Chapter 9 Episode 6: They are the Crafters 2

For a change of pace we start off following Breke as he wakes up wherever he is, on top of a bed that seems like an operating table in the middle of a dark room. He tries to get his bearings and he does remember passing outside in front of a building instead of being inside.

Breke is then surprised to realize that his body movements feel a lot smoother, as he describes the way he was moving earlier as rusty. He wonders what’s happened now since there are so many things going on that he doesn’t get, but that doesn’t last long as he hears footsteps soon after.

He gets on guard and transforms part of his suit to materialize his weapon, then points it at the source of the sounds. He demands they stop and identify themselves, and Hephaestus shows up observing that he’s finally woken up. Hephaestus smiles as he speaks to him with a stutter, and narration describes his voice as servile or mean.

Breke repeats his demands that Hephaestus name himself and asks if he was the one who brought him there. He also asks where he is and what Hephaestus did to his body. Hephaestus in turn stammers that he’s being pretty rude to the guy who fixed his machine body. Timid as he is, Hephaestus doesn’t seem phased to have a sword pointed at him.

Hephaestus tells Breke to relax because he isn’t going to ask him for money, though he already figures he’s penniless. Breke then asks why Hephaestus saved him then, which Hephaestus finds weird. But anyway he says it’d be natural for an engineer to want to try to fix some broken machine he’s never seen before lying around.

Breke stops to process that he is at least partly machine, and Hephaestus is surprised that he doesn’t know much about himself. He tells him that he’s a tool made for war, so Breke mills that over. Hephaestus decides it’s his turn to ask questions, so he asks who told Breke to come to him.

Breke stays quiet, so Hephaestus in puzzlement comments on him spacing out. Breke snaps out of his thoughts and says he was shocked and asks him to repeat the question. Hephaestus does so, then adds on if Breke had any reason to be here. He answers that he just wandered around and collapsed there.

Hephaestus nods at that saying he was just picked up then, and Breke apologizes for his earlier behavior. Breke also asks some more about who Hephaestus is using a more polite pronoun, though Hephaestus asks him to stop that since it makes him uncomfortable to be treated as a superior. He prefers more rougher treatment.

Breke obliges and asks again. Hephaestus describes himself as an ugly, dirty looking weapons dealer. Breke is surprised by this, and Hephaestus continues on saying he’s never been needed by anyone besides those war makers, just a trashy genius who’s never made friends. He actually laughs about it, then says he’s a trashy genius surrounded by machines that are only good for war.

Breke goes quiet, and Hephaestus asks to leave since he’s busy. Breke can go anywhere for all he cares, since the whole city will turn into a war zone soon enough. Breke notices something and asks about it, and Hephaestus orders Talos to escort Breke out. Breke is shocked to see Talos given that he has the same appearance as his creator.

After Talos and Breke leave, Hephaestus starts muttering to himself. He’s noticed the B initial carved onto the outside of Breke’s parts and recognizes it, saying it’s from the same genius trash as him. He calls them the guildmaster of the war makers and the political strife types, an exceptional genius with two Bs in their name.

If it is who Hephaestus thinks it is, he says they should be opposed to the south and the east. And if Breke shows up, that would mean Kamata isn’t safe anymore. He has a small panic attack before stopping and standing up. He calls himself a tool only needed for other people’s wars. Only one person has ever not treated him that way, his other mother who should be there soon. He knows because in every loop, it played out that way.

Hephaestus starts getting agitated as he says he needs to hurry for his mother’s sake, then turns around as Talos walks down the stairs and goes to report finishing his job. He acknowledges it, then orders him with a certain amount of hate to lie down on the maintenance bed already.

Hephaestus talks about Breke and says he figured out from tinkering with him that he’s the Lykaon pack, calling him a battlefield hyena. He eats the living remains of those who finish their roles so that they don’t go to waste. That isn’t the only thing, as Breke apparently has countless Transients taken into his machine vessel, though Hephaestus suggests it might also be the other way around.

But anyways, he continues by saying there are countless Transients’ memories inside of him. Having all that would make him a system of greed that makes it all his own, and Hephaestus is pretty sure the wolf is the main system/personality. However, having that many personalities inside one body would probably lead to the body breaking in all likelihood.

He compares that a bit to how Musashi is, as well as his mother, which is apparently you. Whether the many in one thing happens naturally, through high tech, or Something Else, Hephaestus says it’s the deed of an unprecedented garbage genius. He wonders if in a past loop he studied that construction, then curses the warmongers for only half assing giving his memories back.

Hephaestus calms himself down reminding himself of his genius engineer status. He will not settle for having his own ideal be less than the other geniuses’ handiwork. He laughs as inspiration seems to strike, and he says he’ll fine tune Talos even more in the time he has left.

Talos says it’ll be his pleasure to help Hephaestus. Hephaestus says he has to become his idealized self, better than anyone and someone who has to be loved by his mother. There seems to be a sign Talos isn’t happy with that order, but he says yes as his orders are absolute. Sounds of tinkering echo in the room soon after.

Scene then shifts to the workshop as Amatsumara hears the intercom ringing, though he initially calls it the phone. But anyways he calls for someone else to pick up, first wondering where in hell Hephaestus wandered off to. He tries Kurogane next before remembering he went to go see his friend. Then he calls for Takemaru or anyone else at all.

Amatsumara complains about no one being around and how the whippersnappers are making the old man move. Brats, the lot of them, he says as he goes to answer the comm. Xolotl turns out to be on the other end saying he’s got an appointment that day. Amatsumara apologizes for making him wait and asks what it’s about.

Xolotl says Hakumen gave him something and told him to take it to the Crafters. Amatsumara takes a moment to think on it, then seems to recognize the Roppogi guild request to be about some contextless object that goes together with something he has. Xolotl apologizes and says he wasn’t actually told what any of this business is about, but Amatsumara says it’s fine and to come in.

Amatsumara then remembers he needs to let Musashi know about this, and Xolotl asks if he’s scary. Amatsumara says he is towards anyone without an appointment, attacking them no matter who they are. Xolotl goes quiet, so Amatsumara asks what’s wrong. He tells him that he can hear a battle going on by the front gates, which shocks Amatsumara as the episode ends.