Crystalized Munchkinry - Act III - Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Taylor woke up on Monday with a renewed sense of purpose. Her talk, however one-sided, with her mother allowed her to get rid of a weight she didn't even know was there.

She had powers, was out of Winslow, her tormentors got everything they deserved, she got her father back, and was even on her way to making a great friend.

All she had to do now was take this opportunity and make the most of it.

She went on a refreshing run around the block, ignoring the frigid January weather and enjoying her new shoes. By the time she got back, her father was also up and making breakfast.

After a quick shower and settling on a new hairstyle, this time trying twin tails, she sat down with him to eat.

Danny dabbed his mouth with a napkin and stood up. "Have a nice day, honey. Could you take care of the dishes?"

"Sure, Dad! Good luck with work!" she answered, standing up as well. Smiling, she hugged him.

He smiled back at her, though his smile was a little sadder, and returned the hug. "Thanks. We'll need it."

Taylor gave him an encouraging look. "I believe in you, Dad. Maybe today is the day?"

He chuckled and headed for the door. "Let's hope so…"

Taylor cleaned up the kitchen after her father left for work, then prepared a little for lunch and dinner. She also sent a few messages to Tess.

The reply put a big smile on her face. Apparently, today was the day.

She spent the first part of the day studying, once again blazing through the online coursework thanks to her freedom from Winslow and, in part, to her power. Though if she wanted to be honest with herself, it was mostly her power. She had always been studious, but she wasn't going to lie to herself and claim she was a genius.

After finishing, she ate a quick lunch and turned her attention to tinkering.

Her discussion with Tess and Admin about the recycling facility had led to a conversation about the kinds of things she could tinker. The list Admin gave them really surprised Tess. She immediately requested the designs for the gynoid body. She was already building one, but examining another design would speed up the process.

So Taylor went through the designs she had made, and once she was satisfied with them, she sent them over to Tess for review. The thank-you message she received in return once again put a smile on her face.

It felt nice to have a friend again.

Next, she turned to the project she hoped would go worldwide. It had been Admin's suggestion, but she agreed with it wholeheartedly. The idea was to share the designs for devices capable of producing something called medi-gel. She would create a website where people could buy licenses for the devices for a pittance. The most important part was that the entire design was tinker black-box-free, so anybody could build it.

She planned to provide several versions with different production capacities: one for home use, one for larger groups, and one for industrial manufacturing.

Tess was already in the middle of constructing a server farm to host the website and its files.

She would also help set up a company to handle the patenting, licensing, and finances in Taylor's name. As an added bonus, all the money people paid would be donated to charity. Maybe an Endbringer Recovery Charity, though she hadn't decided yet.

At first, Taylor had wondered why Admin couldn't simply give her a healing power like Panacea's, but after he pointed out the consequences of possessing such an ability, she decided she didn't really want it.

Though she made a note to try to help Panacea somehow.

According to Admin's projections, the mere existence of this trauma medicine would save millions of lives, something she could never accomplish with a simple healing power. After all, most people died at the scene, and if they could survive long enough to reach a hospital, their chances of living rose dramatically.

Tess had confirmed that with a grim expression. According to her, if soldiers or government agents could carry it into the field, it would make an enormous difference. Thus, Dragon was wholeheartedly supportive of the project.

At the moment, Taylor was building the website. It included a page explaining the project, one with the required medical information, another showing how much money had been collected, one where people could purchase licenses, and finally a page listing the institutions that had approved it.

According to Tess, the Guild scientists were already testing the medi-gel, and if the noises they were making were any indication, they were thrilled with it.

Imagining how many people she would save, Taylor pulled herself out of her daydream and returned to coding with renewed spirits and twice the speed.

Danny was sitting at his desk, looking out at the ocean with a forlorn expression.

Today had been another failure.

No matter how cheerful a face he put on for his daughter, he knew their days were numbered. Sometimes he wondered if he should look for something more profitable, but he couldn't leave his friends behind. They depended on him, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he betrayed them.

He was technically the Head of Hiring, but over the years, due to downsizing, people leaving, and even deaths, he had acquired other responsibilities. He was still responsible for hiring, not that they hired many people nowadays, but he also helped with accounting and sourcing jobs.

Thankfully, he was a good enough negotiator that, over the years, he had managed to secure a few well-paying contracts that kept the place afloat and the people paid.

Today, however, he was just spinning his wheels. None of his emails had been answered yet, and he hadn't found any opportunities that could bring work to the guys.

Despite this, he was rather happy.

His new therapy was already paying dividends. His relationship with Taylor was getting better by the day, and she was growing happier as well. She was becoming much like the happy little girl he remembered.

It was also fascinating watching her enthusiastically work on Tinker tech before trying to explain it to him. He understood very little of it, so he simply enjoyed being in her presence.

He was about to take a walk and then grab a quick lunch when there was a knock on his door.

"Yes?"

The door opened, and the general secretary, Jenna, leaned in. "Danny, there's a suit here for a meeting with you about a job."

Her delivery was deadpan, but he could see from her eyes that she was a little perturbed.

"Trouble?" he asked, ready to dial the PRT. It wouldn't be the first time one of the gangs had tried something.

In the back of his mind, he considered calling his daughter, but immediately discarded the idea. She might be powerful, but he didn't want her to introduce herself that way.

"Oh no, just weird. He says he's from Dragon Industries."

"From Dragon Industries? Here? What for?" he asked, surprised.

She just shrugged. "Didn't say. Should I send him in or get one of the boys to escort him out?"

"No. Send him in. I doubt anyone would dare start something in Dragon's name."

"Sure, Danny." She turned to leave, then looked back. "Do you need me to bring some water?"

"Yeah. If it's legitimate, I suspect this will last for a while."

A minute later, the door opened again, and an older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair, shrewd-looking eyes, and a rather large briefcase followed Jenna, who was carrying a tray with bottles of water.

Danny stood up and waited until Jenna put everything down. Thanking her, he turned to the man and offered his hand.

"Good day, Mr…?"

The man accepted it with a firm grip, shook his hand, then sat down in the chair Danny indicated.

"Hello, Mr. Hebert. My name is James Levesque, and I work as a Senior Legal Representative for Dragon Industries."

"I see. And how can the Dockworkers’ Union help someone like Dragon?"

"Straight to the point, I see. I can respect that," the man said with a thin smile. "Dragon recently acquired a considerable amount of land in Brockton Bay. Land filled to the brim with all sorts of metal, and she decided to set up a recycling facility."

Hearing that, Danny's eyes grew as wide as silver dollars. "What? Why?"

"Her reasoning is her own, but from what she shared with us, she apparently has a need for cheaply sourced metal. Instead of sourcing it elsewhere, she decided to kill two birds with one stone."

"That makes sense. I always heard that Dragon was rather involved with charities and environmental cleanup efforts."

The lawyer didn't answer, merely smiled at him.

"But my question still stands. What use could we be to her?"

The man nodded. "That's a fair question. Dragon wants to employ a local workforce with the required qualifications. During our research, we found your group. Dragon has already purchased the land, which includes several large warehouses. We are still working out several permits, but as soon as that's finished, she wants to begin operations. For that, she needs experienced people who know what they're doing."

Hearing the explanation, the gears started turning in Danny's head. Recycling usually involved a great deal of moving materials around, working with metal, some cutting, and perhaps a few chemical processes. They should have at least a few people with the relevant qualifications.

"Will Dragon be using normal machines or some Tinker contraption?"

"I was told that she would be using conventional technology, albeit improved with knowledge gained from Tinker tech."

"I see," he said, then fell silent, contemplating the offer.

Mr. Levesque simply sat there, obviously letting him think it through while calmly opening a bottle of water and pouring some into a glass.

After a few minutes of uninterrupted thought and some research in the Union database, Danny came to a decision. They needed the work.

"Would it be possible to talk to Dragon about the specifics?"

The lawyer smiled in quiet triumph, as if sensing the decision Danny hadn't voiced, and nodded. "Yes. Would now be acceptable?"

With that, he picked up the unusually sized briefcase from the floor where he had set it, placed it on his lap, and clicked it open before standing up. He set the open briefcase on Danny's desk and turned it around with a dramatic flourish.

Danny found himself face-to-face with Dragon's famous avatar.

"Hello, Mr. Hebert. It is a pleasure to meet you…"

By the time the lawyer left the compound, multiple people were already swarming several warehouses near the Bay’s water. They were cleaning them, throwing out trash and doing general housekeeping.

It was obviously not the most glorious work, but every one of them looked like they were happy to be there.

Unfortunately, this development did not go unnoticed. Several groups made sure to keep a tab on the Union. Each for their own purposes, but it meant that when they moved with such speed and enthusiasm, everyone in the Bay heard about it in short order.

Some noted it and moved on to other matters. Others, however, started making plans.

When her father got home, Taylor went to finish dinner. However, when she served it, she was surprised to see him sitting there with a faraway look on his face.

"What's wrong, Dad?" she asked, worried. "Did something happen? Did somebody get hurt? Are you hurt?" The last question came out a little more hysterically than she intended.

She also used her power, trying to sense if anything was wrong with him, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Danny snapped back to attention. "Oh, Taylor, don't worry. Nothing bad happened. It's the exact opposite."

That calmed her down. She released a long breath and relaxed into her seat. "Really?"

"Yeah. Your favorite dad is all right. And left," he added with a small smile.

It took Taylor a few seconds to process what could be called a joke. She just raised an eyebrow in response. Her dad chuckled at his own pun, then started to explain.

"Get this, we got a call from Dragon."

Taylor hoped her acting skills had improved. "Dragon? The Dragon?"

"Yeah… it was a rather big surprise," he said, chuckling again at her disbelief.

"And what did she want?"

"You would never believe it…"

Taylor just sat there, food forgotten by both of them, and listened as her father animatedly told her the story.

In the end, they finished dinner while Danny talked, then moved to the living room and continued discussing it.

Taylor was already familiar with the plan, but it was still interesting to hear it from her dad’s perspective.

She especially liked how Danny talked about how much it would help Brockton Bay. It served as proof of Admin’s plan. If her dad was right, then everything was unfolding exactly as promised.

She made a silent vow to work extra hard and diligently on the designs for Dragon.

Maybe she could ask her father to let her help out at the Union as an intern during the day…

It would allow her to be nearby if one of the gangs tried something.

“So what did you do today?” asked her father when they had exhausted the topic of Dragon’s recycling facility.

“Some exercise, online school, and tinkering a little,” she answered simply.

“Anything interesting?” he asked, now sipping something stronger, his entire body radiating contentment.

She nodded and gave him a bright smile. “Oh, yes. I wanted to help a lot of people, and I came up with something…”

"And what is this idea?"

“Well, I worked out a recipe for a…”

She spent the rest of the night explaining her plan and introducing her dad to medi-gel. He was suitably impressed, even mentioning that they would love something like it at the Docks.