Envoy spends several hours lecturing a rather confused-looking hybrid on the techniques of meditation and energy gathering, and how to use them to focus magic. Of course the problem with this is Icarus doesn't precisely do magic in the same sense as the mages do, but there's hope many of the same practices will apply in terms of developing better control.

Leaving Icarus to meditate in her laboratory, Envoy now has time to go do a few things around the fire base, from examining the removed components from Icarus' unfortunate 'brother' to closing off areas, to whatever else she may decide to do. The ghosts of the base have been thankfully quiet for now. Best for all involved, probably. No telling how Icarus might react to witnessing some of the events that led up to his creation, after all.

Returning to the main hangar, Envoy checks in on Icarus and fishes out the twisted ring of crystal that has been reprogrammed into a battery. Let's see if he can work with a charge placed on this, she thinks, and goes about singing a simple charging cantrip.

Icarus is sitting on the floor in the hangar, legs crossed and eyes closed. He looks asleep, truth be told and his breathing is extremely slow.

Once she's sure there's enough charge (but not too much) for testing, Envoy goes over to Icarus and kneels down in front of him. "Did you fall asleep?" she asks quietly.

One of his eyes opens. "No," he says and his breathing rate increases a bit. "Just trying to focus like you explained earlier. It was weird."

"Weird how?" Envoy asks, curious. "Did you see or hear strange things?"

"Heard, I think. Very soft tones that seem to come from everywhere and seem to shift pitch randomly," Icarus says. "Can't explain it."

"You may have been hearing the voices of the crystals, or something related," Envoy suggests. "Maybe you were hearing the Lesser Interface - what people call 'magic' or the 'magic field' on Sinai."

"Or maybe I'm just insane," Icarus notes and rubs idly at his left ear with the back of his hand.

"Oh, people call me that all the time, but I never take it personally," Envoy says with a grin. "Want to try an experiment?"

"Sure, I think. It won't hurt, will it?" Icarus asks.

"I'm hoping it will prevent hurting," Envoy says, and holds out the Mobius-strip crystal. "This is a battery, of sorts. It holds magical energy. I'd like you to try and tap into it and use that power to try and move or levitate something with your gravity drive."

Icarus takes the oddly shaped piece of crystal and turns it over in his hand. "It has only one surface," he comments before he looks up. "What do you want me to try to move? Do you want me to just pick something?" he asks.

Envoy looks around, and points to the previously-crushed crate. "How about that? It's pretty expendable if anything goes wrong."

"Yeah. I guess I can't really break it any worse, right?" Icarus remarks. "And how do I tap into this? Any idea? Or just … visualize doing it?"

"Well, when I use crystals, I synchronize with them," Envoy notes, looking thoughtful. "For me, that involves sound usually, but I've seen you synchronize through sight – so you should be able to just watch the patterns of light until you feel a connection."

"I'll give it a try," Icarus says. He holds up the strip of crystal between two fingers and stares at it with his sapphire eyes. About ten seconds pass and Envoy begins to notice ripples of color flowing along segments of his iris while other parts sparkle like the crystal itself. After drawing a deep breath, his head tilts at a slight angle and turns so that he's looking directly at the lump of metal. As his brow furrows, Envoy feels the telltale signs of 'magic' beginning to form around the remains of the crate. It feels similar to her gravity ritual, though there are many subtle differences in how it seems to be weaved. The remains shudder and slowly lift off the ground.

Envoy smiles brightly! "Very good!" she says, watching the spectacle with both mundane and arcane senses. "If you feel the power run out, try to stop before using any of your own… "

Envoy notices something; the power contained within the Mobius strip is diminishing, but at much less of a rate than she might have expected. It's worrying at first … until some of the subtle differences in Icarus' work start making sense; it's more efficient than the College-taught version. The wave functions seem to be working off each other and using side-effects of the interaction to boost the desired effect with less raw input. In simpler terms, his wave-functions all intertwine instead of being separate formulas that do not interact. She also realizes … she could probably mimic the effect, and perhaps apply the technique to several of her own spells that she knows very well.

This must be how 'miracles' work, Envoy realizes. I'll have to try and teach him how to do enchantments as well. She also wonders how versatile his implants are, or if they will be strictly confined to gravity effects – so she must try to teach him some actual spells to see if he can mimic them.

"Envoy," Icarus asks, "Do you mind if I try something?"

"Of course not," she says. "Unless it is dangerous? What do you intend to try?"

"I don't think it will be dangerous," Icarus notes as his head tilts down a slight bit. The drain-rate of the Mobius strip increases by a fair amount … and the groan of metal indicates that he is doing something. What becomes readily apparent as the ball of mangled metal is slowly untwisting and straightening out. In a minute or so, a wrinkled-looking, but definitely crate-shaped object has replaced the former ball. It lowers to the floor and Icarus lets out a long breath. The crystal in his hand has gone dark.

And if Envoy had to guess … Icarus must have created a dozen micro-gravity points along the ball, and used them to pull it back into shape. It also would explain the drastic drain increase.

"Amazing, and you didn't use your fingers even!" Envoy says, and gives Icarus a hug. "This means you can use other energy sources that won't tire you out so much or make you hungry. Unless that made you tired and hungry anyway?"

Icarus gets an amazingly confused look on his face when he's hugged. "No, I'm not hungry," he says as he gives the Aeolun an odd look. "All I did was try less and focused more on what I wanted to have happen. And uhm, why did you … hug me?"

"Because… well, to show you that I was happy, I suppose," Envoy explains, looking a bit unsure. "It is a gesture of affection or reward or friendship… well, it can be a lot of things, really. I won't do it again if it makes you uncomfortable: some people do not care for physical contact, I know."

"No, no, it's okay, you can," Icarus says as he rubs his left arm with his right hand. "I liked it. I just keep having this fear all this is a dream and I'll wake up alone again. It's like … I feel panicky because you're about to leave."

Envoy cants her head, and asks, "In all those repeating dreams of yours, did you ever have any fun?"

Icarus thinks on it. "I don't remember ever having fun," he admits, "Just moments here and there of pointless events, then feeling like I somehow slept through the day."

Standing up, Envoy holds out her hand to Icarus. "Okay then, it's time you had some," she claims. "We can try… hmm… sand castles! We've got lots of sand and I can make it sticky."

"And I keep thinking about … well, wondering why I was abandoned," Icarus says as he takes a hold of her hand and gets up. "I wonder what was wrong with me."

"There wasn't anything wrong with you," Envoy explains. "The woman who thought of herself as your mother didn't want you to end up as a weapon, or… treated like a thing."

"And she couldn't take me away?" Icarus asks. "What happened to her?"

Envoy pauses, and asks, "The truth may be disturbing, Icarus, so… do you really want to hear it?"

The movement of Icarus face speaks volumes on how much he thinks on his answer. "Can you answer me one thing? Was she a good person?" he asks.

"From what I saw of her, yes," Envoy says. "She was not perfect, and she had a lot of regrets about things she had done. I think protecting you was also a way she hoped to redeem herself."

At that Icarus smiles. "I'm glad she protected me. I'm also glad you found me. You could have run after seeing what I could do. Or, you could have tried to use me. You haven't done either. Instead you're tried to make me feel better and you've been patient with me and my questions. I guess she helped find me a better mother than she could be," he says and then shrugs.

"So, what is a sand cast … " he starts to ask, only to be interrupted by the noise of the hangar bay door opening and the rush of the outside air.

Envoy blinks at this, and smiles. "Well… I'm still… oh, visitors?" she says, turning towards the door. It takes her a moment to realize something, and she says, "You might want to hide in the bathroom until I know who it is. If you hear any explosions or gunfire… stay hidden as long as you can. Try not to kill anyone if you can avoid it."

"Okay. Just … don't get hurt. If you need to run, just run. I can … well," Icarus says worriedly. Instead of completing that thought he runs back into the base.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Envoy calls after the boy, and then heads for the opening door to see who it is.

The dust makes it hard to see precisely who it is, more just an outline of someone of moderate height, cloaked in some sort of long coat to presumably keep out the dirt. She can at least tell it isn't an Eeee or Naga. The shape is humanoid, so probably human or Karnor. "Did you have to pick a place so far away from civilization? Really," comes the very familiar voice of her old friend, Walter Thorndike. "These sorts of places are for the sort of people bent on world domination and who keep too many cats; not a fellow scientist and adventurer!"

"Ah, Walter!" Envoy says cheerfully, and waves! "Well, when you're as popular as I am, it helps to have a bit of seclusion! They don't have you doing the mail run now, do they?"

"Oh, no no, nothing so mundane for Thorndike the Third," the human claims as he steps out of the wind and shakes the dust off his coat before removing his top-hat and shakes the dust off that too. Then the sneezes come; they at least dislodge the dust from his mustache. "Seems I've become a bit popular recently with some group called the Kamp … fuzzen … burp? Anyway, they seem to have heard that I managed to get my Meta-Dimensional Perambulator up and working again, so to speak! Well, I can't have people nosing around my work, especially not those who carry guns, goodness! So … I was hoping my old friend would be willing to let me store it in her home until they lose interest?" There's something rather ridiculous about a mustachioed man looking so … hopeful.

"You have it with you?" Envoy asks, perking up. "On a trailer or something? I remember about you having to have it moved around, and just recently realized I might be able to help you with that issue. But of course you can keep it here!"

"Oh, yes! Our snaky-friends have been very accommodating," Thorndike agrees. "They helped bring me, and it, out this way. I'll tell them to back it in!" He salutes with his hat, spins around, and announces to the world, "Back into the fray!" The human practically marches right back out into the dust storm.

"Ah… Nagas too," Envoy adds, a little uncertainly. Still, the reptiles probably don't care who lives here. But she's certainly not going to introduce Icarus while they're around.

There's a ruckus of noise outside the bay and in a few seconds she can see the outline of a large cage with stylized wings slowly making its way towards the entrance. Thorndike is running around and waving his arms wildly. He might be directing them, or maybe he's just having a fit. As the cage clears the hangar, the rumble of engines can be heard from the battered vehicle that is backing it in. "There, there, stop!" Thorndike calls out in pidgin-Imperial. With a sputter, the engines die.

Envoy steps back a little. No need for her presence to be too obvious, after all.

Thorndike buzzes about with relentless energy as he unhooks the various chains that hold the wagon secure and then operates the hitch-release. The hitch releases with a metallic groan … and his machine is free. The Naga driver sticks his head out of the window and asks, "iS that it? Are you SsSure you want to take a break from your SssShows? I hear it is SssSold out every night!""

Envoy grins at that comment. She thinks of her brief stint in the opera, and her time as a bard before that. Maybe she could perform in concert someday, when she's feeling safer about being in public.

"Yes, yes, I need a break. Now shoo. Much work to be done. Much! My new show will be even grander!" Thorndike claims and waves his hands in a 'shooing' motion. The Naga laughs in its disturbingly hissy way and the engines fire up. With all too much noise, the vehicle rumbles off into the clouds of dust and wind.

"So, you're able to visit for awhile?" Envoy asks the man once the 'truck' is gone.

When the door closes behind the Naga, Thorndike slumps against the cage of his machine and fans himself with his hand. "Goodness. The books never said being an adventurer would be like this," he complains. "And I hope so! I truly need a break from them; I think I am losing my mind."

"Really?" Envoy asks. "I think the usual order is to lose your mind first, then go into show business," she quips. "I have some supplies on order, but until they show up all I can offer is hardtack and honey, I'm afraid. And I should introduce you to my… apprentice!"

Turning towards a doorway, Envoy calls out, "It's okay to come out, Icarus. It's my friend Mr. Thorndike from another universe. He… likes dogs."

"Oh, I have my own rations," Thorndike claims, "I haven't forgotten the horrors of your cooking." He hands his hat on one of the metal 'feathers', then takes a moment to pull off his goggles and hang those on another feather. The comment about an apprentice earns Envoy a look. "Apprentice?" he huffs, "How could you! After all we have been through."

Blinking in surprise, Envoy clarifies, "He's my apprentice in magic, Walter. Did you forget that I am a wizard?"

"Oh, that silliness," Thorndike says, "I still say it is merely scientific phenomena that has not been properly cataloged."

Right on the word catalog, Icarus peers out the door. "Hello?" he asks nervously.

"Well, yes, but very complicated phenomena," Envoy admits, then waves to Icarus. "Come on over, Icarus. This is Walter P. Thorndike the Third, a gifted inventor and explorer. He has the power to travel to different worlds."

"Dear me, you got a cat!" Thorndike declares. The human marches over to Envoy and eyes her. "You haven't been having any urges to ransom a city, have you?" he asks. "The stories are very clear on it, you know. Cats are the pets of the criminally insane… "

"He's not a cat, he's a human," Envoy points out. "Nor is he a pet. Would you call a Karnor companion your dog, Walter?" the Aeolun asks.

Icarus makes his way over slowly. His attention flickers between the human and his odd contraption. "Hi?" he offers Thorndike and even waves.

"He doesn't look entirely human," Thorndike notes. He heads over to get a closer look at the hybrid. He even puts on a monocle in the process. "Oh! Well, goodness me, it's an authentic Moreau!" he exclaims. "I thought they were just stories used to scare people from exploring uncharted islands."

Meanwhile, Envoy takes a moment to examine the trailer carrying the Perambulator, to see what it's made out of. "Moreau? Hmmm, the reference is somewhat appropriate," Envoy comments. "But he is my ward and apprentice as well, so please treat him with some respect, Walter – someday he will be a very powerful wizard."

"What's a Moreau?" Icarus asks and tilts his head.

"Oh, a mix of human and animal, taking the best traits of both to create something more powerful than either," Thorndike explains and holds out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Icarus!" he declares, "May I examine you later?"

The trailer is made primarily of steel and wood, it looks like. A steel sub-frame with wood paneling making up the walls and floor. It rolls on four rather hard rubber tires.

"Icarus, Mr. Thorndike is a human," Envoy notes. "A very manly one, who goes on adventures and has many interesting stories to tell. And maybe some meat in his rations?" She directs the latter question towards her new guest.

Icarus stares at the offered hand. Eventually he takes hold of it … and looks very surprised when Thorndike shakes it heartily. "Sorry about the cat comment," Thorndike says, "Bad experiences with cats, you see." The human then looks over his shoulder and says, "I have a couple weeks worth of dried jerky on-board, along with some dried fruit, powdered milk … hm, a lot of dry, come to think of it."

"A powerful wizard, eh?" Thorndike asks Icarus while smiling.

"I … guess?" Icarus replies, looking uncertain.

"I have some water," Envoy offers, looking up from her examination of the trailer's undercarriage. "And there's a lot more, if we can get the plumbing to work properly. I'm not very good with such things," Envoy admits, and adds in, "What with being a girl and all," to play to Thorndike's Victorian sensibilities.

Thorndike looks absolutely aghast at the prospect of poorly working water. "That will not do, milady," he asserts, "Walter P. Thorndike the Third cannot allow such a delicate flower of to be without the most basic luxury of a warm bath! On my honor as an Adventurer, and most certainly inducted-ad-absentia into the Society, you will bathe again!" He even raises his hat towards the ceiling.

"Do all humans act like this?" Icarus asks Envoy.

The construction of the trailer looks extremely sturdy overall. It would have to be to not come apart when going over the rough terrain outside.

Envoy puts a hand to one of the rust-discolored patches of fur on her face and smiles, "Why thank you, Walter! I knew a proper gentleman could be counted on." To Icarus she notes, "Only the really good ones." Back to Thorndike, she says, "Also, if I could get your trailer to fly, would you help me to build a vehicle for Icarus and I to use?"

"My dear, if you could make my trailer fly, why I would take you anywhere you wished to go, in addition to building you a vehicle of your choosing!" Thorndike declares. "Well … as long as we have the right parts, anyway."

"This place is full of mechanical junk," Envoy points out. "And mysterious caverns… "

"Mysterious, you say?" Thorndike asks and even strokes his chin thoughtfully.

Icarus finally grins. "I like him," he tells Envoy.

"Good, Icarus! You need a proper male role model," Envoy notes. "At least until I can build a body for Morpheus. Walter, are the plants that create pod-people still active in the new Imperial life dome?"

"Oh yes. Disturbing things. There you are walking along and minding your own business and blort, out drops some Naga looking squash on your head and scares the daylights out of you! Really, they should have better manners," Thorndike claims.

"And … that reminds me. I have a present for you," Thorndike says. He pats Icarus' shoulder, then heads over to this trailer and climbs up on it. "It'll just be a moment."

"A present?" Envoy asks, her ears perking. She hardly ever gets those! She bounces on her toes in anticipation.

"It was difficult to get, mind you. But, nothing too hard for an astute adventurer such as I," Thorndike claims as he lifts a cloth covered box-like shape from one of his trucks. He holds it out arms length and carries it over to the side. "Here you go," he says.

Taking the box, Envoy smiles and says, "The cloth is very pretty!" She then tries to actually see what's underneath it.

Two little chitinous heads peer up at Envoy and chitter at her. "The little buggers tried to bite me," Thorndike complains.

"Knick!" Envoy chirps. "Knack!" She laughs and lifts the incredibly dangerous centipede-like creatures out of the box. "I've missed you! And I hope you don't mind that my forearms are a bit smoother in places now… " she tells the little monsters.

"I don't see what she sees in those things," Thorndike says as an aside to Icarus. Icarus merely shrugs and grins.

"I think she likes collecting strange things, maybe?" Icarus offers.

"What? Nonsense. We're not strange," Thorndike counters. "Sure you may have a tail and overly-aggressive body hair, but that doesn't make you strange."

"They were gifts from the mermaids of Ashtoreth," Envoy notes. "And they've saved my life on several occasions. They are very pretty when they pretend to be jewelry, too."

The strange critters don't seem to care (if they even notice), that Envoy's arms have smooth-patches on them now. They just … settle in.

Envoy chirrs and ratchets to the critters happily, and then suggests, "Icarus, why don't you help get Mr. Thorndike settled in the lab? I'm sure he'll be willing to share some of his jerky with you. It's made from meat, but can be used to make shoes too!"

"Ah, should I try … ?" Icarus asks and motions with his hands, then towards the explorer's wooden trunks.

"Actually, moving them with your muscles would be good exercise," Envoy points out. "You're still a little weak and need to work on that."

"Okay," Icarus says. It's a combination of lifting and dragging, really, as the hybrid hauls one of the trunks out of the hangar.

"Cute child," Thorndike says, "Decent manners. Where did you get him from? Is he another person from beyond the void, like me?"

"Essentially, yes," Envoy says. "He doesn't have a past to speak of though, but potentially has the power to… well, do what your Perambulator does, I think. He'll need to see it in action sometime… "

Thorndike blinks. "You're saying the child has the ability to open passages in the aether and step between worlds? Goodness! Are you sure?" he asks.

"He can warp space," Envoy notes. "And he's learning fine control at an impressive rate. I still have a lot to teach him though before he can risk something that might get him lost or worse."

"How is it possible that a child can do that?" Thorndike asks and even scratches his own head. "The equations I worked out for manipulating space-time are complex. I had to approximate over half of the solutions to the partial differentials because I wasn't able to solve them in their entirety."

"I know the full solutions, but… they're meant for someone with a much, much bigger brain than mine," Envoy admits. "Icarus is special, is all. You could say the power is in his bones… "

Thorndike purses his lips as he thinks. In a lower voice, he says, "That puts him at great risk. I know little of this world's politics still, and yet I can imagine any of the groups desiring to possess someone with that ability."

"That is why none of them will know about him, until I'm sure he can protect himself," Envoy notes. "And there are other worlds as well. I'd like to have the option to move quickly however, which is why I think we need a vehicle. I've learned from him as well, and should be able to create something that moves by manipulating gravity."

"Really? That would be fascinating to see. Are you using modified forms of the standard gravity equations for moving and rigid bodies?" Thorndike asks, "And is there any design considerations I should keep in mind? Mass distribution? Aerodynamics?"

"I'm not sure yet," Envoy notes. "I need to experiment. I know I can levitate something indefinitely, and can alter the gradient in a way to make it fall in the direction it should go… although from my perspective it would be done by compressing and expanding space. There are several techniques to test, and a few ways to protect the vehicle and its riders from acceleration or inertia… maybe. I'll probably start with some small models… "

"Good. That gives me time!" Thorndike announces. "For you are a frightful mess and that will not do. I think I will see to your plumbing while you model. Do you mind if I ask your apprentice to help me? I wish to get to know him better."

"A boy can never know too much about plumbing," Envoy admits with a grin. "I'm sure he will be eager to learn, and get messy."

"Quite right!" Thorndike declares as he dons his hat once more, "To the pipes!" As the human heads in the direction Icarus went, she can hear him say, "I do hope I remembered to pack my torch. Dear me, dear me… "

Envoy smiles as she watches the man go. One of the few I can really trust, with no political ties, yet smart enough to get by in an alien world, she thinks. I really need to find a nice woman for him sometime. I wonder if he'd like a Lapi?