2062/Wellness Check

Wellness Check
Date of Scene:	13 November 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Rashmi and Chrono -- later joined by Molly -- knock on Aloisia's dorm-room door to check up on her. There, they each try in their own way to make sure the stranded Belkan Knight is doing okay... And while perhaps Aloisia might feel better, there's still a great deal of grave threats looming over her head.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Chrono Harlaown, Aloisia Stauss, Molly Skyline

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
So, Walpurgisnacht.

That...

That was a thing.

And while the glow of victory remains, and the helicopter trip back to school -- thank you so much, Setsuchan -- was briefly restful, there were still things to be concerned about. But, perhaps they would be concerns better received with TSAB authority behind them.

    TXT to CHRONO -- We're back, dear! And we're okay! Most people didn't even get hurt all that much, but it was *terrifying* and *holy crap* am I glad we'll probably never see a Witch do that again and the new spell went off *perfectly.*

    ...

    ...All of which is the good news. The bad news is Aloisia was there, and I think one of her Devices hasn't really recovered from the whole Molly ordeal. Wanna help me knock on her door?

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was... exhausted. And soaked. And exhausted. And he had clambered in through a window and just... dropped onto the floor of the dorm room with a light splat.

Oof. To say he was tired was an understatement.

And then he got a message from Rashmi. And sighed. Work... work never ended.

Txt to RASHMI -- Be there in five minutes.

It took him two minutes to make himself presentable again, somewhat. Getting most the mud off, a new uniform, wiping off some of the bruises... then made his way out of the room, a smile on his lips. Still in uniform. He'd stand on his tippy toes, giving her a little kiss on the cheek.

"I knew you'd make me proud, shall we?"

He even hid his exhaustion so well. Anyone but her likely wouldn't notice the slight sag to his shoulders.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Aloisia's dorm room, she'd ended up with one of the Single dorm rooms, the rare, coveted ones where you even have your own /kitchen/ in it. Okay there's upsides to sharing with friends too but well, there were certain things that wouldn't be possible if Aloisia wasn't in a Single.

Like the fact she's basically converted it into a small device workshop, and also replaced the bed completely with a cot. The kitchen is largely unchanged though. Also looks as if it were regularly used, from the highly clean area that didn't even have a couple of dirty dishes sitting in the sink or anything. Too clean to not be used regularly.

Right now, Aloisia was sitting at the desk of that workshop, the occasional magical signature popping up, though she was taking steps to keep it muted as she ran her finger along one of the cracks on her massive shield, the bright glow of fusing metal with metal again, providing the magic to help her device heal itself.

A healing function heavily hindered by the fact that her Device's core, in spite of being carefully pieced together, was still cracked throughout with clear attempts to do the same to it that she was doing to the outter portions of it. Unfortunately, in spite of being from the world the cores are literally mined from, her training had never been in full repairs, only field repairs. Just enough to keep going when things get tough.

The actual night of walpurgisnacht she wouldn't have been there, having instead been at Molly's to help with repairs, at which point she probably wouldn't have bothered going home. Which might have been a relief for Chrono, a chance to get some rest. ... Though perhaps concerning in its own right.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Let's," Rashmi says, leaning down to make the kiss easier, and returning it, heedless of the rain-plastered hair on his forehead. And so, arm in arm, the pair finds Aloisia's coveted single room, knock on the door...

...And she's not in. Well.

--- THE NEXT DAY ---

ARM IN ARM, THE PAIR KNOCKS UPON ALOISIA'S DOOR. While grateful for the night to rest, Rashmi made sure to ping ahead, to let the Knight know they'd be showing up *and* to make sure she'd be where they could meet her. "Heyyyy!" Rashmi calls through the door. "Are you in this time?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Yayyyyy! Chrono had returned to his dorm room and... barely, just barely, had the energy to shower and then just about passed out on the floor, barely making it to his bed. Fenyx was already in her little nest.

And then the next day, after morning PT, he was back by Rashmi's side, much more refreshed and cleaned up. Less exhausted. More able to endure what was coming.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
The pair knock upon the door, and Aloisia looks up from her effort on her shield, carefully turning it back to standby mode as she stands.

Briefly looking into a mirror and straightening out her uniform and hair a bit to make herself look vaguely presentable. "Ja, I'm here." She responds through the door, making her way over to open it.

And they're greeted with a very tired looking soldier who in spite of wearing clean clothes and was doing her best to be presented properly, there was still that air of having not taken the best care of herself beyond externally.

...Something likelly reinforced by the one bit of trash visible in the room: A few protien bars and cans of It's Beverage: Pure Energy energy drinks sitting on the desk next to where she'd been working. Ironically, one of the most popular lines from It's Food, because the Pure Energy energy drinks somehow manage to taste like basically nothing while still giving that energy kick.

It's also incredibly unhealthy and anyone with any morals warns students against drinking it.

"...Hi."

Yep. That's the ever so gracious greeting from the host as she steps aside to let the two in, moving over to a corner to grab a few fold-out chairs -- more or less just backless camping chairs with an X frame and a sturdy cloth that is reasonably comfortable to sit on.

And then she goes over to put on some hot water, pulling out a small set of drawers with various tea bags in them from one of the cabinets. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Heyyyy," Rashmi says, gently... Then her eyes flick past Aloisia to the base-camp she's managed to make of a bedroom, and it's hard to keep the dismay out of her eyes. Luckily, she has a temporary cure for that...

As she and Chrono enter the room, she taps on Nicomachea's charm and draws out a heavy bag from a bakery not far from the school. Two hand-sized buns each are distributed out; curry and custard pan for Aloisia, two custard for Chrono, and melon-jam and red bean for herself.

Hey, if Aloisia's supplying the drinks, it's only polite to provide the food!

"Alo-chan... I know it was really wild out there, but I *did* see Doppelwand. How're they doing? And how're *you* doing?"

All this said, as she settles herself down onto a *folding stool* and bites on her tongue to keep from commenting about how spartan the place looks, and how worrying that alone is.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stepped into the room and then... He just started walking around. And oh, Aloisia could *feel* it. As he went straight into 'Drill sergeant' mode. She walked around the room, picking up a wrapper and eying it. Then a can of 'It's food' energy drink.

"Soldier, what is this?" he barked, turning towards her. "I've seen the supplies the school gives its students, even without other resources on hand. And I would expect you to know better than to try to survive on... this."

"The start of a proper soldier begins with a healthy body. And a healthy begins with proper self care. Proper nutrition, proper sleep, proper fitness."

He turned towards her, arms behind his back.

He was a few inches shorter than her. He was in his school uniform, hair combed back, uniform straight. He was a child.

So why is it, right then and there, he managed to give off the aura of an officer who was just waiting for the new recruit to try and explain themselves... and about to bring down the hammer of god on them if the answer wasn't up to snuff?

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Look it was what she was used to, so she made it home for herself. There's definitely nothing awful or wrong about being a child soldier, right? Right???? ... On the other hand food is brought out and Aloisia smiles at that, reaching to take the offered food. "Ah, thank you. I have been, busy so uh. Have not managed to cook much recently." Luckily she was also very anti-waste so nothing had gone /bad/. The drink options are actually pretty reasonably varied and higher-quality for teabags. She pulls out a few nice mugs, some of the few things she seems to have splurged on is her utensils, which, thankfully, were /not/ just a bunch of military/camping gear styles.

"Ah, uh." The question of Doppelwand gets a mixed look on Aloisia's face, exhaustion, a bit of frustration. "She is... doing... her best." That is the most non-lying answer she can give right now absolutely. "And I... ... am not trained for the level of damage she received."

That awkwardness snaps away almost reflexively as Chrono barks at her. She opens her mouth, almost reflexively starting to respond to him with a 'Sir, it's protien bars, sir.' but she bites that away once she finds herself facing Chrono and his chiding.

Wait she recognizes that look. "Sir, with the events of walpurgisnacht I did not have much chance to restock my fridge due to most shops being closed." ... ... ... Oh god hopefully he buys that lie all of her instincts are saying she's about to get decked and she doesn't know if she's going to be able to formulate a response that doesn't break the RHA Treaty to that.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...I think I understand," Rashmi says, eyes softening... "Would you like us to take a look at her? I'm getting better with hardware and Chrono's *really* good at the software. I've been too worried about working on Cores, but I might be able to help somehow even sti--" And then Chrono goes absolutely Drill Instructor Harlaown, and the redhead can feel *her* spine stiffening by pure reflex, eyes wide.

Nope. No more talking. Officer speaking now.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown watched her. And he just... stared.

And Aloisia could *feel* it. As his eyes seemed to peer through the room. Every. Inch. Of it. As if he could see through the walls. And then he was silent. He then walked towards it, pulled open the cupboards and the fridge.

Worse? He didn't look inside. No, he just glanced to Rashmi's face, to see her expression, before turning those steely eyes Aloisia.

"So then, before I turn around to see what exactly you've been rationing yourself with, soldier, do you want to stick with that story?"

"Because tell me, soldier, where you come from, what are the expectations of self care for your soldiers? What kind of care does a soldier give their weapon, soldier?" he asked.

One could almost hear the boot camp whistle.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Rashmi is being soft towards her and offering to help, which Aloisia might have responded to but considering Chrono is presently basically doing a room inspection she is somewhat focused on that. Sure, he was the enemy but old habits die hard and she frankly is kind of just uh.

...Well, the cupboards do look like a cupboard that hasn't been restocked recently, parts of meals, like some noodles but no sauce, some random canned tuna, a can of sardines... there is a Cupboard that seems to be the 'Weird random stuff I bought because it looked interesting' cupboard that has some VERY strange things in it that is technically edible but frankly it looked like it was also the 'last resort' cupboard. There was very little in the fridge, since most of it had been used before it went bad, though there was at /least/ a water filter jug in the fridge and a couple odd bits of meat and other meal prep items in the freezer.

"Likely higher than from where you come from for physical fitness, sir. Eat your entire rations." And then, perhaps the actual concerning comment.

"As a knight, your weapon is a relic of a better time and worth more than your life, sir."

That would explain the /scream/ when Unbezwingbare Schwester was destroyed.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi's eyes tell no lies at the *best* of times. In times like this? Chrono really *doesn't* need to look anywhere else to know that Aloisia's shopping skills are *well* below her pinball skills. And since that seems to be taking all of Aloisia's attention, Rashmi simply sits back down in her chair, wordlessly letting Chrono read the script to its conclusion. We can sort the rest out, after.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly doesn't get to come to the dorms very often, unless she's here to visit someone. Her Moms only adopted her a couple of years ago afterall, like heck are they gonna let her go live full time in a high school dormitory. But, today, she has reason to visit someone; and it's... well, the person who's both beaten her up and kidnapped her. So she's mroe than a little uncomfortable, but she meant it when she was busy telling Aloisia that she could be good. ANd she believes that.

So she brought chocolate.

The door is ajar; so, having heard absolutely nothing that's going on inside, she just raps her knuckles on the door, and peeks inside. "Oh! Hey everyone!" she greets, seeing that there's more people besides just Aloisia present. "I got some Turkish Delight from the British Imports Store. Good thing I got lots of it!"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown finally, he did glance back, closing the cupboards and his thoughts were already considering many, many things. He was silent as he worked. Then, he walked over and took a seat. Feet flat on the ground, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, hands together, seemingly lost in though. Not looking at Aloisia. He'd gone... deathly still. Finally, he spoke up. "Who told you that," he finally said. It didn't sound like a question, though. More like an order.

It was an innocent question, in some regards. And yet, it felt incredibly... heavy... when he said it.

And then Molly was there. And his gaze shifted to her. And oh, she could likely feel that she had walked in on *something*. But his eyes only lingered on her for a moment before they shifted back to Aloisia. Expecting her to answer.

"You view yourself as a belkan knight, do you not?"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Look she's a child soldier and also a noble, her social skills are both absolutely terrible and raised to high levels in weird ways, her common sense? Debatable at times probably. And then there is another person entering into her space, as Molly enters. Talking about bringing Turkish delights. She hesitates as Molly enters.

The girl who had called her a cool knight. One of the few people she didn't want to disappoint.

...Any more than she already had at least.

"...It is how it is for noble-blooded knights with relics of ancient Belka, such as Doppelwand. Or even Countess Steiner's Blauer Greif. If the choice is between preserving the relics, or our own lives, the choice is to preserve history." Aloisia states simply, her gaze turned pointedly away from Molly. There was some pride in her voice. Somthing she believes, at least to some level. "...Skyline, please make yourself comfortable, there is tea in the little drawers on the counter and mugs in the cupboard." She turns away from Chrono to take another one of those folding stools to set out for Molly.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Maybe that's how you were raised to think," Rashmi speaks up, resting a hand on Chrono's shoulder. "But you can change all that, *if* you want to."

Then Molly enters, and Rashmi's smile is brilliant. "It's good to see you again," she says with feeling, then looks back at Aloisia. "We brought breakfast, Molly-chan brought snacks for after, and we can help you with the rest as you like... But don't forget there's an *entire mess hall* that you're allowed to use, because you're a student here, okay?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly waits while Aloisia gets a stool out, and sets the rather significant amount of British chocolate that she's purchased down on some portion of kitchen counter. And, it's clear by her face that she's realized she has walked into 'a thing'.

A rather serious sort of thing.

"Hey Rashmi-Chan! Chrono-Kun! Good to see all three of you." Since she's in the kitchen, she busies herself with making tea; she is British afterall, she can make tea and she sets four cups out (which judging by the rest of Aloisia's room, probably don't match). She picks whatever flavor of tea it looks like Aloisia drinks the most (judging by which there's the least of).

And yes, Molly definitely caught that last bit, that Aloisia was saying about relics. But, she isn't commenting. Or at least, not yet.

"One of my Moms owns Okujoo Ramen," she murmurs. "You're welcome any time. If you're ever feeling up to coming by after hours, let me know, my Moms let me give whatever's left at the end of the night to my friends."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown sighs and leans back. He then mutters, in an exhausted tone, a word. It was a word Aloisia had likely never heard, Rashmi was likely sure that humans couldn't even make that sound and Molly... yeah, neither of them likely knew it. And their devices were likely... either unwilling, or unable to explain what it meant.

Loosely translated, it was the sound of a commander who was accepting the fact that all of the soldiers under their care were A. unfit for this and B. The only reinforcements they were getting. The sound of exhaustion of a soldier who had seen this before and knew it never ended well.

"Give your device to Rashmi, she'll take a look at it and see what repairs can be done for it. As for you..."

"You're not a human, you're a belkan. More than that, you're a soldier. If you want to be worthy of Doppelwand, that is more than just being willing to die for it. If you want to live like a 'noble-blooded knight', then I am going to start treating you like one."

He waved his hand and would send her a schedule. "You will start joining me for morning PT. Additionally, I'm going to start doing surprise inspections. I will expect your sustenance intake to meet the required caloric and nutritional requirements of a knight-in-training."

"If you are unable to do this, then I will see to it that someone else manages it for you, even if I have to come here daily to ensure they are met."

"You, Hannah and the others may have crashed on this planet and, as chaotic as it is, you lot are the one thing on it that I know *exactly* how to deal with."

"... And if you are unable to properly take care of yourself, then I will instead ensure that your desires are met. I will confiscate Doppelwand, you will try to stop me, fail, and the device will be held in storage until it can be returned to TSAB space, whereupon it will be given to the Belkan church and likely put up in museum somewhere. Are we clear?" he asked.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Aloisia's gaze falls to the ground at Rashmi's comment, one hand lifting to rest on the damaged earring that was Unbezwingbare Schwester's standby mode. "...It doesn't really matter if I change it or not. I already failed that anyway." Aloisia says softly, shame edging into her voice and face. "And I don't... I can't..." She lifts her hand. "...Unbezwingbare Schwester, set up."

<JAWOHL>

The device speaks, its voice crackling and distorted, a spark that makes Aloisia flinch slightly shooting from the earring as the Device transforms, its shattered pieces building back together into a shield, the actual metal shield bits... mostly... okay, but the core, well.

...The core was in bad shape, as it would be, from being destroyed. "...You did a good job of eliminating the threat, Harlaown." She states, mixed emotions in the statement. Bitterness, admiration, shame as she sets the damaged indomitable sister on that work table.

"Ja, I will remember that, Skyline." ... How often she'll take her up on that is probably debatable. She takes a bite of the curry bread given to her by Rashmi earlier. "How is Skycrash? I know we got into as good of a state as we could, but." She glances to her own shield. There might be some doubt in her own skills, even if care and effort had been put into the repairs.

It's just, well, hard to repair something technically destroyed. The fact she had it /working/ is probably somewhat of a miracle in and of itself. Aloisia didn't try to translate the word, but the look on Chrono's face told her everything she needed to about that word. The comment of that she wasn't human and instead a belkan gets an almost quizzical look, as if it were something that it was strange to even be commented on. But that look dissipates almost immediately at the continued orders.

Accepting them is ... something she is having weird feelings about even doing. Yes, it felt right, no it didn't feel right. But also they were reasonable orders, ones she... probably basically was already doing. Well okay at least the PT the feeding herself properly part might be a bit more suspect. At least since Unbezwingbare Schwester got damaged. "..." She closes her eyes as she thinks on that, lifting a hand to rub at the bridge of her nose. "I am, while hesitant to call you my enemy, still aligned with your opposition. These orders conflict with that, and very little good can come of this for either of us."

She turns her gaze to meet Chrono's though, now that she'd fully collected herself, it was not the gaze of someone who considered herself lesser. "But fine. I will admit I have not been taking the best care of myself while trying to fix my partner." She steps over to that work table, resting a hand on the massive shield. "She is not just a weapon. Doppelwand has been my truest friend since as long as I can remember."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
At this, Rashmi rises from her chair, rubbing Chrono's shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "Alo-chan... Just because we're opponents, doesn't mean we're not friends. And friends *help* each other. You helped Molly-chan. Now it's our turn to help you. Will you do me the honor of allowing me to examine Doppelwand, please?"

Belkan may be Belkan, and Japanese may be Japanese, but some concepts bridge that gap.

"Also... I understand what it means to care about a friend enough to want to look after them at yur own expense. But I also know *exactly* what Molly-chan would say to me, if she were in the hospital and I was watching over her instead of eating. And sleeping. And I guess exercising, right Molly-chan?"

Glancing over her shoulder, she grins, and extends a paper bag. "Here... have some breakfast. One's red bean, one's melon jam. Pick one and leave me the other? I need to see how I can help."

She has Nicomachea out, and the disk of light active above the Device's pages, before a thought occurs to her, and she turns to look, wide-eyed, at Chrono. "Hey, uh... Does that PT schedule apply to all three of us?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
"I can understand that. I consider Starcrash a friend, even if he does have the peronality of a block of angry tofu. But that's not his fault, his personality module is missing... At least I'm pretty sure that's the problem." As the tea is busy steeping, Molly leans against the kitchen counter behind her, and shoves her hands in the pockets of her slightly ragged jeans. She listens to the... whatever it is that's going on between Aloisia and Chrono, and glances Rashmi's direction to gauge her reaction. As for the purplenette, her expression remains neutral, unwilling to gie anything away on that front.

"...Yeah." Molly gestures back to Rashmi. "I could be laying there with half my body burnt and the other half busted, and I'd still tell you to go get something good to eat, get some sleep, and... I mean heck, I'd tell you to go on a date with Chrono and go play some video games. Even if I was busy eating my food straight from a blender, through a straw. Because YOU matter, too."

She continues to stand there, hands in pockets. "And you," she nods to Aloisia, "Matter too. At *least* as much as any device." She pauses, and quirks the cornerse of her lips upwards. "And, yeah, Starcrash is in tough shape but he's functional. Disengaging safety protocols isn't something I'll do often, but... some work, and he'll be fine."

The tea is ready, so Molly takes the time to pour; she takes a cup each to Chrono and Rashmi first, then one to Aloisia, and keeps the last for herslf.

"And... I know what it's like to struggle with self-worth. So... if you ever need to talk about that, you can talk to me, any time."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just gave another sigh and leaned back an elbow resting on the arm rest, his hand holding his face. Shaking his head. He swore these girls would be the end of him. One by one.

"I'm very good at eliminating threats, Aloisia. My rank of Enforcer was not one I earned easily." No apology. He wasn't sorry. He didn't want to inflict pain and suffering on her or anyone else. But he was still an enforcer, if it came down to it he'd have taken her out. A renegade device wasn't even worth commenting.

"I'll be looking at the software as well. I don't like the idea of it being sabotaged again, in the future. And the opposition tried to sacrifice you to kill us. They failed, yet you are still with them. You are an idiot. If I had access to the full resources of the TSAB? You would be in prison right now, undergoing therapy. Otto would be as well, if not turned over to the Belkan church."

"Unfortunately, we are on this planet and, as of yet, leaving is not an option. As such, I make do. The *only* reason I'm not confiscating your device and allowing you this opportunity to keep it is because I believe there is some good in you worth it. And my allies seem to agree and, at this point? I know better than to go against them in this."

"So we will continue this battle, for now. We will fight, you will lose, and perhaps one day you will realize there is a path for you outside of the one you feel trapped in."

Chrono then got to his feet and walked towards her, and his hand reached out and... He lightly patted her on the head. "In the mean time, I will not have you waste away. Because I do believe, one day, you will make a good weapon to help protect this world."

He then walked by Rashmi's side, taking the bread he'd been offered to take a bite of it. "Thank you, Rashmi. And no, not unless you desire to. You're not on probation at this point."

... Wait, Aloisia was on probation now? Could... could he do that?

"... Though Molly has come close a few times," Chrono said, glancing over towards her. "She's shown heavy improvement, as has Starcrash, so I have relented from being too hard on them."

And then he took a seat. At least he wasn't radiating Sergeant Tight-ass anymore.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Friends help each other. There was a pang at that when Rashmi says that, not that Aloisia shows it. A deep seated guilt that lingers. She gives a soft exhale, before nodding. "You may examine doppelwand. The twin devices are mirrors of each other, so..." She lifts her hand. "Unaufhaltsame Schwester." The second device which was still in good condition is summoned and set gently leaning against the wall next to the table.

"Having a reference may be helpful." The giant gemstones that make the core is probably the biggest problem, and likely the problem with most more lavish devices like those, difficulty in repairs, and why later on most devices used smaller and more efficient cores. But, well...

They were made for a pair of princesses what can you do. Princesses like giant gemstones.

Also the damn things are dense and it lends to some weight behind attacks.

Aloisia takes another bite of her own curry bread.

"Most devices have relatively lacking personalities. Modern devices sometimes have more developed ones, almost all Belkan devices have simple personalities to save on processing power. So, Starcrash may not even be missing his personality module, that may just be his personality and his last owner was quirky." Aloisia comments towards Molly, settling down on her stool again. Luckily, the workbench had a proper comfortable chair, able to move easily and turn around as needed. Likely a functional decision for ease of repairs on Aloisia's part. "Disengaging safety protocols is always going to have consequences, ja. Make sure to continue the maintenance for the next few days, frequently it is not good to rush repairs if you can spare the time to focus on taking it slower." She glances at Unbezwingbare Schwester. "It is how I have unbezwingbare schwester functional, really. Taking it slow. Making sure every single shard and sliver is where it is meant to be."

I know what it's like to struggle with self-worth. "...Hah. You know, I was... somewhat of a hero, back home. 'The Shield Princess of Tungeturm', defender of the little mining settlement that my family managed." There was a bitterness mixed in with it. "Little did I know all of that was just a lie meant to prepare me for... for... this." She gestures vaguely, not at the room, more somewhat kind of at the world. "To be sent away as my mother is arrested for treason, to be sent off into space, turn to space piracy, all to come to a planet and get unrelated people--CIVILLIANS--involved in a royal dispute from planets far enough away most of you can't even picture how far it is." Any pride was gone. It was all bitterness now, one could almost see the dark energy rolling off of her as it latched onto her strongest negative emotion.

Self-loathing.

A self-loathing that goes deeper as she's called an idiot by Chrono. "I." She pauses. "I am ..." Her fists ball up tightly. "I do not... you... I..." She closes her eyes. "I'm not so cold as to forsake my mother, even knowing that she likely is a part of the very plot I was made for." Aloisia states, her tone cold, in spite of her statement. "Unfortunately, until I can guarantee her safety, on the off chance that, some how, against all odds, Otto Steiner wins... I ..." She releases her grip. "..." She turns her gaze away, out the window. "My ship is blinking in and out of the time-space distortion."

"My father wants something off of it."

She steps to the doorway. "If I do this for him, he has promised to free me. That I won't have to ever do anything for him again and my mother will definitely be safe." She says, her tone shaking slightly. This was a betrayal. She thought she'd purged every possible monitoring device on her devices, but this was a betrayal.

She was terrified. "I ... I can't trust that he doesn't SOMEHOW have a way to contact operatives on tharkand. I don't know that it's impossible, so I don't know that he can't do something if I truly displease him."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"So, yes. We will continue this battle for now. We will fight. And no matter what, I lose." Aloisia says, emotions that had been fighting to well up through years of training starting to well up as she leans against that window. Streaks of tears mixing in with streaks of rain down the windowpane.

"And I hate myself for allowing myself to be in such a position."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You are *worth helping,*" Rashmi says simply, as she rests a hand on the damaged shield. "We can figure out a way to get you out from under all this. If that means we have to be opponents for awhile, that's fine. But just because you're stranded here, doesn't mean you've been *abandoned.* You've got support. Sometimes a wall needs to be shored up," she says, attempting a crooked smile.

    << *BONG!* >> << DEPOT INVESTIGATION >>

The shield on Nicomachea's platform is surrounded in rings of rune-tape, and a multitude of screens blip into existence on either side of the plate, as Nicomachea starts to do a proper deep scan of the poor Device's compromised integrity, core gem and all.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly shrugs her shoulders lightly, as she sips from her tea. "I'll help you," she murmurs mildly, in the middle of all the stern talk and self-recrimination. "If going to your ship and recovering something will help get you out from under this, I'll help you, no questions asked."

The purplenette glances back to Rashmi and Chrono, and then wanders over to an unused part of the workbench. "But, hey, meanwhile? You did offer to show me some basic maintenance, and I'd love to take you up on that." She removes her earring, and unfolds Starcrash into his staff form. "Something to do usually helps, right? At least, it does me."

Molly pulls up the stool that was set out for her and plops down on it, still cradling her cup of tea. "Well, you shared your story, I'll share mine I guess," she muses. "It's not... nearly as epic or exciting as yours. I was born, and my birth parents gave me up. They didn't *die*, like the parents of most orphans, they just didn't want me. Nobody did; I grew up poor and ignored in an orphanage, until my Moms decided to adopt me. And then they brought me here, where I met my best friend," she gestures to Rashmi, "found Starcrash, and started fighting, for the things I think are right and I believe in." She smiles, "And I think helping you is right."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown chewed on his bread, letting the other two girls talk. As he chewed on his bread and considered things. He did that a lot. Took the back row. Listened. Monitored. Decided how, and where to strike.

Aloisia was patient, he was learning. He could cut through, could strike. But he wasn't the soft, delicate touch, that was needed. Not now. The mention of her mother... it made him pause. He swallowed. It was good custard.

The time distortion didn't catch his ear, though it was interesting. But he was used to those. The thing that cause his ear was her mother.

"You mother was arrested for treason, and you think Otto can save her?" he asked. "Or do you think, should you fail, he has people who will kill her?"

Otto would never keep his word. People like him never did. The moment it was conveninent, he'd almost killed Aloisia. Whatever was on that ship, if Otto wanted, then it was something Chrono would stop him from getting. It was simple as that.

"You didn't allow yourself to be put into this position, Aloisia. You were put into this position by other people. At least put the blame where it belongs."

"The position was pushed on you, regardless of your wants. The only thing you allow yourself to do, is how you allow yourself to react to it. Should we find a way to rescue your mother, will you agree to, willingly, submit your device and, if you desire to continue fighting, fight alongside the TSAB and this world's defenders, rather than on the side of Otto?" he asked. Staring up at her. Well, if Rashmi and Molly were the carrot, he was certainly the stick.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Technically, all of Unbezwingbare Schwester is there. It's even all in the right place. ...But, being basically a magical computer processor, there were many, many key programs with breaks in them, and likely a large amount of Unbezwingbare Schwester's systems were corrupted or functioning at less than ideal levels.

"My life. Technically. Is better here than it has been in a long time." Aloisia says, that bitterness lingering in her voice. "This land of peace and joy and ... ... and ... really good food... and so much greenery, dear kaisar the greenery." Is she okay? Is Aloisia all there? That might be debatable. She's talking about greenery. But then again the greenery is probably striking for someone who grew up on a pretty spartan planet that's only real living areas were based around mining areas.

Molly says that she'll help her, and Aloisia hesitates, before shaking her head, still facing that window, still leaned against it. "No, the Crown of Succession should be kept out of ... all of our hands, really. The countess is too young, not ready. The Count is... well, himself, and I... criminals should not have such a thing." The talk of Molly's story she falls quiet on. She just listens to her.

She doesn't seem particularly inclined to move to join Molly just yet, likely out of not wanting to let any of them see the weakness, even if hiding her face against a window probably doesn't make her seem any less or more weak, or that the people there were even likely to consider such a thing weak.

"...Those that passed up on having you in your life made terrible, terrible mistakes." Aloisia says towards Molly. There was no doubt in her voice, a statement that she clearly considered truth with no room for debate. She doesn't really talk on the rest of it. On if helping her is right or not. A part of her doubted if Chrono was truly there to help either, even if she strongly suspected he was putting on a front.

"...I can't risk that chance, Harlaown." Aloisia says, pushing off of that window and turning towards Chrono, tear-streaked gaze on the small enforcer. "And regardless of if I was put into this position by others, myself, or ... whoever, I am still in this position and my only ways out are to submit to people I was taught from a young age are terribly corrupt by parents who were lying to me my whole life, or a person who will likely throw me away the moment I am no longer useful..." She frowns, a slight tremble in her hands. And then... she pauses, closing her eyes, rubbing them and cleaning her face with her hands.

"I..." She turns, walking over to grab one of the mugs of tea to take a drink of, likely centering herself. "I cannot trust the TSAB enough to submit to it yet, but I promise on my honor that I do not wish harm on this planet." She finally moves over to Molly's side, reaching a hand to rest on hers and move it over the core of Starcrash. "Devices have auto repair functions. When they're heavily strained, so long as the damage isn't catastrophic and all of the pieces are there, you can mainly perform most basic maintenance through infusing mana into it to fuel its auto repair functions. You have a more modern device than mine, so it should be more efficient." She says softly. "More in-depth repairs require tools, and frequently a meister's assistance."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The examination of the Device meant that Rashmi had half-tuned out of the conversation. Device Cores were always finicky things, but this ancient, barogue thing was, comparatively speaking, like trying to repair a Gothic gargoyle made entirely out of wrought iron lacework. Fortunately, there was a way in which she didn't *have* to worry about damaging the Core but still getting the shield on the road to being whole. Only...

"Self-repair module is completely blitzed," Rashmi murmurs. "Nico, scan the other to get a look at the module's internals?

    << *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE. >>

Eyes flicker over the readouts, and the 'map' the scans make of the Device technology, and she sits back, lips pursed in concentration.

<< Nico, we don't have the parts for this, >> she communicates to her Device.

    << INCORRECT. WE DO NOT POSSESS THE COMPONENTS TO EFFECT REPAIRS AT THIS LOCATION. BUT A MEANS YET EXISTS TO RESTORE SELF-REPAIR FUNCTIONALITY WITH AVAILABLE TOOLS. >>

<< ...? >>

    << *At the back of Rashmi's mind, a diagram opens up, the relevant model flashing green* >>

<< ...You're serious? >>

    << SELF-REPAIR FUNCTIONALITY IS A STANDARD COMPONENT OF ALL ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS. THE SCHEMATICS ARE WITHIN MY MANUALS. PROJECT 'Mahounet' WILL NOT BE IMPACTED BY THE USE OF FIFTEEN GRAMS OF ITS COMPONENTS. >>

<< ...You're sure. >>

Raising her head and blinking a bit, Rashmi looks over her shoulder at Chrono, Molly, then Aloisia, and smiles gently. "Maybe so... But we're not abandoning you, Alo-chan. So maybe we should come up with a plan that actually has a *good* chance of achieving everything you need. Because I don't trust Otto to pay for *coffee,* let alone service that gives him a crown. Anyway... One sec."

The nonchalance with which she commands a panel to open on Nicomachea's back cover should be worrying. That she *rummages about in the book's guts,* and comes up with a thumb-sized cylinder, *very definitely* so. Gently closing the panel, she searches among the tools, selects a few, and gets to work.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly blushes softly. "Thanks," she replies, to Aloisia. "I... I need to hear things like that sometimes, because it's so easy to fall into thinking..." She trails off, and shakes her head. "Something bad happened to me the other day, and I had these... visions, I guess. Anyway, someone in them said to me that I'm not a real orphan. I'm just a reject. Unwanted, worthless. And much as I can know that's not true, it just... means so much more to hear it coming from outside my own skull."

The purplenette purses her lips, "By the way, I've never told ant of that to anyone outside this room before, please, I... don't really want everyone to know that I'm a basket case of self-doubt, okay? Not that I think anyone'll say anything."

She allows her hand to be guided, and hunhs. "That's a lot easier than I thought it would be," she muses, at the instruction to infuse mana into her device. "I thought for sure I was gonna be busting out the screwdrivers, wrenches, and really small tweezers."

Infusing mana she can do. Her eyes narrow, and she squints down at Starcrash as she focuses on diverting some mana in that direction. While she's at it, she reaches out with her other hand to pick up a piece of bread and give in a munch; gotta eat, afterall, if you're using mana.

"You should listen to Chrono, he's right. The position you're in isn't your fault any more than it was mine that my birth parents didn't see any value in me. But... you're wrong about there only being two ways out. There's a third way out -- you let us help you. I didn't say I'd help you get Otto that crown -- I said I'd help *you*."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
"I'm not asking you to trust me or the TSAB," Chrono said. "I'm asking, if I can do that, what will you do?" He wasn't asking her to trust him. He was saying he would trust her. A difference. "Believe it or not, protecting people in your situation is... kind of the job I signed up for."

And then he glanced towards Molly for a moment, then back to Rashmi. He was going to talk to her later. Ask her what in the world was going ON in this planet. Did he and her have the only half decent birth parents here? Like... seriously.

And then Rashmi just plucked a critical part of her device out to put it in Aloisia's. Of course she did. Because of course she did. He just... he just face palmed and shook his head. He was so, so tired. This. This was what he worked with. All of them going to light themselves on fire to help each other. He could already see he was going to be diving into more holes, freezing himself into ice cubes with more people, all to save them from their stupid selves.

"For the record, I'm not agreeing to help you," Chrono said. "I'm merely looking into matters as they affect my jurisdiction. Dealing with hostage situations is something that falls under my duty. If I deem the crown worth keeping out of Otto's hands, I will do as my duty requires."

... He left out the fact that, considering the track record he'd experienced on this world, whatever path Rashmi and Molly followed he'd likely follow. Because after a certain point you just roll with it.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
It was probably lucky that all of the pieces were there, really. It meant even though Rashmi was taking out her own device's repair module, there was a replacement repair module right there that is definitely not completely FUBAR at all! ... ... Okay it's pretty much unusable but it's still materials. Or something. Maybe. "..." They're not abandoning her. Ugh. It almost would be better if they did. This is why they dehumanize the enemy in wars, because it's hard to want to be enemies with people. Especially people literally claiming to be your friends. Aloisia gives a soft sigh. "I don't even know what I need... for all I know those grainy feeds of my mother's cell are over a year old and my mother isn't even in jail anymore... being so far from home and with this planet's... distortions... and ... your own views on him..." She shakes her head. Aaaand then Rashmi just pops open her device and pulls out a piece of it. "Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa wait hey no put that back. This planet is /far/ too lacking in materials for that." Aloisia says, starting to reach a hand out towards Rashmi to try to stop her -- but she stops short of actually doing so, because frankly, device internals can be delicate and it's better for only ONE broken device instead of two and no reasonable means to fix it.

She gives a soft exhale and shakes her head. "...Do what you want." She finally relents, focusing back on Molly. "For more in depth repairs you sometimes have to replace parts... sometimes even get completely new cores, though there is a ... certain sadness if you ever have to completely replace a core." Is that even the same device, at that point? "But all of the pieces here and are ... overloaded, but not... destroyed, so the auto repair function should be adequate to get it back to functioning levels to test and see if any further repairs are needed."

Chrono gets a small frown as she thinks on that. Hm. "I..." She pauses. "Do not know that my answer before actually is different? I do not mean harm to this planet and there are things on this planet worth preserving. Since escaping this planet seems unlikely, allowing anyone to destroy it seems foolish." Aloisia says with a simple nod.

...But also Obsidian gives her a paycheck which is really useful.

"..." Aloisia shifts slightly. "If I thought I could get away with doing it without horrific repurcussions I am inclined to remove Otto from the picture myself. For the moment, instead, I think that 'failing to retrieve the crown because it got destroyed in battle' might be my course of action."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"If it helps," Rashmi says, looking up at Chrono and unable to suppress a chuckle at his omega-facepalm, "this was Nicomachea's idea."

    << AFFIRMATIVE. LIKELIHOOD OF MODULE TRANSFER RESULTING IN BROKEN DEVICE REPAIRED, AND WHOLE DEVICE BROKEN, APPROACHES TAU TO SIX DECIMAL PLACES. SATISFACTORY REPAIRS REQUIRE A MODULE IN EACH DEVICE. >>

Disseminating helpful information, yo.

Once the tinkering on the cylinder is complete, she hunts for a panel on the damaged device, and very, very carefully opens it... then with a spring-loaded clamp, carefully threads her way through the shield's internals, and comes back with... well it *did* look like a self-repair module. That got chewed on by a hellhound. Shaking her head, she sets the damaged part aside, and proceeds with installation.

"Ordinarily I'd be against any plan that *destorys* an important relic... But if you have the time and need it... And Nicomachea can convert Mid-Childan formats to Belkan... we *might* be able to fake up some sensor records? I have... a few fights... That could be pulled from."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly stops feedin mana into Starcrash, and just sits there with tea and bread. "Honestly, I've learned that any idea that originates from either Rashmi or Nicomacea tends to be a good idea. Though, I do enjoy those rare occasions when one of mine is good instead of hare-brained." She grins wryly, indicating a certain amount of mischief and not a great deal of seriousness at that last statement. "Incidentally, if anyone happens to come across an unused emitter, like what our barrier jacketes use, I uhh... need one. For reasons."

Yes. Reasons.

"Beside, Aloisia, the other day when your Otto told your shields to go ahead and cook off, I had no mana and no barrier jacket, and what you did saved my life. So, if you wanna look at it that way, I owe you one anyway." Well, nevermind she was in that situation because Aloisia kidnapped her and put her there, with frankly one of the scariest youmas Molly had ever seen. It even ate her! Seriously!

"Also, you should try the Turkish Delight. I had a piece before I came here, just to make sure it's the good stuff. ...If you've never had it before, you need to try some. I mean it. It's life changing."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown reached out and took a piece of turkish delight, at least. And then, in a soft, almost relaxed voice... "The food on this world really is incredible," he mumbled. "This whole world is alive in a way most other worlds aren't. Also, objectively horrifying, but you take the good with the bad."

"And it's better to not even try to stop her. Rashmi knows what she's doing, or is talented enough to make it work when she doesn't. She's not my second for nothing." He took another bite of the bread, before leaning back and closing his eyes.

"Chances are we never will leave this world, Aloisia. There's a slim chance, but it won't be easy. One way or another, you're going to be here for a long, long time."

"So let yourself enjoy this world, where you can. Maybe get some real chairs, for one. Something relaxing. Proper food. And learn to lean on the people here."

"Because the people you have to lean on, now? Are going to stab you. And the sooner you learn to accept their help, the sooner you can move on to helping them."

"Because, like it or not? We're trapped on their world now and the rules aren't the same anymore." Despite his desires, at times, to the contrary.

"Also, the turkish delight is pretty good. Thank you, Molly. Also, we're going to come back to *why* you need an unused emitter later. Though I have a feeling it's something I'm going to regret knowing... Sigh..."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"That... arguably makes it worse because your device chose to gave up its OWN repair module for..." Aloisia sighs softly and rubs her forehead. "The damaged repair module might still be repairable. Ancient belkan tech is built tough since most were custom built for their knights." Aloisia says, tenderly rolling the self repair module to get another look at it. Sure she'd seen it when putting the device back together, but it was less of a fugue state 'putting things togther where they belong' moment right now. "No two devices -- with exceptions like mine -- are identical... and Doppelwand is only made the way that it was because it was being wielded by a pair of twin princesses with a psychic link to each other back when psychic connections were more rare." Aloisia says, pulling her hand back away from the module.

Aloisia moves her hand over Starcrash once Molly stops, her own mana flowing into the device, just as a bit of supplement. "I'm pretty sure that the Crown of Succession was sealed for a reason and I don't know why it wasn't destroyed, to be honest." Aloisia comments. "The fact it was able to be stolen and placed on my ship in the first place probably required a good team."

The comment of needing an unused emitter gets a tap of Aloisia's lip. "Does it need to be in functional condition, Skyline?" Aloisia asks, choosing not to really touch on the comment about being told to cook off ha ha ha that definitely wasn't traumatic at all losing all control of your device. "Right. Turkish delight." Aloisia moves over to take one and eat it. Yep. It's delicious. Her response is kept relatively mild. ... Mostly because she's emotionally exhausted at the moment. "Ja, it is quite delicious."

The comments on the world gets a soft chuckle. "What, objectively horrifying? Are you talking about the weird amount of one in a billion mages collected in this town alone? Because frankly it is kind of ridiculous, ja."

Chances are we will never leave this world. Aloisia hesitates. "I do not even know if there is a place for me back on my world, since the TSAB has declared Otto's claim null and void... literally the best case scenerio is that Otto rebels and the rebellion is put down quickly by the TSAB and loyalists to the original crown if he somehow wins against the hordes of opposing forces -- no offense there's a lot of you -- and manages to get Hannah to give up her claim to the throne or eliminate her..." She pauses.

"Honestly these chairs are comfortable though. And I do honestly normally actually make more proper meals! Ish! ... ... ... I did not do much cooking before coming to this planet. I have made some things that have gotten me strange looks in the cafeteria." She chuckles softly.

Seems she's... coming back out of things a bit. Maybe she /shouldn't/ have dodged that giant Moonie attack.

...No that would have sucked if she ate it.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That's why I had to do some converting," Rashmi says. "It's not super-ideal, but, if you can get *that* one fixed then you can keep Nicomachea's as an emergency spare. But, could you do me a favor and activate them, and see how efficient it's working?"

Collecting her Device and moving away from the worktable, Rashmi puts him in standby mode, and reattaches him to her bow. "Oh, the emitter? *Among* Starcrash's missing modules is his autonomous-grimoire settings. So my thinking was make a small accumulator, wire it to an emitter, and hook that to one of the really really simple Storage Devices we've got on hand. Then we wire it all into Molly-chan's Barrier Jacket setup, and we have a single-use emergency shield or something that Starcrash can activate on a specific gesture."

So cheer up, Chrono! Your girlfriend is just trying to kitbash a solution to a half-built Device's shortcomings! ...Yay?

Chrono's compliments of her ability brings a pleased flush to her cheeks, and she slips an arm around his shoulders. "So, Aloisia? Think of this as repayment for saving my best friend's life by risking your own. It doesn't really matter *why* you did it... All that matters is that this is literally the least I can do to say 'thank you.' That, you should probably understand."

Turkish delight! A piece is plucked and savored, and it's a moment's respectful attention before she goes on. "Honestly, at the end? You have a place in this world, once you're free enough to claim it. Maybe you'll settle your differences with Hannah-chan, maybe you won't. But *I* would be proud to fight at your side."

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Or a short-range blaster," Molly adds, "Which was my original idea, for a one-shot KABOOM, but as much as that'd be fun and exciting, Rashmi-chan is right, as she generally is, that an emergency shield is likely... a lot better. I got the idea in the first place from Rashmi's accumulator. So basically Rashmi just gets all the credit."

Molly's finished the bread, and even though she's definitely planning to eat more of what Rashmi brought, there's Turkish Delight calling her name, and she stands up to claim a piece. Meanwhile, between her and Aloisia's infusions of Mana, Starcrash is steadily putting himself back together.

"Starcrash is missing a lot of stuff. We think he was in for maintenance when, uhm." She glances sideways at Chrono. "Uhh, when the Arthras crashed. So his bits and pieces are scattere all over the place. We've managed to get his utility module though, so I can actually program my own spells finally, which is how I came up with Stellar COnvergance. ...That's the big one I used againgst... Whatever that Witch we were fighting was called, I never did find out."

Molly munches on Turkish Delight, as she returns to the stool, and gets herself a bit more of the food that Rashmi brought. British girls love Indian cuisine, afterall. She looks up over her shoulder at Chrono, and then shakes her head at Aloisia, "Girl, you gotta get better chairs, you deserve something nice to sit on. ...And..." She sighs, gesturing in Rashmi's direction again. "I've been saved so many times since I found Starcrash. You saved my life. Rashmi and Chrono have each saved it at least twice. ...No, scratch that, like three times, at least. Other people have stepped in to get me out of trouble too. I've been in rough shape more times than I can count, and my friends have always gotten me out of it. Let us do that for you too, yeah?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just side eyed Aloisia. She'd learn. She better. The earthlings weren't trapped her with them. They were trapped with the earthlings.

"Actually, that one... that one you get used to. Meeting Nanoha will do that to you... and she's just the tip of a massive ice berg. Like the third aurora of the shattered tower," he said with a sigh. Another... TSAB saying?

"Oh, no, your... genetic donator is a narcistic fool. He'll never rule. But he never will accept that he won't. A shame, perhaps if he could accept that, he could do more with his life."

As Rashmi talked, he felt pride swelling. Good. It was a wise decision. Kitbasing a shield for the girl who lacked one? That sounded useful.

And then Molly went and ruined it by mentioning how, rather than a shield, she wanted more dakka. He gave another exasperated sigh. "You truly are Starcrash's wielder, alright," Chrono mumbled. It was... almost a compliment. Almost.

These girls were going to be the death of him. He swore he had aged years since arriving on this planet... He took another bite of his bread before glancing towards Rashmi again.

Well, now they were at the social part of the encounter. This was her department, not his! He didn't know how to do this! He mostly just spouted rules at people, recited some lines he hoped sounded effective and then blew stuff up!

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Aloisia pulls out that Storage Device she'd used the night of walpurgis, it was... pretty badly damaged. She rather casually pops it open once Rashmi explains the use for the emitter, looking at the internals carefully for a while, before she slides the storage device over to Rashmi. "The internals are fine on this, but the externals are damaged mostly beyond reasonable repair." Unfortunately, it looks like it's just not got a repair module in it at all. Probably because it was a mass produced device that was almost disposable. Ish. Alternatively it'd already been cannibalized previously.

Meanwhile, Aloisia reaches to grab her two Devices, more gingerly with unbezwingbare schwester, obviously. And she gives a soft exhale, closing her eyes as she infuses mana into both devices to activate the repair functions, syncing the two devices.

...Which is probably another reason why both needed functional cores. The two devices had been linked so heavily by the modifications to make it usable by one person that most of the functions were a lot weaker on their own.

Meanwhile don't mind Aloisia just casually supplying Rashmi's possibly questionable ideas.

Or a short range blaster. Aloisia shakes her head. "You can just program a short range spread Shoot spell relatively easily, no need to install new parts into your device for that." Aloisia says in response ot that idea. "So yes, an emergency shield is generally better, as I'm not always present to protect you from." Pause. "My...self? That joke kind of died when I realized our only times we've interacted have mainly been antagonistic." She shakes her head.

Starcrash is missing a lot of stuff. Hmm. "There may be salvagable things from my ship as well, though it also likely belongs in a museum... but the damage is already done to it so I am unsure if there is much point in trying to preserve it." Considering not even the whole thing is likely to be blipping in and out of reality anyway. "Wait, I do have a nice chair." She motions towards the one Rashmi was using. "I just only have one really nice chair for repairs." She nods. ... Okay she also uses it for other things. Like sleeping in occasionally. Okay fine she'll get some nicer chairs for visitors.

...Now that that is a concept in her life.

"I believe I did meet Nanoha upon my arrival. She was the one who used a laser beam to cut a hole in my ship to extract me through, ja?" Aloe comments. "Which is... a plan that happened." Not that she was complaining, otherwise she'd have probably been sliced out of reality too which frankly that's just not pleasant sounding. Meanwhile, Unbezwingbare schwester was .... slowly repairing itself. It wasn't really visible though, there was a lot of damage, and it was starting from the center of its core outwards. Yeah she was going to be sleeping with her Devices active tonight.

"So uh. I have a toaster oven if anyone would like to warm up their bun." Aloe comments.

...Yeah.

...Her social skills are probably suspect too. It's almost like being a child soldier is bad for a person.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Nicomachea, who had continued to keep an eye on the Devices, looses a cheery *bing!* as he sees the module is doing its slow work. Picking up the bit of technology, she turns it over in her hands for a moment, then tilts her head. "Well," she says, grinning, "there was last night? And you really, *really* helped out Weisser Ritter, whatever it was you said! So, not *all* your interactions! *And* you're definitely on my list to call in case of apocalypse. Since... Um... that's the third one we've had so far? In the last year? ...Okay wow I'm starting to really get why Chrono keeps headbutting his desk. A-anyway! Point is... you have a place here already. If you ever manage to leave Obsidian, maybe some parts'll get harder, but... It's here. Don't lose sight of that, okay?"

At the invitation to warm her buns, Rashmi sighs, shaking her head. "Much as I'd really, really love to? I kinda want to get started on Nicomachea's repair module, and *not stop* until it's done."

Looks like she already had an idea of how *absolutely terrible an idea* that was, and aims to correct it immediately. "And I think with this, and Chrono's help, I can give Molly that shield."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly holds up her hands, looking up at Chrono, "Hey now, I did say Rashmi-chan's idea was better," she points out. "Blasting things is what I do literally all the time, an ohmigod-I'mgonna-die shield is way, way better. And honestly something I need." She pauses, and ohs! "And by the way, since I do have my Aurora Barrier spell that I made, which is... kind of a shield that reflects attacks instead of just absorbing them, but I don't use it 'cause I'm too worried about stuff getting deflected at my friends... Rashmi suggested I get help practicing it." She ahems. "Which means I need people to shoot at me. Don't everyone volunteer at once, one at a time please."

Molly watches Rashmi fiddling with device Aloisia gave her, and brightens when she says it'll work. "Oh goodie, I can't wait," she expresses. "And... yeah, Chrono's right, I *am* Starcrash's user. ...My first D&D character was a sorceress and I don't think I even picked Mage Armor, I just... always stood behind the Fighter in the group. Seems to be my theme for life except I wind up out of position and get slammed through a wall more often than I care to admit."

The purplenette finishes her food, then her tea, and collects plates and cups from everyone; and while everone else is busy working on things, she hums in a pleasantly tuneless fashion, taking it upon herself to wash them up -- which she does most efficiently, given the time she's spent working evenings doing just that at Okujoo Ramen.

As she finishes, she pops one last piece of Turkish Delight in her mouth, and leaves the rest behind as she heads for the door. "Alright, I got homework, so I gotta disappear. Cheers Mates, as we say back home. ...And, Aloisia?" She smiles at the Belkan Knight.

"We've got your back."