With a sputter of static the intercom shut off. The clanging of metal and steam bursting from old pipes brings me back to reality. The entryway led to a precarious set of stairs. Up for my bosses house, down for the engines and pipes. The heavy door behind me squeaks shut while I reach for my goggles which I pull on over my ponytail. The goggles probably made me look borderline like a mad scientist, but as someone who works with Laoz Junk, I felt obligated to look the part.<br/><br/>I check a few meters that line the cave walls around me before hurrying down the spiral staircase. The steps rumble under my weight and I nearly hit my head on ones above my head. The sound of grunting emits from around the corner from a engine that towered over me. When I reach the bottom of the stairs I start hearing the clang of metal on metal. I recognized it as a pattern. S-O-S in morse code.<br/><br/>“Oh stop being so dramatic, I’ll be right there!” I grab a toolbox and a pair of gloves off a work bench and hurry over to where Mr.Junk was stationed trying to fix a leaky pipe. It always confused me why we needed steam engines when we’re a mining city. Our people mine coal but it’s only used in other cities mostly. If we mines and burned coal at once everyone would probably have to walk around with gas masks at all hours. The steam helped power things like heat in houses and the carts that rolled supplies down to and from the mines.<br/><br/>Junk was forcefully trying to tighten something until the pipe popped and started spewing steam. These pipes were old but beautiful. For such a dirty town when you find the places where soot and smog doesn’t reach, they aren’t place you’ll want to forget. Crystals sparkled in the walls from lamp light. Bronze and iron machinery was kept shiny and clean by Junk and I. The machinery wasn’t really my forte, but I could help out around here. I knew everything about how the machines worked but Mr.Junk didn’t think I was ready to handle some of it on my own. I collected crystals from the walls, sewed patches into old gloves-<br/><br/>Mr.Junk pounded on the metal pipe to grab my attention. I held out the toolbox to him and let him do his magic. Soon the steam calmed down and he just had to make a few precautionary adjustments. I decided to take the opportunity to bring up the intercom announcement.<br/><br/>“Did you hear what they said over the intercom? Go on an adventure to help find a fix to food shortages in the whole underground! It sounded pretty interesting to me,” Laoz made no indication that he was listening but sometimes he would just let me ramble at him. “It would probably be really dangerous but I wonder if any machinery we used would be like this. I could be a good asset on some sort of crew don’t you think?”<br/><br/>I was surprised when two logs for arms wrapped around me. Mr.Junk was a very big man, much taller than me even. He was strong and had light brown hair buzzed short. He was hugging me. Would he really miss me that much? I didn’t think Laoz cared about me that much, but he seemed on the edge of crying.<br/><br/>“Be careful, please,” I wouldn’t have heard him if he wasn’t holding me. What had come over my usually stoic and silent boss? I wrap my arms around his middle.<br/><br/>“I’m smart aren’t I? Careful is my middle name!” Mr.Junk’s hold on me loosens as he rumbles with a nervous laugh. I wanted to do this more than any other opportunity I’ve ever been given. Which hasn’t been many. This was my shot and I knew I had to take it.