Scene #2433: Garment Grids 101

Owner	Pose
Auron	It was a letter, sent to Tomoyo through the Union Database. Addressed to /Tomoyo/, not Sakura, from Auron. It read as follows: Tomoyo, I heard about your troubles with Jack Slash. You need power relatively quickly. The Al Bhed of Spira have come up with an experimental means for doing exactly this. Please meet me at the following coordinates in Spira if you wish to try this out. --Auron P.S.-- Dress for the desert, and bring water. The coordinates led to a stretch of desert not far from a large ruin. The ruin at least offered some shade, so there's that. Despite Auron's warning to dress for the desert, Auron is here in his typical attire-- that red coat, loose pants, and heavy boots. At least he's not wearing that heavy collar. He does have his shades, though. He's standing in the shade of the large ruined tower jutting out from the sand, waiting for Tomoyo.
Tomoyo Daidouji	A means to gain power quickly? That is absolutely what Tomoyo needs! And since it is a trusted Union member offering, she is right on time, and dressed for the weather. She's wearing a white knee-length sundress with powder blue straps going over her shoulder. Bows in a matching blue go around the hem of the skirts, with a bigger one on the chest. On her feet, she wears white sandals with blue straps that coil up her legs to her knees to keep them secured. Atop her head is a white sunhat with a wide brim, with a long blue tassel, like the sort that might be on a fez, hanging down the back to reach the small of her back. She's also wearing black sunglasses, and has a white purse over her shoulder. Her bodyguards follow after her, still dressed in their black suits, seemingly unperturbed by the hot sun above. They all begin to approach the tower, Tomoyo bowing once they all stand before Auron. She bows politely before standing up and smiling. "Auron, yes~? Thank you for your offer!"
Auron	Auron sees Tomoyo as she approaches, but he doesn't come forward until she's under the shade too. Because it's really hot out. As in 'Death Valley' hot. And he wants her to not get heatstroke out here! Or her bodyguards, in fact. Nobody's dying in Bikanel on Auron's watch. He nods in greeting as she bows, and greets, "Hello, Tomoyo." He nods as she asks his name. "That's right," he confirms. As for the offer? "I was speaking to Rin at the Calm Lands. I was going to get a sword for you, and see how much I could teach you before the date of the duel. But then Rin told me about an Al Bhed child genius named Shinra. He's come up with a way for a normal person to gain power from Spheres." He raches into his coat, and pulls out a blue, watery Sphere. "This is a Sphere. It records memories to play back later, like a movie. Shinra has found a way to harness those memories... and turn them into skills."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo breathes a sigh of relief once she gets under the shade. Even in her cool, breathable clothing, she's pretty sweaty already. She takes off her hat and sunglasses, tucking the latter into her purse and fanning herself with the former. Her bodyguards retain that cool demeanour though, spreading out to stay on lookout. "Ooohhh, a sword huh?..." She doesn't seem sure on what to think of that, but then Auron continues, and she pays close attention. "Power from spheres? What is-" Ah, that's a Sphere! Tomoyo peers into it, looking from multiple angles as she rubs her chin. "So, this Shinra can empower people using these? In what way? Does it require anything special from the user?"
Auron	Auron nods, tucking the sphere back in his coat. As for how? Auron's mouth pulls into a smirk. "I'll let him explain that." Then he raises a hand to his ear. "Buddy. Do you read?" Pause. "Nn." Nod. "We're ready." There's a whoosh from above, and a ship comes into view. It looks like a cross between a motorcycle and a, airship, actually. It seems to have two wheelwells in the front, with turbines inside them that create smoke. The whole thing is red, with a flame motif on the front. Auron looks up at the ship, smirks a little. "The Celsius. Owned by the Gullwings, a group of Sphere hunters here in Spira. Shinra is on-board." Looking to Tomoyo. "Do you want to go meet him?"
Tomoyo Daidouji	"Oh, he's here?" Tomoyo looks around at the dunes for this 'Shinra' and the sudden woosh from above catches her off-guard! As the Celsius comes down, the bodyguards marshal themselves into a wall to protect Tomoyo from the sand that is kicked up by it! The girl herself is staring at the red vehicle with wide, shimmering eyes, using one hand to keep her dress from flying up. "Oh wow, that's so amazing~!" she declares, bouncing on her feet a little as she takes a camera from her bag to snap a few photos! She actually ignores Auron to do so! But she eventually does turn around and nods. "Oh yes, I would love to meet him! This sounds like the perfect thing for me."
Auron	Auron actually chuckles as he notices Tomoyo's reaction to the ship. He expected it, actually. That's why he picked this instead of bringing Shinra to Njorun. Well, there's... actually a couple of reasons. But those will happen later. Auron nods as Tomoyo makes her decision, and raises his hand to his ear again. "We'll be coming aboard. Six. Tomoyo, four guardians, and myself." The ship lowers, though doesn't actually land. It seems to hover over the ground, in fact. A door in the side of the ship opens, and a ladder drops down. "Would you like to go first, or would you like me to?" Because Tomoyo's in a dress, and... yeah...
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo tucks her camera away and waits for the entrance to be revealed. Will the front open up into a ramp, or the back? She can't help but look a little disappointed when a door on the side opens and they just drop a ladder. She supposes it saves time on having to take flight again... No, it's still a cool airship, who cares~? She glances at Auron, and catches his meaning. She doens't look embarrassed or anything, she just smiles and nods. "That sounds like a good idea~ I'll go up last." And indeed, the bodyguards would follow Auron up, with Tomoyo going last.
Auron	Auron nods, and makes for the ladder first, climbing up it. He pulls his arm out of his coat to climb up, and then puts the arm back in. He remains by the door to assist if the bodyguards or Tomoyo need help. The guards probably won't, and they'll probably help her up if she needs it, but he'll offer anyway. There's a set of stairs right there near the ladder, which lead up to a hallway and a metal door. Auron leads the group forward, through the door, onto the bridge. It looks like a technologically-advanced airship, with a holographic globe in the center of the bridge for a navigation computer. There are a number of stations around the bridge, and the whole floor area looks like it's floating in a glass globe of some kind. There are a number of people scattered at these stations. Most are wearing goggles, and of those whose heads are visible, literally /all/ of them are blond. Even the dark-skinned one at the far left. "Sir Auron!" This from the barechested, tattooed Al Bhed with his blond hair in a mohawk. He sits in a station that looks like he's astride a motorcycle. Though when the group enters, he stands and comes to where they enter. "Is it... good to see you again. You have had pleasant journey?" His speech is halting, hesitant, stilted. "I did," Auron replies. "You don't have to worry about speaking Spiran, Brother. Al Bhed would be understandable." He looks to Tomoyo, stepping to the side. "Tomoyo, this is Brother. He's the captain." Brother grins broadly. "Pleased to meet you, Tomoyo!" His speech is less stilted here. He's probably speaking Al Bhed then. "This is the 'Celsius', and I'm the captain." He points to the dark-haired one. "This is Buddy." The dark-skinned man waves from his station. "Hiya." Brother points to what looks like a child in a hazmat suit. "And this is Shinra." Shinra looks up from his monitor quickly, as if surprised. Though it's impossible to tell, because his face is completely hidden behind a gasmask.
Tomoyo Daidouji	The guards do indeed make the climb by themselves as does Tomoyo! She smoothes her dress out once she stands within the airship, and follows Auron to the bridge, her bodyguards flanking her with two on each side. She also takes off her sunhat, because it would be rude to wear a hat indoors. She looks around at the bridge in awe, almost wanting to take some more pictures. But that would also be rude, so she contains herself. She listens to the mohawked man's stilted speech, tilting her head. Ever since the translation effect kicked in, it's odd to hear people speaking without fluency. But when he introduces himself, she smiles and bows. "A pleasure to meet you too, Brother." She repeats that to Buddy as well. But, the man of the hour! Or, boy rather. Tomoyo smiles and bows to Shinra, not wanting to be condescending. As a young business owner herself, she knows how it feels to not be taken seriously due to age. "Hello Shinra. Auron here spoke to me about your new finding, on using Spheres to empower oneself. I would love to hear more about it, if you could indulge me."
Auron	"Oh, that's right," Shinra replies, hopping off his seat. "Tomoyo, right? Rin got in touch with me about you. You need to protect yourself, and need the power to do so really fast?" He nods once firmly. "I know how you can do that." He holds up a small device about the side of his small hand. It's a little bigger than a credit card, and about as thick as a Zippo lighter. It's the color of patinaed bronze, a grayish green color, and green power lines trace a design on it, dull and inert. The design has six round 'nodes' in it, arranged in a complicated three-pronged triangle formation. Each node is joined to two other nodes, in a circuit. Auron has moved off to one side to get out of the way, Brother stands by the navigation globe, watching as Shinra explains the device. Pointing to the device in his hands, Shinra says, "This! It's my latest invention! I call it the Garment Grid." he opens his hand properly. "Each one of these nodes," he points to the circles, "hold the information of a memory sphere. They extrapolate a... well, a 'Job' from the information." He turns the device over. There's what looks like a laser lens emitter on that side, like one of the first CD players made. "This scans you, and calibrates the Grid based on you. You can't use an uncalibrated Grid. It's not an invasive scan, though. It just gets the overall idea of what you look like." Auron pipes up, "How safe is it?" "Perfectly," Shinra says automatically, looking in Auron's direction. Auron gives him a flat look. "...Okay, it's... I haven't... really tested it extensively. And none of the crew wants to help..." A look to Brother. "No!" Brother says immediately, when Shinra looks at him. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope! I'm not playing machina dress-up."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo kneels down a little to peer at the Garment Grid, paying close attention as Shinra explains. Her eyes light up right away when he states the name. "Garment Grid? Oh my goodness, it's clothes-based?! Amazing!" She looks absolutely giddy, but remains focussed, paying close attention as Shinra explains. "Oh wow... so this one can hold the information of three Spheres, and you can swap between them? That's really impressive! So what can a Sphere let you do? Do you master it right away, or do you need to... I don't know, 'attune' to it for a while?" It's clear that she understood all that right away. What a bright girl! But, when Shinra admits that it's untested, she flinches a little. Ever since her run-in with Slash, she's been a little jumpy at the idea of being in danger. The others won't try it, she can't ask her bodyguards to do it... so her gaze falls on Auron. "Uhm, would you please test it? Just for a moment, so I can see what it can do?"
Auron	"It's outfit-based," Shinra replies. "When the data's in one of the nodes, it's called a 'dressphere'. This is one of the things we scan for when the Gullwings find spheres -- can they be used as a dressphere? We have four now. We call them 'Songstress', 'Gunner', 'Thief', and 'Warrior'." As for the Grid? "This one can actually hold six," Shinra replies. He points to all six of the nodes in turn. When Tomoyo asks about the capabilities, Shinra notes, "It's not immediate. Usually the dresspheres grant a set of skills. Each one's different, and you can only access one sphere at a time. Using the four I named, if you're using Warrior, you can't access the abilities of Thief. If you're accessing Gunner, you can't access the abilities of Songstress." And then suddenly Tomoyo is asking Auron to test it?! Auron's remaining eye widens, and he emits an odd sound, "...Ah--" The sound is cut off quickly, almost before it leaves his mouth, but it's definitely an uncertain sound. He looks to Brother, who again vehemently shakes his head-- /he's/ not going to test it! Then at Shinra, whose face he can't see. And then at Tomoyo. "Actually that might be a good idea," Shinra adds. "There have been females using these before, but I've never had a male use them before. I don't even know if they'll even work on a male." Auron's eye twitches. Doesn't look like he's getting out of this one. he takes a breath. "...All right." He takes a step forward. "How does this work?" "I have to scan you first," Shinra says. He aims the lens of the grid at Auron. Pauses. "...Can you take your arm out of your coat?" Auron does so. Shinra presses a button on the device and a beam leaps from the lens, scanning Auron. "Okay. Now. Load up the spheres..." He hops up on his chair again, and opens a large panel on the console beside him. There's four spheres in a holding case that looks like it can hold many more than just the four that are in there. He picks up one, and scans it with the same lens that he scanned Auron with. Then he scans another. "We can test the spherechange, too." Auron sighs. Looks to Tomoyo. "Don't worry. I'll make sure it's safe."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo pays close attention, nodding quietly. "It's kind of like what those people from Alexander Academy can do..." she murmurs, rubbing her chin. "Okay, so you need to practice with it to really draw out the potential. Hmm... I guess the immediate capabilities I could get will have to be good enough." "No mixing them up? Aww..." Tomoyo looks a little disheartened at that. Mixing things up can lead to fun combinations, like her sunhat with a tassel! But, Shinra would probably have a reason why. She can deal with that~ And Auron agrees, hooray! She watches closely as Shinra sets it all up, scanning him and taking a sphere to use. She notes how he carries his left arm, almost for the first time. "Heheh... like a ronin," she murmurs to herself. "Thank you Auron! Shinra, what sphere are you using~?" She's really getting into it now, bouncing on her heels as she watches.
Auron	Shinra nods as he hops off the chair with the calibrated device. "I don't think I've heard of an Alexander Academy..." Auron supplies, "Allies of the Union. They have 'Jobs' as a feature of their school -- and, I believe, of their world. Jobs apparently determine what abilities they have. Though I don't know much. I'm not high school age so it's doubtful I'd be able to go there and find out much more." Though at the mention of mixing them up, Shinra explains, "The Garment Grid is directly accessing the memories inside the sphere. It's possible that, if you put too many memories inside your mind, you could lose a part of who you are. So as a safety measure, you can only access one set of memories at a time." As for what sphere he's using? Shinra pauses. "I'm... not?" he hedges. "I... haven't tested these on myself. If something went wrong and something happens to me, I couldn't fix the problem." Mad scientist much? Maybe. However, Shinra goes over to Auron and holds the device up. "There you go. It's all scanned. Just put your thumb over the scanning port to activate it." Auron pauses, looking at the device for a moment before he takes the device. He holds this in his left hand. And then he places his thumb over the scanning port. Immediately there is a flash of light, and his outfit starts to glow white. Then the glow seems to fracture, like shards of glass, but falling up instead of down. Thankfully there is something else under it. And what's under it? It's a suit! Well, stylized, of course. Everything in Spira probably seems that way to people from a relatively normal earth. A white dress shirt with pleats, with a filigree pattern much like the one on his sword, across those pleats, in gold; over it a red blazer with more golden filligree at the lapels and at the cuffs. Matching red slacks with a smart crease in the front, with more of that gold filigree on the hem of the legs. In place of his heavy boots, he's wearing a pair of shiny black dress shoes. His sword? It's nowhere to be seen. In place of that, he's suddenly holding a microphone in a short stand. The microphone is silvery steel-gray, with -- yes, of course -- golden filigree on the part of the stand that holds the actual microphone. And atop his head is a red Trilby hat, or something close enough to that to recognize it as such. It's got a black band, with more of that golden filigree on it. If Tomoyo is familiar with the 1940s or 1950s on Earth, she might recognize the outfit. It's a very much like a crooner's outfit from the 40s, but /very/ stylized. Auron looks down at himself when the change completes. Blinks his remaining eye. "...What is this?" Shinra begins, "Well... I'd call it 'Songstress' if you were female, but since you're not... Performer?"
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo nods at Auron's explanation, and pays close attention to Shinra's reasoning. "Oh! That does make sense," she says with a polite nod. "Thank you for explaining~" At Shinra's confusion, she clarifies. "Nono, I mean which sphere are you using on Auron?" But that answer is soon clarified as his sensible travelling clothes shatter away to reveal something... very different. As she beholds Auron, the look in Tomoyo's eyes changes. No longer dazzled and amazed, they become almost hawkish as they take in Auron's outfit. She walks over and begins to pace around him, plucking at sleeves and examining stitching for almost a full minute. Eventually, she stands before him again... and claps her hands together once, a delighted expression lighting up her face. "Oh my goodness, that's so amazing~ You look very dapper Auron, like a real heartbreaker~"
Auron	"...I wasn't before," Auron replied. "I don't use these. I don't have a 'Job', not the way this defines it." He indicates the Garment Grid. "I only have one ability set." Shinra confirms, "It's rare to find a user of Garment Grids. I haven't wanted them to get out before I make sure they're safe. The concept of putting another person's memories in your head, I don't know what long-term effects it might have." Tomoyo's assessment of the outfit will turn up perfect stitching and perfectly even seams. At the same time, there's no tags or other makers' marks, and the stitches have the kind of care in them that a seamstress or tailor would have put in them. The comment about the outfit gets a sheepish look from Auron. "...I'm not sure that's a good thing," he says, wryly. Though oddly, he doesn't appear to be shifting around in it, uncomfortable. And Tomoyo's assessment also showed the outfit seemed as if it had been perfectly tailored expressly for Auron's physique. Shinra looks to Auron, "What can you do with this, do you think? The skills, I mean." Auron pauses. "...I am not going to samba. Absolutely not." At that Brother burst into laughter, and the brow of Auron's remaining eye twitched.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo just giggles at Auron's clear embarrassment. She doesn't mean to tease, but he really does look very classy! And the outfit is absolutely perfect, perhaps even better than what she could make. She kneels down to look Shinra in the eyes, her own clear and honest. "I would LOVE to have one of these Garment Grids, name your price! Don't worry about the spheres, I can find one myself if I have to. I even promise to write reports so you can have field data on them!" She glances at Auron, and she can't help it anymore as he mentions a samba. She breaks down into a fit of giggles, trying to compose herself as quickly as she can. "Hehehe~ Oh, I'm sorry Auron. You go to all this trouble and I go and laugh at you..." She wipes a tear from her eye, and one final snicker escapes her lips.
Auron	Shinra replies, "What I'm looking for is data. I can't give you any of the spheres we have, no." Here Brother cuts in, "And if we're not giving you a sphere, we wouldn't let him accept money. These Grids, we've found them excavating in the desert before. So I'm not sure whether Shinra really made these or he just found them." Auron adds, "Either way it's still impressive. Technology from before the fall of Zanarkand is over a thousand years old. Not even records exist concerning how to operate them." Looking to Tomoyo, he explains, "It's comparable to finding a magical artifact from the Dark Ages in your world and having someone just know how to perfectly use it."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo looks around as Buddy insists that they won't be taking money. "Well, if you're sure... I run a pretty successful small business you know~" She giggles and nods, looking down at Shinra. "It is very impressive!" She looks over at Brother and Buddy, rubbing her chin. "You're 'sphere hunters,' right? You wouldn't happen to have any tips on how to find spheres, would you? I don't want to, um... steal your work, but this is really important." She looks a little forlorn and scared.
Auron	Auron nods to Tomoyo's mention of this being important. "Her life, as well as the lives of a lot of other people, depend on this." Brother blinks. "Oh, I didn't know it was that important," he says. "Still can't give you a sphere, buuuut...." Buddy pipes up from his station with a tip. "'Find a sphere and fiends appear'. You'll find a lot of fiends in places where there's a sphere. Old ruins, especially. And there's a lot of those in Spira. Lots are underwater, too. That's where Cid got the Fahrenheit." Notably, Brother growls a little at the mention of Cid, and starts muttering under his breath things that aren't... very nice... Auron nods. "That makes sense. Spheres hold memories. Fiends are the souls of the dead wishing to cling to life. Memories of the living would appeal to them. Even if the person the memories belong to is dead now, the memories were recorded when they weren't." Shinra suggests, "We know where the Baaj Temple is. There hasn't been a lot of exploration due to what we know about the place. We're afraid that... there's a specific fiend there that none of us want to see again." At this Auron frowns darkly. "...I know /exactly/ who you mean," he all but growls.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo nods in an understanding way. "Oh, of course. To be honest, none of those sound very appealing to me anyway~" They just sound so... plain. She wants something with a little more flair! "Hmm... so if there's anywhere with a lot of fiends, there is likely a sphere? Okay! I'll keep my ear to the ground~" The conversation goes over her head a little, and she rubs the back of her neck. "So uh... stay away from Baaj Temple then? Heheh..."
Auron	Auron sthe one to answer Tomoyo's question. "Yes. You should keep away from Baaj," he confirms. "There are other ruins in Spira. And by now spheres have probably gotten in circulation around the Multiverse. They're a convenient way to store memories. Like a cellphone camera." "Besides that, we've got coordinates to several other ruins sites, if you want them," Buddy replies from his station. "A few that come to mind are... let's see. Remiem Temple's one. Following the Chocobo track there showed there's some tunnels under the temple itself. Omega Ruins haven't been cleaned out, that place is huge. And it looks like the fog on the summit of Mount Gagazet has cleared a little, and there's some ruins up there, too."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo nods! "Stay away from Baaj Temple, got it." She snaps her fingers, and one of her bodyguards fishes out a notepad and begins jotting down the locations that Auron gives. Tomoyo then looks around at everyone. "I just want to thank you all for having me~ You've all been a big help!" She kneels back down to look Shinra in the eyes through his mask. "Once I have a sphere, I'll be back for a grid. Is that okay?"
Auron	Shinra nods. "You might be able to find one of those in the ruins, too," he admits. "Speaking of which." Auron hands the device he'd been holding out at Shinra. "I look ridiculous in this. How do I get out?" "Just tap the lens, like you did to activate it." Auron does so, and in a flash and a swirl of light, he's back to his normal attire. "Here, let me. I need to purge the data from it." Auron hands the device back, and Shinra starts working with it again. Auron sighs. "That's a relief. The desire to start singing was getting difficult to resist." "That will happen sometimes with the Garment Grid," Shinra acknowledges. "Like I said, it's someone else's memories. I don't know what the long-term effects of having someone else's memories in your head all the time would be."
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo giggles as Auron reverts, but Shinra's words makes that smile vanish. "It can have that kind of effect?..." She wrings her hands for a moment... before shaking her head and slapping her hands to her cheeks. "No, I don't have time to be picky. I'll still use it." And with that, she bows to Brother, Buddy and Shinra. "Thank you all for your help! I can see myself out, and I hope to see you all again soon, sphere in hand~" And with that, unless they're stopped, she and her bodyguards go to climb out of the airship!