Scene #3644: So About That Eye...

Owner	Pose
Xiao Li Yu	The days have passed, and while many things have happened, Xiao has mostly been keeping to herself. Which was about usual, really. Girl hardly ever got out. That lab may as well have been her living space on top of it. Nonetheless, here she was again working as usual. For once, she wasn't typing away at her computer endlessly. Instead, she was seated at a work desk, a pair of black gauntlets laying before her. With a focused expression, she seemed to be tinkering with their insides. The surface metal was raised, revealing circuitry and wiring. Before this, she had called Sanary to come by for an eye checkup, but then she got engrossed in her own work after. Typical. Oh well, the door wasn't locked.
Sanary Rondel	Sanary's been wokring hard on her own projects recently, although she's definitely seen much better days. A broken leg here, some lightning-related burns there, massive head trauma elsewhere... It's probably for the best that the healer arrives at Xiao's lab today, having taken quite a few meds to take the edge off. At least she doesn't seem like she's in much pain. Also, she's brought snacks! The usual, of course: Fried chicken chunks, spring rolls, and today's new thing: French fry bits. "Hey, Xiao. Been eating enough? Sleeping?" She's still worried about last time.
Xiao Li Yu	Bzzzt, bzzzt... That's the sound of a mini tool drilling inside the gauntlet. At the sound of the lab door sliding aside, and Sanary's voice, Xiao paused momentarily, but then continued working, speaking at the same time. "Oh, there you are, Miss Rondel. I had nearly forgotten." It didn't take long for the smell of food to waft through the lab. "...And I smell food. Oh, what would I ever do without you?" Probably not eat. Because she couldn't be bothered. With a brief sigh, she set her tools down and swiveled around in her chair to face the healer. "I..." A tilt of the head followed. "...Get by." How vague. How evasive. With a smile, she smoothly moved past the subject of herself. "And you, Miss Rondel? I hear that you've been getting into quite a lot of trouble recently. Something about an...'Einherjar'?" Chuckling, Xiao slid her chair closer. "And how has your eye been holding up after those upgrades?"
Sanary Rondel	"Probably be in medical from malnutrition. Really, you gotta eat more." Although Sanary's chuckling, there's still worry evident in her voice. "Or at least keep a fridge and microwave in here. Could even use 'em to... I dunno. Store stuff or heat things really fast." It's not as if putting experiments next to food has ever led to any accidents before, right? Right. "I could be better. Eh... Einherjar thing didn't go so well, but I got some... Info out of it." There's a conflicted look on her face. "I'll have to talk to Lezard about some things, actually... But anyway." She shakes her head quickly, then sets the bag of food down by Xiao on an emptier section of table. "Still a little sore, but I'm hoping to get some practice in soon. Anything I should know about before I start firing things off?"
Xiao Li Yu	The bag is opened and the researcher immediately proceeds to pop random bits of food into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Mmrm, well-" Chew, swallow. "It's such a bother. I can't be made to stop working like eat when I'm in the middle of making scientific breakthroughs!" So that's the kind of person she was. "But I guess I could put a fridge and microwave in here. There is a bed already..." Not that she uses it much. The ratio of falling asleep at tables and desks instead of in a bed must be skewed. "Anywho-" Another pause for food. "-I can clearly see that Einherjar thing didn't go very well. You look like a mess." To put it lightly. "But at least you're still alive, hm? You can't do anything if you're dead after all." Tapping a finger against the desk surface, Xiao leaned back in her chair and sighed. "But I am kind of curious now. How one of those Einherjar people tick." Pause. "...But I already have enough work on my plate as it is." She shook her head and shrugged. Once the eye was brought up, the girl thought on it for a bit. "Well...there's only one real issue that you need to be very aware of." She said, straightening up. "With as many functions fitted into that eye as it is, there will be times where it may not be able to keep up with you." Another pause, more food. "I recommend you stick to using only one or two functions as a time, and avoid switching modes in rapid succession. The eye isn't structurally weak, but it can overheat. You don't want that to happen. Trust me."
Sanary Rondel	"Still... You gotta recharge at least once in a while, yeah? Can't make breakthroughs if you're passing out." Chuckling again, Sanary looks over at the bed and actually seems somewhat surprised that it's even there. "That's definitely a start, at least. Just make sure to use it or I'll have to drag you into-" No. Bad healer. That's sexual harassment! Maybe. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she's somewhat thankful for the topic change to the Einherjar. "Had a bit of a... Landing. After spinning a lot. Uh. Reminds me, actually." She reaches into her coat and fishes out one of the anklets, a sizable dent on one side and opened up on the other. "This was inside my armor, too. Might've lost it if I was wearing it on the outside. Sorry." She slumps a bit. Is she feeling guilty about breaking it? "Mm.. But it sounded like it went better in-town, so we might still have a shot at bringing one back. We'll see, though." Speaking of seeing, eye upgrades! She listens intently to the scientist's warnings, nodding every now and then while shivering at the thought of the eye overheating while in use. "Eugh... Y-yeah, definitely gonna be careful not to go too fast with that. Really hoping I learn how to use those spells properly one day, but... This'll be a big help."
Xiao Li Yu	Xiao would have made fun of Sanary for the bed slip up, but she mercifully decided not to pursue it. Instead, she nodded along to her brief retelling of the other day's situation. "I see. Well that explains all the injuries at least." She blinked after the dented AANS was placed in front of her. "Oh?" She picked it up, examining the dent closely. "I see. Well that's a problem." A shrug followed. "It can be fixed, but with my work, it'll take a while to get to. I'll need to fix the circuitry and make a new casing..." Sounded tedious. A nod was given after Sanary surmised on her own about the use of her eye. "You do that. While it won't explode inside your head, overheating will still hurt, I imagine." At least she thought of that much. "In any case, if you want to practice your spells..." She raised a hand and pointed off to the testing bay. "You can do it over there. I can set up some targets for you if you'd like."
Sanary Rondel	"The Einherjar was shooting a lot of lightning around, so that... Kinda sucked. Metal shields and... I guess the armor was weak to lightning, too." Sanary strokes her chin lightly as she says that, a thoughtful look forming on her face. "I should stop by Ysabel's world again some time, maybe... Eh. Some other time." Another awkward chuckle leaves the healer as Xiao explains the process behind the repair, taking out the other anklet just in case. It's in significantly better condition, at least! Just a few dings, but nothing outright broken. "Should I leave this with you, too? In case you gotta compare 'em or... Something." She wisely chooses not to think too hard on the possibility of her eye exploding. Just... Boom. Right in her head. Not thinking about that one bit. No. She's just shivering because it's chilly! "Mm... Yeah, practice sounds good. Uh. Is it gonna be any trouble, though? I mean, if you're doing any other work right now..."
Xiao Li Yu	"Lightning, hrm?" Sounds familiar. But she didn't actually speak any further on the subject, leaving it at that. "Well, you seem to know what you have to do. If lightning is a problem, find something that resists it." Elementary, you could say. With a chuckle, Xiao popped some more food in and chewed. "Mmn...yeah, leave that too. I'll look over your flight data and see if I can make any upgrades while I'm fixing it." She took that one and set it with the dented one as well, keeping them together. "As for practice, I don't mind. I don't have to get up to do anything really." And to prove her point, she muttered a spell under her breath and leaned down, pressing a hand to the floor. Blue energy flowed along the ground before arriving at the testing bay and forming up into several ice pillars. Tall and wide enough to use as targets. "That should do."
Sanary Rondel	Resisting lightning... It sounded simple enough, right? Armor made of a lightning-using monster, rubber-lining for her armor, learning how to create ice or rock barriers... So many options, but Sanary's going to have to mull over those later. For now, there's targets! "Good to know. So. How've things been on your end? Outside of work, I mean." She's never had many opportunities to really ask Xiao about that, has she? Or at least without being interrupted by other matters. Even with those targets in front of her, she's still taking it a little easy as she gets reaccustomed to the eye and the new matrixes inside it. Switching from Libra to Fire was easy enough, but with these additional functions... Well, first things first. Firing a heat blast at one of those ice pillars is familiar enough, but switching to the infrared vision takes a while longer. She's also stalling a bit, of course, but once she does, she lets out a strange chuckle. "Holy... This looks /weird/."
Xiao Li Yu	"Hmm? What's this? Miss Rondel is interested in my personal life?" Feigning surprise, Xiao brought a hand to her cheek. "Oh my. Oh my, oh my~" But she stopped the act then and shrugged. "Ah, things have been...okay I guess. Not much for me to speak of. I go to school, I study, I do my homework, I come here, I work." Did she have ANY hobbies? Once Sanary got to work on testing out her eye functions, Xiao have watched, out of the corner of her eye, while proceeding to work on her gauntlets again. "Well, good to know there aren't any problems so far." A smirk formed. "It does look weird, doesn't it? But it can be helpful. I'll bet you'll find a use for it in time."
Sanary Rondel	"Eh? Wh-what's wrong with getting to know my co-workers?" Sanary sounds somewhat flsutered at first, but she's laughing a moment later even while waving her hands in front of her face. "Remind me to-whoa. So weird-looking... Uh. I know this one place not too far from school that's got this good curry." She lets out a low half-whistle as she keeps moving her hands around, then looks over at where one of the ice pillars stood. So many strange colors and lack of colors... It's going to take her some time to adjust to that. "You do anything for fun?" Looking over at Xiao, she practically recoils before breaking out into laughter. "This... Oh man. Do you have anything that lets you look at stuff like this? Because seriously... You gotta see this."
Xiao Li Yu	"Oh nothing. Nothing at all~" A giggle is had at Sanary's expense and she mercifully let the girl change the subject. "Curry? ...I haven't had curry in a long time." She mumbled, over the hum of her mini power tools. "I guess if we happen to be together at school one day, we can check it out." At least at school, she doesn't have her lab to distract her. "For fun? ...Well, I do research?" That's your job, not your hobby! Try again, Xiao! "Oh, hm...No, I don't have any infared equipment immediately on hand. But I know what it looks like. Don't you worry about me, hehe." Bzzt, bzzt... "Well, Miss Rondel, try not to have /too/ much fun now."
Sanary Rondel	"... Yeah, we're definitely going there, then. It's got the right amount of spicy and stink to it, but the meat's all good, and the cheese..." Sanary's already salivating at the thought of going back there. Why did it still have to be a weekend? At least there'd be time tomorrow or eventually. She's still holding out hope for Xiao yet! Well, sort of. Hearing that she researches for fun is rather worrying, but... "Hmm. Well, if you enjoy doing that... Whatever works, right?" That's the easiest way for the healer to look at it. Not like she's any better, spending countless hours training and tending to pigs. She can't play around with the infrared function forever, though, so the next one to try is night vision! Focus the magic, don't go too fast, don't accidentally fire lasers anywhere, and... Cue cringing, painful hissing, and covering her eye. "HOLY CRAP how am I supposed to... Augh! How's this one even supposed to work?" She probably shouldn't have been looking directly at a light at the time.
Xiao Li Yu	"....Pffbtbahahahaha!" And Xiao burst out laughing at Sanary's total screwup. "Did you really just- Ahahaha! Come on! Why would you look at the light while doing that? It's just asking to be blinded! Haha!" There is a certain irony to be found in that statement. "I assume you used Night Vision? Don't use that in the daytime. You'll regret it." A bit late there!
Sanary Rondel	Still inhaling sharply, Sanary keeps her eye shut even as she just cuts the flow of energy to it entirely. No sense leaving that function on while she's still in here, and she's not about to risk it overheating switching back to regular vision. "D-didn't think it'd be that... /That/, Well... G-good to know for next time." She's trying to keep up a brave face, at least, even though she can't quite see Xiao or anything else despite looking straight at her. "Makes sense for the name, though... Nnuh. I'll try the other two on the field. I mean, unless you've got some test subjects lying around." She starts to laugh, but furrows her brow after a moment. Would she? Not that she'd put it past Xiao, and it's not like Sanary doesn't have her own prisoners squirreled away somewhere, either...
Xiao Li Yu	"Well. We all make mistakes. Best to learn from them and do better next time. Even if that's something as small as turning on night vision in the day." Still wasn't letting that go, was she? "Anywho...me? Test subjects? Ridiculous." She waved a hand dismissively at that before proceeding on with her work. "Keeping that sort of thing here is a hassle. If you want a test subject, why not inquire with...ah, problem removal." Yes, that's what she'd call them. It. Whatever. "Or I guess you could just test it out in the field. That is the simplest solution to this."
Sanary Rondel	"Well..." After failing to think of a witty retort, Sanary just sticks her tongue out at Xiao and grins afterwards. It's all in good fun! Her lack of test subjects is both surprising and not surprising at all, although the healer does seem a little disappointed. At least she always has her closet. "Makes sense, I guess. Hmm... I'll have to check with them once I recover, yeah. Although..." A mischievous grin crosses Sanary's face. "I do have a mission coming up soon, actually... Might give it a try then. Anything you have around here that needs testing soon, though?" It's not a completely selfless question: New toys are always fun to bring along!
Xiao Li Yu	"Mmn...new toys..." Xiao canted her head aside a bit thinking on it. "Nnnnot right now. I don't have anything ready to be used right at this moment. However, I do have a thought now." She tapped her chin. "You recall that talk on the broadband about holographic interfaces? I've been thinking about trying my hand at making one of those..." She glanced at Sanary then. "But I would need your opinion. What do you think you would need such an interface for? Any particular functions? Making a general purpose one sounds rather unhelpful to anyone after all."
Sanary Rondel	"Holographic.. That's making images that look like solid objects, right?" Sanary waves her hand in front of her for emphasis, then cricks her neck. "That could be real useful to see... Uh. F-functions?" The healer leans back on a table and rubs her neck, trying to think up something good on the spot. "Maybe... If it could map out a place, we could use it to find hidden entrances? Or... Evne just where the dead ends are so we don't go that way?" Taking a moment to turn the eye back on for regular vision, she gestures at Xiao next. "Or if you can get it real-looking enough, maybe even use it for decoys or... What's it called. Suppressing fire?" The gears are turning! "... Oh! Or fake floors so anyone chasing us can run off stairs and break their necks or something."
Xiao Li Yu	".............." There was a long bout of silence at Xiao tried to process exactly what Sanary had just said. Eventually, she managed to find the capacity to understand it, as much as she tried not to. "I...I see. You...certainly have an active imagination." A wry chuckle followed. "Well, theoretically, holographic mapping is possible. Or perhaps just putting a 2D map into your field of vision. The range would have to be limited to a set parameter though." She stopped working, shutting the metal surface of her gauntlets closed. Looks like that was done. "Maybe a range of several meters? After all, it takes power and processing to map out a wide area..." She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully after. "As for the decoys and floors? Not possible. AR is something that only you can see. Not anyone else." And she grinned. "Unless /you/ want to fool yourself with decoys and fake floors...I won't judge."
Sanary Rondel	"Why was Xiao being so quiet? Was that a good sign or a bad one? Judging from her words, it was... Somewhere in the middle? At least she didn't say that it was dumb. "Maps are always good. Even if it's not for missions, it'd be great for not getting lost in places like malls or..." Sanary pauses, glancing at the entrance before turning back to Xiao with a sheepish look in her eye. "... I still have trouble finding this place. And Souji's office." Layouts are hard when she doesn't come here every day! And then there's a snicker when Xiao suggests trying to fool herself. "Hey, I can mess with myself just fine with what you've put in this thing already. I don't think I need more ways to do that." Still grinning, she looks over at Xiao's table before turning back to her. "But... Well, what about doing this sort of thing in a helmet with a visor? Then you get protection and fancy sight stuff."
Xiao Li Yu	Xiao laughed lightly at Sanary's ridiculousness and shook her head. "Right then. A map it is." She filed that away mentally and let out a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. "Mmn...when did I get so tired? Ah..." She shook her head and stood, looking towards that bed in the corner. "Well then, I think I should get some sleep. Loathe as I am to waste time doing so." Sigh. She turned to Sanary and smiled. "Thank you for the food, Miss Rondel. I'll have your AANS fixed soon." A hand was raised, finger extended. "And do be careful with that eye, hm?"
Sanary Rondel	"Hey, sleep's not a waste of time if it helps you work longer." Sanary grins as she gets up from the table, taking out a spring roll for herself. It's probably not as crispy as it could be any more, but... Screw it, it's still good! "No problem. But really, try and eat more. You're gonna have me worry, you know." As if she isn't already. She grins at the mention of the AANS and her eye, nodding after a moment. "Will do. Thanks, Xiao. I'll let you know how the field testing goes~" And then she's off to... Probably get some more food. That smell made her quite hungry!
Xiao Li Yu	"I'll keep that in mind, hehe..." Xiao smirked and nodded faintly. "See you another time." She saw Sanary out with a small wave, and then remotely locked the door. "...Sleep, hm?" Still annoying. But oh well. Her body was imperfect and required rest. She'd need to work on cutting that need out! ...Sometime. Those thoughts shelved, the scientist slid into bed and hit the lights, eyes closing soon after. And for once in a blue moon, she slept.