i_speak_softly | Sixty-Fifth Theory [Video]

[The video feed clicks on, and Don looks thoughtfully at the camera for a moment before speaking.]

Another Christmas in Luceti.

[His tone is direct, just stating a fact, but somewhere behind it is a note of melancholy.]

This is my third. All of them have been in this house. All of them have been with different people.

[He slides back from the journal, revealing a corner of his winter room. He's been gradually moving into it over the past week, and has more or less taken up residence now.]

I've seen a lot of people come and go. There probably aren't many left who remember when Luceti didn't have electricity.

[He picks up some small bit of tech and squints at it.]

When I arrived here, the drafts were just starting. There were no missions. The Battle Dome didn't exist. We didn't have a farm and there was a desert where the ocean is now.

[He carefully threads a length of wire through a hole in the tech part.]

The buildings were shorter. Some of the stores and restaurants weren't open. [A pause.] I think I'm forgetting things...

[The wire slides through, and he knots the loose ends to form a loop.]

Does anyone remember other things that have changed? Or, does anyone want a history lesson? I'll be here all day.

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Well, I remember when Luceti didn't have any electricity. Things were pretty different back then.

[Yuan just sort of scoffs at this- he doesn't entirely try to hide it, either.]

When I arrived, we had no access to the desert. The barrier halted by the mountain range and the tunnel system below the village hadn't been discovered yet.

I remember those things. [Her voice is quiet. She doesn't like these sharp reminders of just how long it's been, or rather: how long ago she first came here. It comes with too many reminders of too many bad situations, and missing too many people.

There's also an undercurrent of sympathy. She understands the feelings that go into Don's post.]

They were. I think the changes have mostly been good, though. What about you?

That - [He searches his memory again.] That was before me.

[You have his respect, sir.]

[Making everyone morose was not really his intention. He'll try to lighten the mood a little.]

Ami-sensei. Do you remember when you were tutoring me in Japanese?

Mm. I do. We only had time for the basics, but it was fun. I liked doing it. [This also serves as an open-ended invitation to start again.]

[He was hoping for just such a circuitous invitation.]

< I would be honored if that circumstance could be made to happen again. >

(( < > represent translation shields.))

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<you've>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<You've been studying hard. I'd like that.>

< Will Rei-sensei join us? >

[In Japanese, she comes off a bit more formal even than usual; possibly due to choosing words Don is likely to be familiar with.]

< I think she would like that. Would you like to ask her? >

Edited 2012-12-09 07:12 (UTC)

There's only a fair few left who would still remember.

[Himself, Sheena, Raine, Albert... Perhaps Emil as well, though he can't entirely remember when that 'boy' arrived. There might be others, but none he's familiar with.]

[He's still not very good at Real Japanese verb forms, so it's difficult for him to gauge the level of formality. He's mostly just glad he can understand her.]

< Can she come to the journal now? >

Do you know who they are?

[He remembers Professor Sage has been here longer than himself, as has Winry. It's getting hard to keep track of who else has been in Luceti continuously.]

I'm sure they'll speak up if they feel a need to. [The stay in Luceti can be a touchy issue for some and Yuan's not about to nominate others for possible questioning.]

[Don's thought process was more "support group" than "questioning", but okay.]

Were there fewer people when you arrived here? I don't remember the village population being much smaller when I came.

You've been here that long? Have you gone home even once?

Yes, there were fewer. It was always hard to tell just how many there were, but as the population grew, so did the village itself.

Not counting a strange experiment, no.

[Ouch, that must suck.]

Sorry to hear that, it must really suck. Things have really changed here, huh?

Yeah, I don't have any major qualms with them. Even the missions are generally harmless, since they're opt-in.

True. Now if only the kidnappings would stop...

They have. I didn't realize how much until I stopped and thought about it.

[Though it's still a little unusual for Robert to have a room in the house as drastically-different as the winter room is, he's glad for it. It's a place where Don can be relatively healthy and happy throughout the colder months of Luceti.

Listening to Don reminisce about earlier times in Luceti has made him think about it himself. When he first arrived - close to two years ago, now - Luceti was quite different, though not to the same extreme as Don describes. (He shudders to think what it was like pre-electricity, really.)

Hopefully Don won't mind him peering into the room now that most of the conversations seem to have stopped. What's the Turtle doing?]

[Don is kneeling on the floor, surveying the mass of tech-parts-on-strings and origami figures that has accumulated around him while he was talking to people. He hasn't yet noticed his visitor.]

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Sixty-Fifth Theory [Video]

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[annoying Don in the winter room]

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