Cross of Artemis

[Noble Negative J3T]

AXIS REGALIA CHALLENGE

POST 1: Reflection: Offer to the cross before you a creation of the soul. A creation that possess the embodiment and ideas that you promote and believe in as a tuner. Rather this be battle, domination, protection,it doesn't matter. You don't have to explain why or how it shows your belief and values. You can if you want to, but a tuner's work usually speaks for itself.

POST 2: After the offering you will be knocked out. Forced into a dream like situation but it seem as if you have full control. In this dream, it's your perfect world for storm riding in which you have sole possession of the cross. what does that world look like? Do you use the cross for control? For good? Or for being best tuner out there? What you use it for doesn't matter It's whether you can be honest with yourself that counts.

POST 3: The Death Regalia is broken. Come up with a new version of it from cosmetics down to an Infinity Atmosphere for your design. It doesn't have to be incredibly detailed at all.

POST 4: Will be revealed at the End once a winner is chosen. [Prize Post]  

[Aquos Dragoa]

’What am I doing here….?’

A simple thought, yet it revealed so much about the brunette standing before what seemed to be some sort of shrine. Before her was the Axis, the regalia to the Ring Road. An object with immense value. Those before her that had wielded it were almost all immortalized from their “deeds” which it allowed them to before. Here the goddess Artemis stood frozen, unable to move, yet her mind was quite active. One would think someone who liked to reference themselves as a diety on Earth would think that the regalia should be rightfully theirs. Yet… these were not her thoughts. Despite all her talk, Artemis wasn’t crazy, at least not completely. She had her, well, insecurities, no matter how much she hid them.

’Why did I come here…’

Was she having second thoughts? Yes and no. The “rabbit eared” female had not come convinced she was close enough to being worthy of the crown. If one were to ask her, she would scoff it off as it being “beneath” her or some other deity bullshit excuse. Yet at the same time, Artemis didn’t think she was incapable of wielding its power. After all it was up to the Axis to decide? It was like King Arthur and Excalibur. He hadn’t thought himself worthy, yet he still drew the sword. However, in Artemis case, she wasn’t humble enough to think she was unworthy for the same reasons. Part of her wasn’t even sure she wanted the regalia in the first place, after all, having it would bring attention to herself. One who knew her would quickly think such a thought ironic as she was perfectly fine having attention, yet, she didn’t want certain types of attention, especially not the kind being a Queen of a Road would bring. They had a way of becoming targets, and lately, various had begun to go mysteriously missing. Was having the Axis and its “powers” worth becoming a target? Part of her due to this type of thought wanted to prove she could do things without it. She didn’t need it to create masterpieces. So… why was she here then?

Artemis had come more as a personal challenge. This was between her the Axis. No one else. Artemis couldn’t help but be curious if it found her worthy. Despite spouting a great deal of her divinity and self worth, when it came to tuning she was unsure she meant the same quality as the others… not that she would ever admit this to strangers.

Only relatively recently had she entered the Storm Riding world, despite being surrounded by it as a child. Both her parents had been former riders, and even her very own twin become caught up in its wonders at a young age. Yet young Artemis had never taken up an interest until perhaps a few months ago. Regardless of being possibly “late” to the tuner scene, creating devices was not something she was unfamiliar with. From a young age she had always tinkered with electronics in the house and made her own devices. She had always been curious about how things worked. What made something tick. What changes she could do and how it would affect its purpose, among other things. Becoming a tuner for this young goddess had been nothing more than a natural stepping stone, the next step or type of technological devices she could mess with into little masterpieces. She was not in it for the fame; not that she wouldn’t be opposed to having her brilliance chanted in the streets. She also wasn’t in it for some need to create amazing weapons of mass destruction; though she’s had plenty of potential ideas. Her reasons were in a way purely selfish. All she wanted was to keep her mind active. To keep it constantly growing. To allow her imagination to be put into a tangible form.

Tuning. Creating air treks. Innovating storm rider technology. All of it was just to her nothing more than technological puzzles in need of solving. A source of constant challenges to keep pushing her abilities to their limits. There would always be something fresh, something daring, something new to discover and create. At the moment storm riding gave her a new source, but once she had depleted all options there, she was bound to find another. However she doubted this would be the case. Storm Riding was forever evolving, and with it, so did technology.

Science and technology to her were nothing more than a means to an end. A way to learn more about the universe as well as human limits… or in this case, how to break them.

For Artemis creating something was liberating; to her it was freeing. Being able to look down at an object that had been carved by your own two hands was how she would define freedom. Sadly, technology and science had its limits. However that was also what made it amazing, because no matter how many times a limit was found, eventually a way would be found to shatter it. The impossible only exists if one gives up. If one keeps trying, failing, getting back up to look at another angle, yesterday's impossible becomes the futures possible. WIthout limitations there would be no desire to surpass them. There would be no growth… and without growth there would be no progress. Without all that, life was just a big of pile of boring a** horse s**t.

I am here for me, myself and I…

Coming out of her train of thoughts, Artemis took the last few steps necessary to fully approach the Axis. Taking in a deep breath she slipped a delicate and slightly quivering hand into the depths of her right jacket pocket. Cautiously, nervous fingers wrapped themselves around a smooth spherical surface. Exhaling she pulled out her hand revealing her “tribute”. In the center of her palm was what looked like a simple marple, however careful observation would show various miniature spheres (no bigger than a quarter of a millimeter) within the glass. The curious thing about these spheres was that some were together, immobile, directly in the center of the “marble”, while the rest circled, hoped and swarmed around the others in such a way it gave a hazzy, almost misty ilusion due to their constant movement. Despite their “chaotic” motions, their movements respected specific “pathes” or “rules”.

What Artemis held in her hand was a representation of the atom; the building block of the universe. Creation. Freedom. Limitation. All in one.

Even the Universe had its rules. Humans just were still on their path to understanding it.  

[Aquos Dragoa]

A muffled and slightly high pitched groan left her lips as she stretched her arms over her head. Back arching a bit over her mattress Artemis rolled over, right hand now reaching for her cellphone. The sun was already shining bright in her room, a good indication she had slept in a good decent amount. Slipping out of her bed, her bare legs shuddered slightly as her blanket had been as can be imagined, warmer than her room. It wasn’t winter so the difference in temperature wasn’t that bad, yet there was still a certain warmth snuggling into a blanket always gave. Lifting her arms once more, she stretched them over and behind her head, her feet arching till she was basically standing on the tips of her toes. A large yawn came from her as she did so. Her loose tank top was in need of adjustment after her slumber, but she was home, so she had nothing to really dress up for anyways.

Running her fingers through her hair she pulled it up into a high ponytail. Brushing would come later, for now she was in need of breakfast. Padded sounds echoed lightly on the floor as she trotted her way barefoot to the kitchen, a bowl of cereal was made within moments. Not long after she took a seat she received a text, a customer asking about a tuning service. Between bites Artemis answered saying they could show up within 30 minutes. While this wouldn’t give her too much time to eat her breakfast, which basically should just be lunch at this hour, calmly, it was fine. A customer meant a chance for her to tinker with some treks. Curious about what their request would be she would get dressed, placing a simple pair of shorts and a different tank top. Just as she finished brushing her hair she heard the bell ring. With a somewhat swift pace she made her way down the stairs into her shop and opened up the door.

”This is the CottonTail Beatz Tune shop right?” Questioned the male, making sure he was in the right location

”I am the one and only yes.” Artemis answered with a hint of cockiness. He would have easily known he was there had he looked at the sign. What was the point of having a sign if people were going to ask in the first place. She refrained herself from making such a comment as she did not want to lose his interest… at least not just yet. Moving aside to let him inside. ”What is it you want me to do? Simple tune? Custom work?”

After a few seconds of silence he turned to face her. ”Quite some interesting stuff you have here…” he commented as his hands ran over what he assumed were a variety of prosthetics. They were, as far as he understood, seemed quite different from those that were normally acquired through medical needs. Custom work was generally of a different quality. It however surprised him that for a tune shop, there was a high concentration of prosthetics compared to air treks. Perhaps for riders with lost limbs? Shrugging he decided to get over what he had come for.

”I want some custom work. There’s this rider I have been having issues with. They need to be taught a lesson and I need to make sure I got the right equipment for the job. If you here what I am saying?”
Artemis stood there, hands on her hips waiting for him to get to the actual point. Yet with what he said so far, she wasn’t too impressed, though for now she kept her thoughts to herself.

”Figured the Ring Queen would be able to fix me up. Where is the Axis anyways. I’d like to see.”

And there it was. That was why she had come.

”I only use the Axis for certain types of projects.” Her eyes drifted to the prosthetics. While he had noticed ones that were to replace limbs, he had failed to notice smaller ones that were for smaller, more internal parts of the body, such as ear drums, voice boxes etc.

”Are you trying to say that my air treks aren’t worthy? I would have you know that I am one of the greatest riders out there.” His voice was getting irritable. Did she not know who he was?

”If you are so great, you should only need your own skill to take care of this other rider. I am confident enough in my abilities that my work on your air treks will be no different than if i were to use the Axis. The regalia isn’t some toy to flaunt around and use at some whim. I have no intention to allow it to be used for such petty selfish desires.”

Her words echoed in her mind in such a manner she failed to notice what he said in return. As a matter of fact, once she came too he was gone.

”Wait… what… where did he…” She was momentarily confused. As she looked further around her shop she spotted the Axis in the corner. It seemed to glow as if it were some sort of holy grail that had just been found. ”This...this isn’t real is it..” It was now coming to her. She was remembering falling asleep before the Axis.

”A dream…. to see what we would do with you huh?... What the world would be with you in our hands?” Why was she asking the Axis? It couldn’t answer back. However it helped her process. ”Guess I wouldn’t care to change the world too much.” She was a goddess. She had standards. She didn’t care to help petty people with their plots without the Axis, why would she do so with it? It was interesting though, how she had not realized the benefit the Axis could bring to those whose bodies were not perfect. Did she really have such an inner desire to perfect replacements for body parts? Sure she did it all the time with her own hearing aids, but she had never yet bothered to do so with others. ”Guess I am a caring god and not a complete b***h after all.” The scene before her was beginning to fade. ”What's next?”

Would the test be over… or was there more. All she had to do was wait and find out.  

[Aquos Dragoa]

The scene before her shifted. Images swirling in around her. Had she not known she was dreaming she perhaps would have begun to flip out. Hm… The way things had distorted themselves reminded her of a moment in her past when she had tried some recreational drugs. Trippy~ Slightly amused she just waited for her mind to eventually set up a new scene, which as expected did not take long.

Looking around she found herself in a dark room, or at least what she thought was a room. It was pretty much empty except for a table in which light was showing on. Where ever the source of illumination was coming from she could not see it. It also didn’t matter. This was a dream anyways. Let things be weird.

Step after step she walked close to the table. She had seen from a distance there was something on top of it, but she was unable to notice what it was until she got close. Before her was a broken up air trek. Being new to the storm riding world, she did not recognize it as one of the other Regalias. She was going to have to discover it herself.

”So what am I supposed to do here… fix it?” A rhetorical question. It seemed that was the only solution besides just sitting there staring at it. ”If only I had my work mu…” Just as she said it instrumental music with an emphasis on violins echoed throughout the room, their source also unknown. ”Oh right. I’m in my head… I wonder…” Falling silent she let her thoughts do the work and sure enough out of the blue, or rather dark, shelves with tools and air treks pieces she has designed showed up. ”Quite Matrix-y~. I could get used to this.”

Leaning over the table she picked up each piece of the broken air trek analyzing it. She couldn’t fix something without knowing what its main purpose was. Taking her time the goddess got to work, her blue eyes taking in every big of information she could. From time to time she put pieces up to a magnified glass that sat on the desk, ones dentists and similar professionals used so their hands could be free.

This isn’t a regular air trek…

The quality. The craftsmanship that had gone into this, was different than that of a normal air trek. Is this supposed to be another regalia? Would make sense considering that the Axis main job is to be used with the other regalia… if I am not mistaken… I need to brush up on this information.

Although she was not familiar right away with the regalia she was working with, as she looked at the pieces she began to piece together how it was intended to work. Hmm… so… friction is the basic idea? Friction to create energy necessary that is used to than create… oh...OH SHELLS! I think… yes… this… is this the death road regalia? This was what she loved about this type of work, even if she did not know automatically what something was, by understanding each individual component she could figure out the puzzle. Sure enough it took her awhile but eventually she found out what she was working with. Had another tuner been doing this they perhaps would have gotten to actually fixing the air trek sooner, but even had she known right away what it was, chances were she would have taken her time to see how the pieces were meant to work together.

Stretching her arms back she cracked her fingers. Time to get serious… The music changed as her mood before the situation did, the tunes being of a more epic kind.

Hair completely tied up she worked without any visible hindrances. Nimble fingers working their magic and she began. Some pieces were too far gone to fix and therefore were replaced. Artemis did not intend to change the regalia too much. Its original design was already quite fitting for the road, and she did not trust she knew enough to make too many drastic changes. Sometimes there was nothing wrong with the original design. However, there were some changes she wanted to add. Rather than find the same type of wheel the regalia had before, she manufacture a new kind. If the idea was friction, she wanted to maximize just how much was going to be created with each motion of the air trek. Rather than having a smooth surface, the wheel had quite rugged one. Speed was also important, so she could not make something that would be more of a hassle to the storm rider than a benefit. The bumps were small, mild, but enough to cause more effort with the spin and therefore generating a little extra friction with each break and go. The texture of the wheels was like sandpaper if they were touched. And in order to keep the rough surface from degrading too fast, Artemis made sure that the highest quality and durable rubber was used for the wheel. Though knowing that it was bound to need to be replaced, it was designed in a manner than it could be removed from an underlying wheel and act as a sort of “cover”.

Time passed and Artemis set down the regalia in front of her. Her hands were pressed together in front of her face in a prayer like position. Elbows on the table she gazed down at the regalia. What more was there for her to do? She was not satisfied. It was basically just the same as it had been before. What was something she could do that would leave a mark, leave her mark. Something to say “Artemis was here”. It couldn’t just be anything. It had to work for the road, had to work for the rider. Give them an edge that only the regalia could allow? Or at least a bit more than what it already did.

The base idea behind the Death road is constant breaking to create the friction needed for their attacks… Break and go…. Start and stop…. Reaction! An idea was starting to form. The faster their reaction, the more breaking they can do, the more attacks, the strong they are… but how to improve that… Sure there was making sure the air treks were well “oiled” and moved in perfection so there was no delay, which they already did. Artemis’ concern was how to give the RIDER a means of improving their reactions….

A...a..Adrenaline! Yes of course. Sure they get some in the middle of battle but until that kicks in… hmm… but how to get their bodies to produce more adrenaline to heighten their senses and thus helping give them a fraction of a second longer… if not more… Artemis tapped her chin in thought as she leaned against the chair with her right leg crossed over her left. How would she trick the body into producing it? How to trick the nerve system into triggering its release from adrenal gland?
Oh… perhaps… yes… this just might work…

Artemis’ thoughts flowed as she got to work. On the top of the air trek boots she implemented a device which when activated by the rider, would release acupuncture like needles into the skin delivering a shock to their bodies nerve system through their lower legs. Where did the shock come from? From the air treks themselves, all she had to do was add a new set of wires and divert some of the electricity the air treks had to deliver the shock. It would have to be something to get that adrenaline pumping, but surely anyone who rode a road with Death in its name was no stranger to pain.

Losing track of time Artemis continued to meddle with the regalia. With the technical part completed, she moved on to the aesthetics part. Everything was painted what looked like black paint, but it was in reality a dark blood red, depending on the lighting it would either appear black or crimson. Something like this didn’t need too much decor. Simple and to the point was her objective. The wheel axles were painted pure black while the wheels were red. On the back near where the heel was Artemis added the last thing that was left, her mark. With great care she etched into the metalic frame around the heel a chibi bunny rabbit.