1; [video]

[andaway]

[Have a certain alien in a brightly-colored uniform in front of the mirror. Kal seems to be sitting front of the singing statues, the hymns marking the start of the message. It seems like he's been writing the hymns, trying to makes sense of them- they ring a bell, like he's heard them before but he can't quite place it.

Which is a new sensation for him. But considering most of his powers are gone he should get used to it.]

I know we're all settling in, so I will keep this short. I just figured we may as well use this... magic, or technology or whatever this happens to be.

I'd just like to know how long have all of you been here, if we all got here more or less at the same time. And...

[He wonders how to word what comes next. If this is someone's plot, if he's inside someone's... spell, or something by the sort he doesn't want to give them any clues about his weaknesses.]

Have you felt any... different since you woke up here?

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[googledox]

[The last time Superman saw Brainiac 5, it'd been after he'd helped the other two Brainiac 5's revive Superboy and Kid Flash. He'd been cast off into the multiverse with the rest of his Legion, doomed to wander, homeless. They'd hoped to go find other lost souls that'd lost their worlds and fallen through the cracks.]

[That was several years ago, by Brainy's reckoning. Aside from the magic of this place pulling people from different times, interdimensional travel takes a certain toll on the living. Time becomes warped, stretched out, strange. In some places they've visited, time as a concept hasn't existed at all and the Legion's existence as chronally locked beings has only been saved by their ship's dimensional shields.]

[Brainy's face makes him look like he's barely aged at all, but his eyes are a different story. They're sad. Sad and tired.]

[And yet seeing Superman seems to change that just a little.]

Superman.

[There's a subtle incline of his head in greeting, and maybe the tiniest trace of a smile at the corner of his lips.]

The facial inhibitors most likely give it away, but just for clarification -- since the prospect of being misidentified as my infantile counterpart from Earth Prime makes me want to toss myself out an airlock -- I'm the Brainiac 5 of Universe 247.

By the Legion's reckoning, it's been several years since we saw you last. I would give you a precise count but time has sometimes run strangely in some of the universes we've traveled through.

[andaway]

...Brainy?

[Kal replies rather softly, like he isn’t expecting to be heard, the nickname leaving his lips in surprise. He has… a complicated relationship with the legion, one that nobody who’s never been part of the legion would even understand so he never bothers to try to explain. And part of that is what they have all gone through, together… and how hard it is to keep track of it, chronologically.

Which is the problem, right now.]

No, it’s- [He shakes his head. Part of his memories of the league were, by necessity blurry and unclear but-] I recognize you, it’s fine.

Are any of the other legionaries here with you?

[googledox]

I seem to be the only Legionnaire that's been abducted, barring Superboy.

[He sounds put out by that. Normally, people not getting kidnapped would be ideal, but he considers it unfortunate. The more Legionnaires you toss at a problem, the more likely it is that the problem goes away. But it's just him.]

The others will almost certainly try to find me but it could take considerable time for them to locate me. We've been able to use Shikari's Wayfinding ability to track objects or beings across universes, but our ship can only skip so many dimensions at a time.

[Basically, they're on their own for now.]

[andaway]

[Kal hums in agreement. Since he hadn't been sure if this was even real to begin with he hadn't wanted to rely on the League, but the Legionaries do have a lot more experience when it comes to time traveling and universe-hoping. Brainy may have a point.]

Is there a way we could help make it easier for them? A beacon of sorts to help point towards the right dimension.

[googledox]

[Though it was with the other Legion that Superman spent some of his youth, Brainy's Legion has worked together worked with Superman a few times, like during the Sun Eater incident and the fight where the three Legions had worked together against Superboy Prime and the Legion of Supervillains. And the Legion was hugely inspired by the heroes of old when they first formed. So Brainy's respect for Superman is without question.]

[...Said respect is still not enough to forestall Brainy's usual sass, which has gotten sharper the longer he's gone after losing his world.]

Certainly. I'll grab a coconut and a few rocks and get right on that.

[balladin]

Don't forget the bamboo pipes, Professor.

[googledox]

I'm not an educator of any kind. Thank heavens.

[balladin]

I don't know about that. You're teaching me that Gilligan's Island is not the timeless treasure I've been lead to believe. My life is a lie.

[andaway]

[Kal snorts.]

I'm just saying, maybe some sort of magic beacon could be useful. But you know he legion better than I do, so if you don't think it's a good idea...