tushanshu | PILOT'S LOG 1.02 ✈ VIDEO; console

[ Stork is using the Hotel's console for this broadcast, moving back a little from the screen so that the table in front of him is visible as well. On it are two blue crystals of a similar shade, each about the size of a golf ball. For anyone to whom he's talked about the crystals of his homeworld before, these will definitely match that description. It seems that he's gotten hold of some in Keeliai, and didn't waste any time in working with them. ]

There's a good reason we use crystals as the main power source in Atmos. These ones here are called "Floaters"-- I'm sure you can guess what they're going to do.

[ He produces a third crystal into view, this one a silvery pale colour and a little larger than the others, shaped like an elongated rhombus. He doesn't name this one, but as he holds it over the two Floaters, they begin to vibrate on the table. After a moment, they rise into the air, levitating. Stork touches one of the Floaters with one end of the silver crystal, and the other Floater with the opposite end, and the two begin to rotate one another on a horizontal plane. They spin faster, but keep to the same orbit.

All seems to be going well, except the blue Floaters keep increasing in speed. The orbit develops a bit of a wobble, and the merb's pleased expression melts into one that is clearly uh-oh. A second later, one of the Floaters goes supersonic and zooms out of the rotation, narrowly missing Stork by inches -- who yelps a "Yleeep!" and ducks off screen -- and embedding itself in the opposite wall of the lobby -- Sorry, Anton. The other Floater simply falls to the table and bounces away, and a moment later, long ears followed by a sheepish green face, peer up from the table's edge.

Ahem. Still working on getting the harmonization calibrator up to spec. I should have all the bugs worked out soon.

--

[OOC: Open to action at the Midnight Hotel's lobby too! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How did you get a hold of those?

[Obviously this person was familiar with the crystals. Did he have them on him when he came to Keeliai?]

[ sounding proud: ] Found them! Kind of a seedy place, though, I wouldn't recommend it.

Interesting.

[There wasn't really anything like that where Sonja came from, but if it was just floating around maybe she could start trying to find magical artifacts from other worlds]

And useful. A pair of these are enough to power a small inversion engine, and they're not even top grade.

But what are you going to do with them here? Are you gonna try to make a space ship?

[Anywhere else that would have been a ridiculous concept, but Sonja was quickly learning to suspend her disbelief]

[ baffled: ] What would you need a spaceship for? It's hard enough getting proper propulsion up in the stratosphere.

So it's just for a plane, then? Sorry, with the weird magical tech, I just assumed it was for something more exotic...

Let's see you make a plane from what you've gathered around town, then.

Edited 2015-04-14 02:12 (UTC)

...Fair enough.

[She imagined getting gasoline would probably be pretty hard on its own]

Just wait until you see these babies after I get them calibrated correctly. They can go for days on a single charge.

How will you charge them up again? Is that what the central one was for?

[ Stork nodded, holding the silver crystal up again. ]

This is a Polarizing crystal. It gives the Floaters opposing charges, that's what makes them rotate one another, but they have to be precisely tuned, or... well, you saw.

[ He grimaces faintly. ]

I had to build a tuner from scratch, it's not as accurate as the one I have on the Condor.

Very resourceful. How far would you be able to go? Could you fly to say... Kerro Rarris?

[ One of the things that Stork did shortly after his arrival was procure a map, so he knows the name. What he doesn't have is a confirmed scale for said map, or any surefire way to know exactly where Tu Vishan is in relation. ]

Maybe, but that'd be a long trip on something the size of a skimmer. You can't exactly land it in the ocean if you need a pit stop.

You can't? Ocean-landing gear sounds like a relatively necessary component of your hypothetical plane. Virtually anywhere you go will take you over water. There's nothing really worth flying to on the shell.

Well yes, you can land, but I meant there's nothing to do on the open water. It's a motorcycle with wings, not a cruise ship.

But you could recharge the crystals, no? Is there some other requirement that I'm ignorant of?

[ He seems like he'd hedging this answer. ]

It depends. If they're only run down, you can charge them. If they go inert, you have to re-calibrate them from the start, which is delicate. You don't want to do that while bobbing on the water, unless you want to be blown to smithereens.

Yes, I can see why you'd want to avoid that. What would cause them to go inert?

Could be a bunch of things: everything from plain overuse, to an external power drain, to Ushulan microns eating their energy matrices. You just never know.

Did you make that last one up? It sounds made up.

No, I didn't make it up.

[ he ain't even offended, his team questions him all the time ]

Well it sounds like you're on top of it then. Let me know if I can be of any assistance getting your plane together. I only ask that I get to ride in it when its done.

[After sufficient testing, that is]

Have you ever ridden anything?

...yes?

[Is she giving off some kind of 'has never ridden anything' vibe? What would that vibe even look like?]

(no subject)

merb - 2015-04-14 16:30 (UTC) - Expand