2017-12-26: Soccer Mom
- Log: Soccer Mom
- Cast: Riesenlied, Asteroid the Kid, Cetiri (NPC)
- Where: Wayside
- Date: 26th December 2017
- Summary: Asteroid and Riesenlied speak of the skyship they encountered underneath Hadal. Cetiri has other ideas...
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is back in Wayside at her planning caravan, somewhat nursing the injuries she's sustained at the battle in Kislev's mountains; her neck is visibly a bit black from marring, though there are bandages around it and up along her cheek as well where Yaro's wounded her.
Still, stubborn as always, she's focusing on planning -- and it's with her mother, Cetiri, that she's looking over some rudimentary plans gathered from the dropship found on the peaks of Kislev.
Cetiri is a dog-shaped Hyadean, sleek and black with metallic plates and a lazy tail bobbing back and forth as she plays with a little ball.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid is pretty much only loyal to science, some friends, and the Guardians. That's pretty much everything! But behind all that, there is a commitment to the advancement of Filgaia that usually, in the Wild Arms theme, results in some kind of armageddon or awful other things.
Still maybe she can dodge that you know?
A soccer ball goes flying inside (if the door is closed it knocks it open) and Asteroid jogs in afterwards.
She is about to throw herself onto the soccer ball when she sees Cetiri there.
She blinks at Cetiri. She stares at Cetiri. She points a finger at Cetiri. "...Robot Dog!!"
She glances to Riese after and says, "Oh sorry for butting in." in what's probably a total lie. "Whassup?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Cetiri lets out a little hiss, and the ball goes 'thunk' like it kinda just got suction cupped onto her tail. Then tosses it back towards Asteroid. "I am -not- a Robot Dog. I am a Dog shaped Robot, if you -must-."
Her voice sounds like a cross between an alto singer, a cement mixer, and electronic signals.
"A-ah, this is Cetiri," Riesenlied gestures bashfully. "Cetiri, this is Asteroid. Cetiri is my creator... or--"
"/Mother/," Cetiri insists. A pause. "Hmm. I want her as a daughter too, Riese--"
"You already added another son! How many children do you possibly need?!" Riesenlied sounds a little flabbergasted in that exact tone of someone who's a little embarrassed for their parents.
"As many as I want. You are technologically challenged, so I want Asteroid as my smart daughter," Cetiri defensively remarks. "Anyway, we were inspecting the plans for the skyship we discovered in Hadal Temple. The dropship you encountered in Kislev is of a similar make, although it is much smaller in scope."
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Okay, but you were playing with a ball and have like super ball playing powers--" Asteroid says, catching the ball with her her knee and bouncing it repeatedly into the air off of it, though the other revelation blows her mind. "Your mom is a Dog Shaped Robot??"
She is stunned. But then she admits, "Well I guess it's like saying a Rabbit Beastman's a rabbit. It's more like rabbit shaped beastman. So I guess I do get it. Are y'all basically just Hyadean Beastmen? That kind of explains a lot actually.
Her eyes shine curiously at Cetiri. "Who?"
She then looks back to Riese and adds, "Sorry--" Pause. "What?"
She looks at Cetiri. "What?"
She frowns faintly. She... thinks she's smart?? The pause goes on a little longer.
"Eheh...hehhh....Well, I am pretty smart!" She isn't sure who this other son is but she at least now knows where Riese's mom tendencies come from. Like Mother Like Daughter is not something Asteroid believes in as a rule but it DOES happen, it seems.
"Ooooh. Aerodynamics!" Asteroid jogs over to peek. She can't help herself. "Ughh never got a good chance to look around with that guy complaining every time I hit something." She frowns. "I don't get it. Ethius gets to break stuff all the time and nobody yells at him--" She pauses. "Where'd you find the plans? I'm surprised they survived. That's like a huge archaeological discovery there. Some countries might kill for somethin' like this. Literal like."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"It's a long story..." Riesenlied sounds just a little fatigued, once more in that way one gets when they're trying to explain parental idiosyncracies.
"It is a son so intellectually challenged it is refreshing, yet eager," Cetiri proudly declares. Somewhere, Zed sneezes. Yes, Cetiri likes to have children of the entire spectrum, it would seem.
A pause, and then she says, "I have seen your interest in aeronautics! Do not think that it would escape my eyes," Cetiri sounds proud. "Or, well, sensors, these days. And these are from the Photosphere, which we managed to salvage on the premise that none of these ships survived..."
Riesenlied clears her throat gently to say, "I must thank Devet for this... and -- it is missing a lot of detail. Many of the schematics are what we believe the contents would be, if it were an upscaled ship of this model..."
Cetiri perks up and says, "Daughter of mine, how would you like to be involved in repairing a skyship?"
There's no stopping this Dog-Mom... Robot-Mom? Dog-shaped Robot Mom.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Well sometimes dumb people are smart because they aren't constrained by conventional thought." Asteroid says simply and shrugs her shoulders. "Anyway, uh--Well, yeah... I mean. I'm not subtle about my interests. heh." She is pretty proud of herself too, it's okay (someone said she was smart today). She doesn't bother asking which one's Devet. She'll likely run into him eventually, but she does stare intently at the schematics. Sadly as a person from Filgaian Future rather than Filgaian Past, sometimes these things can be prettty archaic for her, but she can understand the gist of what it's likely to be designed to do. The trick of course is to translate that into something useful.
She doesn't answer Cetiri for a moment. Then she realizes Cetiri is talking to her and she says, "Oh? Oh! Oh. Yeah, duh, of course. This shit is In-Sane. I gotta check it out."
She pauses for a moment, "But uh... my process might be... I mean, I never actually seen a functioning airship before so... I mean, like, ever really but I read a lot of books." She nods firmly. "So uh. I mean. If that's okay."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Asteroid probably would run into Devet at some point, given her own penchant for electronics, systems, hacking and all kinds of everything that would be classified as 'nerdy' back in the Photosphere and yet 'awe-inspiring' outside.
Riesenlied places her hand to her cheek again as she expresses, "We never have either. Outside of our Dragons, the carriers and other skyships were all lost in the climactic war that consumed many of our ancestors."
Cetiri chuckles and says, "Indeed. It is a bold risk, but one with handsome reward, to be certain."
"... the Quarter Knights will catch up to Wayside sooner or later. I'd love to have that ship operational -- if not as a skyship, then at least as a landship," Riesenlied remarks.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid says, "Well I guess I can't worry too much about those guys because they will totally kill me if they see me. Maybe I could summon Rigdobrite and make 'em sweat, but with a stone tablet ehh--not strong enough so, you know." She shrugs fiantly and sighs. "Well whatever. A rush job is fine too, but I guess like, it's not like we can't promise it won't break down later, but that's breaking down is good. It's a good way to learn more. Just so long as we're far away from the--"
She pauses for a moment before adding, "Sorry, I mean, I guess it's probably hard for you to hear me talking about your comrades like they're super scary. I mean they are, but you know."
She squints down at the schematics again. "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen and since I've seen the inside of one of these already, that's pretty cool. Hey hey, can I make a copy of this?"
She looks over to Rie--
--oh no she's asking the dogmom.
The canine custodian.
The hound helper.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Indeed, a breakdown only means a chance to iterate," Cetiri sounds like she's totally on Asteroid's level.
"W-what if it breaks down in the midst of the sky...?" Riesenlied has to ask.
"Then you'd best hope you are blessed by the Guardian of Luck!" Cetiri beams.
"... you know that we are not, being anathema..." Riesenlied picks at her hair and sulks, clearly out of her element with scientific talk.
Cetiri shrugs at the question, though, her tooth showing as she grins. As much as a dog-shaped robot can grin, anyway. "You are welcome to, so long as you understand it is a draft and may not reflect perfect accuracy. I would love to see your own insights into it."
"... it just looks like such jargon to me..." Riesenlied's horns wilt.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Well," Asteroid says. "Ideally we'd have a backup system to glide us down and keep us from crashing too hard but since that'd also be a prototype, it's not like we could rely on it in which case, uh, I guess that would be the Guardian of Luck telling us that we're supposed to crash. And maybe end up where we're supposed to go? I guess that's what the texts would say but really I'd probably summon Rigdobrite and ride him off the sinking ship. Though uh, after I tried everything to fix it. Though um. If you want my suggestion for real real, if we could get it up 'in the air' you'd probably want to fly low for a while rather than try to get too high up. Then you keep pushing it little by little."
Asteroid draws out her own canvas paper and starts scribbling on it rapidly, nodding periodically.
"Y'all got techies too, right?" She asks. scribble scribble. "So this would probably do...that... and this..." She mutters before glancing over to Riese. "You know the Guardians aren't like a single mind, right?" scribble scribble. "Just 'cause one hates you doesn't mean they all do. I mean, I'm guessing they're all a bit cautious at best, but you know."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied looks particularly alarmed and impressed both that Asteroid has so many backup scenarios for what to do if a ship crashes! "Yes... we would wish to avoid undue attention from Gebler and other threats in the air -- including that of other Metal Dragons that will be on the search for us."
Cetiri proudly expresses, "I am the head of the Ebony Wings' R&D. I suppose we are low on engineers, if that is what you are saying, but..."
"... yes, I do know..." Riesenlied admits, "It's just... hard to believe, sometimes. But if Noeline can commune with the Guardian of Illusions, then..." She hesitates. "... but I know of at least one who must despise me."
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Don't know much about Gebler," Asteroid says. "But yeah I mean any moving object of that kinda size is gonna draw attention. Guessing that's why the Sand Orca avoided capture for so long, cause he can submerge his craft and all that." Scribble scribble. Asteroid has thought a lot about aircraft and spacecraft. It's natural for her to think of backup plans in case there's a horrible explosion or something. Frankly, she thinks about that maybe even more than actually building these things because of how important it is! Safety first!
"Oh sweet! Science rocks!" She holds up her hand for a highfive.
Pause.
"R-right..." She supposes they mean Duras Drum, but she looks back to her work.
"The Guardians aren't perfect. They're not supposed to be. They're the forces that govern Filgaian. Elemental. Alien-- More alien than you, even." She shakes her head. "S'only natural for 'em to treat you like a foreign contaminant but like--it's not like they can't accept you or that they know everythin'. Not knowing everythin's why they have the Baskar after all!" She grins, showing off her teeth.
"'Course I ain't too happy 'bout how they treated Kaguya, but I get if it's a problem I gotta find the solution to. So which one hates you? Equites?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Sand Orca... submerge? I assume you must mean Mister Bart..." Riesenlied tilts her head in thought, horns kind of inflating again as they go 'poit, poit' in thought. "We may have some defenses in mind to avoid detection, but it's all theoretical if we cannot even get to the craft..."
Asteroid gets a tail-five, because Cetiri is unwilling to give up her comfy, cozy basket seat. W-which is not because she's a dog, darnit.
"Yes, you're right... it's why I've-- vowed to bring news to them, when I last spoke to Cecilia," Riesenlied expresses after a moment of silence. "They have admitted such that they have no eyes and ears into the world -- so why not bring information to them? That we wish to coexist and collaborate..."
A pause once more, in silence...
"It is Odoryuk, the Guardian of Life." She hesitates, and sets her hand down to the notes as she finds a sheaf of paper underneath and hands it to Asteroid. It contains a fairly neat copy of the work done so far.
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Odoryuk?? Geeze." Asteroid rubs her head with a hand. "Who'dya kill to piss off Odoryuk...? That's one of the nicer Guardians. I mean--this is life we're talkin' 'bout here. Not gonna get pissed atcha unless you set off an ecological disaster or..."
She trails off for a moment as she's handed the papers. She reads them over.
This could take her a while to decipher. Metal Demon tech is a bit higher than the average Filgaian, to say nothing of the Baskar.
This gives plenty of time for Riesenlied to talk about why Odoryuk hates her!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I..." Riesenlied hesitates, and glances aside as she places a hand to the side of her head. "It was a long time ago... and..." she tucks her head down further, shivering as Cetiri shakes her head to say, "It is not something you need to work yourself into an anxiety attack over right now, Riesenlied."
Riesenlied bites her lip, and then tilts her head once more. "... the priest-like symbols that I wear... the clothes that I don... they are of the Fereshte tribe. A tribe of the Guardian of Life, long, long ago."
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
"Oh, you killed them huh?" Asteroid says bluntly. "Yeah I imagine that'd do it." She frowns. "...But that doesn't sound like you at all."
She finishes her sketch and rolls up the canvas paper so she can study it on her own time without having to waste these fine demons' time. "I guess I should give you a hard time about it, because I'm Baskar, but I'm really just curious if you'll be able to make your experiment work."
She chuckles to herself.
"I guess the scientist in me is just a little bit stronger. 'Sides, it's not like you wronged me."
As far as she knows.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied hesitates deeply, glancing aside. "... I... I think so? ... I think I did... but..." her breaths are more shallow as Cetiri sighs and expresses, "Take a walk outside, Riesenlied. You won't be able to contribute anyway. Go find Mikaia, I think she was tending to the cuccos."
Riesenlied looks up again, face a bit pale. "... y-yes, um-- I'll meet you at the orphanage a bit later, Asteroid..." she hurries outside, like she wants some fresh air or to throw up.
Cetiri pauses for a moment longer, and then bats her tail from one side to another. "So, daughter of science. I hope you'll find those plans fruitful for your own work as well..."
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
That's a weird reaction, Asteroid notes. She watches after her for a moment and when she's gone...
"I guess maybe I'm kinda... weird. The stuff that wigs me out doesn't wig other people out and the stuff that wigs other people out doesn't wig me out."
She looks over to Cetiri. "Well yeah, this is incredible. I was hopin' to learn from Miss Hetfield, but if I gotta learn the hard way this is pretty much the best way to go about it."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Cetiri's tail weaves to one side. "Whatever happened with the Fereshte was certainly tragic and traumatic, but... even to this day, many centuries later, Riesenlied still cannot give me a clear answer as to what actually happened."
There's something approximating a shrug, as she remarks, "Ah, the inventor of the Emma Motor. I should like to meet her someday too. Truly a brilliant mind to be crafting such an engine!"
She plays with the soccer ball, picking it up and bouncing it on her tail. She even creates a loop for it to sit on.
"And a mentor can only take you so far. No one can truly share the same passion about aeronautics that you have, Asteroid. Do not forget that."
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid smiles briefly as she sees Cetiri playing with the soccer ball. Even before learning about the ANCIENT ART OF FUTBALL, she liked to kick balls around. Itwas a way to keep active in confined spaces.
"Well it's a lot trickier to build an engine on your own than to fix up one that's really old." Asteroid says. "Or at least it was before the Emma Motor." She frowns for a moment. Is she herself the only person who is not messed up in the head she hangs out with? That's kind of scary.
"Well that's true." She grins. "But one day it'll be aerospace. I gotta, for Kaguya if nothin' else. Promised her I'd take her."
That's not spilling any beans, she figures. Everybody wants to go to space who is cool.
- DISCLAIMER: Asteroid the Kid's opinions regarding people's heads does not follow the player's. If anything, the player is constantly stunned by how nuts Asteroid is like without even trying too hard. What a weirdo!
<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.
Asteroid the Kid is stalled for a moment. A Metal Demon is offering to teach her? Really? Part of her wonders if this is some kind of trap. It's not that she doesn't trust the Metal Demons of Wayside--really, they seem pretty chill and she just gets along with them even if it means kinda shrugging off history. It's easy for her to. She prefers to think of the future.
Maybe, she thinks, she's just the kind of person who gets suspicious of good fortune. The Guardian of Luck is a capricious one.
"Well," Asteroid says. "It'd be foolish of me to reject an offer of that. Sure thing." She jerks a thumb at herself. "Y'can count on me bein' the best student I can be!"