Chapter 102: The Helmet

Kothar had been working at a breakneck pace for the past week. He had finally constructed the robotic components that would allow him to begin automating the more complex portions of the process, having failed at creating some of the more delicate circuitry multiple times, Kothar sighed with relief.

Now, above the main cavern, another massive room had been added. It was filled with the skeleton of what were to be enormous robotic arms that would allow Silane to begin working on parts of the ship independently of Kothar.

One side of the room was taken up by a strange contraption, which spanned the entire wall. This was the transceiver, which would receive the information that Silane sent out and would also send information back to her.

[You really think this'll work?] Kothar looked at the ridiculous helmet that Silane had him rig up, the entire left side of the interior was densely packed with rudimentary electrodes that looked like the suckers of a metallic octopus. The outside was even more comical, with a large coiled copper antenna stuck straight up into the air.

Overall, the helmet looked like what someone who had been told second hand what technology was, and was asked to draw a picture of a wearable device, might conjure up, and now it would be sitting on Kothar's head for the foreseeable future.

[You're able to perceive my thoughts, and I yours, so I should be able to manipulate your brain waves in some way. After that, we just need to fine tune the receiver and I can start transmitting some semblance of binary. From then on, we'll be good to go.] Silane paused for a moment before she continued, now with a hint of cheekiness in her voice.

[If it doesn't then we'll have to abandon this plan altogether, and try something new, and you'll be half bald for no reason too.] Silane chuckled, she had been waiting for the moment when Kothar shaved off his hair so that the electrodes could contact his head securely.

[Alright, let's get this over with.] Kothar looked down into the polished circle of steel that served as mirror, and looked at the rough face that stared back at him. After coming to Atla, he had grown much taller and stronger and by now, he would be near Tam's height. But his long black curls and the beginnings of a beard and mustache made him look like a vagrant.

Kothar picked unsheathed his razor sharp short blade, which he used for virtually everything, and slowly scraped away at the long locks that covered his head. 

The curls fell to the ground, carpeting it with dark hair, and soon enough Kothar ran his fingers all along the dark stubble that covered one side of his head. 

Looking at himself in the polished steel, Kothar frowned, and moved the blade to his chin, and shaved away the scraggly hairs that were sprouting there. 

Then, he took a basin of water and washed off his face, he felt refreshed. 

[Let's get that awesome helmet on your head then, it goes so nicely with your fancy new armor.] Silane continued to tease Kothar, who had been extremely happy with the Multi Planar Equipment and had been wearing it constantly since he had bought it.

[Technically, you're wearing it too. And if it works, then all the better, it's about time you started pulling your weight around here.] Kothar grumbled back, he wasn't serious of course, if it weren't for Silane, he probably would have died after rashly taking on some impossible to defeat beast in the wilds around Ursten, too overconfident in his battle experience.

Kothar pulled on the helmet, and the metal edges dug down into his ears. The cool metal of the electrodes pressed against his bare skin felt odd, and brought back memories of empty white labs, and of being strapped down and sent into massive machines.

[You got anything?] Kothar asked after a minute or so, Silane had been completely silent, obviously making a concerted effort to try and send some sort of real signal to the transceiver that was linked to the robotic arms.

[No. Hold on, let me try for a little longer.] Silane, for once, sounded frustrated. It was odd for an AI like her to come across something that took a different kind of effort than processing or recording information.

[Why don't you try doing something with some of my Lightning Element mana. Maybe with a small enough amount, you'll be able to send some sort of signal to the arms.] Kothar said, while Silane was able to really manipulate mana significantly, she had a wider range than him in which she could feel mana. Maybe she could use the Lightning mana to her advantage.

[Alright, let me try.] Silane replied, before her voice trailed off, as she extended her awareness towards the swirling Lightning mana Core.

[Ow! That was painful!] Silane yelled out, as tried pulling away a strand of the Lightning mana. 

[It must be too much, or the Core doesn't recognize me, either way, your idea isn't going to work.] Silane's frustration mounted, and Kothar could feel the emotions building.

[Try the mana in the Mana Storage Unit, there's more mana, but it's been transformed by the runes, at the very least, it's worth a try.] Kothar encouraged Silane, she was very unfamiliar with pain, and it showed in the obvious hurt in her voice.

[Alright, here goes nothing.] Silane tried again, this time aiming for the Mana Storage Unit in Kothar's shoulder.] She used all her effort and grasped at  a strand of the swirling energy, which was perfectly suited for any devices that Kothar might want to add to himself in the future.

The energy flowed like silk, and Silane guided it up towards the helmet, and a strand of energy flowed along behind, heading towards the electrodes on Kothar's scalp.

There was a slight fizzing noise, and the smell of burnt hair wafted through the air, as the electricity made contact with the electrodes.

A loud grinding noise rang out through the room filled with the bare robot arms.