"And what is this?" Luna fluttered around Madison's workshop with excited exuberance. The normally stoic Madison found herself caught up in the manic energy, items and half-finished pieces of work being picked up, set down, and sometimes knocked off tables with a clatter.
"Those are just some experiments, Luna!" Madison laughed with breathless frustration. Luna's energy was infectious and Madison was all too happy to have an excited audience. Her family were all engineering or alchemical geniuses, so although they were thrilled at Madison's creations they never showed the excited attention she was getting now. "The truth is, there's just so many new things to create and too many things to work on. I've finished all the important ones," she waved her hand at the multitude of inventions that kept the Bouchard compound running and creature-free. "But I'm not really sure what's next."
Luna looked around at the wild assortment of bits and bobs. Some glowed, some crackled, but most just looked like a steampunk bazaar had merged with a scrap yard. "It looks like you can make anything. You don't have any ideas of what to do next?"
Madison shook her head. "The options are endless, but the needs are limited. The problem is that I don't know what the needs are."
Luna wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I guess it's like having a kitchen full of ingredients but no idea what to make."
"Not only that," Madison replied, "I don't even know what the meal should be. Should I bake? Cook dinner? Make breakfast? Fix a drink? What is NEEDED? I think that's my problem - I'm out of problems to solve. If I had an end goal I could come up with something, I just don't know what the end goals are."
"Well," Luna started, "what are your weaknesses when you're fighting monsters?"
Madison gave her a blank look. "Why would I fight monsters?"
"Uhm, because they want to kill you? To level up?"
"I don't need to fight them to kill them, my inventions do all of that. And I level up through my craft."
Luna looked at her in shock. "Have you never fought a monster? Not a single one?"
Madison looked shamed at that. "I've never had to. We never leave the compound. Dad says we have everything we need here and that we get stronger by making our place stronger."
"But what if something breaks through? Destroys all of this?" Luna waved at the open expanse bordered by the huge wall.
"I doubt anything could, but even if it did it's not like we don't have weapons. I have tons of weapons, I just don't know what types we're going to need. So far what we've built can take on anything that comes at us."
"Wow," Luna breathed. "I'm not even sure what that's like. I'm out there almost every night killing things."
The girls sat down next to each other. "I sometimes wish I was," Madison admitted, "but it's really not for me. I don't have the desire to go out killing things. I don't even know if I could. It's one thing for my inventions to do it, it's another to do it myself. I think I'm happier just making things."
Luna put her hand on Madison's in understanding. "That's okay. There's nothing wrong with that, and you're a genius at what you do. You don't need to tromp through the woods like us to be strong, you're amazing just like you are."
Madison looked into Luna's eyes and it felt like a spark of electricity shot between them. The girls pulled their hands apart with an awkward laugh. "Thanks Luna, that's really sweet and I appreciate it. Oh hey! I want to show you something!" Madison jumped up and ran to a table with a metal lockbox on it.
Luna jumped up, bumping the table behind her as she did. A long piece of wood that almost glowed with a gray light rolled off the table and clattered to her feet. She picked it up absently and walked to see what Madison wanted to show her.
Madison pulled a crackling orb out of the lockbox.
"Is that the Thunder Titan core?" Luna asked.
"Yep! I did a lot of analysis on it and it can be used for a wide variety of things. Powering equipment, defense, stuff like that. It is also an incredibly durable, rechargeable energy source for when the power finally goes out."
Luna hadn't thought of that before. The utilities were something no one really considered and she realized that she hadn't either. "Huh. Do you think that will happen?"
Madison shrugged. "Dad says that even in the apocalypse people will go to work, at least for a while. And even after they stop the power grid and plumbing systems are pretty self-sufficient. They can probably run for months, provided nothing goes wrong. Those places are maintained really well and have all sorts of preventative maintenance requirements. It'll be a while until something fails badly enough to cause a catastrophic outage."
Something inside Luna shuddered at that, feeling for all the world like a premonition. She shook it off and focused on Madison. "So what do you want to do with it?"
"I'm not sure," Madison said. "Sure, it could power our compound - probably the whole neighborhood, but why? I feel like that'd be a waste. We have plenty of energy from the animals that are killed, and magic has eliminated the need for most basic necessities anyway. Fire, water, power - there are spells and skills for all of that. I could build a hundred different things to compensate for the loss of any one of those. That's why I'm not sure what to do with it. I have been building an exoskeleton that could use it, but that's a long way off and I'm not totally convinced it's needed. What good is an exoskeleton if it's just sitting here?" She pointed at the steampunk skeleton standing resolutely in the corner. "I don't suppose you need one of those?"
The girls looked at the contraption, at each other, then laughed again.
"Could you imagine me stomping through the neighborhood in that thing, like some sort of anime character?" They laughed again, bumping shoulders and leaning their heads against each other.
Madison looked down and finally saw what Luna was holding. "Where did you get that?"
Luna looked down and realized she was still holding the piece of wood. "Oh! I'm sorry, it fell off the table and I grabbed it." She hurriedly went to set it down on another table.
"No, no! It's okay. Huh, this gives me an idea." She took the staff and cleared a space on the table, walking around to grab an assortment of tools. "I had Jason turn this on his lathe. I wanted a strong support that was as light as a broom handle but strong enough to handle a lot of shear strength. He infused it with metallic energy, the same type he inlaid in the walls, so now it's as light as wood but has the strength of pretty much the strongest iron bars you could get pre-System. I'd forgotten about it since I stopped working on that project but now I wonder…" She trailed off as she got lost in her work.
Luna watched Madison work, feelings bubbling up inside her as she watched the girl's unbridled talent on full display. She had always liked smart people and Madison was the smartest she knew. Well, maybe not as smart as dad, but it's a different kind of smart. She thought to herself. Either way, it's pretty cool.
Madison had a dremel out and had waved her hand over the bit, causing it to glow with a faint white light. The bit carved easily into the metallic wood after that and Madison carved out a neat hollow in the top of the rod. No, I guess it's a staff now, Luna thought. She brushed past Luna, almost not seeing her, then rushed back to the staff and placed the Titan core into the top. She held her hand over the top of the staff and a glow appeared under her palm. When she pulled her hand away the Titan core was fused to the rod as surely as if it had been a part of the wood.
"Okay," Madison said with breathless excitement, "I still need to create a dielectric grip to prevent the holder from getting a shock. Actually, I should probably create a trigger to prevent accidental discharge and a grounding method to prevent any sort of shock to the surrounding people. But if I did that, what happens if the intended victim is next to them? Okay, so mental triggers that allow for focused aim or widespread conductivity. But then how do we ground the user… Oh! A separate ring that always channels the energy back to the staff while the person is holding it. That would eliminate the need for an insulated grip and allow the user to grip it anywhere so long as the ring is making contact. But how to focus the energy? No way to focus it from any direction, it'll have to be directed out of the top in a straight line. But if that's the case it's too long. No, a staff is good for swinging but this will be a discharge weapon. But what if they want to swing it? Stun baton maybe? Stun baton with the ability to discharge the energy in a straight line in front of it? That would provide easier wielding and would make it easier to carry. Oh! The holster will need to be dielectric as well and not allow accidental discharge while carrying it. I could install a dead man's switch in the holster to prevent any sort of discharge while it's holstered, but then would that allow for it to charge? No, it won't be able to charge while in the holster but that can't be avoided. She'll have to charge it by leaving it out. What happens if someone else grabs it? No harm in touching it with a mental trigger but if they do and they're not wearing the ring they'll be fried, but that's on them I guess, I can't think of a way to design around that for now. But as far as a prototype I think this is a good design."
Luna was in awe of the flurry of activity and the stream of consciousness as Madison continued her work. She pulled out a thin metal wire that began vibrating in her hand and she neatly sliced off two-thirds of the length of the staff. Well, rod now I guess, Luna thought, as Madison rooted around her many bins of hardware. With a triumphant flourish she pulled out a washer and placed it over a small, rounded anvil and began tapping on it with a curved piece of metal and a hammer until it was formed into a smooth ring. Finished with that she pulled out a metal plug and some leather. An oversized needle appeared in her hand and she sewed the metal plug into the leather, then cut it into an intricate pattern before sewing it all together as well.
Not ten minutes after starting she stood there, sweat staining the hair on her forehead and a triumphant glow in her eyes.
"Voila! You have a lightning rod, Luna!"
Luna just stared, her mouth hanging open. Madison laughed and danced forward, grabbing the hand without Luna's gauntlet. She slid a ring onto her finger and Luna's heart skipped a beat. Then she reached around Luna and tightened a belt around her waist with the holster attached, dropping the buzzing rod into the holster where it went dormant. Then she stepped back, hands on her hips and a huge smile on her face.
"What just happened?" Luna stammered.
Madison laughed and slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "I made you a cool gadget!" The stunned look on Luna's face made her laugh again. "Okay, so here's how it works," and she walked through everything that Luna had already heard during the creation process.
When she was done Luna just held the rod in her hand, marveling at the beauty of it. "Madison, this is too much! I mean, it's the coolest thing I've ever seen since this," she held up the arm with the gauntlet on it absently, "but this is just too cool."
Madison's face fell. "You don't want it?"
Luna looked up with the realization that Madison had misunderstood her. "Oh no! I mean yes! I mean, this is just crazy awesome. It's just… the coolest," she said breathlessly. "I mean it, this is the BEST. I just can't take something this valuable from you. Wouldn't your dad kill you?"
Madison waved that off. "Bah, he never remembers what I have here or what I'm working on. He wanted you to get these things for me anyway, he doesn't care how I use them. If I want to give it to a friend, that's my decision."
"I really can't repay you for this, Madison. I wouldn't even know where to start."
Madison dipped her head, shyness radiating from her. "You don't have to repay me, Luna. It's cool. Really."
"Okay, but if you ever want it back you let me know, okay? I mean it!" When Madison nodded her head and smiled Luna rushed forward and threw her arms around, wrapping the smaller girl in a hug.
Item Name: The Lunar Lightning Rod
Type (crafted): Combat Gadget
Origin: Crafted by Madison Bouchard, Gadgeteer
Description: A staff imbued with the Thunder Titan Core, capable of channeling and releasing electrical energy.
Effects:
Lightning Bolt: Fires a concentrated bolt of electricity at a target, dealing high electrical damage and potentially stunning.
Thunder Clap: Creates a shockwave of electrical energy, damaging and pushing back all enemies in a radius.