Chapter 18: The Tinkered Offer

Chapter 18: The Tinkered Offer

“Never heard of you,” Mr. Penderblast muttered after I introduced myself. “If you don’t mind, may I please see your identification?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get one yet.”

“Yet?” He asked, looking me up and down. “Could it be you’re still unclaimed?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I admitted, starting to wish I’d wandered over to the table with the two women. They suddenly seemed less intimidating.

Mr. Penderblast let out a laugh that echoed through the room, drawing the attention of the two women. One of them tutted at us and he shut up real quick.

“Ahem,” he began. “When you join the Craftsman’s Association, the guilds that are interested in you will present you with scholarship offers. When you accept one, you will be expected to work with them for up to seven years. Negotiating a favorable scholarship is very important for a young crafter.”

“I didn’t know that,” I sighed. There were so many things that nobody was bothering to explain to me. “So far I’ve only done work for a chef and a tailor.”

“Well, you don’t have to join one of the big guilds,” Mr. Penderblast explained. “There is definitely a lot of flexibility in going freelance. You just have to work extra hard to make sure you get a proper education. Now, if I might convince you to join the Tinkerer’s Guild, we could do great things together. Great things!”

“What’s a Tinkerer?” I asked, looking down at the flibberjublet again as though that would give me some kind of a clue.

Flibberjublet: Untested device designed to scratch deep itches.

My expression must have given me away because Mr. Penderblast crossed his arms with a wide smile on his face. “Tinkering is a type of crafting that focuses on experimenting and making new things never seen before. What I want to know is what you’re seeing right now. Do you have a problem with the Flibberjublet?”

“Why would you invent something just to scratch an itch,” I asked, wondering exactly how it worked.

Info: The Flibberjublet sends an electromagnetic pulse to soothe basic discomfort in the hypodermis.

Your Research skill has increased: +1 (6)

“This skill of yours,” He began, giving me an incredulous look. “I’m very interested in it.”

I shrugged. “I don’t really know what it does, honestly.”

“Would you like to test it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

While I’d been testing it every chance I got, my curiosity got the better of me. “Sure! What do you have in mind?”

Mr. Penderblast let out a hearty bellow, ignoring the two women who looked scandalized. “Excellent! Now, let’s get this out of the way then I’ll show you my lab.”

“If you have a lab, why don’t you test it in there?” I asked while he made a show of double-checking the power connector.

“Like you pointed out, I was worried it might explode,” he explained. “I lot of my experiments tend to do that. Now, how does this look?”

I gave it a once over and my skill didn’t exactly complain about it.

Flibberjublet

Grade: B

Created by Penderblast

Suggestion: Adding various elements will create additional features.

Fire: Muscle massage.

Ice: Muscle relaxant.

Water: Tissue cleanse.

Wind: Pressure massage

Earth: Exfoliant

“Looks good,” I replied, not wanting to give out any more information.

He smiled and flipped a switch. The flibberjublet hummed to life in his hand and a brilliant blue light lit up one end of the device. He reached around himself and rubbed the lit end vigorously into his shoulder.

“Ah, that feels so good,” he moaned. “Do you think you can do my back for me? I can’t reach.”

I obliged, still curious about the device. It was heavier than it looked, feeling like a solid chunk of metal in my hands. The vibration sent a tingling sensation up my arm and I had to concentrate not to drop it.

“Lower,” he sighed, pressing his back into the flibberjublet. “Yeah, yeah, right there! Oh god, this is the best thing ever. Everybody is going to want one of these.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, realizing I wanted mine with all the modifications.

“Okay, that’s good,” he said after letting me work on his back for far too long. “I can’t tell you the last time I managed to properly scratch that itch.”

“Can you tell me how to get back to Manhattan?” I asked, torn between wanting to see the lab and getting home.

Mr. Penderblast frowned. “Do your parents know you’re here?”

I looked down at my feet and mumbled. “…don’t have any.”

“What was that?” He asked, bending over to hear me better.

“I don’t have any!” I repeated with some conviction. “I live in an orphanage.”

Would that even matter to him? Was he about to send me home for being out without permission? I didn’t even know what time it was.

“Don’t worry,” he soothed, noticing my state of despair. “I’ll see to it that you get home. Do you want to see my lab first?”

Realizing I had a way back home made me feel better. I didn’t plan on visiting Grace without a plan again.

“Sure,” I replied. “I’d love to see your lab.”

At first, I thought he’d made one of the guild bedrooms into a small lab but it soon became apparent that the hall didn’t end with just the rooms. We turned a few corners, passing by various office spaces in the process, before coming to a stairwell that led both up and down.

“How does all of this fit?” I asked, vaguely remembering what the building looked like from the outside as he led me downstairs.

He smiled. “Spacial magic. The guild spares no expense when it comes to its headquarters. This is nothing compared to Manhattan. I take it you haven’t been behind the scenes over there?”

I remembered the large hall that the guild was housed in but I’d only been inside Miss Aires restaurant and the rooms I’d entered to officially register.

“It didn’t seem like much,” I admitted. “I’ve only completed a few quests though.”

“It’s one of the greatest displays of magical architecture in the world,” Mr. Penderblast said as he fumbled with keys in front of a locked door. “You should use your skill when you look around. You might find it enlightening.”

I only had a moment to ponder the possibilities before the door creaked open and I was completely distracted.

Sprint Shoes

Grade: C

Created by Gonzales

A pair of shoes, unlike anything I’d ever seen before rested on a cushion. Golden laces ran up each side of the red material over a thin rubber sole.

“Ah, yes,” Mr. Penderblast said, walking ahead of me to point at the shoes. “These were created by one of our newer members who is infatuated with being on time. I’m not exactly sure how they work myself. He says they are aerodynamic but I think he might improve the design by adding wheels.”

“Wheels on shoes?” I asked with a whistle. “Can you imagine?”

Suggestion: Adding wheels to shoes can serve a variety of purposes.

I ignored the suggestion and said nothing. Mr. Penderblast already knew too much about my skill, and I didn’t want to give him any more freebies.

He didn’t push it and moved down the line, pointing out the workstations and how it all worked.

“We get our Tinkerers materials for their experiments. Our goal is to take the technology from the peasant world and infuse it with a healthy dose of magic. Anything they can make, we can make better.”

“Have you made an automobile?” I asked.

I’d always been curious about what made them go. While I had a basic understanding of how it worked, nobody had ever let me look under the hood.

“Made one? Heavens no,” he replied. “You ask the wrong question. I have, on the other hand, modified one. How do you think you’re getting home?”

“Really?” I asked, feeling short of breath due to my excitement. “How did you modify it? Can it fly?”

“Fly, you say?” He replied with a chortle. “I doubt that’s possible but you’d be able to tell me if it was, wouldn’t ya?”

I shrugged. Even though I didn’t want to answer him, part of me was curious if Analyze would have a suggestion. After the workstations, he walked me all around the perimeter of the room.

“This station probably gets more use than the rest of the place combined,” he explained as he turned a shower on.

“Is this where you get cleaned up?” I asked. “And why is there no privacy?”

Mr. Penderblast laughed. “No, son. This is first aid. You come here in an emergency. The shower is to wash off anything toxic. There’s also special bandages and various potions.”

“Potions?” I asked, eyeing the vials. “Do you mean alcohol?”

He laughed. “Have you never had a healing potion? Wait, I know what you need. Here, try this.”

Endurance Potion

Grade: D

Created by Flamei

I eyed the light green liquid in the clear vial as he handed it to me. “Is this safe to drink?”

Mr. Penderblast nodded. “Sure it is. I might as well take one myself One can never have too much stamina.”

He popped the cork out of another vial and downed it in one gulp. I followed suit and let the cool liquid run over my tongue on its way down my throat. I noticed a strong taste of mint and Analyze agreed.

Endurance Potion: Water, Mint, Mana, Essence of Pixie

Thinking of Pixies immediately reminded me of Peter Pan and the story of his fairy friend. Wasn’t this stuff supposed to make me fly? I was just starting to weigh the possibilities when Mr. Penderblast asked me a question.

“Can you feel it?”

He was right. A warmth started in my stomach and spread through my body, making me feel light as a feather. Maybe I could fly.

“Yeah, this is amazing,“ I replied, jumping up and down to test it. “With enough of these, I won’t ever have to sleep again.”

He laughed. “I don’t recommend that. While this can help you stay awake, your mind and body deteriorate if you go without sleep for too long. No amount of magic can prevent that.”

We continued the tour around the room. Next were actual bathrooms with toilets and shower stalls. Beyond that, I discovered more bedrooms. Unlike the standard guild rooms, the Tinkerer’s rooms were much more generous. They had couches and coffee tables, and private workstations where a discerning Tinkerer could keep working after hours as well as their own bathrooms complete with a bathtub for private soaking. It was really redundant how many bathrooms the guild had.

“So, what do you think?” He asked as we walked back to the guild hall.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It was impressive but I really haven’t seen anything else. I think I need to go back to Manhattan and see what their facilities are like. This place is a little too far for me to come every day.”

“I see,” He replied. “You could take the train if you wanted to.”

“I can’t afford it,” I sighed. “I only recently started earning money from the guild and my normal money gets spent faster than I can make it.”

“I can’t believe you don’t just jump the turnstile,” he said with a chuckle. “Isn’t that what most kids do?”

I hadn’t considered it. I never had much reason to travel too far. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go. Besides, everything happened downtown.

“I’ll tell you what,” he continued. “If you promise to come see me from time to time, I’ll get you a pass. Oh, and consider joining your local Tinkerer’s Guild. Now, let’s get you home.”

It was nighttime when we made it outside. I was in so much trouble…again.