*Inside a dim lab.
Dr. Crogsbell stomps through the lab’s hallway, upset; so much so that you could imagine steam coming out of him. Behind him, Victor follows.
Dr. Crogsbell: Hmph! The nerve of them to head off elsewhere without visiting my lab! They’re missing out on witnessing the technological marvels that we have to show for them!
Dr. Crogsbell looks over to Victor: Fortunately, you were able to recognize the brilliance of I, Dr. Crogsbell! But are you sure you didn’t want to follow your companions? I overheard your conversation and it sounded to me you were interested in this Veloren person as well.
Victor: Well...I did want to go with them...But I also wanted to see your lab! I usually don’t get to travel outside my town, so all of this is new to me. Everything that you’ve said and shown really had my interest!
“Sure I’m also curious about this Veloren person…But I can always just ask them about it later, I want to see the other things that you’ve built!” – Victor says eagerly.
Dr. Crogsbell: My! What a bright mind for curiosity! Very well! I, Dr. Crogsbell, shall show you my creative wonders!
Dr. Crogsbell begins to give Victor a rundown of his laboratory.
*Sometime later….
After showing Victor most of his lab, he brings him to their final stop. The two stop at the end of a hallway with a reinforced gated door sealed shut.
Dr. Crogsbell: ...As said before, Argonaut is mostly run by steam power! And here…
Dr. Crogsbell punches in a code on a panel and the massive door slides open, revealing a massive room on the other side of it filled with wondrous inventions.
Victor enters the room in awe, surrounded by various high-tech contraptions made by Dr. Crogsbell. At the center of the room is a large, vertically-elongated generator with several tubes sprawling from all over the room connected to it.
Dr. Crogsbell: This is the steam generator! Each house in Argonaut has one of these to power them! And multiple of these are used en-masse underground around the city to power the public spaces! Energy, cooling, heating, the steam generator provides it all!
[https://i.imgur.com/C2OVc1o.png]
Dr. Crogsbell: This generator here, along with a couple more scattered throughout different sections, is used to run my laboratories.
Victor: Wow, amazing…
Dr. Crogsbell: indeed.
A tall, lanky man in a lab coat approaches them.
???: Ah, are you back from the tour Dr. Crogsbell?
Dr. Crogsbell: Oh, Mearl.
Dr. Crogsbell gestures his hand at Mearl, introducing him to Victor. Mearl walks up to Victor to give him a firm handshake in which he awkwardly responds in kind.
Mearl (perplexed): That’s strange...You’re the only one? I’d thought there’d be a couple more of you…
Victor: Yeah...Something came up. – He says abashed.
Dr. Crogsbell: Feel free to take a look around the place, I’m going to go fetch what you came here for.
Victor wanders around the room, examining the countless gadgets like a kid getting lost in a toy store. A flickering sound can be heard coming from above. Vicor looks up, startled to see a giant lens-like mirror blinking at him, like a giant mechanical eyeball.
A bright spark of electricity catches his attention from the corner of the room. A wave of lightning remains constantly oscillating within a rotund device. Victor’s attention then shifts forward to the sound keys clacking.
On another side of the room, a typewriting device is typing by itself with a long list of paper spilling out from it. As Victor explores the room more, he spots some blueprints on a table.
Victor: Woah...Cool….What is this?
Dr. Crogsbell: Ah, that’s one of my secret passion projects! – He says coming down the stairs.
Dr. Crogsbell: This is the early schematics for a device to lift the city into the air!
Victor: HUH?!?! You’re going to make a city fly?!
Dr. Crogsbell: Yes! A floating city! Don’t you think it’s novel? The idea was inspired by the myths of the sky lands and Tretnerium! And that’s not all! I also have many more secret projects! Such as the implementation of a railway system in Argonaut upon its planned expansion! The flying contraption known as “blimps”! And an exoskeleton suit!
Dr. Crogsbell whips out a remote and presses a button: Behold!
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
A door slides open and an enormous, clunky exosuit is seen.
[https://i.imgur.com/m79A9Na.png]
Victor: Woah ho-ho!!! What is that?! That’s so cool!!! – He exclaims excitingly with starry sparkles in his eyes.
Dr. Crogsbell: Isn’t it so?
Dr. Crogsbell whispers to Victor: This is just between you and I, but I actually have been using spare amounts of investments we get from our commissioners to fund these projects…!
Dr. Crogsbell clicks the remote and the door is sealed again: Anywho, I suppose I should stop my ramblings there.
Dr. Crogsbell casually tosses a small, transparent, spherical device at Victor: Here. The device that you came here for. – Victor catches the small orb, examining it.
Victor: Wait. Isn’t this the same thing I saw you use before? With the gift basket?
Dr. Crogsbell: That is indeed correct! That sphere-shaped gadget is called a “marble”. It’s a portable storage device used to store almost any inorganic objects.
Victor pauses for a moment to process what Dr. Crogsbell had just said.
Victor, upon realization: What!? That’s amazing! Something like this can revolutionize the way people live and travel! That’s mind-blowing!
Victor (points at the steam generator): So say for example I wanted to lug that thing somewhere with me, I could store it inside this small ball and take it with me?!
Dr. Crogsbell: That is correct. Multiple objects can be stored in each device as well.
Victor: Wow…! This thing is insanely useful then…! It never came to me that such a thing could be possible…!
Dr. Crogsbell: Quite so, isn’t it? You can’t find it anywhere else, since I haven’t even officially released it to the public yet.
Victor (puzzled): How come?
Dr. Crogsbell broods silently to himself for a moment.
Dr. Crogsbell: Because to me, it’s not perfect yet. – Victor raises his brow, signaling that he’s not understanding Dr. Crogsbell’s implication.
Dr. Crogsbell: The marble requires magic to store objects you see. In order for the marble to absorb the object, the item must first be enveloped by magic by up to a certain amount. The magic acts as the trigger mechanic between the marble and the desired item or items to be stored.
Dr. Crogbsell takes a stamp: This right here is a magic stamp. The magic marking produced has enough output to trigger the mechanic.
He walks up to a nearby book. He presses the stamp down on the book, leaving behind a magic imprint on it. Dr. Crogsbell takes out an empty marble, and as soon as the marble makes contact with the book, the book vanishes into the device.
Dr. Crogsbell: See? – He says proudly.
Dr. Crogsbell: But magic isn’t something everybody can easily learn. For the average human under the tutelage of a professional mage, it would take their entire childhood to know the basics of it. This renders the device inaccessible for the common person.
Dr. Crogsbell: Before, most modern technologies were made using magic in some way, even the steam generators built here require the use of magic. For a regular person, these devices would be powered by external magical sources to act as a battery –
Victor: Right, like magic rocks. I’ve heard from my customers that those are commonly used. We had a couple kitchen wares that used magic. I don’t remember much about using them, but I think what happened was that they ran out of magic…
Dr. Crogsbell: Correct. And yes, there are items that have built in magic circuits which runs until they expire. But that outlook changed since the emergence of a man named Otis Richards. He has shown me that inventions made without magic can match those with it. That person served as my inspiration ever since I first met him.
Dr. Crogsbell: I want to see a world where not just those with money and power can use my technologies, but everyone can.
Victor: Hm? But can’t you just do the same thing as you did with the stamp?
Dr. Crogsbell: Hm! It’s more complicated than that lad! Magic items in general are expensive! Whether you can replicate the book example requires specific magic items! You wouldn’t be able to do the same thing if I were to just casually place a magic rock on the book instead. The marble would only detect the magic rock as the book isn’t transfused with magic! And to begin, the idea is that there shouldn’t be an intermediary to use this device!
Victor looks solemnly at Dr. Crogsbell.
Dr. Crogsbell: Sorry lad, I went off on a tangent there. You probably had other interests other than hearing an old man speak his mind. If you’re curious, go ahead and break the marble.
Victor looks down at the tiny ball curiously, and he crushes the marble. To Victor’s amazement, a purple crystal appears in his hand.
Victor: ...What is this? – From what he witnessed, Victor pieces together the mechanism behind the marble: in order to bring out the item inside the marble, you have to break it.
Dr. Crogsbell: That is the device that you guys have commissioned us, the amplification core!
Dr. Crogsbell: By combining concepts from the steam generator and the marble technology, we were able to create a device that not only generates energy, but amplifies it as well! The amplifying process is done using magic, similarly to when a mage casts magic to boost conditions! Likewise, the core can intake magic as fuel by absorbing it within its surroundings, similar to how a marble absorbs any objects that are enshrouded or contains magic. And the crystal that you’ve sent us acts as the synthesizer!
Dr. Crogsbell: The culmination of all our scientific endeavors has led to the creation of the amplification core! Made just for you, our dear client!
After Dr. Crogsbell’s extravagant explanation, Victor simply stares blankly at Dr. Crogsbell, creating an awkward silence between them.
Victor: Uhm….Sorry but….I think there’s been some misunderstanding…You’ve been calling us your clients...But see…
Victor: Me and my friends are actually from a guild named “Geld”... I think the client you’ve all been referring to is the person we said who couldn’t come today… Her name is Queenie. We’re actually not affiliated with each other in any way besides coming to Argonaut together… She sent us on her behalf.
Dr. Crogsbell: …….
Dr. Crogsbell: ...I see.
Dr. Crogsbell (mortified): What a blunder I made…! To have disclosed private information just like that….!
Dr. Crogsbell: Well….! N-nonetheless…! It’s still apparent that our client sent you folks to claim their product, so please do carry on the core to the person please….!
Dr. Crogsbell hastily calls out to Mearl to have him escort Victor and the core back to the real client safely. Mearl obliges and they head out with Victor waving his arm back to Dr. Crogsbell in gratitude for showing him his laboratory.
Dr. Crogsbell, heavily sweating in anxiety: Don’t tell anyone the secrets that I've told you yes…?! I trust in you…!