B2 Chapter 17: Linking Up
[Alright, Purple, let's run down the list: what synergies are left that you need help to activate?] Carlos stretched in the early-morning light that only barely outshone the purple dungeon core's namesake glow. Amber sat behind him, watching curiously as he rotated his shoulders and contorted his body in a few different ways. Trinlen was slowly walking in circles around Purple, trying to watch everything at once. A few tents were arranged next to each other in a circle around them, and the rest of their traveling companions were either in their tents or scattered outside the circle,
Purple's mental voice was calm and focused. [Out of 45 possible synergies, I have already activated 39. Of the 6 remaining, 5 involve the bond maker. The last is between the automator and the difference finder.]
Carlos nodded absently. [Good job knocking out that many of the non-bond synergies on your own! Let's start with the bond maker's synergies. Helping you with the other one will be easier with those already set. What's the first one?]
[Bond maker and knowledge repository.]
[Right. Let me put some knowledge into that…] Carlos focused on the design of a specific small and simple object. It's hardly revolutionary, but I haven't seen one of these yet in this world. Admittedly, I haven't actually looked for it, but still. The knowledge flitted over the mental link and went into a storage space that he could faintly sense if he focused on it. [Okay, it's in. Trinlen, see if you can view that design.]
Trinlen looked at him for a moment, then at Purple. "I could sense that you did something, but picking out any kind of detail is hellish in the ridiculous torrent of aether the dunge- Purple, sorry, is pulling in. As for accessing the information…" He narrowed his eyes and focused. His eyes had barely begun to light up in excitement when he flinched back as if struck. "What the-?!" He averted and closed his eyes while frantically waving his hands toward Purple. "Nope, nope, none of my business. But you seriously need to put some kind of lock on that!"
Carlos stared at him in confusion. "What are you talking about? The design of a screw isn't that big a deal." Oh, there's a word for it in Ganler. They must have the idea already.
Trinlen took a deep breath and pointedly switched to telepathy. [Yeah, your screw design is no big deal, and I got that just fine. But there's something else in there, too. I stopped looking as soon as I realized what it was, but it's detailed notes about soul structure design ideas. That's like, the biggest of house secrets, ever!]
Carlos's jaw dropped, and he blinked several times before finally recovering. He looked at Purple and stared for a moment, then groaned and slapped his forehead. [You used it to store your brainstorming notes, didn't you? Yeah, you need to put some security restrictions on that repository. Selectively allow different people to access different pieces of knowledge. Oh, and allow some people to view but not change certain things, and…] He sighed. [Okay, let's pause the synergies activation effort for a bit; information security controls are important to set up properly from the beginning, and that means I need to take some time to explain the principles of that to you. Oh, and Trinlen? That reaction earned you some serious trust. For serious matters, at least.]