46. Testing and Experimentation (Patreon)

Around the corner from the arena and tucked away behind a building, the three of them slowed to a halt. Ikara plopped down on the curb and sighed, breathing heavily. “Damn, that was scary! Awesome, but scary.”

“I know, right?” Katy agreed.

Ikara squinted against the sun up at Katy. “What’re you still hanging around for?”

Katy shrugged. “An autograph.”

“Right, right.” Ikara waved vaguely and propped herself back on her hands.

A large cluster of tiny white flowers, standing about thigh-high, caught Rowan’s eye. Is that…? Plant Identification!

Hogweed. Irritant in leaves, stem, and sap can cause blisters on contact with sunlight. Handle with care.

Rowan chuckled to himself. I remember mom complaining about that after a client picked some off the side of the road to add as ‘cheap baby’s breath’ in a wedding bouquet… How fortunate! I can use that, for certain. He drew the spade and the hand claw and knelt to dig around the base of the plant, using the hand claw in the place of leather gardening gloves to fend off the dangerous top half of the plant.

“What’re you doing?” Ikara called from across the street.

“Gardening,” Rowan replied.

“What, really?” she asked.

“Why’s everyone always surprised when I do my job?” Rowan muttered. He held out a hand. “Manifest!”

The garden box thumped down beside him. Only one plant sat in it, the strange plant he’d picked up days ago. Its leaves wilted slightly, shriveled up without water.

Rowan dug a hole for the hogweed and transplanted it across the box from the other plant. Once the weed sat firmly in the soil, he held his hands up. “Watering Can. Fertilizer.”

The other plant shifted subtly toward the water. Rowan chuckled and poured water over it as well. The leaves slightly unfurled. Wonder if it’s a carnivorous plant? It moves visibly. Usually only carnivorous plants do that. Then again, it was in the exclusion zone. Maybe it’s a monster plant after all.

“That your manifest?” Ikara asked.

Rowan nodded. “Gardening Box, I think it was called. Seems to be a place to grow plants, mostly.” But… can I use it to store other things? It is just a box, in the end. A box full of soil, but it takes plants into whatever space it vanishes into. Curious, he set his hand spade in the earth, then held his hand out again, willing it back.

The garden box and the plants vanished, leaving the hand spade to clatter to the ground.

Oh well. Guess that was too much to ask. He knelt and scooped up the spade.

Box put away, he nodded at Ikara. “What’s your manifest?”

Ikara grinned widely. “Are you sure you’re ready? Because it’s fantastic.” She bounced up and brushed off her butt, then spread her arms out and wiggled her fingers. “Get ready… for my…Manifest!”

A sewing machine popped into existence and thumped to the ground. Shiny white plastic reflected the late morning light, and mysterious symbols cluttered the space beneath a small digital display. At the back end, a round knob stood out from the machine’s body, while a shiny needle awaited thread at the front. A pedal clattered down beside it, attached by a long wire.

“Huh. That’s nice,” Rowan said.

“Nice? Nice? You have no idea. This sewing machine, this absolute gem, can handle any kind of fabric. Denim? Leather? Tulle? Triple layered pleather, with interfacing? Bring it on! Thick, thin, it doesn’t matter. Specialty fabrics, doesn’t matter. It has every type of needle you’ll ever need. The motor never snags. The teeth never catch. The little internal spindle never eats the thread and ties a knot on the inside where you just can’t reach. It never skips a stitch and it never breaks a needle! This, my friend, is the best sewing machine in the world.” Ikara patted its side like it was a friendly dog, beaming up at Rowan and Katy. “It’s only got two bobbins, which is a bit annoying, but hey, that’s more than one bobbin.”

Rowan glanced at Katy. “Uh… did you understand that?”

Katy shook her head. “Sorry.”

“Plebians,” Ikara sighed.

Katy yawned and sat down by the side of the road. “How long until Kaidu comes back? Hey, what if I leave my number and you text me when he shows?”

“Works for me.” Rowan held out his phone. The simple green-and-white System interface displayed in miniature on its screen.

She stood and held hers out, interface nearly identical. They tapped their phones together.

Contact Added: Katherine Anders.

“Nice to meet you all! Stay safe, alright?” She waved and retreated.

Ikara wandered over and bopped her phone against Rowan’s. Another contact-add message popped up on his screen. She glanced after Katy and chuckled. “And just a few minutes ago, she was so worried about escorting us out.”

“We did take down a couple of combat classes together, so…” Rowan shrugged.

“She’s sweet. The GSEZ would eat her up.” Ikara yawned and stuck her hands in her coat pockets, sticking her hips out as she relaxed backward. Her sloppy ponytail tangled down her back, the blue-dyed tips swaying at her shoulders. Face still pudgy, blue eyes squinted against the sun, short and bird-boned, she looked young. Almost childish.

“You came here all alone?” Rowan asked quietly.

Ikara shrugged. “Dad always said I was a force of nature. Unstoppable.”

“That’s… pretty nuts. I’ve never left the city on my own.”

“I node-hopped, you know? Jumped from one Tower lobby to the next. It only took a day or so to get here, and that was mostly ‘cuz I ran out of credits and had to find work to afford the fee for the last hop.”

Rowan nodded. And here I was thinking my life was over because I didn’t get the right class. Ikara packed up and charged across half the country, alone, when she saw the chance to make a party. That’s incredible.

Ikara caught him looking and smirked. She nudged him and nodded after Katy. “She your type?”

“Huh?” Rowan asked.

“You didn’t notice? Legs for days, my friend. Bit of a washboard up top, but you can’t have it all,” Ikara said.

“I… wasn’t looking,” Rowan admitted.

“Not a legs man, then. Good to know, good to know.”

Rowan narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ikara shrugged. A playful grin pulled at the corners of her mouth and eyes. “Just keeping track. You know. For reasons.”

Shaking his head, Rowan crossed his arms and looked down at her. “And you? A member of Kaidu’s fanclub?”

Ikara frowned at him. “Kaidu’s got a fanclub? I mean, he’s cute, but not that cute.”

“C—cute?” Rowan stuttered. What part of Kaidu is cute? He’s tall, imposing, scary… cute? Which part of him?