#Episode 5: Mechanical Heart

#Scent -- Where the Mainspring Stopped

Grass had grown at the entrance of the abandoned mine. The pit props leaned, and rusted tools lay scattered across the floor. The sunset reached only as far as the tunnel mouth. Beyond that was darkness.

Tetsu found it deeper inside the tunnel. At first, he thought it was discarded armor. A shape sat against the rock wall. One arm was missing, and the chest plating was split open, exposing the inside. Inside were gears. Stopped gears. It was strange that they had not rusted. It looked as though it had been abandoned long ago, but the inner mechanism was clean.

Tetsu swallowed his breath. An autonomous automaton. Something made by people, but not human. A frame made of mainsprings, gears, and joints. And something dwelled within it, making it move on its own. Tetsu was an artisan. Making and repairing machines was his work. It was his first time seeing an autonomous automaton, but he had heard stories from his master. "Of all things made by human hands, the closest to human. And the least human."

He set down his tool pouch and knelt. Carefully, he opened the split in the chest. The mainspring had unwound. Three gears had slipped out of alignment, and one had missing teeth. Deepest inside -- at the center of the chest -- was a small cylinder. The heart that wound the mainspring. It was still warm.

"Alive."

He began setting the misaligned gears back in place. First. Second. The third was useless because its teeth were missing. He needed a part.

"Koharu." Tetsu called toward the mine entrance.

Koharu appeared at the tunnel mouth. With her fan folded, she looked inside. She saw the shape sitting against the rock wall. Gears showed at its joints, one arm was gone, and the chest was open.

"I can fix it. But I'm missing a part," Tetsu answered. "A drive gear for an autonomous automaton. Only the Sakai Guild would have one. It will cost more than ten gold coins."

Koharu touched her purse. Ten gold coins. Enough for three people to eat and sleep for a month.

"I'll haggle it down."

She slung the fan over her shoulder and left the tunnel. Sunset lit her back. A smile was spreading across her face -- the face she wore for negotiation.

Genzo, a parts merchant of the Sakai Guild, sat inside his narrow shop. Gears and mainsprings hung densely along the walls. A man with small eyes and a tightly shut mouth. The face of someone strict about money.

"Drive gear for an autonomous automaton. Three-sun standard." Koharu said, opening her fan.

"I have one. Fifteen gold coins."

"Fifteen?" Koharu's eyes widened behind the fan. "That is twice the Sakai market price."

"My market price." Genzo said bluntly. "People looking for autonomous automaton parts come two or three times a year."

Koharu closed her fan. The smile vanished, and her eyes grew calm. "Master Genzo. This is not a one-time sale. Our group has an artisan. We will need parts steadily."

Genzo fell silent. Koharu waited. In trade, the one who endures silence wins.

"Twelve." "Nine."

"Are you telling me to close shop?"

"No. I am telling you to begin a business." Koharu set nine gold coins on the table and unfolded a folded paper. It was a diagram Tetsu had drawn. The joint structure of an autonomous automaton. Genzo's eyes fixed on the diagram. He was reading it not with a merchant's eyes, but with an artisan's.

"Nine coins and the diagram. Fine."

Genzo took a gear down from the wall, wrapped it in oiled paper, and handed it over. Koharu accepted it with both hands.

"A good trade. I will come again."

"Next time, do not come without a diagram."

Koharu left the shop smiling. Pricing a friend's worth was not a merchant's work.

Tetsu took the gear. He checked each tooth with his fingers. It was precise. A proper Sakai Guild part.

He lit a small forge deeper in the tunnel. He warmed oil, rubbed it onto the gear, and put his hand into the split chest to fit it into the missing place. The sound of meshing. Click. Click. The three gears meshed again.

Now, the mainspring. He inserted a key into the small cylinder at the center of the chest and turned it carefully. One turn. Two turns. Three turns. He felt resistance. Four turns. Five turns. Tetsu held his breath and let go of the key.

The gears began to turn.

Click. Click. Clickclickclick --

The eyes lit. A small light spread inside the glass eyes. A light like a firefly. The autonomous automaton lifted its head. The glass eyes focused on Tetsu's face. Its mouth opened. Gears meshed, and air leaked from deep in its throat. A squeaking friction sound. Then -- one word.

"...Where."

"An abandoned mine. You had collapsed here. I fixed you."

The glass eyes blinked. Focus sharpened, slipped, then sharpened again. Tetsu's face. The tools. Its own frame. The severed left shoulder.

"Arm."

"I could not find the arm. I'm sorry."

The autonomous automaton looked down at the severed shoulder for a while. No expression could be carved into a face of wood and metal. But the light in the glass eyes seemed to dim a little.

"What is your name?" "...Ichi." "I am Tetsu. An artisan. I repair machines."

Koharu entered the tunnel. The glass eyes turned toward her.

"...Who."

"Koharu. Merchant. The person who bought your part." Koharu said with a smile. "It cost nine coins."

Ichi's glass eyes looked back and forth between them.

"Why."

One word. Why did you repair me? Why did you buy the part? Why did you spend gold coins repairing a machine you did not know?

"Because when I see something broken, I want to fix it. Because I am an artisan."

"Because even if the parts are expensive, you are a friend."

Ichi's gears stopped. One beat. Two beats. Then they began to turn again. A little faster than before.

"Friend." Ichi repeated. Two syllables made by the vibration of the mainspring.

Ichi pressed the floor with the remaining arm and stood. Unsteady, but standing. Tetsu stayed at his side to support him. Koharu stood on the other side -- the side without an arm. The three left the tunnel. The sunset had already gone down. Ichi looked up at the sky. Starlight reflected in the glass eyes.

"How did you collapse here?"

Ichi did not answer for a while. Gears turned.

"...I do not know. My memory is broken off. The last thing I remember is -- someone's voice. It said, 'Run.' I do not know who it was. But the voice was warm."

"Let's look for them." Tetsu said. "I'll ask around." Koharu said.

Ichi looked at the two of them. A click-click sound. Then the mouth opened.

"Am I alive?"

The night wind blew. A question made by the vibration of a mainspring. A question asked by a being whose heart was wound clockwork.

Tetsu looked into Ichi's glass eyes and answered.

"Of course you are alive."

It was a simple answer. No logic, no proof. The warmth remaining in the mainspring heart. The gears beginning to turn again. The light returning to the glass eyes. That was enough.

Koharu lightly tapped Ichi's back with her fan. "Ask the difficult questions later. For now, let's go eat. Ah, you cannot eat, can you? Then I will oil you instead."

Ichi's gears clicked. Quickly. No one knew whether that was laughter. But Tetsu felt that it was.

Stars shone over the abandoned mine. The mainspring heart was turning. The footsteps of two people and the sound of one person's gears receded along the night road.

#Law -- Session Actual Play

Kuro (GM) / Hana (Ichi) / Mei (Tetsu)

Kuro: Episode 5. No combat. This is a noncombat-check-focused episode. Autonomous automaton, repair, negotiation. I will run Koharu as an NPC. Let's start with character sheets.

[PC]
Karakuri Ichi (autonomous automaton 1st dan): Physique +2, Wisdom +1. Energy 11, Wounds 6(4+Physique modifier 2).
 Mechanical Body: immune to poison/disease/fear/bleeding/curse. No natural recovery. Defense 14(natural Defense).

Tetsu (artisan 1st dan): Physique +1, Wisdom +2. Energy 10, Wounds 3.
 Karakuri Fieldworks: repair checks +2. Carries repair tools.

[NPC]
Koharu (merchant 1st dan): Presence +2, Wisdom +1. Energy 10, Wounds 3.
 Golden Leverage: when negotiating, offer gold coins for +1~3. Fan(negotiation tool).

Hana: Ichi has Wounds 6? Other PCs have 3~5.

Kuro: The unit grade is different. Normal PCs have Wounds 3+Physique. Autonomous automatons have 4+Physique. Mechanical Body is more durable than an organic creature. In exchange, there is no natural recovery. A normal PC recovers 1 Wound from a day's rest, but an autonomous automaton does not. Only an artisan's repair can recover Wounds.

Mei: Explain repair rules.

Kuro: Artisan repair:

[Repair — Artisan Only]
- Check: 2d10 + Wisdom + Karakuri Fieldworks(+2) >= Target Number.
- Target numbers: minor damage 10, serious damage 13, wrecked 16.
- Cost: artisan spends 2 Energy → autonomous automaton recovers 1 Wound.
- Limit: noncombat only. Consumes 1 part. Normal healing(esoteric monk/Pure Land Monk) has no effect.

Mei: What is Ichi's current state?

Kuro: Wounds 6 → 2. Almost wrecked. Drive stopped. Repair order is diagnosis → part procurement → repair check → additional repair.

[Repair Order]
1. Diagnosis: 2d10 + Wisdom(+2) >= 10.
2. Part procurement: negotiation or purchase.
3. Repair: 2d10 + Wisdom(+2) + Fieldworks(+2) >= 13(serious damage).
4. Additional repair: Wounds recovery. Each 1 time: Energy 2 → Wounds +1.

Mei: Step 1, diagnosis. 2d10 + 2 >= 10. 2d10... 5, 8 = 13. +2 = 15. Success.

Kuro: Diagnosis succeeds. 1 gear broken, mainspring unwound, left arm lost. Cannot restart without a replacement part. Step 2 is Koharu's negotiation.

[Fiction-Only] The resistance values below are for staging this scene. Official noncombat Target Numbers follow Canon(co-03-09-non-combat.md): favorable 7 / neutral 11 / wary 14 / hostile 17+.

[Negotiation Check]
- Check: 2d10 + Presence + Negotiation(+1) >= resistance value.
- Resistance value: favorable 10 / neutral 11 / wary 13 / hostile 16.
- Genzo: wary(13). Autonomous automaton parts are rare trade goods.
- Golden Leverage: 1~3 gold coins = +1, 4~6 gold coins = +2, 7 gold coins+ = +3.

Kuro: Koharu's strategy. Presence +2, Negotiation +1 = base +3. 9 gold coins(7+) = Golden Leverage +3. Providing the diagram = GM discretion +1. Total 2d10 + 7 >= 13. Need total 6 or higher.

Mei: Nearly automatic success.

Kuro: Merchant negotiation is about preparation, not dice luck. Check 2d10... 9, 4 = 13. +7 = 20. Great success.

[Negotiation Result]
- Gear acquired. Market price 15 gold coins → 9 gold coins + diagram.
- Genzo favorability: wary → neutral. Next trade resistance value 11.
- Sakai Guild connection secured.

Kuro: Step 3. Repair check.

Mei: 2d10 + Wisdom(+2) + Fieldworks(+2) >= 13. 2d10... 7, 6 = 13. +4 = 17. Success!

Kuro: Drive restarts. Ichi begins to move. Current Wounds 2/6. Since you only secured 1 part, this scenario goes only this far. When Ichi appears again in Episode 9, additional repair will have recovered him to Wounds 4.

Hana: Summarize Mechanical Body immunities.

Kuro:

[Mechanical Body — Immunities/Limits]
Immunity: poison, disease, fear, bleeding, curse. Organic-target techniques(healing/enhancement sorcery) have no effect.
Limits: no natural recovery. Cannot equip armor(natural Defense fixed at 14). Repair-only recovery.

Hana: Healing not working hurts the most.

Kuro: The autonomous automaton + artisan combination is almost mandatory. Let's compare character sheets.

[PC vs Autonomous Automaton]
       Normal PC    Autonomous Automaton(Ichi)
Base Wounds  3 + Physique  4 + Physique
Defense    gear-dependent natural Defense 14
Recovery   natural recovery possible repair only
Immunity   none      poison/disease/fear/bleeding/curse
Healing    possible    impossible (artisan repair only)
Emotion    present     "pseudo-emotion" (RP-based)

Mei: What is "pseudo-emotion"?

Kuro: It is the autonomous automaton's emotion rule. It is closer to an RP guideline than a system. An autonomous automaton can "act as if it feels emotion." If the player declares it, that is pseudo-emotion. No mechanical bonus or penalty. But it can be included in Three Ways and Six Hearts shift triggers.

Hana: Then Ichi asking "Am I alive" is?

Kuro: A pseudo-emotion Hana declared as Ichi's RP. It has no system effect. Narratively, it is the heart of Episode 5.

Hana: Is Ichi alive?

Kuro: That is not a question the GM answers. It is something the player explores through RP. The system only defines Ichi as having "Mechanical Body." The rest is the table's story.

Mei: ...There are questions the dice do not answer.

Kuro: That is the strength of a noncombat episode. Rule summary.

[Episode 5 Confirmed Rules]
1. Unit grade — autonomous automaton: Wounds 4+Physique. Normal PCs are 3+Physique.
2. Mechanical Body: immune to poison/disease/fear/bleeding/curse. Organic techniques have no effect.
3. No natural recovery: no noncombat natural healing. Repair only.
4. Natural Defense 14: cannot use armor. Defense fixed.
5. Repair(artisan): Energy 2 → Wounds 1. Noncombat only. Consumes parts.
6. Repair Target Numbers: minor damage 10 / serious damage 13 / wrecked 16.
7. Karakuri Fieldworks: artisan-specific. Repair +2.
8. Negotiation: 2d10 + Presence + Negotiation >= resistance value (scene staging values: favorable 10/neutral 11/wary 13/hostile 16). [Fiction-Only — official values are 03-09-non-combat: favorable 7/neutral 11/wary 14/hostile 17+]
9. Golden Leverage: gold-coin bonus. 1~3 = +1, 4~6 = +2, 7+ = +3.
10. Pseudo-emotion: autonomous automaton RP guide. No system effect. Three Ways and Six Hearts trigger possible.

Hana: When does Ichi appear next?

Kuro: Episode 9. He joins Ayame the puppeteer and Kage the shinobi. The core is the interaction between Ichi's Mechanical Body and puppeteer control.

Mei: What about Tetsu?

Kuro: Episode 14. Domain management and trade. Artisan facility construction appears there.

Hana: Koharu?

Kuro: The very next Episode 6. Weight of Gold. A full noncombat negotiation scenario.

Mei: Ichi's memory -- who said "Run"?

Kuro: Scenario secret. A clue appears in Episode 9. That's it for today.

"Where the mainspring had stopped, it began turning again. A being whose heart is gears asks -- am I alive. The answer was not on the dice."