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>Give her her money back, apologize, and tell her that she'll have to wait for a while longer because this is literally our first day and we're not allowed to do stuff with the machinery yet. After all, wouldn't you rather have someone qualified look at your servitor?
"Hold on, miss," you interjected, your gaze flickering to the hidden pocket where she'd stashed the coins. "Before we get started, may I see your hand?"
The woman tilted her head slightly, her perfectly sculpted brows furrowing in confusion. Still, she extended her hand. You quickly put her coins back into her delicate palm (so soft!) and closed her fist with a reassuring squeeze before she could protest.
A childhood spent navigating the cutthroat world of the hives had honed your instincts. Accepting those easy coins felt like a trap, a potential debt they could exploit later if you didn't do as they wanted you to.
"Sorry, miss, but you're going to have to wait for a while longer," you told her, a hint of apology in your voice. "This is literally my first day, and I don't think I'm allowed to do anything with machinery yet. After all, wouldn't you rather have someone qualified look at your servitor? Sorry, again."
She blinked, the playful facade momentarily dissolving. A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "Well, well. Fine. I suppose it is how it is."
You'd rather not disrespect the work of the Omnissiah in the *very house* of the Omnissiah.
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The levi-bus lumbered to a halt, its groaning engine a welcome change from the symphony of complaints echoing through the Public Shrine.
"Welcome to Zlatino!" Jamarco wheezed, collapsing onto a bench on the vehice. "Holy Workshop number three, in all its glory."
"Is it always like this?" you ask him.
Jamarco snorted. "Not exactly. Technically, the Workshop's Public Shrine should be a place for proper veneration, y'know, praying to the Omnissiah, rituals with the regular people, all that stuff. Repairs for 'donations' were just a side-gig - there are other, much better, much fancier places, actually dedicated to Zlatino repairs. This is just the industrial district! But Zlatino's been booming lately, more machines to maintain than there are Tech-Priests to maintain them. So, the whole 'worship' thing kind of... went on the back burner."
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