video; arrival

[freezerburning]

[ when the video blips on, the image is first of the sidewalk, then pans up to an agitated blond. she looks like she's been in a little bit of a scuffle, her hair unkempt and her cheeks flushed. she's argued with the officers, tried to get away without receiving the welcoming information, and she's been unceremoniously dropped on the front steps of the government building, left to the city at large.

for how ruffled she looks, her expression is otherwise unbothered, save for the pull of a tiny scowl at one side of her lips. ]

So, anyone want to explain whatever bullshit this is?

[ izzy looks around and starts walking as she tinkers with the communicator. ]

I'm looking for my friends. The people back there said I came alone, but they're lying. I'm looking for Scott McCall. Or Stiles. [ a small huff. ] Yeah, that's the idiot's name. Or Derek Hale.

[ there are a thousand things going on at home they need to sort out, and being here in Florida feels both like a blessing and a curse. ]

Anybody even listening on this thing?

Comments

[duelo]

[ At first glance, Derek's heart practically stops and, for a second, he thinks she's Erica. But when he gets a good look at her face, his heart breaks all over again because no. It isn't Erica.

His eyebrows are lifted with confusion and interest. ]

Scott and Stiles aren't here. Lydia is and I am. ...I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a dick, but...do I...know you? Because I don't...think I do...?

[freezerburning]

[ and while derek's heart practically stops, izzy's expression changes when she sees him, her mouth going dry for a moment. sure, there's bad blood here - the bite of betrayal and hurt - but that's all been pushed aside back home. well, sort of.

but there's a tiny hint of relief at seeing a familiar face. ]

You always sound like a dick.

[ she huffs. ] Very funny, Derek. Stop playing the games and tell me how we got here. Where's Scott?

[duelo]

I mean, most of the time I'm in a terrible mood, but this time I'm genuinely confused and I didn't actually mean to sound like a dick, for a change.

[ And he does genuinely look it. ]

I'm not kidding. He's not here. As for how you got here, there's a dimensional portal. Seems like you got sucked into it and now you're in Florida with us. Don't ask me how it works, under threat of death, I could not accurately answer that question if I tried.

[freezerburning]

[ for all of their fights and arguments, izzy looks a tiny bit hurt that derek doesn't seem to recognize her. is it some part of the fucked up game he played before to try and keep her safe? ]

Florida. I think those guys back there said something about that, yeah.

[ she swallows hard, her brow furrowing - ]

It's Izzy. Izzy Lahey. What are you playing at, Derek? You know me. This isn't funny.

[duelo]

[ Lahey. Derek's eyebrows shoot up and he leans closer to the camera, as if to hear better; like he missed what she said. ]

Sorry, did you say Lahey? I only know one Lahey and his name isn't Izzy... what the hell...?

[ His eyes shift away from the camera, like he isn't directing the question at her. He isn't directing it at her; he's wondering aloud. What kind of messed up bullshit are they pulling this time around?

And then the confusion drops away from his face in favor of annoyance for the fact that it took him so many drawn out moments to finally get it. ]

...oh you've got to be fucking kidding, no way. There's no way....

[ Finally, he looks back at her through his camera lens. ]

You must be from an Earth where Isaac isn't a guy. This place is ridiculous, I swear to God...

[freezerburning]

Yes. Lahey. I don't think I stuttered.

[ she rolls he eyes, annoyed, but it's his annoyed mutterings that draw her eyes back to the screen, watching him. ]

Listen, I don't want to be here anymore than you -

[ her words come to a stutter stop as derek speaks, izzy blinking wide eyed, looking at derek as though he's suddenly sprouted six heads. ]

Did you get into some wolf's bane? The only Laheys around are me and my dad. Or. Just me. No other guy.

[duelo]

[ Derek shakes his head, eyes wide. ]

No, what I'm telling you is that where I come from, there's just Isaac Lahey.

[ Not even his father anymore because Jackson killed him when he'd been the kanima. It makes Derek wonder what happened to change it so that he survives, but that's hardly the most flooring part of this whole situation. ]

[sanguinescry]

There are plenty of people listening.

( Lydia gives the camera a slow once over and lifts a dubious eyebrow. )

How do you know Scott and Stiles?

[freezerburning]

[ lydia.

there's palpable relief in her face, but then the decidedly confused and even slightly concerned, pinched expression she's known for. ]

Lydia? You're joking, right? How'd you get here? How long have you been here?

[ it has to be some weird joke, but it's the raise of the eyebrow that makes her head tilt. ]

[sanguinescry]

No...? I came through the portal like everybody else, yourself included, sweetie.

( Lydia looks confused, sure, but she also looks sympathetic, because there's definitely something wrong with this picture and if Lydia had shown up here with people she knew telling her they had no idea who she was, she would be stressed out, too. )

I've been here on and off for shy of three years.

[freezerburning]

Three years?

[ excuse her as she gapes, confused. it's alarming - it's not been long since she saw lydia last, and to think she's been here three years? there's been plenty of weird shit going on in beacon hills lately, but this takes the cake. ]

I just saw you. That's not possible.

[sanguinescry]

Yeah. Well, in Eglaf time. From what we can gather, it's like time sort of...stops...wherever we're from. Or at least it slows down significantly enough that people don't notice we've gone at all.

( She pauses and frowns slightly, not wanting to remind the other girl that if she has some sort of parasocial relationship with her Earth's Lydia, this Lydia is not in on it and she doesn't know who this girl is. )

I'm sorry, you look sort of familiar, I think...but I can't place you.

[freezerburning]

[ her brow furrows as she tries to put together what lydia is saying. if she'd listened to the officials at the portal, it might have helped but she'd been desperate to find her friends. and here one is, with no memory of her.

she'd been close to allison, and in turn had become closer to lydia after everything that went down. she tries to put on a brave face regardless, her jaw set defiantly, looking almost annoyed. ]

This is a joke, right? It's a bad one. Izzy. Izzy Lahey.

[deadashale]

Derek's here, but the others are not anymore - hi.

[Laura waves at the blond, her brows knitting together wondering exactly who this might be. Maybe Erica? She was blonde, she thinks and he mentioned her, but she was gone and this person doesn't necessarily seem to be exuding the idea that she's come from death and been given a second chance.]

Everyone who came through the portals has access to this these, so you're not screaming into the void or anything.

[Laura offers a smile.]

I'm going to rip the band-aid off here for you as part of this whole welcome wagon thing - I'm Laura Hale. Derek's sister. How much of the spiel did you listen to before you.... scuffled, I'm guessing?

[freezerburning]

What happened to the others?

[ welcome to izzy lahey, where emotions ride high and all she can hear is that her friends aren't here. that derek is here, but the others are gone. her jaw clenches, teeth gritting together and she wishes she could tell where the woman is so she can find her and pry for more questions.

there's the briefest flash of gold in her blue eyes before she takes a breath.

portals. hale. derek's sister. ]

... you're dead. What the hell is going on here? Where are my friends?

[deadashale]

[Laura's left eyebrow works upward - catching that flash of gold.]

I'm aware - I'm not dead here, though. That's something that can happen here. This place gives people who were gone a second chance, it's sort of the purpose of all of this in some ways.

[Laura offers, patiently, watching the blonde on the other side of this link.]

They went back through the portal - it works both ways when it's working properly. There's nothing nefarious or dangerous going on here, the technology behind the portal is acting up and bringing in people who didn't volunteer for this like it's supposed to. They'll be able to send you back if you give them a little time.

[freezerburning]

[ as much as she wants to be angry, there's something about the calm of the woman proclaiming to be laura hale that is both comforting and unnerving. to think she's looking a dead woman in the face is odd enough, and that she was pulled through a portal?

the bad part is she can almost believe it after everything back home. the men she'd tussled with told her a little about the portals, and she suddenly wishes she'd listened more. ]

... they were here? My friends? [ a tiny part of her wonders why they left without her. ]

When did they leave?

[deadashale]

They were here, but they went back home when the portal was fixed, most of them, anyway - it's been a little while. Months, maybe.

[She can't exactly remember when, so she's not going to give an incorrect specific guess, but she wants to be as honest as possible considering the hairpin trigger that Izzy seems to be on.]

They waited it out until they could go back, I guess. I didn't interrogate any of them on their reasonings because nobody has to stay here when the portals are working and calibrated correctly.

[Laura gives a small shrug.]

[freezerburning]

[ months. scott and the others have been gone for months and suddenly the stories of the men in the government building and laura begin to add up. she's been pulled somewhere out of time, away from her home and everything going on there, and dropped in this place. alone. ]

The portals aren't working?

[ how else would she be here? they didn't give her an option to leave. ]

So we're all stuck here until they're fixed?

[ count on her to fail to introduce herself. ] I... you said Derek was here still, right?

[solipsistically]

I can explain it, but I don't know that you'd believe it or understand it right out of the gate. How open-minded are you?

[freezerburning]

I think guys can wear dresses if they want and kissing girls is fun sometimes. Oh and pineapple is okay on pizza I guess.

[ a huff. ] Open minded enough?

[solipsistically]

My brother practically lives in Lydia Martin's closet, so...yeah, all right, that'll do.

[ He clears his throat. ]

First of all, time is not linear. It feels that way to us because that's how we travel through it, but it isn't. It's more like a giant knotted ball of yarn. You can try to untangle it by hand but if you mess up and pull too hard and snap the yarn or you cut the wrong piece, things can get really messy.

Still with me so far, kiddo?

[freezerburning]

Yeah, I think I follow.

[ she makes a face, however: ]

I'm not a kiddo, though. You're like, what? Twelve?

[solipsistically]

Fifty-eight, actually. It's just the body that's thirteen.

[ His voice is even and tempered even if he's scowling a little. Prim has softened him a lot over the years, so he's less snappish and nasty when people mention it, but the irritation is still very clearly on his face. No amount of Prim is going to change that part of him.

Not entirely sure why he's about to drag this girl down a rabbit hole, half of which she probably won't understand, Five begins. Maybe it's because he's been too starved of intelligent adult conversation for too long, instead surrounded by his lovable idiot of a brother and a sweet teenage girl who is smart but could never dream to keep up with him at her age. Until recently, anyway, he'd rather not repeat himself to tell Peter or Lydia, since both of them have already heard it, by now. ]

And I'll assume you've heard of the butterfly effect. You look old enough to have discussed it, at least in passing, in some science class or another by now. It's the underlying principle of chaos theory basically states that even though everything seems random, there are underlying patterns, interconnection, repetition, feedback loops...

[ His voice trails off for a short pause in a verbal alternative to etcetera before he continues. ]

So, in layman's terms: even though it seems like a butterfly in New York and a tsunami in Taiwan have nothing to do with one another, that butterfly flapping its wings, in an intended chain of events, is the underlying cause of the tsunami.

[ Five pauses again and lifts his eyebrows for some silent confirmation that she's still with him before he goes on. ]

Now, all that in mind, imagine if the butterfly doesn't flap its wings. Or if it flaps its wings while facing in another direction. Or if the butterfly dies. Or if it's never even born because some little asshole in science class captured its mother and she died in a jar whose lid the kid forgot to put holes in for air. Suppose you mash chaos theory together with string theory, which is the theory that there are multiple parallel universes all existing at the same time. That puts us in a scenario in which there are an infinite number of parallel Earths out there in the multiverse. There's some version of all of us, some male, some female, some nonbinary, trans, yadda, yadda, yadda, on each of those earths, and for every decision we make, there's a version of us on an Earth that made a different decision. An endless number of Earths exactly like ours, right?

Well, someone, somewhere opened an interdimensional portal through time and space. Not only can people travel from one year to the next through it, but also from one place to another. In this case, they can travel through the multiverse. Whoever built the portals we have here almost definitely was that first person to travel from their Earth to this one, probably to find a way home. The problem is, somewhere along the way, that portal malfunctioned and instead of waiting to be told to take someone from point A to point B, Eglaf being point B, it started just doing that all on its own. We're all just the poor bastards that got caught up in the crossfire.

[ Once again, he clears his throat and shrugs a little. ]

We fixed them — Lydia, Peter, and myself — working on the science, programming, and hardware of the portal and, when we finished, we got an assist from a couple of the magical people here so that we would be able to, with some effort, pinpoint the correct Earth, time, and place to send people back to. Up until a few weeks ago, nobody came in here who didn't intend to be here...it's acting up again, though, up to its old tricks.

We're working on it, but these things take time. Like I said before, time is like a fucked up ball of yarn. We have to work slowly and get it right the first time, otherwise, we're liable to break time by drawing in more people faster or by sending people back to the wrong places or times and altering history; creating paradoxes.

[ He stops suddenly, realizing how long he's been talking. He'll be lucky if the poor kid's eyes haven't glazed over. ]

Jesus fucking Christ, I need to get out more. ...did you follow any of that?

[freezerburning]

[ Izzy listens, and to her credit she does understand what he's saying to a degree. most people think she's a little on the dim side because she doesn't easily engage others, and doesn't add to conversations, but her grades have always been excellent.

so, for bette or worse, she gets it. ]

So we're like in some weird Back to the Future kind of thing? Great.

[ though she shrugs one shoulder, and the comment comes off flippant but there's an understanding somewhere in the way she glances back at him. ]

So we're stuck here?