Latest revision as of 18:29, 1 August 2014

Participants

• Flora
• Sara
• Sveta

Date

1/8/477

Log

Her companion is a male fox, a gun slung over his shoulder, and he quickly guides Sara towards the double doors, knocking three times and halting a moment.

With a weighty sigh of contentment that almost seems to deflate the lizard woman, Sara passes through the opening gates and follows the fox to the front door. Along the way, she doesn't seem to stray more than a few feet from the guard, and says very little along the way. Eventually the two reach the door and waits patiently, her tail swaying slowly behind her in anticipation.

At the knocking, Sveta looks askance at Flora, still reading, and smiles. "Let me go get it, Flora. You should get as much rest as you can for the kittens." With a sharp nod to her friend and employer, the goshawk crosses the foyer in a handful of easy steps and twists the doorknob to reveal Sara and her little escort onto the manor grounds. "Good morning, Jerome. A visitor? I take it you've cleared her sufficiently? You know how antsy the High Lady can get about folk wandering where they're not supposed to."

"She... She had this letter. An invite by the High Lady herself. Laila has it right now, she's checking up on it, but so far, it checks out," Jerome mumbles, before looking up at Sveta. "I... We also need a new stack of papers at the front door, so she'll have to sign them here, dame Longtail," he mumbles after a while. %Flora herself lets out a little agitated huff, before standing up, and moving along. Even though her belly is ronded with child, she is still as nimble as ever... For now, at least.

"Svetlana Kutznetsova Longtail. Flora is perfectly capable of opening the door herself, yes. As for reset... Flora is most restful when Flora is doing something, yes yes... Now, as for the visitor... Do let miss Sara in. It's no good letting a potential employee wait outside, no."

As the doorway opens to a face she had not recognized, or even seen yet, Sara is quickly caught off guard begins sputtering her response, "Uhm.. Lady Longtail is.. is expecti--.." she finally gets out before the guard offers a far better response than she ever could under the circumstances. "Y-yes.. um.. nice to.. uh.. to meet you." she states as the guard finishes the briefing. Her stammering however does seem to come to a rather swift close as a familiar voice reaches her ears as well as the odd sight of her eyes almost glazing over for all of a brief moment. "Lady Longtail?" Sara asks with a brief bow to the tigress, her voice seeming far different from earlier, "It is a pleasure to meet you again." With the permission granted, the lizard nods her thanks to the guard that had escorted her to the manor and crosses the threshold, offering both benefactors a prompt and courtious bow, while she had mentioned she did not require such acts at the inn, the woman had seemed to believe that would no longer be the case within her own home.

Sveta nods gracefully to Jerome. "I'll have a stack sent down as soon as possible. But if the High Lady herself wishes to see our visitor, then I'm sure she'll keep an eye out for anything untoward." Seeing Sara move ahead to where Flora is sitting, Sveta closes the door behind them with an audible click.

As the goshawk steadily approaches where Flora is sitting, she tilts her head and gives the tigress her best disarming grin. "I'm just watching out for both you and Matthews. But you're the best judge of yourself, of course. We have a new potential employee?" She eyes Sara, quickly sizing up the lizard. "Sara, is it?"

Flora rumbles and pulls a set of three papers from a case near the wall, laying them mout on the table. "Flora is still just Flora," the she-cat mumbles, both to Sveta and Sara, before gesturing at the papers and placing a pen besides them. "Please read and sign these first. Simple agreements of non-disclosure," she murrs with a smile, before leaning back.

"A potential employee. Miss Sara says she's a good shot and a crafter, yes."

Looks to Sveta and nods an affirmation, "I am yes, a pleasure to meet you." she states, her hand slowly moving out as if attempting to request a handshake, though it soon falls back, remembering a distinct warning that Flora was not one to be touched, and while she had heard nothing on Sveta, she was still unwilling to make a distinct faux pas on her first meeting with another within the Longtail Industries. Looking to Flora once again she nods as her more notable skills are spoken and she speaks again, "Thank you, Flora." before looking down to the paper infront of her and looking it over, her reading mainly consisting of a brief skim of the contract. With the jist of it understood Sara quickly signs her name at the required line and states, "You needn't worry, my lips are sealed."

Sveta notices Sara's hesitation and extends one gloved hand towards Sara once the signing is done. "It's all right," she says in a slightly hushed voice. "The High Lady has her own quirks, as do we all." She looks to Flora, waiting for the tigress to begin, not wishing to tread on her toes.

A soft rumble, a flick, and a murr from Flora's muzzle, before the cat looks up at Sara. Her tail flicks about all the while, and her ears twitch a moment. "Here at LongTech Industries, we aim to make lives better through the use of technology. We differentiate by using a minimal amount of magic in the end-product... Although we will use magic during manufacturing, if required,m or useful.

"Flora would like to know the materials miss Sara tends to work with, and those miss Sara /can/ work with, as well," the she-cat rumbles after a while, before leaning back in her seat.

After placing the pen back on the table and turning to Sveta, Sara takes Sveta's hand in her own and gives her a brief handshake, during which she leans in close to Sveta and says, "Right, I'll keep that in mind." keeping it just as quiet as she had when Sveta herself had spoken, and finally finishing with a friendly, "Thank you." before turning to Flora. "Honestly?" she asks curiously as if she had been unsure herself. "I've not really dealt with too many things for myself per se. Solely for those I work for, but as I must admit I find my hands move easier when dealing with metalurgy. Smithing the various tools people ask for. Hammers, weapons and such."

Sveta leans in and whispers to Flora a moment. There seems to be some discussion between both tigress and goshawk - they appear to be planning something...

A small nod, a rumble, and a short whisper back, before Flora looks up at Sara with a flick of her tail. "The gems, yes. Lens, gem, hammer, chisel," she mumbles after a while, before looking up at Sara. "Friend Sveta will get a few things for your test, and will explain it afterwards. It won't be about metal, but... Well, miss Sara will see, yes. Friend Sveta will explain."

At a word from Flora, Sveta nods and gestures to Sara to wait. "Please bear with me while what you need is assembled. I'll be but a moment." With that, the goshawk disappears down the stairs to the factory floor, her boots echoing for a good while alongside the sound of voices in discussion. At length, she returns with a couple of heavy-clanners in tow, a solid-looking workbench and seat between the two of them.

"Set that down over there, please. Careful now, Marcus, Seymour. While the lobby can be cleaned up of dust, I'd rather not get any scuff marks on the floor." She's also brought up a small bag, and from within it brings out a number of crystals, ranging from fist-sized to as large as a finger bone, alongside a small hammer and fine chisel. "This is one of of our standard entrance tests," the goshawk says, inclining her head towards Sara. "We'd like you to fashion a lens from one of these - any size or material will do. Find one that's comfortable with you to work with."

Having tilted her head at Flora's odd description, Sara takes on a bit of a thoughtful expression, her lips pursed, and the bottom of her right eyelid raised only slightly. "I'm guessing that will have something to do with the testing?" she asks, her voice slightly dissapointed by the knowledge that Flora's further instructing gains, but still, her tail sways back and forth in a gentle manner clearly pleased about something. With the order for her to wait Sara offers a nod and does just as she had asked. Eventually, she looks to the tigress and states, "Thank you for this chance, Flora." before turning her attention to the sound of returning steps. Looking through the bag that comes with the workers she asks, "A lens?" before procuring the hammer, and chisel and looks through the various crystals, during which she asks "This lens, will it have to be a certain size?"

A nod, a mumble, and a tailflick. "Any size is acceptable, but it has to be a lens, yes... Flora has an example right here, yes," she rumbles as she pulls a lens from one of her pockets, placing it on the workbench on the cloth it was wrapped in.

The lens itself doesn't look like it was cut, in any case...

"Hrm.." Sara mumbles to herself as she mulls through the crystals, only choosing one after a few minutes of searching. "Huh? Oh, thank you again, Flora." the lizard woman responds as she picks up the crystal disk and looks it over. With the mental image fresh in her mind Sara places her chosen gem on the same workbench the lens had been set atop and looks over the impliments atop the wooden surface. Spying the vice Sara picks the small gem up and carefully sets it in the tools embrace, making absolutely sure not to tighten it too much and crack the gem.

A brief breath escapes Sara's lips as she composes herself, and with one final glance to the lens she begins chipping away at the crystal.

Sveta stands back and simply observes Sara without a word, her gaze hawklike save for the occasional moments she glances to Flora. Perhaps she's waiting for something to happen, but is content with abiding her time for now.

Flora rumbles lightly as she watches Sara, her eyes fixed on the gem, watching each flat surface fall off of it. Even so, every chip does leave just that... A flat surface. There's always an angle between two surfaces, no matter how small... Wheras the lens itself is just... Smooth.

She too, appears to be waiting for something.

After plucking the half-finished crystal from its vice, Sara holds the chipped side close to an eye and purses her lips, uttering a disgruntled scoff as she notices the chips in the creation, the small notches marring what should otherwise be a flat surface. "Hrm.." she mumbles again, this time tapping the index finger of her free hand against her cheek, "Now how would I deal with you.." she asks aloud, most likely to herself. With no answers coming to her the lizard begins pacing, her attention fully on the gem in her hand. "A file? No, might smooth at a cost of scratching it to an irreparable mess. A smaller chisel? Larger?" the idea creating only a scoff, "Mayb--.. no.."

Flora nods faintly, looking towards Sveta, tail flicking behind her, before keeping her eyes on Sara, clearly making a few mental notes, while continuing to look at the crystal, in silence... She still seems to be waiting, looking at the mostly lens-shaped object.

Sara's idle mumblings soon comes to simply filling the cracks in, though like the other 'ideas' it's left behind as her latest idea hits a dead-end. "Tell me, Flora." the lizard asks aloud as she stops dead in her tracks, "Do we have anything fine enough to grind crystal, but not enough to actually scratch it? while this irritates me, I believe what this lens might need is a grind, smooth it to a flat surface. Maybe a polish too." the last bit left as a mumble to herself as she idly plans her work out ahead of her.

"We were merely waiting for you to ask. It's all been prepared in advance." Svet claps her gloved hands, and Marcus and Seymour move down the stairs to the factory floor once more, this time returning with other components - a grindstone, a lathe, and plenty of oil and water to aid the smoothing actions and carry away any dust. With some small aplomb, they set down the tools on the side on the bench, then withdraw. "The asking is part of the test," Sveta ventures, glancing at Flora. "Amongst other things."

Flora smiles and flicks her ears, before nodding along, watching the grindstone and the gem with interest, her ears flicking and her tails swaying behind her still, even as she makes more mental notes, gesturing Sveta over momentarily.

Looking to the source of the voice, Sara asks Sveta, "You always had it? Huh.. guess you're looking for thinkers. Interesting test." she mumbles again, tapping her chin again in thought before shaking her head and dispelling the thought in exchange for action. With the tools before her Sara adds a generous coating of oil to the surface of the grinder. As she waits for the oil to slowly fill the gaps of the spots she had not added to Sara searches out a stool to place infront of it. Her search is a quick one as she finds a chair that had been mentioned as 'Good enough' and sets it infront of the grinder and seats herself down. With a renewed vigour Sara slowly starts up the grinder and with a careful and methodical movements begins shaving the crystal, occasionally tilting the lens askew to give it a convex look.

After crossing over to Flora and receiving a whisper from the tigress, Sveta steps back and clears her throat, folding her wings against her body. "As you've surmised, we're not just looking for artisanal skill. That will come with a soul gem and practice, can be trained more easily than other aspects we're seeking in Longtech employees. And of course, everyone gets a slightly different test. Please, do continue."

Flora nods along with the explaination that Sveta gives, the gem still watched, as she seems to focus on two completely different tasks without a single issue, her ears still flicking, her tails still swaying, and her hands moving as if she's making little notes in the air...

Raising the rounded crystal up to her eye Sara breathes a few short, shallow breaths casting any of the gathered crystal shards helplessly to the air. "Huh? Oh.. uh.. ri-right.." Sara states, her voice hardly breaking a mumble as her mind had not fully been there, too immersed in the task ahead of her, her tail swishing swiftly, happily as her task begins to unfold. Turning the half-finished gem to the rough edge next Sara begins to grind the next half down to look identical to its other side, again the crystal shaping to a convexed rounded shape. After holding the lens to a nearby light and peeking for any markings along its surface Sara begins to grab a soft cloth from the workbench and rub the new creation, giving it as good a polish as a simple cloth, and the mist caused from a quick few breaths could give.

"Flora has not quite... Used this method before. It would allow for faster production of lenses, at least for those not gifted in magic, of course... However, the thought-processes are... More important."

"Miss Sara was off to a rough start, starting before thinking. However... A certain level of flexibility is also important, of course, and miss Sara did display that... Structurized working... There. Thinking in terms of solutions, rather than problems... Shown. Friend Sveta's opinion?"

"While Samira was given a cloth during testing, I was somewhat more confident in your technical skills, hence the differing equipment," Sveta says with a cough. "But as Flora said, the thought processes are what is important. First, being able to ask for what you did not have, even if you were unsure of what was available to you. You asked for something with with to solve the problem, and not just blindly for the materials or tools in question. Then there's the matter of thinking outside the constraints imposed on you in the first place...there were a few, when faced with something similar, simply said 'I can't do this with what's been given' and simply refused to proceed. Needless to say, they were not considered any further."

As Sveta speaks of how a few had simply given up Sara begins to rub at the back of her neck in a moment of embarrasment, "Heh.. then I'm glad I had continued. Though I believe there were a few moments there where I might have done the same. Very few useful thoughts came to me, and those that had only seemed to irritate me further. Either way, uh.." she then holds out the crystal lens for any of the two benefactors to take away and states, "Here.."

Flora smiles faintly, before nodding along. "But miss Sara didn't. Perseverence is a good trait. We will also do some shooting-range tests, but... For now, Flora thinks miss Sara has a job, yes. As friend Sveta said, most skills can be taught during the work, and it only takes the right soulgem to be able to do so. Flora will take this lens, for research," she mumbles, before rummaging through the case and pulling out a rather large contract. "Do read it, yes. Very binding. Notes pay, hours, shifts, everything, yes.

Sveta nods, a thin smile outlined in the corners of her beak. "I would suggest that you take your time to read it. Flora is quite exact when it comes to promises on paper."

Looking to Flora next Sara offers her tigress benefactor a brief smile before reaching out to the contract, her limbs jittering as if trying to restrain pent up excitement, though for the most part it holds steady long enough for her to take the rolled up parchment, open it up, and begin reading. As she does so the lizard asks, "If I may ask, you mentioned requiring a certain soul gem to learn some skills, I suspect skills that would help the job. Which would that be?" her question ending briefly to look up as Sveta offers her warnings.

"Depends on the job miss Sara would like to perform, of course. There are places to craft LongTech Industries' products, or there are places to help develop new products for LongTech Industries, yes. Most of the research is... Quite simple in its concepts, but truly innovative in its results, yes yes," the feline rumbles, before gesturing at the first two pages. "Non-disclosure... If miss Sara signs these, Flora can show her around, yes."

"Flora invents. My job, when I'm not supervising the factory floor, is to see if I can't put those inventions to market at minimum cost without sacrificing quality," Sveta replies. "As for my suggestions, I'd suggest a good general grounding, so craft apprentice will do. Many new things are to be found at the borders, I've found where one discipline melds into another. After that, a specialisation of your choice. If you will sign the papers, with Flora's permission, I can take you down to the factory floor."

"Huh? Oh.. I guess I've already got that covered." Sara mentions as mention of the crafting apprentice comes up, "Think I might have the stone somewhere with me.." with that she begins feeling around her clothing, checking each pocket of the cloak, as well as her pants, and following it with the odd pouch that lines her belt. "Huh.. must've left it in the room." she mumbles to herself before shaking her head and looking down again to the contract, and from one of her pouches pulls a small rectangular box which opens up to reveal a new and rather fancy pen which she uses to sign her name at the bottom of the contract.