The Wordsmith's Forge

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It was inspired by the "competence" square in my 4-4-22 card for the Genderplay Bingo "Aspects" fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Marionettes and Finn Family threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.


"The Best Gifts Come from the Heart"

[Monday, August 22, 2016]

Halley stood nervously
outside of the office door,
staring at the ornate carvings
all over the old, dark wood.

It had taken six months
since China's mistake for
thon to turn a whimsical joke
into a real, practical product.

Now it was ready for presentation.

The door swung open silently,
and a bodyguard beckoned
Halley into the room beyond.

A thick wool carpet covered
the floor, and fine paintings
hung on warm ivory walls.

The Puppetmaster wore
his leather mask, but
the customary screen
was folded against a wall.

No wonder the bodyguards
were a bit twitchy today.

"Welcome, Halley,"
said the Puppetmaster.
"I hear that you have
something for me."

"Yes, sir," Halley said,
placing the gift on the desk.

The presentation box was shaped
like a treasure chest and covered
in Italian silk brocade. Instead
of a bow, it had a crimson tail of
silk ribbon hanging from the key.

The bodyguards stirred again,
restless, and the Puppetmaster
clucked his tongue at them.

"Peace," he said. "Our guest
is overflowing with eagerness
to present a gift, not a threat."

Wrinkled hands turned the key
and carefully lifted the lid.
Inside, the box was lined
with luxurious red velvet.

It held several samples
of clear material along with
the kind of jeweled flash drive
that the Family used to store
important information.

"An unexpected treasure,"
the Puppetmaster said.

"The best gifts come from
the heart, not the store,"
Halley said with a smile.

The Puppetmaster sorted
through the sample squares.

One was thick and rigid
with tape around the edges.
Another was thinner and
bent slightly when pressed.
The third was a flexible film
similar to the siding of a tent.

All of them were crystal clear,
even enough to read through them.

"Extraordinary," said the Puppetmaster.
"Would you like to explain these items?"

"I call the material dendropolycarbonate,"
said Halley. "After I made that joke about
creating a plastic from leaves, well, I got
to thinking how leaves are tough and pliable."

"That explains your intense focus on chemistry
over this summer," said the Puppetmaster.
"Some of your teachers were ... concerned
at the sudden shift in interests. I assured
them that you knew what you were doing,
and advised them to ask you for your plans
if they continued to have educational concerns.
Did they indeed ask you after our conversation?"

"Yeah, a couple of them did," said Halley. "It's
a good thing, too, because Mr. Fortino helped
me figure out a skill tree to learn what I needed."

"Excellent," said the Puppetmaster. "So tell me
about this wonderful material you invented."

"It's basically an Earth-friendly version of
polycarbonate," said Halley. "I can make it
in several forms. The rigid one is stronger
and lighter than glass, very durable -- well,
if it's treated to be durable. Originally
the stuff is biodegradable in sunlight."

"Interesting," said the Puppetmaster.
"Why are the edges taped on this one?"

"For safety," said Halley. "It's sharp
like glass. I had to spend weeks extra
figuring out how to make it 'safety glass'
because the original broke like real glass,
into big knife-like shards. Then I realized
it needed a different interlayer to make it
laminated, so I had to invent that too."

"That sounds like a lot of extra work
for a simple gift," said the Puppetmaster.

"Well, I had to do it, because the original
had safety issues," said Halley. "I couldn't
approve the dendropolycarbonate for
automotive use until I fixed those."

"Ah, automotive," said the Puppetmaster.
"You meant this to go to Ferrari, then?"

"Ferrari first, and I figure Lamborghini
will get it a few months later," said Halley.

One of the bodyguards stifled a cough,
or perhaps a laugh, at the comment.

"Why Lamborghini?" said the Puppetmaster.

"Because I've tested parts for both companies,
and I checked their past records," said Halley.
"If one of them makes a major breakthrough,
the other gets it not long after. I've rarely seen it
take more than six months after release, and never
more than a year. I figure either someone is trading
favors, or making very sure that the playing field
stays equal -- or maybe a combination of both."

"A logical conclusion," the Puppetmaster said
without confirming or denying any part of it.

"Isn't polycarbonate used to create
bulletproof panels?" one bodyguard said.
"If it is, why worry so much about breakage?"

"It can be bulletproof, if it's thick enough and
they don't want to use dymondine," said Halley.
"This isn't quite as strong, but it's much lighter
and cheaper. However, it's not Invulnerable.
Enough force will break it, like in a car crash,
so it has to break without hurting anyone."

"What about the other samples here?"
the Puppetmaster said, stroking them.

"The semirigid kind is good for things
that need a little resilience, such as
certain safety covers," Halley said.
"The floppy one can be used for tents
or tarps. It stands up really well in
a wind tunnel. I kinda want to try
making flexible solar panels with it."

"I assume that wind tunnel video
is included on the flash drive you
provided," said the Puppetmaster.

"Yeah, the drive has all of my notes
on chemical structure, manufacture,
testing, and variations," said Halley.
"It can be biodegradable or durable,
rigid or flexible. I even figured out
how to tint it and make it change
opacity the way smart glass does."

"This is retroengineered tech?"
the Puppetmaster asked.

"No, it doesn't need to be
retroengineered," Halley said.
"I designed it for manufacture
with ordinary equipment. If you
want to make a lot of it, you'll
need to build a factory, but
the process relies entirely
on off-the-shelf parts."

"And a supply of leaves,"
the Puppetmaster said,
lips curling in a smile.

"Yeah, but you can use
yard waste or timber waste
as long as it's still green,
not dried out," Halley said.

"Could an existing factory
be retrofitted for manufacture?"
the Puppetmaster wondered.

"Only if you can find one that's
already designed to break down
organics, like some for making
semi-synthetic fabric," said Halley.

"Fiber?" the Puppetmaster said.
"That may be possible after all.
Have you considered applications
in clothing? You might want
to talk with Dolce & Gabbana."

Halley shook thon's head. "No,
they don't like synthetics much.
They do more with natural fibers."

"I know they work in semi-synthetics
because I have some of their rayon,"
said the Puppetmaster. "At least
broach the topic with them, please.
We don't want them to feel slighted
if another designer gets it first. If they
decline, of course, that is their choice."

"Yes, sir," Halley said, taking out
thon's smartphone to make a note.
"I'll see if I can make clothing fabric
out of the dendropolycarbonate.
Thanks for the idea. I wanted
something sustainable, so
the more ideas, the better."

"This certainly sounds like
that," said the Puppetmaster.

"Well, I got some inspiration
from the Maldives because Aida
sent me data on their recycling and
its reclaimed products," said Halley.
"They have one plastic that's great
for benches and stuff, and there's
a foamed one about as strong as
concrete that's used to construct
some of the floating cities."

"I have seen pictures
of Little Sicily, though I
doubt they do it justice,"
said the Puppetmaster.

"I've been there, and it's
beautiful. They even have
real Sicilian street food,"
Halley said. "Aida and I
visited there this summer."

It was hard not to fall into
a funk thinking about that.

A warm mental touch
smoothed over the regret.

"I am sorry that your summer
did not go as planned, little one,"
said the Puppetmaster. "There
will be other chances to go home."

"I know," Halley said with a sigh.
"I could've gone, but that would've
made things harder. It's already rough
in Mercedes from all the refugee traffic,
even though the earthquake was just
a shimmy there. I got to spend time with
Aida in the Maldives, and our uncles
in Raleigh. I'm ... okay-ish. I just
needed a new project to focus on."

"Well, you definitely managed that,"
said the Puppetmaster. "I'm sure
the engineers at Ferrari will be
thrilled to receive this package.
It's a bit much as a gift outright,
though. Do your parents know?"

Halley shrugged. "I'm not picky
about the details," thon said. "If you
want to work out royalties or whatever,
then talk to Mum about that. I just
wanted you to have it first ... and
okay, stick my tongue out at China,
because they are so not getting it."

"They will find a way to obtain at least
the finished products eventually,"
the Puppetmaster warned.

"Yeah, but by then the rest of
the world will have the market
tied up, and China will be left
scrounging for crumbs like
a rat," Halley said smugly.

"As well they should,"
the Puppetmaster agreed.

"So okay, I'll leave the details
to you and Mum," said Halley.
"If money changes hands, though,
I'd like some of it to go into a fund
for the digital refugees. They
need all the help they can get."

The Puppetmaster took out
his smartphone and typed
on it. "So noted," he said.
"Your compassion equals
your competence, little one."

"I try," Halley said. "I'm just
glad that you like the gift."

The Puppetmaster smiled.
"The best gifts come from
the heart," he replied.

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.