Connection With The Printer

The slime lab is abuzz with activity, if by activity we mean slimes wobbling around their containment units, some of them doing... things into a central pen, and Uta taking notes as all this goes on.

There are slimes which go around scrubbing the place clean, that is certainly a new thing.

Proteus isn't one who normally hangs around the Slime Lab. She has a lot to do and a lot of places to do it in. However, that hasn't prevented the Imp from encouraging and donating to Uta's particular flavor of obsession.

It's just this time that she's arrived with a jar filled with a smiling goo in the shape of said jar. She sets it on the nearest flat surface, Uta will get to it when she wishes. In the meantime, Proteus draws over to the slime queen and leans in. "Anything interesting goo-ing on?" She asks with a toothy, sharklike grin.

Uta looks up from her notes. "Oh. OH! Proteus. How nice for you to come visit!" A pause, while she scratches her head with the back of her pencil. "...or is it me who's come to visit you?" She takes a good, long look around while humming and tapping her lips with the writing implement, then smiles. "Nope, it's my place, thanks for- wait. You're carrying a slime. Did you start a slime lab too?" She looks around once more. "...I think it's still mine. Unless you've made yours to look exactly like mine. Which... I mean, imitation is the best form of flattery, but this would actually be-" She shakes her head. "But I ramble. Thanks for visiting! Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, this is your slime lab, I brought a slime for your studies. It's nothing to be concerned about." Proteus shrugs. "I've already dropped off all my interesting ones so far. I'm not much of a monster wrangler. I much prefer to wrangle other kinds of things."

She glances around, humming at the environment. "It's an interesting setup. I probably would design it much the same. Though perhaps with less tactile feedback acquisition." She smirks at that. "I did want to give you an update on the ampoule you gave me before the Wave. It turns out Bondrewd was not present for the Wave, but your fluid did come in handy to save someone's life regardless. So good work in thinking ahead. Other than that... I am mostly continuing to research various things of my own." And being typically evasive about those things, of course.

"Concerned? Quite the opposite!", Uta replies with a smile. "The more appreciate and study gelatinous creatures, the merrier!" She picks up a generic, morphologically undirected slime and proceeds to... acquire tactile feedback.

"Oh, I am glad I could save a life." Her eyebrows knit. "Which is... interesting, given the usual circumstances of the waves. Did the last wave involve some sort of disease? As far as I know, that liquid can cure only diseases, not things like wounds. Hm."

There is more tapping of pencil against lips, and then there is some pointing of the former towards Proteus. "That reminds me. I have heard rumors of a printing press being developed at Plant Duck. My Encyclopedia of slimes seems to have attracted the interest of at least one customer, and some preliminary market research indicates there might be some interest in that. Are you available to discuss a publishing deal?"

Proteus brings a hand to her head and just shakes it. She can't get why Uta continues to pet the slimes, but hey, she's not dying. She thinks. Maybe. Last time anyone checked. There's not Uta-slimes though, so that's probably a good sign. "Someone was punctured by a massive creature and paralyzed on the spines. I removed the paralysis so she could get back into the fight and keep from being consumed whole." Proteus shrugs. "So it was a status effect of a sort. It makes sense on a game theory level."

The Imp blinks at the sudden change of subject. "Oh, that? Yes, we have in fact developed a form of printing press. We're some distance away from movable type still but we have something. If you want to publish a book, I'd be happy to work something out with you."

Uta is not dying -- in fact, she looks surprisingly skilled at handling the little blobby things, far better than the average monster handler. That strange mood must have paid off.

"Fascinating. I'll have to keep it in mind -- such status effects can be cured. I suppose the victim of the puncturing is not somebody I know- wait, no, patient confidentiality, I suppose. No need to relay names."

She smiles. "Excellent! Feel free to call me whenever you are ready for discussing the details of this publishing operation. I can bring the original for- I suppose the system is based on plate engraving, right? Would that allow printing pictures as well? Or do I have to recruit artisans to add them in after the text has been printed?"

The surprise of her not losing HP from the process removes basically any objection Proteus might have had to the situation so at this point, it's nothing to be concerned with. The strange mood /must/ have paid off indeed. "There's nothing to hide about it. Her name is Miho. She's with New World. We'll have to see how things work out with her."

There is a tilt of the Imp's head. "Though... Yes. It's a plate-based methodology. Lithography, if you need to know. It's designed to allow for pictures, but the quality will depend on the artisans we get to do the engraving work. Att's been off somewhere doing a thing, else I'd just get him to do it." Proteus shrugs. "I don't ask questions in that respect. So it's mostly a matter of getting the plates made up to reproduce the contents of your book. At that point, mass production would be fairly straightforward."

Uta whistles. "Lithography? That's a massive technological achievement, considering..." she gestures around at the world. "Well done. Really well done. Well, hm. If Att is not around I guess I'll have to just hire professional crafters or something along those lines.", she paces around. "But it's probably feasible. Yes, yes, I suppose we should sit down at some future date and work out all the details, yes... Hmmm."

Some thinking later, as usual, she switches subjects again, "...Oh, Miho. Not super familiar with her, but we've been crossing path a few times in the past. I'm glad I could be of help, but... what's that about things working out? Is she at risk of a relapse?" There goes that pencil tapping those lips again. "Maybe I should make sure that there's always a bottle of that liquid reaching the Waves. I have this impression that this isn't the last we're going to hear of Bondrewd..."

"Shin wanted to use it to make manga. He's still working on what he wants to actually do with it though. Probably tokusatsu, of course." Proteus makes a little laugh at that. "That said, it's only the first step. We can certainly make something more interesting and complicated later..." She glances over at the slimes, and ponders. "... I wonder..." She hums at the little wobblers. "... Maybe later." She says, dismissing whatever thought she had been turning over in her head at that moment. "In the meantime... I'll send you the specifications for the plates so you can make arrangements for the carving."

"She's only in danger of a relapse insofar as any Adventurer is in danger of one... Through throwing themselves into ridiculously dangerous situations." Proteus shrugs and chuckles at that. "She's a bold one, though. Maybe it'd be worth cultivating a contact with her. That said..." There is a pause, and Proteus taps her chin. "The next Floor... Is the Tenth Floor. I have a feeling that whatever response we get from that, it's going to be like nothing we've ever experienced before."

Uta looks at Proteus, then at the slimes Proteus is looking at, then at Proteus again. She doesn't comment on that.

Uta cannot suppress a single burst of laughter at the comment about relapses. "Oh, yes. A common Adventurer trait. Dumb Recklessness Syndrome. I wonder why so many people fall victim to it." She walks over to the pen to pat a few slimes. "She did look fiesty, yes... I should probably...", she trails off.

At Proteus's last comment, Uta replies, "That is assuming people can get past that boss at all. I remember hearing it was glitched before the Apocalypse, and there are hints it might still be. That said... yes, it's probably going to be bad." She turns to Proteus. "Which world-enhancing project of Olympus is currently in a reasonably good shape? I have a feeling that that might be where those people will strike next..."

"The last Wave had nothing to do with Olympus' work." Proteus points out. "It's not quite that simple. That said, we are working on building our Alliance hall at Castle Eas, if you might remember. I wonder if they would be so gauche as to do that." Proteus ponders aloud. "Well, with any luck they will bounce off the Floor 10 boss a few times and give up, just like the Debauchery Tea Party did." The Imp frowns. "If they get past it... Then we're going to have to start taking measures. They're going to feel invincible, and they're not going to care what gets destroyed in the process."

Uta bites her lower lip and looks up. "I don't know, I don't think they would bother to peeve /Olympus/ specifically...", she trails off. "I think they're somehow targeting massive projects that also have some sort of impact on the world at large. Maximise attrition. Striking Eas would be an inefficient way of doing it. At least at this point in time." She shakes her head. "In any case, I'm not sure what measures we can take at that point? I know NWA has started the Red Chain to deal with the Waves..."

"You're probably right." Proteus nods. "I don't know what we could work with at this point... But... The Red Chain?" Proteus asks. "Can you tell me more about this? I would like to know more about it. Maybe it's something I can take some interest in..."

Uta replies, "Oh, at the moment it's a pretty basic organization. They deal with the fallout from Waves. My understaanding is that it's pretty much the Red Cross, except adapted for Yamato. We don't really have Switzerland in this world... uh... yet? Point is, New World Alliance adopted the chain symbol from the Beautiful One, and now they have a large barge ship from Fourland to carry medical and other supplies around. Still, there's plenty of room for growth." She clicks her tongue. "They beat me to it. Ah well. Even if I doubt I can be a proper member due to it being organizationally under NWA, I suppose I can still help in any way I can." She places down her notes on her table, sits down, and starts shuffling through them. "I suppose that if you have any contact in NWA, they can probably tell you far more. I've mostly focused on technicalities of medical affairs, and I suppose you will probably be interested into different aspects..."

"That's more or less what I expected... But I'm thinking about something a little more... militant." Proteus hums. "But I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for the information, Uta. I'll be sure to give them my assistance."

Proteus then inclines her head. "This has been an interesting conversation... But I have to go. I'll see you later." At that, she gives a gesture, and then turns, sweeping with her cloak as she heads out.