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(no subject)

Date: March 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Slowly, Al's piecing things together. A fellow Transport who looks frighteningly similar to Edward Elric without being an impostor. He doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but so far it's all adding up to only one plausible explanation. It's almost funny to think that what he's trying to rationalize now is the sort of thing he would have found ridiculously outlandish only hours ago.]

Mhm, they told me a lot. About this place and their war, how they're bringing in people to fight for them from different worlds...

[He crosses his arms and looks more squarely at Ed. Even though he's essentially asking the same question as before, this time his tone is noticeably more gentle.]

You aren't my brother, but you look almost exactly the same and were still able to recognize me like this. Why don't you start with telling me about where you're from?

Al... [If he sounds exasperated to the point of being plaintive, it's at himself. Winry wouldn't have had any problem finding the words for this.]

I am, Al. Look. [He folds his tablet away under his arm, then pulls his right glove off and holds his hand up, curling his fingers into a ball. It glints.] It's me.

[He lowers it after a moment, feeling more awkward than before.]

That's what I want to say. But I found out a while ago... parallel worlds, parallel timelines, there's a lot of me. I guess it makes sense that there'd be more than one of you, too. [He looks down, and almost smiles.] Gotta admit, I didn't really think about it.

I believe you.

[If other worlds can exist then it's not too much of a stretch to think some of them might be parallels of their own.]

I'm sorry, it's just--this is all a lot to take in at once.

[He has so many questions that they're starting to run together, and even though there's so much else they need to sort out, he still finds his gaze drifting back to Ed's right arm. Ed looks a good few years older than Al remembers--why does he still have automail?]

If you already knew, does that mean there's someone else here from... [How does he even put this?] a version of our world?

I could've guessed before they dragged me out here, to be honest.

[He slips his glove back on, because it's something to look at other than Al.]

But you're right. There was. [He hesitates again - never mind the rest of this situation, this is something he finds impossible to imagine - but pushes on.] You know Winry, don't you, Al? I ran into her. Thought maybe she was just from our - from my past, or something like that, but it turned out what we remembered still didn't match up exactly. It wasn't a huge stretch from there.

[It's unsettling to be asked if he knows Winry, but he supposes there's not much they can take for granted in this situation.]

Was? She's gone?

[It'd be a leap to start worrying too much just from that, but it's a near thing.]

She was with me before I was brought here, but if they're really taking people from different times then I guess that doesn't mean much anymore either.

[Ed can't help but look a tiny bit relieved at the sign of recognition, even if it wasn't the one he was going for.]

It happens. No sign of a fight, and she left all of her things. I heard it's the technology they use to bring us here in the first place, but I still need to look into that. There's a lot I need to look into.

[And it's so much easier to talk about her than about himself.]

But she's okay? Back where you got pulled from? That's better than hearing nothing.

There's a chance it sends people back randomly?

[Of course it couldn't be as simple as a definitive answer, but he has to hope it's possible. Winry's just about the last person in the world who deserves to be dragged into a place like this.

Al drops his arms to curl one hand into a fist. Winry technically being missing is no small matter, but at the same time, he's sure that if there was a way to track her down Ed would have already done it. It won't help anyone for Al to waste time getting too caught up in the things he's missed.]

She was safe when I left her.

[And that's as good a prompt as any to start testing just how well their respective histories do or don't match up.]

I'm not sure if this is going to make any sense to you, but we'd just managed to get her out of the north without being caught by Kimblee's men.

[He shakes his head, although the distinctly uncomfortable look on his face was probably enough of an answer by itself.] Do we really need to sit and compare notes, Al? You've already got plenty to catch up on.

[He'd been prepared for the lack of recognition, but the rest of that is... interesting to say the least. While Ed's opinion is, of course, a valuable one to him, he can ask anyone here about Exsilium. There's only one person who can potentially offer insight on a future (if alternate) version of Amestris, though, and considering all that Al's gearing up to face once he gets back he can't afford to overlook any information that might help. He makes a discontent noise and tilts his head just a bit in what Ed might recognize as both the armor's closest imitation of a frown and an ominous sign he's not going to stop asking uncomfortable questions.]

Figuring out how much we really have in common is an important part of getting caught up too, Brother.

[If it turns out that the only thing that truly links them is getting these bodies then that's a depressing thought, but it's still better to know than to wonder. First, though:]

But we should find somewhere to talk away from this rain. You must be getting cold by now.

[Ed looks up at what he immediately reads as the equivalent of a frown. "Brother", again? So... is Al really convinced they're related or not? That's one of the questions Ed doesn't want to have to contemplate. At least when he first met Heiderich, seemingly a lifetime ago, he'd been able to believe that the guy was just an odd imitation of the real thing, even if on some level he'd known he was wrong - but this is Al, who's always been there, who's now talking as if he hasn't.

He's happy to seize on any excuse to keep the conversation away from himself, though. He makes an effort to brighten up a little. It might be slightly more see-through than he was intending.] Yeah, you're right. You get used to it after a while, but it's pretty relentless. [He reaches up, apparently casually, to rap on the front of Al's chest plate with the back of his hand.] Wouldn't hurt to think about finding you an umbrella, either.

Did they already tell you where you're supposed to be living?

[The gesture's a familiar one, and if Ed's aiming to ease the tension he's at least somewhat successful. (It wasn't long ago at all that Hohenheim had done the same thing; smiled and rapped his knuckles against the armor like even ten years of distance didn't completely erase the connection between them.) Ed's attempt at good cheer is a little transparent, but that's not something Al can blame him for. This has to be pretty awkward for both of them, so if feigning normalcy for a few minutes is what it takes to help them delve into heavier topics then he's willing to play along. He's good at being patient, after all.]

That's the place, isn't it?

[He points to the massive housing building, not particularly hard to spot from near the Hold.]

Yeah, and it has a roof. That's good enough for me.

[He starts walking again, in not nearly as much of a hurry as he was to get out of the courtyard. If he's honest, he doubts that going somewhere more private is going to make those heavier topics any easier for him - and Al isn't one to just drop the subject - but it's a solid excuse in the meantime.]

Better than the time they dumped us all in the middle of a desert for a week without so much as a tent. But that must be the point, huh?

[He tugs a little roughly at Al's breech cloth as he goes past, although he seems to be trying not to look at it. Of all the dumbest possible visual differences...]

The desert? What did they expect you to do out there?

[Most of the people Al's spoken to so far have been other new arrivals, so his curiosity is genuine. He plans on reading back through the network archives--a project to occupy his nights, most likely--but until then the details of past missions are still a mystery to him.

Ed doesn't need to urge him into motion, but the effort earns a faintly amused sound all the same as they make their way towards the apartments.]

[Ed's leading the way to his apartment - he doesn't know where they've assigned Al (and that's a slightly odd thing to think, by itself), but he knows he never sees much of his roommate, and today is after all a day he'd expect more people to be out and about than normal.]

Bake, apparently. [He grins a little.] Well, they told us it was all to rig this one election that happened in the past, like we needed more parallel timelines knocking around. That's the kind of thing they do. But when you compare the size of that town to the scale of the operation... I don't know, Al. Kinda reminds me... [He pauses.] Nah, forget it. We'll get to that later.

[After that, he falls quiet for a minute as they walk.]

[Rig an election? On top of the more troubling implications, trying to play politics with a bunch of people from completely different worlds and time periods sounds like an absolute disaster.

Al's about to ask a follow-up question, but arriving at their destination quickly puts something else on his mind. Even from the lobby and hallways, it's clear that this building is a step up from the patchwork coverings and poverty he'd seen in the courtyard and beyond.]

It looks a lot nicer here than in the rest of the city.

[Rather than relief or gratitude, there's only suspicion in the way he says it. Ed's not the only one reminded of unpleasant things from the past.]

[Ed shrugs.] Like I said - doesn't work on everyone they pull in, not by a long shot, but I think that's what they're going for. Trying to convince people that sticking with them is better than heading out in the cold.

[Ahead of Al, he's already heading up the stairs. There are quite a few.]

But you make up your own mind, Al. I'd lose that argument no matter what.

[He might not feel like waxing nostalgic solely to keep Al at ease, either.]

I'm working on it.

[The stairs do seem to go on for a while, something he imagines must get pretty annoying for people who aren't tireless suits of armor. Really, though, it's a good indicator of just how many Transports are actually living here. And with more apparently arriving every month...]

Do you know if they've actually kicked anyone out for refusing to help them? The woman I spoke to was in too much of a hurry to care very much about convincing me of anything.

If they did that, they'd lose their chance at getting us back on their side. [Ed continues up the stairs without complaining, although when the end is in sight he slows down slightly.] Honestly, I don't know. They wouldn't exactly advertise it, would they? But they don't seem to stop anybody just walking out, whatever that's worth.

[He hesitates. In between trying to catch up on the apparent millennia of science and technology he missed, he's read a little on the history of this parallel world, but it isn't really his thing - too many possible biases to sift through, not all of them as obvious as he'd like. All he knows for sure is that it's more complicated than it looks, more complicated than maybe he's making it sound, and that's true of anything.]

I'm guessing they've got enough of their own problems as is.

[When they finally reach Unit 807, he opens the door without another word, steps inside - good, no sign of anyone else - goes to dump his wet coat unceremoniously onto the back of a chair and glances over into the kitchen for a second, where someone appears to have left an empty bottle out on the worktop.]

Well... here we are. [He doesn't turn around right away; he fully expects Al to start pressing the bigger questions again.]

[Oh, he wants to. An alchemist seeks the truth is something they've always tried to live by, and with that in mind he keeps expecting Ed to be the one who's more fired up about the whole thing; asking questions and exchanging information to see if there's anything in the leads they've chased that could be used to help each other. But instead Ed's acting subdued and evasive, and the rare times Al's seen that kind of behavior out of his brother were most always a sign of something bad. It makes Al want answers even more desperately, but not if the cost is having Ed continue to act like it's hard to even look at him.

For a brief moment he starts to lower his head, but just as quickly thinks better of it and aborts the attempt at sulking. Dwelling on the situation being difficult won't do a thing to improve it, and lately he's had more than enough of awkwardness. His relationship with Ed has always been simple, and feeling like he needs to choose every word carefully or make smalltalk is so absurd that maybe it's time he just stopped. He's been approaching this the wrong way from the start, but it can't be too late to find some sort of understanding.

So instead of asking anything, Al laughs to himself in a soft, self-depreciating sort of way.] We're being really stupid.

I wasn't sure what to think at first and it's still weird to know there's more than one of you, but... we'll figure it out, okay? You don't need to be so worried.

Al? [He turns, surprised.

But... should he be, really? The only times there's ever been any kind of barrier between them weren't when the situation was difficult - is it ever easy? - but when one of them didn't want to admit it. And at the moment, that's him. He should've grown out of this stuff by now.

He has to laugh a little, eventually.] Yeah, we are. Or I am. Even if it was a shock, moping's no way to answer a question. Sorry, Al.

[He flops down onto the side of the chair and folds his arms. His smile is still fairly neutral, but now there's a more focused look in his eyes, and a slight edge to his voice that suggests it's time to make himself get serious.]

So here's mine: if you weren't sure what to think at first, Al, what are you thinking right now? That's all I really wanted to know.

[A little more encouraged, Al takes a seat on the floor, mostly so Ed won't have to keep looking up to talk to him.]

I guess I just needed to be sure you're who you say you are. We've gotten in a lot of trouble for letting our guard down too easily in the past. [Something he imagines must hold true in any universe--what would really surprise him is hearing that any set of Elric brothers had managed to get through life without making enemies.]

And now... Hmm. You're so much like the Brother I know that I can't help wondering what it is that makes our worlds different, but at the same time, it doesn't really matter, does it? Even if it turns out there's not much in our lives that's been the same, we're still both better off than we would be on our own. And maybe there are things we can learn from each other.

[Ed grins. That wasn't the answer he was privately afraid of, nor the answer he thinks he might have given if their positions were flipped... but maybe that's his problem. He'll take it.]

Well, what did you expect, Al? Whichever world we happened to fall out of, some things don't change.

Like needing to get your body back. [He straightens up to look Al in the eye.] I can't do that for you again, not here. But it's like I told you, I haven't just been sitting on my ass this whole time - I think I can figure out a way to send you back to someone who will.

[And just like that, everything seems to stop with a single word.]

Again?

...Why did you think I was surprised to see you in there, Al?

Since you still have automail, I thought...

[For a suit of armor he suddenly seems to be bursting with nervous energy, shock and hope and disbelief all battling for dominance in his voice.]

How? What about the toll? Did-- [He's almost afraid to ask, but he can only imagine one scenario where his other self would accept leaving their promise only half filled.] Did we run out of time?