01 - Audio & Action - take your pick! Phone call or gun to the face...

[swooshycape]

[audio]

[ Vincent isn’t normally one to just try calling out of the blue, but he really wants some intel on this place - enough that he is willing to at least try, even if he is quite suspicious of, well... everything about this place. ]

Where is this? And to whom... am I speaking?

[ His voice is deep and quiet and mostly toneless - though there is a dark edge to it. He wants answers, and he expects to be given them. However, he has one last thing to add... ]

Yuffie, if this is your doing... [ ... well, if she’s listening, he’s pretty sure she can imagine the unspoken threat. ]


[action]

[ But even as he waits for any sort of response, Vincent doesn’t keep still. Instead, he carefully explores the mansion, moving quietly as he swoops down hallways, checking rooms and keeping to the shadows. You wouldn’t expect someone in a red cape to be particularly stealthy, but he manages it very well - unnaturally so.

However, stealthy or not, he is expecting a fight, so if he opens the door to a room someone is in, his gun is out and aimed right at them. ... really, he’s too used to a world where every space that isn’t a town or city is crawling with hostile wildlife. Don’t worry, though. He won’t shoot on sight. .... probably.

But you’d also better be careful if you meet him in a hallway - or more likely, he sneaks up behind you - as he is armed and dangerous and isn’t the friendliest looking person...

In either case, he won't waste time in asking questions. Unless he's already had the basics from someone else, in which case he'll probably lower the gun if he's sure you're not a threat. ... probably. ]

Comments

[seekinghome]

Nah, no monsters currently running around.

::Aside from some of the people running around trapped in Wonderland, anyway.::

There were a couple around two weeks ago though.

[swooshycape]

Hm.

Was there warning or did they simply appear?

[ In other words, how wary does he need to be? ]

[seekinghome]

::Ed leans back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.::

They showed up in reaction to people answering the riddle on a door than randomly appeared and getting the answer wrong. Basically screwing over everybody, not just themselves.

[swooshycape]

A riddle.

[ The more he hears about this place, the stranger it seems. He winds up mirroring Ed a little, leaning back against a nearby shelf and crossing his own arms. One thing that may interest Ed is that his left arm is... not entirely real. The lower portion seems to be some sort of metal prosthetic claw. ]

[seekinghome]

Yeah. I wasn't one of the ones trying to figure it out because I was uh, unavailable at the time. Anyway, people were trying to find out what was on the other side of the door. So were people's Mirrors.

::Yes, he does notice Vincent's arm actually, although given a couple of his own limbs, it's not a huge shock or anything.::

So, you're an automail, too?

[swooshycape]

Mm.

[ He wonders what Ed means by 'unavailable' but he doesn't question it. Instead he pays more attention to the mention of Mirrors. Martha had told him about the mirror side, and he isn't sure he likes the idea of it. He's avoided looking at any mirrors he's passed since, still adjusting to the idea too much to want to investigate.

But he looks up at Ed, lifting his eyebrows. ]

Automail...?

[seekinghome]

::Ed strips his glove off his right hand, raising it so the fact it's made of metal can be seen.::

My entire arm is automail. I guess you don't use the term where you're from. They're mechanical prosthetics that work really well. Of course, what they're like depends on what an individual needs. Someone that just needs to be able to do day to day stuff can do with something less... sturdy. Soldiers on the other hand...

[swooshycape]

I see...

[ He flexes his claws a little as he glances down at his own hand before looking over at Ed's again. ]

... this was ... an experiment by the one who removed my arm.

[seekinghome]

::Ed sucks in a breath.::

I hate people that experiment on others. I've seen results of that. They're rarely pretty and break a whole lotta ethnics standards.

[swooshycape]

[ Vincent laughs just a little at that. It's brief and bitter, but it is nonetheless a laugh. Congratulations, Ed - you just heard something very rare. ]

Hojo was... never held back by ethics

[seekinghome]

::Ed grimaces.::

Didn't stop some State Alchemists back home either, even though the process of seeing if someone qualified to be one is supposed to weed out the ones like that. Unfortunately, some manage to get through, anyway.

[swooshycape]

Heh. Is that not always the way?

... at least there was a pretense of oversight for yours, however.

[ Better than scientists working for a weapons company turned electrical company that is basically a country unto itself, he supposes. Not that he is one to talk, considering he also worked for this company at one point, but he did draw the line at non-voluntary human experimentation. ]

[seekinghome]

Yeah. At least it worked for keeping out the ones unqualified in other ways. Not up to the physical strain and all.

::Then he rolls his eyes.::

Plus dumbasses who's practical demonstration almost gets one of the others killed.

[swooshycape]

I take it being a State Alchemist is... dangerous?

[seekinghome]

Yeah. The program is run by the military to weaponize alchemy. There's a mix of civvie State Alchemists and career military ones.

Perks of the rank include being equivalent to a Major--well, unless you're career military and worked your way up higher--, huge research fund, access to a library of rare books, and so on. Downside is, if a war happens, those that are civvies get yanked into uniform.

[swooshycape]

Hm. I see... A trade of freedom for power and knowledge...

[ The system makes sense to him, though he can see a lot of potential for corruption... ]

What... does alchemy do?

[ He's imagining something like mako and magic, but he supposes it could be something else. ]

[seekinghome]

::Ed winces a bit.::

Yeah, pretty much. Anyway.

::He takes a moment to try to think of how to explain things in a coherent fashion.::

It's... used for a lot of things. Alchemists use it to transmute something to something else, provided it's made of the same general substance and amount. No six for tall marble statues from a one foot block of wood, for example.

::Not unless one has a Red Stone or Philosopher's Stone. Thank you Cornello for getting to be why Ed has this as a fallback example of Equivalent Exchange.

He slips his glove back on.::

It's often used to make repairs. Like the time my brother accidentally busted someone's radio. After he transmuted it, it was as good as new. Alchemists that are also doctors may use it to make medicines, I've used it to make weapons to fight with...

::He pauses.::

Am I managing to explain it coherently, or do I need to think about finding my brother to explain instead?

[swooshycape]

[ It reminds him of the function of the 'morph' materia in a way, albeit more comprehensive. ]

I think I understand.... It sounds useful.

I take it the alchemist provides the energy to power the change?

[seekinghome]

::Ed nods.::

Yeah. Which is why, between my automail and being an alchemist, I eat a lot more than I otherwise would.

[swooshycape]

[ Vincent nods, mildly amused. It makes sense to him, though... ]

Nothing like an ether or a potion to restore your stamina, then?

[seekinghome]

I've never heard of either in the context you're using.

:That would be a 'no'.::

[swooshycape]

Hm.

[ He's quiet for a moment, turning over the rest of their conversation in his mind. before changing the subject. ]

You mentioned your brother being here... Is it common for relatives and acquaintances to show up here?

[ He's already met one person from his world here and knows of another... And here is one who spoke of his brother. Is there some pattern here? This place is still full of mystery... ]

[seekinghome]

::Ed frowns a bit as he thinks that over.::

It seems so. Maybe one person ending up here makes it easier for more from their world to do so?

[swooshycape]

Perhaps...

I suppose we shall find out eventually.

[ And with that, he finally stands up straight again, deciding he has interrupted this young man's studies long enough. One last question, however... ]

... do you know if there is a map of this place?

[seekinghome]

Um. ::Ed thinks about that for a moment.::

Probably, but I haven't seen it.