Bumming a Ride

With a groan the girl got up slowly, walking towards the girl before she started speaking. Lafiana thought for a moment and shook her head. "I didn't really come here for anything. I am traveling cross country. Selling my inventions and such." She walked over to a nearby train car and reached inside a small hatch, pulling out a metal bag with her name engraved on it. "now that I think about it, I guess I should have brought this in with me. Maybe it would have ended better for us." She stood next to the girl she originally thought of as an enemy, sniffing the air and smelling the lingering toxins.

she began walking towards the nearest town, signalling the girl to join her "Yea lets go to town. I have to catch a ride to the nearest airport anyways." She tilted her head slightly towards the other girl and thought back to the tech she was using. "So I'm guessing you came from the past considering you have gear that hasn't been seen for well over a hundred years?" she walked slowly, waiting for the girl to catch up before giving her the bad news on what she discovered.

Hearing how the end could have gone better presented Imena with both the severity the situation posed to the community and how lucky they managed to get with escaping from the tunnels in one piece.  One non irradiated piece.  "A door to door technology salesgirl?  Times sure have changed, but I must say, this ended quite well for the two of us all things considered."  And she considered all things.   Every last burning, biting one of them.  

"I guess you could say my gear is slightly outdated."  Giving a glance to the broken light in her gauntlet, Imena knew she would need to find some spare parts in the next couple of days before she and her companions planned their next move.  "I just like to think it has some quality the modern hustle and bustle of mechanics leave out."

A feint hint of toxin still hung in Imena's lungs, pressing against her throat.  She hoped a few days with modern medicine would cure it right up, but she really could not begin to fathom the complexities of a time stranded Victorian trying to get healthcare.  At least she knew an alchemist.  An alchemist who indirectly got her into this entire ruckus to begin with while in no way directly aiding.  "I don't think I have anything really to trade for any of your machinations, nor would I know where to begin with them, but how is the traveling inventor business these days?"

She waited until the girl finished speaking, laughing in a few places where she couldn't help but to not laugh. they were nearing the end of the train yard and it was a couple mile walk to the nearest town. But she stopped for a moment and looked at her. "First off I am not really a travelling salesgirl. Yes it did end surprisingly well. It would have ended much better if I brought my suit in with me.." She sighed when she finished her sentence.

Lafiana took a deep breath of the clean air and smiled, pulling out a cigarette and lightning it. Some would argue that the smoke is as bad as the previous toxins but lafiana didn't care. "I must disagree. Some mechanics leave out the quality and try to mass produce it. however everything I use, was invested by me. I make sure everything works perfectly before I sell it off. And I don't sell door to door. I sell to big corporations and the military. Most of the technology that has been released in the past year, is in some way related to my work. However there are some which I made for only myself. Like my precious exosuit here. However.. I would gladly create a more advanced gauntlet for you. It will be lighter, more reliable, and much, much harder to break. Free of charge of course." She smiled at the girl and waited her response as they walked.

Getting a hold of glass of the purest caliber always came as Imena's highest regard.  Nothing of any lesser quality would ever do, nor should it, after all, channeling electricity always came as a second conduit after craftsmanship of glass.  "I hear this 'plastic' people developed in marvelous, but I can't help but get the feeling it just won't match up with what I want."  A few straps moved out of the buckle and the gauntlet slid ever so gently off of her hand.  It felt nice to get the clout of rancid air out from the compressed area around her skin.  The smell hardly went unnoticed.

"It's a pretty useful gadget, if the creator is given credence to boast about her creation."  A small hinge of glass barely held onto the last shreds of molecules holding it into the metal bracing.  "If nothing all else fails, I can always bop someone on the head for a few good measures."  While it felt laden with metal and glass, perhaps an upgrade could service her.  But, not for the glove.

"I do have some questions about how you can see in the dark."  Everything about this matter interested her.  "I don't need you to make me anything, but I am interested in how you go about creating a device of the matter."  The excitement of the cross country trip to investigate an anomaly that trapped a young pop star in a time vortex kept Imena from taking her interest in research to any form of new sciences-- except for the dabbling of alchemy from Amethyst and the nonsensical explanations of Elaine.  "I was designing a suit like that, well not like that...I was putting something along the lines of my gauntlet but for the whole body.  Problem always came up, how does one move with such heavy encumbrances."  All of her blue prints laid somewhere across the ocean, and possibly, across an ocean of time.  "I was planning on using a hydraulic pump, but the thing could never exert more force than the weight it brought on.  Silly thing when your engine ways more than it can lift."

The girl was nodding as imena spoke. "Yes plastic is indeed quite the invention. It is rather weak for some of the more important things." She watched as the girl took off her gauntlet, waving a hand in front of her face to wave the stench away. She couldn't help but notice the marks on the girls skin for leaving on the glove for such a long period of time.

She chuckled when she asked how she could see in the dark. "Simple. I can't. Let me explain. My brain, due to my ability, is the most powerful supercomputer on the planet. Everything the human race knows, |I can learn simply by.. Downloading it, for lack of a better word, directly. I then down that piece of information forever. The way I could move so easily is because for one, I am accustomed to searching in places such as that. Second, I scan the area with my eyes, creating a 3 dimensional map that I can keep in the corner of my vision. Giving me the illusion of being capable of seeing in the dark when I am merely following a map. The rest was pure sound. Listening to every scuffle, drip, and bang." She couldn't help but smile at the variety of uses her ability had. "Technology has changed a lot since your time. My suit is comprised of a durable steel in certain places. Tiny engines and hydraulics make it capable for me to move as easily as ever while at the same time giving me the ability to fight in ways that I would never have been able to before due to my.... Small frame. I highly recommend you upgrade to some of today's technology. It will probably suit you nicely you know." She looked at the path in front of them wondering how far they have walked since they began talking, and didn't feel like checking.

"This is very interesting."  She hardly had a clue, but she knew the barrier laid in the gap and hoped anyone of the time could cue her in on how someone downloads something from one of those computers.  "I'll get to cracking on some of these more modern approaches to technology, but I think I'll keep the style a little more to my tastes."  Carrying the glove for a few minutes made her hope someone in the past century made a lighter metal, but Lafiana seemed to address that point by pointing out a metal suit and her small frame.  Imena stood over the girl, but not enough to throw away her observation on armor for people of small stature.  

"Are you Imena?"  A young girl stepped out from a corner store the duo passed on their entry to town.  

Looking down to the dusty girl with the husky voice and grease soaked overalls, Imena crossed her arms in disdain.  "It depends on who is..."

"They said to look for someone who was dressed weird and had a sissy accent, so you must be her."  Meeting Imena halfway in mutual dislike and one sided ignorance, the girl did a fine job of transfixing the vicarious apathy Elaine probably sided on with her decision to leave Imena behind.

"I don't find that to be a good description of me..."

"Yeah whatever, the cowgirl told me to tell you they went to the party without you and you should meet up with them there."

"They left without..."

"Yeah I did my job, so give me my five bucks."  And she did both of those things with all of the charisma of a punch to the gut.  

"I don't know what bucks are, but I'm pretty sure you are trying to solicit me for money; money you didn't earn because you are a terrible little vagabond."  Still in shock at the apparent show of disrespect from her new travel companions in a strange and fast paced world, Imena needed to cut her dismay between the absolute disrespect teenagers of this age showed women of some esteem.  

Knowing the likes of angry, funny speaking people, the girl gave up on her ruse to get paid twice for the same job.  Nothing to be ashamed of, she just needed to give it a little more of a college try next time.  

"I went through all of this trouble to find someone so we wouldn't get separated and they just left me..."  A passion still burned with he, even though no one in her vicinity stood to receive the harsh tone.  "And said I dressed weird.  And I do not talk funny.  They talk funny."

Speaking to the air did little to alleviate the situation, but she could only imagine the oddity she must appear as in her current state.  "It appears a very delicate plans has been thrown into the gutters by the gusto of overzealous and impatient American..."  She paused to get a grasp on reality in a post William James world.  "I can only assume with this sort of behavior America is still largely irrelevant to the world."