wizardmanor | Floor 5, Room 2

I'm not going under there. [ there's an air of "he'd rather be caught dead than crawl under a bed" which is only minorly ironic given the situation. ]

If someone knocks on the door asking about me, all you need to do is send them away. [ he doubts it'll happen though. there's a few other rooms people might think to check with to find him, but he doubts that cid's is one of them.

khun can't see too well from his position, but even if he could, he wouldn't recognize an old-timey camcorder. the filming equipment his world is futuristic and full of drones ]

I was wondering which one of us got sorted into West because they like tinkering with devices.

I'll have you know I definitely dust under there.

[Why are you so spoiled, and this is coming from Cid, who can't talk in some respects but can very much judge in others. Why is he even bothering with suggestions. It's not like he's thought about exactly how to have a stealth and/or ambush battle and/or all-out brawl in his room before.

(Only maybe once or twice or ten times since he bothered to get furniture properly installed. It's important to have some footholds, but not too many! The most important thing, however, is the aesthetic.)]

But if somebody else tries the window, you're on your own. [he really would not put it past some of their fellow wizards to also be window whiskers, but to be fair that would be more fun for him -- there's a few reasons he keeps his window unlocked, okay?] I wouldn't say I'm really a devices guy, our good cult leader just really wanted somebody to mess with his camera and I wanted to figure out how it works with mana stones. Doesn't seem like he'd be too mad if it didn't work, anyway.

[Cid hums and raises the camcorder, squinting at its tiny screen.]

Weren't you the one saying you're good with technology or something?

[ good point. he mumbles an impero to slide the window shut, and a nice layer of ice to keep it that way. problem solved! ]

Tatara? He wouldn't. [ he is suddenly much more interested in whatever artifact cid has on his desk, doing what he can to get a better view while also staying put on the bed. ]

I am, but that doesn't mean much if the tech here is from the Old World. And even if it wasn't, I'm a user, not an engineer. If there's a system I can draw from I can figure it out, but we're not even close to that stage yet.

Hey! My window......

[Why are you icing his window?? His window!!!! What'll happen if it melts and then messes with the floor.......

Well, that's probably not a problem for wizards, all told. He keeps forgetting that magic is more versatile now than just stabbing things and other such more straightforward pursuits, even if he's literally holding that shit in his hand this very minute. (There's a small tilt of the head: impero, huh? Even without a full working knowledge of Latin he can take a wild guess, especially with the user here. Haha.)]

Just how new is your New World? [he doesn't even recognize camcorders??? damn...... but they still have computers being sold in department stores] ... Like I said, it's a sort of camera, and he said that if you power this battery somehow, it'll make things work out -- probably?

[The battery that is definitely sitting on the desk because he is just outright using a mana stone as a battery. The camera is on, anyway. He is not recording because he's busy fiddling with it instead.]

[ listen. finding his magic word was ultimately easy once he settled on what language to do it in (mumbles in having no reference for what ToG language looks like and the pain of trying to conjugate latin). ]

Make things work out. [ unsure if this is tatara being tatara or cid being cid here. what's he supposed to do with a general statement like that. ]

You're using the mana stone instead of the battery why?

[Same hat with the incantation........ he's always thinking about how to make Cool Move Names™ but when it comes to "Cid Kagenou" what he really needs most of all is something befitting his status as the most unremarkable magician ever. He has the confidence that he is both cooler and better than everyone else but, like, in a normal way. Anyway:]

Just, whatever a camera like this is supposed to do. He said there's no clues about the past wizards here, but I'm still kinda wondering what's on this thing. Cameras can be pretty interesting when you get down to it.

[He says this with the ridiculously affected air of somebody who ostensibly learned the word camera five minutes ago. Cid glances at the battery and grins with the same aplomb.]

You can only use a battery for a camera, but you can use a mana stone for anything, right? So if I can figure out a mana stone, I can power anything.

[This is a bit optimistic. But he's also serious about it!]

[ Thinking emoji... ]

We might be able to ask our country about it. They seem to have experience in this sort of thing and there's a lot we can trade them.

Our country?

[ Cid what are you even thinking. ]

Western Country.

[Bold of you to think he's having a thought.]

Western Country....

What?

[ ?????????????? ]

[Points the camera at him.]

So you're basically adopted by the Western spirits. Sprites?

[Now he looks like he's having a thought. But:]

And I'm.... And the country is.....

Is that how it works??

...did you just realize this now? [ like there's more steps to it than that but close enough here really. ]

Why do you say it like it's common knowledge? There wasn't an instruction manual or a brochure or anything. And the teacher (or something) hissed at you if you asked.

[He's not quite pouting but it's a near thing?? The camcorder lets out a stray spark but seems none the worse for the wear... for now.

He puts it down, though. This is so much stimulation for his singular awake braincell. Also he definitely just slandered Wanderer but y'know. Close enough.]

But it would be pretty helpful if West was like a real patron... Funding... Funding......

You have to know who to talk to, that's all.

[ he still hasn't really spoken to wanderer partly bc of his grouchy reputation. he'll get there eventually but there's been a lot of other things to concern himself with in the interim. ]

I'll contact General Barnett tomorrow. He invited me personally to see what Western Country had to offer firsthand, and I'm sure he wouldn't say no to bringing a fellow Western wizard along.

[ a beat. ]

Do you drink?

I feel like that's more down to luck than anything, unless you're tellin' me you have some way to screen all the countries.

[He's exaggerating because he's still slightly sulky; they really only needed West for this endeavor, it's just that he's genuinely much more used to hammering things out on his own than turning to the establishment or conventional wisdom or running theory or literal experts for, well. Just about anything.

Lone wolf syndrome, awooo......

Cid tilts his head, he is absorbing a lot at once right now. You can probably see the gears turning, or rather they're click-click-clicking like a lighter trying to light or an engine trying to turn.]

A general..... so we'd get to see what their military is using... I guess that's not too bad. [they probably won't get to see anything super-classified, sadly, but it's a start and he is indeed a curious cat; the question gets a blink-blink] Drink? Are we doing another party?

Exactly. I doubt they'll let us see any of the truly dangerous projects, but there's still a lot we can glean regardless.

[ khun nods. ]

Not a party, but with the General and likely a few of his officers. Liquor loosens lips, but it's also just a part of the high society dance.

Floor 5, Room 2

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