254 Infiltration (1/2)
From the time the sky over Saniya had still been dark, a row of young apprentices had stood at the ready in front of the city's newest manufactory. Now that dawn broke, some were tired and some were antsy, but none of them dared to move. After all, the chance they had been given was special, more for some than for others. For among them were a few special guests who didn't belong, yet were just as well behaved as everyone else.
\”Are we sure this will work?\” through gritted teeth, Kizco whispered to his co-conspirator next to him. \”Because if we get found out-\”
\”Shhh!\” Zirao's shush interrupted his fellow spy before he could fully voice his complaint.
In response, Kizco looked up and realized that the long wait had made him careless. After they had been forced to stand around in the dark streets and collect the morning dew for hours, all of their nerves were pulled tight. Even so, the spy couldn't have picked a much poorer moment to speak up.
After all, now that dawn had finally broken, a middle-aged Yaku had appeared with the morning sun. Clearly coming for them, he walked up and down the line and stared every single apprentice in the face. As the man stopped on him for a moment, Kizco's chest tightened. He rued his own stupidity. Why couldn't he stay calm a few seconds longer? However, the new arrival marched on without a word and soon came to a stop in front of the row of youngsters.
\”So you are the new hires, are you?\” the older man said after another bout of silence. \”Well, if nothing else, you got stamina and discipline. That's a start, but it won't be enough. My name is Cado, and I will be your foreman in this manufactory. That doesn't make me your master, but it may as well do. Don't think you can argue with me just because your master likes you. Don't think you know better than me and ignore orders. Do either, and you'll lose your position at best, and your life at worst. Don't tempt fate, and do as you're told, and we'll get along just fine.\”
Maybe the guy was fascinated by the rare taste of power or maybe he had seen Saniya's new soldiers train in the market squares, but he acted like a military instructor. With a slow pan of his head, the foreman looked at all the apprentices again, one by one. Not one of them would dare meet his eyes. Even the cultivators in the crowd had to pretend submission.
\”From now on, you should listen up and listen well, because I don't like to repeat myself. All throughout this morning, you will follow me through the different work stations of this manufactory, and I will explain to you in detail how to work every one of them. After, I will assign stations to everyone. I won't tell you in advance where you'll go, so you best listen all the way. Your masters should have already taught you the basics anyways, so I expect you to get on by yourselves from then on. In there, you best stay sharp and not do anything stupid. Make a mistake, lose a finger. Sometimes from the machines and sometimes from wasting the crown's money. That's how it goes in my workshop. Does anyone have any questions?\”
When Kizco glanced to the side, he could see the dozen or so fellow apprentices stand at attention, unmoving. One of the green youngsters was about to raise his hand, but an older apprentice slapped it down and gave his fellow a stern look before he could do anything stupid.
Although he wasn't a real apprentice, Kizco had still gone through some proper training in his past, much harsher than this pretend military drill here. All throughout his life, not one teacher he had met had reacted well to questions. They would either consider you dim for a lack of understanding, or a troublemaker for questioning their authority. To his luck, the youngster just about avoided both labels in the end. Now that the vain craftsman had reasserted his vain dominance over a bunch of children, the entire crew could follow their foreman single-file into the brand-new facility.
Just as the line reached Kizco and he was about to follow them inside, his eyes grazed past the opposite street, and the river behind it. There he saw two noble ladies walk past the manufactory. Somehow, he felt one of them stare back at him, though he knew that it must have been his imagination. What noble lady would be interested in a lowly craftsman's apprentice? To avoid detection, he lowered his head and hid his face behind his long, loose hair, as he always did. If they didn't see his face, they couldn't identify him later, when they met again in a different role. Secure in his anonymity, the fake followed the true apprentices inside.
__________________________
With the soft sound of file on metal in his ears, Kizco was lulled into a trance. As the small mound of copper shavings on the table before him grew, he observed the situation all around him.
This was the work the foreman had assigned him, to file down the jagged edges of the newly made copper cogs that would go into the final product. Though the work looked quite advanced, they weren't making anything of value as far as he could tell. The final product was a mess of cogs and metal pieces, which would be transported to Chukru Island to be installed in who-knew-what. Since there was no advanced technology to steal here, Kizco really didn't care about the details of his work. After all, if everything went well, he would already be on Chukru Island by the end of the day. Not to mention, the work's monotony almost made him go crazy.
All morning, the various apprentices had followed the old foreman around the giant hall and watched him work the different stations within the manufactory. On the rows of tables, all kinds of instruments Kizco had never seen were installed. Maybe some of them were new inventions, but he really couldn't tell. After all, he was no real clock maker. And in the end, it mattered precious little. Whatever new technology was hidden in here wouldn't be a big deal anyways, or it wouldn't have been so easy to get a spot among all the true apprentices. No, the real treasure wasn't here, it was hidden on Chukru Island. So for now, he would remain patient and do his boring job just well enough to not call any attention to himself. Soon, his chance would come.
*It's high time our plan got underway anyways. Wasn't this supposed to happen today? Any longer and I'll die of boredom...*
Just like the constant filing had lulled him into it, the sharp ting of metal on the stone floor ripped Kizco out of his trance. When he looked down to his handiwork, he realized that he had screwed up. The cog he had been working on had been filed down so much, and with so much power, that an entire tooth had broken off. For a second, he observed the new, jagged edge with an impassive look. Without a care in the world, Kizco shrugged and threw the destroyed cog into a bucket to the side, where it joined all of its destroyed brethren.
He was just about to grab the next one and return to his work, when a loud shout made him flinch once again.
\”Heavens and underworld, what in damnation are you doing, boy!?\”
Again, he looked up, only to find the angry face of the foreman only a few fingers away from his own. Although the angry man's reddish face soon retreated, the foreman replaced it with Kizco's bucket of scraps. With no regard for the fake apprentice's personal space, he held it right up to his face and jangled the contents around.
\”Can you tell me what this is!?\” the angry man shouted.
Although the metallic smell made his nose twitch, the fake apprentice still replied in a calm manner.
\”They are scraps. I'm still getting the hang of my work, foreman Cado.\”
\”How can you produce this many scraps in a single afternoon? In such a short time, a master craftsmen wouldn't be able to produce this many if he tried. Is this a special talent of yours, huh? Tell me, boy: are you a lunatic, or are you just slow in the head?\”