Zoe needs help on a special project

Just like many days before, Maia was hard at work in the Spinlab working on projects that she didn't quite understand. Maia's current task was to engrave a series of small runes onto a patch of leather. For Maia, rune engraving came easily, even if she had no idea what their purpose really was. It was just a matter of transcribing from a reference page that Zoe had written onto the course leather. An unfortunate side effect of not knowing the purpose of the runes was that the leather tended to burst into flames from time to time. Each time the leather burned, Zoe would come jogging over and tell Maia exactly what she did wrong. How Zoe managed to make out Maia's mistakes by simply looking at a burning piece of leather, Maia would never know.

After her seventh failed attempt of the day, the two of them took a break.

Relaxing together at a only marginally cluttered table, they enjoyed a moment of silence.

"I've been talking to {if MV School == true}Marikis{elseif Nova School == true}Dujani{elseif Dyn School == true}Soki{else}{endif} recently. She's requested a prototype of a very special project."

"Yeah?" Maia replied, far more intrigued than her tone let on. In the whole time they had worked together, this was the first time Maia could remember Zoe taking on a project directly from the Guildmaster.

Zoe absentmindedly crunched into an odd blue fruit. "It's a device that can synthesize the Ri of two different weilders, she thinks that it might be able to help both people cure impurities out of their Spinning."

"Sounds interesting, but why are you bringing this up now instead of just doing it."

The fainest bit of irritation tinged Zoe's voice. "I'm getting there Maia, just slow down for a second."

"Telling me to slow down? That's pretty rich coming from the queen of lab-sprinting herself"

Zoe didn't look amused. "I bring it up now because we don't have the right supplies. That leather you are working with is too weak to hold the necessary runes. The engraving knife is old, and not in the 'ancient and powerful' kind of way. Finally, and most important, it requires the horn of a Spinning Beast, which isn't something we have just lying around. You've been a huge help around here recently Maia, but you are going to need to step up your game." Pausing briefly to take another bite of her fruit, Zoe continued "I suppose you'll need to step it up in a few different regards, but we'll talk more on that later"

Confusion ran deep within Maia's head. "Step up my game?"

Zoe smirked. "Oh yes. First to get the right components, then to be the first to test out the prototype."

"Twinned leather, a Horn of a Spinning Beast at least six inches long, and a newer Rune Carving Knife. I wonder if anyone else at the Guildhall could help me get these." Maia mused, walking back to the Guildhall.