[Mechanical Marvels] The Magician's Reptiles

[Alistair deGrey]

3rd of Spring, 510 AV Greater is the art of creation when the one playing the role of a god is entirely willing. Otherwise, it is little more than skilled slavery. Those who can only destroy enslave the creators to harness their skills. For given enough time, the destroyers would have nothing left to practice their craft on. We make wonders to have them broken by ignoramus' Alistair deGrey lifted his head from the table. His face had been planted firmly on the wooden surface, as if he was trying to channel the frustration he felt to it from his brain. There were many things Alistair did not want to do at this moment, and one at the top of the list was create these automata for Customer 001. Not only was the man boring as any damned fool, but he had abandoned his last request for an extended period. It was logical, to Alistair, that he disdain this job. He of course had no right to rebuke Customer 001 his due just because he was a forgetful dolt, but that did not make the experience of dealing with him pleasurable. deGrey wrinkled his nose, and twisted his back. He would not like it, but there was work to be done. Turtles. deGrey had only seen diagrams of turtles before, never before had a live specimen crossed his path. Though he was aware that lizards and turtles were both reptilian, and he went from there, for Alistair had definitely seen lizards before. For a moment he stared at the blank paper in front of him with a small sense of despair. Compelled to work for dull blades. He took up his charcoal and began to sketch. It was not a turtle, but instead a lizard. It started out as a series of vague shapes, a pair of ovals, and two converging lines. But then Alistair connected the ovals, and the lines. Smudging out the barriers between them gave him the main body. Alistair pursed his lips, how exactly were the lizard's legs arranged? He was unsure of the correct jargon, as he was not a naturalist, but he recalled them being splayed to either side of the body. He put in a two pairs of legs, each thrown out from the side of the lizard. The sketch looked mildly mishappen, but Alistair supposed it would serve his purpose. For completion's sake, he began to fill in shiny black eyes and what few facial features he could recall. Though now Alistair began to erase his work. He smudged away the top most back line, and penciled in a large dome that took up a majority of the lizard's back. Alistair shuttered his eyelids, stone still for a moment or two. Recollections of crosshatching came to him, but he was not entirely sure they belong on the turtle. It had been many years since he viewed that diagram, and it had only been twice. Regardess, deGrey began to pencil in light cross hatches onto the shell. A majority of the tail was erased and closed again, leaving only a stub in comparison. Now he had, as far as Alistair knew, a turtle. He just hoped his memory had not failed him. Alistair had a biologically oriented version, but now he desired a more obviously mechanical piece to utilize. This way he could see the entire process, determine which joints should go where, and why. More importantly, he would be able to do so years after this project was complete by referring to these diagrams. So now he commenced a cut away version of this turtle. A hyperbolic shell rested on top as a cover for the inner workings of the machine. Beneath it would rest a metal frame, but that detail would be worked out once he deduced everything he would require for the machine. Mentally, Alistair began making a short list: Head, legs, tail... Should it do anything interesting? Alistair wracked his brain for ideas, and came upon something that brought a triumphant smile to his face. Back at the university, one of his professors had did a section on reverse engineering. He presented the class with a series of machines, and they had to deduce how they were created by examining their external construction and effects. One of them was a tall cylinder that wheezed at regular intervals. It was one of the easier devices, and most of the class, including Alistair, immediately guessed at bellows. The instructor had created the device in such a fashion that it pumped the Bellows, which sent air up through the cylinder and through a grate. He called it, "the artificial organ". Alistair added to his list. Lungs Each leg would be on a horizontal axis on the frame, and the knees rotated on a vertical axis. deGrey sketched a horizontal bar across the bottom part of the turtle, and inserted the leg design. Horizontal axis... Thigh... Knee Axis... Foreleg... The forelegs would swell in diameter as the near the ground, to provide the automaton stability. deGrey botched one of the legs as his charcoal pencil snapped, and hurriedly he rubbed away the mark and picked up a new utensil. He would sharpen the one he had snapped later and reuse it, but at the time he could not be bothered. The head would need to be able to retract into the shell, and it should probably be flexible. It took little contemplation to decide that a spring was the most viable option, and the neck of the bellows would prevent is from wobbling too much. As for retraction, the most viable method would be a set of rails. The matter was simple enough, all that he would need to do is screw the spring into a fitting, and then hook the fitting onto a pair of rails. This involved two more horizontal frames. A quick analysis told him that the tail should work in the same manner as the head did, except it did not require a retraction system. The tail was just fine wobbling on the end. Alistair sketched a small nub attached to a spiring on the back of the turtle, this would serve. As for the supports, the design incorporated only four horizontal bars, and nothing else. While the first thing that came to Alistair's mind did not fit quite so smoothly into the turtle's shell, it would be structurally sound enough to work underneath. He was considering a rectangular cube for the underbelly. What he could do is drive a thin nail through the shell when it was pliable, cut the excess, and work it back to a smooth state. A cube would solve most of the problems, primarily the structural ones. The cleverest device in the world was useless without a frame, a context to give it use and background. deGrey completed his image by filling out the cube, adding posts of the Y and Z orientation. The mechanical turtle, by far, looked superior to the biological one. deGrey almost restarted his lizard turned turtle sketch, but decided against it on the basis that he knew his second wouldn't look any better. Now that Alistair had a basic design down, he lay it down on the table and pored it over for any kinks or lacking calculations.

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaq had realized upon returning to his tent the night before that he had forgotten to ask the man when he should return for the items. Since he really had nothing better to do, Jaq decided to visit the shop once more. Zagarek could not help but suggest that the mercenary spend some time improving his combat skills so they might begin the search for his sibling sooner, as opposed to going off and purchasing unimportant nick-nacks, his words surprisingly, but the human had pointed out that a rolling rock gathered no moss. The saying didn't really make much sense when one thought of it in the context of the current conversation, Jaq had learned Zagarek appeared to be easily confused by such things.. Even though the saying wasn't really hard for the familiar to understand, Zagarek assumed that there was more depth to the wizard then he had thus far displayed, and that all these foolish non sequential sayings were just his way of playing a mind game with the being. In truth Jaq simply spurted such nonsenses when he needed some alone time. Jaq, wearing naught but a simply loose fitting white shirt, his sword belt from which hung Memoria, the necklace which was the sealed form of Zagarek, and his black cloth pants, was casually dressed for a day he though might carry no trouble for him. He turned the corner and walked down the street that held the store he sought, but just as he reached the edge of the property he searched for a cold voice spoke out into the morning, interrupting the quiet he had been enjoying. "I believe wizard, that while you are toying with me, there is no intellectual value behind it." Jaq felt the necklace lift of his chest for a moment as the being gauged its surroundings. "What is this residence and why are we here?" Jaq knew the creature had been watching the path so it wasn't like a person who would follow a group and lose themselves in thought, only to be awoken moments later lost. Rather it was a penchant for asking toward everything that brought on this question. Though often with minutes in between, Jaq would have sworn the questions were non-stop. "This is Mechanical Marvels, a store owned by one Mr. deGrey, who has a gift for making the seemingly impossible possible through whatever science he uses. I came to him for the vial launcher and crossbow I brought a week ago. He's seems a bit off to me, but you might get along with him nicely." Jaq shifted his words from vocal to mental as he opened the door and entered the shop. 'He's the only human I know who might be smarter then you.' Even as he sent this thought, Jaq spoke aloud to the store as he entered. "Mr. deGrey, it is Jaq here. Err, Customer 001 I think you called me. I was curious if you might have finished my newest order yet?" Not taking the cue from Jaq to switch over to a mental conversation, the familiar continued speaking aloud from its necklace form. "Truly? A being from this world to match my intelligence?" It paused for a few moments to ponder Jaq's words before saying, "This is either another one of your attempts to silence my questions, or one of your poor attempts at humor." It wasn't a question, rather a statement. If only it were though the first, and it had silenced the being's talking once more. The last time Jaq had spoken of something magical, d-wire, it hadn't elicited the most positive of responses. Secret : '...' are for mental communications between Jaq and Zagarek, his familiar. I'm sure you would have gotten it but I thought it might save a bit of time.

[Alistair deGrey]

Are we truly free? I think we are slaves to not only the destroyer but to the social customs that fuel our world. Niceties and propriety is wasted upon those that do not deserve it. They waste time, eat away at patience. On second thought, is there any difference between social customs and the destroyer? Perhaps not.

It was inevitable. Yet, Alistair still hoped against all hopes. There was the quiet build up, the creation of tension in the void. Where there was only the darkness of calm and peace, a white sheen slipped in. Then the door to his shop had opened, and the glow had flashed violently. The build up spiked, nearing a climax. But perhaps it was not who Alistair thought it was, perhaps he was saved. Then that voice called out, and the entire world was bathed in blinding fire. Miniature suns erupted behind Alistair's eyes, blinding him with insane heat. The inventor put two fingers over his temple, and his forehead collided with the table.

"Hello, Jaquise."

Alistair lifted himself wearily, the last thing he wanted while working was the customer hovering over his shoulder. He did not move into the other room, but instead continued to work. "No, I have not finished your mechanism at this point in time. However, you will soon discover that I am working on it." Alistair moved to rifle through a drawer for flint and steel, quickly extracting a brand new piece of each. Soon enough I'll be out... Alistair burned through flint and steel like wildfire through woods. Ignoring the thing in his display room, he walked out to his forge. The thunking of the firewood could be heard all the way in the display room as Alistair tossed the pieces in. Gently rearranging them and placing tinder around their structure, Alistair lit the forge. It would still take a while to heat though.

deGrey walked back into his workshop, examining his drawings. Most will be wood, assuming I have a cut section. The inventor was rather unwilling to cut into a whole piece of wood for this project, and would rather make the frame from smaller pieces left over from larger projects. This... This... And that... Will need to be metal. deGrey marked the legs, head, and tail mechanisms. That left the frame and shell to be wooden, while the moving pieces were to be metal. It would work well, for the ever pressing dilemma of attachment was almost always solved when working with wood. However, one must always plan very carefully when working with metals. Despite this, metal components kept their structural integrity for far longer than wood, which meant moving parts would work better when metallic.

That having been decided, deGrey quickly ran his eyes over the proportions of the drawing. Taking a measuring stick, Alistair marked from the start of the shell to the end. Sixteen centimeters. Given the nature of toys, the life sixed object should not be too much larger. Thirty two centimeters. Alistair aimed for an even number, a little over a third of a meter. Notating the scale as 2:1, the inventor proceeded to measure and record the legs, head, tail, and various other components. Straight line measurements were all that was needed, for the art of metalsmithing was organic enough when creating components such as these to not need incredible precision.

deGrey longed to deal with Customer 001, preferably dismissing him, but first he needed to take a few more measurements. He took the height of the shell and the total height. Six and eight centimeters, respectively. Making the life size twelve and sixteen. The mathematical aspect of the invention was rather dry, requiring none of the advanced trigonometry Alistair enjoyed. He could technically apply it to this turtle, but it would be pointless. The inventor made a great effort to not overengineer his designs. If something did not need a calculation, then it simply didn't.

Walking tentatively out to the display room where Customer 001 was, Alistair spoke rather calmly for somebody harboring his level of vexation. "Is there anything else you might require of me?"

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaq breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed Alistair had not heard what Zagarek had said. The man was difficult enough to deal with as it is. Jaq sent a mental word of warning through their connection to remain quiet. The familiar responded in wordless assent, sending not any tangible thought but simply a feeling of agreement. He waited for a few moments in the shop area, looking at the items on display with curiosity, wondering how such things were made. Apparently Zagarek was doing the same as after a few moments a question came through their connection. 'Fascinating. The thoughts behind these creations are indeed better then yours.' The way it was stated made it sound like a simple observation but Jaq still couldn't help but feel a bit insulted. A new piece, one Jaq had only briefly seen last time he had visited, caught both his and Zagarek's attention. The familiar, in his sealed form at the moment, actually began drifting toward the the structure with water flowing from it. Since he had not undone himself from the wizard it almost got the point where he was pulling Jaq along. The man however moved to inspect it as well. After a moment the familiar let himself hang from Jaq's neck once more. Finally Alistair appeared from the place Jaq assumed was his workshop. The question he brought with him was calm enough, and Jaq once again felt relief flood through him. He had held linger doubts for the past few minutes on Alistair having heard Zagarek, but surely someone who would bite at the mention of D-wire would not react so calmly to a magical entity. Turning from the large object Jaq looked to the inventor before him. "In truth I had hoped to discover when you might be finished with this work. Last we spoke you were in a bit of a rush and had failed to mention whence I should return." Simply stated, hopefully avoiding the implication that it was Alistair's failure to give him a day to expect this to be finished that brought about this most recent visit.

[Alistair deGrey]

One must learn to work under the knife if one is to truly grow. Perhaps this is not an unfortunate happening after all.

Alistair ducked back into his workshop without another word, gears in his brain churning out an answer to Jaq. His eyes fell on the design, considered the heating forge outside, and finally settled upon an answer. Projection was not the easiest of tasks with a voice like Alistair's, though he did not particularly care as he calmly stated, "today." Of course the entire process would take longer if Customer 001 began spraying rust on the gears, but that factor remained mute for now.

A metallic cacophony rang throughout the shop as the inventor placed numerous metal sheets on the work table. After stacking nine, he stopped for a fraction of a chime to contemplate their dimensions. Upon realization that each was too small for the given dimensions, a puff of hot air escaped Alistair's lips. One of these days logic would penetrate his absentee mind and force some long needed awareness into it. However, for now he would simply bathe his design in renascent waters. Alistair's mind began working as he walked into his living quarters to retrieve some wood. Stacked against one wall was a remnant of an earlier project on some fresh boards. It was enough for perhaps one turtle, but surely not two. deGrey sighed as his brain was interrupted by this fact, but he grabbed both pieces and brought them out to his workshop.

He came back to his design to remedy the dimensions, and then realized he did not have to make any modifications at all. Alistair had forgotten the shell was wooden, not metallic. The inventor huffed and rubbed his temples, having company while he worked was an extremely flustering experience. However, if he were to truly grow, he would need to learn how to work under examination. Instead of telling Jaq to go away, Alistair engaged him in conversation. He called out, "Any developments in your... Err, your life?"

deGrey retrieved a thick saw and began cutting away at the wooden pieces at their appropriate lengths. The wood was not the thickest, it would saw easily enough.

[Jaquise Emittere]

Jaq thought for a moment about all that had happened in his life, and then thought on what would be safe to tell Mr. deGrey. It was almost painfully obvious his new familiar was a topic best avoided for now. His rekindled love of animation might go over better considering world magic was a bit more common then things like reimancy, but then again most of what was known by the general populous on such magics was complete and utter crock. Perhaps if the conversation continued with less discomfort for both parties it would be something to bring up. For now the most normal thing that had happened to him was meeting Stitch. He was a local figure so maybe Alistair knew the man too. "Recently I made friends with a rather unique orphanage patron. Nice fellow. In fact I had hoped to gift these toys to the children he cares for." Jaq bit his tongue to keep from saying more, though in his mind he could not help but like his idea. The turtles were all well and good on there own, and had he ordered them to be wind up like the others this man had on display would have made suitable gifts. The wizard however so an opportunity for some practice and perhaps end up with a pet for the children. A real one would be costly to keep. One had to feed and take care of them. Eventually, Jaq wasn't really sure how long, they would age and die as all creatures do. Jaq's idea was to make pets that would not need to be fed, one that perhaps would only need simple repairs every once in a while. It might seem a bit odd to be excited about toys, but if one were to think on it you might understand. Magical pets, ones that could go to sleep and awaken at a word and always be ready to play.

[Alistair deGrey]

The two lengths of wood sat awaiting Alistair's not so skilled hand. Perhaps if he was to work metal, he would have felt a shade more confident; however, this fell under Alistair's unfavored forte of carpentry. Far be it from implying he actually enjoyed metalworking though, both jobs were equally unpleasant. While wishing dearly to mutter offensive language under his breath now that the manual portion of the project had commenced, he held his tongue. He moved to the first block, positiong his chisel on the edges and chipping away with a mallet. Each blow sent a small piece of shrapnel onto the table or occasionally across the room, and the sound of his hammering filled the shop with its rhythm. Rotating the block as he progressed allowed him to chisel off the sharp edges of the block, slowly rounding them out to a dome.

As he had progressed, Alistair had also brought the sharp tongue of his chisel inward. Thus instead of having a plateau that suddenly dropped, the entire surface was round. Given, there were countless indentations and imperfections in each roughly carved shell. However, that was what deGrey had files for. So now he set aside his chisel and mallet in favor for a long grinder the size of his arm. Each side of the tool had a different texture: one to smooth out large knobs and bumps, the other to smooth it out. It seemed rather logical to Alistair that he first eradicate large protrusions, so he brought the rougher side down on the first turtle and large chips of sawdust began falling to the table. Alistair disliked the repetitive motions involved with metalworking and carpentry, and his mind struggled to not focus on the immense distaste he discovered in this task. Instead he simply stared at the wooden dome as the large bumps and knots vanished. Working frantically so as to complete this section as quickly as possible, Alistair pushed aside the first turtle and began grinding away at the second. This one was quite a bit less knotted than the first, and progress was made in leaps and bounds.

deGrey flipped his file and ran it quickly over the turtles' backs. He did not spend much time working this side, for after the rougher treatment of the other grinder not much was left but to smooth each mound. The wood did not look as if it had been whittled too much, though the piles of sawdust on the table spoke a different tale.

Finishing up the outer filing, Alistair reached for his mallet and chisel again to commence hollowing out the innards. Mercury eyes roamed the shop, picking out the various pieces he would need ahead of time. He began speaking, finally deciding to respond to Jaquise, "You have met Stitch then." His absent musings filled the space, "Right... Getting close. Soon it will only be a matter of assembly. But then again, isn't everything?"