Scene #2137: WHOOP! Nope!

Owner	Pose
Entrapta	"I wasn't welding, I was soldering. There wasn't any real danger," Enissa von Trapp says, fitting back together the bits and pieces of the roomba. "You don't weld soft metal. The melting points are way too low for that kind of abuse." They're in the library, and her (Entrapta) and whomever else is about are being glanced at by passing people. "This housing is too small for what I want to do, but I think I can alter it without anyone noticing." She lowers her goggles and leans in closer, not really waiting for answers. She's been like this for a while. See: her whole life. There are a few reference manuals about, but the books that Rashmi lent her are long gone. Returned to the library, and she's moved on to manuals now. "I saw some ideas in the computer club that made me think of the way street lights work. There's a lot of useful interaction there." She pulls out a tool, grinning, and finally looks up. Who would she see? Regardless, she smiles.
Rashmi Terios	"Yeah but um," Rashmi says with an uneasy chuckle, "this isn't the place to be welding. Or soldering. Paper burns, remember, and you're in the Library. It's... generally disruptive, to bring active heat sources into a repository for paper?" The redhead has not been here long; in fact, she had just come upon the welding attempt not long ago, and frantically hissed the warning to her kohai. "There's multiple rooms for that in the Club building? With the right equipment, even!" Oh please let her talk Entrapta down before someone boots them both from the building, she still has a civics essay to write...
Amy Faust	Amy nods, having come just a moment after Rashmi. "Did someone seriously see you soldering and say you were ''welding?'' Hah..." She shakes her head. "I admit, I haven't much experience with soldering, but I did once build a little robot from a kit, you know, like a roomba but worse before roombas were a thing, and this one time, on the laptop I had before the one I have now, I accidentally banged the power port and it came off the board, so I needed a surface mount machine and I didn't have one or the money for a new computer..." Amy continues the anecdote, "But I heard of a professor in the mechanical engineering building who had one, so I went to his door, and at first he was so mad, apparently kids did this to their laptops ''all the time'' and asked him to fix it, but once I explained I knew what to do I just needed to use his equipment for a few minutes, he was chill, and I was able to save my computer--" Amy briefly looks sort of nervous at realizing depending on who heard there's something up with that story, but... Rashmi and Entrapta? Probably fine. She relaxes. "Uh, yeah, Radiant Heart is ''amazing'', and the computer club has workbenches for that sort of thing. Soldering anyway." Amy furrows her brow and curls a finger against her chin. "Would they have welding in auto shop, maybe? Are teenagers allowed to weld? I honestly don't know." It's only then that she looks at what is probably Setsuna's roomba, but ''asking'' about that is set aside when she's first distracted by the manuals, glancing over the open pages trying to guess what Entrapta was ''doing''...
Entrapta	"I know, but I don't wait very well and this is where I was when I needed to get started. When you have to weld, you weld. Right!" Again, not a question. Entrapta isn't really one for doing things at other people's paces. Or for listening to advice, apparently. Also. What is she doing? Doing? Clearly she was...looking at schematics. It's like looking at a birds nest, but of wiring. And that's all that Amy has time to peruse before: "So what are you all doing with magic anyway? If I could figure out how to integrate it into the tech it'd make things much easier." She's still talking. Please stop her. As she adjusts a heat shield, Entrapta continues. "I was working on the thaumatic grid to try to make it carry host material for a CPU formula with power attachments just like that, when I got distracted by your message to bring me here. It was so exciting! I couldn't wait to work on it!" She's opening her mouth to talk more. Um. Shouldn't someone be doing something about that? Entrapta, for her part, is just...fiddling with gears. Dum, dee dum.
Amy Faust	When you have to weld, you weld. "I thought you said you were soldering?" So what are you all doing with magic anyway? If I could figure out how to integrate it into the tech it'd make things much easier. ''"'''GOD''', I wish!"'' Amy blurts out, exasperatedly. "It's--" But Entrapta's already going on, and Amy's eyes widen at her words. ''"You understand how to work with magic technology?!"'' Listen, this is exciting news, so exciting that she can forget, for a moment, where she is because this is a chance to maybe make progress understanding MAGIC and-- Oh right they're in the school library. She tries to contain her excitement. When Rashmi interjects, she nods, anxious to continue the conversation ASAP. "Yes, yes, let's go. Uh. The Shed? My room...?" She looks to Rashmi, but will follow wherever.
Rashmi Terios	Yeah okay curiosity is good but this is for the good of the kohai. Rashmi looks to Amy and nods to the schematics, and crouches to put a hand on Entrapta's shoulder. "O-kay!" she says cheerfully, still trying to pitch her voice low. "Those are all really good questions but this is super not the place for any of this. They'll get so much more mad if you scorch the books than they would if you talked too loud. C'mon, let's get some snacks and talk about it, okay?" << Amy get the books c'mon let's go. >> At Amy's outbursts, she cringes visibly, hurriedly looking around for signs of librarians on the rampage. "The Shed, yes," she says between closed teeth. "But we need to go now before both of you get any more excited okay?" Look, it's not their fault that volume goes up in line with surprise and joy. But the Library is sacred, and the Library Must Not Be Disturbed.
Entrapta	Entrapta looks up at Amy's excited tone, and Rashmi's not-excited one. She has her goggles on so it't not entirely clear how she's reacting, but she does take note at least. The smile fades. "Did I do something wrong?" she asks, but I'm going to assume now that she's gathered up and moved to a more secure location because I'm running the scene darnit. Harumph. "I didn't actually need the manuals," Entrapta says as she sets down her contraption in the Shed. "I pretty much know what I needed from them now. Maybe another few looks just for fun, but I can do that later." She sits down, hands in her lap, and looks at the pair who've ushered her here. Then she tilts her head, listening posture. And says, "Sure, I know a bit about interfacing magic and tech. I've got years of research before I really get it working though." Pause. "Where are we now?"
Amy Faust	It's ''not'' her fault that volume goes up with surprise and joy! But Amy winces a bit at the implication that she was making a disturbance. And for a moment she looks serious. Attacked. Ready to desperately explain and defend herself while knowing it will do no good-- And then she finishes processing the situation and calms, although she still seems somewhat deflated for a bit. The ritual to get into the Shed, though, is a reminder that they are dealing with ''magic'' and learning about ''magic'' and the brightness returns to her face. "The Shed is a place where... it's a gathering place for the magical folks on campus. So we can... so we can have a place where normies won't think we're weird for talking about crazy stuff, or, sometimes just a study place for friends where you don't have to worry about if you end up talking about magic anyway." Amy smiles.
Rashmi Terios	"We are," Rashmi says, setting down the heavy concrete tanuki and following Entrapta and Amy into the Shed, "in the closest thing we have to a 'secret base' among the magical people. "And no, it's not that you did something wrong, it's just... If you're not magical on this world, you can't comprehend magic. Most of us prefer not to discuss magic around other people, mostly to cut down on the interruptions on what anime or videogame we're talking about. Usually when we talk about it in public, it's in a group setting where people are concentrating more on their own thing." Patting Amy's shoulder, Rashmi shakes her head gently. "Nobody did anything wrong, Amy-chan, it's okay. I love discussing magic stuff with people, it's just... choice of venue matters, y'know?" With that, and as an offering of goodwill, Rashmi taps her charm, hands coming away full of snacks, various, and three melon sodas from her personal stash. "And now we're here, and I get to tell you that this Shed is basically a pocket dimension. It gets bigger or smaller as it needs for people to fit, and for some reason it always looks like an older classroom, and has electricity hookups that I couldn't begin to figure out without just shrugging and going 'It's magic.'" The snacks are deposited on one of the desks, and a bottle held out for each of the other two girls to take. If either one happened to be a fan of squid-flavored snacks, they will be sorely disappointed at the utter lack of them arranged on the table.
Entrapta	Entrapta tilts her head the other direction. She listens, she's very good at listening when she's being told important things. Like the fact that there's a mystery in how the power conduits work here and she can work on that later. Also, she's going to figure out that door lock. Also, there are people talking to her and she should focus! She accepts the offerings of tiny food and fizzy drinks, sipping the latter quietly as she reviews what she's just been told. Also what she heard earlier. it all fits together. "Sooooo. I take it you don't know much about how magic actually works, here? That's fine, nobody really understands it on Etheria either. But I'm making great strides toward figuring it out! I could absolutely move my research here, see what I can do with this one. I can already tell that there are major differences. My hair doesn't move." She just says that, no explanation, then moves on. "Would anyone mind if I set up some experiments here? This feels like a place they could be done without being disturbed, and if I blow something up it won't affect the outer periphery of the effect. At least, probably not."
Amy Faust	Amy jumps at the shoulderpat, then relaxes. She shakes her head. "It's... Sorry. I used to be..." She hugs herself to offset the memory. "Big and loud. And it made people jumpy. And I was always being told to be quiet, that I was making people uncomfortable, just... just ''being'' somewhere and eagerly talking about something and..." She shivers. "Never again." She states it to reassure herself. "Never again..." After a moment she blinks at Entrapta, her speech now distracted and dull as she tries to make her mind switch gears again. "So you were... uh, experiments sound good... what do you think... would be some experiments that would tell us about how magic works?"
Rashmi Terios	The shoulderpat becomes an affectionate over-shoulder hug. "Hey," she says gently. "It's okay. Seriously. It was just because it was the library. Now that we're here..." Rashmi blinks, giving the Shed's interior a once-over, and purses her lips. "Entrapta-chan... Could you make your first project, making something to wall off your experiments to minimize explosion damage? I'm only asking cos we really need the whiteboard, the message board, and the stuff on the wall there. Also..." Letting go of Amy, Rashmi removes her charm, which after a brief flash expands into the tremendous, armored book of Nicomachea's active mode. "One thing both of you need to remember is, it's not just 'magic.' If that were true, we'd all be just Senshi or Puellae or Cures. The problem is every different kind of magic seems to rest on completely different assumptions of how magic interacts with reality. It's why I just want to set up a communications station in here, but that's a huge project because we have to find a way to account for all the magical differences."
Entrapta	Entrapta's mouth is hanging open. Nicomachea's active mode is fascinating, and she's basically useless for a moment. ...little bit longer... Okay she's good now. Blink. "Huh? Oh! Yes! That all makes sense, sure! I can absolutely create a barrier, once I can manage to pin down one thaumatological component from one of your groups of magical interfaces! Can I borrow one?" She's looking at Nico. Again. But moving on. "What I want to do is to pin down the wavelengths involved using crystal harmonic setups, which would be a hit or miss method but a starting point but mathematicaly there's only a limited amount of directions that they can be set and if it's not crystal oriented I'd have to eliminate the other types of harmonics and once I've gotten one I'd eliminate that one from the methodology and move to another, while setting up some form of emanation wave I could experiment on directly to test modes of stimuli that might affect the harmonics and keep track of it all throughout!" Then she breathes, and looks around. "I think this would work. Doubt anything would actually explode right off, that always comes later." Without blinking or thinking it's weird.
Amy Faust	Hug! And it's okay, and she's ''someone worth reassuring'', and arms are tight around her, someone is ''wanting'' her to feel this nice hug, and as used as she's gotten to affection generally, the dramatic difference from the memories brought up brings tears to her eyes, just for a moment, and she's not sure if she's sad about the past or happy about the present or both or what-- She sniffles, and takes a breath, and pulls a tissue from her pocket to blow her nose and dab her eyes, and then puts it in her back pocket -- she's in red T-shirt and black slacks again today -- and takes another breath. "Sorry, I um... thanks." Another breath. Okay, she can focus a bit better now, and she focuses on Entrapta's words, intently. "Certainly, crystals seem to be involved in a lot of magic." The warmth isn't back in her voice yet, but there's the building excitement of someone wrapping their mind around a problem. "I don't know if I'd limit yourself to fourth-dimensional space-time assumptions -- we're ''in'' a space that's bigger on the inside than the outside, and I've seen closed spaces and Barriers..." Amy considers. "I do... have a spare Device. Not like Nichomachea, but I guess a really basic and simple version of the same technology?" She looks at Entrapta, "If you think you can learn something, and then teach it to me, I... I'll lend it, or heck, if you help me understand it you can ''keep'' one, but there may be another problem." Amy takes a breath. "From what little I know... First of all, magic doesn't work for just anybody here on Earth... ''even if it would elsewhere''. Device-Users who end up here can still forget about magic, and I am given to understand that in, in space or wherever magitech was so ubiquitous it was something anyone could use, like technology." "And second..." "Each ''type'' of magic may or may not work for someone, and I've never heard of anyone using two at once; although it's hard to know for ''sure'' that someone would even be capable of using a type of magic without seeing them do it, the only examples I know of are people Kyubey said ''could'' become Puella Magi but ended up as something else, and he says they can't become Puella Magi anymore." "That said..." Amy turns to Rashmi, "You know, while that's the end result, I don't think I've ever heard a ''why''? Kyubey says someone's potential to become a Puella Magi is lost when they become something else, but he doesn't say why, and ''no one'' has said ''why'' I can't use other magic." She holds her left hand out to Rashmi, with the ring with its bright red gem. "Shouldn't it be easier with my linker core on the ''outside'' where stuff can ''touch'' it?"
Rashmi Terios	Rashmi's face is the face of someone who is actually surprised she understood most of those words. But she does. "Once you've gotten a good baseline, I need to introduce you to someone who also knows crystal magic of a completely different variety," she says. "You'll either get along incredibly well, or I'll have to yell at her a couple times. Let's see if I can't make sure that doesn't need to happen... Anyway. I would absolutely like to see what you learn!" To Amy's questioning, ashmi shrugs, and spreads her hands. "Honestly Amy-chan, if I had anything but guesses then I'd have a cure for Dark Energy by next month. The problem isn't just that I don't know, or where to start looking, but like... Any answer I could give you would be through the lens of reality that Devicers have. They'd be answers that another Devicer could make use of, but a Cure couldn't make heads or tails of, because their entire magical reality runs on different rules. Which is part of the problem with making assumptions like 'my soul is on the outside of my body, thus it should interface better with Devices.'"
Entrapta	Entrapta is quiet a moment, her brain processing. She doesn't even answer when told about crystal magic, or being offered some form of smaller 'magical device' by Amy. She's clearly in some other mode, which she went into ...at some point? During the ongoing conversation. Then, suddenly, she goes from nothing to verbose. "Amy. I also am often unable to handle emotional situations." It sounds odd, like someone else in Entrapta's voice. Robotic. "I am not cer-tain how to make sense. If I have hurt you, I am sorry. I really am." Weirdly, she looks at Amy seriously. Like this is hard, and it matters. But...so much else has also been said, and she gets a little bit back into gear with, "I mean, I'd love to have a real magical device to experiment on directly though. That'd speed things up, and if I'm going to get Rashmi's communications device up and working I'll need as many opportunities to see the real magic function as possible." Wait, that's what she's doing now? she heard Rashmi mention one goal, and that's her goal now. Well. Okay. "I'd happily share my data. Nobody's ever asked me to share my data before." Ever. In her entire life. Entrapta is...crying a little. What? "Maybe I can help, with some of that stuff."
Amy Faust	At Entrapta's comment about emotional situations, Amy nods. "I feel you, sister." At the apology, she smiles and shakes her head, "No, you're fine! You haven't hurt my feelings. It was tha... the what I said. Rashmi... having someone get mad at me for being excited, brought back bad memories." She goes to hug Entrapta. "I told you, you shouldn't... be made to feel like you have to constantly apologize without knowing why." Amy blinks at a thought. "Do... people on Etheria know what autism is?" As for the device and seeing magic, "Uhh... as mentioned earlier, I can show you a basic Device, but I don't know if that means you can actually ''use'' it..." She looks back to Rashmi. "No one's even told me what the Devicers' 'lens' is... although, it's not like I know that much about how my magic 'works' either..."
Rashmi Terios	"...Entrapta-chan?" Rashmi says quietly. "I'm going to give you a hug. There's actual science that says hugs make people feel better, but if you want me to stop, just tell me, okay?" And so she does, a relatively brief wrapping of her arms around Entrapta's shoulders, a squeeze, and she lets go before the other girl can feel terribly uncomfortable. Looking back at Amy, she nods. "I had the same thought, but I'm definitely not qualified to tell whether she is or not. The important part is, she was very worrying that she made you upset, Amy-chan, and it mattered to her." Moving a bit away, she leans against a nearby desk, tilting her head. "Entrapta-chan... I will absolutely help your experiments however I can, and... Part of Nicomachea's entire purpose is to-- << COLLATE, ANALYZE, AND DISSEMINATE HELPFUL INFORMATION, >> the book itself chimes in, in his professorial voice. "--yes thank you, Nico-kun. So... to help Entrapta understand Devices..." Nicomachea floats down, falling open in midair, and a large screen blips into existence above the pages. In short order, a rough silhouette of a human resolves on the screen, with a big glowing yellow dot roughly near the heart. "As far as Mid-Childan science understands it -- Mid-Childa is the capital world of the alien civilization Devices come from, Entrapta-chan -- Every living thing has an organ called a 'Linker Core,' that collects, stores, and releases mana along channels in the body." -- The silhouette helpfully grows a webwork of lines akin to blood vessels, with glowing dots pulsing along their paths -- "A Device will find a resonance with a person who has a particular kind of Linker Core -- and honestly Devices themselves can't really say why -- and if that person registers with the Device, they become its Master. I don't know why someone gets locked in as a Devicer when they register, but... Laura-chan asked, I can't become a Cure too. So once you.... honestly for lack of a better term, 'declare your allegiance' to a kind of magic, that's what you are. You've bought into that magical resonance. It's frustrating poor Laura-chan no end, she's been looking for people to make Cures out of."
Entrapta	Hugged by both of them, Entrapta doesn't really seem to know how to react. She pats them awkwardly, but says, "It's a good experiment." That's not a no. but also, "I don't know what that is yet. So...no. Etherians don't have it." Oh, Entrapta honey, they do. They so do. Then. Knowledge. Entrapta listens raptly, pulling out a pen and paper. Notes, must take notes. Not of the words, of the thoughts that come with the words. They aren't audible, so they might be lost. Sorry Amy, autistic Entrapta is gonna hyper-focus. "Are anyone who is not a Mid-Childan able to use Devices? Are people I meet with them aliens? Can you show me? What does it feel like?" She's lost to it now, but she leans against Amy. But she says the one thing that's most important: "Tell Me Everything."
Amy Faust	Amy watches Nichomachea float. "You know. A year and a half ago I'd have wanted to ''know''. How it's doing that. There's no propulsion system visible, is it... like, does it negate gravity around it, or...?" As Nicomachea describes the Linker Core, Amy turns her hand over, palm-up, as suddenly her ring is gone and the Soul Gem's 'egg' form is in her palm, a deep red gem encircled in finely detailed and ornamented metal. ...And she stares at the diagram, "Wait, what?! If the channels of magic are ''inside'' the body, how the hell do I ''work?!''" Amy's mouth hangs open a second, and then she gives a little sigh. "Okay, I see what you mean about different paradigms of magic. I guess each of them say the others shouldn't work by their own logic, huh...?" Amy blinks. "...Maybe that's ''why'' we get 'locked in'. And ''how.'' Like you said: Devices can't work for me because I'm not working on, on some internal magic source connected to magic channels in my body. I don't know how Cures work, but... maybe it's similarly incompatible." She leans back against Entrapta and wraps her other arm around her. "Locals have learned to use Devices. I think people can have the potential to do magic in various ways, but... as we just discussed, you can't do two at once, because working with one... like, the fundamental assumptions of how the magic ''works'' will be incompatible between them." Beat. "...I wonder, though, if a Device could be ''modified'' to work with a soul gem, instead of a linker core and mana channels?"
Rashmi Terios	"I'm not gonna say no," Rashmi says to Amy's supposition, "especially when we've got Entrapta-chan right here, and she'd take that as a challenge anyway. But as far as I know, it's like teaching a rock to fly like a bird." With a chuckle, she nods at the purplenette in the room. "Yeah there's actually not a lot of aliens here... There are some, but the thing that makes it really really hard to open a portal back to Etheria kinda... blew up an entire spaceship. All the crew got out safe, but since all but one of them are adults, they lost any memory associated with magic, as well as the ability to use it. That's a phenomenon we call the Fade, by the way -- when we turn eighteen, we start to lose our memories and ability to use any knd of magic. But... demonstration!" Hopping a couple steps back, Rashmi holds Nicomachea ceiling-ward. "Nicomachea, Set Up!" << BONG! >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE >> For a few seconds, Rashmi is covered in a geodesic bubble of sun-colored energy, which shatters into self-disintegrating shards, revealing her in her Barrier Jacket. "This is called a Barrier Jacket; it's basically a forcefield that mimics clothes, and makes me a lot stronger and tougher than I am normally. But my specialty is Support magic, so... I can show you what it feels like to have Mid-Childan magic work on you. Nicomachea? Accel -- Boost Up, target: Entrapta." << BONG! >> << ACCEL -- BOOST UP >> An eye-wateringly complex mandala spreads out beneath Rashmi's feet, a diagram that looks half like a ritual circle, and half like alien technology sketched in golden light. The seal revolves lazily in place, as a ball of wispy energy coalesces in front of the Devicer. With a gesture, she sends it forth to touch Entrapta and be absorbed into her being. There's a rush of energy, of the need to move, and with it come emotions on a sort of mental side-band; sense-memories of being young, happy and running under a summer sun, with the grass under your bare feet and the sheer joy of running just to move fast.
Entrapta	That was a lot. Entrapta is taking notes FURIOUSLY. She pulls out a second pad of paper, the actual transformation happening and...well, it's weird but the biggest change is that her hair starts to move. Like, arms. Her pigtails reach out and grab things, hugging around her body, passing her the notepad. Oh. 'my hair doesn't move'. That's what she meant! "I have so many more questions!" she says. "But...this is enough to start. I need to get started." her eyes are brighter, and she's ...wow, literal stars in her eyes now. Not a metaphor. Alien. Etherians aren't human. Got it. "Amy, can you? Show me yours!" It's not meant to be rude, but it's totally rude. And yet, innocence is in everything she does. Like a child discovering joy. She wants it. Honestly, what would it hurt now?
Amy Faust	Amy watches Rashmi's henshin with interest. She doesn't often get to like. Pay attention to the detail? She steps away from Entrapta in surprise at the sudden movement of... hair? She did mention that before, but... "How are you doing that?!" Show me yours! Amy smiles, "Sure thing!" And she stares into space, focusing, as she passes her other hand over her soul gem and-- An ovoid of flame-colored light grows from her gem to surround her, enveloping her, lifting into the air with her unclothed silhouette curled up inside, long hair floating as if she's under water before the light cracks and shatters and Amy, now covered in flames as if from an explosion, snaps back, and the flames fade to leave her new outfit in place. This being the first time she's seen it, Entrapta somehow feels like she could see flames disappearing from each part of her body in turn to leave that part of her magical girl outfit in sequence -- red chestplate, red circle skirt with a black belt with a pair of black leather pouches, armored red kneepads and armored white boots with red trim, a white bodysuit from the neck down under it all, white gloves with red trim, and finally a white hooded cloak-- --but for all practical purposes the whole outfit kind of appears at once, the red-themed Puella Magi landing on her feet softly as the last of the flames vanish from her body. Amy smiles and flashes a V sign. "Cool, huh? Oh, I can also do this, but I'm not demonstrating in here." And she'll summon her weapon, which by default appears as a man-portable shoulder-fired recoilless rifle similar to an AT4, but with a kind of magitech, greebled shape and some sparse little gems on it. It's as heavy as it looks for anyone else, but she handles it with ease. "Cool, huh?"
Entrapta	"It's..." Entrapta is watching it all. Magically enhanced cybernetics. Flames. Magic. Outfits. Magic. C...cool? OH HELL NO. It is not cool. It's... "Fascinating..." The purplette's eyes sparkle. And it really, really is.