546/MBS 1000 Stress Testing

MBS 1000 Stress Testing
Date of Scene:	05 September 2014
Location:	Strait of the Americas
Synopsis:	Marrik and Leyanne do tests on tri-helical plasteel with oversight from Knight Industries.
Cast of Characters:	154, 541, 543

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Michael Knight (543) has posed:
As agreed upon, Knight Industries has provided Marrik and his friend Leyanne with a testing facility. It's an unassuming kind of building, sturdy but not much to look at. This is probably to Marrik's advantage, because there's no telling what will happen when the plasteel the company has provided is exposed to magic. The heat of the Mojave desert might rankle the visitors--but the facility itself is at least air conditioned.

In one of the experimentation rooms, a sheet of plasteel hangs suspended from strong-looking metal chains. Electrodes are placed at key points across the material, and various electronic devices of indiscernible purpose are pointed at it from across the room. A notably less obscure device present is a video camera, though it may be bulkier than either visitor is used to seeing--especially Leyanne.

Waiting just inside is Bonnie Barstow, the expert on the Knight Industries Two Thousand and the head of the engineering team Knight Industries has supplied. Just across the hall are a team of paramedics waiting to jump into action--though they're not above chit-chat over vending machine coffee.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace arrives astrite a huge cruiser motorcycle, with wide tyres and long-travel suspension. There's also a compressor of some kind on the intake - the bike seems designed to deal with extremely rough terrain, and from the dust coating it, she's been testing that out.
She parks the huge machine beside the facility and steps off, removing her helmet and shaking out her long blue hair. SHe unrolls her beret and sets it on her head before stepping into the building, smiling and offering her hand to Bonnie.
"I feel like a firework maker meeting one of the dudes who built the Saturn 5." She comments, with a friendly chuckle.

Marrik (541) has posed:
A bike that could charitably considered a museum piece raced along the desert. Its rider followed directions whispered into his ear by a being in his coat re-reading directions to him. Other than the scorching hot it was a nice ride. Most people would think of the Mojave as next to dead. Marrik knew different and enjoyed the contrast. Finally though off to look at this bunker. Marrik pulled his helmet off and after pulling a duffel bag from his bike's panniers looked at the person that would lead him in. After showing his Union ID he was led inside and breathed deep when he felt the cool conditioned air.

When he saw the emergency team he nodded approvingly, "Smart. I'm pretty sure it won't get that bad but always useful." He offered Bonnie a calloused hand, "Miss Bonnie I take it. I'd... heard KITT's race didn't go well. He alright?" He knew how hard losing could be after all.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace gives the Paramedics a wave with her cybernetic hand. She's got a special respect for emergency medical personnel, after being put back together by combat medics and cyberneticists.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie grins and shakes Leyanne's hand. "Hey, thanks! Leyanne, right? Yeah--" She then replies, "I'm Bonnie." The mechanic shakes Marrik's hand.

"He spent most of last night in the repair bay, but he's fine. It was mostly his fault. I mean, that Cybertronian guy wasn't helping things, but KITT's got a big ego. Nobody got hurt, and KITT ended up learning some humility. ...part of me thinks that's why Michael let him race, but... anyway." She steps aside and allows the two into the testing room. As she does so, the paramedics raise their cheap snacks to Leyanne in greeting.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Hey we all do dumb things." Marrik's voice was soft, "Just glad he got patched up fine." He was reminded of his own trip through the land of idiocy with 'hey let's tinker with the magic rock'. He shrugged and walked into the testing room proper before setting his dufflebag down and pulling the top open. "Alright, " he looked about and took a breath. "Any ground rules to this? Outside of major interactions I didn't bring anything that should on it's own be too much for this place to handle." Then a look over to mace, "Anything you want to start with or just wamt to see what I can do?"

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods as she listens, nodding. "Sometimes that's the only way folks learn." She comments as she listens. "KITT, fron what I can tell, seems as alive, or if not alive, then as sentient, as the three of us here. Makes him a person in my eyes." She chuckles, pausing to detatch one of the 25mm cannons fron her bike and carry it over. It's alarming how casually she carries a cannon as long as she is tall...

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"He very much is, Leyanne." Indeed, for all the AI's intelligence, he has his fair share of quirks--prissy, stuck up, sometimes even passive-aggressive... Bonnie sighs and shakes her head. "So!"

"Stress tests. I think the smartest thing would be to start small and work our way up. Now, Leyanne, if you have any armor piercing rounds for that thing, I'd say save them for last. Plasteel's practically immune to small arms fire, but we've never tested it against... well, ordnance before. I'm actually kinda glad you brought that in." She nods, then rubs her chin.

"What I really want to see is how it'll hold up to magic. Now, uh..." She hmms. "Forgive my lack of expertise on the subject, but if it's possible for you to start small, I'd like you to do that, too. And... just to minimize the risk..."

Bonnie reaches up to a switch hanging off of some thick cables--it looks like it belongs more in an auto shop. With the press of a button, she sends the sample of plasteel and the chains to the back of the room. Motors in the floor and ceiling turn the end of the room into an impromptu shooting range. Bonnie then puts on a flak vest and begins passing them out to everyone.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik just quirks an eyebrow as Leyanne hefted the Really Big Gun and made a slight bow while sidestepping out of her way. "Ladies first." What? Farmboy could be a gentleman when he needed to, and you'd better be nice when she has a gun bigger than you are. Then to Bonnie he nodded. "I have a variety of tools, spells, and other things to try with. Also would like to test if it can hold an enchantment." He wasn't good at emchantments, but he knew the theory and a simple mage mark to channel into would be a good baseline test on that.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik declined the offered flak vest, patting his cost confidently. "I'm good thanks."

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods to Marrik and steps inside, listening to Bonnie as she sets the 25-mil down. "I got hi-ex and AP for it - though if you've tested the armour with any Bushmaster cannon, the results'll be pretty much the same. The only difference is the bike mount and the carrying setup. I'm looking to improve the setup at some point"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie shrugs at Marrik. Must be some magic thing. "Your choice," she says, setting the rest of the flak jackets in the locker. Looking over her shoulder at Leyanne, Bonnie shakes her head. "That's military stuff, right? We designed KITT to be a pursuit vehicle--when the price of his components makes mass production viable, we'd like to start using AI modules like his as fleet vehicles for police departments. Anyway... I don't think we've tested it against something that extreme, but you're more than welcome to try."

"In fact," she says, grabbing a sound-cancelling headset and keying it up to a local radio frequency, "You can give it a whirl now if you're ready." As before, she passes these out to everyone, offering them to Leyanne and Marrik if they so desire.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace shakes her head again, motioning to her big ears. "I've got dampening built in." She hefts the cannon, loading in a stick of five fragmentation shells. "If it's small-arms rated it should stand up against these. Airbursting frag shells, spit out shrapnel."
Once everyone's protected from the sounds, she sets her feet. It's almost refreshing to see that the mouse has to brace for the firing; a reminder that she's not entirely invulnerable.
"FIRING!" She calls out and lets the string fly, having to shuffle backwards somewhat to manage the recoil.
THe rounds actually detonate before impact, sending a shower of small metal fragments forwards - equivalent, perhaps, to a very high volume of large-calibre rifle fire.
She blinks as the last shell-casing clangs to a halt, a schoolgirl grin spreading across her face. "Cor, that clears the cobwebs a little." She comments, sounding a little stunned.

Marrik (541) has posed:
As Bonnie grabbed ear covering headphones Marrik put a pair of earplugs in then looked to the headset and took it. Shrug before taking the earplugs out and putting the headset on. A thumbsup gesture to Leyanne as he mentally prepared in case he had to quick decay debris or blowback.

Once the bang bang stopped he shook his head and grunted. "Loud noises in small spaces!" His voice was a yell over the dampening and aftermath of bang bang. "Makes things louder. You alright?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie looks a mite more accustomed to firing range racket than Marrik, at least. She is surprised by the mouse's existence, let alone her strength, but Michael and KITT both have told her to expect such things, and she /is/ sharing the room with a man who for all appearances seems to be a wizard. "I'm fine," she says into the headset. The mechanic gives a thumbs-up to Leyanne and Marrik.

When the smoke clears, the results are in. Bonnie steps behind the array of terminals to get some readings. "Lots of kinetic energy, uh huh, uh huh..." A monitor displays the plasteel, which is fine, although the concrete shows some scoring. If they're interested in seeing it, Bonnie waves both visitors over so they can get a look. "So far so good," she says. "Next?"

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace coughs, and nods. "Yeah... wow...that's quite something." She sets the cannon down and leans in to peer at the data. "I'm surprised at the force that put into the plate." she comments. "That stuff can take a pounding."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik extended his senses out, trying to find flaw and just... stood there. "You people weren't kidding, not a flaw. Not a mark. Nothing." Then a small smile, "You want next turn st bat Tiny or do I get to pitch?" He sounded almost excited at the prospect. Mass produced mithril.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie claps a technician on the back, who begins hurriedly entering data into what's surely a state of the art terminal in this world. At the very least, the black-and-green display of the monitor is elegance in simplicity. She looks up at Leyanne and Marrik. "Yeah, a good chunk of KITT's price tag is taken up by that. For good reason."

She looks back at the data analyst, who gives her the thumbs up. "Anyway, we've logged that one, so... whichever one of you wants to go next, can."

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace gestures with her cybernetic hand to Marrik, her wrist spinning through a full 360 degrees as she flourishes in the direction of the target. "After you, Marrik. Magic's the data these people are interested in, and to be fair, I am too - I have the magical ability of a dead sand-mite so I'm interested too."
She nods to Bonnie. "I can believe it. How much would it be, per square meter, to an outside buyer?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
Without pausing Marrik pulled the rough figures he'd gotten when he asked similar questions. It... uh... it's expensive. Not 'i need to take a loan' expensive. Worse.

Anyway he walked over to his duffel bag and pulled a pair of forearm length metal rods covered in runes. One glowed ice blue as he sent magic through it, and the other glowed a dull red.

He walked forward and took a deep breath while aiming the fire rod at his target A white hot flame shot forward much like a flamethrower. Yet anything behind Marrik? Nothing. Anyone looking wouldcsee a twinkling shimmer in the air as the runes on the ice rod glowed brighter than before. Was he using the second rod to contain the heat? Given he was sweating like he was stading next to a raging inferno as hot as a welder's torch and anyone behind him wouldn't be? Probably.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"Well..." The mechanic, given a challenge, eagerly bumps one of the abacus jockeys out of the way and begins cranking out numbers on the previously occuptied calculator. "KITT's cost us about..." She enters a number with a considerable amount of zeroes. She then mutters, "Divided by his surface area... $146,152.67 per square meter."

Nightmarish indeed. Bonnie looks up to see Marrik stepping up, and she's promptly shooed out of her seat by the data analyst. However hurriedly the analyst enters the data, however furiously his fingers tap at the keyboard, Bonnie looks confident--though she does shield her eyes. Once Marrik's flame dissipates, once the smoke clears, the plasteel remains, unmarred. "Pyroclastic lamination," she says. "That's the sheen you're seeing."

Marrik (541) has posed:
"How does it handle rapid temperature change?" Without waiting for answer Marrik rapidly pointed the ice rod at the still hot plate and sending a near cryogenically cold blast of cold at his target. This blast didn't last nearly as long, but the effect would be much like going straight from a smelting furnace into liquid nitrogen.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace watches Narrik as he heats the plate up, then coughs quietly at the price. "Phobos! Yeah that's a little out of my price range..." She laughs. She blinks as the cold burst hits it, tilting her head to see what happens. "Hm?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie begins, "I'm not sure--"

The metal stands strong, though the concrete behind it is taking quite the beating. "We've tested it against lightning, explosives, firearms, blunt impact... Long exposure to sea water does have a negative effect, as well as lasers, which neutralize the shell after two shots, and there are probably some potent acids that could damage it. Rockets and artillery... we haven't tested any, but we figure the shell will withstand with... complications. The energy exchange would probably have an adverse effect on internal components."

"What we'd really like to see from you two are more, um... esoteric weapons. Things which might not even be used as weapons in most cases--criminals can be very creative when they have to be. Do you have anything like that?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Well I was thinking the rapid switch would leave it brittle, or delaminate it." Marrik offered. "Creative back yard concoctions huh?" He started rummaging around his pack, "I could just skip to rapid decay but that seems like a cheat since nothing really does well after taking a few hundred years in a few seconds." Rummage rummage. No. No. No. What's that doing there? No. BINGO!

He pulled out a jade cokored animal skull. It looked like a ram, or some other horned grass eater. "Guy I got this off of said it can get through a foot of steel. Did good when I used it on a cultist tomb to stop their party. Not all that hard to make... well it would be for me but there are professionals."

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace looks thoughtful and then heads out to her bike. She returns a few moments later, with three small shells. "These are the nastiest things I got, beyond the armour piercing. Martian-mined metals, a variant of tungsten I've not managed to find anywhere else. Armour-piercing nasties, we'll try them after the stock APs"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
The mechanic weighs both options. "Now we're getting somewhere," she says. "Alright, how about--"

Bonnie is promptly interrupted by one of the technicians. He murmurs something to her, pointing at the screen. "Whoa. Marrik... I think you're gonna find this interesting. Apparently, it's /too/ good at deflecting your mojo. These readings here are still showing energy from your fire and ice... spells." The word sounds weird to her. She can't help it!

"It looks like the runoff energy from the, uh, spell... gets stuck inside for a few seconds instead of bouncing off. Could cause interference with KITT's systems. Is that any use to you?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Wait, you're saying it's trapping magic?" Marrik quirked an eyebrow before reaching out slowly with his senses. "I'm going to try reaching for it. record." He tried drawing power away from the metal and grounding it out into the surrounding concrete. Unless sapping would mess with the metal itself it should be harmlessly grounding things out.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace looks thoughtful, blinking. "That could also be used as a weapon. If you can tune the way it stores it, you might be able to get it to discharge in a controlled manner." Leyanne comments, thoughtfully. Then she hefts her cannon again, waiting for Marrik to clear the way as she picks up the stick of five AP rounds. She doesn't load them, however - the range isn't clear.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
The cameraman angles it towards Marrik, slowly zooming out to get both the necromancer and the plasteel in shot.

"Maybe," says Bonnie, rubbing her chin.

The work is something like trying to get a bullet out of metal armor while it's still bouncing. The energy is trying to escape, but the metaphysical structure of the plasteel, however bizarre such an artificial compound may be, prevents that. There is some bleedoff involved, but it's retarded by the plasteel.

"You okay, Marrik?"

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace's left eye makes a faint whirr as she zooms in to watch too, tilting her head. "That's some material you've made. I can see why it's expensive... are there, er, budget versions?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik nodded slowly. "It's slow going so hold off while I see how this wants to bleed out." He hrmed thoughtfully as he observed the mystic bouncy bouncy, "We might have stumbled on something here. If I can figure out the best wards to put on this I could use the stored energy to make it even stronger, or if I could..." He traiked off as the cogs and wheels in his head turned. "It acts like mythril is supposed to, but that stuff is insanely rare back home. If there was a way I could make enough money to try something. Hrm..."

Then something caught his attention and brought him back to the here and now. "Keep rolling. Range is still hot."

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods as she peers at Marrik. "Don't do anything too stupid, leave that stuff to me."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik gave a short laugh, "I hit my stupid quota a few days back. don't worry."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie chuckles at Leyanne. "Well, we didn't even /know/ it would do this. I wouldn't be so quick to say it's all good though--it's creating crazy ghost readings on the equipment. The electrodes can't decide if it's high voltage or barely more than a human bioelectric current." Bangs her fist against a monitor displaying a thermal readout which is currently on the fritz. In return for her... frontier repair skills, she receives an annoyed look from the technician.

"I'm kind of worried about how this'll effect KITT's Anamorphic Equalizer--uh, his eyes, that is. He won't be too good at driving if he's having hallucinations."

The magical energy is extremely slippery, but with determination the necromancer can get it all bled out.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods as she looks at the dials. Her eye's glow changes to red and purple as she scans the plate in thermal and ultra violet. "I think I'm seeing the effects."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik grunted, "Clear." He stepped back and gestured to Leyanne. "Well that puts a fork in any more of me throwing things at it unless you want to see what kenetically enhanced bullets will do to it, which I kinda doubt much at all." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "After Tiny here gets done I do want a gas line and pump run to see if one of my bags would make a good gas tank." A gas station's worth of fuel in a bag maybe big as a purse. There's a thought.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods and loads the stick into her gun, letting Marrik get free. She waits until everyone's got their ear defenders on before swinging the gun down for firing. She's knocked back a little more by the recoil of this one, high-velocity amrour-piercing rounds - metal darts designed simply to punch through. It's even louder than the last string, seeming even to spit the casings out with more violence than before.
"Never gonna get used to that..."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
The armor piercing round slams into the plasteel. Like a finger through a plastic bag, it doesn't so much break the metal as it does pinch and stretch it--and the remaining column of force which follows after it is enough to crack the wall. Bonne frowns, blowing a lock of her hair from her face. "We were afraid of that," she says.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods slowly "To be fair, a small, dense projectile is always troublesome to defeat. Really you've got to space the armour, and it's just not practical to do that without ruining the frame"

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Of course you could go the other direction and go thicker. I know it would be hellatiously expensive but an armored personnel carrier plated in this stuff would be a tough nut and anyone inside could drive through a warzone if need be to drag people out you'd otherwise lose." Marrik grunted. "if I got plans together to punch out and make something like gauntlets or boots out of could you give me a quote on prep?" He took a breath. "Want to try seeing if I could use this to make something that could give someone an edge in going through say aftermath of a quake to not only survive against looters or hostiles, but to clear debris equipment cant get to." He could do it if he brushed up on his old enchantment courses. And this would have uses outside of a fight, he knew it would.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods to Marrik as she listens, looking thoughtful. "Indeed." She says thoughtfully, "Might be interesting to see what you could do to brace it, Marrik. I'm not all that brushed up on what magic does."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"I thought you already got a price quote from Devon?" Bonnie pauses. "Or were you asking about how many man-hours something like that'd take?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
A nod from Marrik to Bonmie, "The quote was for raw material. I doubt it's easy to work once hardened, and any runes I engrave would need to be applied before the final steps so they'd be exposed to the same lattice the magic is." A tricky problem. How do you engrave on something that's intentionally been made next to impossible to do anything with?" The jade skull went back to his bag and he pulled out a steel gauntlet before showing it to Bonnie. "A pair of these up to the elbow, each joint and edge etched with runes that would go against the wearer's skin. I'd ideally want a pair of boots since all manner of things can snap at your feet, or just an unlcky move and suddenly a house is on your ankle. Plus I could probably use the same sort of runes to allow jumps to get up high for extra mobility. Hellatiously expensive, but compared to Gold it wouldn't need emchantment to hold energy, and its light." Plus unlike artifact scrounging one could get these this sized to them.

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace looks thoughtful, swishing her tail quietly. "I can see that working." She agrees, with a nod. "But it would be trucky as hell to do, I reckon. Might have to engrave any runes into it while it's still hot and molten, or before final pressing."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Bonnie nods in agreement with Leyanne. "And we'll want you there to do it, Marrik." She then sits down at the work station, once again shooing the technician out of the way. "Alright..." She reaches for a tape measure, then tugs insistantly at the technician until he comes over and stands still. "Assuming you two have roughly equivalent measurements...47 centimeters by 22, by 22... comes out to... The price of a pair of these gauntlets up to the elbow is going to cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,650--but, that's just a quick and dirty estimate. Your arm isn't one big rectangle, and we'll take more precise measurements later. I'm just telling you now so there's no rush to commit to anything. Now, your boots..." She taps a few more buttons, and the calculator spits out printed results accordingly.

"Leg," she demands of the beleagured techie. Bonnie takes some more measurements. "Uh huh. Okay. The boots are a little more expensive--$7000 for a pair."

Leyanne Mace (154) has posed:
Leyanne Mace blinks "That's... actually not far off the cost of the same parts of my exo-armour."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik let out a low whistle, "So including the usual snarls and extra yard or so about twenty thousand for something sized for me." He managed to chuckle soft. "Steep, but actually pretty well within reach." That actually made him feel better about this. "I'd have to triple check on the runes needed since anything once etched is permanent." Then a look from Leyanne's exceedingly high tech prosthetics to the green and black computer monitor. "There anythimg like that for home use? Looks like a handy way to keep records." Point to computer thing.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik looked back to Leyanne and clarified, "Your armor has things like motors and sensors. This is just bare metal with any padding needed for comfort and magic is doing the rest. Basically I'd be cheating."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"One thing to keep in mind is, the surface area of a human limb is less than you think." Bonnie scratches her head. "That being said... I still wouldn't wanna be the one footing that bill.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Ma'am." Marrik bowed to Bonnie and smiled. "Maybe hold off on bag testing and break so your people can number crunch?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"Sure," says Bonnie with a nod. "I feel like hitting up the town for some lunch, anyway."