[TIDK] 44 – Factory 1

Scarlett had never been to her parents' watch shop that Abel had taken away since she was twelve, and she had last visited the Factory when she was eight. Nevertheless, standing in front of the factory reminded her of everything.

If Scarlett focused, she could perfectly recall her childhood memories. It was a capability after the police interrogation, but she couldn't understand why it suddenly came about.

Scarlett went into the factory, tracing her eight-year-old memories. The password for the first plant was 'cherry pie', just like 'candy picking'. She wasn't sure, but she still entered the password instead of ringing the bell. The door opened immediately as if no one had changed the password.

As she entered, two artisans resting in the living room of a small two-story house saw her.

“…Miss Scarlett?”

She remembered their faces.

Tom and Anna.

In Scarlett's memory, she was astonished to see her two best friends holding hands.

“Are you two dating?”

“We've been married for seven years… Do you remember us?”

Tom asked, uncertain.

Scarlett remembered coming here at the age of eight and seeing those two. No matter how much they fought, the young Scarlett was not worried. It was amazing how the two who had been fighting ended up getting married.

Scarlett asked, still puzzled.

“How do you remember me?”

“Don't tell me. Do you know how many pictures our bosses displayed and how many stories they talked about you?"

Next to Tom's words, Anna clapped in exclamation.

“Right, you were so happy that I was deceived into getting married.”

"….”

"You were deceived? I was the one fooled."

"What? You're ungrateful to be alive."

"What do you mean? Am I the only one with a husband?"

"You think I don't have eyes because I'm working here!"

She wondered if the two fit well, but they still didn't seem to get along.

After reaching a tentative conclusion that perhaps they were on good terms and that they might just be fighting when others saw them, Scarlett asked the two.

“I heard that Arnold had something to check today. What's going on?”

“Oh, right. That's why you came.”

Anna beckoned and took Scarlett to her studio. After that, when Tom followed in, Anna panicked.

“Why do you come into someone else's studio?”

“Can’t I come into my wife's studio?”

“Even couples have privacy, too!”

“We have no privacy!”

"That's none of my business!”

Scarlett sighed quietly as the two began to fight again. After another squabble, Anna took out a box of watches for Scarlett.

Scarlett opened the box and opened her mouth by herself.

“It's Crimson Aqua6?”

“That's right! The Crimson components version 6 developed by the previous two heads is enclosed.”

The Crimson heads were the only people with the right to develop the next version of the Crimson component. The head only told his successor how to make the parts he had developed. And the rest of the Crimson family could only learn the previous version.

When Anna, who was talking, slightly looked at Scarlett, Tom carefully said instead.

“The Crimson Aqua 6 was discontinued because the previous owners couldn't tell their successors how to make it. But this... The customer asked me to overhaul the watch with version 6; it's one of the few left.”

Scarlett, recognising his meaning, responded.

“If you take it apart, you might learn how to make version 6.”

“Yes, I called Second Head Abel just in case, but he's on a business trip. That's why I called Master Arnold… What's going on today?”

“There was a little fight.”

“I see.”

Tom looked blankly for a moment and muttered.

“I can't believe Miss Scarlett is here, at the moment when you can see version 6 for the first time since the passing of your predecessors. Is it fate?”

At that, Anna nodded without picking a fight this time.

Anna removed version 6 components from Crimson Aqua 6 and immersed them in a disinfectant solution.

Scarlett looked at the parts as if she was looking at a picture of her parents. Her face was longing.

“We have to give it back quickly, don't we?” She spoke.

“We can't hold it for too long. We have to return it within a month at the latest.”

It was a matter of pride as a family member to be able to make the most advanced, up-to-date Crimson components.

Boss Abel used Version 5, which he learned from his father, Scarlett's grandfather. Scarlett, like the rest of the Crimson family, only knew how to make Version 4 when the production method was released.

Scarlett asked cautiously.

“Can we take a look at Version 5 now?”

“Sure.”

Anna took out Version 5 parts made by Abel from a small drawer.

Scarlett put it in a solution, scrutinised the part, and scrunched her forehead.

“Is this version 5?”

“Yes, that's right. Boss Abel makes it.”

“…But it's not what I remember.”

Scarlett examined the parts in detail.

She recalled seeing Version 5 components in her parents' studio as a child.

“I remember it was about a millimetre thicker than this.”

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