At least there's no elevator music...

[thespaceopera]

[At least two weeks have passed since the Drift Fleet passengers woke up on this strange wing of the Marsiva... Some new passengers have even joined the group instead of being Shuffled off to a fleet ship! The large monitor in the central room remains quiet for now, so how is everyone holding up?

Have you been relaxing? Enjoying the Earth media? If you can even remember them, how have Calibrations been treating you? Has anyone started getting a little stir-crazy?

Don't worry... This ship has no shortage of mysteries, and you'll be seeing a few more soon.]


ooc: here's another mingle for the current game event! players can start or continue threads here from any point during the event. the additional setting information is still being postponed due to sickly mods, but y'all are welcome to post additional topcomments for reactions and investigation once it's up!

Comments

other

[multiglyphs]

[ the first time she'd seen him had been at the gym. he had been a fairly formidable sight all on his own, but coupled with an old memory of hers, he looked downright daunting.

the fear had only lasted a few moments, though, enough to make her pause and back out of the gym and avoid it for the rest of the day. she wasn't scared, of course she wasn't; he was hardly the of the same size and make of the armor she'd fought before... but all the same, she wasn't as eager to know for sure.

but then the next time she sees him, it's in the common area and he's... playing? a video game? fumbling, for like, and she's so thrown by the absurdity of the sight that she has to come closer for a better look. tentatively, ]

What are you playing...?

other

[thebloodseal]

[Al set the controller down and laughed. Contrary to his scary appearance, he sounded like an ordinary teenage boy.]

Some kind of dancing game- you have to wave your arms around and move around to match the dancer on the screen. I probably look ridiculous doing it, don't I?

[multiglyphs]

[ she's startled, and quite visibly so, by the sound of his voice. she attempts to recover fairly quickly, though, going so far as to straighten her back a little more. ]

A little, [ she concedes, and though her words may not be too terribly warm, she certainly sounds polite enough. ] I can't imagine it's very easy for you to move too well with... that.

[ she gestures vaguely to his armor. ]

[thebloodseal]

Ah- sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I know I look odd...

[He nodded.]

Well, uh... this armor is my body, believe it or not.

[multiglyphs]

[ she bristles slightly at the (totally accurate) accusation, and puffs up a bit in defiance. ]

I wasn't — scared. [ no, never, not at all! ] You don't have to lie to me about it. [ because certainly he can't be telling the truth... ]

[thebloodseal]

If you say so. [Al's really saying that to be polite- a lot of people tend to be startled at his appearance, so he knows when someone's scared.]

Well, I'd say you can believe what you want to believe, but... I'm not lying. I can show you. [And he does the usual routine of lifting his head off- and yep, he's hollow inside.]

1/2

[multiglyphs]

[ WHAT EVEN— ]

2/2

[multiglyphs]

[ she rears back out of instinct, then (completely forgetting herself) she's suddenly staggering forward, rising up on her tiptoes just to get a better look of him inside and

why yes

that is indeed a very empty suit of armor. ]

B-But! How?!

[thebloodseal]

[Al's used to such reactions- and if Weiss looks at the neck, she can see a circle drawn in what looks like blood.]

Do you know what alchemy is?

[multiglyphs]

[ slowly, weiss draws away, looking more and more concerned by the second. ]

Only what I've read in books.

[thebloodseal]

In my world, alchemy developed as a science that can deconstruct and reconstruct matter. But if you're not careful, there can be... consequences. I lost my physical body when Brother and I tried a transmutation that was far beyond our level and it backfired.

[multiglyphs]

[ she can't help the flutter of sympathy that settles on her features, bordering on pity, really. ]

Is there no way to get it back..?

[thebloodseal]

We know it still exists, thankfully- and it's whole. We just can't access it yet. Alchemy works on the principle of equivalent exchange- if you want to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. So getting my body back would have a cost, and we need to find a way to pay it ourselves.

[multiglyphs]

[ it sounds to weiss like the only way to pay for a body would be another body... but she'd like to think they haven't got many to spare or anything like that.

regardless, she will give him her best encouraging smile. ]

Well — I wish you and your brother luck with that.

[thebloodseal]

Thank you. I fully believe we'll find a way- we just want to make sure nobody else gets hurt or worse in the process.

[multiglyphs]

[ weiss is inclined to express her doubts about such an endeavor but, really, what does she know?

best to just let it go, she thinks. so instead she'll focus on what he'd been initially struggling with... ]

What were you playing?

[thebloodseal]

I've discovered these dancing games... they help keep my reflexes sharp. I don't have any muscles or endurance issues to worry about, but I can make sure I know how my body moves.