Beauty X Beast ~ Twenty-Eight!

Though they had plenty of cause to celebrate, Danielle fully understood they were working with a deadline approaching with the swiftness of an executioner's axe. Unfortunately, when she pressed the Beast for additional information on what the Artificer planned to do, he came back with an explanation she couldn't accept.

“Comte LeKrout has asked me to explain his hopes for the coming days.” The Beast *clacked and whirred* as he shifted to face the Enchantress. “For the foreseeable future, it is our hope you will work with us to design and fully create an artificial heart to replace his severely damaged version. Once your father has arrived, the two of you will be transported to the border of Verdelune. As soon as you are safely away, we will collapse the manor and seal ourselves within this workroom while we make final preparations for the replacement.”

Through his entire speech, Danielle could only stare at the Beast, the expression rapidly turning to a full-on glare until he stopped speaking. “You mean to tell me you expect me to cut and run as soon as I have my father?”

“You will have everything you want, will you not?” The Beast seemed surprised at her reaction, which only served to further kindle her annoyance. “Your father will be with you. Your foundational knowledge has been repaired and enhanced. A new life awaits. You will have everything you need to-” 

“What about the Artificer?” Danielle shook her head and started walking past the Beast. “He's coming with us. At the very least, I'm not leaving until I know for certain that the heart succeeded or failed. You should know better than to ask me to help create such a marvel, then expect me to not stay to see the result. No, I have a better idea. Where can I find all the stored linens, towels, pillows-”

“This was not a request, Enchantress,” the Beast growled at her, seemingly devolving back to the state he was in upon their first meeting. “LeKrout has a vested interest in your health and wellbeing. If you insist on staying if you assist in the creation of his heart, you will not be given access to the project in the first place. When your father arrives, he will be given a short time to rest and recover, then the two of you-”

“If you drag me away, I’ll come sprinting back as soon as I have the ability to do so.” Danielle turned on him, her head nearly all the way back so she could stare up into his eyes, due to their close proximity. “You say it’s to keep me safe that I’m to be sent away? I guarantee there will be a military encirclement at the minimum by the time I get back here. I'm staying, and all of us… we’ll leave together.”

“What? No, that's not an option we are willing to pursue.” The Beast shook his head, even as the Enchantress got a distant look in her eye, and her gaze became unfocused. “Once the Artificer is back to full mobility, he will be able to use all of his skills at full strength as long as is needed each day. Suing for peace will be laughably easy-”

“You already told me it wouldn't work twice.” Danielle's eyes snapped back to the beasts. “No. We'll all leave together, making a new life for ourselves elsewhere. With all of the forces at his command, why not just go find an unoccupied mountain somewhere and hollow it out? Then we can experiment, create, and live however we want to live. That sounds much better, doesn't it? Stop. I'm not going to hear another word about this until after I can speak to the Artificer face-to-face. Now… the linens?”

The blaze of pearlescent light shining off of Danielle’s left arm, a clear sign of a skill reaching Perfection, brought the conversation to a screeching halt.

Skill increase! Aura of Refinement [Level 9 (Master) → Level 10 (Perfect)]!

Advanced Skill: Aura of Refinement: Level 10/10.

Your presence subtly, permanently, and [Perfectly] enhances the beauty and charm of people and objects within your vicinity based on the local aesthetic, reaching up to [10] meters from your body. This effect is gradual and automatic, becoming more pronounced the longer you are around people and objects, or the more focused attention you give them with this skill.

Advanced Class Breakthrough skill: Permanently Locked.

As the changes settled within her, Danielle took a sharp breath, her vision clearing, and her mind calming as she felt as though a piece that had been missing was finally returned—with an immense upgrade. Each of her Full Class skills included the Aura of Refinement as part of their makeup, which meant that singular change had just made a heavy impact on a total of three of her skills. 

“Would you look at that… it seems I've decided how I want to live my life, have taken steps toward making it happen, and the system itself approves. Kind of hard to argue with that, now isn't it, Beast?” 

Gears were spinning so quickly in the Beast's head that she expected literal smoke to pour from its ears. Over the course of a few seconds, their intensity ramped down, and he slowly spoke in an indignantly frustrated voice. “I will need to wait to bring this to the Comte, either way. He is resting as long as he can, to give the both of you the best chance at designing, producing, and fully scripting the creation in one go. What is this uncouth desire for sheets that you are suddenly so adamant about?”

“Simple.” The corner of her lips pulled up in triumph, but Danielle wasn't one to gloat. “Gasteel is on his way here to demand that the Comte joins him in the war under his banner. Apparently, he’ll have every right to do so by the time he gets here. What we’re going to do is reinforce the estate to make sure we are able to squeeze every last second out of our available time to get LeKrout back on his feet.”

“You're going to reinforce the estate against a war party… using the fancy dish towels?” Even as his doubtful question echoed in the hall, Danielle had already started nodding her head.

“That's exactly what we're going to do.” The smirk on her face turned into a full-blown mischievous grin. “Anything outside of the house needs to be put entirely on automatic, cut off from being able to send information back to the Artificer when he wakes up. Oh, don't act like that, you think I haven't realized that he gets some kind of feedback from everything while he’s in his hibernation state? The moment he wakes up, he knows what's been going on. I'm no fool, Beast.”

The enormous machine was shifting back and forth with great discomfort, seeming as though it were ready to spout fabrications and denials, but it gave up when it saw the resolute stare it was receiving. “Fine, yes… you have figured out yet another of his highly secret abilities. Before you ask, it is only a certain few of his creations designed with that skill in mind, and only within a small radius of his physical location.”

“Good enough for now.” Danielle shifted her attention to the automatons, which had slowly been gathering as their conversation grew louder. “We are going to stuff every crack in the walls, every air hole, arrow slit, and seam in the doors with anything that will dampen outside sound. If the baron gets here and starts shouting at the top of his lungs, attempting to invoke the Comte’s oaths, we need to make sure there’s no way for Gasteel’s words to reach LeKrout’s ears.”

“If he can't hear the order, or isn't directly told… it won’t have a binding effect.” The Beast slowly began to realize her plan. “I see. It doesn’t need to be a permanent solution, it just needs to give us enough time to finish what we need and make a run for it. Good. It is a tactic I would not have considered. I'll have the escape tunnel opened, aired out, and cleaned to ensure there are no surprises on the way out.” 

“No spider webs for the Madame of Machines to walk through.” Doc hissed out a laugh from his position a dozen feet up the wall. “But maybe a few for the invaders, yes?”

“You don't make webs, Doc,” Danielle called up in passing. “I thought you went outside?

“I said I was going to practice. I am.” The spider-based machine *clanged* its legs on the wall in agitation. “For your information, you don't know everything I can do! I have tricks up my sleeve.”

“Now that puts an odd image in my head.” Sneezy fell in step next to Danielle and began guiding her to the storage room. “If a half-ton metal spider were to wear a shirt, would it be on the cephalothorax or over the entire body? I kind of feel like it would be the former, but that would only put sleeves on two to four of its legs. Err… arms?” 

“This is really not something we should be spending our brain power on, Sneezy.” After a moment of walking in silence, Danielle let out a soft growl and glared at the smirking flamethrower guard. “It would have to be just the thorax, right? If a garment went over the abdomen, that part would have to be classified as pants. Or maybe the whole thing would be a romper? I hate that you put this in my head.”

“No you don't.” 

“Danielle!” The word echoed through the hallway as the Beast finished giving out instructions, only to turn and find that the Enchantress had moved away. “Where are you going? You had a fantastic idea. Now, are you going to be spending the next few days plugging holes with shredded down comforters, or are you going to put your talents to use working with me to design this heart? I can tell you my preference, but feel free to grab a pair of scissors and start chopping up the extra-plush bath towels instead.”

With a sheepish grin at her guard, who merely gave her a wave and continued moving toward the supply closet, Danielle turned and hurried back to the library. As she walked past the Beast, she kept her eyes forward, not daring to look at him. No one liked seeing a machine preening over its wordplay. “I've said it before, passive aggressive isn't a good look on you, Beast.”

“Of course you are correct, Madame of Machines. Oh, yes, I heard what he called you,” the Beast snarked back at her, falling into step as they moved to the large table. His hands reached forward, one finger scraping the surface of the table where Danielle had spilled ink in her hurry a short while ago. 

The outstretched appendage began spinning, and he swiftly sanded down the affected area. “A touch of varnish, and it will be like nothing happened. A question, if I may. How long have the others been putting you on a pedestal like that? An Enchantress with an over-inflated ego is a recipe for cooking with disaster.”

“They just like that I'm nice to them, Beast. If you were better about that, they'd probably call you something other than ‘BST model three’ to your face.” She remained standing at the table, rearranging her notes, paper, and ink. “As to what they call you behind your back… well, you float around silently, I'm sure you've heard it once or twice.” 

“I'm not going to justify that with a response nor pry into their behavior,” the Beast stiffly retorted. “I have here the preliminary designs of the lord of the house's proposed replacement heart. Included in them are-”

“We can't use those, Beast! Don't let me see them!” Danielle rapidly backpedaled, going so far as to cover her eyes with an arm. “If I use his designs, the system will improve the final product I make by only half of what it otherwise would have. No. All I want are drawings of his heart, as well as the physical specifications, if you have them. Even before I do anything on this project, I want to push through the first easy levels of my new skill. Any improvement we can eke out will give this a higher chance of success.”

“Might I remind you we are on a rather short deadline?” The Beast chose his words carefully. “While I appreciate your desire for excellence, in this instance, I believe having anything that will work will be better than a perfected solution. If we had all the time in the world, and all the resources to go with it, I would agree with you. But-”

“It won't take me long, Beast. Maybe a few hours for the first increase in level.” Danielle stepped forward once more, getting to work without further ado, though she made sure to keep her eyes averted from the documents the Beast had retrieved from… somewhere. “Wait, you don't have pockets? Where’d you get those-?”

“I have a fireproof safe in my chest cavity. Sometimes, it is imperative to transport sensitive items with the utmost care and secrecy. While this is something I typically would not share with someone else, I understand you will be unable to focus on the task ahead of you without a proper expl-” 

“I got it, I got it. Sounds like a touchy subject, and you’re in a mood. I won't pry any further.”