^^ Helen's Tribute to Yeera ^^

"Wow... gone native that quickly, hmm?" Rhea was the first to react to my reappearance, staring at the armor with a raised eyebrow.

"It offers some good protection, actually, from anything except guns, which, unfortunately, seem to exist here." I tossed Helen the rifle, and she examined it carefully while I placed the pistol and the ammunition next to her.

"It's a very odd invention, that's true... it seems like thermite is used to create an instantaneous expansion, replicating gunpowder ignition... and this crystal, I'll look at it under a microscope... it's definitely Silicon, but it's Metallic, and Pure... it matches the description you gave for that little crystal you took from that Slime..." she explained as she mused aloud.

"So the original owner was using magic stones as an accelerant, but the other idiots just sent a fireball made of thermite in there as a replacement... Interesting. Hey, Medea, how are you going with that Sonic experiment I asked about?" I looked at the girl wrapped in four different jackets and a blanket, smirking. She was from Florida, and she didn't like the cold not one bit.

She nodded, speaking quietly. "Going well... the emitters can't go past certain megahertz yet... but Helen is tuning one of them for me. Why?"

"Just checking up on you, there's no rush, my dear." I smiled gently, and she nodded, cuddling back into her pile of warmth.

"So what happened?" Clark asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Hmm? Ah, sorry, Update! I found out that the Artists that were killed were ordered dead, a Hit was put out on them, and I took the money from the hit from the attacker's; it was, of course, an anonymous contract. And I think I know why; it had nothing to do with us at all, so we can rest easy about that part. These weapons were developed by one of the Artists who was killed." I nodded to the rifle.

"Hm. Corporate Espionage, even here, huh?" Helen clicked her tongue, muttering softly in Cantonese. "Zhè jiù shì wô lí kāi xiāng gâng de yuán yīn..."

"And I did speak to Luna's Chief, and a Branch Clan of the White Cliff Crafting Clan will be moving here, as well as the Red Band that was tricked by the Attackers." I added.

"Is that safe?" Johann asked simply. (His English had improved markedly since coming here and working with James all day.)

"They were uninvolved in what happened, and were misled by their Chieftain, who was actually the one who sent the Attackers without their knowledge. He even double-crossed them and tried to make them lose the battle, so that all the potential enemies in his clan would be dead or crippled. He was a piece of shit, no doubt, and they kicked him out once it was all out in the open." I nodded.

"But is it Safe?" He insisted.

"I believe it is, yes." I answered directly, which I knew was what he wanted.

"Hmm... Alright. We will be Wary of them, but welcoming, if you think that's best. Having more hands in the Forge would not be amiss." He nodded seriously.

"Thank you. Also, I took part in the Battle, the Challenge, and gained a lot of useful information; the Challenges, even the ones between full Clans, are largely non-lethal. Killing your enemies outright is generally not the way it goes, because, and I quote, 'it would be a horrendous waste of life otherwise'. I like it here, as much as going home would be preferable for most of us." I chuckled, and took a seat after unbuckling the plate armor from my chest, allowing my breasts to breath instead of being compressed under the armor.

Cassidy smirked at me, apparently in on some sort of joke I wasn't aware of, and then hummed. "And did you get any vegetables? Or alcohol?"

I paused, and then slowly rubbed my face. "No. No I did not, and I'm sorry for forgetting... but! The clans moving here will be planting crops around the rivers that lead away from our lake, so the lack of food diversity will soon be fixed! Also, Kindle will be bringing us some food, black dirt, and vegetables, as well as armor and weapons, and she's already been paid, so there's nothing to worry about on that front!" I grinned at having solved the issue in the long-term.

"Black Dirt?" Rhea asked, confused.

"For the greenhouse? Black dirt is nutrient-rich, very good for plants." Cassidy explained.

"Ahhh, Good. And... how are we paying for this?" She asked, glancing at me. "You haven't promised your services to anyone, have you?"

I blinked, confused. "Did you miss when I got paid for my part in dealing with those bandits? Apparently, dealing with bandits once a month pays the twenty-gold Tax of a Red Band, so when you do it and you don't actually need to pay a tax, they give you the twenty gold in Cash. Also Wyvern Parts are apparently really valuable, so I sold the organs I pulled out of them through Kindle, and she got really good prices for them, I guess. Plus, now I've got the money from the Chieftain, the asshole who facilitated this whole clusterfuck of a situation... I think that comes out to... Huh, I actually haven't checked!" I pulled out the sack of coins, weighing it in my hand, and then opened it, staring into its dark depths. I stuck my hand in, and paused at the fact that it didn't have a bottom.

"Is that... a Bottomless Bag?" Medea asked slowly, as everyone watched my arm disappear up to the elbow.

"I... think so? How do I- oh, okay." I pulled out the handful of gold that had appeared as soon as I thought of it, and then simply poured the bag out on the ground, turning it inside out. There was a bit of cacophony, as the coins clattered against the metal ground, and I sighed, starting to count them all out. "Alright... 40... 80... 120... 160... 180... 200 total, plus the 37 I have, is 237 Gold Pieces, plus some silver from the Wyvern Horns. I spent three gold pieces on the veggies, armor, and dirt." I explained, putting the piles of coins back into the bag, and adding all but five of the coins from my other bag.

"So... we are arguably rich?" Rhea hummed.

"I suppose it could be considered rude of me to keep the money I earned to myself in this situation, so I suppose we are rich, yes." I muttered childishly, stowing the sack of coins in my satchel.

She gave me a disapproving look that didn't last long, when met with my stubborn 'I'm not in the wrong here' face. "I'm sorry for assuming, I suppose."

"Mm. But yes, I do intend to use the majority of the money more or less as a communal fund for the development of our position here, of course... what do we need next, do you think? Medical supplies, for Clark... we have a few first-aid kits, but... I'm sure you and Luna can cook up a list of herbs and stuff you need?" I looked at Clark, to be sure.

"Yes, I've been working on one already, actually. I mostly need this world's equivalent of Aspirin, because Johann's knuckles and knees are bothering him, and James' shoulder is starting to make it harder for him to work, and I'm running out of Advil." He sighed.

"Alright, write up a list and we'll see what we can do. Sam, anything in the Spice Variety you want? I don't know what Kindle will bring, but I want to be prepared... you know, I'm sure the Clan coming here will have a Merchant or two we can give a few lists to, so we don't have to take advantage of Kindle? I've lost friendships that way, relying on them too much without giving anything in return, and I'd rather not lose the first allies I made here..." I sighed.

"Agreed." Sam nodded. "But yes, I need more Salt, because I'm out already. This train had enough food for a week, and we've stretched it to a month, and that's admirable, but it is absolutely not going to last much longer."

"Mm. Salt, then, and spices in general; I know you're growing herbs in the greenhouse, but more spices couldn't hurt! So we've got Veggies on the way, and we're still good on Wyvern meat... I'll go hunt some more soon, there's a herd of Caribou that are grazing on the side of the mountain next to us... but I'll need a better crossbow to do that. This one is powerful, I guess, but clunky, and the range and reload time are both piss-poor." I set the crossbow I'd been given in front of me, sighing at it in disappointment, like it was its fault it's creators didn't understand using Solid Tension and Controlled Recoil to accelerate an aerodynamic projectile, such as a Flechette or Bolt.

Helen glanced at it, and then looked at Johann. "You were already working on something like that, yes?"

He nodded. "I was, Yes... I planned on having those Golems Theo made manage a few sets of Ballistae... but I've only made one so far, and I didn't know if it was overkill. I'll fetch it." He went to his room, which was only a few doors down from the lounge we treated as our living room, and was back in just a few moments, holding a leather-sheathed hunk of shiny metal.

I took it when it was handed to me, and drew it out of the sheath, gasping softly at the stainless-steel construction. It was collapsed, currently, and mostly flat, but the arms unfolded easily, following a slide-and-click locking track, one I was familiar with enough to operate without his instructions. It looked very high-tech, despite its simple construction, and the drum mag was interesting. A small crank pulled the metal string back, -after I'd removed the drum,- and I gasped at the small arch of electricity running over the string, before it released without me pulling the trigger.

"That... I haven't come up with a solve for. The string is made strong with the electricity, but if it sits too long, it gets too strong, and it breaks the trigger mechanism..." he grumbled.

I nodded. "Replacing the Nock with tungsten would solve that; the electricity would have somewhere to go, and be released as heat and light."

His eyes lit up, and he grinned, nodding. "Ja! I will do so!!!" He grabbed it swiftly and limped into his room, coming out with a hunk of tungsten an a mold of the Nock, handing them to me. "You could... shape it?" He asked.

I nodded and slowly molded the tungsten in my hands into the proper shape, handing it to him and watching him easily replace the problematic piece. "Perfect... and it keeps firing so long as you turn the crank, yes?" I asked, turning the crank an extra time and watching it fire, then keep loading and firing as I turned the crank. "A nice auto-loader feature, and Near-automatic firing, which could be good for the sentry Golems, if there's a swarm of enemies... I'm not sure how monsters work, but I'd like to be ready for a Flock of Wyverns if they come back."

He nodded seriously, agreeing, and then sat back down in his chair. "But it is not too heavy? It is nearly 60 kilograms..."

"It's a bit heavier than the other one, sure, but it's honestly not too bad for solid steel, given the hollow portions... what's its stopping power like?" I asked, examining one of the steel flechettes in the drum.

"Well... there's a large hole in one of the Solid Steel Frames now? I didn't fire it again after that." He shifted uncomfortably at the glare Helen sent his way.

"Nice... well, I would definitely say make some more, Ballistae-Sized and Mounted to the ground so they can't be stolen... up top around the Caboose will do, for maximum range. I'll make some Golems to man them... say four of them, one for each direction? Anything you need for that, like extra steel? I imagine you're running out by now?" I looked at Helen for confirmation.

"Almost, yes. We have enough to finish our current projects. And the Clay here... it might be indicative of an Iron Deposit nearby, so hopefully we can get our hands on that." She grinned.

"We'll check how they do things here... they seem very respectful of nature, so Strip Mining would be Rude; I'm not comfortable with that anyway, but I suppose it'd be a vote?" Rhea shook her head.

"I agree, Strip Mining is terrible for the ecosystem, and I also object to that method, but burrow-mining is apparently quite common, or so I'm told. That's how their Dungeons are made, slime mimics burrow and use the mineral deposits to build more of themselves or equipment, through some weird alchemical process or something... but for our purposes, so long as the effect on the surface and the ecosystem is minimal, -or hopefully nil,- and we're careful that we don't let the mine become infested with monsters, I think it will be fine." I hummed.

"That sounds responsible, yes." Helen went back to examining the rifle, and made a few notes, handing them to Medea. "Do those make sense to you, dear?"

"Yes...? These were in that barrel?" She asked, coming out of her cocoon and examining it herself. "These are pretty basic physics equations; the numbers match up to equations that deal with the deflection and redirection of force by way of Point-Specific Gravity, though the symbols are different than I studied... we studied the theory last semester, in our class on Disproven Theorems... it looks like they managed to find a Force strong enough to overcome the Aubergine Effect... or, instead of overpowering the barrier, they instead sapped energy from it, removing the energy requirement entirely..." she began muttering to herself, drawing on the pad of paper that had been handed to her, and proceeded to ignore us completely, retreating into her cocoon once more.

"I guess we'll have an answer to that when we have one... Johann, can you keep an eye on those weapons? They should be kept under lock and key at all times." I asked, frowning at Cassidy's grumbled complaints.

He nodded sternly, picking up the weapons and ammunition and carrying them off to his room.

"So while I'm hunting, you will use Medea's sound-emitter to look for iron deposits, and we'll work from there?" I clarified, looking at Helen.

She nodded. "I'll have James do it, because he's dealt with Rangefinding before. My work on the Generators is almost entirely finished... but installing it will be difficult. The last thing before I can install is actually a Crane."

"The Golems will handle that, the big ones? They'll be your Crane. Just be very clear about what you need them to do, and they'll do it." I shrugged.

"Ah... I hadn't considered using them for manual labor... I'll have it installed by tomorrow, then!" She set the tinkering project she'd been fiddling with into her satchel, and jogged outside, snagging James as she went.

I watched through the window, commanding the massive Golems to congregate and follow her orders. The others watched with baited breath as the gazebo was taken down, and the long generator platform was revealed; 85 feet long, all the wheels removed and placed into the middle, with fans attached to make it into a series of metallic pinwheels, which was beautiful as it reflected the light of the almost-setting sun. The second one was missing, to my confusion, and it's wheels were placed on the first, creating a doubled pattern.

They were set into place meticulously, and then one of the Golems used its metal fists to hammer in the anchors, covering them in clay and holding the entire frame in place perfectly. As soon as the fans were dipped into the waterfall, however, a massive misting spray started up, creating a plethora of rainbows that cloaked both the device and the entire waterfall in a gorgeous display. LED lighting strips laid along the edge of the system made sure it was visible even at night.

"Huh... she managed to make her generator Art... my tree-Pipeline feels... lacking. Well played, Helen." I hummed grumpily, unsure how I felt about being upstaged so spectacularly.

After a few minutes of checks and diagnostics, she ran the cord to an odd contraption a golem had been setting up in the center of the plateau. It looked like a tripled statue of three women, with a bounty of nature and art at their feet. The first was a younger girl, teenage at most, with spring berries and paints at her feet and a bouquet in her hands, clearly the 'Maiden' archetype; above her head was a waxing crescent moon. The second was an adult woman, with the full breasts and gently protruding belly of a newly pregnant woman. This one held a web of stars in her hands, -symbolizing the creation of life, no doubt,- and the bouquet was now at her feet; the 'Mother' Archetype, with a full moon above her head. The Third was an older woman, holding a spear in her hand and a cauldron at her feet, with a waning crescent above her head. The Elder or Crone Archetype. Then the electricity started, and I growled as the blue steel slowly heated to a dull bronze, and stayed that way.

"Son. Of. A. Bitch!" I breathed, immensely impressed.

She smirked at us from beside her artistic tribute, and then tracked the other end of the cord to the Train, causing the lights to brighten to full luminance all at once.

I stepped outside to congratulate her, and paused, feeling the intense heat coming from the statue, heating up the entire plateau. "Oooh... you... okay, just wait. You win this round, I admit." I nodded seriously.

"Oh it isn't finished... right about... now?" She hummed sarcastically as the sun set, and a wind immediately blew in from the lake, carrying some of the Mist. (This wind happened every day, like clockwork, at dawn and dusk.) The wind carrying the mist towards us touched the statue and entered the sleeves of the three women, immediately causing the entire statue to hum loudly, creating music with the apparent tubes within the statue that reacted to the breeze, plus the heat and electricity; all together it sounded like a deep, soulful cello accompanied by sizzling symbols and a wordless voice, creating a Gregorian tune I couldn't quite place, but was somehow familiar with. It rolled across the mountain, loud but not jarring; a soothing melody, even if where it came from still puzzled me.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Yeah, you win. My Golems are cool, but that... alright. I'm not even mad, not after that."

She bowed gently as the music stopped, for now. "I accept your surrender, my large pink friend."

"You seriously made it play the Halo Theme?" Medea popped her head out and raised an eyebrow at the suddenly-blushing Helen.