A Wrench in the Plans [Shadow, The Engineer, Solo]

Akui had been in her dorm listening to some new EDM and nodding in and out with a sleepy Diablo next to her until her scroll beeped with an update: there were new 'Shadow Missions' available: all that meant was boring people doing boring things and following them around for some cash.

Akui could care less about making money like that when she could just dust some Grimm real quick, so she never did these 'shadows' unless she was either REALLY strapped, or it basic premise interested her. There was one that would catch her eye.

"...huh, that techie...been a while. Wonder if she fixed that clean dust generator?"

Truth was that Akui hadn't hated her, not really, and she even planned on stopping by at some point anyway...but she just hadn't yet. Now she could catch up with her, and get paid for it?

She got up and flipped on her hoodie, making sure Diablo wasn't woken before grabbing her board and heading out to the shop.

It didn't take long for her to get there, but unfortunately her board had been acting up ever since she fixed it from that battle with the giant Grimm, and this was one of them: it just stopped on it's own, sending her tumbling into the store.

"Well, good to see you again too, although I figured you wouldn't have been THAT eager to see me." was what Akui heard as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"I assume your here for the Shadow Mission, but we both are on roughly the same level, so..."

"Well no s***. Other than the check, I figured it would be obvious why I was here: how's the dust generator?"

"Ahh...right. Follow me." her tone was lifted at first, then dropped down, and Akui got the feeling that she may have hit a snare. She could understand that, as she was stuck right now in regards to her board, and it f***ing sucks to be stuck in a mental rut. Akui walked out the door long enough to pick of her malfunctioning stupid f***ing hoverboard, then brought it with her into the back room of the store.

[367/1000]

As Akui entered the backroom, she saw what was a VERY small version of the dust-powered generator she had seen months ago. In comparison, it was like a Great Dane versus dogs that were bred to be tiny...'toy' dogs was what there were called? So stupid, animals weren't toys, yet humans were known for their nature to control everything they could get their hands on...so f***ing dumb.

However, one thing was clear: it wasn't active, which caused Akui to look over at the local prodigy and partially raise an eyebrow. "Well, what the f*** is wrong with it?"

"Well, at first the smaller generator wasn't outputting enough 'manufactured Aura' to even trigger even one type of the Dust powder, let alone both."

"...Manufactured Aura?"

"Yea, it's basically coming up with a device or machine that can produce an effect similar to how us living beings can manipulate our Aura to wield Dust. It's still WAY deep into development even in enclosed circles of scientists and the like, but I managed to craft this here generator that can trigger the Dust powder and activate it to combine the Lighting and Fire just enough to produce clean energy without blowing it all to hell."

"...Well, s***..." was Akui's only response. Technology had progressed far since she had been busy about her life, she had no idea such things could be done. She stared off into space a bit, before blinking and reiterating her question. "Cool, but what the f*** is wrong with it?"

"Well, being smaller than the original it wasn't powerful enough, so I had to redesign it just a bit bigger to make more room for the manufactured aura to not only be pushed out harder, but also more of it being pushed out at once. That ignited the Dust, but it was under so much pressure that it traveled too fast through these pipes and blew out whole parts of my shop. Was closed for a couple weeks."

"Damn..."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Once I got Scope's open again, I tried to tone down the pressure...but now it fails to circulate throughout the store. Any adjustments I make or calculate end up either not being enough, or blowing up the store again. I'm not sure what to do next...OOF~!"

Akui had tossed her board at the chick, who had barely managed to catch it, and then she stretched before she spoke up. "Got f***ed to all hell during a large Grimm attack, had to repair it, took forever. Ever since, it's been f***ing up, as you saw earlier: stops on it's own, doesn't always start up, power falters mid-ride. Can't figure out how to get it to stop it's bulls***, been at it for over a week."

The prodigy looked over the board, then looked up at the punk chick before her. "Hmm...you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

"Time for a fresh point of view?"

"Aww yeah. I'll be up front with this, I'll check back with you in an hour or so."

"Cool, deal." Once the prodigy chick left the room, Akui got to work studying the generator setup, which she already thought was strange that it was connected to pipes to throughout the store. That would have to change...

[919/1000]

It had been about half an hour since Peri said she was going to step out front and examine the hoverboard made by the one and only Dreadwalker. She would never have thought that someone who had hurt and killed so many would not only love technology so much, but also...well, be someone she would associate with, to be blunt. She had just managed to figure out exactly what and why the board was having issues, and she was going to attempt to fix it when all the power in her store cut out. She sighed: it would seem her issue was a bit more difficult to solve than this hoverboard, and she thought about telling her to forget about it...but then the power came back on, and the pipes above her weren't making a sound. She made a quick hustle, board in hands, to the back room...to she the gangster way up on the pipes, and the smaller generator being the one providing power to the store instead of the larger backup.

"Wait...YOU FIXED IT?! You did it so fast, how-"

"Electrical work."

"...Wait, electrical work?"

Akui just nodded, then jumped down off the larger section of pipes and landed right in front of the chick. Akui had dirt and grease all over, but she had a smirk that wouldn't quit: he was happier than she had been in a while...technology will do that to ya.

"Figured out that you had some weird f***ing system were the pipes acted like wires for an electrical system. Heavy metal pipes to contain the raw power of Dust, but impractical for commercial use, buildings would have to be originally built with it. Cost a s***load. Cut out most of the pipeline you had rigged, made a weird ass splice: from pipeline to copper wire, with a metal conducting rod inside. Works like a normal electrical system now. The pressure isn't an issue: most of the initial burst of power has been lowered, but even so most of the energy gets conducted and then travels through the building with less 'oomph.'"

The chick just stood there in awe, looking at her, so Akui finished her informational dump. "Still wouldn't advertise it yet, as that conductor splice will go out from the sheer power of the triggered Dust within a month. Didn't want to mess with the generator itself, but if you figure out a way to not only trigger the Dust but also convert it to normal electrical energy all within the generator itself, then it will be just the generator and not this extra s*** on the side. Could just stick vials of Dust powder right into the generator and it would be ready to go after being tied into the electrical system." Akui then took her board from the chick's hands, inspected it quickly, then asked the chick "Did you fix it?"

This seemed to bring Peri back from her world of shock, as she gave her report. "Right...well, just as you didn't make the generator perfect and decided to leave that to me, I've decided to let you fix the board...BUT I do know how you should do it: Aura. Using the magnetic force was not a bad way to go about it and be clean, but after the damage it took it's no longer responding as strongly to the nature magnetic field of Remnant, so since it doesn't resist it sometimes acts up. This would have happened eventually anyway through daily wear and tear, but the destruction of the board accelerated it exponentially. If you change it so that it takes Aura Control to use the board, not only will it still be clean, but then anyone can ride it as well. You would just have to make it..."

"Consume the minimal amount of Aura possible."

Peri smiled. "Yep, that's it alright." She then immediately sighed. "Well, I would assume you are leaving then."

"Yep."

"Well, I can't just have you fix a major creative rut and not go unrewarded. While I figure you could just make anything I could for you, I have noticed you out and about for parts. Seems you don't get to go out very often...but I'mma fix that for you: Snope's Scopes will always have it's doors open for you, and on top of that I'll give you a fifteen percent discount on not only purchases in-store, but also on anything you may need to order. I know it's not much, but it's the best discount I can legally give you."

"Sweet." Akui and Peri just looked at each other awkwardly for a bit, then Akui smirked and stuck out her fist. Peri hesitated for a moment, but then returned the fist-bump.

"Later, chickadee." Akui said as she left the shop and began to walk home.

Peri sighed. "Back at cha, Dreadwalker..."