The Donaieth capital was as smoggy as ever. As much as Lyna reveled in the nation’s innovation and industrial prowess, she loathed the technological capital of the world for its immense pollution. She had always stood by that staying a day in the capital was akin to “smoking ten cigarettes a day for an entire month.” Inhaling deeply through a handkerchief she pressed up to her face, she made her way through the dirty streets of the capital, flanked by a visibly struggling Tobie. In preparation for leaving her home, she had crammed the majority of her tools and a small portion of her personal effects into the little mech. She had exceeded the designs of her own compression algorithm in the tool-bot by nearly an order of magnitude, and it weighed nearly 500 pounds, double the weight its little motors and bearings were rated for. She resolved to add a more powerful drive to her little retainer as soon as she could; Lyna was using a large portion of her energy in just keeping the overweight bot moving alongside her. Exerting significant energy unnecessarily in such a manner would not do. 

The strange pair of struggling robot and vampiric inventor didn’t go unnoticed in town. Lyna felt consciously aware of staring eyes as she made her way down a large avenue. She was not unknown to them either; she was at the heart of the major scandal two years prior where she was involved in that ‘accident.’ While Lyna still had the good reputation as a quality engineer that she had before the incident, she was fully aware that some people likely resented her for what had happened, even if she wasn’t directly to blame. As a precaution against any unnecessarily attention, she hurried on to the famed engineer Rhys’ workshop where she had been advised to go. 

By the time Lyna reached the aforementioned establishment, there were already a few people outside of the building. She hurried on ahead into the building ignoring the others; if they were there for the same thing, she would have time to greet them later. She found Rhys by the door. She’d never talked to the boy personally, but she seen him at demonstrations and other engineering events before she moved. He was engaged with a familiar looking individual; the person before him was a vampire that was well known for her antics in the quarantine zone. She herself had gotten mixed up in one of them, but it wasn’t anything that she held against Fortuna. Pushing the faltering robot through the door with her foot, she said hello to Fortuna before producing a folded document for the young engineer.

“I don’t know about little Fortuna here, but I haven’t seen any fliers. It seems a certain General thought I would be interested, however, and he was right.” She produced the letter of recommendation from her cousin with an awkward smile. It was a bit unnecessary and a little embarrassing to hand over, but it had saved her from a lot of hassle traveling through the capital. 

“Is this everybody?”