prismatica | [ 002 | VOICE/VIDEO ] late at night

Howdy, folks.

[It's fairly late at night. You may have heard that drawl around. Or maybe you heard about a guy with a Texan accent setting fire to a pile of lingerie in a sex shop by accident. Either or.]

So. This ain't my first time around alien technology. Last extraterrestrials I met wrecked my property and tried to kill me. Then me and some other fellas stole their guns and forcefed 'em beer until they crashed.

[nOW WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO UNPACK ALL OF THAT--]

But these folks are alright by my standards. And all this... cybernetic enhancement and augmentation business has me curious:

Anybody here got something similar in 'em? Prosthetics, bionics, cybernetic enhancements... anything along them lines. And since it wouldn't be fair if I didn't meet ya'll halfway--

[Video comes on. It's a downward shot of Engineer sitting at a desk chair, his device's camera pointed at his skeleton-like metal hand. He open and closes the fist, splays fingers out, turns them over - and wiggles them.]

This here's the Gunslinger. Pretty as you please. Designed by my grandfather, built by me. Oh, and there's my heart too, but... can't exactly pop that open for y'all. Heheh.

Anyway, I'm just curious. I been thinkin' about how different places come up with different ways to fix the parts we've either lost... or wanna improve on. One way or another.

[And, after a pause--]

While I'm at it... can anyone tell me a decent area to buy garage space? [Prismagram is: Now Looking For Recommendations.]

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That's so cool! Do you, uh, do you teach people how to make or...maintain that stuff?

[ She has a vested interest, since her sister now has a prosthetic arm, and...

It would be cool to be able to know more about them, okay? ]

( That might be for the best, yes. Even as he explains it, she's curling slender fingers around her chin and easing backward, leaning into the sofa back and looking troubled.

What a reckless procedure. )

I'm not even sure what to say to that, Dell, or where to begin. But I suppose so long as you've had no adverse effects...

( Then, murmuring to herself as she stands up and just sort of... wanders off: ) Baboon hearts, really.

( She's back with a fresh cup of coffee and starting a new reply, visibly having thought about it. )

And the obvious answer hadn't been to simply allow someone the ability to heal and slightly lessen the invulnerability, I suppose.

Don't know, son.

[Engie shrugs.]

Welp. If you're keen on it and you're askin' for ideas, go find your own direction. Volunteer at the hospital or rescue some animals or somethin'. I ain't exactly the right fella to ask.

Huh.

[Engie has to think about that for a secon.]

Can't say I've ever taught someone how to do it. But I wouldn't mind takin' a look myself, either. [Seeing as he's got a feeling he knows what she's going to ask.]

If you say so, ma'am.

But all due respect? I've taken more bullets than anyone can reasonably treat. Even him - and he's clean crazy. I can't exactly go bulletproof whenever I wanna without his medigun, but it's got its uses.

( Look, he can't help but ask: )

Is there anything normal about you and your life?

( Cornfields aside. )

I'll remain thankful that we have armor and shield technologies to supplement, by 2076, then. I don't know what I'd do if I heard about baboon heart transplants as the new normal.

I'm sure I'll figure something out! Thank you though~

Now that's a little rude, ain't it?

[... Okay. Engineer is mildly insulted at that. He keeps his mouth shut, that said, but it's harder to disguise it in his voice.]

If you say so, ma'am.

[you said that 2 seconds ago dude]

I'd particularly like to learn about robotic arms!!

[ Yang isn't here but she can totally surprise her with knowledge later. Maybe? ]

[Engie chuckles.]

Alright, alright. I don't think I could teach ya how to make one in one sit-down, but... I could definitely show ya how to maintain somethin'.

I've seen weirder. Trust me.

[She wasn't going into a whole lot of detail there, but a mechanical hand was probably one of the tamest things she'd seen in a long time.]

I feel like it'd take some getting used to. Was it hard to adjust? Did it take a long time? [Don't mind her, she just had literally a million questions.] You're fine! I've probably heard worse.

I prefer 'direct'.

( Yes. )

(Late night calls are all the rage, let's be real. Nico's as wide-eyed and bushy-tailed as can be at this hour thanks to however much coffee she's drank. In fact, there's a barely-filled pot in the background that looks like it's acting as her personal mug and all.)

Garage space? You asking 'round for that sorta thing? (Really, she's kind of curious as to what he's getting up to that he needs that much space.) Wonder if there's enough room for somethin' like that 'round here...

(Judging from the area around her in the video, it seems she just builds straight out of her apartment. The roommate is not pleased. He never is, but the junk strewn about is enough to drive anyone batty. Sometimes drives her nuts, but the stress is easily alleviated by kicking it around.)

"Direct" can still be a lil' kinder.

[He's kidding. And technically avoiding the question.]

But just 'cause people in hell want ice water don't mean they get it. [That's a southern colloquialism. He's saying that's a pointless observation, friend.]

[Had Engineer shown off the rest of his apartment, Nico would have seen that his own apartment is about the same. Luckily, he doesn't have roommates.]

Sorta. I don't doubt this place has space that Prismals would be willin' to sell. I work out of my apartment, for the most part, but - I'm mainly lookin' for somethin' I can call a storefront.

[And, after a pause--]

Reckon you do the same?

After this place? I'll believe it.

[Even if it wasn't for Prismatica, though, he's sure he's not the only one who's been through some bizarre shit.]

Whoa, whoah. One question at a time. [He laughs.] Buildin' it took a while, sure. And I never exactly... replaced any parts of myself before, either. Took a lot of perfecting and planning to make sure I had it right before I did the dang thing.

This place. Sure.

[Except this place was like a weird vacation compared to everything else.]

Ahaha, sorry! [Except she wasn't particularly sorry. Oops. She was, however, trying to fight the urge to ask why he'd felt the need to replace a hand at random. Aside from just having the blueprints around, which she could almost justify.]

I don't think I know anyone who has, so I can't even imagine what kind of adjustment that would be! Not that I'm judging. I just think... Well, I'm pretty sure my mom would wring my neck if I did that. Hah.

Cool! I can draw you kinda what the arm I'm interested in LOOKS LIKE, and what it can do...um, if that would help?

[ But yeah, she doesn't think she can build one, either...although: ]

I did build my gun-scythe, so I'm not TOTALLY bad.

So would mine. Part of the reason I usually wear my work gloves.

She found out anyway.

Yea, I haven't seen mine in a while...

But she'd absolutely notice!

[Colleen Holt was many things. Unobservant was not one of them.]

I'd believe it. Mamas are usually pretty dang sharp.

Might work better if you just show it to me.

[He's still assuming this is her own arm or something.]

... a gun-scythe, huh?

[

ok he's interested]

Tell you what. You show me the gun-scythe, I'll teach ya some upkeep. Deal?

Pretty sure it's in the job description.

[There was a pause, and then:]

Do you ever miss your hand?

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[ 002 | VOICE/VIDEO ] late at night

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