Axis reached Cyclops by 7:30 as he was lucky enough that it was just a drizzle outside so he decided to walk. As he entered the main lobby he saw Madame Seily on her desk. She was the Head Receptionist for Cyclops and had worked for Cyclops for 25 years. Axis always had a great relationship with her, so he greeted her with a smile, “ Good Morning ma’am. Looks like it’ll be another slow Saturday today.” She replied while going through a register, “ Yes looks like it Axis. With the weather and it being a weekend I hope it will be a slow day today.”
Axis then said, “ What are your plans for the weekend ma’am ?”
“ I am going to my daughter’s house. She lives in Burkbon with her husband and child. She works there as an attorney. It’s been more than a month I got to see her.”
Burkbon is a town west of Ettic. It’s not that far from Ettic as it takes only 50 mins by train. It is famous for its old-style buildings and Axis had visited it with his mother as a child and had some memories about the town.
“ What about you Axis? Are you doing something this weekend?” asked Madam Seily.
“ Nothing much ma’am, I am thinking of visiting the library.” Replied Axis.
“ You should hang out more with people your age Axis. You only focus on work, the library, or working out. How will you find yourself a nice lass like this.” Exclaimed Madam.
Axis just sighed and thought, “ Why are all the ladies worried about marriage. I am unable to save enough to enjoy and now I have to think about finding a girl.”
“I’ll try to relax ma’am. Have a nice day.” Waved Axis and went upstairs to Research Room #3.
He saw the battle companion where he left it. Now he knew its name from the letter, “tic”.
He started working on its outer membranes to remove it. He was also in awe of the machine of how well made it was. After removing the out membrane he started working on disassembling the energy core holding area to prevent any accidents as all the circuitry was connected to it.
As he was working with a set of pliers to carefully remove every single connection, he heard the door opening and saw the Boss with two ladies coming inside.
One of the ladies was the same older lady who had previously reminded Axis to handle the bot with care. The other lady seemed like a girl around his age. She was also dressed professionally in a formal shirt with a light green blazer which complimented her green eyes, and a formal long black skirt with what seemed like combat boots. She was also really tall for a lady around 178 cm. She also had chestnut hair which was straightened out and was not bound. She also had a very serious expression on her face.
The Boss introduced both of them to Axis, “ This is Officer Dert who you met previously and this is Lady Stella Godcomb of the House of Godcomb. She was the one who commissioned the research.”
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Stella smiled a bit and bowed towards Axis and asked him, “ Mr. Axis, can you tell me more in detail about your initial findings. Was there anything of note in the Companions inventory?”
Just as she asked the question Axis was a bit scared as it seems like she knew that Companions were fitted with a box. But Axis kept a poker face and replied, “ Miss Godcomb, I have already written in my report about the box and there was nothing of note there other than the standard rations and first aid.” While also handing her a report from his workbench.
Stella seemed a bit frustrated and thought, “ Looks like the information was exactly like I expected. The bot was part of the battle and seems like it was not on any particular missive, rather maybe damaged its circuitry after the battle and went in a different direction. I had hoped to find something interesting from that era as not many bots are present in such good condition. Well, I only lost some money.”
As she was thinking Axis was also thinking that, “ Seems like that journal is something of value but I should pry some more about what was she looking for.”
Axis then asked Stella, “ Miss were you looking for something particular from this bot?”
She replied, “ Not anything in particular but I was curious as it is a battle companion and it was found so far from the battlefield. I just hoped to find something interesting from that era.”
Then she turned towards Cerkin and said, “ As I didn’t get anything of value from the Companion so I am donating it to your workshop along with the full payment. Thanks for the help and also thank you Mr. Axis for your work.” As she finished saying it she bowed and left with Officer Dert in tow.
Cerkin seemed really happy and patted Axis’s shoulder and said, “ Axis I really have to applaud your work and analysis. It was really of very good quality. Miss Godcomb paid a considerable commission for this research and seeing your effort I will be giving you 30% of it.” Then he brought out a receipt from his pocket handing it to Axis.
And then smiled and said to Axis, “ I also want to congratulate you as I am promoting you to Senior Apprentice. Keep up the good work youngster, I have high hopes for you.
Then he handed him a silver badge with the logo for Cyclops on it and then left the room.
Axis looked at the receipt first and it said 300 Aur redeemable on it.
Axis was shocked as it was his salary for 6 months. Then he thought that Miss Stella paid 1000 Aur just to satisfy her curiosity.
He then went to the Treasury and handed his badge and receipt. Mr. Mindde was in charge of the Treasury and was an amicable man in his 50s.
He looked at Axis and congratulated him on his promotion and handed him his weekly salary.
Now that Axis had been promoted his salary had become 5 Aur a day.
Mr. Mindde handed him seven 5 Aur notes and congratulated him again.
Axis left the treasury and saw the time on his pocket watch, it was already 3 pm. Time always flew while working. He walked towards the mess and saw Benson having his meal. Axis first went to the line and filled his plate with some rice, 3 pieces of chicken, a vegetable stir, and some sour milk.
He sat opposite Benson, greeted him, and before he could say anything Benson smiled and said, “ Congratulations Axis, Boss already told me about your promotion. I always knew you will make it if you kept at it. What do you say, we should drink to this joyous occasion.”
Axis thought about what Madam had told him and chuckled with a grin saying, “ And I should be treating right?”
Benson also laughed and said, “ Obviously now that you are earning more, I will dry your coffers, young lord.” Both of them guffawed and then Axis replied, “ I have some work to attend to tonight but I will treat you to lunch tomorrow. How about that?”
Benson agreed and then both finished their meal and went their separate ways.
Axis had a plan in mind for today.
To search in the library regarding who was this Veddick Ashville