cop_an_attitude | 01 | [Voice/Action]

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01 | [Voice/Action]

[For a moment, nothing happens. The camera is focused on a patch of grass. There are rustling sounds and a woman's voice mutters indistinguishably to herself, and eventually the journal is righted so that the camera focuses on Sally's face. There is a leaf in her hair. She does not look happy.]

Right, I think I've worked out what this thing does, and I just want to say that if this is someone's idea of a joke, I'm not laughing. See this? [She lifts up a police badge containing her ID.] This is a police badge. It's my police badge, yeah? It says I'm Sergeant Sally Donovan of London PD, which means that when I find out who's responsible for this, for...this [She gestures down the length of her body, at the dress that isn't hers] and for this [She turns the journal to take in the unfamiliar surroundings] and I don't even know how to start about this [She jerks her thumb over her shoulder at the pair of dark brown wings that definitely aren't supposed to be there] that person or persons are in a world of trouble.

My advice to you, whoever you are, is to come forward immediately. That's less trouble on my part and a lighter sentence for you, so it's in everyone's best interest. Do not make me find you.

[Sally fumes silently for a moment, and when she decides her point has been made, the recording ends.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Wow. It's the cycle of utterly ineffective threats.]

It won't work. Even if any of them do answer, good luck actually trying to arrest them. You should work on getting to the village instead.

...You've got a leaf in your hair, by the way.

You know who's responsible for this? Who--

[A pause as she runs her hands through her hair and picks out the leaf.]

Who would do something like this to innocent people? Do you know how to find them?

They're called the Malnosso. And no, I don't know how to find them.

There's a guide in the journal that explains everything the people here know. But you're not in whatever world you came from anymore, which I know is hard to believe, but it's true. You've been taken to a place where impossible things happen on a regular basis, and you don't have much choice besides putting up with it. Like the wings.

Don't let them get damaged, by the way. It could kill you.

Yeah, thanks, I was planning on ripping out the new limbs grafted to my back in non-surgical conditions and hoping for the best.

[She kind of was, at first, but that's neither here nor there.]

Impossible things. Lovely. So who are you?

You wouldn't be the first to try.

[Not that Amelia herself can name names, but hey. Someone has to have made the attempt before, right?]

You have no idea. And I'm Amelia.

Sergeant Donovan. How long have you been here, then? And while I'm at it, is anyone here from here, or are we all...transplants?

A year today.

[Amelia attempts to say that as if it isn't bugging her. She probably fails.]

It'd be easier to just say kidnapped. Which yeah, everyone in the village is. Like I said, the group in charge of us is called the Malnosso. I'd guess they're from here, but we don't see much of them. More like they make announcements over the journals, and then conduct experiments on us, or send us on missions or to fight wars.

[So many things for Sally to look forward to.]

A year?

They conduct experiements--

Wars--

[Things are starting to sink in. Not a good feeling.]

[No, it really isn't. Amelia sighs quietly on her end.]

They don't happen all the time, at least. Once or twice a month, usually.

The rest of the time, you're here. That's the better end of it. Everything's free, and most people are decent. They'll help you out when you get in trouble, look out for you--that sort of thing.

Has anyone told you how to get to the village yet?

It's-- [She sighs deliberately and takes a deep breath.] Yeah, someone's come to help me find it. Everyone seems all right so far.

Most people are. It makes everything else bearable.

There may be people you know here too. They'll probably reply to this if they are, since you gave out your name. But they might not remember the same things as you. People can be brought from different times.

[A pause as Amelia frowns.]

Most everyone I knew back home is from years after I am.

I've already run into...a few people I know... [She's less than pleased about some aspects of this.] I don't know if one of them remembers everything I do, but. I'm pretty sure the other does.

[Amelia can relate, even if she technically didn't know one of hers before she got here.]

Just be careful when you're talking about it. When people get sent home from here--which happens sometimes--they supposedly don't remember anything. But finding out some things about the future you didn't expect to hear isn't easy.

[Voice of experience.]

People do go back, then? There's a way out?

Um, yeah, I'll remember to keep quiet about the future until I find out more, then.

It's random. No one here has found a way to go back on their own. People just sometimes disappear, then end up back here with different memories.

Sorry. I didn't mean to get your hopes up.

They come back?

...It's all right. I've a feeling I'm going to have a lot of hopes dashed in the next few Hours. Days. Weeks. ...Months.

Sometimes. Others don't.

It isn't completely bad. Good things can happen here too.

Good things like what?

[She may be a tad grumpy at the moment.]

[It's pretty understandable.]

The people, like I said before. And other things that might not be possible where you're from.

I never saw rain before I came here. Or so many plants, or seasons. My world's a desert, so all of that was new to me.

Your whole world?

...Ha. I'm from England; rain's an everyday occurrence.

Gunsmoke.

I've never heard of any place called England.

Your world's called Gunsmoke?

It's on an island of a place called Europe.

Yeah. I don't know who came up with the name, but it's not hard to guess why.

Still never heard of it.

Has a nice ring to it, at least.

All right, just trying to fill you in...

Maybe. It's a hard place to live though.

Sorry. It's just that the geography doesn't mean much. I mean, I could tell you where Mecca is in relation to May or December, but I don't think it'd help you much.

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