equivalences | CONSIGNMENT: IC INBOX

[ Ed is halfway through sticking more cake into his mouth when the request comes, and honestly, it's baffling. He was wondering why Sebastian chose to stand at the side when there was a chair right there. Was he waiting for permission after all? ]

It is your rover. Why are you asking me? [ Maybe it's some odd butler code-of-conduct. Ed himself has never had anything like a servant, so consider him baffled. He's especially baffled because Sebastian isn't even in his service. Weirdo. ]

Sure, go ahead. And ask what you want, too.

Ah, manners, really...

[ He takes the seat with a small laugh, and he takes his time to explain that first, since the latter topic is an area he can't predict Ed's reaction to, and so he's at least allowing him to enjoy the cake before moving onto a heavier topic. ]

I am a servant, and so these sorts of manners are very difficult habits to break. It is a butler's aesthetic to always be mindful and considerate of those he serves, even when rank does not matter as it does at my home, admittedly.

[ He folds his hands neatly in front of him, and then with another overly polite nod, he gets to the topic that he had really wanted to get to. ]

But for the matter at hand, I noticed something that should not be possible, and so I am doing my best to investigate the matter. I have heard of people returning from the dead.

[ So basically a butler-nerd.

But Sebastian's passion earned him some delicious cake and tea, so Ed isn't ungrateful enough to insult him. He only stares at Sebastian as he prattles on, fork hanging out of his mouth and looking more ... incredulous than impressed.

And now they're getting to the meat of his meeting. ] You heard correct. I know a few people who came back. What did you want to ask?

Simply if you knew anything of it. I thought that asking those recruits who have been here longer than I would be better to ask.

[ Though there's still politeness in every word in gesture, there's a subtle shift as they get into this topic. There's an ease and eloquence with which he speaks that shows intelligence, but it's something about the way he smiles as he speaks that serves as a reminder of what Sebastian is. This is no longer the conversation suited to the butler, but rather to the demon. ]

The process is what I am especially interested in, for that is something that should not be possible.

[ Ed does notice the shift. It certainly sounds like this topic is something Sebastian has a personal stake in, and being a soul-eating demon, Ed can kind of make out why. ]

The biggest thing that I've learned during my time here is that nothing works the way you used to think it did. [ Ed had only just proven that bringing a person was impossible back home. It's almost a joke at his expense that people were coming back with little to no consequences. But he's also thankful, because he has friends among the revived. ]

This isn't the first time the CDC has defied the natural laws. They sometimes employ recruits who have long passed away. [ He takes another bite of that cake. ] But it is the first time I've seen them do it at such a scale.

'[ Sebastian's gaze turns down thoughtfully as he brings a hand to his chin, and for a few moments, he's deep in thought on the subject, though it's mostly to collect his thoughts on how to speak about this. It's a subject he can't speak freely about, since it's the sort of thing that comes with the price to be expected of a Faustian demon.

It gives Ed a few moments to enjoy his delicious cake, at least, but once Sebastian looks up, the smile is gone, since it's something he does take seriously. ]

It is something I do not understand, for even practically, it makes no sense. To revive recruits at all should come at a great cost, and as such, it would be logical to pick new recruits instead. And by the same token, not all are revived...

[ He trails off with a shake of his head, since that topic isn't one he cares about as much. ]

Had you heard of the mission that the Blue team had undergone quite a while ago?

It's like you're trying to say that new recruits are worth more ... [ Squinting so hard with a fork hanging off his mouth. If not for the chat he had with Mom, Ed would be agreeing on the part about it coming at a great cost, however. It's a cost he paid himself. But being in the CDC has opened his mind a bit. It's much more naive to cling onto your own skepticism here than it is to simply accept what's going on. He's learned that in some other worlds, Equivalent Exchange simply didn't apply. There were people who could raise the dead at little cost at all.

Ed lets the topic change. He knows the person behind the revivals, but he's pondering over whether it's knowledge he wants to share.

and oh yeah ... the blue team mission. ]

Yeah, I heard of it. [ It slipped his mind there for a moment. This definitely isn't the first time they've revived a ton of people at a time then. ] They were just messing with Blue team, with that shitty mission.

Ah, pardon me for that, then. That was not what I had meant at all.

[ He gestures across the table, but it's not a gesture that means anything. Sebastian simply talks with his hands, and the gesture forward is as if brushing away the misunderstanding. ]

Rather, I mean that I anticipate some sort of repercussion to reviving the dead, whether we feel its effects now or in centuries' time. In the later case, I would say there is cause where revival is more efficient, but still, it does not sit well with me. That aside, I meant that instead, if you were to look at the issue in terms of cost and benefit, it would seem to be an odd imbalance. To revive one recruit as compared to simply gathering multiple new ones to replace them... It is simple tactics. I would understand if we were considered irreplaceable, but that is not my impression at all.

[ Sebastian had been very slightly leaning forward as he explained, so he sits back once more and folds his hands neatly in his lap, though his expression is still lightly puzzled. It's an odd thing to him, but it's also the sort of thing he may never understand, depending on where the choice of revivals came from. If it was compassion, he would always be at odds with it, for he could only view the action in terms of a tactician's view. ]

...Though I do at least understand the purpose as an exercise. It is bizarre, but the meaning there is easy enough to discern.

CONSIGNMENT: IC INBOX

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