bigapplesauce | Luke Smith's arrival [OPEN]

Current Location: Bethesda Terrace, Central Park
Current Music: December 22, 2012

Entry tags:

Luke Smith's arrival [OPEN]

Alone for once, Luke trots absently along the way home from school, mind already on his homework. He doesn't mind homework, at least when it's math or science. It took him a while to get why the other kids all hate doing homework -- learning's sort of the point of school, and his teachers have been giving him stuff from beyond his grade level to keep him busy. He can sort of understand it when he thinks about his English homework, though; the thought that he's going to have to spend tonight trying to puzzle through more of Romeo and Juliet is not an uplifting one.

Something catches his eye and he pauses, thoughts brought back to the world around him. He can't say what it was, but for a moment there was some sort of flicker -- something that didn't seem quite right. He frowns, brow furrowing, and takes a step backward to try to see it again. "Hello?" he calls tentatively, peering into the shrubbery. "Is someone there?"

There's another...something. Luke looks around, wondering for a moment if he should go get Sarah Jane or Clyde or Maria. But no, it's probably nothing much, and it might be gone by the time he gets back. Shrugging his backpack straps further up on his shoulders, Luke wades into the greenery by the walkway where he thinks he saw it. Maybe it's something that's been cloaked, or maybe it's an alien -- or maybe it's nothing and he's tearing his jeans for no good reason. He stoops and pushes his hands through the branches, looking, and --

And there's a sideways jerk, a feeling of falling, and he stumbles and lands on his rear in shallow water. Gasping in surprise (and cold!), he flails, splashing, and scrambles to his feet. He shivers violently as he looks around, wide eyes taking in his suddenly changed surroundings. Theres's...a fountain? He's fallen in a lake?? There's some sort of terrace going down into the icy water, and he's on one of those steps. He doesn't know how this is possible, since he's never even seen this place before he appeared here. Shaking with the cold, he tries to climb up onto the next step, slips, and falls back in the water.

"Help!"

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Topher's sitting in a fold-out chair Bethesda Terrace, wrapped up in a blanket and drinking cocoa. It's a bit too cold for him, really, but he's wearing many, many layers of clothing, and the place helps him think. Probably because it's the location of what he spends most his time thinking about. Knowing the rift is strongest here, he imagines he can feel it sometimes. But that's probably just the cold. His tech can notice it though, and the readings he gets are never boring. Just then, there's a big spike of activity.

He's busy scribbling down notes when his thoughts are interrupted by a loud splash. He looks up, and there's a kid fallen in the water. That's a dumb thing to do. Topher gets to his feet, and heeey, a distinctly underdressed kid, that's weird.

Suddenly he realises that, oh, right, kid shouting for help! Better go see to that that. He runs over, slipping to his knees at the water's edge, reaching out for him. "Here, kid, take my hand," he shouts, holding onto the stone railings with his other hand. He better not have to get in there himself.

Luke's dressed for autumn or spring, not for swimming in a lake in the dead of winter. He's still wearing his backpack full of his books and supplies, which certainly doesn't help matters. By the time the man makes it to the water's edge, though, Luke's made his way back more or less upright and is trying again. He gladly reaches out to grab the offered hand - he's so close to the terrace, but his body's already going numb and his movements are uncoordinated.

Topher manages to help the kid climb out without falling over again, or dragging Topher in as well, for that matter.

"You're okay, it's okay," he says, taking the backpack off him to get rid of some of the weight. The insides of it are probably soaked by now. "We'll get you dried up."

As soon as Topher's certain the kid can stand on his own (or at least lean against the low stone wall), he pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts texting rapidly.

Hypothermia sets in when the human body drops below thirty-five degrees, Luke's brain supplies muzzily. How cold is he now? It feels like his limbs are blocks of ice.

"Wh - where?" he asks, teeth chattering as he hangs onto the wall. Even the slightest air movement is biting cold. He can't remember this place at all, though his thoughts are so sluggish - should he remember?

"New York. I'll explain everything in a bit," Topher answers, pocketing the phone again. It's highly unlikely this kid didn't come through the rift. The place was more or less empty a second ago. Not many tourists wandering around here this time of year.

He jogs over to where he was sitting and grabs his blanket and cup of cocoa, then brings it back over to Luke.

"Here, drink this," he says, handing the cup to Luke, then wrapping the blanket around him. It'll block off the wind at least, but he knows that it will just keep the cold in if kept that way. Best thing to do is get him out of wet those clothes.

He pauses for a second. "Hey... Are you Luke Smith?" he asks.

Luke startles and looks around again. New York? Under normal circumstances his mind would be working a mile a minute, but mostly what he's thinking right now is '...strange.' It seems like he blinks and then the man is back -- he can only just wrap his hands around the mug, but it helps even before he takes a sip just to hold something warm.

He nods at the question before he thinks enough to realize that it's strange for the man to know his name. He doesn't know anyone in New York. "How d-do you kn-now?" he asks. He's still shivering hard, which is actually a good sign.

Topher grins broadly. "Recognised you. I'm a fan of your mom." He pauses for a second, wondering if he should clarify that that wasn't a 'your mom' joke, but then decides Luke probably wouldn't think it was anyway.

There's a beep in his pocket, and he checks his phone, then runs off back to his seat. He stuffs his things quickly into his backpack and swings it onto his back, then returns to Luke.

"I'm Topher, by the way. Come on, let's get you warmed up," he says, steering Luke firmly towards the stairs, just as a van stops at the top of them. A man in a suit comes hurrying down the stairs, and grabs Topher's folding chair and Luke's backpack.

Yeah, no, the slightest possibility of that being a joke or insult went whooshing right past him. Would have normally, even, not just while he's too cold to think.

He doesn't question being led into a black van by a stranger, either (someone get this kid some self preservation skills!). He fell in a lake, this man helped him, and he's apparently going to get answers and not freeze to death. It's all very strange and frightening, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, he assumes Topher is trustworthy.

"Rec-cognized me?" he asked, not so out of it that he doesn't find that strange. "You know S-Sarah Jane?"

"Well, I know her, she doesn't know me. Like I said, fan," he answers, grinning a bit, as he makes sure Luke gets up the stairs alright and everything, given how cold and shaky he is. "I'm a scientist, work for the government. Do much the same things she does, protect the world from extraterrestials and such."

Ah, and how nice is it to have someone fall through the rift who isn't completely new to things like time travel and aliens?

"Like a s-sports f-fanatic?" asks Luke, seriously confused about this point. He stares at the man, surprised and impressed. "I th-thought the American government didn't know," he says as he stumbles the rest of the way to the van.

And how nice must it be to actually recognize that Luke knows this stuff without having to talk to him first?

That too, that doesn't hurt.

"Well, most of it doesn't. It's kept fairly hush-hush," Topher answers, helping Luke into the van, which thankfully has the heating turned way up, and closes the door behind them before too much of the warmth can seep out. The car stays parked, even as the driver returns with the other stuff.

Topher starts digging through his backpack, and pulls out a change of clothes he always keeps with him, handing it to Luke. "Here, get changed. They'll be a bit big for you, but those wet clothes are gonna make you sick."

"How did you find out about S-Sarah Jane?" asks Luke, not about to question why Topher has a change of clothes in his bag. He nods, understanding immediately, and immediately starts to strip, piling his wet clothes on the floor. "Thanks," he says belatedly.

Nothing to see here, just a child stripping naked in an unmarked van.

Good thing they don't have windows. Topher averts his eyes though, because, um, awkwaaard. Probably mostly cause he's a kid, yeah. Just, yeah. Topher is aware of the inappropriateness of it.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," he answers, staring at the opposite wall of the van. "See, when you arrived here, you came through a rift in time and space. Like a wormhole, or portal. That's why you randomly ended up in New York. And... why it's December 22nd, 2012."

Luke is aware one does not take one's clothes off in public, but he's going to freeze if he doesn't and this isn't public anyway. He's still shivering as he reaches for the pile of dry clothes, but the warm air is helping. The clothes themselves feel fantastically warm after his ordeal.

He looks over at Topher sharply in the middle of doing up the zip on the oversize trousers. "That's f-four years," he says, shocked. "I've b-been gone for four years?"

Topher looks back at him when he's at least gotten some pants on. "Umm... No," he answers awkwardly. "You haven't been gone, because you were never here to begin with. This isn't your universe."

There's just really no way to break that gently, so Topher gives him an awkwardly apologetic face. Sorry, kid! You might never see your friends or family again. Have a lollipop! Except Topher doesn't have a lollipop. ...Actually, he might, but it seems a little insensitive, even for him.

"But you said you knew Sarah Jane." Luke's sitting bolt upright now, the matter of putting a shirt on forgotten as he gives Topher an intent, almost accusatory look. "And you knew who I was. And you can't travel through a wormhole, because you'd be crushed to nothing."

"Well, it's not a wormhole, not exactly," Topher answers. Right, he should stick to the actual science with this kid, rather than vague terms. "We don't know exactly how it works, but... Here."

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a gadget with a large screen showing various read-outs, showing it to Luke. "This is a basic read of the rift energy at the lake. The energy's strongest here, that's why I was here, I was measuring it. See that spike, there?" he explains, pointing. "That's when you came through."

Luke's still giving Topher a distrustful look, but he turns his gaze to the screen. There are markings and units he doesn't recognize, but it only takes him a couple moments to see what Topher's talking about. "So this has happened to other people," he concludes. "Otherwise, you wouldn't know about it."

He frowns to himself as he pulls the shirt on, need for warmth finally overriding delay for information. "How do I get back?" he asks plainly. "And how do you know it's another universe?"

"You don't get back... I've been here two months now," Topher answers somberly. "I came through the same way you did, but in San Francisco. Been studying the rift ever since, and we've yet to find a way to reverse it. Even if we did, there's no guarantee you wouldn't just end up somewhere else."

Yeah, Topher is holding off on the Sarah Jane question for now. That's probably gonna take more convincing. Instead he leans over and taps at the window, and the car starts driving, now that Luke is done changing. Meanwhile, Topher needs to take off a few layers, given how warm it is in this van.

Luke blinks, and counters that statement with the principle of denial. "I can't be stuck here," he says. "I have to go home."

His frown deepens. "I want to call Sarah Jane. Even if she isn't my mum in this universe, she'd help."

Topher pulls his phone back out of his pocket and hands it to Luke. He very much doubts it will go through, but there's no harm in trying. (Topher wouldn't mind meeting Sarah Jane himself.)

This is the problem with greeting new arrivals. Sure, sometimes interesting new people from other times and universes, but they rarely take the news well. Topher didn't.

Luke would go digging for his own phone, but it's probably dead thanks to the lake. He accepts Topher's instead and dials the number, dutifully putting in the extra digits for an international call.

He puts it to his ear and waits. After what must be several rings, he draws a breath, and flinches as someone says something rather cross to him about the time. "I'm sorry," he says automatically, immediately plowing on with "Is Sarah Jane there? Sarah Jane Smith?"

More grouchy tones from the other end of the line, and Luke's frown deepens. "Yeah, I must've," he says faintly, and then the call's over. He hands the phone back to Topher, not looking at the man. His eyes are wet.

Topher accepts the phone and pockets it, then awkwardly pats Luke on the shoulder. "Sorry, kid..."

After a few moments of more awkward silence, Topher adds, "We'll get you set up with a place to live and everything. Money for food." Actually, come to think of it, how old is Luke? Early teens? What's the procedure for children who come through the rift? Topher has no idea. He's never been one for procedure. (Never really been one for kids, either.) Probably get them enrolled in school or something.

"She could be at another number," says Luke, his voice sounding flat. She could be, but he doubts she is.

He draws in a breath and nods. "I'd like to help study it," he says, finally looking at Topher again. He's a genius, after all, surely he can help figure out how to get himself home.

Topher smiles. He'd been expecting that, and honestly, he'd been hoping for it. Always good to get another genius onboard.

"Fine with me," Topher answers encouragingly. "You gotta get through all the formalities and such first though. We're going to headquarters now."

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