"Closure, why must you make me do this? You were spared before, I wished you would take that chance to change."
Scout was dumbfounded at the scene happening. There was a ring of people all of them taking a knee as if talking to nobility. In the center lay two people, first was Closure who was also taking a knee. Then there was Apollo, in hand was a wooden sword, something you would see in sword training.
"We live in a closed society, Closure, and we have all ruled that you will be demoted from head of the engineering department to my assistant."
There was slight movement from the others at those words.
"Yes, Chief Engineer Apollo." They all said in Unison.
Scout pulled out his napkin and alcohol once again to clean his goggles to make sure he isn't losing his mind at what's happening. After reconfirming that this was reality and understanding the meaning behind Kal'tsit's words he stepped forward.
"Y'all should wrap this up, Kal'tsit is coming down here in a few minutes." Of course those words were a lie.
Those words alone caused a slight frenzy between everyone. Similar to how children are trying to clean up the house when their parents are in the driveway, they all scrambled to get back to their work space.
All of them had different expressions but all of them had fear in them for the demon like scolding from Kal'tsit. They all know how heavy handed Kal'tsit can be at times. They all remember the time when Kal'tsit reduced Closure's pay for a month causing her to eat cheap noodles and not being able to pay for her various dramas she liked to watch.
In a matter of seconds the engineering department went from a large scale comedy skit back to building, and fixing machines. Apollo pushed the wooden sword into his chest and headed for the exit. Closure could be seen walking towards her office, Scout followed behind her. Her workspace is infamous for being covered in finished soda cans, and plates with food remains. However, the thing that surprises Scout was seeing Mechanist with her staring at something.
"Mechanist are you free by any chance? I need you to repair my crossbow." Scout walked towards the duo.
Mechanist looked up to give a quick glance at Scout's crossbow. His disordered appearance and deep eye bags were clear for everyone to see. "Sure. Give me 5"
Scout could only wish that Mechanist would get some sleep, quality or not. He turned his attention to what both of them were observing to find a small sphere under a machine Closure uses to study objects.
Mechanist runs his hand through his hand hair restlessly, a lot more than someone who barely sleeps should.
"It's like Nian's stuff." He said.
"So I'm not going crazy then because I thought the same. Actually it may be worse because at least with Nian's stuff I feel like I'm making some progress." Closure's shoulders slumped down. "Whatever this is, I can't seem to make any progress on it."
"What are you looking at this time? I've never seen you look this defeated since Nian strolled in here."
Closure faced Scout. "We are studying Apollo's spheres, I made sure that it doesn't hit anything too hard so it doesn't expand. I've been studying it for the last few days but to no success."
"She even sent it to workshop 3 and 6." Mechanist injected.
"Yep, and they are in the same boat as us." Closure walked towards a chair and sat down defeated.
"You guys have fun with that. Mechanist, I'll leave my crossbow on your desk."
"Loud and clear."
Scout left the room to the devices of two brilliant minds.
The Ark
As the sunsets changed the world from its orange-reddish hue to that of a dark black of midnight. Apollo could be seen walking through the halls with his casual expression he was known for. He planned to head towards the cafeteria since the hour break between the day and night shift workers is about to end. On his way towards the closest cafeteria which was within walking distance he got there a little early so he decided to camp outside by taking a seat on the floor. A certain energy could be sensed moving towards him.
"Ah I see. I fellow camper"
Apollo turned towards the voice and found a woman's pale face mere inches away from him. Her blue eyes seemed to match the morning sky which contrasted with the red eye liner she had on, the bottom half of her mouth was covered with a red fan. Apollo in his infinite wisdom took this as a sort of contest, so he moved closer in response to where the only thing keeping them apart was said fan.
The energy the woman was giving off was faint, easy to miss. However it was clear that it was an energy that at one point he had a deep hatred for, an energy he was familiar with from his visits to the engineering department.
"I assume you're the infamous Nian? The one who caused the engineering department an unbearable headache." A small smile formed on his face.
"The one and only, and you are?" Returning the gesture with a small smile of her own.
Apollo standing up causes Nian's eyes to widen at the height difference between the two. Apollo stuck his hand out.
"My name is Apollo Kotomine, I'm the new logistics operator. That large bunch of walking homunculi is my art that I use to deliver stuff around the landship."
Stars could be seen glittering in Nian's eyes at the information, she grasped Apollo's hand. "You have been a godsend, things I needed to get for me and the others are a lot quicker than before. At our next stop I'll buy you lunch."
"I'll take you up on that offer sometime."
The duo found themselves sitting at a table in the cafeteria once it opened. They kept talking about whatever came to mind while they both devoured some of the hottest dishes Rhodes Island provided casually.
"Nian, so which workshop are you in currently?"
"I'm not in any workshop, actually I'm not hired by Rhodes Island. I'm living here and enjoying life."
"So you're a freeloader."
"Freeloader is too negative, I like to say I'm living here rent free. Plus I do help the engineering department so I'm not doing nothing thank you very much."
"What do you help them with if you don't mind me asking?"
Nian pulled out a piece of paper. "I help them out with blueprints like these, provide them with rare materials and observe them when they try to understand my tools."
"Sounds funny. Have you caused Closure pain too?" Apollo asked, cocking his eyebrow.
"Of course." Nian replied with a small smile.
"Call me, I must see Closure when this happens." Apollo said.
"You're a sadist." Nian pointed out.
"Also a masochist ." Apollo said, using one finger to point at Nian. "Either way, I want to ask if I take a shot at understanding one of your tools?"
Nian tilted her head. "Why? You aren't in the engineering department and not trying to be rude but the guys in the engineering department for as much as I clown on them, they are all talented. Not sure if you could understand it."
"I'm offended that you think that." Apollo faked tears.
"Don't make this seem like I'm the bad guy!" Nian pointed aggressively at Apollo. "I thought masochists like being insulted." Nian's eyes narrowed as if she was getting slightly annoyed. She dug into her coat again and pulled out a pair of chopsticks with a dragon design on them. "These chopsticks are made out of the same material that is causing the engineering team trouble." Nian pulled out her fan and covered the bottom half of her face. "Come back to me when you've given up."
Apollo looked at the chopsticks and just like Nian herself, a small amount of divine energy could be sensed coming from them. "Hey Nian, what is your opinion on gods?"
An invisible question mark appeared on Nian's head as she tilted it. "Weird question, but I don't really mind gods. It really just depends on the god, some are better than others in terms of their personality."
Apollo only ate as she answered the question. "You say it as if gods are real."
Nian closed her fan. "You think they aren't?"
After Apollo finished the late bite of his food he stood up and looked at Nian. "If I believed that they didn't exist then I wouldn't be eating with you." He grabbed the chopsticks and walked away.
"Before you leave, tell me your opinion on gods?" Nian leaned forward.
Nian was expecting an answer right away. 'He's a pretty blunt guy, I can already imagine how he and my siblings will get along.' Nian thought this but what happened was surprising to say the least.
"You'll have to pry that one out of me." Apollo dug into his chest and pulled out a homunculus sphere, then proceeded to toss it to Nian. "Try to understand how it works. Closure and some others are secretly trying to understand it, don't tell them I know that. Closure will be scared shitless." With that Apollo exited the cafeteria.
Nian was left alone as she took her last bites of her spicy chill dish. It could be that since her place of origin was abnormal along with who her progenitor was, she and her siblings are sensitive to different types of energy. She looked at the sphere Apollo had given her and noticed something. From the orb while faint a white substance could be seen coming off the sphere, it resembled steam. This applied to Apollo himself, specifically near his chest but the energy was still rather faint as if he was suppressing it.
"This is gonna be fun." Nian's hands could be seen spazzing out. "At the end of the day whether they are human, demon, or god. Smithing with something new is always fun." Nian got up and left the cafeteria with a wide smile on her face.
The Ark
"I guess no matter where I am, I'll always find myself in one of these." Apollo could only look forward at the large cross in the front of the church in the landship. "This ship really does provide everything, I can only imagine the things we would use for back home."
'Before you leave, tell me your opinion on gods.' Nian's question was played on repeat for the last hour in Apollo's head. Apollo reached into his chest and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, he was never a fan of smoking. "This was her favorite brand."
Upon looking at the small box written in Greek various memories of the woman who smoked these played with Nian's question repeating similar to a montage you would see in a old school movie. The memories soon started to overlap with reality. An uncomfortable feeling started to erupt deep within him. A deep fog filled up Apollo's eyes as he fell deeper into his daze. He opened the box to see the inside of the untouched page of cigarettes.
"I know I shouldn't pick up bad habits." A deep breath entered and escaped Apollo. "The one god I considered my family, where are you, where are you Hermes?"
Footsteps could be heard approaching Apollo.
"I'm glad to see you here. I assume you are free currently?"
Apollo took a deep breath. "Of course I'm free Kal'tsit, I'm lazy just like Closure." Apollo cracked a smile as if nothing happened just a moment ago.
Kal'tsit took a seat. "Your positive attitude to everything is certainly a welcome change of pace after all the paperwork."
"So what do you need to ask the one and only for?" Apollo asked as he fiddled with his cross.
"You will be sent on another mission. This time in the country of Minos, you can research more about it in the library." Kal'tsit explained.
Apollo looked towards Kal'tsit seeing her eye bags. He reached into his chest and pulled out an energy drink he stored from his time in Ursus, he tossed it towards Kal'tsit. "Firstly get some energy in your system, secondly what is this mission about?"
Kal'tsit opened the drink and took a sip. "It's an escort/bodyguard operation. You will be gone for two weeks if things go as planned."
"But I'm not a combat operator, I'm just a really good mailman." Apollo expressed. "Are you trying to get me killed?"
"Is it fair to assume that you can use magecraft for support? I remember you enhanced Ifrit's flames with seemingly a simple spell." Kal'tsit asked before taking another sip.
"I can." Already knowing where this conversation is heading he understood that he couldn't argue back.
"Then you are a good choice. " Kal'tsit replied.
"Do you have a camera I could use?" Apollo asked.
"We have plenty, why do you need one?" Kal'tsit inquired.
"I still have a class to teach but since I'll be gone I will record what I plan to teach and they already know what to do if they have questions." Apollo replied while imagining how painful this mission will be.
"I'm glad I didn't have to bring up the issue with your class." Kal'tsit stood up from her seat. "It seems placing you in charge wasn't a bad choice so far."
A smug smile started to form on Apollo's face. "I told you I will never disappoint."
"Have a good night Apollo." Kal'tsit left the church not with a smile but with a expression of satisfaction.