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[justscribing]

USERNAME: Alhaitham ALHAITHAM GENSHIN IMPACT TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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[justscribing]

Do you think I'm that easily won over? I could refute every single point about Banzai you make.

[fanstheflames]

[ She just scrunches her nose up at him. ]

I didn't say it'd be easy.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham, who has returned to petting Banzai during this:] Make your argument, then. Why does Banzai deserve my approval? Try and avoid subjective reasons such as "he's cute".

[fanstheflames]

... Were you really that bored before?

[ Sir. ]

[justscribing]

No, I was enjoying a thorough account of Inazuma's history post-cataclysm. [The slow sink of his expression into a confused pout.]

[fanstheflames]

The what? There was a cataclysm?

[ She's immediately distracted. ]

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham nods.] It occurred five-hundred years ago and caused widespread damage over Teyvat, although not so much that societies didn't recover. I suppose the simplest way to explain it is that many monsters spread across the continent and attacked indiscriminately.

[It's an extremely simple explanation. Distilled to, what he thinks, is the only part relevant to Tsuruno.]

[fanstheflames]

[ She nods, a little wide-eyed. ]

Did they ever figure out the reason? I know you said indiscriminate attacking, but the monsters must've come from somewhere...

[justscribing]

Vahumana scholars have different theories, but I haven't looked that deeply into it. It's not a point of history I've had much interest in.

[fanstheflames]

You're more interested in the aftermath?

[ This too is learning ]

[justscribing]

That just happened to be the starting period for this book I was given. Truthfully, I haven't looked much into Inazuman history beyond what was relevant while studying its language. But I have time and resources in hand now, so I might as well round out my knowledge.

[fanstheflames]

So do you have a favorite thing to study? Or just things you don't know yet?

[ He's a nerd, maybe he really does just like learning Whatever. ]

[justscribing]

I don't restrict myself if something interests me. [All knowledge is valuable, even if it's value is what can be cast aside to refine better knowledge.] But my degree is in linguistics. I've spent a lot of time studying ancient languages.

[Unfortunately, in a city with both no ancient languages and with a translation that can't be turned off, Alhaitham has had very little of his usual study to... well, study.]

[fanstheflames]

Ooh! Can you speak any of them?

[ Not that she'd be able to tell much, thanks to said translation. ]

[justscribing]

Of course. I couldn't study a language if I didn't learn to speak it. But no matter which one I try to use with you, it all sounds exactly like your native language. I don't think you've noticed when I switch between Sumeran and Inazuman.

[Because only one of those languages is intelligible with Japanese, and the other gets filtered into Japanese to be intelligible.]

[fanstheflames]

Mm...

Sometimes I feel like I can tell that people's throats are doing something a little different...

[ Does that count? ]

[justscribing]

[See this is why he likes you so much Tsuruno.] That's very observant. Most people wouldn't see it.

[So he switches to Sumeran. It isn't the first time he's used it around her but it's usually when Kaveh's also around rather than when they're alone.] If you look carefully at how I'm saying it, can you see all the differences from what you hear?

[fanstheflames]

[ she peers at him, Banzai's tail waving as the dog looks between the two of them. ]

It's like you're on a lag... like your mouth movements aren't matching the words exactly.

[justscribing]

It's an illusion that occurs audibly, but not physically. [And that's probably because so few people would notice that there's no reason to go through the extra detail.] Kaveh and I attempted to bypass this automatic translation by creating an entirely new language, but it didn't work.

[A beat.] Well, I created the language. Kaveh just helped with the initial idea.

[fanstheflames]

You two work well together. Obvious statement, I know.

[ But she says it brightly. ]

But it's interesting that system's prepped for anything new, though I guess that'd make sense. You wouldn't always be able to predict what language might be different, unless it could adjust automatically.

[justscribing]

[Perhaps it is an obvious statement. Alhaitham, regardless, smiles for the recognition of it.]

Yes, though even the Akasha couldn't do such a thing and that was created by a god. What's interesting is that if you mix the alphabet of one language and the phonemes of another, the translation doesn't work. However it works can't operate based on intent alone.

[fanstheflames]

Huh... so it's not perfect. You guys really dug into this, huh?

[ She says, completely unsurprised. ]

[justscribing]

We were hoping it could be used to subvert however much we're being monitored, since it was clear early on they knew more about us than they should. [Also he just likes language. Too bad this universal translate is taking all the fun out of it.]