Because it could never be that easy...

[ww_arcadia]

A little over a month had passed. Occasionally, there'd be word from inside Arcadia. Occasionally, there'd be more deliveries of food. But the uneasy peace was doomed from the start, and at least some people knew that.

Eventually the message comes. Something has been found. Something that Copy X wants to speak to them in person about, but he can't leave the city at the time. He thinks Weil is suspicious and would take advantage of any absence. But he can give them access codes to an area of Arcadia away from the human residential sections, where they can meet...

Comments

[complex_design]

"Hmm. Well, what would you suggest?" Gate asks. He's pretty open to hearing things. After all, they had a better idea what they'd be facing.

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"It's still a workable idea... they just need to say out of the way. If they didn't need to fold up..." He pauses thoughtfully. "Have them be a callable addition to the armor, with the shield as the default so there's no issues closing, and have it start off smaller, so it doesn't need a lot of space to be called, with it only expanding and opening if there's the need for it to shield two people."

[vengeancechild]

Gate thinks about this. "Creating a solid expandable armor sphere is a challenge... especially if we still want to retain the flight mode. Which would be the easiest way to land, unless you'd want to take the impact and leave a crater... I wouldn't really advise that." You can practically see him thinking of ways to make it work.

"How fast could it be swapped for our basic armor?" says Zero. "We'll need it, but... I can guess it's going to be heavy. I don't like the idea of losing mobility during the actual fighting, even if it means armor that could probably take the hits."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't have to be solid, just start out as a shield instead of... open. Opening it for flight will be less of an issue than closing it and having something get in the way."

[complex_design]

"Not solid..," Gate seems suddenly distracted for half a second before he starts typing and sketching on the datapad he keeps with him. "The problem of calling a sphere around yourself is that unless you jump at that moment it's likely to cut into either the floor or your feet. The problem with the wings was that they could be grabbed. Both of these are only problems with solid objects... what if the wings couldn't be grabbed?"

"Just don't forget this stuff has to deflect an explosion," Zero reminds, knowing that when Gate really started running with an idea there was a risk of the scientist derailing onto a tangent.

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"You mean make them intangible? They still have to fly. Wings aren't wings if they don't interact with the air around them."

[complex_design]

"Oh, no, not entirely. You see, one overlooked function of the shield type I designed is that it can be controlled as to what it absorbs, what it resists, and what it allows to pass through. It would be possible to design wings that would have air resistance... ... although you do realize there probably won't be much air in space... and yet allow more dense solids to pass through, or even cause damage like some of the older shield types. And then it would simply vary settings when in secondary form. The size would be much much easier to alter as well..." Yes, he really is babbling onward...

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I know-" Forte starts, in response to the lack of air in space, only to have Gate keep talking. He opens his mouth a few more times at pauses to get a word in, finally huffing in annoyance and raising his voice. "So you can make defend and not get in the way?"

[complex_design]

"Yes, I believe so," Gate says, blinking at having his train of thought derailed. "In fact, varying between what it absorbs and what is deflected would also solve some of the overload issues... but with the side effect that the control systems would likely burn out after an hour or two."

"We should be back on the ground by then," says Zero, who has no intention of spending that long in orbit.