Josh brushed his long brown hair out of his eyes and looked down at the mess of gears and screws that covered his desk. Why was it that he could never find the pieces he was looking for? With a sigh he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was a handsome young man, fairly tall and lanky, with tan skin and dark brown eyes. He was dressed in a plain shirt and thin jacket. He didn't have the money to afford much else. Being an underground inventor was exactly a highly lucrative business.
He stood up and stretched. He been working on his latest project for days now with little progress. He was considered one of the best inventors in the underground, but that didn't mean he didn't have his off days.
Josh wandered over to his workbench along the wall and dug threw his parts and tools. His offices weren't very large, just a desk in the middle of the room and a workbench and bookshelf off to the side. A door at the back led to his bedroom and the shop where he kept some of his larger tools. Every surface in his office was covered with metal contraptions of various styles and purposes. Some did what they were meant to, others not quite.
Josh finally found what he was looking for, a small hinge piece that moved like a joint, when there was a knocking at the door.
"Come in" Josh yelled, sitting back down at his desk. He straightened up and tried to look professional. Business wasn't exactly booming, considering large parts of the city still believed that technology was some kind of witchcraft. Only certain kinds of people come to inventors. You never knew who your costumer might be, but then again it didn't matter, as long as they had the coin.
The door opened to reveal a small elderly gentleman. He looked at Josh nervously as he enter and wrung is hands. Josh waited expectantly as the man approached his desk.
"Can I help you?" Josh asked.
The man took a deep breath and glanced around the room. Josh sighed. This man was obviously one of the people who didn't fully trust technology. He didn't appear to be a criminal so he must have some good reason to be here.
The man seemed to compose himself. "I need your help. I've tried everything else. You see it's my daughter." The man began to choke up "She can't walk. I've gone to all the doctors and no one can do anything. I thought maybe that you could build something that could help her."
"Like something that would attach to her legs and allow her to walk?" Josh asked, a little skeptical.
"Yes." The old man said, nodding frantically "Please"
"I've never done anything like that...but still" Josh looked around his office, the gears in his head beginning to turn. "It won't be easy but I may be able to do something"
Josh quickly got up from his desk and began looking through his supplies.
"Thank you! Thank you!" The man yelled in excitement "You really are too kind!"
"Don't thank me yet" Josh said "All of this is going to cost a pretty penny"
"Of course, of course" The old man dug threw his pockets until he found a bag of coin and put them on Josh's desk.
Josh turned away from his tools and looked down at the bag of coin. He frowned as he weighed it in his hand and dumped the contents out of the desk. There wasn't honestly that much there.
"This is it?" Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.
The man's face filled with worry and he nodded his head. "I'm a poor man. This is all I have."
"This will barely cover the cost of materials" Josh explained with a sigh "I can't make any profit off this."
"Please!" The man's eyes were pleading as he begged. "You have to help me! I'll owe you! I'll be in your debt! Just please!"
Josh shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to run a business. I'm trying to support myself. I can't afford to help every charity case that comes along. What you're offering is not enough."
The man stared at him in shocked silence, his mouth left open in a quiet gasp and hurt written on his face. Before anyone had a chance to speak again there was another knocking at the door.
"Come in!" Josh called again. He gestured for the old man to wait off to the side as the door opened and one of the city guards walked in.
"Good evening officer" Josh said with a smile as the guard approached his desk.
"I'm here to pick up an order." The officer didn't smile but only looked at Josh with a bored disgust. He probably wasn't happy about having to make deals with an undergrounder like him.
"Of course." Josh replied cheerfully, walking over to his work bench. He carefully picked up a large, seal cardboard box and handed it to the officer.
The officer took the box and held it under one arm as he pulled out a large, heavy bag of coins and drop it into Josh's outstretched palm.
Josh smiled as he put away the money. "Thank you. Pleasure doing business as always."
The guard just looked at him with cold eyes. "Remember-"
"Yes, yes I know." Josh interrupted "I won't tell anyone what's in the box. As far as I'm concerned you were never here."
The officer nodded his head and left, the door slamming shut behind him.
Josh rolled his eyes and turned back to his other costumer. "Pleasant bunch, aren't they?"
The old man just stared at him with wide eyes.
"You're doing business with them?!" Anger began to fill up the man's voice. "Why?! After everything they do to the poor people?"
"I don't like them anymore than you do." Josh explained calmly "But I have to go where the money is."
"You're disgusting!" The man hollered, shaking his head in rage. "They despise people like you! There the reason people, your people are dying every day and you don't even care! You won't help my daughter but you'll help those vile creatures?! They are the reason you're forced to be down here!"
Josh let out a sad laugh. "I live this way because I choose to. If you don't like it, then take your business elsewhere."
The old man shook his head angrily and stormed towards the door. "Your one of the reason things are as bad as they are. You really should be ashamed." The man's voice was cool as ice as he left, slamming the door behind him.
Josh sat down at his desk and ran his fingers through his hair. Some people just didn't understand. This was his life. He was doing what he could. They couldn't honestly expect him to help every poor soul that walked through. How was an inventor meant to make any money that way? And he was on the good side of the government. Isn't that where everyone wanted to be?
Josh sighed and looked at the inventions that covered his desk. Towards the edge sat a small, automated toy dog. Josh carefully picked it up and turned the key that stuck out from its back. He set it in the middle of his desk and watched as it waddled along, moving its tiny metal legs and barking in a high pitched tone. His grandfather had taught him how to make all kinds of toys like this when he was young. After all this time they still ran perfectly and never failed to make him smile.
"These days there are no time for toys" Josh thought, as he placed the dog back at the edge of his desk "Only weapons and tools and everyone's fight for power and money"
Josh sighed and wondered what his grandfather would think of what he was doing now. Surely he would be proud of how far Josh had come. His grandfather was always trying to invent the new, best thing and that's what Josh had done, what he was trying to do. Josh gently pulled the old clockwork piece that his grandfather had given him out of his pocket. It was really the only thing he had left to remember him by. He turned the golden gear over in his fingers and looked at the grooved and marked edges. His grandfather never had said what it was for, but it had meant a lot to him, and that was enough for josh.
Josh set the piece on his desk and was about to resume his work when there was yet another knock at the door.
"Come in!" Josh yelled, more than a little irritated.
The door opened to reveal a young thief. He looked at him expectantly as he walked into the room.
"Umm...I'm here to pick up a shipment" The thief explained
Josh nodded his head and pulled out a box from under his desk. The thieves came by quite regularly to pick up a variety of tools. They were Josh's most reliable costumers.
Josh placed the box into the thief's hands.
"Thank you" he said with a nod.
The thief was about to leave when he suddenly froze, his eyes fixed on Josh's desk.
"What's that?" The thief asked, gesturing at the clockwork piece.
"What- That piece?" Josh asked in confusion. "It's just an old gear my grandfather gave me. It's not really used for anything."
"Well, it might be." The thief said with a smile "The grand mistress requests a meeting."