"Wait, wait!" Icarus says and pulls away at the last moment! This disrupts the moment that a link would be established. The young feline waves his arms and looks about, saying, "Shouldn't we do this in a lab? With safety stuff and less head heaters?" The cat hybrid then grabs Envoy's hand and almost drags her out of the salon and back to the lab they were loaned.

Silent-One Laboratory
The laboratory bears remarkable similarity to the Silent One medical bay. This room, though, is huge, easily over fifty by fifty feet with lots of open floor space (possibly for setting up larger work tables or experiments). Along each wall are arrays of machinery made from metal and crystal. What most of them do, though, is anyone's guess. A few look like reasonably familiar concepts at least; a centrifuge, some sort of spectroscope-like device, an oscilloscope, a rack of nothing but what looks like dozens of power connectors, and some sort of unusual computational machine. Currently set out at regular intervals is oblong worktables that are extremely tidy. Not a pipette, pick, vial, or piece of paper is out of place. It also becomes apparent that the tables are also arranged right now to keep the room 'balanced'. The exact same count of items is set on each one and in the exact same spot! The Silent-Ones definitely enjoy order, that much is apparent.

"There. I just ... no head weirdness in a place where they fluff and dry. It's too strange," Icarus admits as he lets go.

Envoy has to blink at this. "Fluff and dry? Are you sure you aren't feeling strange?" she asks.

"You haven't seen the moving story things Violette has taken me to," Icarus points out. "The one about the alien monster hairdryers that sucked out the unsuspecting people's brains .... meh."

"That seems.. unbelievable," Envoy claims, then points out, "Hairdryers blow, not suck."

"It still makes you wary of them afterward," Icarus claims and crosses his arms. "Doesn't anything make you feel weird."

"Being.. normal?" Envoy suggests. "I feel rather odd right now.. and I'm not sure if it is because I have Dragon back, or that I am relieved to find out about Dr. von Bronson's origins. Either way, all of the... problems... I had with killing him are gone."

This makes Icarus blink. "Er, how is that?" the hybrid inquires, head tilting. "He's an old jerk. My father or not."

"Yes, but before.." Envoy says, then pauses in uncertainty. "He hurt you. He hurt me but that doesn't count as much. But I did not consider him to be.. in my way. So while I had reason to kill him, because he was a threat.. I didn't feel good about it. Now I feel it is absolutely necessary because I cannot have a resurrected dragon causing problems and interfering with my own objectives."

"He's not going to die easily," the Exile claims. "He's trying to trade up into a better body. Now.. I'm pretty sure the fairies rewrote him a bit to ensure that he couldn't just reincarnate as a dragon again, so I suspect his goal is to implant himself into the Leviathan.. or something similar. I need the Leviathan, so clearly I cannot let him have it back."

"What do you need it for?" Icarus has to ask. "And if all this is true, why did me bother even making me?"

"You're an important first step, Icarus: proof that Sifran crystal can integrate itself with a living being," Envoy says. "After Dr. Daedalus.. left the project.. he moved on to working on the Leviathan. But then he abandoned that.. I think. He faked his death. He's been trying to recreate the work your other mom did, but his efforts have been pretty ugly. As for me.. I need to wake up the Leviathan - I suspect - in order to reactivate the part of my mind that handles high speed data processing."

Icarus peers at Envoy. "Did one of the alien brain sucking dryer things get to you?" he has to ask. "How would turning that thing on turn on your head?"

"Because it's.. sort of the same?" Envoy offers. "I think it's to do with sympathetic reactions. Whatever force in the Sifran system that decides if something is going to be sapient or not would need to come into play with the Leviathan, and I might benefit from it by proximity. Or it's not like anything I suspect - so far the other aspects have been woken up by the Kindly Ones."

Icarus reaches over and feels Envoy's head. "No holes," he concludes, "No brain sucking. So ... you're basically guessing and hoping?" He considers this, then shrugs a little. "I guess it is as reasonable as anything. What will you do if he beats you to waking it?"

Envoy frowns. "Well, considering the very first thing he would do is try to kill me, I'd probably need to run until I can figure something out. If he can't reach his goal without the node in your brain, then it's unlikely he'll succeed."

"Unless he copies it," Icarus points out. "Or finds another. It can't be the only one around, can it?"

"Time," the Aeolun replies. "He does not have much of it. Your node works and is already adapted to being part of a living brain. He's had 70 years to find a replacement already - and if he hasn't, he isn't likely to."

"Too old, and I'm not even certain he's still using his body anymore," Envoy says, her frown still in place. "He may have integrated with the node he had, since he's interfacing with his off-brand crystal already."

Incarus peers. "Are you related to him?" he asks next. "Since he's more than you first thought?"

"It would be a rather convoluted relationship, given that I have no biological heredity and he is fully human," Envoy says, then tilts her head to one side in thought. "He might have known my creator, or known of her. He dealt with the fey courts, and so did she - but he one-upped her in getting both of them mad at him."

"Maybe he was her father?" Icarus jokes. "Wouldn't that be bizarre?" The hybrid then rubs his forehead. "Anyway, right, you wanted to mess with my head."

"Not mess with it," Envoy says, and pouts. "Is that what you think I'm doing? I want to make controlling your abilities easier for you.. and hopefully more efficient."

"It's a figure of speech," Icarus notes and plops himself down on one of the stools. "So ... lets see if this works?"

Envoy turns her own stool to face Icarus, and holds out her hands. "Just take my hands," she says.

Icarus reaches over and takes a hold of them. "Where should I take them?" he jokes nervously.

Grinning, Envoy closes her hands over Icarus's and says, "Everywhere." This is followed by closing her eyes and issuing the Synchronize command.

Snap! Well, not in an auditory sense, anyway. More like in the reality-sense. Envoy is ... everywhere and nowhere at once. She's not even sure she exists, even if she is thinking. What she can see of herself seems more like an outline of herself than a physical entity in this non-space. Spiralling out all around her are spikes of light twisting out in interlocking spirals of connections upon connections. Light ripples around, dancing in synchronized patterns. Envoy must be in the heart of the node itself.

After she gets 'settled' to the experience, Envoy begins trying to transfer the gravity drive formulas, hoping the node will accept them.

Envoy finds out quickly it isn't quite obvious how to transfer them. She has to find, well, an input line first!

"Access Drive Control Functions," Envoy sends. That seems like it would work, since it was part of a gravity drive.

Out of the seemingly endless spirals of light from where Envoy seems to float, one grows brighter and the others grow dark. One line out of all of this? Were drive functions only a small part of its capabilities?

"I wonder how many new functions it had to add in order to work within a body," Envoy muses to herself. She'll have to try and get an overview later. For now she focuses on the active line. "List Currently Installed Drive Control Formulae" she requests next. She doesn't want to overwrite anything important or recently learned.

"Drive control primary data storage is corrupted. Cannot list. Reinitialize data storage?" comes the reply only a moment later.

This is cause for concern. Envoy requests, "Which other functions access this data?"

Drive control reallocated to an isolated subsystem since last critical failure," the current reality reports.

That makes Envoy even more concerned. "Access Critical Failure Log," she requests. She hopes they're all from before the implantation process.

"Last critical failure of subsystem occurred approximately seventy-five years ago. Improper access for generating isolated reality-bubble caused immense energy drain and cascade failure in storage array as well as disruption of all matter localized within two meters," comes the report.

Envoy realizes it's reporting on Number 12.. Theseus. "Which subsystem is currently controlling drive operation?" she requests next.

"What control systems are still functional?" Envoy asks. Maybe Icarus has just been using secondary systems all this time!

"Reality manipulation subsystem active and operational at ten percent effectiveness. Ambient energy absorption subsystem operation with decayed efficiency at 1% effectiveness; reliance on local matter breakdown protocol is currently active. Spatial analysis subsystem active and operational at seventy-five percent. Communication subsystem array fully operational. Network matrix and uplink subsystem active and functional. Matter replication subsystem active at ten percent effectiveness. Solar System Omega protocol subsystem fully active." the reply comes.

"Are the efficiency ratings due to degradation or lack of other needed components," Envoy asks, "And what is the Solar System Omega protocol?"

"Degradation due to lack containment vessel integration schematics for self-optimization subroutine," the report states. "Protocol designated Omega is activation of the cascading reality collapse engine of the Primus system to trigger total dimensional collapse of current universe. Do you wish to activate the Omega Protocol?"

"I do not wish to activate the Omega Protocol," Envoy replies. "Can it be removed from the system?"

"Protocol is integral to the design of this node. It can be set to inactive only, the system claims.

"Set the protocol to inactive," Envoy instructs. Who knows what might trigger it?

Doesn't have virtual fingers to rub her virtual forehead with. A design flaw, certainly. "Has there been any network uplink activity in the past decade?" she asks.

"Deactivate all broadcast and reception network systems that do not impact direct interface," Envoy instructs. Even with the security codes in place, better safe than sorry.

"Deactivated. Warning, subsystems can be reactivated by containment vessel," it claims.

"What other systems have data corruption?" Envoy asks next. She isn't worried about Icarus accidentally destroying the universe, since he hasn't displayed any conscious interaction with his internal network yet.

"List all systems with data corruption or malfunction," Envoy tries again, going with something simpler to understand.

The system reports, "Drive Control, External Containment Vessel Interface 'Personality', Data Mirror Archive, Species Catalogs, are systems with corruption beyond expected quantum drift."

"Elaborate on External Containment Vessel Interface damage," Envoy requests. "How would that system function if it was not damaged?"

"Containment Vessel has not been programmed with the standard interface, Evidence of inferior organic growth of network and data interlinking. Containment vessel may be erratic and display symptoms such as the concept of emotion. Proper programming would stabilize neural functions of containment vessel and align them with expected design parameters," the system states, "Initiate attempt of containment vessel neural net and install baseline?"

"No, do not attempt to access containment vessel neural net," Envoy instructs. She has to wonder if her network has these issues - but she doesn't have a control node. "What are the immediate effects on other subsystems of reinitializing Drive Control?"

"Minimal. Activation of drive subsystem by containment vessel may cause cascade failure due to low efficiency of ambient energy absorption system. Correcting absorption efficiency before activation is advised," it says.

"What incompatibilities are there between the energy absorption system and containment vessel biological system?" Envoy asks, uncertain just how the energy absorption system works. If was just like gathering magic then it shouldn't have a physiological impact..

"Due to unknown construction and function of containment vessel, energy obtained through acceleration of understood biological processes and conversion of metabolic energy, it states, "Installation of quantum foam extraction array recommended if extensive use of node functions is desired without adverse effect upon containment vessel and surrounding localized reality."

"Can the repair of the energy absorption system be handled by current system?" Envoy asks next. Not having Icarus drain his own energy would be very, very desirable, after all.

"Given full schematics of containment vessel and an absorption lattice for integration into containment vessel, yes," the system claims.

"Can you provide the specifications for the absorption lattice?" Envoy requests. She isn't so sure about anything that would need to be added surgically!

"Transfer specifications to me," Envoy requests, and tries to make sure she's 'open' for high bandwidth this time. Having smoke coming off around her horn would disturb Icarus, she feels.

Ow. Envoy just felt like she got stabbed in the head. She isn't sure she has ever been 'dumped' with data that quickly before! Her head swims with impossibly complex-looking latticework in a Sifrian crystal. The most disturbing aspect of it all, it's tiny. Smaller than a a centimeter square and maybe a millimeter thick.

It takes a few moments for Envoy to recover. "Is fabrication of this component beyond the capacity of the local node?" she asks.

"Access to a gate transport vessel would be required to fabricate the lattice," the node claims.

"So the old transport ship would need to be told to do it," Envoy thinks. "Am I compatible with an absorption lattice?" she queries. As far as she knows (and from Morpheus's assessment), her crystal systems are not specialized like those in Icarus. But at least she could test the lattice before installing one in him.

Without a control node, Envoy realizes she may not even have a basis for determining efficiency. "Can you rate my integration efficiency in the absence of an External Containment Vessel Interface?" she asks, just to find out.

"Fifty percent, with a margin of error of fifty percent," it says unhelpfully.

"Is something going to happen?" Icarus is asking her after she blinks. She's sitting in the chair across from him, sitll holding his hands.

"It already has, just.. not what I was hoping for," Envoy says, letting go of her grip. "For now, you'll need to keep using the battery and what you've learned. I can't update your abilities without first.. updating your power system."

"So, nothing happened?" Icarus asks as he scratches at his left cheek now that his hands are free. "I guess I was being pretty silly, worrying about you messing with my mind and all. Like you could really do that in there, right?"

"Actually... the reason you don't hear your internal network is that it can't properly interface with your mind," Envoy says. "It has the ability to try and reorganize you mind to be compatible, however. Frankly, if Dr. von Bronson knew just how inefficient the system was, he'd never want to steal it from you. But it's better to be inefficient than to be a robot."

"The control node doesn't like emotions, apparently. So.. nothing happening with that unless I can find a way for it to work around the issue. I shut down a few unnecessary systems as well, like external communications," Envoy notes. "Hopefully that makes it even harder for you to be accessed or broadcast your presence."

"Well, your energy absorption and drive control systems are corrupted and offline. Given that the last time the drive control was working, it resulted in the death of Theseus.. I don't feel rushed to fix it until the power issue can be dealt with. I have the plans for a sort of antenna that will let you draw power from, I suspect, the lesser interface directly. I have to have the old ship make it though."

"An antenna?" Icarus says, eyes wide! He then stares at Envoy's horn. "Not something like that, I hope? Didn't the ship already want to do that to me...?"

Grinning, Envoy says, "Oh no, it's tiny.. smaller than a human fingernail. And you really don't want to have a horn like mine? It's not like you wear hats.."

Envoy accepts that answer for now. Maybe when he's older he'll change his mind! Or if she has to infuse more of her own cells into him. "Now.. since I couldn't improve your efficiency, we will have to do it through practice," she says, switching tracks. "I'll also want to test your vision at different inertial distortion levels, to make sure you can still see despite visible wavelength shifting, since you see more than that already."

"You're not going to get the antenna thing made?" Icarus asks. A typical child answer, that, if work can be avoided...

"I will try to get the ship to do it," Envoy says. "It may or may not like me at the moment. But I doubt it is something that it could fabricate overnight since it is very complicated and seems to use fractal dimensionality. And I have to make some horrific weapons for dealing with the doctor's minions as well."

"And once the antenna is done.. Elsa will have to install it. I have to really sift through the specifications first, to make sure it can be installed easily without needing brain surgery."

Icarus grabs his head. "No head cutting. No, no, no, no," the hybrid insists. His hands do eventually lower, but he looks wary. "So, you said something about practice...?"

Clapping her hands together, Envoy smiles and says, "Yes! I'm going to have you practice speeding up and slowing down, and have some perception tasks for you do. If you pass those, then you won't need to wear one of the walking eyeballs on your head. I will have to wear one though, I'm sure. And brain surgery isn't all that bad. It just means being bald for a bit." The Aeolun hops up from her stool, and starts looking for some paint to make targets with. "Not as bad as having a horn though, right?" she adds. She's determined to try and make the practice fun, since she doubts there will be any to be had when it comes time to use the inertial tricks. He doesn't need to be the one to plant the fossilization mines on cyborgs, she decides. She's a lot more comfortable doing that herself now, after all.