Sunset brought with it a brand new night, and a chance to get further from the horrible memories of yesterday. The Boys weren't in the mess area, but Liam only had to follow the roar of Hasan's smelter to locate them. Hasan and wasted no time this evening getting to work. The pair were in Hasan's workshop. It was fairly spacious for a subterranean workshop, if somewhat stuffy. Liam has little doubt that a mortal would die from the fumes of the poorly ventilated blast furnace. Hasan was observing the smelting process through the exhaust port. Jacob was across the workshop, kneeling by a large box of tightly-packed sand.

Jacob nodded to Liam as he entered. "You're looking a little better," he said over the noise. He was busy removing what appeared to be standard hardware store t-bars from the sand, leaving behind a casting impression. The bars had been cut and notched at precise angles.

"A little," Liam agreed. "It was hard to wake up this evening. I don't much feel like doing anything, though I haven't got much of a choice."

"You two have been busy," he observed.

"I wanna get these done for Tart 'n' Tiny before we go," Hasan said, quite loudly in order to be heard. "Y'know, just in case." He flipped open a port, and dipped a piece of wedge-tipped rebar into the mouth of the furnace. It came back with a glowing spoonful of slag, which he dumped unceremoniously on the dirt floor.

"I'm going to finish them up and deliver them while you're away," Jacob said. "And then I'm going to visit the Gangrel. The plans have changed, as you can imagine." He sighed.

"Lots has changed," Liam concurred. "I sincerely hope for the better, but we've got hell to go through first."

"What is it you're working on?"

Jacob gestured to the work table. A series of detailed sketches illustrated the precise measurements and angles of the t-bars, and a mockup of a large polyhedral frame - about three metres tall - they assembled into. "That," he said. "Whatever it is. Judging by the notches and grooves that don't slot into something, that sketch isn't the completed design."

"We were hoping you knew," Hasan added. "'s why I asked."

"She was working on it with Pockets two nights ago," Liam said with a shrug. "You were on the phone when I came into the office. It was after Mickey released you. I came to get the serum for the base."

"I figured all three of you were planning something and I was in hurry to get back before sunrise."

"Not that we're suspicious," Jacob said.

"But we're suspicious," Hasan interjected.

"We're concerned about what she's up to, and whether she's being influenced," Jacob said. Hasan cut the gas flow, and after an audible pop, the room was quiet again.

"I've been studying metallurgy since the 10th century," Hasan said. "And Eversteel for more than a decade. She dropped the formula in my hand like it was her pocket lint. It was written on a post-it note for chrissakes. And from what I can tell, she doesn't even own a forge."

"And now here we are, using our very first batch to make... Whatever this is," Jacob said, stepping away from the mold while Hasan fished a massive crucible out of the forge with a long pair of oversized tongs. The crucible was glowing from the heat, and Liam could feel warmth on his face clear across the room. "Given the origins of the material, you can understand why we're apprehensive about it being used in some kind of magic."

"I'm not saying we need to turn on her or nothin'," Hasan said. "Not yet, at any rate. But keep an eye on her, and who she's talking to. And if you catch her making any overtures towards releasing that thing in the ruins, we know you'll handle it." He carefully poured the glowing liquid metal into the molds, and the sand began to smoke and burn. The glowing faded as the metal began to cool.

"Alright," Liam replied. "I can keep an eye. I hope to be around more than I have been, after this. I still owe Deluca a call but other than that I've got nothing to pull me away from the city."

"I think we've all earned a short respite," Jacob said with a nod. He grabbed a smaller set of tongs, and moved the bars one by one into a long trough full of a viscous oily substance. It hissed and bubbled, boiling as it cooled the bars.

"Yeah,I've got plenty of projects in the forge, now," Hasan said. He put the crucible back in the hot furnace, and doffed his gloves. He reached into the oil, and produced a quenched bar. Even unfinished, it gleamed brilliantly. Hasan held it up to inspect the straightness, and flexed it slightly, with considerable effort.

"If that's not Eversteel, it's a damn good knockoff," he said with a low whistle. "I can't wait to get cracking with this stuff." He looked back over his shoulder at Jacob. "Make that suit of yours look positively austere."

"Is it hard to make?" Liam asked, genuinely curious. "Now that you've got the formula?"