video; un: sunset

[soundsperfect]

Hello! My name is Asami. I currently work at the Research Center in general technology and I'm a Spring.

[That's a quick and nice introduction from this lady before actually getting into why she's contacting the network, sitting in a living room dressed in fairly comfortable and casual clothes.]

I'm very interested in technology in general and wish to know what kind of technological level you have back in your worlds. My own isn't even closed to what they have here. Our telephones have landlines, for example, and our cars look nothing like the ones here. So it's been a new and wonderful experience.

[She's made plenty of new discoveries so far.]

Or you could tell me what's your favorite technological thing you've discovered while being here... or even just an app on these smartphones.

Comments

[soundsperfect]

That doen't sound very pleasant, no.

[Ah, she already dreamed of a wonderful space vessel.]

They seem too fundamentally different to be the same. I personally don't want to mix the two if I can help it. Not many things in the center seem to do so either.

[nihilmancy]

There are positive things about interstellar travel, too. Wonderful, even.

[ She purses her lips and shakes her head. ]

I don't know if I can agree. This may be the prejudice of my own culture, but when we speak of a systematized body of knowledge for interacting with the world, we're speaking of technology, regardless of whether there are any gears or circuits involved. Siloing it off from material science can only stunt development. The world can be studied, understood, and analyzed.

[soundsperfect]

Hmm... in that sense, they're close. Magic is being studied, even analyzed. The Research Center has such a vast amount of fields, too.

[nihilmancy]

I suppose it's different for me, because the skills that you may call magic, in my universe require outside assistance to use effectively. Drugs and cybernetics and such.

What is the technological state of your world like?

[soundsperfect]

Oh, it's not very advanced. We do have different kind of vehicles, such as cars and even robots, but they're not anywhere close to what they have here. We even have telephones, but they require wires and can't be carried around like the ones here.

We have taken a lot of steps forward with technology, but even producing things like electricity still requires the help of elemental benders and some vehicles only function with the help of them as well.

[You woudln't want to go into a submarine without a bender, that's for sure.]

[nihilmancy]

[ She nods. ]

That's still pretty advanced, from a certain perspective. A technological society that has harnessed electricity and mass production. It brings new dangers of its own, even the possibility of destroying itself through environmental degradation, but the horizons are vast.

Are they what you may call wielders of "magic?"

[soundsperfect]

I suppose that would be the closest equivalent. In the world I come from, people are either born as benders or they're not. If they are they will learn one of the main four elements - the same ones that we learn here. Some learn to use other elements as well, like firebenders can learn to use lightning.

[nihilmancy]

Hmm. Yes, I can definitely see where the technological applications could be. But it seems like it would require a lot of manpower to use at an industrial scale. How is affinity passed on?

[soundsperfect]

Usually from your parents, but sometimes people are born without powers even if their parents are benders or the other way around. Though the latter is a bit rarer.

[nihilmancy]

Hmm. [ She frowns. ] It sounds like a class system would probably form around that.

[ She has rather too much experience with class systems. ]

Are you a bender?

[soundsperfect]

We've had our issues regarding that, definitely.

[Sadly, it wasn't all rainbows even now.]

I'm not, but my girlfriend is. Well, she's the Avatar, who can use all elements. There's only one Avatar at a time.

[nihilmancy]

Avatar. That's a very dramatic title. Is she some sort of religious figure?

[ Dating the messiah seems like a pretty good gig. ]

[soundsperfect]

Well, not exactly. She's more of a bridge between us and the Spirit Realm and someone who upholds the balance of the world.