BBC News: Flames erupt near the Goodman Ranch.

[l3wt]

In a sparse room somewhere on the borders between Houses, a Bretonian fugitive looks up from his obsessive work and stares at the screen. He carefully sets aside the precious tools that he was using to calibrate his current project, and places the last set of tiny mechanisms - sensors, miniature servos, and other equipment - back inside their sheathes of high-grade carbon nanotube, ballistic fiberweave and thermal dispersal mesh. He flips a switch, and watches with some satisfaction as the mechanisms underneath bend the material to their will. It was not entirely ready, though. Not yet.

He taps a contact on his PDA, making a call.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. Yes. I've finished calibrating the last servos, it should stabilize properly now. There's still the issue of the more fragile mechanisms breaking under too much pressure or overuse, yeah, but once nanobot distribution is fixed that should be rendered mostly irrelevant in combat situations."

He pauses, listening to the response.

"I know, I know, continued damage to this thing will be unsustainable for us financially if we have to keep replacing the more expensive materials, but once again, once we get the nanobot thing right, we should be punting the cost/practicality curve all the way into Nomad space."

Another pause. He wonders how to properly broach the subject of what's on the news.

"Miniaturizing the servos further? Yeah, that is a possible solution too, but I'll need access to more advanced manufacturing facilities for that, I can only do so much with these tools, remember? Also, look. I need to tell you something."

He rubs his tired eyes.

"Goodman's ranch burned down. Police are saying they found a body. His."

Silence.

"I'm going back into Bretonia. I want to verify this for myself. Could you please make sure it's ready by...

He smiles, appreciation clear in the expression.

"Thanks. Seriously. Of course I'll be fine! After all..."

He hooks a very odd wire into a piece of tech in the base of his neck, grins as the advanced materials lying on his workspace changes behaviour.

"...You'll both be with me every step of the way."