Fox

Dragonfly nodded, and introduced herself. "Dragonfly. And the Curator - know about him," she grimly added, frowning. "Though don't know much, relatively speaking. Did some research, but surprisingly little reliable information available." She ran through her annoyingly short mental portfolio on the alien entity, tilting her head. "Still, am...surprised you went to him. Desperate measures, I guess. Still. Not sure what your legends were, but seems like an...interesting risk, final-stage sun or not."

"Well, doors and windows serve a purpose," Gaian Knight pointed out, shrugging. "And so does furniture, really. Sure, I could make a stone chair, but it would be a pretty uncomfortable chair to sit around in for very long. A stone 'window' is just a hole, with maybe some bars over it - that's pretty breezy in the winter. Same with doors, though you can at least make a big stone door. Kinda hard for people to open or close, but it'd make a pretty neat and secure main front gate." He cocked his head a little, and chuckled. "Y'know. Hypothetically."

Dragonfly frowned, tapping a finger against her leg. Honestly, she was glad to have the engineering challenge to distract her from the fairly disturbing anecdote. "Constant monitoring...live, reliable, resilient. Probably best if it's subtle. Implanted pins would be ideal, but probably not for your comfort?" She glanced over at the Doktor, tilting her head. "....no, probably not. Surface electrodes, then. Fairly sure there are some on the medical floor, if we have none here. Used some on the psychic-radar goats. Seemed effective."

Gaian Knight grinned a little, awfully amused by something. "Yes. There really wouldn't be anywhere around here to put a castle. It's really a shame - I bet I could make a nice big floating one, too." He shrugged, and added, "Castles are complicated, though. I can make most of one, sure, but there are lots of little things - wooden or metal doors, fixtures, windows, furniture - that I can't do, or at least can't do really well. For that I'd need to either learn some new tricks, or shop around quite a bit. Rock's pretty versatile, but it's still just rock."

Mara snorted, though she was still a little embarrassed. "Yes, they'd better not. Would probably find others' pet names...annoying. Would have to do science to people who used them." That last bit was accompanied by a vaguely threatening shake of a cookie before that cookie shared the fate that all cookies must face one day. "Joking aside," she asked Erik after washing the cookie down with some milk, "am curious. Why do the girls you meet want to kill you? Obviously a little difficult for me to judge accurately, but don't seem to be unattractive, or offensive to anyone with a sense of humor."

Dragonfly looked up at the man, tilting her head to the side. 'travelers' - 'we're facing' - Centurian promised...? - 'my citizens' - system administrator? - or similar station - not good at diplomacy - still - professional respect? - best to treat him as I'd want invaders in my system to be treated - good intentions or not Dragonfly's image twitched, flickering a few large pieces at a time as she rearranged icon back to how she usually projected: she was herself again, if a little more abstract, and her hard-light device stand-ins hiding the better part of her identity. "Didn't...mean to cause trouble. And haven't, that I know of. Trying to fix things."

Dragonfly watched the lights come on with annoyance-tinted caution, glancing around at nothing in particular as the voice spoke. "Don't know what that is...very certain I don't speak it. Suppose I'd be more surprised if I did. Alien systems never have anyone who speaks French, or Russian." She frowned, glancing over at Miss Americana and her digital window. "Thoughts? Could brute force an escape - recent events aside, tempted to believe nothing here could hold either of us, much less both of us together - but may be worth while to find out who or what this is, what they or it wants."

Gaian Knight immediately snapped out of relaxation mode, straightening up and glancing in the direction he was pretty sure held the refugee's settlement. "No, she isn't. But I am," he replied, patting at his coat for paper and a pencil. The one time I forget to have them with me.... He pulled out a couple of the many rocks in his pockets, flowing them together into an honest-to-goodness stone tablet, on which was etched a succinct note about where he was and what was happening; said tablet got placed on the table almost before it was even done, the geomantic man already on his way out the door and assembling a stone platform with standing room for two. "Hopefully she'll be back soon, but in the meantime I think we're going to have to do what we can without her."

Mara ducked her head down at Ellie's reproach, suitably chagrined by her social faux pas; her mental-note-taking on better bounds of dry sass were interrupted, however, by Erik's inquiries. "....I like it," she grumbled, ducking her head down further still and blushing a bit. "It's...cute. And not obnoxious. Enjoy the name...when she uses it, anyway." She tilted her head, looking thoughtful, if still embarrassed. "Would probably be less fond of other people using it. Double standard?"

Dragonfly pivoted in place, turning back to frown at the absent entryway. She'd been just about to take a crack at the ship's code when the noise had caught her attention; now she had other priorities, her hard-light constructs flickering back into view around her upper face and lower arms as she glanced over to Miss Americana. "....doors are gone," she observed, rather redundantly. "Trap? Am assuming it's a trap of some kind, anyway. But would imply we're detected and that someone - something? - was able to edit away doors. Don't think I'm...word...'keen' on that idea."

Tarrant sat patiently, slowly helping himself to some bread and cheese while he waited. He had to admit, not for the first time, that it was a pretty nice house; very...cozy. Comfortable, too. I'm going to have to start thinking about furnishings...and on a teacher's budget. Hrm. Some stuff I could always make, but for the rest I might have to poke around old- He blinked, glancing at where Stesha had been, but she obviously hadn't yet reappeared. He grimaced and glanced back at the cottage entrance. That sounded...insistent. Well, okay, then. Time to pull my weight. He put his food down, pulled his goggles and face cloth back into place, and opened the door. "Er, the lady of the cottage isn't in right now, but...."

"Mmh," Dragonfly agreed, a tiny smile flickering across her face as she watched the touching reunion. "Not a perfect solution, but a simple and stable one. Imagine we'll both get better and faster as we fix other areas and mutants. And yes, agreed: we probably should. Not that time-expensive, good results, and if nothing else is likely to lower tensions while we investigate other problems. Feeling plenty up to it - more challenging than exhausting. And likely less tiring to fix from inside the simulation anyway."

Mara raised her eyebrows, but tried to play along with the seriousness. Inwardly, she was fairly pleased: she was pretty sure that only a few months ago she'd have taken Gina's warning a bit too seriously, and embarrassed herself. progress - feels good - personal growth? - or just better social exposure "Noted," she offered. "Will have to look into building an anti-mother-knowing shield. Fringe science, but most good science is - worth the time and research to spare you from things you probably don't want to know first-hand."

Tarrant blinked. "Applesauce? Only if you want some too," he chuckled, pointing accusingly at Stesha. "Even if you can teleport around I'm not sure it's really worth the trouble for just me. And...yeah, if he was in our department - just majoring, or a grad student, or something - I'd probably try to pull him aside and talk to him. As it is...." He grimaced, and helplessly shook his head. "The kid's going to pass the class with a pretty good grade as long as he doesn't miss the final. It's borderline, but for now I'm trying to keep my nose out of it."

"Ugh. Don't remind me," Tarrant laughed, gesturing with his bottle of water before taking a drink. "I did some dating, and had some drama of my own, but some people just seem to jump into that stuff headfirst. I knew a person or two in grad school that...well, I'm just amazed they had time to get any work done at all!" He grinned, shaking his head, and added, "As long as he keeps his grade up - mostly, anyway - I figure the least I can do is offer him some space. Freshmen don't want their professors poking their noses into their personal lives, and I figure that if they can put up with me having to cancel class on short notice when some idiot rides a mutant gummy bear into campus, I can try to give suspiciously absent students their space."

"Mmh. Guns. Good catch," Dragonfly complimented, sorting out a final problem where a bit of floor was rather insistently thinking it was a reflective surface. not a floor property - not a material property - ah - light itself - curious design - processing-intensive but very realistic - clever She finished up and turned around to admire Miss Americana's work, taking mental notes on how the life-representing programs and structures seemed to be built. "Have to wonder what they're going to think about this. Panic? Superstition? Not the most flattering place for a temple in our honor, but would make treating mutants easier if they were reliably brought to one place."

He shrugged. "Sometimes. Not as often as I'd like, really, but life keeps me pretty busy. I have a day job, and some other assorted responsibilities...but I try to take trips out of the city when I can, and have a couple ways of getting around that're pretty convenient. Just a little bit ago I took a short trip over to Europe to poke around some of their old ruins and castles." He blinked, and chuckled at himself. "That sounds more glamorous than it really was. It was research, mostly - I went out there, I spent a day or two looking around some dusty buildings, and I came right back. It was fun, but it was hardly a vacation...and not really something I think I'll be doing too often."

Dragonfly...really didn't say anything for a while. She just sort of gave Dr. Archeville a blank, slack look as he described his childhood. Several times in the entirely too long silent period after he'd finished she looked like she was going to say something, and then stopped and gestured like she couldn't quite come up with appropriate words. So she gave up trying. "....two things. Thing one: will not need that much detail about psychotic breaks in the future, ever, unless requested. Thing two: don't recall violent outbursts or alarmingly uncontrolled sociopathic behavior in previous list of symptoms, which I am...hoping means they stopped while you were still adolescent. Otherwise have several major concerns about your safety and the safety of people around you, especially considering status and resources at your disposal."

Gaian Knight chuckled. "Perspective, or so the wise men say, is everything. I'd agree, though, generally: magic might follow some rules, but it also seems to do a lot of really, really random things, which is probably pretty off-putting. A lot of it really is lack of exposure, though: magic's really, really rare here. Magic, as a force, is everywhere, but people or things that can use that force are pretty thin on the ground. Most people - ah," he paused, grimacing, "- maybe not here, with crazy wizards and loa and whatever else running around the city, but a much more general 'here' - could probably go their whole lives not believing in magic, and wouldn't know the difference. And that's not even counting the people who see magic and just believe it's something else, or some new scientific device or genetic mutation."

"A couple," Tarrant admitted, stealing some bread and meat when he was sure he wouldn't get his hand bitten. "I'd say...maybe five that actually seem to enjoy the class, two of which might be future earth science majors. All but one of those five could probably flunk the final and still pass, which is a refreshing change - the one whose grade wouldn't withstand that seems to like the work, but he's missed a lot of labs." He shrugged helplessly, taking a bite of bread (with an approving noise) and waiting until he'd swallowed. "He doesn't want to talk about why; I'm guessing it's some sort of personal drama."

"Mmh." Dragonfly nodded, tilting her head as she regarded the local area's corruption. Almost unconsciously - though not completely unconsciously, because what's the fun in being a god if you don't indulge in some theatrics? - bits of hard light flickered into being around her hands and face, echoing very abstract, disconnected versions of her visor and gauntlets. Not that she really needed the help of her 'tools', but it helped her focus, and this wasn't something she wanted to mess up or take too slowly. at least the whole building isn't corrupted - pattern-matching - maintain structure - let's see - good floor sample from there - structural code from there - local physics and light model from - .... - local physics from outside and light model from scratch... Bit by bit she put the building back together, a process that was half jigsaw puzzle and half untangling a knot. A piece of wall twisted back into Euclidean space; lightstrips flickered out and then came back on properly, chasing away the physics-defying shadows; the floor slid back into place. It wasn't easy, especially while trying to not mess up anything else in the process, but that only made it all the more fun.

Mara snorted a little, taking her glass of milk. "Was awkward after the waveform collapsed. Though at least we got pushed to a higher....energy...state." She trailed off and ducked her head, glancing around the table. "Mmh. ....sorry. Physicist jokes. Mother's insight?" she asked Gina. "Red flags, I mean. Standard...word. 'Stereotype' has bad connotation, but...whatever. Standard stereotype of wise, all-knowing mothers...probably a grain of truth. Raising children might give you insight into their habits, thinking patterns, preferences."

"Well, maybe, but that's true for pretty much everything," Gaian Knight noted, raising an eyebrow. "For every magical disaster there are five mutants, ten science-gone-wrong mishaps, and probably a hundred well-armed gang members, mobsters, or desperate folks. Humanity's not very good at controlling any of those things, and science, mutants, and guns are immediately obvious problems. They're clear, undeniable, and large-scale threats. Magic may be everywhere, but it's subtle, and resources really are rarer. Sure, you can find information if you really dig around, but it's not taught in schools, or anything; I'm not even sure if there are enough experts around to teach it in schools." He paused, rubbing his chin. "At least, I don't think it's taught in schools. Are there schools to teach budding mages? That'd make an awful lot of sense."

"But you can feel the magic," Gaian Knight pointed out, putting his hands in his coat pockets. "To the average person, it's either a fairytale or a rumor. Or, even if they believe in it, magic can be regarded as just another way heroes and villains and the like do what they do. You'd be hard-pressed to ignore computers or cell phones because they're everywhere and immediately accessible to everybody - or, at least, the grand majority of people. But magic is a lot less obvious and, often, deliberately hidden."

Gaian Knight shifted a little, pondering. "I think it's not so much ignorance as, I dunno, practicality. People aren't going to learn to use a sword - or buy and carry a concealed one - just because it's not useful to them. You might get good use out of yours, and some people like...oh, Jack of all Blades, can be pretty impressive. But the average person's better off with a taser, and the criminals and police do a lot better with guns."