[VIDEO .001 | username edward.elric]

[alchemyfreak]

[There are a few things Ed is quick to concern himself with upon arrival, and even though they certainly relate to "how the hell do I get back where I came from?" he's seen this play out enough times to know that asking that question directly is never likely to get results. At least not the ones he wants. He's well aware that this change of scenery isn't just some new challenge, because if it was there certainly wouldn't be any point to the mark outright disappearing, but it was gone. Which likely meant one thing, they were telling the truth - at least about one aspect of all this, and he was not in Muir anymore.]

Does anyone have any idea what's really going on here? Has anyone been doing any research on this place? Or been here long enough to know whether or not it is what they claim?

[Ed's skeptical about this whole situation, but cynicism wasn't enough to go on that something just wasn't right here. He had a hard time taking everything in that little introduction at face value.]

If we can just ask to be sent home given enough time, has anyone actually pulled it off?

Comments

[alchemyfreak]

I guess that depends on your perspective. Come from the right place and this might be exactly what you'd call a paradise.

[Muir wasn't really paradise either, but compared to Purg, what wasn't?]

At this point I'm just happy not to be the tool of some power hungry idiot with a god complex.

[firelogic]

Which is weird since I'm pretty sure there are plenty of fire shamans and pyromancers in the blind eternities. I'm far from the only one.

And it's not really worth pointing out you're only talking from your limited knowledge, that's all anyone gets to do.

[dispenserofjustice]

[Military is military. Good soldiers point and shoot without questioning the brass too much or stirring the pot. In the end, it's those in power and all of the red tape that should keep civilians safe. From the sounds of it, this particular reality's force seem more geared toward SELF instead of SERVICE.

Kind of ticks Garrus off.]

Hopefully you paid that officer in kind. With a bullet between the eyes.

[He would've. Without hesitation. Killing innocents just means your life is forfeit. Otherwise, Garrus gets it. Seems like this guy has been through enough and there's no real point in going "poor baby." He had known what he was getting into, it sounds like.]

I suppose the real question is how much good can you do without that collar and leash tightening.

[alchemyfreak]

[He doesn't respond right away, but when he does he's clearly keeping whatever emotion he had in response to that in check as best he could.]

We were just kids when it happened, by the time we found out... He was the one protecting us. Your friend, you mentioned earlier, the one that was trying to change things. Things were kind of like that back home.

[Ed doesn't specify that officer is the one trying to change things and make the country a better place, but he figures Garrus can read between the lines.

After another pause.]

Do you mean have I got any skills?

[There's a small laugh, mirthless.]

Alchemists be thou for the people, that's the motto. Without the leash, I can do whatever I want, I can use my powers to help people. Just like the naive dream we had as kids.

[dispenserofjustice]

[If Garrus had known the whole "foot in mouth" idiom, he might have thought of it for this situation. However, there is no statue of limitations on vengeance. It's not his business, really, if the guy has chosen to trust the person that killed his best friend parents. All it means really is that the world is small indeed.

Also, people make mistakes. Trying to rectify them... He supposes that's just as good as avenging someone in the end. Maybe. Jury's still out on Sidonis.]

Here's hoping that things do change, then.

[Moving on before he digs himself a deeper hole.]

Actually, I was thinking that maybe the good would outweigh the bad in the end. If you got in at twelve, then I'd naturally assume you're talented.

[couldkillthedevil]

Sounds like one of the plots straight out of my mom's sci-fi movies from the 80s, to be perfectly honest with you.

[Despite her words, she is paying attention. She can't even begin to imagine what kind of world or worlds he's seen. It ignites the curiosity in her, but there's also a coil of tension there at the prospect of being sent through time and space and never getting to return home.]

You must miss him. Your brother.

[alchemyfreak]

Maybe. Talking chimeras were a myth on my world until they became reality, too. It's hard to know what's real and what's fantasy anymore.

[Movies weren't exactly a big thing where Ed came from, but he'd heard enough about them from friends to sort of grasp how they worked. Having modern technology certainly made the comparisons from the stories easier to understand.

At that last part though, his eyes widen and he looks away from the screen. It had been awhile by now, but he still struggled with the idea of facing his brother again after what happened. Even if any new 'version' of his brother wouldn't even remember it.

Talking about Al in the abstract was one thing. Talking about not being with him, or being with him, was apparently something else all together.]

Yeah...

[couldkillthedevil]

[She's quiet at the sudden display of emotion from him. He's seemed so calm and put-together during this conversation, but it seemed that everyone had their triggers. She can certainly understand that, what with Trixie. Her voice is low but kind when she speaks again.]

Sorry. I didn't mean to overstep.

[alchemyfreak]

You didn't.

[It's a simple response. Obviously she hadn't meant anything by it, and it was a natural follow up to his statement about her daughter. After all he was openly talking about Al.

He just didn't want to think about seeing him again, not yet. The guilt hadn't settled to a point that was possible.

So have a reassuring grin, any hint of trauma gone from his expression. Just going to sweep that right under the rug.]

I'm the one that brought it up, anyway.

[alchemyfreak]

I heard things changed, but I wasn't there to see it happen. People from my world showed up where I was and told me about it, at least.

[At the last part, Garrus could probably hear the grin.]

I did make a name for myself, even on that leash. Places like this sometimes those skills can be put to better use.

[dispenserofjustice]

How long has it been since you've seen your home?

[Garrus doesn't ask to bring the guy down. Just curious about the time frame here.]

These skills... You said it was alchemy, but I get the feeling that you don't mean mixing various items together to get something new.

[alchemyfreak]

Honestly, it can be hard to keep track. No one aged where I was originally and part of that world had no sun... It was a few years, at least.

Long enough that when I showed up in that other world, I looked like this instead of a kid, still.

[Roughly four years, and Ed didn't even have the luxury of growing up. It just happened one day. Not that he seems too impressed by the concept.]

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. It's one of the more basic definitions, but as long as you have the materials you can create something of equal mass with it.

[He sounds... almost amused.]

Let me guess, alchemy's some joke where you're from, I get that a lot.

[couldkillthedevil]

[She's more than willing to follow his lead and drop the subject, though she imagines there's a lot he's not voicing. Fair enough, considering it seemed like a sore subject. He's entitled to his privacy.]

My name's Chloe, by the way. Chloe Decker. You're Edward, right? Going by your username.

[dispenserofjustice]

No sun? How can a world exist with out a sun to support it?

[This place just keeps sounding weirder and weirder. No one aging? Then skipping straight through adolescent years to adulthood? Ouch.]

I wouldn't say it's a joke, just a science that's dismissed after several different branches of science took off from it. It's more of a springboard for more advanced practices.

[alchemyfreak]

[That might be relief at the easy change of subject. He'd considered other options, but this many years later the code name just felt too foreign. He probably wouldn't know what to do if people started calling him Fullmetal again, now.]

Yeah, pretty straight forward.

[A pause, as if he's not entirely used to formalities. Although despite the conversation, it certainly wasn't insincere, Ed wouldn't bother if it had been.]

Nice to meet you, Chloe.

[couldkillthedevil]

[There's a polite smile from her end, as if that's opened something up in her.]

Nice to meet you too, Edward. Are you staying in the communal housing center? I might see you around.

[alchemyfreak]

Yeah, actually I'm on the sixth floor.

[couldkillthedevil]

Oh. So am I.

[alchemyfreak]

[Not being video gives Ed the luxury of not flailing too obviously in his backtracking. At least that Garrus could see.]

There was a sun... It's- just that we arrived in a sort of ... Plated underground. You had to stay there for a month before you could earn moving above ground. There were... reasons to move back down, like helping new arrivals get acquainted from your home world. Meaning, I don't really know how much time I spent down there. Some of us didn't really keep track at all.

It's harder when you don't age, anyway... and not aging was part of the whole pretending it was the afterlife theme they had going on.

[Ed listens, honestly surprised by that response. It's probably the most sincere one he's gotten.]

Where I'm from it's one of the most advanced sciences around. There's still a lot we can't do with it, but I'm sure that's only a matter of time.

[alchemyfreak]

[Well, that certainly made things interesting.]

Guess we'll be seeing more of each other then, since we're at least sharing a kitchen from what I gather here.

[couldkillthedevil]

Yeah, apparently. Small world.

[alchemyfreak]

Yeah...

[A pause.]

You said you're fairly new, right? If we're assigned rooms based on when we show up, I guess it makes sense that new arrivals would end up rooming together.

[alchemyfreak]

Guess you're right about that.

[couldkillthedevil]

Yeah. Still an interesting coincidence, though. I know someone from my world who also got taken here, but he's not on our floor.

[alchemyfreak]

Someone from your world got taken around the same time as you?

[That, in of itself, was unusual. At least going by his experiences.]

It would probably be an even weirder coincidence if he was roomed with you. It's hard to say if this place operates like the others until we know more about it, though.