video;

[ready_to_bloom]

[Here's a young king, peering at his locket. He thinks he understands how it's supposed to work - the fairies were helpful enough, it's true. Still, the concept of communicating via… jewelry is rather foreign to him. But it's magic, and one thing Caspian knows is that magic doesn't have an easy explanation. He also knows that magic items are to be treated with caution, so he holds the locket carefully while peering into it.]

Oh! I think... I think this is working now? Hello? I talk into this, and I see and hear people talking back, right?

[Hopefully.]

I should introduce myself. I am Caspian X, King of Narnia. I need to know: are there any other Narnians here? If you are here, please contact me.

[Caspian's not sure what he hopes to hear in answer to that question: he doesn't want to think of any of his people here, brought here like himself to fight in a battle that is not his own. But (and he knows it's selfish), he'd like to think he has allies here.]

Comments

Audio

[unclebob]

Where is this Narnia located?

[It sounds vaguely European to his ears. It's never even occurred to him that people here might be coming from some place other than Earth.]

Audio

[ready_to_bloom]

North of Calormen, south of Ettinsmoor, west of Telmar, bordering on the Eastern Ocean.

[That's an automatic response, one drilled into him by years of geography lessons. It takes a minute for him to realize they might be talking about other things - Caspian's familiar with the concept of different worlds, thanks to the Kings and Queens of Old.]

Well, and it's not here in this world at all. Probably not in yours, either.

[It may be too much to hope for a person from his world.]

[unclebob]

Never heard of it. I was in a place called California before here.

[The description goes right over the Terminator's head, even as his databank starts up a new entry marked 'Narnia'. Categorized under land mass, monarchy, unknown dimensions, unknown population. If his systems can successfully integrate the idea of magic and being transported to a different world, it can process the idea of one little new land.]

[ready_to_bloom]

Nor have I heard of California, I'm afraid. Is it a fine land?

[Definitely not from his world, then. It was too much to hope.]

And what is your name, friend?

[unclebob]

It is now.

[Preventing the world from being nuked out of existence does come with fringe benefits.]

I don't have one. I am a Terminator. Cyberdyne Systems 800 Series Model 101.

[ready_to_bloom]

[No name? Well, that's a puzzle.]

How do you people address you, sir? And do you mind if I ask what a Terminator is?

[It sounds rather... dangerous.]

[unclebob]

They just call me Terminator. A Terminator is-- [He starts to say 'A cyborg', but most people here have shown they have no idea what he's talking about.] --A living machine.

[ready_to_bloom]

A living machine? [He's not familiar with a lot of machines, so that's kind of a hard one to wrap his mind around.] What is the function of a living machine, sir Terminator?

[unclebob]

I had a mission. I was to protect a boy named John Connor.

[A little bit of sadness creeps into his otherwise flat voice as he says John's name. It's likely he'll never see his young charge again.]

[ready_to_bloom]

[Caspian catches that different tone and wonders at it.]

And without him, you have no mission?

[unclebob]

Correct. My mission had been completed just before I came here.

[Which had left him a little bit adrift. Never before had there been a Terminator without a mission to engage in.]

[ready_to_bloom]

[Caspian really has no idea of a Terminator or their purpose, but still, it seems like there's a solution for this.]

Perhaps then, being brought here, to fight this battle, is your new mission?

[unclebob]

Yes. I have always been involved in some form of conflict.

[So this is nothing new.]

[ready_to_bloom]

Always? So your world is always at war?

[That must be difficult.]

It seems like you'll be an asset here then!

[unclebob]

Affirmative. Humans and machines attempt to terminate one another.

[He nods once in a stiff, jerky movement.]

I intend to be.