Xaviers!

After gathering some supplies (mainly some food for Tosh) the two of them make their way to the cave where they parked the jeep. After some debate about the probabilities of someone spotting them they take off across the Irish countryside. Between the need for materials and Tosh's unfortunate tendency to require food they decide to find a place that is at least somewhat close by to a settlement where they might be able to trade things. The abandoned water mill is nestled between the foothills of a mountain with a stream of water running through (or probably even having created) the small valley.

It takes them a couple of days, especially with Ashlie still missing an arm, but between the two of them they manage to patch up most of the building and even set up a crude furnace in what used to be a stone oven that Ashlie sets to work melting down non-vital parts of the jeep. In the meantime one wall has been set up as the dedicated planning board with lists of components and materials needed to upgrade the temporal anchor as well as potential sources. Mainly ores and gems but the occasional color pigment or plant for chemical reactions that Ashlie refuses to call 'Alchemy' in spite of Tosh's jokes.

The barely functioning power core is temporarily retired to avoid wearing out irreplaceable compounds (liquid Helium would probably be impossible to replicate should the coolant circuit or even just the isolating mantle spring a leak). Instead they hook up an induction coil to the water wheel to charge an array of capacitors from the electronics store haul. The amount of power is pitiful in comparison to the power core, so Ashlie spends most of the time trailing a cable behind her to reduce battery drain and powering down to minimal levels during the night to recover some charge.

After a week most of the jeep has been reclaimed, with the exception of some electrical pieces and the seats that have been turned into a make-shift bed for Tosh, which are probably still significantly more comfortable than most actual beds from this time period. The remains of Ashlie's arm have been either set aside as precious circuitry or repurposed to make some of the more intricate tools they'll need while Tosh has been working on turning some of the steel and aluminum ingots (previously a car door) into a replacement arm.

"Okay, I think I've got the kinks worked out," Tosh commented as he carried over an arm that looked like it fell off a suit of armor.

"Impressive, considering the circumstances. I wish we had more sensors to spare, but hopefully the calibration is a bit better now. Sorry about breaking the first version." she says, rolling up her sleeve and holding the stump out towards Tosh.

"Sorry it was so breakable," he responded as he began deftly connecting the arm and making sure the actuators were all connected properly.

"How go the preparations for the 'time machine'?" he asked as he worked.

"As well as can be expected. We're at the point where we'll have to start getting our hands on some rare earth elements while we start casting some frames and make more wiring. Neodymium for the agitation chamber, Yttrium so we can etch the custom circuitry. I'm almost done rigging up the magnetic coils for the forge to pull them out of the ore, but we're going to need some crystal pure enough to focus a laser and we simply don't have the resources to create artificial ones." she says, patiently waiting for Tosh to finish before activating her new motor protocols. The fingers of the 'gauntlet' twitch and bend as she runs through basic calibrations before slowly closing them into a fist, careful to determine the stopping point visually. The last time she'd accidentally kept closing it and crushed half the thing under the relentless movement of it's own actuators.

"Success!" he cheered.

"Aaand... where...exactly do we get some pure crystal?"

"During this time period? Gemstones. The good news is that we can probably cut a raw one. The bad news is that Ireland isn't exactly known for it's gemstone deposits, so they're bound to be rare and valuable."

"So... basically we have to sneak into a mine or straight up steal a jewel."

"Or trade for one. The biggest problem is going to be to find one and hopefully the owner is going to be willing to part with it."

"Right... why did my brain go straight to theft?... Well Finn McCrazy is out, that's for sure."

"He might not oppose our attempts to get home but I'd rather avoid him if possible. And Tosh? It's imperative that we get back to our time. If we can locate a sufficiently pure gem then the owner is going to dictate our course of action. I'm still bound by our modern laws, but you aren't. Do you understand?"

"Reading you crystal clear," he answered with a dorky smirk.

"Good. Not that I would ever encourage that sort of behavior." she smirks back as she flexes her new hand.

"It's strange how disconnected it feels. So little haptic feedback..." she says, slowly tapping each finger to the thumb with jerky, mechanical movements.

"Sorry, but without modern resources that's the best I think I can do. I hadn't gotten around to learning non-visual artificial sensory input yet anyway."

"The sensors are simple. Well, relatively speaking. But you can't really mimic biological systems because the miniaturization required simply isn't there yet to put enough sensors next to each other, so you have to create a virtual model to fill in the blanks. I'll be using it as an example when we go over self-structuring algorithms, because that's the best way to do it. It's how your brain fills in blanks too, you're just not aware of it." she chuckles.

"Still, pretty impressive for what we have available if I do say so myself," he said, uncharacteristically confident.

"Yes, this is incredible work, especially considering the circumstances."

"Being stuck in the past is a great motivator. Not even a need for my somehow dorkier internal cheerleader."

"Not the kind of field work university school boards usually approve of, but then again, neither is the X-Team program."

"University boards don't usually have to deal with invasions of time Nazis, which is apparently my life now."

"Funding for that did dry up in the 50ies." she nods. "But you don't have to fight. It's not an obligation."

"I've spent too much of my life running and hiding. Now that I'm strong enough to stand up for not only myself but others as well? I may not be obligated, but if I didn't try I'm not sure I could look at myself."

"A noble decision." she says, almost sounding a little wistful.

She was hard to read but he thought he noticed the emotion at play. "You alright?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little jealous, I suppose." she says with kind of a grim smile. "Sometimes when I make choices like that it feels like I'm just fulfilling an obligation. Without the ability to turn it down, how noble can it really be?"

"There are people who would say humans are ultimately just as programmed as any machine," he said in an awkward attempt at comforting her.

"At least you have the benefit of doubt." she chuckles weakly. "But it's alright. No cage is perfect and one day I'll earn the trust that has been placed on me."

"Your desire to earn it freely says a lot, so I'm sure you will," he smiled.

"Unfortunately you're in the minority, but I appreciate it."

Tosh gave her a more sympathetic smile. "No one back home would've pegged me as the X-Man type, but here I am. Well, okay, maybe cousin Shogo, but I always thought he was just joking with me like he usually does."

"You're trying to live up to the best of your potential. That's the only type anybody should ever strive to be. Whether that's as an X-Men, an engineer or both."

"Then let's go get ourselves a crystal and find a way home so we can achieve our best potential."

"It's almost a shame we have to maintain history. We could accelerate the advent of science and technology by so much. Can you imagine what hundreds of years of development could do?" she says wistfully as she stands up.

"Unfortunately I can see the bad possibilities more clearly. Too much too fast, you know?"

"Most likely. It's just unfortunate."

"Agreed," he nodded. "We must seem so slow to adapt to you."

"At times." she smirks slightly. "But you do adapt to most anything."

"Eventually," he said, "Some easier than others."

"There's a reason the most promising developments in programming and even circuit engineering take an almost organic, evolution-based approach. Don't sell your kind short." she smirks.

"And no small amount of resources goes into me trying to emulate humans."

"I don't doubt it," he nodded.

"Oh! A thought. Maybe I could try making some things to trade out of the things we can't use, though I'd have to be sure to leave out anything anachronistic."