[network] @Technicalities; Doors; Backdated Day 015: 9PM [open]

[tadashiwashere]

[The previous day... was rough. Tadashi still looks haggard as he turns on his video. The circles under his eyes are darker and there's a faded set of scratches above his right eye from when last night's headache and hallucinations became so intense he injured himself while trying to force them away.

He takes a deep breath and against all odds tries to put on a positive face with a half smile. Whatever yesterday had been -- whatever happened that morning to pull them out of that spiral -- they were at least still here. And that's something he can hold onto.]

Tadashi Hamada here. It's been a while... this is my fourteenth day here.

[As always, he's careful to state the day. His smile flickers slightly upon realizing that this makes two weeks, but he powers through.]

I just wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing. I've been traveling with a small group -- I think Alphonse keeps in touch with almost everyone, so you should be up to date on that.

I do have a question. I spent today working on the door of a nearby building. I'm curious what's powering the locking feature that traps us inside every night.

[Or outside, but he carefully avoids mentioning that.]

Has anyone else tried to remove one of the doors or inspect the mechanism?

Comments

{ video | @Lavellan }

[carrywithyou]

[ Ellana is relieved whatever was happening yesterday is over. And hey, she's starting to get the hang of these tablets too. So she answers his question since it's an intriguing one. ]

Hello, Tadashi. I'm Ellana. I'll admit, I haven't taken a good look at the locks, but you bring up a good point. Now I wish I had my friends' lockpicking skills. They would be able to make sense of them, I'm sure. What kind of tools would we need to remove the doors?

video; ID: technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi feels like he's slowly becoming accustomed to seeing people with unusual features. Because of that, he doesn't even seem surprised to encounter what seems to be a female eld replying to his network post.

When his video feed starts back up, he looks somewhere between complete baffled and grim.]

That's the thing. I worked on one of the doors all day. I don't have the necessary tools to do this right, but I managed to get the hinges off.

[He pauses, uncomfortable.]

It didn't affect the door.

[carrywithyou]

It... didn't? You mean it still opens and shuts during the day, as if the hinges were still there?

[tadashiwashere]

Right. I couldn't see any reason why the door should still be attached in any way.

I'm mostly wondering if anyone else ran into this, or if there was something special about the door I chose.

[He seriously doubts it. There wasn't much out of the ordinary about that building.]

[carrywithyou]

I'm afraid I don't have anything to use on a door, unless a paring knife can get the job done. There's also this-- hold on... [ She rummages through her bag and takes out an ordinary desk stapler, clicking it so a staple falls out. ] This thing. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't look like it could be used to remove hinges. Could you tell me what it is?

video; @fullmetal

[forfeits]

[ it doesn't take much for Edward to tune into the network. the mention of his brothers name is both comforting and alarming in a place like this. he forgets Al makes quick friends, but that doesn't mean that Ed necessarily trusts the people here as easily as his brother.

there's much to be explained, still, and the threat of living shadows and many other things alone has Ed on edge. ]

You know Al?

[ he tries not to sound too invested, almost nonchalant about it, but the mention of the doors is fascinating. ] If we could get tools to remove the doors from the hinges, we could take them apart. I've been wondering how they lock myself. They lock at the same time every night, so they have to be running on some sort of timer, maybe. Someone's controlling them.

Video; ID: technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

Yeah.

[Tadashi smiles a little. Al is easily his closest friend here. He doesn't recognize Ed as Al's brother, though -- Tadashi's not on the network very often. Though he knows that Al's older brother is somewhere in Norfinbury, he hasn't asked to see an image of him or had time to browse the network to find him.]

I really don't know what I'd do without him. We're traveling together with Steph and Mami. And Mochi.

[Getting back to the doors, Tadashi sobers quickly and reaches back between his shoulder blades to massage away some of the tension there.]

See... here's where we run into a problem. I managed to remove the hinges. Nothing happened.

[forfeits]

Yeah, he has that effect on people. Is he doing okay, really?

[ he's so surprised to find someone else in Al's group, to finally get an idea of where they are moving, even if it's too vague. he's desperate to find his brother.

Ed knows that Al says he is fine, but whether he actually is or not is another thing altogether. ]

Wait, so even with the hinges off, it wouldn't budge? Must be magnetic then, or...

[ well, there are hundreds of possibilities, aren't there? ]

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi doesn't hesitate.]

I really think he is. All of us have our moments. He's no exception. But Al has a determination to help people and a positive spirit -- he's surviving this place better than most.

[For the hinges, Tadashi's eyebrows furrow together.]

Personally, I was considering electromagnets. Whatever it is, it's strong enough to keep the door connected to the frame, but it doesn't attract any of the metal we have here. I can't think of a better explanation than magnets for right now.

Voice; ID: max;

[feralone]

[As Max cuts in to answer Tadashi's question he's already making a throaty humming noise. It's sort of a thoughtful hrm but there's an edge to it--and if it's possible that a hum could sound disturbed then Max sounds vaguely disturbed by the topic already through his deep rumble.]

They don't- The doors don't come off.

[Trust him, Max spent a lot of time trying to hack, kick, or otherwise try to force the doors down on several occasions. Not to mention the more delicate work spent one night with various makeshift "tools" that were essentially just pieces of other things that were small enough to be used in place of a proper screw. That had led to the disturbing part of all this that Max was pretending didn't filter through into his tone. What had happened afterwards hadn't exactly made a whole lot of sense and Max had stopped trying after that point in time.

He went on to address the other half of the question, too, though, tone a bit smoother as he went on.]

No visible mechanics. Same with windows.

voice; ID: technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

It's not just me, then...

[Tadashi's tone suggests that he already suspected as much, but was merely waiting for the courtesy of a confirmation for what he already knows. He lets out a breath of frustrated air as he tries to wrack his mind for explanations. Elecrtomag suspension comes to mind first, thanks to working in close proximity to Gogo back at the nerd lab. It's a possibility, but the door should have still been removable.]

If they're using tech to keep the doors standing and auto-locking in the evenings, it's a tech I can't understand yet. I haven't ever seen anything like this. We should be able to see something. I'm not sure... maybe nanotech?

Voice; ID: max

[feralone]

[Wow, Tadashi, that went way over Max's head. The hell is nanotechnology?]

What? [He rumbles something under his breath.] I don't know.

[tadashiwashere]

Sorry -- just thinking out loud.

[Obviously he's still pondering this with too much focus to have the tendency to even sound sheepish. Way to go, Tadashi.]

I'm just trying to come up with something that's not magic. I want it to be some kind of technology -- something we can shut off if we need to.

action; because I do what I want to

[armoured]

[A few nights have passed since their conversation about death and secrets, and Al has done his best not to mention it after that one dark conversation. His gratitude to Tadashi for listening and his subsequent behaviour about it is something he displays only in the warm tone of his voice and his eagerness to be helpful.

Which is why, a few hours earlier to this broadcast, Al is sitting and watching Tadashi fiddle with one of the doors.]

What exactly are you trying to do?

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi has himself planted with the door open to the small house. He's already rooted around for tools, but the most useful thing he found was a razor. The broken door handles he found under the dining room table had been disturbing, but he's choosing to ignore pondering their meaning for now.

He glances up at Al as the younger boy pipes up and uses the moment's pause to adjust his grip on his can opener. He's been using it as leverage to press on the razor blade to avoid any slips resulting in a sliced finger.

His tone is patient as he continues carefully working the screw free.]

Well, I've been wondering for a while about the mechanisms that the doors work on. They can't all close at the same time without some sort of timer or without receiving a signal. First step is getting the door down, then we can work from there to find any signs of what we're looking for.

[He sighs, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.]

It's... a little slow going without an actual screwdriver, but it's getting there.

[armoured]

[He could kick himself for not thinking of examining the doors himself, but he can see what a good idea it is now that Tadashi has brought it up.]

Here.

[He holds his hand out for the razor blade.]

Let me. The razor won't hurt if it slips for me, and I'm pretty strong. I can probably get it off a little faster than you.

[Not as fast as if he had alchemy, but a metal body is at least useful for some things.]

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi hesitates for a moment, then hands the simple tool over and scoots aside to give Al room to take a crack at the screws holding the hinges on the door. He's not going to argue with the logic -- a suit of armor is definitely more built for using a razor like that than his skin is.]

Thanks. I just hope we can get a better idea of what's going on from this. I'd hate to waste an entire day and find out nothing, you know?

[The lack of answers is starting to sit heavily in the back of his mind -- he feels useless without having a way to actively contribute.

Tadashi offers a wan smile. It only lasts a moment before he rallies his optimism. He just needs to keep thinking -- if he's vigilant, he can begin to help crack the mystery they're all trapped in.]

@Enoch, text

[warriorscribe]

Remove the door? I'm afraid I haven't even thought to try; I don't want to ruin a shelter.

[He did, however, in trying to force the back door of this house open to escape from It, fall eye-first onto the doorknob. That doesn't really count.]

May I ask what your work on the door yielded?

Text; ID: Technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

that was my main concern. We decided to spend a day recovering, which gave me time to go work on a nearby building's door.

And honestly? More questions than answers. I removed the hinges from the door, but the door didn't budge. There's no reason it should sill be functioning. Not sure if you're familiar with electromag suspension, but that's my current guess for how this is possible. I doubt that's it. I'm all for any other theories.

[warriorscribe]

It still stood, and opened and closed, without its hinges? I wouldn't think it possible, and yet it seems you have an explanation for it that doesn't involve assuming the work of spirits or magic as I would have. What is this "electromag suspension"?

[Maybe, he thinks, maybe it could be useful in dealing with other things in this place.]

[tadashiwashere]

I only know the basics. It's not my field of expertise.

Basically electromag suspension utilizes electromagnets to create a magnetic field with a feedback loop. The early applications were for maglev trains, but my friend Gogo has been working on a bike using some of the same principles.

Anyway. Electromagnets could keep the door stabilized and operating without the use of hinges. I suppose if the field is strong enough, that could explain why no amount of work can remove the door from the frame.

video, @JPHawkins

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim looks pretty rough himself. He was nearly locked out the night before because he'd spent too much time trying to find the source of the beacon and the sudden maelstrom of crazy in his head; turning it off had cured that but left him with an entirely new sense of unease. Then he'd woken unable to move and with the uncomfortable knowledge that someone had to have touched him in his sleep. It's been a long day. ]

There's got to be some kind of mechanism through the whole town, maybe put down after whatever ruined it. Even the houses that don't have front doors anymore lock at night.

Video; ID: technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

[Another new face. Tadashi is both surprised and dismayed to scan the network today and spot such a number of unfamiliar screen names. Whatever is taking place here, it's not slowing down by any means. They need to work faster... before even more people are dragged into danger.]

So that I don't misunderstand, can you tell me exactly how the houses without front doors lock? You mean the inner rooms that are intact and have a door lock, right?

I noticed that. It must be something that was installed after everything, like you said.

[Tadashi spent at least one night curled up in a tub with Mochi, locked into a small bathroom until morning.]

[rattlingthestars]

Exactly. It wouldn't make sense to connect the inner doors if the houses were whole when it was built.

[ The size of the mechanism would have to be massive to connect every door at once, Jim thinks, but that's not so impossible anymore. Flint's trove was at the center of a mechanism the size of an entire planet. Powering it, though - that should be making some heat somewhere. ]

Have you found any tools?

[tadashiwashere]

[That brings to mind an entire slew of new questions. How massive of an operation is this? At first, Tadashi assumed they were dealing with a small group of kidnappers, but as the number of victims rose and there were implications that some serious tech might be operating under their feet... he was rethinking that initial assessment.

Tadashi shakes his head at the other boy's question.]

Nothing very advanced. I've been making due with a can opener and razor lately. Have you found anything, ....? What should I call you?