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[Mama Miller is having concerns about the smaller people on board. He often claims to not like children, but he remembers what it felt like to be treated like he should be an adult. He's so good at business because he was running one at the age of ten, because his mother had become ill. He's seen so many child soldiers have their lives stripped away. He thinks that with a little bit more support, they won't grow up to be the type of people he would hire.]

[Better survival rate in general.]

It's come to my attention there are not only a lot of refugee children on board, but a few among the crew as well.

I'm dubious about giving those sorts of jobs to children. Not my call to make, though. What I do think is they should have some sort of education. Reading. Writing. Math. The basics. There's a decent library for materials, and I suspect people willing to tutor. And some activities that don't involve the mess hall or cleaning bathrooms.

They're crew, but they're still kids. They deserve all the advantages of being one.

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[It probably doesn't inspire too much confidence that the person who responds sounds as if he is about ten years old, voice clearly prepubescent, though he does reply with a lot of enthusiasm.]

I don't think there's any harm in letting children take on some of the jobs, especially the refugees, it could help give them a sense of stability and like they're being useful. But I definitely agree that setting up an education would be beneficial, I'm not-- uh, I'm not exactly a teacher, but I could help with reading and science.

I guessed that a lot of the children here already were used to something like jobs, anyway. No changing that. But still...

The instructors already asked me to not interfere, but I think they could use their own forms of recreation.

[He didn't know about the instructors, but that's a relief to hear there is something in place after all. Not that he can talk, he left school at eight.]

I'm still pretty new here, is there anywhere children can go to play without being in the way?

I assume the same place the adults do. The rec area. But I don't think it would be the same sort of entertaining for a kid.

At least, from what I can remember of being a kid.

I've not seen the, uh, rec area yet.

[He has literally no idea what might pass for entertainment aboard a literal spaceship. But he's definitely interested in finding out.]

But as long as it's pretty open, then I'm sure the kids will make up their own games. When I was really little, we used to play games of tag for hours, and you don't need anything for that.

I guess you're right. But considering that I didn't even play tag myself, lets hope they can help each other along.

You didn't play tag when you were little?

[He may just sound slightly sympathetic, and more than a bit curious.]

What sort of games did you like to play? Maybe you could teach those to the children?

I'm not in much of a position to now. I don't have prosthetics for my arm and leg yet, and I'm being choosy about it.

But no. My father was a foreigner and I look more like him than my mother. Most of the children didn't want to play with me. I looked like the enemy. Occasionally I would stumble into a game of kickball or baseball. Most of the time I worked to help my mother.

[He's not exactly proud of the adult that he turned out to be.]

[He feels a lurch of sympathy for someone outcast even as a child, and a flash of memory from his own past. His brother in pain, feverish and bandaged, waiting for his new prosthetics.]

Don't they have automail engineers on this ship that could fit you for prosthetics??

[That's worrying, given how often Ed breaks his.]

[He's never met Edward, but if he did he would be extremely sympathetic. He spent ten days in a POW situation, waiting for recovery after he lost his. Since then he still feels the pain. He would wonder how much Edward felt of his old limbs.] They do. I've seen people with them... not specifically 'automail', but different types of prosthetics.

I just want to be sure of one before I get one. Before, I didn't want one because I felt I owed it to lost comrades. That I couldn't just fix what happened with replacements. And it's true. You can't.

But now I'm considering it. [So he can accept that he can't protect things he's already lost.]

[There are types of prosthetics other than automail? Al files that away for future investigation, but now isn't the time.]

I know it's probably not my place to say it, I don't know what happened. But I think that if the people you lost were your friends and comrades, they wouldn't want to be the reason you were denying yourself anything.

[Trust him, he knows the guilt of being the survivor, he knows what it's like to lose those close and want to punish himself. He also knows that's not the way.]

I bet they'd want to know you were happy and healthy, and using the opportunities you had now to their full extent. That's... that's what I think.

I wouldn't know that for sure... but I would like to think you're right about that.

Still.

I feel like I have something to make up for. [Or something to prove. If that's the case, he must have already proven it.] Going to look into it anyway.

If you like, I could ask my brother to talk to you?

[He just wants to be helpful.]

Ed has a prosthetic arm and leg too, so he could tell you a little more about what the rehabilitation and entire process is like.

I don't suppose it could hurt. I've been getting used to what I've got alright. I guess maybe another perspective wouldn't be so bad.

[Maybe help chip away at the survivor's guilt.]

Great! I'll let him know you want to talk to him, then. Um, and if you need me at any time, the name is Alphonse.

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