Andrew: Uh, I'm supposed to be following you guys around.

Lucida: He's supposed to be following us around. We could carry him or something while Aucupe rides on our back.

Giving it one more go, you successfully launch yourself across a nice distance with kinetics AND haste, and then a sudden but controlled decel

Monk: "GOTCHA"

*CRASH*

You fly off to the side from the impact of a kinetically launched girl, hitting the ground skidding before plowing into a hillside.

The body of Monk hits the spot beside you, leaving a noticeable impression in the grass.

____________________


Elizabeth: "Well, that's it. Judith, go collect your top snipers, I'll have someone send you all the charts we have. Rauha, you can go with her to discuss how they should handle a leviathan's movements, if you don't mind."

Rauha: "I would be glad to."

The suit of armor and the spotter leave.

Elizabeth: "Gama, Riimuk, Vandolf, try to get some more runic bolts going, see what you come up with. Charles, you're with me."

____________________


Horoma: "Crushed it and buried it. I considered keeping it, but it seemed too dangerous."

The fish are all cleaned and seasoned, and they're put into the oven.

Miimas: "You don't seem to be someone who's concerned with danger."

Horoma does her best to keep a straight face.

____________________


Tabi takes some time taking in the scene before responding.

Tabi: "So. What is this place?"

Magicist: "Hm?"

The chirop in the white labcoat turns around.

Magicist: "This is where the Products are grown. We start with a Heartstone in an Incubator and then grow the body around it. The link to the Mother Incubator helps their spirit develop properly."

Tabi: "The 'Products'? Is that what you call the soldiers you create here?"

Magicist: "Yes."

Tabi: "... So. What exactly are Heartstones?"

Magicist: "They're sorta like super-pinches. Constructs require their components to use magic, while chirop, humans, and lupus only need their spirits. However, there's something or other that's required for their casting to work, not really sure what it is since I'm a bio magicist, not spirit. That's why most ghosts and such have a hard time casting magic. Heartstones are an artificial produced 'thing' that lets spirits cast magic into the world."

Tabi: "... Huh. So, why do you need the Heartstones if you're using grown people that can already cast?"

Magicist: "We first were experimenting with construct bodies, where the Heartstone would absolutely be required, but the spirits have a hard time using those. When we moved on to organic bodies, we found that the component that allows spirits to grow magic does not develop properly with our setup. It's theorized that that mechanic requires the child to have a better connection to the mother than what we have - in the womb, most likely. We still have to use the Heartstones."

Tabi: "Hm. So, do you know how the Heartstones are made?"

Magicist: "Nope."

Tabi: "What's going to happen to these, 'Products', now that the project is being shut down?"

Magicist: "Finish growing them, and then send them to orphanages or families that would take them in."

Tabi: "Is the one in the Mother Incubator a Product, too?"

Magicist: "No, that's Base 2, Alku. She's a volunteer that acts as the Mother for our Products."

Alku gives a small wave from inside her Incubator.

After a few more seconds of looking around, Tabi leaves without another word and you follow behind.

Back outside, she looks around, at the human girls running around free or playing with the Caelum mages.

Monk: "I GUESS MY AIM IS PRETTY GOOD"

Lucida: Ha. We'll see how it goes.

You pull yourself out of the dirt, seeing Monk a few feet away doing the same.

Monk: "So, what're you doing next?"

Monk: "Where's that? What's it like?"

____________________


Your bat companion gives a shrug.

Tabi: "This whole place is messed up."

One of the girls that was playing walks over to the two of you. She looks to be somewhere in her teen years, with long, wavy brown hair and dark eyes.

She doesn't say anything, just, stands there staring at the two of you.

____________________


A little bit later, the fish is done and you and Miimas take the trays out, setting them on the dining table.

Tuhota: "Eat time!"

Miimas: "Remember, it's hot!"

Tuhota: "Uuuuhhhhg."

Everyone sits down, and the others start carefully eating. Horoma seems particularly hungry, devouring her trout and then starting the next.

Horoma: "It's been so long. I almost forgot what eating's like."

____________________


Elizabeth and the General exit the meeting room, leaving just you, the Magister, and Riimuk.

Riimuk: "I have made great progress in runic magic. Discovering several new runes, but mostly this construct."

He pulls out something that looks like a wand. The hilt is slightly angled from the rod, and a crystalline stone acts as the pommel. A trigger mechanism is where the index finger would rest, and above is a dial that the thumb would be able to spin. Right behind the dial is a sliding switch.

Riimuk: "A wand constructed of magic components, it can create patterns of light. There is a small memory stone in the handle that is enough to store a runic spell on each mark of the dial. Then, you rotate the dial so the spell is selected, push the switch up, and a Compass is formed by light. You then charge mana into the Compass, and pull the trigger to send the rest of the appears, activating the complete spell. Each wand can store eight spells, and is fairly easy to build."

Monk: "Huh. Mind if I come with you?"

____________________


Girl: "Your armor looks, uh. Different. Were you fighting the Products too?"

____________________


You find a plain piece of paper, and have one of your spirits try to heat it up.

It turns to ashes pretty quick.

The other ones are a bit weaker. They'll need some training to be, more useful. Practice, I guess.

____________________


Riimuk: "Let us go to the Constructor first."

The magister gives a nod.

Gamaliel: "Sir. Baltir is in the western end of the city. He's responsible for making our best sniper bolts, and we've been working with him with runic bolts."