Day 35: Bus 2 (Return Trip)

[tsunagari]

Sai leaned his head woozily against the cool glass of the bus window. Helping out his fellow ninja had been a failed effort thus far, and he didn't have any idea how Naruto had been able to put up with that friend of his for so long. If he was asked to lead Sasuke around in the future, unless they came to terms with their differences before then

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[whiny_egomaniac]

"Por..." Starscream started, then paused for a while, a visible look of consternation on his face. Pornography...erm...that word SOUNDS familiar, but...bah, these humans and their primitive language! Bad enough we had to learn it to adapt as we did to earth! He looked back at Usopp and shrugged, completely nonplussed by the human's remarks. "Very well, Captain. If you say it is personal, then that's all I need to know." Besides which...I'll have to consult one of their dictionaries when we arrive at the institute to discern the meaning of this seemingly embarrassing word.

The Decepticon leader nodded through Usopp's boasting, putting aside the fact that he had never heard of a human geographic feature bearing the name "grandline" (no doubt, he thought, this man is from a universe where such a thing DOES exist...it matters not to me now...) Mentioning the 'alchemists', however, and that they might not be able to synthesize his weapons caused him a great deal of frustration. Surprisingly, however, he was able to reduce his tantrum to a calm and rational discussion.

"I'm a bit confused," he started, genuinely concerned about some of the things Usopp had stated. "Alchemist...that's just another word for someone who works with chemicals, isn't it? How is it that they are able to synthesize full, working weapons from their base materials without the facilities to do so? And within one solar cycle, no less?"

"At any rate...when I was forced to concoct gunpowder for use when I could not refuel my null-rays, I had to work with the most BASIC of ingredients...charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate cultivated from the feces of various avian specimens, and the resulting explosive served as a fair substitute. So, while the mechanics of my original cannons might not be realizable, I'm fairly certain that, given the proper motivation and resources, we can develop a reasonable substitute. I'll need some time to think about how that would work...perhaps a scouring of the facilities are in order to see what's available there..."

[usoppsenchou]

"Yeah, the name threw me off at first too, but that's what they're called where they're from." Usopp took a moment to consider, before adding, "I think most of them are from the same world, but lately some other people with the same sort of bizarre powers might have shown up from another world. It's really convenient, anyway. The down side is that everyone else wants the convenient guys to build them simple things like swords, and so they've got a big back-up of projects. I have no idea how they do it, other than the fact that it's normal where they come from. I spoke to the Cooking Group leader, he's one of them, and he was the one who suggested I talk on the board about alternative, hand-made weapons. To be honest... if we can avoid leaning on them, unless it's something really spectacular, I'd be a lot happier. They have a lot to do, and there's already enough resources to make explosives and chemical weapons just with the stuff at hand. Even things like bladed weapons can be improvised without waiting a bunch of nights for your turn to come up with the alchemists, or wasting their time on things we could make ourselves. And they can't make stuff as complex as gunpowder, I did ask."

His near-speech on alchemy, mostly-successfully hiding his intense envy of them and their magical sword-making, trailed off. "... the fact that you've made gunpowder from scratch in the past is great. Don't worry, we've already got potassium nitrate--we usually call it saltpeter, where I'm from--and the other two ingredients are definitely around someplace, pretty simple stuff once the saltpeter's found. It looks like you and I are the only people so far who've made it themselves, though."

Usopp continued helpfully, "The upstairs is the best place to look. Up, and the halls up furthest to the left after you leave the staircase, have laboratories. They have all kinds of great chemicals. That's part of why I want to organize this, so that the different Clubs and individuals won't all be gunning for the same ingredients on the same nights. It regenerates every night, too, so every night nobody goes and collects saltpeter or whatever unusual thing they want, it might as well be considered wasted, right?" He shrugged. "I agreed to work on some different gunpowder mixes for flash or for bang depending on the person who is using it, but the best ideal is 'bang,' I mean, explosions. If we could build up enough explosives to literally take out a part of the Institute itself..."

[whiny_egomaniac]

"I see," Starscream started. "So they use some kind of magic to instantly synthesize objects from their component materials? Normally I'd be one to scoff at such unscientific nonsense...but sadly I've seen such supernatural things at work before. As to their heavy workload...it is unfortunate, but I suppose it's for the best. I need to determine the best way to translate my weapons into devices that can be used by multiple people, and that may take some time in of itself."

That was the question, really; shoulder-mounted cannons would be out of the question, as the flesh creature's epidermis is known to be damaged by the smallest amount of heat, far less than what is generated by his null-rays. He'd heard mention that Marissa Fairborne and the EDC had developed hand-held versions of his lasers (from whom they obtained the technology he could not guess), so perhaps that would be the best course of action. Of course, DESIGNING the gun was another matter entirely, from the casing to the power source, not to mention actually shaping those components into something useful...

He nodded as Usopp described the various rooms located in the facility; the laboratory might be of particular interest to the Decepticon leader. "One of these nights, then, I'll have to form a crew to help me locate what I might need. The objects for gunpowder would be a good place to start, but that laboratory; they might have some of the more exotic compounds necessary to build the devices I have in mind..."

[usoppsenchou]

"That sounds like a great idea," Usopp agreed enthusiastically. "I think other people on the board'll help you too, if you ask about it. That's really the only thing that I was thinking of when I posted--that people need to be more organized and aware of what's up there, and what we want, and what we can get. So having others assist you in getting those supplies, and starting to put together your project, might be easier than if there weren't already contact between the groups and between patients. I know a lot of patients who've been working on solo projects," including himself, "and working like that is kind of a waste of time and manpower. Er, or whatever people are-power."

The buses were coming to a stop, and it didn't seem as though doom were waiting outside, or at least it wasn't waiting anyplace immediately obvious. Usopp let out a little sigh of relief from tension he'd almost forgotten he had. "Tomorrow I'll post on the boards again, but we can't post too openly about things like this. The people who're interested in combining work to make these projects go faster will have to meet at night sometime. Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow night there could be a meeting at some central location to talk about shopping lists, what we've already got on hand, and maybe a master plan of projects to work on as support for the bigger, real Clubs." That was the word for it--support. The more democratic he could make this and the less Club-like, the happier Usopp would be, 'Captain' or no.

[whiny_egomaniac]

"You're right," Starscream responded smugly. "Having others around always DID make my projects progress far easier in my world than when I attempted them on my own. I may well have to take advantage of others' eagerness to explore this place at night...we could benefit each other, of course, and the division of labor provided, if not by the alchemists then by anyone else willing to leave this place, could see our weapons created in less than a quartex."

All words, flesh-creature, Starscream thought quietly, standing as the bus came to its halt before the large gates of the institute. Of course I'll be taking advantage of you humans...you've proved yourselves so useful to me in various other times and worlds...once I have what I need, your own petty desires will be worthless to me. He turned to Usopp when he spoke of a 'meeting' with other flesh-creatures about 'shopping lists' to...did he hear correctly? 'Support' other clubs? Starscream is no supporter, no lackey...not anymore. But maintain the charade a little longer...exploit them as long as you can.

"I agree with your plan, Captain," he said, a slight touch of patronage in his voice, "but don't be so hesitant to make a name for yourself. For while community input may well help to provide strength to our projects, a strong leader is practically essential to the overall sustenance of those projects. At any rate, I look forward to the meeting. I'll focus my attention tonight on schematics for the weapon I had in mind; perhaps I'll demonstrate my ideas tomorrow to the group." At that, he nodded slightly, then slowly made his way to the exit.