3313/Abstract Swordsmithing

Abstract Swordsmithing
Date of Scene:	02 November 2015
Location:	The Homeworld
Synopsis:	Amakasu needs a sword that's easy to conceal. Staren knows where one can be made.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, 901

---

Staren has posed:
THE ABSTRACTUM HOMEWORLD

    Staren idly paces around a short distance in front of the warpgate with his hands in his coat pockets. This place was deserted once, but now the Legacies populate it, making the HUB look quite busy, although they only seem to stop to talk to outsiders if the outsider initiates contact. Occasionally one catches Staren's eye and he watches them curiously as they walk by, particularly the ones with cybernetic augmentations. Since Hoshi's never seen him before, it won't seem notable that on his left hand is a brass-colored, segmented gauntlet, with a couple of armored plates on the back, five wires running from forearm to knuckles, and a blue crystal about where a watch face would be. The crystal eye is 'closed' right now though, giving no impression this is any more than a fancy gauntlet...

    Once Hoshi arrives (He hasn't seen her, but he's seen her file and she's the only person he doesn't know coming...) Staren looks to her and smiles. "Hi! I'm Staren, researcher of problems for the Union." He steps forward to shake her hand. "And this..." he holds out his arms, "...is the Abstractum Homeworld. It's... um..." He scratches his chin, "How do I begin to explain... Um... Short version is, there's this great enemy out there, that seeks to be destroyed, and it will destroy anyone not up to the task. Abstractum are the greatest weapon system ever devised, as there are, collectively, dozens of Abstractum and their Users so far and our numbers, for the most part, only grow. We hope with them we can destroy the enemy. Time will tell. This facility, this world, exists to help us fight the enemy in a narrative context we can understand. It's... kinda complicated to go over all at once. If you're curious, I have some stuff you can read..."

    "...But the short of it is, using the same technology that makes Abstractum, we can make you a sword with some really useful properties."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
     When Hoshi stepped through the warpgate on her home, she had no idea what to expect from the place she was going. So far even the most mundane things in the Multiverse had made her eyes go wide and her knees to go weak. By now, however, she was starting to get interested in the strangeness. It felt like a challenge, learning everything she could. So when she stepped out into the Abstractum Homeworld, she immediately froze to take in the whole sight. Slowly, a delighted grin crawls up her face. "Awwwesomeeee..." She says breathily. If only her old club members could see this!...

    While she stood there dumbstruck, Staren got a chance to have a good look at her. Apparently, she'd run straight from the training ring at Headqarters. She was still wearing her kendo armor, bokken and katana from the armory held in her belt. As Staren approached and spoke, Hoshi's jarred from her wonders and blushes. "S-sorry! Mr. Staren, it's nice to meet you in person." She's about to give a formal bow, but instead takes the offered hand with a bemused smile, staying quiet to hear his explaination. As he continues, her face turns more solemn. The way he explains it... Well, it makes sense, at least. It's clear that there's waaay more involved in what was happening, but she could learn more when she needed to. "Thank you for taking the time to explain it. I'm grateful... And if I can figure out what's happening in the Forest, maybe I might be able to help out here, too. Just... need to think."

    Then they got to the part she was interested in--the sword. The grin comes back to her face. "I'm so excited, man. What exactly do you think it could do?"

Staren has posed:
    When Hoshi comments that she might be able to help out here, Staren gives a nervous smile and a half-shrug. "There are a few ways you can help. Two are commitments we can discuss if you want, but if you befriend anyone who has a node here," Staren gestures at the DOORS SO MANY DOORS, "helping them resolve the stories within is no different than helping them with any other endeavor."

    Staren smiles at her enthusiasm, and starts walking through the Hub purposefully. "The sword we are making today? It will be a sword. It will look the way you wanted it to, it will be self-repairing, and it will be able to take an innocuous form. That's all there is to it. The sword I hope we can make in the future? Well, that, I'm not entirely sure, except that it will enhance your ability to fight. That's why it's an experiment, I don't know how it will turn out. Perhaps the blade will be supernaturally sharp. Maybe it will cut with more force than you swing with. Perhaps it will be able to block or parry blows too strong for you to do so, or straight-up form a magical barrier to protect you. I honestly don't know, I need to do more research and that means finding a swordsmen user and talking to their Abstractum," Staren taps the gauntlet, "when it isn't asleep. But basic attack and defense stuff like that is probably the most we can manage. Like I said, a fraction of the power and versatility of a true Abstractum."

    As he talks, he weaves his way between the Legacies, until at last they leave the throng and step into the Red Wing.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Immediately Hoshi begins to follow, leaning over a bit to hear him better. "So, wait Is this like a game, then?" Beat. "That sounded really bad. I didnt mean it like that, but It sounds like youre telling me to do quests or something. Is it close?" She takes a moment to glance around nervously at all the doors. Is there one in every door?

    Her attention snaps back to Staren after she shakes the thoughts out of her head. "A self-repairing sword? Oh man This is definitely a good way to start. If the rest can happen Well, I guess well see what you can come up with, huh?" She stops for a moment, glancing at the ground. "Uh Thank you for this. Im so grateful that youre willing to do this. I I thought, for awhile, that I would be by myself, dealing with this. Thank you."

    She takes a deep breath and quickly dashes her hand across her eyes. Her grin comes back to her face, and she steps forward proudly. "Lets do science, then! Just so you know, though Im probably not going to understand anything that follows."

Staren has posed:
    When Hoshi asks if it's a game, Staren gives her a sort of awkward look, and scratches the back of his head. "It's complicated. I can't tell whether the nodes always existed and the Homeworld just connects to ones that suit us, or they're created on the spot. But the people inside, and their troubles, are real, even if time's a little weird. Yeah, all of the funny-looking doors go to nodes." Staren's face grows more serious. "You create a node, you're taking on the responsibility of fixing a small world. Succeed, and by defeating Pure-wielders, you cut off a little bit of the enemy. Fail, and... well, not enough people have completed nodes' stories for us to tell, but if enough of us fail, the enemy will invade parts of the Multiverse, instead of the nodes. I've seen pictures. They weren't pretty."

    Staren smiles at her enthusiasm about the sword, and looks back at her as she thanks him and says she thought she would be alone. "You're welcome. I learn about stuff like this because I'm looking for ways to use it to help people. And... you're not alone, in the Union. There will be plenty of people willing to help you out, and I'm sure you'll help plenty of others, soon enough. I understand August already helped out in Paragon City. ...It's a superhero world."

    In they go! "This... is the Red Wing. It's used for... um..." He looks at the machines. "Abstractum stuff, but there's a training simulator over there," he waves at the dojo-esque area, "And this..." he comes to the PROTO-ABSTRACTUM CRAFTING CHAMBERS, "...Looks like it was upgraded since I last messed with it. It used to be a big ol' box, but now... are these extradimensional spaces? Sweet. I guess we can make really big stuff now! I wonder if that means people could make a /car/ that turns into a pocket form? Or maybe..." He trails off into thought for a moment.

    Then he catches himself. "Oh right! Anyway, this is how anyone can make protoabstractum. My Abstractum, Eureka," he taps the gauntlet again, "can also make them, but the process is different. We'll get to that if you wish. For practical use, though... You put objects in /here/ corresponding to what you want your creation to /do/, and objects over /here/ corresponding to what shapes you want it to take. Then you hit the big red button. It's pretty simple! Making an object that has convenient secondary forms, or a gun with infinite ammo, are the basic uses I've found so far, but with a little imagination, one can find other uses. Resizing armor to fit you. Making an all-in-one medical hypospray. Creating new objects! If you really want to know how it all works, I can try to explain."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi can't help but shiver at the description she's getting of this place. Taking responsibility... For all of this. For everything you chose. "That's... I can't believe it." Suddenly it seemed like Drachenblatt and the Forest were so far away now. "Thank you for explaining it. I'll remember all of this. I have to." His reassurances are given a nod and a grin. "Yeah. Like I have a team again. It's pretty awesome, having to start from the bottom and climb up again. Something new to achieve."

    As they enter the room, Hoshi's breath is taken yet again. Jeeez! "Why is this place so awesome, man? Why can't my team be here! Makoto would have loved this!" Realizing she's gushing, she coughs and falls silent promptly, blushing at her outburst. Usually it took Roshomon to get her this excited. "S-sorry... I'm done. This is really cool." All of the strange forms and shapes--and a freaking ring! "... Can I hang out here?" Cough. "No, don't answer that. But... doesn't that all sound really simple? It can't be that simple." She snickers. "Sometimes I wish I was smart enough to understand how these things work. Hard enough to keep up my grades." She shrugs helplessly. "I'm curious, though. So... The shape I want it to take." Quickly, her hand darts into her belt and snags her spare hairtie. "Always keep one in case... Never thought it'd work so well here. And the thing I want it do is the sword?"

Staren has posed:
    "'Again?'" Staren cocks his head to the side and gives her a curious look, at the way she put it.

    Staren grins. "This place is so awesome... well, partly because we put a lot of work into it, partly because /we're/ pretty awesome, I hope, and partly because... well, I'm not entirely sure how /all/ of it came to be." Staren's expression turns somber again, "The creator of the Abstractum, Dr. Burden, is not a very talkative man. And he has secrets, but... it's understandable. From what I know or can guess, were I in his position I would not be a happy man. I would not want to talk about my past."

    Staren shrugs and answers her question anyway: "Sure." She can hang out here.

    Staren scratches his head. "Abstractum technology is simple to use. But I'm still trying to understand how it all works. It's like magic, but more... well, abstract. It works on a conceptual level but somehow takes those concepts and makes them physical and real." Staren reaches into his bag and holds out... five sheets of paper stapled together, filled with text. "This is the sum of my knowledge that I've written down for others. You should probably read the first page. Homura wrote that bit. The rest..." he shrugs and gives a nervous grin. "I don't know if it's helped anyone yet."

    Staren nods as Hoshi identifies where to put the sword and the hairtie. "Now, if you hit the button now, I'm not sure what we'd get. A hairtie that cuts things? Or maybe it wouldn't do anything. Note to self, try it later just to see what happens. But for /your/ sword..." Staren turns towards the door to the Hub.

MEANWHILE

    Since Hoshi identified the reference object she wanted, Dawn (Staren's support AI) and the nonsapient version of CARDINAL included with every copy of the World Seed have been hard at work looking at the source material and constructing a 3D model from reference images and best guesses. Since all they need is a single shape with no moving parts or complex properties, it's trivial for Dawn to convert this model into a format which can be given to a nanofabricator. A simple object like this, not too big, doesn't even take very long...

    ...Which is how it is that a woman in a simple, dark dress and boots, with long electric violet hair and eyes then walks into the room, carrying the sword. Staren explains, "This is a household servant robot being remote-controlled by my support AI." The gynoid smiles and waves, a bit stiltedly, "Hello!", then waits patiently for a moment as Staren takes the sword. "This would probably be a terrible weapon. While it's sharp, the metal is not tempered steel, and has not been forged with the care required for such a thin blade to be used in combat. But it /looks/ good, doesn't it?" He grins, then looks at it uncertainly, "Although, I can't tell how it is different from any other katana."

    Once that's been placed in the FORM compartment, Staren pulls one last object from his coat pocket. "Oh! I thought it would be good to throw this in." A folding pocket knife. "Never know when you might need a knife that /isn't/ a few feet long, right?" He puts that in too. "Ready? If you'd like to do the honors..." he waits for her to hit the button.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi shrugs. "I've been in kendo for a really long time. Middle school. I always managed to work my way up to captain--I just really wanted to be the best, y'know? And I loved my last club like family. When my parents brought me with them to Germany... I'm still not really over it. I miss them really bad. But I'm not going to contact them, because it's safer that they don't know about this stuff."

    Slowly, she looks around the room again, taking all this new information in with the rest of the room in comparison. "What kind of person could make a thing like this?... He must be brilliant. I wonder... how people like me look to a person like that." A wry smile comes to her face, and she shakes her head quickly. "You're not allowed to tell me I can hang out here, 'cause I'd never go home. It's hard enough to keep up appearances as it is..." Realizing what she said, her gaze dims, and she lets out a tired sigh. "Guess I'm lying now. Man..."

    Concepts... the whole idea was based on concepts. "Y'know, if you want to get metaphysical... Concept of what? I wonder if an idea can be a concept you can use. Or... an emotion! Kind of like..." She spins towards him, grinning widely. "A sword the speed of wind! Armor made out of love. That would be crazy!" Whether or not it's possible doesn't seem to matter. She's dreaming with her eyes open. "I swear, summer break, I'm coming here, busting the books. I'm learning the /crap/ out of this."

    Her mind snaps her attention back to Staren. "I don't think anyone would really want a hairtie that cuts things..." That train of thought is stopped, watching as the 3D model is crafted. An excited grin comes to her face. It's like watching it being made piece by piece. "A sword made just for me..." Awhile ago, that would've been a difficult dream. Now she might actually get one, maybe one that can do amazing things!

    "Can I be a hero?..." She whispers to herself, her hand reaching up to pull her locket out from under her gi. She holds it firmly in hand as she keeps watching.

    A sly grin comes to Hoshi's face as the woman appears--beautiful. "A robo-maid cruising the place. Classy." With a snicker, she lifts her hand to wave in return. "Nice to meet you!" Turning to Staren, she gets a glimpse of the replica sword. He's right--it's kind of trash. But the blissful grin that comes to her face is an honest one. "You're right. It does. But that actually doesn't matter to me. No matter what, this is awesome. I just really like Kurosawa movies."

    Her excitement is replaced by confusion. "A folding knife? Do you think that'll work too? How would that even work?" But it's in there... Her sword is right in front of her eyes, if in pieces. With a giddy giggle, she slowly reaches out and presses down on the button.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods at Hoshi's explanation about Kendo Club. Her muysings about what Burden would think of her get a shrug. When she gets down about lying, he puts a hand on her shoulder. "We're here for you. If you really want to tell people... hopefully one day you'll be able to. If they're truly your friends, they'll understand, right?" He smiles.

    Staren smiles as she dreams of conceptual armaments. "Not quite like that. More like..." he scratches his head, "I'll try to explain better later."
    (The nanofabrication process is shown to Hoshi on Staren's tablet when she asks about it.)

    "Nice to meet you as well." Dawn's reply is simple and friendly, and then she leaves to head back to Staren's lab.

    At last, Hoshi can PUSH THE BUTTON!

    PROTOABSTRACTUM GENERATION

    FORM: FAKE KAMBEI'S SWORD, POCKET KNIFE, HAIR TIE

    FUNCTIONS ALLOCATED:
*STANDARD SET: MANIFESTATION REGENERATION
*FUNC 1: EDGED WEAPON

    When the big red button is pushed, both chambers briefly and quickly scan their interiors, presumably for any sapient entities that it should not process. When this is done, both chambers abruptly slam shut with large blast doors, and the FORM chamber emits a lengthy hissing noise. After several seconds, during which the screen displays a rotating idle icon.

    When the process completes, both chambers open, ejecting a high volume of a strange mist. The FUNCTION chamber is empty. In the FORM chamber lies Kambei's sword, looking much like it did before, except for the addition of a clear crystal somewhere in the hilt. The difference may not be immediately visible, but it's a real weapon now.

    Also, if Hoshi holds it and attempts to make it change forms -- whether by verbal command, concentrating on the thought of willing it to change, or looking for a hidden catch or switch or something -- it will do so. The other forms similarly integrate clear crystals of some shape into their form somehow.

    Staren just smiles wide, hands clasped behind his back, and watches Hoshi for her reaction.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi gives a hollow laugh. "I don't think that'd go well. My parents would freak out if they knew about half of this. ANd my friends... They can find the Multiverse safely. But they can't know anything about my life now. They need to be kept safe. That's what matters." Sadly, her plans and proposals didn't hold weight. She shrugs helplessly, grinning. "Would've been cool, though."

    As soon as her hand hits the button, she's bouncing gently on her toes. The loud bang of the blast doors slamming shut actually causes her to squeak and jump a little. A blush comes to her face as she giggles nervously. The actual events of the matter was... a lot less exciting than she was expecting. No flashing lights--but hey, mist! Maybe trying to see the actual process is pointless? How would she see concepts?

    When the mist clears and Hoshi is left staring at the sword, she hesitantly steps forward, examining the blade. The clear crystal sat capping the very end of the hilt. Clear as glass. She takes another slow step. It was her sword. A gift given to help her fight. Her sword. She dashes the last few feet forwards and takes up the sword carefully, a delighted grin on her face as she takes her standard stance. "A heavier than a bokken... It's all in different areas, too. Man, it's really different!" She pauses to focus--and suddenly the blade was retracting and sinking down. Hoshi gasps and nearly drops the sword when that happens, but manages to catch herself just in time.

    Slowly, she turns around to face Staren. The blade elongates again, and she takes it up in both hands as she walks towards him. Quick as a flash, she dashes over to him and kneels down, holding the sword up to him across both her hands, reverently. "We need to bless it. Touch it to your forehead and pass it to me, please?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches her, her excitement is infectious. He does like bringing people happiness. And then--

    He leans back slightly as she rushes over and... holds it out to him? "You want /me/ to bless it? Are you /sure/?" Upon insistance, he'll take it, "Well... I suppose making it was sort of an experiment... in that spirit..." holding the flat to his forehead. "In the name of madness and inspiration, I bless this blade. May it, uh... inspire you to find new ways to solve your problems." He hands it back to her. "I don't think that will /actually/ do anything, though. But you never know. Faith works in mysterious ways. If it /does/ do something, let me know, I know a god who'd be really interested in hearing about it." He smiles.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    "Yes!" Hoshi says insistantly. Resting her hands on her knees, she bows her head... and starts snickering as he goes through an actual blessing. She refuses to say anything however, she lets Staren go through the whole thing while she waits in complete stillness.

     When he offers the blade to her, she takes it in her hands and presses the blade lightly to her forehead, before setting it down beside her. Placing her left hand on the floor, then her right, she bows down and presses her forehead against her hands, then stands, carefully taking up her sword as she rises. "The idea is that the crafter should give the blade to the receiver with good will that it would be used well."

    Whether or not his blessing will actually do something, she shrugs with a cheerful smile. "Who knows? At this point, I'm not sure if I'd be surprised. I will let you know if I get crazy inspired at some point." Glancing down at it, she tilts her head curiously. "Hey... Should we name it? All the good ones are supposed to have names, right?" She snickers at herself. It seems childish, but she can't help but wonder about it anyway.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks confused at the snickering, then she explains. He shrugs, "I'm sure you'll use it well. You want to protect people from things too strange and powerful for them to stand against alone. That's what we all want."

    Staren looks at the sword. "Name it? I'm no good at names, and we're planning to replace it anyway. I've yet to discover any way to 'upgrade' them. I suppose you can name it if you want, but you should probably save the best names you come up with for later."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
     Was it that simple? That was exactly what she wanted to do, but it was strange to hear such faith. "I won't fail," she insists firmly. "I won't lose, I promise. I'll make myself worth it." Slowly, carefully, she sheathes the blade into her scabbard, shifting a bit to get the sensation of it's weight on her hip.

    Staren's logic makes sense, though. This was the start. "Then I'm going to have to look up a lot of stuff to get a good name. Star-something! With the crystal there... Doesn't matter." Blushing, Hoshi clears her throat and goes to a different track. "Thank you so much for this." She grins suddenly down at the sword--and it starts to shrink, forming into a tiny hairtie held within the depths of her belt. "It'll take me a couple weeks to get used to it, but I'll practice every night."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks a mix of concerned, happy for her, and flattered, blushing a bit himself. The dynamic feels slightly wrong, though. "You're welcome. I'm glad to help -- like I said, that was the point of studying all this stuff -- and, um, it's okay. You're a Union Elite now, an aspiring hero, but that doesn't mean you have to devote all your time to fighting and saving people. I... I thought about that once, and my friends pointed out they'd miss me if I went too far. You can have some time to be yourself too, whatever that means to you. We're fighting to make better lives for everyone, right? And while the people we save may be in a far worse situation and need the help more... that applies to us too. In any case, it's not like I'm expecting a progress report or you're under any obligation to /me/ to train super hard. As long as this step helped you on your way to helping others, that's enough for me." He rubs the back of his neck, awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm not really good at people stuff."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    That... makes Hoshi pause in thought. Her sense of reality comes back to her. All of this was heady stuff, but she still had to go to school, be around her parents, watch out for August--a whole list of things that she had to do. Plus she had to do it without alerting anyone in her world. That was the most daunting task. "I... you're probably right, but... Just thinking about all of this stuff makes my head hurt. And..." She sits down slowly, sighing. "I'm scared, too. When I first went in the Forest, and I saw the wolf coming for me... I felt my heart stop dead until the woodsman got me back out. What do you do with that stuff, man?..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren furrows his brow in thought. When has he been really, really scared? He thinks back... no, not just spooped by skeletons. When has he been /terrified/? When have things been that bad...

    They tricked us
    Everyone's paralyzed
    They're going to kill her
    GET HER OUT OF HERE

    This isn't working
    She's not listening
    You can't save her
    She's living your worst nightmare
    YOU HAVE FAILED

    You thought you'd come up with a clever plan
    You didn't
    Now they're dead
    You'll NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN

    You thought someone would save him
    You thought heroes would win
    You were wrong
    He's GONE
    You should have done more...

    Staren's gaze grows distant, he shakes a bit, and he holds a hand to his head and sighs. "I'm sorry. I don't know. I... came from a world where... I trained to fight monsters at a young age. The age was unusual, but the monsters were not. Before I saw /any/ combat, I had practice. I had reflexes to and training to rely on. And it probably helped that the first combat /I/ saw was from inside the cockpit of a 50-ton war machine. Lots of armor between me and any enemies." He shakes his head. "I don't have to be afraid for me. I'm afraid for the people I care about. You'll... have to talk to someone else. Hopefully next time... you'll be prepared. You'll have a plan, you'll know how to fight. That's all I can say... as long as you've got a plan... as long as there's something you can do... focus on that. Maybe that wasn't helpful. Sorry..." He awkwardly looks away.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi glances up when Staren goes silent, and immediately she sees it. The scar. The tell she'd noticed about herself in the mirror. That hesitance, a knee-jerk reaction to trying to pull away from it. Hoshi comes to her feet again, hesitantly reaching out her hand to brush his arm. "I'm sorry. It wasn't fair of me to drop that on you. Let's... Let's start again. Do you want to be friends?" The hand is still out there, but she holds it in front of him to shake. "Worrying about it now isn't going to do me any good. When something happens, I'll respond. Like a kendo match. Stroke for stroke. There's a reason I kept up my kendo training after I left." She smiles hesitantly. "The stuff you say does make sense, y'know. Don't sell yourself too short. So, what do you say? Maybe sometime we can hang out again."

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs, "It's fine. It was a legitimate question." He couldn't answer because all of those times... he was terrified for someone else.

    He smiles at the offer, and shakes the hand. "Sure. More friends are good. ...I hope you do fine. Uh, sure! 'Again'? This was hanging out?" He looks over at the protoabstractum crafting machine then back to her. "I suppose it could be. Uh, sure. We can talk about what interests us and stuff."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
     Hoshi grins again, bringing back some of her levity. Her handshake is nice and firm. "Whether or not it counts, I'm glad I came. Let me know if you have some free time! We can get some food. I know a pretty good French place not too far from my house. I'll pay." A thought slowly comes to her, and she snatches her phone out of her pocket. "... Oh crap! Man, I'm going to have to sneak back into my house at this rate. Sorry man--I need to get home!" With a firm nod, she dashes back towards the warpgate, waving quickly over her head as she ran.