In the personal workshop of Torben Lindholm, the eldest son of the Founder’s leader, the work was in full swing. A lot of manipulators, blowtorches, circular saws and welding machines danced around a huge workbench, where a tool, previously unseen in the Valley, was gradually taking shape. The owner of the workshop was wearing the bulky engineering exoskeleton to which all these tools were connected. He controlled the process with meticulous and precise movements of his hands. A dreamy smile shone on Torben’s narrow and intelligent face – he was in his element. The screech of the circular saw and the clanging of the manipulators sounded like music to his ears, and the harsh smells of engine oil and welding seemed sweeter than the scent of any perfume. Torben was even mumbling a simple motive that helped him focus on his work:
– Red to red, blue to blue, this wire here, tara-tara-tata-ta-ta…
A piercing sound of an incoming call punctured into the harmony of the workplace. Torben looked back at the terminal unhappily and was about to give a command to one of the manipulators to poke the “cancel” button, but managed to abort the order when he read the name of the caller. It was his mother. The engineer sighed, but still accepted the call. A wrinkled face, half hidden by a breathing mask, appeared on the screen – Eva Lyndholm, the matriarch of the Founders. The old woman’s prickly gaze was fixed on Torben, who looked like an enormous insect because of the bright yellow exoskeleton and lots of “legs”-manipulators.
– Torben, you kept me waiting. Are you digging into your hardware again? Drop your toys and get your car ready – I’ve got work for you.
Torben wrinkled and spread his hands, pointing at the workbench.
– Can't this “work” of yours wait for a while? I thought new weapons were the most important thing for the Family right now. In fact, why don’t you leave it to Maya? My sister always liked field trips more than me, and…
Eva’s stern gaze from under her frowned eyebrows interrupted the man mid-sentence. Having heavily drawn in the air, the matriarch creaked out:
– I decide what’s the most important thing for the family - do you understand? Maya has her objective, and you have yours. The Dawn’s children came to us for help. They ran into some trouble. Those intelligent metals have burned their heels. That’s where your talents come in. Get your car ready. You’ll learn the details along the way.
Torben turned away from the faded screen, frantically contemplating his mother’s words. There was a complete confusion in his head. To calm down and collect his thoughts, the man went to the pile of parts that had piled up by the workshop’s far wall during the creative process and began to put them in their places. As the manipulators sorted the rumbling iron and empty fuel containers into their proper place on the cold metal racks, the storm of emotion in his soul subsided, and he was able to get back to the work that had been postponed because of Eva’s call. Having spent a lot of time alone, Torben was used to thinking out loud – and he didn’t turn away from this habit now either.
– Intelligent metals, huh? That’s interesting. It can only be the Ravagers. Perhaps this mother’s “work” won’t be so boring after all. We should try to get at least one sample without serious damage. The amount of secrets their devices can hold… And we’ll be able to learn so much…
A dreamy smile flashed on the engineer’s lips again. While Torben was thinking, his body kept issuing commands to the tools that had come back to life over the workbench - these steps of a familiar process he executed almost automatically. When the man was distracted from thoughts about the upcoming work, the fully assembled body of the brand-new weapon - massive, angular, black and yellow - was already flashing before his eyes. Torben nodded contentedly. Obeying his manipulators, a thick armoured plate dropped from the ceiling in front of the workbench, and the cannon turned toward it with its gaping cannon barrel. The activation button was pressed, and a blinding orange-red beam struck the plate, melting it through in a second.
– I don’t like to leave my work unfinished, Mother. And talking about the most important thing for the family and who decides that... we’ll see.
The dreamy smile on Torben’s face grew even wider.
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