[30] it's for this experimental film

[buildstherobots]

[After sulking for a few days, Dist comes up with an idea. A brilliant idea, though that is obviously par the course for him.

Or maybe he's hopped up on the medication from the hospital. Regardless, he makes a phone call.]

I need little mechanical parts. If any of you have small watches or little toys, anything with small, moving metal parts, I'll buy them off you. I'm doing an experiment.

Comments

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

[Dist, you just said so many magic words, oh my God.

You can hear Cynric digging through piles of stuff while he talks.]

I've got stuff! Plenty of stuff. I've been saving it in case I thought if something to build. But you can have it! No need for payment of course. I can bring it over in a bit.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I already have plans drawn up; I'll show you when you get here.

Oh! I'm next door to my normal house. I'm staying with someone.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Alright! I'll be over as soon as I can. [With that he hangs up. It'll take some time for him to get over there. First he has to box up his stuff, which is a little painful with his two missing fingers. Then he goes to Dist's house anyway, remembers that he's supposed to be next door, goes to the *wrong* next door house before going to the right one. He out of breath but he's brought a wagon carrying a box full of stuff with him. He looks excited as always.]

Sorry for the delay! I hope I have something you can use.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[Dist is not much better off; his right eye, or at least the spot where it used to be, is covered with gauze and bandages, though he appears cheerful despite it. Yeah, he's slightly drugged.]

Oh, that's wonderful. Come inside.

[He moves to pull the wagon inside himself, then leads Cynric into the living room; the coffee table is absolutely covered in papers bearing sketches and diagrams.]

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Oh, you stopped at the post office too, eh? [Cynric holds up his bandaged right hand. It's obvious he'd done it himself.] Took two fingers for some clothes, they did! Talk about a steep price. And then I just bled all over them! No fair, I tell you.

[He looks over the diagrams.] I see it hasn't slowed you down any, though!

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Well, hopefully they were attractive clothes!

[He sits himself down on the couch, reaching out to gather up some of the papers to show off. Oh, he hasn't taken on a project like this in ages!]

They took my eye, but I can make fontech again! So I'm going to make myself a new one. It'll be better than my regular eye, just you wait and see!

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was my favorite ones! They're soaking as we speak... I hope I can save them.

[His eyes grow wide at this idea.] You're going to build a magical mechanical eye? Brilliant! What a great idea! Well, then I hope you can find some useful parts in what I collected.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Try peroxide; I've always found that to be the best way to get blood out of clothing.

[Dist flips to the cleanest of his sketches.]

It's not going to be easy; I don't usually work on such a small scale, but even wounded I'm absolutely up to the challenge. Look.

[He gestures to a complicated series of gears.]

If I inscribe a fon verse for Rem and Shadow here, or light and dark, I should be able to give it nightvision capabilities. I'm going to give it a fonstone core; the Kaiser's fon drive should be able to provide a large enough chip.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

[He listens closely. Dist he's been waiting 1000 years for awesome magic tech stuff like this, you have no idea.]

I see! Ah, I wish I had my magic back to help you! I could trade in for it at the post office you know, but if they took fingers for clothes, what would they take for something like that? My lungs? I'm not sure I'd want to find out.

[He'll start sifting through his box for useful things. There is some good stuff in there amongst the random items.]

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Do you think they'd take something lethal like that? That's stupid; it'd defeat the whole point of bringing you here. Anyway, your magic doesn't use fonons, and while normally I'd love to experiment with mixing them, this one is going inside my head.

[He turned to start riffling through the box, pulling things out seemingly at random.]

This is excellent.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Ah, that does make sense. Well maybe my legs or something then. Still, I don't think it'd be worth it.

[Oh yay, he's still useful!] Great! I'm anxious to see what you can do. If it works well enough, maybe we can do something about my hand.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I'd wait, definitely. I'm sure you'll get them back eventually.

This is very exciting. The only problem I foresee is that I'll need some things in unique configurations, but I know someone who may be able to do that for me. It's going to be gorgeous.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

I hope so! I'll have to give that Postman a piece of my mind if they don't.

So it's not just going to be an eye, is it? What else is it going to do?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Well, I already mentioned nightvision capabilities. I may give it infrared vision as well. The fonstone core will hopefully work to enhance my own fonon control; Jade had something similar done to his own eyes, back home. He had to wear special glasses to keep it under control.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Sounds perfect! Who's Jade?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Jade is... someone from my world. He was brought here very recently; this is his house.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

You have a friend from home here? Aren't you lucky! I'll have to meet him sometime then.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

...I guess he's a friend. He's rather insufferable; I don't know if you'd want to meet him.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

[NONSENSE, DIST. Cynric will be friends with everyone.]

Ah, really? Still, must be comforting to have someone you know here. One of the things the town offered me with the boxtops was a call from my family, but I'm certain that was all a ruse.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[Dist... smiles a little.]

Yeah. It's kind of nice; he's letting me stay here, at least, which I didn't expect. I've known him all my life.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Well then he can't be all bad then. I really will have to meet him sometime! Have you gotten his input on this design yet?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I haven't shown him. I don't know if I'm going to, until it's done.

[dodo-master.livejournal.com]

Would he not approve? How could he not? This is brilliant! Well, suppose we should get working then, before he gets back, eh?

[braided_icarus]

.....Leave the pocketwatch alone.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I won't take anything in Olivier's house. I may need your alchemy, though.

[braided_icarus]

...Might be a while till I can use it again. What did you need to do, exactly? What "experiment"?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I'm making myself a fontech eye. I'll be able to do most of it with things I can find here, but I may need some special configurations that I can't find myself.

[braided_icarus]

A "fontech" eye? What's that?

[Because he wants to know just what he is assisting you with, here.]

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I lost one of my eyes at the post office, so I'm building myself a gorgeous new one. Fontech is essentially magically-enhanced machinery. I can cast now, so I'll be able to imbue its parts so that they do what I want.

[braided_icarus]

Your eye.....Okay then. I'll do what I can to help, if you haven't been able to trade back for it or something by the time I am able to use alchemy again.

....

And you'll owe me.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

A favor for a favor? I guess that's fair.

[braided_icarus]

Exactly. Equivalent Exchange.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

What sort of favor are we talking here?

[braided_icarus]

Haven't thought of any yet. I'll let you know when I do.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Hn. Fine.

[braided_icarus]

So I'll let you know when I get the auto-mail fitted and you can repay me later.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Automail? You'll have to let me see.

[braided_icarus]

....

You are not doing any freaky experiments on me, Dist.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

I didn't say I was going to do any experiments! I just want to examine it!

[DON'T BELIEVE HIM EDWARD. JUST DON'T.]

[braided_icarus]

No.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Why not? I just want to see.

[Is it possible to pout over the phone? Because that's what Dist does.]

[braided_icarus]

And then you'd want to take it apart and see how it worked. No.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

You have no appreciation for scientific curiosity, you know that?

[braided_icarus]

I'm a scientist myself. I just had enough people gawking and oogling over my auto-mail back in Rush Valley. You wanna learn about prosthetics, talk to my mechanic.

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[...That is an acceptable alternative!]

Who is he?

[braided_icarus]

She, you mean. Winry Rockbell.

....

[W-wait. Why did he just-oh well. Not like Dist knows they are sort-of-kinda together. And if it was just blabbing about auto-mail, she would be sure to love talking to Dist about it. If anything, he'd probably remind her of that Garfiel guy, right?]

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I will probably give her a call.

[braided_icarus]

Or wait for her to come to ours, she has to for the auto-mail anyway.