(8:42:11 PM) ***Lily_Mardock is loafing around the living quarters enjoying a well-earned break from duty.  Flicking through the channels on the entertainment system, she sighs lightly as reality show after reality show come on.
(8:43:56 PM) Ikiryo: Her device buzzes with a message...
(8:45:16 PM) ***Lily_Mardock blinks, picking up her device and looking at it curiously.
(8:45:19 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Did you say something?"
(8:46:25 PM) Ikiryo: It looks like she has an email...
(8:46:43 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Oooh."
(8:47:02 PM) ***Lily_Mardock opens up the AR interface, navigating to her email with a couple optimized movements.
(8:47:50 PM) Ikiryo: There is a message from the engineering department. Apparently she's on the list for device examination...
(8:49:00 PM) ***Lily_Mardock jumps up from the chair immediately and races for the door.  Something fun is happening!
(8:51:16 PM) Ikiryo: The engineering department is abuzz with people. It looks like while the main combat students have the day off...the engineering department? Not so much. People are clustered around AR displays or working on basic devices...and Lily quickly realizes she's got no clue WHERE in the Engineering department she was supposed to go...
(8:53:51 PM) ***Lily_Mardock could not care less, and decides to wander, watching the engineers as they work and trying to decypher the data on the AR displays.  She'll find out where she's supposed to go eventually, right?...right?
(9:05:21 PM) Ikiryo: The nearby class seems to be looking over and labeling a device. It's a complex custom one...but she can see a lot of the standard parts that are the basis of it. It seems designed to work with an Elemental Focus in Lightning. The student to her left has mislabeled his version.
(9:06:10 PM) ***Lily_Mardock decides to tap him on the shoulder
(9:06:25 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Excuse me...I think you made a labeling mistake..."
(9:06:59 PM) Ikiryo: He jumps. He's a slight boy with long white hair and a nervous expression. "What? I...oh no...what did I do wrong this time?"
(9:10:02 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Well, if it's an elemental focus on lightning that you're labeling...shouldn't this be a lightning-type adapter?  You have it labled as a fire model, I think."
(9:12:31 PM) Ikiryo: "...isn't lightning and fire just both heat?" He's...not really correct. At all. While Lightning IS hot...it's not mana-wise, the same thing. They do overlap at 'Plasma' though.
(9:14:00 PM) ***Lily_Mardock shakes her head
(9:14:29 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Different forms of the same energy.  Lightning is directed.  Fire rages unchecked.  that's how I remember it, anyway."
(9:19:47 PM) Ikiryo: He nods. "Umm...thank you. Are you one of the older students?"
(9:21:12 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Nope!"
(9:21:53 PM) Lily_Mardock: "I was told my device was on the maintenance schedule, and to come to the engineering department.   So here I am."
(9:22:43 PM) Ikiryo: "...oh." He chews his lip. "...so you are not even an engineering student?"
(9:23:01 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Nope!"
(9:25:55 PM) Lily_Mardock: "You are though, right?"
(9:30:03 PM) Ikiryo: "...yes. Though evidently not very good at it."
(9:31:29 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Don't worry.  You'll get better.  I'll be on the front lines counting on you, so work hard, ok?"
(9:34:48 PM) Ikiryo: "...that doesn't..." He sighs. "Thanks..."
(9:36:23 PM) Ikiryo: A deep, male voice comes from behind Lily. "Having fun with my students Miss Mardock?"
(9:37:29 PM) ***Lily_Mardock turns around and smiles at whoever is talking to her.
(9:37:41 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Yes.  I'm learning a lot just by being here."
(9:41:54 PM) Ikiryo: Behind her is a very tall man, he must be well over six feet tall...and he looks like he has been through the wars. He looks grizzled, though she's not sure if that's due to age or due to the heavy scarring that can be seen along the edges of the eyepatch covering one of his eyes.
(9:41:58 PM) Ikiryo: His hair is cut short and white, just like the short and carefully maintained beard he has. He's dressed in an engineers uniform, with a...captain's...decoration on one shoulder.
(9:42:47 PM) ***Lily_Mardock notes the captain's rankings and does a half-curtsy before remembering to salute properly
(9:48:08 PM) Ikiryo: "A pleasure to have you in my bay Miss Mardock. What brings you here." He looks over her shoulder. "Cadet Simmons?" The boy cowers a bit. "That's a good improvement. Keep up the work." He nods, going back to his labeling.
(9:55:39 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Oh, my device recieved mail not long ago that it was due for a maintenance check, and to report to engineering.  I hope I'm in the right place?"
(9:59:30 PM) Ikiryo: "Close enough. There should have been an engineer waiting to meet you." He holds out a hand "Captain Agnarsson, formerly Lieutenant commander of the 1st TSAB Naval Engineers. A pleasure to meet you."
(10:00:08 PM) ***Lily_Mardock shakes his hand.
(10:01:06 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Nice to meet you.  I'm rather suprised to recieve a maintenance check so soon..
(10:01:35 PM) Lily_Mardock: ...not that that's a bad thing of course.  I was expecting it to be another couple months before an inspection was due, is all."
(10:10:06 PM) Ikiryo: "We like to do maintainence checks after any major fight. We don't want unknown damage causing trouble." He gives a large grin and gestures to his eyepatch. "Case in point."
(10:16:05 PM) ***Lily_Mardock nods, looking at the eyepatch curiously.
(10:18:17 PM) Lily_Mardock: "What sort of things do you check for?"
(10:20:08 PM) Ikiryo: "Structural Damage, Unstable Mana Flows any corruption to spells that may result in any unusual results." The grin continues "You want to do that in my office? My students can label my device without me looking over thier shoulder at all times. I also don't mind questions about the eye, if you are curious."
(10:20:48 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Sure.  And if you don't mind, then I'll ask!  What happened to your eye?"
(10:24:51 PM) Ikiryo: He leads on. "A rookie technician was reading rather than doing his job tending to the power lines on the TSAB battleship I was stationed on. They failed right as we made a dimentional jump." The office in question is perfectly organized, everything exactly where it should be and not a single hair out of place.
(10:24:53 PM) Ikiryo:  There is a device sitting on the table, a heavily bulked up TSAB combat staff. It has a TSAB SWAT S.C.O.P.E system attached...as well as what looks like massive battery packs towards one end. It's likely held more like a rifle than a staff.
(10:25:52 PM) ***Lily_Mardock winces
(10:27:04 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Ow.  Ooooh, is that your device?"
(10:27:09 PM) ***Lily_Mardock points to the one on the table.
(10:30:50 PM) Ikiryo: "It wasn't fun. We managed to get a team in to get it patched up before we lost anyone...but no on my team came out of it well. I only lost an eye. It's when they assigned us the role of teaching." He nods "It is. Mjölnir. I've served long enough in the combat engineers to appreciate being able to defend myself."
(10:32:13 PM) Lily_Mardock: "It's pretty big.  Did you put a cartridge system on?"
(10:34:06 PM) Ikiryo: He shakes his head. "I could have but I'm trying out something else. Catridges are incredibly potent for a single burst of energy...but the battery pack?" He gestures to the bulky part towards one end. "That allows a constant flow of extra mana as long as it's functional. Less burst potential...but it's got some advantages."
(10:35:39 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Neat!"
(10:35:49 PM) ***Lily_Mardock admires the device
(10:36:01 PM) Ikiryo: "It allows for longer bursts of suppressive fire or long-duration spells." He nods "Thank you. You seem to have an interest in device yourself. May I take a look at yours?"
(10:36:50 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Sure!"
(10:37:15 PM) ***Lily_Mardock unclasps the pendant she wears around her neck and hands it to the Captain
(10:38:13 PM) Lily_Mardock: "This is Champagne.  I guess there's really nothing special about him yet, but I've given him a name at least.  The rest will come later."
(10:39:40 PM) Lily_Mardock: In the inert form, it's easy to see where Champagne got his name.  He...or it, for now, is a perfectly round ball of light amber.  When held up to the light, it becomes possible to see tiny bubbles trapped inside the ball.
(10:41:47 PM) Lily_Mardock: After activation, it transforms into a massive halberd.  The shaft is the same light amber colour as the unactivated ball, and fine bubbles constantly travel from the hand of the holder towards the attached blade.
(10:42:38 PM) Lily_Mardock: The blade itself is quite large, fully half the length of the shaft, and is covered in engravings and inlaid material of the same type as the handle.
(10:49:27 PM) Ikiryo: "Hmm...interesting choice of design. Mardock Dynamics? Or a modified design from another company?" He looks over it with interest, dragging up a few displays to view it in ways eyes can't naturally.
(10:54:52 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Mardock Dynamics made it.  It's actually built around an old civilian device that I helped test.  It's supposed to be highly modular, so in theory if someone wanted to make it into a longer-ranged type, it would only take a couple days of swapping out parts, not ordering an entirely new device or a month of reprogramming."
(10:55:14 PM) Lily_Mardock: "I...don't know how well that works in practice, though."
(10:58:15 PM) Ikiryo: "Very interesting. Not much call for it in most TSAB forces...but I can see a fair bit of use for it with Aces and Special Operations teams..." He pauses "If they could work on the speed of swapping, it would be an excellent basis for disaster relief teams. So they can be prepared for any eventuality."
(11:01:49 PM) ***Lily_Mardock nods.
(11:03:27 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Apparently part of what's holding them back is, uh, making it work with an intelligent device.  Since then you also have to teach the device how to use its new assets quickly."
(11:05:35 PM) Ikiryo: "And intelligent devices are not quite as intuitive as people...and it took me and my team long enough to adapt to the changes ourselves and we ARE people." He drags up more displays. "Hmm...it's above standard power for a cadet...but that's not against the rules. Very well made..."
(11:10:50 PM) ***Lily_Mardock beams with pride
(11:12:14 PM) Ikiryo: "I'm not seeing any structural damage. The self-repair seems to have handled anything very easily...I think I can safely give this a green tick Miss Mardock."
(11:13:16 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Wonderful!  I was a little worried that I had strained it too much."
(11:16:25 PM) Lily_Mardock: "Is there any sort of daily or weekly manual examination I should be doing?  I let it run the automatic diagnostic every night, but I've heard that sometimes misses things."
(11:19:03 PM) Ikiryo: "I can get you one of the training manuals, if you like. Generally, we organize enough tests for that not to be a worry...but if you are interested in checking yourself."
(11:20:04 PM) Lily_Mardock: "I'd like to learn as much as I can.  It might come in handy some day."
(11:22:56 PM) Ikiryo: "Very well." He rummages through a bookshelf and puts a thin manual on the table. "You may like this then. The basics of device maintainence. I must ask: Why did you join the combat arm of the TSAB rather than the Engineering arm? You evidently have an interest in devices."
(11:25:39 PM) ***Lily_Mardock smiles.
(11:26:40 PM) Lily_Mardock: "The recruiter was looking for people to join the combat arm.  That's really it...though my mother wouldn't have wanted me joining the Engineering arm.  She says she has enough nerds on her hand with my father around.  Uh, no offense."
(11:28:39 PM) Ikiryo: "Some taken." He laughs though.
(11:37:52 PM) ***Lily_Mardock smiles sheepishly