One Thousand Years Ago, Book 2

by Scroll

Chapter 6: The Knack

The engineering room is more than just the room with the propulsion engine for the ship. With all the spare parts, whirling doohickeys and various lab tables, this is also an inventors room. It looks cluttered but Cozy actually enjoys it. The smell of steam and oil in the air actually calls to her soul for some reason. She also enjoys the feeling of vibration in the room or the white noise rumble of the engine towards the aft of the ship.

For a moment, Cozy is a little alarmed to notice Gizmo is absent from monitoring the aft station where the engine is, but he is in the room and, apparently, Widget is crawling over the rear controls as if keeping an eye on it.

Instead of being at the engine itself, Gizmo is sitting in front of one of three work tables in the room. A lot of parts and tools are in front of him. One object, in particular, looks partially assembled. He is fiddling and inspecting it. As Cozy paces close to him, she hears him mumble something under his breath very rapidly. It is hard to catch because the volume is so low and he's speaking too fast, but it sounds like he is talking about the various parts of the machine in front of him and how to either assemble or disassemble it.

Cozy half expects Gizmo to be startled when she asks what he is working on, but instead, he simply answers her with a long-winded and technical explanation without looking back at her. Despite the fact that eight percent of what he says goes over her head, at least she is aware of it and she is still fascinated.

She wishes she was educated enough to ask intelligent questions about this, but instead she is forced to just nod her head in silence. Interest does not equal automatic expertise, after all, and she had very little actual experience with things like this. Really, she was trained in it for only a few moons, and that was years ago. She was learning quickly, though.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Cozy asks in fascination.

“I often get that reaction from outsiders of my village,” Gizmo responds as he swivels his stool about to face her. At that point he also leans back on the edge of the table behind him and rests his elbows on it. “But to me, growing up in that environment, this stuff,” he thumbs behind him at the table for a moment before resting that elbow back on the table, “is normal to me. This is the world I grew up in.”

“I suppose that makes sense, and as I said to you a week ago, I visited Narch for a few moons several years ago. Not only was it home to one of the few resistance forces against the Storm King, but it was also home to a whole village of engineers and inventors. I was especially interested to note that the power source of most of that tech was actually magic. I used to hate magic back then, but that particular use of it fascinated me. I like how accessible it made it to those of us who are magically challenged.”

“Huh.” Gizmo scratches the side of his cheek. “I never felt handicapped about it. To me, magic is a basic tool like steam or fire would be. Hardly anyone else could innately cast spells either, so we didn't feel too ordinary in comparison.

“I share the same interest as a vast majority of my people. The only difference is I'm especially good at it. Sometimes I think my brain is made of gears and wires.” He taps his head for emphasis which is still wearing the aviator’s cap which is modified with a lot of lenses built on the side of it. “I say that because that is how I think; in logical and connecting patterns. Engineering is like a mathematical puzzle. I just love figuring how to assemble it properly, especially when I come up with a new design. At that point, I'm also forced to be creative. So,” he waves his trotters at her, “invention is a combination of both sides of the brain, for its users need to be both technical and creative. High prerequisites for high rewards.”

Cozy blushes slightly as she says, “I'm afraid I'm not that good at it yet, but I'd like to be. How do I get started?”

“Huh. That's a good question,” Gizmo realizes as he looks up. “I've never taught anyone else how to do this before, and for me . . . I just grew up with it. Learning how to invent is sort of like when we first learn to speak.” He looks back at her as he shakes his head. “I can no more tell you how to do this stuff than I can recall what my first words were. It's kind of a process.”

“My mother has access to some of the greatest libraries in Equestria,” Cozy mentions.

“Good for her, but unfortunately she's not here,” Gizmo reminds, then asks as he tilts his head, “Right?”

“No, but I have a means to contact her.” Cozy sighs. “However, the best libraries in Equestria doesn't have much access to knowledge beyond Equestria.” She looks around the room. “Some stuff we have in that country approaches this kind of caliber, but doesn't quite match it. That's especially true with the magic and technology synergy.”

Gizmo shrugs. “Well, I wouldn't say learning by books is necessarily the way to go. Reading about how to swim doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to just jump into the deep end of the water. Instead, I find experience to be the best teacher.”

“Then let’s do that,” Cozy agrees. “Do what you normally do, except trot me through the process. Explain what each part does and why you're applying it there. Also, teach me more about the tools.”

“Hmm.” He looks at his trotters, then at Cozy's hooves as he asks, “Do you think you can manipulate the tools with those?”

“Don't ask how we can do it, but we can use tools just fine,” Cozy mentions as she touches a screwdriver. It suspends on her hoof as if her hoof has hidden magnets.

“Yeah.” He scratches the side of his head again. “I've seen that before, but darn if I ever figure out how you ponies do that.”

“Magic, I guess,” Cozy theorizes with a shrug. “The important thing is we can do it. Best not to question it. Also, if we have trouble with that, I can also use my wings or mouth.”

He shrugs as he says, “Fair enough.”

For the next several hours, Gizmo walks her through the process of how he does things at his workstation. Cozy follows along with his lessons attentively and grasps it enough to ask intelligent questions on the subject in order to further refine her lesson. As the process continues, Gizmo gradually begins to respect the young mare more and more. In his eyes, Cozy is clearly an amateur at this but one with a lot of interest and potential.

When they finally take a break, he asks her, “Are you sure you got the right cutie mark? Those pictures on your species flanks is supposed to represent your talents and destiny, right? Shouldn't it be a bunch of cog symbols together instead of a red tower thingy?”

“This is a rook,” Cozy explains as she glances at her flank. “It represents an important piece in chess, or more specifically, it represents my talent for strategy.” She smiles smugly at Gizmo as she brags, “I am very smart.”

“I can see that!” Gizmo complements in a very impressed tone. “I kind of wish you were my daughter or sister or something.”

“Aw!” Cozy blushes. “Thank you!” Then she proposes, “How about a friend? That kind of relationship is always a choice.”

“Yeah!” Gizmo nods enthusiastically. “Now that is a title I can live with.”

Unexpectedly to them both, Cozy's geode on her neck lights up with a red hue.

“What is this?” Gizmo asks in surprise as he regards the lit geode.

“I don't know,” Cozy answers. “It's never done-” She is interrupted when he grabs and yanks it forward which ends up dragging her closer to him too. “Hey! Watch it!”

“That's what I'm doing!” he complains. “Now hold still so I can watch this more closely.”

“I didn't mean the . . .” she begins then trails off with a grunt. “Oh, nevermind.”

Gizmo fiddles with some dial on the side of his helmet which causes one of the many lenses off to the side of his helmet to slip in front of his eye. Unlike the other lenses, however, this one is obviously magical because it glows with some kind of symbols when he aims it at her geode.

“Ooo!” Cozy widens her eyes in fascination. “What's that?”

“The Lens of Analysis,” Gizmo explains. “It optically dissects the arcane signature of whatever it is staring at. With that kind of information, I can discriminate the arcane formula of the object or magic aura I am analyzing.”

“I don't remember that being standard gear in Narch,” Cozy mentions with a very impressed tone.

“Yeah.” He grins proudly. “You can say I won slash earned it due to my expertise with magitech. While the item is rare, it is also necessary for the work I do, else I'd not be able to discern the arcane problems of an item, nor fix or build them.”

“That's so neat!” Cozy cries out in excitement, then shifts the subject to another related one. “So . . . what kind of magical signatures are you seeing from this item?”

“The fact that it is psycho-active,” Gizmo answers. “In other words, it responds to your emotions.”

“It is even more specific than that,” Sombra inwardly informs. “That crystal is enchanted to absorb the feelings of affection the wearer shares with others. In other words, it is geared to respond to the Magic of Friendship.”

“Did your expertise in crystal science teach you that?” Cozy asks Sombra.

Cozy briefly got the mental image of him shaking his head. When that image disappeared, he once again becomes an ethereal-sounding, disembodied voice that mentally says, “While it is true that I could have used those skills, in this case, I don't have to because I have the knowledge of your counterpart to draw upon. When Discord gave this to her, he explained that the one who created it, not him, enchanted it to respond to the Magic of Friendship. Once this knowledge was known to her, Sunset agreed to train her in its usage. She said that the stronger her affections for others are, and vice versa, the stronger the gem will become.”

“So, in other words, to get the maximum potential out of it, I have to 'level up' my relationship with others, huh?” Cozy figures.

“I know it sounds corny, but that is the way that crystal was designed,” Sombra answers.

“A psycho-active crystal. I could almost call it psionic. How utterly fascinating!” Gizmo cheers. “There are other kinds of arcane patterns I am detecting. I'd need a chance to study it longer, but there is something familiar about these patterns. For an arcane formula, it seems really organized.”

“Either let me take off the necklace so I can loan it to you, or pucker up and give me a big kiss,” Cozy insists. “Either way, I insist not to maintain this position. It’s hurting my neck.”

“Huh?” Gizmo looks at her in confusion.

“Just in case this fact continues to elude you, that necklace of mine is attached to my neck, you know.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So . . . you are using it to pull me awfully close to your face!” Cozy barks forcefully.

“Yeah? So?” Gizmo repeats. Cozy realizes he might be truly oblivious to the concept of personal space.

Cozy lowers her eyelids halfway as she sighs, then says, “Okay. Let me hoofle this.” She is about to use the crystal to magic the necklace off of her but is interrupted by another startling surprise. Widget climbs close to them on top of the worktable behind Gizmo. When it makes a series of click sounds, mysteriously Cozy can understand it this time. It is not like a logical thing. She simply seems to empathically understand the little droid all of a sudden. In this case, it says, “Since you offer, I wish I could kiss her. Unfortunately, I am built without any lips. Yet another oversight on your part, Builder.”

“What's that got to do with anything?” Gizmo asks in confusion to his tiny mechanical companion. “You don't have lips because you don't need any. What would you do with it anyway? Eat some bolts? Besides, what provoked you to regret the fact you can't kiss her?”

Cozy widens her eyes in astonishment when she realizes, through Gizmo's response to his tiny companion, that she did indeed understand Widget correctly.

When Widget clicks again, Cozy can once again understand it on some empathic level. This time the little machine is saying, “There is no use in explaining it to you, Builder, for you are not built to understand such things. Like me, you'll forever be a dysfunctional machine.”

Gizmo chuckles at this, then says, “True. I may have a knack for machines, but it has a cost.”

Oh my Celestia! I can understand this thing! Cozy inwardly exclaims to herself.

“I believe I am able to provide an explanation for this,” Sombra ventures to say. “It is known to me that your counterpart has technopathy with this crystal. Not only can she empower other machines with it, but she can also mentally control them. It is not a stretch to believe she could have understood machines as well if it happened to be intelligent in some way, and I also know the crystal responds to empathic feelings of friendship. When you started to form a bond with Gizmo, the magic of the crystal likewise responded. When it does, it has a certain way to respond. You could use it like a regular unicorn horn, but it is a horn with a very unique talent of its own. A talent for synergy with machines.”

“Oh yeah!” Cozy recalls. “When you went nuts while I was visiting the human world, all the machines in the hospital were also going crazy!”

“Exactly. I was unconsciously connected to the crystal too because I'm now part of your counterpart,” Sombra explains. “Through that crystal, I unwittingly provoked damage inside that hospital, but I assure you I was absolutely unaware of that fact at the time.

“Since I only had an unconscious connection with the crystal, your will dominated the crystal once you had it in your possession because a conscious mind, while having less raw power, had considerably more focus. It is like the visual input of an eye. The peripheral may be more sensitive to light, and therefore can be considered 'more powerful', but what the eye stares directly at gains more information on the surface of one’s thoughts.”

“What is this?!” Gizmo exclaims in intense surprise. “I am detecting the magical signature of an entire person in there, and oddly that person has the same magical signature as you!” He looks directly at Cozy. “One thing about this crystal is clear to me . . . it is magically connected to you.”

“You got that right,” Cozy agrees. “That's true in more ways than one.

“Now, can you please let go of my necklace?”

“Why?” Gizmo asks with a confused blink.

“Because I said please. Also it is rude to hold a lady so close to you like this without her permission, and this position is quickly putting a crick in my neck.”

“Oh! Sorry.” Gizmo finally let go. “If you felt that way, you should have told me.”

“I did!” Cozy insists.

“No, you didn't,” Gizmo rejects. “Instead, you made some passive observation that I was pulling you close and you were offering to kiss me for some reason.”

“I didn't ask you to let go?” Cozy wonders aloud.

Gizmo shakes his head.

“It's true,” Sombra confirms. “You might have implied it, but you did not directly request for him to let you go. Apparently you need to be very direct with this one. I think he has tunnel vision similar to Golden Compass as well as true ignorance of proper social etiquette. It just isn't the way he thinks.”

“Good to know for future reference,” Cozy replies.

“I agree.”

“I, ah . . . need to be excused to the little ladies room,” Cozy lies as she backs up a few steps.

“You don't need any excuse,” Gizmo argues. “If you need to go, then go. I just have one question for you before you leave. Are you coming back?”

“I, ah . . . I'm not sure,” Cozy answers. “I'm feeling a little fatigued and I need to process everything that I've learned today.”

Gizmo leans back on the edge of the table behind him again but this time he crosses his arms. After that, he says, “True. We did go over a lot of information these past few hours. Probably best you sleep on it before we resume our lessons.”

“Speaking of which,” Cozy looks at the ship’s main engine in concern. “Shouldn't you be monitoring the ship’s engine? While you've been paying attention to me all this time, you haven't been paying attention to that. Isn't that kind of important?”

“Not really,” Gizmo answers as he looks at it. “At least, not for the moment. It's running so I don't need to constantly monitor it until I make a change. Besides, even from here, I'll be alerted if there is any kind of problem.”

“How?” Cozy asks him curiously.

“I'm sensitive to these kinds of things,” Gizmo answers her as he looks back at her. “I think that's why I can talk to my little friend here. I just have a knack for machines, and I'm afraid you caught it too. I'm sorry, my friend, but I'm afraid you have been afflicted with it as well.”

“With what?” Cozy asks in concern.

“The Knack,” Gizmo answers mysteriously and ominously. “It's a terrible, terrible disease that one is born with. The afflicted will be condemned to a lifetime of social awkwardness, but in exchange, they'll be able to talk to and tinker with machines.”

Cozy widens her eyes in astonishment at Gizmo because of his choice of words.

“Well . . . at least he's somewhat self-aware of his weaknesses,” Sombra mentions with an amused chuckle.

“I can tell from the smell in the room, the vibration of everything I touch, and the sound of the engine if there is a problem with it or not,” Gizmo goes on to say. “It talks to me and willingly tells me if there is a problem or not. Right now,” he nods at it in satisfaction, “it is purring like a kitten, but it does need some maintenance to sustain that condition. Machines are sort of like a pet or a partner. They need sustenance and attention to maintain their best work. Provided they get that, they'll work with maximum efficiency, or at least as far as their design will permit.

“Now me, for example,” Gizmo points to himself for a second, “I can be the healthiest warthog in the world, but that still doesn't mean I'll be able to fly without wings or without some kind of contraption because I wasn't built for that function.” He shrugs. “Machines are the same way. They can only do what they are designed to do as long as their optimal condition is maintained.”

“Sort of like us,” Cozy realizes. “We need food, water, air, sleep. All of that stuff to sustain our optimal condition.”

“Exactly,” Gizmo agrees with an enthusiastic nod. “We may be built from different materials, but we ultimately serve a similar purpose.

“But, in addition, we are also architects. That is a rare talent for a non-carbonated life form, but I won't say it doesn't exist.

“Our relationship with our creations is symbiotic, or at least it should be. We build and maintain them, and they provide us with some service in exchange.

“To me, machines are our friends, and they deserve just as much respect and appreciation as a carbon life form.

“Everything responds to our emotions, Cozy. Even things.” He gestures to her crystal as he adds “Some things are more sensitive to emotions than others, but the lesson still applies in a broader context. Treat things with love and respect, and they will respond in kind.”

“I'll keep your lesson at heart,” Cozy promises honestly. “Thank you, my friend, for all you've taught me today. I look forward to sharing more lessons with you.”

Gizmo smiles widely as he says, “Anytime, my friend.”

With that, Cozy starts her trot out of the engineering room.

“I advise you to share your recent discoveries with your mother,” Sombra recommends to Cozy along her way out. “Provided, of course, the opportunity is available.”

“That's the plan,” Cozy responds in agreement. “One thing I definitely have a 'knack' for is capitalizing on an opportunity.”