Within the Apple Ch9D

*****

Armsmaster found himself at a loss, not only for words… that was common enough, as much as it irritated him to admit, but for ideas. That… that didn’t happen. If what Magus was saying was true, the device the other man had just built was quite possibly the proverbial holy grail of communications technology.

“What is it’s range?” Colin asked intently, leaning in unconsciously.

“No outer limit I’ve been able to determine,” Magus admitted with a shrug. “I’m sure that there is one, but I doubt the limit is bound by three dimensions. Haven’t been able to chat with the past or the future, so that’s one limitation at least.”

“How far have you tested it?”

Magus smiled thinly, “Lightyears.”

Colin blinked as the lie detector in his helmet blinked single word.

Truth.

“No one has been past orbital distances since the Simurgh showed up,” Miss Militia objected, “and even before that, Sphere only made it to the Moon.”

Magus merely shrugged, but didn’t say anything further.

“No time delay?” Colin moved the conversation back to what was important.

“Nothing appreciable,” Magus said before going on to admit, “likely a few microseconds on either side of the transmission, just due to processing, but I’ve honestly never bothered to measure it.”

That struck Colin as very nearly sacrilegious, if he were type to consider anything as such.

“You didn’t test it?” Colin gaped, he knew he did and hated it even as he did, but he couldn’t imagine not testing every aspect of the device down to the most precise measurements he could manage.

“It worked. I did my calculations, and the corrections needed, but once it worked… why mess with it?” Magus asked simply. “Top be honest, it functions well past any specification I might need. I don’t have any use for the information the tests would reveal. I’m really more of a practical engineer than a theoretical researcher.”

Colin just shook his head, as much to try and clear the shock from his thinking as for any other reason.

“Have you built other equipment?” Miss Militia again stepped into the conversation, likely noting his mental space, Colin thought distantly.

“Of course, Glory didn’t tell you?” Magus asked curiously.

Militia shook her head slowly.

Magus stared for a moment before he nodded, “Well my flight capabilities come from a harness built into the armor. I built my own wands, the armor I wear of course, as well as most tools I use.”

“So you are a Tinker…”

“Eh,” Magus waggled his hand. “By your classifications, I believe I’m more of a Shaker/Blaster with sub classifications all across the scale.”

He extended his hands, a crackling energy appearing in him, causing both Miss Militia and Armsmaster to tense up slightly, but the power was dismissed before anything happened so they marginally relaxed as he went on.

“My magic can be expressed to alter my environment, but in it’s raw form it tends to be hard to control,” Xander said simply. “So I built tools to harness it, mold it. Then I use the tools to build more tools, and so on. My Tinker classification would be the result of that tool building, but I don’t get blueprints uploaded into my brain or whatever it is that Tinkers seem to.”

Colin snorted, “That is not how it works, however many people believe otherwise. Tinkers do have an area of specialization, however and within that area our understanding of the technology we work with is… very nearly instinctual.”

Magus nodded, “Well nothing like that for me. I have to do my ‘tinkering’ the hard way, with sweat, blood, not a few tears… of frustration mostly… and the occasional burst of true inspiration. A lot less of that last bit than I’d like.”

“So say we all,” Armsmaster grumbled, getting a sharp look of interest from Magus.

“Indeed,” Magus nodded, a smile playing at his lips.

They stood in silence for a moment that stretched out before Miss Militia again stepped in.

“I believe that covers the powers testing,” She said, glancing at Armsmaster to see if he’d object, but the man in armor was clearly pensively mulling over what he’d just learned. “The PRT would like to thank you for coming in.”

“Thanks for the materials,” Magus said easily. “I could have gathered the elements easily enough, but the equipment you have here sped things up neatly.”

“Of course,” Miss Militia smiled such that her eyes crinkled in a friendly manner, “Before you leave I was wondering if you’d like a tour? Perhaps meet the local wards?”

Magus considered for a moment before nodding cheerfully.

“That sounds… delightful.”

*****