A Delivery Request (Ace)

I was whistling along to the tune playing on the CD Player. It was a good day at 'Mementos,' ample work to be done but nothing too stressful. I was just finishing up an order, it was the clock pendant that I had been laboring over for half a day today. I was actually falling behind a little bit, a strange customer came by the other day with an amazing music box that I just had to take a look at. It was unlike anything I had ever seen and I might've pushed back my schedule for it.

With that being the case I needed this to get to the customer ASAP. As I screwed in the last piece I took my goggles off and took a deep breath. Looking at my own timepiece it turns out I finished ahead of time. This had me a bit worried since I had requested a courier to come by to pick it up a bit earlier so that it could be promptly delivered. It's ironic how fast I lose track of time when I'm working. I'm sure they wouldn't be here for a while though. In the meanwhile, I guess I would take a little breather. Man... I wish the Jump Festival would be here sooner, I couldn't wait for the events that were in store. With that thought in my mind, I decided to start doing some clean up.

Work tiiime ~ And it seemed this time he had more on his plate than simple mail delivering. Well, a break from a typical routine is never bad, right? Ace just hoped he wouldn't have to carry something super heavy across the entire Junction. He sure loved his job, but that's not to say it couldn't be a pain sometimes when almost ridiculous requests came in. Pft, he better get paid extra for those. Ah well, complaining never solves anything, sadly.

That aside, he would spend a bit of time flying about in the Mega Mall, since it took a while to find the exact place he was headed to. There were plenty random shops along the Market Lane, and he wasn't necessarily too familiar with all of them, thus it was a bit of a hit and miss at times. Thankfully though, it wouldn't take far too long before he found himself in front of the door of the place he was looking for. Hmm, the name seemed familiar actually. Where had he heard of this before...? Eh, well, he would surely remember in time. That in mind, he would move to poke his head in. ''I hope I'm not interrupting anything?''

I look up and find a familiar face staring back at me, "Oh hey Ace!" I say giving a friendly wave. "Welcome to Mementos, what brings you around my humble abode." I'm pretty sure he said last time he didn't have any interest in clocks. Either way, having a visitor that you knew was always nice.

"Come on in man I was just finishing up," I tell him while I begin to wrap the clock pendant up in some packing paper. I felt a bit bad for being late with this order and was thinking about doing some extra work to compensate. However, with this regular, I knew he didn't like unnecessary repairs or improvements even if they were free of charge.

''Oh, hey you. I knew the name of this place sounded familiar....'' Yeah, now he kinda remembered. It was the guy he had met at the school recently, right? Well, looks like he ended up visiting way sooner than planned. Or better put, he hadn't even really made plans just yet. It's not like he needed a new watch or clock at the moment, and coming in just to hog time was a little rude after all. There might be other customers waiting for something.

At any rate, he would walk in, looking around the place somewhat curiously before giving a low huff. ''The best of reasons for going anywhere. Work. Obviously.'' His tone of voice seemed to imply he was more amused by the situation than downcast though. ''Sup though?''

"Nothing much just finished up some work on a repair. Seems I just coincidentally had some down time as well" I say, smiling as I finished packaging the old timepiece. For how big Junction was sometimes it did really feel like a small place. Who could've guessed that I'd meet him again, at my shop of all places?

Since he was here might as well take full advantage of my break and make some conversation. "You excited for the festival of the Jump?" I asked, feeling giddy about it myself just a bit earlier. "Personally I'm thrilled about what they might offer there in terms of activities, but I'm more excited about the Jump itself. All those worlds out there, I wonder where we'll be heading to next." I looked up at the ceiling, eyes agleam thinking about the possibilities.

''Got no customers right now, eh?'' Well, there obviously didn't seem to be anyone in at the moment besides him of course, but the guy could always have someone scheduled to come in soon. Though, does a clock shop do timed requests or is it just first come first serve? Hmm, a thought for later perhaps. Before his train of thought could get him carried away too far though, he was snapped back to attention by the question. Ace would chuckle a bit. ''Riiight, the festival. Well, I do hope it'll be interesting. No idea what the organizers are up to.'' Then again, it wouldn't be much fun if the mystery was spoiled too soon, right? ''As for the jump...well, I just hope we'll be goin' to a nice place. Been living here for about three years by now, so I guess I'm kinda used to the hopping by now.'' It didn't get him as excited anymore, though it was always a welcome sight if they landed in a strange looking world.

"Gosh you make me feel old," I began to count with my fingers and worked my way until I got my total. "Damn it's been 6 years since I first arrived. However, the Jump always gives me shivers. No matter where we end up I'm just excited to see it. Although I do feel a bit bad for the newcomers though, you never know how they'll react when they first arrive." Junction was a double edged sword in that way, it brings together people from across the multiverse from the far reaches of the galaxy. However, seldom anyone comes willingly. It was this thought that made me bring up the question, "Do you ever see any of your own kind around here?"

''Old? Nah, I guess I just adapt faster? Iunno.'' He liked to explore and all, alright, but he also didn't get overexcited about it. The changes were certainly a cool thing, but he's come to accept them more or less calmly at this point. No use getting your adrenaline way too high each time it happens, right? ''Like, I enjoy seeing the new stuff, but I don't jump up and down about it anymore. And yeah, newcomers have it rough. Mainly if they were also forced to leave people they cared about behind.'' He had as well, technically, but he had always been a free spirit, so he kind of just took this as more of a...moved somewhere far situation. No use crying over spilt milk for too long.

Ace would shake his head lightly. ''Nah, pretty sure I was the only one who came here. I liked to venture out by myself, and I guess I got caught up far away from any village or town, so yeah. How about you?'' It was ok though. There were plenty other species aboard to make acquaintances with. He'd live the way he was. Besides, if he was the only one, it made him special, no? Not that he wanted too much fame...

I forgot to consider the possibility that he might ask me the same thing. I bead of sweat rolled down my face as I quickly wiped it away. "Oh me? Nah I'm a super regular sight around here. You remember right the whole Clockwork Planet thing. It took a sizable city from the planet, though it turned into scrap metal when it got mashed into Junction's underside. Though you would have a hard time identifying which humans were from which world since there's so bloody many of us around here. I don't mind it, I'm grateful just to be here." I said, lying straight through my teeth. I was uncomfortable admitting the truth, the idea of saying 'I don't know' scared me and I've always had a hard time facing it. From my time here I don't think I've told anyone outside the old man about my condition and for the time being, I wanted to keep it that way.

"But I told you last time, right? That clockwork wasn't only used for timepieces. Try imagining a mechanical machine, made from gears, with the ability to create gravity or rotate the planet. Crazy stuff really." I wanted to steer Ace away from the initial question so I decided to start where we left off last time.

''Huh. That sounds kinda cool.'' The winged demon would smile somewhat sheepishly. ''You've got a point though. A lot of ya humans look pretty similar, so it can be hard to tell the differences between you.'' It was interesting how the same type of species could be found in so many different worlds. Not a sight one gets to witness everyday though, unless they live in a place as crazy as Junction is.

Ace would laugh a bit. ''Considering that this world somehow exists, I don't doubt that could be possible in the right kind of environment. I bet all sorts of crazy stuff is somewhere out there.'' Yeah, if Junction is a thing, almost anything could probably be. One can never know, right?

"But you have to wonder right? The kind of lives we would've lived if we didn't get swept away on this giant tower..." I say, looking out into the lane. That was one of the biggest what ifs for me. Where would I be? What would I be doing? Whilst others had a concrete answer I didn't really know. Back when I first arrived even though I didn't know where I was from, there was an emptiness clawing at my heart, like something within me knew I'd been taken away. However, as the years past that feeling has faded for the most part and I've come to enjoy my stay here.

"Where do you usually hang around anyway? I live in the Slums, you can probably tell with a shop like this I'm not going to be making bank anytime soon. But it's pretty fun to be hunkered down there, I've seen my fair share of strange things." I guess I felt a bit guilty for lying so I at least wanted to tell Ace some truths about my past.

"Damn you a top warder huh? How'd you manage to afford that place?" When I was first offered a residence in the Core I was already pretty grateful but due to the Old Man's circumstances, we couldn't take advantage of the offer. The thought has never crossed my mind if I could even make it to the Top Ward. I do get an occasional customer from there but that's about it.

"Yeah, the Slums do shift and change. If you live on the higher floors like I do they don't nearly move around as much. But it has its ups too, there's plenty of interesting characters that live there. I met this little robot the other day, I think its name was Tiny Tin. It was a good thing too that it helps repair things cause my house was an absolute mess before I asked them to take a look." I say, remembering that fateful walk through the narrow alleys after work.

''Lots of effort and work, that's for sure. But hey, I think it's worth it. I like higher places, to be honest.'' He was part bird after all. While he could technically live in the Slums or such if need be, he would always appreciate more sky view, obviously enough. And the place was pretty nice too, in the end.

Ace would blink a few times. ''A robot, huh? I think I know who you mean. I got helped out by it back when I got lost down there. Didn't get the name though, but I think it's the same one as it told me no one else like that was working down there. I still wonder why would they leave all the work for only one person...'' Looked like someone was having their hands full down there, heh. Interesting.

"Yeah, I have my doubts about the credibility of its story. It just seems too good to be true, plus why would you send a robot to fix things that would be inevitably broke a few days later. Makes you wonder though." Tiny Tin's story was one shrouded in mystery, and for someone like me, I was excited to try and get to the bottom of it.

"The Top Ward though... I don't usually go there much. Don't think me being who I am and looking like this" I say, pointing at my dirty work clothes, "would be appreciated up there. But hey now that I know you hang around there I might have an excuse to go." I put my package on the counter as I looked outside, "I wonder when that courier is coming..."