The shop was known as the Gadget Forge, at least nominally. The only indication of this was a piece of paper taped to the inside of the front window proclaiming the name for all who cared to get close enough. The owner of the establishment wasn’t overly concerned about things like proper signage for the front of the store; he was too busy trying to make something that he could sell. In all honesty, he had his priorities in the right order; currently the only things to be found inside the shop were a work table and a small pile of scrap metal.

Lightforge had a good feeling about today. As he tweaked and prodded and played with the gadget in front of him, he could just tell that he was on the edge of a breakthrough. At least part of that confidence was unwarranted, and the rest had something to do with his most recent flash of inspiration.

There on the table he had a few components laid out. The Personnel Scanner was connected to a screen to show its output. His newest addition was to bring the laptop that had been sitting in his base since the very first day. Once, it had served as the interface to control and customize the base. Now it was an actual computer that had a few simple functions available.

His small contraption was connected to the computer, and he pumped a fist in the air when a short list of settings for the scanner popped up on the screen. It had been half gut instinct and half blind hope that had led him to attempt this. And it certainly made sense; making something complex was about more than the hardware. He foresaw a great amount of coding in his future. But that would come later. For now he took a look at the options listed for the scanner.

The first one to appear relevant was a choice between “simple” and “detailed.” By default it was set to simple, so he switched it and turned it towards himself to see what changed. The output from the sensor was only going to the outside screen rather than the one attached to his laptop. He had no clue why it worked like that, but he was only concerned with one problem at a time.

He appeared in the middle of the screen, and once again he was outlined faintly. That was good, the sensor recognized him as a person. Beside him was a single line of text, and it made his heart soar.

Name: Lightforge; Player

Beside the words was a yellow circle that he still hadn’t figured out. He was pretty sure that he would need more test subjects to unravel that one, but for now? It was working! It could successfully identify and name him. That was huge, but he kept his excitement tempered. It was one thing to have a bunch of random parts laid out on a workbench. Putting it together into an actual product was something else entirely.

While he tried to figure out the mystery of the yellow circle, it was time to start putting together a prototype that could be carried around. In that respect, the sensor itself wasn't the problem as it was fairly small. The problem was how to show that information to the user. Carrying a bulky screen wasn't a viable option.

He walked to the window and started to brainstorm. It was the only way that he could organize his thoughts. He'd already covered large sections with ideas and checklists, but the glass ran the length of the room. He wouldn't run out anytime soon.

He needed to make an item that could be used in combat, as that was the entire point. That meant that it needed to be sturdy and easy to use. It should be small enough to be unobtrusive but the information had to be large enough to be read at a glance. Something like a tablet would be too unwieldy in combat, and his second thought was for a type of bracer with a small screen attached to it.

Of course, that might make it difficult to aim the scanner, and the display would be both far away and small. Lightforge groaned and wished that he could just add it to the heads up display like in the game. It would be so much easier if the information was just floating in front of the user's eyes.

He stood up straight and hit himself in the head. Of course! It was so obvious that he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before. He reached around his neck and pulled off the welding goggles that were always hanging there. While they were part of his outfit, he rarely thought about them. But now he believed that he was looking at the key to solving the problem.

He went back to the workbench and set the goggles down. Now they were just another component to use for this project. He summoned his tools and got to work.

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About an hour later, there was a knock on the back door. Just one, and then it swung open and Circe strode into the shop as if she owned the place. And that was closer to true than Lightforge would like to think. He was still nowhere close to paying her back the money that she'd spent on it. She was all smiles as she walked up beside him.

"That looks like a fun toy. Can I try it?"

"Huh? Oh! Good timing, now I can test this. Hold still for a moment."

Circe stared at him dubiously but complied as Lightforge picked up the pieces of his half-assembled gadget and pointed it at her. She raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing as she watched him with interest. He turned the device on, still connected to the large screen for the moment, and waited.

He turned his head quizzically for a moment as the image appeared blurry and slightly distorted, especially around Circe herself. Random spots of the image flashed and glitched with random characters before it finally settled on his target and gave a readout.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Name: Circe; Player.

More importantly, the scanner marked Circe not with a yellow circle, but with an orange triangle that was pointing up. He was glad that it was different, but why? But before he wondered about that, he was curious about something else first.

"How weird. The scanner was glitching out when I first pointed it at you."

"Oh? Does it normally do that?"

"No. At least it hasn't when I've used it on myself."

"Ah, I think I know. I have an Illusionist skill called Misdirect. In fact, it's what I used to save you when we first met."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Are you using it now?"

"It has a passive mode that makes me a little harder to aim at. I'm generally a couple of inches to the side of where I appear to be. Not enough to rely on, but it helps every once in a while."

"Huh, that sounds really useful."

"It is. Can I try your little gizmo there?"

He shrugged and waved her over to the device. She walked over and pointed it at him as he took a few steps back to give her space. She watched the screen with interest and, after a moment, had a question.

"What's the green triangle for?"

"A green triangle? That's new."

"Really? Did I not have one?"

"No, yours was orange. And I've always had a yellow circle when I used it on myself. So I guess it depends on who's using the scanner? But what is it showing?"

He closed his eyes and thought. It only took a few seconds, and then he opened one eye and furrowed his brow.

"Hey, Circe, what level are you?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm level 8 right now. Why?"

"That's it! Oh, it’s so obvious!”

“It is? Oh, I get it. It shows your target’s level, doesn’t it?”

“Not exactly. Just how it compares to your own.”

“Still useful. Well, at least if you can make it smaller.”

“That’s the plan. Sounds like you want one, right?”

“Obviously. Now I’m just trying to decide whether to buy one or steal one.”

Lightforge forced out a brief chuckle, more for himself than anything else. While he hoped that she was kidding, he doubted it. Circe was many things, but she wasn’t a liar. She was honest about exactly who she was and what she was willing to do at any time. Somehow, it didn't make it any easier to trust her.

"If you do decide to steal one, could it not be from me?"

Her gaze snapped up to him and her mischievous smile threatened to split her face.

"Ooh, I like where your head's at. You sell it, I'll steal it back. We'll make a killing just off a single unit. I'm tempted to say I'm impressed."

"What? No, nothing like that. It's just that I doubt I can stop you, but the last thing I need is for my shop to get a reputation as an easy target."

"That's remarkably pragmatic of you. I must say, I'm so proud of you. You finally understand the importance of neutrality."

Lightforge sighed heavily at the statement. It was true, and he knew it. But he didn't have to like it.

"No promises going forward, but neutrality just got me my first mission, so I'm not going to go rushing to either extreme."

"Good choice. And on that note, I think it's time to plan our next move."

"Our next move? I'm going to save up until I can pay you back, and then we're even. What else is there?"

Circe theatrically threw her hands into the air and dropped her head to stare at the floor. The sound that came out of her was a low groan that seemed to come up from the depths of her soul. It was all very dramatic.

"Just when I think you're learning. We've been through a dungeon together, we're partners at this point."

"Really? And what do I desperately need you for now?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"First I needed your money to get this shop off the ground. Then I needed a villain for the dungeon team. What pressing need do I have for your help now?"

He actually felt a little smug about that argument. As much as his opinion had softened on her, the truth was that it was still difficult to trust Circe. He knew that she was scheming and playing a bigger game, but he didn't know what she was planning.

This time the villain sighed and waved off his concerns.

"I'd hoped that we'd moved past that point in the relationship. Having each others' help has been important so far. Isn't that enough to keep going?"

"Maybe. What did you have in mind for some next steps?"

"Popularity. You can craft items now, so all we need is a product to put your shop on the map."

"Well, I was hoping that this little scanner would help with that. Knowing who's weaker and stronger than you is a big deal."

"True. But it's also a bit… workmanlike. Very functional, very useful, but not all that exciting. We need something with a hook, the sort of thing that no one can do without. The kind of item that will get people talking. And, preferably, make it a consumable. That way they have to keep coming back for more.”

“...And now you sound like a drug dealer.”

“Don’t knock the tried and tested methods.”

“You’re assuming that I can even make consumables. I haven’t done anything like that so far.”

“You haven’t made anything so far. How do you know what you’re capable of?”

He grit his teeth, but he didn’t actually have a good answer to that. Instead he waved dismissively and turned back to the equipment on his workbench.

“As much fun as this is, Circe, you’re getting ahead of yourself. For now, how about you get out of here and let me get back to work? I need a lot more practice before I’m ready to start churning out mechanical crack.”

“As you wish.”

The three words were quiet, almost fading before he could hear them. He looked up and wasn’t surprised to find that Circe was gone. He shook his head and reevaluated his own list of priorities. He was working on Sunbird’s device, and he already had a request from Gray Guardian. Those were important, but there was already a section of his mind that was working on a different invention.

He wanted a way to see through illusions.