Scene #684: Mama's Got A Brand New Gat

Owner	Pose
Adelaide Flowers	The sound of the end mill doing its thing tends to drive most conversation a bit higher, though in this case the gunsmith's got it shut down. Addie has someone coming over to do a spot of work for, and she's decided to clean up a tad to get ready. Not that she runs a dirty shop, considering just what goes on in the Heaven or Hell armory. But it never hurts to tighten things up just a bit, and she's got the place very much ready to go. There's also a small assortment of handguns laid out on the primary workbench. Several of each major manufacturer are displayed - Walther, CZ, Colt, Beretta, Glock, S&W, each gets at least a nod as well as a few other more esoteric breeds. Riva had mentioned her preference, and the ponytailed gunsmith understands how some things are important. "Yo, Banari." When her appointment arrives, Addie waves - and of course, is dressed about as casual as always. Only a very rare day has seen the HoH armorer in anything approaching businessy outfits, and today will not be one of those days. "So, what's this thing about you and magic, how's that work anyway? Casting spells, and all, I mean." It's an interesting idea, and she's not sure just how the hell it works - but needs to know, since that'll be important to what she comes up with for the other woman.
Riva Banari	Riva arrives in the armory with an expression of muted awe. She's never seen anything so focused upon the design, maintenance, storage, and manufacture of objects that kill people. Ever. Riva wanders forward, looking around at the machinery and perhaps wondering how they work. Before she can indulge her curiosity, however, Addie puts her back on task by jarring her to attention. Riva jumps slightly, looking up and waving. "Oh! Hi there, Addie? Do you prefer that, or..." she pauses, "Um, anyway, yes! I'm Riva, good to meet you in person!" She approaches and offers a hand to shake. Once the formalities are handles, Riva looks down over the gun display. "Wow, this is a nice assortment! The magic thing... Well, it's not spells, per se." Riva reaches into her coat and pulls out a small black lock-case with the Templars insignia on it. She sets it on the table next to the guns. "Basically, whatever happened to give me my abilities basically made me, for lack of a better term, a walking ley line nexus. I gather energy and then I just direct it through the weapon. The weapon is a focus for the power and helps me channel it. Over time, I just figure out new ways to do it. With a gun, I don't usually actually shoot bullets. I'm concentrating Anima and shooting that at my target." She undoes the latches on the case and reveals some small etching tools, a screw-top container, and a coated and folded schematic. "I don't actually need to use the tools myself, but the schematic is essential. The small container there holds a metal compound that is designed to be used in the Anima Circuit. I know silver's a part of it but the rest, I have no idea."
Adelaide Flowers	It really is amazing just what Psyber's put together here. Certainly some of it with the gunsmith's professional help and acumen, but the half-angel's been around long enough that he's no slouch when it comes to assembling both a collection of massive firepower, and the means to maintain it. The look of downright rapture on Riva's face gets a smirk on Addie's, before the former soldier disturbs the other woman's reverie. "Yeah, 's fine. Riva, then." The handshake is firm, calloused hands showing many years of work at her trade and the strong grip entirely in line with Addie's strong frame. She's just...short, really. "Welcome to Heaven or Hell's armory. Feel free to look around if you like; it makes a fair museum as well," she adds with a grin. Most of the weapons in the lockers are typical military, of course. Even still, there's quite a few specialized and unique designs among them. And then there's the private collections of the various building residents stored as well, behind named storage doors as well. It's quite orderly...and in some ways quite fascinating. And then the Templar explains, while ruby-red eyes take in everything before them. "Sounds familiar, actually." Addie doesn't elaborate quite yet, but is never going to forget Walpurgisnacht and the final bullet of hope. She just nods quietly, understanding just what it is that Riva does - and in no small way, still being amazed that it's even possible. For Addie, it had only happened that one time, and she was sure it was Madoka's doing anyway. However, Riva continues, and Addie banishes the woolgathering memory. Hmm. "So the gun's a sort of wand, more than anything else, and it connects through that circuit. Since you're not using real ammunition, it doesn't really matter so much just what you're shooting, I take it. It's not the size of the bullet, but the amount of...Anima, you said? Being put through it." About right, her face asks?
Riva Banari	Riva has no knowledge of Addie's past. She does, however, smile. She does that a lot, thankfully generally for good reasons. "I suppose that's one way of doing it. But I do entirely different things based on the focus. With pistols, for example, I use a lot of high rate of fire distrance striker attacks. A sword gives me close-range striking power. Shotguns and assault rifles are also documented as being used by other agents, as well as other weapons, but I don't know how to use those very well. Once I have things straightened out, I might branch out." Riva shrugs slightly at the latter assertion. "Seems so. I'm not perfectly familiar with the technology, but I do know that it /is/ a technology. So some methods and materials might work better than others. The problem is people like us aren't, um..." She pauses. "Aren't /really/ common so they don't have things as developed as they could be. Not like what I hear about places like Armsmaster's place and others."
Adelaide Flowers	Riva elaborates, and the gunsmith just nods, taking it in. "Right, I see. The gun itself determines what you get, as far as an effect. At least, for the way the Anima interacts with it. Wellll..." Riva says she doesn't know how to use longarms very well, but in this case Addie figures it's best to stick with what you know. Besides, it'll take a while to make a good rifleman out of the Templar... ...not that she won't refuse that idea. "If you want, I can at least teach you the way the military taught us. Get a good battle rifle, something in a real caliber, and in a month or two make a solid shooter out of you. Though, that's also one of those bootcamp regimes so it'd take longer..." Addie waves a hand. "Nah, best to stick with what you know for starters." But in the future, well, anything is possible. "Heh." Riva's explanation makes a lot of sense. "Too few of you around to really do some large-scale work on experimenting with; you're all too busy putting out fires rather than trying to come up with a better fire extinguisher. Well..." Addie shrugs. She knows jack-all about fire extinguishers, in this case. But at least she does know something useful. "I guess at least we can find something you fit best. So, high rate of fire, distance attacks. Sounds like you're more describing a submachinegun; let's see..." Since her close-in power is taken care of by swords, Addie pushes some of the weapons aside. "Try this. MAC submachine gun, built for /extremely/ rapid fire. Normally that'd be a pain in the ass with recoil, but I'm guessing it's less of a problem," she adds with a grin. The gun's held out to Riva, bolt back and magazine missing. It's a similar case for all of the other weapons at the table, after a moment's notice - there's no way any of them could be loaded. One hand indicates the other guns she's left on the table. "There's also the micro-Uzi, Beretta 93R, Stechkin, Mauser '32, and the Glock 18C." The MAC is the biggest and blockiest of them by far, but it's easily carried one-handed and used just like a pistol. "All of these will run a high rate of fire, either cyclic or burst. Normally not so hot an idea unless you like dueling in a phone booth, but it might just do you good. Anima and all that." She may or may not have mumbled something about it being nice not to need bullets, but it was pretty quiet. "Try them all out, see what feels best. You want something that points right where you're aiming, balances well, and just handles right. They're all different in grip shape and all the little things, let your hands find what you like." She has time.
Riva Banari	Riva seems to get a littler nervous as Addie mentions teaching her how to use rifles, but she shifts her stance and does her best to hide it. she relaxes a bit more when she abandons the idea for the moment. The description of the pistols lying there causes Riva to look over each one in turn. She nods, carefully taking the MAC-10 from her and instinctively holding it with her finger away from the trigger, pointing it down at the ground. She shifts her grip tenatively, getting a feel for the gun, the heft and other features. "This sure isn't like the basic gear package, that's for sure." Riva comments, sighting towards a blank wall. She proceeds to do this for each gun in turn. Some she spends more time with than others, clearly already building preferences. "Hmmmm..." finally, Riva goes through all of the guns, and separates out the ones she seems to like the most: The MAC-10, the Beretta, and the Glock. "Probably one of these." Riva says. "These three feel the best. I admit, it's very different to see what a variety of guns like this are like.."
Adelaide Flowers	Fortunately for the young Templar, Addie doesn't notice the slight nevousness. Granted, she is looking over the various automatic pistols that she's set aside, and watching - with an appreciative nod - as Riva takes care when she handles the guns. "Good safety, that's good training." One subtle test passed, and an important one. "The Beretta is my personal favorite; I admit. I like the feel of the grip, and it's not too pointed. I'm also meh on plastic guns anyway," Addie admits, glancing at the Glock. "I mean they work and all, but...my world's about, oh, 40 years back of this Boston so plastic is still kinda flimsy and all. Hard thing to get over, I guess. Anyway, enough rambling outta me." A smirk crosses her face, before she reaches for the MAC and picks it up. "Second thing to consider is maintenance. The MAC's by far the easiest of the three. Just punch this pin," she adds, pointing to the fat metal tab at the front of the gun, "out to the left and pull the outer one out to the right." Piece 1 and 2 are set on the table. "After that, just...ease the upper receiver forward, out of the frame..." Which she does, setting the grip and lower half of the gun on the table next to the pins. "And then remove this knob here, quick rotate-and-pull...and the bolt & spring assembly slides out. Done, takes a few seconds." The parts are laid out, contained in three major parts and three pins that hold it all together. Addie looks over her handiwork, and double-checks - yeah, it's oiled up right, and isn't showing any signs. "Good. Okay, honestly, the others are a bit more complex but I can show you those as well. But if you're going to be doing magical work along it...this one will be the easiest. Lots of flat spaces inside for that Circuit to settle in on." She reaches down and reassembles the gun quickly, giving the bolt a few pulls to make sure it's all together. "I like these; they're a bit big but damn if they aren't easy to maintain. Anyway, you want to try something out? Put a few rounds downrange, or if you have something in mind we can do the Circuit now and you can blast away at the range."
Riva Banari	"They DID give me a gun safety course when training me..." Riva says. "I just, um... Want to be careful, that's all." It'd be a super bad impression if she somehow managed to wing Addie with an empty gun when checking it out, after all. Somehow. Riva thinks for a moment at the mention of material. "Yeah, after that encounter with Ifrit, I'm kind of leery about a plastic gun too..." She frowns. "If nothing else, it'll be harder this way." She then watches how Addie deals with the basic maintenance on the MAC-10, nodding. "I see what you mean." She looks over at the Beretta and thinks for a moment. "I like both guns, but I should pick one model. I should be able to hide them under my coat even with how big they are. I think I'll stick with the MAC-10s." She moves the open case over, and unfolds the schematic. On it is... What looks almost like an actual circuit pattern. "They call them Anima Circuits for a reason." Riva comments as she opens up the compound jar. The material within might be mistaken for CPU thermal compound if it wasn't shinier. "What I do at this point is basically etch and inlay the material from the jar into the pattern that's shown on here. I can do this without using the tools, they're included for usability reasons." She explains. "I should just get the modification done on the first one done. Do you have a second one in stock?" She pauses. "I know, it sounds insane, but the pistols are supposed to be used in tandem."
Adelaide Flowers	"And you paid attention. I appreciate it." The ponytail shifts as she nods, and Addie grins. "Ounce of prevention, and all that, and well dealing with firearms means you'll need a hell of a lot of cure on the ass-end of a whoopsie." Then Riva brings up Ifrit, and Adelaide nods with a soft whistle. "That's something I was thinking about...if you want, I can get my hands on a tungsten sheet and fab a heat shield for you. Dunno if you're planning on taking on fire demons as a hobby or anything, but it should help a lot with that. The MACs then...heh, that'll be an easy enough thing for those." She's got half a mind as to how it would look already. Pfft. "That must be some coat. But...yeah, a little adjustment and it shouldn't be too hard. And good thinking - stick with one set of controls and feels, so you're not confusing yourself in a firefight. Ain't no pause button and all." The gunsmith leans over a little, trying not to block the light, when Riva opens up her canister. "Time to be the spectator, now. Huh..." Addie considers this a moment. "Makes sense. More my brother George's thing; I never got into the whole electronics and computers stuff. Great career choice there, hmpf." She grumbles, but she's not entirely all that serious. Maybe. "Second one? ...Well normally I'd yell at you for being an action movie star but what do I know about magic." Addie winks, then vanishes into the racks of guns - and returns with both a second weapon, a mirror of the first, as well as a figure-eight strap with snaps and pouches and looking a little bit...er, priurient. "If you're gonna go under a coat with one of these, don't bother with a belt. Get the weight on your shoulders," Addie explains, sliding her arms into the shoulder holster and the straps across her back. A quick pirouette like some sort of bullet ballet, and then she's sliding the holsters off and setting it down. "So let's see that beauty cream of yours go to work then."
Riva Banari	"Given what we do, I think it's not a question of if I'm going to make it a hobby or not. That things' not dead." Riva says with a note of resignation. Riva turns and nods. "Haha. I never was that good with games anyway. But there is something else I'm not too bad with." Riva is in fact wearing said coat: It's kind of average for a coat even if it does make her look like an extra from The Matrix. Riva squints a bit at the holster strap and nods. "Not bad. You really pull it off. I guess I'll have to get used to it too." She chuckles at that, and then opens up the other MAC-10 the same way as she was shown. As Addie explained, it only takes a couple seconds. She then stares intently at the pattern, and then holds one hand over the compound. There is a flare of light as Riva begins to channel her anima, her hand lighting up in blue, heatless fire. The compound resonantes as well, lightning up in a riot of colors. She holds her other hand over the slides, appearing to be a good place to do this, and the same thing happens there, though with a muted blue glow. The compound begins to melt, spiraling up through the air and across towards the slide, before pouring down upon it with a restrained molten delicacy. Riva's expression is intense as she looks down at the schematic. the metal seems to bore into the slide, the metal of the weapon vanishing quickly as the etching and inlay seems to happen simultaneously. The process takes a minute or two to complete, but the first slide completes, the pattern laid out in scale upon the weapon, wrapping neatly around where it would surround the barrel assembly. She repeats this process with the second gun. Another minute or two later, the process completes. Riva exhales explosively, slumping a bit. Clearly that level of concentration was taxing to her. "Well, that's done." She mutters. "I can't break down, alter, or reforge things in the middle of a firefight, one wrong move and I'd ruin the entire process. It's also one of the few things I can do without a focus."
Adelaide Flowers	Mm. The noncomittal sound is bothered, but Addie gets it. "Well, do your best to not let the damn thing mug you in an alley, and in a day or three I should have something for you to keep this from melting." Addie grins, giving the MAC-10 a tap. "Haw. Yeah, 'what the fashionably dressed woman in Boston is wearing' or something. Trust me, it'll help a lot especially if you end up carrying it - them - around a lot more than you do shooting them. Plus, well, everything goes with black, right?" Addie gives the shoulder holster a nudge, the black leather surely the height of couture. And then it's time for, cue the jazzhands, MAAAGIC! Addie remains stock-still. As everything happens - the compound, the blue glow, /LIQUID FLYING THROUGH THE FUCKING AIR/, the gunsmith can only watch utterly entranced. It's like her first rock & roll laser-lightshow; admittedly she'd sneaked into that one but had it been worth it. This? Makes that look like a penny-dreadful show. And it shows on her face. "Daamn. I have /never/ seen anything like that before...that is awesome stuff. Though..." Riva explains the situation and Addie just nods, understanding that all too well. "I can imagine. It's like trying to fix a jam when you're getting shot at, it's /not/ easy. And well...I imagine it's a lot worse than dropping a screwdriver. Losing your concentration and splashing that stuff nowhere, well. Like you said, there's not a lot of you..."
Riva Banari	Riva arches an eyebrow as she finishes up the magic. "I yield to your expertise." Riva laughs. "You know a lot more about metals and melting points than I do. And you're right. Everything does go with black." She pauses a bit, and then reassembles the MAC-10s, reversing the steps to put them back together with their new additions. Everything seems to fit together fine. "I'm surprised that was so amazing to you. I'm sure Psyber and the others get up to hella crazy stuff all the time, right? I'm just... Winging it." She pauses. "I get these powers, but I don't really know how best to use them. I guess the bees just decided to let me wing it. And man... When I first started doing this, my apartment was /wrecked/." Riva chuckles at that. "I'm not exactly your model magical girl hero, you know?"
Adelaide Flowers	Addie waves a hand to brush off the compliment. "Bah, just from having to study for all this crap." The hand then gestures to take in all of the weapons. "Steel's steel but it comes in more combinations than pizza. And it's all weird the way it interacts, not counting aluminum, titanium, scandium, bullshitium..." The gunsmith watches, nodding approvingly as Riva reassembles her new firearms. When the Templar mentions her surprise, Addie just shrugs. "Yeah, I've seen that. Real weird, wild magic shit that I just have no idea how to deal with or figure out; but that's always at a distance and I'm usually half-deaf and shooting at some other damn thing. Hard to really take in the show, y'know? But that?" Addie grins. "That was totally cool, to actually sit back and watch. Sorta like a lava lamp the way it flows but well...plus just kinda thinking about it, y'know? Splash some beauty cream on the gun and suddenly it shoots magic bullets." Simplified as all hell, of course, and probably wrong, but it's Addiespeak for 'do this and cool shit happens.' The mention of wrecking the apartment gets a laugh. "I can imagine. Kind of like smoking around here; there's probably enough latent powder to go Candygram for Mongo on me if I'm not careful and that's /with/ the ventilation." Riva's mention of being a rather atypical magical girl type, that she can understand. "Tell me about it. Someday I'll have to tell you how I ended up here, and being a model soldier and gunsmith has about jack-all to do with it. Long story." She grins.
Riva Banari	Riva laughs. "Is that an actual metal?" She asks in regards to the last one. "I guess anything is possible out here, huh? All kinds of weird metals and crazy magical and technological systems. I mean, did you ever see what Supercatboy- I mean, um, Staren has? He's got like, super plasma rockets! It's crazy. But maybe you need firepower like that sometimes." She turns and leans on the bench, crossing her arms. "You and me both. Just because I can use this dtuff odesn't mean I know anything about how 'magic' works... Let along how it gets handled across all these worlds. My own is weird enough." She then looks over and picks up one of the augmented MAC-10s, looking it over. "Well, maybe if I found the right stuff and circtuits for it, I could do it to even weirder things. There's some rumors of experiments with rocket launchers and flamethrowers. If it wasn't so... specialized it'd be great for a lot of people." She sets it back down on the bench, and leans over to poke in the air towards Addie. "Well then, you're just going to have to tell me that story. Maybe over lunch, or dinner if it's /really/ long." She grins mischeviously at that. "I owe you one, after all."
Adelaide Flowers	"If it's not, someone will invent the stuff. And it'll probably cost just that much," Addie laughs. And then there's a moment when her larcenous little heart decides to think about just how much it could be worth, and the trademarking and patent rights could be amazingly valuable. But no, that's not gonna be in her future, sigh. "Hah. Yeah, no kidding. I've seen some crazy shit, like rescuing Captain Janeway from the Borg once. Phaser rifles and shields and what the hell ever against cyborg monsters like that was just weird as hell...but damn if I wasn't glad to have that kinda outbound fire." That was a mess. There's a nod at Riva's comments about magic. "You should talk to Hall sometime. I can't imagine how long he's been at it but I think he's got this thing about collecting knowledge of the entire multiverse's magic. Then again I have this thing about staying way the hell out of his library because it scares the pants off me. But he's an okay guy, and pretty nice once you get to know him." Maybe there's something he can give her a hand with. "Hah! Oh god, magical flamethrowers. I've got to see that now." Ruby eyes twinkle with the image in her head, and she nods. "Yeah, I guess that's not something you'd usually run into but well...I can see the utility in some cases. Purifying fire indeed..." Hm, what /could/ she do with that...those gears are, it seems, already turning. "Yeah, yeah, fine. Hell with it, it's late enough in the afternoon and I'm about done. 'S all makework for the rest of the day, really. Nothing really significant, so. How about that new sandwich place?" Lunch it is, and if Riva's buying Addie's talking alright!
Riva Banari	Riva watches the play of emotion and response on Addie's face. Her body language, the way she /expresses/ herself. There seems to be something about the gun-lover that has caught her attention beyond the simple professional needs of 'how do I mine gun'. "It sounds like you've got a /lot/ of stories to tell." Riva grins. "Hope you're hungry, because this might take a while. Sandwiches sound great. Come on, let's go check them out." Riva grins and begins walking out with Addie. Look out, restaurants, here comes a couple of ladies on the town!