| Fishing Up Some Company | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary: Serenity and Rayne test out some equipment Ren found in a storage room at TASK.     |
Serenity seems to be supplying the equipment today, though most of it is signed out of TASK's stores. Ren has a small tablet with forward and rearward-facing 3D cameras. It's currently encased in a excessively solid-looking chunk of clear plastic secured with thick bolts. The case has hand grips build into the sides. Also tucked in the storage bin of the environment suit is a weighty collection of coils, wires, and circuit boards packed into a clear thick plastic pipe capped on both ends. This device isn't so solidly protected, being packed in just a large zippered food-storage bag. Catching up with Rayne, Ren lifts a pair of fins to offer her a wave. "Hello!" Ren calls, rippling over to her. "You're certainly well-equipped for a fishing trip." Rayne laughs and shakes her head. "A trip to the docks where I might fish up a sea monster is a very different situation from having dinner at the Usual Restaurant. I may be more open to going out unarmored now, but I see this as a relatively high-risk situation, given my track record in literally fishing up trouble." She grins broadly, though. "Not that I actually expect it, mind you, but... well, it does seem to have a higher chance of trouble than, say, the park." She peers at Ren's equipment and asks, "So how's this going to work? Hard wiring it all together? "Fair enough," Ren replies cheerily, extending a portion of fin to poke at the armor. "You did happen to start a fight and to catch a sea monster right here. I'm still not willing to claim, though, that the wilderness is much less safe than the streets of town." Ren then motions towards the cylinder at her question. "Now, apparently this wireless base station will perform better than the usual radios through the water. I did manage to wirelessly tie it to my wearable back at TASK with a minimum of technical skills needed. But I can't tell you if it will continue to behave. For all I know, it's powered by telepathic insects with short attention spans." Rayne tilts her head at the mention of the cylinder. "Then what's with all the other stuff? Why all those wires if this is supposed to work underwater just fine? Ooooorrrr, is it to hook up to my laptop?" She sets down all her carried equipment and takes a closer look at all the equipment that Ren had brought. "Indeed. I am hoping that it can connect wirelessly to your laptop too," Ren picks up the camera in the lower parts of both fins, then folds over partway and transfers it to a higher grip. "If I understand it correctly, this camera should still be connected and the whole system start working as soon as your laptop is recognized." Ren adds, "I think we should live the base station on the dock, though. I have learned by experience not to trust human electronics underwater, even if they look sealed, unless they are specifically labeled with a pressure rating." Rayne nods to Serenity. "Yeah, I definitely wouldn't take things underwater that aren't specifically designed for it. We air breathers tend to assume everything is going to work in air, and typically don't consider what we can't breathe. Alright, then, lemme connect to this thing." She sits down on a bench and pulls out the laptop. After waiting a moment for it to start up, she works on it for another moment before saying, "Ah, found it. Okay, let's see... Got the video chat program running and... let's see if it works!" "Hh, yes. I imagine that items designed for water wouldn't perform so well in vacuum," Ren admits thoughtfully. As Rayne gets the laptop going, Ren attempts to set the base station on the dock by picking it up with the lower portions of the fins... That wasn't so successful. Ren folds over in an uncomfortable-looking fashion and temporarily sets down the camera to grab the cylinder with bunched-up fin edges. (The device isn't all that heavy, but heavy has a different definition when one lacks the leverage of bones.) Depositing it on its end with a 'thunk', Ren picks up the camera again and aims it at Rayne while holding it in front of Ren's snout. Rayne says, "Ehhh, I imagine it would be overbuilt for vacuum. Working in zero-G might be the problem, what with tin whiskers and all. Ah! There I am!" Looks like Rayne sees what Ren is now seeing, and she waves to the camera without looking at it. "Did you need me recording this, or does your device handle that side of things?" "Overbuilt?" Ren remarks curiously. "Atmospheric pressure is already very near zero, true, but I would certainly not go outside in space without a suit." Ren considers the question a moment before nodding. "I'll set the camera to record as well, though we should test the whole system. That is my excuse for playing with TASK equipment, after all." Ren aims the camera outward and turns on the lights, then with eyes shaded aims the main camera inside the mouth. There isn't much to see there, save a great deal of squishy pearly pink and an excellent closeup of the tiny iridescent lines of teeth on Ren's tongue. Rayne makes an odd face. "I'm not quite interested enough in your biology to want a close up of your tonsils... What say we test the effective communications first? Head to just under the dock, and I'll lower the router into the water. Then lets make sure we can talk to each other before you head out to the kelp, yeah?" She sets the laptop on the bench next to her and gets up to take the router. "Hrm. We'll need to secure it." Serenity turns off the light and grins at Rayne before looking down to fiddle with the settings, presumably to find those related to recording. "Yes, that does sound like a good idea to conduct a quick test first," Ren agrees, reaching up to tap on the rhinophore-cuff computer that is supposedly set up as one of the microphones. "I think that we should leave the router on the dock, though. It isn't marked as waterproof- the plastic bag was just an attempt to protect it on my way out here." Ren waves to Rayne before starting off towards the end of the dock. Rayne says, "Oh... huh, I guess I assumed if it was designed to work through water, it was intended to be submerged... Eheheh... Yeah, I guess I'm acting like a true manager now, making stupid assumptions like that..." She waits until Ren has exited her suit before stepping back over to the bench where her laptop is. Sitting down, she sets it in her lap again and says, "Testing. Can ya hear me down there, Ren? How's the water? I'm guessing cold." Serenity parks the suit underneath the dock, just short of being fully submerged, to leave a dome of water projecting above the surface. Ren slides out with a brief backward jet from between the fin layers and makes a somersault before sliding into a smooth undulation. "To be fair," Ren answers via the wearable computer (which apparently has excellent sound), "it didn't say that it was not waterpoof. But as I said, I've developed an abundance of caution there." Ren rolls over with gills facing downward and raises the camera to see Rayne's face and show an image of the water's surface. "The water's not warm, true, but that just makes it fresher." Rayne grins into the camera herself. "Alright then. I say we go ahead and test this thing's range. I mean, we have to test TASK's equipment to its fullest, that is why we're out here today, right?" Suuuuure it is. She stands up, leaving the computer on the bench, but facing it off to the side so that it is pointed at Rayne as she she walks over to her fishing equipment to set up a lure onto her line. "One of the reasons, at least," Ren replies. Peeling away from the dock at greater speed, Ren takes off for deeper water. The camera, held in the leading edges of the left pair of fins, vibrates and jostles in the current. "I think that I'll just go out to the forest to take some footage there. Silencia sounded interested in visiting, I believe." Ren then stops and hangs vertically in the water, the camera pointing at in turn at neon-orange spots, the surface, and a mottled sand seafloor. "That's one discovery already..." Ren remarks. "I thought that carrying the camera wouldn't be too difficult, but perhaps gluing it on would be more convenient." Ren settles on tucking the camera between the left pair of fins midway back before resuming swimming. The camera now moves in a rolling undulation but has stopped jostling. Rayne says, "Once things warm up again, I think I might like to as well... with a proper set of scuba gear, that is." She's set up a blu-tooth earpeice with microphone for her laptop, so she can hear Ren and be heard just fine despite the distance from the computer. "I'm not used to seeing you move with that much speed... even if it is from a first person perspective." Her lure set, she stands up again and tests the wind briefly before flinging the line out to sea. "And now we see how well I can multitask fishing and watching you." "Yes, I would like to share some nature trips with friends when that is more convenient," Ren agrees cheerfully. "As for speed," Ren says, slipping out past the end of bare sands into the seagrass, "I'm better in my element but certainly no racer." Ren dips down from the previous position midway between surface and bottom to skim the vegetation. The pipefish immediately hide in the burrows and shrimp and other sea life flee to the sides. "Well..." Ren adds uncertainly, "I suppose I did move with some speed recently. I still haven't asked what Kotal was doing in the gym, as I was a bit embarrassed at the time." Rayne says, "I think he was working out... It's just that a gym designed for us mere mortals can't quite handle the exercises of a god of war." She laughs lightly. "I'm sure he went all out with the full knowledge that the place could rebuild itself." She reels in the line a bit, tugging from side to side. "True enough. It seems quite well-equipped, too - I can't imagine what some of those machines are for that I haven't seen in use." The camera seems to be adjusting well to the bluer colors and growing gloom, filtering such out with just a bit of noise and a flatness to the red corals and starfish. Ren turns upward to return to the halfway level, some fifty feet from the ground, and pauses to hang vertically there. A smooth flowing of the fins spins Ren slowly around a vertical axis as Ren holds up the camera for a panoramic shot. [[1]] Rayne continues slowly reeling in her line, tugging left and right occasionally, pausing at other times. "Hey, my take on the machines in there is if I don't know what it's for, don't try to figure it out on my own." She watches as Ren shows a panoramic shot of the kelp forest. "Looking good out there... Hey, how far are you? I've got a perfectly fine picture and sound as it is." "A safe policy," Ren agrees. Aiming the camera back towards shore, Ren shows the obscuring blue of a long distance through apparently clear waters. "I didn't think to measure the distance. Perhaps we can do so on a later trip together." Ren tucks the camera back into one wing and proceeds farther out to sea, aiming for one of the kelp trunks. "The bottom drops off a bit at the edge of the forest. Shall I see if the cliff blocks any signal?" Ren takes out the camera again at the kelp, aiming it upwards to the canopy at the surface and downward towards the rocky coral bottom (past the colorful fins intertwined with the green stem." Rayne says, "Right. Commence operation, Ren. Round the corner, but no more than a minute if you don't hear from me. You copy?" She feels a light tug at her line, and pulls back hard before reeling in furiously for a second! Unfortunately, it's almost immediately clear that nothing's on the line, after all. "Dang, lost it." Serenity hangs onto the kelp stem with trailing edges, something like one of the seahorses up above in the well-lit waters of the canopy. Ren is positioned about halfway between the ground and surface, some fifty feet down. The camera Ren holds is securely bolted into a seemingly oversized chunk of clear plastic with molded handles on the sides, presumably as protection from water and pressure. Ren takes one last pan of the surroundings before tucking the device between the middle portions of two layers of fins and proceeding out farther from shore. It has been a quiet time for the siren for a change. She has been settling in to her new abilities, testing them on various sea life and knows the limitations. Having left her grotto with a plan to go gather oysters, both for feeding on and gathering their shiny little pearls, the siren makes her way up from the depths and just over the lip of the drop off on the outside of the kelp forest. She pauses in the water, feeling the vibrations of the sea life, and she senses an odd sort of movement, something not quite normal for her domain. Curiously she follows those vibrations, passing over Ren who is amid the kelp but high enough she isn't instantly seen. Its not a sea creature she is seeking after all but a strange scraping something. The siren makes her way just to the place where the kelp starts amid the rocks and she finds what she seeks, a long strangely snaking...thing..rubbing and strumming against a large rock. She has seen wires and cords before and knows them to be human in making and so after finding it, she follows it back into the kelp forest. Serenity is perhaps less observant than Morgana, particularly about the distinction between natural and artificial, and so continues on through the kelp forest at the fifty-foot depth even as the bottom becomes steeper. Ren weaves though the stems that reach to the illuminated surface and blue gloom of the rocks and coral below. Ren pulls the solidly-encased tablet out from between two fins and rolls belly-up to aim the camera at the surface with both pairs of fins. "I copy," Ren agrees with Rayne, whose voice comes from the rhinophore-cuff computer. "I do hope that the pressure rating on this case was accurate..." Rayne says, "Well, only one way to find out, right Ren? Into the depths! Show me what's down there, yeah?" She tugs the line a couple of times and... fish on! She pulls back hard to set the hook and reels in furiously for a few seconds, this time she's definitely got something on her lure! "Got one!" The siren followed that thick cable back into the kelp forest, nearly to its center until it ends by joining up with a thick and larger cable that is buried all but where the thinner one is grafted to it. The siren frowns, it looks like some manner of cable the landed use on those over head poles of theirs. She would have to ask Doommuffin about these things and if they pose harm to her territory. With intent to return to the oyster beds the siren heads back toward the thickest part of the kelp bed by the drop off. As she draws closer to that place she catches sight of color, blues and orange. With a soft gentle spill of song the siren calls to that soft bodied color flash. "Certainly," Ren replies, tucking the tablet away and turning downward toward the edge of the cliff. "Hh? Did you hook a...?" Ren begins to inquire curiously about her exclamation. Ren breaks off at the song. "I may need to leave the camera behind," Ren mentions uncertainly, "if that is someone who shouldn't be here and not Morgana." Aiming it downward, Ren turns on the light in two groups of three. Rayne says, "Ren... Is something wrong? Don't leave the camera behind! If it's not Morgana, and is a threat, I'm gonna need to see what's going on in there!" She can indeed hear the song through her laptop's speakers. It sounds like Morgana to Rayne, but if Ren's not sure, that worries her. And with her concentration split too far, she looses a lot of line to whatever she has hooked before she realizes her mistake. "Damnit." All predators can sense the panic of prey animals and well, Morgana is a natural predator and knows panic can draw others. She builds on that song and throws a heavy dose of command into it, be calm its rings, fear not, it demands. The notes pure and crystalline filling the waters and being carried as sound is almost tangibly to Ren as the siren moves closer and looks about to assure there is no true danger to the bright sea child. Miners are generally viewed as bad news to natural resources. They dig up mines in mountains and blow them up for their riches and they drill deep holes in the sea and spill oil all over its pristine waters. Dwarven miners in the other hand, are very much the fey of the earth - but don't you dare call a dwarf a fey to their face or they'll probably cave your face in. As being children of the ground, soil and stone, dwarven miners go to painstaking effort to respect the ground they mine. Muradin is no different and he has set about cleaning the depths of the sea of contaminating trash that he has found when tunneling like crazy. Said dorf is currently underwater, walking about in his deep diving suit whilst picking up rubbish and stuffing it in a bag. As he ambles around the kelp forest. He finds that thick cable and hooks his mining pick up on it curiously to give it a few yanks down. Is this another one of Doommuffin's apparatus? He doesn't recall the gnome girl telling him of something like this. Then comes the unmistakable sound of Morgana's song and he activates the speakers of his diving suit to call out; "Oi, wot tha' sod is going on 'ere??" His blunt manner of speech almost the exact opposite of Morgana's melodic song. It helps though, because while Ren might not recognize the siren's call, no one in Twisted talks like that other than Muradin Bronzebeard. "As I mentioned before, it's a bit awkward to hold the camera and swim properly a the same time," Ren explains, pausing in place with station-keeping ripples of the fin edges. "But no, I don't expect any trouble." Ren adds after hearing the curse, "Not here, at least?" With the greater intensity of the song, Ren 'blinks' and looks downward to spot Morgana. Ren doesn't seem to notice anything amiss with the singing, perhaps because the suggestion doesn't conflict with what Ren was trying to do already. Ren waves a 'wing' to her while maintaining position with the opposite pair of fins. "Hh... Hello, Morgana..." Serenity rasps, orienting horizontally and facing her. Ren then adds for Rayne's benefit. "And I believe that I have some additional company, too." Rayne continues reeling in whatever it is she's caught; tugging, reeling, giving it line, then reeling again. She's doing her best to do both that and pay attention to the laptop at the same time, causing her to be a bit at a loss for what to say for a bit, until Ren mentions Morgana by name. "Oh, good," replies Rayne as that minor bit of drama is over. "Say hello to her for me too, Ren? I'm still reading you loud and clear. And whoever else that is?" She trusts Morgana enough to not be worried about the second person. The voice is a bit familiar, but she can't quite place it. The sirens strong tail undulates and propels her toward the sea slug. Dark hair moves like sea grass around her as she draws to a stop, bringing herself up right to face Ren. "Salutations Serenity. It is good to see you in the sea again where you belong. What are you doing? And what is that strange thing with you? Did I hear another voice?" as the siren looks for Rayne, having heard her voice but can't seem to find her about. When Muradin calls the siren turns and emits a burst of sound, something like a whistle, sharp and clear. A signal to her mate to let him know all is well and where she is. Why, that sounds like Ren! And that whistle signal from his siren is enough to let Muradin know that all is well. He presses a button in his dive suit to return Morgana's signal and hops over to their direction, rising and falling slowly with each step as if there was low gravity. Its a slow process.. walking underwater and all, not to mention that Muradin is not terribly fast to begin with being a dwarf, but he gets there in due time. "Oi!" He waves over at Ren, his voice being a bit muffled due to the water but still carrying over just fine. Is this the first time that Ren sees him with his dive suit? If so, he can understand if there were was any confusion at the beginning. "I'll do so," Ren replies. Ren adopts a vertical posture and shifts downward a bit to match Morgana's height. Without the danger of dunking anyone, Ren seems entirely comfortable with a close conversational distance (and the siren sans pants seems to sit better with Ren when she has a tail). Ren looks a bit puzzled by the whistle. "Yes, Rayne says hello," Ren explains, reaching up with a leading edge to indicate the wearable computer. "I'm not intending to move out into the wilderness. Rather, I am testing some equipment that TASK had in storage," Ren holds up the sealed tablet, first with the main camera lens facing Morgana and then turning it around to show the view from Rayne's computer (which sits on the dock facing up at her). As Muradin speaks up from below, Ren glances down into the blue gloom and waves to the figure there before giving an inquisitive look to Morgana. Rayne's line suddenly goes completely slack as she continues reeling it in... and she knows she's lost the fish. She sighs and finishes reeling the lure back in for another throw. Now that she doesn't have to concentrate on her fishing hardly at all, she smiles and waves to the camera as the siren is shown. "Hey Morgana. How're things in the depths? It looks beautiful down there, Ren was just showing me around, so to speak." Of course she's a little worried Morgana might think TASK is muscling in on her territory again... So the phoenix is trying to be extra friendly to the siren. Morgana hovers easily in the water at level with the sea slug. A small frown creases her brow "TASK, this is a formal endeavor? It is something Kotal sent you and Rayne to do? Does TASK mean to invade my waters?" yep Rayne has the right of it, friendly or not the siren is concerned. She offers a polite wave to Rayne and something akin to a smile in greeting though after her rapid fire questions. When Mura looks inquisitively at her she calls down to him "Serenity is taking some manner of picture of the sea and some how Rayne is seeing it and talking with her." Woop. Muradin arrives just in time to overhear Morgana ask if there's another TASK invasion of the waters going on. "Oh bloody hell. Is that wot's going on?" Mutters the dorf who still has his speaker on for all to hear, he ain't the type to hide what he's thinking. Looking up, Muradin watches as how Morgana gestures to a device Serenity is carrying with her, and he manages to get good enough of a view to recognize. "That's one of them tablet doohikies. I think Doommuffin called 'em efficient but boring. It lets ye see and talk with other folks that have 'em." He tries to explain. After Morgana waves, Ren points the main lens down at Muradin. There's a view of Serenity's outfit and Morgana's tail, but it also shows the diving suit after a moment to adjust to the dim light reading the ground that's a few dozen more feet from the forest canopy. "Hh... no," Ren replies with an answering frown at the question. "This is purely on my own initiative. I thought that it would be helpful to know how well the equipment would work in the event that TASK needed to assist anyone in the area." Rayne says, "Yeah, basically, Ren found the equipment in a storage room and we thought it would be neat to try it out. It might be interesting to watch my lure in the future, and see what happens when I catch a fish," she offers for a future experiment. "Really, though, when Ren came up with the idea I was all for it just to see what's down there without... having to do it myself." She shrugs, setting her fishing rod down for the moment. The conversation seems a bit more important for the moment." The siren lifts her head and looks stern and thoughtful for a long moment. "You are both welcome here of course to explore and enjoy the pleasure and bounty of the sea. TASK however is not formally welcome. Kotal has been told I will patrol and protect these waters. This thing you have though, I believe might well be useful to that end. If one of these things were placed on the dock and one was with in my grotto, those who need my attention could get it with out having to pound on the pier posts." She looks to her made "what say you My Chosen?" Muradin places his mining pick on the back of his neck lazily and listens whilst Morgana delegates with the TASK representatives. He can be a diplomat when needed but this was his siren's land and she's the one who calls the shoots here. Muradin just kind of blindly follows her unless he finds something is really amiss, which he hasn't yet in all the time he's been with Morgana. As the siren mentions having one of those tablets in order to request her presence by the landfolk, Muradin can only nod his head in agreement, which is still noticeable despite the chunky diving suit he's wearing. "Aye, if it'll stop blokes from banging on tha' bloody pier to get our attention all tha' time, I'm certainly fer it." Looks like someone doesn't enjoy getting yanked to shore every time someone is trying to summon Morgana. "Probably would wanna give Doommufin one of 'em too. For her own good more than anything, it'd be easier to keep tha' lass outta trouble if she has a means to contact us." "I will try not to cause trouble for anyone," Ren acknowledges after hearing the warning. "I am sure that we could arrange for the purchase, and perhaps gift if there were public security concerns involved, of some suitable equipment for everyone." Ren begins to drift downward just slightly toward Muradin, perhaps aiming not to leave him out by being so far above. "Although we eventually made other arrangements, I actually did suggest videoconferencing as a way to communicate with you," Ren mentions, motioning toward Morgana, "when you were...hh... not seeing visitors." Ren continues quickly, "In any case, yes, instant communication can indeed help one avoid many little frustrations." Rayne says, "Man.... That actually really is a good idea. I wish I'd thought of it. I'm pretty sure we can get that approved on account of... cross-jurisdiction communication purposes." She frowns, thinking that sounded almost techno-babbly. "But we've not really tested the extent of the router's range... unless you guys want a hard line going from the dock down to... wherever you guys live. Give you a sort of video-doorbell, so to speak." Morgana nods to Ren. "I do not believe you would be trouble Ren. I admit worry for you when alone in the water as you have little to protect you from harm, but, I recall from our first meeting ,you have something of a defense." The siren folds her hands at the rest and nods again "you did suggest that and more, how ever it was not what I need to grow strong again and sane. I needed freedom and connection not Kotals demands and a cage, however pleasant that cage was made. I belong here. We have things of value that can be traded for this I believe. Some of my treasures would be adequate I believe, yes Muradin? To pay for these things? So that we could speak with those above to be assured we are truly needed before coming to the surface?" The Mountain King has spent enough time along the likes of Doommuffin and other technologically savvy land folk to know what a hard line is and what it's for. "That'd be easy enough." Muradin points when he hears Rayne suggest a cable connection. "I can dig a tunnel that connects tha' grotto and tha' TASK building in no time. I'm sure ye blokes have enough cable ta reach from here to there." To Morgana, he nods and rests his mining pick back on the ground again, leaning on it. "Aye, plenty o' things down 'ere that can pay a tablet or two. Bollocks, if it ye blokes really want ta, I can give ye some of me armors of weapons as exchange, they're worth a pretty penny." Muradin doesn't have the natural knack that his brother Magni had for smithing but he's by far the best armorer in Twisted, if only by virtue of being a dwarf. "Honestly, I'll do juss 'bout anything to keep blokes from banging on that bloody pier. I donna know how can Morgana stand it." Serenity nods in reply to Morgana's characterization of history. As she speaks of negotiation, Ren holds up the tablet to her with Rayne's image facing out. Ren looks a bit skeptical as Muradin mentions a tunnel to the TASK building, but cants rhinophores forward a bit as he mentions armor. Still, Ren remains hovering quietly to allow Rayne room for negotiation. Rayne blinks at the mention of the name Muradin, and again at the mention of armor. "Actually, yes!" Wow, she sounded excited about that. "I'm not sure if you've heard, but Kotal has a new high priestess, and the discussion has come up of perhaps her needing armor! If you were to help her come up with a suit of armor for Silencia that's light but protective, and perhaps a bit ceremonial looking, I'm pretty sure even Kotal would be happy to have us give you the equipment!" She pauses, considering more. "Aaaaaand, on an unrelated note, I might be interested in a more... visually appealing set for myself, but that'd be a seperate thing, as it'd be more for my personal use." Morgana tilts her head to the side as Rayne goes all exited. She smiles and looks to her mate. "looks as if you will be busy for a while making armor My Chosen." She turns her attention to the tablet and Rayne "if he does this thing, you will negotiate with Kotal for these tablet things and their installation?" She is not usually the one to do negations but she starts the ball rolling for her mate. Muradin doesn't need any further prodding in this, its about time someone wanted him to do suits of armor! Cracking skulls and digging holes aren't the only things he can do you know? ..He can also drink a lot of beer, but that's besides the point. "Aye! Of course I'll do it. Two sets of armors coming up. I'll have 'em done in no time." | |
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