"Solution is holding steady. How's the repulsor?"

"Active and humming. Contacts on the repulsor housing are seeing some seepage, but we can seal those up after the test."

"Power and housing for the spike launcher?" Kaleb asked next, going down his mental checklist.

Daivor's footsteps rattled the workbench as he moved to the forearm of the new arm. "Power is spiking here, but it's nothing dangerous. The housing looks secure. No leaks or crack."

Kaleb checked off the new spike launcher in his head as he watched the Weikacol drain out of the Kinlyx tubing they were using. The grayish/silver metal was holding up very well with the activated solution. It carried power to each section of Kaleb's new arm and drained it fast enough that nothing exploded. They'd have to do more test once the system was closed completely. But so far, signs looked good.

"Synth-muscle readout?" Kaleb asked next.

"On-screen, boss." Daivor drawled, sounding tired.

Kaleb glanced at the screen to see all synth-muscle cords reading green. In fact, they were outputting a little too much energy. He'd have to account for that when adding the next batch of solution. His eyes caught the time at the top-right of the window. It was 3am in-game. Which was probably why the dull roar of the hangar had died down considerably.

All of his assistants and Clara had left hours ago. Before they left, Marie and Clara had filed paperwork to see if the new alloy they created was, in fact, new. Farrah had helped them file everything, but Clara was hopeful. Roy and Terrance had helped Kaleb forge as much of the alloy as they could before they both left for their respective homes. Leaving Kaleb alone in his workshop once again. He and Daivor had completed the Kinlyx tubing and then set about inscribing it. Once that was done, they started running tests.

They were both surprised to find that when the Weikacol traveled through the metal tube; it glowed slightly. The glow wasn't that bright, but it gave Kaleb's arm a weird look. Daivor surmised that the glow would go away if they painted the tubing. So that was another thing on Kaleb's list. The last thing he needed was his arm giving him away if he had to hide.

A loud yawn brought Kaleb back around to Daivor and he saw the gnome leaning against his new arm. His hat was askew and was using his arm as a pillow while he blinked his eyes. Kaleb rubbed his own eyes with the fingers and nodded knowingly.

"Alright, fine. I get it. It's time for sleep. No amount of coffee is going to help either of us."

"Sounds great to me," Daivor shouted, suddenly full of energy.

Kaleb rolled his eyes as he watched the gnome swing off the workstation and down to the floor. He zigzagged his way around the homunculi before diving for the front door of his house. Kaleb stood as he heard the door on Daivor's Gnome Home open and shut loudly. Sighing to himself, he grabbed a fresh blanket and pillow from the shelf at the back and settled into Roy's cot.

It felt like he had just shut his eyes when he was being shaken awake by an excitable teenager. A blast of warm air was hitting him in the face and Kaleb's senses came to him a bit faster. He felt himself being lifted into a sitting position as restless voices echoed in the room.

"See! I told you the hot air would help."

"His eyes aren't even open, Roy!"

"Give him a few seconds. Where's the coffee?"

Kaleb felt a mug being shoved into his hands and he grasped it greedily. Without looking, he down the hot liquid and hummed as the caffeine hit his sleepy system. He put the mug aside just in time for another one to be shoved into his hands. Terrance, Roy, and Marie were still talking as Kaleb downed the next one.

"Can't we just let him wake up normally?"

"You've seen how long that takes, Terrance. He'll want to hear about this now!"

"Of course you think that, Marie. It's your good news."

Kaleb cracked an eye open at that and looked at each of his assistants. Marie was trying to hide a smug, unsuccessfully while Roy filled another mug up with coffee. Terrance was standing behind them both, with his arms crossed, looking harried. The homunculi were still running about the place and Daivor's house had smoke coming out of its chimney. A clear sign the gnome was cooking breakfast.

Kaleb idly swapped out his now-empty mug for a fresh one as he rasped. "The alloy passed certification then?"

Marie nodded excitedly as Roy smirked. "Preliminary certification. They still have to check the alien databases for similar alloys."

Marie hit the taller boy on his shoulder, almost making him drop the precious coffee. Kaleb hissed as the young woman chastised his sidekick.

"They have to find a mixture that matches ours exactly. Down to the ratios we used. I feel good about my chances."

Kaleb grabbed the carafe of coffee from Roy and quickly stood. The warm container heated his middle as he yawned. Downing the third mug of burning liquid, Kaleb give the teens a thumbs up before moving to his station again. His arm was just like he left it. The station had been cleaned by the homunculi in the night, though. He gave the nearest one a wave of thanks and plopped down on the stool, getting ready for some more work. Surprisingly, Marie moved alongside him and glanced down at the work he was doing. He raised an eyebrow at her, making the young woman scoff.

"Like I'm not going to watch as my new alloy is put to the test?"

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Kaleb returned the scoff with one of his own. "You already did. Daivor and I ran a few tests after y'all left. The Kinlyx holds up tremendously when the Weikacol is flowing. The repulsor housing directs the flow through the palm of the hand and back up the arm. Then we ran the line past all the minor systems in my arm. It can power Shocky, the spike launcher, the repulsor, and the software communicating with my own nervous system."

Kaleb tapped his new arm affectionately as Marie nodded along with his words. She leaned over the silver and black arm, examining it.

"The synth-muscle?"

"Operating at 100%."

"Impressive." Marie grinned. "What about when Milly is inside?"

Kaleb's smile fell as he remembered his new pet. Looking up toward the back of the shop, he spotted the blue alien creature in her nest of junk. She was snoring away happily and Kaleb sighed, happy she was unaware of his lapse. Marie, though, seemed fully aware. Her smile grew even wider, but he didn't let her gloat.

"We'll be testing that today after we get the tubing secured."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Don't you have other stuff to be working on?"

"Doc, I just invented a new alloy yesterday. I think I'm going to take a break for a bit," Marie bragged.

"We still don't know if you discovered a new alloy." Roy called from his own workstation. "That's what the certification is for."

The young lady walked over to hit Roy again as Daivor's front door opened. The sleepy-looking gnome was holding a plate of food and idly shoveling eggs into his mouth. He took one look around the room before he snorted and stepped back into his house. Kaleb waited for the gnome to step outside again, but it was a full minute before Daivor stepped back out. He looked as sleepy as Kaleb felt, but he could see the excitement in the gnome's eyes as well. They both were amped to finish this job. Sure, there was plenty more to come. But finishing something always felt good.

After sticking his head out to see if the rest of the hangar needed anything, Kaleb quickly returned to what he was doing last night. He and Daivor once again ran the power test using a smaller dose of Weikacol. The solution zoomed through the tubing like a shot, powering everything as it moved. Once they had a sufficient amount in mind, they got Milly involved. Which turned out to be quite a hassle. The young marmot did NOT like to be woken up before she was ready. But some animal treats and some band-aids made sure everything went smoothly with only a little bit of blood.

Milly's own power on top of the Weikacol solution though seemed to be a combination that Kaleb's new arm was not ready for though. Everything held the first time, but only just barely. During the second test, the welding on the arm's frame shook loose and Kaleb had to draw the excitable creature out almost forcibly. The arm could take the added power, but only just.

"I'd save her for emergencies." Daivor muttered, scratching at a bandage on his nose.

Kaleb nodded as he scratched behind the still excited Milly's ears. He could feel her little heart pumping as she tried to get back to his arm. She seemed to resonate with the new bit of cybernetic far more than his current arm. So much so that she wanted to merge into the arm, even when it wasn't powered on. Once all the testing with the Weikacol was done, Kaleb allowed it. They had found the happy medium they needed and strengthened the arm's frame overall. Turbo-charging the arm too much would cause massive strain, but he and Daivor figured he could get away with it a few times.

Once that was done, all they needed to do was get all the plates in place. They secured all the inner wires and made sure everything was clipped and latched inside. Then they set the plates and began screwing them in place and sealing the edges to make them waterproof. His internals wouldn't short automatically if liquid got in his arm, but it wouldn't be good. Daivor took care of the smaller black plates of the arm's hand and fingers while Kaleb took the large pieces at the shoulder and bicep. Once again, when they were finished, they met in the middle and then reinforced their work with runes and various inscriptions. These once were designed to enhance the ones inside the arm and help with transferring energy around the arm.

Kaleb sat back in his chair and wiped a hand down his face when he was done. Before him was a cybernetic arm that was far bulkier than his current one. But it looked sleeker and the metal lines that would carry the liquid solution gave it a wonderful sci-fi look, in Kaleb's opinion. Daivor had even tested the lines against his sword once everything was runed up. The rubbery metal bent and bounced, but never broke. The gnome was no sitting on the table grinning at the arm. Kaleb carefully patted his Familiar on the back and the two shared a quiet moment as they basked in their work.

Nearby, Kaleb could feel his assistants shooting them both glances and grinning. Roy was pretending to work on his armor, while Terrance and Marie were back to fulfilling orders. He noted that Marie was also attempting to use the Kinlyx in her armor crafting. Kaleb figured that was fair. She had as much right as he did to it, and he was interested to see what came out of it. Especially with the girl's tortoise pet helping her.

"Would you like to do the honors, boss?" Daivor asked, drawing Kaleb's eyes back down.

The gnome was holding out a vial of Weikacol solution. Kaleb reached for it greedily before a voice stopped him.

"Shouldn't you install it first?"

Kaleb spun in his chair to see Clara. The bird-woman hadn't been with the teens when they arrived and she had been absent for most of the arm testing altogether. She was wearing a bright white lab coat and carrying a datapad as she shut the door behind her. Kaleb almost balked at the official way the woman was dressed and he felt a scowl growing on his face. She had a very corporate look to her that made his scales itch. Thankfully, Daivor interjected, before Kaleb could say anything stupid.

"Shit! Of course! We need to operate, doc."

Kaleb blinked as he finally looked away from Clara. "What?"

"Your arm. We need to take the old one off and then match the connector port in your shoulder to the one in the new arm. We're not done yet."

"Yes," Clara said as she stepped closer. "And this time you won't be able to help much, Professor. You'll need to trust your workshop to come through for you."

The entire shop seemed to grow silent as Kaleb gulped loudly. He had forgotten that the arm was going to require minor surgery. Nothing too invasive or painful, but he was going to be laid up while the others of his lab worked on him. Mostly Daivor, if they were being honest. But Kaleb was sure Clara would want to oversee things as well. One look at the bird-lady saw her happily tapping away at her data and smiling.

"And wouldn't you know it? There's a clean room just up the street from the hangar. We could go there now, if we are all ready."

Kaleb scowled. "You're enjoying this way too much."

Clara giggled like a schoolgirl. "Why shouldn't I? I was just officially named as the TekNik representative for your Super Group. Not only does that mean a pay raise, but it also means I don't have to teach anymore."

"Lucky."

"I know! Now let's go tear your arm off!"

Clara shouted happily before she spun toward the door and hurried off again. Kaleb looked down at Daivor and saw the gnome puffing away at his pipe. His Familiar shrugged at him before poking a thumb at the new arm.

"Grab your new toy/pet and let's get this over with. We've got more projects to accomplish."

Kaleb nodded as he hefted the new arm over his shoulder. Looking around the room to see if his assistants wanted to come, Kaleb was surprised to find them avoiding eye contact. Roy was the first one with an excuse.

"Sorry, doc. I don't do well in hospital environments or during surgeries."

"And I have to finish these weapon orders." Terrance added.

"I just don't want to go," said Marie.

"Traitors. The lot of ya," Kaleb grumbled as Daivor swung up to his shoulder and they exited the shop. He wasn't excited to get poked and prodded, but if it meant he got to install his new arm, Kaleb would take it.

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