I wasn't going to say anything. I want that on the record. I watched the whole Brass District ceremony — yes, the one honoring the Rustics who held the borders during the war, very moving, very solemn, not a single Cryptid invited to speak, noted, filed away, moving on — and I told myself: not my business. I am a humble observer. I do not insert myself into Rustic affairs.
(My lovelies — yes, I'm borrowing that, don't @ me. I love that human, they're one of the good ones.)
And then Engine Kelly walked in.
Not "arrived." Walked in. Like she'd already won something. Every head in that hall turned at once, and I mean every head, including several that I'm fairly sure don't usually turn that direction.
Before the Patinaed Lady's vessel could even finish its sentence, her visage made it extremely, unmistakably clear how she feels about Engine Kelly. You could've heard a contract sign itself in that silence. Nobody breathed. Somewhere a Rustic dropped a commemorative pin.
So naturally some news guy — a Rustic, of course, always managing the room, always smoothing things over before they get interesting — tries to redirect everyone by bringing up, completely out of nowhere, that Brass showed up with Engine Kelly tonight, but Cogs did not.
Which. Okay. Weird thing to bring up unprompted! Very weird! And Engine Kelly's whole response was this half-answer, half-joke, half-something-I-don't-have-a-word-for, delivered in that voice she does when she's trying to be civil — which, for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure, sounds like a tractor engine about four seconds from the carburetor giving out entirely.
My seventh sense was tingling, my lovelies. So I did what I do. I got on Dialtone and I dug.
Here's what a deep, deep source tells me: Cogs has been manufacturing — quietly, off the books, uncertified — for the past five months. Not with Brass. Alone.
You see where I'm going with this.
Because doesn't it seem a little convenient that Copper City has suddenly got more mech hounds wandering around than anyone remembers ordering? And doesn't it seem a little extra convenient that Rustics are suddenly offering "free" mech hound training courses on every corner, like they just discovered civic generosity overnight?
I'm just asking questions. I'm just a guy. But it looks to me like somebody is trying very hard to make it seem normal that there are two enormous mastiffs running around Copper City that nobody — and I mean nobody — actually has control over. The "free training" isn't generosity. It's damage control with a smile on it.
So until further notice: watch where you step. And if you see a mech hound that looks a little too pleased with itself, that's not a glitch. That's just Tuesday now.
— Cryptid