[u][b]Steve Miller - The Hull[/b][/u]

"Come on," Corrine said as she jumped to her feed, taking Steve's hand and leading him back off the Hull and into town, then into one of the shuttered businesses along the boardwalk. The rifles chained up in a rack on the wall, the ammo cans, and the workbench suggested it was a gun shop. 

"The original proprietor of this shop was killed a little while ago," Corrine said as she flipped on a light. "He was as loud and stubborn as any harborfolk, but he let me lock my tools up here and use his workbench anytime." Corrine smiled, then added. "I'm sure the fact I voluntarily scrapped any weapon he wanted done helped to pay my 'rent.'"

She then kneeled before a tool box and produced a key, unlocking it then opening the top cover, revealing a set of well maintained tools. She then got up and approached a shelf nearby.

"Now, where was that..." she murmured to herself, standing on her tip-toes and rummaging through the jumble of items on the shelf, her back to Steve and the rest of the room. Corrine's stance gave him a better view of her figure than he had had previously, he noticed she had a nice behind...which boded well for her legs, and he was a leg man.  

"Ah, there we are!" Corrine said triumphantly as she reached up with both hands and pulled down a small crate, examining the contents quickly then looking back up at him. "Took this one apart a week ago or so. All the pieces are still there, I think," she trailed off, swirling the contents with her finger. "Hm. Looks like it. Anyway, for yer first challenge I'll even give you a hint: it was some sort of pre-war kitchen doodad with a motor." She smiled and thrust the crate out at him. "Have at it, sailor."

Steve accepted the box, finding in side it the pieces of what appeared to be a disassembled kitchen appliance of some sort. There was a plastic casing consisting of several pieces, a couple of circuit boards, and some wiring. In a small clear plastic container were a number of small screws. Steve placed the crate on the workbench, then flipped on the light above it. He then took each part out and arranged them in a row on the bench then examined them.

The casing was marked "Radiation King" and "Atomic Mixmaster 2000". The controls were a row of four push buttons, marked on the casing as "OFF", then 1, 2, and 3. One of the circuit boards, fortunately not broken down further, had the four buttons. Another contained a electric motor that turned some sort of assembly that apparently turned something that would be plugged into the top of the casing that was not present. As near as he could tell, it was some sort of food processing machine...now that he thought of it he remembered a bar in Halifax that had a similar machine they used to mix iced drinks. A blender, they called it? Steve grunted then focused on the task at hand. The third board seemed to be the power supply...but rather than AC power, it was powered by a battery....Steve suspected a Multi-Fusion Cell by the size of the connectors. Looking through Corrine's tools, he found an analog multimeter...it had a small "US Property" plate on the back, below it someone had written "SSBN-859" and "E-DIV #2" long ago in a indelible marker of some sort...in the bottom of the tool box. As it was carefully protected in a handmade wooden case, Corrine, or perhaps her late parents, obviously knew it's value....Steve guessed about 500 caps to someone who knew what it was. Odd thing to find here with those markings, though...looked like the hull number of a warship of some kind...Steve filed a mental note to ask her later where she had gotten it. Deploying the multimeter, he tested the circuits and found he was correct. The power supply board stepped down a voltage consistent with a MFC to the far lower requirements of the electric motor, though 2000 watts seemed excessive for a kitchen appliance this size to him.

Now understanding how it was powered, the next order of business was to put it back together again. after about ten minutes of trial and error, he believed he had it figured out. Retrieving a set of small screwdrivers from Corrine's tool chest, he began to carefully put it back together. After a few false starts, he had the ancient machine re-assembled. The ammo boxes were all locked, so he rummaged around Corrine's shelf, and found a MFC cell that still had a charge. He popped it inside, then installed the battery cover and secured it with the last screw. He then placed the now assembled machine on the bench with a flourish, pushing the button marked "1", and the device whirred to life. He then realized he had been so absorbed in what he was doing that he had forgotten all about Corrine. 

"if you can find a container to complete it", Steve said sheepishly, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the whine of the blender, "Mitch would probably pay you a pretty penny for it once you show him what it does. With the power it's rated for, it should be able to crush ice or grind up just about any kind of meat or produce."

"So, Corrine", Steve said with a wink as he pushed the off button, shutting the device down, "What do I win?"