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_ Chapter 10- Blades of Will _

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' - A-Deck 'Systems Administration and Control> June 3, 2085

For the third time in the past hour, Canith found himself pacing the floor of his office. It wasn't as if anything was wrong, per se, but he was restless- and he was not normally restless. The first time it happened, he started pacing, and eventually the unrest just faded into the background. The second time, it had been interrupted by a simulation finishing, which gave his mind something to do. This time, he didn't have something so hand as a distraction, and his restlessness was affecting Aura as well.

:Honestly, you need something to work this extra energy out of your system.: Aura sent to him through the uplink.

"But what is the question? I could go work out, but I don't think my self control would be all that great. I could run, but I don't feel that would help either."

"Maybe I could help." A voice echoed out from the hallway, right before Desmond walked partway into the room and leaned against the door frame. "I was just given leave to give you some initial training of sorts, and with all the pacing you are doing I would say you could use the distraction." He said the last bit with a bit of a laugh, as he had definitely been pacing up a storm in here.

"Sure, anything I need to bring?" Canith was already setting up low powered calculations, and letting Aura take primary command of the various tasks.

"Just yourself, as I have everything else we will need." With this, he pushed off from the frame and walked into the hall, turning left immediately. Canith followed, and they walked the short way down to the holo-room opposite to the one that Will had shown him. Once inside, the walls blurred for a second before settling on a pattern.

The room looked like what you might expect from an armory, if two time periods had clashed- in racks side by side were assault rifles and swords, grenades and kunai, throwing axes and tactical knives. Mounted on the walls were spears and rocket launchers. "Uh, interesting choice here. I like the opposing time periods too."

Desmond turned slightly at this. "Is that sarcasm I hear?" He made a gesture as if Canith had offended him. "And here I had a present for you, too!" Canith raised an eye ridge at this.

"I appreciate the previous one," he said, tapping his temple with one claw, " but what could you have possibly gotten me this time?" Canith found himself relaxing for some reason. This banter was something he just didn't have with Aura, and he needed it.

In answer, Desmond held up a pair or silver tubes, before tossing both of them underhanded to him. He had a mental image of fumbling them, so instead he reached out mentally and caught both of them. They were light, but had a mental 'weight' to them that puzzled him. "That's strange." He intoned aloud, absently thinking the problem over.

Desmond picked up on this right away. "Ah, you must be feeling the difference in apparent weight of the k-blades. The crystals are something that was discovered in a system with a pulsar. They react to telekinesis stronger than physical touch." He smirked at this. "It's what gives them that heavy feeling. It's also why a K-blade is such a dangerous weapon to go against. As the crystal reacts better to telekinesis, that's what takes priority. Run some will through it, and give it a mental shape, and the real thing will never compare."

Given his experience yesterday, Canith decided to start with the one in his right hand only. He focused on it, feeling it over with his mind instead of his hand. Except for the extra weight, nothing happened. Frowning, he tried 'grabbing' the crystal, like he had with the blades in the air. This time he got a reaction. Instead of a grip, it felt as if his mental hand got pulled through it! He quickly broke the mental contact with it. "What the hell. Other then it feeling like it was pulling me into it, I can't figure out what you mean."

Desmond laughed at this. "Of course that's what it felt like- I sad run your will 'Through' it, not push it into it. Remember though, you still need a mental shape of what you want it to appear as. Some have favorite weapons they model them after, while some can only manage a rather bland looking extension of the tube."

Once more, Canith 'looked' at the crystal. Then, an idea began to form. (Alright, this thing absorbs the mental touch, and I can apparently pass that current through it to get a blade. Mental imaging changes the shape.) He changed his approach and closed his eyes. Instead of a hand holding it, he pictured electrical current passing through it. He felt something akin to sentience sleepily awaken within the crystal as he did so, simply awaiting a form. Doing the mental equivalent of juggling, he also supplied it with his mental image of a katana. Opening them, he saw nothing. "Huh, that's odd. I figured out how to run will through it, and fed it then image, but nothing is happening."

Another low chuckle from Desmond. "By mental image, did you simply picture what you wanted?"

"Yeah, that's what you said to do after all."

"I believe I said 'Give it a mental shape.' You need not only the shape of it, but the size, the weight, how sharp it is, every conceivable factor. Only by forming a mental shape with all this perceived information can you create a blueprint for the crystal."

"Hm . . ." That was a lot of info he had to hold in his mind . . . or was it? He though back to the heft of one katana he had felt back on Earth- it was made by a master smith, who's family had been making traditional swords for centuries. It was a masterwork- perfect balance, an edge that could cut with no pressure, engraved with kanji in the old Japanese style. He felt himself relax, and placed the second tube on a nearby table. Taking a stance, he brought the tube to a ready stance, his eyes still closed and himself in a partial trance. He felt the stone resonate with his image, felt it yearning to be part of that image. So he let it take in the very essence of the sword, everything he could remember of it, of the type, and let all his knowledge of them pour into it.

Desmond was watching Canith as he took a deep breath, then relaxed completely. (Huh, never seen anyone do that while trying to use their first K-blade.) As he placed the other on the table, then went into the ready stance, Desmond could feel the tension in the air. Slowly, as if it was only just coming into focus, a blade began to appear. But then something strange happened. Instead of it simply being the image of a blade, the blade became more and more distinct, until it appeared to be an actual blade made out of metal. "Canith, you there? Might want to open your eyes."

Canith was brought out of his trance by the LT's comment. He opened his eyes, to see the blade he had forged from his will. It looked superficially like the one he recalled, but layered over it was others- the one he trained with, the one he had one a tournament with, the one that he kept for special occasions. All of these, and more. The crystal no longer felt heavy in his mind. It felt . . . right. Like it was overcompensating before, and now it knew exactly what he wanted from it. He took a step back, and gave it an experimental swing. It reacted to his intent, flicking out faster then thought, completing a sweep before returning to the guard position. He looked up, startled, at Desmond. "Is it supposed to read my mind and move on it's own?"

This caused Desmond to go slightly pale. "Uh, no?"

Canith, worried and at the same time at ease, mentally reached out to the crystal once more. Where once there was a sleepy non-sentience, now there was still that presence, but no longer sleepy, and focused purely upon the idea of 'katana'. But layered underneath that was not just the concept of the sword, but also his experiences of using the sword. He smiled at this. "Here is a better question- do the crystals imprint their images, or the knowledge you feed them?"

Desmond took a minute to think the question over before responding. "Sort of. Normally, " he gave Canith's a long look, " they will only imprint like you are mentioning if they have been used by the same person with the same weapon for a long while. It burns it into them. Otherwise the image will fade, or others will overwrite it with their image."

Canith's grin grew a bit wider at this. "I want to test a theory. I need you to activate this blade, but do not give it an image- only feed it will." He cut off the current of will he had been feeding the crystal, and felt it go dormant. But not, he sensed, forgetting. He passed it to Desmond, who looked at him, then back to the blade, and slowly breathed out as he began channeling his will into it. Immediately the same blade as before appeared, just slightly faded. Desmond looked startled.

"I would say that isn't possible, but I'm seeing it myself. What did you do to this crystal?"

"I did what you told me, but went a bit overboard. If you want to see something scary, try swinging it." He did as asked, but nothing happened other then the sword going through the motion normally.

"Was something supposed to happen?" Desmond looked confused. Canith, however, had another thought.

"Okay, this will sound odd, but watch me do this closely." He picked up a holo-sword off a rack, took his stance, and executed an advanced counter maneuver that when properly done would leave the opponent with no weapon, and if they didn't move quick enough, with one less hand and both hamstrings cut. It had taken him the better part of 3 months to get that particular move down. Desmond watched carefully, but quickly lost track of the maneuver.

"Uh, that was way more complicated that I could do. That was actually rather impressive."

"Your turn, you do it." Desmond looked at him skeptically. "Seriously, just try it." Sighing, Desmond got into the ready stance, and just as he started the move, Canith began grinning. The absolute moment that the move started, Desmond went from looking like someone going in slow motion with it for the first time to moving through the form with the effortless grace of a master.

As he finished the move, he stopped channeling his will into the blade, and it faded from view. He looked at it hard, as if he had never seen something like it before. Then, turning to Canith, handed it back. "What did you do to that thing! I have never heard of one of those crystals absorbing anything more then a mental construct of a weapon. You fed that thing your entire knowledge of swordsmanship from the feel of it. Hell, even quiescent that thing feels like it has perfect balance. And that's not even mentioning the fact that it had the same shape when both of us used it." He threw both hands up. "I don't know. Just keep it to yourself. Maybe it's that crystal, maybe it's something about what you did. Actually- try to write up what you did. Even if it's vague, or I cannot replicate it, it could give us better insight to those crystals." Now it was the LT's turn to pace, with his feathers ruffled at the unexpected events.

Canith, though, had a rather interesting thought. "Out of curiosity, what's the limits on range and complexity on these blades, and how much of the electronics in the tube are actually needed?"

Desmond stopped and cocked his head sideways. "Surprisingly little, actually. What electronics that are in there are mainly to help those that struggle with imaging, and as to range. . ." He placed one claw on his beak in though. "I believe I once saw someone with a flail, although he did it more as a training aid then for actual combat. That help?"

Ideas were spinning in Canith's head. "Yeah, it does. Do I have leave to modify these two 'blades? I have some ideas, and if it works they will be much more comfortable for me to use." (Heh, easier . . . hell, if these ideas work I might just change the way these things are used.)

Desmond grinned a bit, almost as if he heard Canith's internal comment to himself. "Yeah, you can mod them as you see fit. I would be interested to see what changes you make. Also, as you seem to have a 'grip' on how to use them now, that's all I had planned. I know you were probably busy, so I'll let you get back to it."

"Right!" Canith started to walk away, but quickly reversed, and in a fit of emotions he almost didn't recognize gave Desmond a simple hug, and whispered near where the gryphon's ear would be "Thank you." He then disengaged, and was out the door in a flash.

Back in his office, he immediately set up for a dive, and Aura, who had been tracking quietly the developments in the other room, also shared his excitement. If Aura had to give a name to Canith's mood, they would call it Creator mode. When he got like this, things happened and ideas were made manifest.

No outward words were spoken, but within minutes both were diving into the data stream. The first thing Canith noticed was that there was a lot less strain then there usually was from the dive. Aura picked it up, and released one level of safeties, allow more data to bypass them and feed directly into Canith. This allowed him more processing power, and as there didn't seem to be any ill effects, they both marked it down as the new standard.

:So here is the plan.: He sent to Aura, with the full scan of the K-blade he had taken pulled up in front of him. :As the scan confirmed, the only thing that I should need is the catalyst- the crystal. In fact . . .: He ran several scans and simulations quickly. :It looks like all the tech was actually limiting what I could do with it.:

:I concur,: Aura added in. :As for operational limits, I would say anything further out then about ten feet from the crystal is going to be a strain, either on the crystal or on you. Maybe both.:

:Another test we might have to run is if a single crystal can run multiple copies of the same or similar imaging. If not, maybe have them parallel process the concepts?:

:A lot of this will simply have to be tested, and some of them might require more samples of this crystal. I will see about procuring some for 'testing and optimization'. :

Both were running test after digital test. This lasted for several real world hours, which digitally could be counted in days. When he finally ended the dive, he opened his eyes upon a blueprint floating on the main tank. In appearance it looked like no more then fancy jewelry, specially designed for an eastern dragon. It contained a pair of bracelets, and a pair of tail rings. Each had a single crystal as the center fixture, and otherwise was completely unremarkable. By the door was a small box which contained a pair of matched crystals cushioned on a soft pillow to prevent them from being shaken up too much. On top, however, was a card that simply read "Try not to get into too much trouble . . . or blow up the ship."

Chuckling to himself, he took the box, the blades, and the blueprint (which he simply uploaded to his uplink) and closed up shop for the day.

He grabbed a quick bite from the galley on his way through, then went to his room. As his lab back on Earth was always locked when he was working, he stripped off his jumpsuit to prevent any distractions with what he had to do after locking the door. Turning on the PGU, he sent the patterns he wanted created to the device, which began the construction of the bands. While that was working, he began experimenting with the crystals, first having one create two images (which worked, but was only barely usable, and tended to not be solid sometimes), then having two work in tandem to create more complex images.

This idea actually proved successful, as the non-sentience inside the crystals actually began picking up on the concepts he was trying to impart, allowing then to take his ideas and realize them more completely. Finally, as a major test, he set them across the room from him and tried doing the same thing. Although the strain was slightly higher, he could activate them from a distance, and all four of them simultaneously.

After this and several more minor tests of range and creation speed, he checked on the bands, which were about 75% done. Turning to the two intact blades, he quickly pulled out a tool kit and started breaking them down. As promised , the internals were not very complex. After a few minutes, both crystals were sitting beside the now empty k-blades. With a ding, the PGU finished the bands, and Canith retrieved them. On a whim, he loaded one last thing into the PGU, which stated it would be finished tomorrow. Sighing at the wait for that part, he turned to the bands and quickly fitted them in place, and locked the crystals into the specially designed slots. Once done, he looked over them.

On each wrist, against his pulse points, rested the initial two crystals. The one he had 'imprinted' was against his right wrist, while the left was relatively blank. He had not messed with that crystal during his testing, leaving it as neutral as possible. On his tail was another band, this one having a pair of crystals as part of a complex design resting on the underside of his tail, just shy of the floof. Unless you knew what to look for, it wouldn't be obvious.

With these firmly in place, he moved onto the next step of his plan, sitting on the floor with his tail curled around him and the band in his lap, with both of the wristbands facing up on his knees. Relaxing and centering himself, he brought himself into a light trance. Once achieved, he accessed the stones one at a time, until the all glowed in his mind's eye with the will he was feeding into them. Not much, of course, but enough to awaken them. Then, remembering what happened with the first, he called up Aura on his uplink. Their presence was twofold for this part- one as an observer, to record this experiment, and also to server as a link to all the information he would need.

Slowly, he began filling the right hand crystal with even more knowledge, filtered by his training and experiences. Not just with the katana, but the wakizashi, the tonto, the naginata, the nodachi, the Hitachi, and many more. If he had laid hands on a weapon to train, even briefly, he fed the gems with these experiences. Supplementing it, however, was Aura. He laid the groundwork, Aura filled in the details. This went on and on, a small corner of his mind watching it, making sure that he wasn't overdoing it. Yet it seemed that the crystal was holding it just fine.

Once he felt like he was ready to move on, he switched focus to the left crystal, only to find that it had all this knowledge already, and then it dawned on him- as they were attached to him, they were essentially linked to each other, just as he tested the two together. With this in mind, he stopped focusing on just one of them, and began instead going through all the different weapons he not only knew, but knew of. Aura was there the whole time, feeding images and stances, forms, and functions. The crystals absorbed it all.

Finally, when he decided that was enough, something changed. It was if the crystals were looking at him, asking him a question. It took him a moment to figure out what it was, but he almost lost his focus when he realized what it was. Like a small child, they had one question for him. 'Why?'.

So this time, without needed to fall back on Aura for this, he framed the concept as best he could. To protect him, others close to him. To hurt those that would hurt him, thus preventing him getting hurt. Slowly, he imparted these concepts to the crystal, gently as if he was breathing on them. Then, when he was done and his mind returned to stillness, he got the sense from them not so much that they understood, but that they would help.

Lastly, he focused specifically on the two on his tail. To them he gave another concept. Or at least tried. They could not grasp it, so he simply focused on syncing them to work in tandem with each other. This they understood, so the process was smoothly to integrate small parts into a coherent whole. Trying this out, he held out his hands above his tail, and simply pictured the design he wanted manifest. The gems began to glow, and in his hands appeared a bow and an arrow. Smiling to himself, he dismissed it and went to stand, only to pass out from the mental strain.

June 4, 2085

Canith came to looking up at the ceiling of his room. It took him a moment to realize why it looked off though- Instead of being in bed, he was in a very awkward and painful position on the floor, where he had fallen. :Aura, how long was I out?:

:Several hours. It looks like you will need to regulate some of the strain from those crystals somehow. That is what pushed you over the edge at least.: Aura's tone had a hint of concern in it. :Also, I recommend that you try to take it easy for a bit- whatever mental faculties are utilized in the usage of those odd crystals seemed to be stretched far more then they should have, and need time to recover.:

:Duly noted. However, I believe that a practical test is in order- can you see if Will is available?: He slowly climbed up out of the floor and stumbled over to his bathroom, turning on the hot water as soon as it was in range.

:Will is on duty in the holo rooms at the moment, and should be for the next several hours. It seems he flipped his schedule lately to work the night shift.:

:Affirmative. I think I heard someone mention that they needed a lot of training time during the day, so he decided to upkeep them during off-peak hours.: The hot water was doing good work relaxing his cramped muscles, courtesy of his sleep in the floor in a pile.

:Well, if you are keen on that test, I'll send him a message then informing him of your intent to spar with him if he is up for it.:

:Do so, but don't mention the reason why- I want his reaction not be tainted by foreknowledge of what I have up my proverbial sleeve.: He started working soap over his scales, figuring that if he was in the shower, might as well make proper use of it.

:To be fair Canith, with long sleeves the fixtures would be up your sleeves.: He looked over at the one on his right wrist as he massaged his mane on the top of his head. The crystal was set in a gold band with ancient runes on the band. He had modeled it after a Norse torc bracelet, with the ends open, but designed to lock the crystals in place, completing the circuit. The ones on his tail were slightly different though. While initially similar, the crystals locked into a clasp in the shape of the old Norse world serpent, Jormungandr. One was set as his eye, the other he was wrapped around. Overall he felt the design was solid, and although the runes didn't Do anything, they definitely gave it a mystical bend.

Finishing up, he stood under the dryer for a moment, then went and put on his jumpsuit before heading out the door to his meetup.

The halls and lift were empty, as one would expect when the ship was in it's night shift. It wasn't that it was dormant, it's just that there was less crew on duty. Some sections didn't work at night, like the galley, where others, like the bridge, were mainly handled by the AI during the night. Upon arriving at the homeroom, Will greeted him with a smile.

"I know it's only been a couple days, but it feels like longer since I saw you last. So what's this about sparing? Your AI was rather light on the details, only mentioning you had something to test." His ears were perked up, and seemed eager for more intel.

"It's actually a couple things. One thing is my new body- I want to see how it transitions with various sword forms. The other main thing is a very recent development. I received a bit of a surprise earlier from our friend Lt. Desmond." Canith trailed off on this, giving Will a chance to connect the dots. It only took him a moment.

"OH, you got you some k-blades!" He immediately glanced at Canith's belt, but then became confused when he didn't see the tubes hanging there. "Uh, where are your blades? If you wanted to test them, I would think you would bring them."

"I brought them, all right. Part of the reason you don't see them is for the same reason I'm here so early- I passed out altering them a bit." He held up his hands in a exaggerated shrug, partially to show off the bracelets if Will noticed.

"Well, mods or no I don't see them, but I notice you have new accessories. I figured it would take you at least a week before you started hoarding shining objects. Guess I was wrong." Will was definitely in a teasing mood, and Canith simply 'tsk'd him.

"I'm not hoarding 'quite' yet. These are my K-blades." He turned his wrist to where the crystal was fully visible. "I know they work, but I wanted a controlled combat trial with them, as I discovered some . . . interesting things about them. Also, I'm still feeling out the limits, both of the stones and my own, so if I look like I'm about to pass out, please catch me. I swear it won't be on purpose.

Will looked leery about that statement, but simply nodded and stepped further into the holo room. As he did so, the plain room blurred and settled on the same room they initially had sparred in. Figuring he would start simple, he touched the left and right crystals with his will, manifesting his katana and wakizashi like before. "Okay, that looked way cooler then I though it would when you said you modded them." Will was looking at the detailed blades with interest.

"In function you are probably in for a surprise, lets go." Canith said, sliding easily into his ready stance, almost perfectly replicating their original duel. Will wasted no time in coming at Canith, only to receive a rather quick strike for his efforts. Canith was already turning, settling back into his ready stance.

"Uh, what just happened? I went to attack, and you are already past me and scored a hit. I know you didn't phase, and though fast, you are not THAT fast." Will's ear's drooped a bit, obviously a bit discouraged about this rather remarkable change.

"As I said, I learned some interesting things from these crystals, like the fact they can learn if you give them the right frame of reference. Now, come at me full tilt, no holds barred. I need to test these to their fullest." Will again looked a bit perplexed at his very light explanation, which in his mind didn't connect with the rapid strike. So, putting aside his confusion, he did as asked, and pressed the attack, weaving in phasing where needed, his blades practically humming from the constrained force of fire and ice in them.

For Canith's part, it was like a dance. He and the stones both knew the steps, and as Will's blows came in they acted in concert to parry, block, dodge, and counter every blow. Then, just as Will started to get into a pattern with his attacks, Canith changed the game. In a blink of an eye, both blades were gone. In their place was a spear, parring both attacks and forcing Will on to the back paw. Blink again, and the spear was gone, in it's place was an odachi- if a katana was a slightly shorter longsword, an odachi was longer in blade then a claymore. The subsequent downward cut had Will throwing himself backwards violently, and aided by phasing, had him slam into the wall and caused the hologram to ripple from the impact. Will let out a soft groan, the wind knocked out of him from the near miss from the rather large blade.

Canith, for his part, dismissed the blade, and quickly stepped over to Will to make sure he was alright. "I know that came out of nowhere, but really? Throwing yourself into the wall is probably not a sound call in the middle of a fight."

Will simply looked up at Canith in confusion. "What the hell was that?! Just as I started to feel comfortable fighting you, all of a sudden you have all sorts of weapons simply appearing. I have not heard of anyone making k-blades change shape mid combat. Usually it's really hard for someone to change the style they have, as they literally have to change their style of fighting to accomplish that."

Canith just smiled and flashed the two crystals, and said cryptically, "As I said, modifications." Then, once he helped Will to his feat, he continued. "There is one other test I would like to try, and your part is fairly easy. I need a target on the far side of the room, and I need you to be ready to catch me if I mess this up. This next trick I did earlier, right before passing out- I don't know if the two are connected."

Will snapped his fingers, and the room seemed to stretch, with an old style hay target fading into view at the end about 50 feet away. He then stepped back, giving Canith room to work, watching closely. Canith brought his tail up and draped the end over his shoulder, allowing the crystals to rest on his collar bone. As he did this, he also raised both hands up in the air. With his left, he grabbed the air, as if holding a handle- the right as if he gripped a string. With a current of will, both stones responded, as well as the ones on his wrists. Keeping his left elbow straight and his right hand close to his body, he brought his hands down facing the target. As he brought them down, he rotated his body slightly, and as he did an ornate bow shimmered into existence. He held the stance for only a moment to be sure of his aim, then let loose with the arrow.

The arrow did not so much as fly from the bow as explosively launch from it. The bow detonated as he released, knocking Canith backwards, while sending the arrow screaming toward the target. The arrow impacted the 'target', then through it. Aura had been lurking in the background, and immediately accessed the ship's shields and through some clever relay usage caused the ship's shields to flare to life on the inside wall, taking the blast from the arrow and causing visible ripples in the shields. Aura immediately dropped them after the blast, to check on Canith.

Will was more focused at the time of the shot on Canith, and was there to catch him from hitting the wall. Luckily, it didn't seem that the blast from the bow had hurt him physically, although he had a glazed look in his eyes, like he had went into shock. This only lasted for a couple minutes though, as soon enough he had gathered his wits.

"I don't think you should do that, honestly. While it looked like it could pack a punch, it really did a number to you." Will seemed extremely worried.

Canith ran some numbers in his head, and had Aura double check the outputs before responding. "I should have taken resonance into account. I knew the crystals linked to one another, but didn't account for them amplifying their concepts based on relative outputs. The bow detonated due to the 'energy' from it not fully channeling into the arrow, as one crystal created the string and another resonated based on the draw pattern. The excess energy disrupted the pattern, as you saw. And based on what Aura was able to pick up with the ship's sensors and shields, that had about the same impact, even in it's lesser thrust, as a cruiser's rail cannon. Luckily, Aura saw that the output would not be dissipated properly, and redirected the shields to catch it. Uh, on second though, from now on, if I practice with that, it will be down facing out of the ship launch dock. Otherwise though, I feel tired, but fine.

Will was, of course, rather skeptical of this. "You not only just SHOT the equivalence of our ship's heavy ordinance INSIDE our ship, but had some of it blast back at you, and say you are FINE?!." (Yeah, he was a bit upset) Canith noted to himself.

"What's going on it here? Aegis is freaking out right now!" Desmond came sliding to a stop in the doorway, and saw the state Canith was in (still sitting on the floor, partially in Will's lap.) and the elongated room. Canith gave Aura the go ahead to do a brief on what happened, only for the LT's face to go pale. "Ummm, please don't do that again without me and someone from E-deck on hand. That was both reckless and dangerous to the whole ship. Although you are a civilian by technicality, I am going to have to pull rank and have you return to your quarters for now. I need to speak with several others about this, and as I was just woken up by a panicking AI, I would like a bit of sleep first."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I don't know if passing out in the floor really counts as sleep anyways." Canith replied, a bit mentally numbed from the blast he had taken. Though he wasn't showing it, he was more then a bit rattled.

"I'll help him back to his room." Will offered, to which Desmond simply nodded. Will helped Canith up, and they both walked out of the room, Canith being helped a good bit by Will.

Once they were down the hall, Desmond had Aegis pull up the blast readings, and had Arias pull the heat mapping from the incident. Together with the rooms visual sensors, he quickly put together the footage, and played it in slow motion. "Hmmm, right about the cause, but I think they might have been off a touch on the numbers. And this design. Incredible that he put something like this together in a couple of hours.

:Agreed. I knew he was smart, and had a knack for designing interesting things, but this is well beyond that.: The voice that echoed into Desmond's mind was very familiar.

:Hello there Snow. I'm guessing Tia tipped you off on this?:

:Yes,: he punctuated this with a yawn, :I asked her to only notify the captain after he had his second cup of coffee in the morning. Nothing we cannot take care of between us for now.:

:I agree with your assessment of when to tell the captain, but this guy is a loose cannon. I though he seemed friendly enough, but he damn near blew a hole in the ship, mainly because he didn't stop to think first.:

:It's not that, I think. It may be he is laboring under a misunderstanding.: Snow quickly filled him in on some of Canith's other 'odd' ability strengths. :I think,: he concluded, :that I need to step in pretty soon to help him understand his limits.

:That would definitely seem wise, given the circumstances.: