Chapter 15 (part 1/2) - Small-Scale Production

  “Ah, kid, you’re finally here.”

  Dodoon shouts when he sees Vincent enter the workshop.

  “Can you give us a hand with this? We tried to reduce the size a bit and combine the mechanisms to use only one wheel, but we can’t quite grasp part of the programmatic logic of your circle.”

  “That’s why I left detailed instructions…”

  Whether because they had received orders or out of pure ego, the workshop was already making modifications to his circle… with dismal results. The initial concern was to make it as cheap as possible, reducing the number of gems used in the system and replacing part of the consciousness gems with regular engravings within the circle itself.

  The idea of using a single moving part was good, but there was a reason he hadn’t implemented it in his first design. It was clumsy and difficult to understand, and he hadn’t known how to solve it at the time. One thing was certain: the fact that the “keyboard” had to move in order to input numbers for each operation was confusing, so they opted to keep the keyboard fixed instead of trying to merge it with the operations disk.

  They spent a good while discussing it, and now that Dodoon had studied part of the diagrams Vincent had left behind, he had internalized the concepts of computational engravings much more deeply, allowing him to offer more useful suggestions. Dodoon’s idea of lighting up the active display and then selecting which one to input numbers into was a far more elegant solution than Vincent’s original proposal, who hadn’t found a way to implement that kind of functionality without moving parts.

  In the end, they agreed on a design fifteen percent smaller, with a single movable disk and significant savings in gems. Production would be handled by the workshop’s artisans, so Vincent didn’t strictly need to be present throughout the entire process. Still, taking part in the discussion had calmed his bracelet, leaving him with time to ask other questions more relevant to his current problem.

  “Master Dodoon, you’ve mentioned before that this type of circle is impossible to use directly with magic, since it starts following the engraving’s instructions and loses its intentionality. But here I see machines that run on spiritual energy without affecting the circle. Is it because they’re connected?”

  “Not exactly. It’s more that the energy is constrained to rotation alone. The engraving itself is still done manually by a human.”

  Dodoon replies, tapping one of the compasses, which had a rotating tip on its arm used for engraving.

  “So it doesn’t need to be connected?” Vincent insists.

  “What’s with this question? What do you have there?”

  “Well…”

  Vincent did have something in his hands, literally. He took out his small marble, a rough sphere left over from the prototype, and made it spin in his palm. Dodoon didn’t look impressed, not even when Vincent guided the spinning sphere toward his finger, turning his index into something like a dentist’s drill.

  “Ah, that. You’re wondering whether you can use it to engrave. Depending on the intentionality you’re giving the marble, it shouldn’t be a problem… in fact, look at this.”

  Dodoon steps aside toward a wall packed with tools. He rummages through a few drawers and, when he returns, presents Vincent with a small lathe. It was metallic and barely thicker than a pencil. It had several rotating sections acting as regulators, each etched with its own distinctive engravings. At the tip sat a small but rough sphere, held in place by three discreet arms.

  “This is a levitating lathe. It’s used to carve engravings on internal faces or hard-to-reach surfaces.”

  Dodoon twists one of the lathe’s sections and the sphere detaches from the body. Slowly, it begins to levitate, holding itself about a centimeter away, aligned along the same axis.

  “And if you turn this, you can regulate the speed.”

  So what I did wasn’t impressive at all.

  “Here, want to try it?”

  “Sure.”

  Dodoon hands the lathe to Vincent and the sphere stops spinning. The device’s casing was beautiful and polished, allowing it to attract enough spiritual energy to keep the sphere floating at a fixed distance. As he manipulated it, Vincent managed to pull the sphere about seven centimeters away from the casing, but to make it spin he needed a much greater flow of spiritual energy. Noticing the brief, unstable rotations Vincent achieved, Dodoon apologized.

  “Sorry, kid. That model relies on external energy to function.”

  “It’s fine, that makes sense. I’m the one who has to adapt to the world, not the other way around.”

  Vincent replies, somewhat dejected, handing the lathe back to Dodoon.

  “Either way, thanks for showing it to me. It’s still useful. Where can I get those abrasive tips?”

  “At the Forge, obviously. You might find some already made, they’re usually produced in bulk, no need to commission them. Still, I’d suggest you use argent steel ones.”

  “Argent steel?”

  “Steel alloyed with silver. It’s very durable and attracts some energy. If you’re planning to spin it with your own hands, that extra help will come in handy.”

  A silver alloy? But that would just make it softer.

  Noticing his expression, Dodoon moves to explain.

  “Argent steel does become softer with silver, but the spiritual energy absorbed by objects made of that material surpasses the scientific logic you’re so used to.”

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  Materials couldn’t be measured solely by their physical properties. One also had to consider their assigned value and their “beauty”. In this world, ornamentation served a real function. Argent steel, despite being alloyed with a weaker metal, became more beautiful and valuable in the eyes of men… and therefore, in the eyes of spirits as well.

  “I see… but going back to the lathe. Do you think it would be possible to move the spinning sphere off the casing’s axis? To engrave the circle based on intention rather than hand motion.”

  “Ha! Good luck with that. That lathe won’t let the sphere leave its axis… but if you do it by hand…”

  Dodoon considers it for a moment.

  “It’s possible if your intent is strong enough, but precision is the real problem. Don’t expect straight lines or clean engravings if you’re controlling it with your mind alone… that’s why we use this.”

  Dodoon says, patting his compass.

  But it’s not impossible…

  Without having even started manufacturing his vaporizer, another idea invaded his mind. One that would greatly simplify the manufacturing process.

  “Master Dodoon, may I use one of your desks and some paper?”

  “I recognize that look when I see it. You’ve got an idea, don’t you? Go on, kid, use whatever you want. Put it on paper before it slips away. What are you still doing here talking to me?”

  “Thank you!”

  Vincent shot toward one of the desks. He grabbed a charcoal pencil and began to sketch.

  If it’s possible to make the sphere follow the axis of the lathe’s casing, then it’s also possible for it to follow more complex paths. Even if I can control the bead with thought to a high degree of precision, my energy can’t keep up… but if it were something external…

  This time, the instructions were far simpler. He didn’t need heavy processing; what he needed were positional commands, mathematically precise. Just like a CNC machine, if he could encode the path of the spinning sphere through three-dimensional space into a magic circle, he could automate engravings in a controlled way.

  This new idea would require a large-diameter circle. The instructions would be extensive and useful only for a single type of design, and it would demand a large amount of energy to keep it active for the entire process. But since it would be automatic, he could leave it running like a 3D printer or an industrial lathe.

  I don’t know how much energy it will require, so I should leave several slots open to add more absorption gems, if needed.

  That circle was much simpler. It only required a long list of movement instructions for the sphere, so before attempting anything he needed to define and prototype his vaporizer. With a clearer mind, he realized the design had to be as uniform as possible to ease manufacturing and avoid ending up with a one-meter-wide circle packed with instructions. He also had to account for material resistance, since he would still be using ceramic.

  This second design would store the incense inside its casing rather than in a recess carved into the pipe itself. The engravings would be made on the inner face of the casing, to prevent easy replication, since once it entered the market he didn’t want a parallel market to emerge.

  In this design, all the gems would be integrated into the ceramic body itself, preventing energy loss and allowing Vincent to dispense with the perforated gem he would have used for air intake. This optimized vaporizer would use a manual pressure-based regulator, letting the user control with a finger the ratio of air to vapor they wanted to inhale. Another improvement in this second prototype was the way the material was heated: it used an identification gem to verify what was being burned and at what temperature, while also activating the catalyst moments before inhalation so the vapor would be ready in the chamber, passively heating the incense to allow longer, steadier draws.

  With the design ready, Vincent borrowed white ceramic for this prototype, since it was less prone to shrinking under heat and more resistant for daily use. He was allowed to take a limited amount of clay from the workshop for research, but later he would need to secure his own materials if he wanted to manufacture it at scale.

  The casing and inner pipe were easy to shape without engravings, so Vincent made three sets in case something went wrong, and also to have spare units ready if the design worked. He didn’t fully fire them, but used the quick kiln to remove moisture and prevent deformation.

  “What are you planning now, kid?”

  Dodoon asked, having held back his curiosity until Vincent made as if to leave.

  “Something personal. I’ll show it to you when it’s finished.”

  But Vincent kept his mouth shut. If the others found out what he was doing, they would surely want to help, and for this product it was better to keep it secret.

  The next step was to gather materials, so after borrowing some tools, a thermometer, and some flux, Vincent headed to the Forge to buy the remaining gems. When he arrived, the receptionist gave him an expectant look, clearly anticipating a long list of items for yet another strange project.

  “Just this?”

  He answered, sounding bored at Vincent’s request.

  “Were you expecting something else?”

  “Well... there are already rumors going around about some circle that can do math. I was expecting something just as impressive from you, but I doubt you can do much with this.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Vincent’s order sheet was, in a word, mundane. The bead used for heat was as standard as they came, the activation one was common quartz, and the identification gem he’d bought was far too small to be part of anything truly useful. Along with standard flux, the kind used in circles that handled heat, it didn’t look like his next project was going to revolutionize anything.

  “And I’ll also need a rough steel bead of argent steel, like the ones used in drills. Do you have any in stock? I need the smallest one you’ve got.”

  “Hmmm. Let me check the inventory.”

  The receptionist, a young resurrect not much older than Vincent, had short brown hair with a receding hairline that made his broad forehead stand out. He’d been quick to judge Vincent at first, but it seemed to be more a product of the job, and a nearly unhealthy curiosity about other people’s projects.

  “I’ve got several in different sizes. Depends on what you’re trying to drill... there are mixes from five percent up to almost forty percent silver alloy. But they’re a lot more expensive, because to make them it’s not just about how much silver goes in, you also have to alloy a larger volume of material to get these spheres. It all depends on what you want it for.”

  He wants to pry information out of me... but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy.

  “What’s your name, by the way?”

  “Phil,” the receptionist answered, a little surprised by the courtesy.

  “Alright then. Listen, Phil, because this is what I wanted to ask you. It’s for a lathe I’m working on. It doesn’t need extreme hardness, but it does need to spin for long stretches. What would you recommend?”

  “Hmmm...”

  Phil thought for a moment, trying to guess the real use.

  “In that case, you’ll want the alloy to contain a bit of gold. It’ll give you enough dissipation so it doesn’t overheat with constant use, and it’ll also absorb a good amount of energy.”

  “That’s exactly what I need. Also, I’d like to commission the mold for one of the pieces, but that’ll be later. For now, just what’s on the list and the sphere with gold alloy.”

  Still eager to know more but satisfied with the information he’d gotten, Phil went off to fetch the requested items with obvious enthusiasm. At a cost of roughly ten silver towers, the purchase left Vincent dangerously short on money.

  This has to work. I can resell some of the pipes and the burner I bought at the shop to recover a bit, but if I want to pay off the debt with the treasury on time, this prototype needs to sell well…

  The feeling was strange. Not knowing if a product would work, or even if it would sell at all. Vincent knew success didn’t depend only on how good it was, but on how he marketed it and how many people he could put it in front of. Not everyone would want to buy it, not everyone would like it, but a small percentage would, and that’s where his profit would be. That’s where the sales would be.

  It was a numbers game. Mathematics.

  The problem was that he’d always had outside help for this stage. He’d never had to sell a product without prior exposure. He knew how to sell ideas, but he’d never done it on a small scale.

  Assuming the product works out, I should start worrying about how to get it into people’s hands…