[Video] Cayde's Quest Board

[deal_me_in]

Hey!

So um, I got a bit of a problem. All this rain is topping off the tank here so some of my aquarium's escaping. I need some people to help wrangle up some fish and whatnot.

Bonus points if you can rig something to keep 'em from slipping out over the roof, we don't need any giant amphibians and stuff falling on people's heads.

But Cayde, you ask, what do I get out of it? Aside from my love and appreciation, well, I'm sure we can work something out.

Comments

[quintet]

Right.

[Time to step up. Quintet considers the corner of the building. It sits at a slight angle, a little proud of true horizontal, and has a distinct smoothness to it, like the wide angle of a sheared stone face.

Exhale. Inhale.

How had Polarizing done this again? One forepaw braced flat, unnaturally low, the other cocked back, like someone bending down to saw at a too-low tabletop. The impression of lye, of the body's own acid emulsified, compounded, acid upon acid, drawing away all moisture until the surface was as brittle as snow-crust.]

Lime Pigeon's Dessicant Skirring

[The cocked-paw pressed forward, down, through the concrete itself, as easily as if she were pressing through styrofoam. The stone crumbled, a sand-castle abruptly overset, the effect spreading forward towards the corner as if it were a spreading puddle.]

—Mark!

[The submerged paw flicks forward and the whole of the corner crumbles and begins to fall away, as if that section of the building really had been made of sand, or gravel, only loosely convinced to hold together, and Quintet's slight weight enough to make it collapse. For a moment it seems to run like wax, a thick, unpleasant sludge— and then resolidifies abruptly into solid cement again. That corner of the building is now dented, looking something like a cake that someone had set their thumb onto.]

...Well, that worked. I think I can direct the material better if I'm dealing with more substrate. So any holes ought to be sealed, once they're made.

[deal_me_in]

[Needless to say, Cayde hadn't known what to expect, but he's clearly impressed. It seems a lot more impressive than a triple-jump, not that he will admit that, of course.]

Whoa!

[Once it seems things have settled and more importantly, somehow solidified, the Exo jogs over to investigate for himself, like a kid who's just been shown a magic trick.]

Now that is pretty cool.

[-he says as he pokes at the reshaped cement.]

So what's it got to do with pigeons?

[quintet]

Huh? Oh. The basic thesis is pigeon shit.

[Do they not have Pigeons where he is? Or maybe he's just never paid attention to them.]

Pigeons make lye in their droppings. The Alembic works by empathizing with the stone and envisioning a strong impression of the lye; that makes it brittle.

Then you just have to give it a shove and it all goes. It solidifies on it's own, once you let go of the telenoia. People use it to build houses, because the solidified stuff is usually waterproof.

[deal_me_in]

[Cayde doesn't deal with pigeons. That's Saint-14. But hey, something to learn! Or is it more like an explanation for something he'd never really thought about before? Yeah, definitely that.]

Huh! Okay, okay. And you just...somehow manifested this idea into...that. So does it always solidify instantly afterwards or is that telewhosits?

[quintet]

With my Art, yeah. I am a College graduate.

[She is a psychic kung fu cat, don't you know, with a college education.]

I was training to be in law enforcement. [She is a cop, Cayde.] So I don't have a lot of experience in construction... But Yeah, it should. It's only flowing in the first place because I made it 'think' it was dissolving. It's hard work, but I should be able to direct which way it flows.

[deal_me_in]

Huh! Psyching out concrete. That is a new one. Not a bad thing- I am really amused by it.

So does it always last that long before it solidifies again or can you adjust the timeframe? I mean, if it's being used for building material I'm figuring people either work really quickly or have some flexibility.

[quintet]

[Quintet considers the extent of the damage, head tilted at an angle. Yeah.]

Yeah, I should be able to extend the effect arbitrarily. There's a free dinner to go with this job though, right?

[deal_me_in]

[Cayde laughs.]

Least I can offer! I'm no chef but I do a pretty good fish sear.

[quintet]

sear?

[Wait wait wait. Wait. With fire? Quintet's tail comes up. Oh no, Cayde. You've said the magic words.]

You're gonna cook? Hell yeah!

[deal_me_in]

[Instant friend to all kitties just because he can manage one fish dish. Cayde grins.]

Well, kind of. I mean, it's nothing fancy. Basic seasoning at most, if you don't mind that sort of thing. I'll admit, I'm not very familiar with feline palates aside from the fish preference.

[quintet]

I'm probably a little different from any cats you've met. It seems like most people here have only met Wild cats... Y'know, people from outside Society. [which implies, of course, that Quintet is neither of those things; not wild, and not uncivilized] I'm a vegetarian.

[She says it as if it were the most natural thing in the world... And then has to scoff at herself. Alright, it sounds stupid, she knows.]

Well, I'm still a cat, I can't live off plants. What I mean is, I'm not going to eat a person, like your friend down there. But as far as we've been able to tell, fish aren't people, and I'm getting pretty tired of spider, so...

...I'm not going to complain about a fish dinner! [Especially not after a job as big as this. She's getting hungry just thinking about it.] Whereabout do you think the first spillway ought to go?

[deal_me_in]

[Cayde laughs.] I'll say! None have ever directly asked me about dinner before! Well, there's Salem I guess.

I have no proof that whatever's down there will eat people and am inclined to make sure we don't have to find out.

Can't imagine what spider tastes like. Crab, maybe? Oh hey, what are your feelings on lobster? There's some big ones that hang around the beach sometimes.

[He turns to regard the rooftops then, starting along the outer edge.]

Let's see... At least this whole building group is kind of on its own over here so there's not too much to worry about getting wet.

[quintet]

What? Oh, no... I meant the bird. Your friend?

[The chicken, Cayde, at the bar. Because chickens are people.]

I've never had lobster before. One of my teachers was a pinniped, though, she used to rave about it... but it was the wrong season, when I was studying. [But he's moving now, and she comes to stand by him, following his gaze.] Yeah, at least we don't have to worry about drowning anyone's house. It's already kind of ruined down there anyways.

But still, the structure itself...

[deal_me_in]

OH! I thought- Know what, never mind.

Yeah, Colonel won't take kindly to the attempt anyway. She already made it clear to Salem she wasn't anyone's lunch. [He chuckles fondly as he thinks of his brave battle chicken.]

I'm thinkin'... [He continues along, boots splashing through the water that's gathered across parts of the rooftop after the latest bit of rain. He starts jogging along the walls that stretch between the buildings, keeping his balance with ease as he traces his way around to the other buildings.]

How about here in the upper part of the parapet here?

[The copse of buildings is weirdly fortress-like for the wall that joins each one.]

You can tell where the usual water level would be about if you look there. A few holes in the wall shouldn't compromise it if they're spread out enough. Maybe in each of the walls joining up the buildings, just above the level things'd usually be at.