In the deepest part of me, I had to know if I could recycle biological material that was alive. I could recycle and absorb food, sure, and here I had just recycled another trash can, but what about birds and ants and even people? Of course, I had to try to lure a crow into my mouth with a tasty snack, but they wouldn't buy it. They were too smart for that old trick.
And they had a great memory, too. Over the course of the next few days as I roamed the city at night and rested during daylight, the crows would flock to me for meals and snacks, and in return--gift me with random bits of trash and trinkets.
The biggest issue for our strange relationship was how they could identify me since I really looked like any ordinary city garbage bin, minus the identifier on my face. To remedy this, I manufactured red paint and smeared it along my top rim, easily seen from the rooftops and skies. With this, they stopped trying to barter with the other, lesser garbage cans, and they all knew to come to me.
I had even come to name a few of my favorite ones. Beautrice was a beautiful black crow with a slender neck and long beak. She would trot gracefully around me, hopping with excitement every time she visited. Randy was a real bully to the other crows, mostly because he was the largest and strongest, and he liked to act as a sort of bodyguard to newcoming birds who didn't want to play ball. Wellington the Third had a long grey streak along his tail feathers--paint probably--and had the aura of a wise sage. He was patient, calm, and often brought the most well-thought gifts for me.
In the meantime, I broke into random shops and buildings looking for things to consume. It took longer than I expected to find a place, but the first one was one of the last open blacksmiths in the city. The others had all recently been forced out of business with the latest ban on swords, but this one made its living by supplying the army.
There I was able to obtain a substantial amount of iron, tin, copper, lead, gold, and silver. Roughly 30% of my 50kg storage was filled with the alchemical equivalents of raw metals, and with my built-in compression system, I hardly felt a difference in my overall weight. It was just as painfully easy to spin and roll around, though I could only sneak as well as a rattling trash can could.
In just a couple of days, I was able to progress by several levels, all the way up to level 18. While I went ahead and finished the Vend skill tree to go ahead and knock it out, I had not yet spent the rest of the class points, mostly due to uncertainty on what I should’ve invested in. The next skill in the sensory tree was Speech, but it had a 5-point entry requirement and only allowed basic recycler-based phrases. I could have invested more into the Manipulation skill, which would unlock more arms, but I decided to hold off for the time being, just in case I happened upon a huge stockpile of goods. Then, I would invest further into the efficiency skills.
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By the third night, I broke into an apothecary to gather some of the more rare materials.
It was an ordinary shop, sporting the wood display hanging on the outside door with a mortar and pestle carved in. I rolled up to it in the darkness of the night, then clanked as I came to a stop. As usual, I paused for a few minutes to listen out for anyone watching.
Only the passing cool breeze and the bark of a distant dog.
With my manipulator arm, I dug through the lock and clicked it open. Shifting my weight over, I peered inside to ensure it was empty, then rolled along my bottom rim to get inside. I eased the door shut.
Click.
It was pitch black, but I could feel the splintery wood floor beneath me, smell the sting of sulfur and manadust, feel the dampness of the night air. Using a spare mana potion as a torchlight, I shined a blue glow around to see.
Wood walls, wood stools, a wood bar, wood shelves, wood everything. There was a glass display case beneath the bar that presented a wide selection of powders and whatnot as if it were an ice cream parlor. Saltpeter, sulfur, iron dust, wort, cinnabar, lye, and all sorts of weird shit.
I chunked all that mess right into me.
+ 2185 Fire Element
+ 1957 Water Element
+ 1881 Air Element
+ 1710 Earth Element
+ 19,332 XP
+ 1 Level [Level 19]
+ 1 Class Point
I already knew my recycler body would synthesize most of this into raw elements for alchemical use but seeing the cause and effect right in front of me was something special. I didn't understand half of it, and I knew that most people didn't really either. Never needed to in fact. That's what apothecaries and alchemists were for.
After stuffing my trashcan face with all the weird powders that I could get my metal hands on, I noticed a newspaper on the bar top. Curious, I grabbed it and pulled it open.
The headline was both shocking, yet unsurprising: Terrorist plot foiled!
Of course. Those idiots weren't the rogue or assassin types, so I knew they would fuck it up somehow. I read on through the article.
Thursday, several dozen terrorists had conspired to commit the greatest treason known to man. They sought, in a villainous plot, to murder the sovereign, our wonderful and everlasting Queen Marianna.
That bitch.
The plot was thwarted by our most excellent and professional detectives and operatives will skills unrivaled. As determined by the High Court and Grand Judges, their execution will take place at the Golden Fairgrounds on Sunday.
Attendance is mandatory for all persons residing in blocks A12-C7.
I was honestly sadder that they didn't explain what the plot even was, but I guessed it no longer mattered. Those idiots would be dead and that would be the end of that.
Now that I had stockpiled a great deal of resources, I needed to leave and get out of this hostile city, maybe find a wizard or a polymancer to return me to human form, or at least give me a human form that I could work with. If it was even possible. It was possible, right?
It sucked being a trash can.
Yet something tugged at me. Curiosity? Concern? Boredom? It didn't matter. At the very least, it might be nice to watch an execution for once.
It's not like I had anything else to do.