A Saturday afternoon.
"Alice, come on in, don't just stand at the door."
Aunt Mei, wearing a floral apron and holding a spatula, warmly pulled Alice into the house.
The house was filled with a scent that was, well, slightly charred but full of sincere roasted meat aroma.
"Sorry, Alice, I originally wanted to make my specialty meat rolls, but the oven timer seems to have broken again."
Aunt Mei wiped the sweat from her forehead with some embarrassment.
"I hope you don't mind eating a bit of crispy crust."
"It's okay, Aunt Mei. Actually, the Maillard reaction in charred proteins produces a unique flavor that is sometimes even more charming."
Alice smiled politely and placed the gift she had brought—a box of low-sugar strawberry jam made with pectin she had purified in the lab—on the table.
"Oh, you dear child, you always manage to turn my mistakes into science."
Aunt Mei beamed from ear to ear and couldn't help but pat Alice's cheek.
"If only Peter were half as well-spoken as you. Go on, take a seat; Ben is currently fixing that wretched oven timer."
Alice walked into the kitchen and saw Ben Parker wearing reading glasses, squatting in front of an old-fashioned oven with a screwdriver in hand, struggling with several rusty springs while drenched in sweat.
"Damn it, this gear is stuck again. Oh, Alice."
Seeing Alice, Uncle Ben immediately put down his tools, and a loving smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
"Come look at this, our little genius. Peter said you provided key guidance for that school science project of his. The boy has been as excited as if he drank ten cans of Red Bull these past two days."
"I only provided some engineering suggestions, Uncle Ben."
Alice squatted down and naturally took the screwdriver from Uncle Ben's hand.
"System, load character card — Ai Haibara."
In the eyes of a scientist, this old mechanical structure was as simple as one plus one.
"The bimetallic strip here has aged, causing the contacts to stick. You just need to adjust the spring tension."
Her fingers nimbly adjusted it a few times, and with a crisp click, the timer began to emit a clear ticking sound again.
"There, it's done."
"My goodness, Mei, look! Our oven has come back to life. Alice is practically a magician!"
Uncle Ben's eyes widened in surprise, and he then burst into a hearty laugh.
"Since the oven is fixed, tonight's dinner will definitely be fine."
He stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and pointed upstairs.
"Peter has been tinkering with that project in his room all afternoon, and the place smells strange. Since you're here, go help me check if that boy is tearing the house down."
"Okay, I'll go take a look."
Alice picked up the heavy toolbox she had brought with her and headed upstairs.
Peter's bedroom was filled with a pungent chemical smell, like a mixture of rotten eggs and super glue.
*Cough, cough, cough...*
Peter Parker, wearing windproof goggles, was hunched over his desk with a soldering iron in hand, looking troubled over a pile of disassembled electronic components and copper pipes.
The table was covered with chemical reagents he had borrowed from the school lab and various pipe fittings bought from a hardware store.
"The pressure valve is leaking again. Damn it, if I can't solve the instantaneous high-pressure issue, this thing will explode on my wrist before it even sprays any silk."
Peter ruffled his hair in frustration; his originally neat brown hair was now a messy bird's nest.
*Click.*
The door was pushed open, and a draft of air dispersed the strange smell in the room.
A breeze cleared the odd scent from the room.
Alice walked in carrying her toolbox, her eyes scanning Peter's workbench, which looked like it had suffered a terrorist attack, with a look of disdain.
"If you plan on using a low-quality Solenoid valve stripped from a toaster to control 300 psi of high-pressure fluid, I suggest you first buy yourself a high-premium personal accident insurance policy and name Aunt Mei as the beneficiary."
Alice set the toolbox on the floor, her tone flat but sharp-tongued.
Peter looked as if he had seen a savior and quickly gave up his seat. "I tried according to your blueprints, but ordinary Solenoid valves simply can't withstand that kind of instantaneous explosive force. Also, the Web fluid's viscosity is too high; it keeps clogging the nozzle."
"Of course it does."
Alice opened the toolbox.
Inside, several precision metal parts were neatly arranged.
These weren't common hardware store items; they were high-strength titanium alloy valves she had salvaged from the hydraulic braking system of that Osborn armored transport she had disassembled.
"System, load character card — Ai Haibara."
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