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[Today on the network, there is a man with long blue hair. Ordinarily a grouchy fellow, today he looks calm and thoughtful.]

...So. We're all told when we get here that we're needed in order to provide power for a world in crisis, a world that can't survive any other way. We're drawn here from many worlds, across time and space, for that purpose: in order to keep this world alive until such time as it can sustain itself.

My question to you is this: what does your world use as power? My world has a great tree which produces energy known as mana, upon which all things rely to live. And indeed, we've only recently managed to end a prolonged crisis regarding the death of that tree and the need to sprout a new one. The actions that we took in the interim, to keep our world alive, could only have been regarded as desperate.

Have any of you faced similar crises in your own homes? What happened, and if it has been resolved, how?

And one other thing.

[Here, he narrows his eyes, and his tone grows colder.]

Why haven't the maintainers of Saeng Seong asked you about it, to gain from any potential knowledge you might have, rather than merely using you as a battery?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Something that could store energy... Even with as little experience as Lloyd has with magitech devices, it only takes a moment of thought to zero in on something that that would be useful for.]

Could you use something like that for a Rheaird?

[Hey, it kind of leaves a lasting impression when you crash because there wasn't enough mana.]

If only. [Yuan sighs.] We don't have batteries that could store that much power - at least, not in any form small enough to be portable. It's theoretically possible for a Rheiard engine to be powered off one, but with our current levels of expertise, it would be too heavy to lift itself. I've had engineers working on that for a while, along with mounted weapon systems - or rather, I did - but they never managed anything that would be practical in the field.

Oh. Damn, that's too bad. We could have really used something like that.

[Then, inevitably, his attention is drawn to something Yuan just said. Inevitably, because what healthy teenage could possibly miss something like that. Interest paints itself clearly onto his face.]

You were thinking about putting weapons on them? Like what kind? What about those beam gun things that your raybits had? Those would be really cool to have!

Something like that. [Yuan is pleased by Lloyd's enthusiasm, though he's trying not to let it show.] The weapons were actually pretty well through development - the biggest problem with the prototypes was that the Rheaird's power system wasn't set up to handle that much energy drain all at once. I'm sure you remember, magitech weaponry uses a huge amount of mana, even compared to other magitech. ...Essentially, it was forcing the pilot to choose between powering the weapons and powering the engine. Not exactly a stable design.

[Nope, can't let Lloyd know you have a soft spot for him.]

Aw man. Why do all the coolest things require so much mana? Is it really that big a deal if I want to blow up some monsters?

[Ladies and gentlemen, Lloyd's priorities.]

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