Chapter -47: Give It A Chance

Pulsa Minoria has been very active in recent times. The conversion for self-recycling electricity to hydro generators has led to a greater production of energy to work with and in turn, less of a need to spare extra metal towards maintenance.

And so of course, Valic is toiling away inside of his lab coming up with plenty of new ideas to keep up with progress.

It's not as quiet as it used to be for him. While he's busy with miniaturized models of future ideas, the young ward of his, Pitori, distracts him with grunts and groans.

Valic can ignore the first few, but as they start getting louder from exertion he's forced to put his spare parts down and address the boy with a cough.

"Ahem...!" He said, putting his fist against his mouth.

Pitori was hard at work doing push-ups against the cold steel floor. He was now wearing clothes fit for these lands made out of spare rubber and plastic, such as a sleeveless yellow vest, purple electric shirt, and black pants with yellow stripes going down the side of his legs.

He also took the time to clean his hair up a bit, at Valic's suggestion, making it spike up stiff like he just touched heavy static.

With a big eager smile on his face the young boy continued to exercise and sweat, "Just a few more, sir!"

"I told you to do those closer to the door." Valic said in an urging tone, with a little fatigue born from the repetition of saying this.

Pitori performed his last one and then sprung right up to his feet with a bounce, then did a quick jog in place. He then looked at his teacher and put his hands behind his head, "You should do them too! It helps MY brain think faster!"

Valic closed his eyes and sighed, "No...I don't really feel like introducing my face to the floor again anytime soon."

Pitori waved his hands out and giggled, "You give up too easily, teacher."

Valic glared back and rolled the side of his mouth up to scoff, "Hmph...! Enough lollygagging, help me assemble this model."

"You got it!" Pitori ran over and gathered a few straggling parts over to his teacher's side, "So run it by me again what this is?"

Valic put a metal rod under a few small metal bits spread out to resemble a wing, "It's going to be our first attempt at a flight model."

Pitori turned his head aside, "But the small-class drones can already fly."

"Yes, but only a certain distance off the ground. This one will hopefully be able to soar to heights far beyond our expectations."

"Like the moon?"

Valic gleamed with a smile full of hope and whispered, "In theory, it should...I may need to probe Sarajin for information."

Valic took out a small device with a metal coil attached to the end of a barrel and pulled the trigger, using it to weld the rod to the wing.

Pitori meanwhile glanced over the model thoroughly, pinching the opposite wing and pulling it up and down.

Valic immediately grabbed his hand and held it back, surprising him, only to then ease up a little and ask in a more...polite manner, "Haaa, what do you see?"

Pitori held onto the edge of the table and hummed, "I think we need a thin material on the back of the wings."

"Oh?" Valic glanced over the model and rubbed his chin.

Pitori nodded and then stood up, punching his fist into his open palm with confidence, "Yeah! I think without that, the wings won't catch any wind."

"...Using an updraft to carry flight? Hmm," Valic's eyes then widened and he snapped his fingers off his chin, "Wait a minute...!"

He scrambled on over to his pile of scraps and carried whatever he could back to the table to lay them out. Pitori squeezed his fists and shouted excitedly, "Did you come up with a new idea?!"

"Indeed...Another way to generate electricity throughout the city...!"

"Cooool! Can I help?"

"Not right now," Valic wagged the back of his fingers out without turning away from his newest project, "Go work on one of your little projects for a while..."

Right as Pitori was about to dash off, he nearly tripped over himself as his teacher had one last thing to say, "BUT DON'T...touch my screwdriver. Not after last time."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Pitori gave a salute and then went off to his own table that was rigged together haphazardly out of broken metal plates, but he's making it work.

The two didn't get very far along in their activities before there was a knock on the door, so lacking in urgency that at first neither party wanted to answer it.

But then it kicked up the pace, causing Valic to grimace with a sigh before he slowly made his way over and undid the security lock.

He then glanced over his shoulder at his young ward to ask, "One guess on who it is?"

Pitori chuckled, "Who else could it be...?"

The door slid open, and there stood Rai, holding a small metal basket full of treats wrapped in leaves, "Special delivery."

Valic closed his eyes and backed away slowly, gesturing his thumb at Pitori, "He's right over there...toiling away."

Rai walked over and Valic closed the door behind him. Rai placed the basket beside Pitori and that allowed him a chance to take a break and look inside the basket.

Rai then chuckled, "Adder's really looking forward to your review on these new sweets he made."

The first unfurled leaf reveals a small piece of sticky looking white sugar. Pitori stuffed it into his mouth and rolled it around with his tongue. His expression went from excited, to curious, to perturbed in a manner of seconds. He then pushed the piece onto his palm and shook his head.

"Too powdery..."

"Yeah, that's what he was worried about..." Rai sighed and picked up the basket, "No point testing out the rest then."

As he was ready to leave, Valic scratched the side of his face and remarked, "I really wish you'd stop dropping in all willy-nilly."

Rai smirked and told him playfully, "Hey he's currently a citizen of MY Tribe, don't hog him all to yourself."

Rai then looked over his shoulder and wandered towards Valic's table, "Oh hey, so you're working on some new ideas?"

Valic ran over to block his view of the models and proclaimed, "Ah ah! You deliver sweets for testing and that's all."

Unfortunately, Valic forgot Rai is taller than him, thus with a wily smile he stood on his toes and started whistling while he looked.

Valic shoved him in the chest and Rai, barely fazed, remarked, "You've figured out a new way to generate electricity?"

Valuc grunted, sighed, and various other tired noises before pinching his forehead and snapping the skin back, "Yes, well, since you've forced yourself into my busy work I may as well say yes, I am."

"Hmm…." Rai crossed his arms and tapped his fingers, "Sure. OK. But we're…kind of low on space."

"I'll admit, you're right." Valic spoke.

"I mean it's the most obvious thing…"

"Maybe it's finally time we looked into expanding our city." Valic suggested on a whim.

"That would be the dream…" Rai nodded, "Buuuuut…"

"Too much metal, and it requires manpower we lack."

"Exactly."

Pitori poked his head away from his work to suggest, "I bet Mr. Sarajin would help!"

Rai smiled warmly at him, "Absolutely. But don't bring it up around him alright? He's been very tired lately."

Valic flicked his fingers at the side of his face and murmured, "I need to run tests with this idea before I construct it anyways…Tests I can't run while somebody is buzzing in my presence."

In no less blunter terms, Valic waved his fingers to shoo his company towards the door.

"Alright I'll go!" Rai chuckled.

But right as Valic was ready to let him out, there was another knock.

"Oh who could possibly be here now…" Valic wasn't allowed to move before the knocks got louder.

"I am here, wait!" Valic undid the lock and when the door swung open, there stood Cecilia with a tied up net of cooked meat and stones on her back.

"Mom!" Pitori dropped what he was doing and ran over to hug her on the hip as she walked in.

She patted his head and he cooed warmly. She then looked at him and remarked, "Have you lost weight again?"

Pitori blushed and his mom let out a stern sigh before glaring aside at Valic, "How do you live with yourselves eating that colorless goop all the time?"

Valic was quick and uppity with his defense, "It contains everything one needs for a healthy brain."

"Except flavor." She retorted in a judgmental tone, before relaxing into a more motherly vibe.

She put the net at her son's feet and told him, "You know what to do with these."

"Thanks mom! I missed your dinners."

"I know what else you've missed," She then glanced over her shoulder and seemed disappointed, letting out a rough "Ahem…!" to draw a certain someone out of hiding.

Ezekiel ducked under the door and cautiously held onto the side, his eyes part way into a daze.

Valic furrowed his brows so hard the wrinkles were forming chasms, "Haaaa, as if this day couldn't get any better."

Rai walked up with a friendly face and hand to say, "Oh, you must be Pitori's dad! I heard a lot about you from Sarajin too. My name is Rai, welcome to my Tribe."

Ezekiel reached out and kept looking anywhere but his hosts with mild fear, "E-Errr…right. Pleasure's all mine…?"

After a weak handshake he shivered and muttered, "Oi, how do I get this fuzzy feeling off my hairs?"

Valic muttered under his breath, "Cleaning the dirt off would be a start."

Ezekiel turned with a stiff look in his eye and wagged his finger, "Don't start, twiggy."

Valic was annoyed but at the same time, delighted to see this rough man completely out of his element, "So…what brings you here?"

Ezekiel continued to browse around as he murmured, "Gooooood question…"

Cecilia jabbed him in the gut with her elbow then nudged her head in their sun's direction.

"R-Right…" Seeing his boy smiling and well helped give him some much needed guidance in these strange metal lands.

"Look at ya boy, have ya grown on me again?" He said with pride.

"Daaaaaad, I visited you two weeks ago!"

Ezekiel's face grew soft and a little sad, "Well, it feels like much longer."

"I'm so glad you decided to come!" Pitori then turned to his teacher and asked, "Hey, can I show dad around, or do you need my help?"

Valic waved his hand out and said in a somewhat condescending tone, "Oh no by all means, it would be very helpful if you took your father on a tour."

Pitori then ran up and grabbed his dad's hand and tried to drag him along with little success at first, "Come on, follow me!"

"A-Alright…!" Ezekiel was strengthless against his son's enthusiasm.

Rai tagged behind them, "Ah what the heck, sounds like fun."

Cecilia would soon follow, only for Valic to let out a couple rough coughs to direct her attention to the meat and stone on the ground.

"Pleeeease, don't leave me with that smell."

Cecilia picked it up and as she rose she said, "Good, you've learned some respect."

Valic muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "I think I preferred when you were our enemy..."

Once all his company was out of the way he locked the door down tight and went on his way.

The family grand tour began with Pitori walking around the immediate streets, "This Sector is where we do all our research into new ideas. Every building belongs to a different person!"

Ezekiel crossed his arms, fidgeting around as he asked, "Ya don't have one of yer own?"

Pitori enthusiastically shook his head and giggled, "Of course not, dad. I'm still a beginner!"

He then pumped his fists and declared, "But Mr. Valic and Mr. Rai have caught me up pretty quick!"

Rai itched the side of his grinning cheek and whispered, "Can you stop calling me 'Mr.' I don't want to feel old yet..."

He then propped his hand on his hip and sang the boy's praises, "It's true, your son's a fast learner."

Ezekiel then gestured his hand up and struggled to look him in the eyes, "S-So is he...gettin' along with everyone?"

Rai widened his eyes and uttered, "Uuuhhh, I don't know..."

He looked at Pitori, "Everything's been ok?"

Pitori nodded, though it was lacking his usual energy, "I...haven't made many friends outside of teacher's circle. It's not about teamwork around here."

Cecilia wagged her hand out towards Ezekiel and told him, "This place fosters greater advancements by making the scientists compete to come up with new ideas."

"Ain't that a bit hostile for a kid...?" Ezekiel whispered.

Cecilia closed her eyes and smiled, "I think a little competition is good for a developing mind."

Ezekiel hung his shoulders and sighed fondly, "Course ya would honey..."

He then curled his lip up and rubbed the back of his head, "So uhh, where do ya make all the fancy glowy stuff?"

"This way!" Shouted Pitori, already on the move.

Ezekiel itched at the fuzzy feeling on his arms and groaned. Then with a deep breath he followed along until they reached the center of the town.

There his son stopped and backed up, waving his finger at the nearby shrine, "Wait! I bet you're wondering what this is!"

Ezekiel squeezed his eyes and mumbled "That ain't even the half of it..." but nevertheless walked on over and let his son talk.

"This shrine is an artifact from when this Tribe used to be called...Uhh, Denkai! Yeah!"

"That so...?" Ezekiel said, mildly intrigued.

Pitori nodded and with a big smile said, "I even heard that if you meet the proper conditions, you can still summon the Titan!"

Rai bit his teeth and hissed a high-pitched squeal of worry, "Aaaaad who spread that information?!"

Ezekiel turned his head and wondered, "What, it's true?"

Rai deflated his stature with a sigh and had a bit of a frightful chuckle over past memories, "Ooooh yeah, how could I ever forget that day. It was all Sarajin's fault..."

Cecilia and Ezekiel both let out a dull "Ah", prompting Rai to stand and wave his hands around feverishly, "No no no, I'm grateful he did it in the end!"

He then laid a hand on his hip and rolled the other around, "Thanks to him we've been able to teach our proper history to the children, and that's led to an overall decrease in a desire to make weapons."

He then made an awkward glance aside and his grinned flattened out, "Oooon the other hand, it led to the uprising of a small sect who believe that we should drain our Titan of his power if he's not using it and well...That group's loud, but they're mostly harmless."

"Hmmm..." Cecilia closed her eyes and let a stray thought slip out, "They do seem content to ignore our needs..."

She then looked at her peers and murmured, "Nothing, let's continue."

Rai then turned to Pitori examining the shrine in closer detail and raised his voice to ask, "Weren't you going to show your dad the factories?"

Pitori popped up and shouted, "I know! This way!"

As the adults trailed along behind him Ezekiel couldn't ignore the smile on his face, "Look at 'em, he ain't lost any of that energy..."

"I just wish..." Ezekiel scratched the side of his head and, feeling the gazes off the other two, muttered, "Bah, never mind..."

Cecilia and Rai let him go on ahead a bit so they could talk in private.

"So, how did you finally convince him?" Rai whispered.

"I didn't say anything, he decided to tag along out of the blue." Cecilia replied.

"Seriously?" Rai was surprised seeing how the way Ezekiel was carrying himself was like a stiff, lost animal.

Cecilia then closed her eyes and with a warm expression remarked, "You've done a good job taking care of our son."

"Well you two did most of the work. He's always singing your praises whenever he's on a break."

"Me too?" Cecilia replied, pausing with a stunned look on her face.

Rai turned around and wagged his hand up, "Yeah, obviously."

"..." A smile formed when Cecilia least expected it, but she warded it off with a light slap to her cheek.

A series of mechanical barking noises upset the mood, as Ezekiel sprang up like he just saw a ghost and his skin went pale.

Turns out he was being "attacked" by a metallic puppy with smooth, curved parts and electricity flowing between glass pipes to represent the eyes.

"What manner of creature is this?!" He blurted out, causing the puppy to hunch down and bark some more.

A whistle settled the machine down and Pitori, its source, ran over and bent down to pet the creature, beaming his dad a smile, "It's a dog, dad!"

"A-A dog...? Ya can't be serious..."

"Weeeeell..." Pitori patted the top of the machine's head, "It's not a perfect copy, but it can do 90% of the things a normal dog can!"

Ezekiel raised a brow and muttered, "...Is 90 percent a good thing?"

"Yeah! All we have to do is figure out how to make it go to the bathroom and bite people!"

Ezekiel waved his hands out and grinned, "Maaaaybe hol' off on the bitin' part, boy."

"B-But the authenticity...!" Pitori pouting was more in line with how a dog would act than the metal fake sitting beside him.

And so, of course, Ezekiel relented and urged him quietly, "Haaa, do what ya feel's right."

Pitori then giggled, "Heh heh, I'm not in charge of the dogs, dad."

"...Oh," Ezekiel scratched the side of his head and muttered, "What are ya in charge of again...?"

"Nothing, I'm still learning."

"...Right, right. My bad."

They then continued on to the Sector Pitori wanted to show his dad. And there he just got more perplexed by all the different buildings surrounding him.

Pitori started off pointing at one of the larger buildings, "You know all the drones that come to our home, dad?"

Ezekiel said in a mildly sardonic tone, "I am familiar with them..."

"This is where they're made!"

"They're still being made?!" Ezekiel spat up in disbelief, then turned to Rai ready to go off, "How many times must we get it through yer heads, stop steal-"

"Dad no!" Pitori ran up and shook his arm, looking a little frightened to see him acting like this.

Ezekiel took deep breaths until the red was out of his face. Pitori then smiled and chuckled, "Yeah, some guys still do that, but nowadays we just use drones primarily to test out new ideas."

With the situation explained a bit further, Rai stepped in to add to the clarity, "Yeah, turns out if you strap a couple arms onto them, they make for safe and effective builders."

He then flicked his finger up towards Pitori and flashed a proud smile, "Your son actually came up with the idea."

Ezekiel then felt a right fool and looked his son in the eyes, completely in touch with both his pride and his own foolishness, "Y-Ya did...?"

Pitori tucked his hands into his pockets and leaned his waist back and forth while blushing.

Ezekiel let out a long grunt and then wagged his hand at Rai in a reprimanding manner, "Still, ya could try and stop the thieving entirely."

Rai rubbed the back of his head and admitted, "Iiii'm basically the leader in name only, to be honest...Ha ha ha..."

For the next few minutes Pitori continued to guide his dad around and explain the purpose behind all the buildings.

Ezekiel lost track of all the terms being flung at him after a while and got by on nodding along.

When it was finally over his boy was already one foot towards the next destination, "Now let me show you where we produce electricity!"

Along the way over there Ezekiel hung his head and pinched the space between his eyes, "I don't understand any of this, Cecilia."

He then looked at his son's back and flashed both pride and sorrow in his eyes, "He's movin' so far ahead, and I'm just draggin' me feet through the dirt to keep up."

Cecilia shrugged, "I don't understand much of this either. But I know he's happy that you're involving yourself in his new life here."

Ezekiel nodded, but bit his teeth and muttered, "I just...wish I could do more for 'em."

He couldn't really follow along with what his son was doing, so he wound up looking around at the people, and the stuff they had built here.

They were so harmless, like they couldn't even hurt a fly let alone another person.

Their worst offense had been stealing, and yet look what they had done with all that metal. Made homes, lights, and places where people can work to their heart's content.

He was finally seeing what the people of Pulsa Minoria were really like on the inside...

And what have his people been doing with all their metal? Making weapons of war, struggling to survive...

This weighed on his mind a lot and left him deaf to his son's explanation of how electricity worked off the generators.

"What do you think, dad?" His inquisitive probing woke him back up in reality, "Pretty cool, huh?"

Ezekiel paused for a while, knowing he was caught no matter what. So he just went for a simple route and bobbed his head, telling a little white lie, "O-Oh, sure...! The way it all whirrs and buzzes together. Very nice, boy."

Pitori then turned to the generators and propped his fists on his hip, a real shadow of his father's posture, "Someday...I'm going to make something just as revolutionary as these generators!"

Ezekiel gasped, his heart strung along by feelings of regret and happiness over his energy. His home lay elsewhere...but his boy's heart still breathed like a man of Oreore.

Pitori then swung his arms out and jerked back, "Oh no...! I just remembered!"

"E-Eh? What now?"

Pitori turned around and clenched his fists, "The thing...!"

"WHAT thing...?"

"The big thing I wanted to show you...! Come on, we need to go back to Mr. Valic's lab!" And just like that he was off and running.

"Oooookay?" Ezekiel had a bit of a headache from the constant mood swings over the last hour but kept his head high and followed his boy back to the lab.

Pitori tapped his knuckles against the door in a certain rhythm and that had the man approach the door in a somewhat more friendly tone, "Ah, back so soon?"

Once Valic opened the way, Pitori swooped right in and ran for his table, with Ezekiel entering first and the other two coming in close behind.

Valic sighed and grumbled, "Oh yes, please, just come right in..."

Ezekiel stood by and crossed his arms while his son dug into a small pile of parts, murmuring aloud as he did so, "Where did I put it...Ah! Here we go!"

The pile went tumbling all over the table as he went and turned out to present something to his dad atop both palms.

It was a bunch of metal strips curved to form a spiral around a metal rod, with a small raised groove at the back of the handle.

Pitori nudged it a couple times before his dad took it and, handling it with care, turned it around, dangled it, then looked at his son and shrugged, "What is it?"

"Hold the handle between your fingers, dad!"

When he tried that out, the spiral suddenly started spinning so fast it blurred together into one large piece of metal that exerted incredible force.

Ezekiel flinched and loosened his grip a little, while Pitori grinned and proclaimed, "It's an electric drill! Much stronger than a normal one!"

Pitori took the small model back and looked it over with a hint of embarrassment over his eagerness, "A-At least, I hope that'll be the case. This is just a prototype! I need a lot more metal to make a fully functional one."

"But when it's complete, it'll make it much easier for you and the other miners to dig out the tougher metals!"

Ezekiel's eyes remained wide and following a long pause, his son mustered up the courage to ask him, "So? W-What do you think?"

He heard it. Every single word.

And out came the tears, as he got on his knees, looked his boy in the eyes, and wrapped him against his body in a hug so he could whisper to him, "I think...ya can make anything ya put yer mind to, son."

Pitori hugged him back and whispered, "I will, dad...! This is my way of helping you out."

The two enjoyed each other's company and then pulled away. Pitori returned to his table, wanting to show some stuff off to his mom while Rai observed to explain the details.

All the while, Valic stood by with a pondering look on his face.

"Ahem...!" He coughed, grabbing Ezekiel's attention alone.

Ezekiel groaned and looked over his shoulder with a frown, "Is this really the appropriate time for a jab?"

Valic closed his eyes and crossed his arms behind his back, "May we speak together in private over here?"

Ezekiel was flabbergasted but then wandered over, joining him in the shadows.

Valic avoided eye contact as he spoke, "Let's make one thing perfectly clear...I do not like you. You're a loud-mouth, muscle-thick barbarian who has never cleaned his skin a day in his life."

Ezekiel was one step away from clobbering him.

However, Valic opened his eyes and despite all his hesitation, he showed a bit of tiredness towards his own comments at that moment, "...But I think the time for letting petty grudges impede progress has long since passed."

Ezekiel was stunned, then nodded his head in agreement, "Y'know, I was thinkin' pretty much the same thing."

He then crossed his arms firmly against his chest, "...Not too long back, I almost died...And when it was over, all I could think about was the stuff I'd have regretted not doin' if I were to bite it."

"All these years of listening to my brother urge me on to give peace a try between us, and all I threw were stones...and insults."

"...But yer people ain't so bad," Ezekiel then grinned and chuckled, "'Cept you, you're an arrogant blowhard one pound lost away from being swept up by a stiff breeze."

"Ha ha," Valic's reaction was surprising, "I've been re-evaluating my life a little too lately. You really don't understand how little you've given back until you've nearly lost it all."

After laughing a little more in a dry tone, Ezekiel narrowed his eyes and asked seriously, "So where do we go from 'ere?"

"We really don't need anything from your Tribe except for metal and the occasional copper. If you're willing to give us more to use, I'll try to nudge the other scientists into creating more powerful tools to help expedite your work."

"So keep it strictly business?"

"Well I don't see us becoming friends in ANY lifetime."

"Ha...! Yer right about that, ya small blowhard," Ezekiel then raised a brow and bobbed his head, "But...ya've earned a little of my respect for the way ya've helped my boy grow."

Valic closed his eyes and performed a short bow, "...Thank you."

He then smiled and nudged in Pitori's direction, "It has been an honor to help the future grow."

Taking a deep sigh, Ezekiel smiled and felt his tension melt away as he watched his son do the thing he loved the most...even if he didn't understand a damn thing about it.

Next Time: Impurity in Death