For the Sake of Progress [Jaks, Quest thread]

[Echo]

Jaks Flagner was summoned to the central courtyard of Nameless. It was here the god of Science had been keeping an eye on him over his time on earth. Though they had never truly met, Echo admired the mortal's fondness of him; the Machine's pride only fed into the adoration more. Currently the god was sitting at the large desk in front of his expansive window on the top most floor of his golden brass tower.

One of the guards, a large brass behemoth of a machine approached the newcomer."Greetings Jaks. Welcome to Nameless. The Master has requested your presence" it spoke with slight intonation, proceeding to guide the inventor to the science god's main office. Questions would be answered had the human had any. Everything here seemed to hum with an inorganic life, some grand vibrating song that reached to all parts of the city itself.

[Jaks Flagner]

To say Jaks was excited about his invitation to Nameless was something of an understatement. The invitation was something of a sobering event for him, and by that it meant the invitation had caught the Teen so off gaurd he tripped, inadvertently causing him to sending his last bottle overboard. Without the time to stop he was forced into the sobering himself up for his meeting. He considered this a mixed blessing seeing as how alcohol made him better suited to battle and women, but it also dropped his ability to think and move. He thought himself fullu fortunate for his condition only when he parked his airship in the central courtyard. He threw open the cockpit and slid down the steel hull of the ship and onto the similarly metallic ground. Not much after he was approached by metal guardians. He couldn't help his mind going full curiosity on the creatures, but before he let himself go to scientific gold mine, he let himself decide on one question to ask it. "So, the intelligence, or simulation there of, that you have, is it magical or technological in nature?" Other than that question he follwed the machine with a dutiful nervousness.

[Echo]

The hulking guard pressed on-wards, responding to the human's inquiry casually,"Technological". Unlike their creator, the guards were generally single-minded in purpose and only gave as much of a reply depending on the complexity of the question they were asked. Heavy footsteps from the mechanical being sounded as they climbed the stairs and once outside the office of their appointed god, the guard side stepped, taking his post at the door frame. There was little movement from the guard otherwise that signified it was still functioning though it quietly ticked if one listened closely enough. The door was left unlocked in anticipating Jaks' arrival.

[Jaks Flagner]

The responce to his question was simple and yet he gleaned from it many answers. It was programmed, but from the extent of his answer he determined the machine was programmed for one function and the simplest of requests. That and the fact there was no broadcasting apparatus most likely ment the absence of a hive minded super computer-esque deal hooked to Echo himself. Though this wouldn't account for a magically induced hive mind if there was indeed one to begin with. These thoughts were brought to an almost dead stop when the young Jaks found himself standing before the grand doors of the god's office. Only now did the gravity of the situation hit him in full. A God, his God had summoned him to speak in person. All he could do is look him self over. He adjusted his hip sheath for his broad sword, dusted down his coat and pants, checked his tools inside his leather coat, took a deep breath and stepped inside the office with as confident stance as he could muster. "You requested to see me...can I refer to you as a sir?" Jaks asked nervously.

[Echo]

Upon entering the office, the first noticeable thing was the immense height of the concaved ceiling that met at a point the further upwards it carried on. Jaks didn't need to be very loud for his inquiry to bounce off the walls; in the center of it all rested what looked to be a fifteen foot tall brass encased, platinum accented machine. Gears could be seen at the correct angle turning, pushing about oil into the pipes at a level comfortable for a Clockwork god. A furnace seemed to be burning inside one half of his head--a wicked flame burned in place of one of his eyes, the other merely a focusing device, obscuring onlookers to see anything there other than a flat circular device. Steam was released from several pipes directed outside of its body; on its wrist rested a temperature gauge that fluctuated with the expelling of heated vaporized water, a loud hiss cracking the air.

The voice that greeted the young mortal was deep, analytical, and cold. "You may call me Sir, Jaks Flagner". The reply vibrated off the walls and floor, and it was only when the mechanical structure move would anyone realize that Echo was already present. He had the habit of blending in with the rest of the city. The behemoth god rested on his haunches, moving his face smoothly enough only to view the teen. "I am glad you have decided to come here", the Science god continued, once more monotone. "Come in".

[Jaks Flagner]

Jaks chuckled with a nervousmemt he hadn't felt since the nighr 5 years ago when he tried to escape his vampiric master. He answered the giant machine with sincerment "I very well can't ignore the call of the very god I worship, maybe I would ignore the call of the chaos god. He doesn't seem like a stand up guy. You know, the kind your parents warn you about." Jaks' chuckling became less nervous with the joking. For as nervous he was, the God fascinated him beyond words. He would give his last leg to poke around inside of him, and give his good arm to understand the most basic of it. Then Jaks swallowed before speaking "I hate to be so terribly direct, but I ask with the upmost respect, what is the reason for your invitation and my visit. I'm sorry if I seem in a rush but your city is my technological paradise, and I would hate to lose my focus."

[Echo]

The very nature of the joke itself hadn't seemed to stir any reaction in the Master Clockwork. This was well defined by the god of Science blankly staring at Jaks, as if he was nothing more than a fly on the wall; however, in truth Echo held respect for the man for at least honoring him several times a day and being an inventor. The object on the human's leg intrigued him even though he had seen ones like it hundreds of times before in all different forms. His sight altered from that back to the teen's jittery demeanor."There has been some complications in my expanding home. I have lost communication with the outer most portion of myself...in the north east corner of Nameless. My reasoning for your visit is my own; however, if you wish to accomplish something productive, I believe that would be the primary location to look". Another great sigh of steam escaped the mechanical wonder as he finally stood up partially. It may have easily passed under Jaks' nose but there was much more going on within the living city than meets the eye, and Echo was as much a part of it as anything else he had created; thus, oftentimes the god was too preoccupied to tend to every part of Nameless, as was the case now.

[Jaks Flagner]

Jaks listened to the God eagerly. The gGod of technology, science, and alchemy wanted him to help? Truth was that he felt like joy puking, but he also felt like it wouldn't do him much good for getting himself in the god's favor. "Well, if you suggest it I will depart immediately. A question though: How will I know when I reach the communication dead zone?" It was hard to stop the urge to let his hose of questions lose on the would-be poor god. Then for seemingly no reason his prosthetic leg started to vibrate violently. He laughed nervously and bent down. "Just a moment." He tinkered with the valves for a second before a huge cloud of steam explodes in his face. Jaks pops up waving a hand in his face to clear it. "Sorry, need to replace the valve. All that seawater kills it so quickly"

[Echo]

Echo registered the expressions showing on the human's face. He didn't understand the emotions playing so rapidly on Jaks' face. It wasn't what Zealous had called 'sadness'. For as much influence as the god of Science had on the mortal realm, he had little experience with the beings that lived there; thus, emotions were still a relatively new thing for him. But slowly he was learning, for what it was worth.

"Several of my guards have reported disturbances in that area. That is all that I know; however, these same guards that have relayed the information to me have also not logged any further observations for the past couple of days". The Master Clockwork reached over to his desk and picked up what appeared to be a small palm-sized radar,"These are their coordinates". Jaks' prosthetic hummed to life in a different tempo than the city, something sporadic that partially bothered the perfectionist machine."No apologies needed. Time breaks all of my creations...but enough rambling. There is business that needs to be done", the god responded, not being clear on exactly who had what to do--that was his way of functioning.

[Jaks Flagner]

Jaks pocketed the small device with a suddenly stern look. "I will be back to report my findings, and any mission progress in person. I will not fail you lord Echo." With that he bowed and left the God's physical body behind. He felt better without all the stress of blundering infront of his god, even though he knew the entire city was his god. He set off confident that he could succeed in his quest, even though he had no clue what it was. Within half an hour he reached the coordinates on the outer edge of the city. The problem was fairly obvious. This part of the city was in absolute shambles, seeming all the more daunting a challenge. This was going to be interesting.

[Echo]

Electrical wires spanned the ground a midst the rubble of the city, a few of which were still alive, sparking every so often. However some of the buildings were still standing--however these ones seemed empty if inspected.

The aforementioned guards were standing in the middle of the area as though lost, buzzing to one another in a code all their own communicating. One of the brass colored behemoths walked over, seeming at first to be checking in on the others, when its large hand twitched and plummeted deep into the other's chest casing, crushing the internal parts into an black, oily mess. Mechanical screams broke the air as the one attacked slumped to the floor; its partner went to protest; however, when it tried to lash out at the offender its entire body seized, went still, and the resumed functioning as if nothing happened. The couple then started to turn around and proceed to another area, as yet another guard was tearing down one of the buildings that was still erected.

[Jaks Flagner]

Jaks was honestly shocked by the gaurds. After the ones in the square this was something totally different and he may not know the problem but he had an Idea that he might find out something if he tried to sneak around but he could also poke around inside some heads for clues. He reached the conclusion that it would be best if he tried one then the other. Because honestly he was going to try not to destroy echo's stuff, just as the god didn't destroy his. Though if this proved fruitless he might just have to do a more in depth inspection of the general area. Seeing as that the even god himself spoke about this being an area thing. So he slipped behind the bots and led a stealthy chase.

[Echo]

The duo continued to walk, their goal destination seemingly aimless as they continued their journey. Unaware of the human trailing them they finally reached a sunken area of the wreckage site; Both of them went down into the inner workings of Nameless, passing the mesh of cables and the like that kept the City running. Oil leaked freely down here, the guards following some sort of preset pathway, their broad feet leaving trail marks barely visible by the dim lighting down here. Only the sheen of the liquid gave away its presence. Deeper and deeper the mechanical beings went through many twists and turns, until the narrow passageways finally opened into a large chamber. Server lines extended from a large computer centered in the room, all of which branched out with some strange greenish luminescence--not much light, but it at least lit up where to walk. A staircase led down the the circular floor where the monitor rested; however, what was spotted on the screen would be hard to decipher unless Jaks chose to take a closer look. The feeling in the air was one of tenseness...and no matter how the ordeal was approached, the floor tiles slithered. Or had they?