MERC XVIII: Affordable Misdeeds and Friendly Canines

[Murkus]

[Checkup]

Fettina cranes her head back to look at him and drops her hands on top of his. "Really? Just ice cream and a movie? Oh, God, have we ever just done that, Kirk?" She closes her eyes, treasuring the contact of his hands when it's so hard to feel anything normal right now. "Sounds wonderful."

She swings her head up and flicks her eyes open as Astrana enters... and she has to do a little double-take. "Whoah, okay. Yeah, I'm-- I'm ready. Why the outfit...?"

[Somewhere near MERC]

Maiel smirks fiercely and pokes one of the statues in the chest. "Sshala." He tuts. "Did you clear this place out already? And so close to this... MERC. How peculiar."

He's in no hurry to jump on a train without knowing where it's going. He goes into the office. If this place were like a subway, he knew enough about them to figure that there'd be another train along. Eventually.

If there is nothing that Maiel has an abundance of, it is patience.

[Gullara]

[Checkup]

"I'm looking forward to it." Ah, but here's Astrana. He'll let Astrana explain the situation.

[Dance Lesson]

Laela watches Dena's demonstration curiously. "But why'd I wanna do that?" She asks.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dance Lesson]

That's one question Dena would never ask herself, not even when she was Laela's age and she was taught. "If someone takes something from you, you can take it back without them noticing. Or you can just show off with it, little tricks like this are always useful to have Laela. You never know when you might need them."

[Checkup]

"Rituals sometimes require a lot of movement, or to simply look nice. Entities react to emotions, and since emotions come from people they can be driven by our vices and virtues. These clothes provoke a emotional reaction in people and thus it will also catch a entity's interest." Astrana explains. "Only the person speaking to the entity, in this case me, should wear them though or the entity's attention might split. So if you want to partake you should just wear your casual clothes. This particular entity is one of my regulars though, there is nothing to worry about."

[Somewhere near MERC]

As he heads past the door and up the stairs, he finds himself in office that is not very wide but quite tall. The majority of the space inside the room have been taken up by piles of paper however which have been stacked so high that they're almost reaching the ceiling. In-between all these stacks is a large desk and behind it a number of tv-screens that seems to be showing the footage of surveillance cameras.

If Maiel would take a closer look at the papers, they all appear to be bills, rapports about the "dungeon", such as showing the nearly non-existent number of customers and complaints regarding about "mimic attacks".

No one appears to be in the room however as far as he can see however...

[Gullara]

[Dance Lesson]

Laela nods trustingly. "Okay. Can I try now?" She tries to take the bracelet and put it on Dena's wrist.

[Murkus]

[Checkup]

"Uh... alright. You sound like you know what you're about," Fettina admits. "Contact away."

[Somewhere near MERC]

Maiel gives the papers a brief look, but they simply aren't of much interest to him. He approaches the desk, a little wary of what it might hide, and peers at the views the security cameras show. He wants to get an idea of other rooms he might not have seen.

[Shadowcaller]

[Checkup]

"Very well, if you would place yourself next to one another outside the circle, we may begin." Astrana moves ahead, placing what appears to be a pot filled with dirt in the middle of the circle. "Whenever you are ready, just stand back and watch until I directly address you, okay? You will need to focus on the memory then, perhaps you might need to make sure you both remember it the same way so there aren't any screw-ups. These things can be sensitive."

[Somewhere near MERC]

As he approaches the desk, a man suddenly appears behind it as if he had been hiding underneath it all along. He's a short man with red skin, two nubby horns, a tail, and yellow eyes. He is dressed in a black, rather fancy suit. "Oh, I didn't see you there, sir. How may I help you? Perhaps you are looking for a job? I am in need of some new guards at the moment..."

[Dance Lesson]

"I know the trick though." She leans closer and whispers. "Why not try on your mom and see if she notices?"

[Morty]

[Front Door ==> Private Area]

A taxi drops off a rather unusual visitor to the MERC base. It's a slightly overweight young goblin man, looks to be in his early twenties, or just twenty. He's carrying some heavy bags with him and is bundled up warm. His skin visible underneath all this is pale brown and his eyes are red. After very nervously talking to the mercenaries in the front, he heads to... the side-door which leads to the private quarters of the boss and his wife.

[Halae]

[Private Area]

Inside, he'll find a curious sight - an individual with blue hair who, based on her morphology, is certainly not a goblin, though is relatively close to one in the grand scheme of things. She has a pair of goggles on, and is currently working at a welding project in the small area of the kitchen where Dipsnig acquiesced to allow her to do her tinkering.

"Ah, good timing!" she says without looking up as she puts the finishing touches on the project and proceeds to close a plastic covering over the circuitry she was just messing with. It's... a teakettle? "The Thermocoil Boilmaster, Mk. 7! Now able to heat up water to a boiling point in seven-point-six seconds!"

She's grinning, shark-teeth visible in her mouth, as she turns to look at the newcomer, though the grin fades, and she pulls the goggles off her large, ocean-blue eyes, "You're not Dipsnig. Who in the Alchemy are you?" She raises her left arm, and a holographic display pops up over it, her right hand ready and willing to raise the alarm if this goblin doesn't answer correctly.

[Morty]

[Private Area]

The young goblin shrinks back a little, his ears dipping in concern. Oh, One Below. This must be... his aunt Rilla. The not-quite-a-goblin his uncle married. Seems the stories were true.

"I'm Kaggin," he says quickly, then, realizing it doesn't really answer much, he adds: "Dipsnig's my uncle. My parents... my mom sent me here to him."

[Halae]

[Private Area]

Rilla lets the holographic display produced by the contraption on her arm fall away, and moves up to Kaggin, getting uncomfortably close to him to look into his eyes, and then move around him, inspecting him as her oversized ears move upwards, attentive, "Hmm! Hmm hmm hmm. Well, you certainly resemble him, and the bags say you're not lying. I'll choose to believe you for now."

She grins again, those same sharp teeth on display, "Based on your dread-filled expression, you know who I am? Dipsnig's told me I have something of a reputation among his family. What have they told you?"

[Morty]

[Private Area]

Kaggin shifts uncomfortably. There's a few things he doesn't feel comfortable saying... so he focuses on the neutral or flattering bits. Or so he hopes.

"Well... they said you're not a goblin, but close. And that you're a magic engineer who made uncle killer robots and weapons before you even started dating. And that this is what your people do a lot. Make robots, I mean. And that uncle has 'Statics' as one of his last names after marring you, but I wasn't sure why," he rambles.

[Halae]

[Private Area]

"Aha, that my budding friend, is due to my College," Rilla says proudly, "I belong to the College of Statics, which among my people are those who perfect and refine the works of those who have come before! Rather than work on the esoterica of Synergetics, or the experimental gobbledygook of Dynamics, we work in improvements upon the variety of things people already have. The golems you've described are a perfect example of this!"

"As asura do not have surnames, we instead elected for Dipsnig to take on the other group I belong to, as a concession to your people's marriage stylings. It was a goblin wedding, after all; technically, I have the surname Razortooth now," She opens her mouth in an exaggerated smile once more, again showing her sharp teeth, "It certainly fits!"

[Morty]

[Private Area]

Kaggin relaxes a bit. Oh good, she likes him. Or at least finds him amusing, which is close enough. He smiles himself, showing off the likewise sharp but differently-shaped goblin teeth.

"Uh, yeah. I guess someone with no last names marrying a goblin was complicated. We have a lot of those. But you seem to have made it work. I guess goblins and Asura are both small and build stuff, right? It's good to finally meet you... aunt Rilla. Can I call you that?"

[Halae]

[Private Area]

"Of course! It's objectively correct, after all!" Rilla says enthusiastically, "So, what are your accomplishments?" she tilts her head attentively towards Kaggin, "What do you like to build?"

[Morty]

[Private Area]

Kaggin's good humour seems to vanish as soon as it appeared. It was bound to happen sooner or later. His ears droop and he sighs.

"I, uh. Don't build. Or... have any accomplishments. That's... why I'm here. They hope uncle Dipsnig will, quote unquote, help me get my life straight."

[Halae]

[Private Area]

"Aaaah, the unremarkable progeny problem. Well!" she rubs her hands together, apparently not upset in the slightest, "how would you like to become familiar with magidynamics and civil engineering? I myself learned what I know from looking over the shoulder of an experienced engineer. Though, I suppose we'll also have to get you acquainted with the basics if we do that..." the asura mutters to herself for a few moments, apparently thinking things through, "What do you say?"

[Morty]

[Private Area]

Kaggin perks up a little in surprise. This situation is already going places. He was sent from a drama-filled home cave to his eccentric (or crazy, as the less-polite family members would say) uncle and met his aunt instead. But hey, she's the first person in a while to take him seriously.

"I... don't know, honestly. I've never... felt strongly enough about anything to apply myself. No one in our family has ever really worked in the machinist trade, either. I've never heard of any of the stuff you just said, but maybe that's good. A fresh start."

[Halae]

[Private Area ==> Rilla's Lab]

"And it means that once you get back to your family and away from your crazy relatives, you'll have valuable skills and the ability to ply a trade," the Asura says, losing some of the manic energy she'd had in favor of simply encouraging the boy. He's taller than her, certainly, but it's fairly clear she's more mature, "Come with me, I'll show you how to build something simple, and we'll see if it's something you want to keep doing," And if Kaggin doesn't object, Rilla will take him to her lab! She will of course have to depower the defenses (why is there a defense system?) and add Kaggin to the list of guests that have access to the lab, but once he's actually there, he'll see the dizzying array of technology on display.

Autonomous but inactive golems line the north wall, and the eastern wall is dominated by an inactive circular gate. The south wall is covered in shelves of small things, generally tools and half-finished projects, with the west wall having the door into the area. In the center of the chamber, there's a long row of tables, sized for asura (and therefore goblins) nearly coated in loose wiring, tools, some grease spots here and there, and similar things. Rilla will set about clearing a space on the tables, "You're free to look at anything, just don't take it apart unless you tell me first, alright? Everything in here can be disassembled with a little work, but I need to show you how to do it to avoid damaging the internal mechanisms."

[Morty]

[Rilla's Lab]

Kaggin follows, swept up in Rilla's enthusiasm and the heady feeling of an adult taking him seriously.

"Wow," he says once in the lab. "I've never seen anything like this. Is it all powered by magic?"

[Gullara]

[Checkup]

"Very well, if you would place yourself next to one another outside the circle, we may begin." Astrana moves ahead, placing what appears to be a pot filled with dirt in the middle of the circle. "Whenever you are ready, just stand back and watch until I directly address you, okay? You will need to focus on the memory then, perhaps you might need to make sure you both remember it the same way so there aren't any screw-ups. These things can be sensitive."

[Somewhere near MERC]

As he approaches the desk, a man suddenly appears behind it as if he had been hiding underneath it all along. He's a short man with red skin, two nubby horns, a tail, and yellow eyes. He is dressed in a black, rather fancy suit. "Oh, I didn't see you there, sir. How may I help you? Perhaps you are looking for a job? I am in need of some new guards at the moment..."

[Dance Lesson]

"I know the trick though." She leans closer and whispers. "Why not try on your mom and see if she notices?"

[Dance Lesson]

Laela looks over at her mom, who's slowly sending the picture she sent earlier on her phone to Adir. "Okay." She hurries over to her mom. "Hi mommy!"

"Oh, are you done, sweetie?" Sakura asks.

"I think so." Laela replies. At the same time she tries to follow Dena's instructions and slip off a bracelet made of colourful corded strings from her mom's wrist. It's a bit clumsy, though, and Sakura follows her daughter's eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"I wanna see your bracelet!" Laela keeps trying to take it off, and Sakura helps it off. Laela runs it back over to Dena and holds it up for her to see. "My brother Gwydion made this." She explains.

[Murkus]

[Checkup]

"Very well, if you would place yourself next to one another outside the circle, we may begin." Astrana moves ahead, placing what appears to be a pot filled with dirt in the middle of the circle. "Whenever you are ready, just stand back and watch until I directly address you, okay? You will need to focus on the memory then, perhaps you might need to make sure you both remember it the same way so there aren't any screw-ups. These things can be sensitive."

[Somewhere near MERC]

As he approaches the desk, a man suddenly appears behind it as if he had been hiding underneath it all along. He's a short man with red skin, two nubby horns, a tail, and yellow eyes. He is dressed in a black, rather fancy suit. "Oh, I didn't see you there, sir. How may I help you? Perhaps you are looking for a job? I am in need of some new guards at the moment..."

[Checkup]

Fettina will do as Astrana bids. "Trust me, I remember everything about it perfectly clearly." Even if her player doesn't. She'll close her eyes to focus on it, though.

[Somewhere near MERC]

Maiel stops himself short of the desk. He tries to take the weirdness in stride, now. "...No job. I don't even know what's going on here." He would hope that will prompt the man to explain, but who could ever really say?

[Halae]

[Rilla's Lab]

"Indeed!" Rilla says, picking out a set of tools, a small crystal, and a pair of contraptions. The blue crystal, one cut into an eight sided shape with smoothed edges, is handed to Kaggin for him to look at, "This is a tuning crystal. It's a significant part of what all my people's technology is based on; I know how to grow them from scratch, and while I won't be showing you that now, it's important you know what it is and what it does. These are fragile, so while we can make more of them, don't break the ones you have."

She lays a small drum-looking contraption in front of him next, "This is an aetheric resonator. They interact with the technology in the air around us, drawing it in and causing it to surge towards any nearby channeling system," And then she indicates the final contraption, an metal disk with a series of round indentations on it, "This is an extremely simple antigravity plate. They have to be much larger to lift much more than, say, a tuning crystal, but something this size is a good enough to be mounted on the inside of one of my golems, or to lighten a heavy object. Watch this."

She activates first the aetheric resonator, then the antigravity plate, and lets go of the tuning crystal above it, where it'll float and spin in slow circles, letting out a delicate hum and glowing a warm, bright blue, "There's only thirty parts between these two pieces. Consider this a short test of your learning ability; I want you to fully disassemble both of these tools, and make something that interacts with the resonance crystal out of the parts. It doesn't have to be an antigravity plate, you don't have to work fast, what you build doesn't have to work with it for more than a second, and you can ask as many questions as you like. This is about deconstructing something that works already so that you can understand how it works. I'm simply here to supervise and answer questions you have."

She slides the toolbox along the table over to Kaggin. Realistically speaking, she isn't expecting much technical knowledge from him, and doesn't actually expect whatever he builds out of the two things to work, and will answer any questions he has with patience and calm, instructing him in how to use the different tools currently at his disposal whenever he asks. All told, this'll probably take a few hours, during which time Rilla will be essentially gauging how much technical potential Kaggin has, how strongly he gets into a project, and similar things about his mind.

[Morty]

[Rilla's Lab]

After an initial moment of panic, Kaggin gets to work. He's going to ask a lot of questions, first hesitantly then with more confidence. Rilla will see that he's reasonably bright, if not brilliant, but what he lacks is focus and patience. He gets distracted, sidetracked and discouraged easily and she might have to push and prod him a bit to finish the job. He's trying to make something that pulls when activated, rather than pushing things away.

[Shadowcaller]

[Checkup]

Astrana lights incense, sticks she has placed around the circle, and specifically directions some of it right into Tina's face flapping her hand. "Breath it in, I need to increase your attunment a bit if you should be able to see it, and so it can read your mind." Tina might feel a bit woozy from breathing that in.

The warlock then sits down with her legs crossed and starts a chant that sounds more like a song, but it doesn't sound like she us using actual words.
Eventually, the tree she has planet starts growing until it has turned into a mighty oak tree that is taking up all space within the circle and at the very crown branches of it a large owl which has appeared out of nowhere lands. It then turns its head to stare down at them. Astrana gets up and makes a bow, though it isn't clear if she's bowing before the tree or the owl, perhaps both. "I welcome you and your wisdom. Do you accept our offering?"

There does not seem to be a response, at least not one they can hear. Yet Astrana continues. "These two, they offer you their names and stories." The tiefling turns to Kirk and Tina expectingly.

[Somewhere near MERC]

Who could ever say, indeed.
The man brushes off some dust from his suit and turns to address Maiel. "I'm the owner of this fine establishment of course, Mori Cindar. Who are you? I assume you have some reason to break down my door."

[Dance Lesson]

Well, one couldn't become a master thief at the first try...
She would probably get it eventually.
Dena gently touches the bracelet as Laela presents it to her. "That's some fine craftsmanship, wish I had a brother who could make such things. Since you like your brothers don't you, Laela?"

[Halae]

[Rilla's Lab]

The parts themselves are relatively simple, so Kaggin should be able to manage it after only a couple hours. Rilla is, of course, patient all throughout, showing him how to disconnect and connect pieces as he likes without damaging things.

By the end of the time, he'll have some kind of suction plate created. Not incredibly useful, of course, but the fact that it works is likely encouraging, "Congratulations, Kaggin. You've made your first invention."

[Morty]

[Rilla's Lab]

"Did I actually make something that works?" Kaggin sounds like he can scarcely believe it. He was expecting it to just fall to pieces.

Meanwhile, Rilla might hear soft footsteps approaching the laboratory. Seems Dipsnig has finally arrived to greet his nephew.

[Halae]

[Rilla's Lab]

"Yes and no," Rilla says, clearly too caught up in the inventing process to listen to something like footsteps, "The power system draw you've got going on would burn out the plate within a few uses. It'd also rattle itself to pieces whenever you turned it on. But these are inexperience and resource issues, rather than actual problems. If I were to change this, I'd get a more robust circuit system, and apply more strengthening to the system's energized mechanisms, so that it couldn't pull itself apart whenever you turn it on. But... honestly? That's it. It pulls things just fine, and I can even see how you could reverse the system construction to push on the fly. Some construction reinforcements being a problem are hardly the worst problems I had with my first invention."

It would appear that Rilla's actually rather proud of the object. In fact, "You know, I might actually be able to design something based on this concept. Supply carts having their contents spill out is always a problem, but applying a few longer-lasting versions of these to the bottom would stabilize the cargo, holding it steady. I could also see it being placed under tiles in a combat room, to pull people towards the floor - you can't fight if you can't stand, after all. Good work, Kaggin."

[Morty]

[Rilla's Lab]

The young goblin seems dazed. This is the highest praise he's received in some time.

"I guess I'll help you put it together, then," he says. Lab assistant. That sounds pretty nice. "It just felt like the simplest thing to do, really. Pull it apart and put it back again so it does the same thing but in reverse. Easier than making it do something new."

As they speak, there's a knock on the door. Dipsnig has learned a while ago to announce his presence in Rilla's laboratory.

[Halae]

[Rilla's Lab]

"Come in!" Rilla calls out. When Dispnig comes in, she'll move over to him to give him a kiss, "Your nephew Kaggin showed up. I drafted him into being my lab assistant."

[Morty]

[Rilla's Lab]

Dipsnig kisses Rilla as Kaggin looks on awkwardly. He finds his uncle intimidating.

"Did you now? I was about to ask you to do that very thing. Is that the married couple telepathy I've been hearing about?"

He then looks up at his nephew.

"Hello, nephew. You look more cheerful than I expected, considering... everything."

The young man's ears dip slightly, but then he grins toothily.

"I know, but... aunt Rilla helped me make this!" He holds his creation up proudly. Dipsnig's ears perk up.

"You two seem to be getting along fine."