Green Star Startup (HPS)

<@emeraldEclipse> [You can't say you're overly fond of working here, but the view is a lot better. Once you get past the almost-but-not-quite-there Others that swim just outside the corner of your vision in the darkness that surrounds you out in the Veil.]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You're getting frustrated by this project, you've never really had much chance to dabble in mechanics or programming. It's what you need though, cause the sky (you call it that for a lack of a better word) above you is just too big to be covered by looking through one telescope and hoping that you've chosen right.]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You sigh and pull up Pesterchum and send a message to Kai. You've been putting this off, half for wanting to do it yourself, half because he still scares you.]
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (Hello?)
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You're not really doing a whole lot right now. Taking the evening easy, hanging half-inside of Kawekaweau, tinkering with the control panel. The on-board computer's newly-installed screen flashes with a pesterchum message, your music briefly falling silent to get your attention.]
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( what's up?? )
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (I've got a project I'm working on, and I'm stuck at the moment. I was wondering if you could help with it.)
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You continue tinkering away with the emergency releases. After your first accident, you want to be sure that any coplayer can get you out as is necessary. But designing something which can't be triggered by an enemy... that's a difficulty.]
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( oh uh )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( okay?? )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( what's the project?? )
<@emeraldEclipse> [You start typing up a long answer before deleting it and starting over.]
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (Do you know anything about the Green Star?)
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( never hearb of it )
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (It's...something or multiple somethings not part of any session. But every once in a while you'll hear of someone seeing it.)
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (I'm trying to set up an automated system of telescopes to both scan the Ring and let me know if they spot anything.)
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( it's something out in the ring huh?? )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( so what bo you neeb my help for?? )
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (You're a lot more mechanically minded than I am. I was hoping you could help with the telescopes, even if its only the first one. Getting the others shouldn't be that difficult once the first is set.)
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( oh okay )
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERs kaiekaJuuzuu : (I can send you directions, if you're not busy?)
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( yeah sure )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( i've just got a couple things to finish up here )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( dut then i can de right on my way )
* @emeraldEclipse sends kaiekaJuuzuu the file "Ring_Location_1_Directions" ((It's a very precise set of numbered steps to follow that'll lead to the outside of an asteroid in the Veil))
* kaiekaJuuzuu has accepted the file!
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERS kaiekaJuuzuu : (Alright. I'm not likely to be going anywhere. Let me know when you're close?)
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( sure i can bo that )
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You read over the instructions carefully- twice, even, and then go back to work. You wouldn't be able to use Kawe to get there even if you worked for the rest of the night on her. But you're gonna finish this particular piece of work before you set off, so you don't forget where you were up to.]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [It's bordering on four hours later by the time you're getting to the final steps of her instructions, having stopped outside a nearby lab to get some pants and a shirt on.]
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( hey getting close )
* kaiekaJuuzuu PESTERS emeraldEclipse : ( sorry adout the wait )
<@emeraldEclipse> [You're pulled out of your readings by the pings. You blink and rub your eyes, only checking the time when you read the second message.]
* @emeraldEclipse PESTERS kaiekaJuuzuu : (It's fine, really. I've got a lot to read.)
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You make your way along towards the lab she's supposed to be in. You've gotten a lot better with walking on land- mostly practicing keeping your toes together. The tail dragging is something you just have to deal with. Knock on the door to the lab. "Hello?"]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You were almost back into reading a rather interesting article from the Seer's Network when you hear the knock. You get up and pick your way around the parts strewn across the lab. Quickly captchaing your lunch that you half-ate then forgot about thats sitting on one of the crates before finally opening the door. "Hello." You say back up to him, giving a small smile. "Find your way easily enough?"]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Yeah, I did," you say with a nod, glancing at her and then looking through into the room with interest. Telescopes to look out into the Ring- that's something you'd never really thought about. But it sounds cool.]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You step to the side and hold the door open for him. "Good to hear." You're on the outside of the asteroid, on the face opposite Skaia. "Did you have any questions, or did you want to head straight in to it?"]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [Your duck your head to fit your horns through the doorframe, wandering over to a pile of parts and crouching to pick through it. "What exactly is this Green Sun thing mean to be? Like- how literal is the name, and all?"]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Green Star." You correct. "And as far as I've been able to piece together, its pretty literal. It's a star thats green." You sit down on a crate watching as he picks through what you've alchemized. "Possibly many stars, but I'm guessing it's only one."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Why's it important, then?"]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["It's something unknown? Isn't that enough?" You grin.]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Once its understood more thorougly, though, theres several things it could be used for. Could be, mind you."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["What're you hoping it could be used for?" You pick up a plain, ordinary telescope and carry it over to the window, setting it up. It's designed more for shorter human heights, so you end up having to crouch a bit to peer through it.]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You wince and stagger back suddenly, shoving at the telescope, which clatters to the floor.]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Well, if theres only one then it can be used as a refrence point. Coordinates zero-zero for Paradox Space, as it were." You glance over to where he went out of view. "You okay?"]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You rub at your eyes, feeling nauseous. The murmuring in your head- which has been bothering you since you got here, though it was ignorable until now- feels like it's intensified. "Mm- y-yeah." Eye the telescope suspiciously.]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You glance down at the telescope, wincing yourself a little bit. "Er, yeah, why I want it automated."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["...I can see that." You move away from it and sit down on a crate, still rubbing at your eye, trying to settle your thoughts again. "You're talking about navigation, aren't you? Across the Ring." You sound slightly distracted, but you force your attention onto her words.]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You walk over and give his shoulder a squeeze. "Yeah, I mean, I don't know if the Green Star /is/ stationary or not, but if it is, imagine what it'd mean. Ring voyages'd have a refrence point. We could even potentially start mapping Paradox Space, as much as something like it could be mapped."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [The contact helps, and your hands drop from your eyes. You have a feeling you should track down someone for a hug once you're done here, though. "Well- I dunno about how feasible it is but..." You look again at the fallen telescope. "I'll do what I can to help."]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Thank you." You rub his back lightly before squeezing his shoulder again. "And really, I'm not looking for any of those benefits right now. I just want to understand a little more of this strange reality we find ourselves in."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> [You nod as you stand up again, moving over to the alchemiter. "You'd probably do well to look up someone who can do some programming," you suggest as you begin to poke at the screen, occasionally going over to a pile of telescopes and computer parts to collect alchemisation material. "If it's bad enough to give me a headache looking directly," you continue, in a distracted mumble, "I'm gonna bet looking at photographs of the Ring isn't gonna be much better. You're gonna want something which can look for the Star, and tell you if it's there or not, without you needing to observe any of the raw data except maybe to double check."]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You nod. "It's on my list of things to do. Want to actually have what the program'll be running on going first though."]
[12:11] <kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Fair enough. Once you find someone, though, if you let me know when you've got some software to work with, I should be able to help with any tailoring of the hardware that might be needed." Grin over your shoulder at her. "I'm starting to enjoy this kinda stuff. Kawe's never been stronger or faster, since I started learning exactly how she works, rather'n just leaving her as she was alchemized."]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You smile back. "How did you start off with that specibus to begin with?"]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Must be a story behind it, right?"]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Well, first couple sessions?" You've turned back to your alchemizing work as you talk. "I had water lands, so did most of my coplayers. And the landtrolls- well, I dunno if you know so much about trolls, but seadwellers and landtrolls don't always get along, and that divide gets worse for a lot of them once they're in the game, and I'm no longer technically part of the 'ruling class'."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["I mean, I never really put in for the 'seadweller supremacy' thing- getting treated like a landdweller half the time by colder trolls didn't really help much for me to start drinking the faygo and liking it. But they didn't know that, and they didn't give me much of a chance to prove otherwise, so fair enough, I kept my distance."]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["I've read some things on Alternia, but I don't pretend to understand it fully." There was more interesting stuff to persue it further.]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Well it's not like I know so much about human society either, so I guess we'll call it even there. So. It was actually more than a couple, but it still wasn't 'til about session five that I started needing to go on land a whole lot." Your tail twitches. "Session five, I didn't have a water land. It was all desert, and sand, and I just about died in the first half-perigree from dehydration."]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["Quite a change." You say quietly. "So you started using mechs to try and keep hydrated?"]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Yeah. Coplayer who found me, they had mechkind- didn't use it much, but they duplicated the card for me. And- well, then I just got into the habit of it." You start carrying over telescopes to another window- one facing out towards the Lands, and Skaia, setting them up and peering through. "Guess only using mechs for so long wasn't such a great idea. But hey- I learnt from my mistake. Getting better at using my machetekind, now."]
<@emeraldEclipse> ["As well as understanding mechkind more. And understanding is the first step in making things better, right?" You pick up a couple of the telescopes and follow him around, offering them once he's run out.]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["Absolutely." You accept a telescope, setting it up. There's little touchscreens attached to each telescope, and you poke at it. A blown-up image of Prospit appears, and you continue to fiddle with the zoom and adjust the placement of the telescope. "And it'd be fun to have more'n just Kawe as a project to work on. Probably learn more this way, too."]
<@emeraldEclipse> [You try to peer over his shoulder, but thats a useless endeavour in itself. So you peer around him instead. "As for me, it'd be good to have some more practicle experience with setting these sorts of things up. It's all been theoretical at this point. So, thank you."]
<kaiekaJuuzuu> ["No problem."]
[Scene]