01:33		Cletus is in his workbay, carefully lowering what looks like clay-covered rollcage molded to fit around a single person into a tub bubbling as his alchemical mixture is pumped through it.
01:37		Cletus watches it with a critical eye, adjusting the flow rate on one of the pumps. Behind him, the object of his obsession for the last month sits on a lift, the engine fully assembled and wired, but the wheels have been removed, and are on his workbench, clamped down and a cutting torch nearby. A winch has a length of cable thrown over an support beam, and the end is looped around a
01:37		Cletus hook holding a heavy devise.
01:40		Cletus nods in satisfaction, then raises an eyebrow as a package is dropped off outside his door. Whoever left it is gone when he goes to pick it up. He frowns, as he reads the documents in the package...then growls and slams down the door to his workbay. Loud banging noises and thickly accented profanities can be heard from within.
01:42	Cletus	Soon, the scent of burning fuel is wafting from the workbay, then a mighty bang is heard as something crashes inside.  A thin trickle of red slowly creeps from under the door...then silence.
01:43		*** Tsureai is now known as Patches
01:46	Patches	It's not in her usual nature to run TOWARDS anything loud and scary... But Patches had been getting ready to visit him anyway. And as she smells burning and blood her first instinct is to run. But something greater than fear compells her. She lowers her head and breaks into a full charge into the door.
01:46		*** Schism|Adagio quit (Exit: ) NA@dm-35939.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com
01:47		Cambia has also been heading down towards Cletus's bay, to see him. She comes around the corner just in time to see Patches charge the door.
01:47	Cletus	The door buckles, then tears open, revealing a workshop in shambles, a fire in a oildrum, and the large form of Cletus hanging from the support beam, a steel cable from the winch around his neck.
01:49	Cletus	A mason jar is broken on the floor, red liquid dripping from the remains.
01:50	Patches	(( is he moving? ))
01:50	Cletus	((He is hanging limp))
01:50		Cambia rushes into the bay, after Patches. She looks up at Cletus. "Madre de Dios," she whispers. She looks at the support beam, trying to find a way to climb up it.
01:52	Cletus	There closest thing is his workbench, there are no ladders in the workshop.
01:52	Cletus	But unless you are tall, it wouldn't be enough to reach him.
01:52		Patches does the same thing Cambia is, tracking back the cable over his neck up the beam.. And then to the winch anchoring it. Without a word she runs to the winch and tries to kick it free of it's mooring.
01:53		Cambia takes a different path, running over to the workbench, stepping in the puddle as she runs, in order to climb up to the support pillar, to get her hands on the cable.
01:55	Cletus	The winch is powered, and seems to be straining against the weight of Cletus.  It is bolted down to the workbench.  It starts making a whining noise as Patches kicks it.   At the sound, Cletus shifts as he hangs from the rope, and the quiet rumble of him snoring his heard.
01:56	Cletus	*is heard
01:56	Cambia	(( And I? Do I reach the cable? ))
01:57	Cletus	((Does Cambia have any special climbing ability?))
01:57		Patches is not that great with machines... But she's got a kick like a gun shot. Power goes first, than the bolts.
01:57	Cambia	(( She's good on fire escapes, but still baseline. ))
01:59	Cletus	Cambia is able to make it up the support beam with some difficulty, as the winch starts to give way under Patches assault.
02:01		Cambia lays her palm on the tensed cable, absorbing every bit of thermal energy that she can from it. Metal becomes brittle when cold, and she prays, quietly, that this will be enough.
02:03	Patches	Maybe between the violent impacts at the cables base and the cold?
02:05	Cletus	The cable frosts over as Cambia works on it, then crPatches finally knocks the winch free of it's moorings.  Cletus comes crashing down to the floor, grunting as he impacts.
02:05		*** Golem left #crystal-hall Mibbit@dm-9699.cable.mindspring.com
02:07	Cletus	The winch goes flying up, hitting the bottom of the support beam and bouncing, then get's pulled over it, narrowly missing Cambia, and ends up splashing into the tub of alchemical liquids.
02:09		Cambia ducks as the winch passes over her, then looks over the beam down at Cletus, looking for a place to jump down to.
02:10		Patches runs to his side and goes through some basic EMS, trying to clear his airway by laying him down straight. She looks up at Cambia for a second, than presses her ear down over his heart.
02:12		Cletus snores louder, and his heart is beating strongly. The steel cable is looped around his neck, and dug into the flesh. It appears that the thick muscles around his neck prevented it from cutting off his air supply.
02:13		Cletus opens is eyes, and gives a startled yelp. "Whut the hell?"
02:14		Cambia jumps down from the support pillar, back onto the work bench.
02:15		Patches fumbles at the cable, but her fingers are too thick for her to really dig it out with choking him worse. Instead, she tries to give him Rescue Breathing even while he's yelling, tears in her eyes.
02:16		Cambia runs over to Patches and Cletus. "Let him breathe," she orders Patches.
02:17	Cletus	"Ah'm ok, Ah'm ok...well, my neck hurts sumthin fierce and Ah've got a headache...whut happened?"
02:18		Cambia points up at the pillar. "When we came in, you were hanging form that pillar. Patches kicked out the machine that was holding you there."
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02:20		Cletus coughs, then winces and reaches up to touch his neck, feeling the cable. He digs his fingers in and pulls it free, leaving a bloody welt behind that immediately starts scabbing over. "Damn, that stings."
02:20		Patches is leaning way over him, her eyes watering as trembles and hugs him so tight it hurts. But at least she's not trying to blow air into his lungs anymore. Her muzzle wasn't really fitting well anyway
02:20		Cletus puts an arm around Patches and hugs her. "Ah'm sorry fer scarin you and Cambia."
02:21	Cambia	"¿Que sucedio?"
02:26	Patches	"moo!"
02:26		Cletus shakes his head and holds a hand over his neck as he looks around his workshop. "Ah crap. I'm gunna get in trouble fer trashing my workshop again."
02:28		Cambia looks around as well. "It depends on what happened."
02:30		Cletus coughs and spits something up, making a face. His voice is already sounding closer to normal. "Sorry, it was just a dumb accident because Ah was all pissed off about something. Ah dropped the mason jar of lubricant ah wuz holding, and slipped and hit the generator the winch was holding up, it got knocked free, and the cable looped around mah neck...somehow Ah hit the switch on
02:30		Cletus the winch and it started pulling me up. Ah couldn't pull the cable loose and thinks kinda faded out there."
02:32		Cambia glances at the red puddle, and at the red bootprint on the workbench.
02:32		Patches 's ears and tail are hanging limp, her thick body shaking as she leans on him. "Don't do this again..."
02:34		Cambia looks over at the spill achemical liquids, thinking. That seemed like an unlikely sequence of events. Hardly impossible, but... unlikely.
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02:37		Cletus hugs Patches. "Ah'm sorry. Ah just got a letter from mah Pa...Ah ain't been that mad in awhile."
02:40		Patches picks Cletus up and carries him out of the room, away from the smoking barrel out into the hall where the air is cleaner... "Where's your fire extinguisher?"
02:42	Cletus	"By the workbench.  Just don't hit the emergency switch, that's fer the Halon system they put in."
02:43		Cambia walks over to the workbench, and picks up the thing most like a kitchen fire extinguisher.
02:45	Cletus	Cambia is easily able to extinguish the fire in the oildrum.
02:47		Patches carries the well over six foot boy like he was a baby, fussing over him as she props him against the wall and laps gently at his neck while Cambie's in the workshop.
02:50	Cletus	"Ah really am sorry." He looks at her, almost fearful.  Seeing her cry made him feel oddly vulnerable.
02:51	Patches	"I.... I think I'm going to go throw up now..." she stammers
02:52	Cletus	"Uh...Ok. Let me get yah a bucket.  Ah'm sorry!"
02:52		Cambia makes sure the fire is out, then hoists the canister to one shoulder. She waits for Cletus and patches to finish with each other before interrupting.
02:54		Patches cedes the moment by not letting Cletus get a bucket, and instead taking a wobbly jog to the nearest little girls room.
02:55		Cletus looks after her, worry in his eyes.
02:57		Cambia takes a step forward, but waits for Cletus to turn to her. He looks like he's in bad shape.
02:57		Cletus looks at Cambia, raising one bushy eyebrow. "Hmmm?"
02:59		Cambia holds up the extinguisher. "It's empty, but the fire's out."
03:00	Cletus	"Oh...uh, thanks.  Ah appreciate it."
03:01		Cletus looks over his lab, then pulls a pair of heavy duty bolt cutters out of a drawer, and clips the end of the cable. Then he fishes the winch out of the vat and drops it into a drum with a hazardous waste symbol on it, and seals it. "Dammit, Ah got to get another one and modify it again."
03:03	Cambia	"¿Whats actually in those vats?"
03:09		Cletus coughs again, then says "Oh, uh some kid in a wheelchair found about about mah green steel and is trading me some of his stuff so I'll turn his wheelchair frame into it. Nice guy, but kinda wierd."
03:10	Cambia	"Quite a lot of people are interested in this steel of yours."
03:10	Cletus	"He's got some small anti-grav units that Ah kin layer under the bottom of the turck and in thuh wheels ta make it lighter and able ta do some  big jumps."
03:10	Cletus	"Ah'm gunna make the General Lee look like a soap box racer."
03:11		Cletus shrugs "yeah, but takes awhile ta get all the ingredients together. Distilling sunshine and fire and earth takes awhile. Ah'm only doing this because he's giving me a good deal on the AG disks."
03:12		Patches comes back slowly, wiping her cheeks and tongue with a paper towel.
03:13	Cambia	"Maybe I can with those distillations sometime. Or even make a new one."
03:14	Cletus	"You kin try.  Ain't no one else has been able ta git mah stills workin for them.  Ah even went over it really slow-like with one of the teachers."
03:15		Cletus shrugs "Seems simple enough to me, ah'm not sure why they have so much trouble."
03:16		Cambia looks at Patches, then back to Cletus. "I don't know how much I'll understand, but it might be fun to try sometime."
03:17	Cletus	"You feeling better Patches?"
03:18		Patches curls her tail up tight and wedges herself up beside Cletus, nodding her head as she leans it against her shoulder. "Just really scared..."
03:19		Cambia watches Patches and Cletus, mentally taking notes. But still keeping in mind what Patches is like.
03:20		Cletus looks stricken "It was jest a stupid accident. Ah got all riled up and started hitting stuff and wasn't watching what Ah was doing. Ah'm sorry fer scarin yah like that."
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03:20	Cambia	"It's a good thing Patches was here, though."
03:21		Patches looks up at Cambia, her soft brown eyes still wet and shimmering, "Thank you for helping too." she says. "I didn't know anyone else was expected."
03:22		Cambia shrugs. "I don't really come on any sort of schedule."
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03:25		*** Golem is now known as Golem_sleep
03:29		Cletus get's out a rag and solvent, and starts wiping up the spilled alchemical oil. He disposes of it in another hazardous waste bin. "Thanks to both of you fer helping me. What where yah stopping by fer, anyway Cambia?"
03:30	Cambia	"I wanted to stop by, see if I could help any, now that I'm back from the desert."
03:30		Patches could really use a drink after such a stressful shock, and she starts trying to sniff out his stash whlie he cleans up
03:31	Cletus	She quickly catches the scent of the apple liquor produced by the small still he made for her, and locates a few jars of it in a cabinet.
03:33		Cambia watches Patches search.
03:34		Patches grabs an arm full of the jars, one for each of them, or maybe just three for her. It might yet come to that as she plops herself down on the truck bed and starts to sip. "What did your dad say?" she asks softly.
03:36		Cambia moves to sit on the workbench closest to the tailgate.
03:37		Cletus scowls. "He says he's coming here. And he might be taking me out of school. Sumthing about getting a better deal somewhere else. Ah don't want to leave...but Pa kin be real mean if you back talk him."
03:37		Patches passes her a jar wordlessly, her tail twitching nervously...
03:39		Cambia takes the jar, and smells the contents. It occurs to her that this is probably not allowed. And she has a small body mass. But now that she's manifested...
03:41		Patches knocks the stuff back like it's apple juice. Of course she's got four stomachs and a lot of mass to soak up the effects. "Should I be scarce when he shows up?"
03:41		Cletus hunches his shoulders and stares down between his feet. It is clear that his father makes him nervous, even scared. "Ah don't want to get a switchin again. He kin make it hurt, not matter how big you are. But...I like it here..."
03:43	Patches	"I could be there with you, if you want..." she offers.
03:44		Cambia takes a small sip. It's much stronger than she expected, so it's fortunate that it's a small one. She manages to keep her composure, but her skin is already darkening in a blush.
03:46		Cletus hesitates. "Ah'm not sure. He might bring Uncle Malachi with him...he's family, but he can get kinda...strange. If they said sumthin rude to yah, Ah'd have to yell at them..." He frowns. He's clearly tempted by the idea of not facing his father and his uncle alone, but he doesn't want to put Patches in the middle of a family fight.
03:48		Patches seems to be relaxing. At least, it can be assumed that's why her tail is wagging as she burrows her face in beneath his arm and snuffles his clothes.
03:50		Cambia lowers the jug, and notices the small flame now dancing just inside the mouth of the jug. And in her own mouth, for that matter.
03:50		Cletus looks at Cambia in surpise. "Ok, that ain't sumthin you see every day."
03:51	Patches	"moo?"
03:53		Cambia merely nods, and swallows the ignited liquor in her mouth, before it escapes. Now able to talk, she replies, "First time that's happened to me." She puts her other hand around the neck of the jug, to siphon excess heat, lest the ceramic crack.
03:54		Cletus shakes his head. "Kinda neat lookin. Uh...don't tell anyone Ah let you have that stuff, ok? Ah ain't supposed to be letting anyone else drink it." He looks embarrassed as he tells her.
03:55	Cambia	"I won't tell." She takes a small sip. "¿But why are you allowed to have it?"

03:57	Cletus	"Eh...Ah ain't supposed tah be drinking it neither, not that it really does much fer me anymore.  Ah kin make it fer fuel.  That particular batch is a gift fer Patches, cause she likes it. It's not fuel, it's just tasty. Still got a bit of a kick though."
04:01		Cambia nods, watching the flame dance for a bit. She needs to be careful not to drink too much to quickly, or she might actually end up drunk in the devisor labs. Not a good idea, that. "At least you have an explanation for it, if anyone asks."
04:02		Patches moos softly and hugs his arm to her chest, rubbing her cheek against him. "Cause he likes me." she says softly. "And I like him."
04:02	Cletus	A maintenance worker shows up, it seems that Cletus's door being destroyed tripped an alarm somewhere.
04:03	Cletus	And Cletus has to spend some time answering questions.
04:03	Cletus	((And Caliban is about to face plant on his keyboard.))
04:03	Cambia	So would Patches and Cambia, for that matter.
04:04		Patches has the most amazing ability to make doe eyes and cry copiously, distracting any male interrogator entirely away from the line of questioning.
(( Fade to Black ))