[phone calls OTA] Technical Difficulties

[st_abby]

He'd passed by the alien, gleaming thing in his room a hundred times by now, or nearly must've done, and hardly stopped to examine it. It was strange, but so were most other things in this place. A shiny, awkward looking device attached to the wall by means of a long cable, set on one of the little tables that seemed to litter these rooms. It had neat rows of square buttons with numbers etched on, and a handle, so Vax'ildan had supposed it was meant to work some feature of the room in a way he could scarcely imagine. He didn't want to break it, but eventually the boredom and curiosity got the better of him, much like with the door locks. It would probably fix itself, if it came to that.

After the first few moments spent listening to the monotonous warble that came from the handle, Vax'ildan reached to jab a finger into a button. When it beeped but did no more, he pushed another. And a third...

OOC Note: If you would like a thread with Vax, please leave a top-level comment to this post and he will reply! No need to pre-arrange, but as one does when learning new technology, he may disconnect the call etc. accidentally or your character may tell him to leave them alone in very few words if they so choose - most of these threads are likely to be short.

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[st_eadiesthefour]

A shrill sound broke the silence of her room, and Constance jumped, dropping her sewing and stabbing herself with her needle. Then it sounded again, as she looked around to find the source. She had noticed some of the machines in the kitchen made similar sounds when the cook was using them, but she hadn't learned what they meant or how to use them.

This sound came from a smaller object on the nightstand, and as it rang out again, she noticed a light flashing. Flashing lights, she had discovered, usually meant you were supposed to do something with the device. She jabbed at one of the buttons with a finger, but she couldn't tell that it did anything. Frowning at the annoying sound, she wondered what else she could do to make it stop.

As she lifted the handle attached by a coiled cord, she complained in frustration, "Tais-toi, appareil agaçant!" and was surprised when the sound stopped.

[st_abby]

The voice came through, though at some distance, and Vax was surprised at the note of alarm in it. He thought it might be familiar, but it was hard to tell yet. "Uh, hello? Are you still there?"

[st_eadiesthefour]

Constance thought she heard a voice saying hello, but it was very muffled, and she turned toward the door, waiting but not hearing a knock. She called out, "Is someone there?", still holding the handle of the once ringing object. And then an "'ello?" on the likely chance whoever it was didn't understand French.

[st_abby]

Vax blinked. Was that...? "Constance? Is that you on the other end? I can barely hear you." Even listening with his elven ears, it was difficult.

[st_eadiesthefour]

The voice came again, and Constance realized it was from the strange device in her hand, not the other side of the door. She lifted it closer to her ear just before the voice stopped speaking and she realized it sounded familiar. "Vax'ildan? 'ello?" She frowned at the machine, one more almost magical invention, that spoke with the voice of someone she knew.

[st_abby]

It was her, for sure. That made things both easier and more difficult by turns. It sounded like she'd worked out which part to talk into, at least.

Vax'ildan liked languages well enough to have learned several. But he certainly hadn't learned whatever she was speaking. He tried to remember something useful she may have said to him that he could use to help things now, but it didn't amount to much at all. "Ah... Excuzay-mwah," was really all he could manage.

[st_eadiesthefour]

Relieved she probably wasn't imagining things, when Vax answered, attempting French even, Constance almost laughed. She had so many questions, but the answers would be beyond her even if she could understand the words. Still, she had to try. "Mais..." She let out a breath, and used one of the English words she'd quickly had to learn. "How?"

[st_abby]

He sighed softly against the receiver, not knowing how to begin to try to explain in a way she would understand.

After a quiet moment, Vax shrugged, and gave her the only sort of answer that he had, even if it wouldn't do her any more good than it had done him. "Wires, apparently. In these things, through the walls."

[st_eadiesthefour]

Listening carefully – Constance always had to listen carefully these days, the simplest of mostly one-sided conversations quickly exhausting – Constance reviewed what Vax said in her head until she thought she maybe knew most of the words but she was no closer to understanding the answer.

"Techonology," she decided, lumping it in with the rest of the wonders she didn't understand that were common here under the label she'd learned from River Song.

[st_abby]

"Yes!" He'd no idea how she had come by the word, but what a blessing that she had. "Technology. Exactly that."

[st_eadiesthefour]

A device that let people talk from a distance. Oh, how useful that could have been needing to get messages from the Louvre to the garrison and back. Imagine if the musketeers had been able to get their orders in the voice of the one giving them instead of relying on a seal or hand which could be forged. On the other hand, just that sort of forgery had saved the queen's life once.

Enough. Thinking of home wasn't going to get Constance there. "It... is... what?" she asked carefully, but uncertainly, forming the words. If she was learning about new things, she might as well learn from the beginning what they were called in English. Hopefully easier than understanding how they worked, which would probably always seem like magic.

[st_abby]

In truth, Vax didn't understand it yet himself. Most likely, it would be something that Percy would work out first, being the brains, and then could break down into very small words for Vax. Though to be honest, Vax didn't care how it worked, exactly, so long as it did. "Wires that carry voices," was as best he could manage it.

[st_eadiesthefour]

Vax had not known the wires would carry his voice to Constance – was it always so random, she wondered, or could you send your voice to the right person when you wanted to? It wasn't much good if you couldn't, she decided, and scholars of the future were so very clever coming up with their machines.

But if talking to Constance had been more like unexpectedly running into a friend at the markets, he must have more to do than explain the device to her when it was so difficult without being able to at least see what the other was talking about. "Sank you, Vax'ildan, et bonne journée."

[st_abby]

He didn't know the exact expression he used, but he took her meaning well enough. "And goodbye to you, Constance," Vax told her before putting the handle of the phone down onto the base again.