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 Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 8:14 pm
Ekstrom had set up on the top floor of an abandoned construction site this time. It was a thousand times creepier than setting up at the park, but it felt a lot more practical. She set up a large blackout tent, set up her work lights, and laid out the various blueprints, tools, and parts they had to work with to make one of these satellites. And this time, she figured she could recruit a good friend with an engineering background to try and get one together, because that was practical and felt like a “work smarter, not harder” sort of move.
So she cornered him at school and, after bribing him with a small basket of baked goods, gave him a time and place to meet her, then got there early to get everything set up. She was already getting started, nose buried in the blueprints for the moment as she again worked out the beginning steps to this construction.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 8:41 pm
Truthfully, Belmont hadn’t needed the bribe at all. It wasn’t just that he could get baked goods at his cousin’s bakery–but those definitely put him in a good mood, anyway–but he’d also been invested in trying to help build shields to help defend Earth. He’d examined the blueprint once received and dissected it, but despite his best efforts he wasn’t sure how to use the information there in any other way.
His skill with robotics, and the fact that he was pursuing a degree in engineering, definitely helped.
The blueprint looked easy enough to follow for someone who wasn’t even an expert, so things were looking good for him.
He felt her energy signature well before he saw her; she’d given him instructions on where to meet, so he’d packed up some of his own supplies in subspace and made sure to arrive on time.
“Wow,” he said, once he finally made it past the blackout tent. He almost needed to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the brightness they hid.
“This place is creepy, how did you even find it? The nearest building with any lights on is like five blocks away, easy.”
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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2025 3:21 pm
"Just wandering," she replied, looking up to greet her friend with the usual bright smile. "I was in a park last time and it wasn't the most convenient, so I thought I'd try to prep a little more. One of these," she paused to gesture at the tent, "I think would draw more attention, so."
Ekstrom gave the spot beside her a pat, a small gesture inviting him to join her. "It is creepy, though, so on top of us putting this thing together you're also helping keep me not freaked out. So thank you!"
"Did you get a chance to look the blueprints over? Is it manageable?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 7:04 am
“Smart,” Belmont commended, and was glad to report, “The blueprints don’t seem too difficult. I was kind of expecting them to be in a totally different language but it looks like someone went through a lot of effort to make it as easy as possible? I’ve had harder projects in class. I think,” he corrected, because he didn’t want to get all cocky just to be proven wrong.
Settling into the seat next to Ekstrom, he smiled.
“I mean, I guess we’ll find out, but,” he shrugged. “I think we can do it, no problem. I brought some stuff to help. Are you excited?” he asked, with barely concealed enthusiasm, himself.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 11:53 pm
She wrinkled her nose, mostly out of amusement, at the idea that a university class project was potentially more difficult than a practical, potentially world-saving, application. "Y'know, I heard that happens a lot," she said, scooting just a smidge more to make sure he had room to maneuver once he was seated. "Like, a friend of mine once told me playing songs on Guitar Hero is harder than playing the songs on an actual guitar." Hopefully that made sense?
"But hearing that from you," she went on, leaning to gently nudge him with her shoulder, "that's honestly a relief. And yeah!"
She faltered for a split second before shaking her head slightly. "Well. Nervous-slash-excited, but I'm not the one with the engineering background. Are you excited?"
It was pretty easy to tell that he was, and in the very back of her mind she settled happily with that thought. For all she knew, it might be one of the last times she'd see her friend like this.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 7:17 am
A laugh fell effortlessly from Belmont’s lips, a sure sign that he wasn’t just posturing. He took a seat next to her and grinned as he started to make himself comfortable.
“Well, I’ve never heard that about Guitar Hero, but I’ve never played. That, nor an instrument. But I’ll trust your friend’s word on it. Better to be overprepared than under, right?” He clapped her on the back–gently, but encouragingly. “I’m excited to get started. I think we’ve got this in the bag. So don’t be too nervous. A lot of people are working on these, right?”
He was confident in his own skills but he was sure there were others that had mastered things far beyond his skills. Mauvivans, for example, who could do just about anything.
If Earth was on the line, of course they’d be quick to help, right?
“You’ll do fine. You want to build one together with me? I’ll explain it as we go along if you want. I’m kind of excited to show off, I don’t get to do this much. I mean, where my brain’s involved. I can show off when I’m racing.” He tilted his head, “But you’ve never seen me on a bike either, have you?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 3:33 pm
The gentle clap on the back was, she found, as comforting as it was encouraging. There was something about being in the presence of a good friend that buoyed her spirits despite everything that was going on. She was well aware of how fortunate she was to have more than one such person in her life, but of all of them the idea of losing Belmont was...
"Pretty sure, yeah," she replied, physically shaking her head to try and get rid of the negativity that was starting to seep in. She could try and process all of that after they saved Earth from the thing that was coming, but for now she had to focus!
So Ekstrom, at his offer to build one with her, beamed at him as she bobbled her head. "Yes please, Mr. Engineering Degree," she teased gently, "and I'm happy to give you more excuses to show off with this kind of stuff in the future." There was plenty of stuff that she imagined he'd be able to help out with on her Wonder, and why she hadn't considered recruiting him for that before was a bit beyond her at the moment.
She blinked when he mentioned his racing, expression pinching slightly as she thought on it for a moment before ultimately shaking her head. "Now that you mention it, no. I don't think I've ever gone to one of your races. Which," she paused to gesture at the parts and blueprints first, and then kind of up and around them to refer to the whole situation with saving the world.
"Maybe when all this is done and over with, I feel like I should probably fix that."
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 4:22 pm
Belmont laughed richly and nodded. “You should, as long as your heart can take it.”
It wasn’t any secret that he was an adrenaline junkie, and once confidence came into the picture it was all the worse.
Of course, there was a totally different adrenaline rush when you were facing a finish line and facing the finish line, and the threat of Earth’s destruction loomed heavily in the air.
…But they still had time.
They still had options.
They still had hope.
“Okay,” he said, making himself comfortable at the table. “Let’s get working on these shields. By the end of this, you’ll know it all so well that you’ll be teaching everyone else, okay?”
He bumped her with his elbow lightly. “You’re one of the smartest people I know so you’ll pick this up in no time. So no stressing, okay? We got this.”
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