[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ziR5Pse.png[/img] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1944 (+3 exp +1 rapport) (+3 exp for Koopa kids) (+40 Jr, +30 Rika) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](343/140) [b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](249/100) Lvl 14 Geralt (140/140) -> (143/140) Lvl 10 Roxas (36/100) -> (39/100) [/center] The gang who’d been off getting rocks and fruits while the others scavenged for guns had their own hand-in to do, but while they weren't getting paid for it, it would still be worth the effort. The doors to the shared engine room and RnD lab popped open, allowing Jr to scamper on into the room, followed closely by his sister who was never far from his side. [color=SpringGreen]”Hey Prof! We got the stuff”[/color] “Wonderful!” Professor Koa responded with a warm smile, “Just hand it on over to Dr. Yu and she’ll be able to help you do the rest.” [color=gold]”Scamp evolved while we were out there.”[/color] Roxas reported, letting the professor see the new Pokedex entry for Boltund. [color=gold]”And we found two New Life Pokemon, too. Revavroom and Shieldon. Uh… Geralt has the Shieldon with him, but the Revavroom is with me.”[/color] “Oh?” Professor Koa blinked with surprise, “Congratulations on Scamp’s evolution Roxas, that’s great to hear! May I see the Revavroom you caught by any chance?” [color=gold]”Sure.”[/color] Roxas said, [color=gold]”She’s not exactly a small Pokemon, so make sure you’ve got room for her in your research area.”[/color] With that he released Turbo from her Poke Ball. “Ah, so that’s a Revavroom? Fascinating!” Koa said, this being his first time seeing a Pokemon of this particular species. He began to use some of his own handheld scanning equipment to scan Turbo for any additional information not provided by the standard Pokedex App. As Koa was scanning the Pokemon, Geralt entered the lab, giving the gathered trainers a nod. “Here I am.” He announced, unclipping Tirn's great ball from his belt and releasing the Shieldon from its storage. “And here is Tirn.” “Ah, very good.” Koa said, “Just let me perform some initial scans before you go and I should have enough to research for the time being.” Meanwhile the kids who’d not captured any new pokemon headed over to Dr. Yu. The sector hybrid, her complealty skin covering outfit a mix of labwear and colorful cloth, carefully put away the [url=https://i.imgur.com/dA6mUlz.jpeg]book[/url] she’d been reading and gestured to an empty spot on her section of the lab’s benches. “Here please” [color=SpringGreen]”Coming up”[/color] Jr replied, as he hurried over, hopping up onto a stool, and then started searching an called up armory controle circle to find the needed resources. It was a process that had the Dr leaning in to examine with curiosity, commenting that “Ah, so this is the power that has had Sagi running around ragged” [color=Aqua]”Mmm hmm”[/color] Rika hummed in confirmation, before asking [color=Aqua]”Why, can’t you use it?”[/color] “Hypothetically, but the line between magic and psychic powers is a lot thinner than practitioners of either would have you believe” she replied, which didn’t really explain why this being the case would cause an issue. Before the girl could ask, her brother found their haul in the system, and summoned it onto the lab bench. They all, including the doctor’s Audino assistant, then had to make a grab for and catch several apricorns that therented to roll off the edge of it Once the offending fruits were suitably piled up in an improvised cordon, the hybrid doctor took a look at it all, her assistant handing her various tools to confirm that these were not some lookalikes and were indeed the real deal. This process was particularly focused on the tumblestones, the sky blue and black ones being unknown to her, and warenting investigation. The end result was several beakers with light shavings of the stones in them, some bubbling away, from which the Dr drew the conclusion that “These are indeed of a similar mineral composition, but with some variation that makes them either much lighter or much heavier than what I need to now describe as a ‘typical’ tumblestone. The results of using these should be quite interesting” This was the point at which Roxas caught up to the Koopa siblings, Koa having now finished his initial scans of Turbo and was now performing one of Tirn for Geralt in his research area. [color=gold]”So what’s the verdict?”[/color] He asked when he entered Dr. Yu’s sector. [color=gold]”Did we get the right stuff? Geralt should be here in just a minute once the Professor’s done scanning Tirn.”[/color] “Indeed you did” Dr. Yu confirmed as her assistant put her tools away, before warning that “I can’t quite guarantee the effects of the new types of stone however. It will certainly change the throwing trajectory certainly, but beyond that it is possible they may induce more radical effects” Once Koa finished up with Tirn, Geralt joined the younger Seekers with Dr. Yu, who Geralt was only properly meeting for the first time. Part of him was drawn to the Sectoid, though not in the way Dandelion or Triss might joke about. He blinked the sensation away, removing a great ball from one of his many pouches and presenting it. “Kids mentioned you might want a look at this. And what was that you mentioned about psychic powers…?” The woman blinked her pitch black eyes, and stopped herself taking a step away from the witcher. It took a moment longer before she moved a gloved hand forwards and took the great ball with a claw like pluck. “I’ll take a look” she said, before turning away and beginning to dismantle the great ball. Only then did she explain her circumstances. “I have the capacity for psychic powers as a consequence of having a hybrid of human, sectoid and typhon dna. Most of it comes from the latter, however, and they are a species who feed on the consciousness of others, which means that to use my powers I would need to do the same” The greatball was popped open by a screwdriver wielded as a lever, giving her access to its guts “The act and sensation of either consuming or using the resulting powers are deeply repulsive to me, so I do not. It is a repulsion that extends to related things such as magic despite the lack of need to feed to do so. Yet it is still is a repulsion I have no interest in overcoming” A brief sound of chilling interrupted her explanation as she took a sample of the material composition of the ball “This is because, unlike the Typhon from whom I draw this power, I have a capacity for empathy. Not merely a mundane one, but the psionic abilities of an empath” It was only here where she turned back to them, the dissected machine in hand. Her pitch black gaze meeting Geralt’s bright blue eyes, as she explained her initial reaction to him with “Quite simply, I can feel what you feel” Throughout the conversation, Geralt’s focus began to tunnel on Dr. Yu. More specifically, her head. Unbeknownst to him, Karen Travers’ Brain Eater Psionic ability was urging him to copy her own powers, but Geralt took a deep breath and suppressed the unknown feeling he was getting. “I see. Sounds like a curse.” He instead replied, taking a step back. “It can be. But it can also be enjoyable. If others are happy, for example, then so am I. It can also allow me to help process the emotions of others” her eyes, almost imperceptibly, flicked to the koopa kids for a moment before returning to Geralt. She took a breath, and explained “What you just experienced is a hunger quite similar to mine. I recommend against feeding it” “Don’t exactly plan to.” Geralt retorted, sighing. “First time I’ve even felt it. Explains how Travers had so much power, though. Whoreson stole it from others.” A large part of his motivation for fusing with the Major General had been to return to being male and to temper the Orphan’s rage, but at this point he wondered if it wouldn’t be better to remove the Spirit and crush it. Dr Yu shuddered at the thought, and then nodded in agreement, before holding up the dismantled great ball and saying “in happier news, i can conclude that there is little difference between the mechanics of this ‘great’ ball and a standard pokeball, it is merely reinforced with iron, presumably to make it more durable” “Should you be able to acquire a supply” she began to say, only for jr to hold up a claw and generate a lump of raw iron in his hand, giving her pause before she concluded that “yes, well, that might do” before plucking the metal from the prince’s palm and setting about doing some quick metallurgical analysis to ensure that it was indeed simply mundane metal. Roxas, who had politely kept quiet during the discussion, finally spoke now. [color=gold]”It’s that simple?”[/color] He asked in surprise about the Great Ball recipe. [color=gold]”Hmm, come to think of it…”[/color] Roxas pondered aloud, [color=gold]”...I met a trainer back in Port Meridian who used another type of Poke Ball. It was black and yellow, and he used it to capture a dangerous Dragon Pokemon that was battling us. I wish I’d asked him what kind of Poke Ball that was.”[/color] “There are numerous special types, as far as I am aware, but the professor would be the one to ask on any specifics” the Dr replied, as she set the ball down and pulled a tablet over to herself upon which she began to sketchup blueprints, saying “Hypothetically stronger materials might produce more durable balls, but it is hard to guarantee just how much more that would help, or if they’d have unwanted reactions with the other ingredients” while doing so. Geralt hummed, nodding towards Junior. “You have to show me that armory trick. Not sure I got the memo on that.” [color=SpringGreen]”Sure. All you do is this and this aaaaand thiiiis”[/color] Jr said, flicking out a series of gestures to demonstrate. Geralt watched closely, committing the action to memory. [color=gold]”Is there a process for how we use our materials to make more balls?”[/color] Roxas asked the doctor. “Leave them with me” She replied, glancing up from her blueprinting work, before informing them “I’ll do some work to get some prototyping work done and then get engineering to use the rest for mass production once I’m satisfied. Assuming all goes well, the results will be in the armory some time tomorrow” As she explained this, her Audino assistant ambled off to put on a tea kettle by plugging it directly into a port in the ship’s reactor that had been looming over them this entire time. [color=gold]”Sounds great.”[/color] Roxas said, [color=gold]”Thanks for the help, Dr. Yu - It’s appreciated.”[/color] Then he looked between Geralt and the siblings and asked, [color=gold]”When’s the meeting supposed to start again? We’re not running late are we?”[/color] [color=Aqua]”Five minutes”[/color] Rika informed them from behind the portable game’s console she had been tapping away at during most of the poke-related talk. “Then we better get going.” Geralt replied, gesturing to the door. “Thanks for the help.” He added, directed at Dr. Yu and Professor Koa. “Any time”