5
As they slowly walked through the afternoon air, Mr Chessben waited for Gracen to say something. He hadn't spoken since the sergeant had blown up at him, but had dragged Mr Chessben by the arm down streets and around corners to a neighborhood that was unfamiliar to him. None of the buildings on either side looked the same, and many had a blocky feel to their construction, as if they had been dropped from the sky by a child. It was towards one of these rectangles that Gracen was leading them now.
"Gracen, where are we?" said Mr Chessben, finally tired of the silence. They had stopped by a large metal door, of the kind that opened up instead of sideways.
"Well," said Gracen, grunting as he pulled up the entrance, "I guess, I was going to show you this anyway, but i was pretty angry, so I wanted to show you the prototype."
"The prototype? Of what?"
"The Quantabulator, of course." And he wrenched opened the shed, allowing the sunlight to illuminate up the the thing inside. Mr Chessben slowly stepped through the door and stared in amazement at the machine before him as Gracen continued talking.
"I actually used it to travel here, or at least partly. I rented out this place once i arrived, the inn didn't have anywhere to keep it, and the residents here are okay with this kind of thing."
Mr Chessben was barely listening as looked at contraption, slowly walking around its metallic bulk. It was roughly the shape of a large pipe, except for a cavity in the middle that had been smoothed into a flat surface. Along one side was a railing that had nailed into the metal. In the front end, he could see a plank of wood on a rod that disappeared into a series of gears along the bottom of the cylinder. In the back end, a small box made of what appeared to be glass was embedded into a cluster of axles, each with several pedals attached. Along the bottom, was four wheels.
"…Of course, only the cube does any actual quanta storing. The rest is just there to show
off its effect."
"…What is it?" said Mr Chessben as he tried to work out its function. "What does it do?"
"It goes fast." said Gracen, pride in his voice and a smile across his face.
"Fast?"
"Very fast. Marloc called it a 'Car'. I think it stands for something. Watch this." He placed his hand on the cube in the back, and it filled with a small amount of deep-blue liquid, that slowly flowed back and forth in the cube, despite being at rest.
“Right, anywhere you want to go? I can set this thing to release automatically.”
Mr Chessben returned a blank look.
“Well, I’ve got an idea.” Gracen’s voice was suddenly more serious. “I’ve thought about what Syracuse said, and I think the thief must have had a Cloak, if he could hear their footsteps. We should have a look around the Bazaar, see who bought what recently. Come on, get in.” He stepped into the opening, sat down and grasped the piece of wood. Mr Chessben slowly followed him, taking care to position himself against the rail.
“Gracen, I’m not sure your plan is a good one.”
“Mm?”
“We don’t have the authority to just demand information like that, and besides, the thief could have already had their own Cloak, or they could have been covering themselves using magic, or Syracuse could have misheard, or any one of a hundred other things. Can’t you just let the police handle it?”
Gracen, rather than give a reply, raised his hand in the direction of the cube. It glowed, then a large stream of water began to spray out and run along the pedals. Slowly, the wheels started to turn. As they crawled out onto the road, Gracen turned to Mr Chessben.
“This machine is important, Arthur. Just see what it can do.”
Mr Chessben opened his mouth to reply, but was jolted as they went over a bump. They were picking up speed.
He looked back at the cube. The stream had turned into a jet, and the pedals were a blur. The level of blue liquid had barely dipped. Out of the back end, a fine mist of vapour was being ejected.
Turning back to face Gracen, he saw a group of pedestrians hurrying out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. Normally, the only thing on the road was a few cyclers, but this metal juggernaut rumbling towards them at a high speed must have seemed like a legendary beast. Speeding past, he made out their startled and fearful expressions, and wished he could have been on the solid, steady, still ground with them. Every turn they took made Mr Chessben’s heart jump, and more than once his trembling grip was the only thing saving him from tumbling out of the Car at a speed that would surely splatter him across the sidewalk.
After what felt like an eternity, the emission of water finally began to slow, and the wheels grinded to a stop. Mr Chessben managed to let go of the railing, got out, and promptly fell over. Laying on the ground, a clockpost in view told him it had been less than ten minutes since they had left the shed, meaning he had traveled over twice as fast as he would have on a bike. Compared to the smooth movements of a cycler though, the trip had been like getting dragged over a field of gravel. During an earthquake.
Gracen hadn’t appeared to have suffered nearly as much, although Mr Chessben could see that his hands were shaking. Apart from the start, Gracen hadn’t so much as turned his head around, and an audible crack sounded as he stretched his fingers. He reached down, grasped Mr Chessben’s hand, and helped him to a sitting position.
“I suppose it still needs a bit of work.” said Gracen.
“A bit?” Gracen just smiled.
“Like a way to stop, that would be a good start. It’s a bit troublesome to have to keep going until you run out.”
Mr Chessben looked around. They were, indeed, already deep within the Bazaar. The area around them was abandoned, except for a few curious individuals peeking over tables and around corners. Turning back, he saw Gracen extracting the cube from its position and placing it in a pocket.
“Can’t work without this.” He said, seeing Mr Chessben’s look. “Right, let’s go.” He began to walk in the direction of the nearest store, but stopped when he noticed Mr Chessben wasn’t following.
“I still don’t think this is a good idea, Gracen.”
“Look, Arthur… I have to do something, ok?” Gracen’s voice cracked a bit. “You didn’t know Marloc, but i did. I’ve known— knew, him for four years. It wasn’t just a matter of business or work, we were friends, and i can’t stand the idea of just waiting around, it just wouldn’t feel right. You know how powerful his invention could be now, don’t you understand how important this is?” He sighed. “If you don’t want to do this, I understand. But I don’t know anyone else in this city, and i’d really like a friend.”
A long silence followed. Mr Chessben tilted his head, shifted his weight, looked at the sky and straightened his shoulders.
“…Okay.”
Gracen’s grin zipped back onto his face, and he grasped Mr Chessben’s hand and began tugging him along.
“Great! Now, let’s find that thief! He’s got the full machine, you know, and it can do a lot more than the prototype.”
“It might be a she, you know. Anyway, how long did it take you to build that thing? It’s incredible, if a little bumpy.”
“Oh, not too long, I think. Money was no problem, so once we had the cube, the rest came along in no time.”
Mr Chessben opened his mouth to query further, but a high-pitched, blowy sort of noise caught his ear. He was certain he’d heard it before, and wrinkled his forehead. Where had it been?…
Recollection dawned, and he shoved Gracen to the ground, following himself an instant later. In the same moment, he felt something brush through his hair, just missing his scalp. A loud THUD sounded as something hit the dirt near them, spraying them with dust and pebbles.
After a short pause, Gracen spoke.
“…What was that?”
Rather than replying, Mr Chessben stood up and looked around. The few people who had stayed were now nowhere to be seen, except for a familiar boy was running towards them from a nearby alley. Inspecting the ground, there was, as he had guessed, a shiny orb embedded into the turf. Reaching down, he picked it up and almost dropped it. It had a strange feel, like it was trying to slip out of his grip, and no matter how he wrapped his fingers around it, he couldn’t quite manage to keep it still.
“Well, hello again. Am I right in thinking this is yours?” said Mr Chessben to the boy who was now panting in front of him, hands on his knees.
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Mr Chessben. You are?”
“Ed-Edmund Amicus, sir!” Answered the boy, who had just about managed to get his breath back. ”I’m really really sorry about almost hitting you, I really didn't meant to sir! And… I’m really sorry about last night too, uh, I’ll really try not to do it again.”
Mr Chessben gave Edmund a stern look.
“Do you know what this is, Edmund?” he said, holding up the globe.
“Yes Mr Chessben, it’s a Momentum Sphere.”
“Correct. Now, this object is used in many complex machines and factories, as it’s properties allow it to provide extremely efficient transferrals of energy and motion. It is also, with the right additions, used as a way of delivering objects long distances very quickly. And another use, of which i’d like you to take extra note of, is as a weapon of war. Now, what it ISN’T, is a toy. You could’ve seriously hurt or even killed someone, throwing it around like you were. Understand?”
“Ye-yes, sir.” At this point, Edmund was so downcast that even stormclouds probably would have brightened his face. Mr Chessben felt a bit of pity for the young boy, who probably wasn’t used to being berated.
“Where’d you get it anyway?”
“Uh, my dad gave it to me. He works at one of the big stores, said it was leftover and wouldn’t sell. You can have it if you want.”
“Oh, no, I would never need one of these. You can keep it, just promise me you won’t play with it.” Passing it over, he felt again it’s slipperiness, and guessed it hadn’t been up to safety standards. It was irresponsible to use something so defective, much less give it to a child, but as long as he didn’t play with it, Mr Chessben supposed it would be okay.
“Yes sir, thanks Mr Chessben!” Edmund put the orb in a pocket and turned to run, but a firm hand on his shoulder arrested his escape.
“You know, my friend is really being quite generous here, especially after you almost hit him twice. I’ve got an idea for how you could repay him, though.”
“How’s that, sir?” said Edmund, almost keeping the startle out of his voice.
“You said your father works in one of the Centers? Well, could you ask him if any Cloaks have been stolen or bought recently? They’re pretty rare, so it shouldn’t be hard to find out if it happened. Also, could you keep an ear out for any rumors of rare and powerful machines, or unusual uses of magic. Okay?”
“Uh, okaay, sure. Can i go now?”
“Yes, but in two days, I expect to see you here. Don’t forget!”
As the boy ran off, Gracen turned back to Mr Chessben.
“Hey, any help at all is better than none, and I’m sure he’s full of gratitude for getting the ball back. Best make use of it.”
“Its not a ball, that’s what i was trying to tell him, and anyway, do you really think he’ll show up?”
“Eh. If he doesn’t, we’re no worse off. Now then, shall we begin making our inquiries?”
Mr Chessben rolled his eyes.
“Let’s go.”
They began walking to the nearest stall.
