Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected

(+) Yeah! (+)

used another coin toss to break the tie

B

10

You keep aiming for the 100 points, rolling another Skee ball. You miss again, but are not deterred. You miss a third time, and are admittedly starting to get frustrated.

30

You roll the fourth ball, adjusting your swing, and finally make it in!

130

You keep going, hitting again with the fifth ball and sixth.

330

Aqualad meanwhile has been hitting the easier 50 and 40 point holes, and has 290. Seems your high risk has yielded a slightly higher reward.

You focus, having only three balls left to roll. You take the seventh and hit, roll the eighth and miss.

440

With all the focus you have, you take the ninth and final ball and roll it. It hits!

"Yes!" you say as your final score is 540.

The tickets spit out from the machine, and by your count, you get 54 of them. Aqualad finishes with 430 points, so he gets 43 tickets.

"What's for 43 tickets..." he says as he looks at the prize wall.

You also look to see what's for 54 tickets. You promised to get Raven a stuffed animal, so a stuffed animal it will be.

A) Teddy Bear
B) Dog
C) Snake
D) Go another nine
---

B, Dog.
---

C all girls love snakes
---

C) Snake

I could see Raven liking snakes
---

C

"I'll take that snake," you say, pointing at the red and pink snake worth 50 tickets.

The employee manning the prize wall uses a hook and step ladder to reach the stuffed animal and bring it down. You give up all but four tickets and take possession of the stuffed snake.

"Here you are," you say as you give the snake to Raven.

"You really came through on your promise," she chuckles. "Where'm I going to keep this?"

She has the snake draped on her shoulders and there's still plenty to hold up with both hands.

"You could wrap it around a bit more," you say as you take the snake and loop it around.

"Well now I'm like you and your scarf," she smirks as she pets the head of the snake as it rests on her right shoulder.

"No no," you say. "You're much cuter."

Raven blushes and giggles as she hides her smile behind the snake's body.

"So what did you get for Tramm?" you ask Aqualad.

"I went with this paddle ball and this light up toy sword," he says. "I'll make sure to wrap them in plastic before I hit the water."

"Speaking of, we should probably hit the road," you say to Raven. "We can't just waste the whole day getting to my family's company."

"Alright," Raven says. "We'll say hey to the others for you."

"Cool," Aqualad says. "See you around."

You and Raven return to the parking lot while Aqualad heads into town, likely to a conveniece store. You and Raven return to Shadowfax and you pull out Raven's cloak, shoes and belt for her. She puts those back on while you return the sandals to the knapsack. You change your clothes back via the alchemy circles then put your socks and shoes back on. After that you take out the helmets and straddle the bike.

"You ready?" you ask as you look back.

"Ready," she says as she snaps the strap, snake still wrapped around her neck.

You start Shadowfax's engine and slowly pull out of the parking lot. You then get the GPS back up and head out on Highway CA-1 once again.

As you get going on the open road, you feel Raven wrap her arms around you, and even rest her head against your shoulders.

"So have you thought of a name?" you ask.

"Huh?" she asks, lifting her head.

"For the snake," you say. "What will you call him?"

"I dunno," she chuckles. "I didn't exactly name the chicken Beast Boy gave me."

"Where do you keep that, by the way?" you ask. "Didn't exactly see it on the bed or a shelf."

"I shoved it in the closet," she says. "It's between a box of spare belts and my ouija board. ... But the snake will join me on the bed."

You're sure at least a part of that was with the intent to tease you, and it's working. You've never wanted to be a stuffed animal more than right now.

You leave Santa Cruz behind but quickly spot a long stretch of beach, with almost no one around. Certainly not as many people at the Santa Cruz beach.

A) Use this spot for more photo taking
B) Move on, try again at a different time
---

---

A)
---

B
---

A

"What do you say to more photos?" you ask. "A nice beach scene would really amuse my sisters."

"Alright," she says. "Though, we should've done this back in Santa Cruz."

"Too many people for my liking," you say. "I want just a picture of you. I mean, I don't want that to sound creepy or possessive but..."

"No I get what you meant," Raven laughs. "Let's just take the pictures."

You pull off of CA-1 and find your way through winding side streets to enter the Sunset State Beach. You park and take your phone to be the camera as Raven heads to the sand, snake still on her shoulders.

"Are you sure you want that in the picture?" you ask.

"Well, I could pose with it," she says.

Raven unfurls the snake and holds it up, a slight tilt and turn in her hips as she holds the end with the head up high and lets the end with the tail drop low. You hold in your desire to bite your lower lip.

You bring up your phone and put it to camera mode, snapping a couple pictures of that pose.

"Good-- *ahem* Good," you say, having to strengthen your voice. "Any other poses? Perhaps... you lying on the sand?"

"Are these pictures for you or your sisters?"

"Um..."

She smirks, though as if to say "Oh you." She levitates the snake and her cloak as she looks for a clean spot on the sand. She then sits down and stretches out her legs, leaning back to be supported by her hands.

"Is this good?" she asks with the same smirk.

"Yes," you say as you crouch low and take pictures. "How about turning this way?"

She rolls onto her right side to face you, supporting herself on her elbow as her left leg bends alluringly. You take more pictures.

"Alright, is that good?" she asks as she gets up.

"Yes, we can move on," you say as you check the pictures you took.

You look up and see Raven standing up and looking over her shoulders. She surely spots the sand that stuck to her buttocks as you do, and she starts patting and brushing it off. You immediately take pictures, doing your best not to drool.

"Hey!" she says. "Don't take pictures of that!"

She hurries over, very red in the face and even some sparks of magical energy coming off of her.

"Why not?" you say, holding the phone above your head as she reaches for it.

"Because I didn't give you permission," she says.

She realizes how close her face is to yours as she says that and backs off, but her emotion-driven magical aura creeps up your arms with intent to grab the phone.

"We just met yesterday," she continues, "so don't think you can get away with stuff like that just because you're charming."

"Alright, I'll delete that last couple of pictures," you say.

Her aura withdraws and you bring the phone back down. You delete the pictures of Raven's sandy butt, and do your best to commit that image to memory.

"Moving on," you say as you head back to the motorcycle.

You, Raven and the snake head back out on the road, leaving Sunset State Beach behind.

Several hours pass quietly on the road, and you eventually make it to the Los Angeles area. The traffic slows you down, and you have to stop at a traffic light.

A) Do some sight seeing while here
B) Blow on through LA to National City
---

B...
---

A. Been a couple hours. Good to get off and stretch.
---

A) Do some sight seeing while here
---

A

"Let's take a quick look around this City of Angels," you say. "I'm sure my sisters would appreciate pictures."

You manage to move into the left lane and turn on the signal change to green. You drive down the street and pass though Beverly Hills. You admire the nice suburban expanse to the left and the urban downtown area to the right. You then make your way past the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the La Brea Tar Pits.

"Ooo~!" you say as you take pictures of each. "We should plan to visit the art museum on the way back."

You turn North when you arrive in Central Los Angeles and see the Hollywood sign in the distance. You drive up a few blocks and arrive in none other than the Hollywood area.

"Hollywood!" you say as you drive around. "The ArcLight, Hollywood Palladium, which means the Walk of Fame is nearby."

You weave around and find the Walk just off of Sunset Boulevard. You park and excitedly head for the many stars paved into the sidewalk.

"I didn't think you'd be all that into this stuff," Raven says as she follows behind.

"Well not for all the stars on the Walk," you say as you search. "But... aha! Mel Blanc, original voice of the Looney Tunes! Pierce Brosnan, aka one of the many men to be 007. Alfred Hitchcock because, well, he's Alfred Hitchcock. Same for KISS, because they're KISS."

You and Raven return to Shadowfax and continue driving North. You turn left on Hollywood Boulevard and stop at the iconic and now named TCL Chinese Theatre to take a picture of you and Raven outfront. You also see the handprints in the forecourt.

"Oh, Groucho Marx's cigar!" you say before taking a picture.

"Wow, that's quite the eclectic collection of interests," Raven says.

"I prefer to think of it as liking things that are good," you say. "Do you like any of those same things?"

"Hitchcock, and some of KISS's work," she says. "Never been much for cartoons, or James Bond."

"To each their own," you say. "We should think about watching Hitchcock films or jamming out to KISS."

"There is a place in LA I would like to go," she says.

"The Hollywood sign?" you say. "Wouldn't mind that myself."

"Well, we can do that," she says, "but I mean the Los Angeles Museum of Death. It's down Hollywood Boulevard past the Pantages Theatre."

"O-Oh..."

"What? You aren't scared, are you?" she asks.

"N-No," you say. "We'll go..."

A) Right now, then the Hollywood sign
B) After the Hollywood sign
---

A)
---

A.
---

A
---

note: the Museum of Death is real, as are the exhibits I'll mention, but the employees I will end up describing are not.


A

"We'll go right now."

You and Raven return to Shadowfax and drive down Hollywood Boulevard, past The Hollywood Museum, The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood, The Hollywood Pantages and even The Fonda Theatre to arrive at the Los Angeles Museum of Death.

"Well that skull on the front door is well-drawn," you say.

You two enter through the front door and to the front desk. A young man with sullen eyes and spiked wristbands is there manning the register.

"Hey," he says when he spots you.

"Hello," you say. "Two for the tour, please."

"Okay," he says as he types on the register. "That'll be $30."

You pull out the money and hand it over, he dispenses the tickets for you and Raven, and the two of you head past the front desk. You then hand the tickets over to another employee with a rather large lip ring, who punches the tickets and lets you into the exhibition hall.

Upon entering, your eyes are assaulted with skeletons, coffins, replica autopsy tools and real taxidermied house pets. You gulp out of nerves, Raven practically lights up.

"Wow, look!" she says with excitement. "Crime scene photos from the Charles Manson cases! Whoa, it's the severed head of Henri Landru, aka the Blue Beard of Paris. He was executed with a guillotine in November of 1921 after being arrested for and confessing to the 11 murders he committed."

"I see..." you say as you and Raven look at the desiccated head on a stand inside a glass box.

"He was the inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's 1947 film, Monsieur Verdoux," Raven adds as she bounces eagerly.

"Oh..." you say, slowly following her to the next thing.

Raven looks bright eyed at the various body bags and coffins on the side, set up in a row to show the evolution from linen wrap to modern wood caskets. This is like the goth version of a kid in a toy store. As creepy as everything is to you, you do love that Raven is enjoying herself.

Raven leads you along to the taxidermy area and you honestly do admire the skill to stuffing the deceased dogs and cats.

"Oh my gosh, no way," Raven says. "These are from the Black Dahlia murder?"

Raven looks at the various photos from both the crime scene, autopsy and morgue. You feel a twitch in one eye, despite how wide they're opened...

Raven continues to lead the way as you pass by the "evolution of autopsy tools" area, and you're rather shocked to see pruning sheers are there, labelled as "rib cutters"...

"They have a video section?" Raven says, filling you with dread.

You try not to look at the screens, but you don't want to lose track of Raven in here, either.

"Wait, is this Faces of Death or Traces of Death?" Raven asks an attendant.

"Traces," they answer. "So it's all real."

"Wow...!" Raven says.

"Wait, could you explain what those are?" you ask.

"Faces of Death is a 1978 'mondo', aka an 'exploitation pseudo-documentary'," Raven says. "It was a very graphic film documenting death, but just recreations and reenactments."

"Okay," you say.

"Traces was made in 1993 as a direct-to-video 'Z Movie' 'shockumentary', and is a compilation of real footage of real violence and even deaths."

"Seriously!?"
---

"Well, it was actually banned in the United Kingdom because the BBFC couldn't find any 'journalistic, educational or otherwise justifying context' for it to be a film, so I can understand why you didn't even know about it."

You feel yourself hyperventilate for the first time in your life. You bend over slightly, then take a deep breath and straighten out.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

"Don't worry, I can handle this," you say. "Though, I wouldn't mind picking up the pace a little."

Raven smiles softly and stays closer to you as you continue moving through the museum. More videos of autopsies being performed and other such gruesome things and after about another half an hour, you find the end and make your exit.

"See?" you say, feeling relieved. "I got through it."

"So... You're not off-put that I was perfectly okay in there?"

"W-What? Oh, Raven, no, it'd take much more than a fascination with macabre to get me to dislike you. Even though, yours is quite a strong one. I'm fine, really."

Raven smiles, reassured, and the two find that you're now in the Museum of Death's gift shop.

A) Buy something for Raven
B) Buy something for Raven and your sisters
---

These women be burnin holes in our pockets, but we love em, so that's okay.

B.
---

A) Buy something for Raven
---

B
---

another note: the merchandise mentioned or described are also real, including prices.


B

"Would you like something?" you ask Raven. "I'll get my sisters something, so I don't mind buying you something."

"Alright," she smiles.

You two walk through the shop and see they have quite a variety of t-shirts, both men's and women's styles. You find the shirts in your sisters' size--because they're twins--and look through the selection.

"I think I'll get this Museum of Death Hollywood skull shirt for Rebecca," you say, "and then this Museum of Death Hollywood bed of skulls for Roselind. Though, as twins they can just swap if they prefer the other one.

"Oh, these hats, too," you say as you spot them on the hooks. "One black and white, and one all black."

You hold the shirts and hats together and look at other things.

"There's a Serial Killer the board game?" you say in disbelief. "Blimey that's surreal."

You look over and find Raven contemplating which shirt to go with. She's looking at one with a black-and-white heart and another with silver text on it.

"Which one do you like best?" she asks.

She then holds each one up against her body, something reminiscent of what your sisters would do. Of course, your sisters don't have Raven's figure, which shines through even these two cotton tees.

"I honestly can't decide," you say. "I like the aesthetic of both. This one with the human heart, with wings and an arrow through it, and how it's meant to look like a page torn from a spiral notebook, a very clever theme. But then the one with the silver lettering, 'Where the stars end and darkness begins', sandwiched between skillfully drawn, ornate skulls and crosses, another great design."

Raven looks at both shirts again, and also seems unable to decide.

"Could I get both?" she asks demurely.

"Well certainly. How much do they cost?"

"This 'blackest heart' one costs 25, and 'Where the stars end' is 20."

You cough out of surprise, like a spit take without a drink. You then look at the price tags on the hats and shirts you were planning to buy for your sisters, and see the hats are $15 each and the shirts are also $20 each. As it stands, that's $115...

"That's fine..." you say a bit reluctantly. "I can manage."

A hesitant you and an excited Raven go to the cashier and put down your items. They scan the barcodes and calculate the taxes, and the final total is $125.35. You bring out $130 and receive your change with the receipt. The hats and shirts for your sisters are bagged separately from the shirts for Raven, and the two of you take your leave.

You two return to Shadowfax and, after putting the bags inside the knapsack along with Raven's snake, drive up to the Hollywood Hills and to the Hollywood sign itself.

The final stretch of road, one Mount Lee Drive, is a winding one within the edge of Griffith Park. After finding a parking space in front of the City of Los Angeles Central Communications Facility, you two walk around to the front of the large white letters.

"Let's get a little downhill here, to get as much of the sign as we can," you say.

You lead the way and get within a few meters of the edge of the slope.

"Hmm, best I can get is Holly and then Wood," you say as you look through the camera phone. "Let's have you stand between the Y and the W, and then we can take two photos."

Raven positions herself as suggested.

"Good," you say. "Now let's turn towards Holly on your right, and maybe have your arms up like you're presenting the letters."

"Like this?" she asks, arms raised with palms upturned.
---

"Yes, perfect," you say as you snap the picture. "Now the other way."

Raven rotates as you shift over, and now Raven has her arms up to present the Wood in Hollywood.

"Perfect," you say as you snap more pictures. "Alright, I think we've got what we need. Let's continue to National City."

You and Raven return to Shadowfax and ride back down the winding Mount Lee Drive, and make your way out of Los Angeles completely to head for National City.

After a few more hours of driving quietly, you pass through San Diego and arrive into the much smaller National City. You drive down the main street, National City Boulevard, then turn onto Harbor Drive to arrive at the combination corporate and shipping headquarters of Null Co. Pacific.

"Here we are," you say. "What do you think?"

"It's... clean," she says with a slight shrug.

"Yes, our American branch is still growing," you say. "But it's a good sign that we even have one."

You pull into the parking lot and find the space reserved for the Null family. It looks pretty prestine, obviously because no one uses it since the Nulls hardly visit. You might even be the first to use it this year.

You shut Shadowfax's engine down and have him stand, you lead the way into the building from the side entrance.

"I like this interior," Raven notes.

"Yes, it's very much like the main headquarters in London," you say.

You find your way to the lobby and the front desk.

"Oh, hello there," the young woman sitting there says in surprise. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here on behalf of my family to check on the apparent issues this branch has been having," you say.

"Your family?" she asks, a little confused.

"Yes," you say, confused by her confusion. "I'm--"

"Oh, you're young Master Rorek," she says, realizing in that moment. "Yes, we received a call the other day that you would be arriving. I'm sorry for not recognizing you right away."

"It's alright," you say. "But could you please direct us to the areas of concern?"

"Yes, of course," she says as she pulls out some papers. "Here you are."

She hands you the papers, and you count four separate documents. You're vaguely familiar with the layout of the building, so you begin the problem solving tour with

A) the closest
B) the highest priority
---

B
---

B.
---

B.
---

Shurgs B
---

B

"First stop," you say as you organize the documents, "the Marketing and Localization division."

You lead the way past the front desk and up a flight of stairs to the third floor. You walk down a hall and find the door labelled "Marketing & Localization". You open the door for Raven, she walks in, and you follow.

Inside this enclosed office space, one half filled with cubicles and the other a conference table, are just under a dozen employees who are currently huddled between both halves. They stop muttering between themselves and look over at the door.

"Oh, Mr. Null," the man in a suit and glasses says when he spots you. "Or, young Mr. Null. We're glad to finally see you here."

"Yes, thank you," you say.

"And who is this with you?" he asks.

"This is my..." you say as you search for a word, "good friend, Raven. She was kind enough to accompany me on this trip. And don't worry about confidentiality clauses, I'm fully aware of everything in employee contracts, you can talk to her because she herself is well versed in the world of magic."

The employees are immediately relieved.

"Let's get to business, shall we?" you continue. "I have the paper here, and it seems the sales numbers for this branch aren't going so well."

"Yes, please, let's sit at the table," the man in glasses says. "By the way, my name is Bernard, Bernard Dial, I am the head of Marketing and Localization."

"Good to meet you, Bernard," you say as you all move to the table and sit down. "You're alright with me calling you 'Bernard'?"

"Yes, of course, Mr. Null," Bernard says.

"Please, there are too many 'Mr. Nulls' in my family," you say. "You may call me 'Rorek', unless you don't feel comfortable with that."

"Um... I'll compromise and call you 'Mr. Rorek'," Bernard says. "So, Mr. Rorek, you are correct that our branch is having difficulty making sales quotas. The reason for this division at all is to help Null Co, originally an English and European based company, find a way to reach our American demographic, in terms of the advertising and presentation, sometimes even the naming of our products."

"Yes there is often a barrier between American and British cultures," you say. "Despite us both using the English language, we often use it different ways. Let me see what your current ad campaigns are."

"Right," Bernard says. "Christie, Byron, could you bring over the first item?"

Christie and Byron, a young woman in a sharply pleated skirt and a young man with a polkadot bowtie, walk over to the cubicles and return with a few cardboard boxes.

"This is our most apparent obstacle in the localization to America," Bernard says as the product is set on the table.

"Oh, Magi-Torch," you say upon seeing one of the boxes. "The magically powered electrical light. Or, as we advertise to non-magic people, it is powered by a state-of-the-art lithium ion battery that far exceeds other brands of batteries or torches."

"So, it's a magic flashlight?" Raven says.

"Right, that's the word used in America," Bernard says. "However, we can't simply translate it to 'Magi-light', because there are other products in America that have names that either sound like 'Maa-ji-light' or are closely spelled that way.
---

"For example, there is Maglite, a very popular brand of LED flashlight that we would be going up against. The use of 'M A G' and then 'light' or 'lite' is too much overlap that it could be seen as copyright or a form of cybersquatting, the portion of copyright law where having such a similar name is meant to misdirect customers towards your product over another's."

"Then why not just keep it as 'Magi-Torch'?" you ask.

"Because American shoppers don't understand the terminology," Bernard says. "Americans hear 'torch' and think a literal stick on fire. Or welding torches. Either way, they'd get them confused."

"So that's where our alternate name ideas come in," Christie says with a big and somewhat nervous grin.

She turns around the other boxes, and you see the new names across the side, similarly to how "Magi-Torch" is printed on the first box.

"The Wizard Light," you read, "the Witchlight, and the Everlasting Light."

"Isn't 'Everlasting Light' a song title?" Raven says.

Christie looks over at Byron, who nervously slips that box off the table.

"We actually have a pretty good slogan for Witchlight," Christie says.

"Then let's hear it," you say.

"Need to see in the dark?" Christie starts in a very slogan-like manner. "Don't ask 'which light?' Choose 'Witchlight'! Get it?"

"Yes, a play on which and witch," you nod. "I think that could go far."

Christie smiles and the team gives her congratulatory smiles and thumbs-ups.

"We'll get on testing that with focus groups," Bernard says as the Magi-Torch and Witchlight boxes are put on a shelf labelled "APPROVED". "As for our next product, Elwood."

Elwood, who has slicked hair and braces--er, suspenders--fetches the item.

"Vacuum flask?" you say.

"Thermos," Raven translates.

"And there is the problem," Bernard says. "Another term that American customers won't quite get, so we need to come up with a clever name outside of the 'VacuuMax'. Makes it sound like, well, a vacuum cleaner."

"We use special magical charms in the materials that insulate the contents," you explain. "What are your ideas?"

"We thought about 'TherMax', 'TherMazing' and 'TherMagic'," Elwood lists.

A) Go with TherMax
B) Go with TherMazing
C) Go with TherMagic
---

A.
---

A...
---

A) Go with TherMax
---

A

"I like the sound of TherMax," you say. "What are the ad campaign ideas for this one?"

"We... hadn't really created any slogans yet," Elwood says.

"Well, let's brainstorm then," you say. "TherMax... Max..."

Everyone is quiet as they think.

"Well, whether they're called Vacuum Flask or Thermos, the actual term is 'insulated container'," Raven points out. "The slogan should incorporate that, too."

"Right," you say. "Insulation, to keep drinks at the right temperature... Well then this should be a lot easier than it sounds."

You sit up and prepare your best slogan delivery voice.

"When you need to keep your hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold," you say, "take insulation to the max with TherMax, by Null Co."

The employees lightly applaud the idea, Elwood writes it down. The "VacuuMax"/"TherMax" is put on the "APPROVED" shelf.

"So is that all or is there a third product?" you ask as you review the paper.

"No, those were the only products of concern," Bernard says. "Thank you for the help, Mr. Rorek, sir."

"You're welcome, Bernard," you say. "If that is all, we'll be moving on, there are a few more areas to address."

Everyone stands up from the table and you lead Raven back to the hallway.

"Next is Magic Attunement," you say as you return to the stairs.

You go to the second floor and to the end of the hall.

"How was Marketing and Localization a higher priority than something involving magic?" she asks.

"Well, without proper marketing, our products won't be noticed and customers won't buy them," you say. "Without products being sold, we don't make money and therefore no one here can get paid. By that logic, marketing was more important."

"I see your point," she says. "Now, what exactly does Null Co. need a Magic Attunement division for?"

"Well, I do know that we have a handful of products that rely heavily on Ley Lines as sources for magic. I also saved this for after marketing because magic is something I know the two of us are incredibly skilled at."

You open the door for Raven and the two of you enter the laboratory room. Gentlemen in lab coats stand there, very much like the Marketing team.

"Hello, Mr. Null," the lead magical scientist says. "I'm Neal Soap, department chief."

"Good to meet you, Neal," you say as you shake hands. "And don't worry about saying 'Mr. Null', call me Rorek or something like that. And before you ask, this is my good friend Raven of the Teen Titans. She's magical herself so you don't need to worry about our confidentiality clauses."

"Understood," he says. "I'm confident that you're here to help us address the American magic configurations of some more sensitive products."

"Yes, according to this document," you say. "It says here the difficult ones are the Ley Line powered line of home products: the magic dynamo, the magic heater, and the magic freezer."

Those three items are wheeled over.

"Oh, dynamo as in generator," Raven says.

"Yes," you say. "This magic dynamo, nicknamed the 'DyMagic' to rhyme with 'dynamic', takes Ley Line energy and converts it into electrical energy to then be put into any electrical product, whether it be a lamp, a car accumulator-- er, battery, or even a computer. We get away selling this to non-magical communities by having a fake power cable attached, they'll plug it in and 'charge' it for only an hour as the dynamo is actually charged by the Ley Line in that same amount of time.
---

"The same actually applies to all three products. The space heater has a fake cable to plug into a wall, it actually uses Ley Line energy to generate its heat, and the freezer does the same for cold energy. This way, all three products look incredibly energy efficient on your utilities bill, making them favorable to those worried about the environment."

"So the problem is therefore being able to tap into the Ley Lines of North America," Raven infers.

"Correct," you say. "This is proving rather difficult, hm?"

"Yes, and we apologize for that," Neal says.

"No it's alright, Ley Lines are as old as the planet itself, they're very mysterious magical phenomena. Let me see if I can help."

You step over to the three items and pop open the maintenance panels. You look at the three similarly designed magical siphon-and-conversion systems. The golden glow in the dynamo is for electrical energy, red-orange for heat and a pale blue for cold. The only problem is that neither is getting a strong white glow for the energy from the Ley Lines, which is the logical problem.

"The problem in all three should be the same," you say, "so solving one will solve them all."

"Then why the hesitation?" Raven asks.

"The risk of catastrophic failure," you say. "If the attunement goes wrong, it is death by either electric shock, immolation, or being frozen solid."

"These are that dangerous?!" she says. "Why're you selling them?!"

"Because once they're properly tuned, they're 100 percent safe," you say. "It's when trying to put them together that one must be careful."

You consider the three possibilities and choose

A) Dynamo
B) Heater
C) Freezer
---

A.
---

A) Dynamo

Sounds cool
---

C
---

A

"I have better control of lightning magic, and therefore electricity," you say, "so I'm going to start with the dynamo."

You place one hand on the siphon and one hand on the floor. You focus your mind and search out the closest Ley Line. Accessing Ley Lines was a crucial part of your studies, and became part of the Null Family repertoire when Rorek II learned it from Merlin himself.

The local Ley Line is almost a kilometer from here, but distance isn't the issue when the dynamo's main function is to store energy anyway. The flow is healthy, but from your practice with the Lines found in Europe and Asia, you can tell it has a different color to it. It is difficult for magic users to describe the Lines, as a different sense is triggered depending on the person. In your case, you see a different color in your mind's eye.

If you had to describe the three regions, European Ley Lines are shades of blue, while Asian Ley Lines are shades of green. From this initial contact with a North American Ley Line, the general color family seems to be purple.

The best kinds of Ley Line readings for tuning are naturally sight and sound based, as it is just naturally easier to say "match these images and frequencies" than "match these flavors and smells." You focus on the particular shade of purple you're seeing, a lavendar or perhaps lilac, and adjust the "color" inside the Dynamo's system.

The system resists, a natural reaction and the reason you were worried about the explosion of lightning. You go slowly so as not to agitate the system, and cycle through the shades of red to purple. You slow down even more as you approach the matching shade. You "turn the dial" as slowly as possible, given there's no real dial, and finally have matching shades.

"There it is," you say as you lock it in.

You then go to the heater and freezer and tune them to the lavendar color.

"Alright, start them up," you say.

Neal and the others activate each item and everyone steps back. The dynamo's magic reserve fills, the thermometer registers heat from the space heater and cold from the freezer.

"Success!" Neal says. "Incredible work, Mr. Rorek."

"Thank you," you say. "Though, this is just the fix for three models out of hundreds, possibly thousands. As much as I want the family company to succeed, I can't possibly do all that."

"Not to worry, sir," Neal says. "Now that they've been properly tuned, we can just use forms of Copying magic to essentially reproduce these three exact models thousands of times for mass production."

"Brilliant," you say. "If that's all, we'll be moving on."

You shake hands with Neal and his team, you and Raven leave and head out of the main building to the warehouse area to the garage for the multipurpose engineering division. When you arrive, the team here is busily working on various engines and machinery, unlike the previous two teams who were anxiously waiting your arrival.

"Hello?" you call out, getting everyone's attention and stopping the noise. "Might one of you be Magi-Drive team leader, Sebastian Cross?"

"That's me," a man with graying scruffy facial hair says as he walks over while wiping grease from his hands. "Ah, you must be Mr. Null, specifically the son, Rorek."

"Yes, I am," you say as you shake his hand. "I'm sure you're aware, but I'm here to help the engineering division with Magi-Drives."

"Yes, we got that memo the other day," Sebastian says. "This way."
---

You and Raven follow Sebastian past the "big rig" tractor-trailer lorries, or "trucks", and to a walled off room. You enter inside and see the almost baker's dozen of Magi-Drives all varying in function and size.

"This was only third on the schedule because...?" Raven asks.

"Magi-Drives are an invention of my grandfather's, Rorek the Sixth," you say. "Therefore, they are the newest innovation in magical items, and are not yet widespread. Think of how televisions and telephones were when first invented. While great inventions, the manufacturing and distributing of them took time, so the same would be natural for Magi-Drives."

"I see," Raven says. "Also, you didn't tell me your grandfather was Rorek the Sixth."

"I hadn't?" you say. "Well we can talk about him and Rorek the Fifth later, we should get to work on all of these. Do you have the paperwork on each drive?"

"Yes, right here," Sebastian says as he fetches a clipboard from the wall.

He hands it to you and you look over the many pages detailing the issues each Magi-Drive is having.

"The Levitation Drives aren't getting the necessary lift," you read aloud, "the Phase Drive isn't attaining proper vibration, and the Gravitation Drives aren't achieving cohesion. This will take some time."

A) Ask Raven for assistance
B) Allow Raven to relax in the employee lounge
---

A.

Raven doesn't strike me as the type to just sit around. Plus it's something to do together.
---

A) Ask Raven for assistance
---

A ask
---

A

"Raven, could I ask for your assistance? I wouldn't want you sitting bored and alone somewhere."

"Sure," she says. "I helped way back when Cyborg first built the T-Car, y'know."

"Oh? How multi-talented."

"Not really, I only handed him tools and pieces he needed."

"That's fine, too," you say as you pull out the tools available in this room. "Pull up a stool and we'll get started. Sebastian, you may return to your work and workers."

"Yes, sir," Sebastian says. "Ma'am."

Sebastian nods in farewell and returns to the main garage while you look at the total of six drives. One Phase Drive, two Gravitation Drives and three Levitation Drives.

"The Phase Drive is the more complex, I'm surprised there's only one to fix," you say. "But might as well start with it."

You swing the metal engine block over to the table as Raven pulls up stools. You two sit and you use a wrench to open it up, one bolt at a time.

"Obviously a Phase Drive is about phasing through solid objects, right?" Raven asks.

"Yes," you say. "It uses the principles of molecular vibration and interdimensional phase to allow just about anything pass through solid objects in our dimensional space. Shadowfax doesn't have one, however, I personally still don't trust their success rate."

You finally get to the core of the Drive, seeing the vibration mechanism and magical charms attached.

"Magi-Drives are a fusion of magic and science," you reiterate. "It allows magic to bolster the scientific effect or bridge the gap current science and technology can't quite yet. The problem with Magi-Drives tends to be that the rules of science supercede the rules of magic. That is to say, a magic spell's size is always, always, always proportional in scale. If you want to cast a spell on one person, you just need to go with the base level. But if you want to cast a spell on an entire city, you need to scale up to the entire city.

"Science, however, can vary. Sometimes it is proportional: two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen and you have one water molecule. Sometimes it is exponential: a chain reaction of nuclear fission can leap depending on how many atoms are adjacent to the instigator. That said, we won't know if the scale for a Magi-Drive is proportional or exponential until we invent, build and test one."

"Wait... What?" Raven asks, her face making it clear her brain is frazzled.

"Scaling up this type of Magi-Drive is difficult because we don't yet know how it behaves," you say. "The original, functioning Phase Drive my grandfather invented acts as the base ratio. This is scaled up, but from what I can tell, it was designed to be proportional. The fact it isn't working is therefore evidence that it is meant to be exponential."

"Oh," Raven nods understandingly. "So the magic inside needs to be scaled to match?"

"Correct," you say. "Saying it is the easy part. We have to dump mana into this machine to find the right level of functionality."

"Seriously?"

"It's exhausting work, I know," you say. "It's why starting with the Phase Drive is for the best, in my opinion. Now, pass the Allen key so I can open the Drive's gear box."

"Allen key... Allen wrench!" Raven translates as she searches. "Here."

She passes you the L-shaped, hexagonal rod, and you put it into the slot to loosen it. You open up the gear box, aka transmission, and now have access to the magical charm core. You stick a finger through the opening and gather mana into the tip.
---

"Raven, there should be a special tool labelled the 'magi-ometer'," you say. "It will guage how much mana is put in, and its readings can help us keep track of the data points."

Raven rummages and finds what is basically a repurporsed turkey thermometer. She presses the end against the outside of the core and watches the needle.

"Let me know when it reaches every 50 kilo-mana mark," you say.

You begin pouring in magical energy at a moderate speed.

"It just passed 50," Raven says a minute later.

"Not a lot in there to start, huh?" you mutter.

"Now passed 100," Raven says after another couple of minutes.

"Alright," you say as you let yourself rest. "Now, I'm going to put it all back together and give it a quick test."

You reassemble the Drive, levitate it off the hook and start it up.

*Bhhrr...* A nice steady hum comes from the Drive.

"Testing," you say as you pick up a random wrench.

You tentatively bring the wrench closer to the Drive and... *DINK* It smacks against it, or rather it gets lightly smacked away, though you still drop it.

"100 thousand points of mana and it's still not enough?" Raven says.

"Well we're on the right track," you say. "The gentleness of that smack means it is very close to having the right amount of vibration.

"Gentle? But you dropped the wrench."

"Well, that's what pouring a hundred thousand points into something will do," you say as you shake your hand.

"Then, maybe I should take the next 100?" she says.

A) No you can do it
B) Let her take the next 100
---

B.
---

A
---

B...
---

B

"I don't see why not," you say. "I did ask you to assist."

After disassembling the Phase Drive again, you trade positions with Raven and hold the magi-ometer as she puts a single finger inside the magical charm core.

"To add mana to the core, you should imagine your mana gathering in the very end of your finger," you say. "And instead of shooting the energy out like a bullet, imagine it slowly pouring out like water from a faucet."

Raven focuses and dispenses mana, as tracked by the meter's needle. She has great pacing for her first time interacting with a Magi-Drive.

"That's 50 kilo-mana," you say as the total passes 150 thousand. "You're doing great."

Raven keeps amazing focus, even as she continues to pour mana out from herself and into the machine.

"And... there, 100," you say.

Raven stops and withdraws her hand.

"Wow that really does tire you out," she says.

"Yes, Phase Drives are very demanding," you say as you once again reassemble the device. "Alright, now we test with a total of 200 thousand and... 88 mana points."

You again levitate and start up the Phase Drive. The hum is very similar to the sound you heard just before. You pick up the wrench again and bring it close to the Drive. The wrench passes through!

"Success!" you say as you put the wrench back down. "Now to calculate the exponential rate."

You take the base mana points from the original engine of 4844 and the current mana points of 200088 and solve for the exponent "x".



You then write the ratio of mass to mana points on the official sheet.

1.55:MP^1.43

"Now that that's taken care of," you say as you put Phase Drive and document away, "let's get to the rest. I already know both the Gravitational and Levitation Drives are meant to be proportional so this is just regular maintenance. Raven, perhaps you could assist me more closely with these. Both of us working on separate Drives will save time."

"Sounds like a good idea," she says. "Which ones do you want to start with?"

A) Gravitation
B) Levitation
---

B.
---

B
---