When Mechanikles woke up the next morning, it felt like he hadn't had any sleep at all. It took him a few seconds before he realised what exactly had woken him up. Someone was marching through his workshop, shouting things that made no sense to him. He got dressed quickly and ran to see what was going on.
What he found was a very unhappy-looking Aspasia, accompanied by Simonides and Pamphilos.
"What is going on?" he asked and looked at the trio in amazement.
"Finally you woke up! Where are your slaves? All I wanted was a little help with breakfast, but nobody would come no matter how loud I called them!" Aspasia complained.
Mechanikles blinked. "That's because I don't have any slaves," he explained.
The others could only stare in shock. "No wonder you're deranged," Simonides muttered.
"But who does all your housework? Mechanikles, you need to buy a slave or two. They could keep everything in order while you play with your machines," Aspasia said. Her tone reminded Mechanikles of his pampering mother.
"Do you have any idea how unreliable they are? They miss spots! They don't swipe the corners! They leave wrinkles in your clothes! No, I've realised that if you want something done well, you have to do it yourself," he said. Then he sniffed in disdain. "Besides, the closest kingdom is Agrabah, and they have all these ridiculous, modern anti-slavery laws. I'd have a certain poofy-haired savage breathing at my neck at once."
"You do your own housework?" Aspasia looked ready to die right there. "You do know what they say about people like that, don't you?"
Mechanikles couldn't believe they were having that argument. "I just don't have slaves! I can do it all on my own and it's not like this is a very big household to take care of!" he snapped.
"But that's like saying you don't wear clothes. Slaves are a basic necessity. Everyone has at least one," Aspasia tried to insist.
"Not here. Only the rich can afford them and even they can't do that in all of the kingdoms," Mechanikles said.
"Then where do we get food?" Pamphilos asked.
"Well, boy, I'm not entirely unprepared. Do you think I live off sand?" Mechanikles couldn't quite keep the annoyance out of his voice. Having people walk into his home was one thing, but having them also judge his lifestyle was more than enough to ruin his morning.
He wasn't feeling hungry, but he led his family to the small storage room where he kept everything unimportant. That is to say, everything that wasn't mechanical. He really hoped his financial situation could take three more mouths to feed, of which at least one looked like it would never get full.
"That's it?" Simonides asked when they got there.
"What did you expect? A prepared meal ready for you to devour?" Mechanikles asked angrily.
"Something other than dried fruit and meat that looks so salty it just might be hazardous to eat!" Simonides snapped back.
"I have to stock food that doesn't rot! I don't leave my workshop too often and definitely not to do some petty shopping!"
"Well, that's not a surprise!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mechanikles had entirely forgotten the presence of anyone but Simonides. How he loathed that man! The idea of letting Scooter slice the soldier into tiny pieces had never felt more appealing. The only thing that stopped him was that, if widowed, his sister might want to move in with him.
"Oh, so our unsocial, egoistical maniac is not as clever as he claims to be!"
"Why, I'll --"
"Will you two stop that? You're being idiots!"
The pair of them actually shut up when Aspasia's shrill voice pierced their skulls. They turned to her and Mechanikles noticed the angry flush on her face. She grimaced then, probably thinking she had offended either or both of them.
"Finally," she said. "Maybe we could send Pamphilos to the nearest town to buy something?"
"Not a bad idea," Simonides agreed.
Mechanikles crossed his arms on his chest. "The nearest city is Agrabah and it's quite a trip. You wouldn't make it on foot today," he said.
"Well, then he's going to have to borrow one of your pretty inventions and ride it there, right?" Aspasia suggested. Both Mechanikles and Pamphilos looked nauseated by the thought.
"I don't know how to do that!" the young man objected.
"I can't let a mere boy touch my babies!" Mechanikles said at the same time.
Simonides rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be stupid. He's Metrophanes' son. He was born for these things!" he remarked.
"Um, maybe you should be the one to --" Pamphilos tried to suggest, but his aunt got the better of him.
"Indeed! This is the perfect opportunity for him to learn more about mechanics! And he can see the city! Young people should be adventuring," she said enthusiastically.
And so it was decided, even though neither Mechanikles nor Pamphilos was very happy about the idea. The former decided to avoid any further arguments -- he had a lot of work to do, after all -- and let the young man take one of the old bugs he no longer used. The latter, on the other hand, looked like he didn't want to object to both his aunt and uncle.
"I will be back soon," he promised as he climbed on the beetle and grabbed its sides nervously. It flew away. When the duo could no longer be seen, Aspasia turned to Mechanikles in worry.
"Is that thing really safe? I know I wanted him to go, but I didn't know he would have to fly. If he ends up like Metrophanes..." she said.
"Don't you trust me? My machines are perfect! There is nothing to worry about," the inventor said.
Pamphilos swallowed and tried not to look down. He hated heights. His knuckles were white from clutching the beetle's sides and he had made himself a dozen promises about what he'd do if he made it back home alive.
Controlling the bug wasn't as difficult as he had expected. Once Mechanikles had shown him the controls, he had already known what to do. His aunt had been thrilled and congratulated him for being just as good as his father. The thought made Pamphilos frown grimly.
After a few hours, he could spot Agrabah in the distance. The city looked magnificent. The beautiful palace that was looming over the city was just like in the stories he had heard. For a moment the young man was able to forget that he was currently in the air and in the mercy of his uncle's machinery.
Mechanikles had told him not to tell anyone that he knew him, so he landed half a mile away from the city and hid the bug there. The order seemed a little strange to him, but he guessed his uncle had his reasons for wanting to remain relatively unknown.
Once he got to the city, it was easy to forget why he had been sent there in the first place. The buzz of the marketplace was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Dozens of smells unfamiliar to him filled his nose and the way people spoke was charming. He didn't want to keep walking as it seemed to him that he might miss some exotic sight if he didn't stop to look around at every corner.
After some time he became aware of the way people were looking at him. They weren't being unfriendly, but Pamphilos felt very self-conscious all of sudden. He knew he looked a little different from the locals and his clothes betrayed his foreign status. Nobody said anything, though, and he guessed that as long as he stayed out of trouble, he would be fine.
Perhaps it was because of his shyness or something else, but eventually he found himself in a quieter street. There were still people; veiled women and men wearing turbans, but now he no longer had to worry about bumping into someone. Pamphilos breathed a little more freely and looked around.
In front of him there was a high archway. The design was a little different from the others he had seen in the city and he looked at in curiosity. It was shaped like a circle that grew thinner towards the top. The building next to it was newer and higher than the archway. Almost not noticing it, Pamphilos started calculating what changes would have to be done to the archway -- and how much stone you needed -- so that it would match the new building.
When he got that problem solved after about ten minutes, he noticed that the streets were uneven and that there were many back alleys leading nowhere. Fascinated by this realization, he started examining the streets and making calculations and plans about a new structure for them.
Aladdin was having a good and quiet moment. It was just him and Abu, just like it had once been. While he loved Jasmine and his other friends, he sometimes felt the need to spend time alone with his oldest friend. They would walk in the streets where they had once lived and recall some of their best times together.
Abu chattered happily when they got closer to a fruit stand and Aladdin bought his friend an apple before the monkey managed to steal anything. As much as he liked remembering some of their mischief, he didn't want to explain Abu's tricks to anyone at the moment. He had to do that on a regular basis when they visited the marketplace in any case.
"Hey, look at that," he said once they passed an old, deserted house. "Remember when we hid from the guards in there?"
Abu nodded in agreement and took a bite of his apple. He was hanging onto Aladdin's neck with his free arm and looking around in interest. There was a young man standing a good ten feet away and looking at the buildings, but the monkey didn't spare him a second glance. Uninteresting.
Sometimes Aladdin still found himself surprised at how lucky he had been in life. He was in love with the most beautiful woman in the world, he had the best friends a man could wish for and he had literally risen from dirt to riches. Especially now that he and Abu were alone in the streets he found it hard to believe that a mere steetrat could have achieved and done so much.
This rare moment of ponder ended abruptly when he heard a scared howl. He turned around and saw a frightened horse coming right at him. He threw himself against the wall to avoid being stomped on. Only then did he realise that the young man they had seen earlier hadn't moved at all.
He must be frozen with fear, Aladdin realised. Knowing he was risking his own life, he threw himself at the man and pushed him out of the way. Abu let out a loud chatter as the three of them fell to the ground. Aladdin could feel the horse's hooves brush through his hair.
Shaking just a little, he stood up and watched how two men rushed past them after the terrified animal. He brushed sand off his chest and, after making sure Abu was alright, turned his eyes on the stranger.
The young man was still sitting on the ground with a bewildered expression on his face. He looked from Aladdin to the way the horse had run and eventually got a hold of himself and was able to stand up.
"Are you alright?" Aladdin asked when the man still didn't say anything.
"I guess so. Thanks," the stranger said. His voice shook a little.
"Didn't you see the horse?" Aladdin asked.
"What? Oh, no. I was looking at these buildings," the man said and pointed at the houses next to them.
Aladdin lifted a curious brow. He didn't see anything special about the place. It was just like every street in Agrabah. He took another glance at the stranger. He seemed to be about the same age as him, though his build was lankier and his features more angular.
"Why?" he asked.
The other man looked immensely pleased about being asked that. An enthusiastic smile spread on his face and he pointed at the nearest alley. "I was thinking how much more convenient it would be for everybody if those houses were taken apart and built again so that this alley no longer existed. It would provide more room for a better road over there, and that would mean that carriages and camels could enter the marketplace through here instead of having to cross from over there. Also, if everything was re-built so that all the roads are of equal width and in perfect order with each other, the time spent on going from point A to point B would be half from what it's now," he explained. He was speaking so fast that Aladdin had a hard time catching every word.
"Wouldn't that be a little boring?" he had to ask. Personally, he loved the back alleys of Agrabah. They had provided him with a home all those years ago and he didn't want to think where he might have ended up without a place to hide.
The stranger looked startled. "Boring? Not at all! I love order!" he said. "Oh! I'm sorry. How rude of me. My name is Pamphilos. Thank you again for saving my life."
Aladdin had to chuckle at that. "Don't mention it. I'm Aladdin," he said. "You aren't from over here, are you?" Looking at the man's clothes gave him a hint about from what corner of the world Pamphilos was from. Not to mention his name.
"No, I'm from Athens," Pamphilos replied.
"I guessed that much," Aladdin said. That was when Abu grew tired of being ignored and announced his presence by greeting Pamphilos with a lift of his fez.
"Oh, you have a monkey," Pamphilos said. Aladdin thought he could hear some slight uneasiness in the man's voice. No matter how many times it happened, he couldn't help feeling irritated at how some people reacted to his friend.
"Yes, his name is Abu. He doesn't have fleas," he said.
Pamphilos blushed just a little. "I hope I didn't offend. I'm not very used to animals," he said.
"Don't worry. You need to do more to offend Abu," Aladdin said. His friend chattered happily from his shoulder, but didn't try to reach out to the young Athenian. He could sense the gesture wouldn't have been very well received.
"So, what are you doing in Agrabah?" Aladdin asked. It wasn't every day that someone as far away as Pamphilos came to the city. There was of course that one annoying person showing up every now and then, but he didn't like to count Mechanikles in.
"I'm here with my aunt and uncle. We have heard many stories about this area, so we decided to come and see it ourselves," Pamphilos said.
"If you want adventure, you couldn't have picked a better place," Aladdin chuckled. "Trouble has the habit of brewing here almost every day."
Pamphilos didn't look too happy to know that. "I hope nothing happens while I'm around," he admitted.
Aladdin looked at the Athenian in slight amusement. Their personalities couldn't have been much more different, but already he found himself liking the man. Pamphilos had the air of naive honesty around him and it was refreshing to meet someone not tainted by the ugly truths of life.
"How long are you staying in town? I'd like you to meet some of my friends," he said.
That seemed to make the other man recall something and a worried expression spread on his face. "Oh, no! I completely forgot! I was supposed to pick up something to eat!" He slapped his palm to his forehead and cursed to himself. "I'm sorry, I must go. If you want me to, I could come back later. Maybe tomorrow?" he suggested.
"That sounds great. How about we meet at this same spot? I'll bring my friends along. We can show you the palace," Aladdin said.
"You work in the palace?" Pamphilos looked a little surprised at that and glanced at the magnificent towers that were looming over the city.
Aladdin laughed. "No, the Princess is my fiancée," he said.
"You're joking, right?"
"No. You'll see tomorrow."
"Sure. I'm sorry I must go now." Pamphilos rolled his eyes, clearly not believing Aladdin's words. He waved at him as he disappeared behind the corner and returned to the marketplace.
"He seemed like a nice guy, even if a little weird," Aladdin said to Abu. The monkey chattered his agreement. Together they decided to return to the palace to see what the others were doing.
"Where is that boy?" Simonides asked impatiently. "He should have been back a long time ago!"
Aspasia had to admit that she was starting to get impatient as well, though for a different reason. Despite what Mechanikles had said, she didn't feel at ease when thinking about Pamphilos flying. She felt like killing herself for ever letting the young man go.
"I shouldn't have asked him to go to Agrabah," she said sadly. Both her husband and brother glanced at her in annoyance.
"I told you he's going to be fine! Even if he falls and dies, it's not going to be because of my inventions," Mechanikles said.
"But what if something went wrong? You should have made sure he knows the controls properly!" Aspasia snapped.
Mechanikles groaned to himself. Aspasia felt like slapping him. Didn't he realise how worried she was? If something happened to Pamphilos, she would never forgive herself. The young man was all that was left of Metrophanes and she wasn't about to let him suffer his father's fate.
"Maybe we should go and look for him?" she suggested.
"Really, Aspasia, he will be fine. He's not a child anymore and you're not his mother," Simonides pointed out.
"So, now you're against me too?" Aspasia asked. "I wonder what you'd say if it was Hesiod out there."
"I still wouldn't be worried. I wouldn't let my son anywhere if I wasn't sure he could make it," Simonides replied.
"Stop! I'm sick of listening to you argue like a married couple!" Mechanikles snapped.
"But we are a --" Aspasia started, but was interrupted by her brother. He stood up and marched away from the two of them.
"Whatever, just shut up!"
Aspasia sighed. "Did you know that he's working on a killer machine?" she asked then. It was hard for her to accept that her brother, whom she loved, was building something that could take someone's life.
"Really? What is it like?" Simonides asked, turning to her in interest.
Ugh, so like men to be drawn to those things, Aspasia thought in disgust.
"Well, it shoots a sword from its mouth. Apart from that, I don't know. Nor do I want to. Why don't you ask him?" she said. To her surprise Simonides looked thought about the suggestion. "Will you?"
"I'm not sure. It would be interesting, I have to admit," her husband said.
"So, you're interested in his killer bugs, but don't give a damn about him?" Aspasia asked. She watched how Simonides shrugged and she felt annoyed despite herself. There were times when men acted like insensitive pigs.
"What did you mean when you said we should take him back to Athens?" she asked then, remembering the conversation they had had the previous day.
Simonides shrugged again. "Nothing. It was just a thought," he replied.
Aspasia frowned in suspicion. She knew her husband well enough to know that he never said anything he didn't mean. The previous day she had been too happy to pay attention to a seemingly innocent remark, but now she found herself pondering it.
Simonides had said that if different people were in power, Mechanikles might be able to come back. In theory it was possible, but Aspasia didn't hold high hopes. The same families had ruled Athens for long and there was no sign of anyone coming to take their place. Not that she would know about it in any case. Politics were entirely for men and women had no opportunity to get involved.
Still, she promised herself that once she got back home, she'd start paying more attention to what went on. If lucky, she might see or hear something useful.
"I'm back," came a sudden voice and brought her back from her thoughts. A relieved smile spread on her face as she realised that her nephew had returned.
"Pamphilos! I was already getting worried," she admitted as she rushed to greet him.
"You shouldn't have. I had great time. I even met this very friendly man. He invited me to meet his friends tomorrow," Pamphilos said happily. He quickly put down the food he had brought.
Aspasia was beaming and she knew it. Pamphilos was such a loner that sometimes she wondered if he'd ever get involved in any social circles. This was at least a start. "Really? What was his name?" she asked.
"Aladdin. He invited me to the palace and--"
"What?!"
Aspasia, Pamphilos and Simonides all jumped at the outraged shriek coming from the other end of the room. Mechanikles marched over to them and pointed a very accusing finger at Pamphilos. "You met Aladdin?" He was red with fury and from the way his face was twisting in anger made Aspasia fear he might have a stroke right there.
"Uh..." was all Pamphilos could say before his uncle continued.
"You must never ever go back to him! He's an archenemy of this family! I absolutely forbid you from having anything to do with him, unless it's to advance his demise. No, I take that back. He's mine! Only I can have my revenge on him! Me, me!" Mechanikles ranted. He was waving his hands like a windmill in the middle of a storm. Pamphilos kept backing steadily, followed by his uncle, until he met a wall and could no longer escape.
"Is that clear?" Mechanikles finally asked. The frightened young man could do nothing but nod feverishly. "Good. And if I hear that you've gone back to him, I won't let you live through it!" With that the deranged inventor took off back to where he had been working on the earwig.
For a moment there was only silence after his departure.
"Are you now finally ready to admit that your brother has a mental problem?" Simonides asked.
"He didn't mean that, did he?" Pamphilos asked. "He wouldn't really kill me, right?"
"Of course not!" Aspasia huffed. She glared angrily at the direction where her brother had gone. To shock Pamphilos like that. The nerve! She turned back to her nephew and smiled at him. "Don't mind him. He's just jealous. I bet he has been trying to impress that Aladdin and get an invitation to the palace all this time has been here. His ego simply can't take it that you made it first."
"You think so?" Pamphilos asked.
"I'm sure of it. Don't listen to what your uncle says. Go ahead and meet Aladdin tomorrow," Aspasia said firmly.
"Go for it. Why should you let one insane lunatic push you around?" was Simonides' comment.
Pamphilos seemed pleased to hear that. Then his face fell when he remembered something. "But I can't. The only way I can get to Agrabah is to borrow Mechanikles' bugs. I'm sure he won't let me and I don't even want to ask," he said.
"Hmm." Aspasia bit her lip. She made a quick decision. "He doesn't have to know," she said.
"What? Wouldn't that be... stealing?" Pamphilos asked. He was running his fingers through his hair and glancing uncomfortably around.
"No, not really. You're Metrophanes' son, so technically some of these could be yours. Besides, how will you ever become an inventor as good as him if you don't take a look at someone else's work?" Aspasia said enthusiastically. She didn't even notice the pained expression on Pamphilos' face.
"Right..." the young man said.
Mechanikles was fuming. No, that wasn't right. He was about to die of fury. His fingers were twitching and he kept glaring daggers at his own inventions. The desire to kick a beetle or two around had never been stronger and only the mess that would follow stopped him from doing it.
It was unbelievable! One of his own had dared to make friends with Aladdin! "That stupid boy!" he raged to himself, though he didn't know whether he was talking about Aladdin or Pamphilos. Both, probably.
The mere idea of a family member being in good terms with Aladdin was driving him insane. How did Pamphilos dare to mingle with that streetrat? Sure, he hadn't known his uncle would not like it, but the boy should have had common sense. One was never supposed to talk to people who obviously didn't bathe every day.
And that Aladdin! Oh, why did he have to stick his nose into everything? "Couldn't he just mind his own business for one minute?" He leaned against his desk, face twisted with annoyance, and tapped on the floor.
A thought crossed his mind. Perhaps he could use the boy's sudden friendship with his enemy to his advantage? The idea sounded appealing and the expression on Aladdin's face almost managed to make him feel better. However, he soon dismissed the plot. He doubted Aladdin and Pamphilos were friends good enough for there to be any real joy to be gained from the betrayal. Also, he already had a plot going on and he wasn't about to abandon it.
He sighed to himself. The life of a genius was so hard. He turned his eyes to the earwig. Despite the most unfortunate interruption of his family, he had got a nice deal of work done. Almost half of the bug's body was covered in shiny metal plates. It gave the invention a slick look, and while it restricted the weapons a little, it made it almost impossible for someone to get a hold of it.
"I had better get back to work," he said to himself. He went over to the bug and gave it a smile and a loving pat. Soon his beauty would be finished and ready to take care of the meddlesome hero once and for all. While the thought of Aladdin's filthy blood on his machines gave him a few shudders, the enjoyment he would get made it all worth it.
That would also end all unwanted friendships his family might want to develop with the streetrat. A pleased smile spread on his face as he started working.
Simonides was lying awake that night. Aspasia was snoring lightly by his side. He would have liked to turn over and look at her, but he was afraid of the movement waking her up. He didn't want to talk to her at the moment.
He could hear his brother-in-law was still at work, even though it was well past midnight. Last time he had seen the lanky freak he had been muttering something about wanting to set his plan to motion the next day. Whatever that meant, Simonides was sure everyone involved would be in trouble.
When nobody had been paying attention to him, he had stolen a closer look at some of Mechanikles' machines. Even though Simonides was not an inventor and knew near to nothing about technology, he could see that they were very powerful killing machines. In the right hands they would cause more destruction than a small army.
Apparently his brother-in-law didn't have those hands. If he had, surely the Seven Deserts area would have been under his reign by now. Simonides didn't know if Mechanikles lacked the will to conquer anything or whether there was another reason behind his lack of success. He suspected the latter option though, merely because why would anyone spend all their time building weapons if they had no plans of using them?
That was what intrigued him. With Mechanikles on his side, someone could become a great man and defeat all his enemies. Simonides himself was not interested for he wasn't a very ambitious man, but he knew there were others.
He decided to tempt fate and took one glance at Aspasia. She was asleep, her mouth hanging slightly open and her hair a mess. Yes, he had all he needed. A rare smile crossed his lips.
However, not everyone was satisfied with so little. He could remember the words that old Nikias had said him before the trip. "See what my son has been up to. See if taking him back would help our cause." He had accepted the mission gladly. Nikias was a powerful man in the council and his father-in-law to boot.
The question was, what was he supposed to tell the old man once they got back? The truth was that if they brought Mechanikles back with them and convinced -- or forced -- him into building a mechanical army, Athens would be the most powerful city in the world.
Aspasia wouldn't like that, though, and that was what was causing the problem. Simonides didn't care about the fate of his brother-in-law, but he didn't want to see Aspasia suffer again. He had seen quite enough of that when Metrophanes had died and Mechanikles had been exiled.
The soldier had to suppress a sigh. It would have been so much easier if someone had been there to make the decision for him.
To be continued…