Fourth Transmutation [Video]

[thebloodseal]

Who: Alphonse Elric and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Vanquish, if you really want
When: February 4th

[When Al turns on the communicator, he has several smashed, liquified, and otherwise disassembled gumballs on top of a sheet of wax paper on the Vanquish's kitchen table. Hey, he didn't want to make a mess while he did science.]

I'm not sure if it's because I don't have the ingredients quite right or if these are made of something different... but I haven't been able to completely break these gumballs down with alchemy. I'm sure people have tried eating them, so is there anything different about the taste or smell? That's one area I can't do anything in, unfortunately...

Comments

[Video] 1/2

[flameandpassion]

[ that voice sounds familiar, and rei immediately switches the communicator on to video -- hopeful, certainly, because alphonse had been one of her closest friends in adstringendum, and she's immediately greeted with a sight that she doesn't... expect.

her brow furrows, in confusion -- alchemy, transmutation, all of that lines up. and the voice is the same. and the name attached to the communicator is the same. so why is this obviously not al? ]

[Video]

[flameandpassion]

[ -- it hits her in about half a second more, a connection of old memories (a story, no, an event, maybe?), and she settles back into her chair, ignoring that crush of disappointment, and she's careful to let it not show on her face. al isn't there yet. and this definitely isn't her version of al (obviously, this was stupid, she should've never turned on the damn communicator) --

allen and sasuke were a lot easier to deal with. this was going to be harder. but the feed is already running, and it's too late to shut it off now. ]

I don't think eating them is a smart idea.

[Video]

[thebloodseal]

[Al noticed the delay before the reply came in, but he couldn't quite place why- was this the "holy crap you're a talking suit of armor" stare, or the "I knew you someplace else and you don't remember me?" one. However, he was much too polite to ask unless the subject was brought up, and so he just went with what was at hand.]

I couldn't if I wanted to, anyway.

[Video]

[flameandpassion]

[ this is the worst. her mouth feels a little dry, and it's difficult registering that this is alphonse, but -- ]

Why is that?

[ she knows, but she doesn't want to let that on yet. ]

video.

[brainiest]

[ Um.

This is exactly what she had been trying to avoid, actually... ]

I'm not sure if there's any way to directly copy the formula for something like gumballs, since they must be made up of dozens of additives and sugars that we'd never be able to guess.

[ Huff. ]

We were supposed to leave them alone.

video.

[thebloodseal]

I think that might be why I'm having trouble, yes. I didn't know something so simple could have so many different ingredients.

[Al gave a half shrug at that.]

I got some from another ship- I at least haven't touched our own.

video.

[brainiest]

Oh. Then maybe that's alright.

[ Maybe. She's still not particularly pleased, arms crossing over her chest. ]

That's what sweets are like. They have to have something for the colour, the sugar to make them sweet, the taste and some sweeteners to make sure that's right and it appeals to children... It's almost impossible.

video.

[thebloodseal]

Mmhmm- all to make it an appealing product. It doesn't help that we didn't have sweets like this back home, so I'm a bit lost.

[theshabbiestofmen]

Be careful, please. God only knows what these things are made of, and I'd hate to have something go wrong on you.

[Not that . . . the warning really seems needed, as there's so many broken gumballs behind Al. But still!]

[thebloodseal]

I will be. I can't be hurt if something goes wrong, which is why I decided to experiment on them in the first place.

[theshabbiestofmen]

What-- what, at all?

[thebloodseal]

Yes... this armor is my real body, so it's difficult to hurt me. The armor can stll be damaged, but I can't feel pain.

audio

[bothbarrels]

I don't think we were meant to use alchemy on the gumballs. In fact I don't think we were meant to get into them at all. The fancy steel crates didn't give you that vibe?

audio

[thebloodseal]

That hasn't stopped people from opening the crates, anyway. If Atroma would have just told us what this was all about, I wouldn't be so curious.

audio

[bothbarrels]

Well...there is that. I tend to think of things in terms of ratings, though. What if they're expecting some disaster just from people messing around from stuff they shouldn't?

audio

[thebloodseal]

That's part of why I'm doing it myself, though- if something goes wrong, at least it will backfire on me. I can't feel pain in this body.

[avaricious]

Jeez kid, if you were really that hard up for food, you only had to ask.

[thebloodseal]

I know how much you like to keep food for yourself, though.

[avaricious]

While I am stuck with an appetite that could rival Gluttony's, I'm not some fatass that can't share a few breadsticks here and there.

[thebloodseal]

I'll hold you to that when I get my real body back.

[action]

[geonomy]

[... Phew, okay, Al didn't use any of their own crates for this. Considering Clay was right there where the crates are and making sure nothing happened to them when he saw the broadcast...

So instead, he'll go to the kitchen. He gives a grin and a wave, then heads for the kitchen table to examine his work.]

So if you can't break these guys down, does that mean there's a chemical composition in there that you don't recognize?

[action]

[thebloodseal]

Yeah, exactly. We didn't have sweets like this back home, so I am flying a little blind... but it could be that there's something odd about these, too.

video;

[firstrebel]

Please tell me you thoroughly scanned for things like explosives before you cracked open any of those crates. And are you taking precautions against things like poisons?

video;

[thebloodseal]

I got them from another ship, actually- people have ways of getting around the seals.

Poison isn't a worry for me, thankfully. But this armor is my body, so I can't chew them, either.

video;

[firstrebel]

[ She notices he kind of skirted around her comment about the explosives. ]

It wouldn't bother me except the people who run this station seem to think they're contraband of some kind, which - is suspicious.

[ Basically, she's having a hard time dismissing them as totally harmless. ]