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[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[No recording. Envy doesn't want to talk to any stupid humans.]

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[cobbledtogetherenvy]

We're Father's failings excised and made useful.

[He rolls his eyes so hard it hurts.]

I don't know how the older ones were put together. Just guess. My younger brothers... Sloth's a glorified chimera. Gluttony's made from the same gate I tried to open on deck. It closes about as soon as it opens when he uses it. He got me with it by accident once. Dimwit.

[a_titanum]

To be fair, I think most people consider themselves their parent's attempts at excising part of themselves in a useful way.

Your world has mages, then?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Alchemists. And the other one, I forget what they're called. Humans are better at the everyday stuff than we are, honestly, but they can't learn enough in their little lives and tiny spheres to accomplish much.

[a_titanum]

I expect not. I have not heard of alchemy being able to create beings like yourself in my world. Magic, certainly, but mages are not even supposed to live past infancy, let alone learn anything these days.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

What people think is supposed to happen and what actually happens don't have much to do with each other. Ask your average person where I'm from, homunculi and philosopher's stones are both myths.

[a_titanum]

Yes, well, you are speaking to a mage. That was how I killed you.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[He is too tired to have the "alchemy isn't magic" argument again.]

Least painful way I've ever died, thanks.

[a_titanum]

[ Oh, he wasn't arguing that. But he is the impossible thing in his own universe, that's all. ]

I was hoping so.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

It was a useful time to do it, too. I had something I needed to test. So if anything, I owe you the favor.

[a_titanum]

I am not charitable enough not to accept that.

May I ask what you were testing?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Short version is the gate didn't open the way it should have, and I had to tap my stone to activate the circle. I wanted to know if the depletion was permanent.

[a_titanum]

From what I understand, death resets one to the state one came to this place in. My hair was dyed before I died and has since returned to its straw color.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

I know that's how it's supposed to work, but...

[He should probably keep this to himself, but he's not an alchemist. He can do alchemy, some of it pretty advanced, but he doesn't have the real depth of training. Never needed it. He's not good at thinking this way.]

Philosopher's stones are made with the energy from human souls. The more people you pour in, the stronger. Two or three for the ordinary stones we let out sometimes. Thousands for something like one of us.

[a_titanum]

I do not know your alchemy, but I would posit that the energy used to open the portal was ultimately captured by the Barge and or the Admiral, and thus could be reapplied to you upon your death. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, after all. Merely moved around. And from all evidence, the Barge is something of a closed system most of the time.

[ Someone's been reading a lot of science books donated by people while he's down in Zero. ]

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

That's what happened to the human batteries I tried to use. The barge grabbed them before I could use them. It's bad technique, anyway. I should have used them to build a stone and tapped that. But what I used to open the gate? It's still gone.

[a_titanum]

Interesting.

So you are permanently depleted by that action?

[ This is not the curiosity of an enemy but someone finding out something fascinating. ]

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Should be. It didn't come back when the new warden woke me up. I'm doing some basic experiments now.

[a_titanum]

I wonder, then, if the Admiral only has the means or ability to hold onto a very specific kind of soul. If other energies are incompatible with his power. Thus, when it was expended from your stone, he could not catch it in his system, but the souls of those he brought here who meet his criteria were caught as such.

What kind of experiments?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

I've been trying simple alchemy, but it either doesn't work or it's not strong enough. I don't really want more warden attention. And I never studied the basics like a human would. I'm not an alchemist, I'm alchemy.

[a_titanum]

Are there any texts on the subject available in the library here?

Does alchemy require any inborn capability or can anyone learn?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Anybody who wants to study, though there's talent like anything else. There are some things you need to be a human to do. Human meaning, not artificial, like one of us.

[Since he's pretty sure half the people on the barge who insist they aren't human are just humans with minor variations.]

I know plenty that no human alchemist would have time or access to in a lifetime, and I also never sat down and learned all the basics like a beginner.

[a_titanum]

Of course. I will have to look into it once I am no longer in Zero. It does not seem the sort of thing to ask someone to get for me.

[ well, maybe Max. ]

If I should have any talent for it, I would be willing to assist you with your experiments and crafting your theories.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[A lot of alchemy is a lot easier with humans around. Father didn't just involve the government and army for convenience.]

The library's supposed to have everything. I may not have learned whatever exercises they give little humans, but I can tell you if you're looking in the right place or missing anything major.

[It should be a good field of study for someone who likes to set people on fire.]

You've already got a better version of the Flame Alchemist's little trick, but it's a versatile skill.

[a_titanum]

Yes, I have noticed that about the library. I work there, you see. Thus it will not be difficult to spend some time looking.

I will take some time to collect a few likely texts and check them with you before I begin?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Sure. I may not have read them, but I'm sure basic texts exist for the military to train alchemists.