acatalepsy_logs | [closed] Maes' Special Day

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[closed] Maes' Special Day

Who: Maes Hughes & Shiro (LATER) Maes Hughes & Alphonse Elric
Where: Race track (LATER) library
When: ~~super backdated~~ A day or so after Maes asked for help and before the tunnels are discovered.
Rating PG? Will change as needed
What:Maes Hughes asked for help and he got it. This is a catchall for his day where he spent the morning on the race track with Shiro (to supposedly take a break) and then finished his afternoon at the library among too many books with Alphonse.

A Day at the Races - w/ Shiro
If you had told someone back home that Maes Hughes was working too hard, they probably would have laughed at you. Maes Hughes had perfected the art of taking it easy, or at the very least, making what he did look easy. However, there was less a need to put up appearances here and Maes Hughes was the kind of guy who kept digging until he found the answers he was looking for. One might even argue it had led him to dig his own grave, but he tried not to let his thoughts wander into the morbid. It was easy to spiral and the whole point of leaving the library at this juncture was to avoid just that. No spiraling. No overworking. No overthinking things. A break. He needed to take a break and let all of the information he'd been reading for (Good Lord was it really days now?) so long sink in.

This also seemed like an ample time to investigate more of this world he'd found himself in, but he was trying to let his mind take a break. It wasn't going to be easy given that the race track was FILLED with more curious sights. He thought he'd taken in the city as a whole, but he hadn't really seen the need to check this place out. That had clearly been a mistake as there was so much different about, well, everything to this part of Struxta. But, Maes is focused on his current mission which is finding out where the heck Keith and Shiro have been spending their time. At least it's pretty easy to get that information since Shiro has some pretty distinct characteristics and Maes has their location pretty quickly. Still, even if Shiro invited him it feels rude to just barge in. Maes, instead, chooses to knock.

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(LATER) An Evening at the Library - w/ Alphonse
Maes is more or less refreshed when he returns to the library. While it's true that his time at the race track has given him something to think about, it was a different kind of investigation. No books were involved and he'd given his eyes (and his brain) a much needed break. He feels like he can get back to the work he had started with and this time not only will he be refreshed by he'll have a fresh pair of eyes as well. Inviting Alphonse to help him with research had seemed like the perfect idea at the time, although now as Maes makes his way back to the area he'd more or less settled on as his own work space he realized he hadn't exactly worked with Alphonse before on a project like this. It wasn't that he doubted Alphonse's ability, it was more that he wasn't sure how awkward this might get between the two of them. Sure, they'd interacted a little since the initial arrival at the Circle, but Maes found it a lot less stressful to interact with the Circle members who DIDN'T see him as a man back from the dead.

Of course you worry about this now. Come on Maes, you're here to work. You just need to stay focused on that.

He sighs as he steps up to the desk that has turned into a mini-fort made of books and printed stacks of paper. "I think it got bigger while I was gone," he mutters.

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The door to the garage slides open and Shiro sticks his head out, grinning brightly. "Hey. Glad you could make it." He slips back inside and motions for Hughes to follow him into the well-lit interior. Parts are laid out or in boxes near two bikes at the center. They don't look like light bikes anymore.

Two wings spread out from the body with circular holes in the wings. Shiro shoves his safety goggles back down over his eyes and pats a wing. "We've been slowly converting the bikes they gave us."

Alphonse is also feeling awkward as he goes to meet Hughes- though he'd been overjoyed to see his friend alive again, been able to apologize and let him know how things had gone, there was still a tiny part of him that felt a visceral "this is wrong" reaction to the idea of a dead person having been resurrected. Even if it was someone he deeply cared about.

But he shoves that out of the way as he goes to the library. Al's been doing a lot of running to earn some cash, and he's paying for it now; his walk is slow, and he's supported by a crutch on his right arm. However, he still smiles and waves when he sees his friend.

Maes takes a step back when the garage door slides open. He's relieved to see he got his information right at least and nods. "Of course. It'd seem rude to pass up an invitation...not to mention I needed a break anyway." He walks and talks, his eyes taking in everything, though not understanding most of what he is seeing. Thankfully by this point in his visit to this world he's gotten used to that. Even without that knowledge, Maes can tell Shiro and Keith have been hard at work on something.

He looks over the wings for a moment, but the blank look on his face readily betrays the question that comes next: "Into what exactly?"

Maes looks up from the pile, eyes widening a bit at the crutch. He knows he shouldn't judge someone else pushing themselves so hard. What's he been doing for the past several days if not spending gross amounts of time in the library? Besides, it's a relief to still see Alphonse has his body back at all, and Maes knows the other has to be grateful for that much.

It isn't long before he's masking the concern with a kind smile, "Hey. You look like you've been keeping yourself busy here. I've been so buried in this," he smacks one of the larger stacks with his hand, "I hadn't thought to ask what you'd been up to."

Al grins as he settles himself into a chair, eyebrows raised at the stacks of books and papers.

"I've been running errands to earn some money," he explains. "I want to look into getting some smaller droids to use my soul-tranference power on. To use for scouting and the like." He stretches, grinning ruefully. "I've just overdone it, I think. My body's been in recovery for a long time, but I still can't push it as hard as I'd like to."

And Maes had thought his own powers a little odd. When Alphonse had explained his, it had been a little disconcerting. But, none of them chose their abilities and Maes had to admit it had its advantages. It was good to hear Alphonse was thinking ahead to what they might need, even if he had to work to get at it in the first place.

"Well, then I really appreciate you taking time away from that to help me here. This probably won't be nearly as exciting, but as someone who has done research before you probably already knew that," Maes replies. He raises an eyebrow, "But it sounds like you could use something of a break anyway. No sense in overtaxing yourself so early on when we don't know what's in store for us." He knows Alphonse to be the more reasonable of the Elric brothers, so he hopes that's all he has to say on that subject. But, if Alphonse isn't having to spend time worrying about Edward here, Maes can't help but wonder if he'll start to act a little more recklessly.

He pulls out a chair and joins Al, gesturing to some of the stacks, "I've tried to keep them sorted into different topics. But there's just too much information that I'm afraid I've lost sight of what kind of organizational method to even use." He sighs, shaking his head, "I can at least tell you which one's I've already looked through and here," he puts a hand on a notebook, "is where I've been trying to keep notes for the sake of cross referencing."

"Research is a lot less tiring than running errands... well, physically, anyway," Alphonse agrees. "But that's a good point. I have to remind myself that it's okay to rest when I'm not feeling up to continuing... it's hard to undo the instincts Teacher instilled in me."

There's also the fact that, when he was armor, Al had literally been awake for years straight. It's not something he likes to think about, but being in a tireless body that didn't need to sleep did have its advantages. It was taking years to unlearn that.

"Well, organizing seems like a good place to start. Let me think on that for a little bit. Do you think anything you've found is going to be useful? ... I should also ask, is there a specific question or problem you're focusing on?"

Maes shakes his head, "It's still too much information and a lot of it doesn't necessarily have context. So, no, I'm not sure which of it is even useful or which is junk at this point. Although I should probably get to the point where I pick a focus. I thought food production was narrowing it down enough, but that wasn't the case at all." He was starting to see the problem with 'infinite amounts of information' that seemed to occur when everyone here shared a conscious and a history. It was just too much to process.

"Hoverbikes, back at the military headquarters on Earth we used these to get through the desert at high speed without worrying about terrain." He circles around to the front of the black and white painted Hoverbike with '00' on the wing. "Want to see how they work inside?" He opens the hood and reaches up to hook the light up above it.

"Might come in handy later." Knowing how these bikes work could mean a lot of things. Shiro uses his right arm to lock the hood into open status.

Now, he does know a little about bikes. Hoverbikes not so much, but Shiro's explanation helps put it into perspective a bit. It certainly sounds like an excellent vehicle of transportation and Maes can appreciate that, even if they aren't in the desert, a vehicle like that would come with a lot of advantages.

"Sure. We're way out of my depth of knowledge here," but he's always been the curious sort. He likes knowing how things work or learning new things. Besides, it seems only polite since Shiro is offering to show off what he has clearly spent a lot of time working on. Maes steps over to peer inside, trying to make a face like he understands anything he is seeing right now.

He starts simple. "These bikes don't run on gas or anything like that. They have a power source," He points to the power core at the center and traces away from it with his metal fingers. "That means no need to worry about fuel but if the bike gets damaged you have to check to make sure this isn't damaged."

Shiro looks up at him and points to the cables leading away from the core. "These distribute the power to other systems. Like any other fuel line or so might...in a way it makes older tech harder to break down."

He pauses and adds in a much lower voice. "I think the people of this city are the same. They recharge themselves via the city's power grid. When I'm a machine they ask me my iOs, which is an operating system...it's what allows us to access information and implement it. And where I was made. I've raced them enough I think most of them or all are part of the mass subconscious. I'm the only one independent when we run."

Al listens with rapt attention, nodding as his friend speaks.

"What about humans? Have you been able to find any record of human beings ever having existed here?" Because there certainly didn't seem to be any NOW, present company excluded. The robotic collective definitely had taken over at some point.

Maes moves a few piles aside and then pulls forward a rather precarious stack. "Nothing that uses that term. But these are some of the texts I've come across that talks about 'masters' and 'natural life forms' but most of that is in reference to the mechanical life around us and not anything before them. They compare themselves to these 'natural life forms' but never use a term like 'human' or 'being' or anything."

He pats the stack and then points at all the other stacks, "Most of these I haven't gotten to yet to look for that term or see if there's another term associated with it."

Maes nods, okay fuel he understands at least. He follows the trace of Shiro's hand and decides to ask a question, since Shiro seems the type willing to put up with his curiosity.

"So does this type of power source need some kind of recharging in other ways? You mention the others use a power grid, do these bikes need to charge on that too?"

Right, Shiro had mentioned his ability before. Maes still isn't 100% certain what that could even look like or how its possible to transform like that. Honestly after his last encounter with a shapeshifter he's a little nervous, though Shiro had only mentioned a mechanical lion form. "Has that been a detriment in the races? I mean do they use their mass subconscious to coordinate better during the race or is it still every robot for themselves? Because they could easily overwhelm you by numbers I would think."

"I think that may be the best place to start, then," Al says, reaching up to place a hand on the stack of papers. "If we can dig deeper and find out what these 'masters' actually are, it would be a start. Maybe they were like us, but their language developed a different term than 'human'."

He stares at the inner workings of the bike for a moment and thinks back. He's never seen them work as a unit. But Hughes brings up a very good point. Shiro folds his arms over his chest. The more he looks over what he's seen... "They're all out there to test their individual performance. You're right that it could go bad in a hurry if they decided I was a threat. I'm still not sure how much of the Black Lion's true power is mine to use. But enough of it is there I could get out at the first sign of danger."

Could he use the jawblade? Or unlock the mysterious warping the Lion had showed him? "Some of the bots aren't as sleek as the others. The ones that watch along the edges of the track at set intervals definitely aren't. I've been trying to puzzle that out as I do odd jobs here. So far, my leads are pointing towards searching the area. I'm exhausting what I can do at the track first. And yes, the bikes need the grid to charge. We might be able to use magic...but it would have to be channeled a specific way."

Maes considers the piles of texts, mulling over Alphonse's suggestion with what he's gathered so far. "I agree. And now that I have an extra pair of hands and eyes we can split the work and get through it at a slightly more reasonable pace," which will probably only be a slight step above glacial, but progress is progress. Maes worked investigations for awhile and so he's used to the more tedious aspects of the job.

"Before we get started on reading though, have you stumbled across anything interesting during your errand running? I haven't gotten out as much as I would like so I'd be curious to hear if there's anything we should look into that you've observed with your own eyes."

Maes had been trying to focus on the elements unique to this world, but Shiro has continually referenced this 'Black Lion' and Maes still has no idea what that means exactly. It has to be powerful if Shiro seems confident that he could get away from so many racers, and he'd made other references to its abilities before or his ability with it? He recalls Shiro saying in a message that it was his 'other form' and that it was black metal and with wings. Maes decides to just go for it. "Not to change the topic, but you've referenced this Black Lion a few times now...and in the message before I came down here you had said something about it being your other form. What does all of that mean exactly? It seems oddly specific."

He looks up at Hughes and nods. “Back home the Black Lion is a living war-machine. I’m its pilot. Here Astoria’s magic lets me take a smaller version of its shape. When I was with Roy and Riza as part of the Coven...it was the same thing on a more limited scale.” He steps back away from the hover bikes and notes the space in the garage.

“We have enough space I can show you. But that’s up to you.” Maes has come down here to learn and relax not see a massive metal Lion. He remembers Wash’s reaction. To be fair, he didn’t warn him.

A living war-machine...well that's certainly a new one for Maes. He tries to picture a lion, large enough for someone to pilot, on a battlefield. It has to be massive, not to mention powerful for Shiro to refer to it as a 'war-machine' and, as he mentioned earlier, able to hold its own against multiple hostile robots (not that he had done so yet, but that had been the hypothetical question).

While it is true Maes had come here to 'relax' he had meant it more in the sense of just getting away from pouring over thousands and thousands of words on a page. Watching someone use their ability could prove useful and Shiro's willing to demonstrate. He supposes the real question is whether or not he's going to be able to handle that right now. Maes figures he's had quite a bit of information to process between what he's learned about his own world and the little bits and pieces of both the temple and now this place. He should be close to his limit when it comes to surprises...and yet it's really hard to top learning that you're supposed to be dead.

After consideration he nods, "We're in a controlled environment right now. It might be a good idea to see it now as opposed to it happening in the middle of some kind of confrontation." Maes pauses for a beat, double-checking that he's good for this. Yeah, he'll be fine. He adds, "My ability to teleport has been startling a lot of people even when they're ready for it. If you're willing to show me now, I think that would be better when I'm not expecting it."

"I agree- a task is always easier to share with someone else," Al replies, his smile crinkling his eyes, and he has to laugh. "Sorry... this is just bringing back so many memories. People always thought Brother and I were leading such an adventure-filled life, but there was a lot of reading and research and theory involved, too."

Al then shakes his head.

"I mean, aside from this technology being decades ahead of what we know. That's hindering me a little, I think. I don't know what to look out for that could be termed unusual."

He waits for Maes to come to a decision his eyes never leaving his face. Only Maes could decide if he could handle it. The answer is exactly what he expects. He walks the needed distance away from him and reaches down inside himself for the swirling storm of magic. He slips his mental fingers into it and holds it, not yet sinking into it. "Right. I agree. Better now than when you need to know exactly who your allies are. Brace yourself."

He lets the magic flood through his body and turn it into purple light. The radiance expands forming sharp lines of a body far, far larger than Shiro himself. The size of a large pick-up truck, the metal lion opens its metal jaws and growls.

Shiro shakes himself once to make sure everything is right and lowers himself to the floor, head tucked over his massive paws. 'I'll give you a minute to process if you need it.'

How does someone brace for something like this exactly? Maes understood his own ability, had seen various skills of alchemy performed prior to his arrival here, and had witnessed shape shifting once. However, it was nothing like this and it didn't really prepare you for it either. His image of a lion was all off too, but mostly because he had a hard time combining the idea of a lion with something mechanical.

Although, to Shiro's credit, the mechanical lion he transform into is much cooler than what Maes had been picturing. Maes looks stunned, but not necessarily freaked out (thanks to the heads up). He's certainly grateful to be seeing this now as opposed to being shocked by it in the middle of a dire situation or something else. He does need a minute to process and says helpfully, "Wow, that's...intimidating."

He flops over on his side like a real cat with a loud clank. His tail curls over one foot as he tips his head back. He has too much dignity to rub the side of his face on the floor. It should be enough to dispell some of that intimidating air. Or so he hopes.

'Yeah, but at least I'm not as massive as a dragon. I wouldn't even fit in there!' He rolls back onto his paws and stretches. It feels weird just like it always does. There's no sense of strain only his joints sliding smoothly forward and back, as he resettles to standing still.

Maes smiles, fondly thinking of the two boys when he'd first met them. He doesn't think Al needs to apologize for that at all. It makes sense and Maes is just appreciative of this time they get to share.

"Part of the problem was that you two had a bit of a reputation for getting into trouble. But you're right. My job is basically police work and that's more going over files and reading reports than most people think. People don't like to talk about the non-flashy parts of jobs, but I prefer solving puzzles to fighting." He didn't understand alchemy in the least, but he knew what kind of intelligence and commitment it took to become one. Even your average alchemist was typically an intelligent and capable person, but when you got to the Elrics, well, they were on a whole other level.

Maes sighs, "Darn. Well it makes sense. I tried getting both the robots and then some of the Circle members who have more advanced technology in their worlds to explain some of it. Unfortunately, it's still not enough to really help me make sense of things. Like you said, everything seems unusual."

Maes waits for Shiro to get settled, but he tentatively approaches. He's always been too curious for his own good and he wants to 'inspect' this person-turned-lion...machine. Sure the robots here all have interesting designs and come in various sizes, but this is different. This mechanical lion was once a flesh and blood person! If he hadn't seen it, he might not have believed it. Besides, movement has always helped Maes process things.

"Have you encountered dragons before? That seems like an oddly specific off-handed comment to make," Maes replies.

Al nods at that.

"I know my way around a fight if I get into one, but... the more time went on, the more I found that I also preferred the paperwork parts. Brother and I HAD to fight to win and finish our journey, but I was never as flashy about it as he was. I tried to cause as little damage and injury as possible. It's easier to put things back together when they're less broken, after all."

Al then bites his lip.

"It's great to have, but I do like being able to understand things, too. The world will never 100% make sense to me, but there are some things we can have more control over than others."

'Yes. Geir who was with us until sometime into this world was a dragon. I looked for him and Vern when they vanished. There's been no sign of either of them. Mikleo used to shapeshift into one. But we were the same size.' Shiro lifts his head and settles it on his front paws. He lifts the exposed red wing to permit Maes a better look at the thruster exhaust.

'Anyway, Geir always had to have special accommodations. He was big as a building.' Shiro stretches his leg further out and there, exposed to the light is his leg thruster.

Eventually, Maes would stop being surprised by things like giant, mechanical lions and dragons. Of course someone had encountered a dragon or, it sounds like the dragon had been part of the circle as well. He walks slowly, processing this. Shiro seems to be letting him get a good luck, but unfortunately Maes has about as much mechanical knowledge as your average joe, combine that with this being very futuristic tech and he feels like he should be impressed but he's not sure why exactly.

"How did that work out? This world obviously is used to mechanical beings of various sizes, but what did you do on worlds that maybe weren't used to dragons?" He wonders if they had to try and hide. Of course, this world had accepted the organic beings despite not being familiar to them so perhaps it wasn't as big a deal. Or maybe part of the world hopping process was picking places that had open minds about such things?

By now he's completely circled Shiro in his thoughts, returning to the lion's face. Knowing that this is a person, it feels rude to have a conversation while circling him over and over.

'It didn't always work out. He had to find spots to roost...if a place wasn't already made for him. Last city, he was draping over rooftops and flying above.' Shiro lifts himself back up off his side and settles all four feet under him. He's content to stay like this. Being a Lion is as comfortable as human body so long as he doesn't start approaching the upper limit of his time spent in another shape.

He releases it, and sits up, pulling his arms back and stretching his shoulders. Going from sensations based on machine senses to flesh and blood is always a trip. "My magic has some side effects. Longer I'm the Lion the more...out of body I feel when I return to myself."

Shiro cracks his knuckles and folds his legs under him. "Actually, since you brought up your magic. ...have you noticed any side effects to it? Anything at all." He pauses, smile dawning and adds with a trace of amusement. "Other than seeing how fast everyone's reflexes are."

While Maes should have realized Shiro was probably going to transform back at any time, he still wasn't expecting it right then. He's mildly surprised, but at least not so startled that he jumps or (worse) teleports away.

And speaking of teleporting, apparently it's his turn to share now. Which, he might as well. He'd been practicing with it as of late. He wanted to be prepared to use it at the drop of a hat, should the need arise. "Mostly I've just noticed its limitations, not so much a side effect. I can hit about a five mile radius from where I'm standing, so if I want to go further I have to make several 'jumps'. I haven't really been pushing it to see if using it too often will be tiring like physical jumping would, but I suppose that would be the next step in testing it," Maes admits. While he's always insisted on normalcy in his life, it's hard not to let the curious side of him take charge and find out everything he can about this ability. He knows it has a variety of uses besides just getting from point A to point B, but first he needs to figure out what he can and cannot do.

He nods, taking that in. No side-effects so far. That's good. "How fast can you make these 'jumps'?" Is it combat useful? If it is, that's another way to use it. "Like in terms of seconds between each one." How could he cover for that?

"If you haven't tested it yet, that could be added to the stress test. And if there's anything I can do to help you with it just say the word." Even if that help could be a possible race.

"Well, I've accidentally teleported as a reaction to being startled, if that's what you mean. But if you mean between jumps...I can go into the next teleport almost immediately, though I haven't tried that much yet so I'm not sure how much that's actually pushing it or not. And most of the time I need someone or something to focus on. Which is good, because it means I don't need to necessarily know the place I'm going, just be able to focus on a person or object that is already there."

Maes reaches into a back pocket and pulls out, of all things, a notepad. He's not used to this hightech stuff, so he's made sure to keep a pencil and pad of paper on hand at all times just as he had back home. He jots down some of Shiro's suggestions, nodding to himself. "That's a good idea. Might serve as a nice mental break from research in the library if nothing else," he looks up, "Any other ideas or suggestions you have in mind?"

"You'll want a flat area with the length and width the same. Or longer than it is wide. Clear it first of all things around. Add obstacles over time to test how long it takes you to reach the other side." He pauses. He once tried to shapeshift immediately after reverting. He'd fallen on his face. Thankfully no one had been around for it.

He stares at the floor of the garage and looks at the problem again. Shapeshifter and Fighter pilot experience strangely hand in hand. He can math it all out without even slowing down. Hughes looks like a capable man but he has no idea his combat ability. All the same, he can suggest one thing. "Put yourself on a self-imposed delay for each teleport. Even if you could immediately teleport after the first...the human body has limits. That delay should always be there to calculate around. It gives you time to cope between teleports and a chance to see what's going on around you enough to strategize your next move. I'd say...2-3 seconds? What do you think?"

He looks up at him to gauge his reaction and watch what he's doing.

Maes continues writing as Shiro gives him suggestions. He's not sure if he'll have the time to do it now, and so it makes sense to write them down. With all the information he's been absorbing from the library, it is likely he'd forget otherwise. The human body has limits, huh? Yeah, Maes remembers basic training well enough to recall pushing those limits. He's older now though, so doing that would likely be a bad idea.

He nods, "That sounds really well thought out. I'll put it to the test...though probably wait until we get to return to the Temple. It's...well we're supposed to be on the job here. Doesn't seem like the time to be doing such extensive testing."

"Yeah. We can work on this at the temple. But it can't hurt to keep that self-imposed speed cap on teleporting in mind. I'd at best push it to 2 seconds. But nothing quicker than that." The body's limits and magic don't always mix. He hasn't pushed himself to the very limit of his shifting yet. But he can imagine it won't be good.

"...we haven't run into it as the Circle yet but, be careful of nullifying areas." He couldn't imagine how messy or painful being ripped out of a teleport would be. Being unable to shift wasn't bad. Being knocked out of it? Hurt like a bitch. "It doesn't seem like we'll see that here. But you never know. They're being very precise about erasing talk of their creators and flesh and blood people."

Maes nods. No one had really given him advice or feedback on his ability before now, but he also had never really asked either. He probably should have been considering this concept a bit more before now.

Although, what really gets his attention is the mention of "nullifying areas." Maes looks up, adjusting his glasses. "What is a nullifying area? Are those common?"

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[closed] Maes' Special Day

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