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 Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 12:48 pm
Cryptomelane frowned, looking from the plans laid out on the workbench over to the assemblage of metal and parts that was supposed to become a satellite, at some point. Wrinkling his nose didn’t help him understand the process any more than he already did. Not that he failed to understand anything going on, but the finer points of everything did not click for him as easily as they seemed to do for Lucette.
“Melly!”
Skittering about the workspace in Negaspace, Ympe frolicked around Cryptomelane’s legs. He cackled his delightful little cackle, the way that he usually did when Cryptomelane had a starseed for him or when Ympe had done something that he thought particularly clever. Although Cryptomelane normally felt perfectly content to enable Ympe’s hijinks or to let him have his way about things, but now wasn’t the time for such things. All of the people on Earth were at risk now, and while Cryptomelane knew some of them who he wouldn’t have minded seeing fall, the rest of the world didn’t deserve to join Brother Horace in his fate.
“Melly!!!”
Cryptomelane sighed, propping himself up, palms flat on the table as he let his head hang. Undeterred by this, Ympe scrambled around. A series of soft grunting noises flared up beside Cryptomelane, and the sound of Ympe’s legs and odd little feet swishing through the air. Somehow, though, he pulled himself up so he was sitting on the table. Eyes wide, he tugged on Cryptomelane’s sleeve.
“Mellyyyyyyy, come oooooooonnnnn.” He whined, blinking at Cryptomelane uncomprehendingly. “Why doesn’t Melly want to talk?”
“It’s nothing, Ympe.” Cryptomelane gritted his teeth, grimacing down at the plans. “Or at least nothing anybody can do anything to help.”
“But……” Ympe jutted out his lower lip. “But Ympe wants to help.”
“You can’t.” As soon as he snapped that—as soon as he saw the shimmering earnestness in Ympe’s eyes—Cryptomelane regretted it. He sighed softly and looked over to Ympe. “The university stole the years I could have spent better preparing for this, Ympe, when they forbade me from continuing my studies of biotechnology. Even my best efforts may be insufficient to help right now.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 12:57 pm
General Amazonite had kindly pointed Industria to where Cryptomelane was working, when she'd come asking. And, frankly, if she'd looked a little longer herself, it wouldn't have been hard to find him; Ympe was loud and had a very recognizable voice, and she could hear his cackling from a ways away from the room. She found herself pausing in the doorway, just taking him in--watching him work.
All of this still felt wonderfully surreal. She was magical. Always had been, apparently, and just needed the right person to find her and help her become what she was always meant to be.
And there he was. The right person, bent over a worktable, throwing himself at a problem he had little experience with, because she'd been given magic just in time to come into a world falling apart. A threat from beyond the stars that intended to swallow their planet whole. But one of the people on the other side had managed to make contact with someone who could help them, and now they had a little science project to try and protect the Earth from what was coming.
Preston might not have been particularly prepared for this, but she was. This sort of thing wasn't her exact area of expertise, but she did like to tinker a little, and she was an engineer, or at least an engineer in training.
"Luckily for you," Industria said, breezily, walking over to the table and leaning against it, "I am studying relevant subjects. This may not be a bridge, but I know how to follow a blueprint. If you'd like an extra set of hands." She flashed the little youma a smile, as well, because it would be rude not to greet him too. "Hello, Ympe."
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 1:35 pm
Hearing Industria’s voice, Cryptomelane stiffened—but Ympe lit up brighter than the LED bulbs they’d been installing everywhere around DCU’s campus that would take them. Delighted, he kicked his little legs at nothing in particular and clapped his hands. He’d done that quite a lot around Industria since first meeting her a few days prior, and……well. Better that Ympe could do it, Cryptomelane thought as he pursed his lips and cast a glance at his little companion. Expressing himself like that might have been unbecoming for Cryptomelane to do, but Ympe got away with it by virtue of being cute.
Cryptomelane opened his mouth, intending to thank Industria for finding them and being so willing to chip in her expertise. But before he could say a word—
“Triiiiiiiiaaaaa! Tria, hi!!!” Ympe hopped off the table and gamboled over to her. Less of a spring, he had more of a bounce in his step. Which, really, Cryptomelane agreed with, considering the Industria of it all, but mostly he kept silent about it because Ympe was going to be irrepressibly Ympe no matter what anybody did. “Tria knows things to help? ‘cause Melly really wants to do a good job! But the things, they don’t come together right, and then he’s not happy at his-Melly-self.”
By way of making his point, Ympe pointed over at one wall, where a slight stain still remained from the attempts Cryptomelane had tried to make at this last night. He’d done his best to clean up said mess, but……well. Throwing a glass bottle full of caffeinated liquid at the wall certainly hadn’t been his best idea. Hadn’t helped make any more sense out of things or helped him understand what he’d done wrong (something that also hadn’t been helped by drinking enough of the extremely caffeinated premade coffee drink things from the 7-11 that Cryptomelane had briefly wondered if he wasn’t going to faint).
His cheeks flushed slightly at being called out like this, but he nodded regardless, coming over to Industria’s side.
“Your expertise would be most welcome,” he said, somehow managing to sound calmer than he felt. “……Assuming we don’t perish, I’m already going to need to clean the remains of one allegedly chocolate-adjacent espresso drink off the wall when this Herald of the Dark Star has been felled. Hardly seems a good idea to create another mess. Especially when following your instructions might prevent such things.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 1:46 pm
Honestly, Industria adored Ympe. She bent to give him headpats when he gamboled over to her, a show of affecton that was all too easy. certainly the majority of youma were unfriendly towards corrupt Senshi, or at least her understanding was that they were not fond of Senshi as a whole, but she was pleased to be acquainted with one who could at least overcome his natural disinclination enoguh to like her.
Or maybe Ympe was just so enthusiastic it all overrode itself.
"Yes, I definitely know things to help," she said, and she moved causally into Cryptomelane's space, so she too could get a look at the blueprints. "So we'll save the walls from any more coffee stains and you from any more unnecessary stress." She paused, and laughed a little.
"As opposed to the necessary stress because the world is ending, you know." Except that it surely wouldn't end, because they were all working together to make sure that didn't happen. "Come on, let's get into it. "I'd hate to become magical and immediately have the planet get eaten. that seems more than a little unfair." It came out light and casual, thoguh truthfully, she did feel more than a little anxiety about the whole situation. Necessary stress, truly.
Honestly, it felt a little alien even to her, looking at the blueprints, but she could see the shape of things. See how they were coming together. And, yes, she was certain--she could figure this out. They could figure this out.
Together. As she hoped to do many things in this new magical adventure.
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