All Returns to Dust (Private: With Lin Motley)

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles let his feet carry him to the forges of Beacon, his weapon in hand. He had changed out of the Beacon uniform and back into a more casual attire of a Mistralian montsuki. While it was traditionally a more central Mistralian clothing, compared to his North Eastern Mistralian heritage, he still found the garment quite comfortable.

Stepping past the sections where the forges themselves were kept, Pericles found an unoccupied workbench near the edge of the room, far from the burning heat of the smithies. Retrieving a whet stone and a basin of water to place upon the table. Pericles gently laid out his two Khopeshes upon the gnarled wooden table. gently brushing the stone with a cloth that he'd soaked in the basin, Pericles began to slowly sharpen the blade of the first khopesh. Once he had gotten into a rhythm, Pericles allowed himself to gently recite poetry as he worked.

Pericles allowed his voice to take on a lyrical quality as he spoke,
"Perhaps I have promised you steel, and offered only iron,
Perhaps I have danced with death and served appetizers to fate,
Perhaps I have let musings ramble and anger churn,
Perhaps I have arrived far too little, far too late."

[Lin Motley]

Lin was so tired, she was barely floating straight as she made her way over to Beacon's forge with a cup of double espresso, she wasn't meant to be drinking the stuff, but she needed to work on her project to let off steam, and to work, she had to be awake.
Plus, it wasn't even her fault that she was tired, it was that pompous nerd's fault, holding up history class with an overly complex presentation that no one, besides Professor Noire who was head over heels for the nerd's enthusiasm, cared about and making them late to leave the last lesson of the day.

Lin took another big sip, finally letting some energy into her system as she floated over to her work bench, distinctly hers for all the scorch marks and smell of various types of dust firmly burned into the table.

She set down her tools, which had floated into the room by her side, and placed down her and Ela's weapons, Brisk and Brawn needed some regular check-ups, and her big sister had somehow bent Lovetap's handle again.
Lin cursed herself, she really should have used a stronger material when making a weapon for a girl that could crush concrete and bend steel with her bare hands. Maybe she should ask for Professor Zibaq again  later, but for now, she'll make do.

Just as Lin pulled out a paper towel and some WD40, she noticed someone else was in the forge, not because she could see them, but she heard...poetry??

Lin put down her tools and floated over, peeking around the corner...

It was him, THE pompous nerd, who put her to sleep with his presentation, who got her a warning from Professor Noire and who was the cause of her current sorry state.
Lin shook her head, time for some payback.
She pulled out her text to speech device and floated overhead, quickly typing away, a fiendish expression on her face as she hit play.

"Just when I thought you were finally done, you continue your nerd rambling here of all places. Let me guess, his highness needs to tend to his family's heirloom butter knives? Oh wait, you pompous types have a knife for everything, let me guess that one cuts cheesw and the other is for ham?"
The mechanical voice spoke, in a tone as snotty as Lin could programm, her meanwhile looking down to the nerd with a smug look, on her face, head propped up on her hands as she laid in the air, legs kicking back and forth behind her.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles started at the noise, leaping upward Khopeshes in hand, he swung around wildly looking for an adversary, "Who is there?! Show yourself fiend! Have you no honor?"

Pericles looked around again, still not seeing anyone in the shadowed ambiance of the forges.

Pericles' breath was ragged as he stared out into the classroom.

After roughly thirty seconds, Pericles let his body sag in defeat. Slumping back down into his seat before the workbench, Pericles shuddered and clasped his right hand over his face, "Come on, Pericles," He scolded himself, "the voices aren't real. Just tune them out."

Needing to steady his heart, Pericles tried letting his mind drift to poetry once more,
"Your lands lay vacant upon my shores,
indispensable integrity crafted in your moors,
Hold fast, farewell, you scoundrel,
stuff your ears with wax to council."

[Lin Motley]

Lin did not expect this reaction, she had thought he looks up and yell at her in annoyance or rage, but this?!
She had to clamp her hands over her mouth to bridle her laugh, this was too good of an opportunity to not tease him more.
But how, she could just keep insulting him but not only would that possibly badly hurt his feelings, which Lin didn't want to do, she knew the difference between just getting someone a bit riled up and legitematly upsetting them, her sister taught her that well.

Lin, then got an idea, she typed away in her text to speech device, as she hovered it down below, slowly and carefully behind a pillar and then using her semblance pressed the play button.
"Pffft yeah, the voices are very real you dumb nerd, if you focused a little less on ranting and paid more attention to others you might be able to catch on, how about that, huh?"
The device went on like that a bit more, as Lin, used this lapse in attention to nab his two khopesh, hovering herself back out of view, she played around with his weapons a little, now that she actually got a closer look at them, these two were very fine weapons.

Lin watched the freak-out that Percicles would certainly have over his weapons being stolen, as she just laid in the air watching him while inspecting his sword.
As he finally got done, Lin poked him on the shoulder with her semblance, a cold very pointed push of wind hit his shoulder, almost like a cold finger.
If he were to look behind him, he would be able to see Lin laying on her back about 15 feet in the air, one hand propping up her head and the other twirling one of his khopesh, the other weapon just laying in her lap, she smirked at him, a shit eating smirk that told him how amused she was by his reaction.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles turned at the noise, he went to grab for his Khopeshes, but his hands only hit air. Cursing internally, with practiced ease his hands suddenly clasped around a cleaver and carving knife from his satchel, "Show yourself, ghoul!"

An emblem suddenly glowed around his eye as the stone pillar he'd heard the noise from collapsed apart, each individual brick falling to the floor, revealing a small electronic device. The dust from the pillar suddenly coalesced together into a cube around the small device, which Pericles sealed to the floor.

Feeling a touch on his shoulder, Pericles whirled around, his blades in motion, though they cut nothing. Then, he saw her, and his voice spoke with venom, "Oh... It's you, what in Fate's name do you want, cur?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin could not help a grin from spreading across her face as Pericles finally noticed her...but he sealed her text to speech device in, so her smile dropped, and she just sighed as she slouched in the air.
"I would explain it to you, but you most likely don't understand sign, so if you could give me that text to speech device back I could explain myself."
She signed away, but pointed at the stone block to get her point across and then twirled his khopesh once more to get her point across, a trade, she'd get her voice, he'd get his swords.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles sighed annoyedly, but still raised his hands and began to sign, "Some of the oldest pieces of evidence for the existence of sign-languages were found in Mistral. So, why don't you explain yourself as is?" His signing was slightly different then hers, clearly based on a much older version, though he felt that she would be able to at least understand it slightly.

"Besides," Pericles had stopped signing at this point, determining that she could still understand his words alone and he could interpret her response through sign, "you aren't ever going to see your little gizmo until you return my khopeshes."

[Lin Motley]

Huh, well leave it to this nerd to know sign, not that she didn't actually appreciate it, Lin's smug expression shifted to one of surprise and amazement for a second, before her smug smile returned tenfold, a shit eating grin from cheek to cheek.
"You should not have told me you understand sign, now I don't even need my "gizmo" buuuuuut you still want your khopesh, so, what's in it for me now?"
She asked, as she twirled the blades in the air again, this time floating a bit higher and away, then 'landing' on the ceiling, as she began to pace back and forth, looking down to him.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles rolled his eyes, "Something tells me that you'd still want your gizmo back, lest I could just as easily destroy it." Pericles' Semblance activated again, the cube behind him vibrating slightly as he increased the force on the device within. His threat made, Pericles let go, allowing the cube to settle once again.

"However, if you do need additional incentive, consider yourself lucky. I'm in a generous mood today after scoring a 100% on Professor Noire's presentation and watching her scold another student in the middle of class for not putting the effort in. So, I'm willing to let this whole situation slide so long as you return my weapons to me." Pericles offered with a smirk of his own.

"After all, cards on the table, you and I both are well aware that when it comes down to it, and the matter devolves into..." Pericles paused his words as he considered the term, "I believe most people refer to it as: He said, she said? That any professor in this academy will believe me over you when it comes to whose side to believe if I were to inform them of this altercation. Call me a teacher's pet all you will, but in this case, I think favored disciple is the more apt term, no?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin just scoffed, wow, she already thought he was bad, but he really felt good about his position, seeing a fellow student fail a class wasn't worth of note for Lin, people did things at their own pace, she wasn't one to talk, being a prankster, but feeling sadistic joy over another student getting a bad grade and looking down at them for it, it actually grossed her out.

Her smile had faded as Lin just looked at him with mild worry and confusion.
"What is wrong with you dude? I understand you might be mad at me for messing with you, but do you seriously feel better about yourself when someone else, who has nothing to do with me, gets a bad grade? If you're so smart you could have helped them."
Lin asked, as she crossed her arms now floating right side up again, letting the khopesh float down to him, he had killed the mood of some friendly teasing right then and there.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles huffed in amusement, "I don't find joy in people struggling in classes, a lack of knowledge is a tragedy for all. However, when I see someone who thinks that they can just coast by, not contribute to our world as a whole, and play the role of the corrupt politician in the making, well I'll admit it brings me a certain, schadenfreude, as I believe the Atlesians say, when they get in trouble."

Pericles walked slowly as he spoke, his shoulder back, "I recognize that they are still a child and that this is still a learning environment. However, they chose to be Huntsmen, they chose to be responsible for other people's lives, and if they aren't willing to put in the effort, then I'd gladly watch them fail. For at least then I know that I can count on other Hunters to be the people willing to put in the work to save lives and protect our world. If they aren't willing to put in the effort on a simple history assignment, how can they be trusted with the responsibility of other people' lives."

"As for helping them, I offered." Pericles shrugged in a 'what can you do?' sort of manner, "He could have taken the opportunity to learn and put in the effort but he didn't. I tutor other students, several upper-years even, in the library three times a week. History, literature, philosophy, political science, all fall under my tutelage capabilities. So to answer your question truly, I laugh not because he failed, I laugh because for once in our corrupt world, someone got called out for not even trying."

[Lin Motley]

Well, he was definitely still a pompous prick and a nerd, but he was a pompous prick with a point, if you're offered help, reject said help and then rightfully fall on your face you deserve to get laughed at.
Lin tilted her head as she listened to him speak, which as she kept tilting it resulted in her being upside down, still looking at Pericles.
"Okay that's actually fair...
She signed, as she floated closer to him, now being at eye level.
"...I can actually relate a bit, I'm not into history but I'd day I'm pretty decent at making gizmos but mostly weapons and working with dust, the gizmo you just buried I actually made myself."
She pointed behind him where her text to speech device was still hidden.
"One time I had this one dude who blew up his dorm because he refused to learn how to properly infuse dust into weapons, Mr.C asked me for help since he was too busy grading exams to give extra lessons, so i helped the dude, had to explain to him first what being mute meant and after 2 fucken hours, he gets it right ONCE, then proceeds to fuck off, next day we're meant to showcase the same thing in front of class, and he blows up Mr.C's desk cuz he used the blowtorch directly on the dust, not the blade."
Lin signed away, noticeably getting faster as she went, she was falling into the habit now of speaking sign with her family all of whom could understand her perfectly, she finished the whole story with a sigh and a shrug.
"Guess, in the end its all natural selection...or something like that."

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles hummed in acknowledgement, "Natural selection, survival of the fittest, dog eat dog world, Nature's way, every man for himself... All reasonable basis for the urgence of another to pursue the development of their abilities, if this was a conversation held in the depths of history. However, the present is now, and we are in its embrace, for better or worse. The world has developed to allow for people who are not the smartest, most atheletic, most wise, or most anything to survive. All that is required of them is that they open themselves up to reliance on others, and yet, even with an opportunity so grand that goes against the natural order of existence, they refuse."

Pericles stepped towards where she was floating and walked passed her, continuing to speak as he did so, "Now, of course, tribes and families existed even then, where one could specialize and seek the aid of others for differing matters. Yet, compared to the world of today, you might as well have fallen asleep in Fortune's gentle hammock and awoken upon the nails of fate if Chance pushed you back through the doors of yester. Still yet, there are those that in unison we both hold in contempt for their failure to recognize their complacency with failure itself, to not value improvement of self over their own perception of self."

The stone cube rose up from the ground as more rubble coalesced around it. Sliding in a pillar across the floor, the tower of stone stopped before where Lin floated as the top crumbled away to reveal the device. Meanwhile, the other bits of the pillar began to resemble themselves as Pericles picked up his satchel from the floor and began to pack away his things, "Perhaps that's the fundamental difference between those people and us. Economists have debated for years which is more valuable, current wealth or future wealth. Philosophers have posed the option of temporary salvation in exchange for long-term damnation, versus ages of torment with the promise of eternal blessing. Far too many are blind to the future and how saving face now, if not worth your safety and competence later."

Finally, he turned back to Lin, who still held his swords, "Though, I'm but one man, what do you believe?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin listened to what Pericles was saying half heartedly, she did hear what he meant but those were a lot of words to say: "People elsewhere got it harder, and those guys are slackers for not using what's basically gifted to them."
Ela would have more to say on this, being from "elsewhere" but Lin wasn't going to bring her into this; Lin would not survive the nerd-off that would result from them her sister and Pericles meeting.

She had sat down on a nearby desk and was just dangling her legs, but did see Pericles free her gizmo, she extended her hand towards it, and it flew back into her grasp.

As his Khopesh then floated in front of him, he could just grab them out of the air, and as he did, they floated back just an inch, making him miss the handle. Lin showed him a cheeky smile before she finally handed them back.

As he asked for her opinion, she just shrugged, before quickly typing a reply into her gizmo as the slightly mechanical voice responded.
"For what little I care, I say let them be slackers and see where it takes them; this whole society thing we got going on is there to protect the weak, and laziness is just another weakness. Sides, if they continue to behave like this, they won't be our issue much longer, because slackers aren't cut out to be huntsmen."
She smirked, leaning forward and kicking off the table to float by his side.

"That aside, I didn't nab your blades just to mess with you, they caught my interest too, I want to know what they can do and what makes them tick, but please spare me the history lesson."
Lin, being the weapon nerd she is, could tell there was more to Pericles weapons than just simple blades.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles reached his hand out towards the Khopeshes, and seeing them get pulled away, took hold of the grit upon them with his Semblance and yanked them into his hands, giving Lin his own smug smirk in return as he rolled the Khopeshes in his wrists.

"Spare you the history lesson?" Pericles inquired, "Why, for whatever reason would I do so? How could you truly understand something if you are not knowledgeable of its history?"

Pericles took a deep breath as if prepping for a long winded explanation before saying, "Khopeshes exude authority and project fear, that is all."

Pericles placed the two khopeshes together and they immediately formed into a recurve bow, as Pericles continued, "I needed a ranged option as well of course."

Finally, Pericles twisted the handle the bow turned into a sword-stave, "As well as needing a more versatile weapon too."

"Sure, all of them were predominantly used in both Vacuo and Mistral, but at the end of the day, they are my weapons. As far as I'm concerned that's the most integral part about them." Pericles said as he sat leaning against the workbench with a smirk still etched on his face.

[Lin Motley]

Lin watched with rapt attention.
The three forms of his previously simplistic-looking weapons did surprise her; a triple transformation was rare.

And while the weapon was impressive for sure, it wasn't exactly what she'd use for intimidation, but to each their own, and if on one thing she could agree, it was that a weapon being one's own was the most important part, earning him an approving nod.

"That's a pretty impressive weapon you own, three whole modes...gotta be a bit of a hassle to maintain; maybe you'd like a bit of help with that? You happen to be talking to a professor-approved up-and-coming weapons expert. And before you roll your eyes, I'll admit my reasoning isn't entirely altruistic; I'd just really love to get a closer look under the hood of your fancy swords."
She shrugged; it was a genuine offer, and Lin was also being honest about her motive, one that should be no surprise coming from the weapons nerd she was.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles paused his movements temporarily at Lin's offer, humming slightly in thought, Pericles mused aloud, "'Selfish selflessness acknowledged in honesty. A skill underutilized for the benefit of common, a chance for refinement of the muddied jade. An artisan, an ally, an adventurer.' - Xanthippus Ozymandias, date unknown."

Pericles shook his head to clear his thoughts as he turned to her, "A warrior I would not be if I was unable and unwilling to provide care and maintenance to my own weapon. For if I am not a warrior than only two aspects of myself remain."

"However," Pericles continued, "I must inquire, how proficient would you say you are with mounted armaments? Say perhaps, winches, turrets, net throwers, flame throwers, the like?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, of course it was expected for most huntsmen to do maintenance on their own, but he could still let her have a peek under the hood,
His next question caught her off guard, though, as she did a 180 degree spin in the air, now laying on her back as she stared at him.
She had never worked with mounted weapons, but all the weapons he just listed off were easy to produce, as long as he brought his own fuel for the flamethrower, she typed away in her text to speech device for a second.
"I can make rail guns out of scrap metal, any sort of "thrower" is easy work, as long as I know what they should be mounted on...wait, lemme guess, super traditional historic theming in your weapons, you're also a huge history nerd, you got some sort of wagon then...don't tell me you got your own horse to pull the thing too?"
She asked, with another smirk, she could totally see it, Pericles spitting lyrical while charging on his wagon into battle against the Grimm, like a warrior of old.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles hummed, "I don't quite recognize why you feel that the use of scrap material is necessary to the process, but I will defer to your judgement on this matter. As for the vehicle in question..."

Pericles slowly doffed his shield from his back with a hum. Twisting a handle and pulling it back, Pericles tossed his shield forward as it suddenly expanded outwards into a large war chariot, of blue and brass stylings that hovered above the ground as the purple glow and low thrum of Gravity Dust emanated from beneath it.

"My Chariot of Sky is of the traditional Mistralian style of my family's dynasty. The propulsion for my mode of transport is actually a combination of Wind and Gravity Dust. I initially attempted to employ the use of the more natural equine persuasion however the stable-hands informed me that they quote, 'Could not in good conscious sell horses to someone so high-strung that they'd be considered a bio-hazard to the poor anxiety riddled animals.' Ergo, I made use of more modern methods instead. Adjacently, you wouldn't perhaps know of anyone skilled in the art of creating automatons, would you?" Pericles spoke as he walked around his chariot, gesturing to various parts as he spoke.

[Lin Motley]

Lin had no profound reason.
"Scraps cheap."
Lin explained, she was a student not a noble, her allowance covered food and hobbies not a business, she had to cut costs where she could.

She looked on as the chariot unfolded from the shield, that was pretty darn good, he could have just started with that and he immediately had her attention, speaking of which, her attention was basically gone now, as Lin was zipping back and forth and around his card paying little to no mind to his actual explanation, she lifted the cart a little higher, using her semblance, gravity and wind dust were kind of her thing after all.

Yet, the foldable nature of the wagon did pose an issue.
No way she was retroactively fitting weapons on this thing, the folding mechanism was way too complex for that to be done.
Maybe there was another solution...
Lin just hovered in the air for a second as she inspected the cart, then snapping her fingers as she had an idea, before then typing away.
"I can't make you any permanent mounts, the folding mechanism of your wagon is just way too complex, buuut I can make you weapons that you can attach to your wagon on the fly...or hover I guess."
She offered, with a slight shrug.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles hummed at her answer of the price of scrap, "Humor me if you will, when you make these considerations, allow for cost to not play a factor in limitations. I have enough funds saved away to make such matters a none issue for something of this importance. In relation of course, I am more than willing to expend a generous amount in comparison to standard market prices for your labor and expertise with this project."

Pericles considered her suggestion on the mounting of the weaponry, "I suppose that hovering is more versatile, though I hope I am not wrong in assuming that such a choice could complicate matters when it comes to programming an interconnected system between my chariot and all of the accompanying weaponry. If you feel that you are up to the task, then, I'd like to commission you for the creation of such implements as three trolley extension for more capacity, a net thrower, a tow hook and winch system, and two batteries of the strongest artillery you are comfortable working with. Further, are you perhaps proficient with the creation of automatons, and be willing to develop a set of four horses?"

Pericles hummed to himself as he considered if that was everything that he was looking for, "Well, and I suppose I will defer to your expertise in the matter if you believe you are capable of any other improvements, such as to the speed, durability, mobility and the like. All things told, would you be able to estimate the cost of both materials and your labor?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin was more than stunned, she just stared at Pericles for a while with her text to speech device in hand as calculations for material costs, work time and weight distribution all swirled through her head.
The weapon systems were all easy work, she could even make them light enough for Pericles to just carry them on his back, with a sturdy figure like his it should be more than easy, a trolley was idiotic, it would just bounce around and would be bothersome to bring with him, or even worse trip him up in a fight, a backpack or quiver would be way easier, she could even make it stylish and fit under his cape.

As for the weapons, yeah the throwers will be easy, she'd just have to make a net to throw...which would be bothersome normally but with Pericles founding her she could just buy one.
As for the actual weapons, or artillery as Pericles called it, it wouldn't be all that powerful, anything strong would have too much knockback and push the hovering wagon around...unless she somehow prevented the knockback?
She needed to figure this out.

Lin took a second to just take a breath, type away at her text to speech device before she responded to Pericles.
"I can't give you an exact estimate right now, this is my first time doing a commission this big, I also cannot make automatons, I make weapons.
If you give me the schematics of your wagon I can work with those, if you don't have the schematics I'm going to need to keep your wagon, so I can work on your commissions."
Lin explained, as she played a little with her hair, as she was thinking a bit more about this whole thing.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles nodded along as Lin explained the matter, "You wouldn't perhaps then have an associate in the community of metalworkers who would be specialized in automatons, would you? As for the schematics..." Pericles walked over to her as he quickly sifted through a few files on his Scroll before clicking a button and holding his own Scroll over hers. A small ping could be heard as the schematics were wirelessly transferred.

"You'll have to forgive the crudeness of the designs, I am many things: Warrior, scholar, leader, but a master of the craft of metalwork and creation I am not. I learned what was required to for me to design, forge, and maintain my equipment, but anything beyond such is hidden behind the horizon of my purview. Ergo, some of the decisions made in the design might be more redundant or complex than necessary, it was what I was best capable of based on self-teaching." Pericles warned her as he quickly sifted through his satchel bag and handed her a folder, "Here's a physical copy of the designs as well if you prefer a more physical medium to work with."

"I of course also recognize that even beginning to make estimates and the research related to this would be time intensive," Pericles conceded, "So, I am willing to provide a down-payment if necessary. What would you require to begin making an estimate on the cost?"

[Lin Motley]

"The closest I can think of are a few students that know how to make and maintain their own prosthetics."[/color]
Lin shrugged, why was he so insistent on automatons?
Sure the authenticity was nice and all, but hovering was plenty useful, for one you didn't have to deal with weeks of trial and error to build and program automatons.
As he went on, Lin's expression scrunched up with thought, damn, he really was super serious about this, this was her first ever commission and Lin had to put some thought into it before she even accepted his request...it would be a fan challenge to build mounted weaponry, to balance recoil and power while making sure the wagons structural integrity suffered for neither.
As for payment, Lin simply thought back on all her personal projects, this would need a lot of blueprints, time and energy to start working on it...she'd calculate in the amount of snacks she'd buy, Lin was just counting on her fingers before she typed away again.
"100 yen, for starters, then I'll get back to you with a few blueprints for the things you ordered...also, gotta need you to specify on "artillery" there's a lot of stuff I can install, but it's going to need a lot of prep to get the balance and position right, your wagons a complicated piece of equipment, so depending on what type of guns you wants, let's say a rocket launcher, or homing missile launcher or maybe even a railgun all three of those options would require drastic changes in how I approach this whole thing."
Lin explained, as she sketched a few examples on her scroll, the rocket launcher needed the fewest changes, but the missile launcher need a guidance system and the railgun needed an extra power source and major recoil compensation.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles nodded, he'd have to ask those individuals about the matter, maybe then he'd finally be able to have the horse he'd always wanted. Setting the issue aside for now, Pericles considered Lin's question, "Well, it depends on what you feel you have the skill level to work with: MRLS, self-propelled howitzers, sabot capable canons, armor-piercing rotary canons, railguns, emp rifles, and whatever else you feel would be a helpful addition. If you are having trouble with acquiring certain implements, then I can pull some strings with the Mistralian military."

Pericles considered his answer for a few moments before nodding to himself that he had covered all that he was looking for. Weaponry for large swaths of hunkered targets, stronger implements for larger targets, and even some crowd control tools.

"Only 100..?" Pericles asked in surprise, "That's quite generous starting price, but I thank you none the less for the kindness. I'll have to speak with my accountant about liquefying a few assets in order to get you the 100,000 Lien, but it should only take a few days. Do you prefer a check, wire transfer, cash? Though, I will insist on a contract of course, you understand, right?"

Pericles looked down at his Scroll and began typing away, contacting the various people to organize the matter.

[Lin Motley]

Was this what having a stroke felt like?
100k Lien?
Military grade tech?
Accountant?!
Shit...who did she just agree to make weapons for?
There was no way Pericles was even a remotely normal student.

Lin was at a loss for words, or well, signs for a while.
She shook her head, taking a second to think of what Pericles had said.
Going through the list, only an EMP weapon could prove troublesome, she had never worked on one of those before.
She had patted her cheeks a few times, she needed to put on a professional flare, so Pericles would actually pay her, this type of opportunity didn't come often in a lifetime.
As Lin quickly typed away in her text to speech device again.
"You're welcome, as for the weapons you'd like installed, only the EMP installment would be a bit more difficult, I usually make weapons to kill Grimm and fight people, not machines. So that may take a bit more effort on my end. As for payment, I'll take transfer and of course, a contract."
God's she hoped she wouldn't have to discuss a due date with Pericles, between school, her free time, personal projects and now this she'd be stretched thin on time if Pericles wanted this done quickly.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles nodded along as he typed out a few things on his Scroll, "I can have the EMP equipment sent your way as soon as you can give me specific specs from you in relation to where the EMP would be mounted. Transfer then, I can of course give you an earlier portion of the upfront payment if you need it before you begin to do research on project overall." Pericles said reasonably as he casually pulled several thousand dollars worth of Lien from a wallet in his pocket.

"Once, the final price has been determined then the initial payment of 100,000Lien can be transferred your way in deductance of the total amount. What sort of timeline do you believe is feasible with his project? I'd prefer a range of 3-6 months and I'm willing to pay extra to expedite that time-frame." Pericles inquired as he continued to type away to various people on his Scroll, "Further, I hope this won't hinder development too much, but I would prefer to keep costs below 5 million on this project if possible as I prefer to not expend much more than that sum in a year. Though, I'd rather exceed the sum if it meant that the final result is well polished."

"Regardless, my lawyers should be in contact with you in say... two weeks. Would that give you enough time to quote a rough sum for the project?" Pericles asked before he frowned to himself and turned to her once more, "Though, I suppose that while we have class together that we have never been formally introduced. Forgive my impudence on that, this talk of machinery has gotten me out of sorts if you will."

Pericles clasped his right closed fist against his chest, directly above his heart and inclined his head slightly, "I am Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias, son of Dryo of the Alcmaeonidae, the last ruling dynasty of Mistral, and son of Ramses of the Ozymandias lineage, courtiers to the Vacuoan ruling dynasties, and I am a studier of lost echoes and buried tales. Might I bear the knowledge of your name?"

[Lin Motley]

Lin was actually feeling herself get a little overwhelmed, she usually didn't get nervous about things like this but Pericles was throwing A LOT at her and in a manner that was way too casual for her liking.
She shook her head, waving her hands in front of her to cut him off.
"Pause pause pause! You're giving me a migraine, and I'm way too young to have one of those."
Lin, clasped her hands in front of her face, as she took a deep breath, slowly typing away in her own scroll taking notes of the whole transaction that was transpiring, if Pericles were to try and speak up again in this time period she'd shush him, she needed a few moments to just think.
After she was done, she typed in an answer.
"Alright, you still did not give me a concrete list of weapons you want to have, aka I still don't know what I'm even meant to work on, besides the net thrower and winch, those are easy, give me four weapons you want to have, do that, and then I can actually give you an estimate."
Lin gave a pause, before she typed away her next reply.
"As for lawyers and stuff, I'm still a minor, he's gotta talk to my parents who will also help me handle the money."
Lin held her own scroll over Pericles as she then gave him the contact info to her mom, she loved her dad, but she did not trust him with this kinda stuff.
"And lastly, names Lin Motley, it's nice to meet you Peri."
She shook his outstretched hand, already having decided she'd call the guy by a nickname rather than that mouthful, if he'd like it or not didn't really matter to her, typing his full name into her text to speech device would be a pain.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles waited until she had finished her series of messages on her Scroll before responding to each part one by one, "Migraines are actually shown to commonly start in adolescence and peak when someone reaches their mid thirties, so you are right on schedule to develop the symptoms of them."

"As for my list, my apologies, I suppose I got caught up in the excitement of finally having my equipment improved. As for the four other weapons beyond the net thrower and the winch, I suppose I'd have to settle with the EMP cannon, the strongest self-propelled howitzer you are adept with working on, the low-altitude MRLS, which I'm willing to compensate on fire-power for number of rockets, and I'll leave it as dealer's choice when it comes to priorities of properties of the rail-gun. You appear to be knowledgeable in this sort of thing, and I'd trust your judgement on how the rail-gun can best fill any gaps in the arsenal." Pericles explains slowly, nodding to himself as he does so, and writing more things down in his Scroll.

"The matter of the contract signing is perfectly acceptable, my lawyers will be in contact with your mother soon. It will merely be the standard litigation: the agreed upon pricing, expected finishing date, and NDA." Pericles said, trying to console her about it.

"My name is not..." Pericles stops himself with a sigh, "If you must use something other than my given name, then at least let it be Percy. It would lamentable for my name to be shortened to something that sounds so utterly... Valean." Pericles shuddered in revulsion even thinking about it.

[Lin Motley]

Lin wrote down the weapons he wanted, already making a few edits to the blueprint's Peri, had sent to her scroll, of course only editing a copy of the original file, most of these weapons shouldn't be too much of an issue, but she'd need to fit the howitzer with some method of recoil compensation if she wanted it to pack any meaningful punch, the railgun too, maybe instead of making an individual system for each, she could just make a general but adjustable recoil compensation, extendable legs to tether the wagon to the ground?
No, too clunky and restrictive, plus it wouldn't work on unstable terrain...reverse thrusters could be an idea, the wagon already used wind dust if she could just retrofit that a little, that could work, she'd think of other options.

Lin, yet, looked up from her scroll.
"What's wrong with sounding Valean Percy?"
She raised an eyebrow, while not being Vale born, she did like her home.