Battery Baffler - RPLOG

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Participants

Date

14/5/477

Log



Tis a fine morning, already raised to a balmy 82 degrees on this Wednesday when a particular feline approaches the church and the scholars of the creator's good words within. Nothing bars her approach, and mass is not in session.

A flick of the tail, a mumble, and a small smile adorns the feline's muzzle. She's been planning a short visit to the church for a few days now, and she intends to make the most of things. Her scorcher is tucked securely in one of her pockets, and she's carrying her usual working-outfit as she makes her way though the church, trying to find the priest she had an appointment with.

Polite greetings are offered as Flora moves past. 'Good morning sister' being the most common, but 'Hey there, Miss Longtail' isn't out of the question. The priest in question is fond in the back, performing daily upkeep on some interesting looking creator artifacts with meticulous care.

* found

Another smile, another flick, a soft rumble. Flora doesn't overly mind either greeting, her tails swaying and her paws moving along towards the priest. Soon enough, she knocks on the open door three times in rapt succession, seemingly not wanting to enter without an explicit go-ahead, even as she looks at the artifact with a curious eye.

The crane woman looks up, her deft hands still moving across the device with a clear pattern of years of practice with this particular round object. "Ah, Lady Longtail. I was expecting you. I will be finished in just fourty three seconds." she says with uncanny accuracy as she works.

A nod, a small smile on Flora's lips as she watches the priest work, mentally mapping each of the priest's actions, just in case, of course. She patiently waits for the forty-three seconds to pass, mentally keeping track of the time and confirming (or denying) the claim silently to herself.

A final click, and the device emits a series of soft chimes and beeps. The priestess seems pleased and sets it carefully aside on a shelf. "The spirit is appeased a turning of the moon. Now then, Lady Longtail. I am told you have something of particular importance to me, as chief machine priest?"

A nod, a small smile, as Flora pulls out her scorcher, currently set to the lowest setting. "Flora has recently talked to miss Doctor Sinclair, and Flora learned something about scorchers, yes yes... Flora thinks it's best to just show it, yes," she begins, pulling out a piece of paper and holding it up... She's going to shoot at it, isn't she?

Even so, all that happens once the feline pulls the the trigger is that a harmless, red dot appears upon the sheet, without any damage whatsoever.

A feathery brow raises, "You are practicing dangerously," she says, as if the notion wasn't entirely unknown to her, simply ill advised. "If it was not at the direct advice of our esteemed creator guest, I would worry that you may inadvertently offend the machines."

A small twitch of the tails, a flick of the ears. "Miss Doctor Sinclair showed Flora how to turn the scorcher down, yes... And by reversing the process, Flora can turn it back up... Flora will... Not show the latter here, of course. Wouldn't be good to shoot it near sensitive creator artifacts like that, no no... But... Flora can show how to do it, if Flora has permission,yes."

"There are secrets," speaks the crane as she draws out her own scorcher, "That are withheld from young machine priests. Drunk with sudden new understanding, they are too eager to tinker and, all too often, damage irreplaceable artifacts. As chief machine priest, I am privy to these secrets. I know how to cajole the scorcher to gentleness, or its full fury, but it is considered taboo, as they have been damaged in the process before. It is for this reason the process is not included in the hymns of the scorcher."

Flora nods lightly, even as she looks to her scorcher. "Damaged?" she finally asks, her ears folded back lightly. "Does... Miss crane maybe have a damaged scorcher? If... If anything, Flora would like to learn how to avoid damaging hers, yes... Since Flora needs both types of use, yes."

She seems to hesitate at the thought of it, then falls back to decor, "That is High priest." She turns then, slipping her scorcher away as she runs the fingers of her other hand reverently along the artifacts until she arrives as a box. A deft flip and the inside is revealed. Black velvet works as a resting place for a scorcher and some notes on parchment folded carefully beside it. She draws it out, "This machine was foolishly tampered with in the year 134 AH. It has been in our safe keeping since then. I will not abide its further abuse, Lady Longtail, but I presume you wield new knowledge from our guest, and I would be lying if I did not confess curiosity." She brings the scorcher towards her guest.

Flora nods and flicks her tails. "Flora... Apologizes, miss High priest," she finally offers, gently taking the scorcher and looking it over as she slowly sets to disassembling the device, making short, mental notes of each part she removes, before finally winding up with just the tube, and removing the endcap... And for some reason, she's grinning. Broadly.

The agitation grows in the high priest as the device is pulled apart, most palpably so when the forbidden chamber is popped open, but she keeps her thoughts to herself, simply watching for the moment.

"Flora found the problem, Flora thinks," is all the feline mumbles, even as she repeats the procedure with her own scorcher, making sure the parts are properly separated, before she, gently, holds both opened scorchers up, each of them displaying a different side of the silvery disc. "Flora thinks... Flora will turn it down, just in case, but... Does miss High priest see the problem?"

The high priestess steps forward to examine the two, then cranes her head(pun not intended) to peek at the other side of them, "Two sides," she points out astutely. Her many years of working with creator devices is not entirely without use, then a frown instantly develops. "You cannot mean..."

"Flora thinks it's the wrong way around, yes," she mumbles, before reassembling her own scorcher. Soon after, she pulls out her spark-given multitool and removes the shiny disc in the 'broken' scorcher. "Flora will turn it down, in case Flora is right... Means Flora can safely test it," she notes, carefully finding the part that tunes the device, turning it, and putting the disc back the right way around.

Again, she grabs the piece of paper she had before, shining the scorcher at the sheet and procuring a green speck of light.

"Creators preserve us!" exclaims the priestess, "Such a simple thing." A soft sigh, "If they were not so valuable, we may have discovered this on our own, but fear is a powerful force." She reaches to accept the repaired tool back, "But this is wonderful. You have given life back to this abused machine. Perhaps others are suffering in fitful slumber for the same reason."

Flora nods and flicks her tails, before making sure every part is properly in place. "Flora... Flora will admit, Flora was hoping that maybe... Flora could have a second scorcher with a different color to her own," she mumbles, looking down at the ground. "Flora realizes that most that can keep the creators' machinations running would only have one, if any, but... It would help Flora's research on light, yes," she mumbles, her ears folded back, knowing that her request is quite... Unheard of. "Flora understands if the answer is no, though."

"Ah," she says, as if understanding were suddenly on her. "Why the color? The color does not appear to change their efficiency from all papers written and personal observations. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you do not covet a second color for aesthetics alone."

A flick of the tail, a mumble. "As miss High priest is likely aware, Flora has made her camera, and presented it to the king, yes... One day, Flora hopes to make color-pictures possible, yes... But... There are several problems. There are a lot of colors, maybe infinitely many... Flora would need to see if she can get a good picture with only a few, for example... And Flora would have to see if some parts react differently to different colors of light, yes... Which is why Flora needs to test things with different colors, see the differences, however small they are..."

"Flora... Does not expect red light to behave very differently from green, blue, red, yellow or purple light, but... Flora does expect small differences... Why else would they be a different color in the first place?" she mumbles, scratching at her head lightly. "Does... Does Flora make some sense?"

"No." replies the crane, but a smile forms, "Geniuses rarely do. As written in the First Text, 'When one directs to a wholly new direction, others cannot help but feel lost, but this is the nature of things. All ways are lost until a brave being maps it." She turns the device around, so the handle is directed towards Flora, "I will entrust its safekeeping to you, but I want weekly updates on what wonders you discover. You remind me of myself when I was younger, before I learned temperance."

A mumble, a hesitant nod. "Flora... Understands, yes. Flora can show some things, however... Flora is also trying to set up LongTech Industries, so Flora hopes that miss High Priest understands that Flora cannot immediately share everything, since LongTech Industries does not have a lot of funds to fall back upon, right now."

"However... That does not mean Flora doesn't want to share the information. Flora will document everything, share parts, and release the full information when LongTech Industries has... More stability, less chance of failure, yes... Can miss High Priest live with that?" she offers, refraining from taking the scorcher just jet to make sure the offer won't be retracted.

The priestess wobbles a hand, "What you share is recorded for future generations to learn from. If you wish it remain locked within our vaults until the time of your passing, then it will be so. You would not be the first, but we would not be doing our jobs well if we allowed the precious information a chance to elude us. We are not in the business... of business. Our needs are met by the good people we aid in the community." She waggles the scorcher invitingly, "Take it, and share. We will protect your findings as well as any machine, but do not deny our children the right to know the truth."

Flora nods and smiles. "Flora can live with this, yes... Flora would prefer to share the information outright, to let the world know, and learn... But since Flora has a house to restore, money becomes an issue."

"Under no circumstance would Flora want the knowledge to be lost, or locked away forever... Simply long enough for LongTech Industries to survive, to give us a chance against... The other part of Flora's family, yes."

"Then it will be so," agrees the crane priest, "On my word as a machine priest, your findings will be seen by none other than myself, until your passing, or you decide that you are ready." She pauses, and taps her beak with a fine talon tip, "I may request, in the future, leave to discuss the findings with other churches, should it be a matter of import. For all we know, there remain yet many devices that elude us."

"Such as repairing the scorchers," she addends.

"Flora understands, yes. Flora will... Think on a system to determine when something is ready to be released, as well... Flora thanks miss High priest, and will ready some things, a few sketches, yes... Flora shall bring a few things over tomorrow, yes," she mumbles, before taking the scorcher and smiling delightedly.

"We were created to excel," speaks the crane, "Do our creators proud, so that we may one day look them in the eyes and greet them as peers." An unusual blessing, but appropo for a machine priest to a would-be innovator.