Welcome to Steelheart (Adjunct)

"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Dabbler was rolling on the floor laughing indeed. The hat ate the shoe in one gulp then went inert.

The hat became immobile once it was not held. It did not have any built in way to move itself. Whether or not Dabbler chose that deliberately or simply overlooked it was hard to tell. It was a hat, it simply had no need to move itself, that would be inconvenient.

Once Dabbler had her laugh she picked it up, and it was much more compliant in its master's hands. "Hat, open." she commanded, and the hat obliged. Dabbler reached into it- her whole arm- and fetched Alexis's shoe. It was intact, though a bit damp for reasons best left unknown.

"Okay. you're cool. Welcome to the Dabbler floor." Dabbler was feeling the sugar crash now. One does not down a sextuple-quadruple and not fall unconscious. "I think. I think... I'm gonna take that break now." Dabbler was so tired she didn't do the poof, but rather walked over to her cot and crashed. hard. Auntie Sophie fixed up Dabbler's blanket and covered her properly.

"Well. I have an afternoon class to handle. You can get acquainted with her research... get settled in, then the work truly begins tomorrow. Auf Wiedersen Fraulien." Sophia said, then heads towards the rickety elevator.

Alexis walked Sophia to the elevator and bid her goodbye as well. It seemed there was a specific problem to be handled, and hadn't she said she was a trouble shooter?

Alone now in Dabbler's gigantic laboratory, Alexis saw the labor before her and decided to go Hercules on its ass. She rolled up her proverbial sleeves and set to work organizing everything. While superpowers did make this far easier, it would still take time.

Clutter vanished as Alexis wandered the room like some wicca-empowered Marry Poppins. Each wave of her hand sent boxes and bins and bolts into dimensional storage. She had to turn off the inventory notification on her HUD as the item list began to entirely dominate her vision.

While her body worked, Alex's mind whirled. Her computer catalogued each item according to type and project. Any files or slips of paper she found were read and interpreted by her computer, and then shuffled into various digital piles. However, this was not as simple as grabbing a stack of paper. Many of the objects were complex, and her data rapidly began to fill.

This delayed her somewhat, but eventually the room began to come together. By the time three hours of dedicated work had passed, Dabbler's floor had gone from looking like a junkyard hellscape to a mildly dishelmed workshop.

Alexis sat on a folding chair she had stuffed along with everything else. She sipped a bottle of plastic Avon water and considered that this was a far more labor intensive first day than she had initially assumed.

SAGE
The ding of the elevator signaled a new arrival to the Laboratory. Flanked by no less than 4 local valets with boxes and books, Sage alone enters the laboratory. She dismisses her entourage, letting the valets finally have a break, heading to the 5th floor cafeteria.

Pulling a wheeled metal cart by will alone, Lu Tong Niao, aka Sage entered the laboratory, braced for a chaotic mess. Instead, she saw a good work in progress, as she saw Alexis organize all the research, projects and data much similar to how she would organize it if she had the time.

Once all the papers and refuse had been picked up, all the discarded food packs put away, the floor had revealed to have many small grooves and metal holes. Their purpose was fully revealed when a few of the modular and metal shelves near Alexis began animating and assembling, fitting like a satisfying geometric puzzle into the slots, the compartments fitting together seamlessly. All the handles, ladders, and protrusions made the shelves actually be handled by non ferromancers, but when a master of metal moved them, it was art in motion. Once they were stacked up, catwalks hidden within the shelves emerged, creating a satisfying 14-foot high, two-level shelf. From a nightmare, the lab was now a neat freak’s wet dream.  

“Hmmm. I see someone has made an attempt to organize this scriptorium. And doing an admirable job. I am Lu Tong Niao, the Sage. Might I interest you in some afternoon tea?” She approached Alexis with the metal cart, the smell of hot tea boiling and then being poured into cups.

Like the European lady Sophia and unlike hot topic witch Dabbler, the lady Sage carried herself with a regal, imperious aura. Humans might claim royal titles, But it was something Dragon-blooded had innately, though to certain degrees. Something about being an apex predator species. She was even smaller then Dabbler, not even breaching 5 ft, but she carried herself like the tallest in the room- back straight, chest out, strong eye contact. She also rocked some serious threads, green silken robes inlaid with real gold thread. She found modern dress sense to be uncomfortable, and her ancient Chinese garb was far more functional and also "baller".

The sudden motion of the complicated metal floor-shelving doing a strange midair ballet scared the bejesus out of Alexis.  Metal did not typically have its own sense of agency, save perhaps for a few of the more exotic compounds known.  

Once she got over the initial shock, the surreal beauty of the sight nearly stole her breath away.  She watched it stunned silence, before turning to what had to be the individual that had orchestrated it. In some ways, the Sage was a bit more extraordinary than even Samantha or Sophia.  While Sophie obviously extraordinary for her powers or height, and Dabbler with her eccentric genius, Lu Tong Niao exuded a sort of quiet power that belied her frame.  

That she was dressed archaically was little concern to Alexis, who had long ago developed a certain theory of personal comportment.  The truly competent people in the world did not need to display their strength like a poisoned lizard warning you not to eat it.  Instead, those to watch cultivated a disciplined appearance and assumed dress that was both comfortable and pleasant.  These were the people that could shake the pillars of heaven.

Immediately, Alexis smiled at the shorter woman. She did not bow, as that was not proper manners. Alex had suffered some embarrassment when that point was bought up to her. "Ni hao, Ms. Lu. I would be pleased to take tea with you. Please only allow me just a moment to finish my task and I will join you."

Sage nods, knowing what it felt like to be mid task and seeing it through. The metal cart dissembles, and reassembles into two small stools and a small tea table, the surface of which was the metal framed 2’ x2’ mirror that was her primary concern. She leaves the heating components to the side. The concept of modularity was one of the novel ideas she’d discovered in the world, though she swapped out flimsy plastic furniture with the certainty of steel.

Dabbler was still asleep on her cot, loudly snoring and drooling much to Sage’s chagrin. Having lived with equally eccentric characters much of her life, Sage leaves her be, knowing it took many a different mind to enact change on an imperial scale.

Especially the wild visionaries.

“Hmph. The witch is asleep… ” She observed, and summoned the Hat to her hand. The creature growled to alertness, but was halted by a pass phrase. “Ferret Balls.” Sage rolled her eyes, having been forced to speak such nonsense. She needed only reach in wrist deep, before perceiving the extradimensional space and retrieved a stack of wooden boxes tied together by metal plating. But first, freshly brewed jasmine tea, none of that tea bag nonsense. Sage takes a moment to relax, pacing herself.

Alexis was almost finished to her satisfaction.  Keeping the 'scriptorium' clean was going to be an ongoing project, she knew.  However, it would probably just be a quick 15 minutes at the end of her day rather than the monumental project she had started out with.  The task she knew that would take the most time was still before her, however.  With her nascent bond in place, she could now understand full what Dabbler was working on.

Each object had been tagged and catalogued, by her computer. Alexis was preparing the mother of all research progress reports, which she'd have to burn the midnight oil to get finished before morning. Alex wondered if there was an office for her to squat in.

Once she was finished, Alexis turned toward the Sage, but then paused.  She went to Dabbler and made sure she was tucked in.  She materialized a bottle of water and placed it next to her, as well as a small teddy bear.  It wasn’t special or anything; she had a crate of them she'd brought as gifts to the children of coworkers.  Alex tucked the small bear into the crook of her arm, smiled, and judged her work well done.

Finally, she rejoined Ms. Lu.  "Thank you for waiting." She observed the hat, before asking, "Ferret balls?"

Sage sighed as she poured Alexis a cup of expert brewed jasmine tea, using fine a ceramic pot and cups, inlaid with gold dragon patterns. We're talking Iroh levels of tea making. "A pass phrase to pacify Dabbler's cap, should her colleagues require something from her hat of holding and she is unavailable."

"Anyway... It is a breath of fresh air to have someone of like mind in organization. Sophia briefed me on the basics. Miss Lovelace? Have you perhaps worked in a Library before? She made a little personal small talk before proceeding to business.

"Anyway. As to why I have come. The witch has many truly ingenious ideas, but her personality hinders her. It falls to me to bring her visions to fruition... and spot the details that are lacking." She produces a hardbound paper report on the Heliostat towers, stamped with her golden Chinese stamp signature in the lower right corner.

A glance at the first page - the table of contents - showed it was meticulously organized. The pages even had page markers- but instead of colored post its, Niao used thin sheets of precious metals... gold, silver, copper, platinum post-its.

She opened the page somewhere in the middle, marked by a silver tag. "Here we go. The... calculations on the amount of mirrors we'd need... Dabbler started making doodles of birds on fire and falling to the ground, instead of finishing the computation. Firstly, the locals are too difficult to train to produce the specified 4' x 8' mirrors. I have settled on producing 2' x 2' mirrors, framed by 8 to provide the same area."

Sage then goes to another page marked by copper tag. "Secondly, after a week of setting up glass blowing furnaces and training mirror makers, we will need 2 years to produce the 81 million needed per tower, and that is factoring in me expanding production every week. We need another source of the mirrors. Any ideas?"

Alexis gratefully took up the teacup and seemed to consider it a moment.  She held the edge up to her nose and scented the brew, trying to take in the entire sensory experience. Feeling the liquid warm her cold fingers, Alexis finally took a tentative sip and smiled.  She contemplated the flavor a moment, before nodding.

"A library?  No, but I have always done clerical work, no matter what position I am in. I find it is helpful to be familiar with the company filing system to ensure any requests are not misplaced."  She set her teacup down and looked over the report.  "Wow. I am compiling a report of Dabbler's various projects up to date, and this cuts at least an hour off that task.   Thank you for this, I very much appreciate it."

"As to your problem, I would recommend we contact a major exporting company regarding the order.  Probably a Chinese-based firm.  Many companies there have been investing heavily in renewables and have the manufacturing base for large scale solar mirror production.  If I am doing my math right," well, it was the supercomputer, but whatever, "That many solar panels with the dimensions you have described would fit into a standard-sized steel shipping container."

One of the most complicated things Adjunct had in storage was a pair of Augmented Reality-enabled glasses. She handed these to Ms. Lu and requested she put them on. If she did so, her computer would interface with the glasses to show her what she meant.  The interface began to quickly give visual aides to demonstrate what she was speaking about.

"My solution to your problem is to contact one of the businesses outlined and place a bulk order."  Immediately, several company logos began to flash in the display as well as the company name and bases of operation. "Several of these are large enough that a sudden, mass order will not hinder them.  There are also four firms in the European Union that keep track of such orders, but they are further away and the price per unit will be more expensive."

"Before we continue the discussion, may I ask how many towers are we projecting to complete?  If we are to make a bulk purchase, I may be able to negotiate a discount.  Especially if I can promise repeat business." She considered, further.  "Also, what will be our method of payment?  Some business will take contracts like this in dollars or euros, but they may demand an exchange difference based on the value of various currencies.  Coin of the realm and all that."

Sage paused a moment to listen and take in Alexis's response. "Ah the mainland... of course."

Sage flipped over to a gold marked page covering projections. "Dabbler wants 10 towers within the next two years, two of those to be accomplished in 90 days. This is an area three times larger than Puntland's capitol city. In two years time frame I will deliver at most, 25% of the mirrors we need. She says she will need monumental power capacity for her future plans, and Nuclear power is off the table, due to it will, as she says 'put a big red bullseye on our back'."

Sage gestured in the air, and having memorized the arrangement of the shelves, calls a small filing cabinet on wheels to bring itself to them. She fetches another report. "The towers themselves are no problem for me, as I can raise them up from the surrounding earth and stone in a few weeks... Anyway. As to payment."

She finds the correct report and sends the little filing cabinet back on its way to its place. Sage hands that and the wooden boxes.

"I am not going to lie, this group was assembled hastily and it shows, going through cash at an alarming rate. So..." Sage dramatically opens the boxes to reveal gold bars. An indecently large amount of it. One box though, smaller than the others, revealed a pile of silvery white metal bars. It was not silver though.

"...According to THIS report, which Dabbler has miraculously finished, there are diminishing returns to flooding the market with gold. So she proposed dealing in more precious metals. She even made tables as to  how much we can sell without upsetting the market." She holds up 1 kilogram bars of both metals, placing them both on the table.

"I am told this... Rhodium... is extremely valuable, Scarcely 25 tons produced a year."

That caused both of Alexis' eyebrows shoot straight up. It was surreal observing a fortune that could fit within one's palm. She considered It for a time, and then shook her head. "They will take this, but probably not like this. Having a condensed bar of one of the rarest materials produced on the planet will seem suspicious if done like this. I need... a sweetener. " She pursed her lips a moment, and then nodded to herself.

"Are you able to produce a vial of dust or raw ore? Having a product this pure will likely raise suspicions. I will probably also need at least twice as much as what you have here currently, as I will trying to trade commodities without... the complications of government oversight, yes?"

Alexis touched the bar. "However, I think I can negotiate for all the mirrors we could possibly need. I will arrange for several shipping crates of the product to simply disappear from their storage. The company will mark it off as loss due to theft, while being able to enter the rare earth's market. This may take me at least a few days to accomplish."

"Your thoughts, Ms. Lu?"

"Hmmm yes. That does sound like a good solution. I am not used to the intricacies of this modern world, and I wish to devote my focus to the project. I have not yet even began drawing up my plans to lay down those... metal tracks. It is 450 kilometers from here to our port. Sigh." It was clear that the burden of executing all of Dabbler's works was stressing her out, but Sage took it in stride. As a master of stone and metal, there would be nothing the witch can throw at her she cannot accomplish.

Sage stood up and packed up her tea set and the chair and table, reassembling her cart. "I will return to the glass factory and have crates of ore prepared on the morrow. You should pace yourself and get settled in. Try not to get caught outside at night. We still have... gaps in our security. Anyway. I am glad to meet you Alexis. Perhaps you can reign in the witch's mania during your stay here. Or perhaps you will catch her energy. Beware. And good day." She bows, and leaves the laboratory floor.

Alexis rose as the Sage departed. She bowed at he waist to her, hands folded over her abdomen as she did so. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Lu. I will endeavor to ensure that all of Steelheart's projects run smoothly going forward. Should have you have any other logistical issues or problems, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will meet with you tomorrow. Please have a good evening." Alexis smiled at the woman and bowed again as she departed.

A formidable person indeed.

Another hour or two later, Alexis looked at the work of her hands and sighed, for it was good. She conquered the rat's nest. She had organized the magpie's... next. Dabbler had a lot of nests. She felt the wonderful satisfaction knowing a hard task was done and done well.

Alex had also taken off Dabbler's socks and stuck them on her hands. She did not know why she had done it, only the weird compulsion to play a prank in turn. Somehow, she was sure the sorceress/inventor would appreciate it.

She checked her clock and determined it was too late to try and find her shack. Instead, Alexis made sure that Dabbler was comfortable and went to go find an office. Being a new building there were several that were currently unoccupied, and she decided that one of these would serve. Discovering one such, she manifested a desk and chair and began organizing things to her satisfaction. Pencils in holder, mail trays in their proper place. She even put up the obligatory motivational poster of a cat on a clothesline telling one to 'Hang In There'.

Once her own space was arranged, Alexis put her nameplate on the door. It was a bit presumptuous perhaps, but she decided this was a company that applauded initiative. Besides, she would have to see the owner to obtain at least ¥2,000,000 in petty cash in order to make the necessary arrangements. There was no initiative like introducing yourself and asking for the equivalent of $300,000 as a 'how do you do'.

Once everything was settled, Alexis had a small meal of a half-eaten salad she had left over from the other evening. The sweet walnut dressing was heaven after the hell that was those MREs. Her suit dematerialized around her, and a set of blue silk pajamas appeared in its place. She brushed her teeth with a small travel kit and spit into a blue Batman mug that once belonged to her old boss.

Finally, her long first day done, the humble cot Alexis slept on manifested. A white quilt comforter she had when she was seven appeared over her as she lay down, along with a sleep mask and her retainer. Each went into its proper place. Alexis stared at the strange ceiling, and voiced something that had been building for a long time now.

"I miss home." Adjunct promptly passed out.

((END OF THREAD! ))

((WORDS: 5,799
EXP: 11
LOW: 299 ))