BANG | KIRAN | VALERIYA | NAZCA
He had some apprehension in approaching the table while the Icelandic boy was conversing with others, two girls in fact. Bang tried to not let it deter him, though he couldn't help but take another glance at the Russian girl in the dress.
"Mr Agnarsson?" He placed his free hand on his chest and greeted Kiran with a smile.
"My name is Lê Bằng Kiều. It's... truly an honor to meet you here. I'm a fan of your writings.""Hm?" Kiran looked up from the remains of his cuts of pork and a salad he'd fetched at some point.
"Oh, those things? I'm glad to hear it. Also, it's Kiran, please," he smiled at the newcomer.
"Why don't you take a seat, join us for a meal? We can talk some more. I'm not usually approached for those travelogues, after all, though they were surprisingly popular...Anyhow, I do know of you by reputation, but I'll be glad to get to know you in person."While they had been walking to their table, Valeriya blinked as an errant glance up at the flickering lights had her accidentally bump against Kiran. A quick apology later, and they'd found themselves seated with food and...apparently a fan of Agnarsson. Huh. Wasn't that Vietnam's wonder child? How curious. And was he staring at her? Hah. Well, it was nice to feel validated.
"Of course, feel free to have a seat." Valeriya looked up from her plate of assorted East Asian delicacies and smiled at Bang.
"I've heard of his travelogues as well, though I've never had the time to get around to reading them. His Formula designs, on the other hand...well. That's rather closer to my own field. Of course, yours aren't quite so unknown to even us over in Europe, though I assume you're rather tired of hearing about such by now."Bang grinned and took a seat.
"I'd hope that you of all people would be familiar, madam. It is Russian technology that allows me to be here today. I'm afraid that's as far as my mechanical expertise extends, however. I hope it's alright that I know you more for your travels than your Formulae, Kiran." He shrugged, looking at the other boy.
Nazca had eaten earlier, but it was for this very reason that she left extra room in her stomach. Yep, she now had another full plate of food in front of her as she sat down-- this time with a sampling of East Asian cuisine, after taking a cue from her Russian counterpart.
She was still miffed that her target had gotten away.
The flickering lights were an oddity. An oddity that didn't concern her. With no reason to make a fuss, she took another bite of her serving of yuxiang shredded pork, bring a smile to her face as she patted her cheek with her free hand.
"Never heard of them. But go ahead," she decided to helpfully add after she finished chewing. Nonetheless, she spared a modicum of decorum to welcome the newcomer to the table, despite not knowing who he was either.
She took another bite.
"Hm, no, I do not care what you know me for, I wouldn't be offended if you had no idea of who I was either. There are so many famous people here, it is difficult to keep track of them all, wouldn't you say?" he asked rhetorically.
"And to familiarize the ladies with my writings...There are four volumes, first three are on expeditions to northern Abya Yala, Greenland, and uninhabited parts of Iceland, the fourth is a short series of chapters about the Dark Continent," Kiran explained. Turning to Bằng, he offered,
"If you happen to have the copies with you, I can sign them for you."Having eaten his fill, he stretched on his seat, content. He gathered the empty plates together, and looked around, trying to find out if there was any obviously designated area where to put them.
"I'll be just a moment." Thus excusing himself from the table, Kiran left, plates in one hand, suitcase in other. He was shortly intercepted by a waiter, who took the empty plates off him, and wouldn't hear of Kiran carrying them any farther himself. Shrugging the encounter off, he returned to his company. He did privately think that they were looking to spoil them rotten here, though. Though maybe the over-the-top hospitality was there just for the evening.
"Well, then," he sat down, laying the suitcase on the table.
"This here is my project. A mobile unit, though minimized. You ought to see it once I have it transformed. I do hope workspace is ample around here...Anyhow, it's a fairly basic model as of yet, but I'm looking to have it adapted for underwater exploration. Submarines are all well and good, but this one should be more suited to what I have in mind...Khm," he coughed, slightly embarrassed as he caught himself just in time before expounding on this subject further - possibly more than his conversation partners would have been interested in.
Besides, as Valeriya's words reminded him, they were sort of rivals, though he personally wasn't
as interested in military applications of his creations. Of course, he was aware that his machines had been funded precisely because of their devastating potential. He didn't think he was wrong for not having taken one of
those models with him to Bermuda, however. If his investors wanted him developing the MUs for war use, he could always apply his newly-gained knowledge after he returned home from his studying, after all.
Valeriya listened as Kiran went on about his travels, taking the opportunity to eat her dinner. She offered a polite nod as he excused himself, finishing off her plateful of nigiri sushi and red-braised pork belly before he returned.
Once Kiran started talking about his mobile unit models, however, Valeriya listened far more intently. This was what she was even sitting here to learn about, after all.
"No, do go on." She favored Kiran with a slight grin.
"If you pique my interest enough, I might reciprocate with something of my own designs. Fair is fair, after all.""You're interested in underwater exploration, then? I take it that means the design isn't even close to finalized?"Frankly, Nazca wasn't particularly interested in travel tales, although she politely didn't indicate as much, preferring to just keep to her food like her Russian counterpart while idly listening.
And like her, it was only when he began to talk about actual technology that Nazca's interest was piqued. It wasn't actually a field that was relevant to her, but such information was always welcome-- and she had been having some problems emulating marine life with her own creations.
She didn't vocalize as such, but her attention was now more focused on him as she leaned in closer.
Bang's gaze flitted between the Russian and the Icelandic boy. He couldn't believe his luck! There was a chance to complete the Ministry's task on his first day here and all he had to do was keep the conversation chugging.
"Finalised or not, it'd be interesting to see what features are prioritised for such a journey," he chimed in.
"Ah, I must have forgotten I was in the company of polymaths, it seems," Kiran shook his head fondly. Though actually what he'd put from his mind was the fact that other people could be after his secrets as well. No matter, he could answer vaguely enough without revealing any specifics.
"Well, I'd enjoy learning more about your research in exchange, of course, though a 'might' doesn't do much to sway me," he answered Valeriya bluntly.
"But I will say in regards to finalization that there are certain field tests I must perform before I could claim whether it's close to completion or far from it," he added.
"As for the features...It's be the usual, pressure resistance, propulsion systems, sensors, and so on. Not all that revolutionary, all things considered," Kiran explained with a shrug. It was true enough that technically there wasn't anything novel to his project in the sense that what he'd be applying to it had existed previously, but he was certainly planning to make advancements with it. But that much was a given.
"You know, I believe there is a certain Egoist whose insight we - or at least I - might benefit from on this matter. A scion of the Zheng family; they are known to adapt their bodies for traversal across and through the oceans. I wonder if some of the concepts they use could be applied to technologism? Truly, inter-major cooperation might be what we should strive for in the future," he rambled, nodding to himself as he patted his suitcase twice. Though at the mention of co-operation, Kiran couldn't help but glance at Bang's torso - exactly one such example of specialists from differing Majors working together, sitting right there at their table. Unfortunately, even if he were an Egoist himself, Kiran had no way of seeing Formulae beyond another's flesh. (That he wasn't a medical expert never entered his consideration at all.)
So that's how it was, then. If Kiran was being truthful that he'd only just begun working on underwater functionality, that was a load off Valeriya's back. Still, he knew damn well she had an obvious interest in a competitor to her field. The Icelandic teen could just be stringing her along with false information. It was what she'd do, after all.
"How interesting. I suppose I did promise to reciprocate. I'd assume at least Kiran here is at least somewhat knowledgeable of my work. If none of you are, it's no worry. Suffice to say, I've been creating powered armor and electromagnetic launchers for military purposes. As to my progress..."Hmm...how much to reveal? Well, best to go with nothing particularly threatening. Even though she was around civilian teenagers, there was always the risk one would write home to the wrong person.
"The base design is complete, and is seeing limited deployment. I've been tasked with...dumbing it down, suffice to say. I've received complaints that both the armor and the railguns require too much specialized training than can be afforded for conscripts at the moment. Will that satisfy you, Agnarsson?" Valeriya smiled thinly, her expression not quite meeting her eyes.
"Mm-hm!" Kiran nodded happily, pretending there was nothing off at all about Valeriya and her murderous expression.
"Adapting inventions in such a way that they can be used by non-polymaths or even those who lack specialized training can be quite the challenge," he agreed blandly.
Nazca continued to eat. She hadn't offered any insight at all into her own black-box creations, but the Icelander and the Russian were gladly offering their own insights on their own technology! Granted, they were being as liberal as one could be when it came to disclosing proprietary technology, but just having the scribbled notes version was nice.
"Ah? Railguns? I see your pursuits are at the cutting edge of modern technology," she decided to comment. "It would be interesting to see how well the technology can be miniaturized," she added.
"It would." Valeriya replied neutrally, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. Any sort of actual reply to that would be going too far, even if she somewhat liked Nazca personally.
"Mm, I can imagine," Bang nodded, mentally jotting everything down.
"Military types sure have it rough, huh. What kind of issues do the regular conscripts have?""Mostly, making sure they can handle the speed and strength boosting servos on the armor without hurting themselves or others in the process." Valeriya sighed, setting her fork down as she finished with her food.
"It isn't a real issue, at least in my eyes. Nothing that can't be solved with a decent amount of training time. But as much as I hate to say it, the generals do have a point when it comes to the conscripts and not the regulars. But enough about me. What of your projects, Bang?"The Vietnamese boy looked genuinely surprised at the interest taken in him.
"Ah. Well, I'd hesitate to call it 'my' project but..."The boy removed the glove from his right hand, revealing an artificial forearm lined with porcelain shells. He removed the largest piece with a soft click, revealing a series of woven steel ropes. As he flexed each finger, their tautness would adjust.
"This is the newest model I've been asked to prototype. It was designed to simulate a naturally occuring muscular structure. My reports on it so far have been... quite favourable." A wry smile crossed his face.
"With enough practice, I may even be able to dabble on the piano.""Ooh, it's your arm as well, not just your ribs," Kiran exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. His hand hovered over the metal structure, though he'd stopped himself just in time before he'd touch it - not that he needed to; a technologist such as himself could clearly see the prosthetic's Formulae.
"Fascinating," he murmured.
"You yourself must have some knowledge of Technologism to use it, no?" he queried.
"Oh, and, I wouldn't know if it is possible with Egoism, but have you considered adjusting your organic body to metal? It might make the integration smoother, but that's just a guess," he said.
Valeriya started to inspect the arm. An artificial arm? While it wasn't too close to her own strength-increasing powered armor, it was still close enough to her field for her to take an interest despite herself.
"Indeed," She nodded in agreement with Kiran, carefully looking over the Formulae.
"Very impressive work, especially considering how little Technologism is practiced in the Far East, to my knowledge. Do you know who designed this prototype of yours?""Minimal. I had to do some reading but my base knowledge is certainly not enough to create something on your levels." Bang scratched his head sheepishly.
"Altering my body in such a way is... a little outside of my wheelhouse, I'm afraid. Keeping myself fleshy is kinda my goal!"He looked to Valeriya, stifling a chuckle.
"Ah, it depends who you ask. I'm sure everyone on that particular committee would be all too eager to claim credit. I believe that the cabling was based on an old Russian design, something about the Antonov Piston. It was traded amongst other things in the research alliance between our nations." Bang allowed himself a little smile.
"Hopefully this prosthetic is the first of many successes to result from that.""Hm, I see," Kiran nodded thoughtfully.
"Well, this has been an enlightening conversation, and it would be my pleasure to meet any of you at a later time. As for today, well, it seems the dancing is finally getting somewhere," he waved at the dance floor, where Inti had been dancing not long ago.
"I'll be taking a closer look at that, if you don't mind." Kiran didn't wait past any reciprocated farewells, and slipped into the crowd soon after.
Nazca continued to observe and listen, especially when the Vietnamese boy began to show off his arm. As her own art relied on creating life-like simulacrums of animals, getting any sort of inspiration for next-generation clockwork internals was always good. As the third-party to this entire conversation by virtue of her barging into it, though, she mostly kept to herself, only offering a comment here and there before it appeared the conversation was dying down. "It was a pleasure," she agreed, before standing up as well. "I do believe I have somebody to find, though."
"Rather fixated on that boy, aren't you?" Valeriya smirked at Nazca even as she waved Kiran off.
"Do I detect something of a crush?" She turned her attention back to Bang for the moment, nodding at his explanation.
"That makes sense. I'm somewhat familiar with the Antonov Piston. But it's good to see our technology has been a boon so far." Valeriya smiled slightly, pushing her now emptied plate away as she looked towards the dance starting.
"I don't suppose we should be joining the rest over that way?"The mention of dancing made Bang glance at his cane, a soft frown setting in as he was reminded of his usually limited stamina. Usually. With his target in such close proximity, they'd expect him to make exceptions, right?
Hidden within the confines of his shoe, his missing three toes sprouted back to form. Bang rested his cane against the table and stood with more ease than before, albeit still with a slight hobble.
"I suppose!" He answered, winning grin back on.
"Miss Valeriya, would you honor me with your company for a dance?""Oh, why not?" Valeriya shrugged, favoring Bang with a slight grin of her own. It wasn't as if she could get too pushy with her target, at least not on the first day. That, and she'd accomplished enough of her objectives that it'd be greedy to push for more so quickly. Best to just maintain her cover for now and act as a normal student would.
"A gentleman leads, doesn't he?" She stood and offered her hand for Bang to take. In all honesty, she was curious to see how Bang would manage dancing, considering his bad leg.
"That he does," he replied coolly, already feeling a bead of sweat form on his temple.
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