[video] ; March 1st

[fullmetalblindguy]

[The screen shows a man with his eyes closed and a very calm air around him, and considering that it's pretty clear he's a new arrival that was left in the storm his mood is noteworthy. He has the image surprisingly close to centered all things considered.]

I must commend you on the make of these communicators. You've clearly made an effort not to forget anything.

[He smirks just a little.] Therefore, I feel I should inform you of something you've overlooked.

Your emergency notification system is quite impressive. As I recall, there is a button as well as the option to write it on this screen, correct? [He pauses for a moment, his demeanor not changing any.] However, I am blind as you can see. In a dire situation, either option could prove very difficult for me to say the least. Is there another means to activate it? Or would you prefer that I perish?

[Still calm. Still smirking.]

Comments

[dissenter]

But not if the moment doesn't. [the remark's light, not scathing.] Of course, I understand what you mean. And as for me, I hope those moments are as few and far between as possible -- I don't quite relish the idea of losing my other arm.

[a pause.] There are plenty of ways to contribute to the war effort, should you desire to do so-- plenty of ways that don't involve putting yourself in harms way. BREW surely had this in mind when it chose some of us.

[it's the only explanation for some of the useless lumps fighting this dumb war, after all.]

[fullmetalblindguy]

[His eyebrows go up a bit. Well, what were the odds?] Oh, you've lost an arm? That does present its own difficulties as well, yes.

I certainly hope so. Winning a war generally requires more than just manpower as it is.

[dissenter]

It does. [both-- about the arm, and the war-winning. ahem.]

Where would your talents lie? Just out of curiosity.

[fullmetalblindguy]

[He's all too familiar with the arm difficulties. Thank goodness for oddly functional prosthetics.]

I do know a great many things, though I'm not sure how much of that still applies here. And despite my apparent disadvantage, my perception is much better than average and I am quite capable of causing someone a great deal of psychical pain. [Said perfectly calmly.]

[dissenter]

Oh, my. [he even manages to sound a little alarmed!] In that case, perhaps you have little to fear in the way of things that'd make the rest of us opt for the SOS button.

[he clears his throat.] Qilby-- is my name, by the way. It's a pleasure. And as someone who's somewhat in the business of knowledge, I find that the capacity to learn and study is necessary to know those "great many things." Even if the knowledge itself is no longer applicable in this world, that ability to amass it is always a powerful one.

[fullmetalblindguy]

It's always a possibility, however. Much like for the rest of you.

Knowledge is rarely harmful, I've found. Unless you become a target for it. [Like he heard he was earlier that day.] In any case, it is always nice to meet someone capable of retaining it. [Pause.] And I'm known as Snake.

[dissenter]

[odd name, that. but he has his fair share of experience with the cold-blooded...]

It's a pleasure. What sort of knowledge did you specialize in, if at all, if you don't mind my asking?