Solo Change of Plans

[Thomas Cosa]

20th of Spring, 513AV

"Sleepin', Apprentice?"

"N -- no, sir," Thomas gasped, startled. The last few days had been rough; even by Sahovan standards. Lab 15 had recieved a sizeable order, from who Thomas couldn't say -- the apprentice only knew the Masters had wanted every available hand working. He had spent the last couple of days helping more learned gadgeteers with smaller jobs, and even allowed to help animate two of the automatons needed for the order, but the pulser had missed out on several meals, and could count the number of bells he had slept on one hand.

He had convinced himself it was worth it though -- a few days of hard work would undoubtedly catch the Masters' attention, or at the very least, Cid's.

"Good. Sahova's got no place for slackers," Cid stared down at the mage, eyes judging. "You'll be with me, today. Gotta finish this one last golem, and she's a dozey. Might be you'd learn somethin', if'n you keep up," he muttered, turning around heading towards the southern part of the cavern.

Thomas yawned as soon as the Master turned, and blinked his eyes.

It wasn't often he attracted positive attention in Sahova.

[Thomas Cosa]

"...your golem?" Thomas guessed, the pair approaching a shining clump of metal at Cid's station.

"Mmhm," the gadgeteer nodded, proud, "It'll stand taller than you, boy. Designed after those blue warriors to the east, watcha call 'em, uh...," he paused, stroking his beard, "Akakkals or somethin', I dunno," he smiled, laughing, "And once it's done, you'll be animating. You've done a source animation before, yeah?" Cid asked, turning towards Thomas.

"Yes, sir." Thomas nodded, curious. He noticed about half the golem had been completed, one arm attached to a bulky chest. It was obvious this was designed for protection, or for attack. It's arm alone seemed to weigh more than Thomas and Cid combined -- although the two combined couldn't have weighed more than 200lbs.

"Right, gotta finish the damn thing first, and then you can animate," he nodded, bending down, "Grab my tools, from over there," he gestured towards a cluttered desk.

"Mhmm," Thomas nodded, grabbing the lone tool box.

"Here yo --,"

"Wha d'ya think you're doin', kid?" Cid growled, pushing the metal tool box back towards the apprentice. "I'm teachin' YOU, boyo. You'll be handin' me my tools, and I'll be explaining their uses and the like, got it?" he finished, turning back towards the golem.

"A torx," Cid muttered, hand extended.

"What?" Thomas asked, already confused.

"Torx," he sighed, grabbing the smallest screwdriver, waving in front of Thomas. "Guess this'll take longer than I thought."

[Thomas Cosa]

"Torx. 's gotta a star at the end, smaller than most," Cid muttered, offering the small tool to Thomas.

"Torx has the star," Thomas repeated, studying the end point. Three lines intersected at a cross, forming a six-pointed star. It was smaller than most of the screwdrivers he had seen used, but otherwised seemed identical to every other screwdriver in the toolkit. Nothing special.

"Why is it different than the others? The end, and the size?" he swallowed, turning the torx in his hand, "Does it make a difference, really? Wouldn't it make sense just to make everything simple and uniform?" he asked, turning from the tool to CId.

Cid laughed, the burst of sound causing the pulser to flinch.

"'pose yer REALLY new to this kind o' work. Never had anyone teach ye' this kind of stuff -- yer dah? Teacher, maybe?" Cid asked, only allowing Thomas a moment to digest the question, only waving it off a second later, "Never matter, kid. Yer here now, and I's got to show you what's what, yeah?" he growled, pulling out three other screwdrivers, and lying them next to the torx.

"Right, so tell me. What's the difference?" Cid nodded towards the four screwdrivers.

Thomas stared, chewing thoughtfully on his lip.

"They all have different points, a cross, a square, and a line," Thomas began, pointing at each of the corresponding tools. "They're organized by size, too. I still don't get why they're different. Maybe the size makes it easier to work with? he guessed, shrugging.

"Good eye, lad. Obvious points, but 's nice to know ye can see," he offered an yellowed smile, a testament to the hygiene of Sahova's pulsers. "So, screwdrivers come in a variety of size, most tools do. Simple explanation -- the smaller the tool, the easier a complex job becomes. See here," Cid grabbed the torx again, and one of the larger screwdrivers, holding the two side by side. "This one," he motioned to the larger tool, "'s easiest to work with, right? Large 'nough handle for me hand, more comfortable. Gettin' into small places with this giant, though? Ain't easy, that's fer sure," CId nodded, motioning to the torx with his head, "The torx though - this one can fit almost anywhere, kid. Big as most hands, smaller than some even -- great tool to work with. If you can fit your hand into a corner, ye'll have no problem gettin' this one in there either," he smirked, placing it down.

"And the points is different just to link the screw with the screwdriver. Size varies between the screws though -- Never try to use a hammer on a screw, by the way. Just don't do it," Cid nodded.

"'pose that's that, fer now. Might as well start working, and if anything else comes up, I'll explain,"

[Thomas Cosa]

"Right," Cid started, pushing himself back towards the unfinished body, "Like I said, ye'll be helping me today. Simple stuff, nothin' ta worry yer pretty little head about, boy," he assured the younger man, "I want ye ta finish 'is arm, simple stuff," he paused, scratching his chin, "Had the designs here not a moment ago...Oi! Clamper!" he shouted, motioning at one of the larger golems stationed at the wall.

The whole machine shuddered briefly, stopping momentairly, and slowly, as if it was waking up, began to wheel it's way over to the gadgeteer. Larger than Thomas, the animation was simple in build. Two long iron rods stemmed from the upper portion, horizontal to each other, and obviously made to be some kind of clamp. The body, heavy enough on it's own, was supported by eighteen small wheels (each wheel no bigger than a human fist).

"An automaton," Cid nodded, pointing Clamper towards the arm. "Clamper'll hold them pieces together, hopefully make it easier fer ye, eh?" he whistled, the automaton moving besides the unfinished goliath.

"Start with the arm, look at 'em designs. Just point or whistle, and it'll grab whatever ye want, make it easier to tighten 'em screws, yeah?" Cid nodded again, turning back to his work.

[Thomas Cosa]

Various parts lay scattered besides the golem's body; parts that would eventually be an arm.

Thomas spread out the blueprints, flipping through the various stages of construction. FInding the arm designs, he carefully folded up the rest and placed them aside.

The arm was made up of seven parts in total, two of which seemed to serve as some kind of shield, or armor to the lower arm. There made the basic structure -- two poles attached to a small ball, which Thomas assumed to be the elbow. The final two pieces a much smaller ball than the previous, and a sort of clasp mechanism, obviously the golem wouldn't be doing anything much more than grasping.

"Alright," Thomas nodded, waving at Clamper, and then pointed at one of the larger poles. Slowly, the automaton wheeled it's way over, clasping over the large pole, and stopping before the pulser. Two bumps showed at the end of the pole, indicating where the iron ball should connect, acting as a joint.

Grabbing the ball, Thomas pressed into the pole -- nothing.

Thomas pressed again, pushing his entire body against the pole until he heard a small click - and the ball held still. He smiled, wiggling the ball to make sure it stayed, and checking to make sure it would function well as a joint. Carefully, the pulser attached the final bar.

[Thomas Cosa]

Thomas traced the designs with a finger, eyes following closely.

The arm itself had been simple, and the pulser saw no reason the hand or the over armor should be any different. From the blueprints, Thomas decided to add the over armor next, finishing with the hand. The novice gadgeteer figured it would be simpler to add the hand after, solely because the over armor seemed like it would fall if it didn't have anything to keep it from sliding off the armor -- or so was his thought process.

Grabbing the torx, Thomas held the two large slabs together. Slowly, and by hand, he pushed a screw in place, and began to twist it into place. It took the young pulser a couple tries before he finally was able to screw it in tightly. Then, Thomas did the same with three others.

He slid the over armor over the arm, and linking the two outer holes to the identical one on the arm. Thomas signaled to Clamper, and the automaton held the outer armor in place. Again, Thomas delicately placed the screws in, tightly winding them into the arm, holding the armor in place.

Finishing, Thomas began work on the hand.

Again, he found clasps on the ball and two holes on the opposite piece. WIth a loud snap, the pulser found the quickly held.

"Gotta it done, boy?" Cid asked, not bothering to look from his own work.

"Yes, sir," Thomas said, a note of pride heard in it's voice.

"Good. s'all I'll be needin' from ye, today," the old gadgeteer growled, "I'll get ye in a couple of days to finish it up."

[Thomas Cosa]

24th of Spring, 512 AV

"Ye'v dun a source animation before, yeah?"

"Yeah," Thomas nodded, standing besides CId. The older gadgeteer nodded, "Good," he grunted, "This'll be a little different, ye'll be helpin' me. The entire process will be new to ye, 'pose," he paused, stroking his chin. "Figure it might be better for ye ta 'stand if'n ye draw the glyphs and whatnot, but I'll show ye first, lemme grab my notes."

CId quickly went back to his desk, returning with a couple of sheets of parchment and two chairs.

"So, ye'll notice the general shape of the animation circles is different from what ye'd 'pect. See," he pointed to the design. Four circles drawn equidistant from each other, two lines grew from one of the circles to two others, and those circles connected to the bottom one, "Shared animation," CId began, "Simple enough in theory, but kinda difficult'n practice. We'll be sharing the process, so this line," he drew a horizontal line, connecting the two circles, "will connect us, and also help slow the process down. Shared animation isn't anything to rush, and this golem'll take us a couple of days."

"So, uh, I still got some sortin' ta do. Glyphs and whatnot," Cid muttered, scratching behind his head. "But ya got the idea of it, so draw it out over there," Cid pointed towards the completed golem, "And when you finish, we'll do the glyphs."

Thomas nodded, grabbing some chalk and heading towards the finished golem.

Towering above him, the golem stood in reddish metal glory. Thomas carefully circled the golem with chalk, and made three identical circles euqidistant from the first. He drew the lines that connected the circles, ending the animation circles with the horizontal line that would connect him and Cid.

[Thomas Cosa]

"Y'know much 'bout glyphs?" Cid asked, the designs scrolled up in his hand.

"Yeah, some," Thomas shrugged, not really wanting to explain his limited knowledge of glyphs. It was a source of embarrassment for the young mage, perhaps even more so than his lack of ability with gadgeteering.

"Right," Cid nodded, not bothering to further investigate Thomas' skill level. "Nothing too complicated, but think it'll be better to show ye, the same."

"Ye'll be adding five of 'em ta the circles," Cid pointed to various symbols that decorated the plans, "Seen some o' yer work, kid. Ye'll know 'bout the Yaq and Pechi glyphs, and where to put 'em. Y'know 'bout the Daeq? What it means, and all?" he asked.

"To shape. To define boundary," Thomas remembered, nodding.

"Good. Ye'll be drawing 'at one long 'em lines, here," CId showed, Thomas' eyes following the finger as he traced the path, "Normal animation, wouldn't need it. The Djed follows the lines natural like, but for a shared Animation -- the Djed needs to past through me circle and yers, yeah? Refine it better that way," CId muttered, pointing to another pair of glyphs.

"This one, Daraqpond. Know what it means?" he asked again, waiting for a response.

"Equal thought?" Thomas answered, unsure.

"Mo' o' less," he nodded, "It'll make the flow equal, give us time to look carefully at what's been caught up in the magic."

"Now, you finish these, and I'll grab our source.

[Thomas Cosa]

"Yaq," Thomas muttered, slowly drawing the glyph alongside the four circles. Delicately curved lines decorated the chalk drawings, the young mage trying to space them equidistance from each other. Three glyphs per circle, Thomas hoped that would be enough to curve the energy of the Djed from the shared animation, but he was sure Cid would say something if the animation required more yaq glyphs.

"Pechi," Thomas moved to the end circle, the receiving circle. Slowly, the pulser drew what could only be described as a knot. A single line, turned and twisted into three hoops, drawn in chalk before the metal goliath. He only needed the one -- there was only one golem.

"Daeq, to change, to shape," Thomas recalled the designs, drawing the arrow like glyph that represented daeq. Beginning at the source circle, he drew the glyphs going down into the right, then moving horizontally left to the third circle. Then, from the circle the arrows made a diagonal for the golem. He repeated this, except from the source circle, he drew them going to the left, and then horizontally to the right.

"The Daeq glyphs dictate the Djed's path," he muttered.

"Daraqpond," he whispered, drawing what could only be described as an equal sign circled lopsidedly, a small crescent dividing the glyph unequally.

He had almost finished when he heard the scream.

[Thomas Cosa]

Blue. That was the first thing Thomas noticed.

And then the cage. Giant. Monolithic. Slow. It shocked him momentarily -- the realization the cage was an animation. Six metal legs stamped along the cavern, the a small earthquake accompanying each step.

And then the screaming started again.

"LET US GO!," the akalak roared, pained howls echoing against the cavern walls.

Thomas froze. He had seen this before -- the tortured souls that lined the inner walls of the Citadel. Barely strong enough to beg for help, and always easy to ignore, Thomas had always ignored them. The broken experiments of Sahova, still able to claim some sort of sentience life; enough to be useful still to the Masters and their experiments.

This was different. He was different.

And Thomas wanted to know why.

Thomas breathed deeply, focusing on the roaring akalak.

"One," he whispered, squinting in an attempt to observe the blue creature through the bars. The cage was approaching slowly, but had come close enough to where Thomas could make out the general shape. Deep, blue skin shone in the magecrafted light, hair wild and black, hung in thick locks.

"Two," Djed burned and bubbled beneath his skin, feelings of power enveloping the novice mage. His breathing began to rasp, Djed forcing it's way from his body, new lights and colors and scents and feelings beginning to arise from the darkened lab.

"Three."

Sweat. The odor ravaged him, clinging to his nostrils. He shivered as his skin became increasingly oily and moist, fingers tracing against bruised skin that wasn't his. The novice mage flinched as pain shot through his right leg -- a sprain, or a brake in a bone that wasn't his. Thomas felt the weight of matted hair, and the stress of yells and screams long ignored on his throats.

And then Thomas smelled air, wet with rain. With each scream, Thomas felt the battering of a storm, the yells of warring army, screaming in rage. His skinned burned with excitement, and he was angry.

Thomas was angry.

The feeling welled from deep inside, and it took Thomas every once of self-control not to scream. Not to yell.

His Djed snapped back, Thomas gasping as he released his Auristics.

"APPRENTICE!" CId yelled, his back towards the animation circle, guiding the towering mobile cage. "WE'LL BE NEEDIN' A BIGGER CIRCLE!"