exsilium | [video]

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[Vin has approximately zero idea what she's doing - and it shows. The recording starts with her eyeball pressed up against the camera, and a voice, muffled by her face pressed against the microphone, insisting that this is not how it's done. Jerking back, she stares blankly at the screen for a few seconds, moving side to side, tracking her own appearance in the playback software. She turns to the side.]

Are you sure this is right?

[She is assured that, yes, this is right, and she ought to pay attention to what she's doing instead of talking to him. Scowling slightly at Henry, Vin turns back to the screen.]

Hello. [An awkward pause where a nice, normal greeting should go. Something like "it's nice to meet you." Vin is very bad at being people.] I was wondering if-- you're sure this is working? [A huff. She turns back.]

Is anyone here familiar with metallurgy? I can pay for your time. And provide materials.

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[His brow lifts. That...is a very vague answer and one that doesn't seem to be worth much other than to garner more questions. Without knowing the why, he's not willing to spend that kind of time just to make bars for no reason at all.]

Those would be some interesting paper weights. Yes, I can do it, but are you just going to look at them? It seems a waste.

[She huffs and sighs and figures it can't hurt to admit.]

I'm an Allomancer. I need metals to burn so I can-- [She breaks off, frowning, realizing it's actually quite hard to explain to someone who likely doesn't know the first thing about Allomancy.] So I can use my abilities.

Okay, now I'm putting on the breaks. Time out for a moment. You mean to tell me that you're going to destroy my work for practice?

[Not that he doesn't fully understand it, he's actually more than interested now to see this power himself. If he can manage to replicate it through technology, it could prove useful.]

I'll do it regardless, so now I must ask what kinds of alloys are we talking? Titanium is flammable under the right conditions and it's quite brittle. I hope you're not asking me to make that.

Not practice.

[Maybe a little bit.]

Application. [She eyes his video feed.] If you can bring me iron, steel, tin, and pewter, I can show you. Zinc and brass, too, but the first four are the most important. But the steel, pewter, and brass need to be made with specific mixtures. Steel needs to be five percent carbon and ninety-five percent iron. Pewter... [Her eyes unfocus as she tries to remember the exact numbers.]

Pewter should be fifteen percent lead, eighty-four percent tin, with trace amounts of copper, antimony, and bismuth. The brass should be thirty-seven percent zinc and sixty-three percent copper. Can you do that?

You're asking me to do exactly what the recipe calls for. Child's play. Originally, I was thinking that you were going to ask me to create a new alloy and then destroy it.

[Lee sighs with a slight roll to his eyes. It's been a long night. His voice is still soft.]

Please, stop asking me if I can do it. That's twice now and it's starting to sound redundant.

Edited 2012-11-03 04:08 (UTC)

Because you haven't said if you can or even if you will.

Yes I did. I quote, I'll do it regardless, so that certainly implies that I will.

[He doesn't show any signs of losing his temper but he's definitely tired.]

[She frowns, about to snap back, and then thinks better of it. Her voice is a bit stiff when she speaks again; she's bad at gratitude.]

Thank you.

What's the cost?

[He's used to that. It's a business transaction so the price will be a reasonable one. He's had much worse, so her attitude isn't anything new.]

Since they're easily obtainable, I would keep it at seventy-five. We're talking one kilo ingots. You need iron, steel, pewter, tin, zinc and brass, correct?

[He'll have to make it a point to keep this transmission on the top of his list.]

[She hesitates a moment.]

How easily can you obtain copper?

That depends on if I can find a place that has any still left, providing that none of the scavengers had taken off with it. I should be able to find enough to make an ingot.

It really is that troublesome to find?

[She sounds concerned; a lack of copper definitely troubles her.]

[He looks from the device to another building and takes a look inside.]

Well, I really won't know for sure until I can take a better look.

[He tries the door at first but finds it locked. He looks at the knob and grins.]

I found some. We're fine. Yes, it's obtainable.

[She grins back, though it's a small smile.]

Can I amend my order, then? Copper, bronze, electrum, and duralumin? If the gold and silver for electrum aren't going to be easy to find... you can leave that one out. The bronze needs to be mixed twelve percent tin to eighty-eight percent copper, and the duralumin ninety-six percent aluminum to four percent copper.

One twenty-five. That's a lot of metal and the mixing for the brass alone is going to have to be monitored carefully and the gold-silver alloy for the electrum is a bit trickier to come by. If I manage to get it and make the ingots, the price goes up to three-fifty.

[Now Lee is full on business. If he can manage to find the gold and silver, he could do a lot with that and that would mean making his boards again. He just needed the silicon and acid to begin with.]

That's a tall order.

Three fifty?

[She muses on this for a moment, not wanting to seem too eager. Still, she has no idea what reasonable costs are here so it's not like she can say no to him. But the electrum is, in her mind, the most important. She gives him a nod.]

Done.

In the future, I might be able to provide the metal for you. Will that lower the cost?

Excellent!

[He's now taking apart that door to get to the copper with a Leatherman.]

Still, I need to find them myself so a little scavenging is beneficial for the time being.

[He sets the device on his bent knee as he kneels to begin his work. An idea comes to his mind that the glass, since there's a ton of it, can be melted down to make silica. It's all a matter of time.]

[She nods, watching him curiously but saying nothing of how odd she finds it to see someone going about their business using this device.]

You'll contact me when you're done?

Yes. I didn't get your name. I'm Lee Chaolan. I should know who I need to contact, yes?

[Lee is like this sometimes when he has a job to do. He's always doing something.]

[She starts slightly; she'd completely forgotten.]

Vin... [Her hesitation is slight, but it's there.] Just Vin. Thank you, Lee.

Nice to meet you, Vin. I'll be in touch.

[A sharp pull from the assemble and the wood crumbles away from the metal.]

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