It's probably paranoia that all these parts being as promised is worrying her. Wouldn't most people have made at least a couple of mistakes?

Well, whatever, to the secret crumbling warehouse they go, via a circuitous route. And tinkering begins and continues into the evening.

No one bothers her, attacks her, spies on her, or acts like she exists that day.

I'm getting paranoid, Walta thinks. Everything is going just fine and I think that's because there's a trap somewhere. That's... Probably a good attitude for a tinker.

But she doesn't skip out on checking her security measures.

To get used to working with titanium, she makes a little spider-crab-thing with titanium parts and records a little video in her mask and work clothes of her winding it up, setting a series of tiny levers and knobs on its back, and letting it go to walk, sidestep, pivot, and climb around an obstacle course of moldy boxes and smashed pallets stacked up against the wall. It manages to do a little dance and balance on one claw, too.

After that, it's time to head home and be boring for a while.

When she gets a chance the next day she posts the video to the PHO forum as a new thread with the caption:

Vertigo here. This cute little guy is a prototype for a bunch of new parts and techniques I'm working on. He has no combat use whatsoever, but he's a cute little 'bot isn't he? Also, he does not use any electronics! I won't be showing off the internals but I can have him do tricks if anyone thinks of one that would be cool.

And to Glam's email address:

Got the package we talked about. Nothing strange in it. I'm going to follow through on my end of the deal. Just FYI. I don't need anything.

Lots of people request all sorts of tricks. More people believe she's a cape now.

Glam sends her a message:

Good luck. Do you want my help with or company for anything?

She also gets a message from magnet_master.

She will have her 'bot do some of these tricks and post a new video in a day or two! And I'm underage, random guy, so no shipping or other creeping please and thanks.

Glam,

Not right now at any rate. Maybe something will come up but I'm good for now.

What is Magnet Master saying?

Magnet Master's message reads:

so hi how are you where did you get those parts

Glam also replies:

Okay. I'll be here if you do think of anything.

She tells Magnet Master,

Got the parts with a slightly shady deal. Another parahuman sold lots and lots of them to me and I promised to make him a pair of running legs like mine from earlier. He's not a known villain, but he might become one - I figured if I give him something relatively harmless and I can do a lot more now, it balances out?

Titanium is a goddamn miracle in metallic form. Now if only I had some cobalt or molybdenum.

seriously? and he actually followed through? no strings attached?

Yes. Checked it all for trackers and sabotage too. The string is that I'm actually making the thing he wanted I guess.

which was just the legs, right? nothing more? no weapons, shields, anything like that...

Yeah just a pair of legs. I mean you can use them as clubs but he doesn't want a death ray or a shield generator or whatever.

wow. okay. you gonna do more stuff for him?

Probably not. I got a good haul of parts out of him.

and when you run out?

Recycling. Scavenging. Maybe donations if I'm famous enough by then.

Maybe the Wards but I still don't know what they'd do to/with me for the lightning bomb thing.

right, so, a thing here... this is a secret alright, but you know Chevalier?

Sword hero, does things to materials?

right, yeah, he combines weapons.

so anyway before he became a Ward he killed some people. people who killed his family, sure, but still, he went after them and killed them.

And now he's a big hero. And I didn't even kill anyone, it was just injuries and damage from the accident.

...

Thanks for letting me know. I can't decide right now, and I'm kind of panic about the idea, but it's good to know.

yeah

take care of yourself, and be careful

also it'd be kinda cool to have another tinker on the team, you know. other than armsmaster, i mean, he's kind of a jerk. don't tell him i said that though.

... well like I said. Thinking about joining up = small panic attack. so.

Good luck to you too.

thanks

...Sigh.

Vertigo needs to rescue someone or fight some villain to feel better, about now. Too bad she doesn't have any of her gear. Whatever. Back to school-tense home life-tinkering. She still have to finish fire guy's 'legs.

A couple of days later she gets a message from Magnet Master on the PHO Forums with a video of a pretty awesome-looking magnet-based tinker gun. In the video it shoots two pieces of rope at a mannequin and then a bunch of magnets embedded in the ropes are turned on-and-off automatically and periodically in such a way as to completely trap it.

my new toy!! it has lots of nifty settings too :D

!!! So cool my nets have to use momentum and being sticky