Ring ring. Ring- click.

"Yes?"

"Boss, we gotta talk."

"What is it, Techlord?

"Well, the Shadow Commando and I were curious about the mass of monsters that arrived."

"And what of Mother Greenheld and the ghosts?"

"They're taking it pretty well, actually. I think they empathize with the whole 'no longer human but still enough personhood to lament the loss of humanity'. The nuns also like having more things to care for and the kids getting new playmates. Guy's crew is a little more unnerved, but hanging around dead children for so long kind of numbed them to this sort of thing."

"Good, very good."

"Boss."

"Yes, yes, you have your reservations."

"I mean, I know what they are, boss. I ain't telling you to burn them all or whatever. Poor blokes have been through enough already. But you can't just leave them here forever."

"That wasn't my intention, Techlord. And I believe I already went over our plan."

"I wouldn't quite call that a plan, though."

"Why? I went and killed the Patcher, gathered his cooperative creations, put down those too far gone and who risked rampaging, let the living ones take out their feelings on his corpse, looted the place, started a fire, and then gave them instructions to scatter once they were done celebrating. Mischief tracked them, offered them a place to hide and rest while the heat died down, and brought those who accepted to the orphanage."

"Boss, I don't want to act like Decanov and be all pedantic, but those are events, not a plan."

"Those were the first steps of the plan. I was pleasantly surprised it went off smoothly."

"Boss, not everything is going to go wrong at every turn."

"You say that, and yet things could have turned very differently had I not successfully trained my false hammerspace trick. Loathe as I am to say this, that man was stronger than most thought. Had he not been too busy monologuing and thinking about what he could do to me, I would have needed reinforcements."

"Couldn't you have scooped some of the floor and made rock pellets or something?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't have been lethal. It's impossible to say if the surprise alone would have been enough to interrupt his power. If it didn't, I would have still been stuck and he would be annoyed."

"Eh, fair enough. But that's why you trained that trick in the first place before going. If you keep thinking about your fights with what-ifs, you're gonna be plenty busy. Enjoy the wins, boss."

"I will keep that in mind. In any case, the plan going forward is simple: we wait for things to calm down and then publicly announce that Shades Of Penumbra is willing to aid anyone trying to support the Patchees and help them recover. Then we start pretending to catch our refuges from the slums to bring them to the city legally and keep our involvement in the death of their tormentor secret."

"It's gonna be suspicious if we're the only ones who catch them."

"That I will concede, hence why we won't be. We'll closely monitor any 'rescue' operation to check if they are truly trustworthy or not, and if they pass we let them catch some of ours as well - should we have any volunteers, that is. They have been robbed of their free will for so long, they need to be allowed to make choices again, both to truly trust us and to start healing."

"Yeah, they're... Not the greatest at making decisions. One of them just stood there for ten minutes when we asked what color of armband it wanted to show it was a guest."

"What did it choose?"

"We continued distributing them while it thought. The pale one with the big hands picked up a red one and the uncertain one copied it."

"Well, at least it still chose. It mimicked another's choice, but it chose who to imitate. That's progress."

"Yeah, I guess. Gotta say, the pale one feels like it's gonna be the representative. The others look up to it and it's among the smartest, let alone that it can somewhat talk."

"I am not surprised. From what I've gathered, it served as the Patcher's secretary or equivalent thereof. I will need to take the time and have a proper discussion with it later on."

"I'll tell it. By the way, how are we going to ensure they don't spill the beans when they are interrogated on how they escaped or what happened?"

"We have Mesker on speed dial for a reason."

"Having that many magical contracts made can't be cheap."

"He will likely accept to offer a discount for a bulk purchase, but yes, it will be a notable expense. Thankfully our finances are doing well."

"Right, I wanted to talk about that."

"Looking for an augmentation? I will admit our budget could be stretched a little thin in the short term given our new guests and depending on the number of hires we go with in the end, but that's possible."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Well, I ain't going to say no to a raise, but that wasn't my question. See, I was looking into new stuff to make and sell without gearing up outsiders too much."

"Yes, that was part of the reason for our recruitment campaign. Find new inventors and products that would be easier to sell and without the risk of offering malevolent elements means to harm us. I assume you had a revelation?"

"Yeah. Remember the Tech Mech?"

"Yes, though I do feel the need to remind you I only witnessed a pile of burning and melting scraps I had to extract you from. Larry and Barry are the ones who got to witness it in action. Am I to assume you intend to make a new one? If so, I do hope your idea isn't to sell them. While it suffered a terrible fate against a frightful foe, our friends were quite vocal about its effectiveness in combat."

"Well, kinda. I do want to make a Tech Mech Mk2, but that's on hold for now. No, what I wanted to do was make smaller civilian-graded mechs and exoskeletons. We can sell them as tools to help with menial tasks and help folks with partial paralysis and the like."

"I see... While I'm not opposed to the idea, wouldn't available medical procedures and the boosted strength of Cored individuals, even without the Body Aspect, be cheaper than producing let alone buying such a thing?"

"Cores without a dedicated strength-related power don't make that big of a difference in stuff like construction. As for the medical bit, you're underestimating the bills and overestimating how effective treatments can be. Trust me, they will find their audience."

"Well, I trust you to know what you're doing. Though to be frank, you seem quite knowledgeable on what is typical in Zalcien for someone who grew up in the slums."

"Which is exactly why I'm well aware. Not everyone in the slums is there because it's their birthplace. Many come looking for help when they're desperate enough, knowing whatever they buy will be flawed and potentially dangerous but at least available to them. Many are forced to stay."

"I see..."

"Also, I asked Nanyet to set up our website to have a suggestion box of sorts, to see what our clientele is interested to see next. It's one of the most recurrent asks."

"I didn't take you for the kind to check customers' mail."

"I asked Nanyet to set up an algorithm to manage it while they were at it, I only get keywords and the number of times they came up."

"Wonderful."

"I'm surprised you don't use it. I figured you would be checking on it at all times to know what people want."

"Techlord, I just finished handling one of the most infamous characters in Zalcien. I am also working on hiring new members for the creative and production teams and checking their respective portfolios while also preparing the same for the administrative staff which will happen soon. Pardon me if I do not have the time to check our website aside from our reviews."

"I'm just saying. I'm glad you're getting fresh meat to handle the day-to-day stuff so I can go back to proper projects, but maybe you could look into what people already say they want while you're at it?"

"Yes, yes. But need I remind you that you are part of the group tasked with overseeing these interviews? Those are the sort of concerns that would have been worth bringing up earlier, no?"

"Ah. Right. Yeah. Sorry boss."

"Let us agree that we both were too swamped with work to remember to make use of that little detail, alright?"

"I can get behind that. So, what do I tell everyone about the Patchees? Do we have a set schedule or...?"

"I'm afraid not. We will have to wait and see how the situation develops. I don't expect this cohabitation to last more than a month at the most if you want to reassure them."

"Alright, I'll tell them that. They should be able to handle it."

"Oh, I have no doubt they will adapt. They have gotten used to obeying me and living in an old haunted orphanage guarded by an undead arboreal spirit, not to mention they quickly welcomed Techlord Junior. And let us not speak of George's oddities. No, I know they will soon see the Patchees as what they are: people who need help, finally free from the abuser who pushed them to commit horrid acts."

"Eh, you're not wrong. When you put it like that, we do sound like a bunch of weirdos."

"And that is our strength. Speaking of, how is Junior doing?"

"They're taking the Patchees in like a champ. I think it's like the ghosts in the way, they remind them of themself. It's just that Junior identifies more as an entity made of bits and bobs than the former human aspect of the story. Either way, they get what it feels like to be awkward in their own body and be unpleasant to witness for the common man."

"Good for them. You know, perhaps you could take inspiration from your own work on this and consider making armor or suits to help the more unfortunate ones? Having their own Techsuit helped Junior tremendously, did it not?"

"You know I have tons of work, boss."

"Of course, that was merely a suggestion. Besides, I doubt this armor would find much use for long unless some of them decide to become full members of Shades Of Penumbra."

"Are they aware it's a possibility?"

"I believe I already broached the topic to the pale one, but feel free to remind them. On that matter, I hope they settle on proper identities soon. Simply calling it 'the pale one' feels off."

"Yeah, I'll try to ask again. Some are asking for more stuff to wear, so it does look like they're getting better on that front."

"Good, good. Once it starts happening, I trust you to arrange for a list to be made and sent to me."

"Can I just pass it off to one of your clones?"

"Have Guy take care of it and instruct him to share it periodically with your local clone, yes."

"Aye, I can do that. Say, boss, there's one more thing I wanted to ask..."

"Go ahead, Techlord."

"It's, uh... It's about Junior. I wanted to ask your opinion."

"On what, exactly?"

"Look, while we don't talk about it with all the newcomers, me and the Commando we remember the rats. And I'm not talking about Mischief."

"I appreciate your understanding of privacy. Do note that seniority is not the only criterion, though."

"Yeah, Guy's been around for a while now and I ain't trusting him with everything either."

"Precisely."

"Right. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you not as an employee to his employer or inventor and patron, but father to father."

"Ah, I see. You're worried about what to do with Techlord Junior."

"I'm not stupid or naive. They're not a regular kid. I'm not a regular dad either, but I wouldn't be the first my age to raise a child. But them? The way they were born? What they're made of? I don't think they'll ever be a regular person. I don't think they'll ever feel right at school. At the same time, I don't want to just keep them hidden underground forever. I want them to have a life."

"I understand. Our situations aren't quite the same, though. My children aren't human either, but intellectually they might as well be. Aside from their bodies and some instincts, they might as well be regular children born and raised in the slums. Techlord Junoir on the other hand... Mesker would likely be better suited to tell you whether they'll be able to grow or not. Either way, they wouldn't be the only like this. Yes, their origins are unique, but some individuals being born with intellectual disabilities aren't quite as rare as you'd think. Perhaps you could look into this sort of thing? There are likely differences between a sapient mind with disabilities and a creature born from a hazardous mix of materials and magic, but perhaps you could learn a thing or two?"

"... Yeah. Thanks for that, boss."

"It's no problem, Techlord. If you wish, I could help you look into it when I have some free time. Right now school is about to end and I'd like to go "

"I get it, boss. And, you know, when it's just the two of us, you can calm Sam."

"With pleasure, Sam."

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