Ch. 253: A Laser Printer and a Box of Trouble

"The box?"

There was a pause on the other end of the rune, and Greg's voice came back a little more awake.

"Of course it still needs dealing with," he said. "But didn't you say last time you wouldn't take it without a deposit? What made you change your mind all of a sudden?"

Mo Fei cleared his throat. "Something like that sitting in the Bureau is going to cause trouble sooner or later. I'm the Bureau's Honorary Technical Advisor, after all. I can't just stand by and watch."

The other end went quiet for a while.

"...Is that so. Good timing, then. I've been getting a headache over it. It's sitting right in the Bureau and people still have their eyes on it."

"Why not just destroy it?"

"I filed a destruction request. Upstairs sent it back, said it has research value and should be kept for now." Greg sighed. "But the researchers can't come up with a way to reinforce the seal either, so the box just got sent back to the evidence room to sit there."

"You keep it, but you can't seal it?"

"So we have to find someone else to seal it."

The rune went silent for a moment.

"As for the deposit..." Greg's voice dropped. "The budget is still being approved."

"Paying later is fine."

"Really?" The relief on the other end was obvious. "Then thanks in advance."

Mo Fei took the opening and asked, "By the way, how's the Chimimi investigation going?"

"Don't even ask." Greg's voice sagged again. "Not only is there no progress, it's gone the other way around. More people in the Lower City have been getting sick lately, and Chimimi is telling everyone that stray cats and dogs are carrying fleas that spread the illness. Upstairs is desperate to contain it, so now they're pushing the Bureau to cooperate with Chimimi and take in strays."

Nice work, Chimimi. Twisting the truth like that.

"Upstairs? Who gave the order?"

"I didn't notice who signed the document." Greg paused. "...Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. Send the box over, I'll give it a try."

"Fine, I'll have someone bring it to you."

Mo Fei was about to end the call when Greg spoke again.

"Oh, right. That abandoned mine I told you about, the one where we found a large number of rat-hound monsters because of the box. It collapsed two nights ago." He paused. "Do you know anything about that?"

"It collapsed? After you told me about it, I never planned on going near it."

"Is that so." Greg yawned. "Then that's all. Contact me if anything comes up."

The gray-blue glow faded.

Looks like the Bureau is a lost cause. They're actually going along with Chimimi. Greg doesn't seem to be involved, but I can't expect him to help much either... I'll have to investigate on my own.

If Chimimi is still making moves, then that base can't be the only place making chimeras. First I need to find out where the captured animals end up...

He sat at the table turning it over and over in his head until Mira's voice pulled him back.

"M-Mr. Mo Fei! Please take a look at this!"

Mira stood by the workbench holding a sheet of paper, her cheeks slightly flushed.

On the paper was a pattern, its outline perfectly clear.

"I made a law that can control the flowing light!" Mira pointed at the paper, speaking a little fast. "Now, with an inscription plate, I can make the flowing light shine only where it's supposed to."

A pile of scrap paper lay beside her, every sheet either gone gray all over or completely blank. Next to it sat an inscription plate carved with dense inscriptions.

"Good." Mo Fei looked at the inscription plate. "How far did you get on the part that converts images into print coordinates?"

"I-I wrote one version... but I haven't verified it. I switched to researching lighting afterward, so it's just been sitting there."

"Fine, then change it to map onto the inscription plate. Also, this machine is going to sit on the counter to print transaction slips. If the plate has to be as big as the paper, the printer can't get any smaller."

Mira's mouth fell open. "T-then what do we do?"

"Turn the inscription plate into a drum. The drum turns against the paper while the paper feeds forward, and wherever it turns past, the light hits."

Mira froze, looked down at the paper, then turned to look at the inscription plate.

"So the image first has to be matched to the inscriptions on the drum..."

"Right. Also, when a customer buys a lot of different items, a slip can end up longer than one full turn of the drum. The overflow has to be picked up by the next turn. So it needs to be able to cut long content into several segments and expose them in order, one segment at a time."

Mira's eyes glazed over. She mumbled "mapping, drum, segmenting" under her breath, her face getting redder and redder, as if smoke were about to rise from the top of her head.

Seeing this, Mo Fei sighed. "Don't rush. I'll set the paper width and the drum size for you. Bring me the law and the drum when they're done, and I'll handle the rotation speed and the paper feed afterward."

"I-I'll go research it right now!"

Mira ran back to her seat clutching the paper and started writing, head down.

An inscription drum plus photosensitive paper... I never thought I'd get so close to building a laser printer.

...

The box arrived that afternoon.

The Bureau operative handed it to Mo Fei and left without even stopping for a drink of water.

"Tsk, tsk. The bonus and the fees have been stuck in approval forever, but when it comes to delivering trouble, they're not slow at all."

He set the box down on the workbench.

"The seal matrix has collapsed this badly... How am I supposed to deal with this?"

The longer he looked, the more absorbed he became.

Come to think of it, this thing can find treasure. I wonder how it...

The box in front of him gradually blurred, and a mountain of rare alchemical materials rose before his eyes, along with glittering Ether crystals, all of them his.
The car, the house, the latest phone he could never save enough for before coming to this world... they appeared one by one before his eyes.
The Gold Touch Workshop had been rebuilt into a high-rise, his sign hanging at the very top.

Right, I should have done this long ago.

That was his own voice.

What's the harm in using it just once?

Mo Fei stared at the box, his hand slowly reaching out.

Something bumped against his calf.

Prototype No. 1 was pressed against his foot, its tentacles patting his arm again and again, then curling around his sleeve and tugging him away.

Mo Fei ignored it.

After tugging for a long while with no response, Prototype No. 1 climbed onto the workbench. Its tentacles wrapped around the box, and its flat mouth opened wider and wider.

Mo Fei started and yanked Prototype No. 1 off the box.

"No! You can't eat this!!"

The shout made even Toby and Mira turn their heads, and Mo Fei himself froze.

The mountain of gold and the high-rise from a moment ago were all gone.

Just now... I was trying to use it?

A cold sweat broke out on his back.

"M-Mr. Mo Fei? Are you all right?" Mira asked timidly.

"I'm fine... sorry for being so loud." Mo Fei waved a hand. "Go on with what you were doing."

I can't just leave this thing lying around. Even I almost fell for it. If Mira and the others touched it... Right, Storage Space!

He took a breath, fixed his eyes on the box, and with a thought the workbench was suddenly empty.

Good, it fits... Mo Fei breathed out in relief, but soon frowned again. But the box has to go back sooner or later. I still need to figure out the seal.

Prototype No. 1 shrank off to one side and let out a wronged little "squeak."

Mo Fei reached out and ruffled that green blob. "Sorry. I'll find you something else to eat later."

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Toby opened it. "M-Mr. Adai?"

Mo Fei looked up. Adai stood outside with a huge bundle on his back, so heavy it tilted his shoulders.

"Adai? What's all this..."

"Universal Adaptation Potions." Adai set the bundle down and caught his breath. "I need a favor. Could you give me a ride in your vehicle so I can deliver these?"