driftfleet | get in nerds it's time for nerd stuff

Who: Kirito + whoever
Broadcast: Video OTA
Action: Paisley, Iskaulit
When: Todayish

[Alright, so technically he was warned that this might not be entirely wise, but whatever, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And the warning came from someone who hails from a world with evil inventor supervillains, and this place is totally different. It's fine. This will be just fine.

The comm clicks on to reveal a corner of the Paisley's engineering room, where a couple of boxes of spare parts and tools have been stacked and labeled nearby. Kirito plops himself on the floor in front of it, offering an awkward wave.]

Hey, this is a general shout-out to the engineers of the fleet- not just the ones with engineering augments, but specifically people who like to experiment with tech, invent stuff, that sort of thing. Don't know about you, but I've been working mostly on my ship, and it's getting a little crowded, so I'm putting together a more official lab on the Iskaulit. It'll really barebones, but that's the point of this.

Anyone interested in contributing? We could get some tables and set up a decent workshop for more people. It might be cool to have a general area where some of us can work together, swap ideas, maybe get some experience with fields other than whatever we specialize in. I know I've got a lot to learn, and I'd like to see more of what's out there.

While I'm at it, does anyone have experience with building furniture? Or even making cushions? We're gonna need a lot for another project I'm working on.

{Private message to Nami:}

Got a present for you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. Alchemy as I know it is all about deconstructing and reassembling matter into new forms. So if you were to, say, give me a bolt of cloth and some stuffing, I could shape it into a pillow.

...Also known as... sewing?

[He's not making the connection, here. Alchemy in general isn't instantaneous...]

Alchemy is much quicker, though. Here, I'll show you what I mean... [After a moment of a blank screen, Al moves it down to show a bowl of water. He then claps his hands, and energy sparks around the water, turning it into a block of ice- shaped like the chibi form of his armor head.]

[what

WHAT

Okay, seriously, how is this not a digital world? He has to habitually do the little finger-flick to make sure before he responds. People here continue to be amazing.]

...Holy crap.

It's pretty cool, isn't it? So I could put together cushions and tables and chairs and such with no problem- I'd just need the raw ingredients. I promise not to make it too gaudy.

That's amazing. Never heard of alchemy that could do that sort of thing. It's like something out of virtual reality...

...A-anyway, I'm not picky about design, so as long as it's functional you can make it look like whatever you want.

Sounds good! And I'm finding that my version of alchemy is different from the way most other people know it. It did start off as a quest to turn lead into gold, but I guess people figured out pretty quickly that you could do all kinds of things with it.

Oh man, yeah, I can imagine people immediately jumping on that as a way to get rich quick. If you could instantly make money or jewels or something...

[All the cool tech he would buy if he had infinite money...! It's like getting a cheat code for real life.]

Yeah... making gold and stuff is strictly illegal, though. Too much would cause the economy to crash. It doesn't stop people from trying, of course, but they don't get away with it for very long.

Yeah, it figures.

[Well, it's not like this information would be useful back home anyway, which is where he'd like to have it.]

So can you make anything?

As long as I have the right ingredients- I can't make something from nothing, or change an object into something completely different. Like, for example, I couldn't turn this bowl of water into a block of cheese. I'd need to make it into something with the properties of water- I could make it freeze or boil, or break it down into oxygen and hydrogen.

Like cooking, then. That makes sense, and it means it's not all-powerful.

[It reminds him a lot of making objects or recipes in games, actually. And it's good when even superpowers like this have limitations.]

Mmhmm- some people back home theorize that alchemy originated in the kitchen, actually. People saw the way matter changed and combined as they cooked and began applying it to other things. The limitations all make some sort of logical sense, but it still comes in handy.

Can anybody learn alchemy, or is it more of a unique skill?

Anybody can, though some people are better at it than others- to extend the cooking metaphor further, everyone can potentially cook, but not everyone can be a gourmet chef. Some people choose not to bother with alchemy at all, either because they have no talent for it or because they're wary of it.

That makes sense. Still, it must be really useful. It looks just like magic...

I can't imagine my life without it, honestly. But it doesn't entirely replace hard work, either- most people aren't near my skill level, so they use alchemy to supplement their own skills more than anything.

Even being able to do that much would be amazing. Think of all the extra time you'd have for everything! So cool.

Oh, we still find plenty of work to fill our time, believe me. There's always something to be done, and I don't like being idle, anyway.

Oh, for sure. But convenience would just mean you can do more in a shorter amount of time. It would change so much about a person's life.

Yeah... it definitely changed mine. And the lives of everyone in my country, for better or for worse.

Power always has that sort of double edge to it, so I can't imagine this being any different, yeah.

Mmhmm. It all depends on who wields it, and for what purpose.

About the same as anything in society, really.

[If it exists, people will both use and abuse it. That's human nature.]

Thanks for explaining all of this. It's really interesting.

You're welcome! I love hearing about all the kinds of magic and technology people have back home. I didn't have communicators like this or anything, so I feel like I learn something new every day.

video

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-14 06:26 (UTC) - Expand

sonofgold - 2016-07-15 00:08 (UTC) - Expand

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-16 04:48 (UTC) - Expand

sonofgold - 2016-07-18 00:06 (UTC) - Expand

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-19 01:23 (UTC) - Expand

sonofgold - 2016-07-19 21:57 (UTC) - Expand

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-21 03:59 (UTC) - Expand

sonofgold - 2016-07-22 01:42 (UTC) - Expand

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-23 05:27 (UTC) - Expand

sonofgold - 2016-07-25 22:15 (UTC) - Expand