All Topsy Turvy [Klein, Tiresia]

All this noise and nonsense going on in his life, Klein barely had any time to spend on his own work these days. He had his girls to attend to, certainly, and he enjoyed that, at the very least. But all this Safira business? Africa, planning for the Soul Society? Sighing as he entered the lab he'd hidden in the ruined depths of Las Noches, Klein hung up his jacket as he greeted his favorite assistant.

"Tiresia, give me a hug, we've got work to do but I need to decompress first."

He didn't actually wait to see if she responded, though, and embraced the small woman as he took a moment to himself. Ah, this was refreshing. Of course all those lovely ladies in his life were plenty nice to spend his time with, but this was something else entirely. He'd never look at his little Tiresia like he did his girls.

"We'll need to make more injectors soon, I think. A lot more, otherwise people are going to get snippy with me. Can you believe that?"

The sickly arrancar waited until he was finished with his ceremonious hug of her. The bandages that she wore obscuring the wounded parts of her mangled body under the plain white fabric which she had turned into a cloak for modesty. There wasn't any kind of bite in her even if she didn't appreciate his attention so she meekly looked around the lab as her current boss got to work and complained to himself.

She also liked to complain. It was the best way to express her melancholy without having to exert any effort.

"Is it bad if they're snippy? They sound like our creator, those kinds of people are never satisfied."

Tiresia told him the most unhelpful advice she could provide, but she also had very little understanding of what Klein's life was like beyond these walls. There was no desire to explore or hunger for knowledge, the wise men only knew despair compared to the blissfully ignorant. This place was comforting for her.

"It's annoying if they're snippy, Tiresia. And while I'd gladly listen to you speak as long as you wanted, most people don't have as pleasant a voice, you know? They talk about stupid things."

Still, the mention of their creator did give Klein pause. In the abstract, he knew some degree about the man, but the vast majority of his memories from that time had gone with the mask he'd ripped away long ago. He paced for a few seconds, then a few more, until he turned back to Tiresia and gave her an affectionate pat on the head.

"People want me to give them the world, and of course, I can give it to them. But they really ought to ask more nicely about it. We're going to need to get to work on another special hollow I think, but this won't be a Rhinemaiden. I'd never consign one of those beauties to a fate this creature's going to be facing."

He continued the overbearing petting, seemingly more concerned with that than the actual work he was talking about. Of course, both were quite active thoughts in his mind, but he could always think about work. He couldn't always pet this precious little thing, and she made a wonderful sounding board for him to vocalize his thoughts rather than simply contemplating them in silence.

"In theory, the vents I've modified on the Rhinemaidens would be enough for this, but I want to be more efficient, and I don't want to give up my girls' tricks. This is going to be a suicide bomb, so to speak. Like a meal ready to eat, packed into a lone hollow. Get my idea?"

"You mean like Lumina and Verona?"

She muttered unenthusiastically to the doting scientist. Privy to the processes of the their creator's work from her container as he worked and she recalled the comments about the two being consumable. It wasn't particularly surprising for her since hollows ate each other all the time. Why would an arrancar be any different?

Tiresia didn't need to see to be able to navigate this space, instead a thin trail of reiryoku extended out as a golden ribbon that sought out what she was looking for amidst a pile of rubble.

"Over there is where he would work or mumble about them. There used to be a station but it's probably destroyed after the debris landed on it."

Maybe it would be of use to him but Tiresia just thought the whole idea was hopeless. Everything of value was probably destroyed and worthless but Klein could come to that depressing conclusion himself. A pessimistic was hardly the best person to encourage his antics.

"Just like them. But better, because I've had a long time to get ideas that he never would have come up with."

Klein's eyes lit up as Tiresia began her searching, always so enamored with his precious little girl's abilities. Even if she hadn't been so useful, he would have doted on her day and night, but she was more than happy to let her provide her assistance wherever she could.

"Thank you very much, Tiresia. I'll get you something extra special next time I go out, how's that sound? Is there anything you want? I could get you something more comfortable to wear than those bandages, you know. Maybe some pajamas?"

Even as he rambled on, though, Klein was moving toward the rubble that Tiresia had pointed out. He could maybe move through there if he shrunk down, but he wanted to actually be able to get in and out more reliably... A bigger workspace would go a long way.

She was hardly a material person, never having anything to her name and she thought for a moment how exhausting it must be to have things. They were things that she'd have to think about and try not to lose. It must be sad for people when they lost something she imagined. They'd have to try really hard to find it or accept that it was gone. How miserable someone with everything must feel to have to spend so much of their life trying not to lose or break anything.

"If you want."

Tiresia didn't mind her bandages. The cold feeling this place had on making her uncomfortable was just a reminder that she was alive. If she stopped having the tingling feeling of the cold nipping at her skin then she might wonder if she was dying.

"Ah, you know what? I'll bring you with me! Wouldn't that be fun, a little trip for the two of us to enjoy after we've finished our work?"

Finally pushing his way through to the workstation he'd been searching for, Klein examined it only for a few moments before he sighed and looked at the rest of the rubble in the area. It was fine, he could work with this, but he was definitely going to need this cleared out. Snapping his fingers, the Cazador quickly began setting no small number of his Nibelungen to work on clearing out the area.

"I'll have Flosshilde watch them while they clear this out. I won't be able to do much besides think about my plans for this Rheinmetze while they're working, anyway."

Though Klein was certainly excited about the idea of taking his little girl on a trip, he was nevertheless quite deep in thought about this matter they were working on. There wasn't much else he could do but offer up a sacrifice to this serpentine bitch, but he'd never give up one of his precious maidens.

Our work? Strange that he acted like she was a heavy participant in this endeavour, the most she did was sit here and point out where things had been a hundred years ago in this rubble. She might've inquired how a Rhinemetze was to differ from a Rhinemaiden but she also didn't care too much about that. The last thing Tiresia wanted was to start to think about the problems of other people. It'd just make her feel bad.

"If I have to."

She didn't sound particularly excited about exploring the outside world. This place had been her home for a hundred years, since she was born, the outside world was as mysterious as it was terrifying to her. Everything might want to kill her or hurt her but it could be more trouble to try and say no over yes.

So it was a simple yes.