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 Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:14 am
The small self-isolated power-source was not an infinite battery, relying on a chemical that Empyrean extracted from a deep rock sample brought from outside the Dome. It was, however, the first device built from metals and chemicals purely scavenged from the planet and that made it valuable for future-planning and expansion of the Genomes.
Despite Mother's deep mistrust of Empyrean's methods and lack of safety adherence, he was also presently the only Genome engaged in researching technological advancements for the crashed ship and so she had reluctantly allowed his current experiment.
A dull warning light issued from the computer, reminding Empyrean to go slowly and carefully as he held two small metal wires under a dripping acid, bringing them together milimetre by milimetre so as to avoid sparks and explosions. Two thick gloves covered Empyrean's hands, making the tweezers seem to be held by an enormous pair of mitts. Despite a reminder, he'd let the safety goggles slide down his nose, exposing a fair forehead, creased with intense concentration. His messy black hair fell over each shoulder, silken strands clinging to the biosuit and highlighting his youthful appearance. The concentration gave Empyrean a serious look, one often lost in his cherubic cheeks and distracted manner.
The small power cell under the wires was filled with a glowing blow substance, it was a small vial, but the energy extracted from the liquid could power a handheld computer terminal for several days. The problem was, affixing the limiter and extractor required delicate, precise work, at least for this prototype. The liquid, if either of the wires or acid were to touch it, would create an explosion. Empyrean and Mother had discovered this accidentally early on and in doing so, Empyrean had realized the chemical energy was tremendous. Explosions could tell a scientist a lot. Right now, however, it would be absolutely disastrous.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:28 am
Sheesh. Dema was sulking around the ship. Father had told him and his brother to "make friends" or some rubbish, and then Dad had sent his brother outside, but made him stay inside. It was like they didn't think they could make friends if they were together!
Dema snorted in annoyance as he looked for a "new friend" to talk to. The lounge and library were empty, so he strolled down to the labs. Hm? It seemed one lab was in use. Maybe it was Aren or the weird kid he had heard about. Dema let himself into the lab to see someone hunched over something. Dema, throwing caution to the wind, walked over towards the figure. They hadn't noticed him. He walked around to the side, inspecting the experiment, and saw how utterly focused the boy was.
"What's this?" He maybe spoke louder then neccessary just to see his reaction.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 4:12 am
One minute he was alone, and then a loud voice next to Empyrean sounded and he jumped, thinking he had set off the chemical reaction in the battery. Of course, jumping caused Empy to dropp both wires and tweezers coated in acid and a tiny curl of blue smoke rose from the vial a split second before it exploded and the resulting expulsion of energy rocked outward, a wave of pressurized kinetic energy hit the two young Genomes, followed, and accompanied with a spray of broken tempered glass and.... combustion.
A wave of heat roared across the tops of the children's heads and instantly blackened the ceiling, melted two instruments on the lab table, and set off, finally, the fire suppressant system.
Empyrean, luckily, was closer to the explosion and caught the brunt of it with his safety gear. His gloves melted and his glasses became smoked over. The intense heat caught a few parts of his eyebrows and the Genome, too stunned and shocked to move, was suddenly beset with a surprised expression of permanence, at least until he regrew those hairs.
Naturally, with chemical fires, Mother deployed foam suppressant from the ceiling and while the two children, sprawled on the ground had yet to recover, foam rained down over them.
Empyrean remained stunned. Frozen, in fact, as his brain tumbled over what had just happened. His head turned, very slowly to the child who had snuck up on him. Wide, red eyes blinked, doefully at the Genome he didn't recognise.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 4:23 am
He wanted a reaction, yeah, but this was not the reaction he had anticipated. One minute, he was standing at the side of the table, the next, he was on the floor, foam raining down from above. Dema was very lucky he wasn't closer to the explosion, or he may have been hurt. Instead, he just shook a few glass bits from his arms. No damage done. Then, as the red-eyed child looked at him, Dema couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"That was awesome!" He blurted out. "You have a real knack for explosions huh?" Dema was slowly sitting up, assessing himself. "Do you think harnessing that kind of explosion is possible?" The Genome's mismatched eyes fluttered excitedly. "Imagine the sort of bomb that would make!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:59 pm
Empyrean sat up slowly, ears ringing from the whirling alarms blaring in the room. He removed the broken safety glasses and stripped off the thick gloves he'd been wearing and dropped them on the floor. "You...."
The one word cut off as foam rolled down his face and Empyrean paused to smear it off, red eyes narrowing dangerously. "Who let you interrupt? You... you... BRAT!"
He got to his feet, voice rising in anger, "You destroyed a week's worth of effort! Do you have any idea how much time I spent trying to get the balance right! That was about to be the first ever power device built solely with Utopian materials not from the ship and..."
He stamped his foot. "Of course highly violatile substances explode! That's the point, but it's supposed to be controlled! You! You!"
Clearly Empyrean was so enraged that for once, the chatterbox had nothing to say. It was truly a momentous day. He launched himself at the other child, intending to deliver a spanking.
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 5:03 pm
Uh-uh. The kid didn't seem quite as thrilled about the explosion as Dema was. But... no one got hurt, right? The door to the lab opened just as Empyrean lunged at him, but the science-minded child never reached him. Argent had come running, hearing the alarms. He saw Empyrean lunge at someone, and grabbed him by the neck of his suit. Holding him with one hand, Argent disabled the alarm, but let the foam rain down to finish snuffing out the last embers of whatever happened. The one-eyed man took a quick survey of the room. The enraged Empyrean... wow, he hadn't seen him in a long time, and a pair of feet quickly scurrying behind the central lab station.
"Dema!" Argent could tell which of his children it was almost instantly, and by the looks of things, this was his fault. Mismatched eyes peered above the lab station, blinking owlishly.
"D-dad..." Now he sounded sheepish, maybe even a little sorry. Argent took a deep breath.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" His voice was loud and authoritative. Dema flinched and ducked back down behind the station.
"Nothing..." Came the soft reply.
"Dema." There was heavy disappointment in Argent's voice as he kept Empyrean from wriggling free. He put it together quickly. "You do realize that the material used in this experiment, I've had to personally gather, right?" It had taken him weeks to fill the request too. Even with just the small amounts. Though he had thought it was Aren making these requests, trying to give him s**t. But if it was Empy... that actually made a lot more sense. "Empyrean." He addressed the enraged boy. "You're not injured, are you?" He was clearly pissed though. "I'll replenish the supplies as fast as I'm able." He hated that. He might be gone for several days, again, to do so.
"Erm... I guess I'll uh... go to my ro-"
"Don't you move." He snapped. Dema tried to look small and innocent as the last of the foam fluttered from the sprinklers. "You're not getting out of here that easily." His eye narrowed. "If you think Empy is cleaning all this up, you are sorely mistaken. You, young man. Are helping. Empy, you can handle the leftover chemicals and residue, correct? Dema will handle the foam, and the glass, and the singe marks."
"But Dad!"
"Enough! Empy, I will ley you go if you agree not to slaughter my son."
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:52 pm
Empyrean squirmed when he was restrained by the adult like a naughty kitten. He only lacked a pair of airplane cat ears to complete his look.
"Only minor scratches." He pointed at a few gashes that might need a band-aid like these were war-wounds. "Honestly we're lucky the concussive force knocked us down- which is unique for these chemicals- and we didn't get the brunt of the explosion."
Empyrean smirked at the boy getting scolded. For once it wasn't his fault. He comfortably remained restrained by the adult while Argent lectured. That's right, it was a lot of work that had gone into this experiment. Maybe he should have locked the door to prevent other kids wandering in- but right now Empy was happy to not take the blame for yet another lab explosion. Mother knew, most of them were his doing.
"I won't kill him... I guess." Empyrean regained his feet and wiped more foam off his face. "I mean, I think if I get a few more mililitres of the ARX233 chemical compound I can make a concussion battery instead, The pressure of the force could be harnessed as raw and continuous power. Or grenades... a stun grenade that works on force instead of electrical signals would be ideal... "
Apparently, almost getting killed had only stimulated his brain.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:48 am
"You need help getting those cleaned up? Or are you good?" The labs had a good supply of first aide items. Argent knew they had been restocked recently too. Surely Empy hadn't used them all since yesterday. He let go of Empyrean when he promised not to kill Dema. "Thanks for not murdering my son." He sighed, and listened as Empy requested more chemical something... They really needed easier names to remember. Was that the blue one? Or the one that smelled like meat that was just starting to turn? No wait, that one wasn't explosive, it must be the blue one. "I'll bring back as much as I can find." He sighed, and looked at Dema. "You, young man, will get to explain to your father why I'll be going out for at least a week."
"Dad, no! Don't make me explain it to father! He might kill me!" Dema whined. Argent crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe.
"You know he won't kill you."
"Well... his disappointment will feel like I'm dying." Dema sighed, trying to look apologetic.
"Should have thought about that before messing with Empyrean's experiment. Now, you better apologize and go grab the mop." He nodded his head towards the supply closet. "It's in there." Argent would stay in the room to make sure his son didn't escape or try to shirk his punishment, but he wasn't here to help.
Dema sighed dramatically, then looked at Empyrean. Well, he supposed this was kind of his fault. "I am sorry I messed up what you were doing. I didn't think it would explode. I just wanted to scare you a little and see what you were doing. But... that explosion was really cool. Do you really think you can make a battery using that stuff? Or bombs? That's really amazing!" His apology and excitement were genuine.
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