Vigil 8: Try jumping

[Gullara]

[DRAGON STORM - Outside]

"Please, it was a trifle. I'm afraid I left your vehicle in a frightful state." It's not work she's proud of, but under the circumstances, perhaps... "With access to proper tools I'd be glad to complete the task. It would shame me to leave it as it is."

Oh, but now Ambrosia is expressing gratitude. It's really all too much. "Please, it was the least I could do." She holds up her hands, as if to ward off further thanks. "If you wish to repay me in some way, all I'd ask if for a chance to converse again under better circumstances."

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

There is, apparently, a uniform for the support staff. But that's mostly grounds keepers, and cooks, and other workers. Not the actual heroes and adventurers of VIGIL.

And then?

Mia has a bit of a frighten.

Lapis' reaction is immediate.

"Oh no I didn't say the thing! Umm um... Don't be scared! No that's- Do not be afraid! Yeah!"

The seraph sits down on her haunches, spreads her wings regally, and radiates deep peace and calm like a star sheds light.

"Do not be afraid."

There!

She really should have done that first Mother says it's really important otherwise people get extra scared.

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

And mother seems to be right as Mia doesn't seem to relax. Kinda scary when the body of a child gets folded away and replaced by the hard to describable creature in front of her. She also seems to be uneffected by the calming sight as her panic doesn't give her the time to enyoj the few.

"That was way to late." she says still in der defensic stand and with the shield up. "Could you... undo that? I'm not getting what your plan was with this. I still see this as you got two bodys you can swap like normal people swap clothes."

[Shadowcaller]

Dragon Storm - Private Talks

Blanche nods. "I think I would be comfortable doing that. Anything I should keep in mind should she ask for any reassurances or concessions in return? Access to materials, what kind of people we'd assign to assessing any mental or magical hold, ways to prove that we won't try anything underhanded while doing it?" It seems important to know what levels of leeway and negotiation she can offer if she's going to do this effectively and not accidentally screw over the Commanders.

Dragon Storm - Private Talks

"I would certainly hope they don't think we're trying to do anything underhanded here." Cessie remarks as if offended by the very thought. "This is just an offer of making sure Ambrosia doesn't have any lingering remains of that curse or dream that was controlling her. Giving her some time to recover. It just seems like the least we can offer considering how many times she has helped us over the years. I don't even know what I would say in regards to reassurances or concessions and I think even mentioning that sort of thing would make the offer more suspicious, not less so." She shakes her head dismissively. "Please don't treat this as some ploy, Blanche. You're simply presenting the offer to Thariza so she can present it to Ambrosia as I think that would go over better. But while they're here they would certainly be treated with the same care and respect as any other members."

[Ironsmith]

[Cessie's Office]

Cessie raises an eyebrow at that last comment. "We've dealt with more dangerous entities than him as far as I can tell. But there's ways to mitigate his desire for our destruction. Is there something we could bait him to steal perhaps? Try to give me of an idea of his new personality if you can."

[Cessie's Office]

"Yes, but always with due caution." Khafir replies stiffly. "It would be easy to underestimate Quire, on the grounds that he is not nominally very powerful. I advise you to take all the care you would if you were attempting to locate and exorcise a demon. For all we know, you may be." She glances down at her clipboard for a moment, before resuming to address the other subject. "Without a reliable way to track his movements, that is not functionally any different from simply having something he would want. And as he possesses Hotbox technology, there aren't many items that would hold that sort of strategic importance."

[Morty]

[Dragon Storm - Private Talks]

"I never got the impression Ambrosia cares overmuch about material things. She wants knowledge and information," Wenomir adds. "Just approach them openly."

[DRAGON STORM - Outside]

Thariza doesn't say that she doesn't care much about the bike. Besides, now that she used it to save Ambrosia, maybe she can? It is a bit of a waste to leave it like that...

"You did do something amazing to it. So maybe we can fix it up properly later. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I know how to take care of vehicles. Spent a lot of time digging them out of the mud back in the day."

[Rebonack]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Lapis rather begrudgingly folds back in on herself again. It's definitely a very strange process to observe. Not grotesque like a bulging werebeast or something similar. Nor a magical POOF! and then they're different. Her features tessellate inward in an orderly, geometrically pleasing fashion, curling in further and further, sliding and shifting, until there's just a disappointed looking little half-elf girl standing there again.

"It isn't like clothes," Lapis pouts.

But that's okay.

It's alright that people don't think about things the same way.

Even if they're probably wrong.

They just don't understand. Sometimes they can't. Mother says that's just the way it is and to love them anyway.

"I'm really sorry I scared you Miss Mia I didn't mean to I don't love scaring people even a little bit but sometimes I forget to say the thing first I should really remember better I'm sorry," Lapis apologizes several times. "Do you want me to go away I still need to clean up because of the storm it's okay if you don't want me around."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Office]

Cessie strokes her chin. "Well, we have to do something. Perhaps we just need the right member to do it." She pauses and gazes up at the ceiling for a moment. "Or... non-member." She gestures at Khafir. "Please tell me everything you know about his capabilities. This 'hotbox' technology for one, what's that exactly?"

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm - Private Talks

Blanche looks unsure about this, but she nods all the same. "I'm just worried if Thariza would have enough bad blood with us to feel skeptical of anything we might offer, but I suppose it makes sense to simply leave it as Cessie being able to address any concerns if they feel comfortable with looking into the idea.

[Shadowcaller]

Dragon Storm - Private Talks

"I would hope not. It was those demons that..." Cessie suddenly let's out a sigh. "Well, you shouldn't bring that up at all I believe. I don't know what dying feels like, nor do I know how she returned but I imagine it must have been traumatic. But if its going to be addressed it should be done by me and Wenomir, not you Blanche. We were the acting commanders during the destruction of the last base and her life was our responsibility."

[Morty]

[Dragon Storm - Private Talks]

Wenomir's face hardens into a rigid, stoic expression. Which, again, is his usual one, but this is more so. This is not an easy topic for him still...

"I was in the base that day and commanded the battle. Any casualties are my responsibility. If she brings it up, direct her to me."

[Deathkeeper]

Dragon Storm - Outside

Spako takes the book and gets out his own spellbook - a slim volume decorated with a brass spine.
"Well, at least it isn't a gift from them. Let me copy these down" the kobold begins sketching out the runes.
He doesn't truly hate the demons. He believes that there are few that are irredeemable. But these haven't seemed to be making much of an attempt to redeem themselves yet.

[Vahnavoi]

[Eun's Lab]

"Oh. Well... yeah, still." Eun flushes. "I'll just go grab another burner. This should only take a minute."

And with that, she's out the door.

Though she is gone for more than a minute. She decided to print off another parallel processor like the first one, too, just to be certain they're not going to be stuck with a painfully slow simulation.

When Eun finally returns, it's with another laptop, on another cart, with a USB cable already connected. "Okay. Get ready for another sister." She quips (ha! She quipped. Nice.) and plugs it into the first laptop.

The laptop is plugged in!

. . .

Very little happens.

"This is going to take a while. Didn't I tell you to take a nap last time?", the girl on the screen notes.

"Not so fast! Don't send Miss Eun away just yet!", the holographic girl interjects. "We need her to show what to replace those odd genes with!"

The girl on the screen looks puzzled. "I thought we'd just cut them out? Snip, snip." She mimes cutting something with scissors with her fingers.

"Yes, but we don't want to cause any accidental anomalies because part of the blueprints is missing. So let's put something more normal in there to make sure everything goes fine."

The girl on the screen shrugs. "Sounds reasonable. Miss Eun? Can you show me how these blueprints should look like, if they hadn't been tampered with? Few examples from your reference library should suffice. Then we can be sure she grows to be normal."

"One other thing", the hologram interjects again.

"Yes?"

"Maybe not cut so many corners this time? Her growing conditions should also be closer to normal to be on the safe side."

"That's a nice idea, but I'm not sure I can raise a human child the normal way. Plus, it would slow the simulation." More importantly, the simulated girl would be born without inherent knowledge of being a simulation. But maybe they shouldn't bother Eun with that.

[Shadowcaller]

[DRAGON STORM - Outside]

"Please, it was a trifle. I'm afraid I left your vehicle in a frightful state." It's not work she's proud of, but under the circumstances, perhaps... "With access to proper tools I'd be glad to complete the task. It would shame me to leave it as it is."

Oh, but now Ambrosia is expressing gratitude. It's really all too much. "Please, it was the least I could do." She holds up her hands, as if to ward off further thanks. "If you wish to repay me in some way, all I'd ask if for a chance to converse again under better circumstances."

[DRAGON STORM - Outside]

Thariza doesn't say that she doesn't care much about the bike. Besides, now that she used it to save Ambrosia, maybe she can? It is a bit of a waste to leave it like that...

"You did do something amazing to it. So maybe we can fix it up properly later. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I know how to take care of vehicles. Spent a lot of time digging them out of the mud back in the day."

Dragon Storm - Outside

Spako takes the book and gets out his own spellbook - a slim volume decorated with a brass spine.
"Well, at least it isn't a gift from them. Let me copy these down" the kobold begins sketching out the runes.
He doesn't truly hate the demons. He believes that there are few that are irredeemable. But these haven't seemed to be making much of an attempt to redeem themselves yet.

[Dragon Storm - Outside]

"Yes, that's-" The scholar doesn't quite finish her sentence and instead simply nods to Utoya. "We shall converse again once- well, later." She crosses her arms over her chest and nods again, seemingly herself this time. "Perhaps you should accompany Thariza and I once we depart? I expected the commanders to have things they wish to discuss with me first but I will only stay here for so long." Thariza have never seen the scholar appear so tired though. If she's even going to have the energy for all of this is a good question.

---

Ambrosia is going to let Spako copy down the runes to his heart's content.
There are some specifications to these runes as they need to form meaningful sentences if more than one rune is used in a spell or carved into an object. Furthermore, if inscribed into an object their power is only as strong as the material they are made of. Therefore hard metals are preferred as the canvas for them.

Furthermore, the runes are divided into two categories. Ice and fire. Fire runes can't be used on the same canvas ice runes and vice-versa, with a few exceptions.

After this brief explanation of how she believes the runes work comes the actual sketches of the runes she found divided into categories. The first page covering those three runes she believes are associated with fey. Two of fire and one of ice.

The first fire rune is called "fey-bane" and Ambrosia have only seen it used on weapons but theorizes it could be used on other items as other runes she have seen don't seem to be limited to one specific category of gear. However, in those cases the effect of the rune could change and she can't say to what in this case.

Weapons inscribed with "fey-bane" brings a searing pain to the physical bodies fey used and to those under their influence. Enough to make them snap out of it in some cases (though it isn't clear how Ambrosia would know that if she haven't used these runes herself). They can also easily destroy objects manifested by the fey by melting them down.

The ice rune is called "fey-stability" and on both weapons and other items so she has a better idea how it function seemed to change depending on its purpose. If inscribed into an item intended for protection it shields the user from fey to some degree. Especially against mental influence, though Ambrosia theorizes it depends on which kind of protective item its used on. She especially saw the runes on helmets which makes her think it has a greater effect on certain types of items, like with the fire rune and weapons.

But as previously mentioned she had also found the ice rune used on weapons and even on what she describes as trinkets. On weapons it seems to slow down the physical bodies of they fey it hurts, both physically and mentally. Though it doesn't seem to have any effect of those under their influence or objects they manifest.

On the trinkets it was more unclear what the exact effect was, or rather how it was related to fey, as in that case the rune seemed to have been a part of a longer rune word which made the wearer able to connect to some kind of communication network. Like some kind of runic ear piece.

This brings her to the final rune as it was used with the ice rune on that trinket despite being a fire rune, making it one of the fey exceptions to the rule of the two not being used together. She has determined it to mean "tree" or more specifically "fey-tree" and seems to be used in nearly all more complex rune sentences. She believes it's the rune which specifically connects its wearer to the previously mentioned network. Ambrosia here speculates it could instead be called a "rootwork" with an associated doodle of a network of roots which all come together in a big tree.

On the other pages he finds more generic categories that include runes such as "transportation", "chaos", "change", "life" and "elemental", which are all in the fire category. Then there's "death", "toughness", "rest", "cold" and "everlasting" which are all the ice category. Ambrosia makes special note that the transportation and fey-tree rune together seem to form the basis of what makes up the "gating" rune word. As in the demons means of teleporting which they often use to get around.

[Ironsmith]

[Cessie's Office]

Cessie strokes her chin. "Well, we have to do something. Perhaps we just need the right member to do it." She pauses and gazes up at the ceiling for a moment. "Or... non-member." She gestures at Khafir. "Please tell me everything you know about his capabilities. This 'hotbox' technology for one, what's that exactly?"

[Cessie's Office]

"It's a form of portable matter synthesizer, so named because of a quirk of its design that causes its products to be produced at a temperature of approximately ninety-eight degrees centigrade." Khafir replies briskly. "I have one back in my laboratory. It greatly reduces the logistical strain of nearly any enterprise. There are a few products which the device is incapable of producing- alcohol, for example- but the theoretical limits are nearly boundless. Firearms, microprocessors, foodstuffs, clothing, nanotech... all not only possible, but commonplace." She gives a curt little nod. "Fortunately, the theoretical and practical limitations are not the same. In practice, Quire needs a fabfile- a digital recipe, if you will- to create anything with a Hotbox, and this far away from Earth, it is unlikely he has the means to create new ones. He effectively has a near-indefinite supply of anything he could have conceivably needed prior to his entry into the Nexus, but not necessarily anything else."

"As for Quire himself... as I said, he is an experienced covert operative. A strategic thinker, even in his current state. A capable fighter at all ranges, and with that Hotbox, one should always presume him armed. And he has a small militia at his direct disposal, to say nothing of any assets he may have gained through his association with the Guild."

The laptop is plugged in!

. . .

Very little happens.

"This is going to take a while. Didn't I tell you to take a nap last time?", the girl on the screen notes.

"Not so fast! Don't send Miss Eun away just yet!", the holographic girl interjects. "We need her to show what to replace those odd genes with!"

The girl on the screen looks puzzled. "I thought we'd just cut them out? Snip, snip." She mimes cutting something with scissors with her fingers.

"Yes, but we don't want to cause any accidental anomalies because part of the blueprints is missing. So let's put something more normal in there to make sure everything goes fine."

The girl on the screen shrugs. "Sounds reasonable. Miss Eun? Can you show me how these blueprints should look like, if they hadn't been tampered with? Few examples from your reference library should suffice. Then we can be sure she grows to be normal."

"One other thing", the hologram interjects again.

"Yes?"

"Maybe not cut so many corners this time? Her growing conditions should also be closer to normal to be on the safe side."

"That's a nice idea, but I'm not sure I can raise a human child the normal way. Plus, it would slow the simulation." More importantly, the simulated girl would be born without inherent knowledge of being a simulation. But maybe they shouldn't bother Eun with that.

[Eun's Lab]

"This is an experiment, still." Eun points out, pulling up her database for reference. "The scientific method demands that we approach the situation with as few alternating variables as possible. If we create a third instance of you without modem genes and slow the simulation to allow her to have something resembling a childhood, it will be more difficult to determine what differences come from the genetic disparity and what comes from being grown more slowly."

...Although now that she says it out loud, this whole proposition seems vaguely unethical. Robbing a sapient being of the chance to grow up, as part of a scientific experiment? Doesn't sound like a very good guy thing to do.

Eun quietly disconnects the USB cable and looks back at the laptop. "Then again, maybe we should give this more consideration before we proceed." She says, a little shakily. "We, uh... there are guidelines for creating new people around here, and it's usually considered bad form to do it for a small, singular reason, like, um, curiosity about what said person would look like."

Granted, she's referring more to ethical guidelines for reproduction as a whole, as opposed to the guidelines for creating artificial humans specifically, but the point still stands.

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm - Private Talks

This time, Blanche's nod is a lot more steadfast. "Understood. I'll head out and speak to her, then."
And indeed, if she's not addressed further, she will turn around and do just that.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Office]

"It's a form of portable matter synthesizer, so named because of a quirk of its design that causes its products to be produced at a temperature of approximately ninety-eight degrees centigrade." Khafir replies briskly. "I have one back in my laboratory. It greatly reduces the logistical strain of nearly any enterprise. There are a few products which the device is incapable of producing- alcohol, for example- but the theoretical limits are nearly boundless. Firearms, microprocessors, foodstuffs, clothing, nanotech... all not only possible, but commonplace." She gives a curt little nod. "Fortunately, the theoretical and practical limitations are not the same. In practice, Quire needs a fabfile- a digital recipe, if you will- to create anything with a Hotbox, and this far away from Earth, it is unlikely he has the means to create new ones. He effectively has a near-indefinite supply of anything he could have conceivably needed prior to his entry into the Nexus, but not necessarily anything else."

"As for Quire himself... as I said, he is an experienced covert operative. A strategic thinker, even in his current state. A capable fighter at all ranges, and with that Hotbox, one should always presume him armed. And he has a small militia at his direct disposal, to say nothing of any assets he may have gained through his association with the Guild."

[Cessie's Office]

"How large are these hotboxes? Since I imagine there must a size limit to what you can make with them depending on their size. I'm mostly wondering if they're pocket sized or not. Normally, I'd assume not but it's not something easy to do in the nexus." Cessie shrugs. "Still, I do have some ideas how to outsource this plan if only since he's now expecting VIGIL. Coming for him at an angle he wouldn't expect."

[Ironsmith]

[Cessie's Office]

"How large are these hotboxes? Since I imagine there must a size limit to what you can make with them depending on their size. I'm mostly wondering if they're pocket sized or not. Normally, I'd assume not but it's not something easy to do in the nexus." Cessie shrugs. "Still, I do have some ideas how to outsource this plan if only since he's now expecting VIGIL. Coming for him at an angle he wouldn't expect."

[Cessie's Office]

Khafir holds up her hands, indicating a container the approximate size of a lunchbox. "Bear in mind that it is entirely possible to produce large items by printing off the individual parts and assembling them." She cautions. "That is how most of our vehicles are put together, for example."

"If you intend to outsource this project to another organization, I am willing to close any disparity in funding needed to accomplish that." She adds. "In return, I want to see the candidates before they are committed to a mission. I do not wish to see Quire harmed, nor do I wish to throw a stranger into an elaborate meat grinder, to borrow a phrase."

[Vahnavoi]

[Eun's lab]

The two artificial beings exchange knowing looks. "Sounds reasonable. Take your time", the girl on the screen says.

The holographic girl puffs her cheeks in disappointment. If a simulation has Eun worried, then her proposal to get a real human body is on shaky ground too. Oh well, it's her own fault for speaking out loud.

"While you're still here, may I ask a question about your reference library for, um, psychic powers in humans?", the girl on the screen asks. "It seems you have material from multiple Earths. Are, uh, are there people born with such genes on this Earth? And do their powers work?"

Disappointment on the holographic girl's face vanishes as she realizes something. "Oh! We didn't tell you about Miss Felicity! Or the triffids! Soooo much interesting stuff you missed."

The girl on the screen blinks in confusion. "The who? The what?"

[Ironsmith]

[Eun's Lab]

"Well... yes." Eun replies. "That's why they're in the database in the first place. These files contain information from a number of contributors within VIGIL. I can't account for all of it, but logically, the only way they would have examples of genes linked to psychic powers would be if they extracted said genes from individuals displaying psychic powers." She taps her fingers together nervously. "It's a new frontier for me. There are no psychics on my world. No legitimate ones, in any case."

She stands and makes her way to the door. "I should be going. It's been too long since I last slept. I doubt my superiors would look kindly on it if they found me passed out in my lab again." She smiles. "Why don't you two catch up in the meantime?"

[Vahnavoi]

[Eun's lab]

"Sure. Have a good time, Miss Eun." The holographic girl smiles to the scientist.

Once she is gone, she turns to look at her sister. "So, why was it so important to ask that?"

"Well", the girl on the screen begins, rubbing her temples, "presuming these "modem genes" exist for the purpose I think they do, and work in the way I think they do... you must realize what it means for them to exist on multiple different worlds."

The holographic girl's smile fades. "Well it mostly means there is commonality and constancy to how presumed paranormal entities can find and communicate with humans. Not all that surprising, given all other common traits human share across Earths."

"Yes. And given that they are all here and that their "psychic powers" work..."

"... all of those external entities must also be here."

"And listening."

"Ah. So if a real human was grown using these genes..."

"They'd be heard."

"Huh. I wonder if Miss Eun realized that?"

"Wanna bet on it?"

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Lapis rather begrudgingly folds back in on herself again. It's definitely a very strange process to observe. Not grotesque like a bulging werebeast or something similar. Nor a magical POOF! and then they're different. Her features tessellate inward in an orderly, geometrically pleasing fashion, curling in further and further, sliding and shifting, until there's just a disappointed looking little half-elf girl standing there again.

"It isn't like clothes," Lapis pouts.

But that's okay.

It's alright that people don't think about things the same way.

Even if they're probably wrong.

They just don't understand. Sometimes they can't. Mother says that's just the way it is and to love them anyway.

"I'm really sorry I scared you Miss Mia I didn't mean to I don't love scaring people even a little bit but sometimes I forget to say the thing first I should really remember better I'm sorry," Lapis apologizes several times. "Do you want me to go away I still need to clean up because of the storm it's okay if you don't want me around."

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Mia's shield will also fold back into the small metal pieces that return to their place, maybe a bit different then before. She's still a bit shocked by the change and just thinks that Lapis behaviour is still a kid. Kinda scary if you have seen that monster she can turn int. (Sure she is no monster in the common sense but from Mia's point of view it's the best description. She won't speak that out)

"To be honest, i think a lot of people would be scared if you change suddendly in front of them." she first says. "I'm not mad at you if you mean that and I'm not asking you to leave me. I'm still not sure how to take this, but maybe I need a bit of time to thinkg. If you got work to do you can go as you need I don't want to stop you from that."

[Earl of Purple]

Bird Hunting

"Sure, take it. I'll get a new painting from somewhere, maybe of cats or something. Ooh, I'll see if I can get a Fancy Lad poster. I like Fancy Lads." A type of cake containing enough preservatives to last over two hundred years, not a particularly well-dressed young man. Although the synth might like those too.

She'll wave Lapis and Felicity- who is still rather confused by the whole thing- off, and heads back inside to work on her armour.

"Um... sure. Although I don't really know how much use I can get out of it like this; I'm not an expert on transdimensional physics, and it looks to be made of paint." Although she does know a few, and Geneva or Eun might be able to help her return the hoopoe to a three-dimensional form without it disappearing as it tends to do. Although... Felicity's not sure if Eun's figured out how her lab exists yet, since somebody put that in a dimensional bubble as a prank.

[Gullara]

[DRAGON STORM - Outside]

Thariza doesn't say that she doesn't care much about the bike. Besides, now that she used it to save Ambrosia, maybe she can? It is a bit of a waste to leave it like that...

"You did do something amazing to it. So maybe we can fix it up properly later. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I know how to take care of vehicles. Spent a lot of time digging them out of the mud back in the day."

[Dragon Storm - Outside]

"Yes, that's-" The scholar doesn't quite finish her sentence and instead simply nods to Utoya. "We shall converse again once- well, later." She crosses her arms over her chest and nods again, seemingly herself this time. "Perhaps you should accompany Thariza and I once we depart? I expected the commanders to have things they wish to discuss with me first but I will only stay here for so long." Thariza have never seen the scholar appear so tired though. If she's even going to have the energy for all of this is a good question.

[Dragon Storm - Outside]

Utayo simply nods to Thariza rather than putting up any further protests. "I appreciate the invitation. I think I'd like to take you up on it."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Office]

"Oh, so you need to assemble them? I understand it, putting together mechanical components is a rather lengthy process isn't it? Even if he's surely been trained in assembling various items relevant to his needs its not something he can do instantly, not to mention that printing each item must take a while. Especially vehicles which he probably needs a whole team for. Not something he can do on on a fly unless it's relatively simple items. Though, I've learned that a lot of dangerous things are relatively simple in their design so it's concerning nonetheless. Can you give me an idea how long the printing process usually take? I feel it's especially important that we determine what he's capable of if I decide that we're actually going to outsource this." Cessie nods as to confirm what Khafir is saying.

"So yes, we're not giving this to anyone else until they accept your authority in the matter, especially regarding his ultimate fate. Though then I wish you ask you this in turn, do you want to formally be in charge of this project? Since I could give you some options where to start right now. This is not the first time I've considered outsourcing missions like this so I do keep files of allies that we might turn to."

[Ironsmith]

[Cessie's Office]

"That would depend on the size and complexity of the object. A cloud of gas would be nearly instantaneous, a screwdriver somewhere around a few seconds, and a solid gold brick filling the whole space would take around ten minutes." Khafir replies helpfully.

She frowns slightly when Cessie suggests officially putting her in charge of the project. That's... an intriguing proposition. Of course, she's the logical choice; she knows the target well enough to assess his capabilities and has a vested interest in retrieving him safely, but doesn't suffer the emotional hang-ups that would normally come from that sort of familiarity. But she didn't expect Cessie to trust her that much. Then again, she's already been involved fist-and-foot every step of the way... perhaps the commander sees it as Khafir's problem (as opposed to her own) and simply wants to get it off her plate.

Not that she would know. Cessie's as poker-faced to her as she is to everyone else.

"...Of course." She says finally. "Who would you suggest?"

[Rebonack]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Lapis WOULD be kind of hurt being called a monster. She definitely doesn't think of herself that way. Monsters are hideous deformed things and she's pretty!

"Oh, um, okay Miss Mia I'll remember that okay but thank you for fixing my ears that was really nice!"

But then she's off to-!

[Post-Dragon Storm]

Out from the command center she goes, running across the grounds and picking up the occasional broken branch as she goes. She's heading for one of the supply sheds to get a nice big wheely bucket to put debris in since that works way better than just carrying them in her arms. She COULD put all the branches and things in her inventory but then she would have branches and things in her inventory and she might forget about them and need to dump them out somewhere else later and that would be silly.

So!

There's Lapis.

Dragging out a rubbish bin that's even bigger than she is and scooting it around, tossing windfall into it. That works pretty well until-!

"Oh no!"

The storm blew over a strawberry tree! It's trunk is all broken and splintered and it's flat in the mud! What should she do?


[Bird Hunting]

"I don't know what a Fancy Lad is but they sound nice. Okay thank you Miss bye!" Lapis calls to the synth as she departs, ever polite in all her dealings. "It's definitely the Boss Bird I can tell what if you just cut out that part of the painting or something would that work maybe I don't know a lot about paintings and birds that can be in paintings."

Okay, to be fair Lapis, most people probably don't know a great deal about birds that can be in paintings.

That is a very strange thing for birds to do.

"Do you think maybe the Boss Bird isn't really a bird but just a bird shaped thing so it can be any bird shaped thing like a bird statue or a bird painting or just a regular bird?"

She tries shaking the painting a little bit just to see if the Boss Bird does anything. Can it move when it's a painting or is it stuck.

[Morty]

[Dragon Storm - Outside]

Thariza has no objections to Utayo tagging along, certainly. From what she saw of her, she might have a similar approach to knowledge-seeking Ambrosia does, really. Then the spots a... human with cat ears and a tail?

"Someone's coming out to meet us... not one of the commanders, though."

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm - Outside

Blanche approaches the trio, still clad in her armor. She's still armed as well, but seems much more at ease than before... and seems to be carrying a pad of paper in a clipboard. She gives Ambrosia and Utayo an acknowledging nod and turns towards Thariza. "Er, Thariza, yes? Would you mind if I spoke with you alone? We just want to ask you a few questions, make sure we have all the bases covered on what happened here - standard procedure, nothing against any of you."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm - Outside]

The scholar beams at Utoya. "Excellent, I look forward to it." Then she's interrupted by Blanche's approach, giving the catgirl a curious look. Since when had she gotten so close to the commanders?

She doesn't seem to think much of her request though. "That's quite alright." Ambrosia remarks as she waves her gloved hand dismissively to Thariza as Blanche proposes this. "You don't have to watch over me, Thariza. I might be a bit tired but otherwise I'm good."

[Cessie's Office]

"Well, right now three options comes to mind. MERC, HALO and, well, Ambrosia who you just met. Of course, there's some possibility of taking people from each option but that would likely get too complex very quickly. It's best to pick people who are used to working with one another in this case." The commander gestures to Khafit. "So how much do I need to fill you on HALO and MERC? We've worked together with both of them in the past so I don't think we would have too much problem convincing either of them."

[Ironsmith]

[Cessie's Office]

"Well, right now three options comes to mind. MERC, HALO and, well, Ambrosia who you just met. Of course, there's some possibility of taking people from each option but that would likely get too complex very quickly. It's best to pick people who are used to working with one another in this case." The commander gestures to Khafit. "So how much do I need to fill you on HALO and MERC? We've worked together with both of them in the past so I don't think we would have too much problem convincing either of them."

[Cessie's Office]

"I have seen enough to know what to expect." Khafir replies stiffly. "Ambrosia seems like a potential candidate, but also appears to be less-than-stable. Sending her to retrieve someone whose own sanity is waning may not be advisable, unless you quietly wish to have one of them killed." Khafir tilts her head slightly. "If we send her, she should be accompanied by a HALO representative. For her safety and his."