Clearing - Outside the Hatching Arena
A wide clearing stretches from east to west, the ground packed hard although grass grows across most of it. Trees are strictly forbidden in this space, their danger to the constant draconic traffic reason enough to banish them to the forest that creates a this and sharp border to the north. Where the ground is less trampled, tiny flowers poke their delicate heads out from their shaded hiding places with upturned petals to wave to whoever may be looking.
The cliff looms imposingly on three sides, stretching upwards all the way up the side of the mountain where, high above, Xanadu's Star Stones and the ever present watchdragon sit on a lonely peak. Directly south is a massive tunnel, fully wide enough for even the largest dragon to fly down. Southeast are wide steps leading up to the Caverns and eastwards is the large entrance to the Infirmary. Somewhat north of the Infirmary is a human sized archway that has a frequent quantity of traffic — it leads to the Tavern. Southwest lies the low ledges currently belonging to Xanadu's queens while north and west a broad path cut by the side of the cliff leads to the Feeding Grounds and due north is the spacious trail that leads to the rest of the Weyr.
Bright and early! Up at the crack of dawn! …okay, not precisely. Jethaniel may have intended to wake up then, but even doing a haphazard job of unpacking took some time. Particularly once he got involved with 'unpacking' some of electronics, which meant assembling them, which meant starting to tinker with them… So, what with one thing and the other, he didn't actually get to sleep until rather late, and so he didn't wake up until the sun was rather over the horizon. By the time he found clothes, assembled tools in the canvas bag over one shoulder, and went by the caverns for a mug of klah and a sweetroll… the term 'mid-morning' might be more accurate. At least that gave the fog a chance to burn off? At any rate, here he is now, heading out across the clearing.
Oh, but when a journeyman says 'bright and early' it's typically not translated to 'mid-morning'. So guess who got here first? Sure the meeting place might have also been the caverns but since it wasn't specified and he wasn't showing up there… better safe than sorry. Jethaniel would find the girl present and accounted for by the time he arrives at least. Present… but not concious. In fact she's found a spot a couple yards from the entrance and is currently slumped against the building's wall. Her head is tilted forward, chin rested on knees. Small, compact and really probably /not/ that comfortable.
Another sip of klah, and Jethaniel's gaze wanders across the arena until it finds the small shape of a sleeping apprentice. "Mmh, yes," he mutters, and continues on… past her. He sets the roll awkwardly on top of his mug in order to free up a hand, and tug open one of the Hatching Arena's doors. Creeeeeak. Then, he steps inside, looking about the dimness for the ladder he was told was 'in the storeroom, just off the hall'. He'll just go get that, and then they can get started! …he'll just go get that, by himself, with his mug of klah still in one hand. Nope, there won't be /any/ problems here. Course not.
Mug of klah with a roll perched on top, oh no… /nothing/ will go wrong at all. Perhaps Daoi would be the good little apprentice and at least liberate the mug and remove one piece of this disasterous set-up, if she wasn't currently sleeping. Not her fault he said early and failed to show up on time. It's much easier to stay awake when you're not sitting around waiting for hours. At least a loud crash would wake her up?
Hmm, now where is that ladder… ah! There we are. He'll just - ah - reach for it, and… whoops, there's a mop tangled with the base of it. The ladder starts to swing out, and then abruptly stops with a CLANK! Jethaniel's got it. He's totally got it… against his shoulder, being awkwardly supported. Hmmm. Maybe he /should/ have put the mug down. Welp, too late for that now! He'll just pull it out after him. He wraps his free arm up around it, and starts to pull… Clink. Thump. Tug… tug… hmm. It seems to be stuck on something. Probably that mop, but it's hard to see in the dimness here. He gives a harder tug, and… well, it comes loose rather abruptly, and he stumbles back a few steps until his back thumps against the opposite wall of the storeroom with a loud thud and a grunt of pain. That sweetroll topples into the mug of klah, and as Jethaniel's grip wavers, the ladder slides down slightly and thunks into place against him, half-expanded and stretched diagonally across the storeroom.
In that chorus of clangs, thunks, bangs and amazingly no swearing… apparently there's a noise that can rouse even a sleepy passed out apprentice. Daoi adds her own "Wha… huh?" to the mix as her head snaps up and back into the wall with it's own 'clunk' and exclamation of jarbled swear words mixed into a two syllables of jibberish. It takes a moment but at least she appears in the doorway, one hand rubbing the back of her head and mussing that braid even more. "What are you /doing/?" is the only thing she can think of to say.
A silhouette in the doorway. A voice. Jethaniel blinks a few times. "Ah," he says. "Well. I was just getting the ladder…" He gestures to it with his klah-mug. Right. That totally explains why it's stretched across the room and pinning him to the wall. He attempts to reach down with his free hand and lift it, but his first attempt has no leverage, and his second attempt doesn't even get to the taking a grip part before he winces at how it makes the ladder dig into his flesh.
"Right…" and she sounds ever so convinced. Head tilts slowly to one side as she contemplates the situation hand falling back to her side as that particular headache is forgotten for this one. "How'd you even…" Her position isn't going to giver much leverage either so she's quickly dropping to the floor and crawling underneath to pop up on the other side. Grabbing the ladder from below she rather carefully lifts up and away from Jeth as well.
Jethaniel clears his throat, but doesn't actually attempt further explanations just now. He just… stays where he is, not that he has much choice. Once Daoi gets in and starts lifting, he shifts to the side and squirms out from behind. He sets down his mug on one of the shelves here, then reaches in to help lift. "There we are," he says, using both hands now, with another person helping. Unsurprisingly, this works far far better.
Once the darn thing is upright, it's carefully guided to lean back against the wall, but not before the locking mechanisms that keep it from extending again are set. Now it's time to give the other techcrafter a rather dubious look and her lips twist a bit. Peer. "I dunno if you should be climbing up on things, you're not very coordinated."
"Mmh," says Jethaniel at the aspersions on his coordination. It's an astoundingly noncommital phrase, and there's a few moments of silence, almost as though he's giving it serious consideration. Is that too much to hope for? Well… the next thing he says is, "Quite nice weather today. We'd best get moving to take advantage of it." With that, he reaches again for the ladder. "Take the other end, will you? We'll set up around the north side."
"Moving…" is sorta grumped with a hint of bitterness that might just match the klah if the man didn't use too much sweetner. "You know, I coulda had a nice breakfast but I thought I'd miss you and get in trouble." And no breakfast means she's crabby despite the promise of rooftop clambering. But, she'll grab the bottom of the ladder and lifts it once the top is being tipped downwards. The mug is eyed but no mention of it is given. Oh no, we'll just not let the man juggle anymore.
"Mmh," goes Jethaniel again. "Ah, yes. Bit of a late start, sorry about that." On the one hand, journeyman apologizing to apprentice. On the other, his tone is far more casual than penitent. Clearly, he does not feel the lack-of-breakfast pain. After all, he had a good half-sweetroll, the other half of which is even now soaking in klah and slowly breaking apart into shreds. If it wasn't oversweetened before… it is now. Jethaniel doesn't seem even aware of it anymore, leaving the mug behind on the shelf as he leads the way out with the ladder.
The exaggerated sigh simply says it all as Daoi carefully maneuvers the ladder out the door. Hopefully a certain someone doesn't attempt to take that turn too sharp or she'll be swung into the shelves herself. "So what are we looking for? I haven't seen a lightning strike before. Well, trees but trees burn." Metal might not.
One bruised techcrafter is apparently sufficient for now, as Jethaniel takes the turn at a slow pace. He even glances back from time to time to make sure the apprentice is positioned correctly! It's almost like he has some vague sense of spatial awareness and physics! Or something. "Mmh, yes. Now, lightning is an electric phenomenon, so it will generally seek to travel to ground. That is how a lightning rod works. If we see signs of damage, they will be those of electrical overload; much the same as any circuit, except at a rather grander scale. There will be scorch marks, most likely."
Daoi manages to clear the doorframe with just a little bit of squeezing and there's a perhaps unwarranted amount of relief to be free from the cramped storage closet. "So, kinda like the tree still." With less fire as metal isnt' quite so flammable.
"Rather, yes," agrees Jethaniel, setting off toward the spot he has in mind to set up. "You've set up circuits, I presume? Experimented with the use of resistors and the current going through them?" The tone makes it half a question; he'd expect it of a 'pprentice at the hall within their first couple years, but he doesn't quite know what the lesson plans at this weyr have been… or, for that matter, how long Daoi has been apprenticed. Another sort of journeyman might have asked questions like those when he was assigned his helper. Jethaniel, well, he's got no idea.
Daoi quickly nods silently to the questions, taking a moment to realize the man is (hopefully) looking were he's going, not back at her. "Yeah, done plenty of experimenting." And the last word holds perhaps a little more affection than one would be comfortable with. "Fried a couple too" will be admitted freely with a hint of sheepishness. And her actual mentor should have bothered himself to give poor Jeth a run-down on his new helper, but that hasn't happened.
Jethaniel succeeds in not walking into anything. Gotta take those victories where you can find them. He smiles (not that it's really visible) at the mention of experimenting, and it widens as Daoi goes on. "Excellent," he says after she admits to frying those valuable electronics. "Then you know precisely what to look for. There will be signs of oxidation - scorch marks - at the point of impact, much like an overloaded transistor. It's all the same processes, just at a much larger scale."
Daoi could chock it up to only getting low grade and used parts that are more likely to short out. Or, lack of proper mentoring? But no excuses are made for it, and the tone wasn't entirely appologetic either. The 'excellent' takes her by suprise and that mouth drops open to reply but he gets more words in before she can. "So… hopefully also more obvious than the itty bitty ones?" The ladder is shifted as they go and nearly fumbled briefly but it barely wisps the grass before she gets it hefted up once more.
"Quite," answers Jethaniel with a chuckle. He grunts slightly as the fumble makes the ladder tug on him, pausing for a moment to let it get repositioned before moving on. "There /are/ small strikes, of course, but any large enough to cause the problems here should be eminently noticeable." With that, he reaches the spot he had in mind to set up, right against the wall, and starts lifting his end of the ladder up to get it into proper climbable position.
As they set the ladder down she quickly gets to work to unlocking those clambs once more and sliding the upper half higher. It makes a grand old rattling noise as it goes. "Um… could you do the clamps?" Not even one hand is leaving that last rung and letting it slide back down. Not with precious fingers in the way. "And what do we do once we find out where it hit?" The lecture yesterday apparently made an impact as she quickly adds "If it hit."
"Mmhmm," says Jethaniel, and reaches to snap them both into position. He gives them a quick test, even, tugging at the ladder and making sure it's not going to collapse on them. "There we are." The journeyman steps back, dusting off his hands and looking up the ladder, and then to Daoi. He doesn't comment on her quick self-correction, unless you count a vague and general sort of smile. "We ask two questions. Why did it hit there? Why was there enough resistance at that spot to prevent it from going safely to ground? These are the two ways we stop lightning from damaging our structures; we control where it hits, and we ensure that once it does, the energy goes to ground." A brief pause, and then he abruptly grins. "And sometimes, we discover that Nature is mightier than all our attempts, and all we can do is fix the damage afterward."
Daoi may have snuck in her own testing of the ladder after Jeth's quick little tugging. Why? Because she'll be climbing up it, that's why. Best to always check your own equipment if you're trusting it to keep your body from plummeting to the ground. "So… it's finding a spot. Then finding out what went wrong. Like a puzzle." Leaning back against the wall she lifts one foot than the other and starts tugging at the fasteners on her sandals. "It /was/ an impressive storm. haven't had one like that since I got here."
If Jethaniel notices Daoi's equipment test, he makes no comment on it. At her analysis of the situation, however, he nods. "Very much so. Techcraft is little else but a series of puzzles; if we can do nothing else but ask /Why/ things happen and /How/ to make them work better, we are already doing the world and the craft a service. Even unanswered questions have merit." He puts his foot up on the ladder, starting to climb, and then hmms. He pauses a moment, and says, "Haven't seen a really big one since I was a child, and most of those were out over the ocean. Just as well. They would have terrified the retired oldsters, otherwise." He shrugs slightly, and continues on up the ladder.
Daoi is apparently in a fess-up mood today "I'm good at unanswered." Like why the footwear is coming off before the ascent. At least she's quick about shucking them off, and can grab the ladder to stabalize it as the older man starts making his way upwards. "Storms out over the ocean are the best… and the waves."
For all his ineptitude earlier, Jethaniel seems at least competent about this climbing a ladder business. He's hardly scampering, but he's not one of those doddering oldsters, or even one of the scared-of-heights sorts. Just… methodical. "Ah, yes, the waves." He smiles. "Fascinating how the tides from the moons and the waves from the wind interact… such complex equations to govern them, and yet they still can't convey what it is to stand on the beach."
Daoi tilts her head back to watch the man ascend, the look on her face as he begins rambling about the tide is completed with a raised eyebrow. He has the absent minded professor thing down a little too well and apparently she's not sure what to think of it. Once he's up and on the roof she's quickstepped it to the top as well, the ladder jiggling a little as she goes but apparently it doesn't bother her. "So, back to the wiring…"
From waves to wires, in one smooth motion! "Indeed," says Jethaniel with a nod, and starts across the sloped roof of the arena, moving slowly and casting about for signs of damage. He's headed roughly toward the lightning rod, evidently planning to inspect that. But, hey, a strike could have happened anywhere!
Daoi is a little less thorough as she heads straight for the lightning rod. It's a climb with fingertips occasionally touching the rooftop as she leans a little too far forward. It's not neccissarily the fact that the strike most likely hit there, there might just be the added benefit that it's the tallest potion of the whole thing. Hand wraps around the spike as she stands in the wind and enjoys the view. "It /is/ a little blackened up here."
Jethaniel pauses to peer down at a spot on the roof, brushing his fingers against it lightly. "Hmmm," he says, then looks up at Daoi's voice. "Mmmh," he goes on, and rises up to come join her. It is a quite nice view from here, but Jethaniel really doesn't seem to be paying attention to it. Instead, he's peering at the metal rod, reaching out to investigate. "So it is. Well, that's what it's for, after all." He lowers himself to a careful crouch, checking near the base to make sure things are still properly connected there.
Daoi is rather admittedly more about the view than the task at hand. To get a better one she walks around the base of the lightning rod, stepping around and luckily not over the crouched journeyman as she goes. At least after two laps she seems to have gotten it a little out of her system and crouches down on the opposite side, peering. "So.. hits here and then the current follows a wire on down?"
Jethaniel is quite focused in on this here rod, barely even noticing the cavorting around him. He checks the installation by rocking it a bit and making sure it doesn't wobble too much, and peels back the edge of the conduit to check that the wires inside are settled well. After a hmm, he nods in what seems to be satisfaction, and looks up. "Indeed. The current will generally follow the path of least resistance; so that's what we give it. First from sky to this rod," which he rests his fingers on, "-and then from the rod to the ground."
Daoi takes a moment to peer at the wiring as it's being examined, but then she's back on her feet once more. All that weariness and sleep deprevation has dissapeared, to be replaced by… well, a short attention span for one. But at least she's found the electric trail and is rapidly following it down the slope of the roof. "Wait… would it be melted somewhere along here if it failed?" Right, what she's looking for /might/ be important. But, the question isn't actually asked until she's halfway back down. In fact, it's yelled.
Jethaniel occupies himself further at the base of the rod, doing methodical checks and adjusting one of the contacts. Not that it wasn't placed acceptably before, but it's a bit better now. Less likely to slide off, for one thing, and less impedance. It's the details. At the shouted question, he looks up, blinking. "Melted…?" A moment. "That might be a symptom, yes. If there was a break or twist in the wire, and the current arced…."
At the answer she gets the girl drops back into a crouch then promptly rocks forward onto her knees. Perhaps more contact with the roof is better after all once you're on the slanted portion. "Well, this part's all sorta… crispy." Melted and hardened once more. Fingers poke and prod at it but at least she's not promptly tugging the casing up even trying to. Jeth gets to call the shots for now, least he should be.
Crispy. Crispy is good when it applies to fried chicken. It's good when it applies to fresh vegetables. It is not good when it applies to electronics. Jethaniel goes "Hmm." He also quickly rises and strides across the roof to lower himself down next to Daoi. "Yes indeed," he says, and though he doesn't look up, he adds, "Well spotted." Then he's reaching into a pocket and pulling out a small knife, with which he begins to cut into the damaged plastic to peel it away and get a better look.
Crispy is also good for things like potato chips, or lettuce. Looking on the bright side though, it's no longer smoldering and stinky. Just… not quite right looking. "What happens if it's melted onto the wire… are we going to have to replace the whole line?" Because obviously that sounds like a lot of work.
Melted and reformed plastic is not the easiest to work with… particularly not when it's this stuff, designed to be tough and resistant to most things. So the process of getting through it is taking a while. At least Jethaniel can answer questions meanwhile! "Oh, we can get the plastic off, no problem. There are several solvents that will eat it but leave the metal intact." …solvents, yes. Of the sort that will eat not only plastic but any stray flesh in the vicinity. Amazing how Jethaniel can make those solvents, the ones kept in locked cases, sound almost dull.
Flesh eating chemicals? Now /that/ is much better terminology than 'solvents'. The whole non-dull concept is lost on the girl unfortunately. Or wait, is that fortunately? "But… if it was a falty wiring that caused the plastic to melt…" She'll let him finish the statement. It's a leading question… lacking the proper intonation.
But, indeed! At Daoi's response, Jethaniel grins. Among his (boring) pleasures is this; an apprentice who asks the right questions. "…then the wiring remains faulty. Indeed. That's why we need a closer look. The damage might be incidental - say, a firelizard flame. Or, it might be due to a twist in the wire, something we can straighten out. If there's an actual break, though, we'll need to replace the line." He pulls away a bit of plastic, and there's a glint of copper beneath. Getting closer!
Daoi is getting antsy again it seems, and plops down to sit and watch the other work. Now.. if /she/ could have the pointy object and being doing hands on work perhaps it'd be a little more stimulating. Then again, maybe not. "Firelizard flame?" Hadn't occured to her apparently. "Haven't run into that issue yet. Fried tunnelsnakes like to take out wiring though."
"Well, it's unlikely to be a dragon, given the radius of effect," says Jethaniel, and smiles. Apparently, that's what passes for a joke around here. He then goes on to nod. "Mmh, yes. Tunnelsnakes can be a problem. There's a fellow at the Tech Hall experimenting with different conduit materials to find one that repels them, but last I heard, he hadn't any good results yet." Another bit of plastic, and this one peels back instead of snapping off to reveal the wire inside. At a first glance, it looks perfectly fine - except, there's a place where the wire looks rough. It has, in fact, snapped, and it's only by chance that the two pieces are touching in the proper alignment at this moment.
The eyes start wandering off as more peeling and prying happens, instead staring over the clearing towards the forest with a rather whistful sigh. "They'll chew on anything, can't imagine something they'd find repellant." The joke? Yeah, lost on Daoi entirely. Attention wanders back as the piece actually comes up. "THat's not right…" She hasnt' figured out what's /wrong/ yet, but fingers give it a prod and the pieces seperate.
"Mmh," says Jethaniel, and replaces his knife in the sheath. He sits back against the roof, letting Daoi investigate and watching her technique and expressions. Experimentation is important for the tech-crafters of tomorrow! After a few moments, he half-smiles. "Well. What have we got here?"
And this is one of the few wires you can just go poking at without risk of frying yourself. Well, unless lightning decides to hit once more. "Well, the connection's broken so that's probably what caused the plastic to melt. But wouldn't there be more damage?" The roof isn't flammable at least, right? "I mean, the current probably still continued down, just not exactly the way it was supposed to. And would that really take out the power? These are supposed to transfer current to the ground, but aren't near any other important wires." Probably on purpose.
Lightning does in fact strike the same place twice. And it can in fact come out of a clear blue sky, such as today. But, all things considered, the risk is fairly minimal. Jethaniel listens to Daoi's considerations, nodding from time to time. After she's done, he speaks up. "Remember, the current wants to take the easiest path. Even with the wires like this, the easiest path is still the correct one. In this state, there likely would have been /no/ damage. However… there were strong winds with the storm, yes?" Rather obvious, that, what with the fallen treebranches still scattered around. He goes on. "When the strike happened, the wires were likely positioned as so." He reaches in, tugging part of the conduit aside as though being pulled at by the wind, and thereby creating a gap between the two wires. "The current leaped between these, and that's what caused the plastic to melt. Fortunately, the two wires were still near enough for the current to bridge the gap instead of seeking an alternate path - at least, for the most part. Some of it may have dispersed into the building; that may have been enough to cause the lights to flicker. It should /not/ have been enough to take the power out entirely."
Look, there's /learning/ happening up on the hatching cavern roof. It's quite the concept really. "So, a problem but not /the/ problem." Or problems, also an option. "So, do we have to scrap the whole wire or can we solder in replacement section?" After all, finding problems means you have to fix them.
"Quite so," agrees Jethaniel. "As for the wire… well. A soldered replacement will slightly reduce the conductivity of this section, but not enough to be problematic. There's a different problem with simply patching this spot, though." He tilts his head to look at Daoi, wordlessly asking her what that problem might be.
Wait, what? The expectant look is noticed a little belatedly, she was simply ready to continue to listen to the words rambling on and on. Unfortunately, her intructor has differenet plans. After a long bunch of seconds she glances up and realization dawns. "Oh… um…" The wiring is glanced at once more, looking up and down the line. "Need to replace the covering as well? And secure it better so the same thing doesn't happen next time we have a storm. But… you're talking about something else aren't you." And she can't think of what it would be. Her answer is far to simple.
Not just lectures, no. Jethaniel also gives pop quizzes! He waits with an impassive expression while she thinks it through. The mention of replacing the covering gets a nod, as does the one of securing it better… and then he keeps on waiting, even as she admits to having exhausted her theories. He's silent for another few moments, giving the apprentice stew-over-it time to try and rack her brains for that thing she clearly must be missing, and then… he smiles. "That's right. This broke once; it may break again. We need to figure out how it broke, and secure it in such a way that the same thing won't happen again."
Daoi does /not/ appreciate stew-over time. In fact she's getting all sorts of fidgeting during it but her brain can't come up with anything new. There might just be sparks flying from her ears as the poor tired thing fizzles out. "So… there's /not/ a third part to the magic fix?" That she couldn't come up with on her own. It'd be a relief that she's not missing the point entirely. "So, obviously we can't just make it the same amount of windy again and watch…"
"Hardly magic," says Jethaniel with a brief stern look, before resuming in his normal tone. "And there certainly is a third part." …he says, having just said that the other two were the right answer. "Once it's been repaired, it will have to be maintained. It will need regular inspection to ensure it remains securely fastened to the roof and that there's no damage. This wire likely snapped some time ago. If someone had noticed, it could have been repaired then."
Daoi tilts her head slightly as the look is caught, and lips get pursed. There might be something muttered about not being so literal, and 'just a phrase', but it's under her breath. Least the maintenance part is a good point, and she admits as much with those two exact words. "Which, probably going to be me. Kyerin dislikes heights." And it isn't /exactly/ his field either. Apprentices get more generalized education and duties on top of specialties. Not that she sounds dissapointed by that. Excuses to be climbing and hanging out up here? Those are good.
At least Jethaniel doesn't object to being muttered about under one's breath. If he was going to explain further, he might say something about how it's a matter of public perception, and the importance of making the nature of technology clear to others - such as holders who sometimes come to the Tech Craft expecting magic and miracles aplenty. But that's a social matter, and Jethaniel is probably the last person to go to on questions of /those/. So! On to maintenance. He hmms at the mention of his fellow journeyman, and nods. "The craft has its share of heights, as well as depths." He takes a glance down along the roof, then adds, "Since we're up here, perhaps you should take a look if there's any other problems. Look for spots with lumps or sharp angles, as well as, ah… crispy ones."
Daoi is good at crispy! And… not so good at the social angle either. So we'll just leave that stone unturned, and in fact well enough alone. "Sure!" And the enthusiasm is back as she moves a little less quickly along the line, somewhat crouched and eyes trained for anything that looks off. Amazingly enough the rest is looking pretty good "This part's came loose from the roof, but that's about it."
While Daoi's chasing off along the line, Jethaniel applies a quick patch to the trouble spot. He pulls out a bit of rubber sheeting from his bag, and wraps it snugly around the break and the now-exposed metal before tying it in place with a few metal twists. That should hold it until a proper repair! He stands up again with a small stretch, and then follows along down the line, checking it over himself. He reaches Daoi, and nods. "So. Our job here seems to be as follows: first, we remove the damaged plastic. We solder the wire, replace the conduit in that section, and secure it to the roof. Any questions?"
Daoi totally missed the educational 'quick and temporary fix' but made it to the edge of the roof. "How about the portion that goes down the wall, and the grounding. Want me to check those quick?" There's more to it than just the wiring on the roof after all. "Though… you shoudl probably check the grounding." She's not entirely certain how it's /supposed/ to look. "But otherwise nope!"
"Indeed," says Jethaniel with a nod. "Give those a check, and I'll do the same." More pairs of eyes are better! "When we believe we've fixed things, we'll also test with a power supply and multimeter to make certain the current is flowing properly." With that, he adjusts his bag and starts toward the ladder. Rooftime is over… for now!
Wait, they get to play with the electricity? Strangely Daoi is quite okay with this. There's a quick nod and she promptly scoots herself to the ladder first, and scrambles down just as quickly she went up. Why? Well, someone has to hold the ladder of the journeyman, no good letting him break himself before the fixing is finished.
After all, if Jethaniel gets himself broken, the next journeyman might be worse. And you just know someone would blame Daoi for it. She probably wouldn't get to play with any of the fun toys for ages, after that. He waits until she's down, then starts down himself. Rather more slowly, but in part, that's because he's taking the time to inspect the wire from this vantage. It certanly does seem to be there, yes. Even mostly attached to the wall!
Daoi does /not/ like taking blame for things, even if she truly deserves it. Jeth getting himself broken is not one of those times. And toys? Well, she got to play with the beer dispenser, does that count? Okay, so maybe she did it without too much permission but there was reasoning! Once he's most of the way down she moves out of the way and crouches down instead to where the wire finally finds it's resting place. "So how's this part work, just needed to touch the ground or is it more complicated."
Jethaniel follows the line of the wire with his eyes, and comes over to see the ground. "Heh. That's pretty much it, yes. Ideally, it's actually sunk into the ground, so it's harder to displace." He pulls back some weeds that have grown up around the base of it. The wire hooks to a larger sort of metal thing sticking up from the ground, and he taps it to listen before nodding. "Which seems to have been done here. This part seems fine."
And, the inspection is complete! Daoi's crouched down in the dirt to see exactly how the grounding is constructed. And the afternoon has arrived… actually with the late start a certain someone had, it's quite a bit past lunchtime. "Can… we take a break for lunch first? And I should check in with Kyerin, just in case." Though really, she's been handed over to Jeth for however long the repairs take. "Make sure he actually started working, at least." There's an eyeroll there but at least that's as far as the disparaging remarks get.
Jethaniel smiles, and nods. "Certainly. Have your lunch, check in with Kyerin, then come by the crafter caverns in… oh, two hours or so. We'll put together some supplies, and if the weather holds, we'll get started on removing the old casing. If not, I'm sure we can find something else to occupy ourselves!"
Daoi gives a quick nod and the timeline receives a positively radient grin. Two hours for /lunch/? Awesome. Now if only things go well with her normal mentor. "Got it!" and with that she's scampering off before he changes his mind.
Mmh, yes. This should work nicely. Jethaniel heads toward the caverns at a rather less hurried pace, his head full of thoughts and plans. But before all that, a bit of lunch does sound like a fine idea. Perhaps he'll even have a nice mug of klah to go with it.
One month later, while searching the selves in that storage closet,
Jethaniel's forgotten klah mug is found —-> http://www.flickr.com/photos/tirrell/1480685612/
Now Jeth, if Derin's girlfriend gets fried, you will have to face a very angry large miner and his blue wher. ;)
And I'm glad I won't be checking the storage and running into that mug, eeeeeew!