IC Inbox

[armoured]

This is the IC inbox for Alphonse Elric at Snowblind.

Network name: @LELRIC

This is the place to contact Al over the Network. Contact by voice, text, or video is all perfectly acceptable, and there is no need to plot with me prior to posting in this inbox.

Comments

[deus_ex_phs]

Heh. Yeah, it's been a little crazy here, too.

[But if Kunsel is strained at all, it doesn't show in his voice. As bad as things had gotten, they've gotten so much better now that he's reunited with Zack. To see his friend alive again is worth so much to him. He almost doesn't even care that he had to get kidnapped to Snowhell first.]

But actually, things are going pretty well for me right now. I managed to meet up with a friend of mine.

How about you? How's your cold doing?

[Yeah, he hasn't forgotten that lame excuse that Al gave him earlier.]

[armoured]

[Cold?

He is silent for a moment before he remembers that terrible excuse, before a wash of guilt sweeps over him. Has he really been making this poor guy worry over him needlessly? Man, he feels like a jerk now.]

O-Oh, it's much better! Definitely all gone, there's no need to worry about me.

[Sob.]

What about you? Did you find out what was causing your fatigue?

[deus_ex_phs]

I'm glad to hear it. Getting sick is the last thing anyone needs in this place. Although... Are you sure you're alright? Your voice still sounds a little off.

[He's actually pretty sure this is what Al sounds like all the time, but Al did give him that cold excuse for why he sounded so young. That makes it fair game to rib him just a little, at least until he admits it.]

I might have figured out what's wrong. It's hard to tell without equipment that I don't have, but the theory fits well enough to go with it. [He blows out a breath, trying not to sound too frustrated.] It looks like it's something the admin did when he brought me here, so who knows when it'll get better, if it ever does.

[armoured]

[He feels so damn uncomfortable, and gives a fake clearing of his throat as if that will change his voice... at all... It doesn't.

Moving swiftly along.]

You might be right, it seems like they've altered a few people. My brother and I can't use alchemy here, for example, and I've met others who aren't capable of using whatever powers they had before.

[deus_ex_phs]

[If Al had wanted to distract Kunsel from the topic of his fake cold, he found the perfect way to do it. The SOLDIER tilts his head at the unfamiliar reference, curiosity coloring his voice.]

Alchemy?

[armoured]

[He just manages to curb a relieved sigh before it escapes him, thanking his luck that this would be a successful topic change. His tone immediately shifts to something much more enthusiastic, this is clearly something he can talk about for hours.]

It's a kind of science where I'm from. It's all about deconstruction and reconstruction through the use of transmutation circles and alchemical symbols.

[deus_ex_phs]

[Al will find he's found the perfect audience, then. Kunsel could easily listen to someone for hours on end if they're telling him about something new.]

Transmutation... Are you referring to something like a Transform Materia here?

[He doesn't get the reference to symbols there, and the circles... well, maybe that's what Al refers to someone's field of magic as? But without more information, that's just a guess.]

[armoured]

No, it's nothing like that, I've not heard of Transform Materia.

[But he's equally as interested in return. All of these worlds here have opened up a vaster array of information than he ever could have dreamed of, and maybe buried in one world is the key to getting their bodies back.]

Transmutation uses the energy from tectonic plates to deconstruct the chemical make up of one object and reconstruct it into something else of an equivalent exchange.

[deus_ex_phs]

Well, even where I'm from, most people don't have experience with Transform. I've heard about them from other people - mostly back in my Materia classes - but I can't say I've actually held one myself. Still, that sounds a lot like how they work.

[His voice takes on the kind of tone that a teacher might use in a lesson, or someone quoting a lesson they learned.]

Materia is a form of crystalized mako, the energy that runs through the world. It can be used to manipulate nature, either physically or elementally, depending on the materia being used.

[His voice drops the sound of quoting, becoming something more conversational.]

Transform Materia specifically alters a person's or creature's physical state, changing their size or turning them into something else.

[armoured]

[Mako.

Ah. Ah.

He goes silent for a few beats as he wrestles with how to handle this. He promised Zack not to mess with it until he knew more, and not to ask him any further questions, but he didn't say anything about not asking others. Still, he's definitely more reserved about it now, and he doesn't want to bring up bad memories for someone else as well.]

I've heard a little about mako, but I still doesn't really understand what it is. Materia sounds kind of like alchemy, and I'd love to learn more if you don't mind teaching me about it?

[deus_ex_phs]

Sure. I don't see why not.

[He's all about people being well-informed.]

Did you have a specific question, or do you just want me to repeat everything I learned in Materia Class? [His voice turns a little bit dry.] If you want the second option, I warn you it'll take a while.

[armoured]

[He still feels a little guilty, but... maybe if he was honest with 'Kain' then it will make him feel better.]

I'm not sure. I made a promise to a friend that I wouldn't try to work with mako until I knew more about it, so literally anything you could teach me would be useful.

[deus_ex_phs]

You should definitely listen to whoever told you that. [Nope, there's no joking in Kunsel's voice.] Mako is dangerous if you don't handle it correctly. Even indirect exposure can cause problems.

You got any plans for today? I'm laying low today, so I have the time, but if you're planning to head somewhere, I could just hit the highlights now and save the lengthy lecture for when you stop for the night.

[armoured]

[He desperately wants to ask for the full lecture, but he knows that he doesn't have time now and he won't put his own quest for knowledge above his promises to Stephanie.]

I can't stay that long right now, we're almost to the funeral home. But maybe I have time for one question... what is mako? Where does it come from? How is it made?

[Okay, so technically that's three questions, but they're connected.]

[deus_ex_phs]

Just one question?

[Kunsel can't resist teasing the kid a little for that, but it's only for a moment before he goes on.]

Mako is a liquid energy. It's produced by something we call the Lifestream, a river of energy that runs through the world. How that energy is made is actually a matter of debate, but it's always been there, as near as we can tell. In its liquid form, it's usually a bright, glowing green. If it has a chance to condense into mako stones or materia, then it takes on a different hue, based on its magical affinity.

Does that answer your question, Al?

[armoured]

[He chuckles, a little abashed at the admonishment, but not by much. He couldn't resist asking so many questions and he's definitely interested in the reply.]

So it's a natural resource?

[That's definitely interesting, then. It could provide what the brothers have been looking for if it harnesses the same sort of power as a philosopher's stone, but it's natural and doesn't use human lives to make it (haha).]

Where do people think it comes from? Even if they're not sure?

[One question...]

[deus_ex_phs]

It is.

[At least, as far as he knows. He doesn't necessarily know everything there is to know about mako or everything that's learned about it later on in time.

In response to Al's last questions, Kunsel scratches the back of his head, considering what he knows. Finally he shrugs, though the kid can't see it.]

It's really all over the place. The most commonly accepted answer is that it's like oil or coal: something that's produced by the planet itself and can be collected and used. Some people think it's the essence of the planet's life, like the planet's alive and that mako's its lifeblood. It only gets more outlandish from there.

[It's pretty easy to tell from Kunsel's amused tone which theory he sides with.]

[armoured]

[Wow, what a good job that Kunsel is presenting the idea of mako being made of life force as ludicrous, as that would pretty much be the one thing to properly put Al off researching it.

But it being as natural as coal or oil, that was useful to know and assuaged any last worries about looking into it as a way to get their bodies back. So it might be dangerous, a lot of things were, and some of them were worth the risk.]

Do you think you can teach me how to handle it safely?

[deus_ex_phs]

[Kunsel blinks. Not exactly a question he'd been expecting. Why would...?]

Pure mako? Sorry, but no. You need equipment for that that we don't have, even if there was mako we could access. I haven't seen any mentions of mako pools, either, so even if we had the equipment, we'd have to find a way to get at the stuff that's underground.

[Yeah, he's assuming there is mako here in this world, because why wouldn't there be?]

Tell you what, though. If we ever meet up, I'll let you take a look at my materia. That's safe enough to handle for anyone. If we're lucky, you might even be able to use them.

[armoured]

That would be great, thanks.

[He will take what he can get, and it's probably a better idea to start on the more stable version of this energy source than one the extremely dangerous end.]

What's the difference between mako and materia, anyway? They're not things that we have where I come from.

[deus_ex_phs]

Really? Huh. I would've thought they'd be fairly universal. Maybe you just have a different word for them.

Mako is a liquid, like I said before. When it condenses enough, it crystallizes. That's how you get materia.

Here, I'll show you a picture.

Kunsel switches to video briefly, with the camera pointed at his arm. There's a bracer there, with three materia slotted in. All three of the little glass-like marbles are green, almost seeming to glow in the dim morning light.]

[armoured]

[He's definitely interested in those glowing green marbles, leaning close into his tablet for a better look, but he's still none the wiser.]

We don't have anything like that where I'm from, not even under a different name. I've not seen anything even remotely similar before.

[Thank god they're green and not red, so there's no resemblance to a philosopher's stone.]

[deus_ex_phs]

[Alright, back to audio now.]

What about other colors? Yellow? Red? Purple? Blue?

[Oops, Kunsel might have just crushed that relief.]

[armoured]

[Slightly, but Kunsel has already told him that the ingredients for this materia aren't the same as for a philosopher's stone.]

Nothing that occurs naturally, no. I don't even know of a liquid that crystallises like that, not in any colour.

[deus_ex_phs]

Actually, materia can be made artificially, too, but that's a process I couldn't even begin to describe.

So, no mako at all? What about other forms of energy? You didn't bat an eye at my mention of coal and oil, so I'm assuming you have those, at least.