fandomhigh | Popular Mechanics, Tuesday, May 5th, 3rd period

Ben's workshop was meeting in the Danger Shop because he'd met mechanics at Fandom before and a little extra fire protection never hurt anthing, okay?

"Hey," he said with an easy smile. "I'm Ben Skywalker, and this is Popular Mechanics." He tilted his head at Barry. "And that's Barry, he's my TA and will man the fire extinguisher if any of your projects get a little too exciting."

He gestured to the tiny herd of Roombas at his feet. "When I was a student here, I wasn't much of a sleeper. I'd make droids--robots--AI--whatever your term is--instead. Thought my roommate would kill me for all of the little friends I ended up making the first six months. Tinkering helped cleared my mind, which some of you might be familiar with."

He handed a Roomba to each student. "Poke at this and see what you can turn it into before our time's over. There's a book of ideas if you need one. For now, talk among yourselves--I always got better ideas when I shot them off of other mechanics. I'll wander around and get your names. Tell me about the last project you've been working on, okay?"