[video]

[blastiafreak]

[The video's not very clear when it comes on; it's dark and gloomy, showing hints of thick dust and cobwebs--a glimpse of a window reveals deep fog--and then it shifts to Rita's wide-eyed face. When she speaks, she's trying very hard to pretend she's calm...and failing pretty horribly.]

I-is anyone else stuck in this weirdo place? I mean, it's not like I need help or anything, but-

[A loud creak and sudden clatter of footsteps interrupts her, the shutters to the window abruptly blowing open, and she jumps with a yelp.] Aah--! Uh--it's not sc--just where's the exit, already?!

[Maybe realizing that the video's still recording her little freak-out, she quickly shuts it off.]

[ooc: Tags slow forever. ._. Sorry!]

Comments

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[Awful...! :<

!!! Aw, okay! Have fun! ;3;]

[She uses a pair of tongs to swirl the hot metal, glancing back at him curiously.] What is it? Well, the machine and acid grind up the leaves. They should be ready by now, so we don't want it to stay acidic. We'll mix the metal in, flatten it, and let it dry.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ Horrible...

Sh! Thanks! ;v; Wasn't bad at all! ]

...Oh. [ Nope, not getting it. ] Right. [ Well, he'll just add it. Not like he wants acidic paper. ] They don't take that long to dry, either, do they?

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[The worst...:<

Aw, good! And welcome back! :3]

[...She kind of has a feeling he might not get it from the way he answers. She puts on some thick, heat-resistant mittens, turns off the flame, and comes over with the metal.] Just a couple hours.

Is there something else you want to know?

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ And gross, too.

Thanks! :D I hope your exams are just as easy-! ]

[ Since she's asking- ] ...How does it work? What does all this have to do with mana?

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[Just all-around terrible. :<

Thank you~ I hope so, too!]

Oh, that... [She goes ahead and starts adding the molten metal while she tries to explain.] The leaves we put in are from a plant that's especially sensitive to mana, so even after we mix it up like this, the paper fibers still react. They react with the metal, change the number of electrons in the metal, and change the way it absorbs light. So we see a colour change.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ And very unpleasant at that. :(

Good luck!! ]

[ Somehow, that actually makes total sense. ] Ah, I see... That makes sense. I should have thought it was something like that.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[And so cruel...

Thaaanks!! :3]

[She nods with a smile. She probably should've explained it in the beginning instead of just barking orders, but she's pleased that he understands it.] Yeah, that's how it is. We can pretty much tailor the paper to change colour at specific mana levels by changing the percentage of metal.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ So let's not have that!!

♥ ]

[ And now it makes even more sense. ] Ah-

So do you make different ones for different cores you wanna make?

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[Not unless we want to be jerks!!

♥~]

[And another nod as she finishes her slow pour of the metal to let the machine do the mixing.] Pretty much. I can use the same one for any cores that need about the same level of mana, but I still need a bunch of different ones.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ Yeah! But then that's our call!

♥! Except now my internet is being weird again. ]

[ He nods. ] I get it. That sounds like more of a pain than just waiting for them all to finish.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[That's right!

Aww, internet...:<]

[He gets a sigh in agreement, too.] Yeah, it is. But it works for now, until I can develop some kind of probe...

It's probably been long enough, so we can shut off the grinder now. Then push that lever; it'll press everything down to drain out the water and flatten the paper.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ And we'll keep each other up-to-date!!

ikr ;_; I can only get onto google sites for some reason. Even ones I don't use... Oh, here we go! ]

[ He nods again and goes ahead and turns it off. Does he need to put force onto that lever? He guesses it looks sturdy enough that he can if he has to. ] Are you working on a probe now? Not that this system doesn't work well, but... [ Shove shove lever. ]

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[No surprises!

That's so weird! ;_;]

[Thankfully, the lever is sturdy but also doesn't need much in the way of force. Rita would have issues if it did...] Hm...Actually, I haven't thought about it much. It's hard to work around these curses.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ Unless they're good ones!

IT IS. :< I was about to give up... ]

[ It would figure it was easy to move... But just to be sure they're completely flattened, he had to do it. ] Yeah... And we spend so much time worrying about them and trying to fight them anyway.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[Yeah! Good, fun surprises~

Man, I don't blame you. :< That must be so annoying!]

[She lets him go at it, since that's what they need.] It's a pain...But it's not like we have a choice when it's that or just give up.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ Yes~♥

It was! And I'm tired anyway! ...But this is fun so I don't wanna stop. :< ]

Right... Almost anything is better than just giving in. [ He stops now, sure that they're as pressed as they're going to be. ] There should be a way to beat the deities, though... [ and a yawn that he doesn't even try to hide ] Since there's already things outside their control.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[♥~

Aw! It is a cute thread, though. ;v;]

[Dangit Tyr, that yawn makes her do it too...though she does try to hide hers.] ...If...If we could figure out the extent of their powers, or how to get around them...

[And now that he's stopped, she leans down and flips another switch which opens vents at the sides, allowing the paper to dry, and then she pulls a tray from the bottom that contains all the drained liquid.]

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ ♥!

It is! :'3 I really enjoy it! ]

[ He just stands there and watches as she does it. Maybe another sip of hot chocolate will keep him awake. ] It seems like anything that they don't bring here isn't under their control, at least... [ And another sip. After saying that, he realises it sounds pretty hopeless for them. ]

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[I'm glad! Me too. ♥]

[For now, she just shoves the tray off to the side to dump down a sink somewhere later, and then she straightens up and stretches.] Yeah...Not that they're really into helping is out. Usually they just cause trouble for us.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ I'm glad you do, too! :D ]

It'd be worse if it was more than just them causing trouble, though... [ They have chairs, so Tyr goes ahead and plops down. ] I wonder why they even do all this to us.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[I doooo~♥]

Does it matter if there's more of them? Either way, it's a pain for us. [Rita will flop back down too, and reach for her cooled hot chocolate.] Besides, there's not point trying to guess what those idiots are thinking. They're probably just all a bunch of nutcases.

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ Let's play forever!!♥ ]

Probably... The only one I've actually spoken to just rambles on and on, and the one Riou spoke to...

[ He shakes his head. ]

In any case, I don't know what we can do with them.

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[Yes!! :3]

I've spoken to a couple. One tried to talk big, but she didn't do anything to back it up. [Not that Rita would try to snark with the deities or anything right...

She shrugs, and then hides her yawn behind her cup as she lips it to take a nice drink.]

action; ♥!

[stargathering]

[ /o/! ]

So you don't think they're as powerful as they say they are? [ Tyr apparently thinks she'd outright threaten them...

And that she's getting tired. Tyr is a little sleepy, but he wonders if Rita isn't more so. He doesn't comment on it for now, though. ]

action; ♥!

[blastiafreak]

[\o\!]

Maybe...But it's not like they've claimed much, have they? [Oh, would she ever...

And she is getting pretty sleepy despite her attempts to pretend otherwise. It's been a while since she slept, and after a day like today...She settles a bit more into the chair.]