futuristic engineering types needed [video/text]

[lostapprentice]

[The video begins with a serious, almost surly-looking man staring dully at the camera for a few moments, and there's a bit of shuffling before he finally seems satisfied and steps backwards, picking up a cylindrical piece of metal in a gloved hand and revealing the pair of protective glasses resting on top of his head. He's standing alone in a workshop of some kind, most of the lights off, but he doesn't particularly seem like he's trying to be quiet. That doesn't mean he's not anxious, however; there's almost a tremble in his hand as he reaches up to pull the reflective glasses over his eyes.]

This better work.

[But that's part of why he's making the video. If this thing does anything other than what it's supposed to do, he'll (probably) be able to post it and have witnesses who can perhaps get him help, or something. Maybe. Yeah.

He shakes his head to bring himself back to reality, and holds in front of him what he knows to be a weapon. After clenching his jaw, he presses a button on the hilt.

A red light sputters upwards out of the top of the cylinder with a crackling noise, shaped in the approximation of a blade, and two shorter lights emerge from the side shortly after, as if forming a crossguard. Even with the phone-quality camera, it's easy to see the sparks flying off the blade and the way the edges waver, as well as hear the uneven hum it lets off.

Although his eyes aren't visible through the glasses, his mouth is hanging half open as he watches the shuddering blade.]

Merry Christmas, huh.

[He gives it a careful twirl, keeping his eyes on it lest something unexpected happen. But nothing else does seem to happen, so he lets out a breath and his shoulders relax. A moment after that, he holds his hand towards the camera and it practically leaps towards him, screen going black before it cuts off.

(He's showing off, now that he actually has things to show off.)

The video aside, the post also comes with a text message. He's a good mechanic and he can put together a thing or two, but he's not exactly a physicist or engineer or anything. This is a bit out of his league.]

does anyone have anything resembling expertise with energy weapons? i need to fix a wire on this thing without blowing half the city to pieces. i don't even know if that's possible, but i wouldn't be surprised.

and i guess if anyone needs something heavy duty destroyed, let me know. there's not much it can't cut through.

[He's probably going to find some scrap to wreck anyway, but he might as well offer while planning to get some catharsis the old fashioned way.]

Comments

[commandertoolbelt]

dude that is AWESOME
can i take a look at it?

[ note that leo says nothing about having experience with energy weapons. he’s literally just curious. ]

[lostapprentice]

that depends on what you mean by look.

if you mean use your eyes and keep your hands to yourself, sure. but until i know more about it, there won't be any touching involved. i won't be responsible for someone slicing their hand off.

[commandertoolbelt]

well i meant that i’m a mechanic and it looks awesome and i want to know how it works actually
but it does look pretty freaking awesome even if it’s broken

[lostapprentice]

i wish i could tell you, but until i find someone who can help me take it apart with the assurance it won't destroy everything within fifty feet, i won't be able to look at the components, myself.

or until i get impatient, i suppose.

[commandertoolbelt]

normally i would be offended that someone would doubt my skills
it does look pretty unstable though so i’ll let it slide this time
but hey, if you need somewhere to try and open that sucker up without destroying stuff i know a place

[lostapprentice]

go on.

[He was planning on just finding a place that didn't look all that used and hoping he didn't die in a horrible explosion... but if there's an alternative, he's open to suggestions.]

[OOC: Hey, sorry for the extended absence! My mother was admitted to the hospital in December and it was kind of hell for a while. No hard feelings if you want to let this go, just let me know if you'd rather discuss/handwave the rest of it!]

[commandertoolbelt]

well you have a few options
one's an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town
i used to test some stuff out there since the police don't always bother with loud noises out that far

the other place is the beach
which, you know, is the beach and all
so you might have to work a little harder to find someplace far enough away from people
but if you want an open space it works

take your pick

[ ooc: not a problem at all. hope everything's doing better on your end! ]

[lostapprentice]

the warehouse sounds promising. what's the address?

what is it you used to test, exactly?

[OOC: Yeah, it's more or less back to normal, thank you!]

[commandertoolbelt]

[ address sent! ]

i build robots for fun in my spare time
sometimes it's the battle robot kind, like they use for tournaments and stuff
it can get messy

and lately i've needed a good place to test my very own retrospec-given firepower without burning the whole city down

[lostapprentice]

makes sense.

so you mean firepower literally? i've met someone else who could control fire as well. i could see where it could get destructive.

[commandertoolbelt]

got it in one
from what i’ve heard there’s a bunch of us around the city
but mine’s been pretty hard to control so it’s better to practice solo, you know?

[lostapprentice]

i think i know what you mean.

[glances at the username he can't change.]

did it come to you all at once? my powers have only been weak so far, but i suppose they don't involve starting fires.

[commandertoolbelt]

nope, i was just fireproof at first
the actual fire didn’t come until a few months later
and if there’s anything else to it i haven’t gotten it yet
what kind of powers have you been getting?

[lostapprentice]

being fireproof sounds essential for starting fires, at least.

[He would know.]

i can move lighter things with my mind, and i guess i would call it a sixth sense.

[commandertoolbelt]

yeah that could’ve been bad if it happened the other way around
so depending on how you look at it that may be one point for them not actually trying to kill us

oh so you’re like telekinetic then
that’s awesome
is it really only light stuff though?
like you can’t lift a car yet?

[ yet, because as leo has mentioned, that may come later. and it would be so cool. ]

[lostapprentice]

one point against many other points saying otherwise, but it's something.

not yet. but i remember being able to move an adult without even struggling, so it might happen eventually.

[He's pretty excited about it too, honestly.]

[commandertoolbelt]

oh you haven’t heard?
fixing things just inherently comes with risking your life
i should know, being a mechanic and all

that’ll come in handy next time you have to move
i bet it’ll make for some cool entrances too

[lostapprentice]

you have a point.

[Especially given the fact that he wants to fix this crackling laser sword without it exploding in his face.]

i hadn't considered that, but you're right. if all of this came without the monsters and dimensional rifts i might have started to like being a part of retrospec.

[commandertoolbelt]

might as well have some fun with it right?
arrive fashionably late
throw the door open without even touching it
bring a fog machine if you have to
embrace your inner drama queen

[playdolls]

Is that some kind of incredibly condensed *laser*? That's amazing. That's so far beyond anything we can currently manufacture. I want to see.

[lostapprentice]

i'm not a physicist, so that's my best guess at it.

[He half-expected people to want to see it in person, and honestly it's about half the reason he made the post. Even if it seems... not exactly well-constructed, and he technically had little to do with it himself, it's something he feels almost proud of.]

tell me where you want to meet, and i can give a demonstration.