video | un: s.wilson

[unclesam]

[ Is there anything better than hanging back in the sunshine room? Paint a picture of golden sun on warm, dark skin, of tranquil surroundings, a man reclining against the trunk of a tree with a small stream gurgling in the background, of something truly soothing to behold... or notice the fact that Sam Wilson is wearing a leather jacket that distinctly, a hundred percent has only ever been soon on one Bucky Barnes before. If one of them is gonna be a filthy clothes thief, the other is gonna follow suit, it seems.

No, they're not clothes sharing. This is goddamn war. It is a nice jacket, though, and hey, Sam can appreciate the double victory of looking fine as hell and aggravating Bucky. ]

Hey guys. Sam, for those with whom I haven't had the pleasure yet. Got a treat for you.

[ No, it's not his very fine self, thank you very much. Sam holds up a very distinct golden amulet. ]

Managed to snatch this off Lord Suk-ju all the way back in Gyeongje, when the asshole tried to escape. Some of you were around for that. For those who are unaware: This shit's magic. Protects from physical and magical harm, pretty damn completely. All you gotta do is hold it. Got about a week's worth of daily confrontation stored in it before the magic shrugs and abandons you to get punched in the face.

Full credit for the side hustle goes to Ed, Sabriel, Syrlya, Zelda and Eliot. I ain't magic, so I'm really just the eye-candy on this operation. Thanks to our resident magically inclined talent, we figured out that the magic on the original amulet can be... I guess replicated? Not copied. And not to just on any object - needs to be from Gyeongje specifically. Thankfully, Ed's got a cheat code for that and can make copies of the base amulet, provided we got enough gold to work with, and those copies can be enchanted as if they were from Gyeongje. Pretty nifty. And that means... ta-da.

[ Sam holds up 5 other amulets. They look almost identical to the first, but he keeps them on what looks a keychain, separate from the original so as not to mix them up. ]

We've been kinda running a knock-off magic amulet production line here. Now, couple things - and I'm just gonna bullshit to the best of my understanding here, I'm sure our resident sorcerers of various persuasions will chime in with more technical explanations if needed. As I said, I'm the eye-candy and one of the test dummys of this operation, not the brains.

These knock off amulets are less efficient than the original unless you're the person who did the enchantment. Meaning for the rest of you, they will block some physical and magical attacks, but not all. The stronger the attack, the higher the chance it goes through. [ That was a fun round of testing to find out. ] Protection operates at about 50 to 70% efficiency compared to the original, best as we can tell, and depletes faster. We had enough raw material and enough people to make 5 of these knock offs. Current plan is to hand the amulets out before missions. Team and I agreed to prioritize civilians and non-combatants who could use the extra protection because they don't got powers, gear or other enhancements to work with.

Let me know if you feel you could use these. Between the original and the copies, we can outfit six people for now. We need them back after missions, otherwise they can't get re-enchanted and we can't make more copies.

[ Sam's spinning one of the amulets around his finger. The gold glints brightly in the fake sunlight. ]

If you're a sorcerer and interested in helping make more of these in the future, ring us up. And if you're in a position to get some gold - bars, coins, in the form of jewellery, whatever, either on missions or through requests from your home worlds - please consider forwarding that to us. We can only make more of these if we get our hands on more raw material.

Thanks for your time.

Comments

[blackfire]

With the understanding that said individuals may wish to maintain anonymity, are you able to tell me how powerful those on the attacking side of the testing may have been?

[unclesam]

depends - compared to what? A well-trained human, a nuke?

we got people with super strength, a variety of magical powers, sound waves, bullets, missiles, swords, lasers...

[blackfire]

（ point taken. he nods to himself, curiosity in at least that regard slaked for now. ）

I see. Thank you. I appreciate that you've been as thorough as possible given our circumstances.

（ he would have offered himself if there was a need — but he's satisfied at the spread of abilities, and would prefer to keep his own under wraps. ）

I have a small number of gold coins it would not trouble me to contribute. Please inform your alchemist he is welcome to them and that I will make myself available for him to meet.

[unclesam]

thanks for the contribution, genuinely appreciated. and hey, no problem at all. we're all pulling on the same team here, just doing my part to help out. happy to hook you up with Ed - care to let me know your name? afraid I ain't familiar enough with the script of your user name to read it.

[ Sam understands some bits and bobs of a various of languages thanks to some neighbours and growing up new the cultural melting pot of New Orleans, but the only non-latin alphabet he can read, and incidentally the one non-English language he can fluently communicate in, is Arabic. ]

[blackfire]

Kanji. Even if you could read it, it would not give you my name.

I am Itachi.

[unclesam]

gotcha, fair enough. pleasure to meet you, itachi. sam, as you probably gathered from the video.

[blackfire]

( can anyone consider this to be 'meeting'? perhaps he is simply old-fashioned. in any case, it isn't a sentiment he returns. )

Yes.

( to the man's repetition of the name. )

This is twice in the time since my arrival you have addressed the population at large with some measure of authority. Do you consider yourself to be a leader here?

[unclesam]

[ So what's the plan, Cap? ]

nah. that'd be pretty full of myself, and hella presumptuous. on whose authority? just helping where I can to make this bumpy ride a little more smooth for everyone involved.

[blackfire]

（ hm. ）

In places such as these, people look to those that commit to action regardless of intent.

（ nonetheless, it is an answer that satisfies him. men like danzō, like orochimaru are not fit to wield power. rather than slake their ambitions, it stirs them. greed and lust for its engorgement follows, until they are prepared to burn the world down to ash and ember for their desires. ）

[unclesam]

you got experience with situations like that?

[ The line hits almost close to home. Symbols for people to rally behind. Sam doesn't see himself like that. For all that he wants to change what the shield stands for, he knows that means nothing until he's put in the work - and that is on hold while he's here, where the shield means nothing. He works on the merit of his actions, and can only go at it with integrity. ]

[blackfire]

（ he recognizes the feint for what it is — it is a spy's trick. most people like to speak on themselves. turn the conversation around, encourage it. it is a way to foster trust, build rapport, and — ultimately — leave the conversation all the richer in information than you began it.

there is nothing to be gained by answering it honestly. his experiences are private, and itachi is a man well-accustomed to burying everything about himself. ）

We are not speaking on myself.

（ a gentle — if blunt — correction. ）

[unclesam]

fair enough. I guess I'm just used to all hands on deck in every sense of the word.

[ Truth be told, his intention hadn't even been that multi-layered, though it's absolutely what Sam does instinctively, naturally. Tries to deflect off himself, engage and encourage someone else. It's how so many people feel close to him, and don't quite realize they don't know him at all. ]

[blackfire]

( itachi out here playing 5D chess with...himself... at least it's on brand. )

I see.

What does that look like to you?

( having all hands on deck. an unusual term, but he has spent enough time on ships to understand it. )

[unclesam]

means you think about and look for what needs doing, and you do it. bring others in on the things that require more than you can do. offer a helping hand where it's needed. you don't gotta be in charge of everything or even good at everything to contribute.

[blackfire]

I imagine this place has many who fit that ideal.

（ he has no intention of being one of them. he refuses to labor under the delusion that obtaining his course correction will not come at a cost — and as before, that cost may be borne out in death. he has not yet decided if he would kill everyone here to see it done, but he understands that the capacity to do so exists within himself. he has never flinched from it. ）

[unclesam]

[ Sam is under no such delusion himself. He's simply unwilling to considering making other people pay that cost for him. Has his line that he will not cross just for a selfish goal - or for anyone else's selfish goal. Because at the end of the day, they are all here for selfish reasons, one way or another. The scale differs, of course. Sam wants to give someone back the second chance she deserved to have, rather than die in his arms and never see her work bear fruit. That is not worth someone else's pain - only his own. ]

we're a wild mix, like any random assortment of people who would consider making deals with unknown entities in their sleep.

[blackfire]

（ itachi 'what are lines, don't know her' uchiha, at ur service.

if he ever had them, they have been blurred and bloodied, broken down to base components and scattered throughout the morass of an existence scraped out on the edge of a knife. their excavation is an archaeological one, the slow and laboured uncovering of what it might be like to live by his own morals rather than those imposed upon him by necessity and by war.

he wished for peace, once. for the freedom to be honest and kind. he does not consider these things to have been stolen — their excision was a voluntary one, and he wielded the blade himself, cauterized what remained and carried on.

he does not expect sasuke will ever forgive him. but if he had the temerity to want or expect it of him, he would never have had the strength to lift his sword that night. ）

Do you regret having done so?

（ coming here, he does not say. ）