After the meeting in the design lab, Steve returned to the Repairs Control Room. Alex and Melly decided to test pilot the new mech. They both flashed out; their destination was the testing facility. Scarlet moved to The Waiting Room. She had a lot of planning to do, and she was going to use her new helper. Mark stayed in the design lab. He was preparing copies of the Outlaw that the lottery winners would use.
A message from his Grandfather arrived; He needed Mark to bring proof of his story to convince Jack. The young man was expecting this. The story would be too fantastical without any proof. Fortunately, Mark had an Idea on how to make an impression on Jack. However, he would need some of the materials from the droid boutique's stock.
Before leaving, the young man left a message for Steve and the others. This message was to let them know he was stepping out for a while. Once out, Mark placed his VR headset on the charger and changed clothes.
Grabbing his trusty hover box, he exited his room and moved to the first basement level. The young man places an assortment of different materials in his hover box. The materials were not selected at random. Mark had a demonstration in mind; carefully, he took the necessary materials he needed. Soon after gathering these, he leaves the droid boutique and starts walking towards Jack's shop.
On the way to the military surplus store, Mark started thinking about the workshop and how it had grown. While a lot of that success was due to the mech designs he had created. He knew his friends carried a lot of the credit.
Steve and his efficient repairs, Alex and her artistic paint jobs, and even Livia with her skill at managing The Waiting Room and its patrons, they were all responsible for the workshop's success. Mark's friends had integrated seamlessly into the Grease Monkey Workshop.
The young man was the one who spent the L-Credits in the creator's account; however, all of them had poured their time and effort. The virtual workshop belonged to all of them. Mark had no problem in admiting this; in fact, he was grateful for their help.
It did not take him long to reach the military surplus shop. A neon sign on the door reads close, nevertheless, Mark pressed the doorbell button. With a buzzing sound, he was let in. Entering the shop, Jack's voice came from the back part where the checkout counter was.
As he moved through the aisles, their voices became louder. The young man found the two men arguing near the checkout counter. Bart and Jack were discussing the basement contents as Mark reached their location; his hover box was following him.
Bart looks at his grandson and greets him as the young man reaches them. "Good, you brought proof. Show him the contents of the box. Maybe that way he will believe that the Jackson fellow was not above board."
Jack defends his point of view. "It's not that I don't believe you, Bart. I admit that it was a bit weird that he sold very few droids but never had money problems. However, from a little shady business to an illegal weapons manufacturer, there is a long way."
Mark brings the box over. "Uncle Jack, What grandpa is saying is the truth. We recycled the weapons into raw materials. While it was wrong to do so, I was not willing to lose all the money I invested in the building."
Jack looks at the materials in the box. These materials did not provide absolute proof. However, he knew that Bart would not lie about such things. "I have to admit that your story feels more plausible now. How did you ever find this hidden workshop, and how did you manage to make it legal?"
Bart tosses a knowing look at Mark. The gesture of his face let the young man know that it was up to him to reveal the rest of his secrets. For his part, Mark needed Jack to be all in. He would need all the help he could get to deal with the Blazing Hand. "Uncle Jack, you'd better sit down, I have a story for you."
Meanwhile, in the mech testing facility, Melly was running around in the obstacle course. She was falling in love with the light mech. The machine's response was better than her Star Dancer, and the speed of the mech gave her an exhilarating sensation. The girl made up her mind. She wanted Mark to design her a Mech that looked like her Star Dancer, but could move like this mech.
Not far from the golden-eyed girl, Alex was running a few tests of her own. Being used to flying machines, Alex was not impressed by the top speed of the mech. However, she found that it had very good maneuverability. This was the first time she piloted a mech made by Mark. The blue-suited teen easily made complex maneuvers that most people would have problems performing. Alex admitted to herself that this mech was the only land mech, so far, that appealed to her. If Mark was able to do this with land mechs, how will he do with flying machines?
At the Repairs Control Room, Steve compiled a list of the people who have used the repair shop. As instructed by Mark, the loud-mouthed teen added the names based on the repairs performed at the workshop. The people who had used the store multiple times had multiple chances to come out in the list. Steve had to admit, this lottery was an awesome Idea.
Inside the Waiting Room, Scarlet was daydreaming about the wonderful event she was going to organize. Ever since Mark asked her to entertain the patrons in The Waiting Room, a passion for showmanship was born inside of her. Managing the Waiting Room also fueled this passion of hers. Unknowingly, Livia had found a calling. Little by little, her true self began to surface. The times when she followed the superfluous machinations of her false friend Sandy were behind her.
Back at the military surplus store, Jack had an incredulous look on his face. The man found Mark's tale to be too fantastical. "I'm sorry, Mark. This story about alien relics and time travel is above me. There is no way that I could believe what you are saying. In fact, I strongly believe this is all another of Bart's pranks."
Mark knew this was going to be his reaction. No sane person would believe a story like this one without proof. He also had to admit that his grandfather's sense of humor was a bit unconventional. However, he was ready to provide evidence that his story was real. The first step was scanning Jack's prosthetic arm. After this, he entered the design space and started working on a side project.
His Idea was to build Jack a new prosthetic arm using the recently acquired system fabrication ability. Nevertheless, to fabricate a decent mechanical arm for Jack, the young man had to design a new and better machine. Relying on the skills he has acquired so far, he was confident in building an improved version.
While prosthetic limbs were a different field altogether, humanoid mechs were made to resemble humans. The only real difference was size. Mark would solve this by using his recently acquired Miniaturization skill. To build it, he was planning to use the materials he brought from the droid boutique.
Modern prosthetics, like modern mechs, use a technology called Synthetic Muscle Technology (S.M.T. for short). This was an intricately designed component that replaced the actuators. Besides transforming electrical power into motion, the component could also transport signals much like a nervous system. Because of this, the S.M.T. had an unexpected side effect; it increased the neuronal load of the machinery that used this technology.
The accident that took Jack's arm also capped his neuronal capacity to a D+; he had related this to Mark during the visit to Rachel's apartment a few days before. For this reason, Mark was planning to use actuators instead of the S.M.T. The recent projects provided a valuable experience in designing machines with his improved actuators.
To start, he projected the design blueprint of Jack's current arm. Using the same process during his mech designs, Mark stripped the projection part by part. He then reconstructed each part with improved versions. The hardest component to replace was the actuators. Mark solved this by using a scaled-down version of the ones he used for his Owtlaw design.
Since he was designing a lone arm and not an entire machine, the whole process took about ten hours inside the Design Space. Due to his movement optimization sub-skill, the design achieved a 45% improvement in mobility. The weapons-grade alloy also increased the durability of the mechanical limb.
Finally, Mark scaled the arm to the exact proportions of Jack's left arm. With the new dimensions, both arms would be the same size. The burly man could use a jacket, and nobody would be able to tell the difference.
Mark left the Design Space. The young man smiled at Bart and Jack as he tossed the contents of the hover box onto the floor. With a mental command, he activated the light fabrication ability submiting the mechanical arm design for fabrication and system evaluation.
The system prompted a message. "Fabrication of the desired mechanism will have a cost of 35,000 TP. Would the User like to produce the device?"
Mark mentally tapped in the option to proceed. In an instant, the materials on the ground vanished. They were replaced by a gun-metal gray mechanical arm. The two men fell in amazement. Bart touched the arm first; the man needed to confirm that this was not an illusion. After observing the device for a few moments, he presented it to Jack. "Do you still think this is a prank?"
Jack silently observed the prosthetic limb. His mind raged with all sorts of Ideas and scenarios. In the end, he chose to trust his old friend. Bart was there for him in some of his darkest moments. With a grin on his face, he grabs the brand new prosthetic arm. "Let's test this thing."
Placing the arm on the counter, Jack took his old mechanical arm off and placed it beside the new one. He then grabs the recently fabricated prosthetic and installs it. Since this arm was fabricated using the old one as a reference, the connector was the same. Both arms used the heat generated by the body as a power source. However, with Mark's skills, the new prosthetic used power more efficiently.
As the arm came online, Jack was able to feel the difference instantly. He moved the arm back and forth. Then he opened and close the hand, testing the grip strength. In both parameters, the new prosthetic was far superior. The durability of the arm was another aspect that was improved. The weapons-grade alloy was tougher and more resilient.
Jack had to admit that, as far as evidence goes, Mark had an iron-clad proof that his claims were real. The burly man frowned; this also meant that the issue of the Blazing Hand was also real. It was not good news. Jack decided to ask about Mark's plan to deal with the gang.
The burly man moves behind the counter and sits in his chair, looking at Mark. "First things first, what do you intend to do with the issue concerning the Blazing Hand?"
Mark takes a deep breath. "Well, I was originally thinking about letting the gangs fight each other and deal with what remained. But after the battle last night, I understood that the Blazing Hand will not be so easily dealt with."
Jack asked with a look of disbelief. "Were you involved in the gang fighting last night?"
Bart taps his grandson's shoulder. "You should have led with that story first, Mark."
The young man decided to tell Jack about last night's encounter. He left no detail out. Lying or omitting details would be counterproductive in the current scenario. Only with the truth could the three of them come up with a solution.
Jack listened in silence, taking in every detail. The man understood that the situation was complex, even more so than he expected. In the end, he reached the same conclusion as Bart. It's best to use the resources at hand. To that end, he advises the young man to prepare the gang.
With a second opinion, Mark decided what to do. However, if he was going to get involved with the gangs, certain things had to change. First, they had to rein in the vultures. Criminal activities would have to be suspended immediately. Second, the vultures were too disorganized and lacked discipline. This had to change. Third, to prepare for Mark's plans, they needed to take over the entire junk yard.
The three men started brainstorming ideas on how to achieve these goals. They all reached the same conclusion. They had to rebrand the Vultures in the eyes of the community. Instead of being a lowly gang, they wanted to project an image of a group of vandals with a heart of gold.
This was not going to be easy. The gang members were guilty of a lot of crimes, the latest being the stream of break-ins that happened over the past few Days. However, the death of the Vulture Queen gave them a rare opportunity. With new leadership, they could shape the gang into what Mark needed.
Bart came up with an Idea. "Why not change the gang's name while we are at it. Vultures are not very inspiring birds. Since they are carrion eaters, people tend to think of them as opportunistic and evil."
Jack joins the brainstorming. "How about Riggan's Point Condors?"
Mark pointed out the obvious. "Uncle Jack, Condors are vultures. Do we even have to use birds from old Terra?"
Bart came up with another suggestion. "How about Riggan's Point Ravens?"
Jack answers Mark's inquiry. "We don't want to mess with the gangs Identity too much. These people tend to have a problem with drastic changes. While to us this is a minor change, to them it is a change of identity."
Accepting the answer of the burly man, Mark moved to support Bart's latest suggestion. "Ravens sounds like a good choice, but I think it's best to drop Riggan's Point. If all goes well, we might move outside the commercial district."
Bart smiles at his grandson. His teasing gesture was back, "Look at you, not even a day has passed since you became a gang boss, and already you want to take over the city." A few chuckles escaped after his teasing.
Jack laughed. Ignoring barts antics, he proposed another name. "As I said before, too many changes would make these people uncomfortable. Why not Riggan's Ravens?"
Bart liked that name. "That has a good ring. Not only can this be used as a name, but it can also be used as a symbol."
Mark had to admit that name rolled off the tongue a lot better than Riggan's Point Vultures. His next step would be to acquire the junk yard. For this, he decided to call the only real estate agent he knew.