You need to have customers to have a lucrative business. You need to advertise to the right market to have customers. And you need to be in the right location. So my tweet

Real Life Hackwrench @mtcmouse - 3 days ago

Can you believe I got COMMISSIONED to make a gadget for a superhero? Triple the price of mats as payment plus a tip? Hey Heroes I got Slots~

Wasn’t as well received as I would have thought. Not in a getting dissed sense, but just in it not getting big sense. Maybe if I was somewhere like Penrith or elsewhere in the US, I would get a steady stream of customers. But out here in a small village in the middle of nowhere, Czech Republic? Yeah, it was a surprise Karel showed up. He was really happy with the results, especially all my safeties and sensors and dials. Hey there’s a difference between knocking out Joe Schmoe who’s threatening a gal in the alley with a knife, and knocking out a kaiju looking fucker.

This is all to say, I was getting bored. Which lead to my resolution to go on a hiking trip and explore. You know what’s the most wonderful part about getting a magic ruin that looks something out of Atlantis The Lost Empire on top of that hill? It’s surrounded by a nature preserve. A national park, protected by government regulation. And somehow they were very keen on keeping that going. So only tourists got to go nearby, but not in, with some military folk stationed close with tents. That was the biggest disruption they’d allow. Which also meant me getting to go in would be very difficult. I desperately wanted to take a peek around, figure out if there’s something to work with.

Dare was peaking out of my backpack as I made my way over there despite the danger. The crisp december air being hell on my ears and tail. Even with the fur on them, it was too cold, they were too big. and a beanie was not enough to cover them. I could already see it peeking out over the trees. There used to be a castle there, a former ruin, now replaced by something difficult to describe. Shame about it too. But seriously, the architecture of the ruins was just all over the place. It was as if Andrew Ryan decided to build Rapture off the coast of Greece and get influence there, instead of off the coast of Iceland with just Art Deco. Strong lines and structures combined with pillars. Witnessing it in person is much more awe inspiring than in pictures.

But our military and police force were just as incompetent as always, as there was literally nobody stationed there right now. Lucky for me. I snuck inside and let Dare out of the backpack so she could look around. Her skittering and yaps to let me know where she was filling my heart with joy. The ruin wasn’t big, that was for sure. It did replace a castle ruin but even that one wasn’t massive. And looking around it, weirdly enough got some sense of home or something.

“Bridget! Here! Found Shiny! It gives off Nap Time!” Dare jumped from the second floor, her wings spread letting her glide down onto my shoulder as she handed me her Shiny. A small cube, about the size of a regular Rubiks one, with geometric patterns on it. I stashed it in the backpack for future analysis, and decided I had risked my hide enough in there. Gotta avoid The Man, ya know? Don’t want to get my ass landed in Jail. Especially since I had only legally been a girl for less than a week. Didn’t even have my new ID yet. So I quickly made my way down and off the hill, Dare riding in my backpack again and examining her Shiny. I’ll make her an LED lamp to hold as a Shiny, since the weird tech was useful.

“Surprising the government didn’t nab that cube.”

“I found the Shiny behind some rubble in a hole people can’t fit. Hugging it makes me feel like you do when you drink coffee.”

“Oh, does it now? Huh, maybe a power source. Got meters at home for batteries, hopefully they can handle this baby.”

Winter Wundermouse @mtcmouse - 10 minutes ago

Hey anyone got one of them crazy powerful volt meters and amp meters? Mine fried. Turns out my smell is better as well.

And burning plastic does not smell pleasant. Making Dare’s sense of smell based on smoke detectors caught it faster than my nose, though. Conclusion: This baby had some JUICE. I had no clue if it was finite battery or if it was a tiny generator. It’s not like a Youtuber has the kind of equipment needed to test out alien tech. But, knowing it could power things, I started figuring out what I’d like to put it in.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Winter Wundermouse @mtcmouse - 2 minutes ago

I was this fucking close to starting work on Iron Man Armor. Then I stopped and asked myself an extremely important question.

I

Winter Wundermouse @mtcmouse - 1 minute ago

Am I stupid enough to go outside and do superhero work? No. I am not. Screw it, I’ll make a hoverbike.

I

Winter Wundermouse @mtcmouse - Just now

You don’t need a driver’s license for a vehicle you invent. It’s why “Hoverboards” are toys.

I should probably apply for a grant or something. Getting a giant loan to go “Oh yeah I’m making a hoverbike with shit I stole from a ruin as it’s fuel source.” probably wouldn’t go over well. And who knows if Emerged can even GET loans, when black folk are denied them just based on race in the US, and racists be being racist at all kinds of people now. I wonder if someone ended up as an Orc. I mean, 7 billion people, someone MUST have. I still sat down and started sketching out the hoverbike design and idea. Colin Furze’s one based on propellers was a good starting point for visuals, but it was too big, and not very comfortable. AND he had been working with human tech and engineering, and not with whatever was swirling around within my head. With the design completed, I would only need to order the parts. God this would take a while.

Luckily for me, I had the foresight to patent my inventions in pieces. Unluckily for me, this meant if someone was smart enough they could figure out which pieces go together. Which someone did. I hoped it was a group of people and not just one schmuck. I realised this when one of the suited bastards parked outside my house again. Just my luck it was Target Practice as well. The window flew open as I leaned out of it onto the bars I had installed. “Don’t bother ringing the bell and I told you to write an email! Like, ask for stuff! Don’t just show up at people’s doors expecting things! What do you want?”

“We figured out which of your patents would let us create robotic units to combat dangerous Emerged. Be lucky you’re not on said list, despite your skills. However, We have not been able to determine the creation process or how to connect them. You hid crucial parts of your stream from view while working. Come work with us, make the world a safer place.” Did he really go for that whole spiel? Seriously? Dare had jumped up on my shoulders and head during his talk. I grabbed her so as to menacingly pet her.

“You wish me to betray my people so you have robotic supersoldiers? Truly, you think I’d stoop so low as to do that? I know what you’d arm them with you damn american fuckers. I refuse to contribute to something that’d be used lethally. You have one minute to leave, before I call the authorities on you.”

“You will regret this, Miss Crackspanner. We know where you live. We have ways of getting to you.”

“And I have a minefield of hidden sprinklers on my front lawn. I got your suit painted last time, don’t make me get it wet.” The guy spit on the ground and got in his car, driving away. He was right. Plenty of people knew where I lived. At least five companies, and one superhero. Oh right, I supplied a hero and he gave me a contact for upgrades or similar stuff. Maybe Karel could help, get me in contact with other heroes to supply them with gadgets. Make cash and build a protective network.

“I should have expect you’d find the Moravian and Sleszian Eagles to your Czech Lion SOMEHOW, Karel. God the twisted irony of the Emergence. Did Scotland get a unicorn hero or something? Did France get a Plant Person? Anyways, uhm, I appreciate all of you coming here.” The three individuals sitting in my living room were all being awkward. You probably remember Karel, the Czech Lion looking guy who sounded like Andrew Rea. Joining him were two eagle girls. One with black feathers and a white crescent across her chest, the other a mixture of red and white in random blotches. The atmosphere was thick enough to cut.

“Yeah no problem Bridget, you’ve really helped me out with the shock gloves.” Karel scratched his mane as I observed the group.

“...You three knew eachother before the emergence, didn’t you.” I pointed towards the three of them, as Karel replied.

“Me and Morisson-” he pointed to the red and white eagle girl. “-met in Uni and had been dating for a while.” Morisson huffed up before sighing.

“I told you it’s Morgan, Karel.” She looked to him as he got visibly flustered

“W-well we all thought you were a guy a-and then this happened and I don’t know what we are anymore and it’s just! What the hell!!!” He hid his face in his hands and sighed, as black feather eagle girl spoke up.

“I’m Morgan’s sister, Klára. So I was first to know that both of us are now furries.” I snorted at her reply.

“Okay okay I’m not a relationship councelor so you’ll need to figure that situation together, Morgan and Karel. Anyways I brought you here because I’m being targeted. You all know by who. So, I need Supers for protection. I have written out a pretty simple contract. Boils down to you sign it, I make you gadgets for the price of materials and time it takes, you make sure if the alarms on these go off, you come running to my aid. That sound good to y’all?” I put the contracts and the wristbands on the coffee table before them, as Dare held out a pen.