Cold Engine Test [9/2] Heart Dev

[01:05] Work is far from completed though and even though Lam has used each and every ounce of her bodily stamina to correct and prepare the webwork of a metal that defies all logical reasoning, there is still a heart to be made. The child had already chipped away the valves and her focus now is on helping to assemble the pieces of this heart that lay on the table. Every small piece to be assembled, little by little, requires careful touch and consideration after all and with the valves in hand and Lam as exhausted as she is? Loretta will have to rely on the soldering kit.

Thankfully, the small toolkit that was brought over was prepared for exactly that very same thing. The small thump unto the table is noted, but thankfully nothing is spilled over and the wobbly walking stick child doesn't lose her footing. Two small metal sticks are taken and the valves are settled along with the arcanium artery, to begin the welding process and both ends of these little sticks come dangerously close to one another and the smell of burning metal and sounds of metal sizzling fill the room. The woman SAYS she can fit the pieces, but she knows well enough an exhausted worker when she sees one. That's an exhaustion she'll come to know in due time, but for now? Metal meets metal and as edges are heated and stuck together in the circular end of the artery? The rest of the heart meets the same fate.

One by one, each of the four valves are found to their respective connection in the diagram of what the heart is meant to look like, the diagram she herself had drawn as the parts are assembled into one another like a large makeshift puzzle, some being welded together and some simply being jammed together appropriately to connect into place. There would be plenty of welding today as the soldering tips came in contact with one another time and again and sparks flew outwards at times from the connections, but Arcanium was resilient and aside from very, very vague burnt marks? All was working as intended.

The parts were crafted by Lam for usage and Loretta was now sparing no detail in placing them together. The Right Atrium and Right Ventricle chambers were assembled with the Vena Cava's, where blood lacking in oxygen and filled with carbon dioxide would come into. The Right Ventricle chamber was then hooked up to the Pulmonary Vein and it's respective valve, left alone for the time being since there was no need to hook it up for a test. Following that? The Left Atrium and Left Ventricle met the same response as they were clasped together and welded shut whilst the pulmonary veins were settled together and a small slender arcanium tube that was to make up the aorta was drawn under the pulmonary artery and finished fulfilling the shape of the heart. There were parts that seemed like they did not jive together entirely at first, but given there was to be biological mutation and a strange alloyed metal webbing to function as further ligaments, tissue and muscular connections? Such details could be ignored until the surgeon did the operation.

Lam had done her part. It was Loretta's time to prove her worth now as her eyes now began to grow weary and strained from staring dead on at the shining sparks of the soldering kit without appropriate protection and her hands began to sustain a few burn marks here and there. There were complaints and sounds of strain, but the child has done this countless times prior and this would be no different. The individual parts of Arcanium, Mythril and Orichalcum had now been assembled into what may have been Agartha's most complicated puzzle tool in history and what truthfully was to become the most complex Arcanium Prosthetic in all of Eternia barring the very divine laws coming into flux.

The soldering sticks are set down, the walking stave is grasped and the child slowly steps away from the table, now with a sizable piece in hand that has yet to beat it's first movements. An Arcanium heart, assembled to perfection. An Arcanium heart meant to save a dear friend.

"... it's done. All it's missing is the runework and a cold engine test to make sure it pumps appropriately."
(Loretta)
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[01:17] Lam just needed a rest. Well, at least, that's what she told herself. That's what she keeps telling herself as she pushes herself up, using the counter as a support for her existence. The blacksmith visibly sways from the exertion, sliding a little side to side as her vision focuses in on the heart, nearly complete.

Her lips peel over her teeth as she lets out a laugh of relief, of joy, of catharsis... closing her eyes and bringing a stumbling, sweaty hand down, just next to it.

She just barely, barely taps the side with a fingernail.

"Yep. It's real. Good - good job fitting it all together, Lor-"

… at which point she just dips a little to the right a little too hard, buckling. When she falls down to her knees (and just a little further), she slumps forward against the counter, eyes closed and breathing steady.

Her body is forcing her to rest. Forcing.
(Lam)
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[01:22] Ardith has assembled the casing, the webbing and the Illyothan mutagen along with the aforementioned biological tissue. Lam managed to create the heart and it's constituting parts with a bit of guidance. Loretta pieced said heart together whilst making the very select few parts that required any sort of precision tailoring. The rune work is done and the pieces are complete. All that's needed now is to test the heart and see if it works as intended, something that the child prompts to do by setting it down before the trio of ladies and going to grasp something else on the table.

The still beating heart that was provided for use as an example.

The very same was set down next to the Arcanium/Illyothan prosthetic for comparison as the sounds of it's thrumming and contracting actions beat against the table in a symbolic sound. A heartbeat. The final set of plastic tubes needed for this test are produced and rather than bring any sort of toxic sludge, the child brings out a simple jug of water. This IS the heart that will make contact with the body after all. No need to use something as close to blood when the test is to see if it will pump.

"I'm gonna hook up these plastic tubes and fill the first chamber with water. Then? You give it a runic charge and we see if our creation fits the bill. You ready Ardith?"
(Loretta)
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[01:25] Is she ready?

No. She's not ready. The possibility of seeing this fail, of his body rejecting the organ, of never seeing Eshmun again after all this hope. It's crippling. So what does she do?

She lies.

"Yeah...I'm ready."

The Accursed takes a deep breath and straightens herself. Lam is down for the count, but she needs the rest. These two can do the cold engine test all on their own.

Maybe then she can get rest too she thinks to herself dryly, but she knows better.

"Hook 'er up and I'm ready to roll."
(Ardith Hirai)
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[01:29] All the complexities have been tended to. The casing is set down and plastic tubes are connected amongst the various veins end on end to make a closed circuit. Water is already inside the chamber and the structure is sealed, the prosthetic given a good shake to make sure it sloshes inside and as a sign that it's full. The tubing is secured with clamps and the small prosthetic is held unto as she offers it for Ardith to do what she does best and has shown mastery over numerous times in the past for.

"Once it starts, it should contract to push the water out and expand to suck it right back in. This is your science project."

Loretta is struggling to remain standing upright with the aid of the walking stave, given her legs still have a consistency of gelatin and her body doesn't know what to do with that just yet, but both hands are used to grasp this metal muscle and present it to Ardith. A symbolic gesture to be sure.

"You get to press the on button."

A Magitech Scientist, a Master Scribe and a Master Blacksmith. The chances of this going wrong were so abysmally low that they were outright negligible.
(Loretta)
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[01:35] Half the potential future for her loved one hangs there, ensconced in Arcanium and foreign metal and all the hard work of so many. Rarely does she falter. Yet here she does. Her hand, clad in the spireshard ring, lifts and trembles.

She pushes past her doubts, her fears, her trepidations, and uses her own mana through the Illyothian runed ring to bring a spark of life to the dormant construct.

To Famfrit earlier she'd meant all she'd said. Fuck fate. Fuck the Gods. Fuck the Spirits and all that stood in the way of her being reunited with him. The obstacle will be lain low. Just like all the rest.

Mana surges through her mutated hand, into the runes of the heart. They flare to life and...

They begin to chug, to pulse, to thrum with energy. Rarely ever, if at all, has mankind seen such a technological marvel. The chambers move in profane, but fantastic mimicry of an organic organ.

When Ardith blinks tears leak from the corner of her eyes, obscuring her vision.
(Ardith Hirai)
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[01:42] Just as there is the sounds of an actual heartbeat on the table, upon Loretta's hands that are used as a pedestal... a mixture of sacred and profane have brought together something that is absolutely and unquestionably special.

For the very same sound that is made on the table is repeated here. The sound... of a heart beat. The contents of the water slosh time and again, entering from one side of the heart and rapidly leaving out the other. Out the Ventricle, into the Artery, into the other chambers and out the Aorta... the process repeats itself. Over and over again. It doesn't cease, it doesn't stop and likely won't unless the accursed woman commands it.

There is no loss of water. The same amount continues to rinse through the innards of the parts and pieces whilst the casing holds the inlaid shape of the heart. A real marvel of technology. A real creation to withstand the test of time...

"It's done. The heart is finished Ardie. It's a rousing success."

Even though the heavy piece of metal is taxing on the small child's arms, she does her absolute best to not waver or falter now. She can't let all of this be in vain after all, especially when it's such a powerful emotional feeling that can be felt from the successful venture of a project. The completion of something special... of something grand and amazing. The means to restore life to someone very close and dear to all of those in the room.

"What will you do now?"
(Loretta)
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[01:45] She can barely see, but she saw enough to know that the heart is working, pumping as intended. The sound of it alone causes the tears to continue to flow down her cheeks.

Her head turns slowly to Loretta, followed by the rest of her.

All she can think to do in reply is to stoop down and pull the young magitech whizz into a hug as she full-on sobs. Words fail her, as they often do. She gushes with relief, with gratitude, and her shoulders sag from fatigue.

The technology to bring him back rests here in their hands. Now all that remains is to see if they aren't too late...
(Ardith Hirai)