Geminid A short human-looking man with a goattee stands behind a counter in a small purple-clad chamber. He's got rich, fine clothing on and he's got a friendly smirk on his face. He says, "Welcome to Tony's, sir. Please, take off your shoes and sit down." There's a door behind him.

Quacklin "Okay!" Quacklin takes off his shoes and sits down.

Geminid "Tell me, what's your name?"

Quacklin "Quacklin Earstwhile Grippytop."

Geminid "Good name, Quacklin. I'm just Tony."

• Quacklin looks around the room, at his feet, at the corners of the counter, at the seem of his sleeve.

Quacklin "Okay Just Tony!"

Geminid "So, tell me, what is your worth, Quacklin?"

Quacklin "I'm worth a lot! I make a lot of money because I'm good at building things!"

Quacklin "And I make stuff from nothing!"

Quacklin "Everything has a lot of value, you know!"

Quacklin "Most people don't see it."

Geminid "Tell me about that."

Quacklin "Okay. You wouldn't believe the stuff that people throw away! I made Walker out of old engines and parts that people got rid of, and she's way way way better than any car!"

Geminid "Who is Walker?"

Quacklin "She's got personality! And most of the stuff I find has a whole bunch of uses, if you know how to use it!"

Quacklin "You can learn the stuff you need to learn, and you can create something /awesome/ out of anything!"

Quacklin "Oh, sorry, I got distracted."

Quacklin "Walker is my friend. She takes me places, and she's a good girl.

Geminid He's smiling broadly, "Quacklin, how would you feel if I told you I've never thrown anything away?"

Quacklin "She's working as the bottom of the helirotor right now. She's all hydraulic. Oh, really?"

Quacklin "That's great! But it's sad because I can't get things for free then."

Geminid "I wouldn't lie to you, Quacklin. Not a single thing. Given some things away to good homes, but never thrown anything away."

Quacklin "Do you make stuff out of it too?"

Geminid "Not usually, but if I find someone who can make something good, I might let them have some of it."

Quacklin "I can make stuff for you if you want to trade! I've bartered with churches before."

Quacklin "But they won't let me talk about specifics."

Quacklin "Do you need anything built or fixed?"

Geminid "Maybe in a bit. You mentioned Walker earlier. Is she the most important person in the world to you?"

Quacklin "I don't think so. She's like family though."

Quacklin "So is Sarah, and so is Phillip."

Quacklin "Artalla is important too, but she's not like family. She's different!"

Geminid "Is she the most important person in the world to you?"

• Quacklin shakes his head. "I'm no good at explaining it. It's like we're gears that are supposed to fit together, but I'm missing teeth!"

Quacklin "So I can't fit right. I don't fit in lots of places!"

Geminid "That's an interesting idea. You're looking for the right gear to fit in with?"

Quacklin "I'm looking to fix my gear teeth! I'm missing my soul."

Quacklin "Once I get that back I'll remember where I fit. Oh, and we have to save the city because that's what heroes and messiahs do!"

Geminid "I noticed. A rough go of it, huh? So you don't have anyone who counts as the most important person in the world to you? No one you'd value above all others?"

• Quacklin thinks

Quacklin "I used to put Bertha above everything else, but then things turned grey! I made good rocketboots for Artalla, so maybe she's supposed to be important? What's the right answer?"

Quacklin "I don't think everyone can be compared. It's not a well ordered set!"

Geminid He laughs, "The answer is up to you. Perhaps you don't know because of your soullessness. That's a shame. And interesting. I've got one more question for you, though."

Quacklin "More of a partially ordered set. A DAG! Okay."

Quacklin (directed acyclic graph)

Geminid "What would you give for the chance to pick your pick of all the treasures in the world?"

• Quacklin looks down at himself. "I can only give parts of myself! My spare time and energy, my money, and what I've learned. The rest belongs to other people, and I can't give them away. I don't have much else!"

Geminid "An interesting response. You value even the most worthless of things, but all you can give to others of any worth is yourself."

Quacklin "Because that's what's mine to give!"

Geminid He smiles, "I like your perspective. I'll tell you what. If I let you into the Vault, can you do this for me: pick nine objects and make three things out of them, and leave them there for me, then pick anything you want to keep out of the rest of the stuff?"

Quacklin "Okay!"

Quacklin "Anything you want in particular?"

Geminid He turns and opens the door. "Nope! Use your imagination!"

Quacklin "Okay!"

Geminid Inside the Vault, you see shelf upon shelf, row upon row, pile upon pile of stuff. Disorganized, but Tony assures you there's three of everything in here.

Geminid "If you need anything particular, just ask."

Quacklin "Okay!"

Geminid Use your imagination. Impress me.

Geminid Keep in mind, blessed and magical items are possible at my discretion.

Geminid And technology level, too.

Quacklin wow, ok

Quacklin first item, a cat detector.

Quacklin from a metal detector, a tiger fur suit, and a parabolic dish to increase the signal.

Geminid Hahhahaahah

Geminid Yes!

Geminid Roll Gift.

Geminid r diff 25

Eklem Geminid [diff: 25] 28 31 35

Quacklin r gift 25

Eklem Quacklin [gift: 25] 26 27 29

Quacklin don't have the karma for it, he'll change those three items so that the cat hair stands up on end in the presence of metal, and the dish will become a trendy collar.

Quacklin a new-wave rockstar costume.

Quacklin r gift.

Eklem Quacklin [gift.: 0] 6 7 8

Quacklin 32

Geminid r diff 25

Eklem Geminid [diff: 25] 29 31 34

Geminid You have a metallic detecting cat suit with collar

Geminid Next?

Quacklin An actual magic 8 ball, a camera, and microfiche machine

Geminid What does he make?

Quacklin he'll modify it to roll through this aisle of shelves, and combine it together so the camera records to the microfiche. If you ask the attached 8 ball where something is, it will pop up on the machine.

Quacklin if it's seen it.

Geminid Roll Gift.

Geminid r diff 25

Eklem Geminid [diff: 25] 30 34 35

Quacklin r gift 25

Eklem Quacklin [gift: 25] 32 33 35

Quacklin ok, he'll try something else, the camera records the 8-ball's response to every item instead.

Quacklin r gift 25

Eklem Quacklin [gift: 25] 26 28 31

Geminid r diff 25

Eklem Geminid [diff: 25] 26 34 34

Geminid Actually, wait.

Geminid That one isn't nearly as impossible as some of the others.

Geminid That's way easier.

Geminid You can do that one.

Geminid You have such a device now.

Quacklin the former or the later. Both are cool.

Geminid ANd the third thing?

Quacklin ok, for the last, he gets an idea. A lamp that recharges by shaking. A polaroid camera, and a spherical ball that lights up when moving.

Geminid r diff 25

Eklem Geminid [diff: 25] 28 28 33

Quacklin he combines these together into a device that, when you turn on the ball and throw it into the air, takes a picture on the ball of 360 degrees at the top of it's arc.

Quacklin r gift 25

Eklem Quacklin [gift: 25] 27 33 35

Geminid Such a device is now extant.

Geminid So what does Q take with him?

Quacklin so Tony can throw it up and catch it to take a look around

Geminid Awesome.

Quacklin as for what to take....

Quacklin wow, so what are the bounds to what's in here?

Geminid Ask and I'll say yes or no.

• Quacklin calls Tony over and shows him what he's made, then talks about where to go.

Geminid No Gifts, sentient things, or metagaming.

Geminid Tony will guide you if you need, but he won't make suggestions as to what to take.

Quacklin so what tech levels are here?

Geminid Don't ask me that. If you've got an idea, ask and I'll tell you if you can find it.

Quacklin What Q could really use is a portable renewable/nigh boundless energy source, so he doesn't keep having to get energy from gasoline, batteries, etc.

Geminid Magical, blessed, or technological?

Quacklin or something that lets him quickly fabricate things. Technological is what he'd prefer, as it's easier to fiddle with. He'd settle for magitech

Geminid What's an example of a purely technological version? And yes, I know, nothing like that actually exists.

Quacklin remember the "Mr. Fusion" on Back to the future? You put in trash, and it uses cold fusion to combine it together?

Quacklin If cold fusion existed, you could get limitless power from anything with atoms

Quacklin without radioactive biproducts

Geminid I'm thinking it might be a bit too much. Tony insists he has one, but he can't find it at the moment.

Quacklin aww, I can't shout 1.21 gigawatts,

Geminid Sorry.

Geminid Next idea?

Quacklin What about something he could use with the Gloves? Something that allows him to translate the creative energy of the gloves into actual creation of something? He could then use the gloves to power simple things, or create simple materials out of thin air

Geminid No, I don't want him to be able to create mateials out of thin air.

Quacklin give me one more sec,

Geminid Take your time.

Quacklin Giving Quacklin nanotech is too dangerous

Geminid Agreed

Quacklin he'd destroy the world with grey goo

Geminid So instead, what would he go looking for?

Quacklin he wouldn't even know to ask about nanotech. Any engine he can build, kinda. He has stilts that he really likes, we're on our way to good weapons.

Quacklin Anything to make him more lethal will just make him more overpowered at this point.

Quacklin something informational, or something to help the plot along?

Geminid Don't ask me. Decide.

Quacklin what about another magic 8 ball? Quacklin can ask it questions and get back cryptic answers. You can use it as a way to drop in clues if you prefer, or give back "future is hazy" responses as you desire?

Geminid So an actual magic 8 ball?

Quacklin yeah, sure. It's an information source, and we need more info right now as Q sees it.

Geminid All right. That works for me.

Geminid I'd cut this log, but I forgot to start it.

Geminid Cut

Retconned to be a bag of holding