Off-Brand (Open)

It wasn’t a job to take for Rin. Today it was to take a tour in one of these Sectors including the slums. Anything worthy of note Rin would report it and try to bring back evidence. Or at least that’s what Rin planned on doing. Unfortunately walking around in a sleeveless purple shirt with a purple slightly baggy pants. Carrying a broadsword at his hip and the mako in his eyes often deter suspicious behavior. His boots lightly crunch on the hard packed earth as his hazel eyes shift from one side of the street to the other side.

It wasn’t terribly busy, but the streets were so cluttered with scrap and makeshift buildings that Rin had to maneuver around the people. Eventually Rin catches the sight of a neon sign that has a few letters not working, but he pieced it together all the same. “Off brand materia? Sounds like a scam to me, but I should check it out just in case.” Rin muttered to himself. It wasn’t so much as citizens weren’t allowed to sell materia. However with very few leads to Avalanche or their vigilantes. Rin figured taking a slight detour to check something odd out might yield some merit.

Weaving through the small crowd, Rin walks into this establishment as he takes a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the change of lighting. It was definitely a shop, but with all of the mechanical parts spread throughout the store reminds Rin of an engineer. Tinkering existing technology and modifying it to work better or produce better results with lower efficiency. The youth remembered seeing some people like that back in Sector 8 slums. Alas he wasn’t alone in this store as there was a pink haired individual at the counter. Rin presents a small smile as he nods his head acknowledging the person.

“Hello there.” Rin simply says to Halwen before turning his eyes to this collection of ‘off-brand materia’. Much like how Halwen concluded, Rin saw that this was a scam after all. He slightly shook his head, but otherwise he turned his attention to Halwen.

“Have you been waiting for a while?” Granted he has no clue who Halwen is, so Rin is just treating Halwen on a neutral level. Plus he’s curious if the owner is busy with something.

With Halwen turning towards Rin, the youth can see the mako in Halwen’s eyes. Immediately Rin thinks that Halwen is part of Shin-Ra, but if that was the case then why would a Shin-Ra operative ask for modifications at a run-down business such as this? Rin wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to press on the issue. There were many divisions within Shin-Ra with thousands of other people involved in the company. Still, when the clerk came up to the counter, Rin turned his attention to browse the weapons. Or rather, parts of weapons. Seems like the shop offers customizable weapons of various types. Likewise he was still listening into the conversation.

As he was listening, the idea of a banjo being turned into a weapon didn’t exactly sound plausible to him. Or really efficient as it sounds like it could lead to mishaps if the wielder is not careful. Playing a certain sequence in melody could work, but Rin can imagine problems will occur with that. So why not just a trigger? And even then there was the recoil and integrity of the weapon itself to maintain its functionality. Although, Rin piecing it together was bringing an image of the weapon to mind. If someone such as Rin who is a Soldier could think of it, then surely a professional craftsmen could think of it too.

A smirk played on his lips before turning his eyes over to the engineer. “That would be interesting if you could accomplish that. It would also be kind of cool if you could accomplish a banjo and gun hybrid. Even if it is from a movie, you’ll net a lot more customers I bet once they hear you can make anything. Even if it comes from a movie.” Rin spoke in favor of Halwen, but in the end the man shrugs his shoulders and looks back at what seems to be a stock for a rifle. “Or your customer will find somebody else and it’ll hurt your business.”

With the shopkeeper’s confession Rin automatically understood why the man rejected the project. Still the man could have said that and it would’ve made him less hostile to approach. Granted with Rin’s youth in living at the slums of Sector 8 not a lot of folk express companionship. Some people do, but there are a lot who are quick to be fierce especially when Shin-Ra is involved. So the teen Soldier nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“I understand, just you probably could’ve approached the interaction with that. Genuine customer service and all that. Like for example if someone came up to me with this project I’d say; I ain’t gonna lie to you champ, but I don’t have the tools nor experience for this kind of thing. But I think I know someone who can.” Rin gestures with his hands as if he’s talking to an actual customer. If anything he’s giving this craftsman tips on better customer service. At the end he shrugged his shoulders.

“Granted neither you nor myself will earn money, but we keep the image of integrity and helping our customers so that despite them not finding what they came for. They can come back later, they might bring friends, and/or they can spread the word and net a bigger range of customers.” Still the Third Class Soldier that the pink haired teen was disappointed in not getting the project approved like he wanted to. Being thanked for his attempt regardless if it failed or succeed was enough for him. A small smile curled on his lips in response to Halwen’s question.

“Oh nothing special really. I’m just waltzing in areas I’m not familiar with and exploring the areas. That includes the slums of course, but recently I’ve been trying to lend a hand or two.” Rin explains most of the truth. The only thing Rin neglected to say is that he was also exploring to find clues to Avalanche. Some might say that he’s going at it the wrong way, but bluntly asking for Avalanche will likely paint a much bigger target on Rin than necessary. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but some people would say that he is.