"Say, Laveki, what do you call one of these things?" I asked.
"Well, my original idea was a propcopter, but I think that would be too close to 'propeller.'"
"Hmm, how about 'helicopter?' The blades spin and go up, so it kinda looks like a helix when the blades have a trail." Devin stood over my shoulder.
'What's with his voice all of a sudden, it sounds so smug.' I thought.
"I like it! Helicopter it is!" Laveki squealed, but then suddenly became somber. "I can't believe I'm still making things after Lao." A tear glided down her cheek and she hugged me. "Thank you, Ingen. You're the best."
"Don't thank me, Bella was the one who made up the plan." I waited for a moment. "You gonna let go?"
She shoved off of me. "Yeah! Anyway, I don't know how to ask this, but... could you teach me?"
"You sure do have a mind for it, you already made the helicopter, show me one more invention before we get to Eiovi and I'll decide then."
"It's a deal! No, take backs!" She ran off.
"Wow, isn't she full of energy?" I smirked and headed off to Fabiru to give him my blueprints.
"Sup kid," Fabiru said, swinging his hammer onto a piece.
CLANG!
"What're ya here for?" His hammer flattened the blade in one strike so he held it still for me to speak.
"I got another order for you."
"Alright, let me see it."
I handed over my blueprint and let him read it.
"For this, it'll cost you fourteen gold pieces."
'I have to pay!?' Is what I thought for a second before I came to my senses. 'He helped free me selflessly, then he gave me free equipment without asking for payment. It's only natural to pay for work from a craftsman. Regardless, where we're going gold isn't worth anything.'
"Uh, why? Where we're going we don't need gold."
"I know, I have use for the metal itself." He said as he pulled another bar from his forge with tongs.
"Sure thing." I dropped the coins on his desk.
"I'll have it done in a few hours."
I walked back to my workshop.
'Why is Laveki so comfortable with me already? She hugged me after less than a day. There are only two options, she's naive or she's manipulating me.'
I dodged a crewmember going back up to the deck.
'If she's manipulating me, I won't fall for it.'
'I don't see any reason why she would manipulate you. You saved her and willingly gave her knowledge. Unless she's brainwashed too.' Spirit chimed in.
I opened the door to my workshop, no one was inside.
"Hmm, what else do I make today?" I stroked my beard. "Maybe a new enchantment?"
Orin popped out of my shadow and I heard a soft "Eeep!" from the corner.
"Huh? What was that?"
I searched the room and found no-one.
"Maybe a kid was peeking in the door, whatever. What was I doing again?"
Orin poked at my shoulder with his snout.
'You were deciding what enchantment to make. I think you should start on remaking the Knights.'
"The Knights! I forgot about them!" I ran back to my room for their spirit cores.
'I'm glad I grabbed a compression sphere before I left, my Changeling Armor can carry both of the husks at once, but they would've been in the way while I ran.'
I got back to the workshop with the compression sphere and the two cores.
"Let's get started." I blinked. "Why are you holding Laveki in your mouth?"
"This crazy fox just grabbed me up! Let me down!" She struggled, but she couldn't free herself from Orin's grip.
'She was the one who squealed, she can become invisible somehow.' He spoke with his mind link while his mouth was full.
"Let her down." Orin let go. "Why were you hiding in here? How do you become invisible?"
"Well, I was trying to hide from you since the last time I tried to hide my creation, you still saw it. The reason I can make myself invisible is that I have a superior spirit core. Light Manipulation."
'Everyone can make light with runes, but I haven't heard of any way to make someone invisible without enchantments.'
"Why didn't you leave while I was distracted then?"
"Well, I got distracted because I noticed that my hair was clean for some reason. It's too much effort to keep grease and dirt out of it so I gave up. Then I brushed my hair out of my eyes and noticed it was soft."
My gaze was drawn to one of her hands which had a finger that was one joint shorter than the others.
"Ok, last question, what's that?" I pointed at the finger.
"Well, it was amputated a while ago, frostbite. I don't remember much about it though."
"I could probably fix it, and since it's just a finger I don't even need the other half, it'll just take longer."
"Really!?"
"Calm down; it's up to you since it will be an excruciating process."
"I'll do it if it means I can use my chakram again." She said.
"Ok, I'm going to need you to give me your hand, and you will have to cease all resistance to my Eneru."
"Sure thing." She put her hand out.
'What's with this trust? Where is her invention that she was working on?'
I took her hand and cast a diagnostic rune on her palm. I started copying her right middle finger to repair the left middle finger's amputation.
"Whatever you do, don't resist, I don't know what will happen."
I started using intuitive manipulation to encourage the bones to grow just like the other side. Orin conjured an aptly named Quiet Zone using the runes I taught him.
Laveki's screams would have spread throughout the ship if it were not for Orin's spell, but she managed to keep herself from resisting my Eneru. Slowly, the bone grew until it looked like she had suddenly gained a skeleton finger.
'Next is the muscles. Laveki is probably regretting her decision right now.'
Her hair was disheveled, she looked like she was ready to collapse, but something made her keep standing. Then I started copying the muscles and nerves. I copied them exactly to the other side and they were far easier than the bone because they had a lower density.
'If she were much older then the nerves wouldn't have grown. They become dormant quickly.'
I pulled over a chair and had her sit down because the last part would likely hurt the most since she now has the nerves in place. I finally started on the blood vessels and skin, this one was the quickest but most painful.
"Hmm, she's gone unconscious, I guess I'd better take her to the dorm room."
I carried her to the dorm and set her down on a cot.
'Orin, mind staying here with her?'
'Sure thing, I wasn't doing anything anyway.'
Orin came out of my shadow around his normal size and curled up next to the cot.
On my way back to my workshop I saw a little brass box with a crank laying on the floor.
"Hmm, what's this?"
I turned the crank and heard gears. I immediately stopped cranking it and brought it back to Laveki.
'I'm not messing with her project again, she definitely made this.'