Callie's Heroes

PART II - REPAIR TEAM

“Hey there,” Callie said as she warily approached Fizzlebek. He was heads-down over an outdoor workbench, working on something that seemed delicate, an awning of tent canvas over him to block the direct sun. He held up a tool, indicating to wait a moment, and then used it to finish fiddling with something. Dropping it on the workbench he straightened and turned.

Fizzlebek did smile, but to Callie it seemed to not be tinged with the same amount of excitement and joy it usually was, and she just knew it was because of her actions the week before. “I brought you some Honey Sticks.” Probably as a peace offering, if anything.

The smile widened a little and he took the plate from Callie, setting it aside on a Gnome-height table. Fizzlebek then pulled Callie into a hug that was almost, but not quite, as strong as usual. “Pama knows how to get to my heart,” he said with a smile.

“She said the same thing.”

“How did the bunkerball game go earlier?”

“We finished the game from last week, which we ended up winning by eighteen points. The next one was closer, but we won that one by twelve. Reynard is acting as their Field Marshal, and I suspect he doesn’t have much to do all day except come up with ideas, so it’s getting more challenging. I had some tricks of my own.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. At one point, I even had Tazrok in his spider form dancing on two legs as a distraction, and Xin managed to sink the ball for seven while they were confused. It was fun.”

Fizzlebek snickered. “I’m sorry I missed it. It does sound like fun.”

There was an awkward silence, neither sure what to say next, and Callie finally decided to go with an old stand-by for conversation starting. It wasn’t a good one given what needed to be discussed, but it might work. “Whatcha up to?”

Fizzlebek shrugged. “I’m just working on my Golem project a bit. The arm, specifically. Something inside it is catching after my last upgrade, and I haven’t been able to pin it down.”

“Would you like to work on it together?” Callie suggested.

Fizzlebek was hesitant for a moment, but he finally nodded, saying, “Come help.” He picked up the Honey Sticks and led Callie back to the bench where a metal arm was lying. The cover was off, exposing an array of mechanisms and clockwork sprockets. “When the cover is on, something catches, but only occasionally. I can’t figure out what it is and why only when the cover is on, because it doesn’t actually touch any of the innards.”

Together, Callie and Fizzlebek started to dig through the mechanical arm. It was amazingly complex for Callie, even with Tinker, but the Golem-maker’s mood had brightened now that he was able to talk nerdy. He guided her through first the basics, and then some of the more advanced elements that required magical assistance.

Finding the problem was absolutely daunting, because of its inconsistency. With a little trial and error, coupled with the process of elimination, they soon determined it only happened when the thought-projecting headband was used to cause the arm to contract, but not if you manually folded the arm. Furthermore, the hand needed to be rotated into a fairly narrow range. Even with all those pieces figured out, the problem was still only happening one-time in ten.

It took nearly an hour, but they finally found the culprit; a single screw and a long tooth. It turned out, when the arm moved under its own power, a metal plate inside was jolted slightly, which in turn moved towards a clockwork cog that rotated one step every time the arm contracted. On this cog was one tooth of ten that was just a little bit longer than the others, and it would catch on the plate that had moved into the way. But, if the hand was in a different position, then the plate didn’t move enough to impede the clockwork part. The cover, it turned out, was a complete distraction and had nothing to do with anything. In the end, Fizzlebek only needed to tighten the screw on the internal plate to fix the problem, although he also replaced the oddly-toothed cog on a general perfectionist principle.

As Callie and Fizzlebek worked through the problem, Fizzlebek’s mood towards Callie slowly brightened significantly. He seemed to really enjoy tracking down the malfunction with another person, while also educating Callie more about the clockwork mechanism, and providing more information in general about being an Artificer. Most of the final problem was figured out by Fizzlebek, but Callie was the one that initially noticed the slightly-wiggling plate that set the whole diagnosis in motion, and Callie felt really happy about being able to at least contribute something to the solution.

While they had been buried in the guts of the arm, Ambria and Pixyl stopped by briefly and dropped off another plate of snacks. Pama had needed to start getting ready for the evening meal, so the two of them decided to head out for other activities, and Callie promised to catch up with them for dinner. Oddly, Pixyl wasn’t talkative at all. She seemed a little glum or as if she had something serious on her mind. Callie tried to inquire, but the Pixie waved her off saying it was nothing. Still, Callie felt like there was definitely something going on, but decided not to press the issue in favor of more tinkering.

As they were wrapping up with the arm, putting tools back in the correct spots and re-sorting various sprockets into the correct containers, Callie spoke up. “I was thinking about our discussion earlier in the week about Jesca’s whips, and I have a question for you.”

“I discussed with Thorn about enchanting a pair of whips for your new Beastmaster friend,” Fizzlebek said, squinting at a misshapen piece of metal that he then tossed into a basket of rejects. “He liked the idea, but wanted to wait until she reached Bronze, just to see what powers she might get. It would be silly to enchant something she might get naturally.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Callie said, making an agreeable face, “but I had something else I wanted to ask you about. I was giving it some thought, and had an idea. I think it would be really simple from what you’ve said about enchanting, but if it isn’t, then we can skip it.”

“What is it?” the blue-haired Gnome asked, a look of both curiosity and a little excitement on his face.

“It’s a little something for Reynard. A surprise. It would only need a super-simple enchantment, I think, and some carving.”

“What is it?” Fizzlebek asked again, his interest intensifying.

Quickly, Callie outlined her idea. For his part, the Enchanter drank in the details, quickly getting a bit of a far-off look in his eyes before refocusing. “You’re right, that wouldn’t be difficult at all. In fact, this would be a perfect project for one of my apprentices to work on, since he’s been struggling with permanency. I’ll oversee to make sure he does it right, of course. You don’t think it’s a little morbid, though, do you? He did lose his leg.”

“I think he’ll appreciate the sentiment, and I’ll be super charming about it when I give it to him.” Callie grinned.

Fizzlebek laughed. “It’s your funeral, then. The enchantment takes about a week to set, but we can start as soon as I have all the pieces.”

“Thanks, Fizzlebek,” Callie replied, giving him a hug.

As they finished cleaning up, both taking a moment to wipe the grease off their hands and faces, Fizzlebek once again suggested that Callie should take up Enchanting and Artificing some day, them both having had so much fun working the problem with the broken Golem piece. Callie heartily agreed to consider it at some point, but she still wanted to learn some Culinar magic first. Enchanting was definitely on the short list for someday, though. After all, she had a long lifespan ahead of her, and plenty of time to do and learn a lot of things.

The thought about long lifespans reminded Callie about the issue that had initially brought her out to talk with Fizzlebek about, and that they had ignored while working on the arm puzzle. She now wasn’t sure if she should bring up the previous week and the unicorn blood or not, or let the happy vibes stand and ignore it. Finally, she decided she wanted to clear the air completely. He and Pama were the only Gnomes she knew, and any blemish on that friendship magnified the sense of being alone that accompanied it.

“Fizzlebek, are we good?” Callie asked carefully.

“What do you mean?”

Callie frowned, trying to come up with the right words. “I guess the fact you got in trouble with the unicorn blood and all that. I thought you might be mad, and Pama said you were disappointed. I want to make sure we’re okay.”

“I was a little angry,” Fizzlebek finally said after a long pause. “For a couple days that is. I know your intentions were good, but … you took something that I was in charge of from me without asking. I didn’t appreciate getting yelled at by the Commandant and having no idea what it was even about.”

“I’m really sorry,” Callie mumbled. “I know I disappointed you, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I should have known better.”

“I know. I just wished you had asked me first.”

“Would you have said yes?”

“No,” Fizzlebek said flatly. “But Xera and I talked the next day, and they told me about your ‘intangibles analysis’. They had to grudgingly admit that giving the blood to Rowani and Maugra could ultimately be a good thing for the Army, or at least good for people in general with the additional time they now have to be of help to the world. If you had told me about that and asked me for the blood, I would have helped you make a case to ask for permission. I even think we might have convinced them. Now it’s all uncomfortable for everyone.”

“It honestly didn’t even occur to me to ask, Fizzlebek,” Callie said, almost pleading. “I just saw there were so many and figured two were no big deal.”

Fizzlebek patted Callie’s arm. “I know. Xera explained that to me as well, so really, in the end I’m not angry. You and I are fine.”

Callie sighed, happy that Fizzlebek at least didn’t seem to hate her. “I just feel so awful for Rowani and Maugra. I had no idea that things would get so awkward with everyone. I don’t like to see people hating them. Rowani’s an amazing person, and I’ve even seen Maugra laughing now, too. I just wanted to help and do something nice for two little old ladies, and now they only have each other for friends. Nobody else will really talk to them.”

“Ultimately, they made their own choice to drink it, right?”

Callie nodded.

“Then that result is theirs. They knew they shouldn’t, and had to suspect what might happen. Give it time, and people will get used to it and move on. I honestly think part of the problem is that most people know they would have done exactly the same thing if they had the opportunity, and hate themselves for that fact. Pama and I even talked about it and realized we would probably drink it too, even though we shouldn’t. We both felt guilty with that admission.”

“Really?”

“It’s in everyone’s nature to want to live longer. Plus, Pama and I have a big age difference. I’m only sixty-four and she’s nearly twice that. It would be nice to be closer to the same age and have the same time left to be with each other.”

“Awww, that’s really sweet,” Callie cooed.

Fizzlebek smiled, almost seeming embarrassed. “I really love her. I honestly don’t know what she sees in me, but I’d be lost without her. That specter of her being so much older and losing her someday hangs over me.”

Instinctively, Callie leaned in and gave Fizzlebek a hug. “She loves you so hard. She basically told us that while we were chatting earlier. You're both great for each other.”

Grabbing a Honey Stick, Fizzlebek blushed. Eventually he cleared his throat and refocused. “Just remember, next time you want to do something crazy, include me. I probably know how to keep everyone out of trouble.”

Callie imagined her and Fizzlebek getting into generic mischief of some kind together, and couldn’t help but giggle for some reason. Then her mind went crazy, envisioning a group, if not a small army, of Gnomes, a sea of individual colors on their heads, causing general mischief. She now laughed hard, and once she explained it to Fizzlebek, he cackled along, too, his eyes bright and any tension between the two of them now, thankfully, gone.