Inside her neat clean office, Xiaoxiao sat on a stool with a laidback expression while wearing a loose brown shirt. But when a sudden thought crossed her mind, she immediately got back up, swiftly taking her plans and presenting them to her mechanical toy.
Its gears ground, rotating counterclockwise with strange clinking noises. It walked forward, using its tiny metallic legs to move and as it did, it read the plan. After a short while, its eyes lit up, the sound of its uncanny voice escaping its shell.
[Probability Calculation Complete.]
[Assessment:
Eighty-seven percent failure rate. This plan is unreliable.]
With a heavy sigh, Xiaoxiao picked up another parchment, placing it atop the other. While she did, she muttered solemnly, "For the first one, eighty-seven percent isn't too bad but… well, it could be better after all, what we mechanics aim for is improvement."
The toy scanned the writings, its gears grinding faster than before, its body moving back and forth. But although it was on the brink of destruction, a voice still managed to escape its grasp.
[Assessment:
Ninety-nine and nine nine nine nine nine…]
"Ugh, it's broken again? How many times have I fixed you already? Damn it." She grumbled, fixing her gaze straight at the bot before raising her hand and giving it a good smack.
Smack!
With a sudden thump, the toy stopped, remaining silent for a few seconds before its uncanny voice spoke.
[System Reset Complete.]
Do I have to make repairs again? Why is free labor this hard to come by? If only I could design the so-called "Human Equation", then I could finally start creating robots with endless stamina! A smirk formed upon her lips but the light soon faded away as she remembered what she was doing.
"That's enough daydreaming I suppose, I have a commission to complete, one that a trusted friend asked of me. Looking back, Hope seemed oddly calm during our discussion. It must be that important, huh?" After taking a pause, she leaned forward, taking the final parchment and placing it before the toy.
Its gears ground, rotating in an orderly manner as its eyes lit up, glowing bright red. It raised its thin metallic hands, pointing at the ceiling as the voice escaped it.
[Assessment:
Seventy-five percent failure rate.]
Her lips twitched, her eyes a dull reflection of her sight. Taking a step forward, she launched herself at the wall, bashing her head against it with fury in her eyes.
A few minutes later, her anger subsided, her eyes returning to normal, a calm blue ocean.
Drip-Drop!
The sound of fresh blood hitting the floor echoed throughout her ears.
"I need better ideas…" She spoke softly before dropping straight to the floor. With her gaze still as water, a faint smile formed upon her lips when an idea crossed her mind–a genius idea!
…
Upon awakening, she raised her hand, rubbing her forehead. A cold metallic scent infiltrated her nostrils once the wound reopened.
She bit her lip, her hands trembling due to the pain. With a heavy sigh, she stood up, her legs wobbling about.
Her knees gave in, causing her to drop to the floor. She muttered, irritated, "That wound must have released all my pent-up exhaustion until now. Who could have thought that my job was this difficult?"
She chuckled, pushing herself back up and reaching her hands out to any nearby objects, using them to walk better.
A short while later, she found her medicine box. Once she opened it, she took out the bandaid, slapping it to her forehead, feeling her body slowly get better.
She sat down, rubbing her chin as she thought: My new idea revolves around using an artifact to create another artifact but that would mean creating another plan… damn it, why is life this annoying?
She cheered herself, eyes lighting up with newfound brilliance, "When I do manage to accomplish this, my knowledge capacity should expand since I would have learned a lot from this experience. It's a win-win scenario!"
She stood back up, took a spare cane, and headed to her bedroom.
A minute later, she shoved the wooden door open, stepping into her living quarters. The room was as clean as a newly bought pair of pliers, shining brightly as it reflected the light.
A small bed stood to her left, the mattress soft and comfy. She wondered, questioned herself: Now that I think about it, why did I think that leaving an artifact in my bedroom was a good idea? Was I insane?!
She crouched down, tilting her head and stretching her arms beneath her bed. After a short while, she pulled a hidden lever and a small box revealed itself beside her. She withdrew her hand, fixing her attention on the box.
She pulled the box from its place, opening it without hesitation, revealing a wrench–the Technical Wrench!
Unknowingly, her mind slipped into past memories, recalling the man who gifted her this artifact.
She shook her head, formulating a new plan: The current idea seems pretty simple but I have to remember it by heart so memorizing it now isn't too bad. I basically have to use the Technical Wrench's ability to create an artifact vessel, or in otherwords, an incomplete artifact. This vessel must be able to contain Zixin's "Lended" ability and once it does, it should start to reshape itself to a more suitable form.
She muttered, delving further into her thoughts, "Artifacts are split into two types, first are the Man-made Artifacts which as the name suggests were created by humans. These artifacts are usually tame and under control but on the other hand, there are the Manifested Artifacts born from natural causes. These artifacts are extremely sensitive, sometimes causing great destruction due to their unpredictable Restrictions. Rumors say that Manifested Artifacts are also connected to a Truth–a concept but that's much harder to believe."
"Damn… I'm talking to myself again… I might be mentally ill…"
"..."
She sighed, dismissing her unnecessary thoughts and returning to the matter at hand–the plan.
"This plan heavily relies on the Technical Wrench's ability to alter the properties of objects but to even make this plan viable, I need to use it to create a puzzle by carefully altering objects and designing each to complement the other, fixing an issue that one may have." She paused, commenting with a grim expression, "There's a reason I never ever use this artifact and that's because I have to think so much. I know that it's fun to think but this is quite literally creating a puzzle and solving the puzzle myself."
"Either way, the idea is set! Now, all that's left is to plan. I might not get some shut-eye tonight." With one last comment, she brought her belongings to her office, planning everything from there.
The shade of night loomed over the Land, casting a veil of darkness across mountains to oceans. The crescent moon that hung from above drifted throughout the night, eventually vanishing when dawn arrived.
After feeling the touch of someone's hand, her eyes opened, awakening from her dream.
She stared back with a half-awake expression at Arbane who wore a confusion on his face.
He handed her a tray containing her breakfast; a coffee and a sandwich.
Arbane lifted his gaze, taking a quick glance at the surroundings before tilting his head and asking, "So… what happened last night? This place is a mess and I just cleaned it yesterday."
"I was re-writing my artifact plans, don't worry about it. Hmm, how about you? What were you doing last night?" She answered plainly.
Arbane's eyes lit up with newfound confidence, a faint smirk forming. He spoke, "I was gathering intel when I heard an odd rumor."
"Please do pray tell."
"Apparently, a large wolf–a Wolf Lord as they called it was spotted on Mount Lorebale but it sounds too fishy for my liking."
Xiaoxiao thought with concern written all over her expression: Don't both Hope and Zixin live in Mount Lorebale? If the rumor is true then they're in serious trouble. However, this is highly suspicious because it is unclear how such a monster could have even been born. As far as I know, no such occurrence has ever happened before.
She sighed, leaning back in her chair with a laid-back expression, and muttered, her gaze fixed on the ceiling, completely forgetting about Arbane's presence. "I wonder when I will ever be influential enough to help everyone in need."