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who: Odo & OPEN
what: Checking out his new environment
when: October 13th
where: Some park near the residential area
warnings: None, will update if needed.

For how many years he spent living on Deep Space Nine – or Terok Nor, as it once was – Odo was almost intimately familiar with its corridors, shops, and cargo bays. Criminals always knew the secret ways through vents or hidden deck plates to conduct their business – and therefore so did the constable.

However, here the buildings and roads were a mystery – a mystery that had to be solved if he had any chance of finding out exactly what had happened to him.

Not being familiar with the native fauna, Odo took the form of a Tarkalean hawk to take his impromptu aerial tour. He did his best to make a mental map of the area, but soon it would be too dark to make any more progress.

He looks for a suitable place to land, and finds one on a stone bench on the cusp of a street light. Anyone looking would see the bird turn into a shimmering liquid before growing in size and changing in shape to something much more human in appearance.

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It's not a particularly pleasant story to hear. Not that Jim's unfamiliar with conflict by any means, but just hearing Odo talk about the war he's involved in is more than enough for Jim to be able to tell it's in a scale much larger than what he's been a part of in the past. Those encounters had been intense and extremely dangerous, but also, all in all, fairly brief and quick to end, even if with casualties.

A war is a different thing. There's more to it for Odo too, it seems, as it's evident how the story alone affects him emotionally. He holds himself back from asking too many questions for now, though. Whatever Odo chooses to share for now, he'll welcome, but more than that... well, he'll be patient.

"Whatever brought us here thinks on different terms than you or I, I believe," he starts, focusing on the all too familiar theme of the portal for now. "It picks up on a feeling of displacement on someone, and then brings them here. In some cases it can be a fleeting thought, but it's still enough for us to get pulled in here. Now, I'm not sure if this'll soothe your worries much, but the current theory is that, if and when we go back, we're put back in our worlds on the same point in time we were taken from. Possibly with no memories of this place whatsoever, either."

It's clear Jim doesn't particularly like that latter part, but he's not sure he can do much to stop it anyway.

Kirk's voice seems to bring Odo into the present mentally. He hadn't meant to reveal so much, but with the stress he was under - from both before and after his arrival - Odo had let himself get carried away.

"Theories are one thing, but I prefer to work with facts," the constable sighs. "Still, if it's true that we return to the same moment as we left, that's one less thing to worry about."

It also bought him more time, which meant that he could conduct a more thorough investigation. As for the memories... he's not sure how he feels about that, but gets the impression that it wasn't an idea Kirk was fond of. Odo wondered how many memories he might have already made in this place.

"How long have you been here?"

In all fairness, of all the people to share too much with, Jim's probably among the safest. He won't go around retelling the story to just anyone, and he won't use it against Odo in any way, so if he does happen to get a little carried away, then no harm done.

"So do I, but so far we get little more than theories when it comes to how or why we ended up here, or how we might go back." Not that Jim's in any particular rush, which should be evident to some degree. Jim seems far more settled in on this place than a Starfleet captain should be when away from his ship, his crew, and his work.

"Just a little over six months," he answers promptly. "I arrived at the same time as my CMO, Leonard McCoy. He's also still here."

The fact that Kirk seemed fairly at ease was interesting, but Odo reserved his judgment for now. These were strange circumstances.

The captain's statement about his arrival had the constable curious. "At the same time? Do you mean you arrived together through the portal?"

If that was possible it added another layer of complexity to this riddle. Still, even if they had arrived separately Odo imagined that it was probably comforting to have a friendly face nearby. Being alone here brought up old memories of isolation and loneliness that he had not felt in a long time.

Jim's whole life seems like a compilation of strange circumstances. Granted, being in the Quarantine is particularly unusual, but he evidently has taken to it well.

"Yes, actually. We did," he nods, gesturing vaguely. "We came from the exact same moment, the exact same place, and just stepped out of the portal together. I asked about that— it's not common, but it's not unheard of either."

It stands to reason that if the portal could bring more than one solid item through at a time, then more than one living being should work much the same way. Provided they come from the same exact point in time and space, from a scientific standpoint, it shouldn't be impossible.

Odo nods, listening and taking mental notes. He wasn't a scientist nor very familiar with temporal mechanics, so it was hard to postulate any theories. Still, he would try, once he had gathered enough information.

"I've found the unusual to be a good place to look while trying to find the right information. For all we know it could be a key to this mystery," he sighs. "Or it could be a waste of time. Either way I have to start somewhere."

It was too early to let hopelessness creep in, after all, even if he could feel it in the very back of his mind.

Jim can't say he's much of a scientist either. He understands most of it, granted, but he doesn't know nearly enough to come up with theories, let alone test them out.

"Suppose that means you want to go back," he says, more an affirmation than a question. "To your world."

He's come to learn there are a number of people here who want that. Hell, Jim wanted to at first, too. And really, it's not that he doesn't want to resume his life back in their galaxy, being back on his ship again, with his crew. He's just not in a rush to get there.

"Of course!"

Odo crosses his arms and with a soft hrmph, as if to suggest the notion of not doing so were ridiculous. Still, his words had come out more forceful than they needed to be - almost like he was trying to be convincing.

"Well, to Deep Space Nine, anyway."

Jim lifts an eyebrow at Odo's reaction and quick answer, though he's not particularly offended by it. He gets that knee-jerk reaction, even if to him, wanting to stay here isn't such a ludicrous notion.

"You'll come to find that there are a lot of people here who don't want to go back, and a few who don't even have anything to go back to. And while some might even want to return to their realities one day, right now they are content to stay here for a while longer."

"That's their choice," he shrugs slightly.

If it turned out there was nothing malicious about the portal or anything truly dangerous in the environment, Odo wouldn't stop anyone. The notion of staying was even was a little... tempting. He forcefully pushes the thought aside.

"I can only speak for myself. I need to go back. There's someone--" he cuts himself off. "...Some things that I have to do, for the war effort."

"Of course it's their choice— our choice. That's my point."

Simply that his question isn't one with such an easy and obvious answer. Odo wants to go back, evidently, but that's not true for everyone here.

"All those things you need to do will still be waiting for you, once you go back," he pauses briefly, then adds nonchalantly. "So will that someone."

Odo nods and gives a halfhearted hum of agreement. He wasn't completely sure of that. It wasn't under the best of circumstances that he last watched Kira leave his quarters.

The conversation had taken a more personal tone, which made the changeling a bit uncomfortable. These days, among his friends on the station he might have even welcomed the chance to speak his mind in this kind of situation, but he barely knew Kirk.

"I should go," he says suddenly. "But I'd like to be able to contact you. I might have more questions in the future."

It's a small comfort knowing that time doesn't move forward in their realities while they're here, Jim knows that. But it does soothe things, particularly as the weeks and months go by and Odo might still find himself here. It's not so easy to go back, even for those who want to.

"Anytime. My handle on the network is 'kirk', so feel free to call me or message me if you ever want to talk or meet up." Odo might find him around pretty often too, either at the Perimeter Guard or elsewhere. It's not difficult to cross paths with Jim around the Quarantine.

"Mine is 'odo.'"

He appreciated a simple network name. It was easy to remember and to the point. Too bad the same could not be said for the ancient PADDs or whatever they were.

"I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime. And I look forward to hearing from you."

With a tip of his head and a parting smile, he waves Odo goodbye, then they part ways so they can both resume their day.

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