[voice] @user; Late Morning 364; Open [English]

[cosmicwords]

[chaos's low, soft voice speaks, heavy with worry.

He speaks in English.]

There was a warning that went out this morning that said "We are running critically low on resources. Please be patient while we make adjustments."

What resources are these? I...am afraid most of the last week or so is a blur to me.

I'm also curious about why this warning was released in multiple languages, as this hasn't been the norm for the ADMIN so far....

Comments

@standardissue; audio [Final Fantasy 7 language]

[deus_ex_phs]

[Kunsel tilts his head at the unfamiliar language coming through. He's frowning by the time chaos stops speaking.]

What language is that?

@user; audio [English]

[cosmicwords]

[A concerned pause.]

Kunsel?

Please, slow down, I don't understand what you're saying...

[FF7 language]

[deus_ex_phs]

[That's... not an answer. Not one he can understand.]

Death price? Nod or shake your head if you understand.

audio >> text [English]

[cosmicwords]

Kunsel?

Ah...let me try something...

[He switches to text.]

Maybe the voice system isn't working. Can you read this?

@starspangledhero; voice [English]

[fifty]

Okay, so like I was gonna say nothing weird was happening over here, but what's Kunsel even saying up there?

@user; voice [English]

[cosmicwords]

I'm not sure...

He seemed like he was trying to communicate but something was interfering...

The rhythm of his words sound like a language. It's not one of the ones I know if that's the case...

I don't recognize it in text form, either.

[fifty]

Did he die and get stuck in some weird language or something? [There's a pause with some thoughtful humming as America checks back through the obituaries.] I guess probably not unless it was really recent.

[cosmicwords]

That's not out of the question...

People have been resurrected ahead of their obituaries before...

[Now, THERE'S a sentence...]

You said nobody in your group has noticed anything unusual?

@Enoch; audio [unnamed pre-Babel language]

[warriorscribe]

That is English. I know the words, some of them. I should know all of them. I've been speaking it for a year.

[A pause.]

It doesn't come naturally to me anymore. I'd thought the nanomachines had imparted the knowledge to me the way understanding of other tongues had been after Babel fell.

[People with a good understanding of the ancient languages stemming from Mesopotamia, its immediate surroundings, and the languages closely related to these might be able to almost follow, but the syntax is wrong and not all the vocabulary matches up.

At least a language conceived well before some of the terms he's using means he has no choice but to use them as loanwords - "English" and "nanomachines" are crystal-clear.]

->Private:

I hadn't been thinking about what I was saying. Is it safe to say that you understand? Or shall you feign misunderstanding so we might switch to something else? Akkadian, perhaps?

@user; audio Akkadian [Open]

[cosmicwords]

[chaos recognizes most of that and is able to piece together enough meaning to respond. He keeps the channel open, as he's been publicly seen speaking Akkadian before]

You're speaking the Language of Birds...

Can you understand me now?

audio; Akkadian

[warriorscribe]

[And Enoch, in turn, acts as if his private aside had never happened. He switches to Akkadian easily enough, considering he's actually used it.]

I understand.

If it has all been perception, why English and not the language we feel we should be hearing? Why was everything translated into a language we might not have heard of?

audio; Akkadian

[cosmicwords]

Well, Norfinbury is in Alaska, right?

English is the national language there, it's part of the United State... Or, at least, it used to be...

They made a universal translator but it only seems to work in one direction.

@LELRIC; audio [Amestrian]

[armoured]

[Al listens to the whole thing, and there are parts that almost sound understandable, but in the end he has no idea what's said. His reply is in a language that sounds very similar to German, but isn't German at all.]

I'm sorry, I think there's something wrong with my tablet. Can you say that again?

@user; voice [English >> German]

[cosmicwords]

Al?

Could you repeat that?

[He switches to German, hoping that maybe it will help get some meaning across]

Hello? Alphonse?

[armoured]

[That's so much closer to understandable, enough that he kind of catches the gist of what might be being said, but it's still not Amestrian.]

Can you hear me? Hello? The tablet is broken, I can't understand anyone.

@Ecks | audio | various fantasy languages

[ecks]

[The language Ecks speaks first is guttural and she speaks it half through her teeth. She's already aware that Doctor House doesn't speak any of her languages and that she no longer speaks his; now she is cycling through what she knows in the hope that someone else might recognize one. Each of the four or five languages sounds alien; a linguist might catch on that several of them are related to one another. In the midst of her efforts is a version of Elvish that might sound vaguely familiar to any Tolkien enthusiasts. Each time she speaks she says the same thing slowly and clearly and pauses before starting again in the next language. The name House is the only word that has not been lost from its original form.]

I cannot understand you. Can you understand me? Doctor House cannot understand me. I do not know why this has happened.

@duster, audio (in riyria elvish)

[bywolves]

[ Royce's version of Elvish is a little different than Tolkien elvish. It's fluid, but a little more English accented, a little more Irish sounding than Welsh. They're similar enough that he catches something familiar.

He's been stalking around trying to figure out what the hell everybody is speaking and this is the first one he can catch any sense of. ]

Barely can understand you. [ Royce says, in a stilted sort of elvish. ]

audio | generic fantasy world elvish

[ecks]

I can understand you, Royce Melborn.

[She'd forgotten that he was a flower-su--no, that he was part elf. She does not use that other word anymore.]

You are the first.

@librarian; video; butchered fantasy language

[cahooted]

[Oh, this is – this is amazing. Flynn is listening in eagerly, his lips imitating the words soundlessly as he plays the message several times.

Eventually, he switches on his feed to reply. His pronunciation is flawed, the intonation and stresses wrong but he's getting there.]

Understand. [He puts his hand to his ear. That's what it means, right?]

House – cannot understand – Ecks. [Again pointing to his ear and shaking his head.]

I Flynn, you Ecks?

>video

[ecks]

[There's a shocked little silence, and then Ecks turns on her video. For a second she just stares, before contorting her face into what's meant to be an expression of surprise.]

I understand you. Do you understand me?

@user; voice

[cosmicwords]

[chaos can tell the languages are somehow related, but they're not any tongue he knows.]

I'm sorry, Ecks, I don't understand...

continuing in her native dialect of orcish

[ecks]

You speak like Doctor House.

[She switches briefly to text to send an emoji:]

:(

@librarian; video; english

[cahooted]

[Flynn is already eagerly listening in on all these attempted conversations. There is a frown on his face but he can't quite hide the gleam in his eyes or the way he's bobbing in place excitedly.]

It seems like whatever helped us understand each other is failing.

[Which is bad, of course. It's really bad. Very worrisome! They should take this very seriously.

... But all these languages are so fascinating to listen to!]

Maybe we should start working on dictionaries. Translation aids. Learn each other's tongues!

video; english

[cosmicwords]

[chaos makes a small laugh.]

We might not have any other choice if this keeps up.

In which case we'll need people like you around who can speak many languages.

[cahooted]

Absolutely!

[He grins.]

This is so exciting. The non-Earth languages are bound to have completely different linguistic families...