[Loras]Tick Tock III (Solo)

[Milana]

22nd of Searing, 120 AV

"What is it, exactly, you are trying to make?" The old artificer stroked his beard as he looked over Milana's shoulder. It had been several days since the girl's little... episode, after which she had gone into somewhat of a frenzy. She had sent orders to the smith for special copper molds to be crafted, using rough sketches of designs for odd parts and pieces. The typical gears and such were there, as Dillinger had expected, but usually, he had those items specially shipped to Loras for their projects. Now, however...

The man looked over the workbench with a critical eye, examining the new pieces of equipment Milana had ordered from Kamdin. A set of small screwdrivers of different sizes, pliers, wires, multiple gem settings from the jewelry. An entire gadgeteer kit worth of items. Milana had always shown an interest in his work, but she had never been quite this enthusiastic. As for the woman herself she was pouring over a rather terrible sketch that Dillinger THOUGHT was meant to be a blueprint. He had studied this already, but for the life of him he could not figure out what her intentions were.

"Something that will help me..." Milana said distractedly. She wiped her cheek with an ink-stained hand, not even minding that a black streak was left under her eye after the action, "I need something that will let me be more flexible. Not in the literal sense of course." She pat her legs for emphasis, making the older man frown as she continued, "But something that would be my hands and do things that I can't do."

"Ah, a golem then? You want to make an assistant?" He said this as he straightened, still stroking his beard as he looked toward the door where the bodyguard undoubtedly stood waiting, "Though wasn't that what Mr. Strous was supposed to be? Somehow I doubt he will take being replaced too kindly."

"No, not an assistant." Milana shook her head slowly, eyes squinted as she finished drawing a circle with four lines branching off of it, "I need something more like... fingers I suppose. Or extensions of my hands in the literal sense?" She paused in her drawing to muse this over before continuing, "This is just the start though. I think I can turn this into something that will help not just me, but all of Loras. If I can figure out how to do it that is..."

Dillinger sighed and shook his head. They had been going around in circles for the better part of an hour. No matter how he pressed the frustrating woman simply wouldn't give up her project details. He supposed that he was partly to blame, considering he was rather tight-lipped himself. Still, it was just a bit frustrating considering he was meant to be her instructor.

"Ah ha!" Milana exclaimed, sitting up straight and holding the parchment up in front of her. "Here, this is where we will start!"

[Milana]

Dillinger adjusted his spectacles and looked at the parchment, squinting as he studied it.

"It is a... shield with spikes on it?" He asked after a time, earning a frustrated sign from Milana who put the parchment down on the bench.

"No," she said rather exasperated, "They are small circular help golems." She stated this fact as if it were obvious, but Dillinger simply raised an eyebrow until Milana continued, "Think of them like little artificing bugs that can be equipped with different instruments." She raised a finger to forestall questions, "They could be trained for a variety of tasks. Fetching certain items on command, performing simple actions, holding tools, and other equipment. They can be taught in a way that makes them adaptable to the person's needs. For example, my father and brother could use them in the clinic to carry supplies and medicines to specific patients, or alert them if someone is in urgent need of help."

As she talked the older man leaned back over the drawing, adjusting his spectacles again as he examined it closer. It was an interesting idea, and not something most would think of. Most of his colleagues used artificing for more straight forward and obvious uses, such as building a golem to assist them in routine tasks as he said. What Milana was describing was something else entirely. It would require quite a bit of finesse, time, and of course resources to put into place. The individual golems would need to be designed in a way that made them adaptable, but still sturdy enough to handle themselves if something were to go wrong such as if they were stepped on or took too much damage. The training of the golems would also be tricky as they would need to be malleable and have the ability to adjust their parameters based on what when on around them. All of this and more went through the man's mind as Milana continued to talk, her excitement palpable.

"This is beyond your abilities." He said suddenly, straightening and returning to stroking his beard. Milana's teeth clicked shut with an audible sound as the excitement drained from her face. For a moment Dillinger felt slightly bad for his words, but with a shake of his head, he knew that it needed to be said. "What you want from these... bugs you say? It is more than even a journeyman or even expert artificer could accomplish on their own. Mind you the resources are one thing, but the skillset to bring something like this together?" He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "I am afraid you are not ready to take on something like this yet Milana. Perhaps in a decade or two, but not now."

With the mention of 'a decade or two' Milana's face visibly fell, and she bit her lower lip unconsciously. She stared at her drawings, looking them over and struggling to come to terms with the truth that stared her in the face. Just as she was about to give up hope, however, Dillinger cleared his throat.

"Luckily," he said with a small smile, "You happen to have me to assist you. It wont be as simple as you think, but perhaps together we can come up with something."

A newfound hope flooded Milana's heart as her cheeks flushed. She looked up at the older artificer, a smile on her features once more, "So you do think it is possible? Can we do it now?"

"Hmmm..." he frowned and tapped on the parchment, looking sideways at Milana, "Lets start with step one. Make something that can move."

[Milana]

Milana stared impatiently at the hunched back of her instructor who was rummaging away in a set of drawers on the far side of the lab area. As he searched he grumbled softly under his breath, grunting when he seemed to at last find what he was looking for.

"There we go, I knew I had something..." He said as he straightened, groaning and rubbing his back with one hand as he turned, "I can't remember what I was going to use this for..." Dillinger scratched at his bore, looking at the small metal device in his palm before shrugging, "Probably wasn't that important then was it?" He laughed and handed the item in his hand to Milana.

She took it, eyes widening slightly as she turned it over in her hands. It was a simple metallic circle, about an inch and a half in diameter and less than a finger wide. It had a series divots around its edge in precise intervals that looked almost like half-circular rings where something could attach. A small glass bead pierced both the top and bottom through a hole at the center where the bead was inserted. Milana turned it over several more times, examining it before looking up at her master.

"This is... almost perfect. Why do you have something like this?"

Again the man shrugged and settled into a chair near the workbench, "It was likely meant to be a part of a larger creation at some point. I only use glass for initial prototype creations, ones I think are likely to fail mind you." he tapped the bead as he said this, "Gems, and dragonshards especially, are expensive and I cannot afford to waste them with initial testing. From the description, you gave me before, and your..." the old man looked over his spectacles and wrinkled his nose, "Blueprint I thought this would be a good place to start."

"It is perfect." Milana said with a smile, "I will have to have Martin make a mold of this for me later."

From one drawer Milana removed several small pieces of metal, copper, and several small screws and bolts. From another drawer she pulled a small set of head-mounted focusing lenses, quickly strapping the device over her hair and flipping the magnifying lens into place. She adjusted the focus on the lens, operating down at the metal circle to study one of the attachment points before taking up the other thin pieces of copper. These she began to work with pliers and hammer, forming and shaping them into what she needed them to be. Copper was a soft metal, and not especially useful in most cases. It wasn't very durable, and as far as rarity goes one could find it almost anywhere. It was, however, perfect for crafting small items that would not be under much stress. From the metal here she crafted four legs, each with two joints and an attachment point on the thicker end where it could be attached to the circular pieces of metal. At each joint she fixed a simple pin, screwing it into place so that the joints could move as a finger would. When she was done she turned, holding the little creature up to Dillinger who took it and looked it over.

"Crude," he said as he fiddled a bit with one leg. He made some minor adjustments, tightened a screw here, straightend out a bit of metal there before he finally nodded, "But I suppose it will do as a start. "

[Etro]

♅ Tick Tock III ♅

XP:

• 5xp {Not for Magic}

Pieces of knowledge:

• Clockwork: Working with Copper
  Clockwork: Making moving parts
  Clockwork: Small Helper Golem
  Clockwork: Working on fine details
  Clockwork: Adapting a blueprint

  ---

  Artificing: Use Glass for prototype cores when possible

Comments:

• This was giving me some Sorceror's Apprentice vibes and I'm here for it. I love the dynamic between Milana and her mentor, he wants to help her learn and grow in the art, but knows that she needs to see reality in her own abilities. overall good thread and enjoy your rewards.