Chapter 3: Gearing Up Shipping Out (Synopsis)
D is for Dinosaurs (part 1) 4/27/25
A.C.E. Is waiting for Dicer to arrive and pulls up a void with a clock in it to check the time. Dicer appears, trotting up to A.C.E. and asks what they are doing today for his trial. A.C.E. Says they are potentially going on a trip but before Dicer can ask any questions A.C.E. Holds up his hand and produces a liability waiver. A.C.E. Explains that where they are going is potentially hazardous and because his colleagues say so, Dicer will have to sign the waiver before getting started (less A.C.E. will be buried in paperwork forever should something happen.)
Diver skims the paperwork, and balks a bit at words like “incase of death and/or dismemberment” he questions A.C.E. on this and he says he can’t assure anything for legal reasons and already got in trouble last night for the training incident. Dicer stares a bit longer at the sheet but ultimately thinks he will be fine probably and signs the paper. A.C.E. Take the waiver and put it away for safekeeping in a void. He then waves Dicer along to follow him as he heads up to the Citadel.
They get in an elevator and Dicer asks again where they are going and A.C.E. says Ark Light received a request to retrieve a left-behind egg from an abandoned lab in the Ameritol Islands. Dicer says that that sounds like a fun adventure and wonders if a lot of A.C.E.’s job involves finding things. A.C.E. replies that he does sometimes, but he and the other Faction leaders help share the responsibility depending on who is more suited for the situation. He goes on to mention that this would normally be the job of the Clubs Faction, but that seat is currently empty so they try and make do.
Dicer hints at the job spot availability and A.C.E. tells him nice try but that position is actually filled by a majority faction leader vote. Dicer embarrassingly says he was just joking and changes the subject as to how they will get to the Ameritol Islands for this quest - since he remembers it being pretty far away on the map. A.C.E. replies that they are going to take Airship as the elevator makes a sudden turn and starts traveling horizontally away from the Citadel. Dicer looks out to see they are approaching a separate floating building that he can't say he noticed before. He asks what that building is called to which A.C.E. says it is home to the Citadels R&D department - but is also known as the “Junk Pit” as the doors open to a large instral type room that is filled ceiling high with scrapped metal parts and lit pretty poorly with edison lights.
They get out of the elevator and Dicer follows A.C.E. though the virtual maze and he wonders how anyone can find anything in there and how much different it is compared to the rest of the Citadel. They eventually reach what seems to be the center of the room where a man with purple hair and a lab coat (Rin) is having a tea break while a bigger man with wild orange hair (Kalib) toiles away at a workbench.
Rin spots them and stands up to greet Dicer, mentioning that he is glad to see Dicer is feeling better. Dicer shakes his hand but is questioning this and Rin explains that he's not surprised Dicer doesn't remember him. Through a flashback we see that A.C.E. had brought Dicer to him first when he was knocked out during their first encounter that Rin was the one to get him set up in the infirmary and make sure that he was on the road to recovery. Dicer gets embarrassed and thanks him for his help, but Rin lets him know it’s no trouble since he saw what was going to happen in advance due to his ability Future Site.
Diver imagines all sorts of cool things he could do with that ability, but Rin laughs him off because he doesn't want that much responsibility and is happy just being a simple scientist and the R in the R&D department. Speaking of - he guesses they are there to see Kalib about a vehicle and goes and snaps the other man out of his creative tunnel vision. The man looks up from his work and greets the two, asking if A.C.E. finally took on a partner. A.C.E. denies, but replies that they are on a trial period right now while Rin just says to give them time as he sports a sly smile.
A.C.E. tries to get them back on track and explains to Kalib they need to borrow an airship. Kalib says it's not a problem to give him a little time to check it over since it hasn't flown in a while. A.C.E. looks a bit betrayed and questions Rin that if he knew they were coming could he have advocated for the maintenance to have been done in advance and Rin simply replies that Kalib was busy prior and it is useless trying to pull him away from a task once he's “in the flow”. Something about this statement doesn't make sense to A.C.E. and he senses that Rin has an ulterior motive but lets it go with a huff just assuming the man is dodging work again and says he can help Kalib with the vehicle check.
The four of them head to the far end of the Junk Pit where the piles give way to an air hangar where the airship sits among other larger air crafts of Kalibs making. A.C.E. splits off with Kalib while Rin hangs back to talk to Dicer a bit.
He asks Dicer a series of easy questions as if he doesn't already know the answers to them all, but Dicer kindly answers them all as he gets distracted looking at the junk piles since he has some time to focus on them. Rin follows the other around as he skirts the mountains of parts and explains to Dicer that the piles over here are for bits and pieces that Kalib collected from who knows where. Dicer however, is fascinated and expresses that he finds a lot of the broken bits cool and interesting. Rin picks up an old style broken coo-coo clock and humors the other by saying that the other is right and that it “IS pretty interesting”.
Dicer is immediately fascinated with the clock Rin is holding and asks about it, but Rin just says that he hasn't seen many of them and doesn't know about them, but guesses that such a thing can't be fixed - yet he hands it over to Dicer and asks his opinion.
Dicer gets a concentrated and determined look on his face as he looks at it and then announces he thinks he saw some of the missing parts that go to it in one of the other piles. Diver hands back the clock and starts rooting around in the refuse of parts. After a few minutes and a lot of clanging sounds Dicer re-emerges with his arms filled with odds and ends that Rin can immediately see do NOT go to the clock but says nothing about that.
Dicer sits on the ground with his amended pile and the clock and starts crudely trying to piece it back together. Rin leans against one of the bigger piles as he watches the boy and winces a little every time Dicer tries to shove a gear in place that Rin could have sworn was entirely too big for the delicate inner workings of coo-coo only for it to somehow fit like a glove. After a bit, and some trial and error on Dicer's part, a big smile broke across his face as he held up the clock triumphantly as it began to tick again. Rin concealed his surprise well and was about to ask a follow up question about it but he was interrupted by Kalib yelling for them to come back over to the airship just as he was about to do so.
Kalib announced loudly that everything looks good and that the ship is good to go and Dicer and Rin abandon what they are doing to head back to where the other two are. Kalib re-assures everyone that the Ship will make it there and back without any issues but to send Dicer back if there is an issue. A.C.E. nods and asks Dicer if he's ready to go. Dicer confirms he is and the two thank the R&D department for the help and promise to bring them back a souvenir before climbing into the ship.
Rin and Kalib wave them off as the ship takes off and disappears out of sight. The two start making their way back to their previous stations but Rin takes a small detour before catching back up to Kalib. Rin had scooped up the clock Dicer was working on and gives it a once over. He explains on their walk that he did not foresee it ever becoming fixed before asking Kalib to check it out.
Kalib opens it to find the insides all messed up and states that it’s a miracle that it is running at all and passes it back to Rin. Kalib supposes that Rin might not have seen it be fixed because it is not really “fixed” at all - and that whatever magic is holding it together won't last. The clock itself seemingly confirms that as one of the gears pops out.
Rin chuckles a bit and assumes that Kalib is right. He then expresses that it is a nice clock and it would be a waste if it were to stop working now since Dicer had seemed so proud of it. He holds it back out to Kalib and asks if the other could fix it properly for him.
Kalib remarks that Rin was always the thoughtful one between them two and agrees to fix the clock. As they start moving again Kalib muses that even if it was not truly fixed, it was nice to see it working again and that it was fortunate that Dicer had focused on it because otherwise it might never have been truly looked at otherwise.
Rin pauses for a moment realizing something, but simply remarks with a smile that “ it certainty is lucky - very lucky indeed.” before seemingly dropping the matter entirely and suggesting they should get some lunch together.
Chapter end (part 1)
