The village of S Van sat perched by the sea. It was a quiet and peaceful place to live. There was the village proper that bumped up right against the sandy shore. Then a series of large step like rises jutted out of the northern end of the village. The first was long and thin, like a belt between the village and the next rise. This was the main street where all the stores, post office, and the town's museum sat. Beyond that was larger rise where the town's Recreational Center crouched like a very entertaining fortress. After the Happy Home Academy had left the Mayor had managed to start a public works project for a Rec Center and the villagers had happily donated over the following weeks and months until the goal was met. Now the Rec Center boasted an indoor pool, tennis and basketball courts, batting cages, several indoor and outdoor tracks, and a large social area for all sorts of games.
It was in the social area Freya, a pink wolfess, had first noticed a bulletin board posting saying someone in room 204 at the S Van Museum was offering top bells for any gyroids in working condition. Freya now walked across the dirt road that was the main street towards the museum ready to sell.
She stepped inside and found the curator, Blathers, asleep on his feet as he always was during the daylight hours. Apparently he could be woken up easily enough and after a few moments was as coherent as if he had been awake for hours. And the mayor, neophyte that he was, had never seen a need to change this. Freya simply stepped around the snoozing owl and took the stairs under the old clock up to the second floor. There the rooms were clearly marked with signs sitting next to each door. These rooms could be rented indefinitely and used for virtually any purpose. The first room to her right was actually the local game store. Next past that was metal room filled only with computer servers to maintain the village's internet and communications. The room across from the servers was her goal. It was simply labeled “Workshop.”
Freya's tail wagged a little as she thought about making some petty cash on the gyroids he had happened across. She had only moved to S Van recently and didn't have too much beyond her home, furniture, and clothes. As she stepped into the room she could smell the faint whiff of ozone along with oil and metal. Once she was inside she saw both a car and forklift in stages of disassembly, several work tables, two automatons partly finished, and tools spread everywhere. She saw a gray tail sticking up from behind one of the work tables and she cleared her throat to draw the person's attention. There was a bone jarring bang as something solid hit the underside of the table. Then a male wolf's head propped up on the table and said, “Yes? Can I help you?” He looked rather silly with his chin resting on the table so the rest of his head bobbed around as he talked. Freya said, “I'm sorry if I startled you, I saw you were willing to pay well for any gyroids in working condition?” The other wolf said, “Yes, top bells offered is how I think I phrased it. Give me a moment.”
The wolf then stood up and put his front paws on the table. He then in a quick motion flipped himself up and over the table to nimbly land on his feet directly in front of Freya. She was a little startled by the acrobatics but held her composure as she said, “Well...” The wolf offered his paw and said, “Conner” Freya then nodded but before she could continue he grabbed both of her paws in his and said, “Will you merry me?” Freya was dumbstruck for a moment before she could blurt out a “What?” Conner smiled and said, “My mother always told me if I see a girl a like to let her know I'm not afraid of commitment.” Freya saw the playful glint in his eye and then pulled away, bringing both paws together and under her chin and turned away for dramatic effect as she said,”I...I don't know. We're still so young. People will talk.” Conner then let his composure slip and snickered. Freya turned back with a smarmy grin as Conner said, “Oh my pink lady, I think you and I will be good friends indeed.” She laughed a little and said, “So I take it you want the gyroids and not my hand in holy matrimony?” Conner grinned and said, “Yes, the gyroids will do.”
Freya then stepped to a large open area near the entry of the workshop and pulled three tiny objects from her pocket. She tossed them out in a trio of simultaneous puffs they sprang into three full sized gyroids. They were a tall warbloid, a mega freakoid, and a quazoid. All three stood there making their various gyrations and noises. Conner then stopped down and examined all three with a keen eye. He looked them up and down, turning them, smelling them, and otherwise carrying on as if he was trying to discern something Freya didn't understand.
Finally the gray wolf nodded and said, “Yes these will do fine.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out three small bags marked as 1000 bells each. Freya looked at them and Conner caught the slight disappointment in her eyes. He said, “Is there a problem? I'm offering almost 200 more bells then you would get for them at Re-Tail.” Freya caught herself, realizing she had let her feelings slip out. She stood straight and said, “No, no. I was just hoping for a little more I guess. I'm new in town and don't have much walking around money.” Conner nodded and put the bags back in his pocket. He then pulled out a bag of 5000 bells and Freya's mouth opened. He smiled and said, “1000 bells is my flat rate for gyroids. But since you were so much fun I'm willing to throw in a bonus. It's not every day someone plays along with me like you did.” The pink wolfess took the bells with a 'thanks' and tucked them into her pocket.
She then took a second look around the room and said, “What exactly are you going to use them for?” Conner's eyes lit up as he said,”Ah HA! Already you seem to have a keener mind then most. You asked 'what do I use them for,' and not 'why did you want them?' You have deduced I am not just a collector.” He then motioned over to the pair of automatons and said, “The easiest explanation is that I am making magical robots to help me when you into the Wilds beyond civilization.” Freya stood aghast as she said, “You're going into the Wilds?” Conner smiled at her and said, “Oh yes. I have found there might be a wealth of undiscovered things out there.” He guided her over to his machines and said, “A while back I inherited a large book collection from an uncle of mine. He was a unique thinker. So he was both a genius and a lunatic.” Freya was now able to see within the humanoid silhouettes there were quite a few gears, springs, pins, and chips that seemed to have no particular reasonable organization to them. Conner continued, “One book was all about the creation of unique dolls called 'doppels.' When finished these doppels would serve and obey any master they were synchronized with! The real trick is the fact that they require magical parts that are only found anymore in gyroids!” The gray wolf was growing increasingly excited as he said, “There are instructions on how to build them to synchronize with any species. Be it human, wolf, rabbit, eagle, tiger, or even hamster! They are incredibly complex for mystical mechanica and need a precise alignment of parts.”
Freya suddenly perked up and said, “So you are stripping gyroids for the inner workings to build these things?” Conner nodded enthusiastically and said, “YES! These little dancing things are found everywhere so the trick has only been getting the right parts from the right ones. They each have unique sizes of parts and gears and so far I have gone through nearly 30 of them just to get this far!” Freya looked down at the unfinished doppels and saw there were quite a few places where all the bizarre mesh of parts did not seem to connect. Conner looked over the workshop and said, “I took apart that car and forklift just to get a better idea of how parts are supposed to fit together. Kind of getting a baseline for what I would need to do. But some parts are so delicate it's almost impossible to get them out without damaging them. Wanna see?”
Freya suddenly looked right at him and saw that manic gleam of someone truly inspired. She nodded and Conner rushed to a locker in the corner. He pulled out four compressed items and moved to where the gyroids Freya had brought were standing. He flung three of the items out and they burst into large transparent panels that stood upright. He then paused and grabbed a darkly colored tarp off one of the work tables and laid it down in the middle of the three walls. Freya realized this was some kind of containment setup as Conner moved the first gyroid onto the tarp. He then released the fourth compressed item in his hands, closing off his containment square while still inside it. He bent over the gyroid and then paused and said, “I should warn you this can get graphic, if you have a weak heart or are prone to fainting then I suggest you leave now.” Freya could tell he was just being silly again.
Conner crouched down over the mega freakoid and pushed against the tip of it's head. It went in like a switch and Freya could hear a faint click. Conner then reached under the edge of what seemed like a pointed hat and began to move his fingers counterclockwise. There was a faint ticking sound as he moved his fingers along the edge and he seemed to grow more tense as he kept going. Once he had gone 180 degrees from the starting point there was an audible clunk and Conner froze. He looked into Freya's eyes and bit his lip as he slowly released he paws from the top of the gyroid. Then the lid seemed to erupt off the top as a burst of tiny metal bits came rushing out. Freya shrieked as the parts hit the barrier Conner had set up. She looked up and saw the blue top had gone over the top of Conner's containment square and rushed to catch it. She managed to get it and also saw some small parts had gone over the top as well. She used the gyroid lid to catch these parts. Once she had them she looked back and saw there was nearly a half inch of loose parts and pieces in the Conner's square.
He grinned a little embarrassed and said, “These parts are under incredible strain. I think that's why gyroids work for so long, because they cram so much in there and it's all wound so tight.” Conner then started going through the parts and organizing them on shape and size. As he worked Freya noticed a faint blue glow coming from the parts. She realized this must be some kind of mystical glow given off by whatever energy suffused these parts. It was also why Conner used a dark colored tarp, so the glow would stand out more distinctly and make the smallest of the parts easier to see.
Once nearly all the pieces were sorted Conner looked around said, “Where did that lid get off to?” He then looked up and saw Freya patiently holding it and said, “Ah, there it is. Thank you for catching it.” He then made the transparent wall closest to Freya compress again and stepped out. He looked down and his eyes bulged when he saw what was inside that top. His breathing became shallow as he gently lifted the gyroid top from Freya's paws and with great purpose moved over to his doppels. He reached in with great care and pulled out a wafer thin chip and barely breathing, slipped it into one of the dolls. He did this a few more times, taking out small and seemingly fragile pieces and placing them in his doppels. Once he finished he let out a deep sigh and said, “Oh my dear you have saved me a great deal of headache and heart break. Those pieces you caught in the coolie hat are some of the fragile ones that usually seem to break because they are so close to the top.”
Freya nodded as he continued, “More then once those pieces have been lost because they broke during the unloading process but your quick thinking saved them and helped me make a huge step forward in finishing these mechanical marvels.” He then thought for a moment and said, “Would you like to earn some more money?” Freya nodded again as he said, “Good, I could use a hand around here, just someone to hand me tools, catch things that might slip by, and otherwise help to expedite this whole process.” Freya said, “Sounds like fun. This work seems interesting. But I've been wondering where does your money come from?”
Conner had moved to the piles of parts and started gathering them as he said, “Well I worked my tail off for about a year or so once I moved here. I just ran errands for others and gathered and sold a lot of foodstuffs. Fruit and fish mainly.” He had placed about a quarter of the gears, springs, and screws in a large basket and carried them over to his doppel work area as he continued. “With that I payed off and kept expanding my house while setting some aside for an investment plan.” He took a spring and started fitting it in to the chest cavity, “You see I own the Game Store across the hall here. I realized these villagers needed some more modern distractions so I rented the room and got set up to sell games, accessories, and even got some arcade machines set up.” The spring seemed to settle in where he put it and then he took some of the pins to secure it to apparatus on each side of it, “I also got a Ribbot for a steal so I just have him run the place while I work. Honestly the place has been pumping out cash for me like crazy.” He then took a tiny gear and started to fit it into one of the legs. “I managed to get my house built as large as the zoning laws would allow and I recently managed to finish paying off Nook so I'm completely in the clear now.” He pointed to a tool box and without thinking Freya handed him a thin tool with tiny spokes at the end. He accepted it and started using on the doppel. “I also chop down the Perfect Cherry trees that die around here. Local law says by doing that I can sell the wood and I found that places that are willing to pay through the nose for Perfect Cherry Wood. Sometimes the trees have unique patterns in the wood and I can make a fortune off a single tree with a unique pattern.”
This continued for a while as Conner kept tinkering on the doppels and explaining the various enterprises he had undertaken to secure money. They both lost track of time till a shuffling sound drew their attention and frog covered in metal plates stood in the doorway of the workshop. This was the Ribbot Conner had mentioned and it said, “I apologize sir but you asked me to let you know when it was 5:45.” Conner looked at the wall where his clock was mounted and he sighed, “Yes I did, thank you Ribbot.” The mechanical frog did something between a bow and a nod then simply shuffled out of the room again.
Conner stretched and said, “Well I guess we both should get along then. I always give Ribbot a specific time to tell me to quit otherwise I would lose half the night and miss dinner completely without realizing it.” Conner then picked up a box Freya had not noticed before and went back to the remaining parts on the tarp. He unceremoniously gathered them and dropped them in. Freya cringed as she heard a few snaps and pops of parts being damaged. Conner had caught her look and said, “Don't stress about it. Like I said I have a limited number of parts that I can use for the doppels. The rest here is nothing more then raw material for another phase of my project.” Conner lifted the full box of mystical scrap and started to walk out. Freya followed him so he continued his explanation. “Among the books my uncle left me there were several that detailed the forging, preparation, and use of utterly unique weapons and tools. But to make them I need significant amounts of the enchanted metal found in the gyroids. So whatever I can't use in the construction of the doppels I bring to Cyrus to make the equipment I will need when I finally head out into the Wilds.”
Their talk had taken them out of the museum and they were now making their way along the main street towards the steps that lead back to the village proper. Freya asked, “But those parts are so small and fragile. How in the world do you get enough to make all this equipment your talking about. I mean sure a lot came out of that gyroid you butchered today,” Conner snickered at her creative description, “but how will you get enough to make anything substantial?” The gray wolf nodded and said, “Your instincts serve you well. I would say this metal makes about thirty to forty percent of the mass of the equipment I am having made. Believe it or not the rest is actually silver.” Freya stopped dead in her tracks, just at the top of the steps leading to the village. Her mouth hung open before she stammered, “SILVER?! You are making weapons out of silver!” Conner dropped his box and with both paws clamped her mouth shut. He hissed a loud shush at her and said in a stage whisper, “Yesssssss I use silver. Don't go broadcasting it though. I don't want to draw undo attention.” He then let go of her muzzle and returned to his box.
As he started to descend the stairs Freya kept up and said, “I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting that.” Conner nodded and said, “It's fine, just please be a little more cautious about what you go screaming in a public place.” He sighed, that had come out a bit harsh but he decided to push on, “The books detail that for some reason...that metal has a unique tempering quality with this stuff.” He rattled the box of magical doodads and said, “Supposedly is light weight, stronger then steel, and even has self mending properties. Honestly it's a wonder these secrets weren't ever shared, you would think an alloy like that would be invaluable to society.” Freya just shrugged, “I don't know, maybe something else came along that did the trick well enough at a much cheaper price then mystical metal and,” she cleared her throat, “*cough* ahem* that other metal. It's amazing how quickly something new can replace something old that does the job better if it's almost as effective and a lot cheaper.” Conner thought he picked up something a little deeper in the pink wolfess' meaning but decided it might not be a good idea, she seemed to be on the verge of jumping on a soap box.
They parted ways as they reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed the railroad tracks. Conner's house was southeast of the station while Freya had opted to build her place farther south, beyond the river. So Conner watched her go and sighed. This had been a good day and he couldn't wait to tell Pinky about it.
