Update 8: This Fought Me
Moronis
Has-Too-Many-Fictional-Children
- Location
- NC
beh. This one… fought me a bit so it's a bit short in places compared to normal. Sorry about that.
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It's become something of a routine at this point for the dwarf. Get up, put on your clothes, eat your breakfast, consult the list, make your choice, move on with your day. There's a comfort to it that helps to keep him focused on things other than the complete and utter lack of-
He shakes his head. Sparkling has already left for the day with nary a word and Vera went out earlier to get started on her own share of work. Best he just stop worrying and get on with it. It's a break from mining for the day. Seems only sensible, the crews in charge of the safety equipment were scrambling last he saw of them. Zayden nodded at that thought and grimaced a bit. He may have overestimated their abilities without the proper equipment and overextended into the mines a wee bit too much.
Well. That'll be changing soon enough. He hefts his pack onto his shoulders and steps foot out the door of the room he's been sharing with Vera and Sparkling. Best get to work then.
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Advanced Forging
Zayden sat in the chair, oversized for one of his stature, and stared at the mass of metal and glass before him. Without even needing to consult the list of instructions, he sighed and began the laborious process of deconstructing the object. He had, yet again, assembled the materials in the wrong order.
When he'd signed up to work on this particular bit of projects he'd made a… Rather incorrect conclusion based on what he'd seen of its requirements. The dwarf had assumed that this would be a job requiring engineering skills and to some very limited extent this was true! There were tools involved, tools he recognized. The problem, however, was the matter of scale.
Namely that he was having to carefully assemble frighteningly small components into a greater whole. That… That was not something he had much experience with. The box of stuff next to him had dwindled since he'd started working but a chunk of those pieces had been wasted on failure after failure. The one consolation Zayden had in the midst of all of this was that he'd not been the only one making these mistakes.
A brief glance towards some other tables where a few dwellers sat showed they were having an even rougher time of things than he himself was. Another table with a mander sat by themselves had a constant deluge of rather violently creative swears. Not a single fully assembled component had come out of that table so far and it looked as though a few of the people overseeing the project were working up the courage to ask that particular assembler to leave.
The sounds of the room, aside from the swearing from the one table, were those of people diligently and quietly working away. It was a very clean room, all things considered, which made sense the dwarf knew. Some of the components did involve actual honest to gods circuitry and that was very, very finnicky in his experience.
A gloved hand reached up and rubbed at his eyes, trying desperately to get the exhaustion and strain out of them. Glaring at the components was beginning to take something of a toll on him. If it wouldn't instantly drown him he'd just shove his head outside and hold his eyes open to let the water moisturize the tender meat. With a sigh, he leaned back forward and got back to work.
The sooner this was done, the better.
(+2 Progress gained. Now at 3/20.)
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Suiting Up
Clever Claws Work The Forge stared in genuine pride at the sight set before her. It was a masterwork this suit of armor. It had been crafted with meticulous care and attention to detail, each stitch deftly made with her claws on the needles. The plating was laid atop a waterproof lining that had been made to withstand caustic fluids that could be found in the mines. The helmet was constructed to allow for an ease of vision, to insert something to light the area in front of the wearer's head, be made airtight in case of pockets of gas, and was surprisingly lightweight in spite of it all. She'd even had time to make the damned thing pretty yet functionally safe for visibility with a set of artistically placed reflective yellow stripes.
It was gorgeous. And the fact it was completed so early was owed primarily to the source of inspiration for this project in the first place who, even now, was standing stoically in the corner with his arms stretched out to either side. The dwarf grumbled and complained at first but once he'd settled down into being a model for his own suit of armor the work had gone smoothly. The designs had simply flowed from Clever Claws mind and from there the pieces had been produced, assembled, and made into one glorious whole.
Many Dwellers had already been by for fittings and the first of the armored suits were being dispatched for the mining crews to wear. They'd been surprisingly silent during their visits, eyes straying to where her assistant in this matter was still standing. Clever Claws breathed out, satisfied with her work for the day. Turning towards Zayden, she waved at him. "Friend, your work today has been greatly and deeply appreciated. Thank you and have a good day."
There was silence from the dwarf in response. She tilted her head and walked towards him. "Zayden? Are you quite alright?"
When she got up close to him she heard it. The sound of a quiet snoring, muffled by the helmet still firmly on his head. Ah. Well, hopefully he wouldn't be too stiff to walk out of here when she woke him up.
(Suiting Up completed! Dwellers are now beginning to do Uncommon Mining on their own! Some Rare Elements Mining is being done!)
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Delilah's Present
It had been a nightmare getting this group put together, Delilah thought. A nightmare that, sadly, was still ongoing given the arguments all around. Their fellow Dwellers had taken to the project with a gusto that, although admirable, was ill-served by their own inexperience with construction of this sort. The manders, helpful though they were, kept insisting on pausing and taking notes about all sorts of things about the device. The behooved, at first helpful, had begun to insist on confiscating the thing taking shape before them. Their motive for this was 'safety and health concerns' regarding what the device was meant to produce.
Delilah had to admit that there was some degree of trepidation in their own mind regarding this 'still' as Vera had called it. Knowing that it was apparently SUPPOSED to produce those toxic things they'd read about was… Disturbing. It was only a trust in Vera's words and relationship with Zayden that had kept Delilah planted firmly between the arguing behooved and the still. The whole situation was looking like it would devolve pretty soon, however, as one particular behooved stomped forward. The red and black striped stallion took a deep breath, looking ready to try and shove Delilah out of the way…
"Heya Delilah." Came the voice from the right, surprising all present. Startled, Delilah looked to the side and down. Standing there, eyebrows furrowed, was the squat figure this whole operation had been put together for. The stranger known as Zayden Rahl. "What's this yer workin' on?"
Sputtering, Delilah couldn't think of anything to say. The stallion, however, could. "This awful thing they're working on is some kind of poison maker!" He bellowed, gesturing towards the still. "They-"
"Shut it." A finger jabbed against the startled stallion's face. "Weren't askin' ye, was askin' them. Now hush." Zayden said, looking back past Delilah at the machine, a strange look on his face. "Looks familiar, whatever it is."
"I-it's a still." Delilah answered finally. The snap of the dwarf's full attention on them was a shock to the system but the Dweller rallied with a nervous gulp. "I-I-I remembered how nothing you had to drink when I bumped into you a few nights ago seemed to be anything you actually liked so I asked around."
"And made something that'll poison him!" The stallion accused again, stomping forward… And immediately getting a face full of angry dwarf.
"I. Said. Shut. Up." Zayden hissed out. His head turning almost a full one-hundred and eighty degrees, he fixed Delilah with a stare that would haunt their dreams forever. "How soon till it's finished?"
Looking around the assembled crowd, Delilah found no support except from one mander panickedly holding up two claws. "T-two days?" A shake of the head, rapidly. "T-two hours maybe?" Nodding. "Two, yes, two hours! Then it'll be done."
"Oh thank fuck." Came the mumbled response. "Finally, I can start getting some proper booze."
(Delilahs' been working on a still. Soon, Zayden might actually be able to get some booze.)
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Select Two Different Tasks for Zayden to pursue from the list
[] Common Mining: The priority list, as Vera has called it, asks for some common materials to be mined up and delivered to the eggheads in the school to make use of. Now, the materials are common in nature so getting them's not hard. The hard part is more so the sheer VOLUME of materials needed. Zayden could admit he was skilled as a miner but there was still that age old bottleneck known as 'logistics' that would forever slow things down. In other words, he can only carry so much realistically speaking. Still, may as well start making a dent in it now. (8/40 Progress. Passively gains +1 each turn from Dwellers digging away on their own.)
[] Uncommon Mining: There's a call for some more… uncommon elements to be dug up from the ground. With the Dwellers more appropriately equipped for handling the dangers of mining out these elements progress is going by much more quickly! (7/25 Progress. Passively gains +1 every turn from Dwellers digging away on their own.)
[] Rare Mining: The seriously dangerous stuff, the rare elements, are only now being cautiously mined by the bravest of the Dwellers. Even then it's extremely slow going to say the least. Apparently the stuff in question is highly reactive magically speaking and it's a concern even for Zayden with his own equipment to consider going for it. Still, it's necessary to build… Whatever it is the eggheads think will clear out the storm faster. And besides, it's not like it can be that dangerous, right? Right? (0/10 Progress. Gains +1 every five turns from mining done by the Dwellers.)
[] Basic Production: Production of various goods is another bottleneck in getting the Storm Cleaver built. Vera looks at him and he shrugs, saying its as good a name as any other for the device that's being worked on. At any rate, the eggheads need someone skilled in taking the materials being brought up from below and turning it into properly usable components and such for the build. There's a manufacturing wing to this place and it's got a few folks in it but not all of them are familiar with how to make components at a reasonable speed. Zayden might be able to help out here. (3/40 Progress. Passively gains +1 each turn from manufacturing crews. Capped by Common Materials Mining.)
[] Advanced Forging: A great many things are needed to put together the Storm Cleaver, not the least of which is the instrumentation. This is fiddly and they're in dire need of someone who has actual experience in building something that can withstand the might of the storm above while remaining stable in its flight path. Zayden… Doesn't really know how to do the latter but there's a team put together working on it and he can still contribute by following along with their instructions. (3/20 Progress. Passively gains +1 every second turn.)
[] Extreme Safety Measures: Some of the more important elements down in the mines that the eggheads are in need of are also the ones most likely to give someone a horrific illness if they're exposed to it. So to mitigate that or even completely eliminate the risks involved a number of proposals have been put forth to help deal with it. Zayden's not aware of any of these. He's just here to help produce the stuff. (0/20 Progress. Passively gains +1 every three turns.)
[] Basic Brewing: Unfortunately, to Zayden's extreme frustration, what he's being asked to brew is NOT safe for consumption by any being he knows of. No, this is, in effect, rocket fuel of a sort. A highly energetic and flammable substance meant to propel the Storm Cleaver into the upper atmosphere where it can do… Whatever it is it's going to do. Which means he can not drink it. It is… Enraging for him to say the least. (4/20 Progress. Passively gains +1 every second turn.)
Work isn't all there is, however. There's also socializing to do! Pick one.
[] Vera has sat down for a rare moment of true relaxation for her. There's no device in front of her, no list of tasks, nothing. Just her, a cup of something, and the chair she's sitting in. Maybe she'd like some conversation?
[BLOCKED] Sparkling is in the middle of something and left without much explanation other than 'learning how to chemicals.'
[] Delilah is feeding some materials into the thing you now recognize as a somewhat cludged together still. You think they're experimenting in an effort to make some kind of booze for you. That's nice but… Dangerous. Might want to step in.
[] Cludge together something to recharge that battery! The radio WILL scream again!
