treehouse/content/seeing-red.dj

title = "Seeing Red"

+++

It was a warm summer evening.
I was heading back home from a long walk around the neighbourhood.

As I was passing by the old playground down the street, I noticed a peculiar guy in a hoodie, sitting on the bench.

He was a calico, with a really ragtag sense of fashion.
He was wearing raspberry-coloured glasses, and had two neon-blue stripes under his left eye.
His hoodie was rainbow-coloured, with the rainbow mashed up into pieces and rearranged across the fabric.

He seemed to recognise me instantly, and waved at me.

--- Oii, Vector? --- he said, in a high-pitched voice.\
--- Yeah.
I don't think we've met before...?\
--- The name's Red. --- he said, standing up from the bench.\
--- Red, huh... I think I vaguely remember something.\
--- I've been part-timin' at your father's workshop.\
--- Ohh, right! I remember Dad mentioning you --- I smiled. ---
Nice to meet you.\
--- You too. --- he smiled back.

--- So, what brings you here? --- I said.\
--- Ah, you see, your father had me come to you.
Doin' a little a technical checkup, haha.\
--- Hmmm.

--- You see, yesterday we were repairing a real vintage beauty, and this fell out of the engine...

He reached his paw into the pocket of his hoodie, and pulled out a small cast brass gearwheel, with rubies embedded inside the root circle.

--- A... gearwheel?
Seems pretty normal.\
--- Yeah. But has a strange look to it, doesn't it?
It's nothin' like the other gears from the machine.\
--- Have you tried putting it back in?\
--- I tell you, it doesn't fit anywhere!
It's got strange-looking teeth.

I took a closer look at the gearwheel's shape.

--- Huh.\
--- Yeah, right?

--- Either way, your old man wants you to have it! --- said Red, throwing the gear in my direction. ---
He said somethin' about mementos, remembering him, yadda yadda.\
--- Yeah, tell him I said thanks. --- I said, catching the gear in mid-air.

--- Anyways, see you around! --- he said, waving.
--- I gotta go, it's getting late.
Last train's soon.

I waved him goodbye, and went back home.

---

So.\
Brass gear.\
With rubies embedded inside.

It looked more like a souvenir than anything useful, but it was also really well-made.
Nothing like a toy.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed some signs of wear.
Almost as if it was a real gear, doing real gear work in a machine.

Question is, why did it have rubies in it?
Wouldn't that be like... really expensive, and also really useless?

That, I knew Trickle would know, but I needed to head back home for the night.

---

The next day after work, I went to visit Trickle in their {-cave-} house.

--- Yo, Tricks!
I brought you something cool. --- I said, entering their room, holding the gear between my fingers, making a peace gesture.\
--- A gearwheel...?\
--- Yeah, but look closely.\
--- Why does it have rubies embedded inside?\
--- Hell if I know.
Dad relayed it to me through his part-timer.
Told me to treat it as a mementos, or something.\
--- Hold on.

Trickle had a closer look at the gear.
They seemed to remember something.

--- Hmm, I vaguely remember seeing a cuckoo clock back at the Weather Station.{% Trickle works from home. %}\
--- What does that have to do with anything?\
--- It was a really nice looking clock!
But, even after I inserted a fresh pair of batteries into it, it didn't budge.\
--- A broken clock, you say.\
--- One day, I asked the manager if I could have a look at it, to see if I could fix it, but there was a missing part...
A gearwheel, if I recall.
No wonder it didn't work.\
--- And what makes you think this gear might fit?\
--- You see, I _tried_ ordering a replacement for it, but couldn't find any compatible-looking designs.
The gears in that clock were totally weird, I tell you.\
--- Alright, my point still stands.\
--- I dunno, it's _the gut feeling_, Vector.
Tells me I might be onto something.\
--- You have an incredible trust in your gut, given how much cup ramen you consume daily --- I said, and saw Trickle make an angry face.
--- So, wanna visit the Station?\
--- You bet---and waste hours getting there!\
--- Come on, you haven't been there in months.
Everyone would be happy to see you.\
--- You sure you don't want to bring the clock to me?\
--- No.\
--- Ugh, sure.
But you're treating me to a real ramen in exchange!\
--- If that's the price I gotta pay for finding out what this weird gear is...

---

The next day, I got up, did my morning routine, and was ready to set off.

--- Amber, hurry up! I'm leaving.\
--- Oh come on, at least let me finish combing my hair!\
--- Can't you do it any faster? Trickle's waiting.\
--- Ooh, Tricksy's coming?\
--- Yeah. And stop calling them that.

Amber rushed out onto the porch, and put her shoes on.
We set off to pick up the lop.

Two houses later, I _knock knock_ on the door.

--- Coming!

Trickle opened the front door, all geared up to go.

--- Look who's _going_ to _work_ today! --- Amber said smugly.\
--- Shut up, you know I don't like leaving my lab!
I'm only coming because Vector promised to treat me to a bowl of ramen later.\
--- I see, I see. Bribed you have been, Vector!\
--- As if.
It's payment for today's work. --- I said.\
--- Work, hmmm? You guys are _totally_ up to no good! --- said Amber.\
--- We'll see about that.

We boarded the train, and watched the views of the city unfold.
Bridges on rivers, roads under skyscrapers, all set atop a beautiful sunrise.

`Next station: Institute of Meteorology`

We got off the train, and split off towards our respective departments.

Trickle and I, towards the Observation Tower.
We boarded the elevator to the top, and soon found ourselves atop the highest building in the complex.
Watching the sprawling view of the city, through the tower's wide windows.

Trickle took me to the manager's room to inspect the broken cuckoo clock.

--- Hey Boss, can I take this to the lab for a second?
I've got a little idea on how to fix it. --- Trickle told the manager. The manager let out a deep sigh.\
--- Think I've heard that before, but sure... Just don't forget to give it back once you're done.

That went easier than I expected.
We went to the lab, and Trickle put the clock on a free workbench.

They unscrewed the back cover.
Inside were a bunch of gears scattered around in an unorderly fashion.

--- The results of my last attempt... --- said Trickle.\
--- Doesn't look very good. --- I responded.\
--- Good thing I took a bunch of photos before taking it apart. Can I have the gear?

I passed them the mysterious gearwheel, and they tried to fit it with the other gears.
It looked promising.

--- Let me look for the pictures. --- they took out their phone and searched for "cuckoo clock" in the photo gallery.

Trickle is a real nerd.
They spend lots of time tagging their photos.
Most of the effort goes to waste, but I'll admit it's invaluable in situations like this one.

--- Found it!

They started assembling the mechanism back together, until they got to the missing part.

--- So, moment of truth...

The gear fit into the mechanism perfectly.

At this moment, I had a strange feeling something was about to go wrong.
I mean, this couldn't be it, right?
The weird-looking gear with rubies embedded inside, it couldn't possibly fit in _that_ spot?

But even the sheen of the brass looked right.
It looked like it belonged.

As Trickle finished up the reassembly, they put a pair of AA batteries into the slot on the back.

Moment of truth.\
We set the hour, and flipped the switch.

It worked.

The hands started moving.\
The clock was working.

--- Alright, but that's only part of the job.
We still gotta see if the cuckoo goes _goo-ko!_ --- Trickle said, mimicking a cuckoo's voice almost perfectly.

We waited a couple minutes for the minute hand to reach 12 o'clock.
But, to my surprise, there was no cuckoo at all!

Instead, a melody started playing.

`<audio src="/static/sound/waltz.ogg" controls></audio>`{=html}

--- There's no cuckoo? --- I asked.\
--- Ha ha ha, got you! You didn't pay close enough attention to notice, but there was a music box inside all along.
No cuckoo.\
--- ...Okay, cool.
We gotta give it back to the manager.

We exited out the lab door, into the manager's office.

--- Hey Boss, look what I've got! --- said Trickle.\
--- Oh, so you did manage to fix it?
Good, good.\
--- Huuuh, not even a word of praise?\
--- Well, it's not an item I particularly cared about.
I'm not even sure what it was doing here, to be honest.\
--- What do you mean? --- I asked.\
--- Must've belonged to the one before me.
It's been here as long as I remember.\
--- Huh. --- I said, making a confused face.\
--- Well either way, it's fixed, so that's nice.
Will help me keep track of time, in addition to being a nice decoration. --- the manager said.
--- Did you hear the cuckoo's song?\
--- Yeah, and it's not a cuckoo at all!
It has a music box inside. --- I said.\
--- Oh, huh.
Wonder what tunes it'll play, then.

--- So... that's that!
Thank you for lending us the clock. --- said Trickle. --- Gotta get back to work now.

And we left the room.
But as we were walking down the corridor, I realised something.

--- Hey Trickle, you recall that moment we were exiting the lab?\
--- Yeah?\
--- I don't know what it was but... something seemed off about that.\
--- Did it?

I recalled the exact sequence of events as we exited the lab.
We opened the door, and ended up _directly_ at the boss's office.

I felt a chill coming down my spine.

--- Trickle.\
--- What is it?\
--- We exited the lab.\
--- Uh-huh.\
--- And ended up straight in the manager's office.\
--- ...Oh.

--- Wait, are you sure you're right about that?
Did we really not take a walk down the corridor? --- said Trickle.\
--- I don't... think so?
Or maybe I'm imagining things?

--- I'm not sure at this point --- I said. --- Let's get back to work.\
--- Remember about your promise!
Ramen, brother!