The Shop

|DEX|

A dirty-blonde haired male sat at his tool covered desk. He wore a pair of steam punk goggles over his golden/green eyes. They were high tech goggles that allowed him to see any flaw in his work in order to fix it, created by he, himself. He was known all over Project 21 as Dex the Mechanic. Or more so for his amazing power to mentally bend metal and thus create amazing inventions. He was lucky he was so clever. Psh! As if!

He was such a critic when it came to himself but quick to compliment anyone else as if there was nothing wrong with them. As of now he was closely focused on a tiny as tiny could be practically atom sized small piece of the object he held. It was a very important object, despite its size. It practically completed the invention. It was amazing how the piece could relate to that of the Children on Project 21. Their motto “We may be small but DON’T Underestimate us.” In fact, Dex knew that the Children could overpower the Adults if they chose to fight.

"Nah! tha jus' wont' work" He grumbled to himself.

Dex had an accent he didn't know where he developed it some said it was a side effect of all his "experimenting" His blond hair spilled over the lenses of the goggles as he tapped the object lightly with a tiny tool that closely resembled a Swiss army knife but thin like a needle. A grin spread over his face.

"thas' it... one more tap" He raised the tool to the object once more and then

HIS BRACELT WENT OFF

The pin like tool slipped from his hand and fell onto the floor. Dex swore under his breath as he placed down the precious piece of his invention and threw back the chair to slam down onto his knees in pursuit of the tool, but he forgot that his entire house was made of machine and the chair moved with the touch of a button so ...Dex badly slammed his face into the desk instead and fell back against the chair with the wind knocked out of him. Not to mention, the vision in the goggles was glitch-ing.

"Those.....scann’rs......I swear...." he huffed grabbing onto the desk to pull himself up

"Now i've lost another great tool" Lost, in the abyss. He pulled the, luckily not broken goggles from his face and tossed them onto the desk with the tools and inventions. Dex rubbed his stinging eyes once then turned to the window as he watched the scanners pass him by.

"Ya better not be takin’ anyone importan’ now." he whispered with a different air about him than before. He was irritated before the scanners showed; now he was worried and something more. He looked out the window seeing other children looking out too. The light from the bracelets and over the town vanished.

Just a Daily routine in Project 21.

| DEX|

A light ticking sound emitted from the shop as Dex worked endlessly on an experiment. His head was bent low over it, green eyes in full concentration. He could not afford a mistake when it came to the Children’s protection. He had to check every aspect of a tool or invention before he released it to the rest of Project 21. However, this particular invention was still in trial. No matter how hard he tried, how he used the metal he couldn’t seem to get it just right, there was always a tiny issue here, or a larger one there.

It was quite frustrating for a seventeen year old boy. Yes, Dex was 17 the big age, the terrifying number, the year before he would officially no longer be a child. Considering that no one knew what happened to a child at that time, the idea was probably the scariest event in a child’s life, in fact it could very well be the last. The only ones who knew were the Adults, which of course Dex wasn’t going to walk up to and ask. “Hey what happens when I turn 18 round here?” No, that would be insane and impossible, Adults steered clear from Project 21. They didn’t want to be associated with the children. Although, there were a select few who would venture down into the chaotic depths, and would regret it.

The only others who knew were, well the ones who had seen it happen. Very few of them there were, and even less of them could live long enough to tell the tale before going completely crazy. So therefore, there was no hope for a Child once they passed the big 1-7. They couldn’t hide it, it was embedded into their very being, and the scanners could detect it. You simply had, one last year, and you had to make it count. However, for Dex, that time was fast approaching.

Dex wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, before sighing. His eyes were tired, but he couldn’t stop, he had to get this done before…. Well before he…

Suddenly a loud clanking signaled a bell to go off. Dex’s eyes opened wide, and then narrowed. He slipped from the chair and went to the contraption set up in the corner of his shop. It looked like it had once been a cross between a vacuum cleaner and a few other household items such as a toaster. This was the “Springy 2.0”, coined by a silly and cute girl named Prelude who lived in the church not far from his shop. He smiled for a second thinking of her. She was one of the many cute girls who frequented his shop, or who he went to visit with new inventions. However, that wasn’t the concern at the moment. For “S20” was telling him he had a visitor or an intruder.

He raised a gloved hand and gently pulled down a lever causing the machine to go silent, before turning to face the door. His hand moved fast pressing down a buckle on the glove which released a set of tools for easy access, or in this case a weapon. He slid a foot towards the door, and waited.

“Food Delivery!~”

A familiar voice called out. Then there was an unmistakable knock and Dex relaxed his position to walk forward and open the door. As he pulled it open, his entire demeanor changed. The pretty blonde would see a charming and tall fellow who wore a stunning smile as he ran his fingers through his own blonde locks.

“Heya ther’ Miss Paun Paun. What an honor ta see ya again. Please come inside.”
He moved from the door and bowed in welcome, wearing the most charming smile as he never lost eye contact with her, giving her his full attention, quite the prince charming.

|PAUN|

She had to admire his work. Hs entire house was made by his own hand and was able to withstand all kinds of weather, even the harsh fumes that were in the air. She was just leaning forward to see the intricate detail that was around the door when it opened it front of her.

She stepped back, with a tiny flinch and looked up to the gorgeous eyes of Dex, the Mechanic. A light blush spread over her pale cheeks and she tried to avoid his eyes, however he was making it impossible as he stood there smiling down at her. She felt tiny, and twisted a strand of her long blonde hair as a distraction.

“Heya ther’ Miss Paun Paun. What an honor ta see ya again. Please come inside.” She nodded uttering a small squeak as he moved from the door and bowed his head to her, very gentleman-like. It was no wonder girls were always fawning over him. When she got the chance she finally wrenched her eyes away from his and walked over the threshold. Immediately tools, inventions and gadgets greeted her. She found all of them highly interesting and would love nothing more than to learn about each and every one of them.

Paun turned back to Dex after he would have shut the door and smiled holding out a basket full of bread, tiny cakes and a potato pie as was Dex’s favorite food. She had learned this long before and made sure to perfect it for him. “Uh, I brought you some treats!” She exclaimed offering the basket to him. She eyed his hands and jumped back in alarm seeing the makeshift “weapon” attached to one of them. She inwardly whacked herself for being stupid and placed the basket on table that had less clutter than the others.

Her eye caught the shine of an object on his work desk. She couldn’t help her curiosity but to go over and look. She had no idea what it was, but she was sure he had worked very hard on it. After a moment she jumped. “How rude of me, just wandering about in your shop. I apologize! I’ll go now!” . Feeling embarrassed she gathered her skirts and made for the door, but there was a strange sensation that caused her to look out the window.

It was darker than she thought, and she knew she hadn’t been there long. There were clouds of purple and gray looming over them like a monster, almost unbelievably close. Paun’s breath caught in her throat she didn’t take another step forward and forgot her embarrassment.

If it was a storm, it was nothing like she ever saw. There were flashes of lightning, and a lack of rain, yet a heavy fog lay all around them. It looked like it could have expanded all over Project 21, like there was no escape. Paun lay a hand on the window and pulled away, to see a spot form where her hand was, like the very air outside was melting.

It was terrifying. Did she have to go out in it?

| DEX|

Dex thought Paun was a rather interesting girl. She seemed to space out more often than others. The act was sort of cute. He chuckled lightly as she squeaked when he had invited her in. He looked about outside before lightly closing the heavy door so as not to make a sound. He then turned and watched as she walked about his shop looking at his inventions. She didn’t have eyes of greed as most of his customers did. Instead her eyes were bright and interested. He chuckled at this too. Girls were such strange creatures.

She turned to him and with a wide smile, held out a basket full of bread and bread-like products. Bread, was not particularly one of his favorite things to eat, but he was in no way going to refuse her offer. That would be rude! Dex, was not rude. “Uh, I brought you some treats!” She squeaked. He chuckled again and lifted a hand to take them. Suddenly she jumped. At first, Dex didn’t know why. What? Did he smell bad? Was there a bug? Was she just that jittery? Dex had never spent much time with this particular girl, he eyed her questionably. It was then a gleam of metal reflected off another invention and he realized, his glove weapon was still released.

“Oh, Sorry abou’ tha’” He moved a hand over the glove, pushing the metal back into place so it would appear as a regular glove again. “Didn’ realize it was still released.” He chuckled with a grin that was convincing enough of his humbleness as he watched her place the basket on a desk.

He wondered why she went to such trouble to bring him that basket, when he never ate anything bread-like. Dex leaned upon another wall just watching as something caught the girl’s attention again. She gets distracted easily he thought as he observed her heading over to his desk where his current invention was sitting.

He lifted himself from the wall keeping a close watch. If this girl was as clumsy as he thought she was, she could be risking losing all the hard work on that particular invention. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He stepped up behind her, and she jumped. Dex threw out his hands catching her before she could topple something over. “How rude of me, just wandering about in your shop. I apologize! I’ll go now!” . Dex raised an eyebrow and watched amused as Paun rushed to the door. In truth he didn’t mind her there. He just wanted to make sure his inventions stayed safe.

Her suddenly trying to leave alarmed him and he thought he must appear rude. Thas no way to treat a lady Dex he told himself and turned to tell her she didn’t have to leave. As he walked forwards she suddenly froze, causing him to bump into her. He looked at her face, wondering what had caused her to stop and then, he followed her gaze.

Dark looming clouds, flashes of strangely coloured light in the air, Dex blinked and lifted his goggles to pull them over his eyes. He looked again. A purple and green vapour floated around his home. He didn’t know what it was but guessed. It must be highly toxic.

Dex leaned over Paun getting a close look. ” Tha’ isen’ normal” He said in a slight whisper with his eyes wide. There was no way he was gonna let someone, especially a lady go out in weather like that. He slipped a hand under her arm and lightly pulled her from the window.

“I dunno wha’ tha’ is but I sugges’ we stay far away from it aye?” Dex let Paun go and automatically went to a table and started searching frantically through a box. His hands pushed countless of his past inventions and spare parts around until finally he uncovered what he was looking for.

A cracked mirror with an antenna and a calculator attached. He took it to another table and began to press the buttons on the calculator. It was similar to a video phone and was a source of communicating with the other Children in Project 21. He adjusted the antenna and tapped at the glass, wondering if he would be able to get through to anyone to prove his theory right or wrong.

If he was right, all of Project 21, was engulfed in the same strange and hauntingly deadly storm.