Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I'm so pumped!" Isaac shot back, smiling happily for what was probably the first time since they had met. He slapped Ty's hand in a sign of camaraderie before reigning himself back and realizing what a fool he must look like (obviously).

Speaking of weapons, he had heard that there might be some new augs released soon. He hadn't had time lately to make any of his own (he preferred to use augs that he developed himself, because they were so much better), but the new release might have some interesting additions. He sighed. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Isaac took Cassandra's hand and, before she could object, pinched down hard on the area between her thumb and index finger. Instead of feeling pain, however, she noticed immediate lessening from her head and almost no pain from her hand.

"Human physiology is very similar to ours," he explained, "and I know this is a great way to relieve migraine pressure until you can get painkillers. Just keep pressure on it." He showed her where to press and then went back to thinking about augs.

The werefox was far more than pleased at Isaac's enthusiasm. He then watched the interaction between Cassandra and he with interest, human ears twitching curiously as much as they could. Cool. He kept walking to the ship until they got to it.

Isaac was in ecstasy as he devoured the entire room with his gaze. He might be cowardly, but weapons technology was something he was good at, and here in front of him was a treasure trove of his craft.

He ran a hand along each gun, feeling all the curves and subtleties each weapon had to offer. There was so much to learn and observe here. And then Triton said that there was more that they would unlock later? The rest of the Knights would be so jealous if they knew what Isaac had here.

Better get to learning before the truly advanced, beautiful weapons arrived. "T-T-Triton," he stammered out, facing the large construct timidly for fear that he would be outright rejected. "Y-You think I c-could maybe...take some of these weapons...l-like, back to my room? To study them...?" He planned to take each weapon apart and learn everything he could about it, and then if he found something he liked he would integrate it into his own systems through extensive modifications.

Everyone has a hobby.

Ty blinked once for one wall, once for the second, a third for the third, and then drew in a small, ecstatic, whispering gasp as his Mecca-of-the-day dropped out of the ceiling. The metal was like onyx, and cold to the touch as he delicately traced his palms and fingers around and over every curve and deadly claw, not even hesitating to let his animal mind make this animal creation into a part of his total instinct. His ears and nose were still vaguely tuned in to the sounds of the others exploring their weaponry, but his eyes and his hands were all for this treasure.

A test of the joints by bouncing the weapon slightly in the air revealed that the fingers would grasp and slash as he commanded, if he commanded properly; subtle twists or tugs on the fine, barely-reflective chain that he began threading through his fingers, which now and then sprouted and lost fur because he was lost in his exploration, would let him slam an enemy into a wall, slash them open, or tug at an arm or a throat. The chain itself extended fifty meters, with a series of catches in it for ease of either giving or taking slack, and its minimal thickness ensured storage would not pose any long-term problems. He needed to learn how to pack the thing in and whip it out on command quickly, though...

"Can it do anything with magic?" he fluttered out in half a breath, still entranced and memorizing the shape. "What's it called?"

Cassandra cocked an eyebrow, for a moment skeptical of the generosity, then subconsciously remembered she didn't get skeptical and made for an Athena. The rifle more or less awoke as Cassandra lifted it off the rack, and after the momentary boot sequence it was conscious. "Greetings," a cheerful electronic voice chirped. "I am an Athena semi-sentient assault rifle. Before any test fires, please allow me to acquaint you with my features." The list wasn't as long as some Cassandra had heard the rifles rattle off, but it still had its fair share, enough to bore her - magazine insertion assist, advanced self-correcting thaumaturgical optics, null-space recoil reducer, self-cleansing nano-machine package, beautiful craftsmanship. "Furthermore, semi-sentient rifles will always assist with battlefield awareness and user's mental, emotional, and physical stability. All features can be disabled at will. Warranty is voided if Athen semi-sentient rifle is used for anything other than its intended purpose as an all-range select-fire assault rifle. Do not attempt to use rifles in excessively close proximity to REFs, as this will disable many features. Do not attempt to trick the built-in AI with logic, as this allows the AI to lock the bolt and refuse to fire. Do not attempt to sell the Athena rifle, as this allows the AI to lock the bolt and electrify all grips on the rifle. Do not attempt to find loopholes in the contract, as this will allow the AI to become extremely annoyed, as well as voiding the warranty. Please feel free to operate the rifle normally now."

"I wasn't aware that the recent Athenas included a sense of humor, Triton," Cassandra observed, turning the rifle gently in her hands. It was a bit blocky in places, but it was certainly lighter than she'd expected. In fact it vaguely reminded her of a submachine gun they'd jammed into her hands during basic once upon a time. The sights were currently nearly unbearable to the repressed migraine, but Cassandra was confident they'd be pretty cool, if she could actually look at them. "I assume you have no objections to me firing a few rounds down the range?" she asked, fairly confident she knew the answer but asking nonetheless.

After several trips lugging weapons to his room and coming back for more, Isaac had taken the majority of the technology that he hadn't already dismantled and studied. He stuck around for a few minutes, nodding at Triton and the others any time that they directed their attention to him. In his head, though, Isaac was already exploring the intricacies of the weapons he now possessed. This was like Christmas, only five times better and also lethal.

At the first sign that it would be acceptable for him to slip out, Isaac crept out the door and made his way quickly to the elevator. The damn lift felt like it was barely moving at all as he went up two floors; he nearly went crazy in there. Finally, he was in his room; the door was locked; his work desk was completely cleaned off; his overhead lamp was ready to illuminate what would be his world for the rest of the night. Isaac closed and locked the door, cracked his knuckles, and began to work.

---

The next morning, he emerged from his room victorious. He wasn't even tired; he was filled with energy and elation at what he had done. On the corner of his desk was a stack of papers detailing everything he had learned from breaking the weapons down. On the wall behind his desk was a chart that had lines connecting the individual components of each weapon with other pieces of hardware that were currently on the cutting edge. On the floor of his room was a pile of parts that were either redundant or too large to incorporate into his own armaments.

Because now, Isaac had upgraded. He had more than just the few additions he had made back home. It was sort of like a rite of passage for the Clockwork Knights: once they were in the real world, breaking down new technology they came across and incorporating it to improve themselves was their equivalent of stepping into manhood.

Now, he had added a few new features: in addition to his slug-throwers, he had added a cobalt blast into each arm, which would amount to having an ace up each sleeve. He had taken apart the Hephaestus and incorporated the aiming processor, which was slightly superior to his own, and added it in to make himself more accurate and slightly faster on the response. Various pieces of the Athena made his augmentations slightly more durable, allowing him to get more efficacy from each one. The Eviscerator had given him the idea to attach his own hands by shorter wires, easier to manipulate but lacking the range that Ty was afforded. He could also use the wires on their own, like a whip or a rope. As for the Cloak of David, Isaac had wired it so that he could switch between powering his REF or powering the Cloak for a few seconds.

Either way, now he had to reboot in order for the updates to take effect. He closed his door once more and collapsed on his bed, a satisfied smile sleepily creeping over his face before he shut down.

"Just the generic factory armor. If you want anything more specific than that, you can put in a request for it, though. It'll come faster if you can get your own enchanter to do any effects you want on it, of course."

In time, all the Coven forces became acquainted with their Fun & Exciting weapons. Carlyle, the seemingly impossibly quiet final member of their party, probably grabbed something for himself. Probably. They slept, and what felt like maybe a year later they found themselves over Siberia; all of Tyrg's air forces didn't matter if they had nothing to defend.

In time, the Coven squad made their way to the briefing room. It was hard not to gasp or draw one's jaw or something at the factory - or rather at the giant crater it was in, where its controlled automata were retrieving material for thaumic conversion into suitable building materials by leveling the ground for miles.

"Well," the newly armed captain commented after a long pause.