Symbiotic: Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Finally having the spare time to follow her curiosity, Sara headed over towards the Engineer’s Workshop she had not yet had the pleasure of inspecting. Eager to see what lay within, she excitedly strolled forward and pulled open the surprisingly solid think reinforced door.

Sara pushed open the heavy oak door to the Engineer’s Workshop, and immediately the air hit her like a storm. The scent of hot metal, acrid smoke, and something faintly chemical rolled out in waves. Inside, the room was a riot of motion and noise.

Everywhere she looked, danger lurked. A rack of what his HAD to be grenades etched with runes pulsed faintly in what Sara could only hope wasn’t a countdown? Barrels marked with red X’s hissed quietly, as though something volatile inside was straining to escape. A half finished hand cannon sat in the corner, its barrel glowing faintly with heat despite no fire being lit. Even the floor seemed treacherous, littered with wires and gears that twitched as if they might spring into motion at any moment.

Tables overflowed with half finished contraptions: gears spinning without purpose, pipes venting steam, crossbows with strange glyphs etched into their stocks. Sparks leapt from a corner where a rune etched hammer struck against a glowing crystal, and the floor was littered with scraps of wire, shattered glass, and bolts that seemed to roll of their own accord.

On one table, a mechanical bird with crystal wings flapped erratically, scattering sparks as it tried to take flight. On another, a gauntlet hummed with unstable energy, its runes flickering between brilliance and overload. A set of gears spun endlessly in a corner, powered by no visible source, their rhythm hypnotic and unnerving.

At the center of it all stood Ami, the young gnome engineer with wild purple hair sticking up in a messy knot. Massive multi-spectacled Goggles perched crookedly on her forehead, her hands blackened with soot and ink. She moved with manic energy, darting from one device to another, adjusting valves, scribbling incomprehensible notes, and muttering calculations under her breath. Her eyes shone with a feverish light, the kind that belonged to someone who slept in a hammock tied to the razor’s edge between genius and catastrophe. She hunched over a device that looked halfway between a cannon and a teakettle, muttering furiously to herself as she twisted a valve.

“Come on, come on, don’t you dare fizzle on me now… either brilliance or boom, and brilliance is preferred!” Ami shouted, her voice carrying over the hiss of steam as she made quick, delicate, adjustments with a set of precise tools, and then grabbed a hammer to pound the device in a rapid series of swings.

Sara froze just inside the doorway, her Danger Sense flaring like a struck bell. It wasn’t one source, or even one direction. It was everywhere. The entire workshop radiated threat: the barrels with glyphs, the weapons humming with unstable energy, the gadgets that seemed to twitch as if alive. Even the very walls radiated with a bizarre combination of magics they have been forced to endure at the tiny cackling Gnome’s hands.

Ami spun suddenly, spotting Sara, her grin wide and manic. “Viscount! Perfect timing! You’re just in time to witness either the greatest breakthrough in Haven Valley’s engineering history… or, equally possibly, the most expensive explosion I’ve ever contained!”

Sara raised a brow, her Danger Sense still prickling across her skin. “Erm... Contained?” she asked dryly, eyeing the barrels with red X marks.

Ami waved a hand dismissively, though her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Oh, don’t worry about those. They only explode if you really mishandle them. Which I don’t. Usually.”

The device in Ami’s hands gave a sudden hiss, a plume of steam shooting upward as it began to wobble and spin dramatically. She cackled, twisting another valve, her entire body vibrating with anticipation. “Yes, yes, yes! It’s working! Or it’s failing spectacularly! Either way, data! Behold, Viscount. Witness my greatness!”

Staring at the quickly gyrating out of control... Thing, as it began to emit a high pitched scream, Ami muttered. “Or duck. Yes. Ducking might be an equally acceptable action.”

Joining Ami behind a second heavily reinforced door that sat bolted upright in the center of the workshop for some, until now, unexplained reason, Sara couldn’t help but smile despite the chaos. Loud. Eccentric. Explosive. Exactly as she’d been warned. And yet, beneath the madness, she could feel the sharp edge of genius. Ami’s workshop was chaos incarnate, but it was the kind of chaos that built wonders.

…

Occasionally!

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Sara and Ami stood outside Ami’s workshop as they waiting for the “Probably not TOO toxic”, according to the gnome suddenly wearing a surprisingly intricate full rebreather. The fumes hissed out through vents overhead, the acrid haze slowly thinning. The little gnome’s purple hair stuck out in wild tufts, her goggles fogged from the heat, but her grin was irrepressible as she muttered to herself about having successfully found another way that didn’t work.

Sara’s voice was steady, cutting through the chaos. “Ami, among all these… experiments… do you have anything that could help the Valley Defense Force? Or serve as defense or deterrent at the gates? Preferably something tested, repeatable, and effective.”

Ami’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her soot stained hands together. “Oh, do I ever! Tested, repeatable, effective… and maybe just a little terrifying. Let me give you the menu!”

She darted to a cluttered table, sweeping aside a pile of gears to reveal a series of sketches and prototypes.

• Solid Options

o Repeating Bolt Launcher: A crossbow rig mounted on the walls, cranked by hand or powered by a rune engine. Fires a steady stream of bolts with precision. “Can even be scaled up to Ballista size. Reliable, simple, and it doesn’t explode unless you really really try.”

o Rune Shield Emitters: Small pylons that project a barrier of force. “They won’t stop a siege engine, but they’ll keep arrows and small monsters at bay.”

o Alchemical Sandbags: Reinforced sacks filled with a mixture of stone dust and resin. When struck, they harden instantly, forming makeshift barricades. “Alchemical sandbags! Ordinary sacks until you hit them, then bam! instant wall. I call them ‘panic bricks.’ “

o “No Solicitors” Gate Spikes: Heavy iron spikes that can be lowered into the ground before the gates. Simple, brutal, and effective against charging beasts or enemy cavalry. “They don’t move unless you want them to. Very safe. Very pointy.”

• Intermediate Options

o Shock Mines: Flat discs buried near the gates. When stepped on, they release a burst of lightning. “Non lethal to install, very lethal to uninstall.”

o Steam Cannons: Pipes rigged to vent superheated steam at attackers. “Scalds armor, blinds eyes, and makes them regret their life choices.”

o Sticky Resin Bombs: Glass spheres filled with alchemical resin. “Throw one, and the target is glued to the ground. Tested on myself. Worked perfectly. Took three hours to get free.”

• Terrifying Options

o Glyph Barrels: Those ominous red X barrels. “They can be detonated remotely. One barrel clears a squad. Three barrels clear a hillside. Tested… accidentally, but the results were….. whew!”

o Crystal Cannon: A massive device that amplifies crystal vibrations into a concussive blast. “Effective, repeatable, and nine times out of 10 it works everytime! May also shatter nearby windows. And bones.”

o The ‘Boom Box’: Ami’s personal favorite. A rune etched chest that, when opened, releases a shockwave of sound and force. “It knocks enemies flat and keeps em flat. It also knocks me flat. But it works!”

Ami looked up at Sara, her grin wide behind the rebreather. “So, Viscount, what’ll it be? The safe and steady? The clever and shocking? Or the gloriously terrifying?”

Sara raised a brow, her Danger Sense still humming faintly in the workshop. “Let’s start with the ones that don’t risk blowing half the Valley sky high. But… keep the terrifying ones on standby. Just in case. Tas”, Sara called for her Administrator. “Allocate SC as needed to add Ami’s Solid options to the gatehouse and walls.”

Ami giggled, bouncing on her heels. “Yes, Tas. Pay the lady. Mama’s trigger finger is itchy! Oh, you’re going to love this, Viscount. Haven Valley is about to get a lot safer, and a LOT louder.”

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