Aberrant: 2011 - Mech-inations [Complete]

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Karrie sighed with disappointment, but she knew this was just temporary. Soon this call would be done and they'd be back to playing robot games. Idly wondering who was on the phone, Karrie wandered a few steps away, smiling as her boots crunched through the underbrush, and the smell of sage enveloped her. He was really hot; I'm almost getting goosebumps compared to the temperature in the air around me, she realized as her legs started to cool down. That random musing brought a flush to her face, from the obvious connections her mind made from her statement.

She was gazing at the jeep, calculating the distance when a mischievous smile crossed her face from a sudden thought; Mech would have really started to sweat if he'd seen it. Bending down, she picked up a handful of sage, and walked back to Mech. That smile was still on her face, but her actions were innocent; she locked eyes with Mech and simply began to braid her hair, intertwining bits of the sweet plant into her dark crown.

[Alessa Neri]

"Connor! We haven't talked in so long! I have been missing you soooo much!" Alessa was excited and so much could be gotten out of her expressive voice.

"Let me get the business out of the way first, I'm planning a benefit concert for the big one in California, what do you think?" I woud love it if you were security for the concert." Alessa couldn't help but feel a little giddy. "After that we could go out on town like last time, but this time I wouldn't have to leave early..."

[Mech]

I am so very very boned. He'd left his phone on speaker in case he had been unable to shift back. He quickly switched it back to normal and spoke. It's nice to hear your voice again too Alessa. I think a concert for the victims of the Big One is a great idea. Of course I'll take care of security for you again. I just need to know when and where."

Her last statement made him cringe and hazard a look towards Karrie. I can't decide if she wants me to melt into slag or explode. Both I think would be painful... "Yeah that sounds great, I'm game for anything."

He did his best to look apologetic, but there are some things the robotic feline face of the Hellcat just couldn't convey. I am in hell. I have a beautiful pop idol on the line wanting to go out, and I have a really nice young woman here who loves mecha as much as I do listening as the idol damn near asks me out..... God, if you're listening, I'm sorry. You can stop smiting me now. Just once can things go right?

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

So he's still seeing her? The thought was a blow to Karrie; she knew that men would play with women. She just didn't think that he would. But, apparently, she was wrong. Well, this will be a nice post for the website, won't it? And I guess I need to pull down that fiction...

Her manipulative nature rose to the surface, and Karrie gave Mech a conspiritorial smile. With the Trickster's ease, she swallowed her anger and hurt. "Why'd you take her off speaker?" Karrie whispered as she stepped forward and brushed a sprig of sage over his metal skin, teasing him with the tactile sensation. "I'm game for anything, too, and Alessa is cute." She smiled up at him, her dark eyes full of false promises.

[OOC: 7 successes on a Manipulation/Subterfuge roll]

[Mech]

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! shit shitshitshitshit shiiiiiiiiitttttt!! Way to go Connor, you try to be a gentleman and it bites you square in the damn ass. Got to salvage this.

Then Karrie made her comment about also being game for anything. Well maybe this won't be so bad...It could be very fun, even if I don't roll like that... Alessa is drop-dead gorgeous and Karrie is very cute... He felt his body temperature rising. Who am I kidding she's pissed and I'm going to end up alone on a steady diet of cold shoulder after this. FUUUUUCKKKKK.

Connor smiles weakly. "Listen Alessa, I'm kinda busy right now. Mr. Tomino had wanted me to go over some mecha designs with one of the designers for the next season. You actually caught me mid-transformation and I'm kinda in a serious bind. Do you mind terribly if I call you back a bit later?"

Oh please God let this work... I'm not "lying" but not telling her the whole truth.... please don't ask which designer... please...

[Alessa Neri]

"Oh! I'm sorry! I tought you were free today, that's why I called, I guess I will just call you back some other day." Alessa's voice was a bit sadder, the giddy edge being taken away.

"Call Paolo to check for the arrengements, thanks for making some time for me." Alessa got sligthly surprised at herself, she didn't exactly knew why she felt hurt by Connor being so cutting on the conversation, but she was sure she wanted to return the feeling. "Ciao."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Karrie's expression and smile remained open and friendly - perhaps too friendly for Mech's sense of well-being - as she listened to Mech's half of the conversation. Inside, however, she was fuming.

Two-timing bastard! Now, I'm a designer. He's not being honest with her, either. The part of her that loved to jaywalk and play practical jokes, the part of her that thought crimnal punishment should be replaced with eye-for-an-eye, continued to formulate ideas, locking away each piece of information for later, or spinning into some part of the plan she was already formulating. "You can keep talking to her, Connor," Karrie whispered, spinning the bit of sage between her fingertips like helicopter blades. "I can wait." For my revenge, Connor. I can wait forever for that.

[Mech]

Fuck me sideways... with a broom... with the business end of a shop broom... "Later Alessa." At that moment the result of an unprepared transformation reared its ugly head. There was the sound of a gear grinding and then the muscles in his leg cramped under the stress, sending him down to the ground in a crash of metallic flesh.

Pain and anger were evident in his voice. "GOOOOOODDdammmmmiiiiiitttttt!" He allowed the form to release and returned to his normal metallic state. "Well that's just prime...." He laid there a moment, reaching down carefully to rub his metallic calf.

"What are the chances... I haven't spoken to her in over two months, and the first day I actually get to go and have fun with someone I like and she calls with a job and asks me out afterwards." He seems lost in thought as he continues to try to ease the pain and cramp in his muscle.

"Just when we were really starting to have fun.... Dammit, I just can't win. I just wanted a nice relaxing day with someone I like. Was that really too much to ask?" Only then does the realization he spoke aloud dawn on him.

He looks to Karrie. "Well now you've heard my honest thoughts... I'll understand if you want me to bring you back to your home and leave."

"I'm sorry Karrie, I wanted to spend a nice day with you, but instead this happened. I'll leave if you want me too, and I won't bother you again." Connor felt like such a bastard. They'd been doing great, now he'd managed to anger Karrie and Alessa at the same time.

I'm not dating either of them and yet I feel like I've cheated on both of them... God this sucks, What am I gonna do?

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Despite her anger, she still cried out and rushed to his side, reaching for the spasming leg. As he talked aloud, Karrie rubbed her soft fingers into the metal, unsure if it was helping or not. Her confusion didn't stop her from listening to him.

"Go home? Why?" Karrie asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I'm having fun, and besides, this is work. We're doing here is a professional meeting." Her tone was very sweet as she said, "After all, I'm apparently one of your designers. So... let's figure out why this leg isn't working. Clearly, you're not shaping something right."

There was a control panel, and without thought, Karrie pulled her Quik-tool out of a cleverly hidden pocket on the dress and popped it open. It was only when she was staring at the living machinery inside of Mech's leg that she realized she may have just hurt him further. It was easy to forget he was a person when he looked like this. "Uhhh... you ok?"

[Mech]

"Well it's more than a professional meeting, I don't actually usually have this much fun at those. Or at least I don't have as much fun as I'd been having before the phonecall."

The "access" panel opening up felt like someone had just peeled back a layer of his skin, which was in fact the case. "It hurts."

"The musculature is to confined but the legs can't be made any larger or it loses the look and feline grace that the Hellcat is supposed to possess."

The pain shoots up his leg as he kneads the myomer muscle with his metallic hands. KArrie can hear the static pol as his hands near the exposed muscle and can see the wince of pain on his face.

"Don't touch the myomer Karrie, I don't want you getting shocked."

He continued working the muscle, and tried to explain. "The myomer works just like it's said too. Electrical impulses from my brain go through it and control my motor functions. When the tank crushed my ribs and sternum they tried to help me while I was still in my giant form. When they "removed" the armor plating, The myomer nearly electrocuted the paramedic."

Finally he could feel the muscle relaxing some. "I love the Hellcat for the sense of freedom it gives, but christ the modular transformation parts it's supposed to be able to do quickly are a serious pain. Do you have any ideas? I mean it's your design after all. It's one of several reasons I came today."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Hmm..." Karrie mused, her sharp eyes looking over his leg. "First, let's stop the pain..." Her fingers reached up inside of him, deftly avoiding the myomer. He could feel her do something inside his leg, and then it went numb. "I just disconnected the muscle from the nerve socket." At the horrified look on his face, she quickly added, "I'll put it back before we close, but this way you aren't in pain." He had the sudden feeling that she'd gone back to seeing him as an object, something to play with.

"How to reinforce the myomer without reinforcing it?" she muttered to herself, pulling the deactivated muscle out and plying its fibers. "It's not strong enough to support..." She shook her head. "You're made of quantum, Mech. It should be strong enough to support because it is. I think that means that you don't think that it's strong enough, and so it isn't... which means I have to convince you that it is strong enough." Karrie fell silent, thinking. So I need to convince him of the impossible, which means using something else impossible to make his mind close the gap. Though, this is my design, and it should be fine. It's not the design's fault that it's not.

"Do you have eufiber, Mech?" Karrie asked. "If you did, you could use it to reinforce the leg, because eufiber is strong and stable, but it can just look like more of the leg. Then the myomer can just be muscle instead of overworking as structure and muscle. In fact, eufiber could be a great prop all the time. It can simulate burns, so that you wouldn't have to stop for makeup." She realized she was making assumptions. "If you don't do that already. Anyway, that's my suggestion: reinforce the exterior of the leg and the muscle spasms should cease."

She quickly reconnected the muscle and closed the access panel. "You should probably shift to another form for now." She grinned suddenly. "Why not try the VidalHammer? It's a pretty straight-forward design."

[Mech]

Connor nods and his form shifts. Massive golden shoulder baffles and heavy armor adorn his form. His legs are heavily reinforced and armored and he tries to rise. His leg however doesn't respond, the neural receptor in his leg still disconnected. He focuses a moment and tries willing it to recconect. He can feel the rush of quantum and there's an audible snap as the connector is realigned and the access hatch closes.

He rises to his feet and shrugs. "I don't particularly like these big bulky forms to be honest. They're so confining in range of motion." To emphasize his point he rotates his arms, showing the limited range of motion. "Armored like a tank, and easily strong enough to toss one. It does have it's benefits."

He smiles. "Would you like to see the weapons in action?"

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Not here," Karrie said firmly, glancing around at the desert around them. "I'm aware that after that run, this may ring hollow, but blowing and shooting up a wider area is a little too ecologically destructive. I have a shooting range not too far from here, though you may be too powerful for that, too.

"But yes," she looked up at him, smiling. "I'd like to see your weapons in action."

[Mech]

"Of course." Standing there in thee heat of the day he nodded. "We should go back." He smiled at her. "Want to see something I haven't shown anyone else?"

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Always," Karrie said, and there was something intimate in her tone as she smiled up at him. Stepping back, she gave him room to change.

[Mech]

Connor nodded and focused on The are where he'd initially landed. "I figured out alot of things a mecha should be able to do. Some though well I thought I could do it and found I could." It started as a small pinhole, but eventually opened into a two meter portal through space-time. "I give you the method for superluminal travel for the Superior and the Yggdrassil. Noone else has actually seen me use this ability. Not Alessa, not Lina, not even my family. Though I grant everyone will in Season 2."

He reverts to his smaller standard mechanical form and smiles. "Shall we go, or should I go bact to "normal human Connor" mode first?"

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Your call, Connor," Karrie said, but she wasn't paying attention to him at the moment; she was transfixed by the portal in front of her. "I've never tried one of these." She glanced back at him, and told him, "If this kills me, I'll be back to haunt you. And if you doubt the horror that I can unleash as a ghost, remember Poltergeist."

Karrie turned back and ran at the portal, throwing herself forward into a graceful tumble as she went through. There were flashes of skin, gone before Mech could identify them, as she popped through and dropped to the ground on her feet. Exultant, she looked back through the portal at him, waiting for him to follow.

[Mech]

Connor smiled and walked through the portal in his metallic form. The portal closed in a flash of light behind him and he smiled. "See we aren't dead, so no haunting. I think my house may have one of those already as it is. Maki always seems to be watching something and I can sometimes hear things that shouldn't make noise. Then again all the old houses in Louisiana are probably haunted. At least with the way alot of the old folk carry on."

He shrugs.

"So what's next Karrie, I've got enough power for a couple forms and a couple weapon displays before I'll need to rest. The one problem with rapid shifting is that it burns through my reserves at a hellacious pace."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Ummm... well, you haven't tried the Twister," Karrie said, tapping her finger on her lip. "There's also the Spider-ball; you know, give it a dry run."

The remark was casual, but her intent was pointed. Shapeshifters dislocating shoulders, or having muscle cramps was unheard of in the quantum literature. It meant that Mech had a mental block, and that was probably caused by the thing that plagued so many Gundam fans: reality.

Karrie had seen discussion boards destroyed by fights over the 'correct' way to design Gundams, or what their power supplies would be, or how their weapons worked. She had seen fictions torn apart, online friendships sundered and adults reduced to petty children - like pretty much any group with a rabid fan following. But in this case, it was causing an issue with Mech and his abilities, and that wouldn't stand.

She'd try a casual approach first, and use the clue by four later, if he proved dense.

[Mech]

"The Spiderball it is then." Wonderful Connor, the form she just showed you and has more joints than you've ever done. If you don't manage to dislocate something it will be an act of God.

Connor concentrated, visualizing and trying to understand how the joints would function. Here goes nothing. He surged quantum throughout his body and felt himself change.

When he was done he stood in the exact position the picture had been drawn from and casually lifted his forward arms. The joints moaned and strained, but went into motion sowly. Except where before he moved only one arm, in this form he moved at least two at a time. "This.... This will take getting used to." Connor grunted as he started to move the twin arm sets around.

He could feel the muscles starting to cramp in his arms and legs but he willed it to stop. This form doesn't use myomer musculature, it uses magnetic fields and full rotation ball joints. Do not force it to conform, it isn't like any other Gundam form. It isn't human, it doesn't move like one, it doesn't have to.

Connor grunted but kept it up, trying to keep momentum going to keep the form maintained. "Karrie, this form feels like it's going to snap all my limbs out of joint. I figure I can hold it for about 30 seconds otherwise I will release it. Do you have any quick ideas? I'm trying to think of it in non-gundam terms but it isn't working. The joints are so alien to my way of thinking."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Oh, for fuck's sake, stop thinking!" The outburst was unlike anything he'd seen from her to date, and was a bit shocking. "That's your problem, Mech. I've been couching it in gentler terms, hoping you'd get it on your own, but frankly, you're overthinking everything."

Karrie jumped forward and grabbed a leg, feeling its smoothness under her hand. "This is not metal, or magnetic, or myomer, or anything real. This is quantum. It is, for all practical purposes, magic. It can do anything. You can do anything, if you do it."

She waited to see if he'd fall, or walk - and think - on his own.

[Mech]

"Well then here goes nothing then." Why are you doing this? you're about to do something retarded and painful because she thinks you should be able to.

"Screw it no half-assed measures."

,,

Connor brought his legs to the ground and crouched "You may want to move back." The drive thruster flared and the legs unleashed their pent up energy as Connor leapt into the air. He rose up over a mile and then came back down about a hundred feet away, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Through the dust she could see him rise to what were his rear legs and raise his arms, each one independantly spinning. Then she noticed that they seemed to trail light from the tips and could see the vague smile on his faceplate.

"Note to self, sometimes not thinking works better. Sometimes ya just have to do it. What do you think? The forceshield effect needs some work, but I think I got the form."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Karrie grinned broadly, even if she had to hide her hands behind her eyes from the girt and dust he'd kicked up. She probably should have been concerned about her dress as well, but it didn't occur to her to worry about it.

"Mech, it's almost exactly as I pictured it," Karrie giggled, clasping her hands happily. "I did see the forceshield as working better, but overall, yeah... that's the Spider-ball." It was wonderful, seeing the designs in her head standing before her.

"Now, are you going to apply the same concept to the Twister?" Karrie asked. Some would say she was pushing him too hard. But she'd always found her limits by pushing herself to their bleeding edge, and she saw no reason to hold Mech back either.

[Mech]

"I'll give it a shot." Once again Connor seemed to become liquid metal as the spiderball vanished replaced with the much more humanoid Twister. The Machine got its name from the full rotation shoulder joints that allowed it to create massive gusts of wind. I took only a few econds but he shifted into the form easily.

"Now the interesting part." Just as had been diagrammed the shoulders seemed to move out and rotate forward. The hands seemed to spread out into giant fanblades and Connor turned aside. "Here we go." He concentrated on rotating his shoulders and they started to spin. He fed more power into them and the spun faster and faster, Finally after one last surge of power they created a gale force wind that looked like a micro-tornado. Connor turned back to Karrie and dropped to one knee, reverting fully to his human form. His Eufiber reformed into his khaki outfit and he held an envelope in his right hand.

"Ok, time for a break,for at least an hour or so."

He held out the envelope to Karrie. "This is yours, if you want it." He was breathing heavily, a sign of quantum depletion, and yet he managed to smile. "I think you're really going to like it."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Frowning, Karrie took the envelope and tore into it. The first thing she saw as a hand written note from Director Tomino, and Karrie's finger flexed with the sudden urge to put the note down to keep oils off of the paper. But there was no where to put it, and Karrie read it in as light a grip as she could manage. It was a note of thanks, and complimented her mecha designs. Carefully, she folded it and put it back in the envelope before looking at the bundle of papers.

It was a contract, working as a designer on the show. Eyes widening, Karrie scanned it quickly, reading the terms. It was fair, very fair, and delight and excitement boiled up through her blood.

But that was tempered by thoughts of her first duty. She couldn't sign this, not without making sure that she'd still be able to work for the Pack. "I... wow. I... uh... I need to think about this, but this... this is awesome!" Karrie said, hugging the contract to her.

[Mech]

"It was to be mailed to you, but I asked to be able to deliver it personally. Tomino-sama agreed that it was important enough to make it personal."

He nodded. "It won't require you to move to Japan or anything, but you would need to be available to come if needed. Lina and I shared a nice little apartment last go around, and I know it has four rooms total, so you'd have a place to stay if you decided to come."

He smiles and stands. "So, are you ready to be a coconspiritor in the attempt to reforge how anime and Japanese television are made? God knows I can't do it alone, and I'd rather have people I like and can trust with me on it."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

"Oh, I'm definitely interested," Karrie said, looking at one of the pages more closely. "I mean, this is fair, so that's not at issue, but I have... other obligations. I need to think about this, really, really hard.

"I mean, it's a dream, but... did it come at the wrong time?" Karrie asked. While she was speaking aloud, Karrie clearly didn't expect an answer. Finally she turned to him. "Let's get you back to the house, ok?"

[Mech]

Connor nodded. "You've got until December first. that's when we start shooting again." He picked himself up pff the ground and turned to follow Karrie to her home.

"I'll say this much, I like your designs. They allow far more freedom than the standard Gundam forms."

[z-Coyote-Mad Scientist]

Karrie fell into step with him as they walked back to the car. "Thanks, I like my designs too. I think they could represent a new level of Gundam, like the next generation, where everyone has time to come up with crazy stuff."

Glancing at her watch, she checked the time and realized it was getting close to dinner. "Hey, let's see your weapons, and then Mom should have dinner ready," Kara said.

Impulsively, she turned and grabbed his hand, then kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for a great day," she said, blushing a little. As she turned to continue toward the Jeep, she didn't let go of his hand, though she held so that he could easily pull it loose if he wished.

[Mech]

"Dinner sounds great." Connor smiled and held out his hands. Even in his standard form his weapons resembled the Achnerar and beam rifle from the Superior. He took aim at a small pile of rocks and fired, destroying them utterly. He allowed Karrie to see the sword though when he tried to let her handle it, it simply vanished into quantum. "I haven't figured that part out yet, but all the weapons do that if they lose contact with me."

The kiss utterly suprised him and he blushed. When she grabbed his hand he didn't pull it free. We're just friends right?