Stacy was full of a lot of mysteries, and one more was introduced in the latest podpop. Luis Sera, who had died in font of Leon a long time ago, recently showed up very much alive in the latest podpop.

Leon had no idea how this was even possible, and Luis was equally clueless. To get some answers, they left the meet n' greet and headed down to sickbay. Hopefully there, they'd get some answers about why there wasn't a king-sized hole in Luis' chest.

They were still going to have to wait for a bit, though. As with the ship, people were constantly busy.

"We shouldn't have to wait too long, hopefully."

Red Snout had, through forcing a child a to help him and through his own sheer will, begun to learn how to read. And now he half crouched over one of the consoles, tapping at it with one claw as he goes through what he's been learning, starting with the alphabet again.  Fascinating, really, how the humans could make symbols that represented sounds. It would make more sense to have symbols that represented things he thought. But they were humans and couldn't be expected to be as smart as raptors.

He mouthed the first 'letter,' quietly reciting the alphabet.

"A. B. C. D. E. F.G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z." A pause as he switched over to a few simple words, brow furrowing in concentration as he stared at them. He would master this or he would give up his gun! If humans could do it, surely raptors could...

Selene, at the moment, was standing in a bar. Well, not standing. More like working. With a bunch of made up patrons and her co-workers and boss all made up by the sensorium as she walked around, serving drinks and having idle chats with regulars. She knew all the faces in her bar. She always did. She watched and studied most everyone who came in, as well as those she worked with.

After all, they were 'reality.' Selene lived in a lot of strange. Half her life was in the strange these past few years. Honestly, it was too much for someone like her who has been NORMAL for most of her life. To be in one of the few cities where things were NORMAL. Sure, Bastion was running around, but he passed so fast his strangeness never really affected her.

So even after she became a superhero, she maintained her secret identity. It wasn't her ideal life, working in a bar, but it was something that brought her normalcy and helped her keep 'dreams' and 'reality' separate in her mind.

So, being on Stacy these past few weeks? It was getting to be a bit too much weird for her. So, being as she was perfectly willing to accept 'pretend' as 'real,' she made her bar and started her shift. Serving drinks, saying hello to old faces, it was nice to just be normal for a little while.

Statues....and more statues.....this was the building that Vash had finally happened upon after wandering for a bit. He figured that if he really wanted to know more about this place, he'd better start with whatever information on its history this place was willing to offer.

Maybe the shock just hadn't worn off, but the blond gun man was taking it all in stride. There was an up-side to this, after all; since he'd gotten here he had not heard the title 'Vash the Stampede' pass through anyone's lips. No one seemed to recognize him as the criminal worth sixty-billion double dollars. It was as though he was a regular human being, a nonentity.

And putting it bluntly, that suited him just fine. To be unknown was a relief after so many years of infamy. He almost couldn't believe it. But some of his paranoia that he might be found out was ebbing - besides, in this new reality, there were bigger things than Vash the Stampede to be concerned about. And that was a nice change as well.

The statues only confused him more, however. And when he he came to a statue of some weird looking centaur creature he goggled. Then he saw the mention about 'Yeerks'. He tried to remember why that rang a bell....oh yeah. Rei.

"Maybe there's a recording or hologram here that would tell me more." he murmured, flipping the switch at the base. He sighed; nothing had happened. He moved to the next row.

Despite having grown up in Cambodia, Gauron's never actually been to Angkor Wat before - and the one he's prowling around in now isn't even the real one, though it had been a completely unexpected find. He'd recently begun lengthening his exploration trips into the city to what would've been two-day excursions in his world, though they were more like weeklong trips on the city's timetable; maintaining the pace, it wouldn't be too long before he'd covered all of the streets and major landmarks. Today's trip had taken him out to the city wall, then north along it another few kilometers. When he'd climbed one of the taller buildings to check his bearings, he'd caught sight of the temple's towers.

The holographic sun had been beginning to dip low in the sky as he made his way across the bridge over the dry moat, and he'd decided this was as good a place to finish up his explorations for this trip as any.

There's something a little creepy about seeing the temple complex completely devoid of the vegetation that's supposed to be blanketing it; in the bare dirt, the last traces of the city that stood within its walls centuries ago are clearly visible. He makes his way through them for a little while, mapping out the ancient streets, but as the sun sets he finally heads up to the temple proper, to get a look at the bas-reliefs covering the walls while there's still some light.

The Sensorium...of all the various strange and bewildering places she'd found aboard this madhouse, it had proved to be the most interesting. It was like an old science fiction movie, one of the improbable ones that gathered a cult following and generated money for greedy toymakers. It was like being plugged into the Net again, almost, with the freedom and power to change the world around her at command, and after only a few hours in the hollow, Netless silence, it was blessing to have something to take the edge off. Unprofessional, that, but still reassuring to have something so utterly human inflicted on her.

The Major had spent a few hours sifting through the available simulations and programs. Heavy-arms training runs, adventurous little role-playing games, even a few tactical simulations. Mostly it was just fluff, or half-finished or any of dozens of things that were little else but dry educational or pure entertainment in value.

So, what else could she do but program her own?

'Begin with what you know,' ran the old adage, and so she had. The city spread out before her was dark, tinted glass made inky black with night time and reflected neon and streetlights like a spectrum of eyes from every corner. This wasn't exactly accurate, as a simulation; Tokyo had never had as Jiggabachi helicopters or powered exoskeleton-toting soldiers wandering it's streets and skyways. Perhaps it had as many criminals, but they weren't so blatant. Then again, the point of this exercise wasn't realism, was it? Nostagia made these lacks seem obvious, maybe, but as Motoko stood on the edge of a flat-topped roof at what she'd deemed the "beginning" of the course, she decided it would do for a testing ground. Varied landscape and opponents would be a good measure of her teammates skill— among other things. Damned if she was going to go haring off anywhere with nothing but a blind knowledge of her teammates and hopeful wishes.