Sunset had a lot to think about as she headed for her Extra-Stellar Astro-Navigation class, a course designed to teach applicants how to navigate through space without the usual shortcuts used for maneuvering in the Lylat System, both to allow more unique maneuvers within the System and to prepare them for navigation beyond its limits. While the class itself interested her for all sorts of reasons beyond simply learning for learning's sake, other things were more prominent on her mind.
She was still sparring quite frequently with Pris, and being treated by Faris after the fact. As nice as it was to be interacting with friends her own age...Pris had seen the pictures. Thankfully, Pris only treated it like a joke, teasing her about 'fitting her name' whenever they sparred to goad Sunset into hitting back harder. Otherwise, Pris still called her 'Fire-Head' and treated her like a friend and a fighter. While a relief in that regard, it had spread the knowledge of those pictures wider than Sunset had hoped, and now she had several guys - and girls - throughout the school hitting on her in awkwardly unwelcome manners...the worst of which being one of Faris' brothers who thought he was a ladies' man but had a terminal case of foot-in-mouth and head-up-ass disease. It had been a relief when Faris had given Sunset permission to deal with him physically, since he was apparently tough enough to take it even if he had no skill in fighting back.
Casting those thoughts out of her head, she tried to focus on her upcoming class...but the train of thought continued, leading her back to what Faris had talked about regarding her breastplate. She doubted a change to her wardrobe to be less form-fitting - or at least more modest in some other way - would fix her present issues now that the pictures were out there, but at least then the guys trying to flirt with her would be looking in her eyes instead of elsewhere and might catch the signs she wanted them to back off. Not that there was a chance of being able to alter her ACSU suit. Slippy had needed Shabunga's help to make it work, and the shopkeeper had been conspicuously absent ever since Sunset had enrolled in the Academy. Tink had refused to comment, though she'd taken up residence in the shop whenever she was planetside.
Finally shaking those thoughts out of her head, Sunset focused on the actual class coming up. She had reasons for wanting to learn to maneuver outside the Lylat system beyond just learning all she could. She'd managed to get details - from asking questions and hacking into her father's journals - about her origins, and knew she'd come through some sort of wormhole. That meant the wormhole, if she found it, would be one way back...but she wanted to see if she could find another. A world as strongly magical as she was...what could it be like?
As she reached the classroom, she saw she was quite early. At first glance, it looked like she was the only student there...until she caught sight of a flash of laser fire around the corner of the classroom. Curious, she followed the flash of light with her magic gathered ready to create energy shields, and discovered that the classroom was divided almost in two with a narrow path at one edge. As she reached that path, she heard a purring voice on the other side.
"No...still not quite accurate enough...I think I need to tweak the weave a bit morrrre..."
Stepping around, Sunset blinked in surprise as she caught sight of what was obviously a workshop of some sort. Scattered about were diagrams, holo-displays, mechanical components, and a great deal of fabric. In the center of the room was a Felinoid with a rather fetching clouded coat pattern, a cascade of purple curls falling down the back of her head to cover her neck. She was clad in what looked like a simple combination of blue blouse with violet skirt and boots, but all of her clothing gave off an odd silvery, metallic sheen as she moved, a laser pistol in one hand as she stared at fabric piled on the desk at the other side of the room. "I know I got this to worrrk beforrre..." she growled under her breath, her gaze turning from the fabric to a wide burn mark on the near wall.
"Got what to work?" Sunset asked curiously.
The young woman spun, raising her weapon instinctively and pulling the trigger. Sunset deployed her shield, which deflected the laser fire back towards the stranger, only for it to deflect off her fluttering skirt as the silver sheen passed over, sending the laser into the wall for a focused burn mark.
"See!" the woman snapped angrily at her skirt. "It works just fine here, but-" She hesitated as she got a better look at who she'd just fired on. "Oh...Ambassador Shimmer...oh dear, I'm terribly sorry, I-"
"How did your skirt deflect laser fire?" Sunset demanded eagerly, completely disregarding that she was just fired upon. Ducking down, she took a closer look at the fabric, once more catching sight of the odd silvery sheen. "Reflective properties? Some sort of metallic fabric?"
"Oh, nothing so gauche," the Felinoid corrected with a chuckle. "A little experiment of mine, Diffusion Weave. Puts the properties of the G-Diffusion system into fabric and metal with any number of properties. In this case, a wave of the fabric deflects incoming fire just like the so-called 'barrel roll' in an Arwing." Her glower returned as she turned back to the pile of fabric on her desk. "But for some reason, my attempts at duplicating the effect has only created a diffuse energy flash when hit by laser fire." She held up the colorless fabric, shifting it so the silvery sheen caught the light. "I can't for the life of me figure out what-"
"Did you test it before coloring it when you made the skirt?" Sunset asked curiously. "Laser fire is focused light, so the change in reflective wavelength might have something to do with the altered diffusion..." Her statement was greeted by silence, and she turned back to see the other young woman's crystal blue eyes staring at her in a mix of shock and dismay. "Uhh...?"
"I can't believe I overlooked something so simple!" she snapped, gathering up some colored fabric and testing it with her laser pistol. When it reflected just like her skirt, she pumped her fist. "Yes! I told them it wasn't just a fluke, and Diffusion Weave could be used in fabric just as well as armor!"
"Armor..." Sunset's eyes widened as she put things together quickly. "You made Faris' armor, didn't you? And that's how she can brace on a cabinet with that much weight on her without crushing it! Is the Diffusion reducing the weight she's carrying, too?"
"Oh, you noticed!" the woman purred. "Yes, the poor dear was struggling just to function between her pacifism and, shall we say, natural appeal? And no, much to my surprise, I not only wasn't able to make the effect reduce the weight on her own muscles, I didn't have to. She's just naturally that strong, somehow. A pity she's a pacifist, or those boys would have learned their lesson right away."
"How'd you come up with this, anyway?" Sunset asked as she picked up some of the uncolored fabric, examining it with her magic.
"Oh, I've always had a way with things like this," the woman explained. "Though I got into it when I was first being measured for those ghastly implants. I mean really, as advanced as technology's gotten and the best we can do for balancing biology and speed is to stick bulky machines in our legs? I wanted to make uniforms that did that instead...though that's still a ways off." Lifting her leg, she twisted the top of her right boot. The hiss and clink of machinery could be heard, and she slipped it off, showing numerous manipulators inside and how the fur on that part of the leg was oddly matted. "This is the closest I've come, and it's still just brute forcing the problem. The only difference between this and the implants is that it isn't a part of me, completely modular. Not exactly the elegant solution I was aiming for..."
"Still quite a bit more advanced," Sunset commented as she examined it carefully. "I can tell it's creating an isolated G-Diffusion field in your legs to prevent the G-Force damage that G-Diffusor failure would cause." She carefully examined the mechanics inside. "These seem to mostly be about restricting the field to your legs, to keep it contained and balanced. I don't suppose you've considered making it a full bodysuit, containing the field in the fabric and helmet?"
"Oh, I tried," the Felinoid brooded as she pulled over a schematic. "But I couldn't manage to stabilize the power source-"
"Plug it into the Arwing," Sunset interrupted easily. "Or design the larger ships to have an ambient power source that it taps into automatically. It's how the Great Fox works now, and how my suit works."
"Speaking of, I had been wondering about it," the young designer observed calmly. "As fetching as it is and working well with your color pattern, the circuitry...dare I hope it's functional?"
Sunset smiled widely. "My body generates a large amount of magical energy. In a non-magic environment, that caused issues with feedback." She tapped the suit on one of the glowing blue circuits. "This absorbs the excess to simulate a magic environment to deal with those issues."
"Amazing!" the woman purred as she ran her fingers over the fabric. "If I could study its workings and combine it with the Diffusion Weave-"
Sunset caught her hand as her fingers started to move somewhere a little less comfortable. "I won't say 'buy me dinner first', but could I at least get your name?" she asked teasingly.
A blush colored the Felinoid's cheeks under her fur. "I take it you know Pris, too?" she groaned. Seeing Sunset smirk, she shook her head. "Though do forgive my forwardness, and my rudeness. I am Raquel, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She held her hand out to shake hands.
Sunset happily accepted the gesture. "If you like, I've got some spare of the material we can work on. I'd love to see if I could adapt this Diffusion Weave to it."
"I thought you'd never ask, Darrrling," Raquel purred, pulling over her schematics. "We've got a while before class starts yet..."
Raquel has joined Team Shimmer