<+=/ Jenna \=+>

Jenna watched on with rapt attention, mesmerized again, as Lycra's fingers moved and flexed with deft precision to carve the final crystal into its necessary composite shape. He looked at the completed product with his gleaming eyes, and gave a content nod as he slotted it into place and closed a cover on a long bench covered in tools and controls. He flashed Jenna a fang-toothed smile, and then focused towards the object of his real attention.

Most of her people had been convinced that the Belar amor and weapons should have been used. Some wanted to see it destroyed or left untouched. Lycra had not shared their opinion - and like nearly everything else, he was the one that got his way. The reality there was that he squirreled away a dozen sets of 'intact' armor and told everyone not to touch his laboratory. The only person allowed inside - and the only person he'd decided to call a friend - was Jenna.

After her initial hero worship had abated, Jenna realized Lycra was in fact 'just a person'. He ate and drank and rested just like any of them would. He happened to also be a person of immense intelligence and power, who was ostensibly odd, but undeniably magnetic. She still felt a bit awkward about their first interactions, when she learned that calling someone an alien was not a good thing to do. But he didn't hold a grudge or treat her poorly. He treated her and the rest of her people well, if somewhat distant. He had conquered Belar's forces in the first camp to rescue them, and every time beasts or other foes wandered in close enough, he ferociously fought them off. His contraptions and bravery had earned him a following that went beyond the faction he'd created. Still, none of those blooming sycophants had been given the same special treatment that Jenna was.

To most, she was the person Lycra chose as a 'second in command' to run things - though she'd quickly found a way to shuffle most of those responsibilities off to a larger, more wide-minded group. After all, she would rather spend her time with the genius than try to coddle a bunch of former officers and military members completely unused to being at the bottom of the power structure. So, the people of their tutorial instance were largely left to their own devices, so long as they followed Lycra's rules and met Jenna's requests.

One of the first requests she'd given them was knowledge. Her tutorial had been populated with the members of the experimental research facility where her cigar-craft was tested, so they were not lacking in brainpower - even with only the first settlement members to pick from. Topics ranged from engineering, to architecture, to logistics, command theory, advanced mathematics, and even diplomacy. He tore into each subject like a starving man offered a meal. Very quickly, it became apparent which subjects he enjoyed - as he would only invite those 'experts' back. Everything centered around his wants and whims, and his pace brought surprise and admiration from their brightest minds.

Lycra twisted a dial on the bench, and beyond the protective barrier, a white flame ignited from a crystal fueled device, then concentrated into a green beam. Lycra gave Jenna one more toothy grin, and she returned his smile with a nod. She was ready - in truth, her role was barely that of an assistant to the genius - but she had been with him through the first four attempts, and she would be with him when he succeeded. The green beam turned and sparked as it connected with the burgundy metal, and Jenna couldn't help but flinch.

The first attempt had singed skin and flung them both into the far wall. They used stronger protective measures through the next three experiments - though those too had given them headaches and some singed skin when they went wrong. Lycra took each failure like a challenge. He threw himself wholly into the tasks and work, whether success or unexpected results greeted him. She admired his dauntless spirit and eager mind. His willingness to plunge into the unknown - and master it.

Seconds ticked by as he worked, and she shifted to the set of controls and knobs that would be her area of responsibility for the operation. Her heartbeat joined the thrum of the beam and the low warble from the shields - and Lycra's happy humming.

His nimble fingers danced as the beam rotated, lowered, and rose around an oblong point on the armor's breastplate. The smoothness in motion looked like calligraphy.

After another tense few minutes, Lycra slowly backed the beam out of the metal, and shut off the power. Jenna sprang into motion, table rattling slightly as her set of controls brought forth an arm that pulled the cut piece of armor into the air, and placed it gently into a box made from steel and aggregate, layered with water and sand. As soon as the item was in, her left hand piloted another arm that gently lowered a metal lid onto the box, and Lycra restarted his green beam. He nodded to himself, and gave Jenna a smile. She returned it, and allowed herself to take a hand off the controls to give him a thumbs up. The exchange was mostly superstition at this point, but she did it with each attempt, at each step.

"One node done."

Lycra's eyes sparkled at her expected words, their golden yellow hue empowered her with the feeling that the two of them together could accomplish anything. He turned back towards the operation and half-whispered to himself.

"Eighteen to go."

Jenna watched on as Lycra's fingers danced.

#

#

Extra sand poured down onto the final node, and the heavy lid let out a thunk as it shifted into place. She flipped another switch that engaged a set of 4 latches and locked the receptacle shut.

They were exhausted, but neither of them dared move. Lycra's focus was locked on the chopped up armor. This, now, was the most dangerous point. Each successive cut had made the armor more and more unstable. If Lycra had succeeded, they would be fine. If not... she double checked the shield was still fully fueled. Lycra waited for another few moments, and his eyes glinted. He shifted his hand, and sent a remote operated arm slamming into the side of the sliced up armor. Jenna flinched with her whole body.

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There were no rumbles. No shakes or light. The metal just - groaned slightly.

She stared on in amazement. Jenna still didn't fully understand how Lycra identified which pieces of the suits needed to be removed, or even that it was possible - but now he had proven it was. He'd succeeded in the goal he put forth and... she realized she didn't have a clue what happened next.

Lycra piloted the arm into the metal again for good measure. When nothing exploded, a wave of excitement flowed through him. He lifted both hands into the air, and circled the room in a dance with happy shouts.

"Yah yah! Yah yah! Yah yah!"

His dance carried him to her, and Lycra's hug slammed her from the side. He lifted his excited, beaming smile. The glint in his eye was an infectious thing.

"We did it, Jenna! We diffused the bomb!"

She joined him in the odd, circling dance until both of them slowed. Lycra's yellow eyes were fixed on her own, staring deep into her. She could hear her heart thrumming in her ears again.

"Jenna," He started. His words were full of eager excitement. Then he pointed to a storage room where the rest of the volatile armor suits waited. "Let's do it again!"

#

#

The old officer ran his hand over the seams of his patchwork power armor, a mix of burgundy and silvery metals with plenty of hooks and storage space for 'grenades'.

"...and you're absolutely certain these reworked suits are safe?"

Lycra nodded, full of confidence. "Probably."

Hirvonen, the de-facto 'tactical leader' of their newly-outfitted combat forces turned a raised eyebrow to Jenna. She ignored the question and went back to the half-done map sitting on the table.

"So, based on what we know, the other bases here aren't well manned. They've clustered them around certain locations based on resource gathering, and they have an unequal ratio of guards to Vuxarinans. With those suits, you'll stand up to their blaster fire, and the grenades you're equipped with will give you offensive and defensive options, in addition to the reforged rifles. You're going to attack the two bases here, to the Northwest. Hitting both at once will prevent them from focusing reinforcements, and it will give us more raw material to make combat equipment from. Try to kill the guards without damaging their equipment, if you can."

Hirvonen gave a slow nod. "No promises. Are you two going to be alright by yourselves against this beast quest?"

Jenna looked to where Lycra was mouthing sound effects while he slowly swung his ivory sword through the air.

"Probably."

#

#

Cold air whipped at their backs, thankfully carrying their scent down and away from the series of targets milling about in the space below. Stone made noise as one of the protection squad volunteers shifted with impatience, and Jenna held up a hand for them all to remain still. Hirvonen mirrored her motion to his team. The 'combat' squads were here as observers to the 'field test', but if things went awry, they would all have plenty of chances to fight.

Lycra softly hummed to himself as he adjusted a silvery wire that was wound around one of several mana crystals set into a modified rifle. He popped open a cover near the back, and confirmed the round inside was seated properly. A deft finger flipped three switches on the side of the weapon, and it sparked slightly as the whole thing let out a low reverberation. Lycra shifted himself, and pulled the trigger. The crystals mounted on the weapon flashed in quick succession, almost too fast for her eyes to follow.

The round leapt forward with frightening speed, and slammed into one of the naturally armored, bovine style beasts below. It started to crumple in on itself, then exploded at the point of impact - its body torn into two segments that flew far away from one another. Lycra was smiling. Hirvonen's jaw was slack. His team had encountered one of the targets in the final stage of the 'Elite Beast Questline' by a stroke of bad luck, and knew exactly how tough the things were. His officers held similar expressions, and some turned their incredulity back to their small genius.

"Ow. That hurt."

Jenna ran her eyes over his small frame, decked head to toe in ivory armor. She didn't see any wounds. Lycra pushed the box with the other solid metal rounds over to her, then handed her the weapon. He rubbed at his forehead.

"Lycra, are you alright?"

He waved her off. "Evolving to F grade hurts. You shoot the rest. I need to take notes." His fingers flipped open a battered notebook to a page with a large, blocky title - "RAIL GUN TOOL" - and started scribbling down fine detail.

Jenna tried - and failed - to process his words. He just evolved to F grade? Right now? No one else was even close to that mark. The immediate shift to notetaking wasn't at all unusual, but she'd had no idea about his actual level before. The beasts below were cautiously inspecting their dead friend. She could ponder on his absurd feat later. For now, she needed to flex the skill that had allowed her to function as his lab aide - and accomplish a great many other things.

Versatile Operator [Rare]

Gain proficiency and experience with operated devices such as tools, machinery, and equipment at an increased rate. Advanced practitioners may translate prior experience to new operations. Highly advanced practitioners may gain innate understandings of the items they operate.

The rifle felt good as she tucked the stock against her shoulder, and placed a metal slug inside. The switches flipped smoothly, and the reverberation told her the weapon was ready to send another round downrange. Every beast she could remove was one less the whole group would need to fight. The railgun's recoil was different from the rifles the air force had her train with. Instead of a sudden burst, it came as an elongated, building intensity. The projectile rocketed forth from the muzzle, and caught another of the beasts near its heart. The organ was turned to mist along with the rest of a five-foot-wide hole that opened just under its shoulder.

Jenna focused on her task, on the operation of the weapon, and herself as an extension of that process. She fired the rifle, over and over again until the final beast was slain.

Questline completion notices flashed by, similar to the stage-specific ones they'd seen more then 30 times now as they worked through the different levels of beast extermination quests. It was capped by something new.

NOTICE: Difficulty Upgrade Triggered!

The sky went dark as blue-grey clouds rolled into existence. Thunder accompanied cylinders of light that flashed down over different sections of the tutorial space. This couldn't be normal. She looked to Lycra, who had just evolved. His eyes glinted with each column of light, and his mouth was open in awe. When they ceased, he furiously scribbled intricate notes on a new page, and ended the writing with excited letters that were written large enough for Jenna to read. She fought an urge to rub her temples. Lycra was about to bury himself in his lab again. She was going to need to force him to eat, and rest - just like she'd had to while he crafted the rifle that just easily cut down over a dozen powerful beasts.

"I GET TO BUILD A BIGGER GUN!"

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