Atlas Gym- Wednesday midday

[solo_sword]

So far today Jaina had called home (specifically her dad, again), checked Twitter for information, ended up perusing the junkyard for something to fix because sometimes resorting to things your 12-year-old self did helped, checked the news from home to make sure everything looked right, called home again (specifically Luke to keep him updated), and finally made her way down to the gym for the hours of training she was used to.

It was really all about keeping herself distracted, except the things she had to distract her were almost all tied into what was going on. And what was going on scared her and made her worry for people (Tahiri) and she knew too many of the names on the board and it all reminded her uncomfortably of the Vong war with refugees coming in because their worlds were gone... Thoughts of returning home for when she was sure the inevitable happened died when she looked at everything Portalocity would put her through to get there and she realized there might not be a way back there. Then that led to wondering whether maybe everything would stay fine back home but what would happen to her galaxy if something happened to her here... Maybe it wouldn't be as bad if there was something to fight.

It probably shouldn't have been a surprise that right now Jaina was hitting the punching bag like it was behind this whole thing. It wouldn't make her feel better forever, but it would at least help for the moment.

[My girl got emo when I wasn't looking. She will be Totally Fine at you if you want to ping in and commiserate, punch things, call, text or Foursquare your grandma though.]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

The more people disappeared, the more Ben wanted to spend time with his family, and when he felt Jaina's presence in the gym, he headed in and stood behind her as she hit the punching bag, waiting for her to notice.

[solo_sword]

It didn't take her long. She made sure to follow through with her hit, though, because she didn't want to fall over or hurt herself stupidly, and then turned towards the door.

"Don't just stand there, get over here," she told him, having some idea why he was here.

[momslilassassin]

"I didn't want to mess up your rhythm," he said, walking closer.

[solo_sword]

"I'll deal," she assured him, holding her arms out for a hug. She was turning into Leia with these.

[momslilassassin]

Ben was past pretending that he was too cool to need a hug from his cousin. He hugged her tightly and with every intention of not letting go for a while. "It's not your picture of Dad, Uncle Han and Aunt Leia, right?"

[solo_sword]

She shook her head slightly, but that wasn't easy to do while hugging. "The Luke from here. My dad's gone there."

She could say it calmly, because she kept reminding herself it wasn't her dad. This despite the fact that Ben, for instance, was her AU cousin that she fully considered just her cousin, and that sort of thing blurred the very careful lines she was trying to draw in rationalizing this.

[momslilassassin]

"Stang," Ben muttered. "I talked to Tahiri last night." And if his grip on Jaina tightened slightly to say that, well, he was stressed. "The Corporate Sector is gone--she's sending us updated maps as she can."

[solo_sword]

Wow.

"I'm so glad she's still giving information," she said quietly. She was glad for that for a few reasons, mainly because it meant Tahiri was around still to give it.

[momslilassassin]

"She also has a portal scheduled, but Zonama Sekot is bouncing around pretty good, trying to avoid...whatever this is, and she has obligations," he continued softly.

[solo_sword]

"I know. And I'd be doing the same thing if this was happening at home. I'm just still going to worry," she stated.

[momslilassassin]

"Me too," Ben said softly, biting his lower lip. "It's a lot harder to be on this side of the mission."

[solo_sword]

"Tell me about it," Jaina said, finally pulling back. "Don't suppose you've heard from home, huh?"

[momslilassassin]

He shook his head. "Nothing. When they do get back to me I'm going to catch hell for the number of times I've called."

There was a lot of things Ben was working to accept: the loss of his entire galaxy was one he wasn't even prepared to consider.

[solo_sword]

"That's when you yell at them for not answering. I don't care if time is possibly being weird or not," she said.

[momslilassassin]

"That's a better plan," Ben admitted. "How's your home?"

[solo_sword]

"Amazingly, untouched so far," said Jaina, more wary than relieved. "I've been checking in and everything seems to be all right there."

[momslilassassin]

"Ender's brother's universe seems to be okay too," Ben said. "Maybe we'll get lucky and some version of our homes'll still be around."

Not that Jedi believed in luck.

[solo_sword]

"I'm hoping." But really she was waiting for it to start everywhere. "How are you holding up?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben waggled his hand. "It's not a particularly great time to be an empath," he understated. "I know too many of those faces on the board, too. Stuff like that really reminds me how small this island is."

[solo_sword]

"And more just keep getting added," she said in a flat voice.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not sure if it's better to read it there or hear about it on the radio," Ben replied.

[solo_sword]

"I think they suck equally," Jaina decided. Speaking of which... "I'm sorry about Aravis."

[momslilassassin]

Ben looked pained. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Me too. At least I got to say goodbye. Ender didn't get that with Val."

[solo_sword]

That really was the worst. "How's he doing?" she wondered.

[momslilassassin]

"Coping," Ben said. "He practically lives in the library now."

[solo_sword]

"It's got to help to feel like he's doing something," she mused.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "Even if it's just weeding out what it's not," he said.

[solo_sword]

"Any leads?" Jaina wasn't a researcher. But fighting things, that she could do, and she was a little hopeful there.

[momslilassassin]

"No," Ben said, sounding deflated.

[solo_sword]

"I was hoping for a completely different answer," she said.

[momslilassassin]

"Me too, every time," Ben said. "But he's the smartest person I know in a school full of smart people. We'll figure it out."

He hoped.

[solo_sword]

Jaina pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. "Arthur and Eric both suggested witches or magic, but that doesn't sound right to me," she said.

[momslilassassin]

"To me either," Ben admitted after a moment's reflection, "but we come from a place where someone built and fired a weapon that destroyed planets, not to mention all the Yuuzhan Vong tech. The complete memory loss part is new, though."

[solo_sword]

"That's where I am, too. And it's possible that whatever's doing this has the technology when we don't. Which might also account for how it's getting so many places at once- we just don't have the capability to understand it yet," she said. Not that she'd thought about this or anything. "Though I admit that part does lean toward a more magical explanation."

[momslilassassin]

"Or at least more than one person running this," Ben said. "This sort of power in just one person--even Palpatine wasn't that powerful. Or barvy."

[solo_sword]

"And that's the other thing. Who's the target? 'Everyone' doesn't make sense, because that's so much ground to cover. So to speak," she amended.

If she was going to think about it, it honestly made her feel better to think about it this way, to dissect what was happening and try to work out a solution.

[momslilassassin]

"Which leads to the question of how long this might have been happening without us noticing," Ben asked. "How many places have to go before it affects portal systems?"

[solo_sword]

She paused, thinking back. "I don't remember hearing anything about it the last time I was here. The closest thing was your home being cut off, which stands a good chance of being unrelated, and I don't think with this group of people in town that it would have gone unnoticed for too long. So that might at least narrow down a timeframe."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded thoughtfully. "No one was really bitching about portal connections around Parents Weekend...how about at Homecoming?"

[solo_sword]

She thought back, and slowly shook her head. "I had a couple more connections than usual, but I thought that was them trying to get more money out of their customers. I don't remember anyone mentioning issues." She shrugged. "I'm also working from a few months past homecoming more than most people."

[momslilassassin]

"True," Ben admitted. "With all of the different timelines, we'll never really get a hard date on this."

[solo_sword]

"I'll go through the older radio podcasts," Jaina decided. "Maybe try to get a better idea of when it started."

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded. "The first Portalocity thing came out early in the month, so you know they had to be hiccuping before then."

[solo_sword]

"Right. And hey, at least I'll catch up on what's been going on." Bright side, see?

[momslilassassin]

And it gave them something to focus on that wasn't the board!

"That would be good," Ben agreed. "Is there a way to search through Twitter and see how far back people were complaining about stuff? That might get us information that's not Fandom specific."

[solo_sword]

She nodded. "You can check Portalocity-related hashtags and it'll show you the Tweets where it was used. Or you can search for what was said to the company itself."

[momslilassassin]

"Bet I'll learn a lot of new curse words that way," Ben said a little dryly.

[solo_sword]

"See, it'll be educational," she nodded.

[momslilassassin]

"And take my mind off checking my comlink," Ben added.