1428/After-Action Debate

After-Action Debate
Date of Scene:	30 April 2016
Location:	Mikoto's Warehouse
Synopsis:	Chloe visits Mikoto to talk tech. And, you know, good and evil.
Cast of Characters:	Mikoto Nakajima, Chloe Stingray

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Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
The day after the battle at WPS finds Mikoto back hard at work in her warehouse 'lair', settled at one of her workbenches. She's got a laptop open in front of her, a handful of books to one side, and a notepad to the other.

Unusually, the books don't seem to be the usual sort of techie treatises usually to be found here. The few titles visible seem to be mostly historical texts. Must be working on something for school.

Or at least, that's what she's been doing. Right now she's moving her chair a little ways down to place it before the pizza that's set out on that part of the table. Must have been delivered by the car that just sped away.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    The day after was a really good time for Chloe to not be in the city. Especially with how ticked Miss White was. SO Chloe had brought the devices and parts to the warehouse that Mikoto had set up for herself, and made sure to fly there. She even used the stealth system....until she landed. Once she was in the warehouse, she locked the door and tilted her head as she spotted Mikoto. "You didn't tell me you worked for someone like that......thing at the tower."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
There's a 'ding' to alert Mikoto that someone on the cleared list has just passed through the building's wards, and she turns to look up. So she's facing the door when Chloe enters. "Hey, come on in, have some pizza."

Then Chloe brings up the previous day's unpleasantness. "I don't work for her, I work with her. Part-time. Because as bad as this particular one was, she also does a lot of good for this town."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "And I suppose those heart eggs were for the good of the town." Chloe doesn't seem to hungry. Matter of fact, Chloe seems a little miffed. "You didn't take any of them...did you? Nor would you lie to me....."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"I haven't, I swear it. And no, they weren't. It's a sordid, awful thing, it is." Mikoto sighs and sinks back into her seat.

"It's a long story, and a lot of it isn't my secret to share. But I promise you, it won't be allowed to last."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe stares long and hard at Mikoto, through squinted eyelids. One can just feel the question hanging in the air of 'can I trust this girl?'. Eventually, Chloe lets out the breath she was holding through her nose. "it seems like we have a bit of time here. Perhaps you can give me your version of the secret, especially if I'm to trust you. You know my deepest darkest secret. Perhaps there's more to you than just whom I met here, and at the tower." She says as she sits down. "And before you think this is just limited to you, I'm not very pelased at Sky Jack either."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Neither am I," Mikoto says, waving a hand at the pizza box to close it and getting up to walk over to the couch. She'll want a more comfortable chair for this conversation, and the pizza can be reheated later.

"But at least I know why he does it. His group is on the front lines of the fight to stop that crap." She beckons Chloe closer, to take a seat on the opposite sofa.

"For starters," she opens, "Do you really think I'd be willing to date someone who was in that crap of their own free will?"

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Front lines being subjective I guess. I'm going to guess it was the first place he thought of, hmm?" Chloe then gets a look of confusion. "Date someone in that?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods. "A lot of the people who work for Easter are..."

She waves a hand. "A lot are just employees who haven't got a clue about the weird stuff. Normal people doing normal jobs."

She looks down, then back up at Chloe. "And some of them don't have any choice."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
Chloe Stingray says, "Like Utau and Ikuto. I know about them. utau was the one who asked for my, and Kukai's help. She also wanted the guardians, but after what Kukai showed me, I don't think I want their brand of 'help'." She then looks to Mikoto. "Like what Kukai did to the building." She then tilts her head. "Granted, I did too, but I tried to miss the employees there.""

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods. "And I appreciate that. A lot of them are good people, just trying to help everyone - and make a bit of cash and glory in the process, sure." She shrugs again.

"I'm surprised Kukai didn't tell you, though. It's why I don't get along with that crowd. Ikuto and me..." She gets one of those little smiles, then sighs.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Could care less about glory, or cash. But, that's just me. Do what I think is right...pay it forward." Chloe then shrugs. "But I'm getting off topic. I thought Kukai was pretty decent.......then he kicked the soccer ball through the building. That's when I searched for the evidence myself in the building." She doesn't elaborate on something else she did either.....yet.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Not his finest moment," Mikoto agrees. "I've got to wonder if he even cares that there were people in there." She looks away, then back to Chloe.

"At least there wasn't anyone else in the diner when it went up."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "At least...." Chloe mirrors. "I'm going to guess that.....and you...were hired to collect heart eggs? Or that....'thing' was hired to collect them. Right?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto shakes her head. "Just Hannah. I had nothing to do with it... I spent days trying to talk her down. But she owes some favors to some... very unsavory people."

She did stop at least one, too. Though she's not going to bring it up now. It'd feel too much like bragging. "She had no more choice about it than Utau and Ikuto."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Doesn't mean I have to like her, or her attitude." Chloe says before she says standing up. "Which also means, I don't feel bad about taking these either." She says before Burning soul says 'Put out'.....and devices, parts and more are hovering in the air near Mikoto and Chloe. There's at least four devices there, perhaps more.

Chloe had her eye on one Incomplete intelligent device and One incomplete Belkan device.

Mikoto would recognize them easily. They're the stolen parts and devices from the labs.

"Think we can use them?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Well, damn." Mikoto reaches out for one of the Devices, the one closest to her. "So this is why Hannah was so pissy this morning. I thought someone'd replaced her coffee with decaf."

She grins widely. "Good work. This is exactly what I needed to do some serious study on these things. And more than enough to refit one or two for use, too."

She looks over at Chloe. "Got someone in mind for a present?"

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Two people, actually. Yourself....and me. You said we would be working together, and you needed parts to do research on them. There more than enough parts here, and more than enough devices for you to work on. However, I'd like you, if you don't mind requests....to get at least two working. One for me...one for you." She then takes one out of the air. "I know this is a Belkan device. It was marked that way on a bench. If there are others, help this one. It was oddly, on a pedestal.....like it was a prize of some sort. I want to know what the big difference is between the devices, besides one is melee and the other is more general."

She then plucks a rather battery sized cylinder out of the air. "And....can you figure out what these are?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Can be done," Mikoto promises. "Though it'll take time to work out how to calibrate it to work alongside your Burning Soul." She picks out one of the floating components. "These will make that much easier, though."

Then she reaches for the small cylinder. "Mmm-hm. Looks like a cartridge. Sort of a mana battery... more of a capacitor, really. Designed for quick discharge, to boost the power of a single spell."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe whistles at this. "Really? I'll have to find a way to swipe more of them then." She then ponders. "Can a used battery be recharged?" She says as she sets down the Belkan device to look at the Mid-device. "If they can, I can take the ones that have been discarded."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Hmmm, well." Mikoto lifts the amulet form of Carnwennan, which expands out into the now-familiar sword. "Take a look at this."

Part of the rather baroquely ornate hand-guard, just above the hilt, turns out to be more than mere decoration, on closer look. It is in fact a cylinder similar to that of a revolver-type handgun - and, indeed, it opens out just like one, to reveal it's loaded with a half-dozen cartridges just like the one Chloe is holding.

"This is the bit where a Device interfaces with the cartridge. Needs some specialized systems to channel the sudden burst of mana into the matrix. From what I've found out so far, most Mid-type Devices don't have that."

She closes it up with a 'click', and the Device returns to its storage form. "But yes, they're refillable. Takes some time and concentration, but all you've got to do is channel mana into one."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe makes a bit of a face. "So, basically the Mid-types are superior overall, while the Belkan-types are only better for short bursts." She says softly. "because of the cartridges that power the short bursts." She then ponders. "if the mid-types could be upgraded to hold the Cartridges...."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"And they can." Mikoto tucks the pendant back into her shirt. "Pick a table, see if you can put Burning Soul into maintenance mode, we'll see what she's already got and how much work it'll take."

She hops off the sofa, heading over to the workbench to pick up a few tools.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "All right. While I'm working on Burning Soul...you could work on another?" Chloe says heading over to a bench. "So...how to I put it into maintenence mode?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Sure, bring them over, pick one out and we'll have a look." She tucks the tools into various pockets, as she heads over to the worktables.

"As for that, it should be as simple as ordering it, just like you'd activate her for flying or a fight."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe picks a blue orb and gives it to Mikoto. "all right. Burning Soul, Maintenence mode."

"yes master." And the orb floats off of her necklace and sets on the table...then enlarges. "huh. that was easy."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto watches as the Device unfolds itself out onto the workbench, and nods. "It's not supposed to be terribly hard. Like most functions, it's keyed to your voiceprint and mana signature, so an enemy can't pull tricks on you with it."

She paces slowly around the bench, examining the Device's components, mulling briefly as she starts to identify some of them. It's considerably different from what was previously seen of Mikoto's Device, generally more graceful and elegant overall - much more a work of art, compared to her more functional appearance.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "So they can't just take it and mimic my voiceprint with a recorder, they need my mana signature too. That's good to know." Chloe says as she looks at the device.....and memorizing it's layout. "So....can Blazing Soul talk to me like this?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Sure, there's nothing keeping her vocoder from functioning. It's just all out here where we can see it, instead of tucked away in its nice little subspace pocket."

Mikoto keeps pacing around the tables, pointing out components of interest. "See, these mana accumulators here? That filigree looks pretty and elegant, right? It also gives a ten percent boost in efficiency over the ones Carnwennan uses. It's more fragile, though."

Another component is tapped, "Here's the vocoder, by the way. I'm pretty sure that's it, am I right, Blazing Soul?"

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Blazing Soul doesn't answer Mikoto, since she's not it's master. Chloe makes a face. "Is what Mikoto said correct?" "Yes Master." And Chloe chuckles. "Seems security's pretty tight on it. All right. So how to we give the device the ability to accept cartridges?" She says as she looks the Mana Acclimators over. "Can I store data in Burning Soul too?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto hmmms softly, considering the Device components. "Well, sure, she's a computer. Carnwennan handles a lot of my data-shuffling... word processing, web browsing, phone and text messaging... pretty much everything you'd use a phone or tablet or laptop for, she can handle."

She hmms again as she applies something that looks vaguely like a multimeter fused with a sonic screwdriver to several junctions along Blazing Soul's mana conduits. "Hmmm... well. I'd have to get the parts, first off... might be enough in the pile you brought home, good work on that by the way..."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Heh, they were all distracted, and I used Binding spells to keep the workers out of my way." Chloe says as she ponders. "So it wasn't too horribly hard to steal them. Just kept them in Blazing Soul here." She then chuckles. "But when Sky Jack was sent into the Diner, I took that as my cue to leave." She says softly. "So....is there a place where we can put a cartridge system into it?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"We got him to the hospital right away, at least. He'll be alright with time... and I'm sure Amu will be by to make sure of it as soon as she hears about it."

Mikoto hmmms again at another reading. "Well... we can certainly fit one in... there's room to expand. The question is, should we."

She steps back over to indicate the mana accumulators she'd pointed out. "Remember how I told you these were more efficient, but fragile?"

She waits long enough for Chloe to answer, then continues. "It's like that throughout the whole design. The conduits are narrower - better quality materials, they'll carry more, but they're not as robust against the kind of burst-loading a cartridge puts on them. And that's just two examples."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Is it possible to reroute power during the burst loading? that way it doesn't damage the acclimators?" Chloe then chuckles. "I mean, that way Blazing Soul isn't damaged." She then ponders. "Ooooooor.....a way to make the mana go through the cartridge last....so when the spell goes through, the cartridge just adds mana to the spell, giving it more kick."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto shakes her head. "Not really. The math doesn't work that way..." She paces to the far end of the table, pointing out another set of towers. "These are the primary projectors... they take the formed spell-matrix and project it out onto the world, partially by means of the rune-glyph that shows up when you cast."

Then she steps a bit closer, pointing out another set of ornate bits. They look almost like greek temples. "These are the primary matrix formers... where it actually builds the spell, under direction from the main processors. You'd have to inject the energy before it gets there, in order for it to be of any use."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "So putting the Cartridge at the end of the whole shebang would only make the cartridge explode, rather than adding mana to the spell. Which would wreck Blazing Soul." Chloe says crossing her arms. "That one Belkan device is sounding better and better." She then chuckles. "It'll be a backup device though." She says softly. "So there are expansion slots, right?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
"Oh, sure. They're just ... kind of hard to see, right now. The circuitry's kind of modular... at least, Carnwennan's is. I've never had a Mid-type opened up this far before. You can ask her, if you like."

Mikoto tests a few more connections, and nods. "But I'd think long and hard before putting a cartridge system into this little beauty. You'd have to have pretty darn good control over your mana-channelling, or you'd risk burning her out."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "That's what the Belkan device will be for. I don't really know how to control my mana use yet. But I'm working on it." Chloe says before looking over. "We'll modify her later. I just want to be sure of what I'm doing first. You'll teach me naturally. Standby mode, Blazing Soul." Blazing soul then conpresses down into it's normal orb mode. "All right.....let's try.....this one." She says taking a darkened blue orb off of the bench."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto nods and hmmms. "Don't suppose you snagged any documentation with it? Maybe something that included its name?" She reaches up to take the orb and examine it.

"Need to interface and activate it." She turns it from side to side, staring at it, as if trying to divine something simply by watching the way the light shines off of it.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe ponders something. "Hmmm......How about if try to activate one, and see if it'll work." She then ponders. "It'll probably sync with me when I do....then we'll be able to work on it. What do you think?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    Mikoto considers the array of Devices and parts Chloe has brought. "Hmm. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Depends on what condition the lab boys left them in."

    She indicates one of the Devices, and pushes it out to the center of the workbench. "Try that one. Just have Blazing Soul send an activation signal to it."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Right." Chloe says as she looks to Blazing Soul and it sends out a little beep. It's then the blue orb opens up into the mantenence mode. "All righty. Looks like that worked."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    Mikoto nods, circling the workbench, eyeing the componentry of the Device and poking at it with her little multimeter. "Yes, we can at least access the parts. They must have been working on it when Kukai went nutball."

    She does, however, have to point out several issues. "Two of these matrix formers are burnt out... I think that's what they are, at least. They're not responding the way they should."

    A little further down, she points out an empty socket. "That's ... something important was supposed to be there. Look how all these conduits go through that one spot..."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe makes a bit of a face. "Hmmm......Perhaps we could scan it, or expand ours and compare?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "It looks more of a Mid-type design... you can tell by these conduits, for example." She points out a few other places that would indicate it.

    "Can you put Blazing Soul up on the next table?"

    Once the Device is spread out in Maintenance Mode, she goes around the table, pointing out similarities. "See, here, this has the same kind of multiple connection that the missing part on the other does."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe puts Blazing soul in Maintenence mode on the table and looks at all of the similarities. As she does, she looks back to the table of parts and starts to separate some of them that look similar. Easier to know which is which that way. "So I imagine that putting some of these parts, like another mana whatchamacallit into this would help it like Blazing Soul."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "Maybe. Need to make sure all the parts are calibrated to each other before we just 'jam them in', though."

    She points out one of the burnt-out parts on the new Device. It's an odd one out among a series of otherwise-identical pieces. "I think that's what happened here, they tried to substitute a spare from another Device and hit an overcharge."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "Well....maybe there's a way to cause them to interact and calibrate?" CHloe says before looking to Blazing Soul. "Hmmm......what if we used another device to coash us throguh it?"

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "Mmm. It's an idea. I don't know that they'd have that much information... you can ask, though." She thinks it's unlikely - after all, if it was that easy, Carnwennan could have told her everything she wanted to know, long ago.

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "It's either that or have our devices keep an active scan on the harmonic balance of the device. I mean, it can't be too hard to put one together, but extremely hard to put one together RIGHT." Chloe says softly. "Blazing Soul, scan this device for abnormalities." She says softly.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    Mikoto takes mental notes as she listens to the scan report. "So... looks like they had to replace several parts when they got hold of this one... some of them were better fits than others."

    She takes her multimeter to two of the items Blazing Soul highlighted, taking several readings from them.

    "See, this one here is practically the same model that was originally here. It would've been pretty easy to get it right with that."

    The second is one of the burnt-out ones. "This one... looks like it came out of a civilian-grade basic Device. Couldn't take the strain."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe nods quietly. "Well....lets replace those that resonate with the device better, I guess. There a way we can do that?" She says as she picks up some of the higher grade looking ones.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "That's the plan," Mikoto agrees, nodding. "But it isn't something we're going to get done in a night. First we have to identify everything that needs replacing, figure out which parts among what you brought back are compatible... and then fit them in somehow. Some of these interfaces are... not exactly standardized."

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    "I know, Mikoto. I'm pretty sure I can trust you. So we can separate the burned out ones with fresher ones, find out what grade they are, use the higher quality ones for us, and if there's a part missing.....find a way to get it." Chloe says quietly. "Though...I don't think just walking into the labs of that building will work again."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "Highly unlikely." Mikoto has her own ways of gaining access, thanks to her alliance with Hannah, but it's pretty clear that Chloe wouldn't be welcome.

    "You have anything scheduled for evenings through this week, outside of homework?"

Chloe Stingray has posed:
    Chloe shakes her head. "Not at all. want me to come by and help you with the devices?" She says having Blazing Soul compress back to it's normal orb form.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
    "I'd appreciate it," Mikoto answers, settling onto one of the stools scattered around the workbenches. "It's mostly a matter of time and labor, at this point."