Tradition vs. Tech: Peace in the Conflict

"So you think it's pointless too, huh?" she asked, smirking a little at him. She was just following him at that point, not really paying attention to where she was going, or where they already were, for that matter. Things were getting too interesting. "I forgot what the whole point was a long time ago." She locked her hands behind her head, feeling a little more relaxed, finally. "What kind of stuff do you do? Can you tell me? 'Cause I bet your boss would love to find out you've been spilling your secrets to some Adreridon chick," she added sarcastically.
 
Allister looked at her curiously, laughing a bit. "I'm sure he'd very much love that. Either way, no, I can't tell." Shrugging, he closed his eyes, yawning boredly as he realized they were at the train station. "Well, this is your stop, so I'll be off. I have to show my face eventually," he chuckled as he continued walking on. Being late wasn't something he did often, so the people he was working with often let it slide. But if he was too late there would be some trouble. Looking at his watch, he sighed, picking his pace up a bit. Hoping that by now the conversation he was trying to avoid was over.
 
"Oh, hey. So it is," Sarah said with a slight chuckle. She thanked him for the quick tour and the brownie, and looked around her new surroundings, mentally tracing the path back to the bakery and starting to form a map of the city in her head. Spending a lot of time walking around her own hometown certainly had its advantages: her mind was built to remember spatial details.

A few moments later, an idea clicked in her head, and she ran back towards Allister, this time paying more attention to where she was going to make sure she didn't make any wrong turns on the way back through the route they'd walked. "Hey," she said to him, grabbing his shoulder. "Can I come with?"
 
Allister waved at her, smiling and nodding his head as he began his boring, quiet walk to work. Deciding mentally to stop by his old shop for a quick check in before heading home once more.

He turned to face the girl as she called him, looking at her a bit confused as he came to a stop. "You want to come with me? To my job?" He questioned her. It's not like it was something that people would normally request. Actually, he didn't think anyone would ever want to do something like that. It was a bunch of war crazy people going on and on about how to use these weapons, or how to attack the city or blah blah blah. Boring stuff in his mind. He just wanted to work on the machines, or go over blue prints. It was the only thing he slightly enjoyed about going to work these days.
 
"I want to see what it's like," she said, a slight smirk still on her face. Sure, it might be boring, depending on what exactly it was that Allister did, but at the same time, he'd mentioned that the weapons were powered by the energy of a mage, and she was genuinely curious as to how they could merge machinery and magic. After all, in the time she'd spent with her family in Elynwan, the place depended almost exclusively on magic, and her time in Adreridon had taught her that the two realms of development probably wouldn't mix too well.

"Maybe I can help, too," she added, her smirk widening. She held her hand up between them and allowed energy to flow through it, sending small, controlled sparks dancing between and around her fingers. "I can be pretty handy with machines sometimes. Jumpstarting them and stuff."
 
Allister sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know. A bunch of war generals and all. Today's suppose to be pretty boring. That's why I'm not even there yet." He stood for a moment, thinking it over before looking down at his watch. "Damn, just come on. If they let you in then fine," he said, half hollering as he took off. He was going to be late, real late. The only thing that kept this job was his skill, but he'd been slacking a lot more recently and even the people who thought he was a necessity were beginning to doubt.

He mumbled curses to himself, sprinting around a few corners before the large building he now worked in came into view. Panting, he came to a stop at the front doors. Waiving to the man that seemed to be standing guard before them. "Hey Aleon. She's with me," he stated as he pointed to the girl behind him.

The man nodded, "You're a lot later than usual, and the generals don't seem happy. Nor the mage's you might want to just teleport yourself up to the balcony and let yourself in. It'd be faster."

"You got that right. It's floor 14 Sarah," Allister turned to her, assuming she wasn't too far behind him before vanishing to make his way up.
 
Sarah started to say her thanks, but just shook her head and ran after him, noticing it would probably fall on deaf ears. She didn't have too much trouble keeping up with him, having spent her fair share of time on cardio. She was almost grateful that she'd kept him so long, since it didn't give him time to come up with a reason to tell her no. At the same time, though, she kind of felt sorry for him. Sarah tried to be on time for everything, and felt bad when she let someone down. Surely it couldn't be much more fun for Allister.

She nodded at the guard, Aleon, when Allister pointed to her, but her face quickly twisted to one of slight confusion and worry when he disappeared. There was one problem: she couldn't teleport. And Allister hadn't exactly left her with an alternative.

"Hey," she said to Aleon, one eyebrow slightly cocked, "isn't there an elevator or something?"
 
Aleon looked at her, nodding his head. "The energy converter is inside and too your right. The line is a bit backed up though, that's why I told Allister to just teleport." He stepped aside, nodding one last time to her before opening the door to let her in. "Floor 14 madame, if you weren't listening."

Allister still hadn't fully caught his breath by the time he stepped in on the meeting, getting no reaction from anyone. They barely even looked in his direction.

"You're late again, but not late enough. We're still talking about war tactics and how to break through Adreridon's force field. I assume you figured that out long ago though. Please have a seat," A man with long, bright blond hair spoke to him. His blue eyes peering over at the man.

"Of course sir," Allister smiled, nodding to everyone else before taking up an empty chair and listening to the man from before go on about how to get through the energy field. Though Allister really already did have it all figured out, and he didn't see how it was so difficult for these old me to do the same.
 
Sarah nodded back at him in silent thanks and headed inside. Quickly, eager to get in on the action (or at least her front seat look behind the scenes), she turned and looked around to her right, sighing when she saw that there was indeed a line.

A short while later, she stepped inside the energy converter, curious to see how they'd advanced since she'd last seen them but not wanting to waste any time investigating. She hit the button for the fourteenth floor and was teleported upwards in a quick and unceremonious flash of light. Stepping off of the platform feeling slightly disoriented, she made her way to the meeting room.

"Hello," she said to the people inside. "I'm with Allister...do you mind?"
 
Allister shot up from his chair, quickly covering the girls mouth. "Sorry, give us a moment." He chuckled nervously as he pulled her back out of the room. All eye's on them for once. Which was strange, seeing as most of those old men didn't care at all when Allister always showed up late. Didn't even bother to turn their head, or glance a look at him. He let out a sigh, removing his hand from Sarah's mouth as he leaned against the now closed door.

"What the hell was that?!" He almost shouted, still a little roughed up from the shock. "You don't just walk in on a war meeting like that. You didn't even knock or anything. Do you lack manners?" He ran his fingers through his hair, letting his head hang a bit as he took a deep breath. "I really doubt they're going to let you sit in now."
 
"Don't ever do that again," she hissed the instant he pulled his hand away from her mouth. Giving herself a few seconds to calm down at least a little, she sighed and gestured back to the door. "Fine, enjoy your..." She paused, catching herself before she could spit a very unnecessary insult. "...Enjoy your meeting."

Sarah walked off arbitrarily, listening carefully to the sounds behind her. That was...pretty dumb, and she wasn't entirely sure where it came from, but there were other ways to get the info she was looking for.
 
Allister sighed, rolling his eyes. She seemed to be reacting the way his little sister would when she didn't get her way. Running his fingers through his hair, he brushed himself off. Stepping back into the meeting, he quietly returned to his seat. The top mage giving him a rather curious look. "I apologize. Please ignore her. I took her in as a tutor for my little sister. She wanted to sit in on the meeting to see if she could learn more about--" he paused. Chuckling nervously as they all eyed him.

Four war generals and three mages, not including the head mage that was doing all the talking. The mages staring at him with their 'old and wise' looks, long beards and all. The war generals looking curiously at him with war obsessed eyes. Rubbing the back of his neck, Allister got to his feet. "Um, I'm gonna go get her now. She'll be quiet this time. I swear."

Hearing no complaints, he stepped out the door again. Heaving a sigh of relief. "I have no idea why I just did that," he mumbled to himself, looking up and down the hall for the girl. "Hey," he said in a sort of hushed tone, grabbing the girls elbow after he'd caught up to her. "Did you want to sit in or what?"
 
Sarah froze in mid-step when he heard her calling after her and cocked her head a bit towards him, one eyebrow raised in silent questioning. "So I can stay, huh?" she asked, turning to face him. She averted her eyes for a second, not looking forward to the next few moments, but sighed and looked back up at him all the same. "Sorry about back there. I dunno what came over me. I'm not used to formal stuff, I guess." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, tussling her hair a little, and nodded back towards the door to the meeting room. "Lead the way. I'll be good, heh."
 
With a sigh, Allister nodded to her. "The open chairs stay open though. Don't sit in them. You'll stand behind me, if your legs get tired or whatever just tap me on the shoulder. While you're in there though, no words. Please, nothing. The only ones talking should be me or any of the other grumpy old men in there." Feeling he'd gotten everything he needed to say out of the way, he grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her along after him. He was in a bit of a rush this time. Having been later than usual, and an interruption caused on his part. There was no way he wasn't in trouble this time.

Stepping through the door, the reaction was back to normal. No one took even a moment to turn and face him. Instead, something played up on the wall. Showing old war tactics before the second city even came into play. Returning to his seat, Allister watched it with confusion in his eyes. "We're watching this because....It worked in the past or something?"

"If you were paying any attention then you would know that these old tactics seemed to have the best effect against their enemies." The older mage looked back at him with a stern look. Only glancing up at Sarah for a moment before returning his attention back to the moving pictures.
 
She nodded right back at him, expression taking on a more determined edge, and followed, fighting the urge to jerk her arm out of his grip. She hated being treated like a child, but for now, she'd have to swallow her pride, or else this whole fiasco would probably be for nothing.

Sarah took her place behind Allister as he sat down. She watched the projection with avid interest. The tactics were relatively familiar to her; she'd heard about them in a lower-school history class and had a decent understanding as to why and how they worked. But when the mage spoke, she glanced back at him with her brow slightly creased. Were they really going to go back to these tactics? Sure, they'd worked in the past, but their enemies were more advanced, more dangerous now. Surely Elynwan knew that they would need to advance their strategies as well just to keep up? Were they hoping to catch Adreridon's forces off-guard? Sarah was fairly sure that the technological city would be prepared for that...why wouldn't they be?

She bit back a sigh and a sarcastic comment about the effectiveness of such a strategy, hoping that they were watching this so they might learn something from the past to use in future tactics. Now that was a good idea, not returning to your roots and staying there.
 
Allister on the other hand, paid little attention to the video. After having been through enough of these meetings with these people, he knew it would do no good. Heaving a heavy sigh, he turned his attention to the window. Looking out over the city, watching the birds that flew by. Some ways off, the other city of Adreridon could be seen. Only causing another sigh as he looked out at it.

Soon the video came to an end, the mage getting to his feet to speak once more. As always, Allister kept his mouth shut as they all began speaking again. Going on about what could be done and what strategies could be taken from what they'd just seen. Allister shaking his head at almost everything they said. He didn't believe much of any thing could be done about their current situation. At least not unless Allister actually began pitching in idea's and speaking to them about what he thought.

Finally they turned his attention to him, "Allister, since you refuse to speak with us on war tactics, do you have any new blue prints that could be looked over?" The head mage spoke to him, taking a seat beside the man.

A smile lit his face up, "Don't I always." Getting to his feet, he summoned a few of his blue prints up. Pulling them out of the table as if they'ed been hiding there all along. "Though unless you've gotten any stronger from two days ago, you won't be able to use them."
 
Sarah fought the urge to smirk. She could see what Allister was doing, plain as day, and it made her happy to see someone standing up to authority when it was well-deserved. Not only that, but at least the mages were actually trying to come up with new ideas, so perhaps there was hope for them yet. Maybe she didn't have anything to worry about after all. But, of course, she didn't plan on leaving until she absolutely had to. Why go through all this trouble for nothing but a possibility? And yet, she didn't want to break the rule Allister set up, and so she simply watched and listened in silence. Suddenly, she became aware that she had been gripping the back of Allister's chair rather tightly, and she relaxed her fingers.
 
The look on the head mage's face was grim. Looking at Allister with a scowl. "Your snide comments are unnecessary." Though still, the man bit back his pride. Still holding his head up as if it would change the words of what he was trying to say. "Can't you...can't you change it in some way that the other mages and I would be able to use these weapons of yours?"

"I can, I just don't want to. There's no point in making them powerful if I need to belittle them later. If I did that and they were used, it wouldn't change the course of this war. We might as well not make them at all." He unrolled the first blueprint of his, posting it up on the wall behind him. The war generals eyeing it like it was candy. "It's a bit big, but it's not suppose to be maned by only one person. Two or three at the most. Only one mage is needed for it though to control it from the inside. The others, well they can be normal as long as they can contain the other thing you had me make." He turned and looked over at the people before him, a bored look in his eyes.

This was his favorite part of working with these people, but he did well not to show it. Not wanting to give in to their wills and wants so that this war could begin going out of control. That, and not everything he thought up he knew how to make. Out of the many blueprints, and idea's he'd thought up. Only three were actually made, and he seemed to be the only one who could use them without any harm to himself or strange side affects.
 
Sarah noticed that her opinion of this guy had certainly been flipping an awful lot lately. He seemed to have the council of mages under his thumb, being the only one who was adept at working with machinery. Or, at least, the only one who could build weapons that could be used by the more magic-inclined men. Allister certainly seemed confident in his design, and if Sarah had been in the military, she probably would have been worried. That wasn't the case now, though; she simply looked over the blueprint with only slightly less interest than that of the other men in the room and listened to Allister's explanation. She liked this side of him. He was practically rubbing it in their faces that they wouldn't be able to get his designs to work properly. And what of that "other thing" he mentioned? Sarah was curious. She looked up at him and silently raised a brow at his last remark, as though asking him to elaborate while staying silent.
 
"No one can contain these damn things," a deep voice echoed, an older man with black hair and a thick mustache shouted. Slamming his fist into the table.

"Why is that my problem? You all asked me here to make these weapons for a war, so we could win. These would win, you're just not strong enough to work with any of them. That's not my problem." He rolled his eyes, these old men always got on his nerves. Though this was the only time he'd step out of his place, speaking of the things he'd made. He was still worried about how to make their city grow, instead he was here working to try and help them destroy another.

"Damn you! You think you're better than me or something, cause you can use magic," the man growled through gritted teeth, standing up and pounding his fist on the table again.

"I believe my remark to that is unneeded," Allister smiled at the man, rolling up the current blueprint. "Either way, before I show you anymore idea's I assume we should look over the ones that were already made and see what can be done with them. I can't think up new idea's if you guys can't even use the old ones." Transporting his blueprints back to their original spot, he stepped out the balcony.

"Very well then. General," The head mage nodded to the man who'd been so angrily throwing his little temper-tantrum. Stepping out onto the balcony as well, the other two mages standing, as they all, including Allister, teleported to the rooftop.

"Don't you use magic too?" The General sneered at Sarah, wondering why she didn't go with them.
 
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