I never imagined Asshole could ruin workshop for me... but here I am...
The teacher, Mr. Khrenov is a nice enough guy. He's a heteromorph with shark-like teeth and skin, which gives me the impression he could bite through particleboard or be his own sandpaper. But unfortunately for me, he's a &#(@(&* fan of Asshole, and so for our safety video, he's put on something called Super Safety With Crusader!, and it's giving me a migraine just listening to Asshole's voice as he wanders around a workshop doing everything unsafe before using proper equipment.
"...and of course, keep your hands away from sharp objects! Especially if they're in motion!" In the video he plants his hand on an active tablesaw, only for it to grind itself useless on his hand. Why would a guy who famously uses no equipment make safety videos?
When the video finally, finally ends, I'm looking at the clock and realizing half the class is gone. Meanwhile I've catalogued every piece of equipment within visual range and come up with a dozen designs for small-scale hyper batteries to supplement my energy needs...
"Now, before we begin, we're going to have a little safety quiz."
I groan. The class groans. The chair I'm sitting on groans as I shift to take the sheaf of papers from him, having made the mistake of picking a workstool close to him, which meant I had to keep my eyes on the screen and pretend to watch Asshole ruin a workshop.
There are twenty-five fill-in-the-blank questions on the quiz, and all of them are in the vein of "What did Crusader say you should do if there's a grease fire?"
Easy. Cut off the source of heat. Cut off the oxygen if possible. Use litter or sand, NOT water.
I answer as much for that question before quickly finishing all of them. I'm handing my paper in when Mr. Khrenov says "Done so quickly? I suppose you must have watched all of your father's safety videos already," he laughs and beams at me.
All I could say was "Yeah. All of them. I do love me some workshop safety!" I can't bring myself to sound enthusiastic, but that's when Mr. Khrenov proves he's a bit blind to implicate sarcasm.
"If only more students were as astute," he says, and I can feel at least one or two glares on my back.
"Can I, uh, use the CNC machine now?"
He looks up at the clock. "But we've got only forty minutes left. That's hardly enough time to learn-"
"I already know how to use one. Do you have any high-carbon steel blocks around?" I'd prefer High Entropy Alloys, like a good chromium-cobalt-nickel blend, but steel would do for some prototyping.
"The mills aren't rated for metal-" his shark-lips flapped, and I swear I suspected one of his teeth was swinging free.
"That's okay, I brought my own!" I open my back and pull out a small rectangular zip-case, inside of which are some beautiful blue tungsten-steel six-fluted end mills.
"I... I suppose... But we aren't supposed to get to the CNC machine until the end of the semester!"
"I'll work with the manual tools later," I kind of sort of promise as I walk away... not really. Why would I go through all the trouble of setting up an endmill when the class would be done by the time I get everything properly leveled and prepared?
For the entire exchange, the class was staring at us, but Mel and Naomi quickly redouble their efforts to finish quickly.
By that time, I've already selected a slightly rusted 5 cubic centimeter block of 1018 steel and plopped it into the holding arms. This machine comes with an auto-leveler, so a few button pushes are all it takes to get the thing accurate to within a micrometer. After I replace the laughably dull milling bits first.
"You know how to use this?" Naomi asks as soon as she appears over my shoulder.
"Of course I do," I answer as I tap out a sequence that will turn the rusty steel cube into a polished, hollow box, complete with holes for running wires through, which I would then cut in half so I'd have two such holders. "This is child's play."
"You just wanted to show off," Mel said, her cowgirl accent thick with annoyance despite the fact that she's watching me intently.
"It's not showing off if-" I couldn't come up with something, so instead I switched tracks. "Want me to teach you?" I ask as I hit the Start button.
"As if!" Mel scoffs and stomps away, but Naomi just watches the machine as it works. After fifteen minutes, I have exactly what I wanted.
The moment I grab the air gun to clean off my work, Naomi asks, "What is that?"
"Wire holders. Though I guess they're more like grommets..." The first holds wires, the second just protects them. It occurs to me I might have made them too spacious...
"If you're really offering, I'd like to learn," Naomi says.
Ah crap. I'm already running on a full schedule... Why did I have to make that offer? It's because actually working on something turns me into a nerdy dope.
"I, ah... We should talk after class. Work out a schedule." The bell rings, punctuating my statement with perfect timing.
"We all have the same class next, we're 1-A, remember?"
Come to think of it, the location for Talent Development was listed as "Homeroom."
Against my better judgment, and amidst the mostly discontented murmurs of those who had just been in class with me, I walk with Naomi on the way back, thinking about the rocket pack I'm going to build with these little grommets holding all the wires in the middle.
It didn't hit me until I was seated at my desk that the person at the head of the room was not the one listed as the teacher for the course.
Everyone else is smiling because our teacher for Talent Development is none other than...
"Hello, students! Call me Crusader!" Asshole claps his hands together, producing a small shockwave in the room that blasts everyone's faces with wind. "Who wants to grow some Talents?"