The Workshop

Odd jobs. Frankly, Svin might need to consider such a route outside of Lord El-Melloi II’s lessons. The library in Cotes was expansive for sure, but it wasn’t the same as the Clock Tower. His teacher also seemed more intent on being a detective than a lecturer, though anyone who’d witnessed his deductions knew the threat of a lecture was ever overhanging.

“Really? Eh, maybe she doesn’t mind as much as he does. They aren’t technically blood related.” Was that well known around there? Well, Svin had already said it. He shook his head, calming down. “No no, she’s not a teacher. She’s just… rich.” 

Wait, wait, even rich people had occupations outside of causing trouble for relatives. “A student, rather. She owns a tea shop, which you must know already. You work there too? Hey, I’ve actually been thinking of getting a job somewhere! Gotta repay someone for a window,” he muttered, trailing off. He was still baffled to believe Reines had hired someone so… unlike her.

Maybe she tired of respect after awhile.

“Yeah, definitely struck me as the rich type,” Cayden grumbles. He’d never gotten along with the upper crust all too well.

“If it were a tea shop I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. But nah, I’m mostly just fixing the plumbing and all the crumbly walls around here and shit. Making some weapons and shit for her priest on the side, but I don’t really have the parts I need yet.” Reines was better than that priest guy at least. Cayden’d punch him if he weren’t sure Judar could turn him into mincemeat.

“Dunno about jobs, but I wouldn’t work for El Melloi. Swear she keeps me around so she’s got someone to shit on.”

Six watches Cayden work with a practiced eye. This kid certainly knew his stuff… Six then lights up when he’s given another opportunity to brag about himself.

“Yes, I actually have! I’ve dipped my toe in a bit of corporate espionage. Sure, it was on a smaller scale than what you must be thinking of, but hey, experience’s experience! You got any questions, man?”

“Mostly if I can drag you back to my place. I’m pretty shit at spying. Don’t got the brain for it. Ma says my head’s full of bolts.” He shakes his head as if to rattle them.

“I cannot believe they would kick you out for that. Honestly, it seems as if they ought to be paying you for that kind of assistance.”

Seeing the man rubbing at his shoulder, Bonnie gestured for him to follow her. She didn’t have the magic powers some of the people here seemed to possess, but she did have knowledge that could possibly provide assistance.

“Come on; there’s a small bistro not far from here who will give us ice for that.”

“They should, right?” Cayden whined, even though he knew perfectly well that what he’d been doing was.. illegal. (He refused to call it wrong. Frankly, what the casinos were doing was more wrong!)

“If you find out, let me know. I’ll be happy to help fight them! I’m not so great at… ‘tech’, as you call it, but I have plenty of magecraft on my side and I’ve been in a fair few tussles!”

“And I’m pretty useless in an out-and-out fight,” Cayden admitted without much shame. He was definitely more of a support type of guy. A maker not a breaker if you will.

“Right, bribing the cyborg-robot-guys is off the table.” Six almost sounds disappointed, as a small part of his mind is already thinking back to back issues of Astoundingly Awesome Tales he’d read as a kid. “But, yeah, paying the right people off work wonders. The bigger an organization is, the more likely you’ll find some guy who can gunk things up.”

“Sabotage works too, of course.” Six has enough grace to not chuckle when the stranger messes up, and instead reaches for his own tray of spare parts. “Hey, take one—fair’s fair after all.”

Cayden sighs and snatched up a screw. That was an amateur mistake. He was pretty pissed. “Yeah, yeah, thanks.” He tossed the old screw aside, and started with the new one.

“You got any experience with shit like that?” Maybe he could pick up some additional tips. But if he actually tried to fight the government, Ma would be furious.

“I mean, it’s kind of hard to count cards using a toolkit?” she agreed, crouching down to pick up a spare screwdriver near her feet. “Unless you’re, like, building a machine to do it for you, and I would suggest doing that at home first.”

Sure, she was probably going to be banned herself from the casino for assisting him now, but was there any point in going in anyways? It looked likely she had found a contact, which had been the entire point of this venture. Question was if he was worth the sacrifice or if he was a two-bit Bonnie could feel no confidence in recommending to others.

“So what were you doing? Trying to get into the safe wouldn’t have just gotten you thrown out, I don’t think.”

Cayden rolled his eyes, and rubbed at his aching wounds. Yeah, that was gonna bruise pretty badly. Frankly, he was pretty lucky they hadn’t pressed charges or anything like that. He still wasn’t too sure how the laws in this place worked, but he was betting they could’ve. He really didn’t want to get arrested.

“Not really ‘get rid of’, more like ‘forgot how to make’.” “It’s a long story but my… yeah, ancestors, kinda did an oopsie and sent us screaming headlong back into the Stone Age. Most folk simply didn’t have the time for robotics, much less the whole body of systems that’d enable the good ol’ military-industrial complex, you know? Though I’m guessing a nuclear holocaust isn’t really in the cards for you.”

“As for talking to governments… I’m more a fan of the ‘subvert and confound’ method myself. But a good start is knowing who to schmooze up to. Schmoozing and bribing and back-room favors are always a good place to begin your career in treason. The flesh-bots might make things weird, I dunno how they work or if they’re, like, people… but hey maybe you can bribe them too.”

Stone age? No thank you. Even getting rid of those losers wasn’t worth all of that. As for nuclear holocausts, yeah, some people mentioned those were a concern, but Cayden figured no one would be so damn stupid as to actually cause one. It was kinda weird hearing from someone who’d apparently come from a place where someone actually had.

“I mean, I guess? I don’t know how to even find this place.”

However, he mentioned kidnappers. That was certainly enough to peak Martha’s attention visibly.

“Do we know who these kidnappers are? And can we fight them?”

“Fuck if I know,” Cayden said in what he assumed was a very reasonable tone of voice. “Someone drove me to my place when I got here, but I don’t see any drivers around for you.”

“No arguments there.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t agree with you, eh?” That’s why he was here, making a vacuum-robot (or two, if he could manage it, he certainly had the funds) “Do they have military bots where you come from? That was a big thing for a while back home. By your definition, I guess that fighting’s a chore of… sorts.” Six snickers as he installs what will be the robot’s electronic ‘eyes’. “Nasty things, nothing like what I hope this little guy will be, now that you’ve gone and done me a favor like you did.”

“Military bots...” Cayden’s face twisted into some fucked up combination of enthusiasm and dismay. “Yeah, we got those. No idea how to make ‘em though. Some guy up at the capital takes a whole buncha bioengineered flesh and robot parts and turns ‘em into walking, talking nukes. Would love to get one under a wrench if they weren’t out to kick my ass.”

Svin didn’t take the time to consider that Cayden didn’t know his history, and stayed heated a few moments more. A bark, how embarrassing. He was thankful Flat wasn’t around. “I’m not a dog, got it?!” He folded his arms but did sniff again, disdainfully.

He did lower his guard just a degree at the admission that Cayden worked for Lord El-Melloi II and Reines. He blinked, putting his hands on his hips thoughtfully. His teacher often had odd acquaintances. Perhaps those rougher around the edges in Svin’s view like Kairi (though Svin did like his scent, for all the necromancy it carried, the smoke was familiar), or this Cayden suited Lord El-Melloi II better than he thought.

“Oh? I could be in error, then.” Although Cayden’s attitude was still blindsiding to him. “What do you do for them?” His professor ran a detective agency, apparently. Svin wondered where being in the employment of both siblings would intersect. His mouth twitched upward for a moment.

“I bet you’ve been scolded about not tacking ‘the Second’ onto El-Melloi’s name.” Svin sometimes did it too, Mr. El-Melloi slipping out without the caboose of ‘the Second’. “He’s particular to be sure, but the best teacher I’ve ever met,” he admitted.

Cayden held his hands up in mock defense. Geeze, this guy clearly had some hang-ups about being called a dog. There was some history there, and he wanted nothing to do with that.

“I do odd jobs,” he explained with a shrug. “Just a temporary gig though, until I can get enough cash to get my own business up and running.”

“Do I really look rich enough to afford a house? Or something with keys?” Still, she rummaged through her pockets anyways to see if there was anything telling her where she was supposed to go. There was that brick, and… she did have keys after all? Complete with a piece of leather on it with some sort of address she couldn’t make heads or tails of on it.

“Does this make any sense to you?”

There! He knew it. Felt good to have some idea of what was going on.

“Apologies, Cayden. Force of habit. And for the record, no, I’m just a regular guy. For the most part.” He would’ve said something about the immortals, but given that he knew a lady who was most probably some kind of vampire, Six had no room to doubt the fella.

“Sorta. I do a lot of freelance work, the kind where it pays to keep my shit sorted. I was hard on cash for a while, so I learned to dip my toes into a bit of everything. Mind you, I never really worked on robots. I’m a bit… analog, that way.” Not strictly true, as Six started working with a lot of energy weapons as soon as he gathered up enough scratch to afford them, but the difference was academic at best. “That’s what they call it here, right?”

“Makes sense. Even if no one’s paying you for it, knowing how to make shit can save you some serious cash.” Cayden... supposed ‘analogue’ was the right word. Robots did require coding and shit. Cayden could do it, but it definitely wasn’t as fun as actually building things with your hand. He couldn’t exactly blame Six for not going down that route.

 “Yeah, I know, not as cool as a weapon, but it’s very important to help me do my job as best as I can. “ it would be better if she didn’t need them, but her magic circuits weren’t that great– a third-rate mage, as most called her. ( a title that didn’t bother her….much. ) but with them, she could do more and fight better and as such, Ritsuka wanted to make sure they were in as best of a condition as they can be. 

    “ Well, it was made for me by a….good friend. They’re practically a genius and have made a lot, but I only have one or two right now. She’s not here in the city, but if she ever was, I think you two could probably spend hours talking about things like this. And if you saw half the things she’s made…” she trails off for dramatic effect, a small grin. there was no proper way to encompass just what exactly da Vinci had accomplished.

Cayden grins back, mind racing as he wonders what all this lady’s made. What he’d give to meet her and talk shop.

“Guess I’ve got a lot to live up to, huh? Never been one to back down from a challenge.” He adjusts the coat on his table and pulls out a toolbox. Most of the items in it are meant for mechanics, but there are a few more suitable for this kind of job.

“Hut. You know? Place to live?” Look at that huff, Martha not at all pleased at being treated like an idiot. 

“How would I even find where I’m supposed to be living, anyways?”

“Like a house?” Cayden sighed. What the hell kinda circumstances was this lady living in?