"I'm finished!" I declared, writing down the last equation. DG ran into the lab, smiling.
"You finished your sun machine?"
"Well, the blueprints. I have to test it out, but yes! They're done!"
"Yay!" DG threw her arms around my neck, "I knew you weren't completely crazy!"
"Nice to have your vote of confidence," I sighed, turning DG lightly so she was sitting in my lap.
"Looks neat," she said, staring at the blueprints.
"You don't understand a word of it."
"It still looks neat-what are you going to call it?"
"I was thinking of calling is a S.S.M-"
"-Stop naming things after letters!"
"It stands for something."
"It sounds silly. Call it something interesting."
"Like what?"
"Call it a sunseeder."
"A sun-what-er?"
"A sunseeder."
"Why on earth would I call it that?"
"Because it works on the suns and it helps crops grow," she said, as if it was obvious.
I shook my head, "It's much easier to catalogue inventions my way."
"Your way is boring."
"I'll tell you what; you can call it a sunseeder if you like, and I'll stick with my name. It's not like it makes that much of a difference, really."
DG nodded, "Fine."
"You know what this means though, don't you?"
"What?"
"Well DG, now that it's done, I have to go to Central City to obtain the necessary parts to make it."
"You-you're leaving?" DG got off my lap and stared at me, "Now?"
"Probably by the end of the week."
"No! Ambrose, you can't go!" DG hugged me, "I don't want you to leave."
I could understand where she was coming from; we'd been constant companions for the past five months, and she was terrified of being left alone with her sister still as loud and violent as she was on her first day of imprisonment.
"I can't trust just anyone to go, DG, this requires very precise materials that I don't have."
"But you don't actually need this machine! You're just building it because people told you it couldn't be done! I don't want you to leave! What if something bad happens?"
"What could possibly happen?"
I was waiting for the taxi in the castle entrance, wrapping my coat tightly around myself.
"Of course it rains the day I decide to leave," I grumbled.
"It's a sign you shouldn't go!" DG insisted, tugging at the hem of my coat.
"No, it's the weather."
"Please don't go, please!"
"DG," the Queen came into the Entrance Hall and pulled her away lightly, "Ambrose must do this. He'll be back in two weeks."
DG sighed, defeated, just as the taxi pulled up at the front gate.
"Your majesty," I nodded, and then turned to DG, "do I get a goodbye?"
DG looked like she was about to refuse, but then she ran forward, and I picked her up and hugged her.
"Please come back soon," she murmured, nuzzling at my hair.
"I'll be back before you know it," I said back, kissing her on the cheek and letting her down. A servant came to help me carry my bags out of the entranceway and out to the taxi. I gave everyone one last wave and went to the front gates.
"Wild weather we're having," the driver shouted over the rain.
"Yes, it's practically black out," I responded, rushing into the car, "I need to get to Central City."
"Won't be a fun ride in this weather, let me tell you!" the driver said, starting the car.
"Well, as long as I'm back within the next two weeks or so, I say all will be well."
The car started and mud sprayed onto my window from the wheels below.
"Lucky the window was shut," I said, after getting over the shock the splatting noise made.
"There'll be more where that came from, I promise."
The ride itself was indeed a long one and a very boring one as well. I wound up falling asleep about halfway, and was violently jerked awake by a sudden stop and the screeching of breaks.
"What where you're going, kid!" the driver called.
I couldn't see through the rain and muck on the window, but I heard a young man's voice reply
"Why don't you watch where you're driving, sir?"
"Kids these days," the driver grumbled, "you alright there, Mister Ambrose?"
"I think my heart just tried to escape my body via my mouth. Who was that?"
"Some boy who thought he could waltz across one of the busiest roads in the O.Z."
"On his own?"
"Don't ask me how people's minds work. They're all messed up."
I sighed and sat back in the seat. We were in the middle of nowhere-boys shouldn't just turn up in the middle of nowhere. I suppose it doesn't matter, I thought, attempting to settle myself back to sleep. Then I opened my eyes, knowing full well that the moment you thought something like that, the strangest thing was going to happen.
"What did the child look like?"
"Don't know…he had his hood up?"
Well, that was helpful. Sighing, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift.
My hotel was expensive, as I was on work for the royal family. The room was much larger than I really needed it to be. I was one person with a king-sized bed, and I felt very, very small. I ordered dinner for myself and sat there, feeling rather alone.
"Tomorrow I'll go to the warehouse and order the parts…" I mused, "and maybe I'll go see a play. This is Central City after all, and I shouldn't just work for the time that I'm here."
I finished dinner and spent the night in bed, reading, periodically looking at all the empty space around me.
"One man," I concluded, "does not need a bed this big. It is extremely impractical."
So I turned off the lights so that I wouldn't have to see the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
"So, Mister Ambrose," the factory head was a very greasy looking man by the name of Len, "that's a pretty big order."
"It's a pretty big machine," I nodded, staring around the office that overlooked the factory. It was smoky, with the dust from the work below as well as the big cigar that was poking out of the corner of Len's mouth. Secretly, I wasted to gag.
"Well, everything seems to be in order," Len pushed the clipboard on his desk forward, "so if you'll just sign this, we'll be in business."
"Right…I also believe you've been told that I wish to supervise the building of the parts…everything must be very precise for this to work, you see?"
"Right," he nodded, "normally we don't let people do this, but since you're here for the Queen herself, I'm making allowances. Just don't tell every single person you see, alright?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," I nodded, desperate to get out of the room before I spontaneously died.
"Alright…everything's in order," Len looked over the papers.
"Thank you," I nodded and rose, "I shall return tomorrow to begin my observations.
I did just that, returning day after day to a musty factory to watch people and robots make parts. Every now and then I'd catch them slacking off or taking shortcuts (I once caught someone attempting to build while high on magical vapours. I promptly requested that he be fired), and-much to Len's annoyance-I intervened or threatened to take my business elsewhere. Getting shunned by an employee of the Queen's would not be a good business move, so they had to abide by my every whim. By the eight day, I was longing for palace life, where there was no smoke, no smog, no disobedient workers (more or less, anyways), and no scary Len glaring at me from his office.
"Your parts should be finished in three days," he told my in a gruff, hope-to-see-you-gone-as-soon-as-possible voice.
"Three days?"
"So I'd arrange transportation, as we don't ship goods this large."
"Transportation isn't and issue."
In three days, what I would describe as a fleet of cars and wagons assembled outside of the hotel, causing the manager much discomfort.
"I am not making any friends here in Central City," I said, turning to the fleet leader, who grinned.
"That's OK, Mister Ambrose, you don't make friends anywhere you go, save for the castle."
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were making fun of me."
"Me? No! Never!" he opened the passenger door and I sat down.
"It's good to be back amongst people from the castle," I sighed, "there's no chance of my lungs being blackened by smog back home."
"Well, just sit back and enjoy the ride. We should get in around sunrise."
I leaned my head against the window, prepared to doze off. I didn't have a care in the world; the relief of knowing I was returning home was enough to sustain me at the moment.