About five minutes after he left the station, Shindo's phone rang. He took the call.

"Where the hell are you?" An exasperated voice fell on his ears.

"I got held up as a hostage in Murrow's station." Shindo sighed. "Didn't you see the news, Ben?"

"Sorry Shindo, I haven’t had the time for a break! The orders are endless and we really need to finish the equipment setup ASAP." A good share of grumbling and screams came from the other side of the line. "That's another client. Please hurry up!"

Shindo closed the call. He scratched his head as he quickened his pace. "Good Grief."

He made several turns from there. The good thing about Sector Nine, or Crime Joint as it is more commonly called, was that its maze-like streets were easy to remember once you’ve learned that they all led back to either Murrow’s street or De Poirot’s street. Because of this Shindo managed to get to his workplace in less than five minutes, where he found himself in front of a vast mass of heroes cluttering up a store. On top of the mob of desperate heroes, a washed-up sign greeted all to Unwin's Gadgetry & Workshop.

Shindo couldn’t blame them for being this desperate. All of Vermillion Blue’s heroes depended on gadgetry in one way or another. This has been the case ever since the Second Criminal Uprising scarred the world during the 2010’s and early 2020’s. The villains were ruthless during that time and due to that, traditional weaponry became useless against the strongest of villains. This led to an increasing demand for unconventional weaponry to combat the villain threats. These had to be non-lethal yet unpredictable enough to be used against criminals.

This is when the gadgetsmithing profession came in. By essentially combining the disciplines of mechatronics, mechanical, computer science, and software engineering with the almost "dead" profession of blacksmithing, Gadgetsmiths managed to supply heroes with whatever they needed. And that’s why Unwin’s was so well known, as it is one of the few remaining gadgetry workshops in the sector that supplies older gadget models. People in the trade could say that this is a mark of prestige.

However, deliberating on all of this didn’t help Shindo with the mob in front of him. He simply shook his head and dived right into the mob.

"You! Stop cutting in! " a man in a futuristic cowboy getup screamed. He tried to shove Shindo out, which Shindo promptly dodged.

"I work here, asshole!" Shindo glared at the hero.

"Yeah, right." The Cowboy hero went for the shove again, and this time he managed to push him out of the way. "Better stay out of the way."

Not caring one bit, Shindo tried to force his way again, but the same hero pulled him by the collar. "Really you—"

In retaliation, Shindo slapped a plastic card straight to the man's cheek. The sudden impact caused the hero to release Shindo. The hero glared at Shindo, but he wasn't done with his attacker. A smirk appeared on Shindo's face. "I think this proves my status as a gadgetsmith, eh?"

At first, the cowboy hero looked annoyed, but once he gave a good lok at the contents of the ID, his face paled in fear. It was a licensed ID for gadget-smiths.

“Uh, Mr. East! I’m—I’m Sorry!” He stuttered, realizing his mistake.

“Now, will you let me through?” Shindo’s devilish smile depened, causing the Cowboy Hero to shrink in fear. This little spat had drawn in an audience who laughed at the hero’s arrogance. he seemed embarrassed and remorseful for his actions, not that Shindo cared. He only set his eyes on the result: they were distracted enough to let him wiggle through.

He could feel cold air passing through his forehead the closer he got to the workshop. In a few minutes, he got in and went immediately to the employees' room. That refreshing feeling of coolness washed over him as he took off his hoodie. He quickly put it on one of the hanging overcoats and hurried to the workshop.

"Hey, Shindo! 'Bout time you got here! We've got some orders to finish up!" A robust man with a magnificent red beard greeted him as he rushed by. His sweaty forehead showed the dire status of the shop. He was carrying a group of metal bars under his right arm and had about three to four sheets of paper on his left hand. This was Ben Unwin, the owner of the workshop and Shindo's superior, but his appearance would never show his inner personality.

"Coming, Ben!" Shindo quickly put on a pair of gloves, and an apron, and adjusted his visor. The sounds of grinding metal and hammering rang through the whole place. Still, the chaotic noise contrasted heavily with the store. It was almost spotless, and each set of tools and machinery was set in a perfect and balanced order, just like it should be.

Yet, the place wasn't completely spotless. A single desk stood out with an amalgamation of wires and scrap metal. It had enough space for someone to work on, but it was messy enough that it could trigger any person with OCD.

As Shindo approached his desk, he fished a tool belt from another table. He carelessly sat on his wheelchair, leading to him spinning once. He stopped right in front of Ben, who rolled his eyes, yet was grinning ever so warmly. "Always so careless."

Shindo scoffed. "We don’t have time for pleasantries. Please give me a quick rundown of the orders."

Ben handed him the papers. "Alright, alright, always eager to craft, eh? We've got two batons, about the size of an average forearm, made from these metals I'm carrying. Also, there came in one order for a packet of smoke pellets."

"Nothing else? I thought it was a busy day!" Shindo teased.

"Watch your tongue, Shindo." Ben scolded amicably. Shindo chuckled a bit, but immediately Ben's eyes grew serious. Seems he really did forget to tell Shindo something.

"Oh! And before I forget, various orders came in yesterday night: I need you to repair the trigger system on a grappling gun for a Cowboy hero and there's also an order to finish a new "string" visor for a "Supreme hacker girl", or whatever she called herself. Those are the first two. When you're done, come with me to the forgery, we need to complete three different sets for a vigilante group."

"Oh, this is interesting. It's rare for someone to order a "string". Shindo then pointed at the green visor he always wore. "At least she has taste."

"Heh. But let me stop you there, East." Ben chuckled. "Oscar told me she was an informant."

Shindo let out a frustrated groan. Of all things an informant...

Trying to change the topic, Shindo handed the papers back. "Any transmissions or wiring?"

Ben brow furrowed as he flipped the papers a few times before stopping on one. "Yes. Some gears went awry for a spy hero's watch. My guess, you will do it too?"

Shindo sighed. "Dunno, it depends if I've got time after all the other orders... Anything else before I start?"

Ben's face darkened. "The Hog’s coming at 7 PM.”

Shindo let out an exasperated groan.

Ben nodded in an understanding manner "Thankfully, he's just coming for checkup. Just, don't try to alter the schematics too much, or he will have enough reason to pester me with the DSG."

Shindo grinned at that. "But I heard they sold well, right?"

"Hahaha, yes they did, but he really wants to fuck with us today so, be careful." He carried a sort of joking tone when he finished talking

Shindo winked at Ben. "Let's stop the sweet talk and let's get back work." Ben left the broad bars of metal beside his chair and went back into the forgery. He grabbed two of the lumps, quickly examining them for their materials. Carbon steel. Such exquisite material to be wasted on batons.

Sighing, Shindo adjusted his visor and made his way to the smelter's room, only to hear a desperate grumbling coming from the. A simple woman bathed in sweat paced worriedly in front of an anvil. Her milky blue hair was tucked in a ponytail, and she had a welding helmet on her head.

“Please, please don’t tell me I have to restock again.” She thought out loud.

“Hey Angela,” Shindo greeted, "What's got you this nervous?"

The woman stopped to grin at Shindo. “About time you got here, East! Are there any smoke pellets available? Ben will kill me if he knows we are out of stock.”

“I think I left a few packets in cabinet A3 last night.” Shindo remarked casually as he took out his locker keys from his pocket.

She started hurrying off to a wall of cabinets behind her. Her sigh of relief was audibly loud.

“You’re a life-saver, man.” She said thankfully.

Shindo smiled back at her. “Oh, please, we all know that heroes come in droves during summer.”

“Damn that hero exam! Don’t they know this city is lost?”

“Hear, hear!”

After a light chuckle and a bit small talk, Both of them went off to do their own things. Angela went to the cabinets on the back, while Shindo tried to find an empty smelter.

“Crap.” A new voice said behind Shindo. Shindo turned to a bronze oaf of a man, who looked eerily nervous about something. This was Oscar, another one of Shindo’s co-workers, and it seems he was still of to his antics.

Shindo bored his gazed at the man and ask a simple question: “What did you bet on this time?”

Oscar looked at Shindo a bit ashamed. “Well, I—”

“Pay up, Oscar.”

Just as Oscar was about to speak, Angela appeared between them with a scary smile and her hand stretched. Grumbling, he gave her a ten-dollar bill. However, Shindo was a bit curious on what was the bet about this time.

“We were betting if you were even coming today," Angela said, as if reading his mind, "You do have the tendency of arriving late on busy days.”

Shindo smiled wryly and chopped the two in the head.“Stop betting on when I arrive.”

“But that’s what always wins me a bonus!” Angela complained, pouting.

“I can’t believe this, I’m a source of income now…” Shindo shoulders slumped in dismay, but he still had a grin plastered on his face.

The three of them broke into laughter until they heard the crowd of clients get a bit intense. The three of them then went to their own smelteries before Ben reproached them for being lazy. He quickly hurried to the empty smelter near the corner of a room and set down all his stuff. He quickly smiled as the flames of the smelter roared alive.