//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Kick Start // by Phoenix_Feathers //------------------------------// Scavenging. It was almost customary to the avian races, as much as it was an insufferable racist insult. But such matters were of no concern to Gideon. He saw scavenging as just another way of living, just like how those who cleaned septic tanks and cesspools just do the smelly job for a living. You don't have to like or dislike something if it gets you food on your plate, or in Gideon’s preference, coins in his claws. Which is why he frequently scavenged, though not completely in the sense of financial stability. While it did add to his source of income, it also gave him the opportunity to search for materials that—while others would see as nothing more than scrap—he saw as valuable as a diamond. From random metal plating to rusted bolts from the underside of chariots used in ancient wars, Gideon made use of whatever was thrown down and around the valley he lived near. The Great Landfill to most, the Great Treasure Trove for Gideon. Today, he was scavenging at the surface of the ravine. A caravan from some canine civilization he has never heard of had dumped quite a load-full of scraps across the edge of the cliff this morning. And from a distant glance, his experienced eyes could definitely see many useful things inside the metal heap. " What to see, what to take…" Gideon hummed to himself with a grainy base, adjusting his claw-made telescope lens over his left eye as he glided over a specific part of the new scrap field. His keen eyes quickly caught sight of a glimmer that stood out from the rest. It was quick and barely noticeable, but he managed to catch where it was. He shifted his wings to make a sharp turn, descending down towards the spot his eyes never left. His leather-padded hind legs landed on the crooked metal ground while his front claws began to move the pieces of metal out of the way. It didn't take long for him to find the glimmer he was so focused on; a small metal fan blade. And to his luck, it was one made of a light-weight alloy that he was hoping to find for months now. " Yes, about darn time!" Gideon wasted no time pulling the blade out from the scrap, opening his large leather saddlebag and inserting it in. With this, he'll now be able to forge the piece that has been halting his progress from his latest project, one he has yet to name but one he’s sure will definitely make his name spread like wildfire. Just before making flight once more, though, Gideon’s left ear twitched as he heard a foreign sound wailing eastward. He glances towards the assumed entrance of the landfill and down the main road where the landfill donors normally come from. Using his telescope once more, he zoomed it into the maximum setting to see what was causing all that noise. From what he could see, there seemed to be a… tilted carriage on the road. Bah, nothing of interest to anyone. That is what Gideon would’ve said, but his keen eyes caught hold of the decorative designs on the carriage, which screamed at him that this was something otherwise than uninteresting. Just by looking at the colorful decor, especially the precious metals aligning the carriage, it must be a noble's carriage. Royalty, or at the very least a wealthy aristocrat. So it seems even the wealthy aren’t strangers to junkyards. How contradictory. The carriage was clearly damaged, with both wheels on the right ripped off the hinges and torn to shreds. The contents from within spilled out onto the road, ranging from small fancy noble stuff to large luggage bags. It made Gideon tilt his head; there didn’t seem to be anything worth throwing in this land of scrap. Heck, it looked more like this carriage was just heading on a long trip. His interest was piqued, and so Gideon decided to fly up closer. With a single flap, Gideon was tens of feet in the air, where he gave the area a quick look over before gliding down to the wreckage. And yes, as much as he tried to ignore it, the wailing never stopped, amplifying even more the closer he got. It was as if someone had left their baby and left. But that was unrealistic; it was probably one of those “high-tech” devices those city salesmen try to bait buyers with. True to his evaluation, Gideon found nothing around the carriage that was meant to be thrown into the landfill. It was all just travel essentials, all for a family vacation if anything. Nothing worth his interest… except for maybe the perfume bottles. He needed to get that stench out of his home somehow. “ Where is that darn thing…” Gideon grumbled to himself. His patience was thinning more and more the longer this thing kept wailing. He was going to go insane if this kept going! The problem is, it was coming from underneath a pile of the luggage on the side of the wreckage, but that didn't stop him whatsoever. Gideon began tossing the luggage over his shoulder one by one with ease, digging until he could get that stupid device and cut it off for good. Eventually, he removed the last of the luggage blocking him from this insufferable annoyance, and he was greeted with a sight that made him wish he hadn’t gone through the effort of scavenging this wreckage, much less even coming close to it. “...” Gideon’s face turned a sickly green, but he withheld himself from gagging. Now that he thinks about it, those canines didn’t look really noble, and as he can see, their actions on the real owners of the carriage were far from it. Though greatly mortified, Gideon did catch the source of the noise, which was not too far off from the disturbing sight before him. Sneakingly settled in between the cavity of two bags, there laid a small and light brown infant. Like the victims before Gideon, the baby was none other than an equine, the fundamental form of a pony. The foal’s hair was dark brown… and that was about it when it came to details. Not that Gideon was all that concerned about details at the moment… which kindly reminded him how much he wanted to leave now. And how much he had jinxed himself. It sucks, however, that he was a deep down compassionate fella. He could just leave right now, not letting this whole situation ruin his day any further, but his guts… no, bad choice of words. His morals were telling him to not leave this child by itself, no matter the numerous reasons why he could. “ I’m going to regret this…” Gideon groaned audibly, doing his best to carefully fly over the undesirably vivid situation. The foal seemed to have heard him and stopped crying. But to add on to Gideon’s unfortunate circumstances, it cried even louder than it had before as he grabbed it and began to quickly fly off. Gideon tried his best to ignore his cries on his way home. Kick Start Chapter 1 7 Years later… “ I must say, Mr. Gideon, this device is absolutely magnificent.” Gideon looked over to the businessman besides him and gave him a dismissive scoff. “ Magnificent? This model isn’t even a tenth of the real thing.” “ Even so, it is still a commemorable and revolutionary piece of technology. This will surely help our residential area achieve the desirable volume of water per day,” the businessman said. Sliding a hand through his suit, the businessman pulled out a small card and offered it to Gideon. “ Here, I implore you to receive my company’s card.” Gideon looked down at the card with disdain, shaking his head slowly. “ You can keep that—” “ Consider it the beginning of a great relationship,” the businessman cut off, smoothly sliding the card between Gideon’s claws. Readjusting his suit and slicking his already slick hair, the businessman nodded professionally at Gideon. “ On behalf of the company, we thank you for your service. Expect more purchases from us in the coming future.” With that said, the businessman gave one final bow and made his way back into the grandiose carriage. And with a muted command from within the cabin, the carriage drove off down the steep road without a second wasted, leaving Gideon behind in a cloud of dust. With a deadpan expression, Gideon looked down at the card in between his claws before ruthlessly stuffing it in his belt pouch and making his way back into his home, grumbling a train of insults under his breath. Today marked another successful purchase for Gideon. And, as always, it was the same purchase of the same machine that every client before buys, nothing else. Some could argue that that wasn’t really a bad thing; he made a device that is not only revolutionary but is extremely profitable. Like, revolutionary to the point it got the attention of royalty. But still, after remaking the same device tens of hundreds of times over and still being requested more, Gideon is slowly beginning to get tired of it. No, he was already tired of it and wanted it to change really soon. From the front door of his home/warehouse, Gideon stretched his wings and flew three stories up, landing smoothly on a small landing deck leading to his main office. It was one of the only places where he could find the quiet to actually do his work, most notably his blueprints for new machines that he oh so desperately needed. But, as he tossed his leather bag onto one of the numerous stacks of forgotten blueprint paper littering his office, he has made little progress in his next breakthrough. With an annoyed sigh, Gideon slumped onto his small stool and picked up his pencil. He scanned over his current drawing to recollect where he had left off, and from there he spent the next twelve hours laser focused on inventing the next revolutionary water screw. Unfortunately, he never got to that last part. With a loud bang, the windows to his office exploded, causing Gideon to jump with a yelp. “ Gawk!” Gideon squawked in a similar manner as a chicken. His reaction was given a series of uncontrolled giggles at the assaulted window, which quickly snapped him out of his stupor. With a vein bulging out of his head, Gideon shot a glare towards the window, where he saw the ever notorious and insufferable small vermin hovering. “ Hello, grandpa!” “ Generator,” Gideon growled, his voice deep but slowly rising in volume, “ how many times do I have to tell you to not BREAK MY DARN WINDOW!” “ But look grandpa—” Generator began, making an act to raise his hoof. “ And I’ve told you numerous times to stop calling me that too!” “ But you're an old bird, grandpa,” Generator pointed out, “ old birds are called grandpa and grandma!” Gideon could only sigh in response, rubbing his claw between his nose. He could feel a headache growing, and that was the last thing amongst many last things he needed right now. To make matters worse, he felt a grainy texture on his nose, and when he moved his claw he noticed the crushed remains of one of his favorite pencils. His mood only soured more. “ You’re going to fix that window, Generator.” “ Nuh uh. Look, it isn’t broken,” Generator tapped a hoof on the ajar window to prove his words. As if to spite him, the entire window fell off the hinges and shattered onto the floor. “... I’ll fix it.” “ Just tell me what you want, ” Gideon sighed quietly. With a beaming smile, Generator flapped his wings across the office and flopped himself right onto Gideon’s head, much to the griffon’s dismay “ you’re too old to be doing that, Generator. Get down!” “ Fine,” Generator pouted but floated down to Gideon’s side. Sitting down on his hind legs, the colt detached his own smaller version of Gideon’s leather bag and stretched it out to the griffon in question. “ Here, look what I found! I think you’ll like it.” His interests slightly piqued, Gideon took the bag and opened it. Within, he saw a small group of nuts and bolts, though beyond that there was nothing interesting. “ They’re just scrap.” “ What, now way,” Generator pressed on, standing up and pulling out one of the bolts in the bag, “ see this? It’s all green and stuff! It has to be made of something cool!” “ Green?” Gideon repeated, looking at the bolt closely. He took a healthy twelve seconds appraising the bolt, but no matter how intently he looked, the bolt was still the same silver gray color. He looked at Generator with an annoyed frown. “ I’m not falling for another one of your pranks, Generator.” “ No, I’m being serious, look!” Generator insisted, taking out another bolt. “ This bolt is yellow, and when I was at the Great Landfill, all the other metals were orange or red!” Gideon simply stared at the colt. “ And I thought I was colorblind.” Generator pouted before snatching the bag and stuffing the bolts back in. “ Fine, if you don’t believe me, then I’ll keep these bolts to myself. You’re gonna miss out when I figure out what they do!” “ Good, it gives me more time working on this blueprint and less time tolerating your tomfoolery,” Gideon said, then pointing a claw towards a drawer in the corner, “ toss me another pencil on your way out.” “...” Gideon looked at the colt when given no response. Generator didn’t seem to hear him, because his attention was suddenly brought to the blueprint on the table. Being too short to see the full drawing, Generator flew up onto Gideon’s lap and placed both front hooves on the table to take a closer look at the blueprint. “ What are you trying to make?” Generator asked. “ What does it look like to you?” Gideon rolled his eyes with a scoff, “ another machine… one that’s different from my accursed yet prodigious first born…” “ But it looks the same.” “ That’s because I was taking reference!” Gideon shot back, crossing his arms. “ I was getting somewhere good before you decided to pull another one of your irresponsible stunts.” Gideon’s comment seemed to have flown over Generator’s head, who had quickly funneled all his attention on to the blueprint. Gideon didn’t notice this, having gone on to ramble about the bane of the younger generations. “ Sheesh, can’t have a single day where the young folks don’t do anything out of haste,” Gideon grumbled, “ wished today’s society would go back to the Grover I era. Learn a thing or two about the consequences of one’s actions…” “ Why don’t you just make it into a circle?” Generator suddenly said. Gideon snapped out of his phase, blinking at the colt’s words. “ What?” “ Look,” Generator pointed at the illustration of the water screw in the water, “ you already have the screw sideways, right? Why don’t you make it upwards or something, turn it into a circle?” “... Stop your babbling and make some sense, Generator,” Gideon said, not seeing the colt’s vision, “ what difference does it make if I were to make it a circle? That’ll just make it useless.” “ But, look, you know how the screw takes the water in small bits? What if you did it like that but on a circle,” Generator explained. He paused for a second before his eyes lit up. “ Like a wheel! Yeah, make it into a wheel and have it pick up water!” Gideon was silent for a moment, his mind trying to process the boy’s words. There was doubt, of course, since this was nothing more than a child’s rambling, but Gideon was slowly finding sense to it. Then, as if the pieces were put together, something suddenly clicked in Gideon’s mind. “ Get me a pencil, Generator,” Gideon demanded. Generator tilted his head in confusion. “ Huh, why—” “ Just get it!” “ O-Ok,” Generator quickly flew towards the wardrobe and brought another pencil to Gideon, who snatched it out his hoof without even looking. Grabbing a new sheet of blueprint paper, Gideon then began to draw a series of circle sketches with different parts and notes. He does this for the next handful of minutes, all while Generator watches to the side with interest. Eventually, Gideon finished the sketches on his third paper. Bringing it up to the light, he inspected the drawing before nodding in approval. “ Hmm, yes, this will do.” “ What will do? Did we figure out something?” Generator asked. “ We?” Gideon scoffed, rolling up the blueprint. “ No, Generator, this was 100% my ingenuity in the process. No child like you could’ve ever created such a brilliant plan.” “ Hey, not true!” Generator shot back, pointing a hoof at Gideon accusingly. “ I was the one that told you about the circles, and you drew a whole bunch of them!” “ What does that have to do with anything? I draw circles all the time,” Gideon said with a smug grin. “ Well without my idea, you wouldn’t have thought of using hydrodynamics to spin the wheel and generate energy through the conversion of the water’s kinetic energy into mechanical energy.” “...” Generator grinned happily. “ I read your notes.” “ Fine,” Gideon huffed, standing up from his desk, “ 96%...” “ Hey, that’s higher than last time!” Generator exclaimed. “ Get station twelve prepared, I’m going to get the necessary materials,” Gideon said, making his way out of the office with Generator in tow, “ I think I still have some ginger wood scrap left somewhere…” “ You used it all up when you were—” Generator began. “ Just shut it and do what I told you to do!” Gideon barked out. “ Yes, sir!” And like a bolt of lightning, Generator zoomed down to the lower floors. Gideon paused for a moment, looking down at the large hollow space of his home. “ What am I going to do with this kid…”