is useful, the bigger question we must face is the repercussions of our actions in the past."

After he was done taking his share, he passed the bowl to Gordon. "I doubt we will see the results immediately nor in our lifetime. However, this isn't saying that it's not possible. I do question what sparked the United Earth to begin with. My guess is that we're not looking at the right time in which we travel. No war is without consequence and our actions could reflect the outcome. For better or for worse, we are in a sort of marriage that is unavoidable."

It was almost too eerie for Lee to think about. He was faced with something similar back home but this was far worse. Corporations ruled nations and he was one of them.

He takes the bowl with a nod. "I doubt it was any one event that created them. I don't profess to know much about history but I do know that nothing happens out of the blue. There were probably rumblings of their creation in our own times way back when, too... those of us from Earth, anyway."

"But if I had to choose a definitive point of no return for them... it'd have to be the day their 'leader' went online. Damn fools should've known better than to put a computer in charge."

Blaine passed the meat and then drizzled some of the glaze over the entire thing, just enough to taste, before passing it along as well. There might have been inklings of the beginning of the UE in his time, but he had no idea what they were. Asking the Initiative about what the signs were seemed to be a pointless endeavor as well. He hadn't even gotten word about what their total plan was to stop the UE. It was true that any major changes in the past could change their future drastically and not for the better, which might be why they were nickel and diming their way through the past to win tiny victories instead of going for the throat.

"Computers are in charge of most of the money as it is. It might have seemed like a natural progression instead of a totally crazy idea." Blaine took a bite of his food and chewed and swallowed before he continued. "In the first place, it could have been one of those 'Hahah, the 'computer' is in charge but it's really a human behind it' tricks. They must not have had movies with dystopian futures as caution tales."

"Thank you." Lee watched Blaine with a subtle glance upward to note his movements. There was something alluring about the small action of licking his fingers to taste the glaze that Lee placed the chicken strips on his plate and passed the plate to Gordon as he listened. The light drizzling of it was just enough for flavor without taking away from the taste of the chicken. Lee was accustomed to these things before he passed the bowl over to Gordon.

The subject of computers came up and Lee's expression changed slightly. "The less than subtle ways we handle our currency is being handled by hardware programmed to follow direct orders." He cut his meal into smaller pieces before taking his first bite. "We give the machines their purpose. People put in the amount through payroll by inputting data. Hm, how I would love to insert my data to change a few things. Alas, I am denied access." He sighed at his own innuendo. "I could change a lot of things but nothing is ever so simple even with a few strokes."

You hear that sound? That's the sound of the innuendo going right over Gordon's head.

"They don't have near the autonomy that the United Earth's Brain does--I don't think that's the official name but that's what I call it." He adds with a shrug. "But you're right, Lee. Those financial systems still defer to human input. Here it's the Brain that's calling the shots."

Good thing the innuendo wasn't for Gordon. Blaine caught it and there was just the tiniest hint of a leer in his smile before it went back its normal state. He takes a few more bites as he thinks about what they just said before starting up himself.

"In your world, maybe. Most of what happens is done via formulas and most of the trades are done computer to computer. The human input is people buying or trading stocks and the computers are reacting to that to try and beat out that sudden random input, but make no mistake. They run the system all on their own. They place bets and make hedges based on the data they're given just like a person does, but they're better at it. The political climate and decisions by CEOs that determine the confidence in the market have their own formulas, too. The markets don't dip and surge like they used to when people were doing stupid shit. Is it wise to have some server somewhere handling all that money? Probably not, but the companies have nixed their budget for the human part of the equation and absorbed that profit for shareholders."

All that Blaine said brought back some memories from his years in stock trading and investing. He chewed thoughtfully to keep his thoughts from straying too far off the subject, his fingers holding lightly to the fork. With his head leaned back slightly, he felt the ends of his hair touching the back of his neck. He was due for a haircut but for now it wasn't on the top of his list.

"Ah, but you see, if a task can be handled algorithmically, why use a person to do the menial tasks and have a machine to attend to it anyway? Factory jobs were nearly all but eliminated in my time which many corporate CEOs had pocketed the profits for the lack of the human element when there was no one to double check the orders to ensure quality when the time came for delivery.

My company and a few others needed people to ensure that the product my company was putting out was to the highest standards with care and consideration to the client than profit margins. Yes, it was nice to hand my employees bigger checks at the end of the week, though I wonder if the scruples of my competitors were on the same link. Perhaps not.

I enjoyed the human factor even if others went a more robotic route. Considering the irony of this, the wave of the future had caused a huge disruption through the introduction of machines that took those very jobs away from the man that was only trying to feed his family."

Lee wondered if his approach in his world was a step in the right direction or a mistake when he created COMBOT. He picked another piece with his fork and gave a longing sigh. It wasn't what he thought at first to be a topic that needed expansion but it did humble him in realization that maybe he wasn't going about his projects the right way. His eyes cast to the juice as he lifted his glass to take a sip.

"Sadly that kind of streamlining is normal for a company; It's predictable, akin to an algorithm. It works to protects its own survival, like an organism. You almost can't blame it.

"But a company is not a country. Giving the welfare of so many million people over to something that runs on a script is never a good idea."

"Because sometimes the algorithms are wrong, and you got rid of all the people -except one overworked salary slave who can fix it."

Blaine continued to eat as he watched them. It was the steady plowing off food, even though he hadn't made his portions too big since he was planning on... activity later and food bloat would put a cramp in that.

Lee kept his portion small for the same reason. He'll have more later during a rest if he felt like it. For now, he was looking at being satisfied and not gorged.

"You're absolutely right. The same principal could apply how the simplistic form could be used but then the variables would be a lot more demanding. I prefer the more...personal touch." He gave a small grin at the thought.

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Third | Action | Three Parts

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