“Follow me,” said the loosely dressed woman as she sauntered into her empty apartment. She wiggled her hips every few steps, no doubt to catch my interest.

She was somewhat successful, though the act was more unnerving than seductive. It looked like she was trying to close some imaginary open fridge door every time she did that.

I walked a respectable distance behind her so she wouldn’t accidentally slam me into the wall.

“So my washing machine’s been acting up, and I was hoping you could take a look at it. It’s right over here.”

The woman stopped in front of a closet and opened it to reveal a washer and dryer stacked on top of each other. She put her hand on the bottom machine and gave it a pat.

“Sure, I’ll take a look at it,” I said, opening up the device’s manual and getting lost in its pages. “What seems to be the problem, miss?”

“It’s Becky,” she said in a low, sensual growl. “Well, the real problem is that I have no way to pay you for your hard work! Maybe there’s something else I could do for you in return? You fix my washer, and I check your pipes?”

I idly flipped a page without looking up. “Huh? The apartment complex pays me, don’t worry about it, Becky. So what’s wrong? It looks like each possible problem only has one or two causes, so it should be an easy job.”

If I’d gazed up from the book, I would’ve received a look that was somewhere between a death glare and deer in headlights. “Uh, the problem is… coming from inside! Yeah, let me open it up and show you!”

Becky bent down, opened the machine, and inserted her torso inside. “It’s right here, it’s… uh, hey?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking away from the manual.

“I think I’m stuck!”

“Oh shit, you are?!” My heart skipped a beat at the unexpected emergency.

“Yeah, stuck real tight in here!” Becky exclaimed. “My hair’s stuck on the hooks and holes inside! And I think my shoulders won’t budge either!”

I quickly turned back to the diagram in the manual. The inside of the dryer was shown to be almost completely smooth, and the hole was more than wide enough for anyone to squeeze out of. I frowned. “Oh, right.”

“Oh, what is a poor, young lady supposed to do in this situation! If only there were some big, strong man who could help shake me loose, but I wonder how he could do so? Maybe if he helped make me sweaty with some kind of exercise, that could work too? But what could I possibly do to work up a sweat in here?” She began to violently shake her hips up and down, hoping I would finally take the hint. I did.

I turned my head around, looking for the hidden camera or for whoever was holding it to say something sleazy. But no, the apartment was clean. What was happening was completely natural.

The woman violently shook her hips several more times.

With an angry sigh, I put away the manual and went down to my knees. I grabbed each of her legs by the lower thigh with my arms in a firm lock.

“Oh, I think this could work,” Becky said. Her voice was muffled from the washer.

I planted my legs on the ground and pulled with all of my might. The woman barely gave any resistance as I pulled her out of the machine and onto the floor.

She yelped as her face planted into the carpet and kicked at me as she pushed herself up. “What the hell is your problem?!”

I looked back at her balefully. “My problem is that I’m just trying to do my job!”

“Then why the hell aren’t you doing it?! You’re Hank’s replacement after he quit yesterday, aren’t you? So start having sex with me! How obvious do I have to be?!”

“I’m just the handyman!” I screamed back, rising to my feet. “Hiroi told me to come and fix your washer, so that’s why I’m doing it? Why the hell else would I have the manual and a toolbox with me?”

“Well, I mean… would you consider doing both jobs today?”

I glared at her. “If I was even remotely interested in Hank’s old job, I would’ve taken it from the get-go.”

“…oh.” Becky deflated. All the sensuality she was trying to project, all the anger she was currently feeling, simply vanished. She looked down at the floor. “Everyone in the complex was talking about it, I really thought you were the replacement.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

That old lady really had to have been responsible for this. I let out another sigh, and after a few seconds of thinking, held out my hand. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It looks like it was really an honest mistake, I can’t blame you.”

Becky slowly looked back up at me. She gave me a brief smile and took my hand.

I helped her back to her feet and returned the expression. “So, what’s really wrong with your washer?”

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong with it, I just needed an excuse to get you- I mean Hank’s replacement, to come over. That was one of the codewords.”

“Oh, right. I should’ve figured.” I rolled my eyes, though I couldn't help but feel a bit curious. “But why do you even need Hank to come over in the first place? You’ve got a husband, right?”

“A husband who’s never around,” Becky replied in a huff.

“Have you tried talking to him about it?” I shot back.

“Yeah, and he got me some toys to keep me entertained while he’s away.”

I waved my hand in a circle, prompting her to continue.

“And they were helping, but they’re all dirty right now and the dishwasher is broken.”

“Well why didn’t you call it in? Fixing things is my job!”

“Eh, I figured this was more urgent.”

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I sat cross-legged in front of the open dishwasher. Becky was kneeling on the other side, pointing out colorful bits of melted plastic and rubber that dotted the appliance.

“I mean, how was I supposed to know that it wasn’t dishwasher safe!” The lady whined to me. “Everything Harold’s gotten me has always been fine to clean this way, why should it have been different this time?”

“Well, did you read the manual?” I asked, waving the thick booklet I was currently leafing through.

“Of course not! Who the hell ever reads that? You just put in some batteries, flip a switch, and stick it inside you. You don’t need a manual for that!”

I shrugged. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

After Becky told me of her actual woes, I went back to the apartment complex’s office and picked up the manual for her dishwasher. It wasn’t too difficult to understand, but there wasn’t anything in it that told me how to deal with… this.

“So, any clues?” asked Becky. She leaned closer towards me. “I really don’t think I can hang much longer.”

“Nope,” I replied. My head was still buried in the book. With one final sigh, I slammed the tome shut and set it down by my side. “So I guess I’ll have to improvise.”

I opened up my toolbox and pulled out a chisel.

Becky jumped back as I slammed the sharp end into the dishwasher and right underneath one of the pieces of melted plastic.

With a heave, I pried the melted sex toy off the hard frame and onto Becky’s face.

“Hey, watch it!” she shouted at me.

“Sorry! But if you’re feeling impatient, you could always head to the bathroom and use that to relieve yourself.”

She glared at me.

I smiled.

----------------------------------------

Two hours. It took two whole hours for me to pry every last piece of rainbow-colored material out of the dishwasher. I was completely covered in sweat and out of energy. But the job was done.

Becky walked by the kitchen and gave me a sideways glance. She looked much more relaxed than before. “Are you done? Is it working now?”

“I’m about to find out.” I closed the machine, but not before Becky threw an oblong pink object inside. I didn’t catch what it was, but it wasn’t much of a mystery.

“What? This one’s safe, I found it still in its box underneath the bathroom sink and checked the manual this time! Just for you.” She gave me a wink.

I ignored it and turned the dishwasher on.

It began to beep, and then…

We both heard the sound of water filling the machine, and it starting to swish it around.

“Oh my god, it works! Thank you!” Becky ran over and pulled me into a strong embrace.

I sheepishly hugged her back and patted her on the shoulder twice.

She pulled back after a moment and flashed me a smile. “Seriously, you’re a lifesaver!”

“No problem, it’s all in a day’s work,” I nodded.

[Skill Obtained! Tinker (lv 1)]

[Tinker Perk Obtained! Diagnose Problem]

[Skill Level Up! Tinker (lv 2)]

[Skill Level Up! Tinker (lv 3)]

Huh, neat.

With my job done, I turned around and left the apartment, and made my way back to my place. My muscles were aching, and a hot bath would’ve been perfect.

“Hey Mike, where are you going?” shouted a familiar voice.

“Huh?” I turned around to see Hiroi walking up to me with a confused look. “Oh hey, I just finished the job and I’m heading home. Turns out it was her dishwasher that was broken, and I spent the last few hours prying chunks of melted plastic out of it. By the way, you really need to let everyone know that I’m not Hank’s replacement.”

“Oh, that explains why she was using the old codeword, sorry about that!” Hiroi scratched his head in embarrassment. “But you can’t go home yet, I got another call! This time about a broken microwave in C313.”

I looked at the Japanese man with dead eyes. I let out one more long sigh. “I’m on it, boss.”