Jerusalem

<ooc>We’ll assume we all know ancient Hebrew as a result of some arcane functionality of the Time Drive :-)</ooc>
<snip>
"Where are we?" I asked.
"I have no idea" Ms. Jones answered
I looked around. There was a small kiosk nearby, men in arab looking clothing were milling about.
"Judging by the clothing...and the dialect, probably the Middle East sometime in the...eh, long time ago era?" I deduced, my brain still fuzzy from those god forsaken drugs.
After Mr. FeBuggure concealed his Time Fridge (which he had brought with him to the exchange) we shambled over to the market. We obtained some period clothing and wasted no time heading into the city.
</snip>

“Still nothing?” Artemis asked about twenty minutes later
“It’s as though the thing’s dead” Cass wrinkled her nose and thumbed the communicator again “If anyone’s picking this up” she spoke into it “We’re heading towards the temple; meet us there in about half an hour”
“I suppose that’s about as much as we can do” Phil shrugged
“Eee ee eee”
“Yeah, I agree,” he nodded after a moment’s silent contemplation “It does seem strange”
“Well, there's no use in us hanging around here” Cass sighed as she pocketed the communicator and looked between her companions “Shall we go?”
“Eee”
Trudging through the narrow, dusty streets, Cass fidgeted with the tassels on her mițpaḥațh as she surveyed the confusing riot of activity surrounding her. The streets around them teemed with pedestrians, carts and livestock, all heading towards the market amidst the shouts and cries of street vendors, hawking their wares
“Make way!” a man bellowed ahead of them “Make way for the condemned!”
The crowd reluctantly parted to allow passage for an ashen faced man and a tear streaked woman, both being led through the streets in chains, ahead of a small party of grim faced elders.
“This doesn’t look good” Phil murmured
Cass scowled and looked away with a shake of her head – she knew what this was about; and for better or worse, this was ancient history as it truly was.
The two were likely an adultererous couple or perhaps even a rapist and his victim, and were on their way out of the city where they’d be buried up to their waists in sand, and then stoned to death for a crime no more heinous than simply having sex
The worst thing was, that even two thousand years later, similar acts of barbarity were still being perpetrated in various backward parts of the globe
As the shouts of the elders and their escort were lost to the quickly resuming hubbub and bustle of the street, Cass shook her head in disgust and pulled her communicator out to try the device again
“No!” a slightly overweight man shouted at her as he broke through the crowd, waving his hands in panic “Don’t use your communicators!”
“Who the fuck are you!?” Cass recoiled, her free hand automatically slipping inside her robes to curl her fingers around one of the weapons concealed within
“Dave Hollins” the man gasped, and paused to blow out a wheezy breath “I’m a time traveller like you”
“Oh, really?” Phil eyed him suspiciously “STCP?”
Dave looked at him blankly “Who?”
“Subject appears not to know what you’re on about” Artemis reported, surreptitiously reading from his psi scanner, concealed inside his own robes
“He might have a neural lock” Cass shrugged “Could be from Brittany. I say we waste him”
“I... Ah... No, no! There’s no need for that” Dave held his hands up in panicked supplication “I’m stranded here, the same as you”
“Who said we were stranded?” Cass asked coolly “And why shouldn’t I use my communicator?”
"We're all stranded" Dave explained “I think Pilate’s causing a paradox. He’ll be able to triangulate you if you use your communicators, and you really don’t want to come to his attention. He’s not human!”
“Eee?”
“Not human, or just inhuman?” Artemis demanded “Which is he?”
“Eee”
“Yes,” Phil rolled his eyes and nodded patiently at Mini-Phil “I know that’s what you just said”
“I've no idea what he is,” Dave shrugged “The one time I got close enough to scan him, the readings seemed to suggest some kind of advanced biomechanoid”
“Simulant” Cass and Phil both said in unison
“He killed another time traveller a few days ago” Dave continued “Pilate got to him before I could - He crucified him!”
"You know, that sounds a lot like Jay" Cass smiled wanly
“Yeah,” Phil smirked and nodded “he always was a bit cagey about how he got to be Jesus”
“So what are you actually doing here anyway?” Artemis asked their new aquaintance
“Well, I thought I’d travel back here to see Jesus and the crucifixion,” Dave shrugged “but something burned my time machine out as soon as I arrived” he paused to shake his head and sigh “I can't be sure, but I think it’s because of Pilate”
"It sounds like we need to deal with this Simulant in order to escape" Artemis said thoughtfully
“Yeah, that’s probably about the size of it” Dave nodded “I’d be happy to help if you could take me with you when you leave?”
“We need to find Jay first” Cass said firmly “I want to know what we’re up against here”
“Yeah, I agree with that” Phil nodded
“Eee!” Mini Phil squeeked in alarm and pointed down the street
“Oh” Phil sighed, frowning at the Roman legionaries marching down the street towards them “We might need to...”
“There they are!” the Decurion at the head of the unit bellowed as he pointed at the small group of Dwarfers “Sieze them!”

<tag>
Roman soldiers are looking for everyone - do they find you?
Has the Simulant armed them with any advanced technology?
</tag>