Ninth Transmutation [Video]

[sonofgold]

Who: Alphonse Elric and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Anywhere
When: August 16th

[When Al begins the broadcast, he's at a set of wooden furniture he made himself at the previous planet he's set up in the Vanquish, making himself a mini workshop of sorts. He smiles shyly before speaking.]

Well, it seems like people in this star system take their factions very seriously... so I thought I'd offer to make clothing for people from my alchemy, in case you decide to ally yourself with one of them. I can make it for any color scheme you want, as long as you can provide me with the raw materials! I'd hate for someone to get in trouble if they don't blend in. ... or be overcharged, like I was when I went to dinner earlier.

Comments

[universal_charm]

Yes, well, I suspect it's just saying that for the record - just in case. It doesn't help them if someone doesn't stick their thumb in something somehow.

[sonofgold]

True- and that way, they have plausible deniability in case any angry natives try to go after them. [Al imitated Diamond's voice.] "Well, we TOLD them not to interfere, they just didn't LISTEN."

[universal_charm]

_{[ He has to laugh aloud at that. ]}

Oh my god, I can hear it in her voice in my head.

_{[ He shakes his head now, tears pricking the corners of his eyes even. ]}

Her voice will haunt me for years, I just know it.

[sonofgold]

Me, too. I've only heard her speak a few times, but it's the kind of thing that tends to stick with you.

[universal_charm]

It will haunt my dreams for the rest of my days.

[sonofgold]

It's so... so false-sounding. Like it's a machine talking, not a person.

[universal_charm]

For all we know it IS a machine talking.

[sonofgold]

You know, that's a good point. I'm not too familiar with this sort of technology, but a computer could be programmed to talk like that, couldn't it?

[universal_charm]

Absolutely. Where I am from, AIs are more than intelligent enough to carry on whole conversations and have a wide array of voices. The computers on my ship can speak back to us as part of their functionality feature.

[sonofgold]

Hmmm... and could they project an image of a person that looked real, too?

[universal_charm]

Pretty easily, yes, though that's more private sector and not really on ships. It takes a lot of tech, if you want a full projection.

[sonofgold]

But in this case, all they'd need to do is put the person on a screen... [Al looks thoughtful.] I mean, I'm pretty sure I've heard Diamond sound uncertain in the background of broadcasts before, but that might be another layer to make it seem more real.

... or maybe I'm just being paranoid.

[universal_charm]

I think paranoid about anything they put out is a very natural reaction, honestly.

[sonofgold]

Yeah. We have to consider every angle.

[universal_charm]

If only we had a few less, that would be easier. Or maybe if they changed the octave her voice. I would take that as a small win.

[sonofgold]

Mmmhmm- I'm discovering that any theory people come up with has some kind of problem or hole that can't quite be filled.

[universal_charm]

That tends to be what happens when you don't have enough information to fill everything in. But who knows here? I'm starting to give up on the idea of total logic in this place.

[sonofgold]

Isn't that the truth? My mind is pretty open to any possibility, but at the same time, it makes it harder to focus on a single thing.

[universal_charm]

To many possibilities, not enough data.

At some point they'll mess up. Either the program will have a flaw and we'll notice, or, and if especially they are - well, human is narrow, but if they are organically sentient - they will definitely mess up.

[sonofgold]

I agree. If this has been going on as long as they say it has, I find it hard to believe that nobody, in the history of this show, has managed to figure out a way to escape. The odds would be astronomical.