A Sudden Shut-In

[straykitty]

After returning from the impromptu raid she had organized, Renne Bright has locked herself in her room. It's only been a few days, and she's been sending for food so she is eating, but she hasn't really been present. If you try to contact her on the Ether-net, you'll be greeted by her "Kitty-bot" who will provide automatic responses for her. It's a neat bit of technology, and reasonably good at giving appropriate information, but it's definitely not passing things along to Renne, so far as anyone can tell.

If folks are concerned, however, they might be able to check on her. She's been briefly answering her door for food, after all.

Comments

[purplexing]

Donnie's tactic has been to keep so busy that he doesn't have to think too hard about things. That's proven to be something he didn't have to worry about too much given how busy he'd found himself after the raid, but even then, memories of what had happened that day were never too far from his mind.

He's taken longer than he'd wanted to, to finally check in on Renne, and that's only after a few obligatory messages through the network to say as much.

But now he's here at the door, and after a knock stands there awkwardly, hands stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket.

[straykitty]

"Who is it?"

She seems at least marginally even in tone, so that's something.

[purplexing]

Considering that Donnie had half expected no response, he takes that as a good sign. He lifts head at her voice, clearing his throat before he answers.

"It's Donnie."

[straykitty]

There's a brief pause.

"You may enter."

The door is, indeed, unlocked.

[purplexing]

He'd expected an invitation to come in even less, but after a blink, he tries the handle before opening the door to admit himself.

"Hey..."

[straykitty]

Renne is at her desk, tinkering with her ENC. At least at this time, she seems more or less put together.

"Hello. I... hope you are doing all right, all things considered."

[purplexing]

Donnie smiles, if briefly. "...better," he admits.

Curiosity prompts him to drift closer so he can see what she's doing. "Oh I've been working on a glove prototype." He pulls something rolled up from his pocket, letting it unfurl; a slim black glove with several small Ether stones in fitted settings placed across the slightly padded back of it.

"I had to estimate on the size, and it's not like I can try it on myself..." he says as he holds it out.

[straykitty]

"Oh my."

Renne takes the glove and tries it on, the fit snug and secure over her surprisingly delicate hand.

"I wasn't expecting something so quick."

Donnie might note that the ENC is displaying the word "LIMITER" on its main console screen as she sets it down.

[purplexing]

"I'd already started drafting designs after we'd first talked about it," the turtlekin admits, his smile returning as Renne tries the glove on.

"How's the fit? And are those good placements, or should they positioned differently? More stones? Less?"

[straykitty]

Renne flexes her fingers, examining the glove with an expert's eye.

"I think this will do quite nicely," she finally says. "The stone usage feels right, I can sense the Ether flowing nominally, the balance is excellent. You've rather outdone yourself."

[purplexing]

He brightens considerably at that.

Truthfully this is the result of a couple of prototypes prior, but Donnie's the sort that doesn't want to deliver anything half-baked if he can iron out as many of the wrinkles beforehand. Then it's mostly tweaking things here and there. But Renne seems pleased and since she's the one who's going to be using it, hearing that everything's working accordingly chases off much of the lingering fog that's been hanging over his mood since the raid.

"Glad to hear it," he says. "Would one be enough, or would a pair be overkill?"

[straykitty]

Renne ponders for a moment.

"I think this should be sufficient, the amount of Ether stones it takes to craft a single glove is quite high. I'd rather you use those stones for other projects."

[purplexing]

"True enough, but if it'll be useful..." But Renne's the one who's going to use it, and if she thinks one will suffice, Donnie won't argue the point, giving her a nod.

He does have a few things he wants to try out. Magic's still been relatively new to him and everything since, experimental, but maybe he'll be able to use it more efficiently. And in turn he can see what other ways those stones can be applied.

[straykitty]

"That's not to say I don't see a use for a spare of course, but resources are precious. I will make due until we have a greater abundance. Better instead that you make good use of what we claimed - give those stones a better cause than what they had been turned to."

[purplexing]

Donnie nods. Also true, and he can only hope that if they do have to acquire more any time soon, it'll be under slightly better circumstances. But then that facility had only been one of who knows how many? Renne has the information, but he's not sure if it's something to be talked about right now.

"Yeah..." he says, hoping the frown that had briefly crossed his brow hadn't been noticed as his thoughts had drifted then. "It's pretty amazing how much of a difference there is between a small stone of the ones we acquired and the ones we've had."

[straykitty]

"By design, really. These stones fuel the Isles Above, anything we can get our hands on down here pales in comparison."

She's not really pressing the issue of the facility, but not shying away from it either.

[purplexing]

And the Empire just takes of the resources it can get its hands on and tosses away what's no longer useful. Donnie frowns, knowing most of the things they've acquired to make use of are castoffs, but then anything he and his family had ever owned were from salvage. And the stones that are available here can still be used, but...it's still eye-opening to see what level they could be, and these are just small ones!

"Are these processed? Or naturally refined?"

[straykitty]

"Definitely refined, as is typical. The Empire is quite the fan of their technological processes."

She smiles slyly.

"You can certainly tell the difference can't you?"

[purplexing]

"Well, yeah," Donnie says as he slips a stone from one of the many pouches on his belt.

"It responds a lot faster. And it definitely feels different, but I'm not quite sure how describe how. ...brighter? In a way?" He frowns, not quite sure that's right, but he's never been good in describing feelings.

[straykitty]

"What you feel is its tremendous power."

Renne idly runs her hand over the glove on her hand.

"Pure ether stones, refined to perfection. Vessels of great power, a power that laid the Dragon Lords low and brought the entire land under their heel. Truly a frightening capability, no?"

[purplexing]

That does put a lot into perspective, especially when it's only so small a stone that he holds now. His eyes widen as he considers this, his head dipping in the most cautious of nods.

"It's not an infinite resource. But it's still scary to think about, yes. And this is only a small representation of it."

[straykitty]

Renne nods.

"The odds are grave, but not insurmountable."

[purplexing]

Nevertheless, still daunting to consider. But if he lets himself get too caught up by numbers, he'll falter, and Donnie knows he won't be useful to anyone if he starts letting the Empire's fear tactics get the better of him.

He straightens, setting his shoulders as he nods again. "Anyway, it's about how we do things that will make all the difference. ...how many more of those facilities were there?"

[straykitty]

"There weren't supposed to be any. The cult was considered to be so vile and heretical that even the worst of the Empire's loyalists worked to eliminate them. They were fully culled over a decade ago. That said, their research appears to have made its way into Imperial hands anyway, so that and the soldiers we saw today certainly suggests more to that story."

[purplexing]

"Pretty sure the general populace might not be too crazy about finding out their glorious Empire is resorting to such terrible research," Donnie says, frowning. "What sort of information were you able to get from the place we raided?"

He's not sure he can be that surprised about the low moral practices of the Empire considering everything else they do, but it's still not something they can ignore. Terrifying, monster-transformed soldiers are bad enough, but if they're using children for such purposes...