Fixing Gadgets

Zal returned to Batustone after parting ways with Ina and headed straight to Eddie's Pawnshop. The sun had already set by the time he arrived, casting long shadows along the cobblestone streets. As he pushed the door open, the familiar chime rang out, and Eddie looked up from behind his counter, surprised.

"You're back?" Eddie raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be off to Avaros by now."

Zal strolled in casually, giving a slight shrug. "Unfortunately, the ride to Avaros won't be available for another three days."

Eddie chuckled dryly, folding his arms. "Seems it's not your lucky day."

Zal smirked. "Nah, It's fine. I found something to keep me busy."

He reached into his bag and pulled out the items Ina had given him: the broken alarm lamp, the microcontroller board, and the sheet of binary code. Eddie adjusted his glasses, leaning forward to get a better look.

"Who gave you all this junk?" Eddie asked, intrigued.

"Ms. Ina," Zal replied, laying the items on the counter.

Eddie scoffed. "Let me guess, she wants you to fix them?"

Zal nodded, and Eddie's eyes narrowed when he saw the sheet covered in 1s and 0s. He let out a small chuckle. "Looks like she's messing with you, kid."

"Maybe," Zal replied, unfazed. "But messing with me or not, I've found something interesting to tinker with."

Eddie sighed, shaking his head with a wry grin. "Well, do whatever pleases you, I suppose."

Zal glanced around the shop. "Mind if I borrow your tools again?"

Eddie gave a lazy wave of his hand. "Sure, take what you need. It's late anyway. You're not planning on leaving, are you?"

"Actually…" Zal began, "would it be alright if I stayed here and worked on these? I'll be out of your hair before you know it."

Eddie glanced at the clock on the wall, then back at Zal, giving him a stern look. "Fine, just don't blow up my shop."

Zal smiled slightly. "No promises, but I'll try to keep the explosions to a minimum."

Eddie chuckled, clearly joking. "Oh, and don't bother with offering me help around here in return. I'd rather not have anyone move my stuff around. I've got my own system, and it works."

Zal nodded, understanding Eddie's quirks. He grabbed the tools he needed and settled at a table in the corner of the shop. It wasn't long before he was completely absorbed in the work before him.

He began with the alarm lamp, carefully prying it open to inspect the internal mechanisms. His fingers moved with practiced precision, untangling wires and aligning components that had been out of place. Eddie, sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper, kept glancing over at him, curious, though he didn't interfere. In less than fifteen minutes, Zal had the lamp functioning again, its light flickering back to life.

The microcontroller board was next. Zal picked it up with a sense of nostalgia. The layout, the circuits, the way it was designed—it reminded him of something he once used in a past life to build a sidekick robot named Roy.

Artificial Intelligence…

The thought struck him suddenly, and he immediately thought of Ellen. She was, after all, a machine—intelligent, adaptable, and capable of human-like interactions. It clicked in his mind that Ellen wasn't just any automaton. She was an incredibly advanced AI.

"Say, Ellen... You're an AI, aren't you?" Zal asked in his mind.

"Answer: Yes. Not just any ordinary AI, however. I'm built on a complex AI foundation," Ellen responded. "My creator designed me to constantly learn and evolve."

Zal's eyes lit up at the revelation. Whoever had created Ellen must have been a master of AI engineering—far beyond anything Zal had ever encountered in his previous world.

With a renewed sense of focus, Zal dove back into the microcontroller. The work took longer this time, as he meticulously examined every component. He spent over three hours tracing the connections, pinpointing the faults, and making delicate adjustments to restore the board to its proper state. His movements were precise, almost surgical, as he brought the piece of technology back to life.

It was around this time that the door to Eddie's shop swung open with a loud creak. A man strode in, his presence immediately unsettling. He had dark, slicked-back purple hair and wore black armor that glinted ominously in the dim light. Without so much as a greeting, he slammed a handful of coins onto the counter in front of Eddie.

"Information," the man said in a gruff voice, clearly not one for pleasantries.

Eddie, unfazed, glanced at the money before lazily lifting his eyes to the man. "Information, huh? What kind?"

The rude man glanced briefly at Zal, who was hunched over his work, completely engrossed. "Who's the gray-haired guy over there?"

Eddie didn't even bother turning his head. "Not someone worth your attention."

The man grunted in annoyance but didn't push the matter further. Instead, he leaned forward, continuing his inquiry with Eddie, while Zal, undisturbed, kept working. Zal was aware of him and maintained a composed mind. He felt that he was the type of person to invite trouble, so he had his guards up.

Before long, the purple-haired man's patience, already thin, snapped as he turned toward Zal and yelled, "Oi! Gray-hair! Scram! I don't want any outsiders sticking their nose where it doesn't belong."

Eddie's face hardened, but his tone remained cool. "Watch your mouth, stranger. This is my shop."

The man, clearly not one to be reasoned with, stepped forward and jabbed a finger at Eddie. "Don't tell me what to do, old man! I don't want MY source of information that I pay using MY money be heard by some irrelevant fool for free!"

Zal, not particularly interested in escalating the situation, glanced at Eddie briefly. "Chill. I'll head to the back for a bit." He gathered the microcontroller board he'd been working on and calmly disappeared behind the counter, leaving the situation behind. The purple-haired man muttered something under his breath as Zal walked off but didn't push the issue further.

Ten minutes of heated whispers followed between the rude mercenary and Eddie. When the man finally left, his arrogance showed through his actions—flicking a coin into the air and walking out without closing the door. Eddie sighed and made his way to the entrance, muttering curses as he pulled the door shut behind him.

With the shop quiet once more, Zal reappeared from the back, setting the microcontroller back down on the counter. "Quite a fiery guy, huh. Who is he anyway?"

Eddie shrugged, waving a hand dismissively. "Achh, some weirdo from a sketchy mercenary group. Best not to get involved with their type."

Zal gave a nod of acknowledgment, though his thoughts lingered on the encounter. Something felt off about the man, but Zal had more pressing matters to attend to. He settled back in, focusing once more on the delicate circuitry before him.

It was getting late. Eddie stretched and yawned, scratching his head. "I'm heading to bed. You can crash on the couch if you want."

"Got it," Zal replied, still hunched over the small components in front of him. Eddie sauntered off, leaving Zal alone in the dim light of the shop.

By the time Eddie's snores filled the room from the back, Zal had completed the physical repairs on the microcontroller board. He studied it, the faint glow of his internal interface confirming it was good as new. The next step was reprogramming it, but without a computer or any external tools, Zal found himself at a loss for a moment.

That's when Ellen's voice echoed into his mind.

"Zal, you can reprogram it directly. Just use the tip of your fingers," she chimed in casually.

Zal blinked in confusion. "How on earth do you know that?"

There was a pause before Ellen responded, her tone flat. "I'm connected to your core. I've been gradually uncovering features about your body. It's quite versatile, actually. Even I don't have some of the things you've got."

Zal smirked. "Neat. You should've told me sooner. Let's get on to it, then!"

Ellen proceeded to explain the process of how Zal could interface with the microcontroller, and with a quick glance to ensure Eddie was still asleep, Zal quietly placed his index finger on the power port of the board. A tiny jolt of energy passed from his fingertip into the circuitry, and in an instant, streams of data flooded his vision.

Lines of code scrolled in front of his eyes—more than 500 lines. It felt overwhelming at first, the information downloading directly into his mind in a way that was both invasive and unsettling. Still, Zal pushed through the discomfort, quickly understanding the program's structure and purpose. What surprised him most was that the programming language was familiar, something he instinctively recognized and had mastery over.

"Okay," Zal muttered under his breath, flexing his fingers. "Let's see what we can do here."

With Ellen guiding him, Zal began reprogramming the microcontroller. He never touched any keyboard to put in his codes – he typed it purely in his mind. After Ellen finished teaching him the basics, she let Zal decide on what to program next. The edges of Zal's lips extended. He immediately worked at an extraordinary pace, removing the previous program and typing new lines of code as if it were second nature. The sensation was surreal, as though his body and mind had been built for this specific purpose. Ellen watched in silent amazement as Zal crafted a simple, yet elegant program.

When he finished, he let out a small chuckle, his grin widening. "What do you think?"

Ellen responded, her tone a mixture of surprise and admiration. "Standby, analyzing. Analysis complete. Conclusion: That program is… robust. It's simple, but the level of optimization is beyond anything I've seen from standard automaton programming. Question: Who taught you this?"

Zal's grin softened. "Well, this sort of thing is basically the stuff I did when I was human. Though, it feels really weird to program something and not use any tool to type the codes."

With the microcontroller successfully reprogrammed, Zal turned his attention to the final piece on Eddie's workbench: a sheet of paper covered in binary numbers—lines upon lines of 1s and 0s. He picked it up, running his fingers over the smooth surface. There was only one thing that came to mind: it was an encrypted code.

A new puzzle, Zal thought, his curiosity piqued. Time to crack it.