Orange clears a flat patch at the oasis edge and lays scrap into neat piles, wire, shell casings, bent pipe, and one cracked gear housing. The junkers watch in a tight half-circle as his tools flash in the light.
He fits the pieces together with quick, brutal precision. A filter frame takes shape first, then a hand pump, then a brace meant to keep sand out of a valve. The Lead Junker leans in, silent now.
Kaelo
You can make that from this pile? Just scrap?
Orange finishes the assembly and sets the rebuilt part down where everyone can see it. It is small, but it means clean water if the seal holds, and repairs if it does not.
Kaelo
Not a trick. He is building real gear. Gear we can use.
Purple stands watch with cold patience while Yellow and Blue keep the ring loose but ready. Green studies the oasis itself, uneasy, as if she already understands the price of helping more mouths survive here.
Kaelo
If you can turn our scrap into pumps and seals, we bring more metal. More filters. Whatever keeps this place alive.
The alliance shifts from truce to need. Orange's craft is no longer just proof, it is the bridge between the Colossus and the scavengers' survival.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a steady supply of scrap for the oasis forge
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the Junkers want in exchange for their metal
“Ising simple hand gestures i attempts to ask them what they're offering us for our help and what they expect us to give for theirs”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Orange lifts both hands from the scrap, palms open, then points between the Junkers' crate and the forge piles. He mimes a careful trade, one hand offering, the other measuring back, clear enough that even the children could read it.
Kaelo
You want the terms plain. Fair.
Kaelo
We bring metal, wire, filters, anything worth dragging. You turn it into pumps, seals, tools, and keep the Oasis from dying on us.
He taps the scavenged crate with two knuckles, then opens one hand toward Orange, no longer hiding behind it.
Kaelo
In return, we get repairs for our gear, first use of what you make from our haul, and a place at the water line when the heat gets bad.
Purple the Colossus
And you do not bring trouble to this place.
Kaelo
We brought a crate, not a raid. You keep your forge honest, we keep our word.
Purple does not answer right away. Around the ring, the Junkers lower their shoulders as if the bargain itself has given them somewhere to stand.
Quest Complete
Learn what the Junkers want in exchange for their metal
Quest Complete
Secure a steady supply of scrap for the oasis forge