The Legendary Junkmaster

It was still early morning when Harry led Jason to the building where he could fill out the forms to register his business and buy the right to a low-level shop. However, Jason became stuck on the part of the forum that asked him for his company's name. Harry glanced over his shoulder and spotted where his problem was.

"Don't you already have a name?" Harry exclaimed in shock as he stared at the handwritten form.

"Yeah, I know. I should have thought about it." Jason rolled his eyes at his grandfather's outburst.

"No. Ah, aren't you aware what the stall owners are calling your tools when they sell them?" Harry sounded exasperated as he rubbed his temples with his meaty hands.

"What?" Jason replied with shock as he digested this information. It seemed like his current business partners had already named his business without his permission.

"Damn it, kid! I thought you named it! Ah, well. You're just going to have to go with it now. Otherwise, it will cause confusion later on." Harry sighed helplessly as he realised that he may have more work to do than he imagined.

"So, what name are they using then?" Jason's eyebrows arched as he stared at the old man. In truth, he was slightly curious about it.

"They're calling your creations Star Gear. On account of that nice little symbol you came up with." Harry replied helplessly.

"Star Gear, huh? That's actually not too bad." Jason replied with a pensive expression before filling the name out on the form. He had no problems with using that, and at least it would be easy to identify his symbol with his business name now.

He actually felt like finding and thanking whoever came up with it. He was sure that it could have ended up as something terrible with his own poor taste in naming sense. Jason smiled ruefully as he handed the completed form to the woman behind the desk. After checking to make sure that he had not missed anything, the woman handed over the keys to the store that he had bought.

Only buildings that were still entirely secure and had no easy access were reserved to be used as stores. Jason had lucked out and managed to purchase a small industrial unit that had been fitted to work on cars back in the old world. Although he had no idea about this, Jason happened to like the building's look and felt that it fitted his needs.

They would have to put up a wall to separate his workshop from the storefront, but just about everything else could be kept. Jason was ecstatic as he led his grandfather to his new store, which was only a short walk from their apartment. The streets were busy as most people were only just preparing to leave the town for the day to earn some cash.

Although Jason had plants do the same, he wanted to get a better look at his purchase. Especially its interior so that he could figure out what he would need to get to bring it into working condition. There were several long buildings in this area of town, and each one had either three or four large doors that were left open to reveal stores inside.

Most of these places dealt with making or fixing clothes. Several others specialised in different food products, and one of them was the most famous bar in Highrise! Which was not actually anything to brag about since it was also the only bar in town. Jason inhaled deeply as he stood before his unit with bright eyes. His hands shook with nerves as he made his way to the rusted metal door.

There were clear signs that the units old locking system had been replaced with the one the town's administration used. This was to be expected. Apart from that, Jason was happy to see that his unit did not show any obvious signs of too much deterioration. Without much thought, Jason inserted the key and turned it. A loud click came from the lock, and he excitedly tried to pull it.

"Huh? Why won't it open? Is it jammed?" Jason was puzzled as he had been assured that it was in working condition before he bought the right to use the place. Just then, he heard a slight laugh coming from the unit next to his. "What's so funny?"

"Ah! Forgive me. It's always funny when people buy a place like this for the first time." A boy around Jason's age replied as he walked over. "Yo! I'm Adam. Nice to meet you. Guess we'll be neighbours from now on."

Jason studied the scrawny boy dressed in an old ripped black t-shirt and jeans that had seen better days. A leather apron hung over his front, and his long brown hair was tied in a man bun. There was a warmth in his brown eyes that made Jason realise that he meant no harm from laughing at him.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." Jason shook the boy's hand as his gaze went back to the door. "So, how do you open this thing?"

"It's no biggie. You open it like this." Adam chuckled as he took hold of the handle and pulled it upwards. The door lifted vertically off the ground before withdrawing partially inside the building. Resting on its mechanism, what had been the outward-facing part of the door now sat horizontally to the ceiling within.

Jason could not help himself but immediately move to study how it worked. His eyes gleamed as he looked at the system and tried to think of ways that he could use something similar. He was so lost in his thoughts he failed to notice that Adam was still standing there with a strange expression on his face.

"What is it?" Jason asked with a curious voice when he realised the teenager was still there.

"Ah, it's nothing, man. I just didn't; 't know that doors were so interesting." Adam laughed as he had never wondered how the doors actually worked. He only cared that they could open and close! "So, you the old man's apprentice or what?"

Jason's eyes followed the direction that Adam jabbed his thumb in to see his Gramps still waiting outside. It was then that he realised that Adam seemed to have a misunderstanding. 'He's probably an apprentice next door and thinks we can get along since we should be on the same social level.' Jason sighed when he realised he had already overtaken most people his own age.

"Nah. That's my Gramps. He's just here to run the store for me while I take of business." Jason did not mind correcting Adam's mistake. At least that way, Adam would not make a fool out of himself later if he said something stupid.

"Yeah, funny joke, my man." Adam stepped inside and slapped Jason on the shoulder before whistling as he took a look around. He noticed a few big hooks hanging from the ceiling and frowned. "So what kind of business are you guys in? I hope your not butchers; otherwise, we'll end up as competitors instead of friends."

"It's not a joke. I'm an inventor, and this is really my store." Jason replied with anger evident in his tone. "Who gave you the right to barge into my place like that?"

"Woah! Easy there!" Adam held his hands up in a sign of surrender. He was aware that he must have touched a soft spot. "It's just. You know. Who would believe that someone our age managed to get the funds necessary to open their own shop? I didn't mean anything by it."

Adam's apology allowed Jason to calm down somewhat before he suddenly fixed his eyes on the youth. "Wait. You said you're a butcher?"

"Yeah, I've been apprenticed to my old man for years now. Hopefully, he'll start paying me more soon." Adam sighed in response as Jason fell deep into thought.

"Does your shop take custom orders? Like, if I brought you a certain creature, would you be able to skin it or remove the organs that I need?" Jason asked as he suddenly had an idea in his head.

"Well, sure. I guess. My old man would probably want all of the meat as payment, though. If you just want certain parts, then he'd probably be getting the better end of that deal anyway." Adam seemed to think about something before exclaiming in shock. "Wait! Do you make armour too?"

Jason smiled without giving any response. He was indeed fishing for a way to work with his neighbours to increase the quality of any armour that he would make in the future. If he were to collect the animal parts himself, there was a chance that his untrained hands could ruin what he was after.

"Hey! If we help you with this… Do you think you could make me a set of armour?" Adam did not dare to look Jason in the eyes as he asked for this favour.

'Don't tell me. This guy wants to enter the Guardian competition as well?' Jason groaned deeply as he realised that he might just have another Dani on his hands.