riverview | [ text | un: jkent ]

I passed the physical requirements, but it was a special branch. I'm an alchemist, we have to pass a written exam to get in, and show our skills. Only one or two get accepted every year, it's not exactly a cake walk.

Everyone else was an adult. My brother couldn't pass the physical exam, so he didn't join... but he still stayed with me the whole time.

[He's used to be people being fairly unimpressed with the notion of alchemy in these worlds, so he breezes over that detail as if talking about the weather. Enough negative reactions made one stop boasting about a certain aspect when it was rarely well received or impressive anymore.]

What's an alchemist?

[ Jon is ten, he only knows so many words. ]

Someone who performs alchemy.

[So helpful.]

Alchemy is a science, it's kind of hard to sum up quickly but- we deconstruct and reconstruct matter into something else. As long as you have all the components... It just needs to be an even trade.

[Pause.]

My brother made a demonstration fixing a broken lamp. He could only do that because he had all of the pieces though, he couldn't turn it into something else, like... metal or wood.

[Explaining this wasn't usually so hard but he's a child and from another world, so Ed's not sure how much of it would even make sense.]

Oh, neat. Matter reconstruction.

[ Kelex in the Fortress of Solitude can usually muster up something like that. ]

It's cool that you can do that without a machine.

[Someone that actually understands the concept? He might be visibly surprised.]

Yup. Al uses circles, but I don't need those anymore... Which is probably how I got into the military over all the adults taking the same exam.

[There was more to it than that, but details.]

[ Jon may not be as smart as many people here, but he isn't that bad either. He's made his own drone and can fiddle with technology decently enough. ]

So you can fix anything? Is the amount of mass the only thing that matters for the even trade?

Well. The technology here is a little more advanced than we're used to, so we can't fix anything-

[He can't fix his own arm, but the kid doesn't know about that so he needs a better example.]

Usually, as long as it's an inanimate object, we can fix or make pretty much anything.

[There's some energy involved too, but he's not going to get into all of that, at least not now. If the kid comes up with more questions later, maybe.]

Some people are more versed in biology, or botany- but we don't work with that stuff.

[Or talk about it, really. It's nightmare fuel.]

Oh, well, that's still pretty cool.

[ Jon is easy and he rarely questions much. ]

I bet you get to help a lot of people that way.

Sure do.

That's why I like being on the Guard. Helping people is kind of a big deal for alchemists.

[Okay, definitely not all of them, but it's supposed to be. Alchemist Be Thou For the People and all that.]

There's a lot more we can do here than we could at home, too.

Yeah. I'm on the Cadet program but I haven't done much yet.

[ Mostly because Jon can't show off his abilities. ]

[Well, this kid was definitely young. Al was on the Guard proper, and he didn't know if they went by the age he said he was, but they're both painfully aware that he looks 13 despite the fact that he shouldn't.]

My brother and I do a little bit of everything, but we're mostly on Salvage and Repair. I'm used to Freelance myself, so it has ... been an adjustment.

How long do they keep you on Cadets, do you know?

Probably until I'm older? It's not super clear.

[ Jon is only ten. Even if he's the strongest ten year old there is. ]

Ah.. I meant- do you know how old you have to be?

[He's guessing no, based on that response.]

Nevermind... You on your own here?

[Ed developed a habit of watching after kids with no one else in Purg, so asking is second nature at this point. This place seemed more inclined to bringing families back together than splitting them up though, it was new.]

Probably fifteen and above? I'm not sure.

[ Jon runs a hand through his hair. ]

No, my dad is here. Well, my not-dad. He's an alternate version of my dad and he looks out for me.

[He actually smirks a bit at that. The whole not-actually-who-they-should-be thing was definitely a head trip.]

There seem to be a lot of those running around. Apparently there are a few different "versions" of me and my brother, too.

[Ed was automatically reminded of the General arriving, demanding answers from him, surprised to find out that she wasn't anyone Ed knew. She had expected to find an "alternate" version of him in that place, and her frustration at being faced with a stranger instead had been pretty obvious.]

Yeah, that's normal when realities collide in one place. Time and space tends to get all screwy.

[ The most versatile ten year old when it comes to this stuff. ]

You sound like that's something you have experience with. This kind of thing doesn't exactly happen where I'm from... Just other worlds I've been to.

Kinda? I was born on an alternate world which collapsed so.

[ He shrugs loosely. ]

[Hold please.]

.... Collapsed?

[Give him a moment, he's getting his brain back after that one.]

They say one of the reasons we could end up here is because our world is destroyed, but-

[He hadn't actually talked to anyone that applied to. So far, the displaced and near death theories panned out, though.]

They also said accidents happen. I'm pretty sure the world I was living in before coming here is still standing.

[ He got new memories after all. That implies things are still okay. Plus, Jon feels he would know if his world got destroyed on him. ]

[okay, if he had another home before coming here it didn't add up, so he nods at that.]

The displaced feeling kind of explains why I'm here well enough that I didn't think about the other possibilities much.

[He felt very displaced in Attollo, it was a wonder he stayed there that long if this place existed, honestly. It did only get worse when his friends started disappearing though.]

Have you been here long?

Uhmm. . . four mouths?

[ Jon ticks the time off his fingers before nodding. ]

Yeah, it's been four months.

[Four months seemed to be the answer, Ed was starting to wonder if he'd disappoint someone in the future when they asked and it had been four months. Or maybe people only stayed here for four months before leaving, which didn't really mesh with the five year estimate they give during orientation.]

That's the longest answer I get. It's also the most common one... It's a little strange.

[but maybe he's going about this the wrong way.]

Do you know anyone that's been here longer than you?

[ Hmm. ]

My dad? And I think some of his friends were here a month earlier?

They got here a month before you?

[There's some thought that needs to go into that, it's possible the people that he'd asked before who were still here were on their fifth month by now - so it wasn't exactly an extraordinary answer. If he's right it fits into the pattern pretty neatly.]

Seems like there's been an uptick in new arrivals these last few months.

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