Stark Industries [all day]

[momslilassassin]

Ben had been trying to load the Portalocity website for a half hour when their email arrived in his inbox.

"Wait, what?" he said aloud, staring at his computer.

It was almost enough to distract him from all the helpful gay sex pop-up ads that kept showing up.

Comments

[endsthegame]

"Ben?" Ender called, shoving open the door with his shoulder. "I've got lunch."

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, kreetle," Ben said, glancing up with an involuntary smile on his face.

[endsthegame]

Ender smiled back, letting the door drop shut behind him as he walked up to the desk. "Catch that Portalocity email coming in?" he said.

[momslilassassin]

"Yes," Ben said, rolling his eyes. "They are terrible at this stuff. I'm still trying to see if we can get to your universe though."

[endsthegame]

Ender tossed the bag onto the desk. "I've been having trouble getting into my email accounts," he said, "At least the ones hosted on servers in my universe. Not permanent trouble, but occasionally the connection just seems to drop out."

[momslilassassin]

Ben frowned. "That can't be good."

[endsthegame]

"I'm thinking Portalocity is messing with the connections with my world," Ender said, pulling a sandwich out of the bag. "We only have a couple of portals. Take out one, and you're already making things difficult."

[momslilassassin]

"Makes some sense. I wonder if the post office in town is having similar issues or it's just electronic," Ben mused.

[endsthegame]

"I could try mailing something home," Ender said thoughtfully, "Though I have no idea where it might wind up."

[solo_sword]

Today Jaina learned it was a bad idea to let Portalocity make her crabby while playing diplomatic escort! When she was able to escape for a bit, she got out her phone and called he who she knew was both awake at this hour FST and who lived on the island proper.

So ring ring!

[momslilassassin]

"Skywalker," Ben replied, answering his comm.

[solo_sword]

"I haven't torched the Portalocity offices yet, but that's only because I'm nowhere near one right now."

Hi to you too, Ben.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm beginning to guess why they don't have one on the island," Ben agreed dryly. "What the kriffing hell was that email?"

[solo_sword]

"I don't know, but I'm actually thinking all my paranoia is founded now," Jaina admitted. Yes, the paranoia she'd had for like three weeks now her time.

[momslilassassin]

"Have you had a bad feeling?" Ben asked, sounding worried. "I thought that was just, you know, me stressing about home."

[solo_sword]

"I don't know if it's that sort of bad feeling or not," she admitted. "But I've been worried since that time I got closed off here, and they're not exactly helping. Has there been anything weird that you've noticed?" Since Fandom got singled out in that email and all.

[momslilassassin]

"Well, no one from home's answered a message in more than a month, but that could just be a timeline difference," Ben said. "Ender's getting word that people from his universe are disappearing: body, paper trail and all. I'm not sure anything's connected, though."

[glacial_queen]

Karla stormed inside Stark's, waving her letter in her hand. "I am not crazy," she announced. "No matter what Jaenelle's stupid letter says. I. Am. Not."

[momslilassassin]

"Jaenelle called you crazy?" Ben replied, frowning.

[glacial_queen]

She tossed the letter on the counter for him to read. "All of a sudden people she's known for years are gone without a trace, without even the memory of a trace, but I'm the crazy one!"

All the huffiness and posturing was a convenient cover for the fact that Karla was scared.

[momslilassassin]

"Kuso," Ben breathed, going pale. "That's happening to Ender too--a couple Jeesh members are gone, right down to birth certificates."

[glacial_queen]

"You remember some of them, right?" Karla asked, a little desperately. "At least, the rings I got for Winsol my freshman year. The ones that Banard made for me?"

They were still there, in her room, with Banard's crest on the box. She'd checked after reading the letter.

[momslilassassin]

"It's a little tough to forget those rings," Ben said, blushing.

[glacial_queen]

Karla just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Scaredy pants. There is nothing wrong with those Rings!"

Which really had nothing to do with anything important.

"People in Ender's world are missing? Just like that? Anyone in yours?"

[momslilassassin]

"Not that I've heard about," Ben said, "but I haven't heard from anyone at all in a month."