Beauty X Beast ~ Ten!

Moments after they crossed the threshold into the manor, the clattering and screeching of metal and mechanics went quiet as cables and hoses descended from the shadows of the ceiling. After only a few moments, the Beast had been hooked into the system and was gently lifted a few inches off the floor. Then, with a quiet *hiss* of steam from above, the towering entity began gliding through the stone hallway like the ghost of an entire workshop.

Although Danielle was uncertain where they were going, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of excitement knowing that she’d be able to stay in this wondrous manor for at least a little longer. A twinge of nervousness and guilt filled her at her next thought—how this would give her more time to prove herself, to get close to the formidable Artificer hidden somewhere in this house… and send him away to war. 

Her cycle of rumination was broken as the Beast began speaking in a low rumble, “Your observations… are surprisingly astute for someone with no formal education.” 

Only then did Danielle realize some of the crystal eyes of the machine had been scanning her notes as the Beast drifted along. Without turning to look at her, its grating voice echoed out once more, “Explain how you came to these conclusions. They are wrong… but not by much.” 

“If by formal education, you mean the royal university, you would be correct in assuming I hadn't been trained there.” Danielle squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Even so, I've been studying machinery for years, thanks to my father. He's a Tinkerer and always encouraged my pursuit of any subject I could get my hands on.” 

“Simple tinkering doesn’t explain this.” The Beast turned the notebook around, tapping on a masterfully drawn diagram. “You did not copy this. This is an alteration to the current schematic for Sn-three-zy. It wouldn't function, but it's close enough that I can understand your intent.”

“What do you mean, it wouldn't work? The original design is clearly based on the toy soldier version one, from Iiago's Fun and Functional Schematics. My design is from a far more modern version I've made dozens of times.” For a few moments, they went back and forth on whether the design would work or not.

Eventually, Danielle had to throw her hands up and shake her head, having no way to prove the design was workable. “Look, Beast. Ever since I turned fourteen and got my Advanced Class, I've been doing everything I could to stay out of sight—it just worked out that I'm fascinated by how things work, how different materials and components can interact to create something beautiful. Spending most of my time in my father's workshop, working or reading, was a perfect situation for me.”

“And yet, here you are, arguing with a machine about how machines work.” The Beast's mechanical eyes brightened as one of them shifted to focus on her, while the others continued scanning her notebook. “You have a deep connection to your father, the man captured to coerce you into recruiting the Artificer?”

The question was so incongruous that Danielle’s footsteps stuttered slightly, though her skills easily corrected her balance and even turned the motion into an adorable little skip. “He's my father. Of course I have a deep connection with him. He's taken care of me my whole life, encouraged me when everyone else told me not to bother, and has tried to help me live the life I want to live. I’d do anything to help him, which is… why I'm here.”

“Almost anything, going by your refusal of your other options,” the Beast growled at her, closing her notebook with a *snap* and handing it over with a sharp motion. “Your understanding of the basics is commendable, but you are to refrain from opening any of the Artificer’s machines without permission. Let me be clear: you won't be getting that permission. He is in closed-door study, attempting to breach the final hurdle of achieving Perfection—your interference will slow him down. So long as you follow the rules of the house, you will be allowed to remain.” 

“Hold on a moment, why would my studying interfere with his advancement?” Danielle directly challenged the Beast, who had floated to a stop before a large set of double doors she’d never before been invited to step through. “Learning is a continuous process, and inspiration can come from unexpected places. As my father always told me, everyone brings something to the table.”

“Yes, that is true.” The Beast let out a burst of steam in a way that reminded Danielle of someone huffing in derision. “Yet, some people bring a cornucopia… and others bring a slice of stale bread.”

“Abyss… that’s a condescending outlook, if I’ve ever heard one,” Danielle retorted, leaning into the argument instead of ending it as the Beast had likely hoped for. “How about this? I know that the parts in Doc and Sneezy can have a fifteen to twenty percent increase in efficiency by changing their placement. Their maintenance could be far easier by turning their gears into gear boxes, allowing for lubrication and modular replacement.”

The blue crystals of the Beast's eyes flashed with red light. She may have imagined it, but Danielle clearly heard a hint of irritation seeping through its mechanical voice—which seemed stiffer and more formal than usual. “The Comte does not care as much as you do about the cost of material things. He is perfectly happy to replace parts as needed. Beyond this simple mentality shift from poverty to abundance, there are aspects of the runic language used in the higher functions of the automatons which could be impacted by such a change.” 

The red light faded, and the Beast relaxed slightly, shaking its head at her in a facsimile of human motion. “You don't even know what you don't know, which means you don't get to judge the Comte’s work.”

“Give me a chance to prove myself, at the very least,” Danielle demanded as she held up her notebook like a weapon. “Even you were surprised at what I was able to glean from studying the finished product. I want to know more; I want to have a chance at convincing the Comte to help me. If that means I have to help him first, so be it!”

A strange squealing of metal and steam escaped the Beast, and it took an embarrassingly long time for Danielle to understand that the entity was laughing at her. Cheeks flushing, she opened her mouth to continue the argument, but the Beast simply held up a hand.

“Very well. If you are to stay in this house and use up the Comte’s resources, you may continue your direct study of Doc and Sneezy only. As to the rest, you will better yourself. This was meant to be a gift, but now, as payment for your care, you will somehow need to find a way to help the Comte achieve Perfection.”

The Beast's hand shot out abruptly, gripping the oversized handle of the door they’d stopped at. With a rough motion, he threw it open. The scent of aged parchment, paper, and vellum rushed over Danielle, and even before she saw what was within, she knew what this place was. With a cautious step, the Enchantress entered a magnificent library filled with shelves upon shelves of papers, scrolls, and thick tomes. 

“Start there.” The Beast’s index finger *clattered* into position, fixed on a small crate of books covered in dust. “That is the general knowledge section. Without an understanding of what those contain, the rest of the accumulated information within the library will be useless to you. Going by the glaring flaws in your… ‘hypothesis’, your foundation of knowledge is lacking in many areas. If you put in the effort, you can fix it.”

Perhaps contrary to the Beast’s expectations, Danielle's eyes had lit up with eagerness. Barely looking back at the Beast, she rushed over to the container, her fingers brushing over the spines of the long-neglected books. “I can just… read? Learn? I don't even know how to… to thank you.”

“Believe me, I'm perfectly happy letting you read these books, which are useless to me, if it means you stop touching things better left alone.” The Beast remained in the library, perfectly still as its ‘eyes’ watched Danielle throw herself into her studies without delay.

Pulling each of the books out of the stack, she sorted them first by if she had read them or not, then by complexity. Finally narrowing her selection to a book titled Basic Principles of Mechanics, Danielle carried it over to the table, her fingers unconsciously brushing over the worn cover as a sense of anticipation filled her. Settling into a well-worn leather lounge chair, she began devouring the book with her eyes, astounded as each page offered new insights, which seamlessly connected to her existing understandings. 

Danielle barely noticed as the hours passed, completely engrossed in the book which explained so many new ideas and allowed her to intuitively connect with different concepts she already had a deep understanding of. Finally, she reached a section she mentally bounced off of, her brow furrowing in concern as she tried to parse the dense subject. “What in the-?”

“I see you found the ‘applied physics’ section.” The chiming voice of Doc rang out, far too close to her face for comfort. Danielle flinched away from the razor-sharp sentry, but the machine didn't appear to mind. “We were given permission to help you with your studies, whether that be practical examples or explanations we have been informed of. Would you like me to explain if you have a question?”

“Yes!” Immediately, the Enchantress leaned forward again, tapping on the book and nearly slicing her finger as she flipped a page and nearly touched the guard. “This graph doesn't line up with the information; why would it show only numbers?”

“It's an explanation of the principle of leverage.” Doc shifted slightly, reflecting light off its metal arm and on to the sentences he wanted Danielle to read once more. “I'm sure you understand the principle of distributing force across a fulcrum; this is merely the mathematical representation.”

 Doc's explanations were clear and sharp, but even more than that, his mechanical patience and perfect willingness to repeat explanations until they were fully grasped proved invaluable. Danielle found herself absorbing the information at an astonishing rate, as if she had been given a lesson tailored specifically to address her weaknesses—a perfect blend of theory and practical application. 

“Look here…” The tiny hand held up a cogwheel and spring as they reached a section bringing many topics together. “Without the use of a differential, the opposite ends couldn't rotate at different speeds.”

“That must be why I could never get my toys to move their arms separately from their legs!” Danielle furiously scribbled notes, already seeing dozens of places she could implement the information she had just learned. 

What would have taken her days to learn on her own, she was mastering in hours, thanks to the guided instruction. As if she herself were an automaton, she kept powering on through the book, asking questions as needed while having no intention of slowing. Eventually, Doc didn't answer one of her questions, and she blinked in surprise as he asked one of his own.

“Why are you pushing so hard, Enchantress? You have no set end date for your tenure here,” Doc chimed in confusion. “Learning is a good thing, of course, but this seems excessive. Unsustainable.”

“Well… if I'm being honest,” Danielle sheepishly grinned at the guard. “I love this, of course I do, but the Beast’s refusal to acknowledge my abilities as a Tinkerer might be fueling my determination to prove myself a little overmuch. I’ve, um, kinda become accustomed to spite-learning.”

“Spite-learning?” The brand-new term clearly meant nothing to the automaton. “You are serious?” 

“Deadly.” Danielle grimly nodded, her eyes practically shining with fervor. “When someone tells me I can't do something, I'll throw myself against it until I finally get a chance to casually showcase how easy it is for me—no matter how hard it actually was to learn or do it. No one sees the effort; they only ever see the result.” 

“Pardon the intrusion, madame, but you are late for dinner. The kitchen is sad.” Sneezy’s nasally voice broke Danielle from her thoughts, and she tore her eyes away from the half-written sentence in her notebook. “I would offer to bring you a tray, but there is no food or drink allowed in the library, for obvious reasons.”

Danielle languidly smiled, her mind only partially present in the moment. “I'm surprised you are allowed in here. Fire seems a lot more dangerous to the books than a few crumbs.”

Sneezy froze, its rictus smile hiding the actual concern the machine had suddenly been struck with. Realizing she’d brought up a valid concern, Danielle stood up and snapped her fingers to try and break the machine out of whatever logic cycle it had fallen into. “You're okay, Sneezy! I was trying to make a joke. Let's go to the kitchen?”

“I should leave my lighter in the hall.” Sneezy muttered at less than a quarter of the volume Danielle had ever heard it speak. The machine started moving, leading her toward the dining room slowly at first, but picking up speed as it followed the new task. “How have you enjoyed your time in the library today?”

Knowing whatever she said would likely get back to both the Beast and the Artificer, Danielle chose her words carefully. “I'm beginning to understand what he meant when he said I needed to increase my foundational knowledge. Doc has been a wonderful help in understanding where I was going wrong. Then there’s… well, some of the questions I had are directly answered in this book, and I'm even slightly embarrassed about a couple of my assumptions. Even so… I don't think I'm as far behind as the Beast seemed to assume. I know some of what I was talking about is correct. Simply ignoring the facts will not allow the Artificer to progress.”

“Surely, this is so basic that it will not have an impact on such high-level work as artificing,” Sneezy replied, its faith and pride in its creator shining through his words. “The Comte is a true genius, having the talent, the wherewithal, and the work ethic to reach the highest heights.”

“That's actually why he needs to listen to me.” Danielle shook her head when the guard didn't respond to her. “Think about it, Sneezy. If you have a complicated problem, is it better to fix a mistake early on or wait until you’re nearly done with the project to try and work around it? The entire reason the Beast told me to study was so I wouldn't make simple mistakes. How long has the Artificer been pursuing Perfection? Is it possible he’s simply ignoring what he actually needs to do out of sheer arrogance?”

“It is not.” 

Danielle could only laugh at the instant reply from the automaton. “It's good you have such faith in him. I hope it is earned and not only something he instilled in you.”

As she sat down at the kitchen table, and the enormous mechanism hooked to the ceiling began preparing her food, Danielle couldn't hold back the smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “I'm going to save my father by helping an Artificer, by doing exactly what I want to actually do with my life. Even without the actual class, maybe I still can be a researcher.”

As the machine overhead deposited a plate in front of her, the inside of Danielle's left arm began to glow.