Gray light filtered through the haze, marking the beginning of dawn for Kareth.
Jude had been completely focused on repairing the brass pocketwatch after losing the strange but compelling company of Apollo. This watch was her assignment, a test to check her qualification for joining the Guild, to escape the street life. The Guild had introduced the relief scheme two years ago, mostly to ease public unrest they called it 'The Hands of Progress' by offering apprenticeships to orphans, refugees, and the jobless. In truth, it was just another machine to sort people into those who could serve them and those who couldn't.
Her hands moved with precision and rhythmic ease because despite her talent she had never once slacked on her practice for, she knew this was her only chance to turn her life around. After restructuring the watch components into their place, she held the new cog in her hand ready to place it inside and maybe she just imagined it but it still felt warm.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed her nerves and after doing some final finishes she wounded the watch key holding her breath in anticipation, slowly the ticking sound of the clock could be heard like tiny heartbeats and a warm smile blossomed on her face.
Excited she quickly packed her stuff, and zipped past the streets towards the upper districts watching the carriages and steam tramps whistle by her side. When she was a kid, she still remembered dreaming about riding these tramps all across the city, but now those dreams were just a shadow of their former self burdened by her survival.
She soon passed the merchant district which is always hardest to miss due to all the bickering and haggling sounds which have become a norm here.
She heard someone haggling with the merchant to reduce the price to 90 mints as 1 colt was too pricy for a dress, her mood suddenly sored remembering her total saving of 47 mints which would hardly last her a week if she rationed her food correctly and here, they were arguing about a dress costing a colt.
She was aware though that this was just due to her current condition and once she got into the guild, she'd get to wear that 1 colt dresses daily. Who knows maybe someday she might even own her assists calculated in barns instead of mints. Shaking her head of these delusional thoughts she steadied her pace towards the guild academy.
Soon she arrived at the upper district and spotted the Guild's mechanical academy which loomed over the district like a cathedral of iron. Towers bristled with pipes and chimneys with the great clockface of the main hall glowing faintly through the fog.
Jude always felt a sense of admiration towards this building; it's majesty subtly influencing her almost making her dream again but she always reeled in these thoughts because to her these fantasies were not worth risking her future.
Stepping inside the main building, she saw rows of benches filled with students in white uniforms, their coats neatly pressed, their hands clean. Jude's own uniform which was issued second-hand — was two sizes too large and smelled faintly of oil which could hardly be described as white.
She slipped quietly into her spot making a few students turn to her and smirk.
"Well, look who finally crawled out of the gutter" murmured Nira, a girl with perfect brown curls and sharp facial features. "Maybe she brought some rats with her this time," added another, causing others to burst into snickering laughter.
Jude ignored them having already grown used to it.
Their instructor, Master Renn, stood by the long brass table at the front — spectacles perched on the edge of his nose, his coat embroidered with the insignia of the Guild's Seventh Division.
Just looking at his face, she remembered what had happened a week ago.
"Today," Renn announced, "you will demonstrate your qualification as a craftsman by repairing a Class-II pocketwatch. Precision, timing, and efficiency will determine your scores and your future at the guild. Your submission deadline is tomorrow."
He walked between the tables, handing out trays with dismantled watches. When he reached Jude, his expression twitched very subtly, but she noticed.
Her tray held a watch looking more like a prototype then an actual product clearly much different than the ones being assigned to others.
Her pulse spiked she raised her hand. "Sir, this piece—"
Renn cut her off with a tired sigh. "Complaining already! If you cannot handle minor flaws, perhaps you are not suited for this line of work."
The snickers grew louder. Jude swallowed hard and lowered her hand. She knew what this was. Nira's smug glance confirmed it; she could only swallow her indignation silently and start working with what she had received.
By nightfall, the common workshop was closing. Students filed out with their work, excited and chattering. Jude stayed behind only to find her bench deliberately cleared. Her spare parts were missing. Even the oil lamp she'd borrowed had been taken.
"Guess you'll have to fix it in the dark," Nira's voice echoed as they left, laughing.
That's how she ended up in that narrow alley behind the factory, where she met him. Apollo's face flickered in her memory: silver hair, calm eyes, and that strange warmth when he'd handed her the new cog. Returning from her past thoughts she focused her attention to the present moving to submit her work.
Master Renn raised an eyebrow when she placed the watch on his desk.
"Finished?"
"Yes, sir."
He turned it over, clearly expecting it not to work. But the soft ticking reached his ears before he could hide his surprise. His gaze sharpened. "You repaired it? Properly?"
Jude just nodded once.
He said nothing more to say; he waved her away a bit of irritation seeping into his voice "You may leave now."
Jude just shrugged and walked away, by the time she reached her dormitory. A narrow cot in a shared room that smelled of rust and oil.
Renn had carefully dismantled Jude's watch, for he was sure the watch he provided contained a broken gear and with her spare parts cleared there was no way for Jude to replace the gear.
What he saw left him stunned inside the watch amongst the old worn parts was a clean new gear clearly a replacement for the broken one. The more he studied it the more baffled he grew the gear was clearly a product of the newly researched precision aether tools but it's build suggested otherwise as it held that handcrafted softness to it which only confused him more. He decided to take it to his mentor for further inspection.
Without further ado he rushed to his mentor's office who was also one of the seventh guild divisions' head. After climbing up to the seventh floor of the tower, he paused in front of a large wooden door inlaid with intricate engravings of multiple mechanical contraptions harmoniously integrating with each other. Calming his restless heart, he knocked on the door twice then waited patiently.
"Come in" an old voice sounded from behind the door.
"Sorry to disturb you teacher" Renn softly spoke as he entered the room.
The room could easily be described as elegant with minimal decorations and only containing essential furniture like a sofa set, table chair and bookshelves. Renn's teacher, Master Rodvin Blake was resting on the sofa sipping his evening tea silently observing his student.
Calmly adjusting his posture, "So what brings you here my disciple?"
Renn weighted his words carefully knowing how his teacher hated beating around the bush and almost regretted impulsively coming to his teacher without researching first.
"Today when I was inspecting the works of the relief scheme students, I found this strange gear in one of their works" he said quickly handling the gear to his mentor hoping to distract him from the underlying cause of this matter.
Rodvin calmly accepted the gear at first quietly observing it flipping it occasionally but then he suddenly jumped from the sofa and rushed to his table took out a strange lens and clicked a button at its bottom, the glass started to glow with a soft white light.
After an unknown amount of time had passed he sighed softly before turning toward Renn his gaze piercing, "You'll tell me everything you know about this student and this gear"
Renn was visibly shaken by his teacher's strict demeanor and could help but tremble slightly, "Yes Teacher, I will tell you everything I know but is this gear really that important"
At that Rodvin just shakes his head and faces the window gazing at the city he sighs, "It's not the gear that's important it's the one behind it because if I'm not mistaken this gear is not a product of any magecraft but a result of pure magic."