01 ▷ video

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Hello, network. The feed opens up to shelves and shelves of stuff -- stereos, power tools, appliances, speakers, the works. You name it, you see it. There's even a display rack of guitars hanging on one wall along with amplifiers. And, whoa, hey, was that a horse from a carousel? What the heck?

Today you'll be treated to the dulcet tones of Rupert Holmes' voice as he sings "Escape," though the music is indistinct and soft, almost as if it were playing over headphones. ]

Okay, look-- [ The camera flips around to a dude looking pretty aggravated, and-- oh, hey, those headphones we mentioned earlier are hanging around his neck. ] --I've only been working here for, like, a day or two? But I think it's time for some serious changes. So we're implementing a new rule at the pawn shop, alright? If you're gonna mess around with the guitars, the following songs are now banned.

[ He ticks them off on his fingers as he names them: ]

"Smoke on the Water." "Sweet Child of Mine." "Back in Black." "Purple Haze." "Crazy Train."

And "Stairway to" friggin' "Heaven."

We all get it, rock star. You kinda know your way around a guitar, and you kinda know, like, the first couple bars of the cool parts, but you're seriously not impressin' anyone with your half-remembered riffs.

So to anyone who wants to come in and plans on playing even one note of those songs -- and trust me, I'll know, -- be advised: I have guns. I will use them with extreme prejudice.

[ He pauses for a beat, scrunching up his lips, then he shrugs. ]

Pretty sure that's it. Have a good one.

[ -- and the video ends. ]

Comments

[video]

[hands4healing]

Those are song titles?

audio;

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah. Guessin' you're one of the lucky few who hasn't heard those songs a million times over, then?

[video forever]

[hands4healing]

Mm. I'm not from Earth. The music like what I heard at home is...

[She thinks, rubbing her chin.]

Swing?

[nostalgiabomb]

Huh, alright.

Swing's not bad. A little before my time, but I like it. Where're you from, then? If you don't mind my askin'.

[hands4healing]

The country is Amestris, and the year is 1915. We have a lot of the same things as this world, but.

[She shrugs.] The technology is different.

What about you?

[nostalgiabomb]

Earth, myself. [ a beat, then, ] It's where I was born, anyway. Been mostly wanderin' around space for most of my life, though.

So Amestris isn't on Earth?

[hands4healing]

Space?

[That's always fascinating to her.]

You had a ship? Did you take care of the engineering?

[...]

No, not on Earth. It has a lot in common with Earth, my world.

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah, I did at the start. Eventually got a guy on who could work the mechanical side better than I could, but I'm still the better pilot. [ Wow, don't be so smug, bro. ]

[hands4healing]

What's it like, being in space?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ His answer is immediate: ] Awesome.

I mean, sure, every place has its problems? And every planet has got its own issues, and some of them are suspiciously similar to other planets' crap. Political games. Wealthy versus poor. Lack of resources, stuff like that.

But, I mean, there's a kinda freedom to it, you know? It's just-- nice. You don't have to tie yourself down to any one place.

[hands4healing]

It sounds amazing.

[Oh, look, you've gone and activited the sparkly eyes, Peter.]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ SPACE DESERVES SPARKLY EYES. ]

Yeah, it can be. Sometimes it can be shitty, but, you know, everything has its ups and downs, right?

[hands4healing]

[Well, yes, she does know, perhaps too well.]

You're right, everything does.

[nostalgiabomb]

What about where you're from? Amestris, right? What was it like?

[hands4healing]

It's...a military country, and aggressive, so there was always a war going on. When I was little, it came to where I lived...but other than that, I didn't really know much about it. So where I lived was generally peaceful. We raised sheep in my community, but my grandmother was the local surgeon and engineer, so she trained me to build automail. It's a type of prosthetic in my country - it's attached to the nerves directly, so it moves like a flesh limb.

The country is changing - there was a civil war when I was brought here. But I understand it turned out all right! My friends won.

[nostalgiabomb]

-- Huh. Well, I guess that's proof enough of the whole-- getting taken from different points in time, thing.

But that automail stuff-- does it hurt? I mean, if it attaches to nerves. I've gotta imagine that kinda hurts?

[hands4healing]

Installing it hurts, yes. I'm researching ways to negate the pain, but that's a long way off.

[nostalgiabomb]

Have you been researching it while you've been here, then?

[hands4healing]

Um...since I was eleven, really.

[When her best friend did something stupid, and lost his arm and leg.]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ ... damn. ]

That's some serious work for an eleven year old. How long's it been since you started?

[hands4healing]

About six years! I dropped out of school to help my grandmother take care of my friends, and I apprenticed with her. And I went to Rush Valley and apprenticed there, but I was about to start my journeyman piece, so I could move onto the next step to being an automail master.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ -- Okay, there are parts of the story he's missing, he thinks, but he's not really one for prying. ]

So, like, is there a certification process or something to being an automail master? Like, do you get a piece of paper that says you're qualified or something?

[hands4healing]

You have to be a journeyman automail engineer for a while, and work up to building your master piece. Once you take your mastership exam, and show your piece to five masters, they make the decision whether you've graduated to being a master engineer, and you can actually earn money for making automail.

And there is a piece of paper, and usually a big party!

[nostalgiabomb]

Sounds like a lot of work. What was the piece you were working on? Or is it, like, top secret stuff?

[hands4healing]

Well, I was kind of on a break, so I wasn't working on anything before I got dragged here. But if I could figure out a way to make the installations less painful, or if I could figure out a way to provide actual touch, rather than sensor plates that just give an impression of weight, that'd be a mastership piece. I could probably skip journey with that!