explosivecombat | 005. [Video]

005. [Video]

[VIDEO]

[Good evening, Johto!

The room is a bit dim when the video feed flickers on; Kimblee seems to have set the Gear on some piece of furniture in front of him - probably a desk of some sort. The room is nondescript, the walls bare, but it's spacious enough and there's what looks like that long trenchcoat of his draped over the edge of the bed behind him, as well as the edges of those boxes that the care packages came in, almost out-of-frame but just barely visible.

The room is his, after all, he just hasn't bothered decorating the place.

His voice is calm when he speaks, his posture casual - he's leaning back in whatever chair he's sitting in (and either it's a hell of a swivel chair or he's leaning it back on two legs and balancing it like that), and his arms are folded across his chest; despite that, however, there's a definite cocky note to his voice.

Someone's pleased with what he's received for Christmas, holy shit.]

My, my - judging from the feeds today, I'm not the only one who's received gifts from an unknown benefactor. Whether this is a sign that we've been favored by this world, or whether someone simply has a strange and possibly sick sense of humor has yet to be seen.

Perhaps a bit of both.

[And when he unfolds his arms, he's playing with something; it's moving a bit too quickly between his fingers for the camera to really focus on it, but whatever it is, it's small and solid and gleams a bit when it catches the light. A crystal of some sort, perhaps, blood-red in color.

For those from his world who would know a Philsopher's Stone when you see one: yep.

However! Kimblee will just be smiling and it will be a very pleasant expression, actually.]

I should hope that you're all enjoying yourselves; it's been such a lovely season so far.

[End feed.]

[OOC: It's been a lovely season indeed. Some of his CR has received things from him, just for the sake of reference; enjoy it?]

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...You've met him before?

[Wait, what when did this happen?]

When was this?

We served together during the Ishval Civil War; we didn't really know each other to talk to back then, of course, but I had seen him around - usually spending time with Mustang and Hawkeye, when he could.

[The playing he's doing with that Stone is becoming decidedly more pronounced; good memories from Ishval.]

Of course, I gave him some information as soon as he arrived, and I've been arguing on Hughes' behalf when Mustang confronted me about doing that; the result is that he's rather aware of my reputation, but he seems to trust me enough to share theories with me now and again.

[So much smiling, Archer.]

He likes to think we're friends.

[Archer takes all that in silently, frowning slightly after a moment. Well. There's really only one thing to say to that, isn't there?]

...That poor man.

[Sarcasm aside though...]

That will backfire on him horribly one of these days. Until then, it's best to get all the information you can out of him. Perhaps it wasn't the same in your world, but in mine he was head of the Investigations department. He is a rather bright man beneath that facade.

Believe me, I'm well aware, and I'm remaining careful about what I'm telling him. I haven't told him about the Homunculi, and for now he seems unaware of their presence in Johto.

[...oh, about that.]

He also showed me a drawing of your friend "Victor" - the one who told you about the six-chimera limit? As it turns out, I know him rather well.

Of course; there are some things he's much better off not knowing.

[That's obviously sarcastic. Obviously they wouldn't want to share information like that-- wait a minute.]

"Their" presence? I thought the Fuhrer was the only one here?

[However, that comment seems to be related - hopefully Kimblee hasn't just decided to go off on a tangent here.]

...So he is one of them. Which one?

Envy; he and I were also well-acquainted in Ishval.

There are a few others that I've seen on the network; I've been in contact with one of them, but there are at least two more that I haven't made contact with - nor do I intend to, as they aren't relevant to my work.

Indeed? I suppose that shouldn't be surprising.

[That said, Archer is unfamiliar with Ishbal-- Ishval outside of what he's heard from within the military. The war was started in self-defense, wasn't it? Of course not, Bradley was in charge at the time, it makes sense that it would be a premeditated attack...]

[Anyway, that's not the issue here, nor does Archer seem inclined to dwell on it for very long.]

Indeed? I must have missed them, then. I haven't seen any of the ones I'm familiar with here.

One of them is quite massive, male, with stringy dark hair - he's rather slow of both speech and mind, and from what I understand rather unfamiliar with people. That would be Sloth; he won't be useful for either information-gathering or anything other than manual labor, and outside of Father he doesn't answer to anyone but Pride, besides.

...as for Pride, he's here as well.

I'm unfamiliar with Sloth, but I do know Pride. I've already been in contact with him.

[Not... the Pride you're talking about at all though...]

[What? But you said the only one you knew of was - ]

...ah, the Fuhrer. I don't know if you recall, but we had a conversation a while back, shortly after my arrival - I don't know if this version of the Fuhrer is yours or mine, but if he's mine, then he's not Pride; he's Wrath.

...Ah... Right, you did mention that. He didn't seem to recognize me so no, I suppose he would be from your world.

[...Wait...]

Then who is Pride?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

...Try me.

[No, but deets, Kimblee!]

How familiar are you with the Fuhrer's family situation?

His family...? He has a wife and a son, I believe. I fail to see how this has anything to do with...

[Are you suggesting someone within the Fuhrer's family is a Homunculus? ...Well, obviously yes, that is what you're suggesting. But who...?]

[...well, to be fair Mrs. Bradley is pretty damn awesome, but...]

The boy, Selim Bradley. I believe he arrived recently?

...You're kidding. He's Pride?

[But he's just a kid-- Well, technically the Wrath from his world was just a child as well.]

"Selim Bradley" is just a shell. The boy himself is completely hollow inside - a container, if you will, allowing Pride to pass as a human. He's the oldest Homunculus, wielding some rather dangerous powers in his true form; I've worked with him myself, and I've seen what he's capable of.

Assuming that the Homunculi are bound to the same rules as alchemists and can't access their powers, he shouldn't be much of a threat; at the same time, I would be careful with what you say around him.

...Well that's certainly news. He didn't seem any different from the boy I'm familiar with.

[Albeit he's not very familiar with Selim at all...]

Fascinating. I'll be sure to be careful around him. Thank you for the warning.

Well, having an appearance like that would hardly be effective if he didn't know how to utilize it; he's very manipulative, hence the warning to watch what you say.

[And Kimblee intends to say absolutely nothing to him because dear god, let's not.]

Of course, that certainly would work in his favor...

[This is certainly interesting!]

Anyone else I should look out for while you're feeling so generous with information?

[He's teasing though; the tone makes it far too obvious.]

[My, my - teasing instead of the usual sarcasm? You are in a good mood.]

I think that's enough for now, Archer.

Very well, then. I certainly wouldn't want you to tell me everything. That would be boring, now wouldn't it?

[Well come on, you're trusting him with this information! Who wouldn't be in a good mood after that?]

My thoughts exactly.

[And do you like to believe we're friends, too?]

[Of course not, you asshole!]

...Well, this has been quite entertaining, but I have a new addition to my team that I need to train. Thank you again, Kimblee.

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explosivecombat - 2012-01-03 10:02 (UTC) - Expand

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