Let's talk about gadgets [Solo Shadow]

It's been a while since Avy had done a shadow mission and she sure was enjoying the peacefulness. She was in front of her computer, pondering over the design of her armour device when a small vibration on her phone caught her attention. For some reason that made her feel a strange vibe in the atmosphere, as though something inevitable was bound to happen. Shifting her eyes to the device nonchalantly, she picked it up and answered the call.

"Yes?"

"Avyyy! I have good news! I signed you up for another shadow miss--"

Avery ended the call and placed the phone back on the desk before continuing her task, acting as though nothing happened. The landline rang next and she sighed. Yes, of course. Just as she thought... she couldn't get a weekend's break without it being ruined. As usual, she didn't answer it but at the back of her head she was simply delaying her fate. After the final ring, the call went to voicemail and she heard that annoying voice once more.

"Avy! That was mean! I just called to inform you that I signed you up for another shadow mission! Aren't I kind? Don't worry, I know you'll like it. You'll be shadowing an Engineer this time."

[211/1000]

An engineer huh?

Avery stood in front of a mirror as she fixed the buttons of her blouse. Her friend was right, it would be interesting for her, but might also be irritating. Her passion for technology and family background would make it hard to impress her considering she'd seen what most of the best of the best engineers could do. And if this mentor was as much as subpar to her skills it would cause for a great disaster. A mentor was supposed to teach her things and not the other way around.

The girl slipped into a black trench coat and fastened her knee-high boots before strapping the belt form of her weapon around her waist. Now that everything was settled, she made one last look around the room then stepped out, locking the door behind her.

For this mission, she headed out to town and located her mentor's shop. Apparently this person was the same age as her, a year older and was already one of the best in her field. Impressive. But Avy had clearly held Bellmuse as inferior to other kingdoms so whether this person was something that'd amaze her was something she looked forward to.

After a few knocks, the door opened and Avery introduced herself. "Avy Frost. I'm here to shadow Peri Scone."

[432/1000]

Avery raised an eyebrow as she stared at the young mentor who appeared to be criticizing her features in return. The shadowing hadn't even begun and the gunslinger already felt like she would enjoy this mission. "Well, are you just gonna stand there or show me your work? Unless you're waiting for me to do it for you?"

The faunus smirked and turned around to walk inside the shop. "Cut the attitude, kid, cockiness won't get you anywhere."

Kid? You're only a year older than me. Avery thought with a frown as she removed her coat and hang it on the rack then followed the faunus inside. The shop itself wasn't too shabby. It was decent; not too big and not too small, with just about enough room for parts and machineries to be stored without looking cluttered.

"So to start off, how much do you know about engineering?"

Avery shrugged. "Look at my belt and you tell me."

Out of perhaps intrigue and curiosity, Peri halted for a second to a spare a glance over her shoulder towards Avy's belt. It only took a few seconds from a trained eye to analyze it whole.

"I see. Dual pistols. Not bad, but nothing out of the ordinary either."

"Actually, dual machine pistols... with a flamethrower gauntlet cherry topping." Avy folded her arms and continued with a lazy smile. "But like you said, nothing out of the ordinary."

[675/1000]

So at least with that little show off of her weapon, they both came into a professional understanding. The faunus showed Avy her work station which was filled with different types of weapons that needed to be fixed. It ranged from normal bladed swords to a bit more complex set of guns and bow and arrows, and to those with second forms.

"So it's pretty straightforward. Clients come in or ship their broken weapons and we as engineers fix it for them. That or in our spare time, build weapons that future hunters/huntresses or in the military without enough knowledge about building their own weapons could use."

"Hmm.. yeah, I figured as much..." Avery murmured as she was already too concentrated on fixing a broken weapon.

"And with much talent and skill as me, I can do upgrades and new forms as well which comes to a bigger price than any of what I said before."

"Ahh.. cool..." Avy hummed nonchalantly and with a final click, a smile formed across her face and she turned to the faunus. "Here. Done." And she presented the repaired product to the mentor much to the latter's surprise. "Now if you don't mind, I'll assist in repairing the rest of the weapons here. You still get the final say, but it'll make your job faster and my shadowing to end sooner. Deal?"

[908/1000]

Needless to say the shadowing wasn't very beneficial in terms of adding more to what she already knew but she expected as much. It wasn't a complete waste of time though. Avery's knowledge of mechanical parts were limited to that of what she encountered in Atlas, thus she was both flabbergasted and impressed that shops in Bellmuse didn't possess a few advanced parts necessary for upgrades such as a second form, but made up for it with a compromise of their own.

That was something she took note of for future upgrades of her own gear without the need to ship parts from Atlas. It would seem talented engineers whichever kingdom they reside, would always produce a brilliant craft and didn't let the lack of resources hinder them. You learn something every day I guess.

By middle of the afternoon, the two finished repairing everything with a few customers dropping in to request a new weapon or an upgrade. And as promised, with the repairs done, Avery finished the shadowing and headed home.

[exit]
[1082/1000]