asgardeventide | 001; audio; day 65

[The transmission is preceded by a brief sigh, a sound halfway between begrudging and resigned. Not the best noise to make while forming a first impression, but he's past caring at the moment.]

Hello. My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, and evidently, I am among Asgard's newest residents. [A brief pause.] If at all possible, an introduction to the city beyond the incredibly spartan letter and explanation offered by the house staff would be appreciated. I've taken the liberty of browsing some of the messages already posted, of course, but that hardly beats the convenience of having it all rephrased yet again for me, doesn't it?

[He may sound faintly self-mocking. Just faintly, though, and it fades in an instant.]

Besides, it seems like I'm going to be staying here for a while.

[Sudden opening of the city gates or not. And... well, it can't hurt to ask, so after a pause, he does.]

The term "Ragnarok" has come to mean a number of things over the centuries. A selfish man thought it would be the dawn of a new era of peace at the expense of personal freedom and expression. Of course, he wasn't looking at it in those terms, but that's what the result would have been.

Tell me, are our actions here meant to preserve this world from a literal twilight of the gods, a figurative one, or something else?

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Wait that's - all three? You have THREE names?

... Yes, that's correct. Lelouch is my given name, vi denotes which of my father's wives is my mother, and Britannia is my surname.

[ How is she supposed to handle all of these pretty words? ]

That's incredible. I've — Flynn Rider has two names, but I only have one. And yours is — [ she sighs dreamily ] Wow. Lelouch vi Britannia. It's like a song.

... I suppose you could think of it that way.

Where are you from, Lelouch vi Britannia?

Japan. I lived there with my sister before being taken here. And you?

Corona. Or - Shoot I always forget this! The outskirts. Corona is a kingdom but I...lived in a tower. In a valley. In a canon. In a forest. I've never heard of Japan. Is it...far away?

[... In a tower, in a valley, in a canyon. That's... huh.]

It's an island nation. Rather small in comparison to other land masses.

See islands I've read about. Archipelagos too. That's a great word. Is Japan a nice kingdom though?

A very nice kingdom. It's not without flaws, of course, but I'm quite fond of it.

[ This time she doesn't say anything, just scoots closer to the holographic screen, chin resting in her hands, and gestures from him to go on. This is the first she's heard about other kingdoms! Mother wasn't too keen on letting dangerous information like that get in. ]

[... Slowly, he begins to smile. All right, Rapunzel. Have it your way.]

The main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Honshu is the largest and the place I live. It's a rather densely populated nation and very beautiful, but unfortunate changes in administration have... changed some of the physical landscape for the worse.

Changed by - by people? [ Well the idea of a person actually changing the land in any significant way is at once interesting and unnerving. ] How...do you mean?

Deforestation and so on. Mining is a large industry in Japan, and I'm afraid it's taken over. They ought to be making efforts to reduce the damage caused by it in the near future, though, so there's that.

I've read about mining. It's how you extract minerals from the ground for practical use. [ ... ]

What do people mine for in Japan?

Sakuradite. It's a material used globally, and Japan boasts the largest deposits in the world.

[ Oh goodie minerals. ]

What it is used for? Sakuradite.

[... Well, all right. If you insist.]

It's a superconductive material used in our electronics. More prominently, it's a vital component of the machines we call Knightmare Frames.

I've never heard of a machine. Or - superconductivity. Is that...kind of property a new phenomenon? My book is a few years out of date.

A machine is... a device with many moving parts. It's similar to clockwork but far more complicated. [Sigh] Although of course I suppose it depends on the machine. The ones on my world generally are, at least, and run by means of electricity, which is sort of like harnessed lightning. A superconductive material is something that conducts electricity with absolute efficiency.

[He pauses, then--]

Think of electricity as water turning a mill. If the mill isn't very efficient, you're using more water to turn it than you should because the water is splashing over the sides and getting lost or some part of the mill is broken and slowing the whole thing down. Sakuradite, in this scenario, would be a perfectly running mill that makes the absolute most of the water coursing through it to fuel the... bellows or grind the wheat or whatever.

Does that make sense?

[ It does actually, and she nods, fascination abiding, wanting nothing but to know more, to consume more knowledge. ]

Is that what lights the lamps here? Electricity?

Electricity or something like it. I hadn't bothered to ask.

Sakuradite would be more efficient then, right? If it's that valuable and your country is mined for it... Could you - use it for other things too?

It's also highly explosive in liquid form. You could use it as a weapon.

Have you? [ that's totally what she'd do with it ]

(no subject)

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