SWNOVELXO 180: Multitasking
After the morning's activity, Rain had enough banked experience to level. While he was confident in the work he'd put into the patch, he still wanted both Tallheart and Ameliah nearby when he triggered the exchange, just in case something went wrong.
His eyes flicked to the window that perpetually hung in the corner of his vision.
|
Experience Monitor
</center> <p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0"> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Not that they'd be able to do anything… Rain shook his head, trying not to think about it as he angled toward Tallheart's work area. The smith had set himself up outside the main camp, using his hammer to make a little clearing, as well as plenty of toothpicks. The axe teams had shifted their efforts to the far side of the stream, so the line of trees and wooden debris screening Tallheart's activities from view remained standing. Since Rain had visited yesterday, monster hides had been stretched between the gaps, almost completely screening off the space. As he drew nearer, he eyed the Muffle runes painted on every fifth hide or so, clearly Romer's recent work, and the reason he could hear nothing from the other side. If those go all the way around, that's…a lot of ink. And hides. I'll need to check in with Atyl later. We brought plenty of raw materials from Vestvall, but we're really burning through our stock. Crafting is damn expensive, and Dozer's not going to be able to keep up unless I can get him to make more than a few dozen Tel per day. Snorting softly, he sent a virtual pat in Dozer's direction, returning his list of Essence-Slime-related tests to its mental shelf. He found a gap in the hides, then poked his head through. "Hey, Tallheart. Ameliah and I are—" He stopped abruptly, blinking, then pushed through the gap to stare at the devastation. Tallheart was standing beside his anvil, and Staavo was seated at a nearby workbench. The rest of the small clearing was strewn with metal wreckage. Rain pointed. "Wasn't there half of a forgewagon there yesterday?" Tallheart rumbled, setting down his hammer and turning to face him. "A good morning to you as well." "It's afternoon, actually," Rain said, making his way through the wreckage, looking at the larger pieces as he passed. "What happened, Tallheart? Was there a spider?" "No," Tallheart said, expressionless. "Not this time." Staavo grunted, rising from his stool. "He said we needed to start over. Apparently, it wasn't big enough." "Mmm," Tallheart rumbled. "Not only that. Your transmission will not work, Rain. It is too complicated, with too many precision parts. We do not have the time to resolve the issues, so we decided upon an alternative." "What issues?" Rain asked, looking back at the wreckage. "I just couldn't draw the parts very well. Maybe if I worked with—" "No!" Staavo interrupted, waving his hands and coming to a stop in front of Rain. "We lost most of yesterday bashing our heads against the trees, and our new idea's better anyway. It's still based on one of yours, so no need to get your under-feathers in a puff." "I'm not offended," Rain said, glancing at him. Under-feathers? Staavo harrumphed. "You're worse at drawing than a three-year-old, and you couldn't teach one to build a block castle without getting distracted by the pretty-colored blocks. Offended now?" "Ooph," Rain said, pressing a hand to his chest. "Mmm," Tallheart rumbled. Rain smiled. "I'm working on the drawing thing, actually. I don't have time to practice, but I don't need practice when I can cheat. If I can find a fast way to get my interface to display images from memory, then I can layer a window on top of a piece of paper to trace—" "Don't care!" Staavo said, throwing up his hands and marching toward the wreckage. He bent, rising with a long piece of metal that dangled with dozens of thin rods, clattering against each other like wind chimes. "Damn it, you great antlered tornado!" He whirled on Tallheart. "I told you to put this out of the way where it wouldn't get stepped on!" Rain blinked as Staavo held up the assembly, which he now saw to be jointed in the middle. Staavo bent it back and forth, trying to untangle the thin rods. Seeing this, Rain's mind summoned a memory of the drawings that had been in the old scholar's notebook—the one Jamus had lent him once upon a time. There had been a disproportionate number of bird illustrations, several focusing on the wings. "Is that what I think it is?" Rain asked. "If you think it's a teapot, then no," Staavo said, turning to face him with a clatter. "If you think it's a great bloody bird wing, then yes. Emerton saw that squirrel suit Dempton made you after you decided parachutes were too safe. He's paying me to do him one better. Kid's got more credits than he knows how to spend, and I ain't complaining so long as he pays up before he goes and breaks his damn neck." Rain squirmed, working to suppress a squee with every fiber of his being. Wings? For an Aeromancer!? Fuck yeah! ... Actually… With my Strength boosted, I could probably flap hard enough to… Holy shit! Rain rushed up to Staavo, plowing aside bits of shattered forgewagon in his haste. "Is it made out of aluminum? Are those supposed to be feathers? No, quills, since there aren't any vanes. They're so thin! Are they durability-enchanted?! Hollow?! What are you going to use for the skin stretched between them?! That'd be more like a bat wing, actually. Is it going to be rigid, or—" "Calm down," Staavo huffed. "Gods, boy. You're like one of those yappy dogs. I haven't gotten that far. This is just a prototype Ellis was helping me with before he pissed off to wherever. Obviously, it'll be enchanted. Durability and Lightness. Hmph. Since it's metal, it'll also need to be made into an Air magic focus. I'd use wood to avoid that, but even with Shena helping, it'd be too weak for what Emerton wants. Aluminum is the best I've got." He turned his glare on Tallheart. "Unless you can get this rumbling lunk to give me something better." Tallheart blinked slowly. "I know of no better metal for this task. It is a pity that there does not seem to be a deepened version. All of my experimentation was for nothing." "Whatever you say," Staavo grumped. "I know you're holding out on me. You wouldn't have welded that metal crate of yours shut for fun. What's in there? Adamant? GranTel? Both?" "Yes," Tallheart said. There was a pause. "Huh," Staavo said. "I wasn't actually expecting him to admit it." "You can't use adamant," Rain said, managing to get a grip on his excitement. "You know why, Staavo. It's not about the cost, though there is that. It'll be dangerous when we get to Three Cliffs if people know we've got advanced materials and a smith capable of working with them. I like Ellis well enough, but he's new." He gave Tallheart a significant look. "There's a reason we're trying to keep it quiet. I would have thought some people would know not to blab." "Mmm," Tallheart rumbled. "Staavo will not speak." "Bah," Staavo said, waving a hand. "Of course, of course. Just...think of the things we could make, boy! Hurry up and get us a base where we can have fun without worrying about the neighbors starting an inquisition!" "Oh, trust me, it's on the list," Rain said, smiling. He looked back at the wreckage. "Anyway, what's this about a new idea for the forgewagon? Please tell me you're not thinking of going back to that crazy belt drive we had before." "Steam," Tallheart said. Rain's head whipped around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. "Go on…" Tallheart blinked slowly. "Now that we have stopped, I have time to experiment. I will build a new steam engine that functions with the turbine you spoke of instead of a piston." "My tail is wagging so hard right now," Rain said, not even attempting to hide his grin. Tallheart rumbled. "I will then combine a smelter with a boiler, as I did in the camp at Vestvall. Steam can be piped. Hmm. I will build a separate turbine for each track. A handful of valves will allow steering, against the dozens of gears you would have had us link together. The vehicle will need to be large to accommodate the forge, smelter, turbines, and tanks for steam, water, and the fuel Reason has discovered." "Fuel?" Rain's heart had almost stopped at this point. "What fuel?" "The stuff he made to lure out the Fire Eater," Staavo said, making Rain whirl on him. "He calls it 'Ephemeral Oil,' because of course he does." He hocked up some phlegm, then spat on the ground to the side. "Anti-Everfluid is what it is. Burns hot and fast instead of bright and slow." "Holy shit!" Rain exclaimed, practically vibrating out of his armor with excitement. "Why did nobody tell me he'd discovered fantasy gasoline!? This is information I need!" He turned, rapidly pacing back and forth and muttering to himself as he scratched at his beard. "We could try for an internal combustion design…no, too many parts. Damn. And, thinking about it, I'm worried about how much steam we'll lose from the turbine. Some sort of Stirling engine instead? I know heater plates have temp limits way below what the smelter uses, but chiller plates should work for the cold side, and Thermalitic Bronze is just stupid with heat transfer when it's charged up. There should be more than enough of a gradient for… Oh!" He spun back, rushing up to face them. "You should make a new generator too! Headlights would be really useful, and we wouldn't have to stop to set it up each night if you build it right into the chassis. Hells, we could drive the tracks with electric motors instead of steam." He spun away, returning to his pacing. "I mean, it's not as cool, and we'd have to coil up a ton of wire, but you wouldn't have to worry about the pipes and the suspension. Hmm. Oh, that reminds me! Any luck with direct Arcane electricity generation yet? Still having the absorption problem? What about efficient Force to—no, never mind, we don't have the time if you haven't cracked it yet. We'll stick with steam, but have you considered making a…?" "Are you going to do anything about this?" Staavo asked over Rain's muttering, glancing at Tallheart. "Shhh," Tallheart said. "I am counting." "…That'll totally work!" Rain exclaimed, barely listening as he rounded on them again. "How big are you going to make it?! Are you going to enchant the frame?! How much aluminum do we have?! Shit, we've got a lot, don't we? And we can always make more! There's dirt here! Oh, this is gonna be so fucking cool! What are we naming it? How are—" There was a sudden beep, and a window appeared.
"Damn it!" "Well, that went better than expected," Rain said, sitting up in his tent. "Oh?" Ameliah asked, glancing at him, then reaching out to move a piece on the Ranks board sitting on the floor between her and Tallheart. Beside them stood the piled remains of lunch. Tallheart furrowed his brow, staring at the piece. Rain smiled as Ameliah returned her attention to him. "Yup. My paling didn't even break open that time. I think I actually might have overdone it a bit on the cables. Oh well. That just means I'm closer to ready for twenty-eight." "That's great, Rain," Ameliah said, taking his hand to squeeze it with a smile. Rain squeezed back, then set a marker before calling up his status.
|