Character: http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=858Lys Ravenglass</a> Date: Tessera 24, 81379 Location: Machina Technology Classroom Lys looked up when the instructor announced the end of the class session, glancing at her instructor and then at the clock. The workshop didn’t close until a few hours more, so she had some time to continue working on her current project. As the rest of the class packed up their books and put away their tools, Lys continued to work, determined to get as far with this blasted machine, today, as she could. It had been tedious class session, but definitely an important one. The professor had lectured most of the session and left the students about an hour to work on their machines. Machina technology certainly sounded easy, but it was actually rather difficult—or, maybe, it was only difficult for Lys. Either way, Lys didn’t see anything easy about it. Trying to get magic and machine was certainly a challenge, especially depending on the magic. Lys found that magic had moods: it was either agreeable and pleasant or completely disagreeable and just frustrating. Lys could only think of comparing it to a child: either the child listened to you or it didn’t and tormented you the rest of the day. But children torment you whichever way, whether they listen to you or not, so maybe that isn’t the best comparison. Lys let out a sharp yelp, feeling a serious of shocks ricochet through her. Shakily but quickly, she withdrew her hand from her machine and examined it. “I suppose the magic didn’t think it was a good comparison either," she murmured, turning her hand this way and that, checking for burns and cuts. It seemed she was unharmed, but man, was that shock nasty one! Feeling the aftereffects of the shock recede, Lys rubbed her arm. It still felt funny and it probably would for awhile, Lys figured, considering it had been in first contact with the shock. Still, it wouldn’t keep Lys from working on her machine. Of course, it might be more difficult: merging the machine and magic together, considering the magic was, most likely, insulted now. Maybe I should give it a day to forgive me, Lys thought, rubbing her arm still, standing a step or two away from her desk.
<table style="width: 400px;"><tr><td><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12px; text-align: justify;">— <a href=http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=799>Neptunic Oxoide</a> — I also rambled my head off in this post. o__o ____________________  As soon as that teacher had left the room, Neptunic had gotten out his headphones, blasting some sort of Ramathian metal band into his ears, into his head. He wasn't sure which CD it was that he had picked up in the player that morning, but it had been perfect for fitting the dreary day that was calm casted in the windows that were behind him. The foreign words spilled into his ears like a water did down a drain, and while he didn't know very much Ramathian, Neptunic knew enough of it to get the jist of any song he had listened to throughout that day. The singer screamed and wailed, speaking in the musical tongue of despair and pain, but mostly of grief.   It would have fit someone just like him, if indeed he weren't so stoic. Wrench in one hand, he used the other hand and it's fingers as an aide in scanning the page for instructions. The first trick of getting a generator engine to run was to check it, clean it, put it back together and unleash what little magic it probably had in it. If he hadn't skipped out on a couple of classes prior to that (and some random excursion back to Watani) he would have been up with the rest of the class. But Neptunic Oxoide, did not need to have deadlines and paces, he was a prodigy in his own sense to the trade of Machina Technology.   The technology itself was just like a language that he could only answer, and he had grasped it with a firm hold and hung on. He wasn't exactly a genius compared to anyone else in that classroom, but in his own mind he was, and to him, that was all that mattered. The bolts that held the core piece came undone easily, he set the wrench down, and placed his wiry, long digits on the shell of the core case, pulling it apart as though he were trying to seperate an egg from it's shell without cracking it anymore than it already had been. It came apart without little difficultly, the core itself a cooled, hardened piece of matter resting in one of the halves.   <b style="color: #aa0000;">"Hnn,"</b> he made a noise, surprised that there wasn't some sort of discharge with it, but it seemed that he had either gotten a core that was expired, corroded, or just a plain ol' dud. Nevertheless, he checked the rest of the parts over, using his finger to clean away a little of the molten-like grime that had collected on the inwards of the top shell piece, but he didn't touch the core piece, noting it's already clean, smooth appearance. A quick run down of the instructions again, and he slowly began to put it back together, the song tracks changing. A small smirk rested on his face while he closed the core case, picking up the wrench again and tightening it up, before reinserting it into the engine frame and tightening that down.   And that was when his electrical discharged occured, the wrench applied to the metal of the engine itself did the trick. It wasn't quite enough of a shock to make him jerk violently away from it, but it was one that almost caused him to drop the wrench, which would have alerted the attention of the other, lingering students in the room aside from himself. Frowning bitterly at the machina, he turned the small engine just a bit, eyeing the hook up ports along it's side. He spotted the problem instantly,as he had forgotten to screw down a certain part of the mainframe – or rather, the core.   Of course, that merely disrupted his whole egotistical moment, and the gray pendragon set the wrench down on the work table, snorting angrily at it. He was about to turn and give up for the time being when someone nearby gave out a loud yelp, and his attention turned to the feminine cry quickly, his teeth gritted. She had a different type of engine, one that was more magic based from a standpoint, from what he could see. No one seemed to wander over, and he studied her for a moment, watching her hold and rub her arm. Maybe there was something wrong with it, or maybe she was paralyzed on one side.   He didn't say anything, but only watched from a distance, before he gathered up his tools with the intentions of putting them away, but it was mostly to see what she was working on. He was a nosy creature in a sense, although he prefered the term 'curious'. Meandering between the rows of tables and down a small incline to the flattened surface that she worked on, he stopped short, pulling his headphones down from his head and around his neck, inquirying to her. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"Y'okay? Those buggers are a real pain in the ass, iffen you know what I mean."</b> he said, realizing that he had fiddled with one of those before. Although the one he had fiddled with hadn't given him a shock, but it did set his pant leg on fire.</div></td></tr></table>
<p align="justify">I feel so inferior. --- Lys' ears were slanted back, her white orbs staring at the engine contemplatively. Her hand now rested idly on her opposite arm, the aftereffects of the shock gone. Her mind wandered on whether she should continue with her project today or simply call it a day. Honestly, she didn’t know. She didn’t want to give up, but seeing how the magic was now bent out of shape about her, stopping was probably the wisest thing to do. It’s such a waste of time: not to continue, though, she grumbled inwardly, her arms now weaving together across her chest. Subconsciously, her lips pressed together as she continued to debate on whether to continue or not. But the debate never had a conclusion because her thoughts became interrupted by a voice next to her. Lys had to admit, she was surprised to see a gray male standing beside her—Neptunic was his name?—looking over her generator engine. She had seen him in class before, but they had never really talked. He seemed rather withdrawn, unlike her other classmates, but Lys had always been interested in meeting him. She supposed she was odd like that, being fascinated by people others thought different. Not many people seemed to know Neptunic, but a lot of whispers went around the class—most saying that he was just crazy. But from what Lys could see, the male didn’t look crazy at all. Maybe a little shifty, but not crazy. “Yeah, I’m fine," she said after a moment. “And I know what you mean. For some reason, I’m always getting stuck with these blasted magical ones. I think it’s because the teacher thinks I’m like the rest of my family. Everyone in my family seems to have amazing magic control or, rather, they get along with the magic better than I do. I seem to have a knack for insulting it, no matter what I do. I think I should be used to getting shocked by now, but nope. Each time it’s like getting shocked for the first time all over again. It’s really annoying." Lys paused. “But I guess I shouldn’t complain too much—the magic eventually decides to cooperate, but only after it’s had its fair share of shocking me. One time it set my tail tuff on fire, the shock was so bad." Lys, then, smiled sheepishly, not realizing she had really gone off on a tangent. “Sorry, my mouth runs away with me sometimes," she said, giving the gray ‘dragon an apologetic look. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for Lys to ramble, especially when she was annoyed or frustrated. It was her way of venting and usually, helped her a lot. Still, her present venting wasn’t intentional—it just happened. She hardly meant to vent—or ramble, for that matter—at her fellow classmate, especially considering they were, basically, still strangers.</p>
<table style="width: 400px;"><tr><td><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12px; text-align: justify;">— Yay, horrible post. ____________________  Her gaze hovered about a second too long to suit him. He was about to move on in the listless way that he did in hopes that she would either be too startled or too disgusted to talk to him, when the indigo-shaded 'dragon started talking. And talking, and even more talking, obviously off on a tangent. He wondered in a way if she was oblivious to the fact that she was rambling on about something unrelated to the subject. But it was almost like that brainwave had crawled into hers and she stopped abruptly an apologetic look to her and a little grin. His expression didn't change much save for a slight raise of his eyebrows, and all he could do was shrug.   <b style="color: #aa0000;">"So tell 'em you ain't."</b> he said rather passively, adjusting the grip on his tool case. His charcoal lips were pursed again, and he momentarily bit down on a sore spot on his tongue, hearing the track of the CD changed yet again subconciously. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"An' it's not like y'can't prevent the shocks. Use resistant tools, or wear those giant glove things or summat like that t'negate it."</b> he continued on, his bi-coloured eyes leaving her face and studying the engine that was there on the table. It seemed like a simple task to take it apart. And he was tempted, but didn't have the nerve or the patience (probably not even the time) to do it. But, aside from that matter that was circulation around in his brain, he couldn't help but reckon she had taken it apart haphazardly, perhaps.   The CD skipped, withdrawing him from the reverie of his mind wandering, and he looked back at her, this time eyeing the horn that was on her face before saying anything else. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"Y'should try taking the bolts and such off of it in a more timely fashion. Clockwise, at that."</b> he said after the pause, blinking slowly. What had the instructor said that day? <b style="color: #aa0000;">"An' then y'turn the casing the same direction as y'did the taking apart. Engines and even magic are prone to running in cyclical motions."</b> He nodded, as though to reassure himself, and mostly her too. And with that, he turned and headed away from her, this time attempting to put away the toolcase and leave.   There were eyes on him again, however.</div></td></tr></table>
<p align="justify">Extremely overdue. My apologies, 'Kumu. It's kind of lame, too, but I needed some comedy. >>; (Yeah, I'm twisted.) --- Lys pressed her lips together in slight frustration. All the instructions Neptunic was giving her she had tried—even the gloves! Yet, for some reason—no matter what she tried—the shocks still were able to nip at her fingers. It was all becoming rather annoying. What was more, she felt like Neptunic thought her incompetent or something of a space cadet (which, in all truth, she could be at times, but it was rare for her to act such a way in class). Still, she wasn’t going to argue with him about it. She supposed it really didn’t matter what he thought of her. She probably would never speak to him again after this. He never spoke to her before and they had been in the same class all this semester. And, most likely, next semester, Lys thought, biting her lip, and began to pull apart her battery once again. She worked silently, but her eyes continued to glance over her shoulder at the gray youth that had advised her. It was annoying how her thoughts worked. She wanted to turn around and tell him that she wasn’t as stupid as she presently seemed; that she had followed the aforementioned instructions that the instructor had given them. But it doesn’t really matter, she told herself, her brows knitting together in concentration. This one bolt was being difficult. Lys pulled down on her wrench harder, trying to unscrew it. What had her at a loss was this exact same bolt had caused her no problems whatsoever before. “So why now?" Lys wonder aloud, huffing as she pulled harder on the wrench. Just at that tug, a fierce shock ricocheted through her body, jolting her away. Her nerves, shaken by the sudden shock, gave out, causing her legs to collapse beneath her. The female lied on the ground, dazed for a moment, her body tingling. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t move. Great. Lys heaved a sigh, which came out more like a decrepit moan, her eyes dark, hovering on the battery. If she could, she would have shaken her head, but seeing as she couldn’t, Lys simply skipped it and proceeded to close her eyes. She couldn’t do anything until the shock receded. It will die. I’m going to kill it... I am.</p>
<div style="width: 500px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">  He studied the shelves where people often left their stuff strewn in a bin. Unlike the others who had meaningless stuff in those bins, his was relatively neat despite the fact he merely flung his stuff into it bin anyway. Deftly with one hand he grabbed the lip of the bin and slid it out just a little bit, and to prove the point further, dropped in his already beaten-up case. It was as simple as that in Nept' book and that was exactly how he ran things.   He spun around on one of his heels and his eyes fell back on the girl he had been talking to, watching her work with the engine with a furious pace. Most of the others that were in the room had filed out either for another class or just to do something else, and yet the teacher hadn't returned. There were still a few stragglers among the rows of tables either talking or working on something, but it wasn't anything in comparison to the size of the class. That was why he didn't care for it too much, and was happy to bus away from the campus at the end of the day.   Preparing to leave he had intended to only put his headphones back into his ears and wander off campus somewhere, when the purple Lukuo took a spill to the floor with a moon. His wolf-ish ears perked sharply, and he debated almost for a moment to go and help her. No one else was, although there were eyes on either one of them as though he had done it. Carefully, his bi-coloured eyes took a quick scan around the room, and about at the same time some thin, sickly looking 'dragon started to laugh. He groaned, shaking his head as though to ask, "why me?" and wonder if that was truly going to solve his problems.   Walking back over to the collapsed arden he hovered over her, discovering that she wasn't knocked out by any stretch. He couldn't help but laugh at her slightly. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"I... think you've had enough."</b> he merely stated, not sure what to do. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"Hnn, it should subside eventually. Then you might want to go to the nurse."</b> he went on to say, standing up straight and putting his back to the table, leaning his elbows against it.   <b style="color: #aa0000;">"I'll just make sure you don't stop livin'. That happens sometimes."</b> </div>
<p align="justify">Lys continued to lie motionless on the floor. She listened to the laughing of the remaining fellow students and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She could feel the tingling of the shock begin to recede, but it still wasn’t a good time to move. Not yet anyway. Her eyes opened upon hearing Neptunic’s voice and she looked up at him with pathetic and sheepish eyes, her cheeks burning red under her fur. Instinctively, her large ears tried to fold back, but only managed a slight twitch. “I... think you've had enough." He told her, laughing a little. Lys’ ears only tried to lower again in embarrassment. “Hnn, it should subside eventually. Then you might want to go to the nurse." Lys looked at the gray pendragon with a dry expression in her eyes—only because she couldn’t manage it on her face—as if to say, in a rather sarcastic manner, “Oh, really? I would have never thought of that." Lys watched the male as he straightened and backed away to his work table, resting his arm upon it. “I'll just make sure you don't stop livin'. That happens sometimes." Lys smirked inwardly at the comment. (At least her sense of humor wasn’t lost, right?) As the tingling began to subside more and more, Lys tried her luck with wiggling her fingers and toes. Most of them only managed a twitch at first, but slowly they began to do as she wanted them to. When the effects of the shock had receded enough that she knew her limbs would do as she ordered, she pressed her hands against the ground beneath her, pushing herself up. “That really needs to stop happening to me," she muttered, drawing herself into a squat before rising up onto shaky legs. She grabbed the edge of her work table until her body felt balanced. Her eyes fell upon her battery and she glared at it darkly. Despite the fact she wanted to throw it against the wall, she knew better than to touch it. She could feel the heat coming off of it, meaning it was still in a foul mood and ready to strike her again if she even dared to lay a finger on it. “You and I, I think we should just make a clean cut and never cross paths again," she told it. It seemed to agree because the heat weakened, its voltage dropping slightly. Alright, Lys thought silently. She turned and looked at Neptunic. “Well, I’m still alive and all. You can leave if you want," she stated as she carefully began to head towards the door. “I guess I’m just going to head over to the nurse’s office."</p>
<div style="width: 500px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">  Another skip of the CD and Neptunic shrugged, his eyes tracing the structure of the building that was above them. He had yet to figure out how they watered the spider-looking plants that lives up in the hanging rafters. Perhaps, they were fake but he wasn't so sure that he didn't see them grow every once in a while. Lys eventually climbed up to her feet, hissing angry words at the machina as if it really did respond to such things. Neptunic didn't talk to animate objects unless that was it's use. <b style="color: #aa0000;">"Perhaps you should just drop the class,"</b> he said, pushing away from the heavy table and slipping past her in his odd little way. Unsure if she would retort to him, he only put one of the bud headphones into his ear, letting the screaming-like music of the questionable Ramathian artist block out half of whatever was going on.   By the time she had come around and could stand, they were the last two in the classroom. He lingered around his workstation for a moment, putting together a few more things figuring that he didn't have any more time to waste nor lose. It wasn't like he had a job anyway, considering that it was getting a little late in the year and a little pricey to continue drifting back and forth working for a bunch of pirates and mindless upperclass pendragons that didn't want to pay him anything to begin with.   It could have been worse, he ultimately decided.</div>
<p align="justify">The gray male stated a simple suggestion of dropping the class, but Lys didn't know if she could consider that. She loved working with machinary, ever since she was a kid. She was always tinkering with something or another. She found it odd how she never was shocked as a child, but suddenly was now being shocked on a daily basis. Lys sighed to herself. Maybe she did need to drop the class. Obviously, something had changed between her and the machinary she loved. Maybe it is time to just give up, she thought, somewhat sadly. (She couldn't mock sadness, lets face it. She had just been shocked by a machine, so she didn't care for machines much at the moment.) The gray male slipped by her. She found his gait awkward, but it suited him well enough. After all, he was rather awkward himself. Lys stopped, looking at the male, silently. The rumors that went around about him were, relatively, true, Lys had discovered. He was somewhat difficult to talk to, but it wasn't because he was aloof or thought himself better than everyone else. He was just different and really didn't seem to care for the same things other 'dragons did. "Well, thanks for your help, Neptune. I'll see you around," Lys said, doubting the male could hear her because of the loud music screaming into his ears. Still, she gave a small wave before she wandered out of the classroom and headed towards the Nurse's Office. --- OOC: I guess that's the end? >>; I dunno.</p>
