|
|
Post by Sylvye Harthe on Mar 13, 2019 21:00:28 GMT
It had been about a month or so since the events of the gathering on Terra Novus. Truth be told, Sylvye had no idea what was going on outside of her office since then, nor how long she had been closed up. All she knew was the most important thing was the project she had spent all that time working on, and finally after many, many, many stressful hours, it was nearing completion. The only thing left was to get Macht's opinion on it. With a quick message, she hoped he'd show up within the next few minutes.
So there the girl was, sitting anxiously outside the door to a training room - which she was currently using to display all the things she was working on. She never really worried much too much about criticism on her projects, but it was different when it was Macht. It was probably because he was her boss, but at the same time, that never really crossed her mind. Sylvye sighed, tapping her foot against the tiles, focusing on the echos that rang through the hollow corridors.
|
|
|
|
Post by Macht Stärke on Mar 13, 2019 21:35:55 GMT
Running a colony on a completely foreign planet was slightly more stressful than it probably seemed. Thankfully, though, Macht had "Helping Your People Survive on a Foreign Planet: For Dummies" on hand and it was helping him through everything. Managing the relationship with the Cduha and Wentri, their east and west neighbors, was key to their success and survival thus far, and to say the man was becoming stressed was a bit of an understatement. He hardly got to spend much time with his own people, instead often going on a mission as some sort of representative. Lately, though, he'd found a brief respite, and was enjoying that quite a fair bit. It helped when he needed to check on Sylvye's progress, as time with one of his own was certainly going to be welcomed.
When Sylvye called, Macht arrived quite quickly. The sounds of his heels clicking, alternating between his boot and the metal of his prosthetic leg, could be heard from down the hall. When the man finally arrived, Sylvye would see he wore a bit of a tired expression, with hair disheveled and considerable bags under his eyes. Nonetheless, though, he still wore a smile, which only grew when he saw her.
"Hey!" he chirped, waving at her with his one hand. "Whatcha got for me?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylvye Harthe on Mar 13, 2019 22:02:46 GMT
Macht's evergrowing footsteps practically matched Sylvye's heartbeat. It wasn't that she was nervous that made her so uncomfortable, it was that she didn't know what was making her nervous. Maybe it was that she looked like a slob? Her wear suggested she hadn't slept in at least a week, and there was no telling what kind of look she wore on her face. Regardless of the reason, she was relieved to see the big redhead, standing up with an awkward smile and hands tied behind her back. Though, seeing him now, she felt kind of bad for summoning him on his short lived break.
"Greetings," She said, "i won't waste too much of your time."
She cracked the door open, briefly glancing at him to ensure he was paying attention, and then she opened it completely, stepping inside. With a silent hum, the lights began to brighten, and Sylvye faced him with tired eyes. "I thought we could use something to make explorations and expansions easier, but I wasn't so sure of what it was until recently." Closing an eye, Sylvye's renowned interface was projected between the two, and she began to tap away at the holographic keys.
A massive machine suddenly rolled into view, the gears within the tank-like treads rubbed against the fresh rubber, producing a scent familiar to those that often worked with tires. The bottom half of the machine resembled that of a military tank; however, in the place of the cannon sat a mecha - two robotic arms dangling off the side of a small booth that hid behind a force-field. The rest of it was simply prototype - there were wires dangling from off the top, pipes peeking from behind the arms, and a half built storage unit that loosely swung off the back of the control booth. Spare parts and miscellaneous items were scattered throughout the large room, but hopefully he wouldn't mind the mess.
"I believe it's a pretty self explanatory invention, but it is a prototype for a reason. That being said, it may not work properly and it wouldn't surprise me if there are a few design flaws, b--" Her explanation was cut off by a rigorous cough, and the words sitting on her tongue vanished before she had the chance to speak them.
"I also have something for you in particular, as thanks for helping me with the computer UI fiasco, but we'll get to that in a moment."
Sylvye clenched her hand into a fist, the interface vanishing before them, and she'd turn her attention back towards Macht.
Hopefully he liked it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Macht Stärke on Mar 13, 2019 22:58:47 GMT
"Ah, not a waste. Don't worry about it." Macht smiled a little wider just to show he didn't mind being here, regardless of how tired he was. He'd been busting his balls to get everything taken care of, but based on how Sylvye looked, she was doing the same thing, so to go out of her way and get him here for whatever she had planned was something he respected. He'd yawn when her back was turned so she wouldn't see it, but he had more than enough attention to give to this presentation. He stepped inside as she entered, and simply waited.
The interface came up, and Sylvye started her explanation. For now, Macht only gave her a nod, but his tired, dead eye widened as he saw the machine roll out like some sort of half tank half mech hybrid, and a cheer immediately left his lips. "What?! Woah!" he started, walking up to it. Kneeling beside the frame, he'd begin to inspect it with the one hand, before just removing his eyepatch to let the cybernetic implant scan the thing and see how she'd put it all together. It was impressive how she'd managed to put all this together in such a short timeframe.
"No, no I get it, certainly. It's the first model, could be some kinks to work out, but..." his voice fell silent as he began to inspect the arms and the wires, then kick the treads at the bottom to test the durability. Certainly, if this thing was strong enough that they wouldn't need Macht, Lexington, or Knuckles to dig at every expedition, then they were going to make a ton of progress once they actually started working. "Sylvye, it's incredible. We need to get it finished as soon as possible. Do we have a power source established? You can run the one, sure, but if we get multiple you can't be at every spot - speaking of, resource drain? How much did this-"
Once again, he trailed off, but only once Sylvye mentioned having something for him. The interface vanished, and a light blush crept onto his cheeks. "Ah, for me? That's really not necessary, but I appreciate it. We need to get this working, for sure, but I really wanna see what it is you came up with." There was no hiding the smile he held. To say he wasn't excited would be a fairly blatant lie.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylvye Harthe on Mar 14, 2019 2:39:55 GMT
Sylvye nervously watched Macht as he inspected her machine, taking mental notes of all the questions he had so she could answer them when he was done. His initial reaction to it's unexpected appearance was more than enough to put a smile on the woman's face, and his comments were only making it grow bigger. His reaction alone made the time and effort she put into it worth it. He was clearly as excited for the future of their technology as she was, and as a fellow investor in engineering, that was all she needed to see to confirm it was a job well done. So far, every single one of her worries were simply in her head. He loved it.
Putting a finger on her chin, she began appointing his thoughts. "Don't worry, Redwood, I smelted most of the metal myself, and a vast majority of the parts inside I brought from home to tinker with. I tried to be as resourceful with it as possible. That being said, it's highly likely I won't be able to finish it with what's available." She paused momentarily, closing the distance between the two, then she continued. "It currently runs on a lithium battery that I built myself. It should be able to support the machine for several long expeditions without my presence, assuming I set everything up correctly. I can charge the battery when I am near it, however." She cleared her throat, approaching the front of the machine. "Let me show you something," She said, climbing onto the machine. Assuming Macht would assist her, she climbed inside the booth.
"Obviously I had full control of it from where I was standing, but since nobody shares my gift, I had to be a little creative with the mechanics." A moment of silence would fall upon them as she tinkered inside the booth, although coughs could be made out. After a few moments, she sat in the chair, clearing her throat one last time. "The UI is very complex at first, to be blunt. The arms and torso rely solely on the movement of the person in the booth. That means only one person can be up here at a time, but there is a small cabin underneath that connects to the piece I am currently working on - which, if you were curious, is an arsenal."
With an electrical hum, the left arm began to rotate, throwing a few punches ahead to show off the fluid motion. It then retracted itself, making simple hand gestures like the peace sign, fingergun, thumbs up, and most importantly the middle finger. The arm fell softly next to Macht, and Sylvye climbed down with a gift box in her hand. Once she was on solid ground again, she handed him the box.
"So, I had to base those arms off of something, and said base was much too small to be compatible with the machine..." She trailed off, face flushing. Giving the gift to him was a lot easier in her head. "Well, that's for you. Open it."
Inside the box was a brand new prosthetic arm, crafted by Sylvye herself using the most reliable metals and components she could find. There were several unique features she included in it, but she decided not to delve into that just yet. In comparison to the prototypes used on the machine, this arm had noticeably more thought and creativity put into it.
Hopefully he liked it. x2
|
|
|
|
Post by Macht Stärke on Mar 14, 2019 3:38:12 GMT
Macht wasn't going to notice Sylvye's reaction to him with his back turned to her, but if he had, it'd have warmed his heart to see her in such a manner. But, for now, his attention remained on her handiwork. While she explained everything, he continued to inspect it all, picking up any panels he could safely lift but still being sure not to get anything out of place. To him, it all seemed impressive, and while of course the finished model could be cleaned up, the craftwork was undeniably, and expectedly good.
"You need a team to be helping you, you know," Macht remarked, glad that she was being quite resourceful but not particularly thrilled his most talented engineer seemed to be working alone; it was clearly such a massive drain on her. "Charging the batteries yourself can be good, but the less we need you to maintain things, the better. I don't want you overworking yourself. We can look at battery life but if it can last as long as you say, we should be fine. A charging device, though, is gonna be much better than just hooking everything up to you and draining you for the day. Wouldn't you agree?" He smiled, then turned to face her as she moved to the front of the machine. Without a moment's pause, he helped her up so she could climb into the machine.
"Of course," Macht replied slowly, with a nod, to the first part of things. The presence of mind to build it for an operator that was not her was a quality he was glad he didn't need to coach, and even though he was slowly being filled with a bit more worry for her well-being, he was thrilled. "The complexity is nothing to really worry about. Once we work out the kinks we can start training people to operate these and as long as however many we build are consistent, I'd say we're in a good spot." He did step back and watch how she moved, however, keeping an eye on her with the implant to see if she had any difficulty using it without her gift. If it appeared simple enough, that was just one more reason to be thrilled.
Every single one of the movements the machine made widened that smile on Macht's face, and even brought several laughs out of him as she decided to flip him off. Before she stepped out, he held up his one hand, waiting for a high five from it. Then she stepped out, holding a box, and he took it with an inquisitive brow.
"Oh?" he started, his tone slightly confused. Her expression told him quite a bit, and his heart was pounding as he started to open it. When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened and he set the box on the ground. "What?! SYLVYE!" YO!"
It didn't matter if she wasn't much of a hugger, Macht stepped forward and pulled his one arm around Sylvye to hug her tightly and pull her into the air. Laugh after laugh escaped him as he squeezed, even twirling her around before he finally set her on the ground. "How'd you know I've been wanting one of these?!" he asked rhetorically, before pulling his shirt off, setting it down, and picking the arm up. That grin on his face wasn't going anywhere, and as he turned to face her, he held the arm up to his shoulder.
"Can you help me put it on? I wanna try this out."
It was like he was a kid in a candy shop, except he was a grown man being given a limb.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylvye Harthe on Mar 14, 2019 4:01:25 GMT
To say Macht was surprised was a vast understatement. Sylvye expected him to simply grin and demand an air-soft rematch, but his reaction completely blew her expectations out of the water. Before she could even process it, she found herself hugging the red giant, her feet lifting off of the ground against her will. Realistically, nobody would ever get away with picking her up, but in the heat of the moment, she thought nothing more about it.
Slightly fatigued from the dizziness, she stumbled back a few steps, shaking her head before grinning at him. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd shoot you," She growled, her eye reflexively twitching at the sound of name being spoken, again. But unlike most occasions, this one was special, so she decided to simply adhere to the promise she made him awhile ago.
"But since you asked so kindly, yes, I'll put it on." She plucked the arm from his grasp, standing on her tippy toes so she could reach his upper body. "You're not making this easy for me, Redwood, but since I'm here..." Sylvye's tiny fingers would strike Macht just between his eyes before retreating back to the base of the arm. He knew what the flick was for.
After a moment of fidgeting with the mount on his body, the arm snapped into place with a click, lighting up in response.
"I assume you need a manual?" She raised a brow, crossing her arms.
|
|
|
|
Post by Macht Stärke on Mar 14, 2019 10:06:27 GMT
Macht stared wide eyed and confused for a second at that remark and the growl, that smile throwing him off more than anything. It was cute, sure, but what pissed her off? The hug? Or, was it - no, he'd said her name! Twice! "OH!" he exclaimed, palming his own forehead and shaking his head at himself, laughing sheepishly at the mistake. "My bad, short stuff, I just - yeah, thank you." He rubbed the back of his neck with his palm as she pulled the arm away, his cheeks slightly reddened from making that error. Her not letting him live it down, at least for the moment, though, was a strange sort of heartening.
Macht's eyes rolled back a bit as he was flicked between them, and a laugh escaped him. More than anything, it was funny seeing her have to stretch as she did just to do that. A knee was taken and he knelt to help her set it up more carefully, and it was obvious how excited he was. Macht's leg kept bobbing, he lightly chewed on his bottom lip, and his eyes kept darting between his shoulder, her hands, and her eyes, while he waited.
The moment the arm was hooked up and the lights came on, Macht cheered. "FUCK yes!" the words erupted from his mouth and he stood to his feet. Utilizing the prosthetic, he began to throw punch after punch through the air, testing the weight and speed of it, along with the reaction time. So far, everything seemed... perfect. "It's so damn good," he said, bringing up his real hand and punching into his prosthetic palm to test the durability. Not so much as a crack, and his smile grew even wider. "H-how?! You outdid yourself, Vye! This is fucking incredible!"
More laughs escaped Macht at Sylvye's remark, and he playfully shrugged. "What, got some hidden things in here I'm gonna need to know about? You didn't actually write a full manual, did you?" Part of him thought it was a joke, but he couldn't be sure. His brow cocked and his smile turned into a bit more of a neutral expression as he thought about it, but quickly, he shook his head.
"Look, this... it's amazing. I love it, and I can't thank you enough. And that," he pointed at the expedition mech. "is also fucking awesome. But, I see how tired you are, and before I let you do any more work, I am mandating personal rest time for you. Required. From now till nine hours from now, no work, no stress - let's get this stuff cleaned up and get you in a bed. Then I'll help you finish that bad boy up. How's that sound?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylvye Harthe on Mar 14, 2019 17:18:24 GMT
Sylvye beamed a prideful, half asleep smile. Overall, she was pleased with what she had accomplished in such a short timespan. Even though the mecha was far from finished, it was functional, which was definitely a step in the right direction, and considering Macht liked it as much as he did was just icing on the cake.
The prosthetic arm, though, was another story. New machines came and went as technology improved, it was just a part of life. But by the look on Macht's face, he held his gift irreplaceable, and that was priceless to the sleep deprived woman.
She smirked at Macht when he asked if she had written a manual for the arm. Yes, in fact, she did. Part of the coding process involved a lot of writing, so she prematurely put together a manual of features she had thought in case she forgot about them by the time it was finished. Needless to say, she went over the top.
"Actually I did. I thought maybe you forgot how it felt to have two arms, so I thought I'd write you a 'Four Limbs 101' manual." A silent laugh would escape her mouth as she fibbed. It was hard to maintain a serious expression during such childish taunts, so she found herself struggling to keep herself together. That, and, she was probably just loopy from the lack of energy.
"But really," She continued, "I did include some things that may serve some use. Such as, let me think..." She turned away, tapping a finger on her chin as she scrambled for a few of the features. "There's a small grappling hook in there - surprisingly sturdy, I might add; however, it isn't very long. I forget the exact length of it." She suddenly perked up as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "I almost forgot. While it is more durable than a human arm, it does lack in the strength category - or well, it did. Since programming muscles is something I'm not capable of, I decided to build in an amplifier. More or less, you can charge up the work output of the arm if you're not pleased with the initial value. This applies to lifting, fighting, and all those other Redwood things you do. Call it an addition to your gift." She explained, resting her hand on his artificial one. "If you have any questions about it, feel free to consult me."
When Macht mentioned a mandatory rest, Sylvye was quick to whip around in disgust. "You may be my boss, Redwood, but you can't control what I do in my free time." Half serious, half challenging, the woman began walking away in sass, a smile creeping onto her lips. Certainly, she was tired, but that was nothing an energy drink wouldn't fix.
|
|
|
|
Post by Macht Stärke on Mar 14, 2019 19:05:26 GMT
Macht was almost so caught up in his happiness that he could've missed that smile. Almost. She took pride in her work, and it showed. As far as Macht was concerned, it'd been far too long since he'd had someone quite so capable working with him, and to say it was a welcomed change of pace would still be quite the understatement. He continued to mess around with the arm, throwing punches at the air and testing the strength and durability, to show that interest of his wasn't fleeting. A new arm could do a lot for a man.
"You got me there," Macht chuckled at the remark, before crossing his arms - he could do that now - and turning to face her. The metal against his body was certainly a sensation he'd come to miss. "There are so many things I can do now... like, use a fork and a knife at the same time. Or eat two slices of cake at the same time." Small jokes of his own followed the taunts, and while his tone might have been rather neutral, the expression on his face made it quite clear he was in a joking mood as well.
The actual features were listed off, and Macht listened intently for those. First was the mention of the grappling hook, which caused his eyes to widen as he began to examine the arm. Pointing it away from her, he used his real hand to roam the prosthetic, to see if there was some sort of switch he had to press, or at least identify if it was a "Brain" trigger of sorts that he could just fire off with a thought. "That's gonna be badass. Now if I wanna punch someone who's far away..." he trailed off, grinning, as she moved to the next part. That and, raising an inquisitive brow. The prosthetic arm was lifted as he began to observe it once again, and he let out a sigh of disbelief - the good kind.
"I mean it, Vye, you've seriously outdone yourself. I dunno how, but... thank you." The words spoken were sincere, accompanied by a light smile and a kind look in his eyes. Macht was genuinely happy to receive this as a gift, especially so randomly. The last limbs he'd gotten from someone were as a "sorry I broke your other ones" and they were of far lesser quality. But, this... this new arm was going to do him a lot of good.
Unfortunately for Sylvye, no amount of joy she gave Macht, nor sass she held in her tiny body, was going to spare her. Another laugh escaped Macht's lips as he walked forward, following Sylvye with considerably longer strides. "Yeah, you say that now," he started, before reaching down with both hands and grabbing her by the waist. The smaller woman would be held over his shoulder as he moved toward the exit to the room.
"You do great work, and I'm thankful, don't get me wrong. But if you don't go to sleep, I'm gonna knock you out myself."
Assuming there wasn't too much of a struggle, Macht would carry Sylvye off toward her room.
|
|
