i_speak_softly | Sixty-Second Theory [Action]

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Sixty-Second Theory [Action]

[Today, Don can intermittently be found standing outside House 55, eating a large but careful amount of the household's remaining food, and watching a long line of Kin'corans walk - or be forcibly herded - into the barracks to be teleported to wherever they're going.]

[In between these breaks, he will be industriously stripping the plaster from the walls of one of the house's long-vacant bedrooms, demolishing it right down to the studs. He has the windows open to help ventilate the inevitable dust, and the sound of his efforts can be plainly heard in the surrounding area.]

[Ask what he's doing in there? Complain about the noise? Or just join him to observe the sad parade of refugees?]

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[Robert has already been neurotic enough about the relative inability to clean Luceti in its current state, so Don destroying the room is making it worse, what with throwing all of the dust around.

He doesn't immediately go inside; the refugee Kin'corans are a distraction, and he wanted to make certain that Anatoly was alright first. But when he does, the first thing he gravitates towards is the room. He doesn't entirely want to - even the thought of that much dust is disturbing right now - but he needs to know what Don is doing.]

...

Can you... explain what the point of this is...?

[Maybe. Don puts his pick-ax down momentarily, so he can locate some sketched blueprints and give them to Robert. The drawing is clearly of this room, though somewhat modified. The equations in the margins seem to primarily concern R-factors.]

[Hmm. The blueprints are a sufficient enough distraction that - even with the thin film of dust on their surface - Robert is immediately curious. He studies the plans intently, pausing only to look up at the actual room itself.

It looks much different with everything taken out of it... somehow almost sad, like the bare exoskeleton of a room. But in the same sense, it also has an anticipatory feeling about it - it's going to become something else.]

... Ah, I see...

A... a sort of insulated chamber...? [Give him a moment to come up with a rationale as to why Don would want to make that.]

[With a simple nod - Robert will figure this out in a minute - Don hefts the ax again and resumes hacking at the wall.]

[As expected, the Turtle-savvy biologist gets it in a moment.]

... An environmental chamber... for warmth?

[On one hand, part of Robert is selfishly pleased. Assuming it works properly, this means Don and Leo can at least have periods - or a place - where they can be... themselves. Or, well. This part of themselves, anyway.

On the other hand, he's a little worried. Would long-term exposure to this make them ill?]

Ah... do you think it is a safe idea...? [He knows that pet turtles were apparently kept at these temperatures consistently (not that anybody has pet turtles in Terra except for eccentric collectors) in order to avoid brumation, but it doesn't sit right with him.]

[Don nods to these things. The potential dangers are beyond his ability to explain right now, even if he was willing to admit they exist.]

[Well, if Don's not worried about it, then Robert probably shouldn't be either. (Even though he will be.)]

Then... how might I be able to help you?

... At the least there... should be a way to clean this... sometime. [He is not too thrilled about how inconsistently he's been able to clean. Maybe if the power is at all more consistent soon, it'll be less of a problem.]

[Don will clean it when he's done, he swears.]

[To redirect Robert from that line of thinking, Don sticks a pencil in his hand. Why don't you check the math on these schematics?]

[Okay, okay, fine, don't let him obsessively scour for dust or anything.

It's still odd to use a pencil instead of a keyboard. Robert carefully props the schematics up against a section of the wall so that he can write, and then begins analyzing the math thoroughly. Are there any glaring errors?]

[The math is correct, but Don has probably left out something he should have considered. Will Robert find what's missing?]

[... Hmm... ...

... Aha.]

You forgot to account for heat diffusion through the window panes.

[Scribble, scribble, scribble. Robert will just helpfully model that for you, Don.]

[How could he miss that? Don smacks himself in the forehead, then casts an appreciative grin at Robert. One of the many reasons he keeps you around.]

[Hooray for being useful! (Though Robert would hope Don keeps him around for more than just his math troubleshooting abilities.)

While he's at it, he may as well ask another question.]

If the heating system of this room is separate... might it also not be suitable as a sort of greenhouse? [It's not like they have to worry about racking up an electricity bill, and presumably magic is relatively clean energy, right?]

[(Of course.)]

[Don glances around, and shrugs. Why not?]

[Awesome. This is the closest thing you'll get to squeeing from Robert, bar an event.]

Ah, excellent... I can move the saplings in here then, once it is settled. It will certainly be... a much more suitable environment for them here...

... Perhaps the room could do with other forms of heat-resilient greenery? [And now you have him excited, Don.]

[Don is glad Robert has found something to enjoy about this project. While the scientist geeks out, Don will pry some stubborn slabs of drywall from the half-exposed studs.]

[Wait, there's a problem here. Don's doing all the work and Robert's not doing anything at all except geeking out.

Hmm.]

... Are there any tools I can get for you? [Or, you know, he could actually try doing something, though who knows if he's strong enough.]

Mm-mm.

[Don't worry about it. Physical labor is something he can still do without any help, and it feels good.]

[Well, okay. Robert doesn't like to just sit around doing nothing, though.

So he takes another look at the plans. Not that he's going to take over them or anything, but it might be nice to get some ideas for technology in here. Obviously they're limited by antiquity, but with Don's ingenuity and engineering skills, and Robert's knowledge, they might be able to cobble together some system for controlling other factors about the room that might make it more palatable to ectotherms. Maybe even some kind of controlled water sources? Who knows.

In between his thinking, he glances up and over at Don's working. There's something soothing about watching him do it, even when he's letting off clouds of drywall dust in the process, and it's definitely nicer than the lethargic nothing of before.]

[That vague quadrilateral in the corner of the sketch? A big bathtub.]

[With obvious effort, Don tears off a huge chunk of the plaster, which he promptly tosses onto the floor. Sorry about the resulting dust cloud...]

[Oho, so it is. That's easier to determine after a closer look at the quadrilateral in question - it's hooked up to a water source, after all.

That dust cloud didn't go over well though. Coughing in a sort of exaggerated way, Robert immediately puts his face into the crook of his arm and staggers back a bit, using the paper to fan away the rest of the dust. A carpenter this one is not.]

[Oops. Realizing what he did, Don calls up a little Wind magic to help pull the dust together and away from Robert.]

Are you okay?

[After another moment or two of coughing, Robert wipes the dust off his glasses' lenses using part of his sleeve (with a noticeable frown; he hates having to do that) and then nods.]

... I am alright, but... so much dust; it is a respiratory hazard...

Should you not be wearing a mask?

[Don's nostrils twitch open and closed as he considers this novel suggestion. His usual instinctive solution is just to not breathe much.]

[Brilliant solution there, genius.]

It would not take long to find a mask for you... [Though most might be silly to fit across Don's snout, come to think of it.]

it can't really be anything other than action, can it

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