This chapter takes place after Ch61 of SFTD.

Tygan was used to people showing up in the Lab unannounced, but it was always different with Celosia.

He heard the door open behind him and he set down his datapad on the counter, turning. She was ducking in underneath the door, the light of the ship's reactor catching on her leaves and giving them a gentle glow. He nodded to her, quickly and expertly shuffling his lab coat off. "Celosia."

"Dr. Tygan." She approached as he folded it up and set it aside. "I trust I'm not overly interrupting?"

"Not at all." Tygan had been reading over Argus's documentation of the procedures again. Mostly to give himself something to do—impending events had his gut twisting in on itself. Part of that was having to be party to changing Eliza in such a fashion, knowing that that had been her fate if they had never rescued her. How cruel fate was, then. "If anything, I welcome the distraction at the moment."

The corners of Celosia's mouth turned slightly downwards. "... recent events haven't been kind to any of us, have they?"

Tygan shook his head, taking a moment to grab his datapad and clip it to his belt. He at least wanted it close at hand. "Suffice to say, no. But we must persevere. There is much at stake, and we are close to the end by my measures."

"Everyone still needs breaks," Celosia replied. "And I haven't seen you outside of this lab since you came down to visit a few weeks ago. We can only persevere if we have the energy to go off of, and I think you need to regain that energy outside of here."

Tygan got a sense of deja vu. How many times had he heard from others that he needed to get out of his "office" more often? Maybe in this case it was ideal, however. He clasped his hands behind his back. "—perhaps. What would you suggest?"

"Well, you spoke of wanting to take ideas from me and my companions' biology to make armor, yes?" Celosia gestured towards the door. "They have recently expressed that perhaps they would like to give the idea another shot, but their main point of contention is that they simply don't know you, outside of knowing you're trustworthy enough to be one of Eliza's partners. Such is the assumption, anyhow. As long as you keep the lab coat off, I think you could have some wonderful conversation with them."

Hm. Tygan was still wary of scaring the other rulers... but Celosia was right. It wasn't as if they had much to go off of other than what she stated. Tygan mentally steeled himself, nodding. "All good points, and I would be happy to talk to them. You may lead the way."

Celosia smiled, and turned towards the door. "The others will like you—they'll appreciate having someone as sensible as Vel'kiin around."

"To us, having the Berserker being the sensible one of any group would be jarring. But all we have had experience with is the ADVENT-aligned ones, which I imagine makes a terrible benchmark." Tygan followed after Celosia as she walked. "—come to think of it, I've not seen any other Berserkers with Vel'kiin."

"Their society is the functional opposite of Shazara-Ta's. Berserkers are the rarer gender compared to Mutons, and tend to found their own groups with their Muton sons and mates." Celosia spared a glance back at him. "... it occurs to me now that she might not have told Eliza or anyone else about the Berserker she just took in..."

Tygan raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't privy to the larger details of the battle until the cameras were restored—how did that occur?"

"Simple domination in combat. The force of the impact broke the chip inside of her, it seems, and we had one of Vel'kiin's surgeons take out the splintered remains. Berserkers don't tend to congregate, but strange times call for strange bedfellows—and Vel'kiin is happy to free one of her own." Celosia turned her gaze to the path ahead. "... I wonder if it's better or worse they aren't using Gourgeami in combat. I would not want my people to suffer, and yet..." She bitterly chuckled. "Listen to me. Wishing I could fight my own people just to remember what they look like."

Tygan upped his pace to walk alongside her upper body. "Loneliness is a strange beast. I don't think it is absurd to see your people again, regardless of the circumstances. Bring your case by Eliza—after this war is over, I'm certain it will be her first priority to assist in getting you all back to your homes."

"Trust me, that's top priority for us once the war is over. We just... don't want to pile that on Eliza's plate. Especially not right now." She fixed her gaze on him again. "Promise me you'll keep her safe. I don't trust an Ethereal, even one that claims to be reformed."

He nodded. "I promise. I've made it clear to them that I intend to review all of their work, just to be certain." He sighed. "But the mistrust is understood. Incidentally, I asked them if they would be able to reverse the changes done to your partners—but if you do not trust them, then I'm certain I could work on a solution, myself."

"Willing to foist the responsibility onto your shoulders? Noble. I'll... run that by them. I'm certain Rodin's sculptors could rework what had been done to him, and Vel'kiin had been largely compromised by the machinery we've since removed to the best of our ability. It's Shazara-Ta I worry for the most. He's young, and... I think his condition is getting to him more than he lets on. If you could fix it however you could, yourself, that would be very welcome. But I will ask if he trusts Argus enough to accept the offer."

"Of course. I wouldn't want to force the issue."

"You're a master of not doing that. I'd call you polite to a fault, but that would imply there's been any issue with your politeness thus far."

Good, he was glad. He'd wondered if he was too polite, sometimes, maybe on the edge of patronizing. "I find that well."

They lapsed into comfortable silence as they walked, moving over for the occasional soldier. Eventually they reached the Workshop, stepping in. Lily was at her workbench, with a few Archons around. Rodin was sitting up on her table, with Lily working on his wings. He craned his head as they entered, grinning. "Fair Celosia! I see you've extracted the doctor from his lab."

Lily similarly gave a glance their way, eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, hey Ty. Honestly surprised to see you down here."

He sighed. "Me venturing outside of my lab should not be classified as a mythical occurrence."

"For how frequently it happens, it should be." She then nodded to Celosia, getting back to working on Rodin. "Hey Celosia. Just tuning Rodin's regalia."

"Go easy on him," Celosia advised, "his metal bends like gold."

Rodin sputtered. "Please, I would think myself made of sterner materials!"

She gave a dignified chuckle, walking over and patting his shoulder. "I'd think you made of gold for how easily you break under my teasing."

Rodin groaned, muttering something Tygan didn't catch. Lily picked up the slack. "Well, I find he's pretty easy to work with. Better than Julian, sometimes, but Julian's like that. I'm just about done, if you need him."

"He can stay there for what we're doing."

Celosia then looked at Tygan expectantly. Was he meant to start a conversation? He didn't really like this form of it. He had nothing prepared, he was still fumbling with the words in his head. What was there to ask? His eyes darted to Lily, still working on Rodin's wings. He needed to get them talking. "—may I ask what specific tunings you are performing?"

"Oh, nothing big." Lily popped open a casing on Rodin's wings, showing a cartridge. "Just the launch mechanisms for his rockets. I've been trying to get them to fly faster without affecting the accuracy too much. Apparently Archons can just look at spots and instinctively aim these things."

"It is like shooting any gun," Rodin followed. "Just one that you are not using your arms and hands to fire. Changes to the weight of the composition or the structure of the chambers can throw things off until you adapt to what's new, of course."

"Hence me trying to make small enough changes. I don't know what was changed in there that was Rodin's old sculptors, or, well. Vahlen. But I'm working with it."

Rodin scowled, and Tygan was quick to speak. "It is no wonder why we always considered Archons technological marvels, even with ADVENT's botched versions of them. Did you ever try to specialize in one thing, Rodin?"

With the topic change, Rodin smiled. "I was always fond of my sense of balance! So many of my fellow Archons attempt speed or strength without any care to the composition of their bodies. Then there are those who go through a chassis every third of a cycle, constantly having to readjust to their own form! I kept my chassis firmly on, with only ever minor tunings to its workings. Then, I rigorously trained, honing my instincts! So many king-to-bes relied on the finest mods sculptors could offer—but they never took the time to live and breathe them. Thus, I remained undefeated in my title of rightful king!"

Even if Tygan knew relatively little of Archons, that was easy enough to follow. A species based on renewable metals was always quite the matter to think over. He quickly thought of his next topic to keep Rodin talking. "What made you want to become king, if I may ask?"

"Oh, now that is a story! And now that I'm not being officially interviewed, perhaps I can lay on some details I otherwise would not!" He looked back to Lily. "My dear Lily, are you quite finished?"

Lily quickly ducked her head, hands working frantically at Rodin's back before she stepped away. "Y-yes, I'm done, do what you want!"

He chuckled, turning around. "I'd be more than happy to divulge the details, Tygan." His levity stalled for a second, and Tygan felt as if he was being appraised. "... how far will your questions go, I wonder?"

"I know little about you personally," Tygan began, knowing what Rodin was getting at. "Celosia raised a fair point. I asked to study all of you without so much as knowing anything about you. This is no ploy at that end; I am not pursuing the prospect since you all have made your opinions clear. I only seek to know more about the lives of those we've taken in. Nothing more."

Rodin stared at him for a few moments longer, before bursting out into laughter. "Ah, how poe-faced! I can tell plainly you have no ulterior motives, Tygan. Have a little levity, at the least!"

Tygan's expression remained the same. "This is my happy face, Rodin."

That sent Rodin into further laughter, with Lily and Celosia joining in. The joke was a success, thankfully—that could have gone wrong. Rodin calmed down. "Oh, who was I to ever doubt you? Come! We shall get comfortable in my lounge as I regale you with tales of old. Lily, you are certainly invited to join us, even if you have heard me talk at length already."

"I'll still come," she replied, still smiling as she put away her tools. "Maybe I can see what changes this time."

Celosia was already walking towards the basement. "The number of foes he's bested goes up by ten each time he tells it."

Rodin groaned, getting to his feet. "Perish the thought of me boasting!"

That left Tygan, pausing as he watched them walk towards the Basement door. Should he be doing this? His heart was already still beating faster than it should. He already missed the Lab, where he knew where everything was and where people came to him instead of the other way around. That would be easier than this.

At the same time... people like Mordenna and Celosia were right. Eliza was right. He needed to get out of there more often. He couldn't get used to other things if he never exposed himself to them. Besides... maybe this way, he could see more of Celosia?

Steeling himself, Tygan followed. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...