The Great Workshop and the Eccentric Foreman

The guard led Yanaki and her party inside the Great Workshop. If it was noisy outside, the inside was a symphony of organized chaos. Giant steam-powered pistons pounded in a steady rhythm, providing a deep, percussive beat for the entire factory. Sparks from dozens of welding torches flared up like fireworks. Players and NPCs in grease-stained protective gear hurried back and forth, some carrying metal plates, others pushing minecarts filled to the brim with components.

The air was scorching hot and thick with the smell of metal. Sylva seemed uncomfortable, automatically standing closer to Yanaki. In contrast, Volt's blue eyes continuously scanned everything—the machine parts, the active contraptions—for it, this was paradise.

The guard led them to a raised platform in the center, from which one could observe the entire workshop. Standing there was a woman, yelling into a megaphone with one hand while gesticulating wildly at a giant blueprint with the other.

That was Foreman Rory. She looked quite young, her fiery red hair tied back carelessly in a ponytail, her beautiful face smudged with grease. She wore a thick leather apron, and one of her arms had been replaced with a brass mechanical one, its small gears quietly turning.

"Foreman," the guard reported. "This kid fixed the Steam Flea with the busted pressure circuit in under ten minutes."

Rory turned off the megaphone and looked Yanaki up and down. "Oh? A talented little mouse, are we?" she said, her voice hoarse but full of energy.

She didn't look easily convinced. Her sharp gaze swept over Yanaki's party. "There's no room for freeloaders here. I have a problem, and my flock of amateur mechanics can't solve it. You dare to try?"

Rory pointed to a corner of the workshop, where a giant automaton, nearly five meters tall, was partially assembled. "That's the 'Steam Giant' Model S-2, our new pride and joy. But its pressure regulator keeps failing during test runs. I don't need you to fix it completely. I want you to find out why it's failing. Find the flaw in the blueprint."

She tossed Yanaki a data slate. "If you can do it, I'll give you an official position in the Guild and access to our low-level resources. If you can't, get out."

This was a test, a job interview in the true style of the Steam Guild. And it played perfectly to Yanaki's strengths.

"I'll try," she replied.

Yanaki took the data slate and approached the Steam Giant. This wasn't a problem that could be solved just by looking at the machine. She needed her unique skills.

She placed a hand on the machine's cold metal shell. "Elara, can you 'read' what happened to it? The previous repair attempts?"

Elara floated over, placing her ethereal hand next to Yanaki's. A series of fragmented images appeared in Yanaki's mind: images of other mechanics struggling with the same component, tightening a bolt too much, connecting a pipe incorrectly—all their failed efforts were replayed for her.

Next, Yanaki turned to Volt. "Volt, connect to its diagnostic port. Give me all the raw data."

Her automaton complied instantly. A small cable extended from Volt's hand into a port on the Giant's leg. A torrent of data on pressure, temperature, and energy flow appeared on Yanaki's interface.

She combined what she saw. The history of failures from Elara. The technical data from Volt. And the blueprint in her hand. She compared, contrasted, and after about half an hour of intense concentration, she found it. An extremely small error, a single miscalculation in the original design.

She walked back to Rory, who was pacing impatiently. She said nothing, just placed the data slate down and pointed to a line with a pressure calculation formula.

"The problem isn't in the assembly, Foreman. It's in the design itself," Yanaki explained clearly. "This release valve is designed to withstand a maximum pressure of 300 psi. But according to your own flow formula, when the engine is at full power, the pressure can reach 320 psi. It will always be overloaded. It needs a larger valve, or an auxiliary pipe to reduce the load."

Rory snatched the data slate, her eyes widening as she looked at the line Yanaki was pointing to. Silence fell. Dozens of her engineers had missed this.

Then, a wide grin, for the first time, spread across Rory's grease-stained face.

"HAHAHA! WONDERFUL! I KNEW IT! THAT USELESS FLOCK!" she yelled, her laughter echoing throughout the workshop.

She clapped her mechanical arm on Yanaki's shoulder, a friendly pat strong enough to make Yanaki stumble slightly.

"Welcome to the Steam Guild, kid. You're in! From now on, you're one of us!"

[You have passed Foreman Rory's test.]

[You have joined the [Steam Guild] as an [Apprentice Mechanic].]

[You have unlocked the Steam Guild's Shop and Quest Board.]

Yanaki smiled. The door to the inner workings of Aethelgard had opened. From an outsider, she was now a part of it. The chaotic and noisy workshop no longer seemed frightening; it felt like a new home, a place for her to start building her own strength.