{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

[equivalence]

Hey, sounds good to me. The more info the better.

[Ed's a quick study! ...he's always been a bit better at practical applications, but he's got a head for theory and such too. Science is science, man.]

Yeah, if you can lay it all out, when we wind up in the next world -- however the hell that works -- I can definitely keep an eye out for what they might have. Then again, I suppose there's no guessing what we'll find.

[deem]

Yeah, we don't have any way to predict that yet.

[Although considering the fact that humans have quite a few needs of their own, he wishes that wasn't the case]

Next time we're in the same place, I can show you on my monitors. That's what I've done with Alphonse too.

[equivalence]

And no clue about it given by our abductor until we get there?

[A sigh. Ed really is done with Qri and he hasn't even met her.]

Monitors? [Well whatever that means, Edward nods.] But yeah, show me whatever you can.

[deem]

Seems like it so far, at any rate. I sure haven't gotten any mission briefing.

[He can't speak to what people did or didn't get by way of information during their last deployment, since he arrived in Aimintas]

But yeah, I can generate screens to display information on.

[equivalence]

Figures. Too bad. Knowing what we were in for would be pretty useful.

[To say the very least. Edward is a planner, when given the chance. He's also pretty talented at flying by the seat of his pants -- out of necessity. That's how life has gone for him more often than not.]

Huh! Well, now I want to see how that works, on top of what you're gonna show on the monitors.

[deem]

I know I'd prefer it. Being deployed blind isn't something I'm used to.

[And even his tone bespeaks his distaste for how things are run here]

You're in luck though; where my systems are concerned, I've got data on how everything works. Couldn't repair myself otherwise, you know?

[It's not like he's got a problem sharing that information, besides. Alphonse has seen it too]

[equivalence]

Al and I don't always know exactly what we're getting into, but at least we have some idea before we just barrel into a place.

[...they barrel in anyway sometimes. But shh. That's beside the point.]

That makes sense. Gotta know what you're working with to be able to fix it. In that way, you've got a leg up on us flesh and blood folks. Most of us don't know nearly enough to try to heal ourselves of much more than a paper cut. We've got to count on doctors.

[deem]

Well, humans can be good at a variety of things, right?

[9S, he doesn't actually need to be reassured here]

Meanwhile, maintenance is something I was created for. Not my only forte of course, but it's something a Scanner is meant to do, you know? It seems like humans have far more variety in their specializations.

My interests might differ from another Scanner, but...

[equivalence]

True. Depends what you put the time and effort into learning. And what natural abilities you've got to work with.

[9S is a good guy.]

Well, I suppose the difference is we aren't really created to do anything in particular. Some of us get raised with our parents having ideas about what they think we should do with our lives, but that's not really the same thing.

[Though well.] But? If you've got other interests you can pursue them. ...right?

[deem]

It was pretty heavily discouraged, but I still had a hobby.

[Had. Has. 9S is a Scanner through and through, so it may be no surprise—]

I always liked gathering data, including combat data, on machines. Detail work's always interested me. And I like optimizing equipment, too.

[Perhaps more so even than other Scanners]

[equivalence]

Why was it discouraged?

[Edward is still trying to figure out 9S's world from the bits he's gathered from their conversations thus far.]

That's your hobby? That's a pretty useful hobby actually. But I can see the appeal of it. I mean, I always really liked researching.

[He can get lost in alchemy books for days honestly.]

[deem]

Emotions are prohibited to YoRHa. So something like a hobby's...well. Sort of along the same lines.

[They're supposed to be all business, and yet he's never quite lived up to it.

And he's suffered quite a few fatalities that way]

What kind of things did you research?

[Curiosity killed the cat but 9S always manages to come back anyway]

[equivalence]

Emotions are prohibited? What sort of bullshit is that??

[Sorry, 9S. Edward has opinions on a lot of things, and apparently this. Like. What the hell. Aren't emotions some of the more important parts of life.]

Heh. Alchemy mostly. I guess you could call me a little obsessed. [Or an alchemy nerd, which is one he's also gotten more than once.]

[deem]

I can sort of understand the logic...but since we have the same emotional faculties as other units, it's impractical to expect success.

[He knows that now, even if the guilt at failing to live up to it still remains. It's programmed into him, after all]

What kinds of things do you learn about alchemy? I don't know very much about it, except what Alphonse explained.

[equivalence]

Logic has nothing to do with it. Emotions are emotions, and you're a person. People can't just be expected to pretend them away or turn them off. Even if emotions might make people do stupid, irrational things sometimes. They're still important.

[And boy does Edward know about emotions leading to bad decisions and terrible mistakes.

He will calm down slightly when his attention turns to alchemy.]

The different techniques and theories. How certain categories of transmutations should be performed -- the various necessary components and elements. Different ideas of transmutation circles. Alchemy has all sorts of practical applications. Combat, construction... some people can even use it for healing.

[deem]

...Thanks, Ed.

[It's all he can say to that. Although the argument that his emotions are part of him and can't simply be tuned out, it's a difficult thing to simply accept. When guilt over certain aspects of his personality is programmed in with the rest, it's a struggle.

Still, he's grateful that Edward believes something like that, and that much carries in his brief response to the sentiment]

I don't think I've seen a transmutation circle before. What's it for?

So sorry for the delay :(

[equivalence]

[Guilt is a funny thing, isn't it? Beyond funny really. But Edward is no stranger to guilt himself. Far from it.

Then his attention is caught anyway.]

In order to transmute something, a transmutation circle is necessary. The alchemist uses it in order to focus and conduct the energy of the transmutation. Different circles accomplish different purposes.

[He'll just breeze over the fact that he and his brother don't use them anymore and add,] I could show you what they look like, if you wanted.

[deem]

I don't think I've seen Alphonse use something like that...

[Unless perhaps he doesn't understand what it looks like, or it's difficult to detect? But if Edward can show him, that would make it clear whether it's something that 9S needs to filter his visual inputs to perceive — just as he had to with Mikleo at first]

If you don't mind, I'd like to see.

[After all, he's curious]