Private Eastern Brisshal Let's Tinker Together

[Kakao]

The sun was shining down through the treetops magnificently, giving the young-looking Magia a good idea of what he was doing as he tinkered with a projector of some sort. Shaped as a cube, the components inside were easily hidden by just a thick lens atop it, perfect for producing holographic images atop with the use of his illusion magic. However, every test so far had failed. What was he doing wrong?

Packing up his prototype, the boy sighed softly, laying his back against a tree. "I don't get what I'm doing wrong... I love tinkering, but I'm getting nowhere... And here I was sure this thing would be helpful..." His sigh turned into a groan as he looked around aimlessly. He was alone in the woods yet again.

A sound caught his attention, but he couldn't quite place what it was from afar. It was a normal range sound, but just close enough that he could barely make out there was a sound at all. "Someone's that way!" He jumped to his feet, running in the direction of the sound he heard. "Maybe they'll let me help them with something! Way better than tinkering out here all alone!"

When he got close enough, he saw someone and could better make out what he was hearing- but what he was hearing no longer mattered. There was someone there! In the same vicinity as him! "Excuse me! Is there any way I can help?"

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

While Eastern Brisshal was primarily covered by a dense forest and the occasional plain of flowers, there were also some larger rocks and clearings around them. To some, these places even served as land markers. It was also one such location that Mystia had chosen for the testing of her new improvements to the battle-mech that accompanied her everywhere.

As Kakao got closer, he would be able to see a whole bunch of strange things. One of the notable ones was a small magitech golem, barely reaching the boy's knees, repeatedly running into the trunk of a tree, falling over, getting up, and repeating the process. All the while it kept on talking and repeating itself endlessly.

"THE CREATOR NEEDS THIS DATA—THE CREATOR WILL LOVE THIS DATA—! THE CREATOR WILL LOVE ME—!"

Beyond that strange little being, there were also a number of various tools scattered around and, as Kakao got closer, a bunch of shouting. One clearly feminine voice while the other was similar to the tiny golem from before, but much more robust and manly.

"Unreliable, impossible… reboot!"

"REBOOT COMPLETE. HELLO AGAIN!"

"Well? Status?"

"INITIALIZATION SEQUENCE INTERRUPTED—AGAIN. SORRY!"

"Ghaaa, that's impossible!"

"DENIAL OF ACTUALITY ACKNOWLEDGED!"

A tiny girl, clearly a faerin, was arguing with a robot that stood over 10 feet tall. The size difference between them was almost comical. And when Kakao got close enough to call out to the two of them, getting their attention, they'd both turn toward the magia in sync. Only, the coverings on the mech's arms and legs opened up before a fine mist of something white flew out, covering the poor man head to toe in some form of healing powder.

"Now you manage to run the protocol?! Aaah, I'm so sorry, sir! Let me help clean up!"

In a mild panic, the fae quickly ran over the Kakao, looking him over while desperately thinking of an efficient way to get that powder off of the man.

@Kakao

 

[Kakao]

When he found the smaller golem that reached his knees, Kakao found himself crouching down to lift the golem in the air above him. "Wow, what an amazing mechanism! I could never make something like this! But... Where's your master, little guy? This way?"

He heard shouting, and a lot of it. Wandering towards it with the golem in his arms, he found himself stunned as he was putting the golem in his arms down, only to be doused in a fine white powder. The smell was oddly satisfying, however. Was it some kind of magic mist? Medicinal, maybe? He wasn't sure, but he kind of liked it. The thought made him chuckle- especially as the small girl rushed to him in a panic.

"It's really fine, Miss. If anything, I'm more impressed than upset. I don't think I'll ever be able to make such a complicated mechanism as a golem. I can't even get my projector to work."

Smiling softly, he put a hand on the girl's head and rubbed it gently. She kind of reminded him of his daughter- cute, kind, and smart. "Instead of worrying about getting me cleaned up, why don't you tell me your name? I'd be honored to know the name of the engineer of such fine work. I'm Kakao."

 

[Mystia]

The golem kept repeating all kinds of nonsense about data and how it had to gather more for its creator even when Kakao picked it up and carried it over. That meant it unfortunately did not respond with anything coherent. Clearly, the thing was malfunctioning in some way. At least Kakao was able to find the source of all the commotion even without any help.

Once set down, the small construct would start running into the nearest solid object repeatedly again, as Mystia had a bit too much work on her hands right now to fix it - namely with Kakao and his poor state. Even if the boy stated that he didn't mind, the small fae still felt rather bad for inconveniencing him.

"Impressed is alright and all, but let's get you cleaned up first!"

Grabbing some kind of rug from a nearby rock, she would toss it to Kakao before grabbing a second one herself and then attempting to get as much of the mist and powder off of him as possible. In the meantime, the giant mech took the opportunity for another jab.

"IF MY MASTER CAN CREATE SUCH CONSTRUCTS, THEN ANYONE CAN WITH A BIT OF ENTHUSIASM."

@Kakao

 

[Kakao]

Kakao was pretty quick to catch the rug thrown to him, but not quick to figure out why. He was too busy being mesmerized by the mechanical marvels that were these golems. He really wanted to get his projector working to help him deliver messages and do trickery from afar, but... Golems were so cool! He totally had to learn to make one of those next!

Finally, as the girl began to try to clean off the mist and powder covering his body, he figured out why she'd given him a rug of his own. Without a thought, he turned around to have his back facing her. "Sorry, but it's embarrassing to have a girl so close in front of me. Can you help wipe off my back instead?"

He laughed timidly as he got his front mostly clean. There were some stubborn spots, but it wasn't a big deal to him if his starter clothing got stained or damaged- it was the nature of the beast when travelling. In fact, if she looked carefully enough, there were probably awkward grass stains on his pants near the butt. Something he remained blissfully unaware of at this time.

"Miss, you still haven't told me your name. Is it a secret or something? You can just tell me a nickname you like to be called if so... I just feel weird just calling you 'Miss' all the time, you know?"

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

Having the boy suddenly turn around and ask for his back to be washed instead was a bit strange, but Mystia had no reason to go against his wishes. Though she would have understood it more if he was at least shirtless. There was nothing to be embarrassed about when they were both fully dressed as they were. But at the very least, they were able to get him scrubbed from head to toe, perhaps now even cleaner than he was before!

"SERENITY MIST DERIVATE CONFIRMED TO HAVE A CLEANING EFFECT. THE RESEARCH IS BEARING FRUIT."

"Shame that's not what we're trying to figure out."

There was a tinge of frustration in the girl's voice before Kakao's remark snapped her out if. It wasn't like she didn't want to give him her name, she was just too distracted by everything until now.

"Ah, sorry, it's Mystia. A pleasure to meet you~!."

"NAME STILL PENDING."

@Kakao

 

[Kakao]

He knew it was stupid to be embarrassed, but the only women ever to touch his chest were his family- mainly his wife and daughter. He wanted to keep it that way, at least for the moment. Besides, he was in the body of a pubescent boy, but he was still an adult inside. The girl was so cute, he could easily hug her without thinking- even if he already determined she was probably too young for him in reality. Plus, he was a married man living a normal life on the outside. He couldn't go thinking weird things about strangers!

When he was all cleaned off, he noticed he felt a bit lighter. "I feel so refreshed! Thank you miss!"

With a soft laugh and a big grin, he was happy to learn her name- though he wouldn't call her by the full few syllables, apparently. "Myst, huh? That's a really pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty lady."

He looked up at the mech that had mentioned a few things that made him curious. "So this guy's nameless, huh? Any ideas for it yet? Also, what's this 'Serenity Mist' he mentioned? It's called a Mist... Is it based on your name that you invented it?"

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

At least her mistake was now undone, and the boy was cleaned up, which meant that they could have a civil conversation, at the very least. Especially since she could adequately focus on what he was saying instead of just trying not to have everything fall out of her control. Putting the two towels aside again, she let out a sigh and brushed all the negative thoughts aside, especially as the first thing that seemed to be said was a rather direct praise, causing the girl's cheeks to become slightly rosy in color.

"A-ah, thanks~!"

"OBSERVATION - FLIRTING DETECTED. SHOULD THIS UNIT LEAVE TO GIVE YOU TWO SOME SPACE, OR SHOULD IT ESCORT THE MAN ELSEWHERE?"

"Oh for the love of— halt all actions!"

With yet another sigh, the girl shook her head as she watched the golem effectively reset itself and become dormant again. While these things could get annoying at times, there was at least never a shortage of fun. That said, the girl quickly got back to Kakao and his question.

"Not really. Or, well, I guess I helped create it. The Serenity Mist is from an expedition that happened some time ago, it was a public event. Was meant to prevent this strange status effect that amplified everyone's emotions. I memorized the formula, but am missing a secret ingredient, so I figured I would replace it with a general healing regent to modify it into a more standard healing mist."

@Kakao

 

[Kakao]

Kakao was amused to say the least, as the girl's cheeks gained a bit of extra color- but he felt the blood boil in his own not long after he saw this, as the mecha began to accuse him of flirting with its master. Had he said too much? He was just trying to give her a compliment. In this form, Kakao was too young to 'flirt'. Okay, so teenagers did flirt. He'd flirted with his wife at this age, probably. But still! It was just an honest thought!

Then, Myst set the machine to idle. "Wow! It's amazing you can do that!" His eyes widened slightly, curiosity rushing his black blood violently around his body as excitement took hold. "Wait, did Myst make this big guy too?"

He shook off his awe to listen carefully about the Serenity Mist. "A status ailment that effects emotions? I've heard of things like that before... But a mist that can calm rampant emotions sounds really helpful. Wouldn't that be able to help people with severe anxiety and stuff in general? I think that'd be really neat!" He could really use that in the real world, he thought. Especially with a little kid worrying him like mad.

"What's the missing ingredient? I'll help you look for it. That's way more worth the time than what I was doing. I can tinker with my holocube later."

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

It seemed that Kakao had already completely forgotten about the incident, and intrigue entirely consumed him. Oh well, Mystia couldn't exactly blame him since she was the same, at least to some degree. It was what had led her to build her companion in her very first days of this game.

"Yeah, I've built him. Got really lucky with the materials, I think…"

She couldn't quite tell since, even now, she was still pretty new to TerraSphere. At least when compared to some other players she had managed to meet. The conversation quickly shifted back to the imperfect serenity mist, causing the small fae to sigh in frustration.

"That's the thing, I have no idea what the final ingredient could be. It was administered by someone from MIT when we first made the concoction, and it was done so quickly and in such a chaos that no one got to see."

Scratching the back of her head, the girl had to admit that it was quite the problem. If she had no idea at all, then she could only guess, and that could only get her so far. Perhaps it was best to give up on such a project, but at the same time, Kakao had a point when he mentioned that it could be very useful for certain people.

@Kakao