Flashback ( PDFDrive )

TWENTY-EIGHT
LET ME BE CLEAR,” MR. Forkle added, rushing over to Tinker, who
was trembling so hard she looked ready to topple over. “I know how
you feel about explosives, and I would never ask you to make them
again. I’m only asking you to help design gadgets that will counteract
some of the Neverseen’s abilities—and if there’s also a way to take out
any ogres or dwarves working with them in the process, all the better.
But you get to decide how you’ll approach that challenge. Mr. Dizznee
can design the rest on his own.”
He helped Tinker lower herself onto the bench, and Sprocket
hopped into her lap. She stroked the gremlin’s ears as she murmured,
“He shouldn’t.”
The words were hushed and simple—but coming from someone
who only spoke in questions, they hit with a thud.
Even Mr. Forkle looked shaken.
“Have you forgotten what happens when you bring that kind of
ugliness into the world?” Tinker asked him.
“I know the risks,” he promised.
Her focus shifted to Dex as the lenses on her eyepiece rotated. “Do
you?”
“I do,” Dex assured her.
“Then why would you be willing to create such things? Or have you
already made them?”