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

[atomic_zippo]

"Funny in 'why would anyone be asking about that?'. Wily's been dead for years. I thought it was weird, someone asking about the upper limit of my weapons system, so I just gave them the numbers but didn't explain stuff. It's a charging weapon, and, well... I can't really charge it to the max limit. Well, maybe I could, if I wanted it to be the last thing I did."

Noticing that Gate is done with the scans and that Cuddles is looking a bit darker red than he'd like, Heat says, "Excuse me." Making sure he's not standing too close to anything flammable, he then sets the Magcargo, and his head, on fire.

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's odd..." But only if it's really just out of the blue and not related to their reasons for looking into Heat's armor design. And given who they're up against, it's not that hard to believe it might be related to what they're doing.

[complex_design]

Heat's a little clueless as to what they're doing... Zero's been avoiding telling family about some of it. Particularly any 'might get blown up' parts of it.

"Well, I had thought those number seemed a little out of range," says Gate, looking over scans, "or I might have called you in sooner." With only a slight glance at what Heat's doing, he makes sure there's a fire extinguisher in grabbing range. There are actually several of these around the room. "You're still unusually resistant to explosions... particularly if what I've heard about Crash Bombs has any truth to it."

Heat blushes through the flames. "They're tasty. I know it doesn't make any sense... You'd probably have a lot of stuff about you that made no sense if you were designed by a lunatic." There's a pause. "Oh, does this mean you're working on that battle armor again?"

"I'm considering some modifications as well as other projects based on the design," Gate admits, having guessed from Zero's odd and awkward silence that he doesn't want certain things discussed.

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Tch, the old man was always trying to show off, even when he wasn't trying to take over the world. He'd break the laws of physics just to one up Light and then cram it in a robot."

[atomic_zippo]

Heat just nods agreement. "Yeah, that's why we're all so weird." Looking to Gate, he adds, "Do you need any more scans?"

"No, I shouldn't..," says Gate, looking over data, "but I'll get in touch otherwise."

"Ok, then I'm gonna go visit Bubble." And Heat will head on his way out.

"Magcargo!" says a cheery Cuddles, waving bye with a slightly extruded edge.

"I take it you still haven't told any of them," Gate comments to Zero, after Heat's gone.

"If we find a way out of this, why worry them for nothing?" says Zero. "And if I don't... they'll find out then."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"And anyone who tries to play stupid hero will only get in the way. Also," Forte adds, giving Zero a serious look. "That mindset is more likely to get you killed than anything else."

[vengeancechild]

"What mindset? I won't have X or anyone tagging along that isn't prepared for this. They'll just end up killed," grumbles Zero.

"Actually," says Gate, making sketches and notes on a data-pad, "I've given some thought to that problem. You see, the thing is, you've been thinking of this in terms of needing armor. What you really need, based on what I was told... I do wish you'd let me see those games... is a sort of portable blast-proof orbital drop capsule. If it should happen to double as flight-capable armor once you've dropped to an appropriate point in the atmosphere, so much the better."

"Now, I've made notes and sketches based on how the wings in Lumine's Armed Phenomenon form fold up for defense, as well as some notes on Punk from the RKN series," Gate continues. "I think it would be best to design a winged armor where the wings can reconfigure to create a shielded sphere around the wearer. And it should, in theory, be possible to make this large enough to contain a passenger in case of emergency..."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"The mindset of 'if.' I don't care what the odds are, you're making it out of this alive."

Forte mulls Gate's idea over. "So instead of the armor taking the damage, it'll just be the wings? What if one of them is damaged somehow?"

[complex_design]

Zero's only response is a 'hmm'. Nothing was ever that certain, but Forte did have a point in a way. The thing was, failure was the part that Zero didn't consider an option. And if making sure Weil was dead meant not making it out... he could see how his game alt had ended up scrap.

Gate doesn't even seem to notice Zero thinking about things. "Oh, I was still thinking the armor itself would be reinforced against most of the factors involved, only that the shape would allow for easier reentry... most of the heat is caused by friction, after all. And that this would allow for grabbing anyone who wasn't similarly armored... though I do have to wonder why you're not telling anyone else about this. And as for damage, do you mean the folding mechanism? The alloy itself would have to be able to withstand reentry, so I'm not certain what could damage it in the few moments you might need to switch to it before the explosion..."

Zero's still listening, even if he didn't seem like it. "Big wings are a good target to grab in melee combat." Gate was a noncom, after all. Sometimes you had to spell these things out. Not that Weil had looked like a melee fighter in the game, but who knew what could come up.