ossifragant | 001 Thing Acquired

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001 Thing Acquired - [video; actions]

Video

[When the feed clicks on, it's shaking slightly, and a man with strange eyes is staring at it from under his sunglasses like he's half-expecting it to explode.]

So this thing is visible to anyone who is connected, huh?

[Someone says something just off camera and he smirks.]

In that case, I just have one question.

Are there any bars in New Bark Town?

[Priorities.]

Action- New Bark Town

[And get an immediate answer or not, Geed is going to wander the town with the strange cat thing following close by. This feels much closer to the freedom he had been searching for in the first place, even if there is a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that something is extremely off.

Really, he can't be worried. He's escaped the bitch as far as he's concerned so he's going to be stopping every single person he runs into to ask about the town hoping he can learn something useful because he sure as hell can't blend in. He might as well stick out in the most obnoxious way possible.

At least it'll get him noticed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Damn. Got my hopes up for nothing.

So they serve watered down crap. I'll have to avoid it.

[He's going to ignore that jab.]

You appear to be the sort who would consider any other criticism I would have would have to be an endorsement, so I wouldn't have bothered --- and really, that's the worst criticism a bar can receive.

[He's going to choose to take that as a compliment.]

Not a bad assessment.

And I appreciate it, really. The last thing I would have wanted would be to go all the way out there and find the drinks lousy.

Precisely. If you have any intention of going that way, you should arrive prepared.

Of course, unless you have an any intention to challenge the gyms or an appreciation for art, it's fairly avoidable.

...challenge the gyms?

[Genuine confusion.]

The book mentioned something about that. Said it wasn't required.

Not really, but it's a mildly entertaining diversion while you're here. At the very least, you get decent rewards for it, and the only real downside is having to travel between cities on foot or Pokemon.

[On the one hand, challenging gyms sounds like a pain in the ass and he doesn't want to bother with it.

On the other, rewards of any sort are incredibly attractive.]

Maybe I will try it, then.

[At some point, anyway.]

It is worth it, I think, since there's no actual time limit on it, so you can travel whenever you feel like it as opposed to feeling as though you have to be constantly traveling. I've been here two years and I've only gotten three badges --- not through any lack of ability, mind, but it's not like it's going to send you home if you win everything or anything like that.

I don't particularly mind ever returning home, truthfully.

I was about to be killed when you get right down to it.

[sweats nervously]

...Is that so? Well, my condolences, then.

Though, if you truly have no desire to return, there are worse places to be stranded. I don't think it even is possible to die here.

[Shrug. He honestly sounds much too casual about this because it honestly doesn't bother him that much.

He was about to either go back to being a prisoner or die and at least there was freedom in death. The only question was what afterlife awaited a person who was already dead?]

There's no need. I knew what was going to happen.

The "no death" thing is certainly a plus, though there are downsides to it, too.

...Honestly, I'd be happy for a reprieve of some kind. Even if it isn't much of one, granted, given that you can't use anything you receive or learn here to change anything back in your own world.

[...was that more transparent than he intended it to be

he doesn't even know]

Well, yes, there always are. But I can't say it's too terrible here.

Unfortunate. It'd be of some use, wouldn't it, to be able to change the outcome of events?

[Well. Maybe it wouldn't help him. He'd already stepped into the door of Dante's house. There was a part of him that yearned for her to take him back-- a part that disgusted the other part of him that reminded himself that he'd done it because continuing to run would have killed Marta and the younger Elric brother.]

Waking up a different species is still a bit much, though, even if I didn't look that different from humans to begin with.

[He shrugs. Mostly to hide how much it bothers him.]

...it most certainly would.

[He says, a far-off look in his eyes, before he realizes that this is pretty much a complete stranger and that's a little too open]

Of course, I'd settle for just being able to bring back findings on this place, personally. Traveling between worlds is no easy feat, and this one is unusual even by my standards.

[...and huh. Speaking of unusual...]

Ah, you are a different species? The teeth made me curious, but that's really an awkward question to just ask someone.

[Greed picks up on the look immediately, but refrains from saying anything. They all have their secrets, and Greed is in no position to probe when he'd refuse to say anything about himself.]

Traveling between different worlds is impossible as far as I know where I'm from. It would certainly be interesting to get the news out.

[Maybe he shouldn't be very forward with this information, but he definitely sees nothing wrong with not being human, either.]

I'm a homunculus. An artificial human created by scientific means. The signs are a bit more obvious in my own world, and I even could do a few neat tricks but I don't have access to them anymore, unfortunately.

It would, wouldn't it? It's not exactly impossible in mine, but there's precisely one person who's managed it and all his apprentices have been spectacularly unsuccessful, to put it likely.

[...

wait...

wait...]

...Really, now? Well, I suppose homunculi from other worlds wouldn't necessarily resemble the ones from mine, but you're not exactly what I'd expect.

[Blink.]

There are other worlds that have the concept?

[That's... huh. Interesting.]

Edited (derp got my timeline goofed) 2014-04-26 00:10 (UTC)

There are, actually, though I wouldn't be surprised if there were some differences between the ones that exist in your world and the ones in mine.

You're certainly not the strangest thing I've stumbled upon, anyway.

[He smirks toothily.]

Well, I'll fill you in with what I can.

Unless I feel it reveals too much, of course.

In my world, we're created with a science known as alchemy.

That's fairly similar to how they're created in mine, actually --- though, alchemy is a discipline of the larger science of magecraft where I'm from. Also, I'll admit, the resulting homunculi tend to be a bit... physically frailer than you seem to be, though they're frequently quite powerful when it comes to magic.

[Huh, that's interesting.]

Can't say I'm sure I know what you mean by "magic", to be honest. Is it similar to what some of the Pokemon here can do?

[Because he's really not sure how else to think about it.]

The process that creates us leaves is incredibly resilient. We don't age, can't be killed by normal means, don't get sick, and we heal extremely quickly.

Sounds like the process must be different between our worlds, which might not be entirely a surprise, I guess.

It'd be weirder if they were the same.

Edited (derp) 2014-04-28 01:14 (UTC)

You could say that, I suppose. I'm familiar with some people from your world, so I suppose I can explain it being more esoteric? The rules for other disciplines of our magic are less... limited than the alchemy I've heard of that exists in Amestris.

And no, that's... extremely different, actually. How are they created in your world, anyway? That's the part that does have me curious, actually.

[...he does not know this is possibly opening a can of worms]

[The question makes him hesitate. He doesn't lie, but he also doesn't want to answer the question because that's ridiculously personal.

There's also the little matter about there being two entirely different versions of his world out there, but hey. He actually doesn't know about that.]

Truthfully, there aren't many people who know. Sometimes people stumble upon it, but it's extremely rare for a person to knowingly go about creating. It's a bit more involved than "I want to create an artificial person" and the energy involved tends to be fatal for the person doing the creating a fair percentage of the time if they are not a sufficiently powerful alchemist.

It goes without saying, though, that if the alchemist dies before the homunculus can be fully created, the homunculus dies as well.

[And that is almost informative enough to ignore the fact that he's very obviously dodging the question.]

So I see.

[On some level, he wasn't exactly expecting to get the full answer; after all, who spills all their magical secrets at the drop of a hat, especially when they're fairly new to this world?]

Well, I'd certainly say that makes sense... though it's a bit surprising to me that the majority of them are created by accident. Then again, the creation of homunculi where I'm from tends to be a bit less fatal, so I'd say the families who specialize in them have them down to more of a science rather than blindly stumbling into the creation of an artificial human for... whatever reason.

People tend to go about things blindly in my experience. At least when it comes to alchemy in my world.

It's not so much that they're stupid as it is they're hopelessly clueless.

As far as I'm aware, I'm the only homunculus who was created with the outright intention of making a homunculus. All the others were gathered up by the person who made me after they were left abandoned.

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