After concluding their meeting with the coalition liaison, Alistair and Riseth made their way to James’s workshop, where he had been immersed in his work ever since the battle of Edos. Though his mother and Jessica had frequently checked on him, Alistair hadn’t had the chance to visit himself, and it now felt long overdue.

Upon entering the workshop, hidden deep below their main industrial sectors, they were greeted by a massive chamber bustling with activity. Mechanical arms whirred and moved with precision while various automatons delivered and organized materials. Workbenches and racks were stacked with magitech devices, armor, and weapons in varying stages of assembly. A bright yet non-blinding light illuminated the ceiling, though some of the room's glow came from screens mounted on walls or hovering drones that floated throughout the workshop.

James had never been known for keeping his workspace tidy, but he always insisted he had a system—one where he could find anything in seconds, while others would be lost for hours. In stark contrast to the chaos around the room, one corner stood remarkably organized, housing large vats filled with colorful liquids in various states of activity. Some were being gently stirred, others swirled inside their transparent containers as different liquids and gases were added. A few bubbled as they were heated, while others underwent a mix of processes. Alistair recognized the silvery sheen of the vats as Neshan glasswork, known for providing visibility while being just as strong—if not stronger—than metal containers.

He strongly suspected that particular corner belonged to Jessica's lab. As they navigated through the larger chambers, they eventually spotted James and Jessica hard at work on what appeared to be a reinforced version of their light power armor. James was in the process of securing Neshan glasswork containers into a slot on the back of the opened suit, while Jessica meticulously connected tubing that spread from the glasswork throughout the armor. The intricate network of tubes wove through the suit like veins, and Alistair noticed additional containers positioned on either side of the helmet, just above the ears. The two were engrossed in their work as they worked meticulously and efficiently.

“Were you able to speak to my sister about the preservation enchantments?” James asked, breaking the silence as he adjusted the components. “If we can integrate them into the head and torso sections, we could keep the wearer alive and regenerating with your potions. Maybe that way, if someone managed to crush their head or torso, they should be able to survive in grade 8, but I’m still concerned about the integrity of the enchantment if the armor takes that level of damage.”

Alistair raised an eyebrow at Riseth, who shrugged as they leaned against a nearby workbench, observing the two talking and working together.

"Yes, we have the basics of the life preservation enchantment," Jessica replied, connecting the tubes to the redundancy glass flasks strategically placed within the armor. "But we’re still struggling with the arcane substrate portion. Unlike Alistair, I can’t just force the lines to align and connect the way I want them to."

"Yeah, and trying to automate that process is impossible," James added with a grunt as he reached for a tool just out of his grasp. "Anything related to the arcane substrate is beyond the realm of machines. We might need to bring on more dedicated enchanters if we want to produce enough of these improved suits for our people."

Alistair smirked and used his telekinesis to float the cutting tool over to James, who took it with a quick "Thanks, Alistair. I’ll be with you in a minute."

Jessica turned around and gave them an apologetic smile before resuming her work on her section of the armor.

"What are you working on? Looks like a reinforced version of our light power armor," Alistair commented, stepping closer and using his conceptual awareness to inspect the armor.

The suit was layered with an intricate network of concepts and enchantments woven throughout the plates, sections, and spine. Alistair had to focus hard to decipher them, as many of the enchantments were cleverly camouflaged and reinforced to resist identification or external interference.

James wiped the sweat from his forehead while Jessica stood up, brushing off her overalls. "Yeah, it’s a prototype for the replacement version of our light power armor," he explained. "Our battle reports showed that most of our casualties were among those wearing the current variant."

Alistair caught the determined look in his brother’s eyes and decided to let him continue without interruption.

"Notice the lighter coloration?" James gestured toward the armor. "We’ve incorporated treated unicorn horns from the Everbright Dungeon. Their purity and luck concepts should significantly enhance the armor’s resistance to magical interference while giving the wearer that little bit of extra luck they need to stay alive. The focus here is survival, even if their armor or bodies take heavy damage. The predictive algorithms aren’t perfect yet, but thanks to the built-in redundancies and planned life-preserving enchantments, I’ve got high hopes this variant will do a much better job keeping our people alive." He patted one of the sleek shoulder plates with a sense of pride.

"Isn't using the luck concept going to draw a lot of unwanted attention once somebody notices?" Riseth asked after hugging Jessica.

James shrugged. "We did our best to camouflage the concepts and enchantments. Besides, what's the point of having a resource like that if we don’t use it to keep our people alive? I’ll be integrating the new alloy into the heavier armor as well, but for now, life-saving mechanisms are the top priority."

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Alistair embraced his brother after Jessica, giving him a knowing look. James picked up on it immediately.

"Don’t start," James said, shaking his head. "I know the armor’s just a tool, and staying alive is ultimately on the person wearing it. Like I told Mom, I’m not fragile, alright? But if anything good came out of that fight, it’s that the hydra’s dead, and I’ve finally got real battle data to work with—no more guessing from beast encounters. At least the heavy power armor did its job—tanked hits, resisted interference, and kept our fighters breathing. But those lighter suits… they weren’t just compromised; their design focused too much on mobility and offense. In hindsight, I should’ve traded some of that for better magic resistance."

A dark expression crossed James' stressed face. "One of those Syndicate bastards had a rust concept. I watched as he latched onto Lekaria’s suit. She was trapped, and before I could do anything, her own armor shredded her."

Alistair didn't know Lekaria personally but assumed she had been one of the fighters or lawyers working with James. Seeing someone you know die like that was rough, but he could tell his brother was processing it in the healthiest way he knew—by talking it out and channeling his grief into improving the armor, trying to prevent such losses in the future.

James paused, taking a steadying breath. "I’ve overhauled the design since then. The new version has much stronger resistance to interference, and I’ve built in redundancies—especially around the head and torso. If one part gets crushed, the other can still keep the wearer alive long enough for them to survive."

Alistair noticed that James deliberately avoided mentioning how some of their clan’s fighters had fallen to enemies using variations of metal concepts—crushing helmets and causing devastating losses. He figured his brother just needed to vent, so Alistair decided to keep him talking.

“I presume all those improvements come with some drawbacks?” Alistair asked.

James nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately. The material requirements have skyrocketed, which means the cost of production has gone through the roof, and we won’t be able to roll these out as quickly as we’d like. Equipping our forces with the upgraded version will take time. I also had to scale back the integrated weaponry built into the armor itself. Instead, I’ve designed detachable armaments that can be stored in their individual storage. It’s an improvement in flexibility, but it lacks the raw power that a fully specialized, integrated suit can offer."

"That's a shame. Those minigun arms were devastating against both the wendigos and the Syndicate," Alistair lamented.

James nodded, his expression serious. "The heavy power armor variant will keep the minigun and rocket launchers, but the armor will have to bulk up to maintain its mobility and defensibility with all the upgrades. No way I’m compromising on firepower for that model."

As they continued discussing James' project, Alistair could hear Jessica and Riseth chatting nearby about alchemical ingredients and potion-making. It wasn’t hard to keep James distracted—there were a million unfinished machines and magitech devices scattered around the workshop that Alistair could ask him about. He noticed how, as the conversation flowed, James began to relax, his earlier frustration fading as he passionately explained the details of his magitech creations.

"It's a shame," James sighed, shaking his head. "I can't seem to create combat automatons powerful enough to keep up with grade 8 combatants, no matter how many I deploy or how big I make their weapons. It's like tossing droids against an army of Jedi Masters—they just get their shit kicked in, in no time flat."

Alistair chuckled at the analogy. "So, while we can pad out our numbers, they aren’t really an effective tool in higher-tier combat?"

"Exactly!" James said, pointing at him. "They can buy our people some time and do well in a fortified position and maybe get off a lucky shot, but at those levels, the material investment is just not worth it. Honestly, unless I stumble upon some more efficient blueprints or make a breakthrough in robotics or magitech, those combat automata are eventually going to be phased out."

"At least they’re still useful for construction and logistics," Alistair mused. "Maybe you could switch focus to evasive flying drones that pack a punch?"

"That’s an option," James replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But magitech really performs best when it’s directly used or piloted by someone and enhanced through dedicated skills. We’ve got a lot of lawyers and fighters who’ve developed power armor skills that sync with the suits, making them even stronger. I’ve been swamped with requests for custom-made power armor to fit their concepts and fighting styles. The same goes for the fighter pilots—I’ve got more work than I know what to do with."

Alistair knew his brother well enough to catch on to the subtle hint that James while appreciating his visit, was itching to get back to his work.

"Yeah, I don’t want to keep you too long," Alistair said with a grin. "You’re doing amazing work down here, but you and Jessica have a habit of getting lost in your own world. Gotta check in and make sure you’re still breathing every now and then."

James matched his grin. "It’s appreciated, but now get the hell out of my workshop," he said, pulling him in for a quick embrace.

Meanwhile, Riseth, who had been sitting on one of the workbenches chatting with Jessica, hopped down. Jessica turned to them, raising an eyebrow.

"Leaving already?" she asked, giving James a pointed look.

"You can go with them if you want," James replied with a shrug. "I can finish up here. Those hugs pretty much drained what was left of my social battery."

Jessica sighed dramatically before shooting an apologetic look at Riseth and Alistair.

Riseth patted her on the shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry about it. We're just heading to the Crucible to check on the combat teams—and see if Simon's still hanging around there."

"I wouldn’t count on it," Jessica said with a knowing smile. as they made to leave "I hear he’s been spending a lot of time on Nautilis lately."

Alistair raised an eyebrow, this being the first he’d heard of it. "Is that so?" he asked with a wide grin. "Did he finally get some tail?"

"He didn’t tell you?" Riseth asked, a little surprised.

Alistair shrugged. "He did mention something, but he'll fill me in if it's serious or the next time we hang out. Things have been pretty hectic lately."

Jessica let out a soft chuckle but quickly shot a slightly exasperated look toward James, who was already moving back to his tinkering.

Alistair reassuringly waved her off, knowing his brother well enough to understand that James' quirky nature wasn’t something to be bothered by. When he was deeply absorbed in his work, James didn’t have much social energy left, as his mind was often elsewhere. Alistair could tell Jessica felt similarly, though she seemed more reluctant to shoo them away so soon after they’d arrived.

Before they left, Alistair and Riseth gave Jessica a quick hug, waving as they made their way out. “Take care, and make sure you provide proof of life every now and then,” Alistair teased, earning a chuckle from both Riseth and Jessica.

“You wish!” James called over his shoulder, giving them a quick wave before diving back into his work.