"No you don't need to whisper, you can talk normally, just don't shout," Suzume clarified as she lead Lyntael further inside. "The walls have amplifiers installed so that our voices don't get lost due to the curvature of the room, or something. I don't know the specifics."
Magistrate smiled a little as Lyntael gave her, and her space of work, a modicum of respect. Unlike the three other dragoniers who just barged in and out of the space as they pleased, demanding the use of her time whenever they wished without any consideration to her own situation. "At least one of you seems to have some proper mannerisms," she said in compliment to Lyn. "Yes, this way please."
As Lyn expressed her concerns over the procedure, Magi sighed. She turned to the small, hesitant woman and tried to put on a calming face, and spoke slowly. "Yes, this will be just a standard scan. I will not do anything else while you are inside that capsule. After the scan is done, you will be free to exit the tube. And just to clarify, the door is not locked, so you can exit whenever you wish. However, if you leave the capsule before the scan is completed, I will not be able to get all the data we need to help you in whatever manner you wish to use this data," she explained.
Lyn further specified that she wanted any gathered data deleted after. Magistrate's face frowned a little, but then nodded. "Very well. After we are done here today, I will purge the data collected from our systems. Just know that if you need any further help, you will just have to go through this whole process again. And any further solutions that a more in-depth study of your data would reveal, would of course not be available. Shall we proceed?" she asked as she motioned toward the capsule.
Assuming that Lyntael had the assurances needed and stepped into the capsule, Magistrate pushed another button and the clear door would shut behind Lyn with a little click. Even though Lyn was in an enclosed space, there was a consistent air flow from the top and bottom of the cylinder, probably an air recycler for ease of breathing. "You may stand or sit, it will not affect the test results. Please continue to breathe and move around normally. This will only take a few minutes," Magi tried to assure Lyn as she started to press various buttons on her control console.
A hum of machinery started up around Lyn before circles of various colors of light began moving up and down the tube she was in. It was possible that the electricity flowing through the systems would react with Lyn's body, raising hairs on her arm or something. Meanwhile, several small vid-windows began popping up around her capsule, and rotating slowly around it, displaying various bits of information for anyone to see. The displays were double-sided, allowing Lyn to read them just as well as those outside the capsule could. Magi's eyes darted around as she tried to keep up with all the information flowing around the capsule.
"Hmm, interesting," Magi's lips parsed as she brought up a readout of a silhouette of Lyn. As she moved her hand across the control panel, the silhouette filled out with a skeleton, then various organs, than musculature. "She has a fully simulated human system, including normal biological impulses. Pain and hunger tolerances are normal. Looks like she is still in need of some rest and a good meal," she remarked. She also noticed other things about Lyn's biology that were more of an intimate nature, but she wasn't really interested in drawing attention to them. Both for sake of privacy and the fact that she didn't really care. It wasn't the reason for this particular exercise anyways. If Lyn wanted help dealing with those later, she could come back and see Magi directly.
She pushed away that window, and pulled up another one. This one was an image of Lyn's Navigator emblem. A bunch of data spilled down both sides of the screen like waterfalls as Magi's eyes darted about. "Looks like her emblem is performing similarly to a Navi-core in most respects - without actually being a Navi-core - sending and receiving signals. As we all know, the Navi symbol is linked directly to the core of most Navis, acting as sort of an identifier and signal booster... But... Hold on..."
She pressed something on her console and the window she was looking at shot out a line of data-energy towards another window that was clustered around the capsule. It tethered to this window and pulled it up to where she was working. This vid-window showed what looked like a bunch of wires running through another Lyn silhouette. "Ahhh, but what is this? It looks like we have our culprit," she stated as she tapped on the screen. The vid-window segmented into five smaller screens, each zoomed into a spot on the silhouette. One was displaying the center of Lyn's chest, where her emblem was featured, and the other four showed similar points on her wrists and ankles, all with the wires running through them. "Looks like her emblem is a powerful generator for her electrical current, which follows along a main thoroughfare, and ends in batteries tied to her limbs... Which apparently store up the charge, pass it back into her emblem again, and then discharge the collected energy through one of her exit points. Her emblem thus pulling a strange form of double-duty in this multi-circuit monstrosity... Very inefficient... And I do not see any proper regulation systems between any of these parts," she said with a frown.
Magi look past her screens to Lyn in her capsule. "Why would someone strap an electrical generator and multiple capacitors to your body... and then not also install at least a few dampeners, or something?" she asked as she pressed another button on her control panels, shutting off the scanner. The vid-windows continued to float and rotate around the capsule, but the lights turned off and the door clicked open. "You may exit the capsule now, I found what we need to be working on. If you want something to eat, I am sure that someone can show you the way to the cafeteria," Magi stated as she tried to shoo everyone out of her lab so she could think.
DragonierMan, Suzume, and Aya were waiting patiently, and silently, during the whole ordeal. "I could get a snack," Aya commented before heading out of the lab and back into the lobby. She crossed the floor to a door on the far side and opened it, showing another white room like the two others before. This one was a cavernous rectangular room with several long tables that could seat a dozen or more individuals each. Several kiosks lined the walls, little alcoves with empty trays stacked besides them. Aya ran up to one of them and placed a tray on a shelf attached to the kiosk, which lit up. "One glass of orange juice, cold, a banana, and a large chocolate chip cookie," she stated to the console.
There was a little hum, similar to the one in the capsule Lyn was placed in, and the items materialized on Aya's tray. She grinned and took the tray with its contents over to one of the tables to chow down on. Drago and Suzume escorted Lyn to the cafeteria if she wanted to go there. "As you can see, you can ask for anything your heart, or your stomach, desires. If you need help, or can't think of anything, you can browse the kiosk's NET system. You can even ask it for suggestions based on time of day and regional meal variations," she pointed out.
Suzume then paused and looked at Lyntael directly, attempting to place her hands on Lyn's shoulders. "Are you okay?" she asked. It was a loaded question.
White Tower
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Reassured, Lyntael complied with the scan, though she couldn't help but fidget during the process; it felt like every eye in the room was on her, and it was a little nerve-wrakcing. Unconsciously,. Her arms folded across her chest as though covering herself from piercing gazes. As Magi examined the data, she tried to watch the reverse side of the images that the other woman was pulling up, but it was hard not to feel embarrassed at the same time. Her pulse raced with the nerves of the situation even as she nodded along with the explanation. As soon as Magistrate gave the word, she skipped out of the capsule with an awkward smile and much haste. Outside, she turned to look at the others properly, rubbing at one arm with her other hand.
“Y-yeah... that sounds, um, about right... Oh, but, I don't think anyone did any of that, you know... deliberately. Eric wouldn't ever have wanted me to suffer. I don't think he even knows how it all ended up working! He never intended for me to fight... I just have to, sometimes, because it's what Rogan needs.” Her head tilted to one side as she looked away, resisting the urge to apologise for the oddities of her own form.
“I think...” Here, she closed her eyes, trying to remember. Warm sunny days and relaxed company. The scent of toast in Eric's kitchen, and playing chess with his house navis. She tried to push further, but beyond scattered flashes of her first moments in his basement computer room ,there wasn't too much. “I think... I think the electricity came later, maybe. Or, it came late, and Eric didn't choose it. Before Sunseed, I think I wasn't really me, I think I wasn't really anything... Um, Sunseed is... that's the thing Eric created to help me become, ah, my own person. I don't really understand it, sorry... but that's when the charge came in, I think... And I don't think I could ever tell him how much it hurts or what it does to me... it would upset him so much if he knew.”
She went along with the others as Magistrate sought to get them out of her work space but, at the mention of snacks, Lyntael found herself contemplating how little she'd had to eat over the course of the day, and Magistrate's own assessment that she should eat and sleep more. She did wonder what they had here, in terms of food for navis, and as the thoughts crossed her mind, her stomach voiced its approval of this line of thinking loudly enough for Lyntael to put a hand over it and duck her head with embarrassment.
“Ah, good idea!” The words became a nervous giggle as she followed Aya through to what looked like a well ordered cafeteria or mess hall. She followed the other girl, watching what she did and copying it for the most part. When the system lit up she hesitated, then decided to try her luck anyway.
“Lemon tart, chilled. Mint chocolate. Tea, Earl Grey, hot.” There was an eager anticipation that translated itself into a small bounce on her toes as the machine hummed, before presenting her order. Lyntael inhaled deeply, trying to catch the scent of the things it had created, then carried her things back to the place Aya had chosen for their snack break. By the time the others arrived and settled, she was already trying the first bite of her acquisitions; the taste was subtly different tot eh first one she'd tried, but the lemon sharpness, cut with a sweet edge still made her eyes flutter closed as small moan escaped past her closed lips. Under the table she felt her toes curl and clench in response to the taste. The reaction wasn't quite as strong, nor as embarrassing as the first couple of times she'd tried new flavours, or food at all, but that was probably for the best, all things considered. Even so, it would be clear to the others that taste itself was a very potent sensation for the girl. She took her time after the first bite, and glanced up to Suzume as she spoke up.
“Ah... I'm... I'm fine, really...” It felt a bit awkward; she'd just shared a lot with them, but at the same time, she didn't really want to bring the mood back down again with a completely honest answer. She sought for a middle ground. “It's been a really rough few months. But, honestly, things have been getting better, they have, well, at least until a few days ago, but...” she shook her head and sipped her tea, looking away. “But it's okay. I'll be fine, really. I'll sort things out with Rogan. This whole thing... joining the shogunate, designing a naughty uniform, all of it... I was angry at him, and angry at things being unfair, and at how nothing ever seemed to go the way it should, no matter how hard I tried, and I just wanted to do something... something ridiculous and wild, just to show I could, and to make him pay attention... But I guess it doesn't matter how much I try to act like some confident, in control professional, I'm still just me. I can't help it.” She rolled her shoulders and shrugged with a rueful smile, then took a bit of the chocolate. After a moment, she let her gaze move from a reassuring thankfulness for Suzume, to Drago instead.
“Thank you, for what you said before. I appreciate it, I really do. I don't know if I'll ever be able to really face him properly... I hope I never have to... but even knowing that other people are there, who would want to help me... that makes me fell a little braver too.” She worked on her tart a little more, breaking up the serious, heartfelt moments with more obvious tactile enjoyment of her desert snack. She let silence, or other conversation if there was any, reign for a few moments, working through her own food with a fairly aggressive pace now. By the time she was finished with the food and was drinking the rest of her tea, she paused again.
“About what Magistrate said... It's pretty bad, I know, but, I am getting used to it, sort of. Slowly. I used to be a lot worse... I could barely output at all before the pain would overwhelm me, or my body would burn out and I'd pass out... but now, I can handle a lot more charge before it get too much. It hurts but, it's not like getting cut or stabbed or crushed or anything like that... I can sort of push it away to the back of my mind, and grit through it, at least a little bit. I'm getting better at it.” She shrugged. It wasn't much of a reassurance, really, and she knew that. It still painted a fairly bleak picture of her circumstance, but there was always a hope that Magistrate would discover some solution that Aurora hadn't been able to pin down. She looked around at the other three, and stood to stretch, smoothing down her skirt as she got up from the table letting herself sway as she took relaxed steps around the table they were at, arms up above her head and fingers stretched.
“So... What about you guys? It can't all be fighting and missions and general-this, and lord-that, right? What do you do for fun? You know, when you're on your own time?” She glanced back over her shoulder as her steps became more graceful dance-like motions, mixed in with soft half turns and small skips at an almost unconscious level. It seemed to be one of the ways she relaxed herself, at a glance.
“Y-yeah... that sounds, um, about right... Oh, but, I don't think anyone did any of that, you know... deliberately. Eric wouldn't ever have wanted me to suffer. I don't think he even knows how it all ended up working! He never intended for me to fight... I just have to, sometimes, because it's what Rogan needs.” Her head tilted to one side as she looked away, resisting the urge to apologise for the oddities of her own form.
“I think...” Here, she closed her eyes, trying to remember. Warm sunny days and relaxed company. The scent of toast in Eric's kitchen, and playing chess with his house navis. She tried to push further, but beyond scattered flashes of her first moments in his basement computer room ,there wasn't too much. “I think... I think the electricity came later, maybe. Or, it came late, and Eric didn't choose it. Before Sunseed, I think I wasn't really me, I think I wasn't really anything... Um, Sunseed is... that's the thing Eric created to help me become, ah, my own person. I don't really understand it, sorry... but that's when the charge came in, I think... And I don't think I could ever tell him how much it hurts or what it does to me... it would upset him so much if he knew.”
She went along with the others as Magistrate sought to get them out of her work space but, at the mention of snacks, Lyntael found herself contemplating how little she'd had to eat over the course of the day, and Magistrate's own assessment that she should eat and sleep more. She did wonder what they had here, in terms of food for navis, and as the thoughts crossed her mind, her stomach voiced its approval of this line of thinking loudly enough for Lyntael to put a hand over it and duck her head with embarrassment.
“Ah, good idea!” The words became a nervous giggle as she followed Aya through to what looked like a well ordered cafeteria or mess hall. She followed the other girl, watching what she did and copying it for the most part. When the system lit up she hesitated, then decided to try her luck anyway.
“Lemon tart, chilled. Mint chocolate. Tea, Earl Grey, hot.” There was an eager anticipation that translated itself into a small bounce on her toes as the machine hummed, before presenting her order. Lyntael inhaled deeply, trying to catch the scent of the things it had created, then carried her things back to the place Aya had chosen for their snack break. By the time the others arrived and settled, she was already trying the first bite of her acquisitions; the taste was subtly different tot eh first one she'd tried, but the lemon sharpness, cut with a sweet edge still made her eyes flutter closed as small moan escaped past her closed lips. Under the table she felt her toes curl and clench in response to the taste. The reaction wasn't quite as strong, nor as embarrassing as the first couple of times she'd tried new flavours, or food at all, but that was probably for the best, all things considered. Even so, it would be clear to the others that taste itself was a very potent sensation for the girl. She took her time after the first bite, and glanced up to Suzume as she spoke up.
“Ah... I'm... I'm fine, really...” It felt a bit awkward; she'd just shared a lot with them, but at the same time, she didn't really want to bring the mood back down again with a completely honest answer. She sought for a middle ground. “It's been a really rough few months. But, honestly, things have been getting better, they have, well, at least until a few days ago, but...” she shook her head and sipped her tea, looking away. “But it's okay. I'll be fine, really. I'll sort things out with Rogan. This whole thing... joining the shogunate, designing a naughty uniform, all of it... I was angry at him, and angry at things being unfair, and at how nothing ever seemed to go the way it should, no matter how hard I tried, and I just wanted to do something... something ridiculous and wild, just to show I could, and to make him pay attention... But I guess it doesn't matter how much I try to act like some confident, in control professional, I'm still just me. I can't help it.” She rolled her shoulders and shrugged with a rueful smile, then took a bit of the chocolate. After a moment, she let her gaze move from a reassuring thankfulness for Suzume, to Drago instead.
“Thank you, for what you said before. I appreciate it, I really do. I don't know if I'll ever be able to really face him properly... I hope I never have to... but even knowing that other people are there, who would want to help me... that makes me fell a little braver too.” She worked on her tart a little more, breaking up the serious, heartfelt moments with more obvious tactile enjoyment of her desert snack. She let silence, or other conversation if there was any, reign for a few moments, working through her own food with a fairly aggressive pace now. By the time she was finished with the food and was drinking the rest of her tea, she paused again.
“About what Magistrate said... It's pretty bad, I know, but, I am getting used to it, sort of. Slowly. I used to be a lot worse... I could barely output at all before the pain would overwhelm me, or my body would burn out and I'd pass out... but now, I can handle a lot more charge before it get too much. It hurts but, it's not like getting cut or stabbed or crushed or anything like that... I can sort of push it away to the back of my mind, and grit through it, at least a little bit. I'm getting better at it.” She shrugged. It wasn't much of a reassurance, really, and she knew that. It still painted a fairly bleak picture of her circumstance, but there was always a hope that Magistrate would discover some solution that Aurora hadn't been able to pin down. She looked around at the other three, and stood to stretch, smoothing down her skirt as she got up from the table letting herself sway as she took relaxed steps around the table they were at, arms up above her head and fingers stretched.
“So... What about you guys? It can't all be fighting and missions and general-this, and lord-that, right? What do you do for fun? You know, when you're on your own time?” She glanced back over her shoulder as her steps became more graceful dance-like motions, mixed in with soft half turns and small skips at an almost unconscious level. It seemed to be one of the ways she relaxed herself, at a glance.
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Magistrate listened to Lyntael as she went a little into her 'medical' history. She was interested in her creator Eric and this 'Sunseed' program that brought forth such a unique Navi, but Lyntael's concern for her designer's feelings stopped her from pursuing that lead. "Hmm, I see," Magi shook her head. "That is too bad. I would have liked to have called Eric up and pick his brain about potential treatments. But, if you do not want him to know, then I will have to figure this out on my own."
In the cafeteria, DragonierMan and Suzume sat down with Lyntael and Aya after selecting their food items. Drago had a bowl of clam chowder soup with some warm, soft bread sticks. For his drink he had a huge pint-sized cold glass of green iced-tea with three big square ice cubes floating around in it. Suzume, meanwhile, had a nice looking turkey sandwich with sliced cheddar cheese, some apple slices on the side, and a 12 oz plastic bottle with the label: 'Diet Soder' emblazoned upon it. They listened as Lyn aired out her feelings in the more casual setting. She reiterated her rocky relationship with her Operator, Rogan, again and the reasons that brought her to this point. Given how many times the group had heard the story now, they could make a good effort at publishing Lyn's autobiography.
But they were content enough to play the courteous friends that lent an ear to a deeply troubled girl. It was in a way a fascinating development that a group of combat programs primarily built for war, had ended up becoming emotional counselors to various Navis they had ran into amongst their travels. Suzume and Drago nodded in turn as Lyn thanked each of them for their thoughts and feelings. Drago still had a furrowed brow in thought about all the ways he would go about murdering this Vigilance character, as he ripped into some of his bread. His sharp hand talons and fanged maw ripping and tearing it to pieces as he devoured it. He would probably fantasize about this blood sport every day until he succeeded. What sweet ecstasy that future day would bring.
"Sounds to me like you just need more directed training," Aya commented on Lyntael's efforts to use her electric powers without killing herself. "Assuming you don't want Magi to go in and install regulators like she mentioned." She paused to drop the empty peel of her banana on her tray and pick up her large chocolate chip cookie, snapping it in half. "I know too many people who don't train enough and then complain when they lose," she mulled over as she looked at the far wall, chewing absently on one half of her cookie. "If you are ready to put in some more effort, I can probably help you along towards that goal."
"I spend most of my time honing my skills, or sleeping," Aya stated in relation to Lyn's question about what they do for fun. "We don't have much free time between busting runs or missions, so why bother trying to do anything else?" Suzume slowly nodded towards Aya statement. "I was given a modicum of oratory skills, so I practice a little singing in our time off," Suzume added. "But training with Aya takes up most of that time. So, I try to make up the difference where I can, such as while out in the field. Singing a rousing battle hymn or soothing song of healing."
Aya motioned over to Drago who was slurping up his soup by the great spoonfuls. "Our Master doesn't have time off unless our Operator is sleeping, doing all the things that Navigators do for their Operators. And even then he is probably doing some task assigned him by Our Lord before he went to bed. Otherwise he is probably doing what we are doing: in the Training Hall with us, or resting off the last battlefield." Aya then pointed a particular sharp piece of broken off cookie at Lyn, "Why? What do you do for fun?"
In the cafeteria, DragonierMan and Suzume sat down with Lyntael and Aya after selecting their food items. Drago had a bowl of clam chowder soup with some warm, soft bread sticks. For his drink he had a huge pint-sized cold glass of green iced-tea with three big square ice cubes floating around in it. Suzume, meanwhile, had a nice looking turkey sandwich with sliced cheddar cheese, some apple slices on the side, and a 12 oz plastic bottle with the label: 'Diet Soder' emblazoned upon it. They listened as Lyn aired out her feelings in the more casual setting. She reiterated her rocky relationship with her Operator, Rogan, again and the reasons that brought her to this point. Given how many times the group had heard the story now, they could make a good effort at publishing Lyn's autobiography.
But they were content enough to play the courteous friends that lent an ear to a deeply troubled girl. It was in a way a fascinating development that a group of combat programs primarily built for war, had ended up becoming emotional counselors to various Navis they had ran into amongst their travels. Suzume and Drago nodded in turn as Lyn thanked each of them for their thoughts and feelings. Drago still had a furrowed brow in thought about all the ways he would go about murdering this Vigilance character, as he ripped into some of his bread. His sharp hand talons and fanged maw ripping and tearing it to pieces as he devoured it. He would probably fantasize about this blood sport every day until he succeeded. What sweet ecstasy that future day would bring.
"Sounds to me like you just need more directed training," Aya commented on Lyntael's efforts to use her electric powers without killing herself. "Assuming you don't want Magi to go in and install regulators like she mentioned." She paused to drop the empty peel of her banana on her tray and pick up her large chocolate chip cookie, snapping it in half. "I know too many people who don't train enough and then complain when they lose," she mulled over as she looked at the far wall, chewing absently on one half of her cookie. "If you are ready to put in some more effort, I can probably help you along towards that goal."
"I spend most of my time honing my skills, or sleeping," Aya stated in relation to Lyn's question about what they do for fun. "We don't have much free time between busting runs or missions, so why bother trying to do anything else?" Suzume slowly nodded towards Aya statement. "I was given a modicum of oratory skills, so I practice a little singing in our time off," Suzume added. "But training with Aya takes up most of that time. So, I try to make up the difference where I can, such as while out in the field. Singing a rousing battle hymn or soothing song of healing."
Aya motioned over to Drago who was slurping up his soup by the great spoonfuls. "Our Master doesn't have time off unless our Operator is sleeping, doing all the things that Navigators do for their Operators. And even then he is probably doing some task assigned him by Our Lord before he went to bed. Otherwise he is probably doing what we are doing: in the Training Hall with us, or resting off the last battlefield." Aya then pointed a particular sharp piece of broken off cookie at Lyn, "Why? What do you do for fun?"
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As they chatted, Lyntael started slightly, her glance shooting across to Aya as she mentioned the possibility of... physical installs. She managed a nervous grin, unsure whether the other woman's off-handed remark was made in jest or not. She wasn't the first person to broach the idea, but just as with Aurora before, it seemed to be something they thought of first, then passed over. Lyntael focused on the training idea instead, hoping to let the other suggestion be quickly forgotten.
“I can try. I've been doing my best to train more, when I can, but mostly it's been about teaching myself not to panic or freeze up when I'm in danger, and practising that bit has been hard.” She paused at the end of the table, letting her finger tips play on the surface as she rocked back and forth on her toes. “Do you all really not have any free time... to yourselves? Don't you ever need, you know... down time, to just do your own thing, or...” briefly her eyes flicked to Drago, then back to each of the twins. She wasn't completely certain if she was reading their dynamic right, but a part of her felt like the earlier denial had only been halfhearted. “Or, you know, just have fun...?” She glanced between them again, tilting her head.
“Do you ever just, you know, spend time with friends, or...” Exactly how to finish the sentence didn't come to mind easily, and Lyntael had to admit to herself that her own grasp of having a social life was thin on the ground as well, and she wasn't in much position to talk.
“Well, um... I've recently spent a lot of my time redecorating my home and making it comfortable, but I like to designing clothes and costumes, and I've been reading lot lately as well. I've been working my way through a lot of the ancient philosophers and their discussions... Though... sometimes it can be hard to really find the texts that others reference so it gets a bit confusing sometimes. I've been studying the Anekāntavāda just recently, and I think it feels like a really positive way of viewing things...” She trailed off, a mild sense of embarrassment creeping up as she stumbled over just how in depth was too in depth of a lunch table chat.
“I like to read fantasy as well. High fantasy, with magic and intrigue and romance. There's this one series I finished just recently, about a world where they worked their magic through the music and the dance of the stars, and there were demons and lost gods and I know that Azhure ends up being a real Mary Sue before long, but I still really enjoyed her character, mostly!” Somewhere along the way, Lyntael's hands had jumped up, clasped together in front of her chest and she had to catch herself, toning down her enthusiasm before it went any further. “Um... A friend recommended the series to me, and I really liked it.” She bit her lip and shrugged, just a little bit self-conscious. She neglected to mention the volume of romance, nudity and sex that the books also contained... it didn't seem like the kind of thing to really advertise. Eventually she settled and leaned on the edge of the table, smoothing her skirt underneath her as she looked across to Suzume with a grin.
“I don't really think I've got a very good singing voice, but I do dance! I'm, um, not really properly trained or anything like that, but I like to dance, and I like feeling the way my body moves. I'm probably not very good, but it feels nice if I just listen to whatever comes naturally and go with it.” With a small, content sigh she pushed off the table again and collected her own tray with its empty plate and cup. “Ah... what do I do with these?” She looked aimlessly about the space for signs of proper cleaning or disposal options while she wondered what Magistrate was going to suggest for her. The concept of getting her to talk to Eric was tempting, truly it was... but she still couldn't imagine having to tell him about the pain her own body was causing her. She brushed the thought away; if she could get to a point where it wasn't a problem any more, then maybe she could tell him then.
“I can try. I've been doing my best to train more, when I can, but mostly it's been about teaching myself not to panic or freeze up when I'm in danger, and practising that bit has been hard.” She paused at the end of the table, letting her finger tips play on the surface as she rocked back and forth on her toes. “Do you all really not have any free time... to yourselves? Don't you ever need, you know... down time, to just do your own thing, or...” briefly her eyes flicked to Drago, then back to each of the twins. She wasn't completely certain if she was reading their dynamic right, but a part of her felt like the earlier denial had only been halfhearted. “Or, you know, just have fun...?” She glanced between them again, tilting her head.
“Do you ever just, you know, spend time with friends, or...” Exactly how to finish the sentence didn't come to mind easily, and Lyntael had to admit to herself that her own grasp of having a social life was thin on the ground as well, and she wasn't in much position to talk.
“Well, um... I've recently spent a lot of my time redecorating my home and making it comfortable, but I like to designing clothes and costumes, and I've been reading lot lately as well. I've been working my way through a lot of the ancient philosophers and their discussions... Though... sometimes it can be hard to really find the texts that others reference so it gets a bit confusing sometimes. I've been studying the Anekāntavāda just recently, and I think it feels like a really positive way of viewing things...” She trailed off, a mild sense of embarrassment creeping up as she stumbled over just how in depth was too in depth of a lunch table chat.
“I like to read fantasy as well. High fantasy, with magic and intrigue and romance. There's this one series I finished just recently, about a world where they worked their magic through the music and the dance of the stars, and there were demons and lost gods and I know that Azhure ends up being a real Mary Sue before long, but I still really enjoyed her character, mostly!” Somewhere along the way, Lyntael's hands had jumped up, clasped together in front of her chest and she had to catch herself, toning down her enthusiasm before it went any further. “Um... A friend recommended the series to me, and I really liked it.” She bit her lip and shrugged, just a little bit self-conscious. She neglected to mention the volume of romance, nudity and sex that the books also contained... it didn't seem like the kind of thing to really advertise. Eventually she settled and leaned on the edge of the table, smoothing her skirt underneath her as she looked across to Suzume with a grin.
“I don't really think I've got a very good singing voice, but I do dance! I'm, um, not really properly trained or anything like that, but I like to dance, and I like feeling the way my body moves. I'm probably not very good, but it feels nice if I just listen to whatever comes naturally and go with it.” With a small, content sigh she pushed off the table again and collected her own tray with its empty plate and cup. “Ah... what do I do with these?” She looked aimlessly about the space for signs of proper cleaning or disposal options while she wondered what Magistrate was going to suggest for her. The concept of getting her to talk to Eric was tempting, truly it was... but she still couldn't imagine having to tell him about the pain her own body was causing her. She brushed the thought away; if she could get to a point where it wasn't a problem any more, then maybe she could tell him then.
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"Just put it back in one of those kiosks and say the word: 'Reclaim'," Aya waved Lyntael over to device she originally used. Aya then quickly devoured the rest of her cookie and downed her drink before jumping up to walk over to an empty kiosk. She placed the tray with the discarded banana peel, cookie crumbs, and empty glass on the shelf, while the computer screen lit up. "Reclaim," she said, a little bit dramatically, and the hum returned. The contents of the tray disintegrated, like a statue crumbling to dust in mere moments, and vanished into the aether. She then stacked her now empty and scoured tray back into the alcove with the other trays.
Aya then turned back to Lyn. "Building up your courage is good and all, but I was talking about more of a non-combative training regimen. You don't learn how to use a sword by getting into a sword fight. First you learn proper techniques for wielding a sword: how to hold it, how to swing or stab it, that sort of thing. The sword fighting comes after you've gotten the basics down."
"Have you even figured out all the ways electricity flows through your body yet? Can you control when, and in what quantity, it produces that energy? Where exactly it goes?" she asked. "From what you've told us, it seems like you are just jumping into the deep end without knowing how to swim, and are just flailing desperately to stay afloat, while also having to fend off sharks. No wonder you've had problems and have gotten hurt. Right now you need to take a step back and assess. Maybe your courage won't falter as much once you are more confident of your own control."
Suzume looked up from her mostly-eaten sandwich at Lyntael's suggestions of reading books and dancing. "I guess we could branch out a little bit more, it just never really occurred to us. We weren't really created with those kinds of hobbies in mind. Just to always be ready for another virus bust." Suddenly, her eyes unfocused from Lyn and started darting back and forth in her skull, as if she was reading something insanely fast. When her eyes stopped moments later, and refocused back on Lyn, they had a little extra motivation behind them. "Perhaps we can form a... 'book group', as the NET calls it. And you could recommend books for us to read."
"As for dancing, we were taught a few two-partner dances after it became clear that we would have to do a bunch of socializing as a part of the Neo-Shoguns. Not mastery-level capabilities, but just enough to get us by. I guess we could teach you that as well if you are interested," Suzume said to Lyn, pointing a little teasingly to Drago. The guy currently had a bowl up to his lips, draining away the last of his soup. When he was done, he set the bowl down on his tray, and wiped his mouth off on his cloak sleeve.
At some point in their conversations here in the cafeteria, the three dragoniers had put on gray t-shirts and shorts. The wonders of being able to change clothes at the drop of a hat. They still had on their cloaks, and probably their swimsuits underneath, but there was no flash of light to show the change. Perhaps they didn't actually need to broadcast their changes, but did so earlier for Lyn's sake. But at least now she wouldn't have to be in a room with a bunch of attractive late 20-somethings in skimpy clothing.
Anyways, it seemed that they were wrapping up as Drago and Suzume started gathering their trays to recycle and put away. With a little clatter of plastic the cafeteria was all cleaned up and the group heading back to see what Magistrate had to say. When they arrived, Lyntael's worries were brought back to the fore. A set of invasive-looking devices were laid out on a table, along with some not-so-invasive-looking arm and leg braces. Several vid-screens floating above the table showing where they would either be inserted into a Lyntael silhouette, or worn on her body over the skin like protective clothing.
"These devices should help regulate your electrical impulses, to a degree. The chaotic nature of your body's pathways makes it impossible to fully regulate. I give you a choice between a set of protective outerwear, which may restrict or slow movement by a little bit, and we can try to adjust it as necessary... or a set of implants that should not bother you once they are grafted to your electrical system," Magistrate offered. "This is what I can do for you to get a handle on your system now. I could also offer you a set of prescription-style medical drugs, like pain medication, or whatever else your biology requires."
She continued: "Anything other than this would require extensive training that I am too busy to provide you. And you may never be fully protected from the negative biological effects that would occur from continuous use of your electricity. With that said, what do you wish to do?" Magistrate asked Lyntael.
Aya then turned back to Lyn. "Building up your courage is good and all, but I was talking about more of a non-combative training regimen. You don't learn how to use a sword by getting into a sword fight. First you learn proper techniques for wielding a sword: how to hold it, how to swing or stab it, that sort of thing. The sword fighting comes after you've gotten the basics down."
"Have you even figured out all the ways electricity flows through your body yet? Can you control when, and in what quantity, it produces that energy? Where exactly it goes?" she asked. "From what you've told us, it seems like you are just jumping into the deep end without knowing how to swim, and are just flailing desperately to stay afloat, while also having to fend off sharks. No wonder you've had problems and have gotten hurt. Right now you need to take a step back and assess. Maybe your courage won't falter as much once you are more confident of your own control."
Suzume looked up from her mostly-eaten sandwich at Lyntael's suggestions of reading books and dancing. "I guess we could branch out a little bit more, it just never really occurred to us. We weren't really created with those kinds of hobbies in mind. Just to always be ready for another virus bust." Suddenly, her eyes unfocused from Lyn and started darting back and forth in her skull, as if she was reading something insanely fast. When her eyes stopped moments later, and refocused back on Lyn, they had a little extra motivation behind them. "Perhaps we can form a... 'book group', as the NET calls it. And you could recommend books for us to read."
"As for dancing, we were taught a few two-partner dances after it became clear that we would have to do a bunch of socializing as a part of the Neo-Shoguns. Not mastery-level capabilities, but just enough to get us by. I guess we could teach you that as well if you are interested," Suzume said to Lyn, pointing a little teasingly to Drago. The guy currently had a bowl up to his lips, draining away the last of his soup. When he was done, he set the bowl down on his tray, and wiped his mouth off on his cloak sleeve.
At some point in their conversations here in the cafeteria, the three dragoniers had put on gray t-shirts and shorts. The wonders of being able to change clothes at the drop of a hat. They still had on their cloaks, and probably their swimsuits underneath, but there was no flash of light to show the change. Perhaps they didn't actually need to broadcast their changes, but did so earlier for Lyn's sake. But at least now she wouldn't have to be in a room with a bunch of attractive late 20-somethings in skimpy clothing.
Anyways, it seemed that they were wrapping up as Drago and Suzume started gathering their trays to recycle and put away. With a little clatter of plastic the cafeteria was all cleaned up and the group heading back to see what Magistrate had to say. When they arrived, Lyntael's worries were brought back to the fore. A set of invasive-looking devices were laid out on a table, along with some not-so-invasive-looking arm and leg braces. Several vid-screens floating above the table showing where they would either be inserted into a Lyntael silhouette, or worn on her body over the skin like protective clothing.
"These devices should help regulate your electrical impulses, to a degree. The chaotic nature of your body's pathways makes it impossible to fully regulate. I give you a choice between a set of protective outerwear, which may restrict or slow movement by a little bit, and we can try to adjust it as necessary... or a set of implants that should not bother you once they are grafted to your electrical system," Magistrate offered. "This is what I can do for you to get a handle on your system now. I could also offer you a set of prescription-style medical drugs, like pain medication, or whatever else your biology requires."
She continued: "Anything other than this would require extensive training that I am too busy to provide you. And you may never be fully protected from the negative biological effects that would occur from continuous use of your electricity. With that said, what do you wish to do?" Magistrate asked Lyntael.
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Following Aya to the return area, Lyntael's follow up announcement was a little more tentative than her friend's dramatic cry but it still got the job done and she returned her empty tray with a grin. On their way back to the others, she put her hands behind her head, stretching and humming quietly to herself as she thought about what Aya was saying. She was right, she knew; some parts of the control came naturally, but at the same time, she'd been unable to do what she wanted or needed, on more than one occasion, and still didn't fully understand why. She took a spot back at the table, though without really thinking about it she hopped up to sit on the table itself, one knee crossed and her other foot hanging down to the seat, alongside Aya and facing her so she could still look at the other girl. She pushed her hands into her lap in the process, pressing her skirt down.
“I sort of have, I guess. I'm still learning though. Direct control of everything that happens is... I don't know, it usually doesn't work, except with a couple of things that I've gotten the hang of. The rest of it... well, this will probably sound strange, but, mostly, it's... ah... emotive. Things happen when I'm scared, or upset, or angry, or... mostly things flow naturally when there's some strong emotion making it happen, and there have been times when I've tried to do something that I know I can, only for it not to work, because... I don't know... because the emotion isn't quite there.” She shrugged. “I guess that's why it might be good to show you, though? I think you're right... I think, if I was more sure of what I could do, and how to stop it or prevent it as well, I'd probably feel more confident.” Here, she shrugged and grinned; the prospect of doing some exercises without being thrown into dangerous fights against viruses actually made the whole question of controlling her charge feel oddly more approachable, and she caught herself wondering about it.
“I've never had much chance to really do that... you're right. Rogan has always just expected me to do what I have to when he needs, viruses and all. I've never really... um... never actually trained at all, not any of this, not in a safe space. That's...” She bit her lip as she thought about it then looked around her companions. “That's really bad, isn't it?” She hurried to make it sound better than it did. “Oh, but well, I guess, a lot of it does come naturally, sort of, when it needs to, and when I'm not thinking about it, and I can suppress it at times, too, sometimes, when it's not too much at once...” it was a ear defence, she knew, but she shrugged it off.
“But I guess... I mean... I've got maybe an hour or so before Rogan might call for me or notice I'm gone... if you have a space for it, I could show you what I can do, and maybe you could tell me what you think I should focus on? I mean.. um, after we see what Magistrate learned, of course.”
As the others cleaned up as well, Lyntael shifted to let her feet swing free off the ned of the table and she glanced towards Suzume while she waited.
“I'm not really interested in learning formal dances, I don't think. I just like moving my body and letting whatever I'm feeling or thinking flow naturally. It's fun!” She giggled and shrugged her shoulders again then kicked off the table and back to her feet as it seemed like they were getting ready to move on. As she wandered alongside them, however, she cast a side glance towards Suzume.
“But... Are book groups really a real thing? I always thought they were just, like, code word for women's singles groups, or something like that...”
Seriousness returned by the time they had returned to Magistrate's lab and Lyntael immediately felt herself back on edge as her eyes looked over the various implements that had been laid out. The other woman's business like, clinical descriptions didn't help and it would probably be evident by part way through her description that the concept of implanting things in her body was evoking a mildly horrified reaction from Lyntael. At last, she back-stepped slightly, hands raised.
“Ah... That's, um... No... no surgery, please. I'm okay... How would the over-wear work? I always seem to have bad luck with clothing... But I could try that I suppose?” She paused, rubbing at one arm with her other hand as she thought about the other part of Magistrate's offer.
“Um, if you've got something for the pain... it passes quickly, once I'm not over-charged any more, and it doesn't tend to linger, if that makes a difference for what you'd recommend? It's there when it's bad, but it goes away again just as quickly.” She looked down at her fingers, flexing them and opening them a few times, then back up at Magistrate. “If what you and Aurora said is right, then I should probably be careful about taking anything that dulls that or reduces it... it sounds like my body uses that to cut out the charge if it gets to the point of being damaging to me, so dulling the pain sensation might be dangerous, maybe?” She sighed. Just plain not having any pain when bad things happened would be nice, but she was already leery of taking pain medication for her more natural issues, and this sounded like it would be a stronger grade. “I'm tempted, really I am, but, I think I should probably keep myself clear of and kind of drugs unless I really have to. Maybe if you've got some I can take with me, just to keep in my cabinet at home, just in case?” She offered a nervous smile and a helpless shrug of her shoulders, willing to at lest see what the other woman had in mind for protective clothing. She looked back towards the twins and to Drago and rubbed at her neck.
“We were thinking of doing some training, maybe. I don't want to take up your time, but they were going to take a look and see what my limits are, and maybe give me some advice on how to learn better control. It sounds like that will help, in the long run, if I keep it up, right?” She allowed herself a small hopeful expression at this note as she cast her eyes around the others for confirmation. In the back of her mind, the realisation that other people did, in fact, have to learn, practice and train, and she'd just been thrown into danger without it was prickling at her as something she'd never really properly thought about.
“I sort of have, I guess. I'm still learning though. Direct control of everything that happens is... I don't know, it usually doesn't work, except with a couple of things that I've gotten the hang of. The rest of it... well, this will probably sound strange, but, mostly, it's... ah... emotive. Things happen when I'm scared, or upset, or angry, or... mostly things flow naturally when there's some strong emotion making it happen, and there have been times when I've tried to do something that I know I can, only for it not to work, because... I don't know... because the emotion isn't quite there.” She shrugged. “I guess that's why it might be good to show you, though? I think you're right... I think, if I was more sure of what I could do, and how to stop it or prevent it as well, I'd probably feel more confident.” Here, she shrugged and grinned; the prospect of doing some exercises without being thrown into dangerous fights against viruses actually made the whole question of controlling her charge feel oddly more approachable, and she caught herself wondering about it.
“I've never had much chance to really do that... you're right. Rogan has always just expected me to do what I have to when he needs, viruses and all. I've never really... um... never actually trained at all, not any of this, not in a safe space. That's...” She bit her lip as she thought about it then looked around her companions. “That's really bad, isn't it?” She hurried to make it sound better than it did. “Oh, but well, I guess, a lot of it does come naturally, sort of, when it needs to, and when I'm not thinking about it, and I can suppress it at times, too, sometimes, when it's not too much at once...” it was a ear defence, she knew, but she shrugged it off.
“But I guess... I mean... I've got maybe an hour or so before Rogan might call for me or notice I'm gone... if you have a space for it, I could show you what I can do, and maybe you could tell me what you think I should focus on? I mean.. um, after we see what Magistrate learned, of course.”
As the others cleaned up as well, Lyntael shifted to let her feet swing free off the ned of the table and she glanced towards Suzume while she waited.
“I'm not really interested in learning formal dances, I don't think. I just like moving my body and letting whatever I'm feeling or thinking flow naturally. It's fun!” She giggled and shrugged her shoulders again then kicked off the table and back to her feet as it seemed like they were getting ready to move on. As she wandered alongside them, however, she cast a side glance towards Suzume.
“But... Are book groups really a real thing? I always thought they were just, like, code word for women's singles groups, or something like that...”
Seriousness returned by the time they had returned to Magistrate's lab and Lyntael immediately felt herself back on edge as her eyes looked over the various implements that had been laid out. The other woman's business like, clinical descriptions didn't help and it would probably be evident by part way through her description that the concept of implanting things in her body was evoking a mildly horrified reaction from Lyntael. At last, she back-stepped slightly, hands raised.
“Ah... That's, um... No... no surgery, please. I'm okay... How would the over-wear work? I always seem to have bad luck with clothing... But I could try that I suppose?” She paused, rubbing at one arm with her other hand as she thought about the other part of Magistrate's offer.
“Um, if you've got something for the pain... it passes quickly, once I'm not over-charged any more, and it doesn't tend to linger, if that makes a difference for what you'd recommend? It's there when it's bad, but it goes away again just as quickly.” She looked down at her fingers, flexing them and opening them a few times, then back up at Magistrate. “If what you and Aurora said is right, then I should probably be careful about taking anything that dulls that or reduces it... it sounds like my body uses that to cut out the charge if it gets to the point of being damaging to me, so dulling the pain sensation might be dangerous, maybe?” She sighed. Just plain not having any pain when bad things happened would be nice, but she was already leery of taking pain medication for her more natural issues, and this sounded like it would be a stronger grade. “I'm tempted, really I am, but, I think I should probably keep myself clear of and kind of drugs unless I really have to. Maybe if you've got some I can take with me, just to keep in my cabinet at home, just in case?” She offered a nervous smile and a helpless shrug of her shoulders, willing to at lest see what the other woman had in mind for protective clothing. She looked back towards the twins and to Drago and rubbed at her neck.
“We were thinking of doing some training, maybe. I don't want to take up your time, but they were going to take a look and see what my limits are, and maybe give me some advice on how to learn better control. It sounds like that will help, in the long run, if I keep it up, right?” She allowed herself a small hopeful expression at this note as she cast her eyes around the others for confirmation. In the back of her mind, the realisation that other people did, in fact, have to learn, practice and train, and she'd just been thrown into danger without it was prickling at her as something she'd never really properly thought about.
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Magistrate stared at Lyntael as she fumbled around with her words. She sighed as her work was mostly rejected and turned away to walk over to another table to gather some bottles of pills she had left there. "Very well. I did some more research on human females and have prepared a variety of medications and supplements that should work for your body, given our scans." She placed them in a large paper-bag sack with handles and returned to Lyn to hand it to her over the table. "If you need any further help, you have our number."
She then turned around again to walk to her control console and clicked a few buttons. Most of the vid-screens closed down and the words [ALL DATA DELETED] appeared on the remaining screens. "There," Magi stated before turning and walking towards the door back into the lobby, leaving everything else on their tables. "We are done here. You are free to do whatever you wish with your remaining time," she said as she left the room, not even bothering to look at Lyn as she addressed her. Her voice still professional, but clipped.
Magi returned to her desk to continue whatever she was working on when she was interrupted by the group. Any further interaction with her only returned silence as she began actively ignoring them. Like Achilles in his tent.
DragonierMan, Suzume, and Aya shrugged at Lyntael and started leading her out of the lab room and towards another door that said 'Training Hall'. Inside looked like an expansive gym, with various exercise machines, and several glass-walled rooms with wooden floors. There was even a door near the end labeled 'Pool and Spa'. "Here we are!" Aya exclaimed as she was trying to drag Lyn along with her. "My home within my home."
"I think you mean 'home away from home'," Suzume corrected her. Then she caught herself, her brow furrowed in thought. "Although I guess that since this our home, it would make sense... But then again, if our PET is our home, then this would be our 'home away from home'." She stopped as all her faculties began going over the philosophical theories of existence. Aya rolled her eyes as she continued to pull at Lyn to follow her towards one of the glass-walled rooms. One could probably use them as dance studios or basketball courts with the proper modifications.
"Aaannnyways, while Suzu ponders, let's get started over here. We'll need to first do some stretches. Get all loosey-goosey. As we saw in your scans, it looks like the energy seems to flow through your body like blood. So what better way to feel where the current is going than to do some yoga. Now follow along as we go slowly, I want you to concentrate on where your charge goes as we go." Aya would then go through some basic yoga forms, trying to teach Lyn them if she didn't already know. Drago was there as well, trying to go along with them, but having some trouble, as he wasn't as flexible.
She then turned around again to walk to her control console and clicked a few buttons. Most of the vid-screens closed down and the words [ALL DATA DELETED] appeared on the remaining screens. "There," Magi stated before turning and walking towards the door back into the lobby, leaving everything else on their tables. "We are done here. You are free to do whatever you wish with your remaining time," she said as she left the room, not even bothering to look at Lyn as she addressed her. Her voice still professional, but clipped.
Magi returned to her desk to continue whatever she was working on when she was interrupted by the group. Any further interaction with her only returned silence as she began actively ignoring them. Like Achilles in his tent.
DragonierMan, Suzume, and Aya shrugged at Lyntael and started leading her out of the lab room and towards another door that said 'Training Hall'. Inside looked like an expansive gym, with various exercise machines, and several glass-walled rooms with wooden floors. There was even a door near the end labeled 'Pool and Spa'. "Here we are!" Aya exclaimed as she was trying to drag Lyn along with her. "My home within my home."
"I think you mean 'home away from home'," Suzume corrected her. Then she caught herself, her brow furrowed in thought. "Although I guess that since this our home, it would make sense... But then again, if our PET is our home, then this would be our 'home away from home'." She stopped as all her faculties began going over the philosophical theories of existence. Aya rolled her eyes as she continued to pull at Lyn to follow her towards one of the glass-walled rooms. One could probably use them as dance studios or basketball courts with the proper modifications.
"Aaannnyways, while Suzu ponders, let's get started over here. We'll need to first do some stretches. Get all loosey-goosey. As we saw in your scans, it looks like the energy seems to flow through your body like blood. So what better way to feel where the current is going than to do some yoga. Now follow along as we go slowly, I want you to concentrate on where your charge goes as we go." Aya would then go through some basic yoga forms, trying to teach Lyn them if she didn't already know. Drago was there as well, trying to go along with them, but having some trouble, as he wasn't as flexible.
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In the brief response that followed, Lyntael found herself taken back by Magistrate's brusque brush off. She accepted the package quickly, but half trailed a step after the other woman as she swept out of the room. She'd only said she didn't want her implanting things in her body... that wasn't unreasonable, was it? She turned a confused look back towards Aaya, Suzume and Dragonierman.
“Did... did I say something wrong...?” Their answering shrugs provided some solidarity, if not any illumination. Lyntael let herself be led away, though she cast a last glance back at the lab table. She would have been wiling to try the support clothing, but without Magistrate's help or guidance she wouldn't have any idea how it was meant to work anyway.
“I mean.. I just don't want her implanting foreign objects in my body... that's not unusual is it? I don't think that's unfair...” She mumbled quietly to herself, though certainly Aya who was leading her would hear it as they made their way to the gym, and training area. Inside, Lyntael looked about and let her thoughts be distracted by the new sights.
“Oh! You have a pool too! Neat!” She let herself be led along until Aya selected a space for them, though she cast he eyes around the various gym equipment and found herself wondering if the space was entirely safe for navigators training the sports of powers that navigators generally had. She shrugged it off, focusing instead on the simple quiet, and the feeling o the smooth wooden floors beneath her feet.
Without too much thought, she settled into a space a few feet away from Aya and Suzume and began to stretch lightly in her own way, rolling her joints and relaxing her body stage by stage; her natural motion was light and somewhere between what one might expect of a dancer or a martial artist, without being all the way one or the other. In between the different poses she shifted between, the girl adopted several high-leg stretches that seemed like they ought to have been ill-advised for her skirt, by somehow the garment managed to keep her underclothes hidden from careless eyes, despite the expectations of angle or gravity. After she went through most of her casual sets, she fell into the same poses that Aya was using, glancing sideways as she did each time, to make sure she was doing each one correctly.
Long, slow breaths accompanied the warm up, and she closed her eyes, listening to her body. As always, her charge hummed at a restive level, pleasantly present in the background of her awareness, but calm for now as it gently suffused her whole body. Without opening her eyes or breaking from the slow work out she spoke quietly.
“So... Like this, I'm calm. When it's like this I can feel my charge, inside me, restive and relaxed. It's always there, and it's a comfort, like this. Whenever I cross, and it's gone, I feel like something is missing, and it's more empty. Just like this, it doesn't really do anything. I can focus on building it up, just a little, or creating a few small effects to start with, if you want. That would let you see it move while I try to focus. If it's safe here, I can start with some small things, and work up to showing you my limits gradually. I don't mind the pain, as long as I'm going into it safe, like this, and prepared. But slow to begin...” The tone of her voice was smooth, quiet and relaxed as she let herself drop into a more meditative calm. It would be okay, here. She trusted Aya and Suzume to watch out for her even if she pushed to her limit, and even though she had some nervous reservation still, she trusted Dragonierman as well, at least with the twins present.
“Some things I can do, or that happen, seem to help balance my charge and diffuse it so I don't overload, while others make it build up faster. The big aggressive expends do that, mostly. What should I do first?” She kept her eyes closed as she asked, focusing on her breathing and listening to her charge; just focusing on the sensation made it build at a gradual pace and she felt the first beginnings of a swell in her chest that she began to urge slowly stronger.
“Did... did I say something wrong...?” Their answering shrugs provided some solidarity, if not any illumination. Lyntael let herself be led away, though she cast a last glance back at the lab table. She would have been wiling to try the support clothing, but without Magistrate's help or guidance she wouldn't have any idea how it was meant to work anyway.
“I mean.. I just don't want her implanting foreign objects in my body... that's not unusual is it? I don't think that's unfair...” She mumbled quietly to herself, though certainly Aya who was leading her would hear it as they made their way to the gym, and training area. Inside, Lyntael looked about and let her thoughts be distracted by the new sights.
“Oh! You have a pool too! Neat!” She let herself be led along until Aya selected a space for them, though she cast he eyes around the various gym equipment and found herself wondering if the space was entirely safe for navigators training the sports of powers that navigators generally had. She shrugged it off, focusing instead on the simple quiet, and the feeling o the smooth wooden floors beneath her feet.
Without too much thought, she settled into a space a few feet away from Aya and Suzume and began to stretch lightly in her own way, rolling her joints and relaxing her body stage by stage; her natural motion was light and somewhere between what one might expect of a dancer or a martial artist, without being all the way one or the other. In between the different poses she shifted between, the girl adopted several high-leg stretches that seemed like they ought to have been ill-advised for her skirt, by somehow the garment managed to keep her underclothes hidden from careless eyes, despite the expectations of angle or gravity. After she went through most of her casual sets, she fell into the same poses that Aya was using, glancing sideways as she did each time, to make sure she was doing each one correctly.
Long, slow breaths accompanied the warm up, and she closed her eyes, listening to her body. As always, her charge hummed at a restive level, pleasantly present in the background of her awareness, but calm for now as it gently suffused her whole body. Without opening her eyes or breaking from the slow work out she spoke quietly.
“So... Like this, I'm calm. When it's like this I can feel my charge, inside me, restive and relaxed. It's always there, and it's a comfort, like this. Whenever I cross, and it's gone, I feel like something is missing, and it's more empty. Just like this, it doesn't really do anything. I can focus on building it up, just a little, or creating a few small effects to start with, if you want. That would let you see it move while I try to focus. If it's safe here, I can start with some small things, and work up to showing you my limits gradually. I don't mind the pain, as long as I'm going into it safe, like this, and prepared. But slow to begin...” The tone of her voice was smooth, quiet and relaxed as she let herself drop into a more meditative calm. It would be okay, here. She trusted Aya and Suzume to watch out for her even if she pushed to her limit, and even though she had some nervous reservation still, she trusted Dragonierman as well, at least with the twins present.
“Some things I can do, or that happen, seem to help balance my charge and diffuse it so I don't overload, while others make it build up faster. The big aggressive expends do that, mostly. What should I do first?” She kept her eyes closed as she asked, focusing on her breathing and listening to her charge; just focusing on the sensation made it build at a gradual pace and she felt the first beginnings of a swell in her chest that she began to urge slowly stronger.
last edited by Azureink
"Don't worry about that ol' stick in the mud," Aya replied to Lyntael. "She's always too serious and gets heated easily when things don't go her way. Give it a couple days and she'll be back to her normal dour self," she continued. "As for implanting things into oneself, some people would see it as not much different to SciLab upgrades. I'm sure you are using Navi Customisers, and maybe even some Buster Upgrades right? What about Hit Point Memories? Signature Upgrades also give you new abilities. Do you not think of them as something flowing inside you, making you more powerful?" Aya asked Lyn.
"Don't worry about going all-out here," DragonierMan said to Lyntael as they walked into the Training Hall. "We can easily replicate new equipment without any problems. And even though those walls look like fragile glass, they're not objects, and won't shatter to anything less than Terrain changes. So try not to use Panel Break and the like." As they entered one of the empty rooms, Drago paused at the door to show Lyn a control panel on the inside of the room.
"You can adjust what Terrain the floor of the room has. Like so," he said as he tapped an image of green grass. The wooden floor shimmered a little and was suddenly transformed into a lush Grass lawn. The ceiling above faded away as well, leaving an open blue sky with a shining yellow sun overhead. A calm, yet refreshing breeze blew through the area, rustling the emerald sea beneath their feet. Drago then touched the control panel again and the wooden floor and the deco ceiling returned. Artificial lighting and air circulation took over again from the absence of the sun and wind.
They then got to stretching. Lyn explained how she felt and what her charge was doing. The air shimmered around Suzume as her defensive barrier came up and she walked over to Lyn. The fair skin of her hand sprouting little hard scales as she reached out to touch Lyn's arm. "First, show me how much of a charge you can safely generate and hold throughout your entire body without releasing it. Do it slowly. Evenly. Spread across every sinew, muscle, and bone."
"Do not, under any circumstances, generate anything beyond the point of pain. A dull ache is fine, but a sharp pain is not," Suzume commanded. "We should not torment ourselves if we can avoid it." If Lyntael allowed it, Suzume would trace her hands up and down Lyn's arms and legs as she concentrated, trying to feel out the currents. The tingles. The sparks. The ebb and flow.
"Don't worry about going all-out here," DragonierMan said to Lyntael as they walked into the Training Hall. "We can easily replicate new equipment without any problems. And even though those walls look like fragile glass, they're not objects, and won't shatter to anything less than Terrain changes. So try not to use Panel Break and the like." As they entered one of the empty rooms, Drago paused at the door to show Lyn a control panel on the inside of the room.
"You can adjust what Terrain the floor of the room has. Like so," he said as he tapped an image of green grass. The wooden floor shimmered a little and was suddenly transformed into a lush Grass lawn. The ceiling above faded away as well, leaving an open blue sky with a shining yellow sun overhead. A calm, yet refreshing breeze blew through the area, rustling the emerald sea beneath their feet. Drago then touched the control panel again and the wooden floor and the deco ceiling returned. Artificial lighting and air circulation took over again from the absence of the sun and wind.
They then got to stretching. Lyn explained how she felt and what her charge was doing. The air shimmered around Suzume as her defensive barrier came up and she walked over to Lyn. The fair skin of her hand sprouting little hard scales as she reached out to touch Lyn's arm. "First, show me how much of a charge you can safely generate and hold throughout your entire body without releasing it. Do it slowly. Evenly. Spread across every sinew, muscle, and bone."
"Do not, under any circumstances, generate anything beyond the point of pain. A dull ache is fine, but a sharp pain is not," Suzume commanded. "We should not torment ourselves if we can avoid it." If Lyntael allowed it, Suzume would trace her hands up and down Lyn's arms and legs as she concentrated, trying to feel out the currents. The tingles. The sparks. The ebb and flow.
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This was yet another day for the little bundle of excitement that was Nightshade. Rx, also known as Nighty by pretty much everyone in the general vicinity of White Tower. The smol feline navi had pretty much set up home in the tower's halls and rooms ever since his first meetings with Drago and his entourage. As far as the little guy was concerned, DragonieerMan was basically like a father figure, without considering the ties Yumi had with Magistrate, Drago's most analytical SP.
The small little panther-wyvern hybrid had been created from a part of his own code with the help of Magistrate, forever linking him to her. If Magi was Yumi's mom and both Aya's/Suzume's sister, then Nighty would also need to be related to Magi and Suzume and Aya too. They were a nice big family. Yes yes. Made perfect logical sense to him.
The small little troublemaker was roaming around the tower today, taking the chance to explore while his Dad was away. He was slightly bored though. He wanted to spend more time with Drago, but he was always busy as of late. He hadn't seen him around in a good bit. While Yumi remained mostly calm and in their room most of the time, little Nighty was beginning to think something had happened to Drago.
Though it seemed he wouldn't need to worry for much longer, as he heard the familiar sound of familiar voices e hoing in the halls. He was back! EVERYONE WAS BACK!!!
Nighty quickly scurried over to where the sound was coming from, his paws tip tapping faintly against the hard floor, moving as fast as he could. He was already so excited to see them again that his tail behind him was already wagging furiosly.
The moment he would be able to round the corner and spot any of the four, the little predator would immediately pounce at his target's waist in a big huge hug, but wiggly wagging only getting quicker. Thanks to his link with his SP, his surge of excitement and joy would also be more than enough to reach Yumi and warn her of something big happening, promtly telling the little bundle of dark blue fur to reunite with her navi partner to see what was going on.
The small little panther-wyvern hybrid had been created from a part of his own code with the help of Magistrate, forever linking him to her. If Magi was Yumi's mom and both Aya's/Suzume's sister, then Nighty would also need to be related to Magi and Suzume and Aya too. They were a nice big family. Yes yes. Made perfect logical sense to him.
The small little troublemaker was roaming around the tower today, taking the chance to explore while his Dad was away. He was slightly bored though. He wanted to spend more time with Drago, but he was always busy as of late. He hadn't seen him around in a good bit. While Yumi remained mostly calm and in their room most of the time, little Nighty was beginning to think something had happened to Drago.
Though it seemed he wouldn't need to worry for much longer, as he heard the familiar sound of familiar voices e hoing in the halls. He was back! EVERYONE WAS BACK!!!
Nighty quickly scurried over to where the sound was coming from, his paws tip tapping faintly against the hard floor, moving as fast as he could. He was already so excited to see them again that his tail behind him was already wagging furiosly.
The moment he would be able to round the corner and spot any of the four, the little predator would immediately pounce at his target's waist in a big huge hug, but wiggly wagging only getting quicker. Thanks to his link with his SP, his surge of excitement and joy would also be more than enough to reach Yumi and warn her of something big happening, promtly telling the little bundle of dark blue fur to reunite with her navi partner to see what was going on.
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Nightshade flew from one door to another, passing behind Magistrate on her computer desk, and entering the gymnasium in a blurred streak of dark blue fur. Rounding a corner, the streak bounded through the open doorway and latched itself to DragonierMan's waist. Drago was in mid stretch and stumbled forward a few steps at the sudden impact, before he stabilized. He looked down at the paws wrapped around him and smirked, "Hello Nightshade. What brings you around here today?"
Aya and Suzume looked up from their teaching of Lyntael to smile as well. "Great, our lil' bro is awake," Aya said with a teasing tone in her voice. "Hey Nighty, how're you doing? Is Yumi with you?" Suzume paused, stepping away from Lyntael, and crouching down to talk to Nightshade over Drago's hip.
"Meet Nightshade," Aya pointed out the small ball of fluff to Lyntael. "He was like you, a new recruit to the Neo-Shoguns, and he just sort of adopted us as his NET-Family. He is an affectionate little terror, but he means well. Hey, Nighty, come greet a new member of the Neo-Shoguns, Lyntael. I wouldn't suggest hugging her though, she might give you a shock."
Aya and Suzume looked up from their teaching of Lyntael to smile as well. "Great, our lil' bro is awake," Aya said with a teasing tone in her voice. "Hey Nighty, how're you doing? Is Yumi with you?" Suzume paused, stepping away from Lyntael, and crouching down to talk to Nightshade over Drago's hip.
"Meet Nightshade," Aya pointed out the small ball of fluff to Lyntael. "He was like you, a new recruit to the Neo-Shoguns, and he just sort of adopted us as his NET-Family. He is an affectionate little terror, but he means well. Hey, Nighty, come greet a new member of the Neo-Shoguns, Lyntael. I wouldn't suggest hugging her though, she might give you a shock."
last edited by Rogan
She kept her eyes closed as she focused on the goal, nodding silently to Drago's reassurance about the space; that much was a relief. As the setting changed around her, a smile crested her lips, and her thoughts drifted to the urge to just throw herself back onto the grass and relax instead... but now was not the time, and she kept her focus. It vanished from her senses again a moment later and she turned her head, opening her eyes briefly to glance at Drago before he left.
“Oh... could you leave the grass? I like the breeze. It's nice...” She gave him a small smile, then composed herself again, closing her eyes and returning to her focus.
Even so, Lyntael flinched slightly at the first touch of Suzume's hands. She relaxed after another second or two but, for the other woman, the touch was warm, with a very mild tingle to it even now. Lyntael took a long breath in and let it out again as she held a neutral pose and drew her charge up slowly, paying attention to its feel as her thoughts drifted.
“I don't really, no. This is my body, and whatever Rogan does to his PET, that's not me, or really a part of me, I don't think. I'm connected to it, usually, but that's all.” She drew another long breath as the hum built around her. It started to trace faint lines of dancing light beneath her skin, and dull glows started to form at her wrists and ankles. The feel of it was still smooth and calm, low compared to other times, but rather than drawing it up, now, she was simply letting it build on its own without needing to reach.
“I've been growing stronger, slowly. The charge I can manage, the strength of my abilities. The more I use them, the stronger they get. Sometimes, when I'm connected, I feel like there's some sort of pressure, or a barrier of some sort. Something creating a limit on me in some way, and then Rogan buys things for the PET, and fiddles with it, and the sensation lifts away again. When I'm not connected at all, I don't feel like that limit is even there at all. I don't really understand it.” Along with the quiet, passive-toned words, Lyntael's body remained relaxed and calm, but by this point the build of her charge had increased from gentle allowance to something she was actively trying to keep slow. Soon it reached the point where it strained for release, and she stilled her breathing.
“Here. Now it's at the point where I need to do something with it, soon. It needs to be released, or I need to diffuse it, or suppress it again. Right now, the charge is calm... but... when I release it, it will build back to this point quickly again, and it will be more aggressive... more forceful. It gets stronger and more violent the longer the charge and release cycle goes, until I burn out completely... but... right now, it's still calm. I've got to act on it soon though. What should I do?” She could feel the swell of it within her, pulsing and straining against her body in a way that made her feel warm and suffused with static, but as long as she was calm and focused, she could feel the majority of the charge gathered at her strikers, and in her chest, but very little, relatively speaking, elsewhere.
Visually, it didn't look like much to speak of right now; if either of the twins were looking on without assessing her at a deeper level, it was a subtle glow of energy, and very far removed from the random jolts and sudden crackling spikes or crashing waves they'd seen once or twice, earlier, when she'd been surprised or upset.
A few moments later, the sense of calmness was broken by sudden activity, and Lyntael's eyes snapped open as her head turned. The arrival of an unexpected navi took her by surprise and for a moment sparks from her built charge crackled and snapped in her hair. She relaxed again after a second and took in the newcomer. At a glance the boy was even shorter than her – a rarity, she had to begrudgingly admit – though only by a bare few centimetres, if she were to guess, and by the look of it he was much younger as well. He'd probably be outgrowing her too, by the time he was her age. Oh well. While the others greeted him, Lyntael stood up and smoothed down her skirt, brushing herself off and trailing towards him after Aya and Suzume. She waved, grinning at his obvious enthusiasm, but something in the introduction made her frown and she looked over to Aya with surprise.
“Wait... he's a shogunate recruit... but... he's just a boy...” The thought was out of her mouth before she really caught herself; they were net navis, and he might not really be a boy t all, after all. The thought was one she always had such a hard time reminding herself of. The idea that, to other people, she herself would probably still be seen as a young girl, never occurred to Lyntael in that particular moment. She was a young woman, not a little girl; important difference, in her own mind at least. She looked back to Nightshade.
“Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything. Hi! I'm Lyntael... Um, I'm just here to practice how to train some of my power. Nice to meet you.” He didn't seem like the sort to spend a lot of time around the gruffer, more serious dragonier and she tilted her head a little as she looked the boy over. “Do you spend a lot of time with Aya and Suzume? They were just telling me about how they have no hobbies at all, and how you should really help them find some!” She grinned, then cast a side eye to the twins and let one dancing green eye wink with mischief.
It was at that moment, however, that the background strain of holding her charge made itself a bit too determined to be put off any longer. With a short gasp, Lyntael skipped back a few steps, holding up a hand, palm out to try and keep others back. Sparks danced in her hair and made patterns across the surface of her skin, but for now she suppressed the energy with a forced expression, crushing it down inside her to a lower lever that gradually began to subside on its own. It was never a comfortable sensation doing it that way, rather than letting the pulses happen, and it showed, but for now she didn't want to shock the new arrival or anyone else. After a second she took a breath and straightened up from the hunch she'd unconsciously fallen into.
“Ah, sorry about that. Was in the middle of something. I have... trouble. I'm okay now, but, maybe just stay back a minute...?” She gave Nightshade and the others an apologetic smile and tried to shake out her shoulders again.
“Oh... could you leave the grass? I like the breeze. It's nice...” She gave him a small smile, then composed herself again, closing her eyes and returning to her focus.
Even so, Lyntael flinched slightly at the first touch of Suzume's hands. She relaxed after another second or two but, for the other woman, the touch was warm, with a very mild tingle to it even now. Lyntael took a long breath in and let it out again as she held a neutral pose and drew her charge up slowly, paying attention to its feel as her thoughts drifted.
“I don't really, no. This is my body, and whatever Rogan does to his PET, that's not me, or really a part of me, I don't think. I'm connected to it, usually, but that's all.” She drew another long breath as the hum built around her. It started to trace faint lines of dancing light beneath her skin, and dull glows started to form at her wrists and ankles. The feel of it was still smooth and calm, low compared to other times, but rather than drawing it up, now, she was simply letting it build on its own without needing to reach.
“I've been growing stronger, slowly. The charge I can manage, the strength of my abilities. The more I use them, the stronger they get. Sometimes, when I'm connected, I feel like there's some sort of pressure, or a barrier of some sort. Something creating a limit on me in some way, and then Rogan buys things for the PET, and fiddles with it, and the sensation lifts away again. When I'm not connected at all, I don't feel like that limit is even there at all. I don't really understand it.” Along with the quiet, passive-toned words, Lyntael's body remained relaxed and calm, but by this point the build of her charge had increased from gentle allowance to something she was actively trying to keep slow. Soon it reached the point where it strained for release, and she stilled her breathing.
“Here. Now it's at the point where I need to do something with it, soon. It needs to be released, or I need to diffuse it, or suppress it again. Right now, the charge is calm... but... when I release it, it will build back to this point quickly again, and it will be more aggressive... more forceful. It gets stronger and more violent the longer the charge and release cycle goes, until I burn out completely... but... right now, it's still calm. I've got to act on it soon though. What should I do?” She could feel the swell of it within her, pulsing and straining against her body in a way that made her feel warm and suffused with static, but as long as she was calm and focused, she could feel the majority of the charge gathered at her strikers, and in her chest, but very little, relatively speaking, elsewhere.
Visually, it didn't look like much to speak of right now; if either of the twins were looking on without assessing her at a deeper level, it was a subtle glow of energy, and very far removed from the random jolts and sudden crackling spikes or crashing waves they'd seen once or twice, earlier, when she'd been surprised or upset.
A few moments later, the sense of calmness was broken by sudden activity, and Lyntael's eyes snapped open as her head turned. The arrival of an unexpected navi took her by surprise and for a moment sparks from her built charge crackled and snapped in her hair. She relaxed again after a second and took in the newcomer. At a glance the boy was even shorter than her – a rarity, she had to begrudgingly admit – though only by a bare few centimetres, if she were to guess, and by the look of it he was much younger as well. He'd probably be outgrowing her too, by the time he was her age. Oh well. While the others greeted him, Lyntael stood up and smoothed down her skirt, brushing herself off and trailing towards him after Aya and Suzume. She waved, grinning at his obvious enthusiasm, but something in the introduction made her frown and she looked over to Aya with surprise.
“Wait... he's a shogunate recruit... but... he's just a boy...” The thought was out of her mouth before she really caught herself; they were net navis, and he might not really be a boy t all, after all. The thought was one she always had such a hard time reminding herself of. The idea that, to other people, she herself would probably still be seen as a young girl, never occurred to Lyntael in that particular moment. She was a young woman, not a little girl; important difference, in her own mind at least. She looked back to Nightshade.
“Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything. Hi! I'm Lyntael... Um, I'm just here to practice how to train some of my power. Nice to meet you.” He didn't seem like the sort to spend a lot of time around the gruffer, more serious dragonier and she tilted her head a little as she looked the boy over. “Do you spend a lot of time with Aya and Suzume? They were just telling me about how they have no hobbies at all, and how you should really help them find some!” She grinned, then cast a side eye to the twins and let one dancing green eye wink with mischief.
It was at that moment, however, that the background strain of holding her charge made itself a bit too determined to be put off any longer. With a short gasp, Lyntael skipped back a few steps, holding up a hand, palm out to try and keep others back. Sparks danced in her hair and made patterns across the surface of her skin, but for now she suppressed the energy with a forced expression, crushing it down inside her to a lower lever that gradually began to subside on its own. It was never a comfortable sensation doing it that way, rather than letting the pulses happen, and it showed, but for now she didn't want to shock the new arrival or anyone else. After a second she took a breath and straightened up from the hunch she'd unconsciously fallen into.
“Ah, sorry about that. Was in the middle of something. I have... trouble. I'm okay now, but, maybe just stay back a minute...?” She gave Nightshade and the others an apologetic smile and tried to shake out her shoulders again.
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Nightshade bounced up and down up and down happily hogging Drago's attention for the tike being. That was until Suzumed doomed herself by kneeling to his position. The little black kitten of a navi pounced on his prey and turned his hugging attention to the bubbly SP. Suzume's embrace was something he was quite fond of, if not the thing he was most fond of out of anything else. Well, Aya's recognitions and approval of his strenght on the battlefield was another.
"BIG SIS I MISSED YOU!!!" He squealed, burying his face into Suzume's neck., all the while butt wiggling frantically to the point one would consider the thought he'd rather be fashioned more as a canine over a feline. His little hops and other movements though held that finesse and precision only felines demonstrated.
Easing back up, little Nighty would answer his sister's plight. "Yumi is with me usually, but I can feel her excited through our bond...which means she is probably visiting Magistrate and from the looks of it she'll be staying with her for a while."
He was about to resume his cuddles when Aya called him and introduced him to someone he had seen nowhere before. Sticking his head to the side, the young cat like navigator blinked twice as she took in her petite form. She was...quite beautiful. Had he not a mask over his mouth and cheeks, he would have probably been caught blushing ever so slightly.
"H-hi...I'm Nightshade. Nice to meet you!" He chirped over from his position. She was a new shogunate member then? Oh...lrobably a colleague of Drago. For a moment there he thought she was his brand new little sister.
While he did want to hug her too, Aya's words had him remain within the safety of Suzume's embrace. If there was something to be said about it it was that he took Aya's words very seriously and without question. Having fought both together and as one, his bond with her was almost as deep rooted as the one with Yumi. Be trusted her blindly with his life.
It was a good thing he did, as it seemed that Lyn-girl was having troubles controlling her powers. Though they looked similar to his...somewhat.
"Uh. Her energy seems very familiar..." he mumbled.
"BIG SIS I MISSED YOU!!!" He squealed, burying his face into Suzume's neck., all the while butt wiggling frantically to the point one would consider the thought he'd rather be fashioned more as a canine over a feline. His little hops and other movements though held that finesse and precision only felines demonstrated.
Easing back up, little Nighty would answer his sister's plight. "Yumi is with me usually, but I can feel her excited through our bond...which means she is probably visiting Magistrate and from the looks of it she'll be staying with her for a while."
He was about to resume his cuddles when Aya called him and introduced him to someone he had seen nowhere before. Sticking his head to the side, the young cat like navigator blinked twice as she took in her petite form. She was...quite beautiful. Had he not a mask over his mouth and cheeks, he would have probably been caught blushing ever so slightly.
"H-hi...I'm Nightshade. Nice to meet you!" He chirped over from his position. She was a new shogunate member then? Oh...lrobably a colleague of Drago. For a moment there he thought she was his brand new little sister.
While he did want to hug her too, Aya's words had him remain within the safety of Suzume's embrace. If there was something to be said about it it was that he took Aya's words very seriously and without question. Having fought both together and as one, his bond with her was almost as deep rooted as the one with Yumi. Be trusted her blindly with his life.
It was a good thing he did, as it seemed that Lyn-girl was having troubles controlling her powers. Though they looked similar to his...somewhat.
"Uh. Her energy seems very familiar..." he mumbled.
last edited by Azureink
"Oh, of course. One moment," DragonierMan replied to Lyntael's request to return the grassy lawn. He opened up the controls again and pressed the Grass Terrain button. Once more the wooden floor transformed into a field of soft emerald green. The ceiling opened up into a sunny azure-blue sky, radiating warmth and a light cool breeze, one that ruffled the verdant sea. Aya shaded her face with her hand as her eyes adjusted to the light of the glowing golden sun overhead. "Ugh, I can never get used to rapidly changing light sources," she grumbled.
"A limit?" Suzume asked Lyntael after listening to her go on about her connection to Rogan's PET. "I wonder if that connection that weighs heavily on you is the Ejection Protocols. You did say that you feel freer without the link, but when you travel outside the link's range you suffer bodily strain. Perhaps the PET is dampening the harm done to your body. And it is something you feel as physical pressure," she speculated.
As Lyn continued to describe how she felt and how her charge system felt as she used it, the twins frowned. "But wait... Why would the charge, when released, build up faster and more powerfully? Why does it keep doing that until you damage yourself? Can you not stop its progress? Shouldn't it stop generating after it is released and you don't activate it again? How are you still alive?" Suzume asked through a barrage of questions, before Nightshade entered the picture.
Nighty paws wrapped around Suzu's neck in a hug as she bent down to the feline's level. She in return wrapped her own arms around Nighty's back and patted him in that same hug. "Well I missed you too," Suzu replied back. Nighty then introduced himself to Lyn over Suzu's shoulder. A little chit-chat passed between them as Aya watched from her position as Lyn began to strain against her own powers. Suzu stood back up again from her hug as sparks began to crackle and pop behind her from Lyn's position.
Suzume turned back towards Lyntael to see the struggle the girl had to clamp down on her building charge. Suzu made sure to form a barrier between Nighty and Lyn so as to protect the former from the latter. Nighty made a comment about Lyn's familiar energy, as she choked down her own power with a pained expression. Aya stood up from her own position and frowned. "Ugh... Control, control, you must learn control. Regardless of whatever distractions are going around here, you need to fo-cus," she enunciated.
"Look here, one moment," she said before turning around and opening a big burlap sack. She rooted around in the sack for a moment before producing a long silver-metal staff with a golden bulb at one end. The other end was a sharpened stake that she drove into the grassy ground between her and Lyntael. "Okay, so, any time you feel like you are about to lose control of the charge, you touch this lightning rod. You send everything into it, okay? I want you to fully drain yourself whenever you are about to pop-off."
Aya pointed her index and middle finger at her own eyes, then at Lyntael's, and back at her own eyes. "Look. At. Me. Alright? Now, do that again: build up your charge steadily. Build it out throughout your whole body like before," she commanded. "You said it was going to come back stronger and faster than before right? Well you don't let it, okay? You force it to build up just as slow as before. If you have to expel the excess charge through this lightning rod so that you get the same steady rate, you do that, okay? But you CONTROL that. Don't let it control you."
Suzume turned back to Nightshade as Aya took control of the lesson from her. "Her energy seems familiar Nighty? What about it seems familiar?" she asked her adoptive little brother.
Meanwhile, Aya continued to instruct Lyn on her training. "Okay, so after the charge is flowing throughout your body at a steady rate, you are going to hold it there as long as you can. Again, if you need to bleed off excess charge, you grab a hold of this lightning rod. If you have to constantly expel your energy down this rod into the ground, then that is what you are going to do. But I don't want you to stop keeping a steady charge throughout your entire body. You need to be able to control your feed - your ebb and flow - if you ever truly wish to master this power of yours."
From Nightshade's description of what Yumi was up to, she was probably walking into the lobby where Magistrate was busy watching her computer screen, fussing with various vid-windows and muttering to herself angrily. "Once again my genius is not appreciated by yet another person who does not have the wherewithal to do what is necessary. As if training alone would be enough to deal with the numerous flaws that the creator cursed that poor girl. Well whatever, I gave her a chance at a more normal life and she refused my good graces. If she wants to suffer, who am I to stop her?"
Magistrate did not hear Yumi come into the room.
"A limit?" Suzume asked Lyntael after listening to her go on about her connection to Rogan's PET. "I wonder if that connection that weighs heavily on you is the Ejection Protocols. You did say that you feel freer without the link, but when you travel outside the link's range you suffer bodily strain. Perhaps the PET is dampening the harm done to your body. And it is something you feel as physical pressure," she speculated.
As Lyn continued to describe how she felt and how her charge system felt as she used it, the twins frowned. "But wait... Why would the charge, when released, build up faster and more powerfully? Why does it keep doing that until you damage yourself? Can you not stop its progress? Shouldn't it stop generating after it is released and you don't activate it again? How are you still alive?" Suzume asked through a barrage of questions, before Nightshade entered the picture.
Nighty paws wrapped around Suzu's neck in a hug as she bent down to the feline's level. She in return wrapped her own arms around Nighty's back and patted him in that same hug. "Well I missed you too," Suzu replied back. Nighty then introduced himself to Lyn over Suzu's shoulder. A little chit-chat passed between them as Aya watched from her position as Lyn began to strain against her own powers. Suzu stood back up again from her hug as sparks began to crackle and pop behind her from Lyn's position.
Suzume turned back towards Lyntael to see the struggle the girl had to clamp down on her building charge. Suzu made sure to form a barrier between Nighty and Lyn so as to protect the former from the latter. Nighty made a comment about Lyn's familiar energy, as she choked down her own power with a pained expression. Aya stood up from her own position and frowned. "Ugh... Control, control, you must learn control. Regardless of whatever distractions are going around here, you need to fo-cus," she enunciated.
"Look here, one moment," she said before turning around and opening a big burlap sack. She rooted around in the sack for a moment before producing a long silver-metal staff with a golden bulb at one end. The other end was a sharpened stake that she drove into the grassy ground between her and Lyntael. "Okay, so, any time you feel like you are about to lose control of the charge, you touch this lightning rod. You send everything into it, okay? I want you to fully drain yourself whenever you are about to pop-off."
Aya pointed her index and middle finger at her own eyes, then at Lyntael's, and back at her own eyes. "Look. At. Me. Alright? Now, do that again: build up your charge steadily. Build it out throughout your whole body like before," she commanded. "You said it was going to come back stronger and faster than before right? Well you don't let it, okay? You force it to build up just as slow as before. If you have to expel the excess charge through this lightning rod so that you get the same steady rate, you do that, okay? But you CONTROL that. Don't let it control you."
Suzume turned back to Nightshade as Aya took control of the lesson from her. "Her energy seems familiar Nighty? What about it seems familiar?" she asked her adoptive little brother.
Meanwhile, Aya continued to instruct Lyn on her training. "Okay, so after the charge is flowing throughout your body at a steady rate, you are going to hold it there as long as you can. Again, if you need to bleed off excess charge, you grab a hold of this lightning rod. If you have to constantly expel your energy down this rod into the ground, then that is what you are going to do. But I don't want you to stop keeping a steady charge throughout your entire body. You need to be able to control your feed - your ebb and flow - if you ever truly wish to master this power of yours."
From Nightshade's description of what Yumi was up to, she was probably walking into the lobby where Magistrate was busy watching her computer screen, fussing with various vid-windows and muttering to herself angrily. "Once again my genius is not appreciated by yet another person who does not have the wherewithal to do what is necessary. As if training alone would be enough to deal with the numerous flaws that the creator cursed that poor girl. Well whatever, I gave her a chance at a more normal life and she refused my good graces. If she wants to suffer, who am I to stop her?"
Magistrate did not hear Yumi come into the room.
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Part way through meeting the newest arrival to the scene, Lyntael found herself suppressing not just the lingering pressure of her built charge, but also the urge to frown in mild irritation as Aya started to berate her like some sort of undisciplined child. She caught herself wondering if the other girl was just running on an instructor's script of some sort, and hadn't actually listened or didn't understand... What exactly did she think was out of control? She hadn't let a single spark escape her body at all, despite stopping the stabilising pulse... if Aya thought any of this was a loss of control, she'd probably be horrified if she actually saw anything of note happen. As she continued, it struck just how much Aya's 'instruction' sounded just like Rogan, and the sorts of things he might say. She was just so tired of being condescended at by people who had no idea. 'That thing that causes you pain; how about you just don't have that happen!' Great advice! How had she never thought of that? Her brow had furrowed slightly and one eyebrow twitched down before she smoothed it, eyes closed for a moment, and took a breath. When she looked up, it was to face Nightshade instead, with a smile.
“Nightshade... I have to say, the name and the dress sense make the... cuddling seem a bit unexpected...” Here, she let herself grin and giggle for his sake, lifting one hand to her mouth and casting her eyes down briefly before glancing back up. “So, what do you do in the Neo-shogunate? DragonierMan, Suzume and Aya were all telling me before about how they're warriors and fighters, and they've been caught up doing so many diplomatic missions lately... What sort of things do you do for them?” Her head tilted slightly as she asked the question; hearing another perspective on the shogunate, from someone who didn't look quite like the front-line fighter type, would be interesting, especially if he had only been working with them for a short while. She was more interested in having this conversation for the immediate moment, and focused first on Nightshade's answers; Aya could wait.
Once she'd given the young boy her full attention for a while, she shrugged and let herself drop back to the grass and sit, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands.
“I'm mostly hoping to do some of those safer, more social types of assignments... I'm not really a fighter, but...” Here she sat up straight again with a sigh and fixed her posture, crossing her legs and bring her hands together in front of her. “I can't exactly hope to do that kind of thing well if I go sparking up or shocking people whenever something scares or startles me, can I? So...” Now, at last, she turned her attention back to the twins.
“I think I might not have explained it properly before... and I just have my experience, and what you both heard Magistrate explaining, but something about the way the energy flows when I release it directly causes feedback that fuels the build-up of the next charge cycle... it's just what happens; I can't just tell it not to... I mean...” here, her eyes cut to Aya for a brief moment. “You could go run a few laps around this training area, until you're good and out of breath... and then when you come back, you'll feel your heart beating much faster than normal... but I guess you can just tell it not to, right? You just 'don't let it' beat that quickly, and just tell it to beat at the same slower pace it does at other times. Let me know how that goes, and then tell me how you do it, because I can't.”
She cast her gave up towards the sky and forced herself to relax again, speaking upwards rather than directing it at Aya specifically.
“Sorry. You're trying to help, I know... but I'm not a child, Aya. I'm focused, I'm just alert to the fact that an unknown male entered the room when I'm visiting an unfamiliar place and thought that we were the only ones here; I'm a little bit sensitive to that; I was brutalised to the verge of death and nearly...” Her eyes flicked to Nightshade and she bit back the 'r' word without saying it, giving the twins an uncomfortable shrug instead. “You know... it was only a couple of months ago, and I'm still dealing with that. So yes, I'll notice that, even when it's someone as entirely cute and clearly harmless as Nightshade here... and Nightshade, I promise it's not your fault or anything to do with you, my reaction.” She paused, turning her gaze down from the sky to throw an apologetic look and a small smile towards Nighty, before closing her eyes and looking up again. “Actually, I think that's the first time I've ever articulated it as bluntly as that without stumbling over my words or growing... timid. I think that's progress in itself, even if it's because I'm annoyed.” After another moment, she shook her head and rolled her shoulders, then reached up to rub her neck, looking properly at Aya. That had been a bit harsh... and she felt a small flicker of surprise that she'd even had the determination to speak that way to her new friend in the first place.
“Sorry... It's just you sounded just like him there for a moment, and I'm just... just so tired of that. Let's start again... Like Magistrate said, if I expend energy directly, through my strikers, or in large bursts, all at once, the expenditure feeds both ways, and makes the next build up faster, and rougher on me... that's the strain, and that's just always, whether I'm connected or not.” She looked across to Suzume as she resettled her pose. “You were asking... I don't understand what changes when I'm disconnected or not, but it's been growing stronger over time; the amount of charge I can handle before it hurts me, mainly, but also the, ah... the abilities that seem to happen, as well. Sometimes it feels like it can't grow any more, and there's that odd internal pressure, until Rogan does things with the PET... but if I'm feeling that pressure, and I slip away... out like this, I never feel that. I feel like whatever parts of me are still growing just... could. That's all. I don't really understand any better than that... but... Yes, I can balance it out, sort of...” She glanced across to where Aya had set up a lightning rod to diffuse energy and looked between it and the twins.
“Draining myself down from a full charge like that, all at once, is exactly what makes it worse.... but my body does this thing, where it's a small pulse that doesn't flow from my strikers, and that pulls off a small amount of charge without triggering the build up. I guess I've sort of been thinking of it like a stabilising pulse... That's what I was suppressing before, because I was trying not to send sparks all over everyone... though...” She eyed the lightning rod again. “I could try seeing if that would let the stabilising pulses flow more easily, or if it would draw them away without sending lightning all over the place... I could try that... just maybe stand back a little in case it doesn't work?” Lyntael wasn't sure herself, but it seemed like something they could definitely try. She stood, unfolding from her seated positioning in a single smooth motion and stretched before approaching the rod tentatively and glancing towards Aya for confirmation. Reaching for the warm glow of her charge again was simple enough and she drew it up again, flexing her fingers every few moments with a mildly nervous anticipation.
“Hey, Nightshade... You said familiar...” Looking to the young by, she glanced to Suzume as well for a brief moment, following up the other woman's question. “You mean, you have electricity too, like me and Aurora? How does it feel for you? What's it like?” At this stage, she'd welcome any insights she could get, truthfully, and there was little else to do but chat while Aya tested her. Within a few more seconds her body reached the point of the charge wanting to go somewhere and she looked at Aya, still curling her hands and flexing them.
“Okay, first limit again. It's calm like this, really. This is a long way from where it gets painful for me, or even uncomfortable... but there is a tension.” As she spoke, small cracks jumped back and forth in her hair occasionally, but otherwise there was no particular outward sign, save for a soft glow at her wrists and ankles. She held onto it like Aya had suggested, but the sensation of need advanced; if she didn't expend the charge, the pulse would begin negating it instead, that much she knew. Cautiously, she reached out both hands, and touched her wrists to the sphere at the end of the rod, closing her eyes so she could focus on the feeling and how she could respond to it. Soon enough, the sensation reached a point that she couldn't help but react to and she cautiously let the normal pulse flow.
Instead of the usual cascade of sparks around her, she felt what would have started as the warm, all-over sensation of energy running off her body race away from the surface of her skin and down towards her wrist strikers instead, pulled out and away by the rod. She smiled at first, but a moment later Lyntael's eyes flicked open again suddenly wider. The pulse had done nothing to settle the press of her charge and before she could react, she felt the rest of the gathered build up shift in response, cycling in from each of her strikers and dashing down to the orb at her wrists in a secondary and much more complete discharge.
“Ah! Hey, that's not-!” Immediately, she felt the drained sensation, followed by the familiar, more vigorous rebuild beginning even as a second stabilising pulse started, but was pulled away by the direct connection she was holding, without quelling the building rush. “Ngh... That's... That's no good! It's... It's not...” On instinct, she tried to pull her hands back from the sphere, but the flow of energy held her for a moment before she managed to wrench her hands away, catching her breath. She backed off holding her hands up to the rest again; her charge was eager to rebuild after the first expend, but she pushed it away; something calmer, safer. After a moment of focus, the more stable inner swell answered, expanding out in an even shell of energy that drew off the more erratic energy and stabilised evenly as it passed by her strikers. The barrier faded from sight a second or two after it finished forming and she looked up with a sheepish expression.
“So, ah... that was new...?” She looked at the rod again and tried to analyse what had happened. There was a scent like ozone, and the rod itself had a faint heat glow to it. “Um... I think having something like that... right there, all conductive and touching my strikers... maybe I think that stopped the pulses that normally help me even out, from doing that. Umm... lesson learned? I guess?” Nothing ever could be straight forward with this, a cynical part of her mind murmured, but she pushed the thought away. “I guess at least it's still a good idea to have something like that for taking any actual expends anyway, right? I can try again, if you want... but if I can't stabilise while I'm touching the rod, I don't know how long I'll be able to hold off from full expends happening instead.” She looked to each of her companions with an uncertain wince of a smile. "I get what you're aiming for Aya, I do... but I can tell you where it ends. If I maintain my charge at full and hold it as long as I can, and discharge it when I feel like I have to, and then hold the build up again, like that... The limit when I need to expend will get closer and closer together, and more potent and violent, and then I'll burn out or pass out... I don't want to do that, it hurts, but I'll show you, if it'll help you understand better." She shrugged and rubbed at her neck. They really were just trying to help, she knew that. Maybe she should stop arguing with them and just do as they said; either they'd learn something new or they'd understand what she was working with better. It might hurt, but at least it would probably mean some more progress.
“Nightshade... I have to say, the name and the dress sense make the... cuddling seem a bit unexpected...” Here, she let herself grin and giggle for his sake, lifting one hand to her mouth and casting her eyes down briefly before glancing back up. “So, what do you do in the Neo-shogunate? DragonierMan, Suzume and Aya were all telling me before about how they're warriors and fighters, and they've been caught up doing so many diplomatic missions lately... What sort of things do you do for them?” Her head tilted slightly as she asked the question; hearing another perspective on the shogunate, from someone who didn't look quite like the front-line fighter type, would be interesting, especially if he had only been working with them for a short while. She was more interested in having this conversation for the immediate moment, and focused first on Nightshade's answers; Aya could wait.
Once she'd given the young boy her full attention for a while, she shrugged and let herself drop back to the grass and sit, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands.
“I'm mostly hoping to do some of those safer, more social types of assignments... I'm not really a fighter, but...” Here she sat up straight again with a sigh and fixed her posture, crossing her legs and bring her hands together in front of her. “I can't exactly hope to do that kind of thing well if I go sparking up or shocking people whenever something scares or startles me, can I? So...” Now, at last, she turned her attention back to the twins.
“I think I might not have explained it properly before... and I just have my experience, and what you both heard Magistrate explaining, but something about the way the energy flows when I release it directly causes feedback that fuels the build-up of the next charge cycle... it's just what happens; I can't just tell it not to... I mean...” here, her eyes cut to Aya for a brief moment. “You could go run a few laps around this training area, until you're good and out of breath... and then when you come back, you'll feel your heart beating much faster than normal... but I guess you can just tell it not to, right? You just 'don't let it' beat that quickly, and just tell it to beat at the same slower pace it does at other times. Let me know how that goes, and then tell me how you do it, because I can't.”
She cast her gave up towards the sky and forced herself to relax again, speaking upwards rather than directing it at Aya specifically.
“Sorry. You're trying to help, I know... but I'm not a child, Aya. I'm focused, I'm just alert to the fact that an unknown male entered the room when I'm visiting an unfamiliar place and thought that we were the only ones here; I'm a little bit sensitive to that; I was brutalised to the verge of death and nearly...” Her eyes flicked to Nightshade and she bit back the 'r' word without saying it, giving the twins an uncomfortable shrug instead. “You know... it was only a couple of months ago, and I'm still dealing with that. So yes, I'll notice that, even when it's someone as entirely cute and clearly harmless as Nightshade here... and Nightshade, I promise it's not your fault or anything to do with you, my reaction.” She paused, turning her gaze down from the sky to throw an apologetic look and a small smile towards Nighty, before closing her eyes and looking up again. “Actually, I think that's the first time I've ever articulated it as bluntly as that without stumbling over my words or growing... timid. I think that's progress in itself, even if it's because I'm annoyed.” After another moment, she shook her head and rolled her shoulders, then reached up to rub her neck, looking properly at Aya. That had been a bit harsh... and she felt a small flicker of surprise that she'd even had the determination to speak that way to her new friend in the first place.
“Sorry... It's just you sounded just like him there for a moment, and I'm just... just so tired of that. Let's start again... Like Magistrate said, if I expend energy directly, through my strikers, or in large bursts, all at once, the expenditure feeds both ways, and makes the next build up faster, and rougher on me... that's the strain, and that's just always, whether I'm connected or not.” She looked across to Suzume as she resettled her pose. “You were asking... I don't understand what changes when I'm disconnected or not, but it's been growing stronger over time; the amount of charge I can handle before it hurts me, mainly, but also the, ah... the abilities that seem to happen, as well. Sometimes it feels like it can't grow any more, and there's that odd internal pressure, until Rogan does things with the PET... but if I'm feeling that pressure, and I slip away... out like this, I never feel that. I feel like whatever parts of me are still growing just... could. That's all. I don't really understand any better than that... but... Yes, I can balance it out, sort of...” She glanced across to where Aya had set up a lightning rod to diffuse energy and looked between it and the twins.
“Draining myself down from a full charge like that, all at once, is exactly what makes it worse.... but my body does this thing, where it's a small pulse that doesn't flow from my strikers, and that pulls off a small amount of charge without triggering the build up. I guess I've sort of been thinking of it like a stabilising pulse... That's what I was suppressing before, because I was trying not to send sparks all over everyone... though...” She eyed the lightning rod again. “I could try seeing if that would let the stabilising pulses flow more easily, or if it would draw them away without sending lightning all over the place... I could try that... just maybe stand back a little in case it doesn't work?” Lyntael wasn't sure herself, but it seemed like something they could definitely try. She stood, unfolding from her seated positioning in a single smooth motion and stretched before approaching the rod tentatively and glancing towards Aya for confirmation. Reaching for the warm glow of her charge again was simple enough and she drew it up again, flexing her fingers every few moments with a mildly nervous anticipation.
“Hey, Nightshade... You said familiar...” Looking to the young by, she glanced to Suzume as well for a brief moment, following up the other woman's question. “You mean, you have electricity too, like me and Aurora? How does it feel for you? What's it like?” At this stage, she'd welcome any insights she could get, truthfully, and there was little else to do but chat while Aya tested her. Within a few more seconds her body reached the point of the charge wanting to go somewhere and she looked at Aya, still curling her hands and flexing them.
“Okay, first limit again. It's calm like this, really. This is a long way from where it gets painful for me, or even uncomfortable... but there is a tension.” As she spoke, small cracks jumped back and forth in her hair occasionally, but otherwise there was no particular outward sign, save for a soft glow at her wrists and ankles. She held onto it like Aya had suggested, but the sensation of need advanced; if she didn't expend the charge, the pulse would begin negating it instead, that much she knew. Cautiously, she reached out both hands, and touched her wrists to the sphere at the end of the rod, closing her eyes so she could focus on the feeling and how she could respond to it. Soon enough, the sensation reached a point that she couldn't help but react to and she cautiously let the normal pulse flow.
Instead of the usual cascade of sparks around her, she felt what would have started as the warm, all-over sensation of energy running off her body race away from the surface of her skin and down towards her wrist strikers instead, pulled out and away by the rod. She smiled at first, but a moment later Lyntael's eyes flicked open again suddenly wider. The pulse had done nothing to settle the press of her charge and before she could react, she felt the rest of the gathered build up shift in response, cycling in from each of her strikers and dashing down to the orb at her wrists in a secondary and much more complete discharge.
“Ah! Hey, that's not-!” Immediately, she felt the drained sensation, followed by the familiar, more vigorous rebuild beginning even as a second stabilising pulse started, but was pulled away by the direct connection she was holding, without quelling the building rush. “Ngh... That's... That's no good! It's... It's not...” On instinct, she tried to pull her hands back from the sphere, but the flow of energy held her for a moment before she managed to wrench her hands away, catching her breath. She backed off holding her hands up to the rest again; her charge was eager to rebuild after the first expend, but she pushed it away; something calmer, safer. After a moment of focus, the more stable inner swell answered, expanding out in an even shell of energy that drew off the more erratic energy and stabilised evenly as it passed by her strikers. The barrier faded from sight a second or two after it finished forming and she looked up with a sheepish expression.
“So, ah... that was new...?” She looked at the rod again and tried to analyse what had happened. There was a scent like ozone, and the rod itself had a faint heat glow to it. “Um... I think having something like that... right there, all conductive and touching my strikers... maybe I think that stopped the pulses that normally help me even out, from doing that. Umm... lesson learned? I guess?” Nothing ever could be straight forward with this, a cynical part of her mind murmured, but she pushed the thought away. “I guess at least it's still a good idea to have something like that for taking any actual expends anyway, right? I can try again, if you want... but if I can't stabilise while I'm touching the rod, I don't know how long I'll be able to hold off from full expends happening instead.” She looked to each of her companions with an uncertain wince of a smile. "I get what you're aiming for Aya, I do... but I can tell you where it ends. If I maintain my charge at full and hold it as long as I can, and discharge it when I feel like I have to, and then hold the build up again, like that... The limit when I need to expend will get closer and closer together, and more potent and violent, and then I'll burn out or pass out... I don't want to do that, it hurts, but I'll show you, if it'll help you understand better." She shrugged and rubbed at her neck. They really were just trying to help, she knew that. Maybe she should stop arguing with them and just do as they said; either they'd learn something new or they'd understand what she was working with better. It might hurt, but at least it would probably mean some more progress.
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"Who me?" Nightshade said, pointing at himself with his paw. Now that was something weird to ask of him out of everything else she could have asked him. The young little cat simply pointed at Suzume and then at Aya, still wagging his tail at the reunion. "Well, I help big sis Aya and big sis Suzu with stuff." He would reply. When it came to shogunate matters, he was basically supporting the dragoniers with their things. "I'm a dragonieer too you know!" He would quip soon after, lest the new girl didn't think he was as cool as he was. To show such, he would strike a pretty spot on copy of Aya's battle stance, thus triggering his DragonierCross. It would take but a moment for his own shadow to wrap around his own body and shrowd him in dark colored wyrm inspired armor. Aya's armor...or at the very least, her old armor she had given him.
Hopping left and right for a moment, he made well sure to give the new girl in town an exhaustive look at his garments. He was infinitely proud of them afterall. Though with that done, he would be content to hop back in his usual cat inspired suit and pretty much resume his nagging for cuddles with Suzume. It would be at that moment that his big sis and Lyntael would go on a tangent and start saying alot of things he quite didn't understand. He sounds like him, she something guy in room what?
The cat navi tilted his head to the side, ears flicking about. "Uh? Why are you..." He mumbled confused. Was this why she was here? He thought she was going to train with Aya by the looks of it...?
Either way, he wouldn't have any time to wonder on that weirdness when his other comment elicited a response from both big sis Suzu and the new girl both. He didn't think he was doing anything weird. "...what? You guys don't see it?" Nighty chimed, looking between the ladies and then back at his shining beacon of hope, trust and all the other great things. Thankfully, Lyntael seemed to understand what he was talking about...or at least a part of it. "Your energy. It's like mine yeah. Aya's energy is suuuuuper dark and brooding and edgy but yours is all jittery and spry just like mine." He explained, or at least tried to. "Though...yours is all over the place. Like...it's all jumbled up and stuff. I can feel it bounce around you like crazy. From here it almost looks like you suck at using it, thought the attack you did earlier was like, OMEGA COOL so maybe you're just weird." He would conclude with a nod.
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Meanwhile, Yumi would prowl closer to her mom without a sound and quietly sit beside her, making sure to not disturb any of her super duper mega important stuff she was always doing. As much as she wished for consideration, she had been educated to act quite noble like and well mannered by the eldest dragonieer sister.
Hopping left and right for a moment, he made well sure to give the new girl in town an exhaustive look at his garments. He was infinitely proud of them afterall. Though with that done, he would be content to hop back in his usual cat inspired suit and pretty much resume his nagging for cuddles with Suzume. It would be at that moment that his big sis and Lyntael would go on a tangent and start saying alot of things he quite didn't understand. He sounds like him, she something guy in room what?
The cat navi tilted his head to the side, ears flicking about. "Uh? Why are you..." He mumbled confused. Was this why she was here? He thought she was going to train with Aya by the looks of it...?
Either way, he wouldn't have any time to wonder on that weirdness when his other comment elicited a response from both big sis Suzu and the new girl both. He didn't think he was doing anything weird. "...what? You guys don't see it?" Nighty chimed, looking between the ladies and then back at his shining beacon of hope, trust and all the other great things. Thankfully, Lyntael seemed to understand what he was talking about...or at least a part of it. "Your energy. It's like mine yeah. Aya's energy is suuuuuper dark and brooding and edgy but yours is all jittery and spry just like mine." He explained, or at least tried to. "Though...yours is all over the place. Like...it's all jumbled up and stuff. I can feel it bounce around you like crazy. From here it almost looks like you suck at using it, thought the attack you did earlier was like, OMEGA COOL so maybe you're just weird." He would conclude with a nod.
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Meanwhile, Yumi would prowl closer to her mom without a sound and quietly sit beside her, making sure to not disturb any of her super duper mega important stuff she was always doing. As much as she wished for consideration, she had been educated to act quite noble like and well mannered by the eldest dragonieer sister.
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Magistrate continued to do a lot of administrative tasks on her computer system while Yumi padded into the room. She didn't even seem to look up or acknowledge the smaller dragon as Yumi quietly sat down beside her. However, after a few minutes of silence punctuated by loud typing, Magistrate reached over and patted Yumi on the head with one hand. Stroking her hair and fur with the kindness of a mother. Magi's other hand continued to type along. Her eyes never leaving the screens.
After Nightshade showed his best impression of Aya to Lyntael, and he reverted back into his original form, his body language bid Suzume to hug him more. Suzume was inexorably drawn to give more cuddles to the smaller, soft-furred creature. Her arms wrapped around and pulled him into a strong embrace. It was warm and inviting. And the hugs lasted for minutes on end.
Aya listened to Lyntael as Suzume snuggled. Listened as Lyn explained her body processes and state of mind. Aya was also a little taken aback by Lyn's rebuff to her, but gleaned a good deal of critical information from it. Aya's eyes widened as the wheels in her mind were visibly turning. She then began to pace as she speaks, "Aha! Okay so... clearly we are coming at this from the wrong angle," she says, brushing most of what Lyn was trying to apologize for aside. It didn't seem like she needed Lyn's apology to forgive her snap. Aya seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeves more than the others, but was just as fast to move on.
"Yes, yes, we know that you are easily distracted and frightened. You have a good reason to be. Good reason. For now at least. Soon you will be stronger yes? Yes. But first to your problem," Aya babbled.
"We thought that we should build up your power. Strengthen your control. But no, that was the wrong way to think about it. What we really need to do is the opposite of what we have been doing up until now," she continued, her voice chirping more excitedly as she seemed to have thought up a revelation. "We train you to constantly expel your charge in small doses. Yes? Yes! Keep the ejections small. Keep the re-build small."
"As long as you keep a small bit of current in you all the time, while you emit the rest in small doses, the charge won't try to refill. The vessel remains partially full. Constant repeaters... That is the ticket!" Aya exclaimed as she jumped for joy.
Aya was quick to catch herself after a moment and brush down her clothes. She coughed into her hand as she calmed down. "Ahem. So hopefully this causes your 'stabilized pulses' thing to activate more often. Try to focus on them if you feel them. Try to sus them out. If you can somehow control that system inside you, then it will help you a lot."
"In the meantime, I will need you to try to hold a medium amount of charge in you. Not too much as to hurt you and not too little as to cause the feedback loop to build up even worse. And while you do that, you will need to consistantly expel small amounts of your charge into that lightning rod. Now remember: you must not expel enough to lower your overall charge level that much, but just enough to keep up with the building pressure. Just as long as you don't let it increase or decrease too much, you should be fine."
After Nightshade showed his best impression of Aya to Lyntael, and he reverted back into his original form, his body language bid Suzume to hug him more. Suzume was inexorably drawn to give more cuddles to the smaller, soft-furred creature. Her arms wrapped around and pulled him into a strong embrace. It was warm and inviting. And the hugs lasted for minutes on end.
Aya listened to Lyntael as Suzume snuggled. Listened as Lyn explained her body processes and state of mind. Aya was also a little taken aback by Lyn's rebuff to her, but gleaned a good deal of critical information from it. Aya's eyes widened as the wheels in her mind were visibly turning. She then began to pace as she speaks, "Aha! Okay so... clearly we are coming at this from the wrong angle," she says, brushing most of what Lyn was trying to apologize for aside. It didn't seem like she needed Lyn's apology to forgive her snap. Aya seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeves more than the others, but was just as fast to move on.
"Yes, yes, we know that you are easily distracted and frightened. You have a good reason to be. Good reason. For now at least. Soon you will be stronger yes? Yes. But first to your problem," Aya babbled.
"We thought that we should build up your power. Strengthen your control. But no, that was the wrong way to think about it. What we really need to do is the opposite of what we have been doing up until now," she continued, her voice chirping more excitedly as she seemed to have thought up a revelation. "We train you to constantly expel your charge in small doses. Yes? Yes! Keep the ejections small. Keep the re-build small."
"As long as you keep a small bit of current in you all the time, while you emit the rest in small doses, the charge won't try to refill. The vessel remains partially full. Constant repeaters... That is the ticket!" Aya exclaimed as she jumped for joy.
Aya was quick to catch herself after a moment and brush down her clothes. She coughed into her hand as she calmed down. "Ahem. So hopefully this causes your 'stabilized pulses' thing to activate more often. Try to focus on them if you feel them. Try to sus them out. If you can somehow control that system inside you, then it will help you a lot."
"In the meantime, I will need you to try to hold a medium amount of charge in you. Not too much as to hurt you and not too little as to cause the feedback loop to build up even worse. And while you do that, you will need to consistantly expel small amounts of your charge into that lightning rod. Now remember: you must not expel enough to lower your overall charge level that much, but just enough to keep up with the building pressure. Just as long as you don't let it increase or decrease too much, you should be fine."
last edited by Rogan
In the immediate aftermath Nighshade's casual enthusiasm was a good break to the frustration that Lyntael had been staving off as the others tried to help her, to the point that even his juvenile bluntness only made her flick her eyes skyward for a second and offer him a grin.
“Gee, thanks... Nice to know I'm weird and also rubbish at being me, Nightshade... you're such a charming young man... ” It caught her by surprise, but the droll grin that accompanied her response was a genuine one and she felt the good humour seep into her just a little more as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. “Just wait until you see the really flashy bits...” The smile became a small giggle. A part of her almost wanted to reach out and ruffle his ears, but part way through raising and lowering her charge as she was, with the feeling of it in her body and under her skin, she didn't want to risk it, even if the boy was comfortable with electricity. The charge wanted release but she took a breath and held it back, then stepped away from the others for a moment and let the pulse wash out from her again, sending a small ripple of fresh sparks into her immediate space and cooling off the urge to build just a little bit more. Even though they hadn't done much yet, just practising like this and feeling it in a focused way, deliberately and not in any danger... maybe comfort like this was more important than she'd let herself think. She concentrated on slow breaths and calm as she looked at the smaller boy. There was always a chance he was like Ion, she supposed... He'd been able to absorb her charge without getting hurt... but it wasn't something you just thrust on another person without being sure.
“Your costume is adorable. I didn't realise you were a dragonier too.” Gradually, the charge she was still holding began to decay and subside back towards her baseline warm glow. “Did you make it yourself? I love making costumes. I-” Lyntael thought about the variety of clothing and costumes she'd made and found a small pink flush creeping towards her cheeks. She changed what she'd been about to say to the boy. “I'd love to see any others you've got!”
Eventually, Lyntael realised she was putting off the whole reason for this trip to the training area, again. She made herself turn back to Aya and Suzume with a slightly self-conscious grin, and resumed their discussion about what she could do. At length she nodded to Aya's suggestion.
“I think that would help a lot. If I had more control over the stability effects, that would really help. So far, it's all just instinct, and in the early days I couldn't even tell them apart. I'd suppress the stabilising pulses, thinking they were just going to make it worse, and that just made me burn out faster. At least now I can tell what's balancing and what isn't... But I'm not any close to being able to control it, or do it more often yet... I think it's something I could work on though! Though, um...” The blush crept back and she found herself looking down rather than at either of them. “I, um... this is silly, but, I think of it as expending, or expends... can we say that? Saying 'expel' makes it sound like something gross...” For a moment, she rubbed at her neck, trying to shrug off the embarrassment, before clearing her throat softly and pushing on with a nod.
“Right. I can do that. I'll need some space to being with... if I'm touching the rod, the stabilising pulses just get drawn away, like everything else, and it's almost like it's pulling the charge out of me, almost. I had a hard time resisting giving it a full expend before, once the connection was made... So, I'll try to put the main expends towards it, but I'll need space to pull away, for the pulses, okay?” She cast her gaze to the others, giving a mildly nervous glance towards where Drago was watching on as well as a brighter grin for Nightshade.
Once she was sure the others were far enough away that her pulses wouldn't reach them, Lyntael took a longer breath and focused her attention on the lighting rod. This wasn't scary; she repeated it to herself. Build and release until she was just before if began to hurt, then balance out. Don't let it go too high after that, try not to let it decay either. Concentrate. She took a step forward, then let her feet move in the way that felt right, sliding into a neat, high line combat stance without thinking about it. As her charge reached full she shifted and struck, bringing one foot up and around with precision to meet the end of the rod, as the charge cycled in, combined and rushed out again in a discharge that glowed bright around the point of contact.
For an extra moment, Lyntael felt her ankle tugged at, held to the rod by the continuing discharge when the flow didn't break right away and she had to pull hard to regain her stance and force her striker free. A moment late,r the softer pulse answered as her charge started to rebuild, sending a fresh scattering of sparks off her skin and hair. It was okay; just keep going, nothing big, until it was uncomfortable, but not painful. She moved again, striking out twice more in quick succession once with each hand this time in a pair of rapid jabs; again, her strikers made the connection to the grounding rod and held fast as the charge drained itself and two more bright flares of energy filled the space immediately around Lyntael. Her strikers didn't come free as she tried to draw back, and even as her charge cycled up again, the connection remained, pouring the current into the drawing rod. Lyntael grunted, and grit her teeth; another stabilising pulse came but it was drawn away into the rod as well before it could help.
“I can't do it this way...” she began, trying to break the circuit again. “It's... ah!” The glow of light being charged through her strikers hadn't diminished and at the core of it, the lightning rod had rapidly grown orange, then white. It started to warp and deform, until it bent and came away from the base in a melted mass. Lyntael felt the circuit break and pulled back with a bitten-off shout, yanking her hands away and dropping the destroyed end of the rod before the molten metal could get on her. She stepped back, staring at the remains with a wince before they began to break down into data.
“Sorry! Um... Just... Just give me...” Her body pulsed again and she tried to shake her hands out, her breath heavy and her heart beating fast as she resisted the growing charge that was becoming more insistent and more searing with each cycle. She looked across to where DragonierMan was watching near the side of the room.
“Hahh... this is for training, right? Can... Can you just give us some targets, maybe? Something I can spend on, and it won't actively try to ground or conduct? Just dummies or targets or something?” With a self-conscious grin, broken by her slight panting, Lyntael waited a moment before the open space in the middle of their training field was populated with a variety of standing targets and marked wooden poles. She gave a grateful grin towards her friend for picking options that were comfortably inanimate.
“Take three...” As she focused this time, looking around the different objects she could use and all of her friends far enough back to feel safe, she felt more comfortable. When she lifted her head and took a breath this time, it was accompanies by a gust of wind rising and swirling about the area, tousling the short grass and making her clothes flutter. Her already wild hair began to snap as a light pattern like the caustic refraction scatter of light in water began to dance across the surface of her skin. As before, the more trained eyes of Drago and the twins would see a certain element of refinement in the stance she adopted; a light-footed stance, on the balls of her feet, with a high balance, but her line was clean, her guard precise. She began to move.
A small amount of lingering charge was already with her, but she pushed it to build now, moving towards the point where it would rise without her. The target right in front of her received the first expend in the form of a low sweeping kick as she ducked in close; a now familiar flare of bright electrical light burst as her striker reached her target. The drain left a brief sense of emptiness inside her chest as the current rushed out, then rapidly started to rebuild again. Keep going; it was still calm enough.
As she corrected, spinning around the first target and striking it in the back with a succession of two more quick blows that seemed to follow on naturally while her charge rebuilt. These ones didn't contain any clear charge, but still had enough force to make the dummy shudder. She stepped through, turning with a light step that carried her back a few more feet, curling winds wrapping about her as she manoeuvred. She felt the first pulse and welcomed it, sparks cascading off her form and stinging the closest targets as she skipped back once more, then kicked off the ground into a small leap that took her arcing over the top of the dummy she'd almost stepped back into. Instead of colliding, her body twisted in the air, passing it and as she came down on the other side her right foot whipped around in a flash, connected with what passed for the dummy's head; this explosion of light and sparks was enough to knock the new target down entirely.
As she landed, Lyntael scanned the objects surrounding now and put out one hand, palm flat; her barrier answered, expanding with a static reverb before stabilising itself as it passed each of her strikers and fading from sight. Her charge rose on its own, though without her drawing to it it was still sluggish; she could push further than this before stopping. Get to the uncomfortable point, but not out of control. It was okay. Maybe if she'd been able to fight in the first place, Rogan wouldn't have needed to go to that stupid compound...
She rounded on the next nearest target as she stood from the landing, a back-handed sweep with her leading hand that was only a light blow, in feint of the driving punch that followed, blasting a hold in the middle of the wooden dummy amidst a burst of lightning and wind. Her body pulsed with sparks but she reached past it, drawing harder on her charge, encouraging it. If Rogan hadn't had to go to that stupid place, then none of it would have happened at all. He wouldn't have made any stupid mistakes, wouldn't have had to kill anyone...
Her charge rushed up to meet the distracted train of thought as it bubbled inside her and Lyntael grit her teeth as it filled her to bursting again. With a small growl in her throat she lunged in close to one of the larger shapes, and pressed her hand up against it; the charge flowed without thought, coalescing in her chest and racing down to her hand in a burst that made the dummy quake and crack; a gale of wind lifted it up into the air, even as two further streams of lightning thundered out from the far side of it, piercing through to blast into two other distant targets. She hadn't even done anything wrong! She'd done it all right, for once. It wasn't even her fault, so why had it all gone wrong?
Lyntael jumped, springing lightly into the air and passing the thrown dummy as it reached the top of its arc. Her charge raced back and she turned over, her body making a graceful twist that finished with her left heel slamming back down on the object and obliterating it into wood chips before it could fall to ground. The charge burst through it and split, arcing down to smite two more targets below, just as Lyntael landed in between them, one hand on the grass in a crouch, winds of a circling updraught calming slowly around her. Despite the acrobatics, her skirt had managed to defy all gravity and physics to maintain her modesty, ever valiant in its base code, and far better at it than any of the girl's own personal designs.
Each expend had been a searing sensation, wild and ragged, and already as she stood it was there again, filling the void and aching inside her, straining for the relief of just one more release. Lyntael stood, panting hard, and wavered. Too much. Maybe too much. She could feel it, the anger that wanted expression in wild blasts, and the way her body felt tense and strained just holding it back. She stopped in the middle of the area, head down, and wrapped her arms about herself, hugging tight and trying to concentrate. No more; this was the limit. Hold it. Don't let it go too far.
Her form pulsed again, one more cascade of smaller, softer electricity that danced as it scattered away. Her eyes stung, but she blinked it back and tried to breath.
“Aya! This is... this...” She gasped, struggling against the aching sensation. It wasn't truly painful, but it wasn't good either. The charge continued trying to swell within her, but she held on, not giving it any release; her body convulsed instead and she grit her teeth but pushed through it. “Like this... I can't stop it building up now... If... If I spend any more, It'll be... ah... if I spend more, I won't be able to stop from spending more... ahh...” The pulse came, and she drew a breath, in between the swell making her hunch and fight off the need to let the charge burst. She could hold it here, probably... maybe... Again, her body pulsed off the excess electricity while her inner charge strained. She looked up, trying to focus on breathing and holding back the instinct to release.
“Okay... Okay... Aya, this is... I think this is... ah... stable, maybe. I can hold this... doesn't hurt, but... if I lose focus I'll probably lost it entirely...” As she found the eyes of the others, they'd each see the beginnings of a sparking glow just starting to cover over the green of her eyes with yellow static, but it wasn't obscuring them yet. “I can... I can feel when the pulse comes. It's regular, like... like a slow heart beat, underneath... ah... underneath the harsher one of my charge...” Light, her actual heart was beating like she'd run a marathon already, wild and rapid as she panted for air. “I... I don't know how to make it come quicker... but if I hold like this, I think I could...” Wincing, she focused and extended a hand, pulling out a fresh barrier that drew some of the vigour from her charge as it did. As it passed her strikers, she felt her wrists and ankles throb uncomfortably and a further swell fed back through her body. Too much charge already here without release. It had still helped, a little bit though. More than it had hurt.
“I... I could calm down from here... I could. But no further.” She closed her eyes again ,trying to focus on the stabilising pulses; each one was a slow tension and then relief sensation that she could feel coming just before it arrived, but how to stabilise her charge more often... or perhaps she could strengthen the pulse itself, to balance her out more per pulse? Would that work, or would it just lessen the effect? She wished she knew. The urge to release properly wasn't going to go away as long as she held on like this; even as she tried to stand straight and forced her body to relax, her hair was still wild with crackling static, and her skin still dances with light. There was more she could do; brighter, fiercer, more forceful and violent; her body wanted to and she resisted it.
“I'm... I'm okay, I think. What do you want me to do now?” She didn't have to raise her voice too much, so she stayed where she was, a safe distance from her friends for now as she called out. Maybe Aya or Suzume would reach a conclusion and she could stop this again. Just work out something she could practice on her own, maybe, and then she could do it later, and not bother all of her new friends with her personal issues. She tried to relax her body properly, despite the way it felt; panting and flushed, smooth features giving way to uncomfortable expressions every few moments. From an outside perspective, it looked – and sounded – almost like someone edging, though only a certain type of mind would see it that way; for her part, the thought never occurred to Lyntael.
“Gee, thanks... Nice to know I'm weird and also rubbish at being me, Nightshade... you're such a charming young man... ” It caught her by surprise, but the droll grin that accompanied her response was a genuine one and she felt the good humour seep into her just a little more as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. “Just wait until you see the really flashy bits...” The smile became a small giggle. A part of her almost wanted to reach out and ruffle his ears, but part way through raising and lowering her charge as she was, with the feeling of it in her body and under her skin, she didn't want to risk it, even if the boy was comfortable with electricity. The charge wanted release but she took a breath and held it back, then stepped away from the others for a moment and let the pulse wash out from her again, sending a small ripple of fresh sparks into her immediate space and cooling off the urge to build just a little bit more. Even though they hadn't done much yet, just practising like this and feeling it in a focused way, deliberately and not in any danger... maybe comfort like this was more important than she'd let herself think. She concentrated on slow breaths and calm as she looked at the smaller boy. There was always a chance he was like Ion, she supposed... He'd been able to absorb her charge without getting hurt... but it wasn't something you just thrust on another person without being sure.
“Your costume is adorable. I didn't realise you were a dragonier too.” Gradually, the charge she was still holding began to decay and subside back towards her baseline warm glow. “Did you make it yourself? I love making costumes. I-” Lyntael thought about the variety of clothing and costumes she'd made and found a small pink flush creeping towards her cheeks. She changed what she'd been about to say to the boy. “I'd love to see any others you've got!”
Eventually, Lyntael realised she was putting off the whole reason for this trip to the training area, again. She made herself turn back to Aya and Suzume with a slightly self-conscious grin, and resumed their discussion about what she could do. At length she nodded to Aya's suggestion.
“I think that would help a lot. If I had more control over the stability effects, that would really help. So far, it's all just instinct, and in the early days I couldn't even tell them apart. I'd suppress the stabilising pulses, thinking they were just going to make it worse, and that just made me burn out faster. At least now I can tell what's balancing and what isn't... But I'm not any close to being able to control it, or do it more often yet... I think it's something I could work on though! Though, um...” The blush crept back and she found herself looking down rather than at either of them. “I, um... this is silly, but, I think of it as expending, or expends... can we say that? Saying 'expel' makes it sound like something gross...” For a moment, she rubbed at her neck, trying to shrug off the embarrassment, before clearing her throat softly and pushing on with a nod.
“Right. I can do that. I'll need some space to being with... if I'm touching the rod, the stabilising pulses just get drawn away, like everything else, and it's almost like it's pulling the charge out of me, almost. I had a hard time resisting giving it a full expend before, once the connection was made... So, I'll try to put the main expends towards it, but I'll need space to pull away, for the pulses, okay?” She cast her gaze to the others, giving a mildly nervous glance towards where Drago was watching on as well as a brighter grin for Nightshade.
Once she was sure the others were far enough away that her pulses wouldn't reach them, Lyntael took a longer breath and focused her attention on the lighting rod. This wasn't scary; she repeated it to herself. Build and release until she was just before if began to hurt, then balance out. Don't let it go too high after that, try not to let it decay either. Concentrate. She took a step forward, then let her feet move in the way that felt right, sliding into a neat, high line combat stance without thinking about it. As her charge reached full she shifted and struck, bringing one foot up and around with precision to meet the end of the rod, as the charge cycled in, combined and rushed out again in a discharge that glowed bright around the point of contact.
For an extra moment, Lyntael felt her ankle tugged at, held to the rod by the continuing discharge when the flow didn't break right away and she had to pull hard to regain her stance and force her striker free. A moment late,r the softer pulse answered as her charge started to rebuild, sending a fresh scattering of sparks off her skin and hair. It was okay; just keep going, nothing big, until it was uncomfortable, but not painful. She moved again, striking out twice more in quick succession once with each hand this time in a pair of rapid jabs; again, her strikers made the connection to the grounding rod and held fast as the charge drained itself and two more bright flares of energy filled the space immediately around Lyntael. Her strikers didn't come free as she tried to draw back, and even as her charge cycled up again, the connection remained, pouring the current into the drawing rod. Lyntael grunted, and grit her teeth; another stabilising pulse came but it was drawn away into the rod as well before it could help.
“I can't do it this way...” she began, trying to break the circuit again. “It's... ah!” The glow of light being charged through her strikers hadn't diminished and at the core of it, the lightning rod had rapidly grown orange, then white. It started to warp and deform, until it bent and came away from the base in a melted mass. Lyntael felt the circuit break and pulled back with a bitten-off shout, yanking her hands away and dropping the destroyed end of the rod before the molten metal could get on her. She stepped back, staring at the remains with a wince before they began to break down into data.
“Sorry! Um... Just... Just give me...” Her body pulsed again and she tried to shake her hands out, her breath heavy and her heart beating fast as she resisted the growing charge that was becoming more insistent and more searing with each cycle. She looked across to where DragonierMan was watching near the side of the room.
“Hahh... this is for training, right? Can... Can you just give us some targets, maybe? Something I can spend on, and it won't actively try to ground or conduct? Just dummies or targets or something?” With a self-conscious grin, broken by her slight panting, Lyntael waited a moment before the open space in the middle of their training field was populated with a variety of standing targets and marked wooden poles. She gave a grateful grin towards her friend for picking options that were comfortably inanimate.
“Take three...” As she focused this time, looking around the different objects she could use and all of her friends far enough back to feel safe, she felt more comfortable. When she lifted her head and took a breath this time, it was accompanies by a gust of wind rising and swirling about the area, tousling the short grass and making her clothes flutter. Her already wild hair began to snap as a light pattern like the caustic refraction scatter of light in water began to dance across the surface of her skin. As before, the more trained eyes of Drago and the twins would see a certain element of refinement in the stance she adopted; a light-footed stance, on the balls of her feet, with a high balance, but her line was clean, her guard precise. She began to move.
A small amount of lingering charge was already with her, but she pushed it to build now, moving towards the point where it would rise without her. The target right in front of her received the first expend in the form of a low sweeping kick as she ducked in close; a now familiar flare of bright electrical light burst as her striker reached her target. The drain left a brief sense of emptiness inside her chest as the current rushed out, then rapidly started to rebuild again. Keep going; it was still calm enough.
As she corrected, spinning around the first target and striking it in the back with a succession of two more quick blows that seemed to follow on naturally while her charge rebuilt. These ones didn't contain any clear charge, but still had enough force to make the dummy shudder. She stepped through, turning with a light step that carried her back a few more feet, curling winds wrapping about her as she manoeuvred. She felt the first pulse and welcomed it, sparks cascading off her form and stinging the closest targets as she skipped back once more, then kicked off the ground into a small leap that took her arcing over the top of the dummy she'd almost stepped back into. Instead of colliding, her body twisted in the air, passing it and as she came down on the other side her right foot whipped around in a flash, connected with what passed for the dummy's head; this explosion of light and sparks was enough to knock the new target down entirely.
As she landed, Lyntael scanned the objects surrounding now and put out one hand, palm flat; her barrier answered, expanding with a static reverb before stabilising itself as it passed each of her strikers and fading from sight. Her charge rose on its own, though without her drawing to it it was still sluggish; she could push further than this before stopping. Get to the uncomfortable point, but not out of control. It was okay. Maybe if she'd been able to fight in the first place, Rogan wouldn't have needed to go to that stupid compound...
She rounded on the next nearest target as she stood from the landing, a back-handed sweep with her leading hand that was only a light blow, in feint of the driving punch that followed, blasting a hold in the middle of the wooden dummy amidst a burst of lightning and wind. Her body pulsed with sparks but she reached past it, drawing harder on her charge, encouraging it. If Rogan hadn't had to go to that stupid place, then none of it would have happened at all. He wouldn't have made any stupid mistakes, wouldn't have had to kill anyone...
Her charge rushed up to meet the distracted train of thought as it bubbled inside her and Lyntael grit her teeth as it filled her to bursting again. With a small growl in her throat she lunged in close to one of the larger shapes, and pressed her hand up against it; the charge flowed without thought, coalescing in her chest and racing down to her hand in a burst that made the dummy quake and crack; a gale of wind lifted it up into the air, even as two further streams of lightning thundered out from the far side of it, piercing through to blast into two other distant targets. She hadn't even done anything wrong! She'd done it all right, for once. It wasn't even her fault, so why had it all gone wrong?
Lyntael jumped, springing lightly into the air and passing the thrown dummy as it reached the top of its arc. Her charge raced back and she turned over, her body making a graceful twist that finished with her left heel slamming back down on the object and obliterating it into wood chips before it could fall to ground. The charge burst through it and split, arcing down to smite two more targets below, just as Lyntael landed in between them, one hand on the grass in a crouch, winds of a circling updraught calming slowly around her. Despite the acrobatics, her skirt had managed to defy all gravity and physics to maintain her modesty, ever valiant in its base code, and far better at it than any of the girl's own personal designs.
Each expend had been a searing sensation, wild and ragged, and already as she stood it was there again, filling the void and aching inside her, straining for the relief of just one more release. Lyntael stood, panting hard, and wavered. Too much. Maybe too much. She could feel it, the anger that wanted expression in wild blasts, and the way her body felt tense and strained just holding it back. She stopped in the middle of the area, head down, and wrapped her arms about herself, hugging tight and trying to concentrate. No more; this was the limit. Hold it. Don't let it go too far.
Her form pulsed again, one more cascade of smaller, softer electricity that danced as it scattered away. Her eyes stung, but she blinked it back and tried to breath.
“Aya! This is... this...” She gasped, struggling against the aching sensation. It wasn't truly painful, but it wasn't good either. The charge continued trying to swell within her, but she held on, not giving it any release; her body convulsed instead and she grit her teeth but pushed through it. “Like this... I can't stop it building up now... If... If I spend any more, It'll be... ah... if I spend more, I won't be able to stop from spending more... ahh...” The pulse came, and she drew a breath, in between the swell making her hunch and fight off the need to let the charge burst. She could hold it here, probably... maybe... Again, her body pulsed off the excess electricity while her inner charge strained. She looked up, trying to focus on breathing and holding back the instinct to release.
“Okay... Okay... Aya, this is... I think this is... ah... stable, maybe. I can hold this... doesn't hurt, but... if I lose focus I'll probably lost it entirely...” As she found the eyes of the others, they'd each see the beginnings of a sparking glow just starting to cover over the green of her eyes with yellow static, but it wasn't obscuring them yet. “I can... I can feel when the pulse comes. It's regular, like... like a slow heart beat, underneath... ah... underneath the harsher one of my charge...” Light, her actual heart was beating like she'd run a marathon already, wild and rapid as she panted for air. “I... I don't know how to make it come quicker... but if I hold like this, I think I could...” Wincing, she focused and extended a hand, pulling out a fresh barrier that drew some of the vigour from her charge as it did. As it passed her strikers, she felt her wrists and ankles throb uncomfortably and a further swell fed back through her body. Too much charge already here without release. It had still helped, a little bit though. More than it had hurt.
“I... I could calm down from here... I could. But no further.” She closed her eyes again ,trying to focus on the stabilising pulses; each one was a slow tension and then relief sensation that she could feel coming just before it arrived, but how to stabilise her charge more often... or perhaps she could strengthen the pulse itself, to balance her out more per pulse? Would that work, or would it just lessen the effect? She wished she knew. The urge to release properly wasn't going to go away as long as she held on like this; even as she tried to stand straight and forced her body to relax, her hair was still wild with crackling static, and her skin still dances with light. There was more she could do; brighter, fiercer, more forceful and violent; her body wanted to and she resisted it.
“I'm... I'm okay, I think. What do you want me to do now?” She didn't have to raise her voice too much, so she stayed where she was, a safe distance from her friends for now as she called out. Maybe Aya or Suzume would reach a conclusion and she could stop this again. Just work out something she could practice on her own, maybe, and then she could do it later, and not bother all of her new friends with her personal issues. She tried to relax her body properly, despite the way it felt; panting and flushed, smooth features giving way to uncomfortable expressions every few moments. From an outside perspective, it looked – and sounded – almost like someone edging, though only a certain type of mind would see it that way; for her part, the thought never occurred to Lyntael.
last edited by Azureink
Nightshade watched intently as Lyntael did...whatever fhat thing was meant to be. "Aya gave it to me." He replied on her inquiry ablut his jet black armor. The SP had bequeathed it to him the first time they had merged together, which was also one of the first time he had really shown he could be receptive towards Drago's code and compatible with some of his routines. "I'll show you the rest once I have them all updated to fit me again. I am a big boy now." He would add, chest puffed out with pride.
He watched the younger lady struggle again with her energy and then ask to be forgiven for melting the rod. Man, not to be bad at Aya but it looked like his big sis had little idea how Lyn's energy worked. Then again, she didn't have alot of experience with his own energy either, though the way he used it was similar to her own. Her own energy was also much more...slow flowing in nature so perhaps the thing that was missing there was the fact that Lyn's stuff just couldn't be used the way they were used to.
"I dun get it, Your energy is like...uuh...what was the word... a cacaphone of wobbly screwy thingy..You're all over the place, one moment you're low then you shoot up then it goes down and up and down and up and down again." He mumbled, gently wiggling out of Suzume's warm cuddling and hopping closer to Lyntael, tail helping with balance as his feet paws pranced around. "You should be wanting to be always full, how else you gonna use your power if you can't even store it. " He pirouette'd on the spot, showing something Lyn probably wasn't able to percieve. "Something like this, a nice steady hum."
The youngling stopped in front of the guest and held his hand-paw at Lyntael. As soon as he saw her hesitate to grab it, he would shake it at her again. "Charge me up! I'll show you how to do it!" He stated, super serious. "I want all the energy I can get!"
He watched the younger lady struggle again with her energy and then ask to be forgiven for melting the rod. Man, not to be bad at Aya but it looked like his big sis had little idea how Lyn's energy worked. Then again, she didn't have alot of experience with his own energy either, though the way he used it was similar to her own. Her own energy was also much more...slow flowing in nature so perhaps the thing that was missing there was the fact that Lyn's stuff just couldn't be used the way they were used to.
"I dun get it, Your energy is like...uuh...what was the word... a cacaphone of wobbly screwy thingy..You're all over the place, one moment you're low then you shoot up then it goes down and up and down and up and down again." He mumbled, gently wiggling out of Suzume's warm cuddling and hopping closer to Lyntael, tail helping with balance as his feet paws pranced around. "You should be wanting to be always full, how else you gonna use your power if you can't even store it. " He pirouette'd on the spot, showing something Lyn probably wasn't able to percieve. "Something like this, a nice steady hum."
The youngling stopped in front of the guest and held his hand-paw at Lyntael. As soon as he saw her hesitate to grab it, he would shake it at her again. "Charge me up! I'll show you how to do it!" He stated, super serious. "I want all the energy I can get!"
last edited by Azureink
DragonierMan activated the panel on the wall at Lyntael's direction, creating an obstacle course of various targets. Then he and Aya watched as Lyntael began her routine. It seemed that the young woman learned a little martial arts from somewhere, but she was still quite the amateur. Her power was impressive enough - able to blow holes in the target dummies as she lay into them - but her movements were still a little unrefined from a trained warrior perspective. Despite this, no one could deny that she was as smooth and graceful as a dancer. Her flow was instinctual. Of course, she was also balancing her own actions against trying very hard not to explode like a target dummy herself. So one should give her some leniency.
Aya frowned and glanced at the melted lightning rod. It smoked a bit as a gold river flowed down to the ground below. It wouldn't be that hard for Lyn to burn herself out, if she pushed herself too much. And without the protection of her PET, Lyn might suffer terrible injuries. Or worse.
Her student's words ran through her mind as she tried to pay attention to Lyn's form. Would Lyn suffer more from this exertion? Less? Was Aya right about what needed to be done? Or was she leading Lyn to an agonizing end if she didn't put a stop to this now?
With reluctance, Aya decided to hold out and not to stop Lyn from her course. It was a dangerous play, but thankfully it seemed that their efforts bore fruit. Lyn was seeming to struggle with her charge as normal, however, she was now claiming that she could feel where her limiters were. Aya was right, and very lucky, in giving Lyn the benefit of the doubt and letting it play out till the end. They were finally making some progress.
"Hold back," Aya called out to Lyn. "We don't want you to expend more if that will cause a feedback loop of greater power. Only expend if you sincerely believe it won't cause you more problems. Concentrate on the pulses. We need to learn how you can use them to your benefit."
"Does it synchronize with your heartbeat? Is it beating at a different rate? Where is the pulse originating from?" Aya asked Lyn. "If we could control those stabilizing pulses, we might be able to strengthen them through training. That would help a lot towards any further training of your powers."
Suzume released Nightshade, as the latter squirmed out of the former's grasp. She stood up and backed away towards where Drago was standing as Nighty approached Lyn. "Careful!" Suzume exclaimed as Drago placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You don't want to hurt Lyn. Her powers aren't as stable as yours are."
Aya frowned and glanced at the melted lightning rod. It smoked a bit as a gold river flowed down to the ground below. It wouldn't be that hard for Lyn to burn herself out, if she pushed herself too much. And without the protection of her PET, Lyn might suffer terrible injuries. Or worse.
Quote (Lyntael)
"You could go run a few laps around this training area, until you're good and out of breath... and then when you come back, you'll feel your heart beating much faster than normal... but I guess you can just tell it not to, right? You just 'don't let it' beat that quickly, and just tell it to beat at the same slower pace it does at other times. Let me know how that goes, and then tell me how you do it, because I can't.”
Her student's words ran through her mind as she tried to pay attention to Lyn's form. Would Lyn suffer more from this exertion? Less? Was Aya right about what needed to be done? Or was she leading Lyn to an agonizing end if she didn't put a stop to this now?
With reluctance, Aya decided to hold out and not to stop Lyn from her course. It was a dangerous play, but thankfully it seemed that their efforts bore fruit. Lyn was seeming to struggle with her charge as normal, however, she was now claiming that she could feel where her limiters were. Aya was right, and very lucky, in giving Lyn the benefit of the doubt and letting it play out till the end. They were finally making some progress.
"Hold back," Aya called out to Lyn. "We don't want you to expend more if that will cause a feedback loop of greater power. Only expend if you sincerely believe it won't cause you more problems. Concentrate on the pulses. We need to learn how you can use them to your benefit."
"Does it synchronize with your heartbeat? Is it beating at a different rate? Where is the pulse originating from?" Aya asked Lyn. "If we could control those stabilizing pulses, we might be able to strengthen them through training. That would help a lot towards any further training of your powers."
Suzume released Nightshade, as the latter squirmed out of the former's grasp. She stood up and backed away towards where Drago was standing as Nighty approached Lyn. "Careful!" Suzume exclaimed as Drago placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You don't want to hurt Lyn. Her powers aren't as stable as yours are."