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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:34 pm
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As it turned out, it wasn't all that difficult to get simple machines to move on their own. Wind-up teeth, slinkies, pullback racing cars, they all did it, and it didn't take long for Chester to emulate every last one of them in his own work. He got a little distracted by it all, but where he wouldn't have cared prior to visiting the gallery, the guilt that surfaced from postponing his trip to the library actually stung.
He only had a limited amount of time in this body and he was wasting it.
One of his more obvious problems with regard to moving forward was that he had no idea how exactly he was meant to proceed. Yes, the library was where he needed to go, but Vivien had mentioned having a goal in mind when he did, and that just wasn't happening for him. How was he supposed to come up with something to research when he had the world at his fingertips? It was daunting. He found it easier to play with his robots in the park instead.
Today he was testing a palm-sized creature with long, spindly legs. It was part toaster, flashlight, and hole punch, and it whistled sharply every time its limbs whipped around to carry it through the grass.
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 8:19 am
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At first the park was very quiet, very peaceful. When Kaleb had settled in to read, hidden behind the trunk of a large oak, all he could hear was spring birds chirping away in the trees, the rustle of the wind through the leaves, and only the most distant sounds of human presence drifting through the air. He always assumed Ashdown was just like that, with little pockets of tranquility here and there that were lacking in the larger city.
Unburdened by distractions, the freckled teen was going over old class notes on thermodynamics and the conservation of energy. He knew the material, had already been tested on it, but ever since his introduction to magic he had another side of everything to consider. How could these scientific principles be used to improve his abilities on the other side, and how far could magic itself stretch them?
At first the whistling of the tiny mechanical creature didn't register in his awareness as he ruminated over physics and magic. It could have been the distant squealing of construction equipment, or perhaps a strange bird. Certainly nothing that required his immediate attention... At least not until it got closer, and then something scuttled through the grass next to him.
Kaleb squeaked loudly and half jumped, half tumbled out from behind the tree opposite the little robot, and into full view of the rest of the park.
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 2:03 pm
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At least one of them had been able to save some face, Kaleb had been too frightened by the thing in the grass to even notice Chester's startled jump. He didn't even notice the other man until the whistling mechanical creature was scooped up.
"It's okay, I..." Kaleb remained where he sat on the ground, and intended to do so until the jitters went away. "I'm sorry, I must have been concentrating too hard, I didn't notice it until it was right beside me."
His cheeks began to turn a little pink as he realized how silly it was, being scared so badly by someone's remote control... robot... thing? It had been scooped up so quickly after the scare, Kaleb realized he had no idea what exactly it was that had crept up on him. Perhaps it was a glint of silver in the sunlight, or the rhythmic whistling noise, that had him thinking robot, but it could have been anything.
Shifting back to his spot behind the tree, he picked up the book that had been lost in his flailing. "What was that thing?" He asked, hesitation in his tone.
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Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 9:16 am
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Invited to talk about one of his creations, Chester brightened considerably, bringing the thing back into view. He had switched it off in his haste to get it out of the way, but now he clicked on its Maglite face and set it in the grass. It didn't stand very well when it wasn't moving, sagging to one side like a sleepy pet.
"It's a robot, of sorts. I kind of take things apart and put them back together without an instruction manual. I think I'm starting to get movement down, but I want them to... do things." He hesitated to mention magic, even though imbuing them with some sort of life force, however primitive, was his real wish.
His eyes found the book for a moment and he swallowed before asking, "Do you go to Rider-Waite, by any chance?"
The pinkness and general fluster was ignored following Chester's initial apology. He was intimately familiar with the reaction himself and was loath to make too much of it in others, considering how much it embarrassed him personally.
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Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 5:52 pm
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Kaleb peered curiously at the little robot, encouraged by the other young man's response. He had been prepared to let it go, as well as offer up many apologies for being nosy, but having so much information volunteered right at the start of an interaction was just what the shy teen needed.
"Wow, you built that yourself? The movement is pretty organic already, it definitely had me fooled for a minute!" He smiled sheepishly, but with honest humour. "What sort of things do you need to make a robot that walks?"
For a second Kaleb also looked down at the book. It was definitely a textbook. "Yes! Ah... Finishing my first year, in Life Sciences," he replied quickly, and then gave the book a second glance. Physics. Definitely not Life Sciences curriculum, thus branding him as the nerd he was.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:56 pm
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