InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "let's garnet!"

Claudia Donovan (clauds) wrote in makebelievelog,
@ 2012-09-29 02:08:00

Entry tags:

anakin skywalker, claudia donovan, h.g. wells

Who: Claudia Donovan, H.G. Wells, Anakin Skywalker
What: Claudia needs a distraction, H.G. needs to avoid becoming a reclusive hermit. Claudia drags H.G. to meet Anakin. Everyone wins?
When: Saturday, September 29, 2012 - Afternoon
Where: Stables area
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 / Potential for language
Status: Closed / Complete

That Saturday morning, Claudia had slept in until mid-morning. She had turned in late the night before. Even now, she wasn't that well rested. But she felt a need to be a meddling kid-like-person, so she had showered and dressed before putting an impromptu plan into action. She had gotten a bit of time with most of her extended family the prior day, when they had all gone for mani/pedi/facials, but H.G. had split off and gone off to explore in the city. As far as Claudia was concerned, that was giving her permission to pull her eccentric British Aunt-like-person into a social situation at a later date and Claudia had decided what that social situation would be; she was going to introduce H.G. Wells to Darth Vader, pre-Vader.

Based on a quick scouting trip, Claudia knew Anakin was out in the stables, working on something or other. He had never been the best about hiding his technological crap and, based on having looked at it and then her dream the other night, Claudia could easily venture a guess that it was Skywalker's work.

"Skywalkerrrrr-" Claudia called out as they finally reached the stables, the area she had been planning to drag H.G. to in the non-literal sense. It was a bit hard to fathom dragging the kempo-savvy author along if H.G. hadn't been willing, on some level, to indulge Claudia. "I have someone here you need to meet."

If this didn't distract Claudia's mind, not to mention help H.G. socialize a little, she didn't know what would.

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indelibleink
2012-09-29 10:48 am UTC (link)

At the comment of the technology not being available in her world and Claudia's added comment, she nodded a bit. "I am not from the same time as Claudia, not originally. I was born nearly a century and a half before she was." Then came the complicated part. Explaining how she was, in fact, 145 years old yet definitely didn't look like it. "I was Bronzed for a little over a century, which is how I met Claudia after I was deBronzed. It it a complicated tale, but the world I know the best was not as advanced as the one Claudia is familiar with. There are things in the modern world that I am familiar with, others that I'm still learning about and many I have not yet discovered."

Really, that was just completely skirting the whole topic of how she got Bronzed and why and what it was, but it was a sensitive topic and she didn't want to descend into that topic so soon after meeting Anakin. Those weren't exactly details she wanted to share right now.

"But thank you, I would be most interested in learning about it. I am an inventor and always have quite the keen imagination. Aside from the inventing, I am also a writer and have an interest in the sciences, arithmetic, and, well, learning of all kinds really." Now her enthusiasm was showing through, and obviously showing that she was quite the intelligent woman who could do anything when given the chance.

"Oh Claudia," Helena said, shaking her head with a chuckle, then looking at Anakin. "Dare I ask how bad it truly was?" Not that Helena really grasped the concept of ringtones. She was still getting used to her phone contraption. It was a confusing thing, but she at least had the basics of how to use it down. Glancing over at Claudia as she went up to the speeder bike, her eyes once again ran along the frame. "What is that? I have never seen anything like it before." Now, Helena wanted to go over to it and run her long, slender fingers along it, taking in the shape and the detail of it better, but she would wait until she was invited to do so.

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darkforcerising
2012-09-30 08:17 am UTC (link)

“Bronzing?” Anakin asked raising a questioning brow. He had an idea, if H. G. was indeed referring in some sense to the metal alloy.

“Claudia and I have a tentative truce,” Anakin answered, while brushing the young redhead’s hand away from the ignition switch. Giving her a pointed look he popped up the paneling around the switch and then disconnected it by pulling it clean from its socket. He noticeably placed it on the bench well out of Claudia’s way after flipping the panel back into place. “That would be the end of an intact Castle foundation,” he told her.

“This,” he said, turning his attention back to H. G., “is a Zephyr-G swoop, a type of personal hovercraft, even though it’s not hovering at the moment. I’ve taken the repulsorlifts offline to work on the stabilizers.”

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clauds
2012-09-30 09:24 am UTC (link)

"Our version of a carbon freeze, only it's a cryogenic freeze followed by larp lariati bronze." Claudia explained with a small shrug, giving Anakin a look when he flat-out removed the entire switch. She wasn't sure what the switch did, as far as meant function, but the entire thing left her inclined toward some sort of pouting. "And one is aware the entire time they're bronzed. And hey, you hacked me back. So it's not like I'm the only bad one here."

Claudia paused and grinned at H.G., shrugging, before going back to her antics. She was distracted, H.G. was socializing, and Anakin seemed amused. She figured to let the other two talk about the science stuff and she could listen and learn, though she wanted something to do amidst their talk. She had a good idea as to what.

"And - I wasn't - okay, fine. Can I sit on it, then, if that's removed?" Claudia asked, crossing her arms. Anakin was likely well within his rights to remove the switch; considering the young techie's impulsive inclinations and high curiosity level, it was better to remove the temptation. She had admitted her inclination toward playing with and touching things she shouldn't necessarily. Anyone who watched the show and saw how often she played with artifacts knew that, as far as little/no downside artifacts went, Claudia was inclined toward use of the items. Never mind if she occasionally got stuck to a pole as a giant human magnet with everything metal in close proximity attaching itself to her... she had gotten better about thinking first! She was trying.

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indelibleink
2012-09-30 10:34 am UTC (link)

Helena was glad that Claudia explained what Bronzing was. It wasn't exactly her favorite topic of discussion. It had been both the best and worst thing that had happened to her. Because of it, she had been able to meet Myka, Claudia, Pete and the rest of the people at Warehouse 13. But also because of it, she had constantly thought of Christina and of her loss for that amount of time she’d been Bronzed. As a result, the anger and the hate had grown and mutated within her, leaving her twisted and far from the woman she had once been. She'd become so twisted by the anger and hate that she'd been blind to everything else. She had been rather mad, or insane as they liked to say these days. But at least currently she was in her right mind, and wasn't in danger of repeating the same mistakes she had previously. As such, she merely nodded with what Claudia said, a bit of a sad and regretful look in her eyes, though she did her best to keep that from running deeper or ruining this encounter.

When Anakin pulled the switch out and warned Claudia, followed by Claudia's pouting, Helena could only smirk and chuckle, shaking her head a bit. Claudia would never change, but she rather liked the younger woman's curiosity and enthusiasm. There were times Helena saw a bit of herself, the one that was untouched by anger and hate, within Claudia. Though she quickly turned her attention back to Anakin as he explained the machine. And Helena's dark eyes promptly lit up.

"A hovercraft? Oh that's brilliant, really." She moved away from Anakin and started walking around the craft, looking it over with intense interest. Really, it didn't take much to get Helena's interest in these things. Her mind was all ready churning with thoughts of the craft. "It is beautiful," she praised, giving a smile to Anakin. She didn't yet touch it, not wanting to accidentally trip something she shouldn't. And she knew better than to touch other people's inventions without invitation. After all, Helena was rather protective of her own inventions while they were works-in-progress. "How does it work? What powers it?"

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darkforcerising
2012-10-01 01:49 pm UTC (link)

“Thank you.” Though Anakin would say the swoop was far from the perfection it could be if only he had all the proper parts readily at hand, instead of having to make many pieces from scratch. However, it was built well enough that he could be damn proud of his accomplishments and be gracious about a sincere compliment.

By then Claudia’s anticipation was palpable without him even needing to look at her. It seemed the young woman probably wouldn’t be able to contain herself for much longer. Anakin impassively scrutinized Claudia and her request, turning the idea over in his mind and looked for ways she could turn this into their untimely demise by fiery explosion. He didn’t relent when she returned a glare back as good as she got. But, soundlessly, he came to a conclusion and reached into another part of the craft to unplug the fuel relays as an extra insurance against uncontrollable exothermic reactions.

And then he nodded to his friend, “Don’t break anything.”

With what he assumed would be an extended stretch of peace from Claudia’s incessant pleadings, Anakin turned back to H. G. “The power generators and turbothrusters are located in the rear,” he pointed to the aft section of the bike, and then launched into a brief explanation of how each worked separately and in conjunction with one another.

“I’m…” he thought for a moment, assessing just how much the older woman was both interested in the swoop and how well she followed along with his explanation. And finding her curiosity and intelligence to his standards he continued, “I’m currently reworking and improving the individual components, if you’d like to help I can give more detailed explanations as I go.” He encountered very few individuals who were impressed with his accomplishments, didn’t assume his dedication to improving his skill an indication of Dark Side tendencies, and could keep up with him, making collaborative work a rare event in his life.

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clauds
2012-10-01 03:09 pm UTC (link)

"I won't!" Breaking into an extremely large grin, Claudia took the given opportunity to distract herself and climbed up on the bike. She had ridden a motorcycle before on a number of occasions and, in principal, knew how to get on without looking like a total klutz. Steve McQueen's Motorcycle had been a blast to ride and, really, part of her wished she could've had the bike at the castle. That would've been neck-and-neck with a flying bike in coolness factor, as far as she was concerned.

Converse Sneakers met with Star Wars tech as Claudia sat on the speeder bike, taking it all in. Everything combined was exactly the distraction she needed. It was likely a rather easy guess where Claudia's mind was, sitting on the bike. She was in the midst of imagining herself riding it. The weird Star Wars dream and the sensation of flying only added to the accuracy of her daydream.

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indelibleink
2012-10-02 06:39 am UTC (link)

It was at this precise time that Helena completely forgot that Claudia was even there, despite the younger woman sitting on the bike that Helena was looking over. What she was paying attention to was the machine itself. As Anakin described how the power generators and turbothrusters worked, Helena moved to the aft of the craft and bent down to examine what he was talking about, tucking her hair behind her ears. There were words in his explanation that she didn't understand, but it wasn't hard to put their meaning into context and relate them to things she knew about. As such, she followed Anakin's explanation without much trouble. Her interest was completely piqued by now.

Once he finished explaining how it worked, Helena stood back upright and looked at Anakin. This machine was completely marvelous. And then there was the invitation for her to help him as he worked on it. At that, her eyes lit up completely, unable to keep a lid on her enthusiasm for these sorts of things. "I would be more than happy to assist you, as long as you do not mind. I once worked on a rocket meant for travel in space, but my partner and I had trouble finding a power source." Which had ended up being the Joshua Horn, but Helena wasn't about to get into those unsavory details. So really, while she didn't fully comprehend jet propulsion or turbothrusters, it wasn't hard for her to grasp the basics. She was a very quick study when things were explained to her, so she could indeed keep up with Anakin in this matter.

"Though I would assume this is only one of many things you have built?" Because a man who spent such time building this craft undoubtedly built many other things along the way. One did not simply start big until they had confidence in their abilities. Well, usually.

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darkforcerising
2012-10-02 09:45 am UTC (link)

Anakin shook his head, “I wouldn’t mind. There aren’t many here bothered by what goes into making something like this. They’re only interested in the end product.” He shot an almost teasing glace at Claudia. He was fully aware of Claudia’s technical skill, however, the young redhead’s primary enjoyment at the moment centered on riding the bike, not learning how it was constructed. Anakin was sure she’d not heard a word he said after gaining permission to sit on the vehicle. When he turned to H. G. again his face, too, expressed his enthusiasm. “We can discuss that also.”

He held up his right arm, drawing the woman’s attention to just one such example of the other things he’d build. “Of course,” he said, more of that teasing creeping into his tone.

His arm was not your average mechno-arm, in either galaxy. He had been highly involved in its design, to a degree that some of the Order thought him obsessive and ‘too attached’. Some found his insistence on form, function and power over aesthetics – hence the lack of syntho-skin – something unbecoming a Jedi. He had paid them no mind; it was his arm, after all, why wouldn’t he be attached to it or want the best modern science could recreate? By then he’d long since started filtering out the Council’s disapproval.

“But most of what I work on is in a vacant room in the castle. Not actually attached to me.”

And then there was the matter of his lightsaber. “There’s also this,” he detached the hilt from his belt. “But I’m afraid this I won’t let you examine.” At least not yet, he had let Claudia hold it, turn it on even, but he’d known her longer than a few minutes. Plus he’d made her stand through a lecture on lightsaber safety. He paused, then pointed it in a direction away from him, Claudia and H. G. and then switched it on. The blue-white blade ignited with that tell-tale snap-hiss. “It’s a weapon.”

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clauds
2012-10-02 09:51 pm UTC (link)

Anakin's thoughts were extremely accurate, as she hadn't been listening to a word they said. As it was, she was zipping down the aisles of the Warehouse. The flying bike was somewhere in the midst of Aisle 4392-102, the Aisle of Noel, the snow going by in a gust of chill with the twinkle of supernatural lights and artifact-lined shelves blurred past. The snow blew out behind the bike, sprinkling down over everything in her wake, and -

"What? Ooh, lightsaber." Claudia turned and broke into a grin, her mind temporarily back in the Land of Make Believe.

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indelibleink
2012-10-03 02:10 am UTC (link)

Helena knew not everyone had an interest in how things were made. Some people would just rather enjoy the finished product and not concentrate on what went into making it. However, Helena was one of the ones who enjoyed seeing the components that went into how something was made. It was more than refreshing to see the enthusiasm on Anakin's face as she knew it only reflected her own. "Then I look forward very much to learning about the various components of this hovercraft." She was also certain she'd learn new components to building it as well, and would undoubtedly incorporate such lessons into her own inventions and stories.

Upon showing that his robotic arm was one of his inventions, Helena was at first shocked, but then it made sense. Why wouldn't he be so involved in designing and building his own arm? "I must say, though I have only seen two examples of your work, you have an incredible eye for detail. I greatly admire that, not everyone has an eye for such things."

All ready Helena was liking Anakin. She always did perk up in social situations. Up until Claudia had dragged her out here, Helena had not been feeling very social. It had been a chore to leave her room. But now that she'd been thrown into this situation, she was warming up and being rather social.

"Oh yes, that does make sense. We do all need our own space for creation, do we not?" Helena had a feeling one day she'd have her own space where she built her own projects or worked on her own writing. But for now, her room would suffice for them.

When Anakin was going to show her something but told her she couldn't examine, she was going to protest. Saying such things to an inventor was like showing candy to a child and then not giving it to them. But she held her tongue, watching as he pulled something off of his belt. When the blue-white light ignited with a snap-hiss, Helena jumped slightly, not having expected that. Her eyes were fixated on the color, wondering precisely what this thing was. "A weapon? What precisely is it? It is no weapon that I have ever seen before. Though going by its shape, it would seem to be like a sword or some type of slicing weapon. But what exactly is it made of?"

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darkforcerising
2012-10-04 02:26 am UTC (link)

Anakin tried to keep the pleasure from his expression when H. G. praised his work. Flattery and kindness got a person everywhere with him.

“You’re welcome here or in that work room any time.” And Anakin meant it, too. He was very unconcerned when it came to protecting his projects. Sure, he was invested in building them to completion as perfectly as his abilities allowed. However, he never developed a sense of ownership of things. First a slave, everything belonged to Watto, no matter if Anakin built something from scratch it was not his own. Then a Jedi, belonging to an Order that eschewed all possessions save what was necessary – the clothes on their back, their lightsabers and occasionally aircraft and mechanics, but the last two were considered the least tenuously in their possession. Anakin had simply never grown out of that mindset. He didn’t even view droids as things to own – they were friends.

And nothing he was working on was destructive, so he found no reason to lock anyone out.

He raised an eyebrow at Claudia’s sudden interest in the flashy, shiny object. Anakin knew there was more going on in the girl’s head than she let on. But because she preferred her mask Anakin was willing to play along.

“It is a sword. A blade of plasma suspended in a force containment field. Focused energy emitted from and arched back, by the field, towards the hilt.” There was, obviously, more to it than that. But that was the most concise summary that would do for the moment.

He shut the blade off and hooked it back to his belt. He understood H. G.’s frustration at being denied a closer look. Being a creature of tactile needs himself, always wanting to touch something to understand it even though his masters would say that was crude next to the ways of the Force, not being allowed to handle and examine something was difficult. But a lightsaber wasn’t a toy to be played with, at least Anakin respected that much about his weapon. He would, of course, explain its parts and function in detail if H. G. so desired.

And if she were patient enough, he was still, much to the trying patience of Obi-Wan, rather careless with his weapon. She might just find it set aside in the work room one random day… The Force knew when.

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