View source for Upgrades, Again (Takashi Agera)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/03/05
|Location=UMBRA HQ
|Synopsis=Takashi's devices get upgrades. Again. But this time, there's unexpected secondary consequences.
|Cast of Characters=47
}}
Takashi could feel it, so late at night. Regardless of everything else that was going on, somehow, deep down, he could feel it. Something was coming. It was that feeling which had woken him up, caused him to go down to the labs, where he'd been for a few hours in the late night.

Eiszapfen lay in peices on the table, in the air, and scattered throughout the lab, the extra-dimensional space that the device normally contained its powerful components in disabled. Takashi moved from one bit to the other, making tweaks, nudges, changing the flow of magical energy that turned the thing from a collection of parts into an Armed Device. Running little optimizations here and there based on his experience.

This is a thing he'd already done with Axion tonight, and it showed, in that the little device now taking up residence as studs in his ear was... substantially more talkative.

"You're still worried." Axion said, the three sapphire-like gems lighting up. "Worried isn't the right word. I have a healthy concern." Takashi corrected his Device. "How could I not? I'm sure you can feel that presence in the air as much as I can." Takashi responded, a bit put out.

<(Not about that. That's just magic. You understand magic. You're not worried about magic.)> Takashi grumbled, and his eyes began glaring sideways as though the peice of equipment could feel the look. "I really didn't go out of my way to give you an improved AI core so that you could start to question my mental state, machine. You're supposed to use those cycles to better assist me in combat." Takashi grumbled, and nudged a few more of the arcane pathways within his other device - a device that had recently grown in importance even as it continued to show its weaknesses.

<(We're not in combat now.)> Axion pointed out, astutely. And although a Device's tone never changes, the magical speec it employs still allows people around it to get similar feelings. Right now, the little jewelry peice sounds rather self-satisfied with that response. <(Do you think you can make that one strong enough?)> Axion continued, referring to the other Device Takashi was currently working on. <(Strong enough to protect...)> "It'll have to be." Takashi said firmly, cutting off the inquisitve little jewels. "I can't risk the rest. Those two peices have to stay seperate. Too much damage otherwise."

<(You're still worried.)> it adds again, and Takashi snapped at it. "If you keep this up I'll just downgrade you. To the Dusk Zone with having my own device second-guess my motivations!" he said. It's a good thing nobody else could've made it in his lab, or people might have been questioning the fact that he was trying to yell at, effectively, his own ear. "Anyways, I need to focus. Contact the mainframe, put some music up, and quiet down unless you have input on making Esiazpfen stronger somewhere in your memory." he said.

The fact that the device chose to follow his orders by putting Ami Mizuno's station on a link through the system in his lab did little to improve his opinion of the merits of giving the thing more mental freedom. A shout later and the station was changed.