The Lost Cog (Nivansrywyllian, Ravenwoodwitch)

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He poured himself a beaker of tea, and sat back down on the stool he'd left earlier. His brows rose at the mention of the instance that had brought him under Bowler's watchful eye. "Oh, that. I don't mind."

He cleared his throat. "It wasn't a robot, exactly. It was more like a suit of armor, really." Only the thing hadn't been armored hardly at all, beyond the cage into which the pilot climbed. "An exosuit that allowed me to lift, and move things with more force than I could otherwise."

He set the beaker down on the floor, and gestured towards the bed. "I've got it beneath the bed, disassembled. But uh... I didn't make it from scratch. Not really. It was already a half-made project that I'd been tinkering with on and off, and when the clockwork machines invaded, I knew I had to finish it. So I did. It took longer than it should have, without access to fresh materials, but it was very good at smashing the automatons. I've been improving it in bits and pieces since then." He admitted, blushing. He seemed embarrassed to have spoken so much about himself.

"I could show you, if you'd like."
 
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(sorry for the wait)

That was surprising. The thief checked the bed with interest now, hardly believing she had been sitting on the thing she had been hearing about for so long. Upon hearing that she could possibly see bits and pieces of this mythical device made her ears perk up even more. She smiled, and instantly leaped to her feet.

"I very much would like to see it," she said. "I was never very good with building things but I always had a fondness for a well crafted suit."

Her face suddenly fell, than twisted in thought.

"Wait, isn't it supposed to be big? How can it fit here?"
 
"Well," Ebenezar began, scooting over to the bed to pull back the sheets that were obscuring the space beneath. "I was keeping it in my dorm. The school's headmaster didn't allow for students to keep machinations in their rooms, because they were dangerous. So I had to build something that compressed easily." He leaned down, and reached under the bed to drag something heavy across the floor, towards himself. It looked like a great, metallic boot.

Standing it upright beside him, he bent to retrieve more parts. "I could have the whole thing assembled again in about ten minutes' time, should the need arise. I built it to release at the joints, in case of damage to the extremities, and it'll function, even if it's only the engine left." The tinker was in his element. A second metal boot came out, and he stood it beside the first. They dwarfed the tinker's feet. "The engine itself pairs this new gasoline combustion engine, with steam-compression equipment to move the machinery without having to use your own strength."

The next piece that came out looked to be a sort of half-cage, made of steel bars. After that, what appeared to be mechanical pants, articulated at the knees, and twice as thick as the tinker. These went on either side of the boots. "I've made some modifications to the design since the fight, but it's fundamentally the same machine. Rather than keeping the controls on the arms of a seat inside the cockpit, I have layered triggers in the machine's sleeves, where I'll actually have my arms inside the suit. It'll protect the controls a bit better than the cage. During the field-run, a few of the clockwork dolls reached through the roll-cage and trying to fight them off of the controls was an exercise in frustration."

If the thief let him go, the tinker could talk about his machines for hours.
 
Bolletta chuckled and let the tinker talk. It was the most lively she'd seen him act all day, and it distracted him plenty from what just happened. He seemed happy again. The look brought an attractive smile to his face.

She drew closer, and held onto the bars of the suit.

"I could do some damage with this," she mused. "No more hiding in the shadows for me."

She realized the other meaning of her words too late, a surprised look crossing her masked face. She blushed and waved her hands about defensively.

"Er," she said. "Not that I was planning on hurting anyone, or doing anything, er, that is..." her shoulders sank. "I'll just stop talking now. "

What might have been even more embarrassing was stopped suddenly by a knock, and a familiar voice on the other side.

"Ebenezer," Mina called, voice curt. "Your needed, my office."

Bo blinked, and shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds like we got not more time to entertain my childish sense of violence," she said, scratching the back of her head.
 
Ebenezar grinned when Bolette took to the bars of the roll-cage. He very nearly offered to make her a suit of her own, before the knock came to the door. It gave him a start, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Wilhamina's voice sounded through the door, and he clambered to his feet, leaving the pieces of his unassembled mechanical suit laying strewn about the floor in a way that suggested that this happened rather often.

"Coming!" He responded, and twisted his fist into the waistline of his baggy trousers to keep them around his hips. "You want to come too, miss Bolette? I'd wager she wants my take on that machine we found. Not that she needs any help, of course. She's brilliant." He was back to babbling again. "But I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you came along. I mean, if you want to, that is."

He paused, awkwardly. Why was he offering to take her along to fiddle with machines? The most obvious answer was that apart from Masahiro, she was the only one at the Agency that had showed any interest in his contraptions. He chose that one, and gave himself a shake as he made for the door.
 
(I keep getting my character's name wrong and I appologize. It's Bolletta, and I've been caling it otherwise XD)

Bolletta blinked again, looking at the door. "Sure," she said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "But...maybe you should get some new suspenders first. Just to free your hands."

She chuckled at her own joke, and bounced towards the door
. The little ninja dropped her hood from her head, revealing a shock of dark red hair. Maybe it was a sign of trust, but somehow she felt it'd be okay to put down some of those shields.

"See you there," she said softly, and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"....one more time please."

Mina rolled her eyes. "It's a machine to seperate the soul from the body...at least by my guess," the curt woman said. "By my guess. Most of the work I saw look to be made to simulate Occult symbols with objects specifically designed for the containment of arroosals, light, or any other matter that a soul might take place with."

Bolletta nodded, and turned back to Ebenezer. "Er...I think I get it. Do you?"
 
Ebenezar blushed, and glanced down at his trousers, which were still being held to himself manually. He'd have time for suspenders later, he decided. With a grin, he followed Boletta out the door, and toward Metzger's laboratory.

______________________________________________________________________

Ebenezar nodded ponderously as Wilhamina spoke about her discoveries in regards to the machine. How Bowler had managed to have the thing pried up from it's resting place, and hauled to the Cog in the time it took him to shower and begin tinkering was anyone's guess. Their director was nothing, if not skilled in manipulating situations to suit him.

The tinker was fiddling with a panel on the thing's front, unscrewing screws to get to the machine's guts. He wanted to see how it runs. "That would make sense. There are some hoses, likely for suction, and glass tubes that could be for containment of any gaseous excretions. There are pumps too," He suggested, indicating a little vial of silvery liquid, that ran to one of the hoses that poked out the front of the machine, ending with a needle. "I don't know what this stuff is, but I don't think they took it out of miss Haverstead."

The tinker was elbow-deep in the machine now, and pulling out parts. "This stuff won't have been cheap to come by. Not a whole lot of people sell this stuff. It shouldn't be too hard to track down the distributor for the parts. From there, we just have to find the buyer. It'll be an easy case." The tinker grinned over his shoulder at the women.
 
"Sounds pretty cut and dry," Bolletta said, arms crossed. "Axibelle has some contacts, maybe she can figure out who was looking around to make some kind of black-market, necormantic...thing."

"I'll see if I recognize some of these parts," Mina said, going through the pile she had made for herself. "Give me three days."

I'm not even sure we have that kind of time, Bolletta though, but shrugged all the same. Her job was done, there wans't anything left for her to do. Nothing but clean up and get ready for bed.

"Guess you have an all nighter, Nezzy," she smiled. "Anything I can do to help?"
 
Ebenezar was still rooting around in the thing, and pulling it apart piece by piece. He seemed to be making two piles. More of the items he pulled out seemed to be going into the pile on the right, than the one on the left. nuts, bolts, and screws were joining a pile of their own between his fet. "It seems like it," He agreed. "I can always use the company, and an extra pair of hands. That said, you should probably catch some sleep. You've had a long day, and I'm sure Mr. Bowler will need you for something soon."

He paused his rummaging to peer at Boletta over his shoulder, and shoot her a grin. "I don't get many occasions to pick apart someone else's work. This is fantastic." And just like that, his face was once again turned to the inner-workings of the machine. His trousers -forgotten- hung rakishly from one hip, and his undershirt had come untucked in the back.

"When I finish, if you still want to see my exosuit, I'll show you. If you want, I mean."
 
Bo eyed the slope of the clothing, inwarldy blushing. Damn her little mind for wandering so; her mother would have given her the scolding of a lifetime if she'd caught her like this. It's unlady-like, she would have said. You musten't let your inner urges get the better of you! it isn't natural...

But if they come from me, how can they be unnatural? The little theief would try to counter, to no avail. Mother was always a strict one, and a moment like this... well, she should have been spinning in her grave.

"I think tomorrow, actually," she said, finally tearing her eyes away. "I need to get some sleep. Gnight Mina, Nezzy."

Mina grunted a reply, as curt as always. The Minx flashed a flirtatious smile and wave, leaving the room with an exaggerated sway of her hips.
 
Ebenezar was unfortunately oblivious to the thief's sultry swagger, as she departed. He did call a friendly, "G'night miss Boletta!" from his place picking apart the machine's innards. He even stuck an arm backwards to wave at her, which is more than most folks would get from the gearhead. "So I was thinking, Miss Wilhamina, that maybe this was meant as a way-station for the soul. Some place for a soul to stay until it could be put somewhere else. See here, these pumps attached to the holding jars?" He began. It was going to be a long night.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning found the blonde tinker asleep inside the machine. Halfway inside, anyhow. Ebenezar had slumped forward, and he had disappeared into the machine's access hatch from the shoulders up. He'd managed to smear some oil across the bridgeof his nose, and down one cheek. It stood out in stark contrast to his pale face. His hands too were black with oil, and he had increased the pile of pieces to his right by a considerable margin. At some point, he must have returned to his room, because he wore a toolbelt around his waist, although it didn't seem to be helping the slope of his pants much.

He must have been working late into the night, as it was nearly noon, and he was still asleep.
 
"He what?"

"He fell asleep in the machine." Mina's voice was clear and neutral, her body language as calm and collected as always. "I decided against moving him, as it might disturb the machine. Therefore, I need you to wake him."

Bolette blinked. "But, why is it an issue to disturb the machine?"

"It's unstable. The components are hardly exclusive to machinery, and with so many parts teetering on the edge-"


"Okay, okay!" Bo held up her hands, arriving back at the door. She sighed, and pushed herself back inside.

She nearly laughed. The tinker, half-sprawled inside the device, looked like he was being eaten by it. She carefully walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. That didn't work, so she smirked, leaned forward, and whispered by his ear.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead..."
 
Ebenezar was having a fantastic dream. He was building a grand machine that could launch itself into the sky, and fly like a bird, rather than the laborious float of a blimp. And it could house just as many people, without the need for a basket. His dream world fuzzed as something tugged at his consciousness, and he murmured something unintelligeble under his breath.

Then words filled his mind. Sweet words, and the soft brush of breath across his ear. Slowly, bright, blue eyes cracked open, and he was met with a series of tubes, jars, gears, and wires. This didn't give him pause, as he quite often worked himself to exhaustion, only to pass out in the middle of his work. What gave him a start however, was the proximity of a woman's face to his.

Letting out a startled yelp, the tinker straightened, forgetting where he'd fallen asleep. He crowned himself on a low-hanging gear, and let out a hiss of discomfort. Hands leaped to his scalp, which was smarting generously, and he tried to ease himself back out of the machine without bashing anything else.

"Miss Boletta?" He asked, groggily. "What are you doing here?"
 
Bo jumped back at the sudden start, hand flying over her mouth. Unable to stop herself, she let out a bell-like giggle at the sight. Mina pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head with a sigh.

"She was supposed to wake you carefully," she said. "She failed."

"I'm sorry!"
Bolletta laughed, finally reigning herself back in. "I thought I was, I swear. Besides, the big man wanted me to check on the progress of the machine."

The red-head looked from the table back to the tinker. With all the parts scattered about, and her friend's state of affairs, she guessed he had been at it all night. She blinked from under her mask and glanced back in his direction.

"Hungry?" she prompted. "Figured we could discuss over biscuits and eggs, if that'd be alright."

"Axibelle will be there," Mina added. "Apparently she knows someone who was poking around for a machine like this."

Boletta went stiff, her mask thankfully hiding the dismayed look in her eyes. "Oh...cool."
 
Despite his still aching head, the tinker smiled, and sat upright. He nearly upset the pile of gears and cogs he'd begun accumulating on the floor near his feet when he stood. "No harm done. There aren't many machines I can't fix. Even if the parts are rare."

He hiked up his trousers again, leaving a fist at his waistline to keep himself decent. "I could eat a horse," he added. "Eggs and biscuits sound heavenly. I'm going to go clean myself up, and find something to hold up my pants. I'll meet you in the lobby. Then we can pick up Axibelle, and talk over food."

He brushed himself off, not bothering to tidy the leavings of the great machine as he stepped away. "Mrs. Metzger, you're welcome to join us, although if you'd rather continue to study the machine, I'd understand."
 
"Good," was Mina's only answer, going back to the machine. "Give my regards."

Bolletta nodded mutely. She waved to the tinker and let him leave first, head sinking just slightly. Of course Axibelle would be involved, she always was. Mina caught the deflatted look on the thief's face as she left, and shook her head.

"Kids," she muttered, and went back to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, Bolletta didn't hate Axibelle. The girl was a good asset, and Bo wanted them on the same side in a fight. It was just...superficial, in a way, that turned the thief off. Maybe it was the way her petite frame had just the right curves, maybe her keen sense of falling the punk-fshion trends that followed. Her neon-hair was nice looking this morning...Bo absently tugged her dirty-cherry hair back under the hood.

Poking at her eggs, she eyed the recluse again. No, her displeasure was certainly jealousy, but not just for looks. She and Belle, they'd come from the same world, the same place...but she'd done better. She freed herself from it and thrived, where as the thief tended to have to play the shadows to even survive.

She had everything Viola had, Boletta wondered. And here she is...

"So," Bo prompted. "You mentioned that someone big had been inquiring for some nasty technology?"
 
"It isn't the machine he was looking to purchase." Axibelle explained, her tone reserved, and guarded. "It was the pieces. I don't think anybody can by that sort of thing outright. I'm not sure anybody's even made something of it's kind before. The parts though, they all had to come from somewhere. I have a couple of leads with the undermarket crowd that I'm running down. In the mean time, I've got the buyer's name. He's very regularly used by high-class buyers that want Copper Quarter goods, discretely. It suggests that the buyer -though wealthy- isn't familiar with making that sort of purchase." Axibelle had barely touched her breakfast, for all the talking she'd been doing.

"Masahiro and Keeva are in the Copper Quarter now, running down the fellow that did the purchasing. He's probably just a runner, but we can get some information out of him if he's still alive." She eyed her plate quietly, as she waited for questions.

Ebenezar -for his part- was trying discreetly not to stare.
 
Bo pursed her lips.

"Do people ask about this kind of thing often?" she asked. Axibelle smirked.

"More often than you'd like to think," she said. "But, thankfully, this one doesn't know how to keep his head down. Should be easy."

"Great." Bollette admitted it, she was jealous. The girl didn't only look better and have a better life, she had all the connections that this little thief had to hide from on a daily basis. Feeling suddenly not hungry, the thief only finished half her food before getting up. "Come find me when Hiro and Kee are back, kay? Laters!"

It sounded so innocent, and so carefree that she almost convinced herself that nothing was wrong. "I'm gonna check on our ghost friend..."
 
Ebenezar, who had finished rather quickly whilst covering his ogling with the consumption of food, turned his attention on Boletta. "I'll come too." He suggested. He wasn't about to be left alone with the enigmatic Axibelle. He'd be all nerves, and make a fool of himself.

"I've been meaning to ask her some questions about the machine." He paused in his pursuit of his partner, to wave at the smuggler, who was showing no obvious signs of interest in the abandonment of her breakfast company. "Goodbye, Axibelle! I'll see you later. Around the Cog." He turned back towards Boletta, and sped his pace to catch up with her again.

"So d'you suppose she remembers anything?"
 
Bolletta looked up, seeing her friend following behind her. With a near victorious smirk, she let a swing back into her step.

"I certainly hope so," she said, hands clasped behind her back. "I wanted to make sure nothing had happened, really. I don't get ghost anatomy, but..."

She approached Mr. B's office, and gently knocked on the door.

"Sir?" she called, tentatively. "Is, er, the miss available to talk?"
 
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