“Morning, my tired songbird,” John greeted the birthday bird. Well, her birthday had passed now. After their fun out in the forest, Nightingale had spent a solid thirteen hours asleep, a single bathroom and rehydration trance put aside. Her slumber had been so deep that she had remained passed out even as the majority of the harem woke up that morning around her.
In an attempt to be a good man, John brought breakfast to the bedside. The bedroom in the bus was more compact than back at ho, so there was only a single nightstand. Attracted by the sll, Nightingale crawled over on knees and shoulders. “Such service,” she cooed and attempted to get up. Firmly, John kept her pushed down, then raised the first spoonful of porridge to her lips.
Nightingale appreciated the service thrice over. Breakfast in bed was appreciated at any ti. Porridge was a rare treat for her, as soone incapable of holding a spoon properly. Hand-feeding by John was equally sothing rare. It took a long while to feed it all to her, careful as he had to be to not drop anything. The efficiency mattered less than the act at large.
After feeding her, John laid down next to Nightingale and lovingly embraced her. It was rely the start of minutes of soft swaying. The harpy’s back against his chest, he cuddled her thoroughly, pressing kisses on her neck and adoringly constricting his hug around her. His hands touched her all over, only avoiding areas that would have been stimulating in the sexual sense.
Fingers combed through soft hair and fluffy feathers. It was like streaking through night air beset with hairs so fine archaeologists could use it to de-dust ancient artefacts. Softly, he scratched the arms hiding in the depths of the purplish, black feathers. The harpy cooed at the massage of otherwise rarely touched bits of her plumage.
After this unusual attention ca the usual one. John put the relaxed songbird on her stomach and gave her a thorough back massage. It was less complete than usual, without oil. Still, John managed to slowly turn her from relaxed to completely relaxed, to the point that Nightingale dozed off again. “See you later, my tired songbird,” he whispered to her, before climbing off.
Nightingale deserved to sleep in. The extended service she had given him yesterday was only one reason. Larger were the many actions she took to assure his absence did not lead to any political instability. The goddess of the night was doing her best to et regularly with influential figures in her gradually improving segnt of the fortress. Giving the elite class of a nation a sensation of uniformity was a double-edged sword. Wielded well, it forged a unified vision for the betternt of the country. Wielded carelessly, the elite ca to see itself as a different class from the commoners, which then led to all the typical separations and potential class warfare.
‘I need that unified vision so Fusion can stand tall on its own… best double-check my anti-corruption asures when I get back,’ the Gar thought, as he marched through the mostly empty living room. Aclysia was working the floor with a mop, happily humming to herself. It was the hallmark of a good maid uniform that she did not just look attractive doing this, she looked stunningly beautiful.
John ruffled her hair in passing. In the usual combination of work boots, pants, and a square-patterned shirt, he walked out. ‘Now, what do I do today?’ he asked himself. The concrete had been out to dry for about 30 hours now, so it should have fully hardened out. That ant he could start putting the fras for the walls up. That would be hard work since John was aiming to build a very nicely insulated ho. Just because he could foot any energy bill in the world didn’t an he should have a house where the air conditioning had to work on hyperdrive. Also, if he ever actually stayed in that house with any of his won, he needed it to be nicely soundproof.
Brick outer wall, a cavity filled with two layers of glass wool, themselves separated by wooden fras and air, and an inner lining of drywall, that was the current plan. The inside walls would be trickier. John would see how much he could achieve with the greatest soundproofing materials the mundane market offered. Nothing he could ever put up would work as well as the solid rock that he used for his Abyssal walls. Still, he could try.
‘First, I put up the fras, then I put up the brick wall, then I put the insulation in, then I seal it all with drywall.’ He glanced up at the clouded sky. ‘Hope the weather plays along. Can’t do half of that when it rains. Last thing I want is wet glass wool in my walls… it’d probably rot the wood.’ Just as he was finished thinking that, the phone in his breast pocket vibrated. Momo had graciously allowed him his personal phone back, under the condition that he only took calls from one person. Trying not to be too excited, the Gar picked up the call from the unknown number. “Hello, you reached John Newman?”
“Howdy.” The only voice he wanted to hear greeted him with the perfect greeting for that drawl of hers. “Hailey here.”
“I figured.” John chuckled. “I don’t know that many other thick-accented Oklahomans.”
“Of course you don’t. Anyway, I have two open hours, so I am comin’ over.”
“You’re welco to,” the Gar stated and she hung up imdiately. ‘Things must be hectic on her farm… not that I have little to do. The rural life is definitely never boring. Makes understand how people survived before the internet.’
John put his phone away before he could be tempted to check the rest of his notifications. A visit by the country gal derailed his plans for the day. Although, if she truly only had two hours, it was more of a mild delay than a proper pause.
‘Ti to make a few preparations,’ he thought, while spreading the news through the ntal network. It would reach the ear of every harette eventually, although he did not want all of them to show up. Their numbers were too overwhelming to go for a universal introduction.
______________________________________________________________________________
“Scarlett,” the redhead introduced herself. “Scarlett Thorne.”
Hailey carefully inspected the technomancer. Compared to tra and Undine, Scarlett was a very standard human. Her case of androgyny was notably diminished now that she had her extrely long red cascade of silky straight hair. Still, in her red shirt and with her red eyes, wearing red work gloves, she was a strikingly bright person. The suit pants and shoes further pulled together the look of a businesswoman.
That was slightly unfitting for the workshop they found themselves in. Lee had materialized the general structure in the Protected Space and Scarlett had then filled it out with a few tools she had swiftly brought over from one of her own in the Hudson Barrier. If this had been a more free-form barrier, like the Interdiary Barriers, Lee could have done more. Alas, the materialization abilities of a Fateweaver were diminished not only by their own mana supply and ti, but also the kind of space they were inside of. If other Fateweavers were vying for control of an Illusion Barrier, materialization was practically out of the cards. That was why it was basically never seen in combat.
John was pulled out of his thoughts and back into reality by Hailey taking a step forward. She wore the exact sa clothes she had two days ago, the only difference being a few additional oil stains. An interesting mixture of aromas wafted off her. The iron sll of welding, the various grainy slls of cattle feed, a note of grass, and, as the sole truly unpleasant factor, a note of dung. The last ca from her heavy boots. It looked like she had rinsed them off with a hose, but work always left a mark.
After a week out here, John barely minded the sll. Unless penetratingly intense, it just blended in with the general sll of nature. Scarlett inhaled in that way that gave away that she noticed, but that was the only reaction she had to it. Raised in isolation, the technomancer was still too strong headed to let a bit of a whiff disturb her. Besides, the sll of welding was right up her alley.
“Hailey Brooklyn Brooks.” The country gal extended her hand in greeting.
Scarlett took it imdiately, gave her a firm shake and then got right to business. “John has the theory that your Innate Ability is linked to sothing you do on the daily. Lateblooming abilities typically manifest in sothing related to one’s character. Innate Abilities in general do, but Latebloors have more of a manifested personality than a stupid fucking eight-year-old that likes fire a bit more than most.”
“New York?” Hailey asked.
“Effectively.” Scarlett waved off, continuing in her harsh voice, “Not the point. We’ve prepared a couple of tests for you.” She gestured at the primary workbench. There was a large ensemble of tinkering materials, a smartphone, and a petri-dish with a germinated seedling in it. “You do a lot of engineering?”
“Soone has to,” Hailey drawled. “Can hardly afford new clothes, cars are even hard’r. Best to roll up the sleeves and do it myself.”
Scarlett humd in agreent. “Theory 1 is that your Innate Ability has to do with that, so we’ll have you build sothing with magical components. Ever did electrical engineering?”
“I took apart ol’ gamin’ systems and put them all into one fra.”
“And just another showcase that university certificates are fucking paper,” Scarlett stated.
“I could not agree more, Rayd.”
John and Scarlett both needed a mont to understand that she had just called the technomancer ‘Red’. An uncreative nickna, made all that more interesting by the accent neither of them were used to. ‘These two get along fantastically,’ the Gar noted. A mild surprise. Improved as Scarlett’s socialization may have beco over the months, she remained a cold-hearted recluse. “The second test is technomancy,” he continued the explanation. “Third is plant control or general life magic. Those three are the most obvious that ca to mind. I think engineering is the most likely one.”
“What’s done if it ain’t any of those?”
“Then I introduce you to Eliana.” The Gar made sure to make that sound as neutrally nacing as possible. The fear option was the final one. “Anyway, don’t let distract you, I’m just here to observe. Scarlett…”
“Yeah, yeah.” The technomancer stepped up to the building materials. “Simple task. These are the materials for hover core. They’re used as ball joints in many Abyssal constructs.” As she spoke, she held up a printed manual, the kind she left for new factory workers. “You can guess how fucking useful it is if you can freely manoeuvre what is attached to the joint without any magnets involved.”
“Sure, lem have a crack at it.” Hailey grabbed the manual and quickly skipped through. Her eyes moved with the sa determined analysis that John saw on Momo’s face when she was reading a book. Two tis, she raised an eyebrow, one ti she looked utterly bewildered. Halfway through reading the manual, she tossed it on top of the smartphone. “Weird instructions.”
“They’re industry standard,” Scarlett remarked drily.
“Not worth much more than university certificates.” The dirty blonde fixed her trucker hat and got to work. The very first thing she did was grab a hamr and slam a bunch of smaller pieces into a different shape.
Scarlett crossed her arms and stayed quiet. Her thoughts were written all over her face: ‘Either this is so Latebloor bullshit or she’s about to eat so humble pie.’ While Hailey worked determinedly at the task, a different sort of expression crossed the technomancer’s face, one that John had never seen when it ca to technological matters. She was confused. Not slightly confused, not zoned out and trying to get back into what she was watching, but blinking and leaning in an effort to comprehend.
John wished he could have understood why, but his own engineering knowledge, particularly when it ca to Abyssal matters, was not sophisticated enough to follow. To him, the only thing that was off was the confidence with which Hailey handled the enchanted core of the construct. She slotted it effortlessly into a small chassis she made herself, before encapsulating it all in the two halves of a tal sphere that had co with it. It all closed smoothly.
Finally, Hailey grabbed a small arm-like test piece and tapped the indented against the finished, orange-sized sphere. The limb stuck. Hailey gave it a flick and it glided smoothly over the surface. From start to finish, the entire process took less than ten minutes. Every last movent had been so fluid, one could have been under the impression she had been building these things for ten years. Of the provided materials, a good 10% lay unused.
“Give that,” Scarlett demanded and ripped the finished piece out of Hailey’s hand.
“Sounds like I did good,” the country gal comnted, watching Scarlett screw the sphere back open. Once the two halves laid on the table, the technomancer pulled a small cassette out of her pocket. It looked like the kind one would store their glasses in. Instead, the inside was lined with unfolding chanical tendrils and other tools. “How does that work?”
“Scarlett is a technomancer, she can control technology with her mind,” the Gar explained, while the redhead ran a great variety of tests on what should have been a pretty normal Abyssal engineering project. The tiny box of tools did not have any displays, so it was only Scarlett who could interpret the gathered data. “And?”
“What the fuck are Latebloors?” Scarlett mumbled. “You just created a perfectly usable, structurally stronger version of the joint while using less fucking materials.”
“You curse a lot, Rayd.”
Scarlett mockingly blew air out of her nose. “Get used to it.” The technomancer continued the inspection – which included bashing the sphere with a hamr at full strength. It left a dent, which only made the redhead more visibly confused. “No additional magic in the hull, the stability is purely by the quality of the construction.”
“Sounds like you should update your manuals,” the Gar suggested.
“Yeah, no, fuck that.” Scarlett shook her head. “What she did is way more complicated than the usual procedure. It’s better, sohow she did it faster, but it’s not fit for mass production. I’m just barely understanding how she ensured the enchantnt worked through the additional tal… ahh, that’s why you bent it… fucking clever… who schooled you on Leifgram’s Secondary Transferal Law?”
“The energy flow description was in the manual, did not need no more than that.”
“Did not need more than that,” the Gar corrected. There was having an accent and there was using double negatives at inappropriate tis. “Anyway, sounds like the first hunch was the correct one then. Hailey, we found your Innate Ability. You’re an enigma engineer.”
“Interestin’ description,” Hailey remarked.
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