“Are we even going the right way?” Kile asked, limping as they walked along. VII rolled her eyes, leveling her suitably annoyed gaze at the young man. He raised an eyebrow, “What? We’ve been walking for the better part of an hour and we haven’t found your friend’s dad. What do you want from me?”
“Some faith?” VII huffed, “Come on, if we don’t find him here, I’ll just bring you back to my… skiff.” She ignored his reluctant nod and forged on down the alley, eventually ending up in front of one of the larger huts in the fortress. The front door was made of mana-metal, with a nice little knocker right at eye level for VII to use. She obliged, knocking the door thrice and stepping back half a step. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a young, muscular lizardwoman, wearing thick, studded leather armor.
The woman looked at them cautiously, “How can I help you?” she asked, staring at Kile’s limping state, “Also, it’s late. Why are you out at this time of night?”
VII gave the woman a smile, “Hello, I’m looking for Fanrik Notchings? I’m Fara’s friend,” she answered, happy that she could call Fara a friend. “Ah, and this is Kile. He’s had a… rough night. Do you mind if we come in?”
The woman eyed them suspiciously, “I’m going to talk to Fanrik. What did you say your name was, again?”
“VII. He doesn’t know me, but I met Fara after Mori met him,” VII explained, smiling. The woman nodded, closing the door. There was a moment of silence before VII turned to Kile, “Do you have anything to ask me?”
Kile pursed his lips, “Yes. Plenty, like why you’re friends with that damn lich!” he hissed, “Also, are you saying that you live in that massive fortress!? What is wrong with you!?”
“Hey, I don’t call you out for your choice of company and, if I’m being honest, mine is a bit better than yours,” VII snapped back, “Calm down. I’m not bringing you to the… skiff, let’s call it that, if you don’t want to. Just wait. If he’s alright with it, I can drop you off here and be on my way.”
At that moment, the door opened to a middle aged man, somewhat haggard, and with bags under his eyes. He looked between them, then sighed, collecting himself, “Hi. Do you know where my daughter is?” the man asked, “Ah, I’m Fanrik. Now, do you know?”
VII hummed, “Yes, I know where she is. Didn’t you hear about Mori’s undead running around?” she asked. If he had been so concerned about his daughter, he would have at least asked the undead sent about it. She thought so, at any rate.
“Ah, I didn’t… I’ve been locked up in here for a long while. I was… trying to make something to help me find her… But… she’s safe?” he asked, hopeful. VII simply nodded, “Oh, thank the Creators…” As soon as the words left his mouth, he toppled over, forcing VII to catch him.
Even with two fully grown men hanging off of her, VII found it easy to support their weights. A moment later, the lizardwoman rounded the corner and saw Fanrik leaning on her. She rushed over to take Fanrik, giving a tired smile to VII, “Sorry about him,” she said, “He hasn’t slept for a while. It’s about time he finally fell asleep… Alright, come on in. I’ll put him to bed and you can… leave him on the couch or something.”
She entered, VII and Kile following closely behind. The hut was less of a house and more of a warehouse, with a wide open space in the center of the building with a few offshoot rooms branching off from there. There were tables, all lined with parts and metal, as well as a pair of couches and a coffee table. There were also a few counters, where beakers, vials, and chemical burners gave VII the impression that some sort of chemical or other had been prepared there. Of it all, however, nothing caught VII’s eye more than the massive thing in the center of the room.
VII recalled something similar being developed in almost all of the civilizations who put focus on mechanical aptitude. Though the forms, names, and roles changed, they were always going to be one thing to VII. A tank. Such a thing was in the center of the warehouse, sitting there as if it were normal for weapons of war to be left in a living space like a conservation piece.
VII stared for a long moment, with Kile giving her a look, then turned to the tank, “Um… is that thing dead?” he asked the lizardman lady as she left one of the side rooms without a Fanrik on her arm, “Because this one looks a lot more… intact, more than any I’ve seen.”
She looked at the tank, then back to Kile, “Dunno,” she said to him, all the while VII took Kile to the couch, “I never knew that someone could make one of those weird Clockworks without all of the… internal components. I mean, it’s like armor. But bigger. I’m pretty shocked that no one thought of it before.”
Kile sighed as VII lowered him onto the couch, “Kinda like armor,” Kile replied, “And you?” he asked VII. She gave him a curious look, but obliged anyway.
She stood straight, walking over to the tank and putting a hand on its thick armor, “Well, the same thing happened with furs and animals. People saw the furs of animals, how it protected them, and wanted it. They skinned the animals and used the fur to make clothing and armor. The same things happen with Clockworks. Someone sees a metal soldier and they think ‘why can’t I be covered in armor too?’ With that in mind, I kind of wonder why the idea of putting people into something like a transport hasn’t become dominant before.”
The two gave each other looks, “Can’t argue with that, I guess,” Kile said, “You… uh… what’s your name again?” he asked. The lizardwoman blinked in surprise, tilting her head, “Yeah, you didn’t give your name, huh?”
“My mistake, I suppose,” the woman replied, “I’m Juka. But you are right. The idea seems kind of… obvious. Maybe skiffs dampened the idea? A big… shell like this can’t stand up to a skiff.”
“My guess is a combination between that and the fact that most large Clockworks can be outmaneuvered by proficient mages and talented fighters. Along with the Traits they could have; I mean, a single centaur that can cast a fireball could spell disaster for any single large Clockwork. There hasn’t really been a case where so many large Clockworks could gather in a single place, so any single one is easy to destroy. On top of that, I don’t really see a reason for someone to make anything more than a self-driving carriage when they could be destroyed by, again, enough fireballs,” VII explained.
Kile looked towards Juka, “If that’s the case, why is he making this one? If it’s so vulnerable?”
Juka shrugged, “Dunno. All I know is that he put a really, really big rune into it, with an even bigger dynamo to power it. I don’t know what he made the rune to do, but I know that it’s quite powerful. Something about an impenetrable defense.”
VII nodded. A mobile platform for a large-scale defensive measure was one of her favorite types of tanks, “Makes sense, in that case. Hmm… You know what, I think I’m going to help him a bit.”
Juka gave her a warning look, “If you screw something up, I swear to the Creators I’ll-”
“Calm down!” VII cut in, “If it’s that important, I’ll leave it be. As long as I get to have a look at it. I really want to see what he did with it.” Without waiting for Juka to reply, VII dove into the open portions of the tank, taking in every detail even as the lizardwoman burned a hole in the back of VII’s head with her gaze. There were many things wrong with it, but far, far fewer than she would have expected from someone who had not been created by the goddess who was the closest to machinery. The issues were minor, things that only decreased efficiency by fractions of percents. To a single machine, those kinds of fractions did not matter much at all. But to a general, to the creator of a horde of mechanical might, those percentages were much, much more impactful than most would expect.
After inspecting the machine, she nodded, stepping out of the tank’s gut, “Yep, a few issues, but nothing that’ll make a difference for him. It’s fine.” She glanced upwards, at the windows in the ceiling she had missed upon seeing the tank, “Huh. It’s almost morning… Alright, I’m going back and I’ll be back soon-ish with Fara and Mori. If they aren’t immersing themselves in some project or other.”
Juka nodded while Kile looked away, “If that’s the case, come back with Fara soon. I don’t want Fanrik to run around like a decapitated chicken looking for her,” Juka said. VII nodded, quickly taking her leave. As she walked through the dawn-soaked streets, she thought about all she learned. Other than the fact that tanks were not very common on Granulous, there was also the fact that she had friends. Allies. And family to help her. Moreso to help her ditz of a friend, but those were semantics.
