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[ Leo has been working on that phone idea he's had, the one Artemis finally motivated him to actually work on. He's been busy with that for the past few weeks, so here he is now, putting the final touches on a prototype. He's sitting on the steps in front of Cabin Nine when he sends the IM, grinning. ]

Yo, Artemis, I have something for you! [ he says in a sing-song voice, and holds up the phone. ] Now we just need to give it a test run.

[ Oh, he should probably explain this, huh? ]

For anyone not in the know, one thing that really sucks about this whole demigod thing? Can't use phones, even us Hephaestus kids. It's like setting off an alarm and telling all the monsters around that hey! Demigods here! Dinner is served! Artemis and I were working on this guy [ he holds the phone up again ] that'll hopefully let us use a phone without bringing the baddies around.

Aaaand now we need to test it and see if it works. So! Any volunteers?

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[The flash of the rainbow from outside the cabin stirs Dany a little bit from the book she was reading, and she scoops Drogon up onto her shoulder to poke her head out the door, stepping onto the porch and sitting down next to Leo once he's finished.]

You...made a working phone?

[ He looks up with a grin and back down at the device, rather proud of his work here. ]

It's not so much that I made it, but I modified it enough that it should do the trick. Replaced some wires, a microchip, sender/receiver, you know. Not so hard, just a bunch of little things.

That's...that's really amazing, Leo.

[She stares down at the device in his hands, blinking a few times. Of course, she's still a little worried - and she wonders if there are any cell phone towers around here to transmit calls at all - but...Leo is astounding with his hands, far better than she. She has to trust him.]

This will be good for all the non-demigods especially, I imagine.

Yeah, exactly! I mean, I guess we're used to the whole IM thing, since Iris is our goddess and all. But everyone else ought to get good use out of it And there's the added bonus of not getting any bad images burned into the back of their eyelids!

[ Even the Romans, because let's face it, messenger ~~pidgeons~~ eagles are not a practical means of communication. ]

Now that we're allowed a little more free reign, at least it could help those who might be visiting their homes. I don't think many of their families are able to see through the Mist for IMs, in any case.

[The fact that this is her only home, of course, still rings with her. Even when others go to visit their parents, families...she's still at Camp Half-Blood. Her mother is dead, Rhaegar is dead...and if Viserys is alive, she wants nothing more than to never see him again. The dragon she named after him does a far better job than her brother ever could.]

I wish I could help you test it out, but everyone I'd call is here.

[ He chuckles. ] Yeah, same. I dunno, though, maybe if we just step outside the boundaries and call the Big House... You think that might work?

[At least they're both in the same boat on that. But they have eachother.]

It should. We should at least let Chiron or Mr. D know what we're doing, in case something goes wrong.

[Dany really doesn't want to be the cause of any more problems - not right now, in any case.]

[ He has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Mr. D probably won't care either way, and Chiron's just as likely to shut them down as he is to send a satyr with the volunteers. But he's the counselor, he should set an example, blah blah blah whatever. ]

We will. They'd probably freak out and set the barriers back up if we didn't and the phone failed, anyway.

I don't...think I'm prepared for that to happen again.

[Especially considering for a good amount of time during that period, she was without her dragons - the source of so much positive energy and pride for her.]

You'll need to go to the Big House and talk to them, then. I'm still not allowed near it.

I don't think any of us are. [ he says with a grimace. True, Leo doesn't really travel, and he doesn't have anyone to visit, but being locked in still doesn't sit well with him. ]

I'll do that later. Why are they still not letting you up there? Like, what if you needed to go to the infirmary? They're not that upset with you, are they?

I usually go to the Apollo cabin if something's bothering me, to be honest.

[She's been doing it for a long while - it helps that she's close friends with many of the campers who inhabit it.]

I suppose it's a graver offense than I expected it to be. But I'm happy - I have my dragons back again.

If it works, it works, I guess. [ Shrug.

Then he grins, nudging Dany's arm with his elbow. ] Safe and sound, just like I promised. I can't believe the Red Room even took them. Freaking dragons and they think they can just snatch 'em up like nothing. [ He shakes his head. Idiots. ]

I'm glad you did, and - I'm proud of you.

[She grasps his arm a little, looking at him.]

Because they're not nothing. They're everything, and I think you really understand that better than anyone, Leo.

[ Hearing that sends an unexpected rush of warmth through him; nobody has ever told him they're proud of him before, a runaway, delinquent, diablo - no one but his mother. It's an odd feeling, but he manages to give Dany a smile. ]

And I'd do it again, if I had to. They're family. [ Because he knows a lot about family - had a great example and everything. ] How're they doing, anyway? Didn't look like much happened to them, but... [ Shrug. ]

They're getting better, getting more trusting of others again. At least, I hope they are - it seems like they are.

[She knows about family as well - knows it's important, knows to uphold the name of her blood family but knows more that her godly family is even better than she'll get elsewhere.]

We've been working on it.

Can't say I'd blame them if it took a while, though. I hear it takes a while to rebuild trust once it's gone. But hey, [ he continues with a smile, ] at least they've got their mom.

That's for certain.

{It'd be hard for Dany to trust someone appearing to be one of her blood brothers again, after all.]

How are Festus and Scout doing...?

Edited 2014-04-25 22:41 (UTC)

They're great! Festus still stays in Bunker Nine a lot, but Scout likes to hang out with me most of the time. She's starting to get the hang of that flamethrower.

[ What a proud papa he is. ]

That's good. In time, I'm sure it'll prove quite useful.

[Though, she hopes they won't have to use it soon.

Then, she gestures to her hands, then his own - meaning to talk more figuratively.]

And what of...your own, so to speak?

[ He looks down at his hands, surprised to even be asked to think about it. ]

It's... easier, now. Still lose my clothes to the forges now and then, but I'm getting better at controlling it. Haven't spontaneously combusted in a while, at least. I figure I'm probably overdue.

[ There is no way he is telling Dany about his conversation with Natalie on Valentine's Day, no matter how remarkable his restraint was. ]

I haven't since January. I'm actually rather proud of myself for it.

[The wolves attacking scared her, made her body freak out more than even her mind was - it was against her will, but she pulled it back with Lydia's help. She takes one of his hands in her own, looking up at her brother.]

Maybe we should practice together.

Edited 2014-05-03 15:46 (UTC)

[ He looks back up with a smile. ] Yeah! And we can ask Kevin, too. We'll... probably have to make sure to fireproof everything, thought.

I've still got a few of those flame-retardant blankets.

[A knowing smile, now.]

It'd be good for all three of us, I think.

[Artemis is so there. He's been waiting very patiently for the prototype to be completed, since Leo is more capable of creating the parts necessary than Artemis is. This also makes him happy enough to forget about the Incident that happened recently.]

Excellent work. If you still need a volunteer, I can offer myself and Eiji Hino to test it. Where should the testing site be?

[ Leo grins excitedly and hands it over. Assuming everything checks out with Artemis here - and it will, he has no doubts - they're good to go! ]

Awesome! Testing site, um... Outside the boundaries, probably, because we want to make sure it works out there. So anywhere outside camp is good, though you might want to stay close enough to jump back inside the boundaries if it doesn't work.

[ He frowns at the phone. By all means, it should work, but there's always the possibility that it won't. Or that it'll explode. But, you know. What else is new? ]

[He inspects the innards of the cellphone critically.]

Fair point, which is also why I believe our resident reincarnation of Thor should be the one to actually make the call.

[After a moment, he nods and closes it up.]

The craftsmanship is amazing, though I expect no less from a child of the Forge, and everything appears to be in place.

Why, because he and his blessed hammer can take on the baddies while you watch? Does he even have the hammer? [ Not a bad strategy, though not one to brag about, either. Aren't they supposed to be heroes here? ]

[ He shrugs. ] I don't think it'll work perfectly or anything. We can't control what phone the person on the other end is using, so it might still project the demigod signal. But I'm working on another prototype - just like that one - so if that doesn't work, we can test it with another one of the same. If that works, we'll just have to make a whole ton of them and send them to whoever might be getting a call from one of us. It's a lot of work, but we can manage.

He doesn't have Mjolnir yet, but he does have more skill in combat than I do.

[Maybe you demigods are heroes, but Loki totes isn't.]

Indeed. Perhaps we can test it with the Egyptians as well. I have no idea if their magic will interfere with anything. No point in testing it on us Norse, though. We're still primarily mortal rather than divine.

The whole curse on all demigods thing is hard to overcome, [ Annabeth points out. ]

Unless you've got some powerful magic tied into that, it'll still be difficult for any of us to use it. That said, I might be able to help test it.

Yeah, well, if it doesn't work, I can always ask Nat what she can do, see if her magic mojo can help balance it out. We can still give it a shot.

[ Annabeth looks at him in a way that's supposed to say 'Even though Percy's gone, I've still got my eye on you two' but it just looks like a narrowed gaze. ] Right. I can get my hands on a cellphone, too.

[ That look she's giving him? That is totally freaking unfair. Leo is perfectly innocent; he hasn't even pulled a prank on anyone in weeks! ]

I'm going to make another one, too, [ he says, just in case Annabeth still doubts him. ] That way we can test it against a regular phone and another one like it - see if that makes it work better. If it does, we can always make extras and send 'em out to whoever'd be getting a call from one of us. [ Sure, it's a lot of work, but they can manage it. ]

[ She's been around okay, she knows what you troublemakers get up to when she's not around. ]

We can also call them on the camp phone as well. If you can make this universal for all pantheons, I would hope it'd open the channels of communication even more and make outings easier to organize. We've suffered long enough with this cellphone curse, I think.

[ He has done nothing in camp to deserve that title. Not to Annabeth, at least. ]

That's what I was planning as the first test run. We'll still have to test it on a regular phone outside of camp eventually, but you know. Baby steps, or something. [ Shrug. ]

And I think it should be cross-pantheon compatible? Unless there are restrictions on the others I don't know about, I mean.

[ She knows things, Leo. She knows things. ]

I don't think there are restrictions on the Egyptians or the Norse, not that I know of. [ How else did Allison Argent alert the other hunters? ] Still good to check to avoid any dangers.

Give me a sec. I'll see if the phone's available.

[Kevin found himself a nice place to sit, somewhere between the pegasus stables and the armory. He's working with some sketching with gloves on, because his 'blessing' sucks.]

Ya realize everyone's gonna want one. Want some help fillin' orders?

[But, there's a grin on his face.]

[ Laughs. ] We need to test it first, dude! But you are so on if it works.

Cain't wait. Mama wants me to call more often, but having to use the rainbows is a bit of a pain.

Don't tell Gabe that. Last time someone said something bad about his rainbows, the guy mysteriously ended up with his car seats in ruins.

They're not bad... just it's easier to call whenever than set up times to call her with the rainbows, make sure no one else is around. And, with a phone, I can call the guys now and again, make sure they're checkin' on Mama.

[ Leo's never had that problem, so he can't really relate. He just thought it'd be cool to have so they can use it at night or whatever instead of just wherever they can find a rainbow. ]

Yeah, I guess so. Hopefully it'll work, and she'll get one of the first ones.

I'd really appreciate it, Leo. Thanks.

[There's a long moment of Sojourner just staring at the Iris Message in disbelief. It's probably comical, given that her mouth is hanging open.

After a moment she recovers, looking at Leo.]

Dude!

I know, right? [ Leo grins back at her. Yep, he knows he's awesome. ]

Dude!

[This is a moment where that needs repeating before any further conversation can occur.]

Obi-wan! That's- Oh wow! Does it work? Have you guys tested it yet?

Sort of? It works like a regular phone, but we're not sure if it works like we want it to yet. We've got to go outside camp borders to test that for real.

What are we waiting for then! Let's go, let's go!

Did you... Seriously make a cell phone?

[Zack can't help but look at the rainbow in disbelief.]

How did you- Man and I thought the Vulcan kids could make some crazy things...

[A grin spreads across his face as he rocks forward.]

Still need a volunteer?

Okay, first off, I'm not a Vulcan. Just because I have pointy ears... [ He shakes his head. Freaking Romans. ] Second, I didn't exactly build it from scratch, I just altered it. But yeah, awesomeness is pretty much what we do in Cabin Nine anyway, so you're not far off.

[ He grins brightly. ]

Third, heck yes we do! We'll have to test it more than just once, anyway, to make sure we're not working off of a fluke, y'know?

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