{VOICE OTA}

[rootandbranch]

[Today you feel a few strange pulses in your signets before you hear anything over Qri's network. It's fairly pleasant, exactly as the signet communications tend to be, and fortunately doesn't at all resemble the strange fluctuations that plagued everyone back on days 103-105. It's more like someone poking at the network to be sure it's stable and not going to do any more of that before they speak. They seem to conclude it's safe after all.]

Hello? Oh, hi-- hi, everybody. It's Geir. If you don't know me, I'm the dragon.

[He's very matter of fact about it. He's the dragon. You're probably aware, his tone seems to say.]

Listen, I don't actually care if you know me, you should just help me and Nines out! He knows all kinds of technology things, so I asked him what we could find out about the Hub with them. But the question is really, what does everyone want to find out? There's been a lot of weird to chew on!

Chew...on? [9S echoes this thought quizzically, for an instant quite distracted. But right, right, the matter at hand—] Er, anyway, like Geir said we’re lacking data on our surroundings. And to know what we’re dealing with, gathering more would be best, so I was thinking I can probably scrape enough parts together to build a pod for that job, once we know what kind of information it should collect. I mean, unless we want everything...

[Geir's tone is still bright and interested. he loves hearing about this, even if part of him is still skeptical.]

Nines isn't even the only person who knows how to build... robots. I know a bunch of you build stuff. Who wants to help?

[9S clears his throat, quietly tacking a little disclaimer on:]

...Not that pods should be mistaken for machines or anything.

[When your kind’s fought machines for millennia certain lines get drawn. Thin, confusing grey lines. (Geir doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just lets it stand.)]


((both 9S and Geir may reply to your toplevels, and also feel free to jump each other! this is the start of a player plot to get a little more technology on the island. ♥ more details here!))

Comments

voice;

[armigers]

Okay, I'll bite. What sort of info do you need exactly?

[ He's mostly volunteering because he stands to benefit from learning where all the technology is in this place they're trapped in. Also because he has nothing better to do at the moment. ]

voice;

[deem]

Oh, actually...we're wondering what you guys want to know about. Regarding this island, and all that.

[At least Noctis is familiar by now with 9S' readiness to help out]

[rootandbranch]

The ideas we had already are all things like "how do the wind and water here even work?" No one knows. It's really, really annoying.

[Geir normally has an intuitive grasp of the air currents of wherever he's found himself, at least as much so as anything that flies would; but it's not so near the Hub. the air even seems to cut off at the edges of the island. it's bothered him since he got here.]

[drizzle]

[As much as Nike wants to ask about "pods" and chime in one the idea she had over wanting to explore a sort of dense forest to collect spider webs, she'll refrain upon listening to the dragon's words, whatever a dragon was, as his voice isn't as deep as the voices of her own world which can be even deeper and more incredible in tone, so she really.....doesn't feel much fear as she decides to spout out.]

Excuse me? Is that any way to ask for help? With such rude language and so nonchalantly like that? It makes me want to help you even less!

[She is all for the informal and blunt way of speaking, but there is a rule of etiquette when asking for help in which she has no issue pointing out.]

Chew on is a saying, Nines. It means to think about.

[deem]

Was something really wrong with it? I mean, Geir's a nice guy, and the point is to help everybody...

[Unfortunately 9S has no idea what's the matter with casual. While that part wasn't directed at him, it still bears addressing]

But thanks for explaining that phrase to me. There're a lot of things people say that just don't really come up where I'm from.

[rootandbranch]

Huh-- really?

[that's the first time that anyone has pointed out anything like that to Geir. in general, when he's asked a question someone hasn't liked, it's because they didn't want him asking about that topic at all -- not because of the form in which it came.]

Why would the way that someone asks make you not want to help them? Isn't that really stingy?

[on one hand, it's an honest question: Geir would like this idea explained to him. on the other hand, that doesn't help, Geir.]

voice;

[sopherias]

[ She probably doesn't have much to offer in building, unless you want her to plop some flowers on top of a pod. However, she does want to help in some way. Though, she first has to ask: ]

...What are you chewing on that tastes so weird?

[rootandbranch]

[truth be told, Geir's participation in asking people for help is his version of "helping in some way." he doesn't really know anything about the concepts he's asking people to pitch in to help with: he just finds them very interesting, and their potential applications (based on his half-understood conversations with technologically inclined friends) exciting enough to try to pitch to others.

he's one of those guys in the sales department...]

Oh, it's you. Hello! What isn't weird about this island, though? Starting with Qri bringing us here, it's been strange.

[deem]

I guess it's just a turn of phrase, based on what Nike told me...

[Although 9S is relieved he's not the only one who finds it puzzling]

voice;

[reckoner]

[ What an interesting pair. ]

I wonder if anything we built could sense everything.

[ For example, would a machine sensor have been able to give readings on those spirits? ]

I might be able to help. I've never built a robot from scratch, but I have some experience with maintenance.

[ Or whatever one would call two years of tinkering and supervising mechanics on his gundam and the very particular AI within it... ]

[rootandbranch]

I don't know whether technology can sense everything. Nines says it can pick up different kinds of energy, and even magic might be a kind of energy. So... maybe some of those will be the right kinds?

[this makes sense to Geir. power is power, in its different forms; he doesn't see why one would be idfferent from another.]

He says if anyone is used to trying to pick up magic, it would really help us out, so I know he's going to try.

[Geir pauses a little for rhetorical effect, since Vidar can't see his shrug. truthfully, the question has taken him instantly out of his depth in his very shallow understanding of technology. he thinks this is a cool idea much more than he knows how to implement it.]

Honestly, I don't know anything about this stuff. If you can keep it running, that sounds really useful. Do you want to see what you can do?

[deem]

I don't know about the magic part, so we'll need a hand on that, but... I can pick up on all sorts of things, and pods are pretty handy.

[9S likewise doubts anything could pick up on every single environmental factor. After all, he'd had to compensate for being unable to see a seraph like Mikleo by manipulating light filters.

He's sure there are some things he couldn't even adapt to, much as that frustrates him in some respects. Adaptation is part of his design]

Anyway, what kind of maintenance did you perform?

[Color him curious...as usual]

voice

[witchhooded]

Don't feel bad, I did not know what chew on meant for a long time, too! I used to picture people eating their words, hehe.

My name is Jade, I could help out a bit! This sounds like it would be very helpful for all of us, so I would like to try, at least. I used to work with complicated schematics, and keep up with my dreambot. The person who built it for me is here, in a way, so maybe he can help as well.

I think our first job should be finding an alternate source of energy. This is... just a hunch of mine, but I do not know if electricity will be reliable and easy to access across the island? Of course, I did just get here...

[rootandbranch]

Hi Jade! I wish how you're saying it was true. If words had more meat to them I bet they would taste really good...

[Geir is briefly lost in contemplation of this better world before being recalled to the issue by Jade's offer of help. as soon as she hit the word "schematics," he instantly stopped being able to follow her conversation at all, so as a helper she sounds extremely promising.]

I don't know what electricity is, sooo I'm guessing we don't have it. Maybe we should make some of that too? I'm just here because I think this will be a good idea, so you asking this stuff sounds really helpful already.

[points for starting a good conversation!]

We do still have a bunch of Elto bones if we need some kind of power. Those seem to work for some things.

[deem]

I wonder if there's some kind of magic that could make words tangible like that...

[But he shouldn't let his mind wander too far, should he?]

Electricity's something we're still working on generating, but where I'm from we've long since moved past that. I can come up with a system that powers itself, with the right supplies... But we'd need self-maintenance too.

What's a dream-bot though?

[alphonse]

As nice as knowing everything would be, even just gathering some basic information would be a great start. Like being able to monitor changes in weather and activity, or having solid data on the animal populations so we always know where we stand with our resources.

[Suddenly, Ghosts! probably falls somewhere under the first umbrella, but while he's sure pods are capable of a great deal, he doesn't know how they'd fair in that particular round of science versus nonsense.]

I'll help if I can.

[9S is good at breaking the tech stuff into something anachronistic alchemist friendly.]

[rootandbranch]

[Geir sighs gratefully. trust Alphonse to give him a clear, direct response to the question that makes sense! he considers that Alphonse is usually good at expressing his meaning to him, and decides he's pretty skilled at this kind of thing. something to keep in mind!]

Oh, thanks, Alphonse! I know you'll probably be able to do more than me. I'm really just here to help get ideas, Nines is the one who's actually making it happen...

And that makes sense, about the weather and animals -- that's sort of what I was thinking, but you said it better. I like the idea of knowing where more deer are.

[he gets hungry.]

[deem]

Thanks, Alphonse!

[He's always easy to work with, and 9S is grateful for it]

And you've got a point there... Seems like there're areas we haven't even been able to scout just yet. So there might be more resources available that we're just not aware of.

[At least, in an ideal situation]

Voice

[decipheringeye]

[Hey, it's two of Kosuzu's favorite dudes in the coven!]

I don't know how much I can help with something like this, but it sounds like you guys are up to something cool! What's a pod?

[rootandbranch]

Oh, hey, Kosuzu. I wish I could answer that! I was just telling Nines that I wanted everyone to have a way to find out more, and before I knew it, he was suggesting all this technology stuff.

[Geir sounds both pleased to hear from Kosuzu, and proud of Nines. imagine, being able to just think of solutions to problems off the top of his head like that! knowing technology certainly seems like it must be exciting.]

From what he said, I think it's a robot that'll go around and try to find stuff out. I'm sure you can help! You can't know less about it than me.

[deem]

Oh, a pod's a Tactical Support Unit. I guess it'd look like a floating box with arms to most people around here, but they can fly and gather data, and they're capable of logical thought and speech.

[He...he's trying to tone down the technojargon and yet it's in his blood.

His synthetic most likely oil for blood]

voice;

[antemeridian]

I could help, perhaps. I'm afraid any tasks such as programming would be beyond me, but I have some skill in assembling things given the schematics for them.

What would be powering it, though? Ambient magic? Would it be self-sustaining enough to function or keep itself in good condition even when the coven travels... off-world?

[rootandbranch]

Assembling things is better than I can do. And I bet Nines can explain... he's really good at that. Everyone says so.

[Geir has not personally had the experience of 9S teaching him how to assemble something mechanical or use a tool, because of his obvious physical difficulties with the concept. he's willing to accept 9S's skill at face value, though.]

I think if the technology things that people have gathered aren't enough to power them, we could use the Elto bones. They're from Aimintas in the last world we went to -- the people who lived there, the Palai, had magic, and their bones kept the magic in them when they died. For some reason, the living ones didn't mind us keeping a bunch.

[it's kind of grisly, and Geir was surprised they didn't want the remains back, but he isn't very squeamish and isn't complaining, either.]

[deem]

I'm not sure how technical you want to get, but I don't really work in magic. At least, not unless someone more experienced with it is giving me a hand.

But for example, my power source is self-sustaining. So I can construct something similar for a pod. I doubt it'll be up to quite the same specs as pods where I'm from, since we'll have to improvise, but I've got plenty of data on their construction if you want to see.

voice

[equivalence]

[How about this, now. Quite the collaboration. Edward's is pretty impressed by the whole idea actually.]

I'm no mechanic, but I can do grunt work or anything, if someone can teach it.

[Edward can be a team player.]

And if alchemy ever decides to work, I can get you components. Until then I can lug materials around.

[rootandbranch]

Edward, right? I think Nines has taught Alphonse some stuff about... whatever it is that he is. Androids? So maybe he can get you caught up.

[he thinks about Ed's offer more seriously -- actually, keeping the Hub's lack of resources in mind and getting themselves set up for it on future worlds is a really, really good idea. they should make a note to keep doing that.]

...I don't know if your powers will start working on a "low frequency" world, but I don't see why we couldn't bring the parts back to the Hub after the next time we go out. Assuming powers work wherever we end up, anyway.