[Semi Open Log | Turning on the machinery in the mines ]

[silenziobruno]

WHO: Simba, Alberto, Moonshine, Omega and possible others
WHERE: Moonshade's Factory and later The mines.
WHAT: Troublemakers Engineers hard at work. Going into the Mines to turn on the discovered machinery
WHEN: Morning...? | Mid August
WARNINGS: Children's mischief, mostly, but who knows what activating the machines will do. I Will update with more warnings if needed.



[ Closed to Jonathan Sims | A day before going into the mines, the library ]

Alberto had been playing around the plaza from time to time, and often late afternoon and even at night. It was a big place with plenty of space for him to run around or test some make-shift vehicles he made with the scrap found all around the city. They didn't move very long or fell apart after hitting some debris, but Alberto didn't seem too bothered by it nor deterred.

Sometimes, he has spotted some young mothcats around in the nearby buildings, and it was what prompted him to actually check out the surroundings of the plaza. He had never seen cats with wings before waking up in Temba but before Agra 10 he hadn't known that lions could talk either, or even what a lion was. Cats were cats and they all seemed to like fish, so the next time Alberto visited the area he brought some with him in a bag, and headed inside the nearest building, the library, looking for the furry cute creatures. Maybe he could bribe them to get close and pet them a little as they ate.



[ A | Closed to Moonshade /Simba ]

Anybody who talked to Alberto for five minutes could tell that he was a curious kid who liked adventures. Anybody who spent time with him would eventually discover that his interest in adventure was only matched by his stubbornness. And because of said curiosity and stubbornness, the sea monster wanted to come back to the mines and figure out what the machinery room was for.

He had been working for a while to get the necessary crystal rods to power it up, and some other people had generously handed him a few. Now, he finally had the 16 crystals necessary and a friend to visit the mines with. Rules were for rule people and this was, technically, not breaking his promise to Cobb about not going into the mines alone. The man had never specified that he should visit the mines with an adult...or even a human.

"Do you need me to carry that for you?" Alberto looked at Simba and pointed at the lion's communicator with his chin as they headed towards Moonshade's factory. He had his hands full - more than a dozen crystals were far too many to carry in his messenger bag, and he had put them in a wooden box - but at this point, one more thing wouldn't matter.

"I've heard that the lady of the factory is very skilled, maybe she can give you something to carry that thing more easily." Alberto was hoping that Moonshade could help them with the crystals, the wooden box was too heavy and probably too big to easily fit through the mine's passage. they needed something smaller and more practical to carry them.


[B | Open to any char who is near the mines and/or small enough to fit through the passage leading to the machinery in the room. ]

Once they finally made it into the right room of the mine, Alberto was glad that this time they were thoughtful enough to bring a light source with them. The place was as badly lit as he remembered. He could see just fine in the dark as a sea monster but in human form, everything was always harder.

The oil lamp was carefully placed on the floor as he stared at the displays on the nearby wall, connected to all the other machinery in the room. He ran a hand over the panels, brushing some dust off of them.

"I think these would activate once we manage to power up the machines. Let's get started!"

Comments

A

[holtfinder]

The lady of the factory is currently sitting right outside the factory, humming to herself as she works on spinning a hank of spidersilk fiber into thread with a very plain wooden drop-spindle. The spindle is simple, but after replicatoring it, Moonshade did take the time to dye it red, contrasting beautifully with the pale shiny thread it makes.

Beside the tiny woman, there’s an animal that’s larger than Simba with gray fur, dozing off in the shade. He’s definitely not a lion, but he has clawed feet and a long snout, and probably could be dangerous, if it wasn’t naptime.

[pantheraleo]

“Mphmafrelmmghm.”

That is the response to Alberto’s question about the communicator that Simba is carrying in his mouth. Following along with his friend in eager anticipation to visit the mines again. He and Grogu had so much fun last time! So of course he readily agreed to go again.

The cub’s ears flatten back though as he realizes his friend won’t be able to understand him like this. So he stops and puts the device down. “Yeah, maybe,” he then admits. Having to walk on all fours was a bit inconvenient like that.

His ears then perk up. “You think so?” Because anything that might make carrying the device around would be really great in his opinion! Simba didn’t like it much and often left the device in different places until he decided he needed or wanted it.

[silenziobruno]

Ah, yes, very eloquent Simba, Alberto should have expected that sort of answer, really. He chuckles and waits for Simba to drop the communicator before crouching down and grabbing it. He places it into the wooden box, noticing the slight scratches and occasional teeth marks, but not making a comment about it. Not having hands sure seems inconvenient at times.

"I hope so. It would be more practical if these things could be strapped somewhere, or worn as a necklace, so we don't lose them."

Now that they can walk and talk at the same times, things are more comfortable, and Alberto glances ahead, spotting the petite woman and her companion. He has never seen a cat that big before. In fact, he isn't even sure it's actually a cat. The claws are just too big, there's so much fur, and the snout is longer than expected. That can't be normal. Maybe it's friendly like Simba, but Alberto is well aware of how temperamental some animals can be thanks to Machiavelli clawing Luca and him to hell and back, and he doesn't try to get close to it.

He looks at his friend and gives the lion a smile before walking closer to Moonshade. Normally he would stride up to her and offer a hand to shake as a greeting, but the box is heavy and Alberto can only handle so much. His voice is cheerful and friendly, he keeps it purposely even as to not startle her or wake up her furry, big friend.

"Buon giorno, signorina. We've been told that there's a lady in one of the factories here that can make clothes and, uh...stuff to carry other stuff. I this the right one?" There are other factory-like buildings around and Alberto rarely comes to this side of the city, it never hurts to double-check.

[holtfinder]

"As long as you're alright with leather clothes and bags, yes, you've found the right factory." She sets the drop spindle aside, looking in mild confusion at Simba as she sets her spindle aside. "For actual cloth, you'd want Lark. But I've been working on leather bags and pouches for a while now. Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?"

Even though Alberto's taller than her, she can tell he's young--it's mostly the voice and his chipper demeanor that gives it away. She's reminded vaguely of her son when he was younger.

[pantheraleo]

Simba meanwhile is looking warily at that grey creature over there in the shade. It resembles a hyena far too much for his comfort and his ears pin back as a result, looking very uncomfortable as he moves to the other side of Alberto.

He's distracted, but glances at Moonshade, listening to the other two talk. "What's leather?" Clothes and bags are not a thing where he's from. He's told it will be helpful, but he really knows nothing about such things.

[silenziobruno]

The kid gives an enthusiastic nod, his brown curls bouncing a little as he does so and his green eyes widening.

"Oh, then it's nice to meet you! I'm Alberto Scorfano and he's Simba. That's what we need, something to carry the crystals rods and my friend's communicator. This box is too big and too heavy, and he doesn't have hands." Right after he says that, it occurs to Alberto that he can put it down while they talk, and he leans over to carefully placed it on the floor. He doesn't want to damage the crystals by accident, each one took hours to make.

Simba's reaction doesn't go unnoticed, and Alberto glances at him from the corner of his eyes, while still trying to pay attention to what Moonshade is saying. Being protective by nature, it only takes him a second to move and angle his body, so he's standing between his feline friend and the other creature.

"Leather is what shoes and belts are made of. Like cloth, but thicker? It smells funny too, but it's very sturdy." That's the extent of his knowledge. He's seen plenty of leather in Portorosso, people wearing it and using it combined with others tools, but he has no idea where it comes from or what it is made of.

[holtfinder]

The fact that the lion talks startles Moonshade. And her startling causes Steadypaw to open his eyes and lift his head, sniffing in the direction of Simba curiously, trying to look past Alberto to see him.

"Leather's what you get when you tan animal skins. I've mostly been working with the piglet-squirrel skins from my own hunting. Let's see, I think I can find a pouch to fit the communicator and some other stuff, though I'll need to work out the best way to strap it to him." Now she's trying to look past Alberto too, to get a sense of Simba's size.

[pantheraleo]

"Animal skins?" Simba passes a horrified look to Moonshade. "Why would you do that?"

That makes him back up a little more and a wary look given to the wolf. He's not sure he's feeling good about this anymore. The hyena-like animal at least isn't attacking him. Yet anyway. But he's feeling even more uncomfortable now.

"Alberto..." he whispers a bit loudly. "Are you sure about this?"

[silenziobruno]

If the way Alberto's face blanched and his eyes widen is anything to go by, he's just as appalled as Simba about the revelation. This sure is not something he was expecting to hear. Sure, he eats fish, which are also animals, but he doesn't go around making bags out of their skin later. That just sounds wrong.

"T-that's normal here?" He mutters to the woman, still taken aback. Glancing at Simba next, Alberto gives him what he hopes is a comforting look and not a grimace. Is he sure about this? Hell no, not anymore. But he's also not sure if turning tail and running would be of any good. Moonshade could sic her furry partner on them, who knows. She doesn't seem like the type to do that, but they don't know her well enough to tell either.

"We could...maybe we should come back some other day. When you're not so busy, madam."

Or, maybe never.

B

[small_compromise]

It was a maze just getting to this point, and Omega was still unsure about what all they were meant to do here, or if they should even be here at all. At least she'd brought along a flashlight, her first experiment with the replicator. She just hadn't thought she'd be making use of it so soon. It was a very strange thing, having such a small hole lead to a broken door and all this within.

"So what do these machines do?" she asked as she traced her light across the wall of mechanisms.

[the_child]

Grogu followed, ears up and alert as he looked around. He'd seen the space before, but he was still impressed by it. He was as curious about the machines as everyone else. Though he had some idea how they worked thanks to the data point.

Unfortunately, he could only say something that sounded like "Buh?" in response.

[pantheraleo]

Simba actually can see very well in the dark and has little trouble at all navigating the tunnels without a light source until it gets pitch black. But that doesn’t happen thanks to the lights the others bring.

He’s also not at all bothered about being here since he already went against what that old man told him and explored with Grogu.

“That’s what we’re gonna find out,” the cub tells Omega cheerfully. Having gotten the engineering datapoint himself recently, he’s excited to put his new knowledge to work.

[silenziobruno]

The more, the merrier, Omega, they were going on a little adventure and figuring out what the machines are fond. Alberto hums in agreement at Simba's answer and moves away from the metal panels to grab the crystal rods they had found.

"They Agrii must have built them for a reason, but the ones left in the planet don't know what they are for either. That's why they wanted us to investigate." He starts to handle crystal rods to their friends, because there are 16 of them, and it would be faster to insert them into the ports if they all do it at once. He crouches down to handle Grogu a couple of rods as well. There you go lil buddy. "Everyone's ready?"

Alberto should probably wait for an answer but being the kind of impatient kid he is, he beams at them and moves towards the machines. Some connectors between the place where the crystals rods need to go and the larger apparatus, were broken when the mines were first discovered. It took a bit to repair them and there's no guarantee they won't break again after a while, but when all the engineers you have are kids, beggars can't be choosers.

"There we go." Alright, time for the leap of faith. After checking the ports one last time to make sure they're clear of debris, Alberto starts inserting the crystal rods.

[small_compromise]

It was sound enough reasoning to her. Omega smiled at Simba and Alberto, nodding. "So we're just putting these in? I don't have engineering," she added, not wanting to accidentally mess something up.

She looked around at the machinery again, tucking her flashlight under an arm so she could take the crystal rods Alberto handed her, not wanting to drop them. As Alberto started to insert some in, she watched, making sure to know what she was looking for so she could do the same with the ones she carried.

[the_child]

Grogu smiles and nods, taking the rods. He wants to know what this device does! He doesn't hesitate before sliding the rods into place.

While he waits for the others to do the same, he looks over the buttons on the device. Hmmm. Which one of these will turn it on?

[pantheraleo]

Simba is the slowest one as he has to put the rods in one at a time with his mouth. But eventually he gets them in and takes a couple steps back. Waiting for something to happen.

"Okay, now what do we do?"

He too is looking over the machine for some kind of button or something.

HEY YOU KIDS

[dr_riley]

The first expedition had gone unusually well. No one had died, gotten transported to another galaxy, or turned into a writhing mass of insects, tentacles, or decaying tissue. That was generally a win. On top of that, they had discovered a strangely hard-to-access room with a single door that hid an intriguing amount of machinery.

Drake had poked around at it and made some educated guesses as to their purpose (this is clearly for data entry, so it must be a computerised system, that one may control ventilation because of some reason, this far underground, we may have a drill complex, etc.) but his equipment was too delicate and cumbersome to get through the tunnel and he didn't have the right adapters with him to hook up his tablet. So, like Cobb, he had erred on the side of caution: leave and find a way to safely widen the tunnel, then bring in some equipment and other Engineering experts (and he used the term loosely even for people who had earned it through hard work and education), and brainstorm what they were looking at before taking action.

In the meantime, being one of the handful of people who could fit through the tunnel, he had come back with some extra cords and interfaces and, following the trail of chalk arrows he'd left last time,  found the tunnel, the room, and the door. He was just opening a diagnostic program on his tablet when a sudden low level energy field made the screen give a little blip in the corner.

He jerked his hand away and paused, wiggling his fingers with uncertainty, then looked up at the door.

Which had voices coming from behind it. Drake hadn't even noticed, he was so distracted, but now, he pushed the door open and found......

.....well, he wasn't even sure. Kids? Aliens? Is that a LION?

He stood in the doorway, one hand still stretched out against it and the other clutching his tablet, eyes wide and indignant and darting between the occupants of the room.

"What - Is th- J'ztch-"

He suddenly pointed at Alberto. "I know you! What are you doing in here?! What are any of you doing in here?"

library fun!

[beholding_archivist]

The library is dark upon entering it. Dark, quiet and most notably mostly devoid of books. There are shelves, however. Shelves and the occasional noise of faint movements somewhere between high up on them. Movements belonging to curious eyes watching the unfamiliar boy entering the building while carrying his unfamiliar offering.

It doesn't take long for one of the younger mothcats to come fluttering down to Alberto, keeping a cautious distance at first but not hiding while flying swiftly around him, wide eyes curious.

kittttty ♥

[silenziobruno]

Dark places don't bother Alberto, but when he's human, it annoys him not being able to see as well as when he is in his natural sea monster form. He hadn't seen many libraries before, books are Luca's thing, but he knows what they are and what they're supposed to look like. It's weird seeing one so empty.

He does jump a little at the noise, and when the fury creature flies down in front of him, his face breaks into a smile. OH NO, they're so cute. Like Machi's kittens, but with wings.

"Oh, hello." Alberto giggles as the mothcat flies around him, moving slowly as to not scare the little thing. After a moment, he looks into his bag and pulls out something wrapped with some large leaves. He unwraps the food and leaves it on the ground: a couple of fat, freshly caught fish lying on top of the leaves are now waiting for the mothkitty.

"Are you hungry?"

[beholding_archivist]

The mothcat perches at the side of one of the large shelves while Alberto unwraps his gift, observing the boy curiously before its attention is drawn down towards the strange offering. It hasn't seen anything like this before and tilts its head inquisitively before fluttering down and hovering above the fish, looking them over.

Then it starts to bat a paw at the shiny scales, which seem to be much more interesting as a toy than the offering of potential food.

[silenziobruno]

"You can eat it, silly." Alberto said in a soft, amused voice, but he's happy to let the mothcat play and figure that out eventually. He doesn't know if these ca talk like Simba, so it doesn't hurt to speak to them as if they might. Now that it's close, the boy studies the wings with interest. He's mostly seen birds with feathers and never paid that much attention to smaller fliers like bugs, moth wings this big isn't something he has seen before. They're pretty and look fluffy.

A few minutes later, he reaches for the fish that the mothcat isn't playing with and breaks it into smaller pieces, offering him one. "Do you want to try this?"

[beholding_archivist]

The mothcat backs away initially, wings fluttering and tailfeathers spreading in a brief moment of surprise, but it recognizes the lack of any hostility quickly enough to cautiously move closer again to give the odd offering a sniff. The reaction is a bewildered fluttering of wings and a step backwards again before the mothcat raises a paw to slowly, carefully try touching the piece of fish with it.

"She doesn't recognize it as potential food." Comes a voice from somewhere between the tall shelves moments before the Archivist steps out between them, a cup of coffee in hand and a larger mothcat perching on his shoulder. Though the Countess doesn't remain there for long, but curiously glides down to get a look at what her child is inspecting herself.

Jon gives a little shrug. "Their natural habitat is the nearby forest. They mainly hunt insects and the occasional rodent. Keep the library free of pests, at least." It's as he speaks that the Countess snatches the piece of offered fish and quickly flies up on top of one of the shelves with it, leaving the younger mothcat looking on curiously before apparently finding more interest in the fishy offering, casting an expectant look at Alberto.

[silenziobruno]

Alberto freezes for a moment as well and then keeps his movements slow and visible as to not start the creature further. He doesn't want to get clawed to death, as it had happened with Machiavelli when they first met. He lets out a soft, giggly laugh at the mothcat's antics, not quite understanding why it isn't eating the fish but amused by it regardless.

The voice spooks him enough that he almost falls backward, not quite yelping in surprise but bringing a hand to his chest turning to stare at...oh he doesn't know this man. He looks amicable enough, with the mothcat on him and the cup in hand giving him a casual air, and Alberto relaxes a fraction.

"Ah, I didn't know that. They look like the cats in my world but with wings, I thought that they might like fish." Green eyes follow the bigger mothcat as she effortlessly moves through the air to join her youth and then snatches the food, earning a grin from Alberto. "They're very cute. And you seem to know a lot about them. They're all yours?"

He notices the kitty staring and, now that the mother seems to have made it clear that the fish could be something worth trying, Alberto gently offers her another piece before looking up. "I'm Alberto Scorfano, piacere. I didn't know people lived here. Aren't libraries supposed to be filled with books?"

[beholding_archivist]

"Jonathan Sims, the Archivist. Jon is fine. Nice to meet you." Jon nods and offers a hand for the boy to shake after the Countess so clearly approves of him and the younger mothcat quickly takes the offered piece of fish in her mouth and flutters up on one of the lower shelves to experiment with this new eating experience.

The Archivist simply smiles lightly at her quite likely just temporary retreat. "I'm from a version of Earth myself and- I agree. Winged cats are not something I have seen before myself. And I wouldn't necessary call them mine. They simply have decided this is where they wish to stay."

He takes a moment to consider Alberto, then gestures for him to come along. "I have some tea, if you like. The rest of the mothcats will soon be curious about you and show themselves."

[silenziobruno]

"È un piacere conoscerti, Jon and your friends." He pauses only briefly to give the moth kitty a fond look before he's reaching out to enthusiastically shake Jon's hand.

"What does an archivist do? Organize things?" Luca might have known about it, since he's the one who likes books best, but Alberto hasn't heard of the profession before. "Even if they aren't yours, they must like you a lot if one is using you as a comforting perch."

Cats can be fickle, alien or not. Someone who's good with them is usually a nice person, even if they look serious at first. He learned that from Massimo.

"Oh, I never had tea before." He nods and starts following the older man after waving goodbye to the mothcats . "I should bring more fish for them, if they like it. I could bring some for you too, if you want, It's no trouble. I know that sometimes finding food here isn't easy. I'm used to doing it, though."

Looking for things to eat, he means. Being on his own back home meant that he didn't exactly have a stable home and comforts, such as reliable sources of food.