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RESPITE GENERATOR - LATE AFTERNOON
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Maybelline sits at her workbench, having started to retool her former living quarters into something of a tinkering room. The former dining table now covered with an array of parts and pieces as she's set herself to work taking apart and cleaning some of the parts brought by Bracvar. Today, however, her mind is in a much different place as she works on a completely different project.
Maybelline tinkers with a variety of parts, face scrunched up in thought as she talks to herself quietly, trying to get herself into the right mindset. "Make Mayshiny. Work outside of plans. Okay. May can do this... just need to... completely forget what I know, but also use everything I know. Simple. May knows everything May knows already!"
Maybelline: "May needs a lodestone. Lodestone is a magical rock. May not have a magical rock. May needs to make magical rock." She ignores all of her carefully researched knowledge and reaches for a potato. "Potato grows in ground, but floats. Basic potato knowledge." She then begins wrapping the potato in metal wiring, and working to suspend it in a magnetic 'harness'.
Maybelline: "Magic lodestone generates lift. Theoritically great lift, but energy costs are high. Need too many magic stones. But have plenty of potatos. Amplify potatos?"
Maybelline thinks back to Strix's makeshift generator and sighs, mumbling in a much lower voice, "I'm crazy. This is crazy..." She grabs a tuning fork, strikes it, and shoves it into the potato while it is still vibrating. The potato muffles the vibrations, picking her voice back up, "Potato is not a good conductor for frequencies. Need a rounder vegetable? Or a rounder potato? Cooked potato? Tomato."
Maybelline reaches for a tomato, and repeats the process. She continues to work in this fashion for quite some time, trying to replicate what she knows of the early conceptual knowledge of anti-gravity devices researchers in Sarn had been toying with for years, while trying to use much less... dependable materials, more akin to how she's seen Strix's work form a basic fundamental knowledge of engineering practices, but in a fashion that makes little logical sense when seen as a whole.
Maybelline finally sits back, exhausted, but with a surprising sense of achievement, as after several hours, she now has a floating tomato tied into a clamp rig, which almost even looks like the device Strix sold. It sorta works too... for awhile... before the tomato explodes in May's face and the wires fuse into an incomprehensible mess.
Maybelline grins, "Perfect."
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RESPITE GENERATOR - EARLY EVENING
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Gareth steps up to the door he'd knocked upon the last time he'd been here, though for much different reasons last time. This time, he's here because of a plan that, if it works, should help Strix while still earning himself a nice payday. With this thought, he lifts a fist and knocks, then waits.
Maybelline opens the door without much delay. She's been waiting for this encounter. She narrows her eyes a bit, but otherwise seems relaxed. "Welcome back, Mr. Gareth."
Gareth dips his head, his expression quite untroubled by the narrowing of May's eyes. "Evenin', miss Maybelline. Captain Louma said ye needed to see me fer somethin'?"
Maybelline nods, "She did, yes." She lets out a brief sigh, "I'm not going to pretend I like any of this, but I'm not that naive about your profession. I have it. Your 'bounty', as it were."
Gareth raises an eyebrow for a moment, then chuckles. "Ah, so she told ye about that idea, then? And ye actually went along with it? I see."
Maybelline nods slowly. "She did tell me, and I did build it." She raises an eyebrow. "And you're okay going through with this? It's not exactly your target..."
Gareth shrugs. "I was intendin' to head back to Sarn anyway, to report that the target wasn't in Respite. But this idea works better than comin' back empty-handed." He flashes a quick, wolfish grin, "Besides, I was the one that came up with it in the first place."
Maybelline tilts her head. "Did you now? Hmph. I don't much like that I'm the one who pointed you to Strix in all of this... but I'm also none too happy about folks from back home being the ones who handed down the bounty in the first place. So hey, screw em, right?" She turns and walks away, towards the table she'd been working at earlier to retrieve her work.
Gareth follows May in, listening to her as she talks. "At least this way, ye can get back at some folks fer the troubles in the first place, since tryin' to get back at me isn't the smartest o' ideas."
Maybelline lets out a harsh laugh, "I'm not stupid, no. You're a professional killer. Believe it or not, I've met plenty of folks like you. Most of the time, outside of the jobs, you're nice enough. I can't exactly blame you, even if I hate the profession. I don't know the full story about the bounty on Strix even... except that I know the people in Sarn lied about it. Strix is no thief." She steps up onto her seat and picks up a large metal disc, with four makeshift clamps on the edges, turning to present it to Gareth.
Gareth opts to remain silent as he continues listening to May, only to tilt his head curiously once the object is presented to him. "Guessin' this is it, then? What those researchers up in Sarn are so intent on gettin'?"
Maybelline shrugs, "Eh. Close." She picks up a screwdriver and unscrews the lid, opening the interior to show Gareth a virtual mess of wiring, what appears to be a well worn skipping stone, and a random tuning fork shoved into a tomato. "Unsure how interested you are in the logistics, but this is an anti-gravity disc following... some of the basic principles of magitech principles as we understand them."
Gareth blinks as he gets his first look at... something. He's not entirely sure what he's even looking at, to be honest. "Uh... and this is supposed to work like Louma and I were discussin'...? How's a tomato... a tunin' fork and... a rock... supposed to do that?" He shoots May a suspicious look, "Are ye tryin' to get me into trouble?"
Maybelline chuckles, closing the device back up. "Well, the potato wasn't round enough and... I mean, no, this is... Well it's doing Strix an injustice to say this is how he works. This is me just trying to imitate how he works. How he thinks. And even then, I'm doing it poorly. Here, watch." She finishes sealing the device back and and glances around.
Maybelline hops off the chair, and affixes the device to it. After a moment of fiddling, the devices starts to make a loud stuttering noise, and an incredibly annoying whine, and there is definitely the smell of something burning, but once it runs, May lifts the chair... and it stays in the air. She raises her voice over the whine of the device. "It'll run fine for about... 45 seconds."
Gareth takes a step back as May goes to demonstrate the device, only to pin his ears back as a piercing whine starts to fill the air. It's only with a fair bit of effort that he stops himself from clapping his hands over his ears to block out the sound. He does, however, gesture at May to shut it off. "45 seconds total, or 45 seconds at a time? And what happens after that point?"
Maybelline doesn't wait long to shut it off, having given Gareth the demonstration. The chair drops the ground as May braces it to prevent the device from crashing to the ground. She lets out a sigh of relief as the sound levels return to normal. "45 seconds at a time? That's a guess, by the way. I uh, wouldn't run it at all before you get it to Sarn, honestly. But after about 45 seconds, it'll probably start to get imbalanced, and start shaking whatever object it's attached to. Not long after that, the tomato finishes cooking, and then it, the tomato I mean, tends to explode. Once that happens the device fails, and if it continues to run it'll slag the wiring."
Gareth hums thoughtfully, his ears flicking a bit as the whining fades away with the device being shut down. "Knowin' those researchers, they'll probably try to leave it runnin' to see what they can learn from it all, assumin' they don't take it apart first and screw somethin' up, anyway."
Maybelline grins, "If they take it apart, it'll be pretty damn confusing, but nothing they've never seen before. Theoritical flight tech that magitech engineers have been debating for awhile now. If they run it until it burns itself out... well, either way, it makes this a dead end, research wise. It's what they get for trying to label Strix a thief just because he's a kobold."
Gareth nods a bit. "So long as it works long enough fer them to figure it's the real deal, then that should get them off o' Strix, and should net me at least part o' the bounty fer bringin' in 'evidence'. Though... what should I do if that tomato rots before I get it back to Sarn?"
Maybelline: "Oh, you should just be able to unscrew it, lift the tuning fork upwards towards you, and slide in a new tomato. I went through a few in the testing."
Gareth nods again. "And any tomato will do, then? Just go out and grab one from the marketplace if I need to?"
Maybelline nods. "Uh, as far as I know. Just try to get a round one. Oblong tomatoes might make it lose control a lot faster."
Maybelline facepalms, "I must sound insane saying things like that..."
Gareth shrugs with a slightly clueless half-smirk. "Well, I don't exactly know magitech meself, so... fer all I know, the generator ye built is powered by rotting vegetables and an out-o'-tune harpsichord."
Maybelline shakes her head, completely deadpan, "It was an uncooked ham and some barbecue skewers actually..."
Gareth 's smirk slides off and gets replaced by a look of confusion. "...An uncooked ham and... barbecue skewers...? Another invention by Strix, I take it?"
Maybelline smiles a bit, "It's... a long story. Best not to worry about it. Just know that the current generator operations are fully within operational safety parameters of Sarn Engineering practices and guidelines." She detaches the device from the chair and hands it to Gareth. "I am aware you're primarily doing this to recoup something out of this whole venture but... thank you."
Gareth accepts the device and shrugs. "Eh... more just tryin' to make somethin' right since those researchers thought to try and lie about a bounty contract. Me gettin' some o' the money is just a balancin' o' the scales." He grins a bit, "Those researchers have too much money and not enough sense, anyway."
Maybelline sighs, "More often then not, you're not wrong... Some of them are good folk too though. You get your bounty, Strix can go back to doing his thing I hope. No one gets hurt."
Gareth hums, nodding again. "Aye. With a bit o' luck, the bounty hunters that are still roamin' around, present company excluded, o' course, will head back where they came from without any problems."
Maybelline tilts her head, "Excluded? Meaning you intend to come back afterwards?"
Gareth nods. "Me partner's still here in Respite, dealin' with some family stuff. Much as I enjoy traipsin' about on the seas, I'm not one fer leavin' a steadfast friend on her own when I know she can maybe use some support."
Maybelline smirks a little, nodding, "Fair enough. Not sure I can say much in way of warning, but I really hope we don't have a repeat of an incident where you're hunting townsfolk. Other then that... I wish you well, I really do."
Gareth chuckles, shaking his head. "Most likely, I'll be findin' bounties on bandits and the like. Unless this town makes a habit o' hidin' bandits, I don't think we'll have a problem." He nods after a moment, "Just a shame we got off on the wrong foot, but maybe things will get better."
Maybelline nods. "I was more angry at myself, felt like I'd betrayed a friend." She frowns, looking down, then sighs and smiles at Gareth. "But if you take out some bandits and make Louma's job easier, then that's fine with me. Especially since bounties go through Bairnell's? No paperwork needed in Respite, I think."
Gareth hums in an affirmative. "Aye, that they do. Whatever gets posted here generally goes through Bairnell's Folly, first. Main reason bein' that they're the only port on Aephix."
Maybelline chuckles, "And Respite is in the middle of nowhere... still, it's becoming quite a busy bit of nowhere."
Gareth laughs. "Last place of rest before the desert to the southwest, so it's not too surprisin' that it's growin' fast. O' course, if there's somewhere past the desert that gets settled, that'll end up bein' somethin' like how Respite Falls used to be early on, I'm sure."
Maybelline nods, "I suppose that depends on what folks find out there... I'm just happy staying here for now though. I'll leave the exploring to others."
Gareth: Aye, I'm not much fer the active explorin', meself. I just enjoy sailin' around... familiar sights are a welcome thing after bein' on the seas fer weeks at a time."
Maybelline chuckles, "And here I thought Bounty Hunters were the adventerous types?"
Gareth shakes his head, laughing. "Only if they're the ones goin' fer bounties about clearin' the way through jungles and whatnot. Me partner and I are the sort to keep civilization's gears movin', in a way."
Maybelline sighs, "I've known that type, yeah. Well... safe sailing on your way back to Sarn, Gareth."
Gareth hefts the device into the crook of an arm and gives May a bit of a salute. "Thank ye kindly, miss Maybelline. I'll probably be gone fer a couple o' weeks at least, dependin' on how fast the ships go. I'll let ye know how it went when I get back."
Maybelline walks Gareth back to the door, "Appreciate it. Thanks again."
Gareth waves a bit as he heads out, carefully carrying the device that the researchers in Sarn hopefully will accept as legitimate, at least long enough for him to get his payment and leave. Hopefully, anyway.