Chapter 112: Artisan

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Gate District - Protoflora: Envisioned Ecosystems

For a moment, it seemed he would be pulled back into past memories. Gwen noticed this too, but he was too absorbed to realize it until she bumped his shoulder with hers, jostling him to attention. Gwen stepped in front of him and pointed at Creation Catalyst.

"So… how do I use this thing? You wanted me to learn to use it… right?"

"Yeah... Uh, I don't know," he stammered. "It will help you make things."

She ran her hand along the black orb, and it responded with a gentle *ding*. This made her recoil slightly, but not for long. Next, Gwen bravely joined her other hand on it. The orb began to change shape.

A black liquid substance resembling tree sap dripped from the orb and appeared to travel down invisible tubes in the air, pooling in a familiar shape. At the end of this process, a duplicate workbench had been created, something like the one Novette had lent to her, but black and barren.

"What did you—" Caim began.

"I get it! I just imagined what I thought it should look like and it created the picture from my mind. There are no tools like I wanted, though. Why do you think that is?"

"Let me try something~" sang Novette, who looked like she wanted to participate in the exciting moment, feeding off of Gwen's bubbly energy.

Novette picked up one of the tools she’d lent to Gwen and placed it on Creation Catalyst’s bench. Nothing happened, and she leaned back, pouting.

"Wait," Caim said. "Gwen should try doing that."

Gwen looked at him and did as he suggested. She lifted the tool and placed it back down.

Creation hummed, and the tool sank down into its surface until it was completely absorbed. Gwen looked shocked.

"It's gone. I don’t know how to get it out. I don’t know if you even can get it back out."

Caim was wondering if this was a one-time thing, or if the Catalyst would only unlock certain functionality when a tool was consumed, each time.

"I can always buy another," Novette eased. "Did it change anything?"

"Yes, I think it did. I feel like… like the bench became… something more? Like, it wasn't much more than a simple storage tool, but now it has adapted to use that tool too."

Caim stroked his chin.

"That is in line with what I know of my spells," he half-lied. His sourcetech was somewhat random "It becomes more the more frequently you use it,” he said. "Now I understand that cryptic description…" he mumbled.

"What was that?" Gwen asked.

Caim was a little worried when he realized he'd been overheard.

"Oh, I just meant that Creation wants a few things to get the job done. One of the things it wants is 'resources', and I guess this fits the bill. I would think of resources as being blightsources and the like, but tools could also be included."

"Will the tools be lost when the spell ends?"

He shrugged.

"The spell will only end when I dismiss it or it is destroyed, but no, I don't believe the tools will be lost. That would be highly inconvenient, so it wouldn't fit the pattern. I could be completely wrong, though."

He ran his hand along the bench’s smooth surface. He felt a gentle energy pulsing within, and the routine’s functionality was revealed to him through his SLATE.

Creation couldn’t do very much right now, it's options were null.

Gwen can feel the sourcetech routine’s power when she uses it. I wonder how it transfers my power to her. What mechanism does it use when I'm far away?

"There aren’t very many options, but I get the general idea of what I need to," Gwen announced. "I have a list of things that I need. I’d like to purchase them with the profits I made before."

"Go ahead. The more you know how to use this thing, the better off we'll all be."

She sees any options at all? Does the routine’s functionality depend on the user? That is the only explanation I can think of.

Actually, this behavior stirred up some rather pleasant feelings. Creation would get more useful the more they "fed" it, so it was just the card he wanted in his deck.

Novette must have seen something on his face, because she nestled in close.

"You hide your serious side behind a smile most times. I think this is the most genuine smile I've seen you make."

He quickly glanced sideways to see if Gwen was paying attention, and he was relieved to see the merchant furiously scribbling down her thoughts on a nearby piece of paper, using Creation as a surface to write on. She kept looking at Creation, down at the coins she’d spilled over on the bench, and then back to the paper.

"I actually saw you look the same way when we were setting up the second flourishflora growth trial. I remember feeling the same way. Now, seeing you and her like this, I have to remember what I witnessed that time so I don't feel left out."

"You feel left out?"

She shook her head, smiling gently.

"No, don’t worry. Actually, if anything, I feel like Gwen and I are in the same situation here. You've connected with each of us in our primary passions. I think you connect with others in much the same way. You're kind of like a flourishflora. Please forgive the perfectly predictable comparison."

He was going to ask her to explain what she meant by that, but he already got the general idea. It was a compliment, one that he couldn’t live up to. He couldn’t take credit for the fact that his passions happened to align, but he knew Alice and he shared a passion of their own too. If he mentally squinted, he might be able to see him and Mille sharing some interests, too. Maybe there was something to this.

I can use this.

"Thank you, Novette."

I can really use this.

And while he had no intention of exploiting a false perception, it didn’t hurt that a capable ally thought this way.