It was midday in the city of Karstberg.

What this meant was that the city was bustling with activity. The market district, for example, was packed to the brim with people. Some were running errands for the shops, or to the shops. Others were customers, owners, vendors, merchants, or simply people trying to get somewhere and taking a path through the market district itself. The Noble Quarter was quieter, but still quite active. For today was a nice, sunny day. A day of warmth. Insofar as even the most attentive of weather-watchers could tell, there was no news of conditions changing. All across Karstberg, the streets were active and filled with people moving place to place, or children playing.

Yes, for almost everyone in Karstberg, it was a day filled with activity. From the very legal dealings in the open to the back-alley or dark tavern-dealings that the city watch would be very, very interested in hearing about. From children to adults. Certainly, there were some people who probably weren't big fans of the sun, but many of them were out as well. Or they had people out for them, either way.

---

"Well... I just learned that sixty gold would be generous for such a ring, " the man said. He was clothed in fine robes, blue with a golden trim. He had short, neat brown hair and a neatly trimmed-beard. "So, I'd be happy to take it off your hands for that much."

"Oh... thank you, thank you!" cried Emi. Or rather, at the moment, Seri Valine. Seri was a poor girl whose sick grandmother had given her this ring. Desperate for finding some way to care for her, Seri had ventured into the market district in a bid to sell the ring for money to care for her grandmother. The ring itself glittered, a shining diamond mounted on a golden loop of metal. "Y-you don't know how much this means to me!"

The identity of Seri Valine had been cultivated well enough, she felt. Ragged dress(it had been a shame to rip it, but getting the money was more important...), and an equally-ragged hood(Nem were pale, so preventing herself from burning in the sun while keeping the appearance up was important), and a wavering, timid voice. All of this had contributed to the very false existence that was Seri. As for the ring itself...

Emi held a dirty coinpurse out in trembling hands. The man opened his own coinpurse, and dropped sixty gold into Emi's. Bidding several more thank-yous and bowing her head as she handed over the ring, Emi backed away and shuffled off into the crowd. She had overheard the man consulting his companion. Apparently, the ring was worth three hundred gold...

Funny, the last time she checked, a brass ring with a glass jewel wasn't even worth sixty copper.

Grinning as she tucked her coinpurse away, Emi headed through the crowds. That had gone so perfectly! That big guy had no idea what the ring really was! Besides, sixty wouldn't make much of a dent in the big moron's funds. He wasn't a nice person anyway, thinking he'd just cheated some poor girl out of three-hundred gold.

Oh, this day was already going wonderfully! Emi had money to spend, and certainly to cover her rent...

---

Oh, she was certainly faithful. And certainly, certainly, she believed in spreading the good word of Reon.

However, Tanya did not understand why she had been assigned to do this. She was a paladin, a warrior meant to clear out evil existences. To destroy wicked and mindless undead, to destroy those who would do unspeakable evil. These things were something that Reon, and her believers, would not tolerate. But... certainly there was someone who didn't specialize in destroying evil who they could get for this? There were plenty of girls around the temple who didn't fight at all, certainly they could handle this duty!

Tanya folded her arms across her chest. The small girl huffed.

"Hmph."

She didn't even know where to start with this. She was in the streets, alone, Helios sheathed at her side. Goldion was... with her armor, which she had not been permitted to bring with her. No, she was simply dressed in the holy robes of Reon, an outfit she had not previously worn outside of the temple. Was Sister Lilette trying to irritate her or something?! She felt awkward in these, too... She preferred her lightly-frilled skirt, her boots, her coat and shirt... it was far easier to move in then the long, flowing form of the holy robes of Reon. The habit just wasn't something she was used to wearing when she actually had to go places. At least she was allowed to keep Helios on her at the moment.

Her bag was filled with pamper, proclaiming that Reon was a wonderful goddess. Of course she was! Why did Tanya have to go around and pass papers that talked about it out?

"And of course, no-one even listens!" she couldn't take it any longer, "All these idiots don't even pay attention, why do I have to be the one who passes these out!? It's not like I'm drawing anyone in!"

The explosion was mostly for her own benefit. She couldn't take standing on the street corner and trying to call to people as they passed any longer, and her frustration had been mounting all day.

---

Ah, today... today was a perfect day! The market district was bustling, they could hardly ignore her stand. Stocked with her array of goods, food, supplies, everything... all for a very reasonable price... Mizuko sat in the shade of her stand, behind the desk. The cloth roof was blue, matching the shade of her eyes and tentacles, and she sat comfortably at her seat with a wide smile. It was... her first real day as a merchant on her own in this country. But the squid beastkin girl was brimming with confidence. She had so many items, at such reasonable prices, there was no way anyone would simply go passing them by without even a second thought. She had prepared herself, and now she was ready.

She just had to get to grabbing her customer's attention.

Mizuko got to her feet, raising a hand, and she called out.

"Wares from the distant land of Akitsushima ~degeso!" she called, waving one hand and several tentacles in the air in a bid to grab the attention of any passersby. Her pronunciation of the common language of this land, while accented, was perfectly clear. "Foods, drink, clothing, supplies, anything you could need ~degeso! All at Aoika Mizuko's...Sorairo..."

Mizuko lowered her tentacles and hands, her voice trailing off as her smile faded into a frown...

While she certainly knew this language, just fine, it... was still hard to remember the name her mother had told her to call it in this language. "Sorairo Ika Ichiba... Okaasan wa iimashita... Oh!"

Mizuko's hand and tentacles shot up once more.

"All at Aoika Mizuko's Sky-Blue Squid Market ~degeso!"

"Five Gold pieces from six rabbits?! That's not what you said yesterday! Yesterday it was 12 gold per rabbit!" Aron Exclaimed shaking six dead rabbit on rope before the merchant. Merchant stroke his short stubble before he proceeded to explaining calming manner. "I'm sorry sir but that' how it is, Values change! Yesterday Rabbits Value WAS 12 golds per rabbit but not there's not much value for it now."

"How is a man suppose to make a living here with such prices?" Aron kept arguing, scratching back of his head. "Aaaagh... Make that 15 gold from all six rabbits!" he said lifting three finger up as a sign to triple the price. "I'm trying to make a living here too Boy! 12 gold, Deal or No deal!" Merchant said giving his final offer, crossing his arms as sign of standing his ground. " DEAL!" Aron handed over the six rabbits he managed to catch this morning just outside the city walls. Merchant dug up his coin pouch and poured 12 golds to Aron's open hand.

Lord walked through the market, ignoring the cacophony of noise. His walking stick in one hand tapped out a cadence as a wax sealed package wrapped in string hung from the fingers of his other hand. It was a fine day to be out and it showed in the smile on his face. A beautiful as the day was, Lord was sure that the evening would be even better, a perfect evening to settle things with the business associate that had been cheating him for the better part of a month.The cheating itself wasn't a problem, he'd had suspicions and considered it a cost of doing business.

The problem with the whole situation arose when Jeremiah hired men to have him killed. This was a mistake, seeing that Lord had most of Jeremiahs enforcers under his control. They came to him and were duly rewarded. It was now soon to be time to meet with Jeremiah, proceeding with the deal as if it were a normal transaction.

Tucking the walking stick up under his arm, Lord grabbed an apple from a stand and dropped a coin onto the counter. Dodging a cart laden with furniture to be delivered, he took a bite of the fruit and walked on.

Market District

The Magus Mentor made no effort to hide her dour expression while making her way through the Market District. She was completely entitled to it after an absolutely ridiculous morning at the Academy. It'd started well enough, hosting her first lecture of the day on Applied Mathematics in Magical Systems, a rather simple class to teach in the grand scheme of things given its more down to earth content. It was after that when things were turned on their head.

While she may not have been the most popular woman at the Academy, she certainly was one of the most reputable in practical and academic status. As such, Irishtu often found herself in talks with the likes of the Association of World Explorers, a lively and curious bunch who would turn to the researchers at the Academy to aid them with anything remotely magical and complex in the name of exploration. More often than not, it was some sort of lock on a door to a labyrinth somewhere. The leader of this group of explorers is a man called Cale Pietrok. This is where the morning became frustrating.

Pietrok is a pushy fellow who Irishtu had talked with before to solve a variety of problems, but now he wanted something a bit too valuable from her: Her compiled research on a certain theory of her design. The worst part for the Lich was that he was speaking like she had no choice in the matter! The nerve of that man. He eventually left her be after what felt like an hour of refusing his 'request', and that's when Irishtu decided it'd be a perfect time for lunch. Not that she needs to eat anymore, it's just a humanising habit. This brings her to where she is now, with the lunchtime buyers giving her a wide breadth in the Market District.

Stalls and those manning them went by Irishtu, no particular product being sold caught her eyes behind her frames - until she spotted a near overwhelming amount of blue out of the corner of her eye. A stall manned by a squidkin with an accent that struck her as distinctly originating from Akitsushima, confirmed by the young girls words. Reaching into the pocket of her well-fit and long green coat, she searched for stray coinage. She'd always wanted to go to Akitsushima, but her life in Karstberg demanded too much of her time to allow for travelling.

Irishtu approached the stall once she'd grabbed some coins in her pocket, not yet taking them out. In a trained display of Thespianism, she wiped the grumpy expression from her face, instead opting for her usual mask of professionalism and faint disinterest. She nodded to Mizuko in greeting.

"You're very far away from home, friend." She pointed out with a polite, but faint smile. "You happen to have any fruit-based food?" A simple enough question. She clacked a coin against another in her pocket, to let Mizuko know that she did infact have money, if her appearance did not already give it away. "If not, then feel free to surprise me."

Mizuko

"Ah!"

Mizuko immediately brightened even more upon spotting her new customer. She looked like a quite pretty and intelligent young woman... maybe from the city's mage academy? Smiling warmly, Mizuko rested her elbows on the counter and interlaced her fingers together. When she spoke, her voice was full of eager cheer. After all, a customer was here, and she certainly was pleased about that.

"Welcome, valued customer ~degeso!" she declared, all smiles. It was her first step to economic victory! Carefully, she listened to the woman's request. So, she wanted some kind of fruit? There was no difficulty in providing such foods at all! Mizuko's family's suppliers had packed away plenty of fruit native to the Akitsushima islands, all across each of them. Mizuko, to be fair, had less experience with fruit then she did seafood, but that was not to say that she did not ever enjoy an occasional fruit snack. It simply wasn't a common meal for the coast-dwelling squid beastkin.

"I have plenty of fruit to sell, valued customer ~degeso!" she declared. Mizuko had yet to fully unpack, and so she was forced to send her tentacles down beneath the counter. After a few moments of prodding, she located the appropriate crate and pried it open, bringing up a wealth of Akitsushiman fruits and placing them on the counter.

"I have dekopon," Mizuko began, placing one of the sweet orange citrus fruits on the counter, "Amanatsu, hyuganatsu, iyokan, and yuzu!"

Each of the fruits was a citrus fruit. The amanatsu was large and orange, the hyuganatsu more yellow, the iyokan more rounded and orange, and finally the yuzu was somewhat small and lumpy. "If you're looking for success in your endeavors, I strongly recommend the iyokan ~degeso!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Aidan bursted, " and tell me, my friend, how exactly did you defeat these 'beasts'?" Aidan took a swig from goblet, and look quizzically at the warrior sitting across the table from him. The novice warrior was telling the story of how he had to fight a pack of mountain lions on the outskirts of the city.

"Well, one mountain lion lunged for me, but I dodged outta the way, but another swiped for my legs, and I expertly rolled over the attack, grabbing my sword off the ground in the process. I sliced one lion while he tried attacki. . . "

Aidan was in the middle of a gulp when he burst out laughing once again, this time mead going all over the place, "HAHAHAHA, boy, your story is as farfetched as an honest merchant. I must stop you from continuing any further, however. Boy, you must learn now, to not tell so wild stories. They may seem petty now, but trust me, they will eventually go to your head, and you may try something you're not ready for. Stay safe, young one, I'm sure you will make a fine warrior, yet. Aidan stood up and took a good look around the mead hall. Spirits were very high today as everyone was having a grand time telling their stories and eating their food. He walked down the large stretch of fine, wooden tables and out the door that lead into the main hall. This hall was also bustling with activity; warriors looking at the contracts on the wall for fresh work, clients signing off on new contracts, and clients paying contracts off. Yes, it was just another day at the Warrior's Guild, one that Aidan was thoroughly enjoying so far.

Aidan decided a nice stroll around the city would be good about now, before looking at his next job. He walked out the front door and was greeted with many a sights and sounds. The big, blue, and clear sky above gave a great sky to look up to. All around him, explorers, mages, and performers of all kinds were either walking, discussing, or otherwise minding their own business. The buildings were just as varied as the people, mirroring the inhabitants, and users. Aidan started walking down the street, losing himself to his own thoughts.

When Aidan finally snapped out of it, he didn't realize that he had walked all the way to the Market District. Busy as ever, he tried finding his way through the crowd, and to quieter location, though the likelihood of that happening was slim. He eventually gave up on the idea and simply decided to look at the wares the merchants had on sale. The closer he got to the docks, the more foreign the wares became. He eventually found the docks, and made his way out to the end of one of the open piers. He sat down on a crate and watched the waves roll back and forth in the water. The sight soon got the better of him, and he found himself lulled to sleep.

Adrianna strode confidently down the dimly lit corridor. She pushed open the heavy wooden door that lie at the end of the corridor. She emerged in the main foyer of the Warrior's Guild, the place where she made her home. She passed the main desk, where all jobs were received and posted for members of the guild to accept. The attendant that manned the desk, a young elven women by the name Eruthea, greeted Adrianna. "Hello Miss Fields. I trust your contract went well?" Adrianna merely smirked, and replied "Of course it did. As usual, have my reward delivered to my home." Eruthea nodded at Adrianna, and Adrianna continued on. She continued on into the mead hall of the Guild, by far the liveliest part of the Guild. The room was bustling with many warriors stopping to chat and rest between missions. There were, of course, those that were trying to pick fights with the other members of the guild- not in malice, but merely because this was a gathering place of warriors, and it was natural that warriors would butt heads to prove who was strongest.

And, of course, Adrianna was always willing to prove she was the strongest. A meek voice spoke up next to Adrianna, "M-Miss Fields? Welcome back. I've been practicing since you left... do you think we could spar?" The voice belonged to a young girl somewhere near the age of 13, who went by the name 'Sherry'. Sherry was an orphan taken in by the guild, similar to Adrianna, and for this reason Adrianna typically obliged when she asked her to help her train. Despite her fragile appearance and shy temperament, Sherry was a proficient swordswomen for her age. Not that Adrianna expected she would give her any trouble in a duel. "If that is what you wish, I will oblige. If you can force me to move or falter, I will admit that you are the victor Sherry." Adrianna replied. The young novice nodded. "Okay, draw whenever you are ready." Adrianna instructed. It was easy to tell when her attack was coming- Sherry tensed. It was an obvious tell. Adrianna easily blocked her attack. Sherry continued to strike Adrianna for several minutes, but to no avail. The expert swordswomen blocked her attacks with ease. Soon, the young girl fell over in exhaustion. "Train harder young one, I'm sure one day you will be able to best me." With those words Adrianna left the mead hall.

From there, Adrianna headed home, eager to receive the reward from her last mission. Almost all missions dispensed by the guild had a monetary reward, but it was not unknown for other varieties of rewards to be offered. In the case of this mission, in which Adrianna was requested for by name, she received a reward only she would be interested in. The reward was information. It was a timestamped manifest of all those who entered and left the Noble District on the night of her family's slaughter, taken by the guards posted between each district. The list would prove to be a valuable step in solving the mystery- for there was a name that should not be on that list, under any circumstance. A half and hour after the alleged time of the slaughter, the name 'Leone Fields' was listed leaving the noble district.

Market District

This encounter was a curiosity to Irishtu. She had read of the squid Beastkin but seeing one in person was something she certainly didn't expect any time soon. Maybe in one of the smaller settlements on the boarders of Almara, but not in Karstberg - yet here she was, about to buy fruit from one. Irishtu leaned forward, eyes follow as each fruit is placed in front of her, drawn to the rounded Iyokan. She drew out a few coins from her pocket with a jingle of loose change, giving Mizuko another nod.

"Can't say I could not use more success." Irishtu mused, bringing her hand to rub her chin. "I'll take one." She declared. She was trying to be adventurous with her tastes, sure, but she wanted to go with the safe bet. It looked a lot like a normal orange with a few differences, so it couldn't be that bad. She looked up from the fruits and back to the merchant girl, tilting her head.

"How has business been for you in Karstberg? I believe you're the first of your species I've seen in this city." She asked, standing up right once more. She held the air of a noblewoman and an academic rather clearly, her light brown eyes containing a sharp analytical glint to them that could not be hidden behind her frames. "Not too surprising, that. Akitsushima is goodness knows how far."

Mizuko

"That will be... e to..." Mizuko paused, smile fading. What was the price for iyokan in Karstberg's currency? The important information had briefly slipped her mind, and she found herself quickly trying to calculate the cost in her head. After a moment she was certain she had the appropriate amount in mind, and her cheerful smile returned in full. "That will be five bronze ~degeso!"

As she declared the iyokan's price, her smile grew into a wide grin. Oh, it was really kind of fun selling off her wares, and it got her plenty of money as well... ah, the woman was asking her questions! Of course, Mizuko was happy to answer anything that a customer asked. Well, unless it was too strange, she supposed... "My stand was set up this morning ~degeso. This is my first day running it here ~degeso! So far it's been going very well, you're my first customer and you came so quick ~degeso!"

Mizuko was, of course, very aware that there were no other members of her species in the city. Her education had told her that her race was found only in Akitsushima. "Ikahito are native to Akitsushima, so I'm the only one here ~degeso."

Market District

(Side note: Rin drew another picture of Hitomi! ^_^)l

On this fine, sunny day, one of Mayon's paladins was having an absolutely terrible time. Sent out to go buy some food for the temple--as, of course, she was the resident expert on finding choice cuts of meat--and given the money, she'd come outside... only for the sun to emerge from behind the clouds, leaving Hitomi almost totally incapable of seeing where she was going. With surprising luck, she'd made her way to the marketplace correctly, but this luck had run out: an unfamiliar stall was in the way, and the dark elf was on a collision course.

The result was that one squid-girl's stall now had a rather dazed paladin repeatedly apologising in her native language, having walked into it and then completely tripped over the low tables, entirely ending up on the proprietor's side of things. Poor girl.

---

The Gilded Timber--Inn

The Queen of the Damned was not a happy camper. Last night, there had been an... incident with some drunks, and various pieces of furniture had been broken in the process of evicting them from the premises. So she'd had to close up--nobody else was working there at that time of the morning--to go get some replacements, and she'd come back to find that everyone who owed her rent was already out for the day. More than the mundane troubles of running an inn, however, was the fact that she'd run out of a very particular type of cheese. How could she make pizza now?

The patrons of the inn were looking rather uncomfortable as the demon drummed her fingers on the bar, dressed in practical but expensive clothing. She looked like she was going to murder someone for looking at her wrong...

---

Out and About

Tanya was in for a surprise. Whilst she stood on the street corner, word had somehow found its way to the high priestess--who, naturally, had decided that the grumpiest paladin needed to be cheered up. So she'd put on her robes too, and was making her way to where the purple haired girl was trying to hand out pamphlets. Her outfit wasn't terribly different--mostly, the fact it was embroidered with some sort off cloth-of-sunstone, making it look as expensive as it was whilst serving a function as a torch.

Unless Tanya moved from her position, she would find herself picked up and hugged by a cheerful beastkin.

Market District

Five bronze? Not bad, especially for an exotic fruit. If that was the case, she could see herself coming back here another day. She raised her brows in pleasant surprise, picking out the five coins from among the money in her palm and holding them out to Mizuko. "So I get to brag that I was your first customer in Karstberg when you're a renown merchant? Good to know." She teased.

Her next words were cut off when a certain paladin decided to make her graceful entrance, watching the amusing scene unfold in a sort of slow motion as the girl tripped over the table and onto the other side. Irishtu was not a cruel lady, not by a long shot, but that was comedy. Her faint smile broke out into a wide smirk, her lips quivering as she tried to hold back a snort of laughter unbecoming of a Lady such as herself - it'd also break her act. She didn't say anything, in fear of letting loose the laughter.

That cheered her up.

Mizuko

There was really no chance to reply to her customer. Mizuko had barely opened her mouth when suddenly a dark elf girl came stumbling over her counter, flopping down on her side of the stand. Tentacles and hands raised awkwardly and waving as she backed away, confused, Mizuko slipped completely into her native tongue as she questioned just what had even happened. At least the dark elf hadn't knocked anything over or hurt herself as far as the squid girl could tell... Miraculously, the fruits remained unharmed. Accepting the dark elf's apology, Mizuko used her tentacles to wrap around the taller girl and flip her entirely, in a bid to set her neatly on her feet.

"Er... thank you for your business, valued customer ~degeso," said Mizuko, casting a sideways glance at the other woman. She still had to interact with her customer, after all, even as she continued to attempt to help the dark elf back to her feet.

---

Tanya

Grr, everyone was just... just... passing her by! What was with this? How loud did she have to yell to get their attention? Were they all blind? Needless to say, Tanya was incredibly displeased by her current situation. She didn't like wearing the robes for anything that involved going out, didn't like having to pass out pamphlets... why did a paladin have to be the one to do something stupid like this, anyway?! Tanya grumbled under her breath, drawing a pamphlet from her bag and waving it. Upon it was a gold-and-red fleur de lis, and it contained plenty of information on why Reon was a fantastic goddess. Certainly, Tanya believed all of it. It did not change the fact that she didn't think she should be the one to pass it out.

Her displeasure only grew when suddenly, a woman she recognized quite well was picking her up and hugging her. Dropping the pamphlet, Tanya cursed and struggled in the beastkin's grip. Regardless of her status... this was just way way too much!

"Y-your holiness," cried Tanya, "Wh-what are you doing?!"

"12 golds for six rabbits... bloody cheapskate... no doubt he spun that tale of value dropping to get them cheaper....damn old goat..." His muttering was interrupted when he saw What looked like to be a follower of Reon being hugged by Beastkin like person with also religions clothes of church belonging to goddess Reon." Now there's something you don't see everyday." Aron mused to himself.

His Attention got caught by pamphlet dropped nearby, he picked it up and started reading through it. "Ah... pamphlet about Reon.." Aron wasn't really that much religious but he did always pray to gods for successful hunt. But now he though how he should have prayed to gods of money today.

On top of a rooftop somewhere in the city, Serena sat there, leaning against a chimney stack with her hood down. She would often do this when she wanted to be alone between tasks, often coming up to watch the people in the market square go about their business. She generally avoided going down into the square itself, partly out of seeing the whole thing as a way of practising her free-running skills, and partly because she stood out like a sore thumb; even ignoring her typical manner of dress, silver hair and purple eyes was something clearly uncommon in humans, if not outright unique.

With a sigh, she stood up and threw her hood back on, before walking along the top of the roof to the end. She took in the sights, and began plotting her way back to the guild. Maybe there was new work for her there. Then she jumped to the next roof along, and started to run.

Cass was tired.

It occurred to her for probably the dozenth time today that the city was too full of new experiences. This, she was quite confident, was a very unfortunate sort of problem. The suburbs had been boring, of course, but at least she hadn't been bored and in danger; here, now, to her, 'new' almost always meant 'unpleasant'. Or dangerous. Or, just, like, weird.

Take the beastkin hugging the pamphleteer in the street over there. Was that normal? Hell if she knew. All she knew, trodding her way downtown while rubbing her temples and sighing dramatically, was that she was in desperate need of a few things, and she adamantly refused to let this barbaric urban circus distract her. She looked up from the cobbled road long enough to physically outline with one finger that horrible Bulletin List of Dire Necessities, which okay actually boiled down to pretty much the one thing: money.

She brightened considerably. Thinking about it like that, what's even the problem? She was (basically! kinda sorta) a college student. Money was always an issue; that, at least, was nothing new, she could live with that, she was a pro, she's got this, seriously, come on, seriously, well okay, maybe not, stop thinking about this, stop it, think about something cool so cool

Magic. She needed to work on that. Okay, didn't need to, probably shouldn't, certainly would. Anyway, all she needed for the next test she'd had planned was something small, light, aerodynamic ...

"Sorry for interrupting your public display of - whatever this is, guys," she shrugged, tapping whatever she could reach of the human under her beastkin hugtacker, not a hit on apology in her face, "but it would be absolutely ship-shape terrific if I could have a bunch of those pamphlets you've got there."

General Repair: From lawnmowers to airships, we can fix anything!

The old poster clung to the busy window of the mechanic shop. The poster had always been there as long as Calli could remember, and the message still held true: we can fix anything! Calli never quite understood how literal the shop's old motto was until her accident that replaced half of her limbs and chuck of her skull with metallic counterparts. Stan, the head mechanic and owner of General Repair, put her back together after a thirty foot fall from an airship with the medical assistance of a doctor and magical prowess of a snow elf. Her new arm and leg were composed of silver, copper, and steel parts and brought to life with snow elf magic, causing the metals to be slightly tinged with an icy blue hue.

It's been two years since the event. The old poster simply reminded her everyday that no job was too big or too small for General Repair. So, everyday, she poured herself into her work, striving to prove to herself, to Stan, and to the world that she would be best engineer to ever exist.

However, her worldly ambitions for prestige were currently being halted by a singing steamwork coffee machine. The problem wasn't that the machine couldn't make coffee or sing, but it was no longer singing while making coffee. The atrocious device just kept singing all day long except while making coffee. The fix was simple, she was sure. She just needed to find the music mechanism and adjust the settings, but the parts were so small that she was having to disassembly the entire thing to find the music mechanism.

Calli groaned, elbow deep in tiny bolts, washers, and gears, with the song that would never end. The song kept playing over and over. The tune, "You Are My Sunshine," drilled mercilessly into her head. No one could be happy listening to the same melody for hours, especially one that seemed to mock the listener while it played. The insidious contraption had on been sitting in from of her for only two hours, and she already felt like taking a hammer to it.

Her soft, tortoise-shell cat ears dropped. Maybe it was time for a break, she thought to herself. It was only nine o'clock in the morning. No, she answered; she needed to keep working and solve the new puzzle of the moment. She pulled down the magnifying glass with renewed determination and continued her work.