003 - Tinkering - Action at 729 Anderson Lane

[worstvikingever]

[It's a nice day, and Hiccup's in the garage with the door open. He's working on a pretty strange looking device, which turns out to be the tail replacement harness for Toothless. It's got two fins instead of just the one he had to make back home, so it's turning out to be a mite trickier than he's used to.

But he's doing pretty well. He might actually be finished with the thing soon. Or, you know. Finished enough for preliminary testing.

Any and all walk-ups are welcome. Hiccup will be so excited to tell everyone what he's doing.]

Comments

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She nods her head awkwardly, still a bit floored by the prospect of being able to help in such a way. Seems like they've both given each other a shock, really. She offers him a weak smile, then takes a breath and considers things. Then, she slowly starts lifting her skirt. Not inappropriately, but just far enough to show off the metal contraption that's strapped around her knee. It's clear that she's...missing a large chunk of her leg, including the joint, but below her knee is flesh and blood again.]]

My father made this for me when I was young, but I've been taking care of its upkeep for years. If...you'd like to see the sort of craftsmanship I'm used to.

[[That and...she kind of wants to show off, actually. It's not something she ever would have done back home, but back home such machines were commonplace.]]

[worstvikingever]

[That hits a little too close to home for Hiccup. He's got both of his legs through the "miracle" of Mayfield, but he knows he should be missing one. Partially in shock and partially in awe, he takes a look at her leg. It's like nothing he's ever seen before, but then everything in Mayfield is like nothing he's ever seen before.]

I... should be missing a leg, too. When I got here it was back, though, like nothing had ever happened.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She nods quietly.]] Avoid the Post Office, then. My knee was back when I first got here, as well.

[[She lets her skirt fall back into place, then moves over to where he's working on the fins, looking it over quickly.]]

And be careful opening boxes from home. Any of them might be empty and instead see your leg removed. This place is hardly fair in its "gifts".

[[Theta's used to working with magical machines; in fact her knee joint shouldn't work according to how the knee joint would bear stress. So his machine is a bit difficult for her to understand simply from looking at.]]

[worstvikingever]

[Post office? Packages? He's heard something about them, but no real details. Something about getting things back from home. But how could he get his lack of a leg back? That doesn't really make sense.

Of course, nothing here really makes sense.]

I'll... remember that. Thanks.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

You hardly sound convinced.

[[She looks around for a pencil and paper; if she can find those she'll commandeer them to start sketching modifications.]]

[worstvikingever]

Well it's just... [He shakes his head.] Everything here is just so weird. I want to be all "how can a package take my leg away again," but then I remember where I am and how nothing makes sense anyway.

[His sketches and extra paper + pencil are on the workbench over thar.]

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[Yep, she'll be taking those. She looks at his sketches, then sets them aside and starts doing some sketches of her own.]]

Do you want an easy answer or a serious explanation?

[worstvikingever]

[He kind of tries to look over her shoulder at what she's doing without being too rude about it. He probably fails.]

Well... uh... [He sighs.] Easy would be nice, but serious would probably be better.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She doesn't care, and even shifts so he can get a look at what she's doing. It involves lots of gears, and would need to be wound with a clockwork key. Something a dragon probably couldn't do on its own.]]

My theory is that this place isn't even real. It exists in our minds while our bodies are trapped somewhere, asleep. A forced, shared dream, in essence. Out there in reality, your leg is missing, and your friend has one of his tail fins, but while we're stuck here, the people in control of this dream can make us perceive things as different.

[worstvikingever]

[She gets a :| look for that explanation.]

...okay.

[Wait, no, he should take this seriously.]

Shared dream. That's... well. No more impossible than being here in the first place, I guess.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

Anything can be achieved with the right technology. Even time travel, inter-dimensional travel... Any impossibility can be overcome by the simple power of the human mind. If it seems impossible at first...just imagine what would happen if someone dedicated their life to finding a way to change it. A hundred years ago, I would never have been able to walk with an injury like mine. I likely wouldn't even have survived.

[worstvikingever]

[Hiccup nods. Even just looking around at the various tools in the garage, then looking outside to see the cars occasionally driving by... obviously technology can achieve amazing things.

So why not time travel? And dream sharing, apparently.]

I gotcha. Still... hard to believe, but then again I'm from a place where none of this kind of stuff exists. So. [He shrugs.] If a television can exist, if a car can exist, then why can't stuff like... what you mentioned?

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She nods, and offers him a smile. Unusually, it isn't one of her usual trollish grins, but actually something approaching friendly. Nonetheless her demeanour is still that of someone more used to being nasty than nice, though. She has her good side, but it doesn't see daylight as often.]]

There's more in my home even than there is here. We haven't gotten as far as dream sharing, but the idea is natural enough, I think.

[worstvikingever]

Kinda freaky sounding, if you ask me. Dreams are... well they're pretty crazy, first of all. They're also, I dunno, kinda personal, I guess.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

And wouldn't you say that Mayfield is 'pretty crazy'? Not to mention...after a while, the tricks it plays on you can start to get very personal.

[[No, she's not bitter about Valentine's Day, surely...]]

[worstvikingever]

Yeah, that's true. Still... I dunno. It's a possibility, I guess.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

Mm, it's only a theory. In the meanwhile...from what I see from your design, assuming it fits properly and would work correctly in this manner, I could make a clockwork motor for you that should be able to control the fins' movements...

[[She'd rather not think too deeply on that, and so she switches the subject, indicating what she's talking about on her sketch.]]

[worstvikingever]

[He peers at the sketch with interest.]

Who'd be controlling the motor, though? You know, telling it when to bank right or left or fly straight?

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

It would read his body movements--leaning slightly to the side would then cause the motor to make the appropriate change in the fins' orientation. I'd have to calibrate it to his strength and movements to make it natural, but it could be done.

[worstvikingever]

Wow. Really? That's... wow. [SUPER IMPRESSED.]

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

Well, I am an ergaleomancer. My father is the High Ergaleomancer to the Queen, and it's looking that I will be the next one when he retires. ...The position is passed on by skill, not heredity.

[[She's also arrogant as sin, so take any estimates of her abilities with a grain of salt. Can make her fail this if you two would prefer?]]

[worstvikingever]

I uh... don't know what that means.


((OOC: I'd have to chat with Toothless-mun about it, but I'll let you know. :3 ))

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

No...you wouldn't. [[Sigh.]]

Ergaleomancers are unique to my world. I don't really know how to explain; we're...one of the pillars of our society, it's...difficult imagining a world without us, and if I hadn't been brought here, I wouldn't really consider it possible.

[worstvikingever]

Okay... [He's interested, but she hasn't actually really described anything so he's still pretty confused.]

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

We...make things. Anything.

[[She pulls a small brass ball out of her pocket and holds it out to him.]]

Even things like this.