Alright, if I try to make it push too hard my legs will rip off. But I also need to make sure the gain from the speed outweighs the weight of the aluminum pump. What I could do is... Um, what was I thinking again? Oh yeah the new gear.<br/>Before I could get back to work I heard a knock at the door, clanging out like flesh on steel. Which is what it was I guess. "Open up Johnny," a voice cried out.<br/>"What's the password?" I replied as I walked towards the door.<br/>"Open up or I'll kick your ass ten ways from Tuesday."<br/>"Can't argue with that logic, and just so you know, it's Sunday not Tuesday."<br/>"No it ain't, it's Thursday."<br/>" No it's not that, it's the metaphor."<br/>"I don't get ya. Yer too fancy for yer own good."<br/>I sighed and unlatched the heavy door. Standing outside was a bearded dwarf, Old One-Eye we called him. He was about four feet tall and quite stout. I looked down on the man who hardly came up to my waist and shuddered. One-Eye was the head guard of the Engineering Corp and not exactly what one would call a patient person. I cringed as I waited for the tirade of scolding I was about to get because of something I did. It was either the noodle incident. Or that whole Birdie thing. Maybe it was the fact that I accidentally got pepper into the eyes of all the other engineers by accident.<br/>One-Eye scratched his remaining eye and said, "So, whatcha workin' on."<br/>I looked at him in surprise, shock and awe. Shurpriwe. I like that word. I scribbled it onto a pad next to my desk. "Shurpriwe," I muttered to myself.<br/>"What's that boy? Speak up." One-Eye said in his gruff voice.<br/>"N-nothing," I stammered.<br/>"Yer not workin'?"<br/>"I am working on leg augmenters."<br/>"So what would this leg thingamagummy do?"<br/>"In theory they should make one stronger and faster in the legs. Although they might also rip off their legs. Depends on if it works."<br/>"Interesting, interesting. Say do ya got a beer?" He replied while waving his fingers around. The fridge door opened as if by magic. Well by magic rather.<br/>"Don't bother you know I don't drink."<br/>"Sissy."<br/>"That's rude."<br/>"Pansy."<br/>"Fine," I sighed. "I was just about to test the new tech, wanna watch."<br/>"Sure, got nothin' better ta do"<br/>I slipped into the legmentors and flipped the on switch. Nothing happened, but it was supposed to magnify power, not create it so this was expected. I stood up, claws clacking against the floor. I tensed and leaped into the air. Now let me tell you, Gnolls are great jumpers. Even nerdy ones. But this was something else. I rocketed into the air, screaming. My glasses fell off sometime along the way. My head slammed against the ceiling, I was sure I broke something. Fortunately the ceiling would be easy to replace. It hurt my head as well, and my head was irreplaceable. "Mommy!" I shrieked as I tumbled back onto the ground. I landed onto the wooden floor, limbs splayed out. I felt around for my glasses, and fortunately they were nearby. I wiped the tears from my eyes and put them back on. One-Eye looked at me in an expression that can only be described as shurpriwe. He then however succumbed to fits of laughter.<br/>I muttered something under my breath about idiot dwarves.<br/>"Well, I was gonna yell at ya fer a bit for the whole noodle thing, but I think the knowledge that I'm gonna tell the other engineers about this little mishap is punishment enough" He said before leaving the room, still chuckling.<br/>I grumbled and got back to calibrating the legmentors. Soon afterwards, it was more or less complete. I was about to test them again when a guard stepped into the room. Oh crap, he was going to yell at me for not locking the door. But he looked at me with a steely gaze and said the three words I had been waiting for for the past several years. "We found her."