ONE HUNDRED ONE: Anesidora Time, 07:15 PM

ONE HUNDRED ONE: Anesidora Time, 07:15 PM

101The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

In F-city, there was a neighborhood where apartment blocks and towers gave way to rolling lawns, miniature patches of forest, and sporting fields. The mansionsdecadent odes to magical architecturenestled around the curves of artificial hills or in groves of trees, strategically planted to give the owners the illusion of space and nature in a city-state where those two things were precious commodities. The boy found the address hed been looking for in a thatch of bottlebrush-shaped trees that backed up to the largest racetrack on the island. He walked along the edge of a paved driveway that was crammed with parked luxury cars and motorcycles. One of his hands clenched the handle of a heavy metal cooler; the other worked nervously on the edge of his jacket. He flinched as a drone sailed over his head. And again as one of the rocks lining the driveapparently an artificial onesuddenly played birdsong through a hidden speaker as he passed. Private property warnings flashed on his interface, and he checked the address in his messages again. This was it. This was the spot. He drew in a breath and knocked on a tall, smooth bronze door with no apparent handle. It opened, and a woman with cat-eye contact lenses blinked at him. She was wearing a leopard print bra and jeans. He didnt know where to put his eyes. Im here to see Orpheus, he said. She leaned forward and looked at his cooler. > She almost stumbled over her own high heeled boots as she stepped aside to let him in. > There were people moving through the house behind her. Walking up a floating staircase, pressing each other against a railing, laughing at nothing in the floor beside a four-foot tall antique vase. > She hugged him as he passed, and he blushed. He didnt take his shirt off. It took the boy a long while to find who hed come to see. The man wasnt on the verandah but outside floating on an inflatable chair in a pool that had been heated hot enough to steam. He was completely naked, which was less of a shock after the amount of nudity the boy had encountered on his search through the house. The drone he had seen earlier hovered over the man, drizzling his forehead with something that looked like honey. Orpheus, said one of the women in the pool. Orpheus, I think the presents you promised are here. She took a swig from a bottle that didnt look like it had originated on Earth. The float Orpheus was on rotated slowly. He drifted over to the side. He blinked up with blown pupils at the boy with the cooler. The pool lights in the water below him suddenly cut on and glowed an eerie green. The sun hadnt set yet. It was probably on a timer. Just a coincidence. You bring the drugs? Orpheus asked. Were they just going to talk about it casually like this? Out in the open? I brought yousome snacks. Haha! All right! Jacob, wasnt it? How did someone your age get your hands on the good stuff? Hand them over! Your half of the deal is in the cabana over there. Good luck hauling it out of here. Its heavy. Jacob leaned over and held out the cooler. Orpheus took it in both hands. A brown-haired girl, remarkable mostly for the fact that she was fully clothed in slacks and a polka-dotted blouse, was sitting on the edge of a teak lounge chair. She glanced over at Orpheus and raised an eyebrow. Arent you even going to check to make sure your snacks are there so you can destroy your organs properly this time? For all you know, he brought you takeout. Orpheus ignored her. He set the cooler in the water. Hey it floats! Eager to take his earnings and leave, Jacob hurried over to the cabana. There was a padded duffel bag on the pavement beside some kind of alien hookah. He squatted and unzipped it. The thing inside looked like an aquarium full of yellow oil and clear water. A small silver ball floated in the precise center, in the place where the two substances met and refused to mix. There were less parts than he was expecting. No mechanicalness to it. Jacob preferred the open complexity of wires, pipes, and circuits to something so obviously not of this world. Because the complexity was still there. It had to be, for this thing to do what it was supposed to do. But it was all hidden. All magic. It made it feel not quite real. He pointed at the object to target it, and then said the name of one of his talentsDevice Identification. His interface responded. [Device: Submerger Device Status: Complete] That was less information than he was hoping for. But it was enough. The Submerger would help him, and then it would help the people who were helping him, and then You have to shout the name of your talents to use them? asked a voice from behind him. Jacob looked over his shoulder to see the girl standing in the entrance of the cabana. One of the canvas curtains was almost brushing her hair. You might want to work on actually learning how to use your powers without the Contract holding your handinstead of doing whatever it is you plan to do with that. I dont see how my life is any of your business, said Jacob. She shrugged. A mini drone appeared behind her head and made a cute, cartoonish snapping sound. He stood up. Did you just take my picture? Yes. Why?! Because my brother is giving you extremely rare magical equipment in exchange for a few illegal potions and snorts he could have gotten in other ways. Stolen equipmentits not his, you know. Hes a brat in his thirties, so youre getting something extraordinary practically for free. I dislike that. Who are you to? Ill keep this. She shooed the drone away. Maybe one day youll be something other than a drug dealer. And Ill ask you to pay off your debt. I dont owe you anything. I made a deal with Orpheus Velra, not whoever you are! And Im not a drug dealer! She arched a perfectly plucked brow. Did you not just deal drugs? He stared at her. She smiled, waved, and left.

Every few days one of Kivb-ees new instructors took her by ship to the other side of Moon Thegund, to Chayklo, the only populated city of significant size. There, they forced her to interact with other children for her wellbeing. Officially, the trips were for her to have fun. But she had much more fun in the travel dome, examining Rrorros feather structures and sticking her head into the back of Kraaas mouth to see where the amazing serrated lash of his tongue was stored when it was not fully extended. These were, her honored instructors and Knight Alis-arth agreed, educational pursuits. However, for some reason, they did not consider them to be sufficient to her socialization. The Quaternary said that her intellectual abilities and her background meant she needed to spend more time with other young Artonans rather than less. Playdates were arranged with local families and schools. The events werent terrible, but the first couple had gone strangely. Hopcatch had always been a good game when she played it with her sister. It had been a good game when she played it with Alden, too, though of course his size meant hed had to bounce with just one foot and catch with just one hand to make it fun and fair for both of them. When she played it with the children in Chayklo, she always won. After she realized that they were letting her win at a game she wasnt particularly good at, she couldnt even trust her victories in the games where she probably was superior. Of course she could answer trivia questions faster than a class full of her peers, butwhat if there was someone who could compete with her and they were staying silent because it was now clear that she would one day bear the responsibilities and receive the dignities of the wizard class? Before, there had been doubt. Distinguished Master Ro-denwho would remain distinguished in her mind no matter what terrible misunderstanding had led to the removal of his higher titlehad not truly yielded to her ambitions yet. Hed been warming up to the idea. She would have convinced him and earned real approval soon, but then hed been sent away Now Alden, a brave and honorable Avowed, had told Knight Alis-arth that he believed Kivb-ee had the makings of a true wizard. Even if Knight Alis-arth didnt know that Alden himself had embarked on the path of higher onus, she respected his opinion. As was natural. Kivb-ee was still somewhat perplexed about the fact that the Avowed couldnt sense their authority. Avowed were important people. They performed magic. Distinguished Master Ro-den had always treated them like friends on the occasions when he summoned one to the lab. Shed been confident she understood, so shed never checked her assumptions. How embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as her excitement at winning that first game of hopcatch, before she realized the others were yielding to her. I dont think they enjoy playing with me, she had informed Instructor Dalat-orni after they walked away from the school that had been the location for their second social adventure. I think they are nervous around me. The instructor had looked down at her and smiled. It does seem so, doesnt it? Dont give it both halves of your attention. They are only afraid because they rarely deal with wizards who are even deserving of the name here. Thegund has beena small place. For quite some time. On the Mother, the children of your birthclass will not be nervous in your presence. They will often expect more of you, and because of that, it will not occur to most of them that letting you win a game would be anything but an insult. In fact, many of them will be deeply disappointed in you whenever you lose. That sounds bad, too. Its the way of things. Through our efforts may the way grow closer to perfection. Through our efforts, Kivb-ee repeated. Perhaps you wish to suggest an effort that would make your social hours more enjoyable for everyone, the instructor prompted gently. Oh. Was this a lesson? The right answer was probably not that social hours would be better spent testing Kraaas bite strength against various materials. I think we should plan noncompetitive activities, she decided. A wise choice. Plan some and show them to me, Instructor Dalat-orni said. Consider the comfort of your agemates and yourself. Her next playdates had involved practicing formal table manners at a restaurant with the owners children and participating in an art-garden program. Those worked out much better. Magic lessons were also going well. Kivb-ee hoped they were anyway. She was improving faster with teachers available to help and personal advice from Instructor Gwen-lor in every new video. But it wasnt proper for instructors to tell a student of her level how she compared to others. It was their job to worry over such matters in their own minds, and it was hers to devote herself fully. If she was in a proper class with a proper partner on the learning cushion beside heror even better, with Aldenshe would have had some sense of relative progress. Comparing herself to the adult wizards who traveled with the Quaternary didnt offer the same opportunity for understanding her abilities. She assumed her control and sensitivity remained well below normal. However, Instructor Dalat-orni had begun to imply that they should work with her auriad soon. He had almost finished correcting the flaws in her beginners plainhand casting. Kivb-ee hadnt been looking forward to this. She would have to reveal that she didnt have an auriad. And they would all be confused, since shed claimed to previously and theyd seen it. Or they thought they had. Alden wished for his bond with an auriad to remain private. He had told her she could tell whoever she wanted whenever she wanted, but that was only because he was trying not to create difficulties for her. Kivb-ee refused to make difficulties for him. She could lie and say shed given hers to him, but that would be regarded very oddly. She had more lessons available to her now and understood that if shed given him her auriad and hed traveled so far away, the distance would have severed it from her violently. It would have destroyed the auriad and wounded her. Kivb-ee was not obviously wounded. How would she make that story seem reasonable? Another solution had to be found quickly. And auriads didnt sprout up from the ground like fungus. In factKivb-ee had determined after some consideration and study that there were only two unbonded auriads on all of Moon Thegund. And five more in orbit. There was one here in the travel dome in a spell-locked case. Itlike the five on the large shipwas for Alis-arth or the wizards traveling with her to use if their own auriads were severed. Or if, during the course of the long voyage, they progressed with their casting to such an extent that they wished to bond a second one. Kivb-ee couldnt take any of those. She would have, since six spares was an excessive number of auriads for the Quaternarys group to possess. It was a quantity they would only need if they encountered truly awful problems during their travels. But she couldnt open the boxes. And even if she could, she suspected the auriads would be inventoried at the end of the journey. Adults loved to inventory things. At the lab, entire days had been devoted to making sure everything was where it was supposed to be and what it was supposed to be. That left just one option. Only one on this entire side of the solar system. Her plan to obtain it had already been in motion for three Earth weeks. Kivb-ee liked to think in Earth weeks with one half of her consciousness so that she always knew what Alden was probably doing. Right now it was Mundee night on Anesidora. Since his last set of videos, he would have achieved his goal of entering an educational program that would help him on his journey to becoming the best Avowed. He and beautiful, fat Victor the kyat would be living in a school. And they would have access to instructors all the time. By the time she received his next video, she would be a robber in addition to being a laboratory bomber. She was sure he would not mind. While Alden and Victor were learning from the human instructors, Kivb-ee was at the local Museum of the Empire with hers. She was accompanied by a group of other children who had been invited along for her socialization. And by Kraaa, who had forced his way into the experience after she had maybe exaggerated the amazing terribleness of the antique weapons on display in the museum. Kraaa was an important part of the plan. People looked at him a lot whenever he was around, which meant that they looked at everything else less. Two eyes on the griveck Avowed at all timesvery silly. Kivb-ee clenched her fingers as they approached the room where the unbonded auriad was stored. It was part of a collection of magical tools. She had seen it once before when her father had brought her and her sister here. Its still there, she thought as they entered the room. Its still out on the table like I remember. None of the wizarding supplies in this room were dangerous or fragile, so of course none of them were displayed with barriers between them and the public. To separate objects of learning from the very people who had come to learn about them would imply all kinds of terrible things about the museum and how it viewed its visitors. Kivb-ee felt guilty. She felt awfully guilty as her bare feet carried her closer and closer to the polished table with the white auriad on it. But after careful consideration, this was the only course of action that she thought wouldnt hurt anyone. The museums collection would be less accurate, but that was not as serious as the worst possible outcome she could imagine. What if someone took Aldens auriad from him? Kivb-ee had now realized her own understanding of Avowed wasnt perfect. Alden seemed to sense some risk to himself. She would trust his judgment. He was supposed to have an auriad. He did have one. And it was a lovely shade of purple-blue that was also now her favorite color it absolutely was forevermore. It was his. He had bled for her. She had smelled it. She had seen it when they cut off his clothes. What if Rrorro hadnt been there? Alden was going to be the best Avowed. And they would both be wizards. Through our efforts may the way of things grow closer to perfection. Oh Kraaa! she called when she was only an arms length away from the loop of soft white string on the table. You should show everyone that trick you can do with your tongue! Heads and eyes turned. She took it on faith that all of the heads and eyes turned. She acted. Once, she had failed to take a small risk out of fear. Once, she had hesitated to act. It had cost her almost everything. And it had almost cost Alden everything, too, though he would never admit that it was true. Kivb, her father had said on that last, most awful day. This human is an Avowed. Distinguished Master Ro-den has sent him to help us. Be brave for your sister. Kivb-ee wouldnt be someone who hesitated anymore. A couple of hours later, when they left the Museum of the Empire, she had an auriad in her pocket. It was real. Shed been a little afraid that it wouldnt be. What if shed been wrong, and they were much too valuable to be left out on tables even in an important educational location? What if instead of a real auriad, it had been a fake, like the one shed left in its place? It was a perfect-looking fake. Shed tried to make it herself, but shed quickly realized she wasnt talented enough to get the sheen right. Shed asked Instructor Dalat-orni to make it for her, claiming she wanted to give it to one of her dolls. Fortunately, the instructor didnt keep track of her dolls, so he didnt realize that she didnt have an Artonan one. They took the personal transport ship back to the travel dome. It was a long trip to the other side of the planet, but they would arrive in time for third meala quirk that the Quaternary enjoyed every night. Instructor, said Kivb-ee, her fingers still stroking the string in her pocket the way shed seen Alden do so many times after hed bonded with his own. Perhaps the more she mimicked him, the braver she would be. I would like to take a mourning name. There was a pause. I see, Dalat-orni said. That is a very serious decision. Have you thought it through as carefully as you can? I will not live a life that would bring shame to it, she said. I wasnt sure before, but I am now.

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