We Can't Wait For Progress

[hextechhead]

WHO: Jayce Talis and you
WHAT: A variety of moments in the life of Jayce!
WHERE: Cadens and the Horizon
WHEN: All of August, will add more prompts later on in the month





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[wiedzminka]

Geralt gets a quick look at the sword where it's waiting for them before Ciri snatches it up excitedly, weighing the blade in her hand and giving it a thorough look-over from point to pommel. It's not because she doesn't trust Jayce; she's admiring it, and finding the work satisfactory judging by the huge grin on her face.

"It's perfect. I love what you did with the finger guard. Elegantly wrought, very nice work."

She picks up the scabbard beside it next to slide the sword home, and turns to look at the collapsible blade with a gasp. Like a kid in a toy store, for sure.

"Ooh, show me! How does it work?"

this is long i am sorry

[hextechhead]

It's funny because years ago, Jayce would have thought being a blacksmith and working in the forge every day would be the worst option for his future. It felt like too much of a step back toward what his family did, versus his ambitions for Hextech and scientific discovery. And yet he finds himself in this world feeling really good about the work he's done and deep satisfaction from Ciri's compliments of what he made for her. He beams back, very proud.

Geralt's attention goes to his new kind of invention though. It's the kind of step between making normal weapons and using their expertise to go further. His eyes brighten at the request and he moves over to pick up two of them, one that looks like an average hilt of a sword, and one that looks unassumingly small. He takes a few steps back though so he can show them without stabbing anything important. He learned that lesson during the testing process when he cut his chair in two.

"So there's two options, there's a spring-loaded one that is pocket size. Admittedly it won't be the roughest of the two, but it is very sharp, I assure you." Jayce shows them the smaller one first, it looks more like a knife, but he turns one side and shows them when he pushes firmly at the end of it. He flips it into the air, releasing the spring, and in a lethally fast move the blade snaps out and he catches the hilt in the air. It's a practiced sort of movement. This is definitely the sort of thing that would be good for a surprise attack to hold in your pocket or boot.

That part being shown off, he shows how when he pushes the same place, the blade retracts with a snap back right into it, and then seems unassuming and simple again. He puts it to the side and then moves to the sword that looks genuinely like it is only a hilt with nothing else. If someone looks closely though, they can see that there are several subtle buttons on the side and there is much more going on the inside.

Jayce moves his hand like he's going to swing the sword and when he does, a blade shoots out from inside of the hilt to be fully revealed by the end of the swing. He pulls it back and the blade retracts again. "It's actually moving by a series of hilt buttons and springs and gears, it's a whole thing you have to learn, but once you do, you can have a sword instantly and then flick it back."

Jayce shows them the hilt where they can see what he means. "Now just by how it works, it isn't made to replace your full sturdy swords, although for most people it will probably do in a pinch, but it probably would be a good secret blade or secondary weapon."

[gynvael]

When they stepped through the door, Geralt was not quite expecting a full demonstration. Should've known. When hasn't Jayce made something new?

He's silent while he watches, one shoulder against a wall and arms folded across his chest. Interesting. There's a certain skepticism in his expression—he's considering exactly how and when he might want this. For combat? Likely not. Relying on a blade that requires moving parts to function is asking for trouble. Even the split second it takes to push a button makes a difference. But...

His gaze flicks back to the smaller blade. Perhaps for utility, it can prove useful. A hunting knife. Provided the blade isn't stuck for good if the mechanism falters.

"And if the spring fails?"

[wiedzminka]

Of course there's not one, but two options. Jayce had an idea and ran with it; Ciri shouldn't be surprised. She watches the demonstration with more open interest than Geralt is showing. The concept is easy to understand, and her mind is already wandering off coming up with situations in which something like this could be useful, most of them involving exciting last-second saves where the blade springs out at just the right length to skewer an unsuspecting foe. Of course, just because the novelty of it is interesting to her though, it is only that: a novelty, and not something to rely on.

Geralt, naturally, immediately starts asking the bleak questions. Ciri ignores him.

Stepping forward, she puts her hand out for the sword hilt.

"Why did you decide to make something like this?" she asks Jayce instead, examining the sides of the device and the buttons he'd shown. Turning to make sure Jayce is safely out of the way, Ciri gives it a try, flicking her wrist and pressing the button to release the blade at the same time. This, she examines up close, taking note of the seams between the jointed metal plates where it folds up.

"It's not going to hold if it encounters a real sword."

--is her opinion, right now. Though it's as yet untested.

[hextechhead]

Jayce doesn't mind any questions, the whole point of creating something is to have reasons for it. It wouldn't be useful if he didn't listen to people who did this for a job.

"There's a secondary spring for those. These ones aren't springs, they're gears, it's a mechanism, like a firearm would be, but faster." He knows it wouldn't be obvious from the outside. The spring ones are clear, but the collapsible or retractable ones are made differently. It's actually made similarly to the way he did his hammer.

"Caitlyn ... my good friend from back home, she's like a sister to me. She's part of our police force. She has a collapsible rifle, designed for the same reason. Easier to carry and hide, hard to detect the danger of because they're fast." Jayce didn't design that particular rifle but he knows exactly how it works, having seen the schematics himself and watched her practice with it.

"I made something for myself. A while ago. It was multiple weapons in one, there were a lot of moving parts, but it wasn't fast. I really did try to make these more simplistic in use." Jayce never talks about the hammer, usually, and even mentioning it now he gets a little nervous. It's why he didn't go overboard here though. He wanted it to be functional, reasonable.

Jayce smiles at her and raises an eyebrow. "It's tougher than it looks, I'll admit someone swinging with supernatural strength, I can't account for that. But the majority of normal people wouldn't be able to break it. I reinforced the metal at the top here for that reason." It's the part that snaps up so it would be where a defensive action would be, where it needs to be the strongest.

"I'm not saying replace the actual sword I made for you with it though, they're meant to be good supplemental options. And very easy to hide."

[gynvael]

For someone who operates exclusively in the city, he can see the appeal. Or a sellsword. Geralt simply hasn't a need to conceal his weapons. It isn't a trade off he finds worth considering when a wyvern isn't going to recognize if he's carrying a blade or not. It'll want to tear him in half either way.

As for people, well. He prefers to have his sword when he can. Makes the whole thing quicker. But he doesn't need one where men are concerned.

He lets Ciri consider it, though. He imagines she'll find uses for a weapon of this kind that he would not. She performs more escorts than he does, going between cities with merchants.