Science and Sorcery Box Set

by Ryan Tang

"What do you think happened? This chair happened!"

  He shook his head.

  "It's a crime. Stock just had thousands of these chairs lying around? How is that possible? It's probably a good thing I didn't see them. I would've gotten myself canned for sure."

  Walter had formerly worked as Director Stock's steward, providing food and drink for all of his guests. Alex's heart wrenched in a terrible but familiar way as he nonchalantly waved his torn and broken hand around. He was missing three fingers on his left hand and the lower part of his palm. The other had been completely amputated.

  He'd suffered those injuries mining Eternium.

  Stock's servants were the first to suffer under his reign, the first to be deceived into signing his Contracts.

  Walter's time serving Stock made him exceptionally skilled at both gardening and meat production. To feed the whole colony, he'd constructed three massive greenhouses as well as a new facility purely to synthesize and produce water. There once were Blocks, especially those farther away from the hub of Southern Robotics, that'd received inadequate freshwater supplies. It was a problem Alex hadn't even realized.

  Best of all, Stock's meat-producing food generators were now available for everyone. The machines grew meat from Old Earth animals out of cell cultures.

  The crowd had cheered as they passed the pot-shaped restaurant.

  They cheered even louder as they passed the farms. Alex felt a little self-conscious cheering, but after a moment, she smiled and joined them.

  The colonists had eaten poorly for much of their lives without even realizing it. The food they ate now was miraculous. It was incredible they had it now and infuriating that it was there all along.

  Alex's mouth began to water just thinking about what they'd enjoy tonight.

  Juicy steaks with unimaginably tender meat.

  Fatty lamb, which she'd never tasted until a week ago.

  Crunchy pork, fried with the skin still on it.

  Unbelievably fresh fish.

  And it wasn't just the meat.

  The freshly gardened vegetables were a wonder. Walter and Margaret had insisted on building the greenhouses and planting the seeds from generated fruits and vegetables, which had always been a mere afterthought.

  The desserts were the most incredible of all.

  Alex had always admired Margaret's cooking, but now, with the finest ingredients available, every meal was an out of body experience.

  Last night she'd eaten an incredible raspberry sorbet drizzled with dark chocolate. Alex couldn't believe there were so many good foods out there. And Stock hadn't even been eating them! They'd just been lying around in his pantry!

  It took the sight of the newly raised memorial to jerk her out of her daydreaming.

  The train stopped for a moment of silence.

  They'd built their monument on the ruins of the demolished Southern Robotics headquarters.

  Alex had seen pictures of memorials from Old Earth. They were tall, grand, and dignified structures.

  A long wall with a list of names.

  An enormous statue.

  An array of symbols, each representing a death.

  They'd considered something like that, but many of the survivors were children speaking for their deceased parents. Their creation was very dignified, but with its incredibly bright colors, it couldn't properly be called somber. It was almost a miniature version of the apartments. There were painted pictures of everyone they'd lost accompanied by mementos symbolizing what they'd loved most. The memorial was covered with flowers in full bloom. It was built high into the air and spread wide through the cleared-out Block.

  She heard Emile step up beside her.

  "You were right to do the house last."

  They'd been planning on finishing up with the memorial, but Alex insisted on dedicating it last night and finishing with her home.

  She wanted to end with a celebration, and she didn't mind waiting.

  She didn't even know how much time she'd spend in her home. She'd been sleeping in the small nest of blankets she'd built for herself in the 8th-floor book-corridors. She thought she might continue sleeping there most nights even after her house was finished.

  Alex had once dreamed of reading every book, of reading every single page in the tower that stretched miles into the air.

  She just didn't have the time yet. There was so much to be done. She hoped to have more time after they finished rebuilding, but she had other responsibilities too.

  The train went on, flying above the freshly built Block 12 training grounds, and Mrs. T turned towards Alex and Emile.

  "How is the training going?"

  Alex sighed.

  That was just one example of what she had to do.

  Immediately after Stock's defeat, there had been a case of missing Paragons and what had seemed like ghosts stealing Eternium. The situation had been resolved peacefully, but everyone agreed the colony needed a defense force.

  But Alex's parents often told her that the Paragons had the strength of a thousand people, so that meant their pilot's mistakes were also amplified by a thousand times.

  And Plenty's pilots weren't ready. It would be a long and arduous process.

  Alex had started the first class with just the basics – having the discipline not to attack people. The Paragons had been built to fight monsters. Using them on fellow humans was a terrifying thought, and accidents could happen even when both people were inside Paragons. When Stock sent a test pilot to kill Jared, their battle had caused untold damage and massive bystander casualties.

  Alex and Emile were scouring the Library Spire in hopes of uncovering manuals that documented the training techniques of Old Earth. Once her pilots were ready, Alex couldn't wait to show them the new training grounds for live combat. They'd been built in the abandoned Block 12, which Stock had once used to imprison victims of his crimes. The Block was filled with battle gyms to train Plenty's pilots, with simulator pods on the upper floors and live combat in the massive underground bunkers.

  Their Paragon train continued looping around, flying past Blocks 2, 3, and 4. The area was largely empty, as most of the residents of those Blocks had moved to be closer to everyone else. Three days ago, Alex and Jared had worked together to scoop Mrs. T and Emile's stout three-story home and put it down near Block 7. Perhaps deciding what to do with those Blocks would be the next project after they finished Alex's home.

  And then they were back at the Spire courtyard.

  They stepped out of the Paragon-trains and descended together toward the mismatched majesty that awaited them below.

  ____

  "Ms. Alex! How high do you want it? Tell us how high!"

  Jon called out to her from the cockpit of Jared's Paragon. The pale boy grinned from ear to ear.

  Nico didn't even bother asking. He giggled excitedly as his mom Leanne diligently assembled the fourth story of Alex's new home.

  "Higher! Higher!"

  Almost all the kids were riding in the cockpits of the Paragons. The Peacetime models had huge cockpits that could fit over a dozen people at a time.

  The people who weren't working lazed about on the streets, cheering and drinking, shouting and celebrating.

  Alex couldn't stop smiling. She'd never seen so many people enjoying themselves together until after the battle at the Library Courtyard. Otherwise, she'd only ever saw so many people commuting in the train stations.

  Stock had been a big believer in long hours. He made everyone in his company, which was nearly everyone on the colony, work at least fourteen hours a day. It was sixteen during project deadlines, and it was almost always a project deadline.

  Stock claimed to work twenty-one hours a day and sleep only three, but by now, everyone knew he'd spent all his time goofing around and napping in his office. When he did work, it was just to monitor his employees. He would scream at the lucky ones and fire the others. Sometimes he'd even physically attack them.

  Perhaps it was for the best
he hadn't worked harder. Alex had visited him once after his capture, and she'd seen the quality of his ideas. He'd doodled out escape plans such as a safe suicide bombing helmet, a bomb strapped onto a thick helmet that he thought would protect his brain. The accident that'd destroyed Block 12 had been even more foolish, a false Paragon that'd been little more than a missile filled with combustible fuel.

  His engineers had innovated all of Southern Robotics's good ideas. His technicians and assembly-line workers had executed all of their plans. It was people like Matthew and Jared who'd been the heart of Southern Robotics.

  The survivors of Plenty believed in short hours, and without Stock and Waters screwing everything up, they'd accomplished so much more.

  Her house rose and rose, far grander than how Alex designed it.

  Her submission had been simple – a single floor painted light blue. Blue was her favorite color, and as Eternium proved when it resonated with her thoughts, it was the color of her soul. When she summoned her Paragon, the holy metal turned a blue that sparkled with every single shade.

  But Alex felt embarrassed asking for much. Blue of every shade would be hard to paint. And it seemed like a lighter color would be best. Dark blue, which she preferred the most, seemed a little aggressive for a house.

  Besides, anything would have been an improvement. Her old home had been a tiny eight-by-eight-by-eight foot cube. Her new home was with all her friends. Jared lived at the base, and Duncan lived above him. Emile still lived with her grandma, but she put her own set of apartments right below Alex's just in case she wanted to visit. Alex got the penthouse.

  Her finished apartments looked nothing like her initial submission. It was five stories tall with a huge balcony on the second floor and a sunroom at the very top. As the Hands Paragons stepped back, Alex gasped as she saw what they'd done with the paint.

  They'd painted it dark blue and dotted with countless stars. Every single speck was a different shade. It was a fusion of the ocean and the night sky.

  Alex shook her head in appreciation. She started crying a little.

  Jared shouted triumphantly from his cockpit.

  "Alright, so what's next?"

  Building the homes was easy to agree on. Even before the quakes, Plenty had a lot of homeless people. Almost everyone who didn't work for Southern Robotics couldn't afford a place to live. The librarians barely scraped by. And while everyone was already struggling, the quakes had happened.

  But it was different now. Everyone had a home, a strong and sturdy home of their dreams.

  Margaret shouted from her pink-colored machine. The elderly lady had snuck a bottle of wine with her into the cockpit. She'd never drink while piloting, but now she waved it triumphantly back and forth.

  "We'll find out what's next tomorrow! Tonight, we celebrate!"

  The crowd cheered.

  Alex sloppily wiped away her tears as she cheered with the rest of them.

  She was doing a lot of cheering today. It was nice.

  The people of Plenty streamed for Margaret's restaurant, and Alex was just about to join them when her tablet rang. It was a call from her parents. She thought for a moment then dismissed it.

  "Partying with friends right now. I will get back to you in a bit!"

  Her parents were pleasantly surprised.

  "You've been partying a lot lately!"

  "What's been going on?"

  Alex laughed.

  They didn't know the beginning of it.

  ____

  She called her parents later that night, her face still flushed red.

  Her mom and dad responded immediately, jamming themselves onto the screen of their tiny tablet. Alex frowned. She should buy them a bigger tablet. She'd already been thinking about that for weeks; there was so much money inside Stock's vaults. She could buy her parents anything they wanted.

  Stocks had left behind billions. She could purchase them much more than just a tablet. The librarian just had to tell them what happened, and she wasn't sure how to do that yet.

  "Hey! Everything okay?"

  "Yeah! Just took a bit!"

  Alex giggled. It'd been a delightful party. But when she took a closer look at the screen, sudden worry pierced through her happy buzz.

  Her parents looked very tired.

  "What's wrong?"

  They sighed.

  "Tough day working."

  "There's a lot to catch up on these days."

  Her parents worked so hard. It was expensive getting from one colony to another. Her parents had gotten her off of Diligence, but it meant they still had to struggle during their old age.

  Alex shook her head.

  Not anymore. She could give them so much money they never had to work again.

  Her dad grimaced.

  "Protests are getting worse and worse. A lot of people clogging up the streets. It makes it even harder to get anywhere."

  Alex frowned even more.

  Plenty's protests had been about the quakes, specifically the government funneling money to Southern Robotics instead of rebuilding their shattered homes.

  "Have you had quakes like ours?"

  "No, no, nothing like that."

  "Not at all!"

  Her parent's quick denial was an enormous relief. The quakes, which were so similar to the old Disasters that had destroyed Earth, had been utterly terrifying. But they weren't natural disasters after all, just Stock mining the colony.

  It was good to know nothing like that was happening on Diligence.

  "You guys are fine now, right? No, quakes?"

  "Yeah!"

  "Is that why people are celebrating?"

  Alex laughed. It was, but it wasn't the whole story.

  "Yeah, sort of!"

  How should she tell her parents what had happened? It was probably best discussed with everyone else. Nobody on the other colonies knew what had happened yet to Stock and Southern Robotics.

  Her dad frowned.

  "You know, we saw some weird stuff. Some conspiracy theories about Southern Robotics made it to our colony. Stuff about how they were causing the quakes on purpose. Did you guys find out what happened with that?"

  That was very close to the mark. She wondered how they knew, but it wasn't her place to tell, not just yet.

  "Yeah! It's not a problem. I'll tell you all about it later."

  They talked about other things instead, like how her former neighbors were doing. Her parents always gave her the time, space, and trust to figure things out for herself. It'd been like that since she was a girl.

  But now Alex knew what was next for the survivors of Plenty. They had to find a way to tell people on the other colonies what'd happened.

  ____

  The next day, the colony met in the rounded conference room at the base floor of the Library Spire. Alex had forged it to fit everyone on Plenty, bending the Eternium walls into a bulbous sphere that could contain thousands. At first, Alex had been worried about creating the assembly hall. It was far larger than her Paragon, and she'd meant it to be a permanent change. But as soon as she touched the walls, they'd sprang into action. It felt like the library was happy to accommodate everyone.

  Many of the people who trickled in pressed their hands to the frigid walls, hoping to see if a spark would dance in response.

  But nothing happened, and Alex still wasn't sure why.

  The librarian shook her head. Alex saw Jon frown with concentration as he reached his hand at the floor over and over again, making like he was trying to pull something from the floor. He'd succeeded at it once before, but the ability had left him as soon as it'd come.

  It was alright. There'd be time to figure out how to train others to command Eternium, just like there'd be time to forge fresh samples of the metal. For now, she had to focus on the task at hand. She should have known what was next. They were living in a better world now. What else could there be but to bring their loved ones into it!

  Alex made her way to the stage. As always
, her heart bobbled in her chest.

  She didn't like speaking in front of crowds, even very friendly ones. The librarian shook her head and flexed her hand, gripping it around an imaginary thruster. Imagining herself inside the cockpit of a Paragon always calmed her down.

  "Hi, guys. Thanks for coming to the meeting."

  There were a lot of people here today, but not as many as there'd been at last night's party. There were probably a lot of people still recovering, and others who had socialized enough for a while. Usually, Alex would have been one of them. She would have liked nothing more than to relax and read inside the book-corridors. But she had to host this meeting for her parents.

  She cleared her throat.

  "I want to bring my parents to Plenty."

  Her parents had worked so hard to get her here.

  "I want to tell them what happened and invite them to the colony."

  The response wasn't what she expected. People were confused.

  "Why do you need to ask us for that?"

  "Yeah, go ahead! Why are you asking us?"

  "I didn't know you were from another colony!"

  It was rare to move among the colonies. It was easy for the wealthy with their private shuttles, but for everyone else, it was a tricky and challenging process. A single shuttle irregularly rounded all the colonies. It only launched if enough people paid to fund it, so the key to an inexpensive trip was coordinating with others. The shuttle cost $50,000 per trip split between everyone on the flight. If you found enough people to ride with, you could fly for a relatively low price. But if you couldn't, you were stuck until enough momentum built up.

  A muscular woman at the front urgently raised her hand into the air. She was missing her thumb and ring finger.

  "Excuse me. Were we supposed to ask for permission? I already invited my family over!"

  A chorus of other voices soon joined her. Margaret was one of them.

  "I didn't know we had to ask for permission. I've already told my niece and nephew what happened and told them to come here at once!"

  The muscular woman looked at Alex and laughed.

  "Why did you think you had to ask for permission? Of course, we want to bring your family here!"

  Alex turned red, and her words caught in her throat. She didn't want to worry anybody, and it wasn't that Plenty wasn't ready to receive more people. But she wasn't sure if they were ready to interact with the leaders of other colonies. For generations, the Stock family had been the wealthiest and most powerful family on Plenty. Waters had governed the colony for over sixty years, ever since he was in his twenties. But now Stock was imprisoned, and Waters had vanished.