Kir went to see Sam after his visit to Noir’s grave, with an offer to try sothing he thought they might like.
Sam, a petite human in their twenties with a compact fra, short hair, and sad eyes, was a maven and the last original mber of the Black Sheep; an adventuring group Kir beca a part of after being stranded in a dungeon.
"It would... let ... speak more?" Sam asked after Kir proposed using Programmable Magic to overco the effect their mavenry had on their ability to speak. Sam’s maven ability controlled sound around them, and that ant they had to concentrate on suppressing it just to get a few words out at a ti.
"You don’t have to accept if you don’t want to. The magic is complicated, and I don’t even know how it would interface with a person’s body."
"I want... to speak... to my child..." Sam said, tears welling in their eyes. Kir had hugged them then, and after eting Sam, Lumin had approved Kir’s test, provided he first tried on animals and proved the use of Programmable Magic was safe for non-living constructs. Hence, the importance of completing the bus.
After showing Lumin Programmable Magic, Kir got the go-ahead to produce a prototype.
It took the better part of a month, and Kir stepped in to help Enumasam once Sam got too pregnant to continue smithing.
It was a snowy day when the bulky contraption saw daylight, as the bay doors of its anonymous-looking shed in the city’s 4th District opened. A smoking bribe was all it took to keep Kiryu from blaring improvised classical rock in Kir’s head...
"Take down to the Paradise City-"
"Stop."
Kir had wanted to go with a basic setup, but Enumasam had taken Kir’s idea of what a proper bus should look like and ran with it, involving his fellow artisans first and then the Creations Guild woodshapers, upholsters, and lastly whitesmiths for finishing the bronze work.
The result: Every mber who’d participated in the creation was there to attend the test run, generating a larger-than-anticipated crowd as they brought their friends and family out during the lightly snowy morning.
"Uhhh... I don’t usually do daylight... or big speeches... but... Uhh..." The larger-than-expected crowd ant that Moshui, who had been pushed out to make a speech as the "Chief Enchantress" of the project, was thoroughly flustered. "Welco! We have... a bus! But not, like, a serving bus. I an, it serves, we hope, to transport people sitting in it to places! Cheap and affordable! It uses a logic matrix composed of several dozen argunt strings with interchangeable conditional diums and alterable set inscriptions, capable of generating impulse with physical braking as a control or backup asure..." A lot of people in the crowd blinked in confusion as she got lost in the rapid stream of jargon, which Kir had created to help her understand how his Programmable Magic worked. "Um... Kir, do the bell thing..." Almost as soon as she finished, Moshui hurried onto the bus to sit in a passenger seat, her face thoroughly red.
A quiet murmur descended on the crowd as Kir took the driver’s seat. "You did well, Moshui, I’m proud... just try not to give away everything in the future," Kir chuckled.
"I got nervous, okay?"
Enumasam stepped onto the stairwell and remained there, half outside as he waved and blew a kiss to his husband, Goro, embarrassing their children.
With a wolfish grin, Kir pulled the bell, and the crowd parted as the bus rolled out of its shed for the first ti.
They’d bought the place at the edge of the city to ensure they had only one turn to make in order to use one of Norneau’s two main roads. As the city was, they couldn’t do a full circuit unless a larger street was built to connect them, but they could go up and down provided Kir executed a three-point turn.
Once the bus was amidst the crowd, Kir called out, "All-aboard!"
This was the chance for anyone to get on the first bus ride in the known history of Ayther... And no one jumped to do it.
Finally, Goro spoke up. "This bus thing is my husband’s work. I trust it with my life and my children’s." He stepped forward, guiding the kids onto the bus before entering himself, sharing a kiss with Enumasam before they both took seats with their kids.
"It’s so warm!" one child exclaid. Once the decision to go all-out was made, Kir decided to add basic heating-enchantnt tiles to the floor, spaced evenly amidst the wooden planks. The seats at the back were heated as well, a lure to keep people interested in filling in from back to front. Enumasam made sure his kids and husband joined him on the back seats, to allow more people to get comfortable.
And get comfortable they did, as Goro’s example got people interested in boarding. It didn’t take long for the bus to fill as trepidation turned to curiosity. So people even started to play with the sliding windows, though ultimately most left them closed. In short order, the bus was almost at capacity, with people choosing to sit on each other’s laps rather than stand.
"Everyone ready?" Kir called back, excitent in his glamoured voice.
A few people called back "Ready!" or things to that effect, the mood lifting considerably.
Kir started them at a slow pace. There was a slight hum as the "engines" increased in power. Large plates underneath the carriage turned sideways, connected to the wheels by gears. The simplest motor Kir could co up with, with only a handful of likely failure points.
The rumble of the vehicle on the cobblestones was greatly dampened by the reinforced rubber tires - a result of a massively expensive deal with Urvi, the pangolinkin woman who had beco the world’s leading coffee expert - thanks to Kir. Kir had been tempted to reveal his identity to her, just to see if she would repay him for enriching her, but practical considerations took precedence. Like the fact Kir Gale was "dead" as far as the world at large knew.
At least he would keep the secret of his vulcanization thod... Aviye had no common procedure for vulcanizing rubber, though it was practiced in relevant fields. Kir hoped at one point he would figure out how to make the bus hover and avoid the need entirely...
The first hitch ca when they approached the gate.
"That’s, uh, a lot of people," the guard said.
"Isn’t it?" Kir grinned. "We have permission from the Chancellor and the Mayor, and everyone aboard is a Guild mber or craftsperson."
"May I, um," the guard stepped onto the bus and looked in. A curious look entered his eyes, and Kir took a wild shot.
"Would you like to ride along?" Kir asked. "Don’t worry, we’re just taking it up and then down once."
The guard, who was a sergeant, swallowed. "I could try it."
Kir smiled. "It’s standing room only I’m afraid, but you could hold onto a bar if you want."
"Oh, so that’s what those are for..." "Very clever..." "Could fit a dozen more with those..." The murmurs of the craftspeople were appreciative and curious.
The entire ride, Kir rang the bell as a warning for people to step out of the way, which most did with surprise and wonder on their faces. Large constructs were rare, and the bus certainly counted as one.
The second problem ca from a man unloading his cart, since there wasn’t a convenient alley for him to drive into. They had to wait for a few minutes as the guard convinced him and then as he got out of the way.
These main roads definitely need to be widened... Kir thought. They were sized for two carts, but the bus was over that size; more like one and a half carts.
Thankfully the passengers were too excited over their shared creation to care. They chatted amicably with each other and with people outside who called out to them. Only a few got off the bus in the 3rd District, having seen it was safe and needing to get back to work. A few of the people who had been at the warehouse took the chance to hop aboard, having followed the bus at a safe distance.
Even at a slow speed, the bus kicked up rocks. Thankfully the roads were kept clear by mages who walked for "heat sweeps" of the snow, else wise many people might have had an unpleasant, slushy surprise.
Having a guard on board greatly smoothed things over when they got to the next gate. And the next.
More of the crafters got off in the 2nd District since that was where the independent crafters and ateliers tended to work. Many started their careers with the Guild and worked their way up the reputation ladder to apprentice or replace master craftsn.
By the ti they reached the 1st District, everyone who’d attended the launching had a chance to co aboard, and excitent was in the air.
Kir was surprised when, standing at the gate to the Academy District, was Chancellor Lumin and Terry, along with a handful of teachers.
"Hm, so this is your contraption," she said as soon as she stepped fearlessly on board. "It’s not as impressive as I thought it would be, Professor Nasumi."
Several of the craftspeople on board muttered in offense.
"It’s not supposed to be too impressive. I want it to beco as mundane as watching air carriages flying, but sothing people can afford to ride on."
"And how much would people need to pay to afford it?" she asked, being a bit more theatrical than normal. Kir recognized the entire conversation was basically low-hanging fruit for the craftspeople on board.
"One large copper. Less the more of a fleet is built."
"Hmm... There only seems to be room for fifty."
"I have ideas for adding rooftop seating, which could double that number and allow for tours of the city," Kir said, going off-script to add to his pitch. "But the roads would need to be improved and the gates enlarged." It wasn’t a ti-intensive feat, thanks to magic keeping construction tis down, but it was still an expensive one to ensure durability and quality.
"Tours? Why the Hell would we do sothing like that? People can see the city just fine on foot."
"Ah, but imagine if we have soone to point out landmarks and stores. Answer a few basic questions. How much more business would that drum up? How much more revenue for the city? The city could even hire musicians to keep the ride interesting." And make it so the driver wouldn’t have to use the bell so much... Kir disliked taking his hands off the wheel to ring it.
Lumin’s eyes narrowed. "You are dangerously good at persuading people, Professor Nasumi." She stepped fully into the bus and shooed Moshui into scooting over, before taking the seat right behind Kir.
"Well. Get on with it. Take down." She waited as the rest of her staff filed onboard.
"Oh won’t you please, take ho~~~." Kiryu sang in Kir’s head.
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