Post by Aegle Verdant on Jul 5, 2019 15:18:00 GMT -5
Fingers trembling, Aegle took up the socket, its metal smooth and cool on her palm. With painstaking precision, she guided it down upon the sealing bolt by her elbow and, braced against the side of the work bench, she started to turn. It didn't look like much; Slim and silver and about fifteen centimeters long, the arm ended in a padded cuff with two rubber straps. The cuff was black cotton, sweat stained and sour smelling. Aegle had wrinkled her nose when she'd first caught scent of it, and determined to clean it once she was done maintenance and repairs. It felt so strange to not be wearing it for once, to have that cuff absent from its customary place on her left wrist, and not in a good way. Actions that were automatic while wearing the brace were made clumsy and cumbersome; She could already feel the muscle in her bicep and shoulder starting to burn from the added effort. Not that she had any alternative. Finally, with a quiet click, the arm came loose, and Aegle quickly caught it before it could fall. Her upper arm gave a little bit of a shudder as the weight fell free, and the upper armature of her brace lost connection with the lower. Detecting the fault, a quiet trill sounded from behind Aegle's head. Carefully placing the arm aside, as well as the socket, she tapped her watch with her nose, to let the brace know she was aware of the malfunction.
"S'alright." Aegle murmured, unnecessarily, fingers on her freed arm flexing out the fire growing in her wrist. Her sleeve was pulled up past her elbow, exposing the naked hinge and bolt she'd just undone. Aegle glanced about the small workshop, then tugged it back down her arm, covering up once more. Fingers still flexing, she arranged the arm and cuff on the work bench, and inspected the source of the issue. Just as she had suspected, the actuator beneath the wrist cuff was crooked. Rather than pleased, Aegle let out an irritated sigh as her suspicions were confirmed.
"When did that happen?" She muttered, turning the cuff this way and that, while her other arm hung limp at her side. It was a frustrating problem, to say the least.
Dropping the arm back onto the bench, Aegle dragged her tool box in front of her and dug into its contents. A large number of spare and replacement parts, a few loose tools, and odds and ends she no longer recalled the purpose for, she searched one handed through them all. There was no replacement for the actuator mount though, nor was there a spare actuator.
"Dangit." Aegle tossed her socket back into the tool box, then shoved the whole thing back in a huff.
"Gonna have t'fix it one handed."
She did not relish the prospect. Running her hand back across her scalp, Aegle scratched at the thin stubble coming in on the sides right side of her head. The left side was smooth, shaved freshly that morning, but the right had been left untouched, for want of a wrist to guide the razor. She pulled her hood up, to hide the half done job, and looked down at her danging hand in peevish annoyance. She pulled a fist with it, and raised it trembling up to the work bench. It was like trying to move through treacle, like there were hands clutching at her wrist and forearm, trying to hold it back. When she finally got her hand up, she let it thud lightly down on the smooth steel work top, and let her fingers uncurl. Her heart was hammering from the effort.
"Y'rely too much on this thing." Aegle told herself, as the fingers on her weak hand seized the brace's severed arm, holding it still, while she used the other to unscrew the actuator's break-plate. She made a mental note to get some replacement parts from Vulcan, so she wouldn't be forced to make repairs with one hand figuratively tied behind her back.
It was quiet in the workshop; Aegle had woken up early as she always did, and she did not expect to see anyone else before classes started. That suited her just fine, she didn't really want to explain what she was doing or why. Not that Aegle really expected anyone to take all that much interest in her, even if they did happen by the workshops. Most of the work benches were clearly set up for making alterations to weapons, or else for their general cleaning and maintenance. Aegle guessed that it was a pretty personal, self-absorbing thing to clean one's weapon, and did not see why anyone engaged in such a task should even notice she was there. True, she was not repairing or augmenting a weapon, but did not see why anyone should notice or care, even if they did happen by at so early an hour as this.
"Bet it was when I was talkin' t' Brawn." Aegle mused, tongue worrying her dogtooth as she carefully unscrewed the break-plate. She'd hit the bag badly, wrenched her wrist, when the big man had introduced himself to her. She hadn't thought she'd hit it so badly as to bend the actuator in its housing though.
Her hand started to tremble as she got the last screw out, and she almost dropped it and screwdriver both. Aegle sighed, carefully laid the tool aside, and then laid her hand flat on the work bench, and waited for her forearm to stop aching. If she'd had use of her other hand, she could have just switched up, but she didn't, and wouldn't until she got the actuator fixed...
While she waited for the strength in her fingers to return, Aegle looked around the workshop and wondered. She'd only been at Haven for a couple of days, and had not even known this place existed until the previous evening; Did it see much use from the other students, or were they content to see to their repairs and maintenance in the comfort of their dorm rooms? Aegle might have made her own repairs in her dorm room too, were it not for her roommate, whose face she had yet to even see. Aegle had not wanted to wake her accidentally while trying to fix her malfunctioning brace, least of all because that would have meant explaining what she was doing and why...
words - 1.076
"S'alright." Aegle murmured, unnecessarily, fingers on her freed arm flexing out the fire growing in her wrist. Her sleeve was pulled up past her elbow, exposing the naked hinge and bolt she'd just undone. Aegle glanced about the small workshop, then tugged it back down her arm, covering up once more. Fingers still flexing, she arranged the arm and cuff on the work bench, and inspected the source of the issue. Just as she had suspected, the actuator beneath the wrist cuff was crooked. Rather than pleased, Aegle let out an irritated sigh as her suspicions were confirmed.
"When did that happen?" She muttered, turning the cuff this way and that, while her other arm hung limp at her side. It was a frustrating problem, to say the least.
Dropping the arm back onto the bench, Aegle dragged her tool box in front of her and dug into its contents. A large number of spare and replacement parts, a few loose tools, and odds and ends she no longer recalled the purpose for, she searched one handed through them all. There was no replacement for the actuator mount though, nor was there a spare actuator.
"Dangit." Aegle tossed her socket back into the tool box, then shoved the whole thing back in a huff.
"Gonna have t'fix it one handed."
She did not relish the prospect. Running her hand back across her scalp, Aegle scratched at the thin stubble coming in on the sides right side of her head. The left side was smooth, shaved freshly that morning, but the right had been left untouched, for want of a wrist to guide the razor. She pulled her hood up, to hide the half done job, and looked down at her danging hand in peevish annoyance. She pulled a fist with it, and raised it trembling up to the work bench. It was like trying to move through treacle, like there were hands clutching at her wrist and forearm, trying to hold it back. When she finally got her hand up, she let it thud lightly down on the smooth steel work top, and let her fingers uncurl. Her heart was hammering from the effort.
"Y'rely too much on this thing." Aegle told herself, as the fingers on her weak hand seized the brace's severed arm, holding it still, while she used the other to unscrew the actuator's break-plate. She made a mental note to get some replacement parts from Vulcan, so she wouldn't be forced to make repairs with one hand figuratively tied behind her back.
It was quiet in the workshop; Aegle had woken up early as she always did, and she did not expect to see anyone else before classes started. That suited her just fine, she didn't really want to explain what she was doing or why. Not that Aegle really expected anyone to take all that much interest in her, even if they did happen by the workshops. Most of the work benches were clearly set up for making alterations to weapons, or else for their general cleaning and maintenance. Aegle guessed that it was a pretty personal, self-absorbing thing to clean one's weapon, and did not see why anyone engaged in such a task should even notice she was there. True, she was not repairing or augmenting a weapon, but did not see why anyone should notice or care, even if they did happen by at so early an hour as this.
"Bet it was when I was talkin' t' Brawn." Aegle mused, tongue worrying her dogtooth as she carefully unscrewed the break-plate. She'd hit the bag badly, wrenched her wrist, when the big man had introduced himself to her. She hadn't thought she'd hit it so badly as to bend the actuator in its housing though.
Her hand started to tremble as she got the last screw out, and she almost dropped it and screwdriver both. Aegle sighed, carefully laid the tool aside, and then laid her hand flat on the work bench, and waited for her forearm to stop aching. If she'd had use of her other hand, she could have just switched up, but she didn't, and wouldn't until she got the actuator fixed...
While she waited for the strength in her fingers to return, Aegle looked around the workshop and wondered. She'd only been at Haven for a couple of days, and had not even known this place existed until the previous evening; Did it see much use from the other students, or were they content to see to their repairs and maintenance in the comfort of their dorm rooms? Aegle might have made her own repairs in her dorm room too, were it not for her roommate, whose face she had yet to even see. Aegle had not wanted to wake her accidentally while trying to fix her malfunctioning brace, least of all because that would have meant explaining what she was doing and why...
words - 1.076