Engineered Magic

48 AL: Ellen

Ellen pushed the loom to the back of the storage shelf. In front of it she sat the small sewing machine. Amazingly they both fit. She put gathering bags in red, violet, blue, green and yellow on top of the two machines. Ellen taught Sarah to dye the cloth yellow before she fabricated it into the gathering bag. With these as color sources she could dye any color but orange. She was still trying to figure out how she could do orange. She knew how to do it, but at one point she needed to tap six fingers to indicate orange. Since she only possessed five fingers it was a problem.

Companion’s people only had two finger-flippers, yet they wore orange. Ellen thought they must use a different method to signal the desired color. Whether this was sound or a different tap pattern, Ellen didn’t know. With Alex’s help, Ellen asked the player how his people did it. Either Companion didn’t know or they didn’t understand the question. Ellen suspected they didn’t know.

Companion tried hard to convey to Ellen everything they knew about crafting, but they were no crafter. The player was extremely surprised when they realized that Ellen was. Ellen concluded that among their people crafters rarely left the safety of a protection crystal. Companion only knew the very beginning basics. The type of things that were taught to children to help them decide if they wanted to be a crafter and what type. It was these simple things that gave Ellen the impression that their people may be using a different method of taps to cast some of the spells. Companion used sound to control some of the machines, but they did not sing enough to control all the functions.

She put the smaller weaver’s tools into each gathering bag, including a line of pins she stuck through the fabric of the green bag. Of the smaller sewing tools, only the spindle did not fit inside a gathering bag easily. She squeezed it in last, on top of everything. It was an impressive cache of weaving tools, especially considering they gathered it all in the last five days.

Ellen moved on to her blacksmithing collection. Todd helped her push the anvil to the back of the storage cubical she chose for it. She picked out storage cubicles for the woodworking and leather crafting tools as well. She planned on taking the stone sculpting tools back with her. These caches were for her to use when they returned for their next expedition.

After deciding to use the transport system to return to their home square, everyone was busy deciding what they would do with their collected spoils. If they would carry the items back, put them into inventory or store them here for the next trip. Grandmother expected that at a minimum they would need to return here to send Companion back to his people at some point, even if that meant walking to the player’s square. Even more importantly she saw this gallery as the launch point for all future expeditions south.

Ellen was setting up these crafting caches while Todd was preparing a food cache of their longest lasting goods for emergency use. Alex was going through the random quality weapons that were left over after everyone claimed what they wanted. He was deciding what they would sell and what would be left here as spares.

Grandmother was back to wearing her leathers. Ellen could see how much happier the older woman was. Grandmother’s non-integrated leathers occupied a lot of space in her backpack. Putting them on freed up that space. Grandmother was busy filling it with the duplicate crafting gear that Ellen didn’t need. Putting items into inventory caused them to wear. They could be repaired, but their durability would be decreased. Starting tools didn’t have much durability to begin with. To get the longest life out of the items they needed to be repaired between each use. Three small repairs would cause less reduction to durability than a single repair that fixed the same amount of damage. Weapons and armor only differed in their greater starting durability.

The brigandine Todd wore was old. Its long life was due to Todd’s skill in avoiding damage and Ellen’s constant diligence at repairing it. Grandmother went through five or six sets of leathers during the time Todd was wearing the brigandine. Since Grandmother’s leathers were not integrated the only way to repair them was to sew on patches. This method was of limited use since the act of punching holes to attach the patch weakened the remaining leather.

Ellen sometimes wondered if Grandmother reached her high tier because she didn’t rely on integrated products. Control may have recognized the greater risk the woman was taking and granted her more experience for her actions.

Ellen double checked to make sure she put everything she wanted to store on the shelves. She asked Sarah to record where she stored each type of crafting tools. Once Sarah recorded it in a corner of her diary Ellen paid the storage fees. The front of the cubby holes frosted in and solidified into an opaque glass. Sarah did a brief sketch on each sheet of opaque glass using her integrated stylus.

“I don’t know if this will last, but I’ve wanted to try it for a while,” Sarah commented. She drew a spindle, an anvil, a skinning knife and an ax.

“That will be convenient if it works,” Ellen commented. “But why didn’t you just write the words?”

“Where is the fun in that?” Sarah asked. Ellen laughed at her sister, before going back to her area to pack up the last of her things. Ellen strapped her new crossbow to her pack, with her regular bow swung over her shoulder. She carried two quivers, one with arrows and one with bolts secured to her belt. When she was ready to leave she carried the rock polisher to the central area to wait for everyone else.

Grandmother offered to take the polisher for Ellen. She rigged the polisher up very similarly to how she slung the loom. She swung the polisher over her shoulder like it was as light as a water flask. Having just been carrying it, Ellen was a little taken aback at this show of strength. Logically she knew that here in the structure Grandmother’s higher tier translated to greater agility, dexterity and strength, but it was still a surprise to see the older woman display it.

After checking the length of the cord, Grandmother set the polisher down next to her staff while they waited for the others. Companion was already ready and standing by. They were still worried the humans might leave them behind or send them to another destination. They gestured that they wanted to go wherever Grandmother was going no less than three times. Each time Grandmother reassured Companion that they were all going together. She nodded her head in the affirmative. Alex thought Companion understood their nods better than words.

“Do you think this gallery is what Control sent you to find?” Ellen asked.

“This gallery, the transport system, the stone sculpting or even Companion and their people,” Grandmother replied, “take your pick. I am pleased with this expedition. I think we have made really good progress. Hopefully Control will be happy with us for a while.”

When everyone was gathered around the central seating area and indicated they were ready to go, Grandmother reached out and touched the crystal. It flooded a dark, dark violet. She let it go and turned to the group. “I want everyone to touch the crystal before we depart. I want us all to get into the habit. I noticed that the crystals I last touched years ago have a very high transport cost. Touching it should make sure that all of us have this location unlocked in the system.”

Todd stepped forward and touched the crystal before Grandmother even finished her speech. The crystal filled with a dark red. Ellen’s green was an exact match to her clothing. Alex filled the crystal with blue. A pale yellow filled the crystal at Sarah’s touch.

Companion shifted uneasily on their flipper-feet. They held out their flipper-hand and let out a long vocalization that seemed to purposely end on a rising note.

“Yes,” Grandmother said to him with a vigorous nod. “It is your turn. But if you don’t want to, I won’t force you,” She gestured at Companion and then the crystal. She stepped out of the way, trying to convey to him that it was not required.

Companion danced forward and set both flipper-hands on the crystal. It filled with a solid orange color at their touch. Six clear notes sounded. Everyone, including Companion, looked around in surprise. Nothing appeared to change. The notes were very similar to the notes that sounded when the group successfully cast the spell a grand staircase statue requested.

“Four, five, two, three, one, six,” Alex said aloud after he hummed the notes. “Isn’t that the order we touched the crystal?”

“Yes,” Todd answered.

“I have always wondered if the healing addiction was just a mismatch with human biology and that the pleasure response was intended to encourage same color collaboration. I am going to assume that that is not the case and that this response means that Control approves of us having a full color set,” Grandmother commented. “That is enough mystery for one day. Let's get going.”

Companion

Com-Pan-Ion tried to wait patiently. The Elder and Red disappeared through the glass wall. A few minutes later the Elder stuck its head through and called Yellow over. The Elder held Yellow’s arm and guided it through the glass. Elder called Green next, and finally Blue. Com-Pan-Ion recognized this as the opposite of their normal marching order. Com-Pan-Ion was getting really nervous. He could hear himself starting to click. Even though he didn’t hear the voice again, the very thought of not going with the Elder unnerved him. Somehow he knew he was yet to complete the true god’s instructions.

“Com-Pan-Ion,” the Elder called. He was already standing so close to the section of glass everyone disappeared through, that the Elder just reached out and touched him. With a firm but gentle grip, the Elder guided him into the darkness. Com-Pan-Ion was expecting it. Very few of his people made it to tier four where they could use the portals, but enough could so that travel between cities was possible, if expensive. Mostly only traders used them. Com-Pan-Ion knew enough about how they worked to not be afraid.

The Elder set him in position and gave him a gentle push on his back. Com-Pan-Ion tightened his grip on his ax and stepped forward. A curtain of light flashed across his vision. The gentle push came again and he took another step, tightening his grip again.

Newcomer hands caught him and guided him forward. He stepped out of the darkness into a short hall. Blue, Green and Yellow waited for him. Red released its hold on Com-Pan-Ion’s shoulder. Red said something loudly to a group of newcomers that were guarding a gate at one end of the hall. Companion recognized his name in what Red said, but nothing else. The guards were wearing green. Com-Pan-Ion still found it difficult to distinguish Green from Yellow some of the time, since Yellow continued to wear mostly green armor. He found it was easy to tell these guards apart from his pod members.

Red stepped back though the glass. The rest of the pod waited in the hallway. The guards spent more of their time watching Com-Pan-Ion and his pod than they did the wild hall beyond. Com-Pan-Ion peeked down the other direction and saw bits of a terrestrial shore. There were humans walking around the hard space. He passed the time studying them.

The Elder stepped out of the glass. Com-Pan-Ion murmured his relief. It touched his shoulder and said something in its monotone voice. Red emerged behind the Elder, tucking a door wedge into its pack. His new pod formed up in a protective ring around him. Together they made the short trip down the hallway and stepped out into the hard space.

All motion in the space stopped as the newcomers there noticed the Elder’s pod. Red stepped forward and made some kind of announcement that included Com-Pan-Ion’s name. The elder tapped its staff twice against the floor. The silence broke up as the newcomers’ voices all rang out in different tones. With the differing notes of their voices all calling out at once, the sound reminded him of the language he was familiar with. Com-Pan-Ion followed his pod as they crossed the hard space to the protection crystal. The crystal was the largest he ever saw. It was at least four feet tall and two and half feet in diameter.

The Elder touched the crystal, flooding it with its dark, dark violet. Each of the pod members followed the Elder’s lead, using the same order they used in the association hall; Red, Green, Blue, Yellow. When they finished, Com-Pan-Ion checked with the Elder and found it nodding its head in the newcomer’s affirmative. Com-Pan-Ion reached out and touched the crystal. The crystal filled with the orange of his magic.

When they all touched the crystal in the association hall six tones sounded. Com-Pan-Ion didn’t know what that meant. He knew of no stories to match the phenomenon. He thought it must be tied to the Elder’s sixth tier. It was generations since one of his kind attained that tier.

This time as Com-Pan-Ion pulled his hand away the crystal visibly grew, which was amazing considering how large it was in the beginning. It meant the owner completed a quest, adding vitality and durability to the crystal, lengthening the lifetime of the settlement. Given its size, this crystal would last a hundred generations if not longer.

The group exchanged a few words with each other and broke up, most of the members headed for the stairwell that led to the apartments above. The Elder put a hand on his shoulder and guided him to the inn. The innkeeper met them at the service bar. After a brief conversation payment coins appeared on the bar. The Elder turned to him and said something. It gestured to Com-Pan-Ion and pointed to the rooms above.

“You want me to get a room here?” he asked, gesturing to himself and the ceiling above them. The Elder must have though he didn’t understand. It tried again, this time it pantomimed opening a door, pointed above and then at him. After a pause she spoke again and gestured to him and the door back into the square. That gesture was accompanied by a clear question. Com-Pan-Ion translated this as ‘do you want to stay here or someplace else?’ He pulled the payment from his inventory and set it on the payment coins. The payment coins vanished.

The Elder said a short word and nodded its head in the affirmative. The Elder made her own payment. The innkeeper led them up the stairs at the back of the common room to the rooms above. The innkeeper assigned them to rooms that were next to each other. After the innkeeper left them, the Elder pushed the door open to its room. It mimed setting its stuff down inside and then going back down to the common room.

Com-Pan-Ion gruffed his understanding. The Elder stepped into its room and let the door shut behind it. Com-Pan-Ion entered the room assigned to him. The room beyond the door was identical to the rooms in his home shore. It was on the spare side with a large stone to sit on and a pebble beach. The pebbles were much larger and coarser than the ones in the association hall, but they were still better than having to sleep on the floor. A true god’s pocket was set in one wall, giving Com-Pan-Ion easy access to his spoils. The attached sanitation facilities included a large soaking pool.

Com-Pan-Ion set his ax by the bed and shrugged out of the backpack Green gifted him. It was quality work, but its green color seemed strange to him. After working with Green, he was confident it wouldn’t be long before Green would learn how to dye it orange. The pack contained a variety of items his new pod gifted him with. Under it he wore a harness to hold his war hammer. This was a reworked version from the original. It held the hammer securely, but it was also much easier for him to free the hammer by himself. He set the hammer leaning against the wall.

Finally with some regret he took the enchanted breastplate off. He was still in awe at the quality of the work. He couldn’t believe that the newcomers risked such a skilled enchanter on gathering swims. He shook out his beautifully restored light armor. He wore a knife on his belt that Red gifted him. He decided he would keep it with him. He noticed that the newcomers often used a knife to cut their food into smaller pieces. He hoped they would not be offended by him carrying the small weapon.

The guards at the gate were all armed, but most of the newcomers he observed in the square were not. His impression was that Red spoke for him in the hard space and the Elder backed him up. Com-Pan-Ion didn’t want to let them down.

His items secure in his room he exited to the hall and made his way down to the common room. He found the Elder sitting at a table against the far wall where there was the best view of the room and the stairs. Com-Pan-Ion walked over to join the Elder. He looked over the wooden seats giving one a gentle push as he tried to decide if it would hold his weight or not. A burst of sound erupted from the Elder. Com-Pan-Ion looked at the Elder, uncertain what this new sound meant. The Elder showed him its weak teeth in its ‘I am harmless” expression.

The Elder called out something to the innkeeper. Very quickly another worker arrived carrying a shorter stouter piece of furniture. The worker moved two of the chairs out of the way and set this along one side of the Elder’s table. The Elder reached forward and cast a spell on the object. It showed its teeth again and said something while gesturing at the object.

Com-Pan-Ion could see that the top of the object was about the same height as the surface the Elder was sitting on in her wooden seat. There were none of the back pieces that the Elder was leaning back against. It also was very wide. Com-Pan-Ion thought at least three newcomers could sit on it side by side. Thinking about that, he decided it must be fairly strong in order to hold their combined weight. Com-Pan-Ion hoisted himself up onto the object and settled his weight on it. He was pleasantly surprised when it held.

The Elder was sipping liquid from a vessel with a handle. Steam rose from the fluid. Com-Pan-Ion had seen the newcomers drink this hot liquid before, usually in the mornings, he thought it a rather dangerous pastime.

Blue arrived at the table carrying a variety of vessels containing different drinks. It indicated to Com-Pan-Ion that he could have his pick. He looked at each of the offerings trying to identify what they were. He rejected those he found dangerously hot or smelled sweet. He was left with a thick walled vessel with a handle whose contents smelled slightly fermented. Cautiously Com-Pan-Ion tasted the drink. The alcohol content was barely more than a trace but the flavor was not unappealing.

He took another sip.

Grandmother

“Do you think it is wise to get them drunk?” Grandmother asked. “We need to show the residents they are a thinking being, equal to humans.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Alex responded. “I noticed they never drink water, not since they got over the blood loss, so I doubt they will drink much. Besides with their body mass they could drink the whole keg and still not feel it. A beer or two will make them look normal.”

“You’re probably right,” Grandmother responded. She remembered that Alex carried the unconscious player. Of them all he was most familiar with the player’s body weight. “But you are responsible for pouring him into his bed tonight, if it comes to that.”

“Ok, ok,” Alex conceded.

“What are you going to do if it turns out alcohol is a poison for his kind?” she asked.

“I’ll get Todd to heal him. Shouldn’t he be working on learning a tier four healing spell anyway?” Alex commented.

“Yes, but poisoning Companion doesn’t seem like a very good method for him to learn it,” Grandmother countered.

“I don’t know,” Alex responded. “It seems better than cutting open your arm over and over, and I know that is your current plan. At least Companion is enjoying the beer.” Grandmother couldn’t think of a good counter for that one. She drank the last of her tea and claimed the glass of grappler juice. They lost about four hours in the transit. It was after lunch here but Grandmother was not hungry and had no desire to eat. They agreed to spend the afternoon in the common room to gently introduce Companion to the square, and the residents of square to Companion.

Alex’s conversation did make her think they would have to be very careful with Companion’s diet when they returned to the Speedwell. A tier two heal would cure a light case of poisoning. Once outside the area of influence of structure they would have no access to spells of any kind, including healing. A mild case of poisoning could easily prove fatal there.

Harry, the head of the square’s defense, came into the inn trailed by Todd. Harry was old enough to be Todd’s father, making him the oldest person in the square, not counting Grandmother. As the two men crossed the room to approach the table, Grandmother had the uncomfortable thought that maybe Harry was Todd’s father. The two did resemble each other, especially in their body types. They shared a heavy muscular build. She was a little disappointed with herself that she didn’t know.

Todd was carrying his spear. Grandmother saw Companion take note of that and flex their hand like they were missing their own weapon. Grandmother was surprised when the player came back to the common room without it. She hoped leaving it behind was their attempt at good behavior.

Harry sat down next to her to give his report on what happened in the square during her absence. Grandmother gave up trying to tell the man that he didn’t need to years ago. Instead she started reporting to him the threats and discoveries they made in the wild hoping that would bore him to tears. Instead he upgraded their defenses to deal with any new threat and engaged in brainstorming sessions about how they could best utilize any new discoveries. Grandmother smiled a little wicked grin. The transport system was going to give the man nightmares. As a tier four she thought she could transfer the decrypted inscription over to him. She wondered if she needed to take him out to the gallery to get it done.

Harry did a double take on Companion chugging beer. He shook off his surprise and called for one of his own. His calm up to this point was likely due to Todd warning him of their new team mate. After a little thought, Grandmother concluded that Harry was here to size up the threat of this new race for himself.

Alex pulled a pan flute out and began to play. Grandmother wondered what was holding Sarah and Ellen up. She suspected that Ellen was distracted crafting something. Grandmother forgot to give the polisher back to the young woman. It was in Grandmother’s room. She was planning to use its return to Ellen as an excuse to slip out before too long. Companion began to ‘sing’ along with Alex’s tune.

Irene Whitman, youngest daughter of the mad queen, Chief Engineer of the generational colony ship Speedwell, Grandmother of Home Square and a tier six wizard smiled as she watched the antics of her team. She considered where her duties would take her next.