“What do you mean you haven't looked at my carriage yet?”

Tasha stood in the courtyard of the Tin Smith’s workshop. The Tin Smith was seated on a rocking chair under an awning. Eins climbed onto a nearby workbench and started sniffing various piles of scrap.

The Tin Smith leaned back in his chair. He flicked a playing card into the air, caught it, and shuffled it back into a deck he was holding. *Jack of Cups* He looked out at Tasha from under a wide brimmed hat he was wearing.

“Didn’t want to touch it. Your carriage is infested.” he stressed the last part.

“With what?” Tasha tried to keep calm.

“With this.”

The Tin Smith held up a small copper sphere the size of a baseball. Tasha and Eins stared at the sphere. As they watched the sphere unfolded itself into a dozen segmented sections.

The sphere was actually a small crustacean. It looked like a trilobite with longer legs and a set of three beady eyes on the front of its carapace. It also had a set of actual crab claws that it unfolded as it attempted to hide its face.

“...ah…ahhh…no…” The crab said in a tiny voice. >{_}<

The Tin Smith held up the shell of the creature from the bottom. The diminutive decapod scuttled ineffectually in the air with its many legs..

“I found this thing while I was looking at your carriage. It crawls around like a bug, which I don’t like. And it talks, which I also don’t like. I was thinking about tossing it in the furnace.”

“…nooo. Not the furnace. Please be nice to me…” said the crab.

“Tripillli? Is that you?” asked Eins.

“… eins. Yes, it’s me. Rescue please…” The crab thrashed in the Tin Smith’s hand.

“Eins is that?” Tasha looked at Tripillli in surprise.

“Yes. I thought I smelled something in your carriage. This is Tripillli. A god, er, spirit like me.” Eins put a paw against its chest.

“That dog talks. Hmmm… don’t like that either.” The Tin Smith frowned.

“And you say you found it in my carriage?” Tasha said to the Tin Smith.

“Mmmhmmm.” The Tin Smith said.

“Then you had better give it to me.” Tasha held out her hand.

“Does it belong to you?”

Tasha paused. “No. But I think I’m going to take responsibility for it anyway.”

#

“So your name is Tripillli?” Tasha climbed into her carriage. She held Tripillli in her palm. Eins climbed in after her.

“... i am Tripillli. That is Eins. You are Tasha…”

Tasha set her palm down on an overturned basket. Tripillli crawled out over her fingers.

“Uhhh, your little legs feel so weird.” Tasha shuddered. “There aren’t any more of you in here are there?”

“…i was living alone in your carriage. It is very nice. It has the most delightful collection of trash…” Tripillli waved its claws.

“Trash?” Tasha frowned.

“...no, no, not trash. Other things… but trash yes…i like living in your carriage. I love how there are so many things to feel…”

“How come I never noticed you before?” she asked.

“...i am very small…”

Tripillli curled up into a ball. The crab ball began to rock back and forth. Tripillli began rolling around in a circle on top of the basket. With a sudden jerk the tiny crab rolled off the basket and under a loose pile of horseshoes. Tripillli disappeared.

*Rustle*

*Scuttle*

Tasha and Eins looked around.

*Rustle*

Tripillli reappeared behind them and rolled on top of the carriage’s gearbox. The tiny crab uncurled and waved a claw at them.

“Impressive. But how did you get in here in the first place?” Tasha started moving around the inside of her carriage. She pushed on a panel that was built into the side of the interior wall. It opened. She frowned.

“... don’t remember. There was a box. I rolled inside. Fell asleep. When I woke up. I was in here…” Tripillli spread its claws wide.

Eins nodded along. “That could have been a long time ago. Tripillli always was a deep sleeper.”

Tasha pushed open another panel in her carriage. She frowned again. A wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows.

“What happened to all my crystals? I thought I had them stashed away.” She said out loud.

“... ah…i ate them…” said Tripillli.

“What!?”

“...the carriage was shaking and bouncing around so much. I got scared. I needed something to help calm down… so I ate them…” Tripillli rubbed its claws together in front of its face.

Tasha snatched Tripillli up with her hand. Her fingers closed like a claw around the small creature.

“Those were my secret crystals! I had them stashed all over the carriage. It was a small fortune. I had been collecting those from my travels all around the Kingdom. Do you know how long it took me to save up all those summoning gems!?”

Tripillli curled into a ball and quivered in her hand. “... no… sorry… did not know. Only scared… and hungry… please forgive…”

Tasha's mouth tightened. The veins on her arm pulsed. She briefly flexed her thumb.

Tasha took a deep breath, put the crab back down on the engine gearbox, and placed her palms flat on the surface of the cool metal.

“Tasha?” Eins put a paw on her leg.

“I’m fine Eins. But you!” Tasha tapped Tripillli on the outside of the crab’s shell. “You have been living here rent free for far too long. So you’re going to have to pay me back. Starting today.”

Tripillli uncurled. “...guaranteed. I am very responsible…” Tripillli gripped Tasha’s forefinger with its pincers.

“Come on.” Tasha exited her carriage.

“Sooo?” The Tin Smith asked.

“It’s clean. There are no other… passengers. You can start checking the engine now.”

“Hmmm. And your payment?” The Tin Smith shuffled.

Tasha rubbed a knuckle between her eyes to smooth out the wrinkle between her eyebrows. “I don’t have any crystals, right now. So we’re going to need to work something else out. You said you have some snaplocks?”

“Mmmhmmm.”

“Then we’re in business. Show them to me and I’ll see what I can do.”

The Tin Smith cut the deck of cards in his hand. He flipped over the top card.

*Joker*

#

“So people bring in their broken things and you fix them?”

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Eins climbed up on the workbench. Tripillli climbed up behind the dog.

“That’s right.” Tasha said.

“Don’t humans do that all the time? Fix things I mean.” Eins wiggled its ears.

“Not as much as you might think. Most people will throw their old things in the trash and summon something new to replace it. The only time they look for repairs is when something is really rare or they have a sentimental attachment to it.”

Tasha set her cosmetics case on top of the workbench. She pulled the lid open. A folding row of trays moved up with the lid. Underneath that was a segmented board with space for her creams, compounds, and curlers.

“Which is good for me because it means that people will pay a lot for repairs.”

Tasha put her fingernails at the far edges of the board and pressed in.

*Click*

The board lifted up and out revealing a hidden compartment underneath. Tasha pulled out a leather satchel and unrolled it on the workbench. The inner layer of the satchel was divided into a series of pockets. The pockets were filled with a variety of fine toothed combs, picks, pliers, and screwdrivers.

Tasha organized the workbench. There was a pile of odd knick-knacks and do-dads.

“So you call these snaplocks?” asked Eins.

“People have an emotional attachment to them. They don’t want to call them broken. It’s easier to think of them as temporarily locked up.”

Tasha opened a wooden box on the bench. Inside was a herringbone chain necklace. She held the necklace up to examine it. Some of the middle links were snapped apart.

Tripillli pinched the end of the necklace with its claws. “...gold. Very nice. Excellent craftsmanship…”

“And you!” Tasha pointed at the crab. “No pinching, or pulling, or touching, or eating anything without my permission. Understand?”

Tripillli gave a salute with one claw. “...as you command…” ^{_}<

#

Tasha bent the edges of the herringbone links back together with her pliers. She examined the links with her jewelers eye and then reached over to her cosmetics case.

As she reached, Tripillli lifted a roll of plumb solder out of the case into her hand. Tasha took the solder and set down her pliers on the table. Tripillli scuttled over, placed the pliers back into the right pocket, and then scuttled out of the way. Tasha watched out of the corner of her eye.

“Hold on. I need to ask the Tin Smith for a torch for this next part.” she said.

“Please. Allow me.”

Eins waddled over to where Tasha was holding the solder. The dog breathed in and pursed its lips together. A bright blue flame the size of a thumb appeared in front of its mouth. There was the smell of burning metal as the solder began to soften.

Tasha blinked. “Oh right. You can do that.”

#

Tasha held the herringbone necklace up in her hands. She watched the links flex with her jewelers eye.

“Very nice work.” said a voice.

“Yah!” Tasha winced at the sudden interruption. The necklace snapped between her fingers.

Tasha looked up to see Lux and Plinth standing across the table from her.

“Oh dear. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Plinth held a hand up to his mouth.

Tasha watched the necklace dangle in her fingers. “It’s fine. It’s fine. I already know how to fix it.” She set the necklace down. “What are you two doing here?”

“My name is Lux. It’s nice to meet you again Tasha. We came to have something repaired.” Lux held out a metal box with a glass cylinder mounted on the top. He placed the device on top of the workbench.

Tasha put down her jewelers eye. “Looks fancy.” She looked up at Plinth. “This isn’t from your restaurant is it?”

Plinth smiled. “I may only be the sommelier of my and Cophin’s restaurant, but Lux is a long time friend. The two of us a share an interest in new culinary innovations.” He *Tapped* the metal box. “That’s where this comes in. Lux is always trying to find new tools he can use for cooking.”

Tasha pulled the box closer. It was about twenty centimeters on each side. The glass cylinder on top looked like it could hold about a liter of liquid. She tilted it over on its side. There was a metal plate on the back of the box. She removed it to reveal a small glass and copper tube.

“Is that an arc battery? Interesting. Does this thing have a magnet engine?”

Lux nodded. “It does. You must be very skilled. Most people do not know about magnet engines.”

Tasha turned the box over in her hands. “I come across strange things in my travels.” She looked over at Eins and Tripillli. “Or rather I meant that I like to examine odd devices. Things like that.”

Lux bounced on his toes. “Me too. Magnet engines are especially fascinating. I always thought that it would be amazing to see magnet engines used in all sorts of devices. Can you imagine a magnet powered drill? Or a magnet powered carriage?”

Tasha waved a hand in the air. “You would need to constantly change the arc batteries powering something like that. Which is a real pain. Plus there is gas everywhere.” She looked back at the device. “So what’s wrong with it?”

Lux tapped his forefingers together. “I do not know exactly how it works. That is why we must find someone skilled to fix it. But it is very powerful. We use it for blending things at the restaurant.”

Eins and Tripillli looked into the glass cylinder. There was a set of small metal blades mounted on the bottom.

“...oooh. What is that? I must feel it…”

Tripillli scurried over to the glass pitcher and started crawling towards the metal blades mounted on the bottom.

The arc battery on the base sparked.

*Click*Bbbuuuzzzrrrzzz*

The blades started spinning. Tripillli bounced around the inside of the blender. The crab rolled dangerously close to the slicers.

“Get out of there!” Tasha tipped the glass pitcher.

Tripillli rolled out.

“What did I say about touching things!?” she shouted.

“... not without permission. Sorry…”

Eins put a paw on Tripillli. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep watch.”

“Make sure that you do!” Tasha gritted her teeth.

Tasha looked sheepishly over at Lux and Plinth. Plinth politely pretended not to notice what had just happened. Lux had seen everything but didn’t display any confusion at all. He was blatantly unconcerned.

“So… uh, I see that the power is sparking. I’ll take a look at that.” said Tasha.

Tasha removed the arc battery.

#

Tasha prodded the copper wires inside the blender, trying to figure out where the short was located.

Plinth watched over her shoulder. “You’re very talented Tasha. Were you an apprentice Craftsman?”

Tasha concentrated on the blender. “No. I’m self taught. I picked up most of my skills on the road.”

“Traveling must be hard. I’m sure that you could join a guild if you wanted to.” Plinth said.

Tasha was at half attention. “I like being on the road. There’s always plenty of opportunities to meet new people.”

“But not a lot of opportunities to really get to know people, is there?” Plinth said.

Tasha was at zero attention.

Lux nodded. “I understand what you mean. I too love meeting new people. That was the reason that I opened my own restaurant.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Tasha continued working.

“When I was younger I joined the Combat Bakers. During my training I developed many deep and meaningful friendships.”

Lux smiled at Plinth. Plinth smiled in return.

“But there were also many regulations and instructions to follow. The Combat Bakers have a strong sense of etiquette. There were many unspoken rules to follow. I do not like to admit it but I have trouble following such rules.”

Lux carelessly clenched and unclenched his hands.

Plinth spoke up. “Lux, it’s all right. We all have trouble picking up on social cues sometimes. The real mistake is thinking that we’re the only ones who do and not forgiving ourselves for making those mistakes.”

“I am thankful that you are so very patient Plinth.”

“And I’m thankful that you are so considerate Lux.”

The two men gave each other a thumbs up.

!👍 Best Friends 👍!

Tasha looked up at them. “I think I got it.”

She rotated the blender back on the workbench and replaced the arc battery. Tasha put the glass container back on the top, secured it, and hit a button on the front.

*Buuuzzz*

Lux shook his hands together. “You fixed it. That is incredible. You must be a genius.”

“No, no, this was nothing.” Tasha let her hair fall in front of her face.

“Very nice work.” said Plinth.

“Good job.” said Eins.

Tripillli finished putting Tasha’s tools away. “... i’m tired…”.

Tripillli crawled up Tasha’s arm. When the crab reached her right bicep it turned sideways and scuttled under her armpit.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Tasha lifted up her arm in annoyance.

As she watched, Tripillli’s segmented carapace stretched apart. The crab creature elongated until it circled her arm. Tripillli’s front claws gripped the back of its body and pulled tight.

*Click*ck*ck*ck*

Tripillli’s shell segments slid smoothly into place next to each other forming a seamless outer layer. When the crab stopped moving it was almost indistinguishable from a copper armband being worn around Tasha’s upper arm.

Tasha turned her arm over. “Huh…? That’s not entirely uncomfortable.”

*Yawn* “...goodnight…”

A final section of carapace slid over Tripillli’s eyes.

Tasha flexed the armband. It was slightly warm to the touch and didn’t affect her movement.

“I think Tripillli likes you.” Eins said.

“He better. He owes me.”

“And you owe me.” said the Tin Smith.

The older man rambled up to the workbench. He wiped some grease off of his hands on a rag sticking out of his pocket.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fixing the snaplocks. Can’t you see?” Tasha groaned. “So how long until my carriage is repaired?”

The Tin Smith remove a card deck from his pocket. He flipped a card in his hand. *Queen of Gemstones*

“Hmmmnn,never…” he said.

“What do you mean? Do you not have the parts that you need?”

“I don't know how much pressure you put on your engine but it was waaay too much. Most of the hoses have ruptured, which isn't the worst part. Hoses can be replaced.”

“So what's the worst part?” Tasha asked.

“Some of your engine parts have warped. Which is impressive considering that it should have merely exploded. But a warped rod can't be repaired. The wwwhole rod and housing has to be replaced. That's most of the engine. And that’s most of the vehicle’s worth.” The Tin Smith shuffled his deck.

“What are you saying?” Tasha balked.

“Your carriage is totaled.”

“...”

“Irreparable.”

“...”

“Trashed.”

“I get it! But, if you can’t fix my carriage then what am I paying you for!?”

“Diagnostics.”

“Diagnostics?”

“It’s when you pay me to tell you that something can’t be fixed.”