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For those who knew them: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Clark Kent, Scott Lang and Foggy Nelson are gone.

[ Bruce doesn't know whether or not to leave it at that. He wants to keep it a brief announcement, almost detached, but in the process he's making it fairly obvious that some of these people leaving has affected him a lot. But then again, that's why he went with text, so he can avoid any slip of his expression or tone of voice that might betray just how upset he is.

He doesn't really want to talk about it. Or maybe he does, but he doesn't know with whom, or how to bring it up. It's not like he's ever been the best at expressing himself.

Best to just leave it at that. Short and... not really sweet, no. ]

That's it.

(( ooc: forward-dated a couple of days just to avoid overlapping recent drop notices! ))

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Yeah, equivalent exchange. But to move someone, body and soul, from a time or place, and have them come and go in one piece? I don't know. The things that required back home? It wasn't humane, it wasn't right. But I'm not sure that reversing it helps -- it's the same exchange of information, the same energy lost every time a transaction occurs.

Where we're from, to make an exchange that big? It requires human souls. People's lives. And if it's doing the same here? We have to stop it, or try to. It's why I need to know more, even if I don't always understand it right away. I'm learning, though.

So yeah, any information the others have I'd like to read it. It can't hurt, right?

But that's if all this worked the way your world does, and it's not likely. It's likely it doesn't follow any rules from any of our universes, but laws of its own.

Still, you're right. It definitely can't hurt that you look into it. Your brother too, since you're both pretty knowledgeable about that kind of stuff. None of us know enough about the laws in this universe to go into this with an advantage, and we all have different perspectives about it— hopefully coming together will help us understand what makes the Ingress tick.

Yeah, I guess you're right. That makes it more worrying, doesn't it?

I hope it helps, that we're working together, too. It's the only way we can accomplish anything here. I'm sorry about your friends. Maybe we'll learn more about where they went, when we study this place a little more.

Only because it means we probably know next to nothing about it, and because of that it can be a very unpredictable system. There's no way of knowing what it can do, or what it might do next.

I think it'll help too. Or I hope so, anyway. I do know that sticking together will do more than creating distance or animosity will, but I also know that's not easy with everyone. At least most of us are willing to try to come together.

Yeah, it's better to try to come together. Maybe it won't work out but the more information and knowledge we have, the better. One day, I'd like to come down to your labs and maybe start trying to learn a little bit more about the science you know, of this place. Books help and all, but it's a little hard. It's so different here from home.

I want to try to help, anyway, if I can. It's pretty easy to feel helpless here sometimes. I'm not gonna let that stop me, though.

I once told you and your brother that you're both free to drop by whenever, and that offer still stands. Whatever you don't understand, I'll be glad to explain, and if you can help with anything you do understand, then that'd be great too. It's not easy, I'll give you that, but the desire to learn is the first step, and possibly the most important. Everything else comes more easily like that.

Bring Al with you, by the way, whenever you drop by.

Yeah, thanks, it's just been a while. I don't mind if the work isn't easy -- I like a challenge, and if I can learn something new then it's worth it. I just want to help people, that's all.

I'll bring Al along, definitely. We make a pretty good team!

That you do. And I'll be waiting for you two, then.

Can I ask a question about your brother, by the way?

I'll let you know before we stop by. Don't want to surprise you!

But yeah, I guess. What question did you want to ask?

[ He's wary, but he's glad it's over text and not in person. ]

This is kind of a weird thing to say, but— he's hollow, right? It's kind of obvious if you spend enough time with him. There's just the armor.

You don't have to tell me why. I just thought it odd that he's so invested in keeping it a secret. Is it an issue back in your world?

[ There's a little time between messages, but finally Ed responds. ]

Yeah. He is. You can't tell anyone. It's better that people don't know. Back home things are pretty complicated. I can tell you the story, but I think I'd rather talk through it, or do it in person. We don't really need this stuff written down, is all.

I wasn't planning on it. I haven't even told him I know yet. And it's fine, you don't have to tell me about it. I'm sure it must've been complicated for him to end up like that, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that he's safe like that— if not, just let me know if I can ever help with anything.

Yeah. It was complicated. It still is.

[ And he's not sure how to approach the subject of Al's safety -- a soul isn't supposed to stay attached to an inanimate object for so long, after all. ]

We just need to get home. We'd both be safer there, in the long run. Al's body isn't fragile, but we have to be careful. [ At least back home he could continue fighting, find a way to get Al's body back. ]

[ 'Safe' is kind of a broad statement, and he knows it. He's not even sure how Al is alive, but he figures it's due to alchemy somehow, and while he doesn't have nearly enough knowledge to know what would go into something like this, he can guess it's probably not the most stable or ideal of situations.

They must've been truly desperate, is what he thinks. ]

I understand that. Until then, you can come to me if you need any help. So long as it's within my power, I'll do it.

I don't want Al to worry about me, that's all. If he knows I was thinking about this, he'd be sick with worry and he doesn't need that. Al's soul is connected to that armour, and I'm not really sure how much longer he has left in it. Souls are fragile, and there's a lot of wear and tear when it's put where it shouldn't be. Especially when it's affixed by someone who didn't entirely know what they were doing.

[ Ed understands how to do it, still does, but as a young boy trying to seal Al's soul to the armour, he's sure he could do it better now. But that's a risk he's not willing to take. ]

I don't know how much longer it will hold.

I'm sorry to hear. And I know very little about alchemy but that much makes sense to me. If I can offer a suggestion, you could ask a few select people for help. There are a lot of experienced magic users on board so maybe one of them would be able to help strengthen whatever link keeps Al's body connected to that armor, or at least build some kind of shield to keep it from being damaged, weakened or destroyed.

I know you probably don't want to go around telling complete strangers about this, but maybe you can get to know some of these people first, and trust them enough to bring this up eventually.

It's complicated, how that alchemy works. It's all about exchanges, about the equivalence of the exchange, the energy. I don't know if this place has anything that can replicate that, not without the cost. Which I'd do anything to keep Al safe, I'm just not sure that I can here.

[ He can't risk the alchemy going wrong, can't risk hurting anyone else on the ship but himself. ]

I'll try getting to know some of the people, though. I think asking for help is going to be the only way.

Alright. As long as you trust people enough, you should be fine asking for help here. Just make sure to know them first, is all. We may all be stuck here but a number of people on the crew might still use whatever information they have to their advantage, and like you said, the priority should be to keep Al safe.

I'll help how I can, I'm just not sure that the science I'm familiar with would make much difference in a situation like this. But we can talk a little more about this later on, if you want. And if your brother's alright with it too, of course.

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