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[oedipuscomplex]

Okay... Just when I thought I was starting to get used to this place.

What the hell is automail, and why do I keep hearing about it?

Comments

[nearerthesun]

Seriously...?

It's prosthetic limbs. Like this. [Pushes up his right sleeve to reveal metal there.]

[oedipuscomplex]

[He blinked as the other Ed pulled back his sleeve to show off the automail arm, actually taking a step back.]

Okay. I know I'm in the minority when it comes to... Siblings, family life in general, and overall society. Is it completely normal around here for other.. Uh, Eds.. To have fake limbs?

[nearerthesun]

Seems to be the majority around here, though I've seen a couple Als with automail. [Frowns as he says that.] Lucky you.

[oedipuscomplex]

Lucky-? Cause I don't need prosthetics? Why the hell does everyone else?

[nearerthesun]

That's a long story and I'd really rather not get into it.

[oedipuscomplex]

All right, fine.

If you're like the others I met around here... You got to keep your brother, and I got to keep my arm. I'm just trying to figure out if I'm so different from everyone, how the hell I'm the same at all.

[nearerthesun]

... What do you mean I got to keep my brother? What are you saying?

[oedipuscomplex]

You have one, right? Al?

They took him away when we were little, haven't seen him since. No one around here seems to have even heard of William, so I wouldn't guess you know anything about him, either.

[nearerthesun]

Course I do.

Yeah... Al's my only brother. I don't know anyone named William. Uh... who took him away?

[oedipuscomplex]

It's ... the will of JUPITER that society's segregated by hair color. He wasn't blond enough so they sent him away, just how things are where I'm from. Dad said they sent him to live with our mother, and William left to find his own mother a few years later.

Leaving me alone with the bastard, until I wound up here.

[nearerthesun]

...what.

Are you... are you serious? That's the most ridiculous, stupid...

Whose bright idea was that shit?!

[oedipuscomplex]

The law's created by JUPITER and according to JUPITER blonds are responsible for upholding the law, considering we're genetically superior to people with darker hair.

I don't know why, that's just the way it is. No one here seems to believe it, at least at first. Trust me, I wish I were making it up, then at least my brothers would still have been around - even if I wound up here, anyway.

As far as I know, it's been that way for as long as anyone can remember.

[nearerthesun]

Yeah, yeah, I believe it. I've seen enough messed-up stuff around here that I know better by now.

That's fucked up. At least around here you won't have to deal with that... Who knows, your brothers could show up any day now, too.

[oedipuscomplex]

Someone else said that, too. But if people come from different worlds, and they're all so similar... how are we supposed to know which ones are actually our's?

I mean. Maybe an Al will show up from another world like mine. I was working on fixing things. Getting education to the dark haired, and trying to ... work towards equality. I can't do that if I'm stuck here, how do so many people just... settle in and accept being here?

[nearerthesun]

You're the first person I've seen mentioning this JUPITER thing, so if an Al came by talking about it he'd probably be yours. Hopefully.

...to be honest I don't even know. You just kind of get used to it.

[oedipuscomplex]

I'm not even sure Al'd know who I am, even if he did show up here.

I'm not sure I want to get used to this place and working with a crazy kid who looks exactly like me, and wouldn't know the meaning of the word respect if he had to write the definition for a month.

I think I prefer working for the military over a bar.