Video

[fullmetalbrat]

[The video feed cuts in on a blond teenager squinting dubiously at the camera. His eyes widen a moment later when he notices the video display on the screen.] —Is it working?

Uh—hey. Can people really see this? If there is anyone watching, I'm looking for a guy in a huge suit of armor. Goes by the name Alphonse. [He leans closer to the camera, pointing emphatically.] If you see him, tell him his big brother's looking for him!

Now that I've got that out of the way, I got some more questions for all of you. Someone told me that when people leave this world they forget everything about it, but they might remember if they come back. Is that really true? Is there anyone who's left and come back that I could talk to?

I want to know more about this registration scheme they've got here too. I heard plenty about what you get for it, but what's the catch?

And, [he starts, pausing to glance at something laying just below the camera's field of view], what's a "pop star"?

Comments

[fullmetalbrat]

A couple of them. My mechanic and C.O.

[resoundingpledge]

[ She was obviously going to say something else, but some pings are too strong to be ignored. ]

—you have a mechanic?

[fullmetalbrat]

Oh—yeah. She maintains my arm and leg for me.

[He raps his knuckles on his left arm. The ring of metal is muffled through his jacket, but still distinct.]

[resoundingpledge]

[ She tilts her head at the sound of that. ]

Cybernetics?

. . . that's another difference. This Earth and my own . . . we didn't develop things like that until a lot later.

[fullmetalbrat]

Cyber . . . ? We call it automail on my world.

[resoundingpledge]

'Automail', huh . . .

[ The soft edge of her accent is a bit stronger as she feels the word out. ]

Cybernetics is field of study. At its broadest it's about controlling a system with technology, but most of the time you hear it, it's about combining artificial systems with biological ones.

The nanites and your link to the network—that would be covered under cybernetics too.

[fullmetalbrat]

Huh . . . I think this is something different from your cyberjunk. It's only machinery. None of that electric stuff.

[Private]

[resoundingpledge]

You wouldn't . . . need a mechanic for an non-articulated system though, right? And if it's not externally powered, there'd need to be some sort of kinetic link . . .

[Private forever]

[fullmetalbrat]

But it is . . . [He wiggles the fingers of his automail hand to prove it, even removing the glove so she can watch it in motion.]

I don't know how all the internals work. That's why I have a mechanic instead of worrying about it myself.

[resoundingpledge]

[ She shakes her head, eyes not leaving the momentary demonstration. ]

Not only fully articulated, but real-time synaptic response . . .

Let her know? If there's things she wants to learn here . . . 'bionics' and 'biomedical engineering' will have a lot.

[fullmetalbrat]

With you as her teacher? I'll let her know about it, sure. But for now . . . tell me more about this biomedical stuff.

[resoundingpledge]

Not as a teacher! It's just . . . those are the words you need, if you're looking for a field like 'automail' here.

Biomedical engineering is . . . it's really just that, engineering applied to biological systems. It covers things like medical devices, or implants and replacements, or scanners and imaging to record biological data and bioinformatic systems to interpret it . . . even things like genetic and tissue engineering.

[fullmetalbrat]

Oh . . . So they really do call it something else.

[He actually grabs a pencil and paper from somewhere off screen to start taking notes on as she's talking, underlining a few key words.]

—Wait, what are genetics?

[resoundingpledge]

Genetics . . .

Genes are . . . kind of like the blueprint for life? All kinds of life, plants and animals both. The colour of your hair and eyes, your blood type, even how strong or susceptible you are to different diseases is encoded in your genes.

Genetics is the study of genes, and genetic engineering is the study of how to change and alter them.

[fullmetalbrat]

[WHAT THE HELL]

You've figured out that much detail?!

[resoundingpledge]

I don't . . . actually know how far they are, here, but . . . I think so. At least, with their medical sciences . . . I wouldn't be surprised.

[fullmetalbrat]

[For a long moment he gapes dumbly at her




and then he underlines "genetics" about five times on his notepad.]

Any other major medical advancements I should know about?

[resoundingpledge]

Medical . . .

I'm not sure which would be new, but . . . organ transplants? They can store blood for transfusions now, surgery is really improved. X-ray, CT and MRI scans . . . those are used to take pictures of your bones and soft tissues, including your brain.

And worldwide elimination of smallpox, if you had that . . . we have a lot of vaccines now, and a lot of diseases that used to be incurable are treatable. There's a lot of new drugs in general . . . from simple things like painkillers and flu medicine to drugs that regulate heart and brain functions . . .

[fullmetalbrat]

[He'd started taking notes, but his writing slows the longer she continues until it finally stops.]

There's so much . . . Why can't the future all be cool things like this?

[resoundingpledge]

We're trying. I was, at home . . . I'm sure people here are too.

That's why . . . if you can get out at all, and see the cities for yourself . . . there's so much more than politicians and leaders and wars here.

You'd like De Chima.

[fullmetalbrat]

What's De Chima like?

[resoundingpledge]

Professional.

Labs, research facilities, hospitals . . . a few are even teaching hospitals. Collages . . . that sort of thing. The libraries you want are probably there too, if you want books instead of digital.

It's one of the best places for modern electronics, too, of all the imPort cities.

[fullmetalbrat]

I'll pay it a visit! I bet my mechanic will love it too.

[resoundingpledge]

Mm. It sounds like . . . it would suit you. And there's people there who can answer a lot of the questions I can't—locals and imPorts both.

Though you've got the network for the latter, too.