witchesreign | [BBS] & [Action] 2nd Transmission

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[BBS] & [Action] 2nd Transmission

[In the morning there is a BBS Post:]

Hey Not-A-Robot.

Got parts.

Meet me in the cafeteria round 4 (or 1600, whatever).

Know we have Tactics together, but I have another class right after.

Wouldn't have time to fix anything.

-Jack Spicer

[In Tactics 101, Jack arrives, all harried-looking, just before the instructor. The class starts before anyone can talk to him. After class he leaves in a hurry, clearly preoccupied with something.]

[Later Jack's sitting at a table in the cafeteria with an array of metal bits in front of him. He's currently trying to make a tower with them, but the smaller pieces keep falling. He keeps replacing them, despite it apparently being pointless. He seems very intent.]

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[Just because he finds these "keyboard" things entirely too slow doesn't mean he can't read, so Ed shows up at about five past. He was a little worried he might not be able to find the correct jerk, but he shouldn't have been; it's a while past lunchtime, and, well, most people would figure out the hopelessness of trying to make a tower out of screws after a couple of attempts, he would've thought.

Without much in the way of greeting (owing a favour doesn't mean he has to be polite about it, unless the guy wants that to be the favour), he pulls up a chair.] Hey, "Not-An-Alchemist". I have a name.

[Jack glances up, fake-pouting.] You never told me what~

[Concentration on the mighty tower lost, he quickly rearranges the pieces so that they're in some slight semblance of organization, and gets out his little toolset.] Alrighty, arm on the table.

[Touché, but was it so hard to ask?] It's Edward. So now you know, you can cut that out.

[He wrapped the arm up in his coat before coming here to avoid odd looks from strangers, so he drops the whole bundle in front of Jack and inelegantly pulls at the coat until the arm half falls, half rolls onto the table.]

[Jack ignores the introduction (did he even hear it?) and gives Ed a dirty look.] I wonder why your arm's in such bad shape?

[He shakes his head reprovingly and gets straight to work on the arm. He, uh... appears to be removing things.]

[For Ed, dirty looks from other people are meant to be returned.] Yeah, subtle. I'll worry about maintenance after I can actually use it.

...Wait, you're taking stuff out? Didn't you tell me you were just going to put some screws in?

[Jack's just going to shoot Ed an incredulous look now.] Um, did you not listen to me at all? I said screws were all you needed to have it reattached. I assumed you didn't want it to break immediately again? I told about all the stuff that needed to be replaced. [Indeed, he does have more metal bits and pieces than just screws on the table.]

[Bah, if Ed understood any of that crap he wouldn't have had to ask for help. He does know when to shut up, though.] Okay, okay. Sorry I asked.

[He drags a nearby chair over and flops down into it. After a few moments of nothing, he absent-mindedly starts to trace a shape on the table surface with his index finger - the shape of the transmutation circle that would make a real tower out of those assorted metal bits and pieces. He doesn't have a piece of chalk he could use to draw it properly, but it's marginally less boring than just watching.]

[Jack gets back to the arm again. He works in silence for a few minutes, then pulls out a pencil and small pad of paper and starts taking notes. He pokes at bits of the arm's mechanisms. Then back to work again.]

[...If that circle actually works, Jack shall be displeased >:| And he'll freak out. But mostly displeased.]

[Nah, Ed wouldn't do that kind of thing even if he'd drawn a real circle. Well, he might, because it would be hilarious, but only once he knew for sure that none of the remaining pieces would be needed to fix his arm. At the moment, he's just being his usual impatient self.]

Are you done yet?

No.

[He pokes at the arm for a bit more, and takes a few more notes. After a while, he finally begins replacing bits.]

[Well, sorry he asked that too, then. Ed really wishes he'd brought a book or something.] So how far have you got? [It's a rather half-assed attempt at striking up some conversation, but at least he's trying.]

[Jack pauses and looks around at the arm, the bits he needs to put in, and the bits he's already taken out.] Hmm... About halfway, probably.

[He pokes the arm again.] Are these things common where you're from? Does everyone who loses a limb get it replaced by cyber--automob--whatever you called it?

Automail? It's pretty common, I guess. Some people replace their limbs without actually needing to... but then there are people who don't want to, even if they look like they should. I don't really get either of them, though. I just think it's convenient. [For things such as, to pick a completely random example, being able to write stuff down in class. Grr.]

...

Yeah, they both sound kinda weird. I don't get them either. Hacking off your own limbs? Refusing to

[Working working working. And after another ten minutes, he looks up.] Alright, I think that's good. Now I gotta attach it, and have you try using it a bit so I can see if everything's still moving as it should.

[Ready to attach it? That's, uh... good. Obviously. Just because Jack doesn't look much like a professional mechanic and had no idea what automail was doesn't necessarily mean it's going to hurt any worse than normal.

...It better not hurt any worse.

He stands up, undoing his jacket and pulling down the shirt underneath to expose the automail on his shoulder - that's not ideal, but he is in the middle of a cafeteria. Damn, he should've thought this through before agreeing to it.] Okay, let's get it over with.

[Jack spends some time examining the shoulder joint and the connection point on the arm. Finally he begins screwing the arm on.

It does hurt. A lot.

But surprisingly, not more than usual? Maybe Jack actually is a professional mechanic.

Then he finishes.] Alright, test it out, wanna make sure everything still bends right. [What a reassuring way to phrase that, Jack.]

[The moment the automail reconnects with the nerves in his shoulder, the first thing Ed does is scream. Very loudly. He wasn't intending to - hell, he wanted to keep it down a little, since there's bound to be someone else in the cafeteria who'd get entirely the wrong impression - but he hasn't had this done in a long while, and it never gets any easier. The second thing he does is crumple, retaining just barely enough self-awareness to do so onto his chair and not the table in front of him.

...Although, after a few minutes, once he's opened his eyes again and recovered most of his sensibilities, he has to say it was better than he was expecting.

Still a bit light-headed, he does his best to sit up. He clenches and unclenches his fist a couple of times - his fingers feel maybe slightly heavier than before, but they're functioning. A quick wave of the arm seems to indicate that the elbow is working, too. Finally, he punches the edge of the table, leaving a little dent and probably dislodging anything that was still on there.

Despite the continued aching - he'll have to take things easy for a couple of hours more, if past experience is any guide - he manages to grin.] All right! Perfect! [But then the grin turns a little less friendly.] So, about that tower you were making...

[Jack flinches at the scream, but actually manages not to run and hide. He finishes taking some notes, then puts the pad away.]

Uhhh, so. That screaming and fainting thing normal? I'm kinda starting to see why some people might not want these things...

[He scowls a bit at mention of his tower.] Look, I was bored, ok? You were taking forever.

[He could've phrased that a little less delicately, but compliments where they're due:] Hey, you are clamping a foreign object directly onto someone's nervous system. Hurting just means you did it right. It's one thing I'm not gonna miss when I get my real limbs back. [He says it almost without thinking... but it's still a priority, right? Even if other things have superseded it lately. As long as he doesn't have his original arm and leg, he knows he hasn't paid back everything yet.

A twinge in his still-painful shoulder makes him wince; maybe "taking it easy" should involve a little less punching, too. Oh well.]

Were you really expecting to get anywhere? Those things are completely the wrong shape. [If Jack was bored, what about Ed? Minor property damage seems like a fair amount of retribution... but he's not exactly hiding the fact that he's planning it.]

You can f--um. Yeah, I guess. [Jack ever so smoothly covers the fact that he still doesn't know much about how automail works.] Still, pain being a good sign? Not sure I'd go with the cybernet--one of those things, if I lost a limb. Unless maybe it was a hand? That might be worth it...? [And then he finally picks up on the bit that makes absolutely no sense.] Uhh... Limbs just regrow where you're from?

[Jack scowls and starts repacking his mini toolkit.] I was bored. It wasn't an engineering attempt.

[Ed may not be hiding it very well, but Jack has no idea what his customer/patient is capable of...]

Mm, the hand might be the worst. You don't realise how much you use it until you have to get used to doing everything with your left hand.

...Regrow? [Ed is amused.] What are you, stupid? That's not how limbs work! Nobody ever told you that you can't just get something for nothing? [The talk about his limbs makes him feel a little guilty about screwing around in a place like this, though.] I'll get them back... but only after undoing everything I did to lose them. That would be an equivalent exchange. Nothing less.

Yeah, I could tell! An engineering attempt would've looked more like -

[A few loose screws landed near Ed's feet when he hit the table. They look like they're probably mostly steel. Okay, then.

He crouches down, claps his hands together and presses them to the floor, which sparks and lights up in a circular pattern - pretty close to the pattern he was pretending to draw earlier, actually. In the centre of the transmutation circle, the screws appear to writhe, fusing together, taking shape. When Ed takes his hands away a few seconds later, there's a perfectly smooth metallic pole about as tall as Jack sticking out of the floor.

...Of course, it's hollow and will probably snap in half if you look at it funny, but come on, he didn't have that much metal to work with.]

- this, right?

[It's totally not vandalism! He's clearly still just checking whether his arm is working.]

[Jack looks annoyed at being called stupid, and is clearly about to reply, when Ed finishes explaining. Now Jack is amused.] Ooh, I see.

You're crazy.

[Jack jumps when the pole starts growing, but that's just his hair-trigger startle reflex. He doesn't look terribly impressed. Well, maybe a little.] No, not even close. That's not engineering, that's magic. There is, in fact, a difference.

[Ed gets up, feeling smug despite the lacklustre reaction.] Heh, someone who builds mechanical copies of himself and pretends he's worth more to the world than he really is can call other people "crazy" as much as he likes -

[Wait.

Waaaaait.]

Magic? So you think you can tell the difference between them, but not the difference between alchemy and the imaginary crap that people invoke to satisfy their made-up gods? Alchemy is a science!

[Okay, okay - he's cooling down, give him a second. Sure, it's an important distinction, but it's still not the guy's fault his home world happens to be one of the weird ones. It's not like he called Ed short, right?] ...But who am I kidding? You wouldn't recognise a science like engineering if it hit you in the face.

[Jack twitches a little as his worth is called into question, but only a little. It's not like he hasn't heard stuff like that all his life. Then Ed goes off on his little magic rant. Jack is... confused, to say the least.] What on earth does magic have to do with gods, made-up or not? Magic is just something some folks can do. Like the monks have their elemental powers, and Wuya has... some kind of green-rock magic? And Chase Young turned into a dragon, and Hannibal Bean is... well... Bean. It's just stuff that happens.

[At the last comment, Jack is becomes more amused than he was a moment ago. Who cares about his scientific cred? This reaction is delicious. He smirks.] Kinda makes it scary you just let me work on your arm, doesn't it?

[Ed neither understands nor particularly gives a crap about Jack's examples, but magic? Please. It's either an elaborate dressing-up of alchemy (as he believes this world's magic is), a hoax, or both.

On the other hand, he does understand taunts, particularly those that pick on the gaps in his own logic. And he rises to them magnificently.]

Quit jerking me around! Unless you want to see exactly how well my arm is working!

[Jack continues to smirk. He's dealt with scarier people than Ed. He's intentionally picked fights with people scarier than Ed. He's pretty sure he can handle himself--or, if push comes to shove, escape easily.]

Sure, go ahead, prove my point. Of course, I'm pretty sure the Garden wouldn't approve of a cadet attacking another, particularly unprovoked...

What the hell was your point, anyway?!

[At this point, wiping the smirk off this bastard's face almost seems worth expulsion. Almost. Ugh, just another reason to hurry up and figure out some way to get back through that Gate... but first, maybe he can drop by that Training Centre he heard about and pretend that one of the monsters there is Jack for a few minutes. It counts as resting if it's therapeutic violence, doesn't it?]

Forget it, I don't need to know. Thanks for the fix. Take your screws with you when you're done. [In a final attempt at retaliation before he grabs his coat and stomps off, he tries to kick the pole in Jack's general direction, but it's pretty much made of foil and just folds up from the impact. Dammit. Maybe he'll make that half an hour.]

[Operation: Troll Complete Stranger For No Reason is a success! Jack is thrilled. And he didn't even have to run away screaming! He watches the tower collapse with slight curiosity.]

[Of course, no one ever gets the last word on Jack Spicer. He calls after Ed:] It was that you can't use logic!

[Some people can get the last word on Edward Elric, but he's not about to roll over and add another one to the list. From halfway across the cafeteria, without turning back round:] At least I can use my eyes!

[And the maturity continues:] Shame you can't use your brain!

Don't be jealous just 'cause you don't have one!

Protip: don't use "comebacks" that make you look more ridiculous, Mr. "My Arm Must've Fixed Itself"!

If you don't like it then you'd better trade in that favour now, Mr. Parents' Basement!!

[Jack narrows his eyes.] Oh noooo, that's saved for something important. I'd never waste it on asking you not to make yourself look stupid.

[Worth a shot. Ed isn't surrendering - ohhh no, let that bastard walk over here and he'll see how much Ed doesn't surrender - but he does have absolutely no patience left to squander on this crap. Jack can gloat over managing to insult a guy probably half his age if he really wants to; Ed will just have to make that a whole hour in the Training Centre, and he'll be fine. No, let's say three.

Still, he can't resist turning back just before leaving the cafeteria and sticking his tongue out.]

[Jack, who is practically 30, returns the gesture.]

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[BBS] & [Action] 2nd Transmission

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Sorry for the late :(

hey, _I_ can't really rag on anyone else for being slow ;D

|D slowness buddies o/

\o

I don't know how FMA alchemy works, can tracing with a finger actually do stuff? |D

nope, you have to be able to see the circle and deliberately activate it :D; Sorry, should've said.

Ah. No worries! |D

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Almost responded with Gothel |D;

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please excuse my repost ._.

is cool, I do that too--shoulda done it with me last post there. Half a sentence missing -_-

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