Click, click, click.His wrench move rhythmically as he hunched over the thing covered in a thick wool blanket. You could not see his face, nor his body as it was shrouded in shadow, partially from a black robe and hood. Almost as if he did not wish anyone to see his true form.

Maybe it was too grotesque to be seen by human eyes, that only his creations could see him for who he actually was. But no one was to say for sure, because he hardly left his house. No one knew anything about him, only that he invented things. They didn't know what.

It was early September when the boy showed up. He said nothing as he knocked the door. The shadow of an inventor opened the door, nothing was seen but what looked like an endless black abyss going straight through the inventor's house. The boy held up his hands. They were full of nuts, bolts, screws, and gears. There was a long silence before the door opened wider and the boy stepped inside.

He stumbled blindly through the house, unsure of where he was going, or why he'd even decided to do this. A great arm stopped him in his path, and he stood still as there was a loud creak of a lever and the dark abyss was lit with a painfully dull set of lights.

It was easier to follow the shadow of an inventor that way. What would have been an adjoining parlor and dining room of the house was transformed into a large workshop. Mechanical limbs hung from the walls, tables were covered in tools, and there were little pieces everywhere.

The shadow of an inventor slowly went back to work on whatever was under the blanket. The boy stayed silent as he set his collection of spare parts on a nearby workbench and stood across from the shadow.

"May I?" The boy whispered as he fingered the wool blanket. The shadow of an inventor pulled the blanket away in a great flourish, and went back to work as if nothing had just happened.

Underneath the blanket was a six foot long glass man. The shadow of an inventor was currently fiddling with it's head. But the body was beautiful. Made of streak free glass revealing the gears and inside parts of the humanoid robot man.

The boy left soon after that, he was ushered from the house by the shadow. He returned the next day with a small ball peen hammer. He was let in again and he followed the inventor awestruck at everything he saw.

The inventor returned to his work and the boy wandered about the workshop looking at various things. He turned back to the glass man and the inventor, who gestured for the boy to come closer.

It wasn't as much of a gesture as an image of it appeared inside of the young boy's head. He walked over. He was again taken over by an image of what he should do inside of the head of the glass man. And a voice.

The voice was a calming but chilling whisper in the back of his head explaining everything he was doing and why.

Soon the boy was doing small jobs all over the workshop, organizing the spare parts all over the place, fixing some of the broken limbs.

This went on for a few weeks before the inventor stood back from the glass man. The boy turned to watch what he was doing. Everything was quickly explained when the glass man sat up, ticking and whirring loudly.

He slowly got to his feet and took a few steps toward the inventor. They stared at each other for a long time before the glass man made a loud creaking noise and tore the robe and shadows away from the inventor.

The young boy gasped. The shadow of an inventor was an invention himself. He was larger version of the man he'd made. Except he looked more battered, as if he'd been through many skirmishes and continuously repaired himself. He was covered in scratches, cracks, and dents.

The two robots stared at each other for a very long time before the inventor grabbed a hammer and began slamming it against his creation. He destroyed the glass man and looked towards the boy. There was more ticking which the boy understood clearly.

"Not good enough."

The robotic man went back to work as nothing happened at all.