Act I Scene II: Location of Fear

Marcus did not arrive with much fanfare. His boots were audible long before he marched into view, heavy duty steel toed stompers. His ever present tools jingled on his belt akin to a cowboy's spurs. An old black hoodie read 'Bomb expert' alongside a stereotype spherical bomb with a smiley face on it. Oil stained cargo pants completed the ensemble. A bulging duffel bag gave onlookers a big hint as to his purpose: Marcus was quite literally arriving, in more than just the immediate sense. Recently enrolled, and only just now assigned a room, the young engineer had come to dump his belongings into said room, and then collapse in bed.

That plan got derailed when he passed by a fountain with a person sitting by it. A fellow student, judging by the age. Blue hair, headphones, as near as he could tell black clothes. No shoes though.

"Good... morning?" Marcus greeted him. Was it really that late already? Blast, it suddenly hit home just how long the journey had been.

His eyes travelled up and down the meditating man. The guy certainly did not come across as entirely awake, though that could just be Marcus projecting.

"I'm a new student moving in. Name's Marcus." he replied. The duffel bag hit the ground with a heavy impact. The young engineer wiped his brow, more out of habit than actual need. The bag was peanuts, it would take a heftier load a lot longer to truly make him sweat.

"I'd offer a hand but I'm still covered with machine oil aaand I just covered my face with that didn't I?" he said. Thank the Sun for long sleeved black clothes, ever handy as emergency oil rags.

"Anyway what brings you out here this time of night?" Marcus asked as he dabbed at his face with his sleeve.

The moment the hand was held out was the moment Marcus broke out into a genuine smile of his own. He shook it firmly, letting Lapis literally feel his confidence even through the fog of sleep deprivation.

"Well met Lapis. Wish I could help, but I'm capable with machinery not medicine. Don't think the old standby of hitting it with a wrench will help here. You don't strike me as the type who fancies a headache come morning." he said jokingly.

"Seriously though, want to talk about whatever's bothering you? Get it off your chest as it were?" Marcus offered, his expression devoid of mirth. For a brief moment he contemplated sitting down, but if Lapis wanted space rather than a listening ear he could offer that too. Sitting down would just send the wrong message. He wanted to offer help politely, not shove the offer down Lapis' throat.

Only a single raised eyebrow made it through his sleep induced haze as Marcus watched Lapis work with the water. Some part of him was actually a little ticked off at the complete lack of care or drama. The reveal of a semblance should be something more than just a casual conversation between essentially complete strangers. Like, an ultimate trump card pulled out in the last fight between two life long rivals, or in the middle of a thunderstorm while mounting a last ditch defence of the civilised world. This just was a flat statement of fact like a local newspaper article about the outcome of Bumpkins United versus the Middle of Nowhere Boys. It wasn't even properly midnight for crying out loud.

"That's pretty. So. That does sound like a plan. You're also right, I did get here via alternative means. I'll show you on the second go around, there's some more stuff that needs to go to my room." Marcus said with a nod, and picked up his bag again. As he sauntered over to his room, he continued at a whisper, trying not to disturb anyone actually asleep.

"So. Insomnia caused by a semblance. Just going to brainstorm here, feel free to cut me off at any point. I actually know the feeling somewhat, though how control over water translates to lack of sleep I dunno. In my case it boiled down to my semblance trying to manifest for the better part of a month and me, not knowing what it was, chalking it up to something else. So extrapolating maybe there's something about your semblance you don't know yet. Could be that you're only half using it, that there's some aspect to it that's trying to make itself known. Alternatively I remember some article in the Royal Scientific Journal that raised the possibility for a semblance to change due to immense amounts of stress. Have to check the specifics. So that could be the case. Or there's the option that the two are not related at all and it's just regular PTSD. Depends on what you've been through." Marcus said in a slow, deliberate stream of consciousness. The way to his new room was barely long enough to let him finish.

As for the room itself it was plain. Unassuming. Stocked with the basics, a bed, a bureau and a closet with a small separate bathroom. Marcus liked the functionality, and only made mental a note to install a small workbench.

Marcus ate up the information like a starving bulldog.

"So hang on, if you cannot create water, where did the sudden rush come from? Thin air? The ground? Foilage around you? Come to think of it how accessible is the site of the incident, there might be a few clues left in the surroundings." he asked, his mind suddenly a whirlwind as ideas were formed, considered, and arranged in order of likelyhood. In no particular order everything from tearing the moisture out of living matter, draining subterranean pools, condensing the natural water in the air to full on summons from another dimension just to name a few. Then there was the stress factor to consider, in combination with the proximity to the grave. Marcus knew that was important, otherwise why would Lapis mention them? By the Sun he wished he knew more about psychology and semblance interaction.

There was a slight oddity to the route Lapis might notice. Namely the duo was not headed towards the usual entrance to the school, but rather to the hangars where the school stored it's Bullhead fleet and assorted collection of transports.

((OoC: Sorry, had work take up a lot of my time and energy, back now))

“Eh, give me the coordinates and I'll sniff around for a bit, see if I can find any details.” Marcus offered. He had a faint suspicion that he would find bugger all, but it couldn't hurt to check. Then Lapis asked for a moment. Marcus just raised an eyebrow and turned to look at his newfound friend when suddenly a glint of silver caught his eye.

"Oy, what's this then?" No, not silver, it was a small metal sliver, some form of structural steel? Odd. On closer inspection, there was a small trail of the stuff that led up to the hangar. He followed it, as a dark cloud gathered over his face. This worn, cheap steel had better not be from where he thought it was.

He followed the trail right into one of the side hangars, and with each step his frown slowly intensified. A casual backhand turned the lights on.

A tank stood in it. Or more accurately, the base chassis of the warmachine stood there. Six wide treads supported a small mountain of bare, unfinished metal framework. A few blocks of armour on the front served more to highlight just how many other blocks were absent rather than actually protect the vehicle's insides. Support struts for missing components jutted out like bones of a starving man. Dotted around the hull taped off unconnected wires ended in empty sockets. The turret shared the half completed look of the hull. Here the see-through structure served to emphasise the presence of two brutal bulky cannons, with a comparatively smaller gatling gun nestled between them.

The trail of metal slivers led right up to the tank skeleton.

“Well Lapis. I did promise to show you how I got here, and this is it. My own custom weapon as well as personal pride and joy, Ultima Ratio Regum. It means 'Final Argument of Kings' in the Old Language. Sadly, right now it's more of a logical fallacy given the state it's in, but he did get me up to the school in one piece. Now, one second-” Marcus said, a mix of pride and resignation on his face. He grabbed a wrench from his belt and continued to follow the trail, that led underneath one of the track units. Without hesitation the engineer dove into the guts of the machine. A few clanks and a muffled but heartfelt curse followed. Another, louder clank followed up on that, and Marcus came back out with a gear that had the teeth nearly completely worn off.

"Well. Serves me right for not using three one three five. That's going back to the drawing board." he said as he turned the gear around in the light. "Speaking of drawing boards, guess what we actually got here for."

Marcus smiled at the compliment. He half expected people to scoff at the idea of a huntsman that operated a vehicle. Lapis’ reaction was better than he dared hope for.

“Thanks man.” he said sincerely, as he rubbed the back of his neck. How else did one respond to that?

He laughed as Lapis went on to speculate why he mentioned drawing boards.

“Nothing quite so dramatic. That extra stuff for my room I asked for a hand with? They’re the pieces of a modelling computer, so basically a digital drawing board. Thing is they’re all old bastards, so they are bulky and weigh a butt-ton. Right pain in the arrse to move around on your lonesome.” he explained. With a flick of his wrist he sent the worn out gear spinning through the air until it bounced off the wall and clattered into a scrap container.

“Let’s get to it.”

Hidden behind the metal behemoth stood a pair of boxes which as promised were of the perfect dimensions to just barely not fit comfortably in one person’s hands. Between the two of them on the other hand, it was just a matter of grabbing the handles and going.

((OoC: I’d say this thread’s run it’s course. See you around?))