Only a Crack

[tyrants_son]

WHO: Felwinter and whoever
WHERE: Security Tower and the area below
WHAT: A little clean-up.
WHEN: Post-volcano evacuation release
WARNINGS: N/A


The warlord had no heavy attachments to the tower that he's more or less been dwelling in ever since his arrival. It was a location, strategic for its height and the view it offered, as well as near impregnable for the lack of working mundane means to get up to the upper floors. No one had seemed to have any interest in fixing the elevator, much less going up to the top, and so Felwinter was more or less left in peace.

The place is a mess, even more so than when he'd first found it. Broken glass crunches underfoot as he steps out onto the main floor, Felspring drifting forward to start surveying the damage to the rest of the interior. Felwinter meanwhile steps directly towards the gaping windows that still had broken shards lining its edges.

He turns to take in the rest of the mess, telltale scorch marks weathering some of the consoles and the floor, and what scant furniture he'd brought up to the space. Although long dry, the large, high-back chair bore signs of damage from both the fire that must have sparked with the explosion and the water that had at least succeeded in putting it out. He fingers the ruined finish, dropping his hand to look at the fried systems as he saw his Ghost scanning them. Well, there's work to be done. He removes his helmet, setting it on an equally damaged table before starting to gather up larger pieces of glass.

Eventually he'd be found outside of the tower, and if he isn't setting out broken glass in a box by the doorway, then he's hovering outside of the windows high above, breaking off what sections had still been lodged in the frame.


((OOC: If anyone's interested in trying to fix the network you can bother Felwinter about it when he's outside or be caught trying to figure out how to get to the top floor or what have you~))

Comments

[plate_builder]

And of course here is Reeve. The man was limping around on an improvised crutch, Mini at his side holding a notepad with a pencil taking notes.

"Hello up there," Reeve called up as he saw Felwinter hovering up above. "Trouble?"

[tyrants_son]

The warlord glances down before freeing another large piece of glass from the window. He drops down a bit before letting himself drift the rest of the way to settle not far from Reeve and his companion.

"The glass is just the half of it," he says, tossing it into a box already sitting full of shards. "There appears to have been a malfunction with the systems within, but I suppose it could have been worse."

[plate_builder]

Just the half? That's not good to hear. Reeve nods along with the rest while Mini starts to write on the notepad.

"Indeed it could. The place still seems standing. I figure this is where the communication network passes through and is processed. So you've sort of got a priority in my book."

[tyrants_son]

"It would explain why the network is down. I am not entirely sure as to the cause. The damage looks to be an overload from within, and the explosion I had seen would suggest likewise."

He turns his metal face towards the tower's upper levels.

[plate_builder]

"Explosion?" Reeve asks, shocked to hear it. "Oh my. I dont' know if that happened anywhere else. Why did it happen I wonder?"

And he feels concerned to hear it had.

[tyrants_son]

Felwinter shakes his head. "I don't know. Convenient timing. I wonder if we may have missed any further attempted correspondence with the Agrii due to the network failure," he wonders. "Regardless, a volcanic eruption should not have caused it."

[plate_builder]

"Convenient indeed," Reeve says.

Until this moment Reeve hadn't been aware that the loss had been during the eruption. He had assumed it to be later, while they were already underground. How suspicious.

"Do you think sabotage by one of our own, or by our foes?"

[tyrants_son]

Perhaps in some ways it was fortunate that the Exo lingered as long as he could above ground to make certain that everyone had evacuated.

"...I don't know what the purpose would be, if it were one of our own. But for as long as I have been here, I have seen no one else take interest in the tower nor seen signs of previous tampering for my time there." He shakes his head. "By the opposition would make more sense, but regardless, it is in need of repairs."

[plate_builder]

Yes, it was very fortunate indeed. And likely lives had been saved by that fact.

"I suppose that is fair, not that we have not had trouble makers. That Wilson, and of course Beck."

And Felwinter had been one of the ones to catch Beck. If this Exo though it wasn't likely that it was one of their current number, Reeve had faith in that opinion.

"Are all of the damages up at the level you were just hovering at?"

If so that would mean Reeve could do little but consult from the ground. How frustrating.

[tyrants_son]

There is a perceptible narrowing of the Exo's optics at mention of Beck. No, he does not miss the man. He wouldn't hesitate if he ever saw his face again. Fool him once and as the saying goes...

Felwinter nods. "It is as you say," he confirms, glancing again towards the top of the tower.

[plate_builder]

Reeve does not miss him either, and he was not so harmed by the man as others. That man would be an ice sculpture if he returned.

"Might want to call out someone to help with some of it. York perhaps? He's another engineer."

[tyrants_son]

"York..." the Exo echoes, calling up the roster of Temba's current inhabitants to mind. "I'll mark the name." He remembers the face. The non-human human, the android wearing skin.

"Knowing the possible people to call upon and finding them complicate things. If you come across him first, apprise him of the situation, not that it is unknown."

[plate_builder]

That is fair indeed, as there is no network to work with.

"I shall do what I can, though I fear I am not heavily mobile right now. Will teach me to better dodge bookshelves I suppose."

network fixing is go

[quark_assassin]

There's a lot to be done now that they're all back on the surface. A lot of rubble to clear, a lot of personal projects to pursue - Dustin could realistically focus in on any of them and feel like he's making a difference. But still, even with how infrequently he uses it, Dustin recognizes the importance of getting the Network running again. It also gives him an excuse to attempt to deploy a secondary project that's been rattling around in his head ever since Donatello introduced the thought to him.

A day of harried work, failure, going through more precious materials than he's comfortable with, inexplicable tool malfunctions, questioning his sanity, and then stubbornly refusing defeat and pushing through anyway, followed, and now Dustin wants to punch Donnie in the face. Instead, he seeks out Felwinter. Dustin wouldn't trust anyone else to help him install this horrible, temperamental piece of technology, while also fixing the underlying Network in spite of it.

Obviously he can't contact him remotely, so Dustin just walks up to the security tower with the expectation that the Exo will already be there or will show up eventually. He's not disappointed - which might be hard to tell from how flustered Dustin looks. Still in his exosuit, eyes bloodshot like he hasn't slept, carrying his satchel in his arms like it's both precious and might explode into shrapnel at any moment. He slinks up to the clearing surrounding the even more damaged than usual tower, stops, locates Felwinter hovering around one of the windows several stories up.

"Felwinter," Dustin calls, sounding hoarse. "Busy?"

[tyrants_son]

He's about finished removing what portions of glass had yet been stuck within the framework. At Dustin's shout, the Exo glances down.

"A moment," he says, gathering the large piece up. He abruptly drops down halfway before drifting the rest to land gently on the ground. Turning the glass in hand, he steps over to put it into the box with the rest he'd gathered before he gives Dustin a nod.

"...are you well?" he adds in afterthought as he looks him over.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin waits, but he's surprisingly impatient about it, refusing to sit still as he shifts his weight between the exosuit's footholds and agitatedly drumming his fingers against the satchel. He immediately turns to start walking as soon as Felwinter lands, with the expectation that he'll follow.

The question isn't something Dustin is expecting, though that doesn't stop him from answering a fraction of a second after it leaves the Exo's helmet. "--No," he says, voice tight. "Tired. Hungry. Wasting a lot of time on something that probably isn't even going to work."

Dustin twists to glance over his shoulder, but he doesn't miss a beat. "Are you still attuned to the Communications data point?"

[tyrants_son]

It doesn't take much prompting for the Exo to start after him. Dustin was hardly ever at rest, and even if his body was in one place, his mind was probably turning gears upon gears on any number of thoughts.

"There's been much to see to," Felwinter says, not bothering to insist that the boy rest or eat, all of the above, at least not right this moment. Dustin's well aware of his status, and that's at least a start.

"I am," he nods then. "What have you been working on?"

[quark_assassin]

Aware and very annoyed by it. At least Felwinter isn't the type to pry like that, and much to Dustin's relief, he recognizes and gets right to the point.

"Network's down," he points out. "Need to fix it. It's not secure enough for delicate operations, but it's obviously still helpful for emergency communications and contact with Sh'Ka, among other things."

Dustin looks over his shoulder again, but this time, his expression is a bit more manic.

"I think I know a way to get around the security concerns, too."

[tyrants_son]

The warlord cranes his head back towards the tower top. "The main system apparently is housed there. Something shorted it out before the eruption. Unfortunately I do not have the corresponding data point to assess more than the fact that there will likely have to some heavy rewiring."

He tilts a look back at Dustin then. A workaround for the ever-existent security issues would definitely be interesting to hear. "What do you aim to do?"

[quark_assassin]

Ah - the missing piece of where the main system is. Dustin pivots on his heel to start brusquely walking back towards the tower, sweeping past Felwinter as he goes.

"I think I can manage," he murmurs. Getting someone with Engineering involved will probably, ultimately be necessary, but that isn't going to stop Dustin from taking a look himself first.

Secondary goals, though. "New Network," Dustin says simply. "Piggyback off of the existing infrastructure, but utilize a different frequency band to transmit messages under our own encryption. We'd have complete control over security protocols."

[tyrants_son]

"We will need to climb," the warlord notes. The elevator had been in a bad state of disrepair, and it apparently deterred anyone from seeking the upper levels. Which worked out fine for a paranoid Exo who wanted somewhere relatively fortified to stay in.

He had done little to the lower levels save to clear up the most obvious mess of build-up from the years of abandonment. At a glance it isn't very obvious, but no one seemed to have any interest in the place and so it was one less thing to worry about for Felwinter.

"I suppose now would be the ideal time to attempt such," he nods as Dustin explains his intentions.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin nods in turn as he follows Felwinter into the tower. He pauses for a second to glance around, take in the state of things. A frown crosses his face. The place is cleaned enough that it might not be considered a hazard, but it's obvious that Felwinter doesn't make much use of the landing level, either. And why should he? The guy can fly, and he neither expects nor wants visitors. The upper levels might be different.

"That's what I thought, too," he murmurs. Speaking of Felwinter's special skillset - Dustin opens his mouth to suggest that they just fly up there, but thinks better of it a moment later with the memory of them stuck together in the memorial sitting clear in the front of his brain. He closes his mouth. "We'll climb."

[tyrants_son]

The Exo nods, stepping towards the doors of the lift, which could have been mistaken as just an entrance to another room for the permanent state of its being opened. The doors were probably permanently jammed open ever since Felwinter had pried them apart enough to slip inside.

He cautions Dustin once he sets foot inside, gesturing towards the floor, sunk in about a foot because it was an empty shaft and not the elevator car itself. That...is stuck half-a-ways up the tower, although someone's carved a gaping floor hatch into its bottom to get around the obstruction. Or rather, through.

The cables are at least strong and demonstrated by a tug as Felwinter gestures to them, but then he's not sure how Dustin intends to go about climbing. But the Exo will let him go first.

[quark_assassin]

Dustin pokes his head through the doors, just far enough that he can take a cautious glance upwards and see what they're working with. Absolutely not at all surprised that the derelict elevator car has simply been sliced through like an annoying bit of detritus. At least the lift cable is still intact, and if Felwinter trusts its integrity, then so does Dustin. He steps the rest of the way inside.

Thankfully, his exosuit is already on and ready to do the heavy lifting - literally. Dustin carefully wraps the strap of his satchel around his real forearm to hold it in place, grips the cable with its metal hands, mimics Felwinter's test with a double-fisted tug, then easily lifts himself off the ground and starts to ascend, one robotic hand over the other. It's a stark contrast to the raw lack of physicality Dustin has displayed before and he seems totally unfazed by it.

[tyrants_son]

Dustin's fancy suit has been quite a curiosity, but since it's use has been more or less clear, Felwinter has seen no reason to ask about it. He watches as the teenager starts his climb, so casually too!

The Exo waits until Dustin gets to the elevator car itself before he'll start up himself.

The emergency hatch of the elevator is predictably open once within the car, the doors also pulled open to allow entry to the floor it was caught between, although it doesn't look like much has been done there.