Leave the whole world blind

Ade gave a curt nod and a gruff, "Hmph," that was supposed to be more of a "Mhm." She hadn't meant to be rude, but she was busy pulling out her phone to send a text message.

"I'm texting my family. Don't worry, I'm not giving any details. Only giving them a heads up that I have a project I want to work on with them... Would... Would you like to speak to them too? I guess that would be pretty important. Figuring out who can do the rest of the job. We could meet up at... my house? Somewhere else?" Ade honestly wasn't sure what the proper process for this was. She wasn't used to having sketchy, anonymous clients. This was business that Béa or Henghai would better navigate.

Giving her email to Gambol sounded like a... gamble. Ade had to restrain her laughter. Now wasn't the time. Back to the point, Ade didn't feel like she was in any danger, just out of the loop in a way she didn't like. Was that a gut feeling telling her this was a dangerous job, or her natural curiosity unsatisfied with not being given information?

Once again, Gambol showed off how much more information she had on Ade than Ade had on her. It was embarrassing, to put it bluntly. She matched Gambol's reassuring smile with one of her own before typing out her email on a notepad for the girl to read. Without a paper or pen, this was better than saying her email out loud, then spelling it out letter by letter.

"I'm certain everyone involved will benefit from this. I hope I can live up to your expectations. It'll take me a while to gather the necessary supplies and train myself for something of this level. This isn't a project I want to fuck up on."

Loose lips sink ships.

What a pleasant farewell to leave off with. The summoning caught Ade off guard and made her pity the girl, but she was happy that awkward goodbyes were not needed when they decided to part ways.

• • •
Ade had been stressing nonstop about this day. She worked with both Béatrice and Henghai to develop an eye that fulfilled all of Gambol's requirements would be compatible with her body. During the time of development, Gambol had to be contacted occasionally to answer questions. Mainly if there was anything to be on the lookout for. Materials she would be allergic to, physiological needs, etcetera. Her answers confirmed that nothing particularly crazy was needed. Other than the acceptance of this eye being made. In which case, there was enough crazy between Béatrice and Henghai to overshadow Ade's discomfort.
The three oricenta worked on a numbed, but not asleep, Gambol in a warehouse mysteriously already filled with medical equipment. The oricenta still brought their own out of comfort, but they appreciated the place being fitted to their work.

Béatrice was rather amused by Gambol not wanting to be put to sleep. It made the whole thing more exciting. Henghai, on the other hand, was annoyed. He worried that she should move around and struggle if she didn't like the pressure the surgery entailed. Worse of all, if she didn't like how the experts were doing things, he didn't want her being a nuisance by backseat driving the surgery. Ade didn't care about whether Caissa was asleep or awake, as long as she could get her work done. She was completely submerged in workaholic mode.

After several long hours, the enchanted eye was connected to Caissa's brain. The three oricenta took a step back to admire their work and wait for Caissa to adjust to her new ability. Each one wore an expectant look, wanting to be told that they did good work.

Both Ade and Henghai were thankful that Caissa held her breath. Clearly, she was knowledgeable enough about how this would go that she knew to keep still by not breathing at all.

When the procedure was finished and Caissa smiled, all the oricenta's faces brightened. And then she called them psychopaths. Immediately, Ade and Béatrice gave worried side glances to Henghai. His expression was all smiles and sunshine, yet it was stiff with furrowed eyebrows.

Béatrice spoke up before Henghai could give a passive-aggressive comment. "We're so happy you're satisfied with our work. You don't know how much planning and stress went into this. Right, Ade?"

Ade avoided the glances of her partners. "Ah... Yeah. I'm happy you didn't, uh, use any of your contingencies..." She couldn't bother with a smile for that part. Oh Ilada, they were in such deep shit if she recorded them being here and used that as blackmail material. They were involved with this for real now. What would Archard say? It would certainly be an "I'm not angry, just disappointed," moment. She could feel a piece of herself shatter at that possibility.

"So, uh, how's the eye? Does it feel natural?"

Ade caught that smirk and frowned hard at it, but Gambol moved things right along. Ade noted the criticism, almost wanting to take the eye back so she could fix it. She could do better than that. She knew it. Figure out some way to make the metal tolerable to a human's body.

But Gambol was pleased enough to pay, so she let Béatrice handle the transaction. Sounded like things were going to be paid slowly over weeks. In the meantime, Ade and Henghai began washing their equipment.

"We'll stay here to clean things up. If there's nothing else you need from us, you can leave whenever." Once again, Ade spoke harsher than she had intended, so she tried to play it off cooly. Like she was fed up with this project and wanted it done and over with.