24. Heading to Automation
May. 15, 2023
A/N: Next couple chapters after this is solely for you and Senku's development! I'm super excited to share them with you.
(*â§ââ¦)人(â§ââ¦*)âª
Q: Are you guys still in school or are you finished?
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"This cotton candy is fluffy enough to melt on the tongue, and yet it has a granular texture to it."
"Agreed! This inconsistency in the fibers reveals a disharmony with the flavor!"
You were off to the side, holding in a laugh as Senku, Gen, and Ginro were swept away in a Nori-Tsukkomi skit. Even the rest of the villagers seemed to be into it, though it was strange enough for them to understand it.
"Ugh, I'll try harder next time, I swear!" Ginro cried on his knees. He then stood up and screamed, "AS IF! I got switched right into a Nori-Tsukkomi sketch comedy bit, but who the hell cares about flavor harmony in cotton candy?!"
Gen had a smirk on his face. "These people know the term Nori-Tsukkomi? Did it show up in the Hundred Tales, perhaps?"
"You can blame my dumb, old man, then," Senku replied.
"Why are we goofing around if Tsukasa's army is gonna show up?! He's gonna come before we finish making cell phones!" Ginro cried with tears in his eyes.
"Calm down, Ginro," you told him. "This is a very serious issue, and we have enough time because he's not gonna come right this instant."
The scientist nodded. "Exactly. We have only a few months before he comes, and that's when he's gonna make his all-out attack. Now, what's your take, mentalist?"
"Hmm, I'll try thinking like Tsukasa-chan then..." he closed his eyes and you could imagine him shifting into the primate himself. He spoke in the warrior's voice, "'We control the revival fluid, so our strength only grows as time passes. But Senku is no ordinary foe. Give him too much time, and he'll start producing gunpowder again.'"
"Oi, that impression's a little too good..." Senku said with sweat dripping down his temples.
You added to the conversation, "Winter is also approaching, so we need to stock up before it gets too cold. Plus, since the village is surrounded by water, it'll freeze over, and they won't be able to attack us then. Which is why they will try to attack when spring is here."
Kohaku and Chrome widened their eyes. "Are Taiju and Yuzuriha gonna last that long?! Won't they be killed?!"
"We're not worried. To the enemy, those two are potential hostages, so they won't hurt them," Senku said with a smile, then started chuckling. "Don't you get it? The rules of this game are pretty darn simple. In order to crush Tsukasa, we're gonna make these cellphones, and the inconsistency to the cotton candy is a serious issue."
"Because if the cotton candy is lumpy, then the gold wire we need will be too," you finished.
"Yup. Before throwing in the gold, we gotta pin down the cause of imperfections," the scientist informed them.
Chrome had a grin on his face. "Awesome! It's a good thing we test with the cotton candy first."
The brothers went back to pulling the rope to create the cotton candy. You noticed that it was be even when it's going in one direction, but the moment they go the other way, it slows down. Even Chrome had noticed it, and he yelled when he pointed it out
"The instant the direction of rotation changes, the rotational force falls, and imperfections are inevitably formed," said Senku with his eyebrows furrowed.
Kohaku went straight to the brothers with her arms crossed. "So can't we make it for smoothly without decelerating?! Like, if we tie the two of them together or something..."
You had sweat dripping down your temples as you pitied Kinro and Ginro. "No...that's something we can't do."
Chrome suggested, "Why don't we use a crazy long rope? Like one kilometer long!"
"We'll die!" Ginro cried out.
Kaseki also added an idea, "What about something we can spin by hand, like the generator?"
"Not fast enough," the green boy answered.
Kohaku then spoke up, "HA! That's just a matter of spirit! If we all work together in shifts, then--"
The lioness was interrupted by her father, Kokuyo, "It's also a problem of resources. Because we have to prepare for winter, we can't spend all of our manpower on science work."
Senku then walked away, looking at all of the spare materials you had stored for later. A confident smile appeared on his face, letting you know that he had an idea.
"Kukuku, weeeeell, looks like I'll have to make this. It'll take a liiiitle bit of effort, but I'm guessing it'll go just fine with the badass craftsman, Kaseki, on the case!" Senku chuckled as he held up a small knife.
He then drew up an image on the ground, and Kaseki immediately got to work the moment Senku had given him some wood and the knife. When you saw then working together, you recognized it after thinking hard about where you had seen it. The item they had made was something that had led to human history's industrial revolution. Once they created the base, the scientist snatched Kohaku's shield from her back and held it up.
"Ohh, Kohaku's shield will do so nicely! It's ten billion percent the perfect material to make gears out of!" Senku exclaimed with joy.
You raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Kaseki tell us that was a gift from her father?"
"Yeah...it was a memento passed down to Kohaku-chan when the chief won the tournament..." Ginro told you.
"Are you sure that you'd wanna ruin something that important then..?" you quietly wondered, though Kokuyo had heard you.
"Oh, I'm so glad you understand, (Y/N)! It's not like I care...but, you know, it's something special her dad gave her...or something. Ha! So, I don't know if she's gonna agree to that!" Kokuyo bashfully replied as he held a hand up to his face.
Kohaku instantly answered, which had broken Kokuyo's heart, "Oh, sure, I don't mind if you blow it to smithereens. Utility first."
The lioness took a hammer and started beating small, wooden prongs onto the face of the red and yellow shield. You were too busy patting her crying father's back as you watched her defacing it with no mercy. Once it was finished, you helped Senku attach it to a wooden contraption to help spin the base, allowing your group to obtain a working gear.
"Whoa!"
The villagers were impressed when the gear started working and spinning smoothly, creating silky cotton candy, and soon enough, gold.
"Ohhh man, this is awesome! It's so simple! With this, all you need is one person working in a single direction!" Ginro cheered.
"Yup." You nodded. "You can also go slowly and can spin it for a long time!"
When you said this, you noticed that Chrome's eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were squinted heavily. He then put a foot forward and widened his eyes in realization, figuring something out. The boy grabbed Kaseki and dragged him away from your group, whispering a few words into his ear once he was far away. Whatever he told him, it was enough for the old man go get fired up and disappearing into the forest.
"Man, I wonder what they're both up to now..." you said.
"Seriously, what a weirdo, that Chrome..." Kohaku commented.
Senku let out a chuckle as he stood in front of the gears. "I guess he's plotting something. Just leave him be."
"When a boy is preparing some mischief, the rule is you can't look until it's finished!" Gen shrugged as he told you.
"Well, you don't have to worry about him!" said the scientist as he grabbed a few gold strings and started twisting a few of them. "What awaits you all now is the hell of hard labor! We'll twist this golden candy around, winding it into coils of ultra-fine wire!"
Kohaku questioned him, "Hmm, and how long do these wires have to be?"
"Let me think...it'll probably have to be long enough to go from here..." he then pointed at the mountains far from where you were, "...to that mountain!"
The villagers were shocked beyond compare, and it seemed as though their eyes had popped out of their heads when they were handed the information.
However, Suika and all the children came along. "In place of the adults who are all busy with winter preparation, us kids can make ourselves useful!"
This went on for the next few days. The children were twisting the gold into thing wires for the phone, while you helped Senku with whatever he needed. Kohaku and some of the villagers would leave to help forage and gather for winter. Since there was so much work to be done, many people would switch off to rest, do science work, then prepare for the upcoming season.
~~~
After three days, you saw Chrome crawling on all fours, dragging himself on the floor. You ran up to him to check on his status, "Chrome?! What the hell happened to you?!"
He replied in a raspy voice, "It's...it's finally finished, Senku, (Y/N)! After three days...working through the night by the river!"
"What did you do?"
"We made something...so freaking awesome!"
You immediately left to get Senku and the others. You and the scientist ran to see what Chrome and Kaseki had made, with a few villagers running behind you. When you reached the river, your (E/C) eyes widened, seeing a familiar, wooden structure before you. It was working smoothly, with the water pushing its paddles with little to no effort.
Chrome, who looked extremely proud of himself and acting as if he wasn't dying previously, had stars in his brown eyes. "How is it, guys?! Isn't my invention amazing?! This is revenge for failing to react back then with the magnet!"
"Won't you be a little more surprised?" Kaseki added.
You and Senku looked at each other with a grin, and turned to the two inventors. "It's a water wheel!"
The two men fell over in shock. "YOU KNEW ABOUT IT AFTER ALL?! DAMN IT!"
The old man, disappointed, then said, "Even though I had already decided on a nake for it, 'the forever-turning cotton candy machine'."
"No, we'll just stick with water wheel," Ginro popped up and replied.
Senku had a huge smile on his face when he gazed upon the water wheel. "Yeah, I'm pretty surprised. You guys made something incredible with zero knowledge! This isn't on the level of some automatic cotton candy maker. There's far more uses, particularly that thing Kinro and Ginro worked so hard spinning before!"
"Are you talking about the generator?" You asked him with anticipation.
He nodded. "Yes. Come on, (Y/N), we got some upgrades to do! You too, Chrome, Kaseki!"
The three of you excitedly followed Senku towards the warehouse, where all of you had gotten a bunch of materials. You had to help take apart the physical generator and move all the parts to the water wheel. Over another few days, the four of you worked together to add bits and pieces to the water wheel to create a new type of generator. One that didn't need any physical power from human muscle.
"With the completion of the gear and water wheel, the age of manpower is over! Devices that can work endlessly, without the need for fuel. We can finally harness the power of mother nature!" Senku exclaimed as he held two wires together, which were connected to the newly created hydropowered generator. This new generator was stemming from the original water wheel that was created days before.
The scientist had put two of the wires together, and you could see electricity sparking out from the ends. You asked the boy, "We're not done yet, are we?"
"No. As you can see, the electricity is only coming in at a trickle, so we need a container to store the electricity," he told you.
You got back to the warehouse and started working on some new projects together. The next item to create needed your old friend, Sulfur-chan, as well as some wiring and glass.
"Kukuku, when electricity flows through here, it'll store up. Easier than you thought, right?" The scientist let out a chuckle.
"You think that was easy? It took a hell of a lot of effort to make, I'll have you know!" Chrome scoffed.
"It's not that bad when you have the information to make it. I only learned about this through Myth Busters and Senku himself!" You exclaimed.
"The hell is Myth Busters?" The brunette raised an eyebrow.
"Never mind, that. Anyways, we need to make a few more of these and connect them together!"
With that, you ended up making a working battery. Of course, it didn't look like the ones you used back in the modern age, but it should be just as good as the ones before.
"Can something this tiny really store up that wheel's spinning power?" Ginro questioned as he touched the wires. He ended up getting electrocuted without warning, which completed the test to see if it was working. When he recovered, his eyes had gotten as big as pies, realizing something important. "Wait, with this, does this mean I'll never have to kill myself trying to turn that spinny thing with Kinro ever again?!"
The green-haired boy smirked. "That's right. Never again in your life. I told you, right? This is the age of machine power!"
Ginro then high-fived Kinro, screaming with joy, "LONG LIVE MACHINE POWER!"
Kokuyo watched from afar, stating, "Doesn't surprise me that Ginro feels that way, but to think that even the diligent Kinro is moved..."
Senku stuck a pinky in his ear and said, "This wasn't for the sake of giving them a break, you know. We need manpower for other things."
"In other words, the fighters can concentrate on their training!" Kohaku blurted out with determination in her eyes. She then whipped her head over to you and grabbed your wrist. "You will join me, (Y/N)!"
You were dumbfounded. "Eh?! But Senku--"
"Senku has Kaseki and Chrome! We need to train and talk!"
Kohaku started dragging you away by your sweater, while Kinro started dragging Ginro behind him, much to the blonde boy's disapproval. Senku chuckled as you were leaving, "I'll be fine, slowpoke. Train hard so we can fight Tsukasa and win."
You widened your eyes a bit, and sighed. He's right. I need to train hard for the battle. No time for slacking.
~~~
"Do you think you can teach me your techniques, (Y/N)? You know, the one I asked you about awhile ago?" asked Kohaku as she sat down on the cliff side you were training at.
You and Kohaku had finished training Kinro and Ginro for the time being. The lioness didn't wanna stop for a couple hours, which you were fine with, except it tired the hell out of the two boys. They ended up passing out after your training session because it's been a long while you trained them so hard. So, you and Kohaku were training each other, fighting each other casually in the meantime and taking breaks when needed.
You slowly shook your head. "There's not enough time. All the work we need to do with phone, especially while stocking up for winter, takes up a majority of the day."
"Is there any way you can think of which will give us the opportunity to train?" She questioned you.
You put a hand under your chin to think about it. "Hmm, if there was a way to make it so that we'd have automation, then we'd most likely have the time. I'm sure Senku will handle it soon though."
The blonde girl looked at you with her big, blue eyes. She spoke, "You really believe in Senku, huh, (Y/N)?"
You showed her a toothy grin. "Yeah, I do. He's my best friend, so I will always show him the support he needs."
"Is that so?" She commented. It seemed that something had settled in her mind as you said that. "You know, this wasn't in the Hundred Tales, but how did you guys even meet? How did you two become friends?"
"Hmm...we met when we were in school, a place where you could learn different topics that were important. We became friends when he declared I was going to help him with his rocket to the moon after calling me a slowpoke and a loner."
"Even as a child, he seems to be extremely aggravating," Kohaku said as sweat had dripped down her temples.
You let out a light laugh. "Of course. He's always acted that way, but I don't mind it. He thinks about others, even when he doesn't show it."
"Then...is that one reason why you love him?"
You stopped in your tracks. You hesitantly asked, "Is... this what you meant by needing to talk?"
"I may be a hard-headed warrior, but that doesn't mean I don't like talking about some things like this! Plus, Gen might've let something slip..." The girl let out a snicker.
You then replied to her question, "Look, I like him, but not like that. I like him as a great friend."
"Well, even if you say that, I don't know if you can say the same about that boy. He treats you differently, and looks at you with something that I can't exactly describe," said Kohaku.
You looked down and started to think. Was Gen really right about what he said? That Senku had something other than science in his heart?
You shook your head, fully believing it wasn't true. "Because that's what best friends do. We treat each other the best we can. I've been a hopeless romantic all my life. When we were surrounded by couples at school, he'd look so annoyed, except for when it came to Taiju and Yuzuriha. I took it as a sign once I saw that Senku had no interest in romance."
"So skeptical..." The lioness told you as you saw an eyebrow twitch on her head.
You let out a small sigh. "Whatever. We should head back now. Let's wake up the boy and head back."
Kohaku listened with no hesitation, and woke up Kinro and Ginro by kicking them. When the four of you walked back, you headed to the river when you saw that Senku and the rest of the craftsmen weren't by the warehouse. You then noticed a whole new contraption that was built, as well as rising smoke coming from a large furnace.
"No way." You stood before it in disbelief. You didn't think they'd get this far this early.
"Coming all the way from jabbing to use that puffy tool to fan the flames, we've finally reached level three!" Chrome exclaimed with enthusiasm.
You noticed the villagers coming to see as well, and they were surprised.
"All that difficult work that we had to do in exchange for ramen..." Ganen the glutton had said.
Gen explained, "The iron-making from hell has finally been automated!"
The villagers cheered, tears pouring out of their eyes when they heard those words come out of the mentalist's mouth. They were giving each other high-fives and screaming with delight. "LONG LIVE MACHINE POWER!"
You approached Senku, who had an annoyed look on his face. He called out to the villagers, "I'm telling you, this wasn't to cut you a break!"
"Now all the non-combatants can prepare for winter, right?!" Kokuyo exclaimed with delight. He gathered the villagers he needed to dragged them to the forest, where they were to help stock up for winter.
As you were left alone with Senku, you smiled. "Ah, we're finally at the age of automation. I didn't think we'd get this far this early."
"Yeah, thanks to Chrome and Kaseki," the scientist nodded. "How was the training?"
"It was fine. With the extra time I might be able to help Kinro and Ginro a little more, and..." you trailed off, which caused a little confusion to the boy. You didn't wanna tell him you were going to take the time to train by yourself as well, adding extra work on your part. "...I might be able to help you out some more, too."
"You're right. But you might also need to help out with winter preparation. Don't push it, okay?" He said.
"...I won't."
-To be Continued-
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Super excited to show you the next one! It'll make your hearts swoon.