Blacklight makes sure his gun is loaded and his spells are ready and his knife is sharpened. He contemplates momentarily what could be around here. Then, he wanders over to some of the ship wreckage, doing his best to put out some flames and salvage some of the materials.

“The ship may be gone, but no need to let any of this go to waste...”

A short distance away from Blacklight, Debbie finishes salvaging what she could from another nearby piece of wreck. Though still a bit loopy from her first ever respawn, she’s putting in some serious work in gathering usable supplies and quelling the flames. Noticing that Blacklight had started on another part of ship wreckage, she approaches.

”Um... Hi. Want some assistance?”

Blacklight needs a moment to realize he’s being addressed, but turns to Debbie quickly enough, tilting his head to the side before returning his focus on the debris. He’s done well on the fire extinguishing front, but as for actual salvage…

“...I might need some help, yes. Finding somewhere to put the entire thing seems… difficult, and I’m not too sure which bits are most worth keeping.”

He silently analyzes the ship pieces for a bit, then realizes he forgot to ask something, so turns back to Debbie again.

“I believe I already noticed earlier somehow, but your name was Debbie, correct?”

Debbie smiles and nods. Good, no need to do the whole introductions thing again.

As she talks, she examines the chunk of ship as well. She knows what the party needs is shelter for the night at the very least, so anything that can withstand snow would be ideal. Walls and roofing, support for the roofing, that sort of deal. So light, flat plating and/or wood and long rods. She starts pulling away whatever wood or plating she could...

”Mm... any plating or wood should suffice for walls or roofing for a shelter, with any rods or the like we find being useful for structural support. I... don’t think there’ll be much else worth taking?”
“And yes, you heard my name correctly. And you’re... Blacklight?”

Blacklight, in the middle of holding down a useless piece of twisted debris to separate it from a more useful piece of salvageable armor plating (well, maybe not that useful considering what happened), nods. Once he’s got the pieces separated, he responds with more elaboration.

“That is my name, yes. Local mildly unnerving entity that quite frankly shouldn’t exist, among other things.”

He pauses for a moment to yank the slightly cracked remains of a support beam out of the ground, grunting from the exertion, then continues.

“I’m a bit glad I didn’t bring any cooking tools along, otherwise they’d be scrap at best by now… If you see any bits and pieces that could be repurposed for that role, do let me know. It’s one of my better hobbies.”

Debbie doesn’t seem as unnerved as she probably should be... she’s either hiding it very well or she’s used to this stuff. The bit about cooking does intrigue her, though, as she pulls and dislodges a piece of broken wood from the heap of scrap.

”A hobbyist cook... w-well, that’s a relief. I’m not entirely sure how well the others can cook. I don’t want anyone getting any accidental food poisoning or... something.”

She finds a small internal fire... to prevent it from interfering, she smothers it with a sizable burst of Fluidsand and choking it out by keeping the smoke in. The flame quelled soon enough.

”Hm... as for cookware, I may be able to find something worth using underground. Anything fossilized should suffice, if nothing above ground does...”

Blacklight ponders how that could work. The first mental image he has is of a frying pan somehow being perfectly preserved in quicksand. That seems… vaguely incorrect to him, though. It probably doesn’t help that other parts of his thought process are taken up by continuing salvage works.

“Fossilized cookware…? I don’t think I quite follow on that one.”

He waits for further elaboration while cleaning off a slightly dirty slab of armor plating, apparently performing the equivalent of sandblasting it by morphing part of his body into some sort of… best-left-nondescript dark substance.

Still unbothered by Blacklight’s antics, Debbie saws off a stubbornly-stuck metal rod through use of rapidly-moving Fluidsand, abrading the metal to nothing and dislodging the rod. Understanding Blacklight’s confusion, she clarifies.

”W-well, there might be actual cookware in the ground! N-not as good as usual, probably clay or wood if anything. And if wood, and considering that spiders seem to have wooden exoskeletons, it’s somewhat likely that we’ll find both as non-flammable petrified wood. We could also improvise with animal bones or skulls if we’re super desperate.”
“...A-as much as I hate destroying fossils, survival comes first and foremost.”

...She still doesn’t realize that she has a Yggcrawler Exoskeleton Head attached to her dress, somehow, and at this point it’s probably best not to bring it up. Thankfully, while he’s not always the best at social matters, Blacklight at least understands enough to not ruin that for her. Instead, he ponders Debbie’s idea.

“...Petrified wood, hmm… Ah, yes, replaced by mineral content, I remember that now. It could work, though hopefully the different material type wouldn’t interfere too much with my learned practices.”

And come to think of it, that’s got him noticing something. He ponders if it’s really worth talking about, but hey, if everyone’s stuck this far north, might as well get to know the full stories of everyone else. So he leans against a sturdier wall segment in lieu of having a chair to sit on, then focuses fully on Debbie.

“Considering the mention of fossils and the use of… whatever that sandish substance is that I’ve seen you use a few times, I take it you are some form of geomanipulator?”

Debbie, noticing that Blacklight has stopped for a break, also steps back from the wreck, wiping a bit of sweat off her brow to focus more on the conversation at hand.

”Um, something like that? I’m... more of an air manipulator. Like most of my kind.”

She demonstrates it a bit by forming a small pool of Fluidsand nearby. It seems to bubble and wave, as if air is being forced through it. Debbie’s feet are on the ground while this occurs, small leg movements here and there also visible.

”The whole ‘geo manipulation’ part is really just an unusual use of said air manipulation. By forcing air through the ground just right, I can fluidize the ground at a certain area. Hence the name I typically give it; Fluidsand. It’s also very helpful for pushing fossils to the surface.”
“...My shoes let me more finely control the magic, too. Nearly exact positioning, more flexibility, that sort of thing!”

She’s obviously quite excited to share all this. Blacklight chuckles quietly while listening to Debbie’s explanation, just doing a little smile until she finishes. Then he nods, shifting slightly in his leaning position to get more comfortable.

“I see. Interesting, being able to replicate more geomancy-esque feats through aeromancy...”

He pauses mid sentence to pull a cigar out from… somewhere on his body it’s not really clear, idly taking a smoke from it before extinguishing it and putting it back. Then he keeps talking. Debbie might note by now that the air is rather still near Blacklight, as though he’s not really breathing in when he does the smoking thing, or even breathing out when talking.

“...How much practice did it take to learn how to do that? And are the shoes specialized for the purpose of helping your air manipulation, or could they theoretically work with any sort of powerset?”

Debbie releases the Fluidsand patch from the influence of her air magic. It stops bubbling and even moving, save for the ambient wind shoving it around a bit.

”I-it... took a lot of trial and error just to get the basics down, and... I think the chronological equivalent to several years of practice after the fact. It’s not easy, but eventually I just... had a feel for how everything interacts with it, I suppose...”

She starts floating a little off the ground, gusts of air moving the snow (and other loose material) away from her feet. She only stays like this for a second, though, and eventually settles back down to ground level.

”I think the folks back home are experimenting with getting these out to the public, making them more widely available and usable... but as of now, mine are custom-made.”

Blacklight watches as the fluidsand settles. While it’s not exactly his field of expertise, it’s quite fascinating to watch happen, and it might give him a few ideas in the future… potentially, at least. He’ll have to remember that. But for now, he’s better off commenting on the shoes, he reckons.

“They seem useful. Interesting that they still function in this pseudo-thymefield… Never really understood the nuances of how the power interference thing worked.”

He stares at one of his own hands for a moment, a few shadows flickering around the general vicinity.

“Not that I’m in the position to complain about whatever it’s doing myself. I don’t know if you noticed before we got into… that hectic situation, but I usually have an unnerving effect on those around me. And if I’m reading my reactions correctly, you’re not exactly perturbed at the moment, are you?”

Debbie tilts her head to the side slightly. Yep, she’s very much not uncomfortable around Blacklight.

”You’d be surprised how frightening some of the jungle beasts are back home... I’m used to it. Though, I-I can see how the average person would be put off... Does that bother you at all? Having that constantly be a thing, I mean?”

Blacklight sighs internally. Hopefully the subject matter he’s about to discuss won’t be too depressing and/or off-putting for Debbie.

“...Truth be told, it does bother me a little. But I’m used to it by now, and it’s… not without reason. I’m something called an Aberrant, which in simple terms means I’m not supposed to exist, and so existence dislikes having me in it. That’s kind of why I’ve been…”

He briefly ponders how to phrase what he wants to say.

“Living mostly alone in a house in the wilderness for the past year or so. I could have chosen to build closer to a populated area, but if I’m constantly putting people on edge just by being around, that’s not exactly fair on them, is it?”

Debbie nods in understanding.

”That... makes sense. Not ideal, but it’s understandable.”

She ponders the “not supposed to exist” bit for a moment. If Blacklight wasn’t supposed to exist, then how-

”Hm... now that you mention the ‘not supposed to exist’ thing, Dr. Adria did mention you - or at least, someone like you - in her post Sphere Crisis report. I assume you met her?”

“...As a matter of fact, yes. All of us met her during the Sphere Crisis, if that’s what we’re calling it now.”

A few translucent phantasmal images flicker into existence surrounding Blacklight. Calibri sitting on one of the pieces of debris, watching Debbie with a neutral half-smile. Verdana excitably frozen mid-conversation with a Lato who is visibly disinterested but trying her best to listen anyway. And some other image of somebody with hollow skull-like eye sockets… Blacklight’s gaze wanders across the assorted images as he keeps speaking. Debbie listens, deeply intrigued by the illusions and Blacklight’s explanation.

“We have to give credit where it’s due. Without getting her help, all of us would probably have been stuck together permanently. That’s the tricky thing about being made improperly. Things go wrong. And sometimes the things one does to set that right don’t cover absolutely everything… But still, she made an invaluable contribution nonetheless.”

Blacklight chuckles once, and quietly, then the images disappear and he returns his focus fully on Debbie.

“...But, heh, that’s enough about me. I take it from you asking that question, you know her too. Who is she to you, then?”

Debbie chuckles and smiles. Clearly she thinks positively of Adria. She excitedly starts rambling on.

”I-I... well, I admire her, honestly. She’s crazy in the best way. I mean, doing all that, plus bringing back another super-smart and crazy if somewhat lazy scientist, plus making teleportation incredibly accessible, all in a matter of less than a chronological year... and, well, all her contributions prior to the Malice incident in all fields, and beyond... It's hard to keep up with her, doubly so when she’s working alongside Dr. Mari!”

She glances off to the side and frowns.

”...She’s also the city’s most infamous alcoholic and coffee addict, unfortunately. Though, with Dr. Mari around, she’s got some fierce competition on the coffee front...”

She refocuses back to Blacklight.

”It... doesn’t detract from her influential nature or positive attitude, though. Even when she’s blackout drunk.”

Once again, Blacklight remains silent until Debbie is done with talking. Then, weighing everything she said into consideration, he nods.

“Well, you certainly have no small amount of glowing praise for her, that’s for certain. Hardly unwarranted though, heh.”

Debbie nods. Then, she raps on the side of the scrap with her hand, and the scrap safely comes apart in a good few sets of plates, wood, and rods. Along with an incredible amount of sand that is now littering the surrounding air and area. With a quick gust of wind, though, it’s blown away.

”Hmh, s-sorry, couldn’t help it.”

In a scene that could be straight from a cartoon, Blacklight remains in his current position as he fails to realize what happened to the piece of debris he was leaning on. Then he glances at the absence of things to lean on, registers what happened for a second, and promptly falls over.

“Oof.”

He doesn’t seem hurt though, just getting back up and dusting himself off, then looking at the resultant sorted parts.

“Hm, I almost forgot that we were doing a salvage thing… No worries, your proactiveness saves time.”

Debbie, noting that there’s likely much more to do, looks around. A lot of people have already ensured the safety of most of the gang, thankfully, so she doesn’t need to do much else.

”I’m gonna see if anyone needs any assistance. Lepidodendron... definitely needs new bones for their whole... undead thing. Um. C-Can you handle things from here?”

“I should be able to wrap things up here, sure. Then… Maybe I’ll explore around a little. It’d be good to have the place mapped out and all.”

Blacklight offers a little smile at Debbie as he gets started on sorting the various pieces of salvage and finding places for them in the inventory.

“...Nice talking with you, by the way.”

”Likewise!”

And with that, Debbie walks off to find someone else she could assist.