[network] @ADMIN; Arrival [open]

[snowblindmods]

Welcome to Norfinbury. The time is E̛̬̞͖͖̫R҉͖̯̬R̼̻͉̰͎̳̙O̩͓͔̫͇͈̯R and the date is E̛̬̞͖͖̫R҉͖̯̬R̼̻͉̰͎̳̙O̩͓͔̫͇͈̯R. This network has been provided for your use. Please interact politely with everyone else on this network.
E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫
E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫ E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫
E҉̨̢͎͎̗̦͈͎̘R̨̘̦̙̖̳͈͟R̢̞̺͖̩̟̻͙͕̩͜O̢̢̼͉͔̟̯̝͇̙͜͠R̴̛̗̝͕̣̘͙̪͖̀͟:̢̢͉̙̥̝͖͉̯̟͇̖̱̖͓̲̳ ͏̴͉͈͈̦̝̦͉͖̖͉̪̝̠̭I͡҉̣̼̜̩̻̜͓̻̳̼̥̭̯̭̫͉̭ͅL̶͖͖̯̝̥̬̖̤̥̹͎̟̬̻̦̜̝̻̗͟͞Ļ̸̸̸̥̺̝̜̭̘̞͈͎͚͉E̶͍͍͈̬̕͜͟G̳̬͉̙̥̩̼̭̦͔͘͜͡À̴͟҉̤͔͇̩̳͝ͅL̟͉̯̥̝̀͢͝ ͏҉͈͎͇̞̪̬͓͎̖̥̜̦̖̜O̺̹̺̜͉̠͉̠͇̭̣͔͡͞P̢͘͜҉̺̝̥͎̜Ḙ̢͔͇̰͇̯̺͇͓̜Ŗ̦̝̫̯̻̰͍͙̼̮͎̕ͅA̸̬̯͉͓̥̕͢͞ͅT̷̡͎̻̳̥Ḭ̵̡̥̭̥̀͞O̴͈̤͚͇̜͘͘͞N̢̬͕̙̫̦̳̫̭͖͙̤.̧͢͜҉̩̼̬̞̟̻͇̭͖ ̳̝̺̯̣̠̣̲͎̝̞̣̭̫͘͠S̡̧̼͈̱̳̰̰̳̻̺̫̝͈͖͎ͅH̦̖̣̦̱͓͙͓̣́͜͠͠Ù̸͎̹̼̱͈͇̼̼̕ͅͅṰ̤̝̦̞͍̮̦̞̼̪͕̹̬͈͝T͞͏̟͖͔̯̼̫̞̥̣̘͉̫̟ͅI̢͖̪̮̺̰̟͎͈͇̻͈͔͉̱̯͓̻͞N̢̨̮̱͕̣͟Ģ̸̝̟͚̩͙͖ͅ ҉̴̝̭̩̯̫̤̼̬͇͡ͅD̨͏̺͎̝̟͔͉͕̲̮͎̦͓̥͕̹͓̮̖̘̀͠Ǫ̵͍͇̝̱̖̳̦͖͡W̸̧̩͕̹̹̬̰̻̣̣͓̞̼̮̦̺͟͞͡N̡̛̫͙̠͚̠̲̙̟̤͔̦͙ͅ.҉̢̻̝̦͓̀̕͠

Comments

Day One, 07:00 - ID: Spoiler

[spoileralert]

Hello?

[ Everything is suspicious, by but she's searched the place and hasn't found any answers yet. She has to at least take a look at the tablet, and the network it connects to. She holds it like a video phone, frowning at the strange image on the screen. ]

Who are you?

[armoured]

[Al jumps about a foot high when a voice actually answers him, sounding crisp and clear compared to the unreliable telephone system of Amestris. How is this working? There are no wires, cables, or anything...

There's a second or two of stunned silence, before he realises that he's been asked a question and should probably respond. He doesn't know if she's friend or foe, but he's naturally trusting so there's no wariness in his tone when he replies, only relief.]

O-Oh, I'm Alphonse. Alphonse Elric, I'm lost and I found this, uh, thing that said other people would hear me if I talked through it.

[It has to be a form of phone, right?]

[spoileralert]

[ She waits patiently for a response, though she has some questions about the weird noises coming from the other end of the feed.

When he finally answers her frown only deepens. He sounds like a kid. But how can he not know what a tablet is? And how the hell did she get here, and how is he connected to it all? ]

Lost from where, exactly?

[ She doesn't want to give her name just yet. She doesn't know why she's been kidnapped, so her captors may have chosen her at random. If they did, she doesn't want them knowing anything about her that she didn't tell them. ]

[armoured]

[Al also doesn't want to give out his exact location. It's not that he doesn't trust her, only that it may be hard to explain to a random person where he is. Just in case this is a further part of Father's plot, he'll keep it vague and expansive for now.]

Amestris, this isn't anywhere I recognise, are we across one of the borders?

[He is desperately hoping that she will laugh and tell him that he is still in Amestris, just somewhere he hasn't been yet. He desperately hopes it, but somehow knows it isn't to be.]

[spoileralert]

[ She wracks her memory, but can't place the name. He's speaking mostly unaccented English, so it has to be in an English-speaking country. Amestris. It doesn't sound like any particular language. ]

I have no clue. But it's definitely not Kansas, Toto. There's something in front of your camera. Something metal, it looks like?

[armoured]

[Wait, what?

At least fifty percent of that sentence makes absolutely no sense to him. Where is Kansas? Did she really mishear 'Alphonse' as 'Toto'? Where is his supposed camera? He's seen cameras before, and they're large, unwieldy affairs, and you definitely can't talk into them like a phone.]

Um, it's Alphonse, actually.

[One confusing thing at a time.]

And I don't think I have a camera; or, at least, I haven't found one.

[spoileralert]

[ He's never heard of the Wizard of Oz, and he doesn't even know what he's talking into. She rubs at the spot between her eyebrows. ]

You typed your name in, right? I mean, mostly. The camera's at the top of the screen.

[armoured]

Oh. ...OH!

[He quickly pulls the tablet away from his ear and peers at it curiously, giving Steph a close up image of his helmet.]

This is amazing, I've never seen anything like it! It's so much more advanced than the telephones and typewriters I've seen before.

[Which might be why his ID tag is LELRIC rather than his name.]

[spoileralert]

[ Goodness gracious. She just stares for a minute or so.

He's wearing a helmet. A kinda scary looking, glowy-eyed helmet at that. That does explain the tinny sound and weird clanking noises, though.

But more importantly, who the fuck still uses a typewriter????? ]

Ok. I'm confused and a little alarmed and wondering what the crap I was drugged with.

Full disclosure: If this is a prank I will break bones in everyone involved, including the camera man, and the cops will never catch me.

[armoured]

[Excuse you, it's like 1906 in Amestris, typewriters are the absolute cutting edge of technology. Except automail, just... incongruously. Al is starting to wonder if Steph has hit her head at all, she keeps making less and less sense.]

I really don't think it's a joke.

[Who would even play that kind of joke? Besides, this is all too surreal and vivid to be a simple prank, even from one of the homunculus.]

I don't know what's going on, sorry, I'm as confused as you are. But at least there's two of us now, we can work together and figure it out!

[spoileralert]

[ This is too insane. As such, there are only three options: either she's on a really bad trip, she never should have joined the hero game, or both. ]

I am so not caffeinated enough for this.

[armoured]

Look, um...

[Wait, he just realised that she never introduced herself in return.]

Sorry, but what's your name? If we're going to be working together, I should probably know what to call you.

[Since Steph is being given no choice in this alliance.]

[spoileralert]

[ She sighs. ]

It's Stephanie. [ She'd rather not draw attention from anyone who knows her dad, even if he is dead. ]

This network probably isn't secure. Whoever brought us here could be monitoring every word we say. Since we don't know what they want we should really avoid saying anything we wouldn't want a sadistic kidnapping psychopath from some terrorist organization to overhear.

[armoured]

[He would like to think that she's being overly paranoid, but he's no fool. Seeing the best in people doesn't make him blind to how the world can be, especially not after months dealing with the homunculus.]

Mm.

[It's a small, thoughtful sort of noise.]

We should really try and find each other, and not just because it's safer to speak in person.

[spoileralert]

[ She is being exactly the right amount of paranoid, thank you very much. She grimaces. ]

That's great, but I'm not exactly dressed for the arctic desert. I have no food, no weapons, and no concept of where I am in relation to anything else. And I'm sorry to say, metal armor's not great for heat insulation. If you've got an idea about how not to freeze to death, I'm all ears.

[armoured]

O-Oh, don't worry, I can come and find you.

[He chuckles awkwardly, a little too high pitched to be entirely natural.]

You'd be surprised how warm I am in here, I'm sure the cold won't be any problem.

[He hasn't learned yet, he still thinks his illusion of feeling the frost is in his head. He knows he can't feel cold, can't feel anything... he'll learn he's wrong soon.]

[spoileralert]

No. [ Her response is immediate and firm. ] No. Don't you dare. I am not going to be responsible for some kid getting lost in a snowstorm and freezing to death. You try it and I'll go after you myself, and then we'll both be dead.

[armoured]

[He sighs, a small and irritated tinny sound. He knows he will be fine, he can't feel the cold (right? Right... that's just an illusion of some sort) so he won't be any danger from being out in the snow.]

I can take of myself, really! I'm as warm as toast, so let me come and find you.

[spoileralert]

This is a suicide pact you're making.

[ Not gonna happen, Al. ]

[armoured]

H-Hey! Why won't you listen to me?

[Hmph. Sadly, when Al is grumpy or arguing, his voice gets even higher pitched, making it more child-like than ever.]

I just want to help you.

[spoileralert]

[ She is going to take a wild guess here: ]

Because I'm older than you and you obviously don't care about your own safety! This isn't a game, Alphonse.

[armoured]

I know it's not a game, you have to trust me to be able to help you! I'm not kidding around, I know what I'm doing.

[His fingers tighten over the tablet in his desperation to make her understand, forcing a metal creak to crackle out through the speakers.]

I've walked through a place like this before, I know I can deal with the snow.

[spoileralert]

Then you should know that metal will cause frostbite. I don't trust you, not enough to let you die alone in this bitter awful cold.

[armoured]

[ARGH! How does he explain that his armour won't cause frostbite without revealing his terrible secret?!]

It's not like that, this-- this armour is part of my training to be an alchemist. I've already trekked through high snow in it by myself for days, I swear I'll be fine.

[spoileralert]

[ He doesn't! He just has to either accept Steph's stubbornness will win or hand over the secret. ]

Just don't. You won't find me, I won't look for you. We'll both survive the night.