Chapter Text
Constanze, Jasminka and Amanda are in the school cafeteria. Amanda is sitting with her legs crossed on top of the table while trash talking Diana as usual, and Jasminka is just attentively listening to her as she eats. But Constanze's mind wanders off to the conversations around them, specificaly the Pale-Blue Team in the table behind them.
— What's the deal with this thing? — says Katie, in a hushed tone — Is it broken?
— I don't know... but it's not working at all. — answers Shao-Yi, holding some sort of mechanical device under the table, above what appears to be a gold ring with an amethyst on it.
Is it supposed to be some sort of gem detector?, Constanze wonders, Technological devices are strictly banned in this school, I only have some because I made them myself. But if she can't tell what's wrong with it, then it's unlikely she made it. Where did she get such a thing? We aren't even allowed to use technology OUTSIDE of the school, we're meant to maintain a fully proper magical lifestyle.
Constanze is very curious about the whole situation.
Catharina rolls her eyes and scoffs at them — I told you, shouldn't be messing with technology, magic is the only true way! I'm sure you just got scammed.
— It was working when I bought it! — replies Shao-Yi, as she hugs the device close to her chest, as if to defend her purchase — I tested it on some of my gems the night I bought it, it's definitely just broken!
Katie leans back on her chair while stretching her arms — Well, you bought it as a way to check if the jewelry you're buying is real or not. Doesn't this just mean that ring is fake?
— No way! — she replies, quickly turning over to her — If it was fake the detector would say so! Also this ring has been passed down by my family, how dare you imply it's fake?! — her facial expression turns very angry while leaning over Katie, who is nearly falling back on her chair.
She puts her hands up as if defending herself — Okay! Okay! I get it! You can get back now!
I would love to have a closer look on that machine, maybe I could offer to fix it for them, Constanze thinks, hopping off her chair and walking up to Shao-Yi, tugging on her sleeve.
— Huh? — with a very nervous look she quickly attempts to hide the machine behind her back — O-Oh, hi Constanze! What is it?
— "There's no point in hiding it when you were audibly talking about it." — signs Constanze, disapprovingly.
— Oh, shit! — Katie pops up over Shao-Yi's shoulder — You won't tell anyone, right? We'll pay you not to talk!
Constanze brings her hands up — "C-Calm down! I had no intention to rat you out. I know a lot about technology and I would love to get a closer look. I can fix this for you too." — she offers.
Technology isn't like other banned items, it is also extremely badly seen by all the higher up Witches as a disgrace to magic itself, so their worry is justified, even though they're doing a terrible job at hiding it.
— Oh! Really?! — Shao-Yi's eyes sparkle with excitement — Thank you so much Constanze!
Katie hands Constanze the device — Here, we have no clue what exactly is wrong with it, hopefully you can fix it.
— Also! — Shao-Yi takes off her ruby necklace — Here, you can borrow this to test the jewelry detector on. I already had this on confirmed by expert jewelers, so you can trust the results.
— "Thank you! I will get this fixed by tomorrow morning!" — signs Constanze with a happy expression.
Later that day after class, Constanze is in her dorm room, dismantling the device on her bed. She quickly spots a crack on the sensor module, hence why it wasn't properly detecting stuff. There's also a logo inscribed on it, with the letters "LH", which seem familiar to Constanze, although she can't remember where they're from.
Amanda is looking at all the dismantled parts on Constanze's bed with a confused look on her face — What's the deal with that broken mess, Cons? Gave up on technology? — she asks mockingly.
Constanze shakes her head and signs — "It's a gem detector Shao-Yi bought. It's broken, so I offered to fix it for her."
Amanda hops off her bunk bed and cartwheels to mine — A gem detector, huh? — she grabs the sensor module — How far can it detect gems?
— "The gem needs to be directly on the detector, and no, you can not use it for theft."
She drops it back on the bed — Damn, laaame! — her eyes glow as she spots Shao-Yi's ruby necklace, immediately grabbing it — Ooohh, what's this?
Startled, Constanze quickly takes it off her hands — "Shao-Yi lent it to me to test the detector on when it's fixed! Do not steal it!"
— Fiiine. — she says as she jumps back onto her bed.
Luckily, Constanze already had some sensor modules herself. She opens it up and replaces any of the broken parts, then puts the whole device back together. The scanner is located between two pieces of metal in the back, that open up and close with the press of a trigger. They're shaped sort of like a beak; maybe it's meant to look like a crow, since they like shiny things. It's purely decorative though, and it would be much more practical and useful if it didn't have the beak. But it is fun to use. Constanze grabs the ruby with the detector's beak.
SCANNING...
GEM DETECTED: RUBY - FLAWLESS
The next day Shao-Yi and Catharina are at the cafeteria with Katie. The British have a meal break between lunch and dinner just for tea, so they decided to also drink some with her.
— So, what's the situation with the gem detector? — asks Katie, before taking a sip.
Catharina rolls her eyes disapprovingly — Again with this stuff...
— Oh, Constanze already gave it to me this morning during History class! She sits right next to me, so she easily snuck it under the table for me. I already tested it and everything, fully functional! I should really be more careful when carrying it around...
— By the way, you asked me before to meet up with Joanna so we could get the gem detector fixed, but now that it's taken care of that's not very necessary. — says Katie
— Oh yeah! Did any of you see Joanna anywhere? I can go tell her the detector is fixed.
— She and Kimberly passed by here before you two arrived, I overheard them mention the courtyard — tells Katie, as she takes a sip of her tea.
— Great, I'll go talk to them right now! — exclaims Shao-Yi as she gets up and heads to the courtyard.
— She didn't even drink any of her tea. — points out Catharina.
Katie pulls it towards her — Great, more for me!
Shao-Yi walks into the courtyard, seeing multiple Witches all over the place. She roams around aimlessly for a couple of minutes until she eventually stumbles upon Joanna and Kimberly behind a pillar in the corner.
Joanna looks at her with a confused look — ...Shao-Yi? Our meeting's later today, not right now, right?
— Um, yes, about that... I happened to get someone else to fix it for me — she nervously replies — So I wanted to cancel the meeting.
With a very intrigued look, Kimberly turns to me — ...someone else fixed it for you? You know someone with extensive engineering knowledge? — she pulls out a notepad — Care to inform us of who this someone is?
— I-Is she mad that there's someone fixing this kind of stuff for free? I mean, it IS losing business... would Constanze get in trouble? — Shao-Yi thinks worriedly — U-Um, is this person going to get in trouble with... you people...?
Kimberly chuckles — Trouble? No no no, there is no need to worry. I'm sure that she would love to get to know this person. Having someone else with this much knowledge on the matter would be very useful...
Relieved, Shao-Yi confesses — Her name is, Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank-Alberchtsberger.
Kimberly writes it down while Joanna looks at her dumbfounded — How on earth did you remember such a long name?
— I have pretty good memory.
Kimberly puts the notebook back in her satchel — Our business is done here. Now leave quickly before we attract too much attention.
— Yes sir! — replies Shao-Yi.
They both watch Shao-Yi's poor attempt at sneaking away from that corner in the least discreet way possible, like the kind you'd see on a cartoon.
— So, there's another highly skilled engineer at the school — Kimberly says to herself.
— We should definitely go talk to her. If we can get this Constanze to help us, I'm sure she'd really appreciate the help.
Kimberly nods in agreeance and both of them quickly head back to their dorm.
They see her sitting on the floor hunched forward. It seems like she's working on some device. Avery had recently requested a microphone from them, so it may be that.
— Huh?! — as soon as they opened the door she quickly let go of her tools and swung her head back to look at us — Oh! It's you girls! — a big smile forms on her mouth — I wasn't expecting you two here so early, so I thought it could've been a teacher about to bust me!
— If you're so worried about that maybe you should set up your office outside of school grounds. Or at least not keep your stuff in the middle of the room? — suggests Kimberly.
She puts her hand up to her chin — Hmm... NAH! — she cartwheels backwards and spins to face us — I looove~ the THRILL of possibly getting caught! — she explains, hopping in place — ANYWAYS! Why are you two here?
Joanna answers — So, do you remember our client Shao-Yi?
— The pretty girl really into shiny stuff that asked me for a gem detector, yes I remember all my clients. Any good vendor would!
— Yes, well, her detector got broken, and she was going to send it back for repairs. But as it turns out, she managed to get someone else to repair it for her for free. Another skilled engineer in this school.
— Huh?! ANOTHER engineer?! — she exclaims with starry-eyes — OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! ANOTHER ENGINEER JUST LIKE ME!! — she says as she jumps around in circles. That sure does make her happy.
She grabs Joanna's wrists and pulls her closer — Who is it?! Who is it?! Who is it?!
She diverts her eyes — C-Calm down!
— Here. — Kimberly shows her the notepad — That's her name.
She immediately let's go of her and swipes the notepad off her hands — A von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger, huh? — she hands it back and goes to her desk — I'm going to write her a letter to meet up! Kim, you'll deliver it!
It's past dinner time. In front of Constanze is the New Moon Tower. It's pretty dark out, and Witches aren't allowed to go outside past this hour, but she managed to sneak by. Constanze received this note slipped under her doorway to meet up with this apparent other engineer.
HELLO Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger!
I have taken notice of your skills in mechanics and engineering by my fellow associates! You managed to fix that gem detector I made to Shao-Yi! It is just SO exciting to hear about another engineer here at this school, and I would absolutely LOVE to meet you, so so so so SO MUCH!
Meet me at the New Moon Tower sometime after dinner
EXPECT TO SEE YOU THERE!!
XOXO M. L.
It looks like she's not here yet, I'll have to wait.
...
Then, suddenly, up from above she hears–
— HEEERE I COME~!
She spots someone with what appears to be big spiky red hair, and it looks like she's wearing googles. She has a broom that appears a bit... weird. Modified.
She jumps from the tower on her broom — TIA FREYRE!
The broom activates, but not just that. What appears to be some sort of rocket thrusters also activate, allowing her to fly at much greater speeds, which amazes Constanze.
She flies upwards and behind the tower upside down, then twirls around it until she reaches the ground and does a sliding landing right in front of her.
— HALLO CONTANZE~! — she bows — I am the OTHER engineer! Monica Lierhaus!