2021.01.13 - On Paradise Island

This log follows the story from: 2021.01.11 - A Wonderful Encounter
The story continues in: 2021.01.17 - Beaches of Paradise Island

Following the attack of the cybernetic beasts on Queensland Park, Dion shows Jon Kent and Jacob Jones around Paradise Island.

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The flight to Paradise Island is not too long or challenging. The robot plane is very accommodating, although its quarters are somewhat close, due to the sheer size of the cargo and all the people in it. But they can all see its natural beauty from inside the plane, and it looks like it's been named appropriately: verdant fields, lush trees and plants, happy animals, including what look like truly giant kangaroos of some kind, and crystalline blue waters. This could be a paradise indeed.

It doesn't take long either for them to land, and for Dion to help unload everything. Jon's responsible for the former pilot, the teenaged girl who has remained quiet and hasn't moved much during the trip. Jacob is responsible for holding the lasso and leading the Rocket Rexes along with them. Dion, for his part, carries the battered remains of the robotic hound, shown to have been a vehicle rather than an actual mechanical weapon.

All of the architecture is right out of the Classical Age. It's like stepping back in time to a place where myth and legend are still thriving, just as they did all those millennia ago. And in the air, there's a feeling of vibrant life, and magic.

Dion leads them into the city, to the curious looks of a few of the inhabitants of the island. There are mostly men, but some women can be found here too. All of them seem to have adopted a similarly classical sense of style, and few if any wear particularly heavy or layered clothing. The weather is pleasant enough, even for the cooler time of year, and this island must be located in an ideal space, even if it does seem confusing to try and figure out exactly where it is on the Earth.

At last, they come to the infirmary, where a male and a female attendant rush forward, to take the girl from Jon's arms, to convey her onto a table. Another woman, quite noble in bearing, with fair features and a patient expression, steps forward.

Before she can say anything, Dion turns to his companions. "This is Paula, one of my sisters. She's a brilliant scientist and has helped us with many things. If anyone can help that girl, it's Paula."

Paula's smile spreads, and she inclines her head to the trio. Possibly quintet, with the Rocket Rexes considered. "I'm pleased to meet you. Any friend of Dion's is a friend of mine. But I'd like to have a look at that mechanism you have, after we've administered treatment."

Dion gives a nod, a little graver than intended, and turns back to take all that mass of metal back out the door, to set it down carefully. Paula then gives a nod to the pair before her and turns to join her attendants. "Prepare the Purple Ray!" She calls, motioning for a large machine nearby, with a considerable construction that is obviously some sort of beam.

Jon seems very comfortable on the jet as they go, even to the point of picking out a particular spot to sit with the injured pilot. He's bright and chipper on the journey, but every time his charge moves or makes a noise, his attention is immediately on that.

He seems equally familiar with their destination, although that familiarity is tinged with something approaching confusion as he moves through the crowd. Everyone here looks -sort- of familiar, and his brows are furrowed as he works things out. He seems less chipper here, on solid ground, and he follows Dion without much input. He does keep an eye on those Rexes as they go, though. Lasso or no, that's a lot of lizard for Jacob.

When they reach the infirmary, Jon hands over the girl to the attendants, watching as they settle her on a bed and begin examining her. When Paula is introduced, he nods politely, his gaze distracted as he watches the pilot. When the call is made for the Purple Ray, he elbows Jacob lightly. "Dude," he says in a sotto voice, his mouth pulling to one side as he tips his head towards the surfer. "Now you're going to see something awesome."

Jacob constantly writhes around in the jet. It's one thing for his general level of discomfort on land, but in the air, that far away from the water, it's a whole other story. Though, at least he is calm as he looks around and takes in the sights.

Seeing the island draws a bright smile from Jacob, and he seems to be pretty calm about being asked to rein in the lizards. Jacob takes the lasso and looks around with his mouth partially opened in a small 'o' shape. "Whoa, this place is like...whoa." The island vibe truly seems to brighten Jacob's spirits and he carefully leads the dino-borgs as he follows along.

"Oh, is this like...that Purple Ray you were talking about before?" he asks quietly, looking over to Jon. He blinks at Paula, smiling awkwardly if not warmly as he waits in anticipation.

After a fairly quick and almost nonchalant-seeming examination, Paula nods to herself. The pair of attendants bring the large beam instrument closer, and Paula circles behind it to the controls, adjusting a number of them with a kind of easy precision that shows just how long she has been working with this technology.

Only moments later, a hum rises in the air, and then the true spectacle of the Purple Ray of Healing is shown to everyone, most especially the visitors. It really is powerfully purple, and it shimmers like the air was filled with jewels, somehow. There is a warmth to it that especially makes it feel appropriately like a healing treatment, but there's also a kind of almost alien quality to it, such completely distinct technology from anything even Metropolis has to offer.

Paula circles back around the machine and goes, with the pair of attendants, to check their patient again, and this time they all seem to smile with the certainty of a job well done. She walks back over to the visitors and Dion.

"She'll be fine, given a little rest. She'll need to have at least a day or two for that. Now...shall we look at your--" Paula seems to have completely missed the two Rocket Rexes, and her eyes light up with utter joy at noticing them. "Oh, we must look at these, first! What marvels!" She turns to Jacob. "May I...?" Then she looks to Dion, since it is, after all, his lasso.

"Of course. If that's all right with Jacob." Dion smiles to his new friend, then looks back to Paula. "This is Jacob, and this is Jon. They're my friends who helped to stop that machine and these misguided animals, very ably and peacefully."

Jon nods at Jacob's question, turning his head to wink at the smaller youth before turning his attention to the procedure taking place. He watches with the cool interest of someone who's seen this done many times, nodding imperceptibly now and then.

He closes his eyes against the jewel effect, but his expression is relaxed and peaceful, a small smile playing on his lips. As the light fades, he opens his eyes again, smiling widely at what was surely a success -- something verified by Paula a few moments later.

The Rocket Rexes seem relaxed, under the lasso's control, and even more so after that light display. They watch the group carefully, albeit passively. Jon wrinkles his nose at the compliment, and shrugs. "I just slowed them down," he demurs. "The empanadas did the heavy lifting." He turns to Paula, then, hiking his eyebrows. "They -love- empanadas."

Jacob stares at the Purple Ray with wide eyes. "Whoa," he breathes out softly. "That like...really is purple. Like, maybe...too purple?" He's quite in awe of the device, and only when Paula and Dion begin speaking is the fellow drawn from his reverie. "Oh! Like, yah, totally!" he says, offering the lasso to Paula. "They're like, not mine or anything?"

Jacob blushes slightly as he catches Jon's wink, a little smile crossing his face as he shifts his weight from side to side. "You have like, a really nice place here? It's uh....quite an island n'stuff," he asserts, looking then toward Jon. "Oh, right, like...we should have gotten some empanadas. F-For the uh...robot dinosaurs, I mean." A look of intense longing crosses Jacob's face, but the moment quickly passes.

"There are very few living things in the world who don't like empanadas." Paula laughs, as she very carefully takes the lasso from Jacob's offering hands, bowing her head in thanks and walking in the direction of the door. "If you're hungry, perhaps Prince Dion can take you to one of our dining halls. Or there's always any number of trees and bushes with a delicious bounty, though fewer in this season."

After picking up the robotic wreckage at the door, Dion follows along with a kind of inherent grace. Every time he moves, it's like he's a splendid bird of paradise, or a lithe and fluid deer, moving as if movement itself were a game, and a game at which most do not excel or play to win. "I didn't even think you might be hungry! I'm sorry, I'd been thinking about our encounter so much...Jon, Jacob, would you mind if we eat on Science Island while Paula does her initial analysis? It's not as splendid a place as our grand dining hall, but they have plenty on every island to please a palate."

"Works for me!" Jon says brightly, waving to Paula as they exit the infirmary. He falls in behind Dion, his hands clasped formally behind his back as they walk. "That's the Observatory," Jon says to Jacob as they pass a domed building. "There's a huge orrery in there, and some really cool telescopes. I once looked into a crater on the moon through one." He wrinkles his nose. "Well, one just like it, probably."

He nods at Dion's suggestion, and points to a distant point. "We should eat by the weather station," he suggests. "If it's like back home, there's some really pretty views." He grins. "And Jake would probably like seeing the sea while he eats," he notes, reaching out to ruffle the surfer boy's hair.

Jacob follows along with Dion and Jon, taking in the scenery, and only when Jon mentions the ocean does he perk up and look between the two. "There's like, other islands? I thought it was like, Paradise Island? But there's a uh, whole island for science? I feel like I would be really bad at that? I mean, like, as long as I don't have to uh...do any science," he says with a sheepish smile, especially as Jon rubs his head.

"So uh...what exactly is an orey? Is it like, a mining place or something?" At least he doesn't ask questions about the Weather Station, finding it to be at least somewhat self-explanatory. "This place is really neat! I'm uh...happy to be here n'stuff? But like, are you really a prince? Because like, that's wild, man!"

"Wonderful!" Dion answers, not intending for it to be a slight sort of pun, but it's hard to forget his alter-ego. "Paradise Island is the main island," he explains to Jacob, "though we tend to refer to the whole range of islands as Paradise Island. There's also Science Island, as I mentioned, which is where most of our research and scientific development is done. Then there's Transformation Island, which is sometimes known as Reform Island or other names. It's where, through loving discipline and support, we're able to help the unfortunate see the real power and beauty of love and justice."

It's not long before they come to the bridge, which is easily crossed. It's just as picturesque on the other side, and exactly as Jon mentioned, there's an observatory very easily seen from the first step anyone takes on the island. "An orrery is a model of the solar system." Though Dion does give Jon a lingering glance. "And yes, I'm the only son of King Hippolytus. I'll have to stop by and say hello to Father, while we're here."

A few more steps pass, before Dion speaks up again. "Jon...have you been here before? Are you from, perhaps, a past or future time I have yet to witness? You seem to know an inordinate amount about Paradise Island, and you already know how to use the lasso skillfully. It's not something that usually anyone other than me uses, except with my personal permission, but you use it with the confidence of someone familiar with it. You also have bracelets so like mine, and those of all of us here. Do you know bullets-and-bracelets?"

Paula glances back to the rest, with her new dinosaur friends in tow. She seems to be wearing the bracelets as well, and her fashion sense matches the rest of the people they've seen. But there's interest in her gaze as she listens to the conversation.

"It's very cool," Jon says of the orrery. "Phillipus showed me how it works way back when I was just a little kid." He shrugs. "She just predicted some innocent stuff, but it was still cool."

When Dion asks his question, Jon frowns. "Kind of both?" he says, scrunching up his face. "I'm not from this Earth," he says. "I got knocked through the Bleed." He waggles his fingers skyward, indicating someplace intangible. "On my world, -I- am the first Prince of Themyscira, and my mother is..." he motions at Dion. "Only older, and a woman. I spent most of every summer here for eighteen years." He shrugs, and shifts to take them on the path to the weather station. "My dad should be obvious," he says after a long moment, gesturing at his shirt. "I'm not just a fan."

The question about bullets-and-bracelets gets a grin, and the young man holds up his bracered arms, crossing them over his chest. "It's literally the first game I learned."

"Orr-rr-ery," Jacob tries to enunciate, eventually wriggling his nose with the expended effort. "I'd like to see something like that, sometime." Upon confirmation that Dion is a prince, Jacob's eyes widen and he looks nervously among the group. "Is that like, okay? You don't have to like, get to any...uh...prince business or anything we're keeping you from?" he asks, his attention resting on Jon next.

"So....uh....Prince Dion is like, your mom-dad from the alternate future world? Whoa." He doesn't get much of what's happening, conversation-wise, but he's happy to follow along and take in the scenery.

The revelations get a bit more than just raised eyebrows. To say Dion is surprised is something of an understatement, and he pauses for a moment to touch his hand to his chest, looking Jon slowly over, up and down. It's only slightly comical that his other hand is holding a really very large dog-shaped mass of metal and wiring.

"How strange, that you would come from a world where things have gone in that way! But if you're here, away from home, then it's my responsibility to do whatever I can, to help you feel more secure. If you don't mind, we can go see Father...I'm sure he'll be very surprised." Dion chuckles, stepping after Paula as he glances back at Jacob and Jon.

He pauses, waiting on the way to pleasantly answer Jacob's wellspring of interest. "I am the champion of my people," he explains. "It is my job to bring the virtues of love and true justice, and right, to the world outside of Paradise Island. My father appealed to the goddess Aphrodite, to give me life, because he felt that Paradise Island might one day need an heir to rule. But I doubt that will happen. At least, I hope it never will." The smile is slightly smaller now, tinged by less pleasant thoughts, but it brightens again quickly enough. "You won't be keeping me from anything. This particular matter is very important." And to show, for emphasis, he lifts the robotic thing in one hand.

"Please take Jacob to the weather station...or, if you prefer, you can get something to eat at the dining hall here on Science Island and take it back there. I won't be long. I just have to take this to the laboratory for Paula." And though it goes unstated, Dion will surely have to talk with Paula about this unique situation that has presented itself. It's not something that predictable, but neither is it something so rare as to be incomprehensible. There are many Earths in the multiverse, after all. "Maybe we can play bullets-and-bracelets for Jacob to see! Then we can go for a swim and visit the mer-people."

"It's been an adjustment," Jon admits with a grin, rubbing the back of his head. "The Embassy has been pretty good about helping me out, and there's a bunch of guys like me that are here, and we have a kind of...clubhouse?" He shrugs, and spreads his hands. "But I'm happy to spend time with any of my family. Pa's been great about the whole thing. So has Pop."

He nods at the story of Dion, the story being so very similar to his mother's. "It hasn't so far, on my world," he says encouragingly. "Queen Hipplolyta is still firmly in charge."

At the instruction, he nods, and loops an arm over Jacob's shoulder. "C'mon, Jake," he says, leading the boy towards the Dining Hall. "You're not going to believe the pita you can get here." He grins, and waggles his eyebrows. "And there are apple trees near the Weather station for dessert!" He winks at Dion's suggestion of bullets-and-bracelets, and brings his free arm up to glint a bracer at the older man. "Bring it, dude."

Jacob smiles to Dion and nods as he takes in this information. "I gotcha! That's like, it makes sense, y'know. You're like, a really great guy?" Jacob looks over to Jon and smiles easily. "I've never been to like, a real weather station or anything? But like, y'know, that sounds really nice! I bet they have lots of fancy equipment n'all."

Jacob nods to Jon quickly. "Apples are like, great! And uh, so are pitas! And like, it'd be nice to swim with the merples n'stuff! This really is a cool place. I'll have to remember to like, come and visit in the future, too. I really need to remember to bring my board next time, though," Jacob murmurs, rambling on softly to nobody in particular, but clearly enjoying the company.


The story continues in: 2021.01.17 - Beaches of Paradise Island