I don't have to be careful;

[how_fascinating]

Date & Time: April 4th
Location: Training areas
Characters: Cissa Nix and OPEN
Summary: Sentient weapon? Fascinating! It's about time to test it properly.
Warnings: Technobabble. Cissa's attitude.


So it was a fake invasion. How annoying. But no harm was really done in the end, so Cissa was able to put it aside and go on with her normal everyday things. And that meant, when she wasn't cobbling together some genius invention, she was testing out her newly-sentient rifle.

Just how much like a fusion between Golem and operator was this sentience? It seemed to carry some parallels. She took aim with the weapon, which an outside observer might have thought was a little too big for her, and started this off like any other scientific test -- by stating the nature of the test to no one in particular.

"Sentience test one. Ammunitions generation parameter: bullets."

She squeezed the trigger, and though the gun had not been loaded seconds ago, a round of bullets shot out of the barrel and hit the practice dummy between the eyes. Ah! Success!

Onto the next test: for the weighted net. Another success, though she seemed to have generated one that was too heavy and didn't reach the target. Well. She'd know for next time where to improve. But she wanted to get to the third test before retrying that one.

Leveling the rifle again. "Sentience test three. Ammunitions generation parameter: concussive air blast."

She pulled the trigger again, and -- well, there was a concussive blast all right. Unfortunately, the kickback launched her backward to a hard landing on her rear. Cissa gritted her teeth, but looked up to see if she'd managed to hit the target. And sure enough, it was completely obliterated.

Both arms went up in triumph "Success!"

Comments

[demonbloodblade]

[Applause comes from the doorway, well out of the chance of getting-shot-by-mistake area. It's not sarcastic applause, if Cissa looks, as the person who is clapping looks impressed.]

Interesting device. I'm going to assume you weren't quite prepared for that last test to work the way it did? I've never used a weapon like that - learning, but not really used.

[how_fascinating]

[Company? And here she is still on her posterior. That won't do. She pushes herself to her feet, makes a move to brush off her clothes before realizing that she'd fallen on a sterile floor rather than a dirty countryside, and therefore is still perfectly clean.

[Her ears perk up in interest when she sees that her company clearly isn't human. Not that she has anything against humans, but the interdimensional constant does get bland after a point. Though at least this person seems impressed rather than amused at her poor landing. That's preferable. Impressing someone is always better than being humiliated.]

The counter-force was more powerful than expected only because of the unexpected strength of the blast itself. [She holds her rifle up for a slightly better view.] Your dimensional plane has yet to develop firearms?

[How sad. Hopefully, there's at least magic. Because otherwise there would be a depressing lack of explosive forces.]

[demonbloodblade]

[Meliantha tends to wander through the training areas, looking for interesting things. And this certainly was interesting.]

We have them... just not terribly reliable yet. Almost as dangerous to the holder as the target, and the priesthood that created them keeps the information secret. A stray flame, a fire-blast, a dragon's sneeze, and.... well.

[She looks at the rifle.]

It's a handsome piece of equipment. I'm getting training in these weapons, just because as long as I'm here, I should learn as much as possible, but I don't consider myself sufficiently skillful yet, and then I need to learn to maintain them properly to reach what I consider competent enough to carry one into battle.

I'm Meliantha. Pleased to meet you.

[how_fascinating]

Ah, so they're in the testing phases. [Testing phases are fun. So what if things catch on fire and generally don't work? As long as you learn what direction to go in, what's the big deal?

[She beams at the compliment.] I constructed this myself; a hobby of mine, you might say. Though the addition of sentience certainly streamlines the operation.

Excelsior, Meliantha! I am called Cissa.

[demonbloodblade]

I suppose so. Temples of Gond tend to be kept outside of towns, after one suddenly exploded and left a crater. And then the debris came down changed into fish. It disturbs people when that happens.

[She nods.] I know that feeling myself. My own weapon, that came here with me, was sentient when I came here - my only friend for years. It gives your weapon a bit more versatility?

[The introduction is responded to with a small bow.] You're new, here, then? It varies between interesting, strange, and very boring.

[how_fascinating]

[Oh, now that's curious. So very curious indeed.] How did the debris change into fish? [How could people be disturbed by that? It's so interesting!]

Oh, not precisely. Everything I just fired was within my original design parameters. But the sentience has eliminated the need to load the ammunition; the psycho-magical connection allows the rifle to generate it from my thoughts.

[A return incline of the head, certainly not as deep as the bow. She, like many of her kind, isn't inclined to show any particular deference to other species. But it's a simple politeness she can engage in.] I arrived here thirty-five days ago, to be precise. So while I'm still getting acclimated to the surroundings, I'm not as fresh out the interdimensional-temporal transporters as others.

[demonbloodblade]

Absolutely no idea. I'm a fighter, not a mage, and that level of magical theory is not what I'm trained for. [shrug.] I'm sure if I asked someone back in Baldur's Gate, they'd point me to a mage who had a theory or five.

[She nods.] That's quite helpful. No sudden oops of being unable to use your weapon without ammunition in an intense situation.

[For Meliantha, the bow is respect, not deference; but that's discussion for later.] Ah. I hadn't seen you around, but I've been busy trying to get things together. Our last mission, I spent some time scouting the area and finding certain items people here had been looking for, and then I arranged for trades and payment for what I had gotten. Not the kind of things I find appealing, but, you know, some people have their vices.

[how_fascinating]

[Magical theory is a bit more up the alley of Synergetics alumni, but never let it be said that the College of Dynamics doesn't produce graduates that are interested in a wide variety of fields.]

Hm. I wonder if a metamystic scope could have provided useful data for analysis . . .

[Well, respect for other species is an iffy thing, too.] Oh, they do, they do. I have spent quite a bit of time finding locations that can provide serviceable parts for my inventive endeavours; socialization was not high on my priority list.

[You pretty much had to mention science in some form to tear her away from her current pursuits. Because science is her vice.]