Prelude, before the stage

Dumb

Prelude, before the stage
Forge of Babel, perhaps the largest and most competent manufacturer among those that ain't that picky about their customers, had just stopped accepting new orders to have more flexibility for the upcoming preparation, but of course, there are still some businesses under the table, so to speak.
"Thank you for choosing Forge of Babel...and they are gone, phew."
But in such special times, not a lot of Dashas are available to fiddle with their own stuff, not to mention tending to the need of these special customers. Thus, only two are left, Ein, the head of the research team, and Zwei, the head of the testing team.
"Ein's still reluctant to go out from her cubical...perhaps asking Gil again would help?"
Being the top two of the entire Forge, as well as the two major psyche from the original Dasha, the outgoing and bolder Zwei always treats Ein as a little sister of hers despite being slightly less frequently to be showing on the previous self. Such practice become even more apparent and widespread now that each personality can act on their own, from creating a specific group that can simply stay within the forge without any need of going out and meeting with strangers, to mutually agreeing that Ein becomes the head of said group so she doesn't need to do anything on top of everything.
But still, Zwei still thinks that Ein can't stay like this forever, especially with Mainframe's plan of "Betting everything for a better future". Zwei herself doesn't know what exactly is this "better future" thing is, nor does she care about it that much. But if Mainframe really is betting with "everything" the Crimson Republic had, then the state of the Forge would not remain unchanged, and worst case scenario, Ein will have to live all alone.
Fortunately, Zwei did prepare, namely the apprentice twins, and also some other countermeasures that hopefully help the situation. However, the most important part if still Ein herself...
"Sigh...anyhow, let's see if the research team can apply this mech thing to the things they are working on..."
Dasha=Zwei swipes her tablet, sending the blueprint that she just received from the customer, or as they are referred as currently, "Benefactors", highlighting the side of providing resources to the forge than receiving services. Swiping a bit more, she notice a red dot over the mail icon.
"Huh...I don't remember giving this email to anyone...oh there's a meeting, sure I guess, not like there is any Dasha that are both qualified and willing to attend anyway..."
With some muttering, she left her cubical and towards Xaneroth...or what remained of it after the fight with Avathurn, an ancient dreadnaught which after much time spent deciphering the limited received signal, is deduced to have "gone mad"...if going mad even applies to artificial intelligence that is.

Despite Dasha=Zwei is considered one of the most important individuals even in the entirety of Crimson Republic, she is not really included in the plan itself in fear of collateral to other Dashas, especially Eins, thus even though she is requested to join, she can only listen from the side.
But still, through the discussion, she definitely knows more about the people that join Mainframe's cause.
Yuki, who says she was a human as well despite wielding abilities definitely not human-isk, seeks to witness the potential of "this branch of humanity".
Galar, supposedly corrupted by some wonky space slime according to Mainframe, wishes to see the "thing which makes humans human"
Victor and Umbra, the two slimes(?) with quite a remarkable difference from the twins, simply want to help Gil in the journey, providing defense against hardship and acting as a spear to obstacles.
Mainframe, the product of Crimson Alliance, hopes to do something for the universe that allowed her to exist.
As for Gillian, he would probably say some wonky stuff like "a good end" huh... Dasha=Zwei thinks to herself while sipping a cup of hot cocoa which she magically summoned from the forge, but then the answer, or perhaps the entire reaction of Gil went outside her expectation.
"I...My goal is not concrete yet...sorry"
An outlandish response, especially with the progress that they have all made till this point, but everyone seems to accept Gil's answer, be it Yuki's mysterious smile, Galar's unfocused gaze, Victor and Umbra's silent nodding, or Mainframe's sigh.
And in an eerie silence, the meeting ended.

Dumb

//Over on the other side of the forge//
After "gaining" a lead into the Prisca Theologia, Yin repeatedly practiced with what he got, first trying to aim and practice the feel of the formation, then fiddle with the combinations, adding some, deducting others, and just overall trying to decipher the construct in the most brutish way possible. Of course, such brute force comes with very high risk, but with the protection from the Forge, as well as the limitation of about 1 shot per day, damage received can be healed thoroughly before the next testing, while providing more than enough time for random inspirations from both himself and his sibling, Yang.
With a few months of time, Yin finally expanded his arsenal to 5 regular shots, with small rooms for additional adjustment. However, such exponential growth of arsenal comes at the cost of causing Yin to be absolutely powerless after the final shot, unable to even maintain a solid form, which is where Yang comes to his aid.
Rejected by Prisca Theologica, or so it seems as she failed to register the same enlightenment that Yin received when in contact with the magical formation, Yang switch her focus to mechanical constructs and assist Dasha in the numerous projects while Yin practiced his esoteric ability. With the near limitless condition of the forge, imagination becomes the main obstacle for new products, and with Yang joining and providing ideas from a distinctive and new perspective, albeit mostly flawful and naive, allowed many more prototypes to be produced for further testing. One of the significant ones is the renewed approach of explosive reactive armor, using the explosive force as interception, dissipation as well as relocation of the wearer while reducing the size for each reactive armor unit for additional shrapnel and better reusability. Of course, such idea, as well as some others, have significant drawbacks or require some unusual characteristics for those who equip the item, but advancements are advancements, as long as the requirements are met.