Outside and on top of the hidden base, the evening breeze is brisk - hinting at the cold to come once the sun sets. A winged creature defies the wind by marking out a large circle in the sand. "This is the landing zone," she tells the young humanoid standing nearby. "You'll always want to try and land here," Envoy explains to Icarus.

"Why right here? Is there something special about it? It doesn't feel any softer than the rest of the ground," Icarus comments as he prods the sand with his clawed toes.

"Because landing where you want to is the most important thing about flying," Envoy claims, and hops into the center of the circle. "Plus, it makes it easier to catch you if needed!"

"Uhm, don't I weight more than you?" Icarus asks. Of course Envoy doesn't actually know how much Icarus weighs, truth be told. "And is this like … levitating stuff? I don't have wings like you do."

"Well, that will all make it a bit trickier, true," Envoy notes. "Can you tell me what you think the hardest part of flying is going to be?"

Icarus thinks about that; it's obvious when he does because his ears splay to the sides. "Keeping oriented," he finally says. "If I just levitate myself, well … I'll sort of spin on where my weight center is."

"That's a big one yes," Envoy agrees, nodding her head. "And what about seeing? If you use a bubble, won't it distort the light?"

"Uhm … it might. I could probably correct for that with a secondary bubble that warps it back the other way," Icarus says as his tail now lashes. "I think? Maybe?"

"Hmm, how about trying something a little different?" Envoy says suggestively, and with a hint of mischief as well. "So far, you've always put gravity bubbles around objects. But could you make one that's only attached to something without covering it?" she asks, and flexes her wings a bit to illustrate the notion, perhaps.

"I'm … not sure?" Icarus admits, "I would have to try … and well, not on myself first! I don't want to pull out my fur, or worse."

"Hmmmm, what do you want to try it on first then?" Envoy asks. "A statue?"

"Well, anything really. Some junk or a rock," Icarus suggests as he peers about the landscape, "I need to see if I can do it to begin with, the shape of the target isn't that important."

Envoy finds a moderately-sized rock, maybe weighing 30 lbs. "How about this then? You can start by thinking of the bubble as being a sort of… balloon… stuck to the back of it," she suggests.

Icarus digs out the Moebius strip crystal, now on a length of string, and drapes it around his neck. The hybrid then pops his fingers, followed by a playful wiggle of them. "Okay! This shouldn't be too hard," he tells himself as his eyes focus on the rock and his pupils narrow to slits.

A distortion grows over the small boulder, and it begins to lift into the air… only to have the part within the bubble come away from the rest of the rock. The boulder falls to the dirt, while the encased bit shoots up into the air.

"Eeeeeeeeeee," goes Icarus as he lets the field immediately dissipate and the fragment of the rock falls back to the ground in a puff of dust. "That's why I wanted to try it," he says.

Envoy rubs her chin in thought. "That wasn't bad, but the rock isn't very elastic," she notes, and then holds out her hands. "Let me see your hands for a moment."

Icarus walks over and holds out his hands to Envoy. "I need these," he says in a completely serious tone.

"Of course you do," Envoy replies as she feels over the crystal-infused bones, and begins to get an idea. "Your body is very smart, you know. In that it can think on its own, to a degree. I think… that we should take advantage of that, don't you?"

Envoy can actually feel the flow of some sort of energy along the bones in the hybrid's hands when hers are so close to his. That's not the odd part, though. The odd part is her own forearms start to itch. "Are you suggesting letting my body handle not hurting itself on its own? Rely on … self preservation?" he asks.

Letting go of Icarus, Envoy says, "Not trusting it quite that much." She then pulls her sleeves back to take a look at her own crystal implants.

Envoy just barely catches glimpse of a flicker of light before they return to their 'normal' state. Normal as in, boring and not doing anything useful. "What, then?" Icarus asks, the poor hybrid looking even more confused.

"Hmmm," Envoy goes, before returning her attention back to Icarus. "I think I can teach your crystals how to do something, so that you don't have to think about it so much yourself," she comments. "See… well, it'd be easy for you to just fly around in a bubble, but that would take all the fun out of flying because you couldn't feel any of it. What you need is a flying harness… just not a real one. A virtual one."

"Are you suggesting constructing wings out of gravity bubbles?" Icarus tries to clarify. "And isn't that more dangerous than a bubble, since the bubble, well, shields me some?"

"I get by flying without any sort of shield," Envoy points out. "But you can wear a helmet too. The point of flying isn't just to get from point A to point B… it's supposed to feel exhilarating! So, for you… wings aren't the answer. But imagine if you had one of my gravity thrusters attached to each of your hands and feet, and another strapped to your back."

"If I did, I would look silly," Icarus says and grins widely. "But … I think I see what you're suggesting. Localized fields on my extremities and use those to keep my orientation without distorting my vision?"

"Plus they'd let you feel your balance and attitude, and feel the acceleration some," Envoy notes. "And the key to it all isn't bubbles at all! It's all about donuts."

"Right, a field supporting parts of me, but not going through me," Icarus says and nods. "Like … bracers, kind of. I think that is the right word. Do you want me to try, or did you want to do something first?"

"We'll try with the rock again," Envoy suggests. "I want you to wrap a toroidal field around it's midsection, and then a second and third one around the fore and aft ends."

"Okay, I'll try," Icarus says and takes a step back. His fingers splay and wiggle a bit as his eyes focus back on the rock from earlier.

There's that itch again in Envoy's forearms. It seems to surge and ebb with the light that dances within Icarus' iris. It's annoying enough that Envoy almost misses the rock lifting gently off the ground and floating a few feet above it. There are telltale distortions around its mid-section and on either of its ends.

Envoy rubs at her forearms as she watches. "That looks good!" she declares. "Was it difficult?"

"Not too much, no. It's just the same … waveform, just duplicated three times and two with axis rotated ninety degrees," Icarus explains. His eyes remain focused on the rock before him. It moves a little left … then a little right. "Movement is just … altering the intensity of one of the fields."

"Good! Because you're going to need to create fifteen of those loops to wrap your body," Envoy declares. "Three for each forearm, three for each calve, and three to wrap your torso from waist to chest."

"Fifteen?" Icarus blurts, wide-eyed at the prospect! "That that … oh! Okay, I know how to do it. I think! Maybe! Inductive harmonics! Generate some indirectly through harmonics!" The hybrid thing blinks repeatedly and asks, "How do I know that?"

"Your body knows it, it just tells you when you need it," Envoy explains. "But that should give you plenty of support, and you'll be able to use your hands and feet for control."

"So … should I try it?" Icarus asks nervously.

"Of course!" Envoy says, with a big grin! "Just try to hover without flopping around first."

"Right! Here goes me hoping I don't tear myself apart," Icarus says. He spreads his legs about a foot apart and holds his arms up from his sides about the same, probably to try and be better 'balanced'.

"Well, if it feels like you're being torn apart… stop," Envoy advises.

"Woooah," goes Icarus as air seems to warp around his limbs and torso. Dust swirls away from his feet as he lifts off the sand and hovers a few feet above it. "This feels like being suspended by pudding," the hybrid comments nervously as he seems to rock back and forth in the air.

"You shouldn't know about alternate uses of pudding at your age," Envoy chides. "Now trying turning around."

Envoy also gets a surprise when the itching returns violently … then immediately fades into a tingle. She can just make out a myriad of voices all speaking in Svartfin, all reciting a complex equation involving mass, energy, and even down to quantum probability. It dawns on her that her implants are recording the manipulations Icarus is doing! Why they are recording, though … that's unknown.

"You found me in a tube of blue pudding," Icarus points out just before he attempts to rotate himself.

The Aeolun ponders the odd reaction, but takes heart: it could mean that Icarus's own implants are recording it all as well, which would make it much easier later on.

After Icarus successfully figures out how to rotate from side to side, Envoy asks him, "Now, float with your stomach down, and arms and legs outspread like you're falling through the air."

"Could you use a word other than fall?" Icarus asks as he tries to rotate himself vertically now so that he's 'laying' in the air. That seems to go pretty well, too. It apparently doesn't take much to rotate a mass contained in layers of fields; likely a simple alteration of force outputs on each end to do it. "This feels … weird," he finally says once he's staring at the sand a few feet below him.

Suddenly, Envoy's wings flash out… and try to tickle Icarus's sides!

"Ack, hey, stoppit!" Icarus blurts out just before breaking down into flailing limbs and giggling. The interesting part is … his orientation somehow manages to remain constant even with his flailing.

"Very good!" Envoy claims as she pulls her wings back. "You didn't lose control. I think you may be ready for the next real test!"

Icarus is now somehow on his back and floating. His head rolls backwards and he ends up looking at Envoy upside-down. "You're being weird, Mom," he complains.

"I'm being FUN!" Envoy says, and then reaches out and taps a finger against the tip of Icarus's nose. "Tag, you're it," she says, then turns, runs and launches into the air!

"Hey, no fair!" Icarus complains as he flails around to try and right himself, "I don't want to be it! I don't know what it is, but it sounds bad!"

Envoy arches upwards and does a loop-de-loop before hovering a bit. "It means you have to tag someone else now!" she explains. "That someone being me of course."

"But you're better than me!" Icarus complains now that he's upright. His hands curl into fists and he launches towards Envoy, leaving a weird wake of warping air behind him!

The Aeolun waits until Icarus is close… then just folds her wings to drop down beneath his arc, flaring them out to skim across the ground instead. She keeps a close eye on how Icarus responds.

His response isn't very graceful, it involves a lot of flailing as he tries to slow down and turn around so that he can try to catch back up with Envoy. It's helpful that his fields tend to leave visible artifacts in the air, as she can quickly see the chaos-wake he's generating; in addition to feeling it.

Changing course to climb again, Envoy tries to get a feel for how much energy Icarus is expending as well. Having wings makes one learn quickly how to find the most efficient techniques, after all.

Envoy actually finds it a bit difficult to tell how much energy he's expending. It might be because the amount doesn't seem to be a lot; that he's reusing most of it so his next expenditure is small. She isn't sure, though.

Icarus has finally managed to stabilize himself and has resumed his pursuit! His path isn't perfectly straight, though, there's wobble in his movement.

Grinning, Envoy decides to test him on aerobatics. She's no Eeee, but without a tail she's unstable enough to make some quick course changes, even a barrel-roll.

Since Icarus' cross-section is smaller than Envoy's (no wings!) he's even 'less' stable than she is! Suddenly he zooms by, flips midair, and is now hovering right in Envoy's path, upside down, and with his arms crossed! The grin that follows is terribly feline as he sticks his arm out and waits for Envoy to run into it!

Instead of slowing or diverting, Envoy flips over as well, and grabs on to Icarus's outstretched arm… then stops flying, to see if he can hold her weight.

Icarus' eyes go wide when there is suddenly a lot of weight pulling on his arm! The next thing Envoy knows though, she's suddenly feeling very buoyant; there is a collection of fields around her body too. Icarus' expression of horror changes to one of impish fun. "My turn… " he says ominously.

"Oh?" Envoy asks. "Your turn to do what exactly?" she asks with a big grin.

"This," Icarus says. Envoy suddenly feels like she just left her stomach behind and replaced it with butterflies! The landscape below them turns into a blur as the two go rocketing across the desert!

"Wheeeee-ooooooo-aaaaaah!" Envoy squeal and laughs. Then she shouts, "Don't get lost!"

The next thing Envoy knows, they're both stopped! Which, well, causes the swirling stomach sensations to return. The pair are hovering out … somewhere. "I counted seconds," Icarus notes, the statement accompanied by a huge grin. "It should be easy to get back by just reversing direction and moving at the same speed for the same time." He's practically glowing, both literally and figuratively, both with that grin and with how his skeleton is glowing so much it's illuminating him through his skin and fur. It's eerie in a way; he looks so otherworldly like that, as if he was out of a fairy-tale.

"How much power have you used so far, Icarus?" Envoy asks, partly out of curiosity and partly out of worry – if it's too much, someone may have noticed it.

"Oh, uhm, I've been folding it back on itself so I don't hurt myself by using too much," Icarus claims, "So … about five percent of what was in the battery? Something like that."

"Alright, that's good to know," Envoy says. "It means you could fly under your own power for a bit without exhausting yourself, if you kept it slow."

"I can't show my other family this, can I?" Icarus asks and his ears wilt a bit. "You still think people would try to use me if they knew, don't you?"

"Yes, I think they would, or at they very least would try to influence you," Envoy notes. "At worse, try to kill you if they couldn't win control of you. But out here in isolation, it's okay… and maybe Born-In-War's family could be trusted… but only out here. On Sinai… well, it may not be that dangerous. Nobody would think of you as a weapon to be controlled."

"Why wouldn't I be thought of that way there? Are there others like me?" Icarus asks.

"Well, they're used to magic, and amazing beings showing up now and then," Envoy notes. "Plus… the nations aren't constantly looking for a military advantage over one another. They all have their own resources, and rarely need to fight over such."

"Am I really that dangerous?" Icarus asks and looks towards the dusty sky. "I don't feel dangerous. I don't want to hurt people. I just … I want to live. I want to be happy. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be ashamed that I'm some sort of creation."

"You aren't dangerous," Envoy says, mussing up Icarus's hair and smiling. "The ones who would want your power are dangerous."

"Some power! If I push it too much, my body gives out," Icarus points out after shaking out his mussed-up hair. "Who would want a power that could kill you to use it? I'm only alive because, well, I heal pretty quickly."

"The people who pursue power… well, they really don't think that far ahead," Envoy notes. "They see the power, and decide it is something to possess. A rocket expends itself in its attack, as does a bullet or cannon shell; they would see you as no different, only in the degree of damage you might be able to accomplish before dying. That is the sort of person we have to be watchful for. And that includes beings like Barada."

"Who? Barada? Sounds … female," Icarus notes. "If this person shows up, what should I do? I don't think you want me to try to hurt them, right?"

"Best not to talk to them, or answer any questions," Envoy says. "You met Barada: the young Eeee woman who showed up with a glowing symbol on her forehead, who made you feel 'creepy'."

"Oh, right! Her," Icarus says as he sways both himself and Envoy back and forth in the air. "I liked Violette better than her. Violette didn't feel all … weird. And she was nice to me."

"Well, Violette was a girl, and not a goddess," Envoy notes, and says, "We should start heading back soon."

Icarus looks around … and then looks worried. "Uhm," he says nervously.

"You said you counted the time and remembered the direction," Envoy notes, sounding a little worried.

"I do, I'm just getting you back for tickling me earlier," Icarus says, grins, and the world goes into a blur around them once more. This time Envoy is upside down and it feels like her stomach is in her feet!

Remember the circle? The next thing Envoy knows she's within the circle, upside down, with her feet spayed out in odd directions. Icarus is sitting next to her, cackling like mad. It looks like he was able to 'land' in the circle, but alas Envoy didn't land as well as he did; probably because of the speed that they returned under. And before Envoy can even right herself, she is under a relentless tickle attack from her own child!

"Ack! Hey!" Envoy yells while squirming away from the fingers! "Did you have fun?"

"Have? Having," Icarus retorts right as he pokes Envoy's nose! "Tag, you're it," he says, wiggles his ears, then darts up into the sky! Once he's ten feet up, he pulls down one eyelid, one ear, then sticks out his tongue. "Nyeh!" he taunts. "Catch me if you can!"

"Oh ho, now you're in for it!" Envoy says, as she launches back into the air. She might not be able to match his speed… yet… but she still has tricks up her sleeves! I never got to play like this before! she thinks. It's good to be able to have fun again…