The New Math (Nanoha SI), Thread 2

[Tennie]

Tennie, as far as SB is considered, this thread shouldn't exist.  Please don't reference it directly.  For one thing, I'd prefer that they only see the second draft.  For another, it punches holes in the fourth wall.

I'm having a hard enough time holding that together as it is.

Sorry about that. *Sweatdrops*  I'll edit it once SB's current lag episode has run its course or after I get up tomorrow morning, whichever happens first.

And looking at that brawl, I can't help but imagine what a fight in the Wild West would've looked like had people been armed with magical Devices rather than chemical-based firearms.

[Black Aeronaut]

Bluemage wrote:

---

"...that means 'Who the hell do you think I am?'"

.... And now, all you need is the freaky glasses.  ;D

[robkelk]

...
And looking at that brawl, I can't help but imagine what a fight in the Wild West would've looked like had people been armed with magical Devices rather than chemical-based firearms.

My thought was "Mal and Jayne on Unification Day"...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[classicdrogn]

Eh, it'll do for a warm up - and just in time, looks like.

I haven't posted many music links for the last few updates, so how about this?

--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

Thanks, Tennie.
...probably not the best idea in this outfit/alias, BA.  They'd probably come out closer to Elton John glasses than proper TTGL. ^^
That's very much the feel I was going for here, Rob.  Mal on Unification Day, with a touch of Fallout: New Vegas, and a dash of SoCal.
Incidentally, 'valle' doesn't just look like 'valley'- it's the Spanish equivalent.  Valle del Sol- Valley of the Sun, or Sunny Valley.  You know what other word means 'valley'?  Dale.  No vampires, though- at least, not supernatural, blood-drinking vampires.  A few lawyers (and some criminals) live there- you know, your everyday human type of vampire. ^^
Bah.  Nobody uses guns here- mass weapons, don't'cha know?  Still, interesting song.  I'm going to have to give them a look.
...and now I need to fire up Les Mis again.  Curses.
**********
Of course, it was fairly obvious who they were.  Rail-thin woman wielding a sickle Device?  Check.  Massive brute of a man, carrying a hammer as big as his partner?  Check.  Matching black suits and red shirts?  Double check.  Looks like my targets came to me....and here I thought they'd be downtown.
The thin woman scoffed.  "We do not care who you are.  You enter our town, you attack our men..." She lifted her sickle, and pointed it at me.  "...you are dead man.  ZIL!  Smash!"
ZIL the Hammer, all geez-that's-a-lot of him, lumbered forward, pulling the giant hammer off his back.  "RARRRRRGGH!"  Not the smartest villain in the ol' narrative, are you?  How stereotypical of you.
The hammer came down, smashing into the street hard enough to rattle windows two streets over.  ZIL smirked, chuckling at my shock, and lumbered past his giant hammer, idly snagging the handle with one hand.  Against all of my expectations, the hammer actually turned as he walked- no mean trick, since he'd embedded it six inches into the ground.  Once he had it turned all the way around, ZIL simply gave it a yank, and it came loose as though it'd never been stuck.
...how is that possible?!  I could hear that thing grinding rock when it moved, and he just DRAGGED IT AROUND?  How can a normal human have that kind of strength?ZIL hefted the hammer, still one-handed, then turned, put his other hand on the handle, and-
-FAST!-
-took a horizontal swing at me, far quicker than his overhead smash had led me to expect.  Almost fast enough, too- I just managed to dodge it by the thinnest of margins.
Far too strong- can't stop with grav- maybe slow hammer?  Start there.  Twelve magic missiles went flying, just as ZIL finished his follow-through; naturally, he brought his hammer up to block.  The seven that would've hit him hit it instead, splashing against its bulk.  An instant later, the hammer nearly slipped from his hands.
In that moment of surprise, I ran straight at ZIL, one Malleus extended into second form, and invoked a new spell of mine.
"FECHTERARME"
Both Mallei were wrapped in clouds of mana, which then solidified into different shapes.  The Mal on my left arm now bore a Fencer's Shield, like the one I'd used on my last mission, while the one on my right gained the 'Fencer's Blade'- a cloud of mana, sparking and spitting with combative intent.
Before the Shield had finished forming, I was already raising it to turn aside a punch from ZIL.  At the same time, I pulled my other arm back, and delivered a solid punch to his gut with the tip of the Blade.  There was a bright flash of light as the Blade got close enough to ZIL to complete a circuit, followed by a loud, electric crack as all the built-up energy discharged itself into him.
My first sign that something was wrong was that ZIL was still standing.  That much voltage should've been enough to lay out any human!  How is he... wait.  Magic.
...I should've known.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[robkelk]

Ah - this is where SI-you is reminded that people who've been using magic for generations might just know something about using magic that SI-you doesn't... ne?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

Congratulations - you are now in for your first, real, no-holds-barred, knock-down-drag-out fight. HaaaaAAAAAAAVE FUU~UUN! ^_^

[classicdrogn]

Heh, "The big one was big. What more is there to say? Despite that, he's not very bright." Looks like I was doing that psychic thing again,

Regarding the song, it's an outlier in some ways from most of the other Clockwork Dolls stuff, but they are quite good, yes. "Blades in Autumn" is probably in the recommendations list from that video, which is my favorite off of that album and more typical of their sound. Maiden Voyage, Iron Rose, and Impartial (in some order) could also be taken as a group together with it to fit into a larger narrative. As for the guns, well, I suppose "No Spells Allowed in My Bar" would also fit the scansion, but there's no card games in sight...
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

Actually, this is where Liam Neeson kicks me in the balls. ^^
Fun.  Yes.  That is precisely what I'll be having. -_-
Get out of my head!  GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
...or don't.  Whatever.
**********
It wasn't the fight-ending move it should've been, but the Fencer's Blade wasn't totally ineffective.  The giant charred mark on ZIL's suit was proof enough of that... as was the way he occasionally twitched.  Some of it must've gotten through.  Guess I just need to up the voltage.
The cloud of mana reformed as it was before, only to grow thicker, longer and denser.  Then it grew again.  The sparks of power coming off it became great arcs of electricity, making it look for all the world like an actual blade of lightning on the tip of my Device.  This should do it.  Now to hit him with it...
That proved to be more easily said than done.  Once ZIL saw what I'd done with the Fencer's Blade, he got a wary glint in his eye.  Looks like I'm on to something.  He side-stepped (surprisingly quickly, given his abysmal walking speed) around his hammer, putting it between me and him, and began to make the strangest noises.  I can tell he's trying to talk, but those aren't words.  Is he incapable of speech?  Mentally disabled?  That would explain why he hasn't been seen without Lada before.
As I thought that through, I was still trying to hit ZIL with the Fencer's Blade.  If I dodged to the left, he'd move left.  If I dodged right, he'd move right.  I tried feinting one direction before moving in in the other, but he didn't fall for it for long enough.  Heck, he even laughed at me for it....okay, no more Mister Fun Bluemage.  Instead of (fruitlessly) attempting to dodge around the hammer any longer, I just powered up an Air Comet, and threw myself over it... like I should've done from the beginning.
The setup, I thought, was perfect.  I cleared the hammer easily, coming down Blade-first on a surprised ZIL.  He had just enough time to look up, figure out what was about to happen, and open his mouth in surprise before I hit, and the world went white.
When my vision returned, ZIL was on the ground, unconscious, his snazzy black suit replaced with a comfortable-looking set of pyjamas.  The second Fencer's Blade had only made his twitching problem worse; I resolved then and there not to stand too close to him when I floated him to Daimler.
And my arm landed next to him... wait.  What.  WHAT?
...ah, right.  Lada.  Forgot about her.  Figures she'd be a speedster.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Black Aeronaut]

And now that you've downed her partner, I figure she's not going to be going easy on you at all. :p

[classicdrogn]

... a Lada is a speedster. What is this world coming to?

Nor am I making the obvious pun. What a world, what a world...

I am curious what the reactions will be to Freddy/Imma coming back with two bounties in tow and an arm draped over his shoulder, though. "Tis but a flesh wound!"

Jail: You say that, but you're not the one who has to fix it. Hmm, what might I improve to ensure it doesn't become a problem again in the future?
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[robkelk]

... a Lada is a speedster. What is this world coming to?

Nor am I making the obvious pun. What a world, what a world...

I am curious what the reactions will be to Freddy/Imma coming back with two bounties in tow and an arm draped over his shoulder, though. "Tis but a flesh wound!"

Jail: You say that, but you're not the one who has to fix it. Hmm, what might I improve to ensure it doesn't become a problem again in the future?

Jail: Better yet, you come up with something to ensure it doesn't become a problem again in the future. I'm very busy with the other Numbers right now.

(And Imma is forced to develop a structural integrity field... which should have been part of his Barrier Jacket to begin with.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

robkelk wrote:

---

ClassicDrogn wrote:

---

... a Lada is a speedster. What is this world coming to?

Nor am I making the obvious pun. What a world, what a world...

I am curious what the reactions will be to Freddy/Imma coming back with two bounties in tow and an arm draped over his shoulder, though. "Tis but a flesh wound!"

Jail: You say that, but you're not the one who has to fix it. Hmm, what might I improve to ensure it doesn't become a problem again in the future?

Jail: Better yet, you come up with something to ensure it doesn't become a problem again in the future. I'm very busy with the other Numbers right now.

(And Imma is forced to develop a structural integrity field... which should have been part of his Barrier Jacket to begin with.)

Worst of all, Jail's inattention to the matter is going to be made up for, in spades, by Imma's wonderful new family of sisters.
Have fun with that! 
EDIT: This will probably be a good time for some great character development with Quatro.  I can honestly see her turning on legitimate water works because OMG the world is a scary place and look at poor Imma!

[Bluemage]

No, she already wasn't going easy on me.  That was one of her most powerful physical attacks she hit me with.  Think iaijutsu, but with a sickle.
Well, I had to figure out how a thin woman with a sickle would fight.  The best I could come up was "Quickly".Likewise, I'm sort of trying to go international with my cars, and to match quality names to quality people.  Yugo was a chump, and these two are somewhat better- not great, but good enough to be dangerous, in grand Soviet tradition!
As for why Lada managed to take my arm off with one attack, I can't for the life of me remember anybody ever landing an unblocked attack with a physical sharp edge in the anime.  Every time I remember seeing them used, I remember shields being raised to block.  I sort of figure that barrier jackets are primarily optimized for magic deflection and blunt force trauma reduction, as a Mid-style cultural thing, and I picked this up as a consequence of learning Mid-style magic.That, and since Lada aimed for a major joint and caught me by surprise, she didn't have to deal with the full strength of my barrier.  So my loss of limb was basically my fault, there are ways I can avoid it in the future, and there will be repercussions.
When I get to this point in SB, I'm going to have to majorly expand out what happened after I got back, arm in hand.  Quattro won't be sad, I know that much- figure her verbal reaction to that would be "Hmph!", accompanied by turning her head away from me.
**********
Her high-speed attack had come from behind; when it stopped, she was a good ten feet in front of me, on my right side, and facing away from me.  To her credit, she didn't stay there long- as soon as she stopped, she began to turn back in my direction.
Okay, so my right arm's off at the shoulder.  Pain editors are active, and my systems cut off fluid flow to that limb, so I'm stable, and still have some combat capability.  Still, I'm up against a close-combat mage at close range, down a hand, and have an objective to retain.  If I fight her, I lose; if I run from her, I yield ZIL.
I'm clearly not going to triumph by force of arms this time.  Really have to hand it to Lada- I totally wrist that one, and got rather neatly disarmed for my trouble.  I just need to figure out a way to get out of this, and grasp it with both hands.
...I think I have a plan.When Lada turned around to face me, I'm fairly sure she expected me to be trying to stop my stump from bleeding.  I'm certain she expected to see me in pain- possibly screaming, but maybe just hissing and biting my lip.
What she quite clearly didn't expect to see, judging by the stunned look on her face, was me standing there glaring at her, holding my severed arm in my good hand.  I had its index finger extended, the other fingers curled up, and my good hand around its wrist... and very deliberately waved it back and forth at Lada, shaking my head in disapproval.
If I had to guess, she also didn't expect me to grav-lift ZIL, drape him over my back, blast the bloodstains I'd left out of existence, and put up a shield over my front side with my good arm.  That bought me a good five seconds on shock value alone... and 2.7 seconds more of tactical thinking.
Right, so I've got her partner covering my back, and my strongest shield covering my front.
[SINGLE SHIELD]
...oh, right.  [Thanks, Malleus.]  Let's up that a bit, shall we?
The blue circle covering my front half expanded a foot or two... and then began to bend, as I pushed the center ring of the circle forward.  The resulting shape resembled a traffic cone, in that it had a flat nose, sloping sides, and a flat edge at the back end.  Two more traditional shields formed around it- one inside the cone, and one outside.Better. 

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh yes. It's always so much fun to see the looks on their faces when you not only tank one of their best shots, but do so with seeming ease.

[Jorlem]

I'm clearly not going to triumph by force of arms this time.  Really
have to hand it to Lada- I totally wrist that one, and got rather neatly
disarmed for my trouble.  I just need to figure out a way to get out of
this, and grasp it with both hands.
...I think I have a plan.

Pun her into submission?

-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[classicdrogn]

One hit from those flying puns could give even Andy Capp a concussion, so it should work.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

I do that, sometimes.  Can frustrate people I know into incoherent rage, too! ^^
How is it 'tanking' when she took an arm off, BA?  I would've tanked it if she'd turned around to see me unharmed, instead of unarmed.
**********
Now, where was I?  Oh, right-
-A sickle skittered off my outer shield, Lada still trying to get to me.--escape.  [What's the ETA on that DT spell?]
[FIFTEEN SECONDS]
Good.  I don't think Lada's willing to kill ZIL to get to me, and she can't seem to- what have we here?  I didn't know you could stab with a hand sickle like that.  Looks like she broke the first-line shield.
[TEN SECONDS]
Don't expect to break any more.
[FIVE SECONDS]
Shortly before the transfer spell was due to kick in, I decided to get in one last dig.  "You owe me an arm, Lada.  I'll be back to collect.  You have my word on that."
[TRANSFER UNDERWAY]
As ZIL and I disappeared, I saw Lada throw down her sickle and spit on the ground in between us, cursing in disgusted rage.

After eight teleports (to six locations- and I mean that quite literally, with no more than a centimeter of error on any of them), I finally relaxed a bit.  If it's good enough for Scaglietti, it's good enough to confound Lada.
...now, let's see about that arm of mine.
I set ZIL down on the ground, stunning him again for good measure, and carefully hovered my arm up to chest level.  Between my attached limb and my chest, I had the leverage to get it arranged just so (straight wrist and elbow, fingers almost straight).  Once it was just how I wanted, I backed away from my disembodied arm, pointed Mal in the right direction, and cast the only ice-element spell I knew.
A few cutting spells later, and I'd liberated my arm (and the roughly 8"x8"x3' block of ice around it) from the miniature glacier that resulted.  The next trick was picking said block of ice up- a trick which, I might add, was not easy with only one arm.  I finally ended up leaning over, scooping it up against my chest, and holding it there with my good arm.
That done, I put ZIL on my back once more, and started up another transfer spell.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[robkelk]

Somebody who has so many gravity-control spells is having trouble picking something up?

Imma's going to kick himself when he realizes he knew an easier way to do that.

(But it's very human to make that sort of gaffe. "D'oh! I could have done it the easy way!")
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[classicdrogn]

Hm. That much cold is kinda bad from a tissue preserving standpoint - frostbite is a thing for a reason, and no small part of that reason is that a lot of what's inside a cell is water, will expands when it freezes and bursts the cell membrane. There's a bunch of stuff about damaging the various proteins and whatnot too, but I don't remember that so much. Still, Imma fought and got away, and retrieved one of the targets too. Can't call that a complete failure.

I still hold to the efficacy of ice cream for soothing a slighted sister, though.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

It legitimately didn't occur to either of me, Rob... but if it had, I would've rejected the idea, on account of not being in the best mental state.  That tends to make fine control a bit more difficult, and I'd rather prefer my arm not achieve escape velocity.
As for the ice issue, CD, two things.  First, when I wrote this, I was envisioning my standard barrier jacket, which covers the full limb.  The current recommendation for severed body parts is to put them in a plastic bag or something similar, and put that on ice; I'd forgotten I didn't have the jacket there for the 'something similar'- it'll be fixed for the SB edit.  Second, the intent was that I wasn't thinking too clearly, and sort of overreacted... but because of the barrier jacket, managed to do the right thing anyway... so that sort of fits.
**********

For the second time that day, a body pushed open the door to Daimler's bounty office.  The bell on the door pulled his attention away from his video and over to the door... where he saw the unconscious ZIL the Hammer drifting in.
Then he saw me, hugging an armsicle to my chest with my one attached limb, and the smile wilted a bit.  "Kid, what happened?  Where's Lada... and what the hell happened to you?!"I smiled, and waved my disconnected arm at him as best I could.  "Oh, this?  'Tis but a scratch... a massively inconvenient scratch, mind you, but a scratch nontheless."  At this, I put on a frown.  "Sadly, I wasn't able to get Lada just yet.  She was rather... disarming."
Daimler just gave me a flat stare.  "Kid, you've gotta get yourself some better puns."
He held the stare for a second, neither of us saying anything.  The moment stretched on awkwardly.  '...rather disarming?'  On second thought, that one really was pretty bad.  I looked away, snorting.  "It was, wasn't it?"
When he nodded, I had to resist the urge to slap my face with both hands.  I should probably get on with this.  Best to get this reattached sooner.  "Y'know, as much as I'd like to stand around and discuss comedy, I'd rather like to get this-" I said, moving my arm-in-a-block again "-attended to.  Was the bounty for the pair, or is there a rate for just one?"
Daimler pulled up a file... a significantly longer version of the one he'd passed me, if I was reading through the back of it correctly- and perused it for a while.  "Turns out you're right, kid.  Eight hundred credits for just the big guy."  He waved at the back door, which opened for me.  "You know the drill- take 'im back to a cell and lock 'im in."
So I did, setting my arm down at the front desk, and hovering ZIL back to his new home.  When I got back out, Daimler already had the forms halfway filled out- the instant he saw me, he tossed me a couple of them, and turned back to getting the rest finished.  Most of it was mental work; for the few bits that weren't, like signing the documents, I found myself profoundly grateful that Lada had gone for my right hand.
Once the bureaucratic wheels had been greased, I quickly got my credits and made for the lab.  Not too quickly, mind you- I made sure to be polite, to say goodbye, and to thank Daimler for his help on the way out- but with a certain degree of haste. 

As I stood, unpleasantly unclothed, in my own personal jar, I couldn't help but wonder.  What's with these jars?  Uno said that the other Numbers won't be able to see any details through mine... but she will?  Scaglietti will?  How does that work?
The jar began to fill, fluid bubbling up from grates in the floor.  As the tank filled, my severed arm, now defrosted, floated up with it.
Don't see how they can make a material transparent to some people but translucent to others.  I suspect it's naturally transparent, but the Numbers aren't allowed to see through it.  But how?I felt myself also begin to float as the fluid reached chest level.  It wasn't something I'd done often, in this life or the last, so there was a certain amount of instinctual unease I had to deal with... on top of the oddity of floating off-center.
Holograms exist.  That could do it.  That, or maybe Uno was lying.  I might be fully visible in here.
The fluid level reached my chin.  It was moving slower now, probably so I don't bash my head against the top of the jar.
Worse, it could be some sort of visual censor.  Here's hoping the doctor didn't do that.The instant I felt warm liquid touch my lips, I was clamping my mouth shut, trying to push myself up out of it, and taking lots of deep breaths through my nose.  It took me almost ten seconds to catch what I was doing, calm down, and let myself sink to the middle of the tube.
Still held my breath as long as I could, though... even as I scowled at myself for it.  I've done this before, so why the panic?  There's no reason for it.  Stupid human instincts- they should at least come with an override option.
The jar finished filling- where does the air go?- as I settled down into position, shortly following by the disconcerting feeling of my body slipping out of my control.  Looks like the repair cycle started already.  Nothing to do now but relax, and think.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[classicdrogn]

Still didn't go apologize to your newest sister for snubbing her on her, er, birthday? You're really cruisin' for a bruisin' there. I hope Imma at least thought to bring back a present, with some of that ill gained loot.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bluemage]

Yeah, this is a distinct error on my part- specifically, me-as-Imma.  Totally intentional on my part.
I have a tendency not to apologize for serious mistakes on mine immediately.  I prefer to think things over, and really get a sense of what I did wrong first.  If I have to apologize, I'd prefer to know exactly what for, why, and that I really, truly mean it.  Unfortunately, I also have a bad track record when it comes to letting people know that that's what I'm doing.
Social skills are one of my greatest weaknesses.  This is one of those times where it shows.
As for presents, seriously?  I basically rushed from Lada to Daimler to the lab, trying to get my arm fixed posthaste.  When would I have time for that in this sequence?
I won't have that excuse later on, when I don't think to get her anything.  I'll claim full blame for that
**********

So, of course, I did.  It was slightly more difficult this time than in previous jar sessions, but I managed.
The trick was that, this time, I spent the vast majority of my time in a VR environment.  Same sort of thing as the ones Nanoha would use (abuse?), except not set up for RL/VR multitasking.  Most of them were the same sort of skill training and tactical sims she's going to wear herself out with, but I'd also thrown in a virtual workshop for my spell creation and testing needs.
Where did I get those?  I asked, and Uno provided.  I wasn't in for any magically straining procedures, so she had no problems with the idea.  Why?  In one word, Lada.  Ever since that fight, I've been kicking myself over my failure.  Not watching her was a novice's mistake, and I can't afford to be a novice.
My time in the jar wasn't all training and planning, of course.  There was sleep involved, and a good bit of simple relaxation... oh, and a good bit of time, spread out across the first five days I spent in the tank, spent watching my arm get restored.  Rather a fascinating process, that.  More than a little disgusting at times, but fascinating nonetheless.
I'd brought back my severed arm for a number of reasons.  One of the big ones was the hope that it could be reattached, saving the time and effort needed to create a new one.  Turns out I was half right, as the first step in the repair process was to strip off quite a bit of it.
First, I got to watch all of the flesh dissolve off of the arm.  Skin, blood, fatty tissue- all of it dissolved into the tank, leaving behind what looked like a T-800 arm sheathed in muscle.  Then came some of the muscle, reducing the entire upper arm to nothing but bare metal, and a rather shocking number of cables and motors.  Finally, that upper arm came loose, floating off to one side. 
At the same time all that was happening, the tank was also working on my shoulder.  Everything from my shoulder joint down to my stump was systematically stripped down.  Fleshy bits, muscle fibers... all of it.  Once that was done, what was left of my humerus-analogue disconnected itself from my shoulder joint, and floated over to the other broken piece.
With both pieces retrieved, I got to witness the creation of my new upper arm.  In front of my eyes, the pieces slowly dissolved, section by section, and were rebuilt as a single piece nearby.  In less than five minutes, it was finished, and floating over to my shoulder for reconnection.  Shortly thereafter, I had a structurally complete limb.
Over the next couple of hours, new myomers were spun across my upper arm, giving me biceps and triceps once more.  The flesh of my shoulder began to itch, and very slowly started to spread over the completed limb.  It took over four days for my entire arm to be covered in skin again- four days I primarily spent in VR, just to avoid the itching and the tingling.
Getting my arm restored was only the beginning.  I spent nearly a month in total in that freaking jar, and the arm only took five days of that.  Since I got noticeably larger over those three weeks, my assumption was that I was being made another year older.  'So I'm ten again.  Yay.', I remember thinking, back when I first noticed.
Neat trick, that, especially considering all the systems and structural parts that had to grow.  Felt rather odd, too, for definitions of 'odd' that make me glad for my pain editors.  I don't think my fleshy bits and my metallic bits grew at precisely the same rates for the whole three weeks, though they seem to have balanced out near the end.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Tennie]

Yeah, this is a distinct error on my part- specifically, me-as-Imma.

Well, hopefully it's not too late to rectify that, which is something that I heartedly recommend that you do.

[classicdrogn]

You don't have wizzynet access while in the bell jar to order something from heartofdarkestchocolate.com? How disappointing. If nothing else, Uno should be able to coordinate the obfuscated billing and delivery for him, if secrecy is the problem.

Aside from that - for shame! Not even in double digits for physical age, nor facing protagonist level enemies, and Imma's crawling (okay, teleported) into a bottle! How does he ever expect to make it to the canon JS Incident, let alone more universes, over his head in the drink like that?
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows