voice; some time after arrival

[longshadow]

[ It's a slow, careful drawl, like someone's trying very hard to make themselves clearly understood. ]

Not that I don’t appreciate free jewelry full of tiny talking voices,

[ He doesn't. ]

But I don't suppose that none of you know how to get this thing off?

I’ve tried prying it, and cutting it, and slamming it on the wall a few times, and even asking it real polite, but no dice. Melting it's off the table, I like my skin, but otherwise all suggestions are. [ A huff of breath. ] Seriously welcome.

Comments

Re: voice

[ryuuzaki]

It's a big ship, and it makes stops... tracking might be for safety purposes. I'd rather not be abducted by locals on some planet somewhere and miss my chance to go home.

[Certainly, when he's helped track communication device signals over the past few years, it's been in the name of safety. The fact that a tracking function could have other applications was entirely beside the point, until it wasn't. It's the sort of thing he'll do to other people, but resents having done to him without his own agency... because who can you trust, really?]

But you're right: there must be a way to unmake it. I suppose one route might be finding out how it was made to begin with.

[longshadow]

Yeah, I'd hate to be abducted from my abduction.

[ He huffs again, but some of the panic drains from his voice. L's approaching this — calmly, but seriously. It's a nice change. It's enough to get him to simmer down. ]

Can't tell what kind of metal it is. Don't have much experience with this kind of tech, can't even figure out how it's powered, [ There's a sound like wary tapping at the keys. And muffled cursing, as abruptly, the background breaks into a chorus of cheery music and bright meows. ] Fuck —

[ryuuzaki]

Point -- although it's happened before. Being abducted from an abduction.

[He's beginning to miss someone a little, but that will pass, he thinks, and in the meantime, this situation seems like it may be somewhat immediately less rattling and hazardous than the last one he was in... but that remains to be seen.

He hears the music, then the swearing, and he continues, airy and knowing:]

You launched the kitten program?

If I had to guess... the power could be inductive, from the ship -- somehow -- or the power source could merely be a battery with an extremely long life. Is anything like that familiar to you?

[longshadow]

Of course I launched the kitten program.

[ It's a brush-off. He has no idea what the program is, except that the most fucked-up looking tree he's ever seen is currently waving branches full of cats gently on the screen. ]

Yeah, I've run into shit like that. [ He just sounds tired. ] Basic principles of enchantment. This isn't running on magic, though. You figure it's...electric?

[ He fumbles his way around the words, wary. ]

[ryuuzaki]

You can close it.

[And then he briefly explains how. The noise of the kitten program is extremely annoying if it's coming from someone else's MID. If it's coming from his own... well... it's still annoying and a waste of time and he's opened the program more than once regardless.]

Yes, it's probably electric. I really can't say yet what their technology is here, but something like this would be electric where I come from, if it isn't some more sophisticated technology that I'm not aware of. The nature of the power source might vary, however. I doubt it's magic.

How would somebody make something run on magic?

[He sounds distantly interested, now.]