I flip the tooth around in my hand and nod down at it. "Nice. How'd you figure that out?"
Gnash grins and leans a little closer. "I just did everything I could with it! And I might've ruined a potion to figure out how it works, but that's fine! Just, uh, be careful with using it on stuff whose restrictions actually help you. Like my poor potion bottle."
"Noted, thank you very much." I say as I send the tooth back to my inventory. "So did everyone get teeth? I kind of thought the construct only gave them to the people on our side."
Jumble shakes her head. "Obviously Shatterhand and Wojkmi didn't get them, and I'm pretty sure they won't from redoing the subquest. But… well… Ward, Euro, and Rina didn't get them either."
Ah. Because of the whole 'don't have a Class Card' thing. I nod in silent understanding, then frown as I remember that Dani does, indeed, have a Class Card somehow. If Jumble explained that at some point, I'd completely forgotten it. Probably has something to do with the fact that he still has the book after all these months.
"Well, if they need them, some of us can spare a use." I say with a nod at Euro which I extend to Rina. "Just say the word."
Euro nods back, but Rina doesn't do much of anything. She just sits there with an introspective look on her face while she fiddles with her weapon. I hope she's not starting to question why she doesn't have a Class Card because of this. It'd be… awkward, to say the least.
"So, boss lady!" Gnash interjects. "Is there any chance I can get your help with something… er… soon-ish?"
I lean back against the plush couch. "Depends what it is. Seems like we're going to have a lot of free time, if everything I've heard is true."
Gnash grimaces and looks away like it's somehow his fault the system's screwing us over. "Whatever you've heard, it's probably true. Hell, it's probably worse than what you've heard. I got some stuff from Llaliu to try and track our quest progress, and… well… that's what I need your help with. Yours and Clutter's ideally."
With my curiosity piqued enough to outweigh my pessimism, I motion for him to continue. He wrings his hands like he's about to ask for a particularly huge loan.
"So Clutter found those places that give off trial energy or whatever. Well, Llaliu and me–we came up with an idea to track those suckers and see which are real and which aren't. But before we had a chance to say anything about it we got sucked into what we thought was the right subquest. You following me?"
I nod. "Not hard to do. So what's your point?"
He takes a deep breath, then summons a four-foot tall mess of wires, gauges, and metal on the floor with a loud thump. We all stare at it, dumbfounded, save for Rina. As if sensing our attention, the thing lets off a little burst of steam from a hatched valve with a high-pitched whistle.
"Where the hell did you get the stuff for that?" I ask, though I have a feeling I don't want to know the answer. "Are all the machines in the workshop still there? Please tell me they are."
Gnash scoffs. "As if I could do anything that might screw us over! Nah, me and Llaliu went out killing stuff on our time off to buy the materials for this hunk of junk. Andwemight'verepurposedonemachinetherewerethreeofsoitsfine."
My eyes widen as that chunk of a quick-spoken excuse theoretically bowls me over. I'm not completely sure what he said, but I have a feeling there are now two of a machine there were once three of in the workshop. Hopefully it's not one we need the redundancy for.
I sigh and shake my head. "Just ask next time, please."
"I did ask." He grumbles. "Llaliu was the one who was working with everything. Who else was I supposed to get permission from?"
Clutter frowns and tilts his head to the side. "One of us three, obviously. We trust you way more now, but we need to at least mark the machine down as being gone. That way we don't play the blame game if we need all three–two now–of it down the line."
Gnash winces again and looks away. "You're right. Sorry. We got kinda ahead of ourselves there. But I promise that's the only thing either of us have salvaged–and you'll know way ahead of time if we need to take anything else apart for parts. So, er, back to the whole thing before I sidetracked us."
He pats the whistling machine fondly. "This baby'll tell us where the magic traces are coming from. If we'd used it before, we would've been able to tell the thing was coming from another district altogether. It'll take a while longer, and we definitely won't be able to race the horizonguard guy, but we'll be able to link the surrounding districts eventually."
Pride straightens Gnash's back as he finishes. I don't have the heart to tell him that we probably won't need to link all the surrounding districts for one very obvious reason; if the horizonguard does it first, then our objective changes completely. If multiple groups had to link all six districts, then sure, but the quest said only one tower had to do it to progress.
Plus… I have a very bad feeling about those trials-turned-quests. If the one we just did connects to another district entirely, then who's to say the trials that anchor our six surrounding districts don't have their entry points scattered randomly over the city? Shit, I'd say that's more likely than not considering what we just went through. Which brings us to the next point of conversation.
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"We'll help, but I'm not sure we'll like the results. Clutter."
He perks up at his name and turns to me. "Yeah?"
I gently nudge Jumble away and stand up. "Show me how screwed we are with our connected district."
A grim expression overtakes him. He stands with a solemn nod, then motions for Jumble to stay put before she can move to join us.
"We're just going to be five minutes. You have way more important work to do here."
"I know." She says without a hint of confrontation in her voice. "Doesn't mean I wasn't trying to get in on it, though. I'll keep up my search for the good books; everyone else, help out in whatever way you think is best. Unless it involves breaking stuff or breaking stuff down."
Gnash slightly deflates. "Aw."
"We'll help you out, Jumble." Euro says, then turns to Rina. "...Rina? Are you okay?"
Rina startles and hides her right hand behind her back. "Yes! I'm listening!"
Euro's face shifts with worry. "Rina?"
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine! Perfectly fine." Rina chuckles softly, trailing off to a somber pause. "Actually, um… no, I'm not. It was supposed to be my turn with the book over two months ago. I know it's not the right time to be thinking about this, but Dani's had it for so long, and I just want to… you know…"
Euro nods with sympathy and pats their friend on the shoulder. "I get it. We'll all go talk to Dani once we've got this sorted out, okay?"
"...Yeah. Okay." Rina nearly whispers. "I know it's stupid and petty. Sorry."
I thought something was weird about the book, but now I'm sure of it. Dani's been hoarding the thing. So there's no way he'll just give it up willingly. I turn to Jumble to get her opinion, but the deep unsettled frown tells me everything I need to know. And opens up the question of if she'd been paying attention to whose turn it was since she found out I'm a Worth Class too.
Briefly, I consider tagging along to this meeting of theirs. But I'm still an outsider. If Jumble wants to keep up the facade, me being there is not something that'll help. So I just have to hope that Dani doesn't get too… violent when they ask him to give up the book for a while.
"Are we good to go?" Clutter asks.
I take one last glance at Euro and Rina, then nod. "Yeah. We're good. Gnash, we'll try out your device after we get back, alright?"
It's his turn to nod. "Works for me. I'll just… help out around here until you get back. Or maybe I'll go check on the workshop."
I shoot him a piercing glance. He zips behind his chair with a whimper.
"Or maybe I'll just help out around here." He reiterates. "Yeah, that's what I'll do. See you soon, boss lady."
A small grin tugs at my cheeks as I turn to Clutter. He tilts his chin up in acknowledgement and pushes the back of the single book visible through the back of the bookshelf. It disappears just like before, and I follow him through the library and halls until we find our way back to the room with doors. He motions at a door that was previously locked and steps right to the side of it.
"This one." He states. "It takes us right between the locker room and the rest of the hallways of that district."
I cross my arms and lean in to try and discern any differences about the door. "Looks completely normal to me. Anything different from the others we've seen?"
Clutter shakes his head. "We've got three doors open now, and unless the room decides to get bigger on a whim, we'll be running short if we can connect five more districts. Click didn't have any new insights, either, so we're just… running in the dark here."
"He's right." Click says, emerging from a corner where it had been sitting with its eyes closed. "All I can do is point out where all the subquests are in the newly connected district. Which, now that you've uncovered your Class Cards, would serve very little."
I click my tongue in disappointment. "You can't make out which ones will actually give us rewards?"
Click shakes its head. "I couldn't before, and nothing has changed for me in particular since then. Do be careful out there. This liquified construct I've been told about might not remain… loyal to your cause."
That's worrying. "What makes you say that?"
"Experience." Click chuckles. "Perhaps I'm wrong, though. It would be very beneficial for all of us if that was the case. But I've taken up too much of your time as is; good luck with whatever you have planned. I'll be here when you return."
Not like it has anywhere else to go. Click returns to its corner, slumps down the wall, and closes its eyes in one swift motion. Soft breaths almost instantly escape its grey lips. Can it… sleep? I mean, I guess it must be able to.
Clutter pulls out his Class Card. "I'm going to step through first. Tap on my marker so the map follows me."
I take out my own Class Card and nod, even though I already know what I'm going to see. He waits a few seconds just in case, then turns and opens the door with one hand. What looks like a… waiting area for a public pool appears from behind it. He looks over his shoulder one last time before finally stepping through.
My map screams by, districts blurring before my eyes until Clutter's marker settles somewhere far away. Dozens of districts away. I can't help the grimace that tugs at my lips as I send my Class Card away and take the few steps needed to join Clutter on the other side. The door closes behind me, but the outline remains in my awareness.
"So this is… new." I say as I look around the waiting area. "All it's missing is a few vending machines and some screaming… kids…"
I trail off as paindne constructs appear out of nowhere, filling the room with a din of noises that try to emulate life. Clutter pushes through them to get at a pair of twin doors on the other side, and I carefully maneuver through the sudden crowd to join him.
"What's with this?" I mutter under my breath as a kid ducks under my legs. "Where'd they come from?"
Clutter shrugs. "We don't know. Our best guess is that the system only manifests the constructs when there are people in the district to… uh… save magic or something. But that's not the best part. Welcome to the Playdium district."
He throws open the doors and gestures at what lies beyond. Sounds and smells unlike anything I've heard in this city assault me from all angles, among which is a… rhythmic rumbling that sounds… familiar. But only slightly, since I'm not completely confident in my appraisal of the sound.
The last time I saw a roller coaster was before the apocalypse.
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