001. video; un: hero.

[sanator]

[Thom's head pops up on the screen; he was getting comfortable with the communications device now thanks to prolonged exposure and having met a fair few people around the quarantine zone. It wasn't like he had his old reputation here so it was easier for him to appear calm and confident when it came to addressing other people. He has a small smile on his face, the familiar look of communal housing behind him.] Hey! I'm Thom... I had a question, I guess? [His nervousness is concealed, but it still comes through a little in the way he doesn't quite look directly at the camera.] I know everyone's having a tough time right now but like, does anyone here play Basketball?

[His eyes light up talking about it, his enthusiasm clear on his features.] I was thinking its been a while since I hit the court and I'm guessing there isn't one here, but I'd like to maybe shoot some hoops, if anyone's interested?

Comments

[alchemyfreak]

The court, I mean.

[Ed doesn't know the first thing about basketball, oops.]

With the right components it would take no time at all. If there isn't one already here, anyway. Finding that out shouldn't take too long either.

[A pause.]

Finding materials is kind of my job here.

[Building things like basket ball courts would be more of a hobby.]

[sanator]

Oh... I don't need like a whole court either, not just for me. I mean I guess I could just get a hoop screwed in place somewhere. [Shrug, Thom wasn't an engineer.]

Mine is teaching people how to read and write, and guarding the perimeter, whatever that actually entails. [Because Thom had done neither jobs so far, because he's a loser. Well he didn't have any students so far either, he just showed up every now and again at the barracks and was told what to do]

[alchemyfreak]

I'm sure there's something around, it's a pretty big city. There's maps in the library, and probably also on the network... I'm more of a library person, myself.

[A shrug. He's assuming this guy is new, so maybe he doesn't know how to use the phone - or whatever he got - yet.]

Perimeter Guard, huh? No surprise there, it's a pretty common job. Anything specific? My brother and I do Salvage & Repair, which is where I get to go looking for scraps of things.

[As referenced above.]

We help around other areas too, as needed.

[sanator]

I'll maybe have to find the library then... I'm not exactly good with this whole modern technology stuff. [He grins a little.] I mean I've never even had a cell before, so there's that. [He's actually proud about never having had a cell, despite the fact that here it seemed to be quite the hindrance.]

Yeah, orientation? Like I said... they make me train new people when it comes to stuff like English. And I'm kind of a superhero back home, so it helps with the guarding and fighting or whatever. [He has no idea if he has to fight things but if he did he'd slip on a domino mask and tackle it with much gusto.]

[alchemyfreak]

You and me, both.

[Ed doesn't have a cell phone now, just the device he arrived with from the last place he was in. It works for the network, so that's all he needs.]

Teaching a language in a place where everything gets translated seems kind of pointless, doesn't it?

[He does note the super hero talk, he was going to ask about the username but didn't want to jump on that immediately. He offers a shrug.]

Orientation doesn't usually see much action, but other parts of the Guard go beyond the wall. That's where the fighting is, if you run into any monsters.

[sanator]

[Thom shrugs because, well, he wasn't exactly aware of the translation thing.] Wait, what? Everything gets translated? Why are they getting me to teach people how to read and write then? [Because he was given this job and at the time it was completely understandable; now though he was just a little flummoxed.]

Oh yeah? [He sighs a little.] I guess its typical I'd end up seeing less of the action. [He was practically in the Z-list of the probationary teams, after all.]

[alchemyfreak]

You can deliberately avoid translating, I guess.

[He's never really cared much about it, either way.]

Whatever device you wound up with should translate any text you point it at, and messages are translated on the network automatically. It could come in handy if someone that doesn't speak your language doesn't have their communicator on them?

[He's grasping for straws, it sounds as dumb to him as it does to Thom right now.]

If you're any good and wanted a change of pace I'm sure you could request a transfer down the line. For now, I assume they stuck you in Orientation because it fit with whatever you told them when you arrived. That seems to be how they do it here. I can fix or make things in a pinch so I'm with repairs, mostly.

[sanator]

[Thom just shrugs.] Maybe its for the people who can't read text at all? I'm meant to teach them how to do the reading thing and I guess its kinda like teaching English because everything for me is English? [He sighs.] Its not like they gave me a lesson plan, just pointed me in the direction of an office.

[Thom nods at that.] Maybe I will, who knows. I went from being a League probationary member to this... I'll probably find myself looking for another change later on. [Except he wasn't even sure of that; wasn't sure how much he wanted to go toe-to-toe with monsters, even if it seemed like he couldn't be hurt for now.]

[alchemyfreak]

[Ed quirks a brow at that, because he could counter that point but now he's starting to feel like he's just ruining this guy's view of his job. Whatever the hell it was supposed to accomplish.]

Some people here want to learn other languages for the sake of learning them, so there's that.

[It sounded about as stupid as he thought it would, once it was out loud.]

This place is certainly flexible. I help out all over the Guard as needed, but Orientation's not really my thing. I did it in a previous world out of necessity I'm not about to volunteer for it again.

[sanator]

[Thom just shrugs.] I guess they do, I had to learn some Spanish in high school! [Because learning Spanish in high school was totally the same as the plethora of multiversal languages available here within the quarantine zone.]

I guess orientation is my thing? [He smiles.] I like helping people more than I like fighting; plus its great way of getting to meet new people when they arrive here! [He grins.] But if I need to fight to help people, I'm not gonna complain.

[alchemyfreak]

[Neither of those things makes sense to Ed to so he focuses on the part that does.]

There are other options, depending on what you can do. Salvage and Repair and Surveyors do less fighting than Search and Rescue, for instance.

[They also probably help people less, if someone's idea of helping people is saving them from monsters or whatever. A shrug]

The world I was in before this one, people arrived at the Temple. Someone had to go get them and acquaint them with the place, and that job fell on those of us at the General Store. When I inherited the store, I kind of inherited the job.

[He'd always had the happier, more pleasant people do it like Riku had when Ed first joined. Like Al, when he arrived.]

It wasn't official or anything, like it is here. Just something my boss decided to do when he was around to be helpful. We'd bring them a gift basket with a few essentials in it, too. Everyone had to start from scratch there, so there wasn't much of a choice.

[sanator]

[Thom nods at that.] I guess it would depend on what I did want to do. I mean until now I've only ever taught English and worked as a bus buy... then I became a hero and all of that changed. [He smiles a little.] I know which one paid better, at least. I'm not afraid of a fight, either, I just probably need a few more lessons before I start acting like some kind of super soldier.

Oh, right... I guess its easier her,e then, considering there are people there ready to talk about your details, tell you where to stay, tell you what you're doing. [He shrugs, they were pretty well covered here in that regard, he'd hate to have just been thrown in at the deep end after all.] Your last world sounds a lot more difficult than this one.