Chapter 15: Ortho's Tsum II

In Idia's room in the Ignihyde Dorm, Ortho is helping his Tsum counterpart to fly, with help from Idia. Now the little guy is wearing a device that will help it fly.

Ortho says to the Tsum, "Okay, Tsum. I'll hold you up. Just face the direction you want to float and kick your legs."

The Tsum does just that and begins to take flight.

"So far so good. The flight system is syncing properly with your leg movements," Ortho says.

The Tsum begins flying and hopping around a bit.

But then Ortho notices the expression and asks, "What is it, Tsum? You want down?"

The Tsum begins to get excited.

Ortho says, "Careful—don't tug at my antigrav unit. I know you're excited, but you have to be patient. Idia's almost done with the final tune-ups. Then you can fly as much as you want!"

The Tsum understands and remains calm.

"Thanks for understanding! Let's go check up on Idia," Ortho says.

The two check on Idia who is hard at work for the flying device for the little Tsum.

India says to himself, "Commencing virtual operation test 26 for the TFLY-001 externally-mounted Tsum flight system… Mid-flight max load within allowable range, no operational issues, energy efficiency at...87 percent? Seriously?!" And gets frustrated, "Ugh, this is unacceptable! I won't content myself with energy efficiency that shoddy!"

Ortho calls out, "Hey, Idia. How are the final tune-ups coming?"

"They aren't! This energy efficiency is bugging me to no end. Maybe I should go back to the drawing board…" Idia says, frustrated.

"This is more than good enough for a little bit of flying. It's not like it'll be doing a whole lap around Sage's island," Ortho says, and turns to the Tsum, "The Tsum's getting so impatient, it's been trying to tug off my antigrav unit…"

"Oh, yikes. But this is a matter of professional pride for me…" Idia says.

And Ortho says, "It is unusual for your designs to produce values this low. Lemme run a quick scan…" And begins scanning. Soon, Ortho says, "Aha. The internal multilayer board's got a slight misprint in layer two's technomantic circuitry! It's not enough to keep it from working, but it could be what's suppressing the efficiency."

"Ahh, that explains it—I can't spot multilayer board misprints with the naked eye," Idia says, "Printers are a huge hassle to install and dispose of, but I guess it's about time to replace mine. Now to re-print and re-do the virtual test... Energy efficiency's up to 96 percent now. I GUESS that'll do."

"Great! Then let's integrate the control system I built and finish it up," Ortho says.

Hearing it makes the Tsum happy that it jumps up and down.

Ortho turns to the Tsum, "Now you can fly, Tsum!"

And soon enough, Ortho installs the jetpack on the little Tsum.

"It's nice how the Tsum barely looks any different with this on. I made sure to keep it as compact as possible," Ortho says.

"Yeah, it'd be silly to ruin its soft, squishy aesthetic with hard machinery. Good call on that," Idia says.

"Okay, let's power it up!" Ortho says.

And with that, the Ortho Tsum begins floating up and down.

"Looking good so far. It's floating in the air with no issues," Ortho says, "Now to see if it can fly around freely... Go on, Tsum, give it a try!" And the Tsum does just that and begins to fly around, and it's very happy.

Ortho says, "The system automatically tilts and propels the Tsum where it wants to go based on leg movement and weight distribution cues… It's working perfectly, and the Tsum seems to be having a blast. I bet we could go flying outside together like this!"

And soon begins to fly around.

Idia notices, Hm? It flew up toward the ceiling, then dove back down toward us…"

And soon, it begins to tug on Ortho and Idia's hand.

"What's the matter, Tsum? Why are you tugging at me and Idia?" Ortho asks.

But he soon understands, "Oh, wait… I think it wants to go flying with us."

"Really?" Idia asks.

"Well, it DOES take after me, so it makes sense. Right, Tsum?" Ortho replies.

The Tsum happily hops up and down on its jet pack.

But Idia says "Uh... Could I skip out on the flying part? I've barely gotten any sleep and could really use some…" and lets out a yawn, "Plus I don't have a personal flight gear or anything. Please don't ask me to go with you on a broom."

"In that case, I'll give you a ride myself," Ortho says.

This has Idia reacting, shocked, "Wha—?!"

Then Ortho begs, "The Tsum's having fun, and I'd enjoy it more with you! Pretty please?" And both Ortho and his Tsum join together with sparkle in their eyes, begging Idia to join them.

This makes Idia flinch, "Grk…" And has been defeated, "Okay, fine. But just ten...no, five minutes."

This makes Ortho and the Tsum happy.

"Yay! Let's go, Tsum!" Ortho happily says.

The Tsum happily hops up and down in response.

Sometime later, Ortho and his Tsum take to the sky and are now flying in the clouds. Of course, Ortho is holding Idia in his arms while the Tsum is flying close to him. And now they're flying above the clouds.

"Do we REALLY have to go this high up...?" Idia asks.

"I was just following the Tsum," Ortho says. Then notices, "Gosh, we're above the clouds now," He then sees how excited the Tsum is, and how much it's enjoying the sky and clouds, "The Tsum's happy. Looks like all your hard work is paying off, Idia…"

But soon notices that Idia has fallen asleep, "Zzz…"

"Ah, he's fallen asleep. I suppose we should probably head back," Ortho says.

He then says to the Tsum, "Thanks, gave me a chance to go out flying with my brother. You can keep the flight unit. It came out pretty nice, if I say so myself. Take care of it after you go home, okay?"

The Tsum nods in agreement and is also happy.

"Great! Okay, let's get back to the dorm... We can take the long way," Ortho says.