[He hasn't really spoken to Beckett much since he arrived, but he has heard several worrying things through the grapevine. The conversation he had with Zell a couple of nights ago has pushed the last straw, and so he's sending a message just after lockdown.]
Beckett, it's Alphonse, I don't know if you remember me but we need to talk.
[Though they haven't spoken much, Beckett has a good memory for names; moreso for people tagged in his mind as perhaps more than they seem. His answer is dry but cordial.]
I do remember - the alchemist. How can I help you?
[As it happens, Beckett doesn't even think about Zell. The conversation was public, after all. And he has been rather waiting for the first person to decide he was a dangerous influence or what-have-you - it happens to him a lot.]
Isn't it? I was under the impression that we are searching for information. I'm happy to volunteer my own tablet for breaking open, if someone thinks they know how.
The tablets are our only reliable communication between one another at the moment, breaking one could prove more dangerous than the information is worth. What would happen if you needed help or got hurt, you wouldn't be able to call anyone.
[He sounds half sternly lecturing and half eagerly explaining, because he does understand the lure of information.]
We might be able to break one open in the future if we find another way of communicating, or if we get a safe base camp established, but I don't think it's worth risking anyone's safety for the possibility just yet.
They are very useful unbroken, but replacements for lost ones has so far seemed rather easy. Besides, people here do tend to gravitate towards group travel - it's possible to take precautions.
[He concedes that much of an explanation, because he isn't looking for an argument, and unlife has taught him that just because someone sounds eight years old, that doesn't mean they have nothing useful to say. But in the end he points out the obvious:]
It's a risk I'm prepared to face. Perhaps others are too. I expect them to make their own judgements.
I guess as long as precautions are taken, like making sure you're with a group, it might not be such a bad idea. But this-- friend, he said he wasn't keen on it and you were being insistent.
[That's the bit he disapproves of. Zell had made it sound like Beckett was trying to bully him into something potentially dangerous.]
[Now it clicks, although Beckett sounds more sardonically amused than annoyed when he answers.]
Would this be the friend who said he was certain that he can take a tablet apart and put it back together, then backed out of it even when I offered my own?
[Remember how bad you are at lying, Al. He certainly does.]
Of course not. That wouldn't make him look very good, would it?
[Still dryly entertained, because this is pretty much what he expects of people.]
I'm sure he didn't feel very comfortable about being called out on his pretenses. And possibly about the idea of salvaging a dead companion's tablet, but that really seems like the kind of discomfort we'll all have to put up with if we expect to get anywhere.
[He's perfectly ready to admit that he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in that exchange. It's fair enough.]
He did ask me what happened to a tablet when someone had died.
[He feels like this is something that needs to be explained, at least, because it could be dangerous for people to try and salvage the tablets of people who had died.]
That's not going to happen, at least, I've never known one to be left behind. Either it's gone in the morning along with the person if they got locked out, or-- or it's destroyed in an attack.
[Oh, information. His interest is immediately piqued.]
Never? Do the monsters destroy tablets deliberately, or is it just that no one has ever had the presence of mind to throw away their tablet if they know they're about to be caught?
[He sounds eagerly curious, but quite calm about the prospect. If someone is going to die, they might as well be efficient about it.]
[He can understand the curiosity, he gets the same passion when answers are dangled in front of him, but maybe not so much for the macabre nature of the enquiry. Still... it might be relevant, so he does reply, albeit in a subdued voice.]
If you're caught then you don't have time to think about things like that, it-- it happens so fast, too fast to think or shout or... And the thing takes everything until there's nothing left.
This makes it simply a question of being aware and prepared. [He does not stop pushing; for him, this is good news.] Unless I am misunderstanding what you mean by "takes everything". Considering other information we have, the beacons and such, I'd be quite interested to know if the monsters could possibly be interested in the tablets, not in us.
It doesn't work that way. If you have time to think about throwing your tablet, then you have time to think about running. Please trust me, it's too sudden for that.
[His brother is an experienced fighter, if there had been any second of hesitation then he could have run.]
Unless... maybe if you're travelling in a group then one person could hold onto the tablets of everyone each day, only giving them back if they're needed? That way they won't be on most of the people for most of the daylight hours.
Ah, yes, I'd nearly forgotten that you have first hand experience. I'm sorry for that. [It's pretty dry as sympathy goes, but not sarcastic. Beckett is perfectly capable of basic civility.]
But that is certainly an idea, if people are willing to run the risk of all tablets being lost at once. Or stolen, I suppose. Can't discount that possibility.
[He doesn't like to consider the possibility of betrayal, and even discussing saving tablets from potential dead team members seems callous, but he's not one to shy away from difficult conversations if they're necessary.]
Then it might be safer to split the tablets between two people if there's a big enough group, that way you double the chance of some being kept safe in case of an emergency.
[Beckett makes a sound of interested agreement. Really, this boy is keeping up with the conversation better than he expected.]
Of course, this is all talk in the air while we don't have any means of making use of spare tablets. I don't suppose you could talk some daring into your friend Zell?
I suppose not. However useful it might be in the long term... [he sighs slightly, because the truth is that he'd rather no one died, either. He just knows it's an unrealistic hope.] Remind him that he's welcome to my tablet. We won't gain anything except by taking risks.
[And after a moment, with the tone equivalent of an eyeroll:] And please do tell him not to be so skittish. I don't coerce people.
I think maybe you should tell him that yourself. If we're all going to be working together on this, then you and Zell can't be afraid to even talk to one another.
[He is not acting as a go-between.]
Maybe... maybe try to be a little more, um, sensitive?
I'm sorry, afraid? [Where did you even get that idea, kid.] The only reason I am asking is that he'd be more inclined to trust your word on it than mine, since he is, presumably, your friend. We hardly have the time or leeway to be sensitive when it comes to discussing things that could decide all our fates. I certainly don't plan to dance around anything.
It's not exactly that you should dance around anything, but you might get more cooperation if you tried to approach it sympathetically. These aren't just tablets we're talking about but possibly people's lives as well.
[That's not to say he disagrees with what Beckett is trying to accomplish by any means.]
Indeed. It's precisely because this involves all our lives that we should all be ready to talk about things that may not be terribly pleasant. [He huffs a mildly exasperated sigh.] For the sake of cooperation, I suppose...
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branchandroot
private; audio @LELRIC
Date: 2015-11-12 02:09 pm (UTC)Beckett, it's Alphonse, I don't know if you remember me but we need to talk.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-12 10:37 pm (UTC)I do remember - the alchemist. How can I help you?
no subject
Date: 2015-11-15 07:25 pm (UTC)A friend came to me and said you were encouraging people to break open their tablets, and-- I have to tell you that isn't a good idea.
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Date: 2015-11-15 08:52 pm (UTC)Isn't it? I was under the impression that we are searching for information. I'm happy to volunteer my own tablet for breaking open, if someone thinks they know how.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-15 08:55 pm (UTC)[He sounds half sternly lecturing and half eagerly explaining, because he does understand the lure of information.]
We might be able to break one open in the future if we find another way of communicating, or if we get a safe base camp established, but I don't think it's worth risking anyone's safety for the possibility just yet.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-15 09:15 pm (UTC)[He concedes that much of an explanation, because he isn't looking for an argument, and unlife has taught him that just because someone sounds eight years old, that doesn't mean they have nothing useful to say. But in the end he points out the obvious:]
It's a risk I'm prepared to face. Perhaps others are too. I expect them to make their own judgements.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-15 09:49 pm (UTC)[That's the bit he disapproves of. Zell had made it sound like Beckett was trying to bully him into something potentially dangerous.]
no subject
Date: 2015-11-16 12:34 am (UTC)Would this be the friend who said he was certain that he can take a tablet apart and put it back together, then backed out of it even when I offered my own?
[Remember how bad you are at lying, Al. He certainly does.]
no subject
Date: 2015-11-16 06:55 pm (UTC)He didn't mention that.
[Why does he feel like he's been played?]
He just said you were making him feel uncomfortable and pressuring him into a decision that probably wasn't wise.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-17 12:26 pm (UTC)[Still dryly entertained, because this is pretty much what he expects of people.]
I'm sure he didn't feel very comfortable about being called out on his pretenses. And possibly about the idea of salvaging a dead companion's tablet, but that really seems like the kind of discomfort we'll all have to put up with if we expect to get anywhere.
[He's perfectly ready to admit that he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in that exchange. It's fair enough.]
no subject
Date: 2015-11-20 04:08 pm (UTC)[He feels like this is something that needs to be explained, at least, because it could be dangerous for people to try and salvage the tablets of people who had died.]
That's not going to happen, at least, I've never known one to be left behind. Either it's gone in the morning along with the person if they got locked out, or-- or it's destroyed in an attack.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-21 01:35 pm (UTC)Never? Do the monsters destroy tablets deliberately, or is it just that no one has ever had the presence of mind to throw away their tablet if they know they're about to be caught?
[He sounds eagerly curious, but quite calm about the prospect. If someone is going to die, they might as well be efficient about it.]
no subject
Date: 2015-11-22 04:30 pm (UTC)If you're caught then you don't have time to think about things like that, it-- it happens so fast, too fast to think or shout or... And the thing takes everything until there's nothing left.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 12:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-25 10:53 pm (UTC)[His brother is an experienced fighter, if there had been any second of hesitation then he could have run.]
Unless... maybe if you're travelling in a group then one person could hold onto the tablets of everyone each day, only giving them back if they're needed? That way they won't be on most of the people for most of the daylight hours.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-26 10:30 pm (UTC)But that is certainly an idea, if people are willing to run the risk of all tablets being lost at once. Or stolen, I suppose. Can't discount that possibility.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-27 11:46 am (UTC)Then it might be safer to split the tablets between two people if there's a big enough group, that way you double the chance of some being kept safe in case of an emergency.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-27 06:32 pm (UTC)Of course, this is all talk in the air while we don't have any means of making use of spare tablets. I don't suppose you could talk some daring into your friend Zell?
no subject
Date: 2015-11-28 07:45 pm (UTC)[There's no point going to the effort of having spare tablets if they're then powerless to do something with them.]
But I really hope he never has to put his skills to use.
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Date: 2015-11-29 11:49 am (UTC)[And after a moment, with the tone equivalent of an eyeroll:] And please do tell him not to be so skittish. I don't coerce people.
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Date: 2015-11-29 12:41 pm (UTC)[He is not acting as a go-between.]
Maybe... maybe try to be a little more, um, sensitive?
no subject
Date: 2015-11-29 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-30 02:01 pm (UTC)[That's not to say he disagrees with what Beckett is trying to accomplish by any means.]
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Date: 2015-11-30 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-04 05:48 pm (UTC)Thanks, I really appreciate it. I guess I better get back and tell Zell about all of this if we're going to get his cooperation, huh?
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