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[It was easy to say that John was new to all of this strangeness. It was a fact, and yet, that bit of logic had done very little to ease his mind in regards to what all this entailed. He is, after all, a man of science, but he's also incredibly excitable - and under a lot of stress due to upcoming classes beginning soon. It's his first entry on this mysterious Network, and he's sitting on a sofa in a rather mundane looking living room - aside from the papers, random gadgets, and unfinished looking projects scattered about. An impressive stack of quantum textbooks rests near his knee, which is fluttering up and down rapidly in an anxious movement.

He leans forward, peering over the rim of his glasses, and frowns a little.]

I sort of like this idea of this Network thing. It's all very...clandestine, hush hush, bonding experience, speaking out into the void of the internet in the hopes someone hears you and has something important to say. I like it, it's clever - even if it does leave you feeling a bit exposed. Internet's not really all that secure, is it? Anything can end up on the dark web for the right price...

Anyway. It's all well and good, and I'm getting used to this idea of Different, even if it is bloody mad.

What I want to know is why my entire research plan decided today that it wanted to be delightfully lemon flavored? [He holds up a cheerful looking bowl of lemon sherbet, which he sort of wrinkles his nose.] Honestly. It could have at least had the courtesy of being banana flavored if it's going to inconvenience me.

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[Jack stares at the screen feeling that odd sense of weirdness that he gets around Anthony and Alec. But with the accent the feeling is strong. He smiles]

At least it's your research plan and not your phone or coffee pot like me. I almost ate my keys once too.

[The dubious expression falters for a moment when he sees the gentleman smiling at him. For a lingering moment, he can swear that he's seen him before, this man - like a sense of deja vu, but a pleasant one. He blinks for a moment, but it's impossible not to smile back. John laughs a little and sets the bowl down with care.]

That's precisely why I don't drive in this city. Won't eat your keys if you don't have - well. Right, house keys. Oh, some people must be swimming in lemon sherbet, then, if everything you touch turns into it. Anyway - I'm supposed to be working out a plan for my PhD students and we begin tomorrow - and I swear I've seen your face somewhere.

[Jack laughs softly. This man is oddly charming as well as familiar. The babbling feels familiar too, almost like he's heard it before. He flashes the man another smile]

My name is Jack Porter...I'm an actor...not super famous or anything...maybe you've seen something I've done.

Though weirdly enough....I feel like I've seen you somewhere before too.

Actor? Broadway?

Nah, I've not been to any shows on Broadway or the West End when I was in London. Can't be that. Maybe it's been on ads? I bike through Manhattan on the regular; might have been there!

[John grins right back, pleased - but even that didn't seem quite right, seeing his face on an advertisement or a playbill. Yet another mystery - but perhaps there was something to it. And if...hm.]

Well. Maybe we have! I mean...we're both Different, right? So, the odds are astronomical, but in a realm of potentially infinite multiverses where our...er, other selves come from, these memories and what not. I don't know, maybe we know one another? I mean, it's as reasonable as anything else I've learned about this!

[The cheeky grin that follows was accompanied by a bit of a laugh, his dark eyes bright.]

I'm John. Doctor John Smith.

Edited 2020-08-24 17:15 (UTC)

Mostly yeah, though i've done a few tv shows and a few small movie roles. Nothing break out yet but I live okay.

[Handsome and charming oh boy Jack is in trouble here]

Yeah I'm Different too...got my first Memory about a month or so ago.

So Dr Smith...what is your research focus?

Well, that's the most important thing, then! Living well and all. Maybe it is that I've seen you on television? Sorry, Jack - I'm usually pretty good at remembering faces!

[This was going to trouble him until he got to the bottom of it, he just knew it. But he shelved that concern for when he was alone to think, and focused on the conversation. Making friends was good! Hoping they wanted to stick around, that was good! It didn't hurt if they were friendly and nice to look at either!]

A month? Wow, it was only a week and a half ago for me. Is it rude to ask what another's first Memory was or not? Mine was...dramatic. Sort of traumatic. [His eyes got distant for a moment, before he pulled himself back out again and came back with the smile.]

You can just call me John, unless you like titles. [He grinned a little more, and leaned forward on his knees.] I'm an astrophysicist. Right now, my department is looking at the study of a galaxy cluster at the far edges of the universe - they're still burning blue, but of course, we're seeing how they looked 3.5 billion years ago so we're effectively looking back in time. [He smiles a bit wistfully.] I thought I was going to be bored, but they're letting me do it. Sort of...give us an idea of what conditions were like closer to the Big Bang, you know - Oh, sorry. Sort of went off on a ramble there.

Yes it is...I know it's weird that I'm not big on the whole fame idea, but I mostly just like the work.

[Jack is so deeply charmed and yet that weird feeling is still there almost like he shouldn't feel the way he does, but he can't stop himself. This is so strange and he's a bit nervous]

Please call me Jack....and to answer your question it's not bad manners to ask about people's Memories....most of them have at least one they are willing to share and it helps to talk them through sometimes.

I don't mind the rambling...I've always wished I could go to space myself. I've wondered if there is really other life out there.

Oh! I bet plenty of people who are in the entertainment industry don't go in for fame! Nothing wrong with liking the work!

[It was a strange thing. John had only had one occurrence of Memories since this all began - the one that featured the mysterious Rose vanishing - and he knew that he had never met Jack before, or even seen any of his work necessarily. But there was something about that grin - charming, just a bit sly, confident - but it wasn't just base awareness that the friendly actor was attractive. It felt...again, like deja vu that he couldn't explain. Wistful, affectionate - and a bit painful - almost like regret. Strange.]

Jack. It's a pleasure to meet you. Glad to know you don't mind the ramble - a lot of people do. Maybe I should pop in to one of your shows some time! Just to see what it's all about. As for space, well...I'd love to go there myself. No space program back home sending people up, though, and here...well. I do what I can from the ground. Got a bloody brilliant planetarium, though, if you're interested! You know...I wasn't sure about extraterrestrial life - there's a couple of theories about that floating around - but after all this stuff with the Bureau, I'm inclined to believe that there must be. [John sort of glances to the side wryly, still smiling. There's a wily sort of glint in his dark eyes.]

I've only had one Memory - there was a woman named Rose in it. Rose Tyler...and these...beings. Daleks, or something, I think they were called. It all happened really fast.

[He trailed off after a moment, looking distant, before looking back up brightly again.]

What about you?

[Jack can't speak for a moment. The name Rose Tyler feels familiar both right and wrong at the same time. And the whisper of emotion that comes with that name is a mix of so many things that he can't sort them all out. The name Daleks too brings up a whisper of emotion, fear....it's a lot to take in all at once and it takes a moment for Jack's smile to return.]

I've only had one memory myself.....I'm in a huge room with two people in front of me. A man and a woman. I tell them things have been fun and the woman seems worried. So I tell her she's worth fighting for and kiss her. Then I turn to the man.....I tell him I wish I'd never met him...that I was better off a coward..and then I kiss him too...and then I tell them I'll see them in hell and turn to leave. I don't look back almost like I'm afraid to.

[Jack swallows hard because the next part he has to share feels like a bomb shell.]

The woman's name is Rose...and I just call the man Doctor.....no name just Doctor.

[John stares at Jack for a moment, eyes suddenly quite intense. Something about that Memory he shared seemed almost familiar - but not quite - like a dream he might have had, once, a long time ago, but barely recalled. Once more, it felt like deja vu - but it had meaning. Something knotted in his chest - as though it really wasn't something they should be discussing so casually over the Network like this. He feels cold and a bit distressed, and took a breath.]

Oh, well...Rose is a common enough...name.

[John didn't sound convinced, of this, however, and closes his eyes. He's parsing through the brief scream that was his Memory, trying to recollect.]

I'm in a room. A white room, and Rose is on the opposite side. We're trapped in a vacuum, holding on for dear life, shouting at one another while these...Dalek constructs tumble past us. She loses her grip...and she's gone. Just...just gone. She never had a chance to address me, really...

[He lets out a breath, and looks at his hands - capable hands, educated and articulate hands, but they're trembling. He glances up.]

Do you want to...meet somewhere to talk about this in person?

[Jack feels that shiver of fear the name Daleks brings up. And John's Memory makes him feel oddly sad, but he doesn't know why. This is all so confusing and both hopeful and sad.] I think...I think it would be a good idea if we talked.

[John takes a moment to breathe, and glances at his phone to check the time. He's met a number of Different now, but the strangeness that Jack remembers a Rose - a common name, still, he knew - and had a subtle reaction to the Daleks fills him with more curiosity - and urgency - than dread.]

I know it's late, but we're in the City That Never Sleeps. [He offers Jack a reassuring smile, despite it all.] Are you in Manhattan? I can bike or take the tube to wherever you are, or we could meet somewhere? Don't have a car.

I just finished rehearsal...there is a coffee shop down the block from the theatre in Manhattan.

[Jack sends the address of the shop to John's device.]

Give me 20 minutes to get changed and I'll meet you there.

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