i | [ audio ]

[pretexts]

There are a number of questions a person could ask in this sort of situation, I think. How did this happen, how does one escape, exactly why do doctors seem to believe that telling a group of potentially dangerous individuals that they were once fictional characters is in any way a good idea, etc. As I am certain that someone has already asked said questions, however, and equally certain that the answers are therefore floating around somewhere in the ether, I'll forego that line of questioning.

What I would like to know is whether anyone is aware of which country and/or state has jurisdiction over this island. Or, more to the point, whether holding a group of people against their will is, in fact, legal on this world. Where I'm from, it would not be. But laws differ between planets.

[ a pause. ]

But I've forgotten introductions. My name is Zexion.

Comments

[reanimated]

I've been here a year now and would you believe you're actually the first person to ask who's colonised this shite island? Long story short, no one knows, but now that you've thrown the word country out there I'm sure you'll attract loads of attention. Welcome to New Moore, it gets worse.

[pretexts]

That's rather foreboding. How, if I may ask, does it get worse than "being uprooted from one's home and deposited on an island full of strangers to endure psychological manipulation by charlatans?" Death? Dismemberment? Being forced to down the hospital food?

[reanimated]

All of the above if you're lucky like me!

[reanimated]

But don't worry, sometimes you'll spontaneously sprout tits or they'll throw a proper party and all's forgiven.

[pretexts]

...I'm not quite sure what to respond to first.

Are resurrections common in this place, or is that specific to you?

[reanimated]

Right, introductions. Nathan Young, resident immortal, you're very impressed. But strangely enough there's been other deaths that should've stuck and DID stick by my evidence but apparently... didn't. It's best not to ask questions.

[pretexts]

I do not know if I would agree with that; I think it's always best to ask questions.

[...legitimate question:]

Are you a god, then?

[reanimated]

You're serious?

[reanimated]

Yeah. Yeah, man. I'm a god.

[pretexts]

That would be a no.

[hot4engines]

Y'know, that is a pretty good question. I ain't sure myself, but maybe it's cause I haven't been here long either...

[pretexts]

It's not something they exactly mentioned in their introductions upon arrival. How long have you been staying here?

[hot4engines]

Unless the people who help us don't know, either?

I've only been here about two weeks.

[pretexts]

That's a possibility. Still, I would hope that someone on this island does.

Ah. If you don't mind my asking, did you arrive with anyone else? That is to say, do you know if arrivals are typically individual persons, or groups?

[hot4engines]

You'd think- maybe someone does know and just hasn't spoken up, though.

Don't mind at all! I got here by myself, and it seems like everyone that's arrived since then has been alone, too...

[pretexts]

Yes, I suppose it would be easier to bring people here one by one, rather than try to take a whole cluster of them at once.

[pretexts]

Someone else said that they had comrades here. Do you?

[hot4engines]

I imagine it'd be a whole lot messier to just take a bunch at once, yup.

I do! Just one, but it's good enough for me for now.

[roseate]

I believe it to be entirely self-monitored, considering the many strange circumstances of New Moore would call for a level of efficiency in management no self-respecting modern government could ever allow.
And apart from that, I believe the island itself might be moving.
At least, I believe it is perhaps unfixed.
That would prove difficult for any bureaucracy to regulate.

[pretexts]

...ah.

Magic would make things more complicated, yes. It would also raise several further questions; even assuming an autonomous island nation, the "New" in "New Moore" implies that this island was, at least at one point, a colony. If it is currently independent, I wonder whether it is a good sign or a bad one that it chose to assert said independence by moving.

[roseate]

On Earth, I recall reading about an island called New Moore.
It was said to be entirely uninhabited but claimed by both Bangladesh and India for natural gas and oil reserves suspected to be beneath the unstable surface.
It disappeared into the ocean around 2010, I believe. Global warming caused rising sea levels.
Of course there is no earthly way these two circumstances can be in any way related at all.

[pretexts]

Of course not. Islands disappear every day. [ actually in kingdom hearts they sort of do BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT. ] You would not know if there are any local libraries with conveniently detailed "History of New Moore" texts hidden somewhere in their aisles?

[roseate]

There is a library, but I doubt you'll find anything useful in that capacity.

[pretexts]

I suppose it wouldn't be wise on the part of our captors if they made things that easy.

I apologize for the questions. It's only that there appears to be a dearth of information available regarding the things one would think would be most important, and I would rather fill up the gaps in my knowledge as quickly as possible.

[roseate]

You don't need to apologize. I did the same when I first arrived.
Perhaps you have friends on the island already.