It's an unfortunate state of affairs. How she wants to open her video by showing how she can move lightning with but her willpower, to share her progress with the community as she learns to shape metals with truly miraculous properties. Sadly, she can't. She'll have to play it coy and make sure no overt magic is noticed. Would that she could awaken all of humanity... Maybe going back to the Aether wouldn't be so out of reach.

She smiles and gives Ethan a squeeze about the waist and a kiss, then, with her gear set up and lights turned on, she turns to the lens and gives a cheerful smile, elbows on her chair's arms and chin in her hands.

"Welcome to the WireNest. You might remember how, last year, I made a handheld gaming unit with a Raspberry pi board. We're going to be revisiting the project, this time slimmer, more efficient, and with a sleeker case. Just like last year, I'll have a contest for a give-away for it, so watch till the end for details on how to win it.

"As a bonus, I'll be going over a tutorial for home PCB etching, and..." She reaches up to grab Ethan and tug him into shot. "I'll be teaching NowayHome how to solder. Hopefully you can translate pencil and stylus experience to the soldering iron."

She grins at him, then nods at the camera. "Let's get started!"

"You'll want a nice quality PCB blank for this. You can buy them from most electronic-DIY stores, but you can make your own, too! For completeness' sake, I'll show you how I'll start from scratch for our handheld's controls.

"Step one, you want a good quality, coat-less copper flashing, like the stuff used for waterproofing, and to cut a square out of it. I've got a nice, high quality square here which I've wiped clean in a bit of lemon juice and baking soda with a clean cloth, then let dry." She presents the item in question, turning it a couple times in front of the camera. Of course, it's not really copper persay, but a thin sheet of brontium, courtesy of Ikenga. It's firey red and shiny, her hint to those who could recognize such things on video.

"If you have something that's on the older side, just clean it up nice and it'll work just fine.

"I then get a piece of eighth inch plexiglass - keep the paper on the back side until the very end - and some clear epoxy. This is 5 minute epoxy, but if you have the long lasting stuff, that works too. Anyway, apply the epoxy and use an eraser squidgey to spread it nice and evenly..." She carefully spreads it out and about, removing excess. "Then place it down on your copper sheeting. Easier to cut excess than to add more copper, so leave an eighth inch or more along the edges. Then let it set." She cuts the camera feed and starts to prepare the next step. "Brontium is so pretty," she comments to Ethan as she goes.

Once set, she records once more. "Cut off the excess copper with a sharp blade, scoring and cutting, and use a file to sand away the edges.

"So, let's head to the computer where I can show you how I came up with the circuit design." She clicks off the recording, then moves her camera over to her workbench. "I already did the computer stuff, and I'll put it in editing, for efficiency's sake."

With the camera once more active, she presses on. "Print shop or laser printer your design, full scale, on laminate transfer paper, like t-shirt transfer. Cut it to size and put it on your PCB. Then it's clothes iron time, doing a few passes. I won't try to rip the paper off as is, instead..." She holds up the result, setting her iron aside. ".. I soak it in some water for a few minutes. That softens the paper and lets it come off, leaving you with a beautiful mask on copper.

"After that, get your safety gear - respirator, goggles, apron and gloves - because we're going into chemicals. Ferric chloride is the name of the game. Ideally you'd have a temperature controlled, vortex-motion tank for this... But I'm just using a pyrex pan. Anything that doesn't react with acid will do.

"Soak it 20 minutes in there. That'll get rid of the copper and the mask, but the copper that was under the mask will be untouched."

From there, she cuts the camera off and puts a regular piece of copper in the dish instead to record the timelapse. Brontium doesn't tend to react like, at all, so instead she uses Shaping to get rid of the pieces of brontium she doesn't need - as if she were using a blow dryer to wipe away brontium dust - while she's off-camera by pointing with her orichalcum rod and beseeching it in high speech. _{(Rote: Shaping. Gnosis 2, Matter 2, Rote Craft 3, Rod 1, High speech 2. 1 reach spent for casting time, 1 reach to affect solid objects. Paradox reduced to chance die by her rod. (Release))}
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_{(10s reroll)}
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Then she puts the result in the dish to eat away at the epoxy and mask, then she records normally again and fishes it out as if it had been sitting there for longer than a couple minutes. "Rinse it in cool water, spray some isopropyl alcohol on it, wipe with a soft cloth. And voila... Home made PCB. Let it dry completely before drilling holes or soldering to it, or trying to apply a solder mask, if that's your jam."

And she cuts the camera, setting the PCB to dry near her soldering workbench. "And that's a segment." She looks over her checklist. "I'll do some component stuff, then I'll tackle your soldering lesson. Sounds good?"10d10·2d10

"Watch the video back a couple times and it'll sink in." She winks at him. "And I totally am magic. Even more literally than being able to use it. Still a bit weird."

She wheels over to her workbench to gather what she'll need and get the soldering iron hot. The tripod and camera is set up to record properly and have the adjustable setting for the macro lens. Then, when settled, she gets Ethan to the table and hits record.

"For this segment, Noway is going to solder some practice circuits to get the hang of it, then he'll solder to the new board."

She grins up at him and hands him the soldering iron. "Careful, it's hot. So I have this breadboard with a bunch of LEDs on it that I am challenging you to wire up.

"It's the same thing for any soldering of pins, so pay attention: What you want to do is to put the soldering iron to heat up both the LED's pin and the copper pad for a few seconds, then you use your other hand to bring in the solder wire. Don't be stingy. Flow it on until it looks like a little Kisses chocolate, pull away the solder wire, pull away the iron.

"Do a few, and I'll grad them for the internet to judge you on. Ready?" She switches to the soldering view. "Go~."

There's a chirp in her version of High Speech. "Cheater," she teases, but doesn't really stop him or anything. If anything, this is more evidence for the lone magic-eye gifted out there to see than for Ethan to know how to solder. Though hopefully he learns some of the skills by muscle memory despite doing it by magic!

"Interesting technique," she asides to the camera, then collects the board in question to give it a look over, explaining how the good solder joints are sturdy and will last even under some amount of stress.

"Well, seems I didn't have to teach much. Hopefully some of you out there have learned a thing or two from his soldering. Since you have it well in hand, then..." She puts the board she etched in front of him, along with a little pile of components and a plan. "If you could solder all of this for me while I go explain how I'll design and 3D print the case, that'd be great!" She kisses his cheek, then wheels off screen to let him do a comical 'oh bother' face to the camera before she stops the recording to bring it to the next bit of the video.

"Though I will teach you how to solder properly sooner or later, even if I have to throw a dispel at you," she teases.

"A phone tool? Hah, that's so cool! Is there an app?" She giggles. "I hope to be able to do that for you, soon or later. I'm so excited about getting to work with Ikenga's projects, sometime in the future! Making lunargeant phones and smelting arcane electronics and swords and magic armor. Till I can make my own, at least."

She pauses her work to respond to Ashlyn, letting her know she's totally looking forwards to seeing her again, and giving a general ooh and aah at the pictures. Dublin looks really pretty. "Ashlyn's managing things on her end, looks like."

Then she goes back to professional mode, turning to the camera to explain how she's going to assemble the unit, make the buttons, and attach the screen to the Pi.

It's between takes that she sends her answers; namely, that she will be meeting with Lakshmi soon, and she can see about contacting someone who can provide a bit of backup to Ashlyn on that front. The sooner she's with them and other sleepwalkers, the easier it will be, so hang in there.

Poor girl, though... Reminds Val that she'll need to follow up with Cronos on that server thing, before it eats anyone else; it might be a pessimistic view, but she doesn't think the lightning killed it.

The 3D printer is soon whirring away to life to make the pieces she'll need while she films herself doing assembly work and putting what Ethan assembled together. It'll look slick!

Val would fault him for distracting her, but she's kind of encouraging and it makes her feel good, so... Well, she deals with it with brushes in her hair. She then finishes up this last task before setting aside. She needs to have the rest of the 3D print done anyway, so she lets that go and responds with a 'Of course!'

"Taking a call from Ashlyn," she informs Ethan while setting the brakes on her wheels.

That breaks her heart to see. Was she considered dead by the time she made it back? What sort of greeting did she have? ...she doubts it's only the lying causing her distress.

She gives her a smile, though - she's happy to see her, and she figures Ashlyn needs to see some good cheer and enthusiasm. "Things have been hectic, but not in a bad way. I've been hitting the books; there's a ton of material to learn, between the consi and council lore, practices and rotes, other 'places,' and how those work. But it's fun.

"And between Ethan's return, getting to know people, and all the learning, it's been busy. I'm also starting to feel my feet, thanks to Lakshmi, and I can just about wiggle my toes."

Valerie laces her fingers together. "I miss you, though. I want to chew your ear off about what I'm learning, and show off to you. ..and you don't look like you're having a great time of it."

Valerie's face falls at hearing that and "What the fuck" blurts out. It's his daughter who went missing!! Why is the only worth he thinks of is that she has a vagina!? ...that puts into stark contrast how good of a childhood Valerie got. Setting aside the accident, death and cursed illness, her parents were good to her. ...damn.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Ash. That's not at all what I imagined your return should have been like." She looks at her for a second, then reaches down to take her rod and motion at the screen with a few chirped words.
_{(Influence Heat. Gnosis 2, Forces 2, High Speech 2, Tool 1, -2 for two turns. One reach on instant, two reaches on remote. Paradox reduced to chance die by rod.)}
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What sources of heat are around Ashlyn gather around her and brush by her skin. As good a hug as she can do at this distance without more ritual preparation time. "Hang in there, okay? I'm here for ya. Would you like me to see if I can't get you here early..?"5d10

Valerie's heart bleeds at seeing her like this. It's thanks to her appealing to her for help that Val even got where she is now. Sure, it might have happened inevitably because of what she is... but Ashlyn was the catalyst. "We'll get you here. For now, eat something sweet for me and take deep breaths."

She draws her phone out to text Ikenga. -Need a one way plane ticket from Dublin to San Fran for one. Who should I talk to? Consi?-

The right channel would be better in the long term... And help keep her safe and hands-off anyone else. "How would you feel about being a Banner-Warden for me? Lakshmi explained that to us while you were there," she asks. "I can call in a favour from another mage and get you here by magic without that, but you'd get some official recognition. Mainly as an extension of me and mine, but a rank nonetheless," she offers.

"As my Banner-Warden, getting you here, safe and sound, would be something I can requisition. Then you can learn magic, until I find a way to awaken you and let you be your own mage, in any case."

Right, right... rapport first. For all that she feels good seeing people she love happier, the actual practice is a bit new to her. She was so used to being isolated, after all.

Speaking... the words fall into place after that single thought.

"It's the name given to one of a mage's staunchest allies," she explains, lacing her fingers together and setting her chin on her hands. "In this case, it's who was the catalyst for taking what was a crawling, dreary, depressed spinal-degenerative existence, took it through a wringer of a mystery, and opened my eyes to what I really am, what I can do, and what I can be.

She leans forwards, towards the camera. "Ash, I helped you, but you literally were instrumental in turning my life around. I'm not exaggerating when I say I need you to be happy, and I think, with what you know, that is going to be possible at my side, learning, growing, and sharing in what I do, with people who know about what you went through."

Once she's no longer handicapped and loses government support, she might have to secure another line of income than Youtube and Patreon, or find another place. ...maybe she'll move into the Free Council's place. It's pretty swish and would be convenient. ...though that's for another day. Right now, it's Ashlyn in need.

"Yeah. Plus, even with the missing time, you're way smart and will catch up on the social responsibility stuff in a snap," she assures. Though seeing the door creak open with a little girl peeking out through it brings a bit of a complication. How much did she hear?

"Well hello there," she greets, to try and distract at least long enough to let Ashlyn collect herself.

"Can you really blame her?" Valerie begins through the webcam, leaning back. "I'm well into my twenties, and even now I'm overwhelmed by so much almost daily. Responsibilities pile up like a monster, and swing a mean sword arm as I might, sometimes, I wake up in the morning and have to look around to get my bearings. Part of me ends up wondering if I'm just still 12 again... the walls are taller, the night feels darker, and it takes the glow from my computer to remind me that I have responsibilities that aren't just school."
_{(Presence + Expression + Entertaining + Fame. Spending Inspired to only need 3 successes for great success.)}
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She leans forwards. "So I think your sister taking stock of everything ahead of her is way more level headed than I can be, don't you think?"6d10