Saturday, July 14, 2018, 9:30 AM Norfolk, VA
I woke up with more knowledge about the creation of constructs this morning from my dream meditation this morning, and the reflection about how blood binds certain constructs to their creator. When I opened my eyes however, I noticed that there was a different heavy weight on my chest. The normal body that would be there, Rex, wasn’t. The mother cat, however, was there on my chest. As I woke up, she got spooked and launched off my chest, tearing me up a little before my embedded Ioun Stone worked to heal me up.
I sighed, got up, and looked around. I knew that the space was clean because of the continuous Prestidigitation effect, so it wasn’t that much that I needed to get done to prepare for their arrival, but I knew that I would have to get some minor things done, but that I can bump up the production speed on that future alchemical treatment for the armor. I had the spare arcana capability today, with my scheduled nap later today, so no reason not to do so. I rushed through the casting of most of Unseen Crafters that I could cast, leaving only a slot for the Scrying, with their new focus being on Alchemy. I was going to have to figure out some way to further enhance how fast this was going to be made, if it was going to happen any time soon.
Getting my head back in the now, I finished up everything that I was going to do for the morning, and burned through all of the arcana that I had access to. I used a pair of “Ears of the City” spells to try to see any evidence of gang activity, but it seemed like the gangs were getting the hint about downtown Norfolk. Or they were getting more tight lipped about it if they were still going about it. I was going to have to get the word out around different areas of the city, if I was going to grow the peace that was at least starting in this area. I decided to write down all of my observations from the spells in a separate book just to keep track of things, just to keep things neater for my own notes.
With the tent set up for occupancy, I went back to inspect our new guests. The mother looked a little thin, but I felt that this was likely just due to having to feed six kittens and not having time to hunt for food. Me providing her with canned nutrients probably wouldn’t hurt her at all. The kittens all seemed at the phase to at least have their eyes open and playing, so they weren’t completely defenseless. They weren’t really wounded at all, so they didn’t need healing at this time at least.
I got a text shortly after nine, confirming the time of the meeting, so I decided that I had done what I could, and got ready for my Scrying. With my desk set up, and the mirror prepared, I decided to get my notes for the first half of the day in order, and then get started with the Scrying ritual. There wasn’t much else to say for what Tony was getting today, as it was what would probably solve a lot of his problems. I didn’t think ahead and get food, so I hoped that they would be okay without anything more than the Field Provision Box. I set it on the camp table and got to work with my spell.
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Saturday, July 14, 2018, 08:00 PM
By the time that Wong and Pepper arrived, there were only five or so minutes left of my spellcasting for the Scrying spell.
They had brought food with them, so I was happy to just finish off the spell and have Wong ready to drop Tony’s newest gift on him. When the Scrying mirror clarified the view of the Lab, there were Phoenix Cores aplenty around the room, and Tony was working on 3D printing an improved version of the heat exchanger pipe design that I had roughly drawn for Pepper on the ninth. I was glad that he had taken what I had designed and improved upon it. Wong did his thing, and the new, bowling ball case shaped box of Gold-Titanium Alloy, dropped with a hollow thud on one of the tables.
Tony and Bruce both looked at the sudden noise, and the gently wafting index card, floating down like a feather, landing on top of the new addition to their lab, as the sparkling circle above it disappeared. As the portal closed, there was just a little stereo effect of Tony yelling at Wong that this lab wasn’t a mystical lost and found. Bruce, via the Scrying mirror, was seen to go to the box, and pick up the index card, to read it aloud to Tony. Tony stopped him immediately after hearing the name, asking, “What does Wong mean by calling it Tony’s Petro Printer?” Bruce, somewhat annoyed by the interruption, continued with telling him that this item was supposed to be able to reshape igneous stones (and thus Phoenix Cores), into whatever shape was placed into the sample side.
Tony asked Bruce which side was the “sample side” as Bruce opened up the box, revealing that the inside of the “top” portion of the box had written, in clear, vitriolic green, cursive letter, “Sample”. Bruce looked to Tony with a kind of blank face, and asked if this was clear enough. Tony sighed and motioned for Bruce to continue without verbally acknowledging it. Bruce did so, with the hint of a wry grin, saying that you then place the piece to be reshaped, or the “subject” in the middle of the bottom side. Written there, in the middle of the bottom box, was another cursive word, “Subject”. Tony saw it and huffed a little at the implication of needing simple instructions.
Bruce continued, telling Tony that after you put the subject into the box, with the sample already in the sample position, you say the command phrase, “Fac ut ira sit, numero uno.”. Tony immediately picked up on the translation, repeating it in English, and muttering about “Trekkies”. Tony looked to Bruce to continue, and Bruce sighed, before finishing off that the piece will be reshaped in six seconds. Tony looked at him and told him that he knows we need to try it, after seeing the hot box work. Bruce corrected him, “Tony’s Hot Box”, with a bit of a smirk, and agreed. Tony grabbed one of the earlier, simpler prototypes of the heat exchanger pipe segment, and placed it into the “sample” side.
Tony then used a special glove, picked up a Phoenix Core, and moved it into the “subject” side, before shaking off the glove, striking a dramatic pose, with his hands on either side of “Tony’s Petro Printer”, and dramatically announcing, “Fac Ut Ira Sit, Numero Uno.”, with his best Picard impression. Both Bruce and Tony then watched, as the structure of the subject Phoenix Core seemed to soften, and a set of precise tools levitated out of a small hidden section in the inside of bottom case, and inhumanly fast ghostly hands started to push and meld the subject to match the sample. In just about six seconds, the subject matched the sample. Tony and Bruce were a bit amazed by the alacrity and the sheer blatant magical display of the item. Bruce asked Tony if he saw that too, to which Tony just nodded.
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Tony reached for the reshaped Phoenix Core absentmindedly, before feeling the heat coming off of it, pulling back to put the glove on, and removing it to place it on a table before removing the sample before putting it next to the other one. Bruce looked at Tony strangely and asked if he was seriously just reaching in there after seeing it. Tony responded back that it had to be safe because it got sent by Wong. Bruce looked at him with a shocked expression and asked Tony if he really just trusted that without checking at least. Back in the tent, Wong and Pepper looked away from the screen and looked at me with a questioning glare.
I cleared my throat and told them that they could see the Unseen Crafters in the corner of my Tent, diligently working away on my armor, this was just a visual representation of this. Wong and Pepper looked a bit askew at me but didn’t mention anything at the moment, and turned back to the mirror. Just in time for us to see Tony asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. to compare the two, the sample and the subject. We heard a disembodied voice through the Scrying mirror, saying that there was less than 0.1% difference between the two. There was silence on both ends of the Scrying Mirror.
Tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to run a repeat analysis. F.R.I.D.A.Y. noted that there was now a 2% deviation and climbing between the resin sample and the Phoenix Core Subject. Tony yelled, “A-ha!” before F.R.I.D.A.Y. continued that this was because the heat from the Phoenix Core samples was affecting the resin structure as they were seated on a metal surface, too close together. Tony knocked the Resin structure away and asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to repeat the check versus the numbers ran in the 3D printer. F.R.I.D.A.Y. repeated the 0.1% number, and cited heterogenous grains in the stone for the slight imperfections. “How.” Tony asked Bruce quietly, in bewilderment.
Bruce started to weakly say, off sensor view, that maybe it was magic. Tony vocally scoffed, and said something in a slightly sing-songy voice telling him that he should know better than anyone that Magic is just science that isn’t understood. Bruce (and Tony) were silent after that , and Wong and Pepper heard me laugh, and say, “Or, Science might just be Magic that had constraints forced upon it.” Wong seemed to be thoughtful for a moment before giving it a slight nod, with Pepper seemingly giving it some thought as well. The three of us continued watching as Tony and Bruce tried it again, this time with a spare circuit card and a regular piece of granite.
Tony again struck up the pose, and with the same intonation, said, “Fac Ut Ira Sit, Numero Uno.”. With the appropriate sized piece in the “subject side”, the six seconds passed and that piece of regular granite was now shaped like the circuit card. Tony removed both circuit cards, and put them on the table to compare. Again, F.R.I.D.A.Y. came back with that they were accurate to within 0.1%. Tony stood there with his chin in his hand silently listening to how F.R.I.D.A.Y. was going through the different dimensions.
The two of them in the mirror seemed to be thinking this over carefully while we watched. They started rapid fire bounding ideas off of each other, how it might work, and what the effects were. As the minutes ticked down, Tony ran some had F.R.I.D.A.Y. run some calculations. He wanted to know how long the initial honeycombed pipe segments it would take to turn water into superheated steam. F.R.I.D.A.Y. came back with it taking roughly just under one segment to heat the water to almost temperature, at two hundred p.s.i., then after the next pipe segment and a half, the pipes would flash the heated water to dry saturated steam.
F.R.I.D.A.Y. then went on to say that after ten total pipe segments, you would get 284.54 Degrees Celcius, at fifty pipe segments, the steam would be 551.68 degrees Celcius, at one hundred pipe segments, the total would be 659.19 degrees Celsius, at one hundred and fifty total pipe segments, the steam temperature will reach 688.77 degrees Celsius, and finally, at roughly three hundred and thirty-three pipe segments, you would get the full 700 degrees Celsius, heated, dry steam.
Tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. what they were looking at for electrical power out with a Stark Industries steam generator setup, at the various lengths. F.R.I.D.A.Y. started with the three pipe segments, informing Tony and Bruce that it would generate 13.10 MW of mechanical power and 12.71 MW of electrical power. She went on to give the results for ten, fifty, one hundred, one hundred fifty, and three hundred and thirty-three pipe segments, giving the following: 13.68 MW mechanical and 13.27 MW electrical, 17.87 MW Mechanical and 17.33 MW Electrical, 18.34 MW mechanical and 17.79 MW Electrical, 18.58 MW Mechanical and 18.02 MW Electrical, and finally 18.66 MW Mechanical and 18.10 MW Electrical. Thinking ahead, F.R.I.D.A.Y. pointed out that it might be good to figure on going with the fifty segment setup, netting 17.33 MW Electrical Energy, as it was a good balance between length and return, providing power for up to fourteen thousand, four hundred and forty-two residences, on average, assuming suitably efficient turbines and generators.
Bruce finally spoke up about this and asked if F.R.I.D.A.Y. had double checked her numbers, and she responded that she had checked them thrice, and that they all added up. Bruce looked to Tony and said, “Tony, if this is true…” before he could finish, Tony interjected in with a command to F.R.I.D.A.Y. that she should prototype a basic design for a steam turbine/generator for this, with the consideration towards mass production. Tony then looked to Bruce and told him that he trusted this now more than anything, but that they should at least keep an eye towards watching for any thermal degradation of the original parts and any kind of deficiencies. Tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to keep an eye towards any temperature decreases in any of the Phoenix Cores, and immediately let him know. F.R.I.D.A.Y. acknowledged verbally as the Scrying spell ended.
I looked at Pepper and Wong, and told them that I would expect that Tony would be contacting her very shortly about getting a different type of equipment expedited. Pepper nodded and Wong asked me if there were any other surprises that I might have in store for them. I smiled and told them no, that the next surprises would be at least a week away. With that, Pepper indicated that she had some tasks to accomplish, but that she’d keep in touch, and that she’d be having a surprise delivered to me very shortly. Wong agreed that he had some things to do, but that I should prepare for a delivery very soon, and that he’d also seek me out if he had any questions that he thought that I could have input on. I thanked them for their time, and for their upcoming surprise, and stood to watch them leave.
With that set aside, I remembered that we were getting close to another order for the SEAL team’s enhanced guns. Looking at the salt specifically set aside for the gun enhancement project, I decided to do the only logical thing I could think of, and that is make a cabinet to improve items when they are placed in it with the proper amount of salt. I rushed out to find the best gun case that I could reasonably afford, and got it back to the Storage Unit, awkwardly. Then I got to work. Carving in sigils and runes, and placing salt in the interior, before I got to work enchanting it.
When I was done, I felt exhausted, but it was ready. An hour or so after I was done, I walked out to the storage unit, I got a series of texts popping up. Several from Pepper and Jonathan both sending me messages about that my delivery should be completed shortly. I popped out of the storage unit, using my boots, and saw that there were three pallets of salt. I balked a little with the added amount of salt, but quickly got to work, opening up the storage unit door, and loading the salt onto my private pile. It was almost up to the ceiling of the unit, but it did recover a lot of what I needed, especially for the dedicated Wrights I would be making, starting tomorrow, all things going as planned. I knew that I was now prepared, and I had Pepper, Jonathan, and likely Wong to thank for it.
I also knew that when Bob called me again, I wouldn’t need to expend all of my daily castings on improving the weapons, I could just summon up an Unseen Servant and have them do it. With that done, and feeling a bit drained, I figured that I would take some downtime and just rest. I’d be going back to help with the Ambulance crew once the certification came in, and they didn’t want to muddy any books by having me on while I was in between ‘concerned citizen” and “certified professional”, so I had some unofficial “time off” (funny since I wasn’t actually paid for this anyway), but I kept my phone in the storage unit with a wired speaker from the headphone jack ran into the tent, so that I can be alerted to any goings on, while I was in there, and it was quiet, so an early night wouldn’t hurt me that much.
Magic Item notes:
Quality Improvement Chamber: There are two ways that you can handle the material component portion of a permanent use activated magical item, either provide fifty (50!) times the material item cost, OR make it in such a way that you need to add the material component when you activate the item. That is what I chose to do for the Masterwork Transformation Cabinet. Other than that, it is a simple spell trap in a box that casts Masterwork Transformation, 1 time per hour, needing to add the appropriate amount of material component (salt) every time you activate it.
Aura:
Aura transmutation; CL 5th
Slot: None; Price 12,000 gp; Weight 20 lbs
This large hard gun case looks to be able to hold two full length rifles. The outside rims of both sides of the case are both covered with runs. The rifle case allows you to place a rifle or other item in it, and then apply the material components into the other side of the case, this case will cast the spell Masterwork Transformation on the item within. If no material components are placed on the other side, it does not activate.
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, masterwork transformation; Cost 6,000 gp
