When it's not enough to do the math. [Open]

[vaudevil]

Date & Time: Tuesday during the day
Location: On top of the Initiative hold building.
Characters: Lee Chaolan and YOU!!
Summary: Building a vortex concussion cannon Phase 1: There is a lot of math involved in building a kite that is needed to calculate distance.
Warnings: Probably some weirdness.

Lee spent a better part of the day in his room cutting and stitching material to a collapsible frame that he constructed. The kite appeared nothing more than just a kite but the light aluminum frame suggested something that this wasn't just some ordinary recreational gadget.

With his notes started on the build and how high it could go, the math alone was astounding. His legs were crossed on the bed as he continued his work.

----

An hour had passed and after a good meal to keep up his strength and a harness to keep himself from going off the edge of the roof, the kite was airborne. It took a great deal of strength in his arms to keep the kite from being torn out of his hands the higher he sent it up. "Okay, you're getting a little heavy now." He grunted through the pull.

He wrapped his arm around the heavy cable of nylon rope that had knots to determine distance. "Shit, this is massive." Despite the cool weather, he was beginning to sweat. Thankfully, he had the foresight to wear gloves otherwise he would have lost his grip and the whole project would have to start all over again.

He counted the knots as the kite took more tether. Since it required both arms to keep it in the air, Lee knew what he was getting into.

Comments

[vaudevil]

"Isn't it?" Lee was surprised that no one else thought to use them any sooner. Building just one would take a lot of time, effort and strength. Nothing about it was light at all. "I have to warn you, they are pretty loud. I was thinking of starting with one to see how it works then build seven more around the city. I'll need a fuel source, a lot of metal and a lot of pressure."

More line was released as he kept his eyes to the sky.

[ghostling]

"Loud noises. That'll go over well." She stopped pacing and fiddled with the latches on her mask. As far as she could tell there was no one else around and likely no one would come up to roof while she was there.

"What kind of fuel?" The last bit came out in her normal voice as she removed her helmet and set it aside for the time being.

[vaudevil]

He turned his head briefly to regard the new change in her voice. He couldn't spend too much attention on her and his eyes fixed right back on the kite. "Just a gas really. Preferably acetylene if it's obtainable. Since it's timed, it needs a relay to keep the pulse going until the clouds clear. They have to be exact to prevent retraction which isn't something I want. Once the clouds clear, the cannons can stop so it's not an all day thing...I hope."

Lee wasn't sure how thick the clouds were and it would be a while before he could have a good range of thickness. Sadly, there was no full proof method other than building a hand glider or a plane to test it.

[ghostling]

"I see," she said as she settled back on what appeared to be an invisible chair. Guess who could fly without aid. She was grinning as she sat there and watched him.

[vaudevil]

He glanced back, then a double take before he got an idea. He grinned and kept a hand on the lines. "Ah ha, so you can fly. How far and for how long?"

If he had known that sooner, he would have just had her take the line up instead of risking the pain of using the kite.

[ghostling]

"I can do a lotta things I don' tell people 'bout." She scrunched up her face in thought, giving a hum. "M'not sure. I've ne'er tried to see how far or long. Ne'er had a reason to."

[vaudevil]

"Care to put it to the test?" Lee was all about testing limits and he was certainly doing that to himself as well. If he could, he would have done it himself but he obeyed the laws of gravity a bit too closely.

[ghostling]

"Y'wantin' me to fly up there an' see how far it goes?" She settled her feet back on the ground before picking her helmet back up.

[vaudevil]

"Could you, please? I would be in your debt." Lee would have put on the innocent act but his hands were busy controlling the kite. Everything was for a better purpose and not just for himself. If she could lend a hand, he would definitely honor that debt.

[ghostling]

Ghost thought for a moment before shrugging and putting her helmet back on. "How am I going to gauge the distance?"

[vaudevil]

"That's the trick. I don't know how fast you can go at a normal rate so I'll have to time it from a mile away and then calculate by the distance from where we are to the bottom of the clouds before I can gauge the thickness as you go through it. I'm not even sure if those clouds are toxic without a sample."

Which was another thing he would need. The atmosphere below would be very different than above. If there was a way to harness a new energy source from the clouds themselves should the prove a source of fuel, he would have killed two birds with one stone right there.

[ghostling]

"Okay. That's simple enough. But the toxicity could be an issue. My mask is made to protect from certain gasses and allow for easier breathing in low oxygen... I have no way to know if it'll keep anything out here. And I'd much rather avoid dying." Dying wasn't any fun at all.

[vaudevil]

Lee paused for a moment in thought. He didn't want to take that kind of risk either and with her suffocating at that height would mean a very messy death indeed.

"I think collecting the sample would be better first. I'll work on the density issue another time."

With a little ingenuity and some chemical knowledge, he could probably figure out the density without risking her life.

[ghostling]

A very messy death. One that would take her a week to recover from, assuming that part of her powers ever worked here. She really wasn't sure if this world had any different kind of "rules" for her abilities.

"Do you have what you need to collect a sample?" Her head tilted slightly to the right before she looked up at the clouds.