Amunet looked at Grey’s back in silence for a long while. He had already sunk into a state of focus as though the entire world had vanished.
She gave him a strong nod. "Leave it to me."
She was sure that Grey already couldn’t hear her, but she had said it as much for herself as she had him.
Amunet looked toward Thi Lan.
"Will he... be okay?" Thi Lan asked, her brows furrowing a bit.
She hadn’t forgotten the near manic laugh Grey had laughed not long ago. Whatever it was he had realized by then had had a great effect on him.
Amunet hesitated to answer the question. It half felt like it wasn’t her place to speak on Grey’s behalf. Maybe they would have been closer if she never backstabbed him, but at least right now, it was hard for her to say with any sort of certainty that she could answer that question.
Still, she took a breath.
"I believe he will be." She said.
"He’s just a kid." Thi Lan said. But, ironically enough, this time it sounded like she was speaking more for her own sake than for Amunet’s.
Amunet smiled bitterly. It was easy to forget that Grey was just a teenager. He had claimed before his 17th birthday was coming up soon, and that had probably passed already without him noticing.
She wasn’t much older than that, but the difference of a year at their age was enormous.
Yet, she found herself relying on him. And it seemed that this time, they would have to do that again.
Something told her... Grey was the only way out of this.
And if he felt that, he was the sort to do whatever it took to make it happen...
Even if that meant destroying himself in the process.
A flash of determination bloomed in her eyes.
She reached out a hand, and because they were so close to the core of energy...
The mech Grey made for her bloomed down her right arm.
"How is your leg?" Amunet asked Thi Lan.
"Almost back to 100%. His healing abilities are very... good. The other healing items I’ve used made me feel like they were patching up a problem instead of fixing it. This healing really does feel like I’m being repaired from the inside out.
"But so long as this spatial barrier is active, about half of my skills are restrained." Thi Lan said with a shake of her head.
"I understand." Amunet said with a nod, but her gaze was already elsewhere. She was waiting.
And they didn’t make her wait for long.
A pulse came from the teleportation platform.
"More are here." Thi Lan said, her demeanor shifting.
Amunet had barely heard her. She had already shot out in a streak of darkness, her cloak completely shrouding her.
Barkeep Ji watched with his hands clasped behind his back, saying nothing all the while. It wasn’t long before it was just he and Grey here.
Grey had already sunk into his Cyber Space. Amunet and the others were more than correct that he had already sunk into a state of absolute focus, nothing else mattered right now but the circuits spinning in his mind.
He could remember the circuits, yes... but only the same way someone might be able to vaguely recall the shape of North America. He had never looked into them with detail.
This was both the reason he could fit the circuit to the map of the Holy Empire, and also why he had no idea what he was doing now.
But just knowing the shape of the circuit wasn’t enough. He had to actually understand it.
The circuit was only one part of the problem. The circuit of a mech was what linked the form of the mech and the software downloaded into it. It was a mid-point between its physical shape and the intent that gave it life.
However, this meant something else as well.
If Grey had the vague form of the circuit, he could reverse engineer the shape of the item that would need to fit it. Once he did that, he would be able to reverse engineer the material types that would be needed to make it work.
Then, he could work forward from there to decipher what software and intent download would bring all of this together into a functional mech.
Easy enough.
The problem?
Grey’s foundational knowledge wasn’t nearly great enough to do any of that. He wasn’t like other mech techs that could name tens of thousands of different material types, so how was he going to decipher something like that?
Plus, the circuit he was working from wasn’t even complete. If it was perfect, then Giyoto wouldn’t need the Mech Soul to begin with, he’d just be able to use the armor already.
Grey tried for only five or so minutes before he realized that this path was impossible. At least not like this.
He needed more. He needed real, foundational knowledge.
He needed to become a mech tech that relied on something more than his own raw talent and a sentient flame to pull him along everywhere.
Barkeep continued to watch Grey in silence.
Inwardly, he couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head.
’Even if you are the successor of the Prometheus Titanframe, you really shouldn’t leave your back exposed to someone you know so little about, hm? But maybe a careless disregard for your life comes with the territory.’
Barkeep Ji’s gaze flashed as Grey turned around to meet his gaze.
For a moment, he was startled. Was Grey really that sharp? He had sensed such a banal intent?
Grey didn’t seem to be angry, though. Instead, he was staring at Barkeep Ji intently.
"I have blueprints to sell. A lot of them. As many as you can take and buy."
Barkeep Ji chuckled. "You’ll have to draw them out."
"Not a problem."
"And in return you need? Credits? Cyber Cores?"
"Yes. And I need books and a method of speed reading."