Penny watched from the flatbed of the truck as Dove peeled off plating from the truck, placing the plating on a tarp along with all of his wrenched and warped armor pieces.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Got to fix my armor." Dove noted as he compared the size and thickness of two plates. The majority of the plates attached to his armor were removed.

"How are you doing so? How does your armor work?"

"It's essentially plate armor of the years of yore." He looked up at the lens. "I strap plates onto my body."

"Why not repair the plates you have?"

"Unfortunately, while I know basic maintenance, I do not have the metal working skills to fix bullet-holes and crushed plating." Dove picked at something white imbedded into one of the plates. "I also somehow picked up a tooth, somewhere. Weird."

"Any difficulties with the truck plating?"

"Yeah. It's thinner. Less angular. Bit annoying, as it makes it harder to ricochet ammo."

Penny thought a moment. "As in how sloped armor protects a tank better?"

Dove raised his finger in agreement. "Exactly!"

"Interesting." Penny thought for a moment. "Since there were not many who fought in full plate armor in the last decade, does fighting in plate cause much difficulty moving?"

"Contrary to popular belief, it does not." Dove paused and corrected himself. "Normally. My armor happens to not be the best for rolling, as it was designed for truck or car tumbling, not human tumbling."

"Makes sense." Penny watched as he started unhooking straps from metal fragments, reclipping buckles, and repairing worn bands. "Why did you fight with your sheath on?"

"Sword maintenance is a pain." Replied Dove. "Extended fights cause the blade to be worn down quickly, and while it does, maybe an additional 5% damage to aura, the dulling of the blade makes it much more difficult to get the kill twenty or so people in. So, I hit people with the sheath to do damage."

"Is it not possible to cut through aura?"

"Yes, it is. Aura has essentially a hard cap on how much force it can take before it punches through. Theoretically, if one had enough energy and force, one could cut off something like an arm, while the person had full aura. Unlikely, and I've never seen it happen, but not impossible."

Not her place to talk about that. "Understandable. Why is it that you or they do not keep your aura up at all times?"

"Have you ever tried doing mental math while typing? Spinning your hands clockwise, and your feet counterclockwise?"

"Yes. It is quite feasible."

"Right, forgot. You can run subprocesses like they're not an issue." He exhaled heavily through his nose. "It's not as easy for humans. It takes concentration."

She liked hearing him talk. It helped her out. "I have also heard terms like focusing one's aura. What have you interpreted that as?"

Dove paused fiddling with the straps in his hand. "It's sort of like moving water. You move the water to where it's needed most, and increase the hard cap in that area, but decrease the hard cap in others. It also helps with any physical feats involving that section."

"Convenient."

"It really is."

Time to ask what she really wanted to know. "And what about Windbag?"

Dove put down his tools. "I don't know. I don't know how to feel about it."

"What do you think the number meant?"

"I'm not sure I want to know."

"Understood." Penny looked at the tarp, analyzing the two piles. "Got your armor sorted?"

"Yep. Just give me a moment to strap up, and we'll be on our way."

Re-armored, Dove picked up Penny, strapped her onto his back, and the two left the gutted, empty truck to fade and become one with the landscape.