tampered | (no subject)

Current Location: Xanadu

(no subject)

Who: Greed

andincendiary
What: After a small talk, Greed decides to tell Azula just how much her people really have to learn.
When: April 12, Afternoon
Where: Xanadu
Rating: PG-13
Log:

Greed had been leaning against a tree in the center of the garden for the past ten minutes. He was never one to be patient, so he had left the house ahead of time. At least that allowed him to set up what he needed to. A small drop cloth had been laid out under the tree, with a few seating cushions and a pot of hot tea. The breeze was cool against his skin as he slumped downward, seating his rear at the base of the tree as he awaited his guest.

"Oi, Azula, I know you're out there," he said, opening one eye, "I can smell you."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"There's a reason it's difficult. Fire needs oxygen to burn. The air you breathe is part oxygen, it's vital for life. It's one of those elements I spoke of earlier when I talked about atoms. Air is made of nitrogen and oxygen, which is probably the same for just about every world. In the mountains, the oxygen content drops. It gets harder to breathe, harder to make fire, and your lungs have to work twice as hard just to keep you alive."

He pointed to a nearby lake, where a large fish jumped to snatch a bug from the air.

"Water has oxygen, which is how the fish breathe in it. We can't, because the oxygen is bonded to somethin' called hydrogen, which makes water. Somethin' our lungs aren't built to use. The gills of the fish strip the oxygen from the water, which lets them respirate."

This time when she spoke it was a little uncertain, although that was covered up with cool flippancy: "But air itself is an element. So is water. Every little child learns that. What are you trying to say?"

Yeah, I remember the Xingian people mentionin' that once. Elements, humors, whatever they want to call them. That's just the names humans gave those things broadly. They call them elements, but they're not REALLY elements. Most people who call water, earth, and the like "elements" is because they don't understand what makes them up. An element is a pure substance that can't be broken down any further into other parts.

"Water is oxygen and hydrogen, so it's not pure. No liquid is."

"Fire can be created any number of ways with any number of elements, but there is no pure "fire". It's nothing more than a reaction."

"Air" as we know it is just a gas of oxygen and nitrogen. Tons of different gases can be created, though, so air in and of itself isn't pure."

"Earth" is likewise different, depending on what kind of land it's in, but it's always made of different components."

"So like I said, everything builds up from atoms. THOSE are the actual elements, and are so small you can't see them with the naked eye. Imagine the smallest thing you've ever seen and imagine somethin' ten thousand times smaller. That's an atom. Just a small particle with even smaller particles in orbit around it. They link with each other and form molecules, which link up and form all the matter you see."

Azula checked the Network device at her hip, to be sure it was recording privately, then looked back to Greed, a frown on her face. "Nothing more than a reaction?" She didn't look too pleased about that.

"Still," she allowed, "this is all very interesting."

"I don't think about it, really. It's kinda' just automatically ingrained in my head since creation. Part of our purpose was spreadin' information to hook humans into doin' experiments with alchemy, so we had to know a lot of things."

He stared off for a moment, then turned back to her and refilled his tea.

"Alchemy is transmutation, by the way. Turnin' one substance into another form of that substance, for instance. I can only do it to my skin, because you need a soul to do actual alchemy. I don't have one of my own. I also think it's unique to my world, like your bending. Lead to gold is the common example. Lead is made of the same elements as gold, but has a different number of protons. Transmutation can add a few protons and BOOM, lead becomes gold."

"Human transmutation is the big no-no, mainly so no one can make their own personal army of things like us. It's tough, too. Lots of energy and material is needed for one humanoid, no less thousands. Here, I wrote up what makes the average human for ya'. It's on this piece of paper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_makeup_of_the_human_body)."

"One substance into another?" She paused over her tea, gaze intent. "Now that sounds useful."

Apparently she thought knowing the composition of the human body was useful, too, because she took the paper as well and studied it for a moment before looking up and smiling. "Do go on."

"Hm...I guess I'll do some Q and A. You've gotta' have questions. Ask about the natural world, or anything, really. I'll answer whatever I can."

She tapped thoughtfully on her teacup for a moment. Then she asked, "If all things are made up of smaller things, down to these atoms you speak of...then they must have weaknesses we know nothing of. Tell me, is there a way to separate this...oxygen and hydrogen in water, so that it dries up? A way to turn earth into bits of metal instead? It's a shame removing the air would hurt everyone."

"Well, nothing is ever destroyed, it just changes form. You heat water, it evaporates. The hydrogen and oxygen doesn't disappear, it just changes into a gaseous form because the intense heat destroys the bonds between the hydrogen and oxygen. You can break things down on a molecular level, though. Most things fall apart under a strong enough acid or intense, prolonged heat."

"You'd have to be more specific on the other part, as earths and minerals can be altered in many ways, depending on what kind."

"Hmm. Yes, I've seen waterbenders use steam and ice, and I know they're just different forms of water. And earthbenders can use both stone and soil. It sounds like airbenders have quite the advantage, if they can manipulate this mix of all those gases. Good thing we wiped them out."

"Whoa, genocide? What is it with you humans and that? I swear, you guys don't know anything about how to get along. You don't seem to realize the cultural and genetic dead end you're headin' toward when you take out variety. New influences are what makes progress spur forward. Homogeneity only leads to stagnation, ya' know."

She made a dismissive little gesture with her nearly empty tea cup. "Relax, we know all that. We assimilate most people we conquer, after all; they're more useful alive than dead. The airbenders were an exception because Fire Lord Sozin knew the next Avatar would be born to them."

And here Azula made a face. "It's just unfortunate he didn't succeed in wiping him out."

Greed blinked once and scratched his chin. He hated words he wasn't familiar with. Always so damned troublesome, the way they ate at his mind.

"Okay, what the hell's an avatar?"

Ah, and now it was her turn to teach...even if she was more of a fighter than a teacher.

Azula smirked. "A nuisance, but not as much of one as he believed himself to be. Someone who can control all four elements and thinks it's their job to bring balance to the world."

Her voice dripped sarcasm.

"...Wouldn't that be incredibly useful? That's better as a subordinate, than a corpse. You have to use resources as they come. More importantly, why can't everyone learn all four?"

"It would be. That's why Fire Lord Sozin tried to get Avatar Roku to help him. He wouldn't. And Sozin quickly realized that it wasn't just Roku--it was Avatars in general."

Azula frowned at the question. "That's just the way it is. Only the Avatar can learn all four elements. Everyone else can only learn one, if any at all. It's just something you're born with."

"What was the reason he wouldn't help him, then?"

She rolled her eyes. "Something about balance. About how things should stay the way they were."

"Which is, I take it, the opposite of what you guys want?"

"Exactly. We wanted to show everyone how much better the Fire Nation's way of doing things was."

"How do ya' know it's better? Gimme' your pitch. Sell me on the Fire Nation's greatness."

"Our pitch?" She stared blankly for a moment. "We don't need a pitch. We invade, we conquer. Isn't that good enough?"

"Raw strength is nice, but it never works long term. People age, they die, generations become more and more unhappy. Unless you have more than strength to keep them in check, you'll never rule a large territory. I've seen empires rise and fall, babe."

And she smiled. "But we'll rule it long enough for me, and that's all that matters."

"Even if your empire falls after? Maybe you're not much of a leader, then. A leader wants to make an empire that lasts forever. One that people WANT to keep going."