In which Stephen makes a lot of noise... [Bendytimed for my fail!]

[sonofether]

He'd been spending a lot of time in the lab. Maybe too much, but the end results really would be worth it all. He still had to figure out a way to make a certain delivery to a certain pilot, but Stephen had decided that it was past time for him to work on something he wanted to work on.

So at one end of his garage-turned-workshop, there are two

Comments

[zouichi]

There are a few things that continue to surprise Zouichi about this crew. One of them is, apparently, seeing a man in a chain mail suit play the theme to Mortal Kombat with a lightning guitar. He brakes his bike, removing his helmet to watch Stephen play.

Okay, that's just cool.

[sonofether]

Stephen didn't really stop when he saw the bike pull up, but he walked a bit closer to the door. Despite the fact that the lightning was no longer jumping to his Faraday suit, the music kept playing.

He sent the unfamiliar fellow a wave.

[zouichi]

Zouichi waved back, watching the performance. The sound carried surprisingly well.

...he kind of wanted a lightning guitar. Too bad he couldn't play.

[sonofether]

Stephen isn't much into reading minds, but...

"Hey, you want to give this a try?" Well, if he wanted to try messing with the guitar, Zouichi could at least make some noise, too.

It might be entertaining?

[zouichi]

WOULD HE

"Would that be all right? I don't actually know how to play."

Zouichi swung a leg over the bike, dismounting and approaching Stephen -- but not too far. Not yet, anyway. "Can I come closer? I don't want to interfere with your machine or anything."

[sonofether]

"I'll power it down, that'll solve that." Something Stephen should have done just in case, considering that it was raw electrical current he was messing with, there.

"You'll have to wear the Faraday suit, too. I haven't built an extra one yet."

[zouichi]

Oh, good. Because while Zouichi didn't mind being electrocuted for a mission, he'd rather it not be necessary to play a guitar.

"So you built these yourself?" He asks, motioning toward the Tesla coils. "Interesting hobby you have there. Or are you an engineer?"

He's pretty sure he can see other projects sticking out about the garage as well.

[sonofether]

"Can't be both? Yes, I am affiliated with Engineering, but these things aren't really needed for anything, I guess. I built them for fun."

Yes, there are various odds and ends and...just lots of what might be junk sticking out of barrels and other containers in the garage. There were a couple of the hand-held game devices he'd made in a stack on one of the counters, but the true focal point, besides the Tesla coils themselves, was a large, scarlet red container that sat on a cart in the corner. It was not a perfect box, edges beveled in a manner so that it would sit flush against something. There was a porthole in the center of the top, from which a faint blue glow could occasionally be seen.

"I build a lot of things for fun," Stephen mused.

[zouichi]

Actually, those game devices looked sort of... familiar. "Do you know someone named Alex Furest?"

Oh, and the box, of course. "And what's in the box?"

[sonofether]

"I do, but he's...I think he's been repodded, hasn't he?" Stephen has a rather confused expression on his face, now. "I can't program those. Alex did it. I just built the devices."

He actually looks sad about that, in a vague way.

"That's for Aruka's Evangelion unit. I'm still running some diagnostics, but it's pretty much ready for delivery."

[zouichi]

"Ah, so you are the one who built them." He nodded. "Yes, he's been repodded. Actually, I still have one of the systems he lent me. I wish I could have given it back to him before... well."

Zouichi raises an eyebrow. "For Asuka? I've run into her before. So what is it, a power unit?"

[sonofether]

"Yes, that was me. And I doubt he would have wanted them back. We made them for the crew's amusement, after all. I regret I never learned to program games like he did. I figure mine would be very boring." As what Stephen knows how to program is something more in line with a Turing test.

"Yes, precisely! A cold fusion generator. She wanted something better than a power cable that basically corralled her maneuverability." Among other things. But he was pleased that Zouichi had noticed!

[zouichi]

"Really? You can put together a cold fusion generator, but you don't know how to program?" How bizarre. Maybe Stephen was self-taught.

"A... power cable? As in, something you plug in to an outlet?" That sounded like a terrible way to power a plane. Robot. Whatever the Evangelion was. "Say, are you busy with projects? There was something I've been thinking about having done to my bike, but I wasn't sure if I should take up Engineering's time with it."

[sonofether]

"It's a rather old-fashioned programming template. Before my time. If I could improve it, maybe, or update the game device itself...I'm working on it." Stephen said, with a shrug. Zouichi wasn't entirely off--his programming area didn't have much to do with game code. What was he, a Virtual Adept?

"I'm not certain where it plugs into, precisely, but yes. Something similar, if not exactly that. And I'm not terribly busy, no. I sort of do my own thing, until someone calls for something with my expertise over the comms, really. Probably a bad way to go about things, but..." Stephen tended to be a recluse at the best of times.

"What can I do for you?"

[zouichi]

"Ah, I see. An archaic computer language, then? Alex did seem like the kind of person who would see that as a challenge." What was a Virtual Adept?

"That sounds... a little impractical for a plane. Or robot. I can see why she'd want to get around that limitation." Zouichi motioned back to the sleek black bike he'd parked outside the garage.

"My bike isn't really built for use around the ship -- traveling around at any kind of speed is liable to tear up the organic components that make up the floor around here. So I've been wondering if there isn't some kind of engineering solution that might let Fuyu travel around without me having to carry her."

Of course, Zouichi probably had a different definition of 'speed' than most people.

[sonofether]

Virtual Adepts--another Tradition. Like the Sons of Ether, but they're more interested in programming--specifically, hacking reality to fit their needs.

"He was that," Stephen agreed. "And I prefer to build things, so it was a working partnership, while it lasted. And yeah, it is."

He listened to Zouichi, and arched a brow. "What were you looking for, specifically? There are a couple of things I can consider, but the more complicated they are, the longer they'll take. Just as a warning."