Chapter 31: Chapter 30 - Repaying a Favor

The written portion of the PMT Basics was almost embarrassingly easy. A few of the questions – mostly regarding procedure and safety – had a bit of ironic humor to them, and Cliff couldn’t help but chuckle when he ticked off that you should “never tamper with or alter PMT nodes without supervision of a licensed professional.” The other questions were just routinely dull – list the effective range of the standard fire node, do simple calculations for the spacial requirements of PMT configurations, and half a dozen other boring things he could just about do in his sleep. The test didn’t even go into anything remotely related to engineering, as the PMT Basics class was solely focused on practical use of PMTs.

They had over an hour to do the exam, but Cliff was done in twenty minutes. He spent the rest of the time idly looking around the room, bouncing his eraser off his desk, and stewing in excitement for the second half of the exam, the fun part. After an unbearable, endless wait, Lieutenant Ulster looked up from his never-ending pile of paperwork. “Times up,” he called, “Deb, grab the papers for me – the rest of you – save Cliff – come up here and schedule the practical portion of your exam. Same as last time – fifteen minute time slots this afternoon and tomorrow.”

A bustle of movement emerged around the room, and several of Cliff’s classmates paid him glances, jealous or pitying, depending on how much they knew about his circumstances. He was too excited to pay attention to any of them.

“Good luck, Cliff,” Deb muttered as she took his exam sheet, swatting him on the back of the head with the little stack of papers. He mumbled a thanks for the encouragement and nodded towards Percy and Thalos, both lingering by the door, waiting for Deb. They would all pass their exam with flying colors, he knew, and he hoped they trusted him to pass, too. Even if they didn’t, he couldn’t exactly blame them. After all, he’d failed the first PMT Basics exam.

As soon as the last student left the room, Roose stepped inside, a little metal container in his hands. “Templar Roose,” Lieutenant Ulster called, standing up from his desk, “I’m glad to see you could make it.” Cliff jumped up from his seat, barely stopping himself from dashing over to the two teachers, clenching his fists eagerly.

Roose nodded a greeting to Cliff before turning to Lieutenant Ulster. “It was a near thing. They gave me everything in these individual, little boxes, so I had to sort them all for our model student, here.” He strolled over to one of the desks, carefully setting the metal bin down. The Lieutenant and Cliff took up a spot on either side of him as he unclasped the container and flipped the lid open.

The inside was divided into long, narrow compartments, each marked with a little paper labeled in Roose’s narrow, precise handwriting. The slots were full of magetool filaments – Scorchroot, Frostfire Toad spit – there was even a single filament made from Phoenix feather. Cliff’s eyes danced around the container, and immediately his mind exploded with ideas. They all seemed to spin, flickering around a single idea: Fire. He suppressed an excited shudder, turning towards Roose, who was watching him with a smile. “Are my eyes twinkling?”

“Just about,” Roose said. Immediately, Cliff wanted to get to work. His fingers were twitching eagerly as his eyes dashed between the case of filaments and his toolbox, tucked off to the side of the room.

Lieutenant Ulster let out a low whistle, reaching out his hand and brushing his fingertips gently along the edge of the container. “Some of the filaments in here are pricy.” His eyes turned up to Roose incredulously. “They’re just letting you use this all for Cliff’s exam?”

The smile on Roose’s face dimmed slightly, and he shrugged a shoulder. “There are some stipulations – I was about to tell you, but-” He ticked off his fingers as he listed them. “Both what Cliff builds and its design will be property of the academy; before using the node, I have to test it out-”

“Using it?” Lieutenant Ulster said, cutting him off, “When I read the assessment plan you sent me, it seemed well out of the scope of Cliff’s abilities.” He turned a frown towards Cliff. “Do you plan on using the node in your PMT?”

Cliff shook his head. “Not me, no – it’s for someone else.”

Lieutenant Ulster nodded, though he seemed unconvinced, and Roose continued. “And finally, should you fail to build a functional node, someone will have to compensate the academy for the materials.” He gave Cliff a significant look. “And, considering all of your spending money is coming out of your scholarship, it’ll have to be me.”

“Hold on,” Cliff said, cutting in, “if I’m the one who screws up, shouldn’t I be the one bearing the brunt of the consequences?”

“Well – you will, in the form of a failing grade,” Roose said, “As for the money – I can afford it, you can’t.” He paused for a moment, smile widening slightly. “If it really bothers you, just make sure you build a functional node – problem solved.”

Lieutenant Ulster grunted, shaking his head. “If it comes to it, we’ll split the cost, Templar Roose. You might be the one organizing this exam, but I’m the one who signs the grade book.”

Roose crossed his arms in front of him. “You don’t have to do that, Quincy – this was my idea. When the time comes, I’ll pay the price.”

“Non-negotiable, Roose,” Lieutenant Ulster said in a tone that Cliff recognized as the drill sergeant part of his personality coming out.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Roose sighed. “Fine – but I’ll be getting the next fifty rounds or so when we go out drinking.” Lieutenant Ulster smiled slightly, and Roose turned to Cliff. “Not that it’s even worth arguing about. Cliff hasn’t disappointed me with his engineering yet, and I don’t expect him to start now.” His elbow shot out, nudging Cliff in the forearm. “Well, Cliff? Any ideas yet?”

“A couple,” Cliff said. Since Roose opened the case, schematics had been sketching in his mind, and he was about ninety percent of the way to settling on a design – it was complex, making such a versatile node from scratch, but he’d seen enough schematics to get the idea of it, and his Gift filled in most of the hard parts.

Roose nodded. “We’ll leave you to it, then. Remember, you need to submit a schematic to the lieutenant before you actually get it built.” He paused, frowning. “How long do you think all of this will take you? The schematic and the build itself, I mean.”

Cliff clicked his tongue, considering. “The schematic? Ten minutes – fifteen, if you want something clean and precise. Building the node-” He hummed to himself, turning over his planned design in his brain. “If I take my time and do a good job – which is what I’m planning at the moment – two and a half or three hours, maybe? A bit difficult to say until I actually get the ball rolling. The sooner the better, I’d reckon.” In Cliff’s opinion, they’d already been talking for too long – especially considering there was a sandbox of possibility sitting on the table in front of him.

Lieutenant Ulster nodded. “Fifteen for the schematic and three hours for the build – seems fair enough to me.” He looked over at Roose. “I’ve got grading to do, so I’ll stick around, make sure he doesn’t somehow get himself killed.”

“Right. I’ll drop by in three hours with my PMT, then,” Roose said with a nod, “we can test it out today.” He turned to Cliff. “Good luck – but, ah, you probably can’t even hear me now, can you?”

“Hmm?” Cliff said, looking up from the desk. While they were talking, he’d pulled out his notebook of drafting paper, and he was already sketching the beginnings of the design as carefully as his excitement would let him. “Right – luck, yeah. Thanks.” He turned back to the paper, and Roose chuckled, sharing an amused look with Lieutenant Ulster and leaving the room. He took care to shut the door quietly behind him, though Cliff wouldn’t have noticed, even if he slammed it.

***

Percy waved him over in the dining hall, and Cliff returned the gesture, making his way towards the group with a little bit of a spring in his step. Nym was there with Loria, plus Penny and Percy. Cliff eyed team B’s commander, stopping himself from grinning as he thumbed at the box in one of his uniform’s many pockets. He dropped into the seat beside Percy, returning a wave from Penny. “Evening, everyone,” he said.

Nym grunted what he assumed was a greeting through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, and Loria nodded politely towards him. He hadn’t seen too much of the women of his team since exams started, though he had been hoping to run into Loria this evening. Percy stuck out a hand to give him a hearty slap on the back. “Not going to grab a tray of food?” he asked, “Exam must have taken a lot out of you – it went on way longer than I expected.”

“You’re telling me,” Cliff replied, throwing his arms up to stretch some of the tightness out of his neck, “I thought it would take me three hours, tops – took me four and some change.” He rubbed the heel of his palm at a particularly tight spot in his neck. “Hunching over a desk for that long puts a hell of a knot in your neck.”

“Four hours?” Penny said, eyes widening, “I thought exams weren’t supposed to go on longer than two?” Her face scrunched up. “I can’t imagine spending so long on a test. What class was it for?”

Cliff grinned. “PMT Basics,” he explained, “but, it wasn’t the normal exam-”

“Your whole build-your-own-node thing?” Nym asked, “How do they even test that? Did you have to build a node?”

“Better,” Cliff said, leaning forward, “Roose prepared me a box crammed full of materials, and I had to design and build the node.” He sighed wistfully. “Honestly, I didn’t notice how much time it took until I smelled the bread that Lieutenant Ulster and Roose were eating while I worked – ah, that’s why I’m skipping the tray of food. The lieutenant can really bake a loaf of bread.”

Loria looked over at him, brows furrowed. “That sounds… unreasonably difficult for a class called PMT Basics. Your special circumstances aside, I doubt any other student at academy – or teacher, perhaps – would be able to complete such a task.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Cliff smiled. “Well, it was my idea, so I guess that’s my fault, then.” His smile turned smug. “I passed, by the way.”

“You already know?” Percy asked, “I thought the lieutenant said we wouldn’t get our grades until next week.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“He finished correcting the written portion of the exam while he was watching over me,” Cliff said, “When Roose got around to testing the node I made, the big guy was so excited that I managed to coax out that I’d passed the written test.” Come to think of it, he might have mentioned that Cliff shouldn’t spread that around, but – oh well, you can’t very well un-hatch an egg. “He didn’t give me the exact grade, at least.”

“Lieutenant Ulster,” Loria said, her tone incredulous, “excited? You sure you’re talking about the right guy?”

“I still can’t get past the fact that he bakes,” Percy muttered with a shake of his head. He eyed the roll on his tray for a moment before snatching up and tearing a bite out of it.

Cliff nodded. “I was surprised too – Roose was all giddy, but that’s to be expected.” He clicked his tongue. “The node I made is pretty impressive, if I say so myself.”

“If Deb or Thalos were here, they’d have some quip to knock your ego down a peg,” Nym said, pointing her fork towards him, “just imagine one of them is here, poking holes in your inflated sense of self better than I ever could.”

Loria crossed her arms, her head tilting to the side. “I can give it a try if you’d like.” She had a small smile on her face.

Penny made an unsure noise. “No offense Loria, but I think if you said something, it’d just come out sounding a little mean. I want to nod in agreement with the comment, not feel bad for Cliff.” Nym and Percy nodded, and Cliff thought he saw the barest hint of irritation on Loria’s face – perhaps at the thought that Thalos and Deb were both capable of doing something she couldn’t.

Before she could make an attempt to prove herself, Cliff cut in. “My ego is quite fine where it is, thank you very much.” He glanced around the table. “What about all of you? How are your exams going?”

“No surprises here,” Percy said, “they were a little difficult – well, besides the written part of our PMT class. That one was peanuts. The rest though.” He shrugged. “I should pass, at the very least.”

“I think I may have bombed my post-revolution history exam,” Penny said, puffing a cheek in frustration, “I thought I would be fine, so I focused on the other tests. Big mistake, though I think I probably passed.”

Cliff nodded, turning to the other two. “What about you, Nym? Loria?”

“We spent about every free moment studying with Thalos,” Nym said, “so I’m completely fine – no perfect scores, probably, but good ones, I guess. We’ve got our Advanced PMT exam tomorrow, and-” Her lips pinched to the side of her mouth, and she turned to Loria. “How are you feeling about that one?”

Loria said nothing, but Penny gasped. “That’s right!” she said, “you got a new PMT, right? Hows it feel?” Cliff had to suppress a gleeful giggle – this was exactly where he wanted the conversation to go.

Loria hesitated for a moment before speaking. “It’s – well, I’m not used to it. It feels like – like trying to go for a run in shoes a few sizes too small, or trying to fight with a weapon that’s not quite the one you’re used to.” Cliff shook his head – those were about the most Loria-like explanations he could think of.

“Your old PMT was a Crestfall Mark 5, right?” Percy asked, “the standard academy ones are Mark 4 – it’s a generation older, so it probably feels off, right?”

“That’s not it,” Loria said with a shake of her head, “sure, it’s a little less comfortable – but the Mark 4 and Mark 5 are, functionally, extremely similar, it’s just-” She winced. “The nodes – I had one that I was used to, a specialty made thing, but – well, during the second Hands-on, when Cliff made his healing node…” Her voice trailed off. “I wish I still had it.” Suddenly, she looked up towards Cliff, eyes widening. “Not that I – I mean, at the time, you had to-” This time, Cliff couldn’t suppress his giggle, and she cut off when she heard the laughter. “What’s so funny?”

From beside him, Percy shot out an elbow, frowning towards him. “Come on, man – not cool. You’re the one who asked how things were going.”

Cliff shook his head, but he didn’t stop laughing. “It’s not that,” he finally said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the little box. “It’s just that you’ve given me the perfect lead up.” He slid the box across the table towards Loria. She looked between him and the box for a moment, frowning in confusion. “Well, open it!”

The lid clicked open, and her frown deepened. She spun the box to show the rest of the table. “It’s – a node?”

Cliff sprung up from his seat, slapping his palms on the table. “Not just any node! It’s Cliff’s brand-spankin’-new inferno node.” He pointed a finger at the node, giving a triumphant smile. “To the very best of my ability, I tried to duplicate the effects of the fire node I took apart to make the healing node.”

Her eyes widened and she looked down at the node with more intensity. “Cliff – Is this-” she stuttered.

“It’s for you, of course,” Cliff said, sitting back down. He clicked his tongue. “It’s – ah – not quite as powerful. I’d estimate that it has roughly eighty percent of the operational power and range as your old node, but seeing as you weren’t making full use of that one-” He cut himself off, not wanting to loop on their argument about the node’s redundancy. “Well, I hope it’s almost as good – let me know how it feels if you decide to use it.” Roose had declared it perfectly functional after his tests, but only Loria would know how it compared to her old node.

“You-” Loria started, shaking her head, “I – I mean, I gave you the old node, and – you didn’t have to.”

“Of course I didn’t have to,” Cliff said, “But I wanted to, and, well, Roose needed an idea for my exam, so I thought I might dress up something I want to do as something I have to do for a grade. Kill two bird with one node, you understand?” His smile softened slightly. “It doesn’t take my Gift to see that the old one meant a lot to you. I know this one’s not the same, but I hope it’ll be a decent replacement.”

She blinked a couple of times, her mouth opening and closing. Finally, she managed a response. “I – I mean – thank you, Cliff, really. I didn’t – Just, Thanks.”

Cliff allowed a bit of humor back into his smile, shrugging and pointing his palms upward. “I am team B’s technician, after all. This stuff is kind of my job.”

“Right,” she said breathlessly, “I guess it is.”

Nym sighed, looking between Cliff and Loria. “Now I really wish Thalos and Deb were here – no way they ever believe there was an actual nice moment between Loria and Cliff.”

***

Professor Jericho’s exam, despite being half as long as his marathon workshop session, left him more than twice as tired. The Courier-turned-professor managed to trick every last bit of Cliff’s brain into action like an yappy sheepdog at the edge of a flock, coaxing him towards intellectual rigor. Nearly everyone had looked like a zombie as they left the classroom – even Thalos, normally stony-faced and expressionless, looked like he was on the wrong side of an all-nighter when he handed in his exam paper.

Cliff blinked quickly, whistling to himself and stretching his arms as he made his way from the lecture halls towards Paolo’s workshop. He wanted to wring some energy back into his limbs before he got to work on the depressurizer – that’s what they were calling the huge, experimental magetool they were building. Personally, Cliff wasn’t a fan of the name, but Paolo was adamant that he couldn’t care less about the name as long as the thing actually worked.

As expected, the workshop was unlocked when Cliff got there – he was pretty sure his advisor had spent every waking moment working on the depressurizer, to the detriment of his health and job. He rapped his knuckles on the workshop door a few times as he walked in. “Brother Paolo?” he called, stepping past the broom closet and through the little entryway into the workshop proper. “I know you said that I should hold off on coming until I finished up all my exams, but I only have the Courier course exam left, and Roose said-” He cut off as he looked around the workshop and saw no one. “Brother Paolo?” He frowned, scanning the room until his eyes settled on a crumpled mass of silver-trimmed black fabric on the ground next to the half-built depressurizer.

“Paolo!” Cliff cried, panic surging as he dashed towards the magepriest. He nearly tripped over a wrench, discarded on the ground, but managed to catch himself before sprawling out himself. He came down hard on his knees beside Brother Paolo, rolling him onto his back. There was an angry red welt across his forehead. Cliff’s eyes widened and he realized that Paolo must have fallen onto the frame, hitting his head on the frame. After a moment of stunned silence, Cliff scooped the magepriest up, maneuvering his body until it was positioned somewhat-comfortably on his back – thankfully, Brother Paolo wasn’t particularly tall or fat, or else it might be a bit more difficult. Either way, without another thought, Cliff took off towards the infirmary.

***

“Well,” Dr. Harkin said, scratching at his chin, “the good news is the bump on his head is just that, not a concussion or anything worse.” Cliff let out a relieved sigh. The doctor had kicked him out of the infirmary room while he was assessing Brother Paolo, and Cliff had spent the last twenty minutes thinking up the worst possibilities. “He’s got bad symptoms of stress and dehydration – cracked lips, erratic heartbeat, high blood pressure.” Cliff nodded – stressed was barely scratching the surface of what Paolo had been showing since the second Hands-on. “Like you said, he probably hit his head on the magetool when he passed out – nothing serious, and I healed the bump.” He sighed. “The bad news is I have to keep him overnight. He immediately protested, but, well – I’m the doctor.”

Cliff’s eyes widened. “He’s awake then?”

Dr. Harkin nodded. “The healing woke him up. You can go in and talk to him, if you’d like – I already told him the story you gave me, but he might appreciate hearing it from your mouth.” Cliff nodded. “Either way, you’ve got ten minutes, then I’m going there with something that will knock him out until the morning. Don’t let him try to convince you that he’s healthy enough to leave. He needs sleep.”

“Don’t worry, doc,” Cliff said, “I’m not about to forget walking in on him bunched up on the ground in a heap like that.”

“Good.” Without another word, the doctor walked off, and Cliff took that as a signal to enter Paolo’s room.

He found the magepriest in the bed looking disheveled and exhausted – his face had a week of scraggly stubble on it, and there were dark, angry bags under his eyes. He had a big glass of water in his hand, and he was taking slow, persistent sips from it. Still, he looked a fair bit better than how Cliff had found him without the welt.

Brother Paolo pointed a half-lidded smile his way. “I heard you brought me here, Cliff,” he said, “thanks for that.”

Cliff walked over to the bed, taking the seat beside it. “Couldn’t very well leave you there, could I?”

The magepriest let out a long sigh. “You know, if you got a little work done on the depressurizer before dragging me here, I would’ve forgiven you.” Cliff frowned, and Paolo forced out a little chuckle. “I’m joking, don’t worry – though I really should be getting back to work. I don’t have time to sit here, doing nothing.”

“Well, too bad – doctor’s orders.” Cliff paused for a second, frown deepening slightly. “Besides, we both know you’ll work a good bit better after a night of proper sleep. Can’t do great engineering if you’re liable to collapse every second turn of the wrench.”

Paolo shut his eyes tightly, sighing again. “You’re right, of course, but – every time I even try to sleep, my heart starts racing and I am convinced I should be working.” His eyes opened and he smiled sadly. “I’ll just lie in bed for hours, rolling around, wishing I was in the workshop.”

“Good news for you, then – Dr. Harkin said he’d be bringing by something to knock you out real good.” Paolo let out a little half-hearted laugh, and Cliff eyed him with a frown. “Say, Brother Paolo – what’s got you working so hard?”

The magepriest sighed again – it seemed to be a regular thing, now. “Deadlines, Cliff. Expectations.”

Cliff hummed for a moment. “Does it have something to do with the priest who was in the workshop a few days back? What’s the baby blue trim on the cassock mean?”

Paolo eyed him for a moment. “The sky blue trimming is for the Sentinels. Roose’s red is for the Templars – they deal with outward threats: exterminating cults, dealing with heretics, fighting in wars if it’s deemed necessary. The Sentinels are inward focused – security, internal affairs, things like that. Two sides of the same coin – the sword and shield of the Church.”

“I see, so a Sentinel came to visit you.” Cliff clicked his tongue as a few things slotted together in his mind. “So the Hierophant really is coming to the academy then. And they’re asking for a demonstration of your research.” It was a rumor that was going around the academy, though most seemed to consider it not particularly credible. Cliff himself hadn’t believed it – he’d heard that the Marifond Hierophant almost never left Crestfall.

Paolo’s eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled, shaking his head. “That your Gift putting it together for you? I bet the Sentinels would hate dealing with you.”

“Maybe,” Cliff said, frowning as he thought, “but – even if the Hierophant is coming, what’s the rush? Is she going to punish you if you don’t show enough progress?”

“Not the Hierophant, no,” Paolo said, “I can’t imagine her doing anything of the sort. Not everyone is nearly as gracious as Her Holiness, though.” He paused for a moment, his eyes turning distant before he shook his head. “Besides, I owe her quite a bit, and I’d like to repay that debt by showing her success in my research. It’s seeming less and less possible, though…”

“Well, don’t lose hope just yet. My last exam is tomorrow, and since I’m on probation, I don’t have much to do besides slave away I the workshop. Get some rest, then we can really put our noses to the grindstone.” He reached out and gave Brother Paolo a hearty smack on the arm – not too hearty, of course. The man was already in the infirmary, after all.

Paolo nodded slowly, taking another sip from his big glass of water. “Thanks, Cliff,” he finally said. The magepriest’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh! One more thing – ah, if you wouldn’t mind keeping this little visit a secret from Iona, I would appreciate it. Every time I see her these days, she’s been warning me to get enough sleep. I know it’s common concern, of course, but I’m afraid her concern can be a little vindictive.”

Cliff sucked a breath through his teeth. “Oh, I’m right there with you. I think she’d just about bite off my head for letting you get this bad.” They shared a frightened look before breaking out into laughter.

From behind him, there was a knock on the door, and Dr. Harkin stuck his scowling face into the room. He didn’t have to say anything for Cliff to know that it was time for him to leave. He said a quick farewell to Paolo, offering his thanks to Dr. Harkin before he made his way out of the infirmary. When he stepped out of the building, he considered for a moment before turning to make his way back towards the workshop. Paolo had just looked so disheartened at the thought of not finishing the research on time, and the nerves of dealing with the half-dead magepriest had left him full of energy, so he might as well put it to use. Besides, as his apprentice, this was Cliff’s chance to impress the Hierophant.