trade my soul for a wish

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to "call me maybe", which is getting crowded.

Cam is dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a bowl of tomato soup when he feels the summons. He goes ahead and grabs it. Doesn't even drop the sandwich.


with Mark (kappa)

with Adanya (Aestrix)

with Sable (kappa)

with Ari (andaisq)

with Metella (kappa)

with Miles (kappa)

with Isabella (Eva)

with Steel (Rockeye)

with Daphne (Maggie)

with Edie (Maggie)

Comments

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I'm sorry, sir, but she hasn't come in yet this morning. You can wait in the lobby if you like, or I can take a message for her."

[from_scratch]

"I'll wait."

He waits. He reads. He brushes up on his electrician stuff.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel comes in about an hour later. "You're already here, good. Let's go into my office and discuss that surveying plan."

[from_scratch]

"Sure." In goes Cam, tail aswish.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I should probably introduce you to Grind before making any major changes. She's the big boss of civil services. Were you going to fly over the canyon and check for inhabitants?"

[from_scratch]

"Inhabitants, structures, suspicious geological features that might not benefit from being underwater, yes."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Alright. What do you-"

"STEEL!" Someone shouts through the door, "I need you to tell me all about the stranger you've been showing around so I know exactly who or what to go after if he breaks something!"

"Ah. Perfect time to introduce you to my boss." She opens the door to reveal someone who might be completely non-descript compared to the rest of the population if not for the tattoo of a circular saw-blade on one cheek.

"He's right here, actually. Cam, meet Grind, the Opri Overall Civil Service Administrator. Grind, this is Cam. I'll let him choose how much to tell you. His trust is worth more than you pay me."

"Really? Well, at least you're honest about it. Cam. How do you like my city?"

[from_scratch]

Cam blinks at the... tone of this interaction. "Uh, hi. I was really impressed with the farm I saw," he says. He also liked the vertical layout and the bread cups but maybe those are everywhere in the world.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"She's always like that," Steel says, "Doesn't see the point of being polite. That's half of why I like her."

"Exactly so. You like the farms, huh? How about Steel's water pumps? The new lighting system that lets only half a dozen people light up the whole city's public spaces? What about our nice, wide roads and elevated parks. I'll have you know that Nel has a terrible messy layout."

[from_scratch]

"I've never been there so I couldn't say."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"So why are you here? What's got Steel so interested in you she gives a damn personal tour? You're not her boyfriend, I can tell that much."

[from_scratch]

"I am not her boyfriend. Uh, your ostensible motivation was to know who to go after if I break something. I'm not planning to break anything and now you know who I am, why do you care so much about my opinions and personal life?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Because Steel wants permission to have you do things to my city."

[from_scratch]

"Yes. Non-breaking things."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel starts, "He suggested building a-"

Grind holds up a hand. "When you have a specific, detailed plan written out, give me a copy. If I don't hate it, you can do it. Don't expect money from me unless it's a really great idea." And she walks out.

[from_scratch]

"What a friendly person," remarks Cam.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Shrug. "She gets things done."

[from_scratch]

"It's probably going to look pretty weird if the detailed plan looks like 'Cam is going to donate a lot of wire he has, don't ask where he's keeping it, and install it in buildings, don't ask how he does it so fast'."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"It would be a lot easier if you were willing to tell her that you have a new kind of magic. We can pretend it's more limited than it actually is, maybe. I don't think she's the kind of person to question strange magic systems. If you said you were doing it the the stream she'd have thousands of questions and demand to see the diagrams. But foreign magic? How does she know what it can and can't do?"

[from_scratch]

"If you say so. There is separately a question of how high-tech I should make the dam and wiring and things. It's almost a linear tradeoff between features like efficiency and safety versus the ability to easily teach locals to maintain them. I won't be making anything with a manufacturing defect, I have no reason to use flimsy cheap materials, and the high-tech stuff wouldn't want upgrading or replacement nearly as quickly - but if something catches fire or someone goes around deliberately cutting cables you want to be able to patch it yourselves if you can't get ahold of me, I assume."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I had to train people for three months to use the pumpjacks and filters without constant supervision. Some training is definitely an option. Can you make things - modular? So if the power cable is cut or the primary whatsit breaks you can just pop in a new one. Then they can have a supply of spare parts."

[from_scratch]

"Yes, for the wiring that works. I can color-code and standardize everything since I'm starting from scratch. It won't work as well for the dam, which is an enormous architectural thingummy."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"We have people who know architecture and mechanics and water physics pretty well. Whatever technology that makes the electricity, not so much. I should keep learning Italian, maybe I can translate some useful books."

[from_scratch]

"At its most basic, electricity is generated by shuffling magnets around. It's just convenient to make the water move the things that do the shuffling. I'm thinking I'll make a properly modern dam. Done to demonic engineering standards and in sufficiently robust materials, it should last for at least fifty years, which is enough time to get people who haven't even been born yet trained in how to patch the thing. If it breaks you'll need me, but that only becomes a serious problem if I make hundreds of similar installations and they're scattered on multiple continents."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"That sounds like a plan to me. Time to make it more detailed?"