Twiddly knobs, doo-dads, and whatchamacallits

[Esmeralda]

January 13th, y1, early morning

Aurelio walked along the stone halls towards where Clopin had told him he could find Shanty. He had heard about her technological expertise from his brother and had found himself quite intrigued. He hoped that she might be the answer to a small problem of his. Well, not really a problem. More of an inconvenience.

He knocked on the door to the room he was looking for and then pushed it open, peeking his head in, "Hello, Shanty are you in here?"

Aurelio pushed the door all the way open and stepped in revealing himself fully before casting his green eyes around taking in his surroundings. The room was a mish-mash of technology and gear that Aurelio couldn't even begin to understand. He reached out and took a small pile of wires that seemed fairly innocuous into his hands. He turned it this way and that before replacing it.

[Shanty]

Kzzzt--POP POP!

Shanty sits up as she hears someone enter her tentatively-claimed workshop, illuminated eye turning to face the guest, "Ah, Aurelio. I apologize for the mess, is there anything I can help you with?" A gloved hand carefully moves the work from her lap as she stands, and the telescoping arms she was using to hold it in place carefully slide back into their ports along her spine.

Unlike most other times, it seems Shanty is rather calm right now, speaking in a soft and low tone. Notably, the port in her chest seems to be glowing softer than normal, as well.

It seems she's in a low-energy state, and might be doing so due to the hour.

[Esmeralda]

Aurelio cocked his head noting Shanty's change in her usual demeanor. It was almost like she was tired, but he knew that the woman didn't need sleep. He wasn't familiar with the technology that she was formed of, but he guessed she might be on a lower power setting, if there was such a thing. He really couldn't say.

"Sorry to interrupt your work," he smiled charmingly and then walked further in, dodging the various piles and side stepping the gadgetry nimbly until he was able to take a seat near by Shanty on the floor, "I had to stop by. Clopin told me all about your talents and how revolutionary your work will be for the Rogues."

He wasn't really flattering Shanty. Flattery was insincere. He truly was complimenting her work, even if he was going to ask her a favor the two facts were mutually exclusive, "I was wondering if you could help me with something. I wanted to see if it was in your capabilities to build an item for me."

Now that he was sitting closer to Shanty he was able to get a better look at the woman and the strange foreign metallic bits of her. The glowing of her eye and chest. The her literal ARMament. He knew he was staring, but Aurelio at least had the decency to gape or oggle. He just genuinely seemed to be observing her and taking her in. It was a polite examination. Or as politely as one can be when looking a person over.

[Varian]

Varian was a kid who didn't take to people very often, his time before coming here had made him a bit guarded and slow to trust, but when he took a shine to someone, he could be especially...Enthusiastic about making a good impression. He found Shanty fascinating on a technological level, she was someone who could match wits with him, and she made him feel just a little bit less alone and out of place here in this unfamiliar land. So, naturally, he was johnny on the spot anytime she happened to need an errand ran when she was at a more low energy state, and he was more than happy to oblige.

The wires she'd sent him to fetch from the blacksmith were sophisticated and delicate, and unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He was familiar with many different sizes and shapes, and he was practically buzzing at the prospect of what she intended to use these for.

But for all his intelligence and ingenuity, he was still a fumbly pre-teen, and he could be a bit spacey when he was deep in thought, so when he entered the workshop he completely missed the presence of another and stumbled into him with a gasp, "oh...Hello!" He side stepped, forgetting his manners and failing to apologize for being a klutz, "I've collected the pieces you sent me to fetch, ma'am!" He gave an eager grin, as he set them down on one of the relatively clear spaces he could find.

He whirled with wide eyes when Aurelio spoke and looked suddenly very curious, "an item? What kind of item?" He seemed to remember his place after a moment, ducking down just a little, "ah uh...Sorry...I'm uh...I'll just...Just go over here..." He gave a disarming grin before sidestepping a little, but he was clearly keeping a very close ear on the conversation.

[Shanty]

Shanty listens quietly to Aurelio as he speaks, expression relaxed and pleasant. Shanty wasn’t a person of looks alone, but whether they were Esmerelda or Aurelio, this individual was always lovely, and had such a nice voice. It was enough to relax anyone, really.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, I’ve always got my hand in things nowadays. I do hope the work is of some help. Maybe a technological advantage could do some—“

Shanty refocuses to the door Just shortly before Varian comes in, and she can’t help but light up a little. The younger inventor had caught her eye the moment they’d met, and ever since, she couldn’t help but enjoy his wit and enthusiasm. It was quite fun having the Apprentice around. Shanty has always adored children, but this enthusiastic ball of ideas had an even stronger hold on the mechanical woman.

If Shanty was half a century younger, you’d probably have a hard time telling the difference between the two.

“—Good. Thank you, Varian.” A gloved hand carefully picks up the wire, uncoiling a bit and holding it up to her capped eye. She twists it slightly, tests it’s resiliency, and gives a wide grin, “This is perfect! Just what we needed. Ah, apologies for the interruption, though. What are you looking for? I’m sure that, between the two of us, Varian and I could solve any problem you’ve got.”

Shanty can’t help but wink pleasantly, as if signing her verbal statement. That was another bonus of having Varian about, not including his intelligence, wit, and energy. What she couldn’t figure out, he most likely had input, making them a formidable pair.

[Esmeralda]

"Oof," Aurelio hadn't had a chance to get up and avoid Varian, even when he had seen him enter. The area had been a bit cluttered and he didn't want to risk damaging some sort of delicate piece of work, "Haha, hi there."

He settled back in his seat and let Varian and Shanty talk over these spools of metallic thread. It was obvious the two were peas in a pod. Aurelio was happy that Varian had a mentor to bond with. The boy needed guidance and it was difficult to give him the attention he needed with all the events of managing a war. Shanty's arrival had been a relief in several ways.

"Looks like my project is in good hands then," speaking of hands, it seemed Aurelio tended to speak with his. He lifted his hands up gesturing towards Shanty, "So the Rogues have methods of traveling around, even some teleportation in case of emergency."

 "But I have needs for something more personal to get around. I have a lot of... jobs I need to do covertly and on my own," Aurelio's hand rolled along his wrist as he searched for the right words to describe his work with out giving any details, "The more discreet the better."

"I'm just not sure how difficult that might be to manage with technology," Aurelio shrugged lightly and then gestured hands out to Shanty again, "So I thought I'd ask the experts."

[Varian]

Varian's eyes seemed to light up when Shanty was keen to include him on whatever project Aurelio needed done, and he was quick to stumble forwards to be involved more directly on the conversation, "right! No such thing as a problem with us around!" Unless it was a problem he caused, he was still prone to disaster, but sometimes that's where his best ideas were born.

He opened his arms to catch the fat raccoon that had scrambled out of his hiding place to leap into them, keeping a close ear on what was being said as he fished an apple from his apron pocket to give him, "I don't think it would be to hard to modify the systems already in use to a more personalized form." He mused with a grin, crossing the short space to a table with papers and writing utensils scattered over it, "since we already have the means, it just becomes a matter of making them compact!" He plopped down in a chair at the table and started scribbling ideas down on paper, the gears in his head already seeming to spin.

"I haven't gotten a chance to really learn all the ins and outs of the current system...Teleportation is a wholly new concept to me to be honest..." There were a lot of things about this place that seemed to be entirely new, it was more exciting than anything, he found himself hard pressed to study and take notes on anything and everything he could get his hands on. He trailed off his own thoughts here though, giving Shanty room to give her own ideas.

[Shanty]

“Personal teleportation...”

The pirate hums softly, tapping her chin lightly as she glances upwards in thought. When Varian mentions the current system, she gives a slight noise, “Oof, I looked at that thing. Who set that up? And what’s with all the mirrors, it’s so fragile...” She waves a hand slightly, as if to dismiss her thoughts, “Back on... my ship. I actually had a device that opened wormholes, and we traveled through them to get to different locations. The issue is, the way it’s built allowed a massive airship to fly through, and needed to be midair. It may have unseen side effects. It... also accessed different dimensions. I don’t know if that’s what you seek.”

A low, thoughtful groan, and Shanty leans back to stare at the ceiling. Her chair creaks angrily, dealing with her shifting weight.

“... My home town was also set up to connect to other Aerports via a waypoint system. Using an attuned keystone, you could access any point from any location using a trinket the size of your palm. That’d be very easy to conceal, but it’d have to be direct, exact points every time, you couldn’t just appear anywhere. Are you looking for a more ‘on the fly’ sort of location selection, or something more set? Or, if we had time, Varian and I could dissect the current system, and hopefully find a third option.”

[Esmeralda]

"Yeah, I figured the mass teleportation system we had might be difficult to personalize," Aurelio chuckled, "Having specific way points might be hard. Especially if we have to build something for those way points and set them where I want to go. Luckily I don't need -exact- locations. I'm just looking for a general way to hop to other battle fronts."

Aurelio waved his hands in a small flourish, and a roll of paper appeared from thin air (his sleeve). Aurelio cleared a bit of a flat surface and then unrolled what looked to be a map with several markings in various locations. Aurelio tapped a few of them before looking up at Shanty and Varian, his emerald eyes taking a more serious glint, "These are some of the locations that we've got a few operations going. Some are skirmishes and the like, other are important... intelligence locations."

The gypsy grabbed a few of the heavy trinkets he saw and placed them on the corners of his map to keep it from curling up again, "Getting across such vast distances is very difficult and unwieldy for me. If I could get to various points like this more... covertly and quickly? It would revolutionize the way I can do my work. It'd cut down the time I'd need to get information exponentially."

He sat back and grabbed his ankles idly before continuing, "So you can see why I'm not sure the way point method would work. Especially in battle points and fortified locations. Some of these I haven't even infiltrated yet. If I could get to them quicker, well..." Aurelio trailed off, his point obvious.

[Varian]

Varian couldn't help but giggle-snort in response to Shanty's comment about their current transportation method, shaking his head, "tell me about it, I have been brainstorming modifications and streamlining of the system we have. Perhaps I can discuss these ideas with you later?"

He didn't have any solidified blueprints yet, but he had sketches and ideas that might prove useful, "wormholes?! Fascinating!" He tilted his head to the side, "you wouldn't happen to still have any schematics for that device, would you? Perhaps if I could see how it works..." His mind spun a little at the possibility of other dimensions, wormholes, all very wild ideas that he would have dismissed before.

He got up from his desk when Aurelio produced the rolled paper and spread it out, stroking his chin, "if you have specific destinations, that does simplify the process immensely, it becomes less a matter of letting you go anywhere, and more a matter of calibrating the device to reach certain points." He hummed softly in thought, "perhaps a device that operates to specific desired coordinates?" He looked over at Shanty for her input, he was excited at the prospect of the conversations they would probably have later about this.