Agate blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and went to freshen up. He’d stayed up a bit later than he anticipated, but had still managed to sneak a couple hours of sleep in after he’d finished everythimg.
He rinsed off, humming quietly to himself, and then cleaned his teeth. He shined his solar blades, as well as his mechanojets, and iron gorget. It would be good to present a clean, and respectful appearance to the judges. He also tucked away replacement LEDs, nut and bolts, extra wiring, and other odds and ends he might need to do emergency fixes on the mechanical tree in his satchel.
Once he finished cleaning up, and gathering the small things he would need at the Faire, he began gathering the items he’d need to decorate his display table. He’d fashioned a redwood backing for the tree, that curled around it on both sides, as well as arced over. This would limit some of the surrounding light and let the LEDS glimmer proudly. Onto the backing he’d burned a forest scene. Trees of various types filled the back and midground, while grass, long and short, several bushes, and a few scattered flowers were carefully etched into the foreground. If one looked closely, they could even see a few birds up in the trees, as well as a few deer poking their heads around some of the tree trunks.
Agate collected this, as well as his invention, along with his decoration and display materials, placing everything in a box to better carry it, and then he headed for the display tables. He hadn’t sought his table out yet, but after a few minutes of searching, and talking to those at the information desk, he had a pamphlet detailing more about the judging and directions to his table, number L143.
The table was towards the back of the large room, and a few rows over from one of the exterior walls. It wasn’t a bad location. He wasn’t right next to any of the windows, or directly under any of the light fixtures, but he was glad that he’d made the backing for the bonsai tree. He set everything down before taking the redwood backing out of the box and placing it in the middle of his table. Taking a few steps back, he eyed it critically, and then nodded. That looked like a good spot.
“Alright then,” he murmured quietly. “Time for the main element.”
Agate took the bonsai tree out of the box, and examined it. It turned out nice, considering all the work he’d put in over the past couple of days.
The limbs were carefully sculpted from the fragrant redwood, each unique in shape, as they branched up. At the tip of each limb, and exploding out from the top branches were LEDS, carefully glued into place, the wiring hidden in a notch in the wood. Near the base, encapsulated in the trunk was the copper coil engine. Surrounded by wood as it was, it was almost as the tree had grown up around it. Gnarled roots writhed, and curled out and over the base, which Agate had constructed from pieces of redwood as well scrap metal fused together. He filled the base in using tiny ball bearings instead of dirt. He’d melted a few pieces of metal down into abstract blobs, and those gleamed from beneath the curling roots. It was wonderful melding of the mechanical and the natural.
He got out several pieces of the charged tungsten, feeling the buzz of their static charge. They were fresh and ready to go, and he popped them into the copper coil tube. The coils hummed, sparked, and then the lights flickered on. He nestled the tree into the display, and flicked the color switch to ‘green,’ or the summer pattern. It could alternate between the colors of the rainbow, or alternate through the season patterns, as well as maintain a season continually. Spring mode had shades of pink, autumn flickered in shades of orange, yellow, and reds, while winter glowed a pale, pale blue-white.
He stepped back to admire it. The redwood backing did its job, allowing the LEDs to gleam just a bit brighter, and overall, (if he had to say) the whole set-up looked very nice. Pleased, he continued to set up his table, adding signage, a board showing off the blueprints, and a large banner stating the invention name. “Technologic Topiary”
Once he was done setting up, he again stepped back to examine his table. Agate grinned. It looked great, he felt great, he felt accomplished. He’d managed to finish it, he’d done it. It had been a bit of work, but it was worth it.
He stepped up alongside his table, ready for curious visitors, fellow inventors, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the judges.
