Eros lugged the thing behind him, making slow progress up the sloping road from which the market stands and shops laid. That "thing" was a hefty box shape, and what looked to be a mechanical arm attached to it, all seemingly made of a tangle of junk and detritus. Upon closer inspection, one could see wires running through it like tendons in a human arm, placed precisely and intentionally so that it served some sort of function. If one knew Eros, they would recognize it to be one of his lunatic contraptions, and some of the merchants on the strip new it well. A few even deigned to give a half-hearted wave to Eros, which he responded with a brilliant smile and a little leap of enthusiasm. Compared to the down-trodden faces stained with dirt as a result of a life that did not allow for daily, casual baths, Eros was very much an Inner Citadel kid, hair immaculately curled and skin smooth and shining like a baby's.
Sweat-drenched and panting, Eros finally reached Puck's saloon, yet did not release the wagon until he tugged it through the narrow doorway and into the shop, for fear it would go rolling back down the street and he'd have to lug it up again. His exertion did not dampen his spirits, and he could not even wait for Puck to appear in the entryway at the ring of the bell for him to exclaim,
"Puck! Hey Puck! I gotta surprise for you." Clear blue eyes then slid down to the contraption, seated on a red wagon, one that was once the angry color of a blister, now faded to a pale rose. Oh how proud he was of it, slaving day in and out until it was working to perfection. At least, Eros' definition of perfection.
Today was boring, and boring was bad. Puck did bad things when he was bored and no one liked it when he did bad things. Then again how bad could things be with someone who looked like they should have been at a frat party making sure the drunk girls got home safe? Honestly? Very, very, very bad. He might look like the charming himbo who would walk a scared girl to her car at night but the reality is he’d do that then kidnap her and put her to work. He was not nearly as nice as he seemed. Or, well, he could be that way. He also could actually be as nice as he seemed when he wanted to.
So when he heard that excited and vibrant voice calling out to him right after the shop door had dinged its opening he brightened immediately. There was always fun to be had when Eros was around and he was a big promoter of fun. Especially right now because it would mean an end to his boredom. Which was probably why he practically skilled his way out of the back room to see what the slightly eccentric but insanely smart young man had to offer him today.
Bright green eyes flickered over Eros’s form and his eyebrows rose for a moment, taking in the flush of exertion and yet the obvious excitement still rolling off the young man. Then they moved to the wagon he had dragged in here and whatever the hell it was that was on it. So Eros had made a thing for him? Well that was interesting! Interesting enough to have him moving closer to look at it. He had no idea what it was meant to do but it was damned interesting! And impressive as always. It looked almost like some kind of mechanical arm.
”Hey Eros!” The greeting was slightly distracted as he was still looking over whatever the guy had brough thim. Finally he lifted his gaze from it back to Eros and quirked an eyebrow up, a wide grin crossing his features and flashing straight white teeth. ”Alright, I’ll bite. What the hell does this thing do?” No doubt Eros’s brilliant little mind had sorted itself into making something quite fun for him to play with so he was beyond eager to know what this was and how it functioned.
Eros straightened, his stance poised with the pride of a man freshly complimented by one of his admired. He took Puck's initial examination of his contraption as interest, curiosity and approval- what Eros hoped to inspire out of everyone who looked at his mechanisms, if only because it begged him to tell more of his creation.
"This-" Eros planted a hand on the thing, causing the little red wagon beneath to jitter on its half-filled wheels. "Is the reason you won't need to risk stress and hand cramps any longer!"
He slid next to Puck, crossed his arms, like he were appraising the ugly contraption from a new angle. "Basically, it'll do tattoo art for you! You just upload the design into the compartment on the side. It'll scan it, study it, stick it into its memory bank and needle it out perfectly onto someone's skin."
Eros pointed with a finger to the arm of the mechanism, which looked like the arm of a crane, that ended in a sharp point that appeared to be the head of an ink pen. "You load the ink in there and bam! Art- done."
The inventor spun around, rested an elbow ontop of the thing, and looked at Eros with a suggestive, shit-eating grin that looked impossible to deflate. "Wanna give it a try"
Puck was not altogether sure about this contraption that Eros had brought to him but he was always and forever eager to see what creation the man came up with. Mostly just because he liked seeing Eros get all energetically eager over something and they were often amusing in and of themselves. This one looked as if it would be no different.
Well that comment had his interest and his eyebrows rose. It was going to cut down on his stress and mean no more hand cramps? Well that would be nice. He didn’t really like the whole hand cramping thing, in fact it was one of the few things about his chosen profession that he really disliked. Yet it was well worth the chance to expression himself artistically.
But the further explanation had him frowning slightly. So he would still make the design but then he’d allow this thing to do the actual tattooing? That was… perhaps a useful thing. If it could actually do a good job of recreating the artwork on someone’s skin. He was, honestly, a bit touchy about how his designs came out. It was part of why he didn’t let anyone else do that part of the job. It was his work and he’d be the one who crafted it onto skin.
”Well I have to admit I’m curious about its potential.” That much was true, though he was a little doubtful as well. ”How complicated of a piece of art can it recreate? Do I need to make more simplistic designs for it or can it handle something a little more complicated?”
He leaned forward a little to check the needle bit out better. It certainly looked like it was up to the task. His eyes flicking up to Eros to take in that shit-eating grin. He laughed and nodded his head. ”Hell yes I do!”
He straightened and glanced around, grinning as he spotted one of the guys he had around to clean the shop and do some of the easy work. ”Guppy! Get your ass over here. We’re gonna try this thing out on you!” No he was not giving this guy a choice and he knew it, coming over with a groan as he eyed the machine with misgivings.
For one who appeared knowledgeable on all-things-his-machine, Eros seemed caught off guard at Puck's question. The blonde looked at the machine, the arm sinewy with exposing wiring and metal supports, the gawky base it sat on, the half-deflated wheels of the little red wagon, and tapped his chin with a frown.
"I, uh... I don't really know." Eros admitted, never one disposed to lying. He flashed a look to Puck, a lopsided smile that spoke wholly of his unsurety, and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to find out, right?".
Dark eyes flashed to Guppy, the poor man caught off guard, and Eros thought he detected a bit of trepidation and even fear in his eyes as they observed Eros' machine. For just a flicker, he wondered whether this contraption would work at all, and if the ominous looking ink needle, attached to the bionic arm by duct tape and aluminum wiring, would cause more harm than good.
It was just a flicker, though. Eros cast a brilliant smile at Guppy, as he hoped to reassure both the test subject and himself of its one-hundred percent certified safeness. He eagerly grasped the lead of the wagon and wheeled the device (with noticeable effort) over to the side of a reclining chair. Eros squatted down, then, examining the circuitry and wires for last minute preparation. To both the layman and robotics expert, it was an absolute mess, but to Eros' odd, racing brain, the pieces fit together neatly in one convoluted map of artificial consciousness and coding. This chaotic machine, a piece of junk to any other, was the one thing that made sense to Eros.
He leaned out beside the contraption, one he resolved to calling to "Luck", a play on Puck's name, and threw a thumbs up at the namesake of his creation. "Ready whenever you are, captain."
Puck wasn’t sure if he should laugh or shake his head over the fact that Eros didn’t know if the machine would work or not. But, frankly, both seemed to be the right response. And so that was what he did. After all it was amusing to know that Eros wasn’t sure but also a little worrisome. And yet there really was only one way forward! And that was to try it out and see what happened. Worse case it fucked poor Guppy up and that was fine by him. The dude was just an underling after all and not really a great one at that, not that he was a bad guy either but it wouldn’t be a great loss to the world. And his own curiosity would be satisfied which was for the greater good if you asked him.
”Well color me curious to find out then! I look forward to seeing what this baby can do.” Honestly he wouldn’t mind keeping this interesting little baby around for just some of the simple shit, it’d be nice not to have to do everything himself. And also because it was no doubt going to be amusing! And he could tell that Guppy was so not keen on this but, again, the dude didn’t really have a choice. Not only was this Puck’s shop so what he said went but he was also the leader of this particular individual’s branch of the Jabberwockies and everyone under him knew better than to cross their Ace. The old Ace might have been easy to manipulate and get away with shit under but not him, he’d taken over for a reason.
For his part he grabbed a sketchpad and started making a design. At the very least he wasn’t trying to make it anything the man would hate to have. Instead he was trying to make it something the dude would appreciate. The design wasn’t exactly simplistic but it wasn’t too complicated either, just a nicely designed skull nestled in some simplistic flowers that were perhaps meant to be roses. He purposefully didn’t put a lot of the detailed work he normally would into this piece of art, keeping it to mostly linework, some shading, and enough detail to make it look good without being overwhelming.
He waved Guppy over and had the guy even look at the design so he had some input in it. He wasn’t totally heartless after all! He was just mostly heartless. That was fine by him! He didn’t mind being mostly heartless to those who honestly didn’t really deserve to have him be a generally caring individual towards them. And, frankly, no one who was part of the Heart’s gang was a good person.
"Alright Eros I think we're ready." He handed over the design and pointed Guppy to sit and expose his forearm. This was most certainly going to be an interesting test! And he was looking forward to seeing how it worked.
The Quiller flicked on the switch. If he were not so excited at the prospect of seeing his heart's creation work, he may have noticed the sweat beading Guppy's brow, the way his fingers shook as the needle of the machine neared his skin. Eros was only watching "Luck" - the machinery creak and groan as its circuitry warmed up. The multi-colored wires jittered excitedly as the arm of the machine began to move.
It went smoothly at first. The arm moved slowly, but steadied out, and as it dug into Guppy's flesh, the man's face, previously twisted in horror, began to relax, still, as the needle slipped across his skin and painted Puck's design. It was all Eros could do not to yelp in triumph, as the black outline of a skull and rose began to form on Guppy's forearm.
"See! I told you it would work!" Barring in mind that Puck had never voiced his doubts about Eros' creation. Nor that Eros himself was up all of last night biting his nails, worrying for the machine's failure.
His relief came all too, blissfully, horrifyingly soon. Something sparked beneath the wires, a flash, and suddenly soot and smoke began to pour out of the engine. A gray cloud exploded in Eros' face, sending him into a coughing fit, as suddenly, Guppy cried out. Eyes watering and stinging, trying to see through the foggy air, he saw an alarming amount of blood pouring out of Guppy's arm.
Frantically, he launched himself toward the machine and turned it off. Though the arm stopped, the machine still sputtered and spat out smoke, and Eros' was now sorting through wires and circuitry, his other hand desperately fanning the smoke from his eyes.
Oh Puck noticed the sweat on Guppy’s brow and just smirked at it. He couldn’t deny that he found it amusing to watch the man panic at being so close to something that was not entirely likely to work how it was intended. Not that Eros wasn’t fully capable of creating and building some very impressive things! But this one seemed a little more out there and a little less likely to work how it was intended. Yet Puck was sure it would be amusing to watch. And if it did work? All the better! One less thing for him to worry about if he could leave the easy pieces to this then he could open up more of his limited schedule for the things he truly enjoyed. The complex pieces that turned into true forms of art! Or rather art that he was truly proud of.
So he just leaned back against the counter and watched, his eyes bright with mirth and curiosity as he watched Eros turn on his machine. It certainly didn’t make entirely encouraging noises as it turned on and whirled to life. But it seemed as if it was going smoothly enough! And he started to get a bit curious, leaning in closer to see what was going on.
It was then that the machine seemed to decide that it had done its best and now it was time to just do whatever. Something sparked and Puck jerked back, shaking his head as he watched the machine cough up quite a bit of smoke. He was glad he’d kept some distance and didn’t get a face full of smoke. But he also couldn’t really see what happened though he heard the pain in Guppy’s voice. Well that was certainly going to leave a mark.
He moved forward when Eros did, though he went for Guppy instead. He grabbed the guy by the arm and yanked him away, glancing down at the arm. ”Go get that dealt with.” He turned back to Eros and smiled, patting him on the back as he looked at the machine and chuckled. ”Well you certainly have a good start there, Eros. But this might need a bit more tinkering.”
Posted 09-21-2021, 04:35 PM
little red wagon
