Ampere

Electrician + Lightning Representative

"It was Candor's idea to do this. Know the sun does not wish for rain but both are needed for life to flourish." The Guardian's voice is far more comforting than what Hestia usually offers him but despite the warm orange gaze the atmosphere continues to spell trouble.

Ampere the Spiral sits uneasily within one of the clan's Outer Sanctum halls. The caverns are deep within Pendulum's Leviathan Maze labyrinth they call home. The gristly, overpowering sensation of thick and corrupted magic seeps through every corner and crevice around him. No matter how much he fidgets in spot or taps his claws against the armrest of the chair provided for him the Spiral finds that the magic in place everywhere-the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the earth-is a key focal point for triggering his anxiety and inducing a sense of claustrophobia.

"Izz fine. Izz fine. I am fine." Ampere rattles out the words and wrings his wrists.

Hestia looks from him to another slowly. While Ampere keeps his brilliant cyan gaze forward and to the long hall's smooth marble table he is able to easily imagine Candor in his mind: a tiny Fae, known to use a stick to assist in mobility and magic, one with his own set of troubles and tricks that cross from the comfortable bubble of science into unknown arcane territory--in addition to other things. The Fae is revered within Pendulum's influential circles as a descendant of a mysterious entity Ampere cannot remember the name of. Regardless of the why's or how's-much less anything else involving magical mystery-the Spiral does not care to inquire into all of Candor's secrets and splendor. Or slander, if slander exists.

Candor does not make a sound as he flaps his wings and hops unto the hall table. His form is impeccably tiny versus Ampere and but a flimsy speck in the presence of Hestia. He waits until Ampere caves into giving him a glance and from there locks eyes with the latter; Candor's own sage-hued irises peer into Ampere's blue ones. Ampere quickly notes down basic information: a shamrock-hued striped pattern on his scales, shimmering purple wing membranes, and retracting geometric glows of green and yellow against an unknown opal-like material embedded within the Fae's skin. A mouthful to consider but Ampere jots it down in his mind in due time and files it away for later--provided his anxiety does not cause the meeting to drag out too long and prompt him to flee.

"Ampere. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am Candor. Head Researcher." Candor's voice is monotone to the point of reflecting a common Fae stereotype; devoid of all emotion. "The Queens and Archmage gave me this title and permission to invoke their names in pursuit of discovery. Surely as a researcher you can understand that I am not to ask you these questions and engage you in this light out of malice. I desire the truth. Not just of the Shade residing here but of each individual who pledges their loyalty to Pendulum's banner."

"May I leave you to it, Head Researcher Candor?" Hestia is polite and gracious in the question. Her brows are raised and she continues to look from Spiral to Fae as the seconds tick by. "A sun's light is not infinite. That which you see before you has died light years in advance."

"You may go. Thank you." The Fae does not look at her.

Hestia excuses herself. She gives Ampere one last look, perhaps out of sympathy, before she exits the cavern and shuts the doors behind her. The magical barriers spring back up into place the moment the great wood doors lock. Ampere cannot help but flinch at the sound.

This was going to be a long night.

---

Full of bits and bobs springing out of his overcoat and lab wear the Spiral Ampere stands out from the rest of the clan as being one of the few individuals who prefers technology to magic. Hailing from Lightning the dragon is said to have come from a clan wired into the ideology and work ethics the deity of Lightning, the Stormcatcher, is said to emanate. While magic and science has a place among one another Ampere is more often than not an individual who opts to forego the former entirely and cites Lightning's emphasis on machinery and electricity as being the primary motivation for doing so.

Given Ampere's quarters are located within the outer tunnels leading into Pendulum's two Sanctums he experiences little to no magical interference in his work-preferred by him-and has successfully rigged an entire cavern full of live wires and circuitry protruding from the walls. It is an impressive sight to anyone who knows what they are looking at but for an outsider who knows only magic (or no magic at all, a share of Pendulum consists of such dragons) the sight is little more than an eyesore: pieces and heaps of metal who-know-whats lingering, lights flashing on and off in a surrealistic pattern, and the occasional zap of electricity from accidentally tripping or moving one of the dozens of cables and cords stretched and taped to the floors, the walls, and the ceiling.

Most dragons are put off by Ampere's hobbies. The electrician is little more than incessant noises to many of them. While some-such as the chef Master-openly seek Ampere's companionship and friendship many dragons who lack an understanding of the devices he invents and builds choose to ignore him. Whether it be a superstitious fear of the unknown, Head Researcher's claims of him being an extraterrestrial individual masquerading as a Spiral, or merely the fact his eccentric quirks can become intrusive in nature--Ampere struggles to fit in among the magic-based and technology-ignorant populace residing at Pendulum.

---

After a prolonged period of silence Ampere reaches a breaking point.

He squirms in his seat under Candor's gaze, "Izz there, zum, um, a reazzzon behind zhiz meet-up?"

The Fae has not spoken for several minutes. Since Hestia's departure Ampere notes that the monotone Fae does little beyond breathe, stare, and blink. Any motivation cannot be discerned by Ampere's witty-and not so witty-brain processes. The air feels clammy, awkward, and judgemental and Ampere does not like it one bit.

"Your gloves." Candor speaks without inflection. His eyes lock unto the rubber-coated laboratory gloves pulled tight over Ampere's forearms and hands. Slowly the Fae reaches out to Ampere and points to the surface with one tiny finger, "...You do not take them off. Why?"

Ampere's face heats up. The Spiral fidgets again and leans back in his seat away from the Fae. "They are a zzign of, um, comfort. Protection. They keep me from being electrocuzed!"

"You are in no danger here." Candor replies effortlessly.

The lack of tone makes the statement all but reassuring to Ampere. The Spiral shakes his head and draws his hands closer to his face. "They alzzzo, um, they hide my hands. Lotzz of markzz. Zzarz."

"You have scars on your hands? Does that include your arms?" Candor inquires. The Fae draws back his hand and clutches his staff tightly, wings flapping with minimum effort to keep himself propped upon the table. "You cover much of your body. Do you cover it because of your scars? Are you ashamed of them? This clan carries the damned under its wings. It protects those Sornieth fears and hates most. You are safe here. You do not need to hide yourself."

"Thatzz up to me, you know? Up to me, only me, me, yeah--I don't like having to make choicezz like that with otherzz involved..." The Spiral eyes the doors off to the side. He badly wants to bolt out of them and briefly contemplates how long it would take to do so.

"Lightning dragons work with machines. Is that correct?" The new question takes Ampere aback.

The Spiral looks at Candor in confusion. For such a tiny Fae it did not feel like the two were much different in size. If anything Ampere felt like he is much, much smaller than the former; both in physical size and confidence.

"That'zz right," Ampere nods. "Accidentzz happen. Hah. Yeah."

"And you are a Lightning dragon..." Candor trails off. The Fae turns away. "...You, a Lightning dragon, claims to have be burned by the very electricity said to course through your veins... Magical inhibition or not--it is odd. Questionable. Most dragons possess immunity to their elements. Yet you are the exception?"

Ampere's face drains of color. His eyes widen and he stammers to find a response. He should have seen it coming and yet Candor's deductions hit the nail on the head; he can do nothing but look around frantically and try not to have a full-blown anxiety attack. The Spiral sits there quietly, out of words to muster and excuses to be had.

"You are a bad liar. You hide secrets." Candor states; the Fae looks at him with the same empty eyes present at the start of the meeting. "One day I will dissect them from your form. Everything will be out in the open."

---

Like many residents of Pendulum Ampere the Spiral is a dragon who not only claims to lack family ties but also refuses to provide information pertaining to what he did prior to coming to Pendulum's grounds. Despite extensive surveillance and questioning by both Karina and other higher officials in Pendulum the Spiral is a stubborn individual who does not give in easy and quickly deflects or avoid the conversation topic altogether. Overly-obvious attempts to pry will cause the Spiral to grow too nervous to continue.

If not for another clan member, Hubris, Ampere would have remained an enigma.

While neither Hubris nor Ampere address it directly something can be said for the interactions the two hold. Ampere goes out of his way to give Hubris his personal respects and regards as well as check on his health and overall well-being. Hubris shows far less anxiety in the Spiral's presence and while the two almost never see one another the Wildclaw speaks of Ampere as if the two were old friends from a time long ago. This is not to completely dismiss Hubris' anxiety as it still manifests regardless if the dragon present is Ampere or Horizon but the degree of anxiety is far less than that of other recorded interactions.

This, coupled with the speculation shared by Head Researcher Candor in addition to other influential figures in Pendulum, has led to dozens of theories regarding the exact origin and nature of Ampere. While they are not identical they carry one consistent theme behind all of them: space.

Head Researcher Candor reasons Ampere's knowledge of technology and ambition is not uncommon for a Lightning Dragon if he is a dragon to begin with. He argues, however, that the Spiral's technological prowess points to advanced machinery and inventions far beyond the realm of Sornieth. Candor claims the devices and contraptions rendered in Ampere's quarters are evidence of knowledge of another world as well as proof of hailing from such in the first place. Those who attempt to rebuke the claims are quickly shut down as Candor is quick to point out the fact that another clan member, the Crow, in of themself is proof of aliens present in the clan. Should one listen long enough to the monotone explanations and rambles spewed from the Fae's mouth they will uncover the tall end of Candor's conspiracy: Ampere is not a dragon but an alien marauding from another world who, whether ordered, instructed, or accidentally chose to, wound up crashing into the lands of Sornieth. To have such an out-of-bounds claim is not something Candor is known for and many in Pendulum are split as to believe him or not.

For curious companions looking to get more information Candor will gladly divulge the other points of evidence backing up his theory:

Point A: Ampere is the only dragon in Pendulum to approach Nyx's quarters for the sake of claiming artifacts. No other individual in Pendulum has demanded ownership of the items excavated from the Leviathan Trench in the Sea of a Thousand Currents. While several dragons have took to looking over the items or appraising them in the past no one dragon, save for Ampere, has rallied to keep one.

Point B: Despite no external markings or signs pointing to life within "Ampere's artifact" the Spiral claimed to have discovered a sentient being inside it. This was proven to be the ancient relic file known as Gertrude.exe, an artificial intelligence unit stored within the artifact. Gertrude.exe latter statements indicated that the artifact in question functioned in the way of a lock. In other words--Ampere had to have known the combination to the lock beforehand or understood the artifact's technology enough to comprehend its purpose as a locking mechanism and the means to unlock it in the first place. The chances of an ordinary dragon having the potential to deduce alien technology is slim. It is nearly as tiny the possibility it was chance Ampere picked an artifact capable of being unlocked in the firstplace given the other artifacts and foreign objects present in Queen Nyx's chambers.

Point C: Surveillance provided by Karina offers no records pertaining to any clan Ampere originated from. No previous clan members have come forward saying they know him. The only dragon to speak of Ampere in a kin-like manner is Hubris, a Wildclaw noted for having possible otherworldly connections not related to the artificial intelligence Gertrude.exe. This fact in correlation with Ampere's self-proclaimed weakness to Lightning, the element of which he claims to inherit, is highly suspicious and cannot be dismissed.

While Head Researcher Candor continues to adamantly defend his theory on Ampere and aliens what is undeniable is the vague and not-so-vague actions Ampere undergoes to avoid questioning. Despite it in part being contributed to Ampere's anxiety what is certain is the dragon's absolute loathing for talking or discussing his past in any context. Ampere will flee the room should a conversation fall to that topic for too long. He is notoriously bad at lying but that does not prevent him from trying to weasel his way out of the spotlight and keeping his secrets to himself.

---

unofficial father/older brother figure to gertrude.
unaware and oblivious to master's feelings for him.
he/him. trans guy. bi.
probably around 29 or s/t.
theme song: n/a yet