A Model Society

Spoiler:

The scent of oil and metal assaulted her nose, forcing the young(ish) woman to cover the sensitive appendage. This whole city wreaked of a certain kind of grime, one she’d never come to like really, but the job demanded she head to this locale and so to help someone the mage would brave it. ’Though perhaps next time I’ll bring some nose plugs. Well, at least it’s not any worse than going into the sewers.’ She quickly quashed those memories, not eager to relive the various issues that arose in that one all stemming from a simple and slight mistake. It’d been unpleasant overall and left her feeling guilty towards a friend.

People in jumpsuits milled all around her, the stench from their clothes permanently marred by their surroundings though one could detect lots of hard work as voices shouted to one another and things clinged and clanged. A few groups on a coffee break could be spotted as she walked along, but for the most part this place proved lively, and with a bit of flair it could’ve been on par with Rose Garden just…messier. Some voices called out to her, sales pitches heard on the tips of their tongues whilst others bellowed about great deals, but she remained steadfast and firm in walking to her destination and merely offered a polite, ”I’m sorry! Maybe next time!” in a variety of forms.

Finally the dingy shop stood before her, a bell jangling as Mao pushed open the door and called out, ”Hello? Anyone here?” Knick knacks littered the shelves, bits of “this” and “that” strewn about that she lacked words to properly describe or the light to really discern. The place, compared to the bright and sunny outside, might as well have been a cave for all the dull lights provided, the bulbs likely needing a good swap as they hummed in the air. Pointed ears flicked a time or two before she became accustomed, rattling heard beyond a door before an avalanche of metal assaulted her and both triangles flattened to soften the horrendous tones.

”Sorry, sorry!” and old voice called out followed by a series of coughs and more clangs. With a flourish the door slammed open, a small cloud swooshing into the store accompanied by a shadowy figure caught in another coughing fit. ”Phew! Sorry ‘bout that, heh, guess that was the pot that broke the mountain’s back!” Finally he came into proper view as the dust settled about him, Mao blinking as she stared at bulbous eyes amidst bushy, white and gray hair. Some of it she attributed to the dust, but it took a few moments to realize the man wore goggles underneath his curly mane as she couldn’t make out quite where hair ended and large, fluffy beard began. As he pulled them away and blinked a few times, the man replaced them and grinned, yellow teeth somewhat visible in the forest of hair, ”Ah, you must be the one who agreed to help me, from that new guild right? King’s Howl or somethin’? Glad you could make it, here, have a seat!”

The man then shoved a heap of stuff off of what appeared to be a stool, the woman completely missing it under all that clutter. Tentatively she sat, a little uncomfortable and so kept her tail hovering a bit, not eager to leave it in a pile of dust on accident as she turned down any beverages.

”Right, right you’re probably more interested in why I called you out! Y’see…” he looked around as if someone might be hiding around one of his piles of junk, Mao unintentionally mimicking the action before returning her attention to the fellow as his voice lowered, ”They might think I’m crazy, but I know what I saw! Some of the little toy soldiers I keep around here, I saw them…moving!” Those big, buggy eyes stared at her, the look comical yet she couldn’t bring herself to laugh, a little startled at his exclamation and pause. ”They were taking little odds and ends, ya know? String, screws, broken bits of things…very strange…stranger than them simply movin’! I mean could be they was enchanted ‘fore they came here, but…I just gotta know what they’re getting’ up too with all this stuff! If you could find out for me it’d be mighty appreciated, I feel like I’ll lose my mind if I don’t find out!”

While some might argue he’d lost it some time ago Mao didn’t jump to any such conclusions, merely nodding, ”I understand. I’ll try to find out…” Admittedly it tickled her curiosity too on what they might be doing, too fascinated to ponder the man’s sanity. Besides she wouldn’t know he was lying until she found out otherwise so the woman erred on the side of him being right. If that were the case then maybe she’d make something, give the old guy something to dream about and enjoy?

What he failed to mention however was that the little guys often vanished into the sewers with their lifted loot, but on the bright side he’d offered her some nose plugs. ”Can’t be goin’ down there with a sensitive sniffer! Heck I don’t think there’s anyone up here that wouldn’t go down with a pair…and maybe a hazmat suit. I got a large garbage bag we can stuff your tail into if you like!” The offer had been appreciated, though the woman couldn’t help swishing the large limb every so often in an instinctual attempt to remove the thing. It felt alien and weird and she didn’t like it one bit, and yet after all this Mao would definitely be taking a long and deserved bath. The whole grooming routine instead of the simplified version.

A burp escaped, ’Who knew gator meat would be…kind of delicious? Though could do without the slight sewage aftertaste.’ The poor things attacked her, thinking themselves higher up on the food chain and vanished in the blink of an eye and the giant opening of a portal-like mouth. A foot escaped at first, but that too disappeared into another, much smaller portal. As the water sloshed about from the ruckus stirred up by the gators various rats scurried away, sensing a quick clash between predators and not one they wanted to get into right now. The only thing that caused her to swap sides with a flicker of existence down the tunnel were the spiders, unfortunately lacking things to smash them with that weren’t her’s. Mao didn’t want to go anywhere near them.

It’d been more accidental than on purpose with careful searching as she stumbled upon the little civilization. The animalistic woman tired of the sewers and teleported rather than touch the disgusting manhole cover, appearing by a heap of garbage. While it may not have been roses it remained scads better than being in the enclosed environment, at least wafts of fresh air spliced with the decaying throw aways of yesterday and yesteryear. There sat a tiny little society of buildings carved out into a mound, some of the garbage actually welded together to create these little homesteads – and businesses as she watched two of the little toy soldiers bartering over paperclips and string. She watched for a spell as they went about their “daily lives” acting like a tiny civilization before a few approached her, little toy rifles at the ready and “requesting” she not speak of their location. They didn’t want the children to come through and ruin their new place as they had in a prior town. It seemed a good enough agreement as she didn’t plan to tell the man where they were, merely what they’d been up to with the various bits of trash they alieved from him.

”It was quite remarkable really, like watching a play or something of human lives. I think my favorite part were the ones in the market place, but they had a lovely residential area. I’m afraid I can’t tell you where they are, you’ll have to ask for permission yourself, but it’s quite remarkable what they managed to pull off.” She gingerly sipped at the water in the tea cup, the thing a dusty shade and yet she’d watched him rinse it out beforehand.

”That is remarkable! It also explains what happened to my welder, but I suppose I can always just cobble together a new one from some broken down ones I have in my shop. Heh, maybe I’ll start leaving out little care packages from now on! Then after a while maybe they’ll let me see this little city of their’s and possibly help out. It does sound quite lovely.” It was hard not to smile at the joy he took from this little tale, clearly impressed by the little mobile toys and already plotting out ways to help them. She wouldn’t doubt he’d be designing buildings before long or picking out what odds and ends they might need or appreciate the most out of his stock. It pleased her, almost as much as getting the unfortunate stink off of her body would and removing the trash bag had been – something the toy soldiers amusingly requested from her and that Mao had been all too pleased to hand over.