The Legendary Junkmaster

Jason froze as Raymond's voice called out to him. 'What the hell is he doing here at this time!' He cursed as he realised there was no way he could get out of the exoskeleton in time. 

"Yeah! I'm here! What is it?" Jason shouted back as he heard the footsteps come to a halt before continuing on towards the rear room. 

"I just wanted to talk to you a bit. It must be hard with your Gramps laid up in Dr Cee's place, so I wanted to make sure you were alright. Harry may approve of you burying yourself in your work, but I don't." Raymond sighed loudly as his footsteps reached the counter.

"Don't come back here!" Jason yelled, causing the footsteps to pause again. "I'm working on something dangerous and if I get distracted... Well, you don't want to know. Let me finish this up and I'll be right out."

Raymond seemed to hesitate before letting out another sigh as the footsteps retreated. Jason let out his own sigh of relief as cursed endlessly to himself. It took him a while to get out of his contraption and settle back into the ANT-V. He quickly found some coverings that he had bought to throw over his new gear so nobody could see what was beneath. Once he felt secure about them being hidden, he navigated his way into the storefront.

Raymond turned a stern expression on him the moment he made his appearance. "What do you think you're doing, kid? Do the neighbours know you're working on such dangerous things? What'll happen if you destroy their businesses?"

"It wasn't that dangerous until you started shouting... That's why I do them at night when nobody is in the stores to get hurt if anything goes wrong. Plus, it's supposed to mean I won't be disturbed." Jason shrugged his shoulders as he pointed stared at Raymond. 

"Alright, I get your point..." Raymond groaned before continuing. "But you didn't give me any other option. During the day, I'm stuck dealing with customers. It's not appropriate for them to hear me talking to you about your personal life and wellbeing. Then at night, you're still locked up in here."

Raymond shook his head as he stared at the youth in his strange mechanical contraption with a look of pity in his eyes. "Whatever happened to you? How did you end up like this in such a short period of time?"

"An accident occurred in the workshops..." Jason could not very well admit that he was secretly receiving combat training or what had been happening recently in the world at large. "Don't give me that look... It wasn't my fault..."

Raymond's expression remained dubious. It would not surprise him if Jason was the cause behind his current condition, especially since moments ago he had said he was working on something dangerous. "Ok, say I believe you... What's going to happen? Are you stuck in this... thing for life? Or can you recover from it?"

"I should be able to make a full recovery, it'll just take time..." Jason sighed as he realised that Raymond's concern was genuine. "What about you? Won't your wife be mad that you're here when you have a baby at home?"

Raymond revealed an ugly expression. "Actually, she was mad at me because you haven't come over for dinner or anything. She's been hounding me to get you over to our place since you returned with what happened to Harry. But you never really gave me the chance to give you the invite."

"Oh..." That was all that he could think to say at the moment. He had been so caught up in his own problems that he had failed to see how everyone around him was growing concerned.

"You know, you really should stop by..." Raymond said as he gave him that parental stare that he had developed since becoming a father. "You need to properly look after yourself. Don't think I haven't noticed that you're barely eating anything!"

"Alright, I'll remember that. But what I'm working on just now is really important. So it might be some time yet until I can take you up on your offer..."

"Hmph, I guess that's fine as long as you don't overdo it. If I have to, I'll drag you out of here if you take too long. Otherwise, the wife would kill me." Raymond raised an eyebrow before his expression softened. "You know, if you're having a hard time with anything else, you can tell me. These bounty hunters and strange folks hanging around... I've heard the rumours around town. I know they suspect you have something to do with Dani's father being murdered. But don't worry, people know it's just vicious rumours because they can't come up with a real theory."

Raymond walked over and reached up to pat Jason on the shoulder while showing a caring expression. "Take care of yourself. I can't say it enough, Jason. You're still a kid despite all of this success. You can afford to slow down a little before you burn yourself out."

Jason wore a complicated smile as he watched Raymond leave the store and heard the lock clicking into place behind him. A sigh of relief escaped from his mouth as he ran a hand through his hair. 'That was too close. If he hadn't said that just now, then I wonder when he would have become impatient enough to barge into the workshop. I have to be more careful. I can't let him worry so he doesn't become too nosey about what's occupying my time.'

He felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place. There was so much for him to do still, and he could not afford to put it off. 'I need to start work on the drones. I need that information as soon as possible. The Red Steel Gang has to be somewhere!'

Jason turned and looked at the cold metallic, dreary workshop that had become his life. In some way, he felt like it was beginning to reflect the person he was slowly becoming. Was this all there would be to his life? The touch of his cold creations that spoke to him in ways that nobody else would understand. Or was there more to life than money and searching for the next step on his journey? Was what Raymond had said true? Could he afford to slow down and take his time? Just to enjoy his life a little?

Jason snorted as he thought about it... Of course not. Every moment wasted would be another moment later in life before he reached a point he needed to be at. What if he spent a few days just now doing nothing at all? Then, say a year later, he failed to prepare something in time by only a few days. Would he look back on those days he wasted with regret? Probably, because if he used them properly, then everything else would have been done sooner, giving him the time to complete that.

Of course, he was aware this was not a fair comparison. Especially since the failure could be because he was not aware of the situation in time. But he still felt he should be doing everything he could to better himself. To prepare for unforeseen situations. There would be people counting on him to develop something amazing. Whether it was a tool to make their lives easier or a weapon to defend themselves so that they did not have to be scared when leaving the city.

The cycle would be never-ending, but this was the life he had chosen for himself, so he had better make the most of it! 'Sometimes you have to sacrifice some things to achieve the life you want...' Jason sighed as he ran a hand over the cold work table before him. A light appeared in his eyes as his mind filled with ideas on his next creations. 

Blueprints flooded his mind for the creation of the drones he wanted to create. However, none were as small as he wanted them to be. Eventually, he decided to go with several different types and put them to the test in the field. He would have to be careful to make sure that they were not spotted, though. He was fairly certain that the finger would immediately be pointed at him.

With his time in Bridgend and the Emperor's endorsement, he could no longer pretend to be ignorant of some things. People were bound to suspect he had gained a wealth of knowledge during his absence, despite it being short.

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