Arcane: Broken Mechanism

Sirion turned on the system, opening the design window again, and delved into studying the new possibilities.

"Engineering: Level 2 (1/20)Design: Level 2 (1/20)"

He mentally selected the image of a gear in the floating window in front of his eyes to examine the new possibilities of the system. With each new level, new possibilities should have come. With each level of the system, he could probably open some blueprints that could be useful in his dangerous work as a courier and creating a path to independence. But looking at the change window, he was disappointed.

"Congratulations, with this new level, you invent and create inventions faster by 1%"

Is that all? He rubbed his eyes and read the text on the table one more time... It was better than nothing, but there was still some sediment in his soul. He had already managed to imagine how he would become famous throughout the world thanks to inventions... But the speed of creating items is a good reward for a new level of Design and Engineering. Moreover, the system had already mentioned earlier that significant rewards would only open at levels 5 and 10, when he would be able to use the "Improvements" section and open the "Catalog".

He lay down on the bed with a quiet groan and grabbed his head. As the famous Russian meme says - "Your expectations, your problems?" He rolled over on his side and began to think about his own development. You can't just waste your free time, you need to create. An idea immediately came to mind to flatten all the wrenches he had created yesterday in the newly created metal press and use the materials obtained to create new ones.

"A stupid idea" - I need to create something truly useful that will help me in creating new things. He sat down on the bed and began to think. The flow of ideas even gave him a little headache. And suddenly he came up with the best option.

Getting out of bed, Sirion went to the new hiding place, where the wrenches he had recently made were stored. He carefully selected a few that he thought might be useful for the experiment. He walked over to the metal press and thought.

"If I can use this press to flatten the keys, they could be the basis for creating new materials. I just need to set up the mechanism correctly," Sirion thought, carefully placing one of the keys under the press.

He turned on the mechanism, watching the metal parts being compressed, turning them into flat blanks. The press worked without problems, squeezing the keys, leaving characteristic imprints on the metal. Each movement and each curved bend added to the overall process.

After several repetitions, he carefully examined the result. The resulting pieces of metal were much thinner and had a more uniform structure than before.

"Analysis.

Added to inventory:

- Metal sheets (recycled) - 9 units."

"Let's start by creating an equally useful device," he muttered, taking out a new sheet of paper. He decided to choose a welding machine project for himself.

"Material analysis... Insufficient resources: high-temperature alloy and insulated cable required."

Sirion frowned at the screen. He had already used most of his findings for previous projects.

"I'll have to go get some more," He left the room, trying not to attract attention to himself, and headed to the nearest place where he had seen a pile of garbage when he returned from the mission. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any suitable items. None of them were highlighted in yellow.

"Damn it," he thought, starting to carefully look around the surrounding areas under the disapproving and suspicious looks of people.

Sirion stopped at an open shop, examining its sign as it swayed in the wind. The place looked run-down: the paint was peeling, the windows were covered in a thin film of dust. Inside, behind a wooden counter, sat an elderly man with gray hair, lazily sorting through some metal. Sirion looked around the room. On the shelves stood jars of bolts, boxes of wires, pieces of rusty metal and many incomprehensible parts that had long since lost their shine.

"I hope I'll be lucky and everything I need will be here. That'll be useful for the money I earned," he thought, walking inside.

"How can I help you?" the old man asked in a hoarse voice, not taking his eyes off his work.

"Looking for something... suitable," Sirion answered evasively, so as not to reveal his intentions. "A couple of bolts, a cable and some other things, maybe I'll take a look around?" he asked the seller. The old man frowned, looking the boy over appraisingly.

"Go ahead, just don't pull any tricks, kid. I'm still pretty fast for my age," the old man said, nodding his head toward the shelves with things. Sirion nodded, pretending to be interested. He needed to look through everything as quickly as possible and choose materials that might fit the system. He walked around the counter, quickly scanning each item.

"Damn," and as luck would have it, none of the necessary items were highlighted in yellow.

He walked along the shelves a few more times under the attentive gaze of the seller, stubbornly hoping that he would be able to find the necessary items, but nothing was to be found. Disappointed, he turned toward the counter.

"If you can't find anything, then get lost," he said dryly in response to Sirion's look.

"I wanted to ask where I can get cable and high-temperature alloy," he asked the question directly.

"You've got a swing for the buck, lad, we don't sell those things whole here", - the shopkeeper grinned. - "Get out of here to the middle levels of Zaun, closer to the center. You'll find something there."

Sirion left the shop, feeling slightly disappointed. His hopes of finding everything he needed here had been dashed. The old man, though talkative, had nothing useful to offer.

"The middle levels of Zaun..." he thought, looking at the dim light in the distance. This meant that he would have to risk leaving his area. But his choice was limited. His resources were running low, and the system required new materials to advance.

Approaching the elevator, he paused, thinking. The risk was worth it if it would help him develop. On the other hand, more attention to himself meant a greater chance of falling under Finn's control.

"Come on, Sirion, this is just another step. You chose this path yourself." — He sighed, pushing away his anxious thoughts, and pressed the button to call the elevator. The cabin arrived with a rusty grinding sound. Inside, it smelled of machine oil and dampness — the typical smell of the lower levels of Zaun. — "There should be more shops in the center. More chances to find at least something."

The doors closed, and the elevator began to slowly rise. Sirion, leaning against the wall, looked at his hands, covered in small scratches and dirt from all his searching.

"If something goes wrong, we'll have to improvise. In the meantime, the main thing is not to attract unnecessary attention to myself."

He had only left his district a few times in all these days. And then only for missions and as unnoticed as possible. The elevator rose to the level he needed and Sirion stopped it.

Sirion stepped out of the elevator, feeling a little tense. The middle level of Zaun was strikingly different from his home district. There was a different atmosphere here: more lively, but also much more dangerous. The narrow streets were crowded with people: merchants were loudly calling out to passers-by, small groups were discussing something heatedly on the corners, and somewhere in the distance he could hear the sounds of welding and the clanking of metal. He tried to blend in with the crowd, pulling his hood up. "Don't attract attention. Don't look anyone in the eye." - he reminded himself of the rule that always saved him in such places.

The middle level of Zaun was indeed its heart - literally and symbolically. Here were the workshops where the devices that ensured the survival of the lower levels were created. And from what he had heard from Jerry's stories, there were no Chem-barons or chemical factories here. And in general, crime lords very rarely crossed this level. That was the policy. Of course, these were all just conditional rules that could be broken, but then there might be problems. What kind of problems, Jerry, of course, did not mention. But he had nothing to lose, he wasn't a crime lord, and he wasn't planning on stealing anything, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Sirion walked along a row of stalls selling all sorts of parts, cables, scrap metal, and strange chemicals. Most of them looked suspicious or even downright dangerous. All the vendors were calling out to him, but nothing in the row of goods attracted the necessary attention. He sighed and continued deeper into the center along the narrow streets. The rows of endless chests ended and he could finally see the architecture of the center.

Everything looked different here: the buildings were a little more solid than in the lower levels, although their shabby appearance still gave away the local atmosphere. Most of the buildings were covered in bright graffiti - from chaotic lines and tags to real works of art. Some of them depicted scenes from the life of Zaun, others - silhouettes of unknown figures or abstract patterns reminiscent of chemical formulas.

There was much more light here. At every step there were lanterns, light panels, and even neon signs. They cast colorful reflections on the streets, creating an illusory sense of life and celebration, but behind this colorfulness there were harsh realities.

"The place seems alive, but you shouldn't relax. Something bad can be waiting around every corner."

He continued walking along the streets for several dozen minutes, until finally his gaze stopped on one sign, and then his eyes opened in shock. Sirion froze, peering at the old sign above the door of a small store. On it, in slightly peeling, but still discernible letters, it said: " at Benzo's." His heart skipped a beat.

"This is impossible... But this is exactly the store I saw in the series," - images of the main characters flashed through his head, and one very stocky older man who was a very good friend of Vander. He carefully approached closer, as if afraid that all this would turn out to be a mirage. The door was half open, and from inside came the light creaking of mechanisms and muffled voices. Zauns, ordinary shops, did not have such an attractive aura. This place was part of the history of the series.

"Vander sometimes appears here, the main characters of the first act appeared here... And then it all ended...", he thought sadly. The ending of the first act was very shocking to him. To be honest, while watching, he expected that everything would end as usual - the heroes would get out and be saved. But he certainly did not expect that everyone except the sisters would die. Sirion took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He could not allow himself to show excitement or attract unnecessary attention.

"Maybe this is where I can find what I need. But the main thing is to act as if I were just another customer." He stepped inside.