Yes. Here.

[Dusk]

"Alright, well I can bring objects in with me, but I've never brought someone in alongside me. If you want I can put a darkness thing around you though. I'm not sure what it looks like from the inside though? It might be like...a wall. It might be pitch black in there. If you want I can show you some of what I can do, but I'm seriously not good at most of the things that I think I should be able to do..." She trailed off as she caught sight of a tarp near her.

She glanced first one way then the other out of habit before lifting the corner of the tarp and looking underneath. As far as she could guess he was working on something related to telecommunication. Whether he wanted to hijack a news broadcast or try to facilitate global wi-fi or something was beyond her. She'd never done much with anything like that. Something about televisions and computers making her skin tingle made her a bit more old-fashioned.

She couldn't help but notice how much more organized it was in the lower level than the shop she'd been in so many times before. She wanted to think it was a night and day difference, but couldn't help but chide herself for the thought. She didn't really have a metric to work with there and neither of the levels had caused her any damage. She paused as she reached the next project. As far as she could tell the vehicle had a long way to go. She would have lingered longer if it weren't for her proximity to the tank.

She quickly closed the distance. It really was pretty cool even though it was sort of scary to imagine even walking alongside a friendly tank much less trying to disable an unfriendly one. She circled the mammoth piece of equipment and cautiously grabbed onto the ladder. With a bit of difficulty she pulled herself up enough to get a foot up. "Honestly, you'd think they'd make it a bit easier to climb onto one of these," she thought before her inner critic burst forth again. "Except it doesn't help keep the people inside the tin can safe if anyone can just hop onto a low ladder and climb on up." She stood atop the surface above the massive treads. Whoever designed these things must've been either pretty violent, or extremely logical. It was honestly a bit eerie. Suddenly uncomfortable on the machine she sized up the distance of the drop and hopped down.

She didn't know what to make of the others since she wasn't particularly adept with either technology or mechanics and gave a smile at George's cafeteria. Satisfied that she'd investigated her surroundings enough to not be looking over her shoulder every 5 seconds she made her way back to Eiron and grabbed a soda on the way. She noticed that she was still thirsty after evacuating nearly all of her last one into Eiron's couch cushions.

"What are the mystery piles going to be?" she asked as she took a seat and popped open the can.

[kyngarthur]

"They haven't told me what they want to be yet. The Antenna told me a long time ago what it wanted to do, so that's my current big project. I'm working out a way to communicate securely. We're still a few decades short of quantum entanglement yet, so I'd like to come up with something that's just as secure, but is currently accessible to me. That first pile," he gestured towards it, "Is thinking that it wants to be some form of solar power. Either that or some kind of laser. They're so finicky sometimes, you know?"

He stood up from his chair and walked over to a corner of the room that was filled with shelves, floor to ceiling. He began to rummage through them until he seemed to have found something he wanted and then went to an empty platform. Grabbing a piece of steel from nearby, he plugged in an engraver and etched, "Project Dusk" in to it. Setting it down, he nodded and then turned back to the computers. Sitting down, he used the mouse to grab the blueprinting program and flung it upwards. Overhead, a project whirred to life and kicked out an image of a suit on to the wall. It was black, for the most part. The cloth parts of it appeared to be something thick and coarse, but extremely flexible. It looked a lot like a wetsuit. The head of the suit almost looked like a biker's helmet. The difference being the lens was far larger, allowing for far greater peripheral view. He nodded and then added a pair of gloves to it.

Looking over at Jane, he smiled, "So? What do you think? The body portion is a combination of kevlar, neoprene and a moisture wicking fabric that my Mom came up with a few years ago. The helmet is going to be a bit tough, because I don't know if any sort of regular lens will shield you properly."

[Dusk]

Jane nodded. She had no idea what he was talking about. Absolutely. No. Idea.

She watched him move around the room. What exactly had she gotten herself into? She looked at the suit and had no clue what to think. It would definitely be an upgrade from bundling up like the world was ending in a snowy apocalypse, but it still looked like it would draw a lot of attention. "Still, it could be cool"

"Looks like I'm gonna be an X-man," she joked. "Actually, sunglasses help quite a bit eye-wise. It's just that I feel blind with them on in the dark, and light gets around the edges and hurts anyway. Like, they don't help after a half hour or so at all, but they definitely help."

[kyngarthur]

"Oh, I don't intend on keeping you in just the suit. It's sort of like an under-layer thing. It'll still keep you cool in the summer, but it's there to catch the light just in case it gets through."

His hand came up and stroked his chin for a moment, then he reached forward and rattled off a few commands on the keyboard. The lens began to change based on the amount of light hitting it on screen. A picture of the sun came up, and the lens became mirror. The moon showed, and it was barely tinted at all. He looked at her, "Is that a bit better? It should react instantaneously, so if you were to be hit by say, car lights, it would change before your skin could react."

[Dusk]

"Sounds like we'll have some testing to do," she mused looking at the suggested lens. She didn't relish the idea of the lens failing somehow and wandering around blind for half a week again, but if Eiron was a straight up genius like he claimed then maybe it would work on the first test.

Her attention abruptly shifted to Eiron.

"You said that you knew other shadow manipulators. What are they like? What can they do?"

[kyngarthur]

"Testing, yes. That is something we'll need to do. But I don't have the supplies to do it all... I might need to break in to a couple places to get them. Or have someone get them for me." He pondered the thought for a moment and then shrugged it off.

"Or you mean Reinhart, Sven, Erich and Cyri? They're a whole family of them. Cyri is the oldest of the bunch, but she's only half. She married Erich, who is uh... quite a bit younger. Also half. So that would make Sven and Rein both half. Rein is a lot like you with his powers... he can't really control them. He once ended up halfway in a tree, and ever since then he's require the use of an exo-suit in order to walk. Sven has complete control, and I have to say he's pretty much mastered it at this point. He was trained in combat use of his powers, so he does a lot of reconnaissance. Erich and Cyri I rarely ever see them use their powers. Usually only to catch Sven. All of them can be out in the daylight without an issue."

[Dusk]

Jane nodded. It would make sense that he wouldn't have everything he needed if he left in a hurry. She'd never had much of a problem with breaking in, but stealing would be something else entirely. She decided that she didn't want to know.

"A whole family? That sounds crazy," she fell silent as he told her about the others. She wasn't sure what "half" meant in this instance and tried to make a mental note to ask later. Jane winced involuntarily. She'd never gotten hurt from being stuck. That alone told her that they might be operating with a variation on the way that their powers worked.

"You mean the tree was solid for him? Like...," she moved her hands around while she tried to come up with the right phrasing, "like he ended up in the tree after losing the shadow? Or something?" Even when someone had shined a light on her while she was in the shadows she hadn't gotten stuck. She'd fallen straight back out like she'd never been in it at all.

She decided that she didn't like the sound of Sven. She couldn't think of many ways to use her power for combat except for blinding her opponent so she could get away, but if Sven had something different going on...maybe the ability to muck around with other people's shadows?

"That is so unfair," Jane sighed at the last bit of information.

[kyngarthur]

"They are sort of crazy." He stopped, "Okay I lied, they're a lot crazy. All of them. Cyri is a literal psychopath, and Erich married her knowing that, so there's not something quite right with him."

He stopped himself from rambling on this time, and shut his mouth when she asked questions, "Oh, yeah. Weird story that. Rein sneezed while he was hiding behind a tree when we were kids, and it did this sort of weird... almost instant thing? I don't know, all I know is I saw him leaning up against the tree, and the next thing I know, it exploded because his abdomen appeared in the middle of it. I don't know a ton about shadow manipulation, and yours is almost completely new to me."

Eiron shrugged and scratched his head, "I think I might see if I can get a hold of Sven to get us the materials we need. He'd probably enjoy meeting you as well."

[Dusk]

Jane made a small 'o' with her mouth as the family and events were described to her. Clearly their powers behaved a bit differently than hers. She shuddered at the thought of all of the times that she could have gotten hurt if her powers had behaved the same way as Reinhart's. Not a good feeling.

She felt mouth set into something between a smile and a grimace at the thought of meeting Sven. She really wasn't sure what was setting her on edge about him when she thought about it. It wasn't like Eiron had said he was a murderer or anything. She tried to brush the feeling off.

"It sounds like it might be a bit different. I wonder if it's because it's a family trait..." She shook free of her musing, "Oh. Yeah, it would be cool to meet one of them, and from the sounds of it I'd rather anyone than Cyri." She hoped her tone was more calm than she felt. She'd never really considered the fact that she might run into someone like her. Part of her hoped that she could learn from them, and part of her was afraid that they would make fun on her.

[kyngarthur]

"I'll definitely get a hold of Sven then. I haven't had contact with anyone since my mom's went missing, so they're probably actually looking for me. And believe you me, you do NOT want to meet Cyri. Ever. She's fucking psycho."

With a head shake he rattled away at the keyboard and picked up a headset from the desk. A second later he got a grin on his face and perked up as he began talking, "Hey Sv- No no, I'm fi- yeah I know my mom's are missing. Where am I? That old junkyard outside the north end of town. Look for the old compacting building. Yeah. Oh, oka- wait wait! can you stop at my mom's house and grab that composite material she was working on before she went missing? Yeah. Alright, see you soon I guess."

He quickly set the headset down and turned to look at Jane, "Well, I guess he's coming now. Hope everything's alright, he sounded pretty anxious."

[Dusk]

Jane had to stifle a giggle at Eiron's side of the conversation. It was clear that his friend had been worrying. The whole thing sent a pang of nostalgia through her. When was the last time any of her friends had worried about her?

Her eye widened.

"Yo-you mean like...right now right now?" She looked down at her loaned clothing and took a breath. What a great first impression she would make wearing Eiron's clothes in front of his friend the first time she met him.

[kyngarthur]

"Yeah I guess so. He said that I'm not to show my face outside this building right now because the government has been looking for me. No idea why, but I'm going to take his advice and hang out down here for awhile. He's going to bring that composite though, so he's going to be a bit."

He spun around in his chair and marched across the room, searching through a pile of junk that was sitting in a corner. Rummaging through, he pulled out two tiny camera-looking items and brought them back to the desk. Setting them down, he grabbed a set of screwdrivers and began to tinker with them, "These are a light sensor. I'm banking on being able to tune them up to the point that they'll have less than a nano-second response time. It should be able to adjust a lens faster than your skin or eyes will be affected. Don't worry, I won't test it on you." He shot her a grin, "I should have told him to bring us a pizza or something..."

[Dusk]

"Okay...So..." Jane trailed off. One new person was a lot for her as it was, but two new people in a new place? She took a long breath and turned to see Eiron getting up from his desk.

He was back before she could decide whether or not to follow him. She tilted her head as he returned with what she could only assume were cameras. Before she could ask anything Eiron was already explaining. She was grateful that he seemed to be understanding that she wasn't always able to follow what he was doing.

"That...sounds pretty cool actually," she said leaning forward to get a better view and giving a short laugh at the mention of pizza. Now that he mentioned it she regretted losing her sandwich earlier in the night.

[kyngarthur]

Wrapping a short length of flexible steel around the sensor, Eiron ran a wire a set of welding goggles that had been hanging up above the screens. They were see through at the moment however, until Eiron took a small pen light out of his pocket and did a quick click of light at the sensor. No sooner did the light turn on, and off again, the goggles blinked dark and then light.

He turned and grinned at Jane, "See? Literally faster than the blink of an eye. It should protect you from all forms of light."

Just as he was about to recline back in his chair, he looked back over Jane's shoulder and jumped, clutching his own chest, "Holy shit Sven! Was that necessary? You scared the hell out of me!"

A voice came from over Jane's shoulder, "That was payback for worrying everyone after your parents disappeared. You're luck you called me first instead of my mom or Cairn. Either one of them would probably have strung you up by your ankles by now."

Moving in a semi circle around Jane, Sven stepped in to her line of sight, "Hi there, I'm Sven."

His hand was held out and he gave her the opportunity to see what he looked like. He was about the same height as Eiron, but with darker hair and darker eyes. He wore all black, and before Eiron could make a comment on it, he spoke over his shoulder, "Sorry about the get up, I was on a reconnaissance mission when you called."

[Dusk]

Jane watch Eiron deftly get his equipment set up. He moved quickly and with purpose. It was clear that he knew exactly what he was trying to do. She tensed as the beam of the pen light flicked on and nearly sighed as it was turned off.

"Wow, I can't believe that you get that all together so quickly," she marveled.

She jumped at Eiron's reaction to Sven and successfully resisted the urge to whirl around. She hadn't heard anyone arrive, and she was sure that she would have noticed someone coming through the way that they'd come. Was there a back door? The voice behind her seemed soft but confident. She could tell from Sven's tone that he and Eiron had known each other for a long time. She didn't recognize Cairn's name from her previous conversation with Eiron and wondered briefly who he was when Sven stepped into view. His step was quiet, but not silent. How did he get behind her in the first place? "Maybe I was too focused on what Eiron was doing."

"Oh uh. Hi, I'm Jane," she stumbled before shaking his hand. She glanced between Sven and Eiron. She could tell that Sven was the scarier of the two in spite of his slight frame. She quickly released Sven's hand and sat back. The two of them probably had some catching up to do.

"Uh, does anyone want me to grab a drink from the fridge?" She asked hoping to escape for a moment.

[kyngarthur]

Eiron nodded, "Yeah I put things together pretty quick if they're fairly simply like this."

Sven reached over and ruffle Eiron's hair, "Yeah he's a pretty smart kid."

Eiron shoved his hand away and reached out, "C'mon, I know you have that stuff I asked for."

With a nod, Sven reached over and put his hand in to a shadow, then withdrew it, plopping a roll of it in to Eiron's hands, "So, Jane, who are you? Are you Eiron's new girlfriend or something? And yeah sure, I'll take a pop, whatever you grab is fine."