Garfiel usually handled longtime regulars and new clients who required designs made from scratch, but Winry often took charge of walk-ins requesting repairs or adjustments. When things got busy, she jotted down requests from regulars and even drew out the roughs for their blueprints.
At first, Winry floundered a little, faced with a new environment, advanced tools she wasn’t used to, and types of prostheses she had never seen before. But it wasn’t long before her positive personality and ability to quickly learn on her feet kicked in, and now she could do everything at a brisk pace.
“Thanks for waiting, Mr. Kaas! What would you like today?”
Winry approached a gentleman who had gotten automail for both of his legs at Atelier Garfiel a few years prior. She held his chart at the ready.
“Well, hello there. To tell you the truth, my legs have started to feel heavier as I’ve gotten older. I thought it would be nice to get something lighter, even if it’s just for the plates of my knees. I would appreciate something more on the affordable side.”
Kaas rested both of his hands on the cane planted before his chair. He had prioritized durability when he had his kneecaps made, but as a result, they were quite thick. Winry pulled out Kaas’s blueprints from the back of the studio and checked the measurements for his knee and the surrounding areas. She then thought about what could be used to make an acceptable lighter replacement.
“If you could please give me a moment.”
Winry ducked into the small back room, a finger on her chin as she thought. She then pulled out a single sheet of metal from the materials box before returning to the studio.
“How do you feel about this?” Winry asked.
The metal plate she’d brought to him was a sample manufactured by a company that processed and sold ores. Atelier Garfiel offered custom prostheses made from alloys blended according to their clients’ specifications, but it could be pricey. However, they also used mass-market materials produced by steel manufacturers, which they could offer at far more affordable rates.
“This is a brand-new product that only recently came out on the market. It’s got a fair price point and is incredibly lightweight,” Winry explained. She gave a quote for the price and schedule they’d need if they moved ahead with the metal. Kaas stroked his white beard while nodding along with interest.
It was difficult to get ahold of new materials like this out in the country, such as in places like Resembool. However, in Rush Valley, the mecca of prostheses, the companies themselves came to sell their products. This allowed mechanics to select and offer their customers the best options from a vast selection of materials. Winry was delighted that her current environment allowed her such luxuries, and she eagerly recommended the new materials that she had learned about.
“This material’s a little prone to rusting, so you’ll have to change your maintenance routine, but it will be considerably lighter than the automail you currently have,” Winry explained.
“Well, that’s very nice. I’m a little worried about different maintenance, but,” Kaas took some time to think about it, lifting and stroking the sample metal plate. The more he heard about the positives of the material, the more his concerns seemed to ease. “It must be good if you’re so confident in telling me about it. Well, then, I’d like to go with this.”
“Understood, sir!”
Winry took measurements of each part of Kaas’s body, jotting them down on his chart, before giving him an estimate on when the blueprint would be finished. She then gave his weathered automail a complimentary polish.
She helped Kaas to the street as he walked out with his cane, then she turned to the clients waiting within the studio.
“Apologies for the wait! Who’s next?”
A young girl raised her hand. Her name was Milia, and she’d already come by multiple times for maintenance. As Winry pulled out Milia’s chart and went over to her, she saw worry on the girl’s face and guessed why the girl had come. Winry’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Hello, Milia. Is your foot acting up again?”
“Yeah. No matter what I do, it just doesn’t feel right.”
Milia looked uncertain as she sat on the bench, shifting her leg forward to show a piece of automail that started at her ankle. The automail sparkled, reflecting the light in the room. It was relatively new and had only been fitted last month, but Milia had already come in several times to get adjustments done by Winry after feeling that it wasn’t working properly.
“All right, I’ll take another look at it,” Winry said. “First, please move it as I direct you to.”
Winry sat on the floor and pulled a screwdriver out of her tool kit to remove the automail’s outer plating. She then brought her face closer and tracked the movements of all the visible parts and cylinders.
“One, two … Great. Next, rotate your ankle.”
Winry had Milia move her toes and ankles and watched closely to see how the automail responded. “I can’t see any particular problems, but …”
Winry pulled out a stick with a small mirror attached to its tip and inserted it into the automail to observe the pistons of the cylinders from every angle. As she worked, Milia spoke up hesitantly from overhead. “Hey, Winry? If you removed my foot, you could take a really close look at it, right? Could you do that for me?”
“Hmm.” Winry hummed as she inspected the device that intercepted electric signals again just to be sure it was functioning properly.
While it was true that it was easier to work on automail if it was removed from the limb, reattaching it was incredibly painful for the wearer. There wasn’t any way around doing so if the automail was damaged or needed to be resized, but Winry was reluctant to needlessly inflict pain on someone when she didn’t know what the cause of the trouble was.
After reaffirming that nothing was amiss, Winry pulled her tools out from the automail and replaced the outer plating. Then she looked up at Milia, who was leaning over her.
“When you upgrade your automail, it can take some time to get used to it. The parts that intercept electric signals perform differently, and the materials and weight of the automail itself are different too. A lot of people feel a pretty big change compared to what they were using before. I believe that’s what you’re experiencing, but what do you think?”