Maurice looks over Evan's shoulder as he tinkers with the bit of technology they "rescued" from the Roamers.
"I don't think you should--"
The underside of the island is fairly empty, though here and there there are windows, trash chutes, and the like. There's a lot of bulky rock down here at the very bottom, unlike the frail-looking stuff higher up.
They end up finding an abandoned, closed-off section with a collapsed passageway up and a couple of old buildings. The whole place seems pretty low-tech, aside from how it's floating.
He's back in closer to two hours than one. He seems more stressed and subdued than before, and is holding one arm a bit delicately.
He drags out two bags behind him after scrambling out of his passage. One contains two sets of loose shirt-and-pants plus plastic water bottles and a loaf of bread and a few apples. He opens this one and presents it to them. The other contains various things that make metallic noises as they're moved, probably his clockwork and gadgets.
"Hi again. Stuff's here."
"Nah, just lots of rumors and guards looking for colorful flying kids with 'dangerous technological artifacts'." He pulls out airquotes for the last three words. "You should be good to sneak around if you're any good at it. Maybe stick close to me in case you misunderstand something, though."
"Yes, clearly I am the best and you should totally copy everything I do."
There's definitely a particular way people walk here, something about their balance?
"So I was thinking we look through junk stores. They're pretty cheap and I know a few that like me. We'll probably need more money later, I have to think about how to get it."