by Cindy Zhang
Some examples to help: losing an arm is often worse than being stabbed in the throat, because the arm has more volume to contain the set. Possessing a living human is like jumping into a black hole in case it's a portal; there's no reason to do that, and the truly desperate or deranged don't have enough access to try."
- Excerpts from The Unofficial Guide to Sets, Piper Patel, Chapter VI. Instincts and Abilities.
Naomi talks the police officers who arrive on scene later into taking the corpse as a bribe.
"It's a scientific marvel," she tells them with such conviction that she could pass off as a biology undergrad. She kneels and pulls meaningfully at the plastic gloves she found somewhere in the hold. "This could mean incredible advances for our species. We're already behind with regard to psychic activity; do you think your supervisors would be happy you let the opportunity pass by just to arrest a bunch of exhausted children?" Naomi gestures behind her to where Sabine, Eirlys, Tel, and the child are all slumped together in a heap. 38 is watching them, amused, and Ast is leaning quietly against Ship.
"What's stopping us from confiscating it from you when we arrest you?" one officer asks, genuinely confused.
"Scavenger's rights," Naomi says, triumphant enough that they don't ask her what that means. She pats the tentacle closest to her, and it shudders with residual energy.
The officer cringes. "Uh, okay. But just this once."
"Trust me"—she laughs—"we're not planning to make this a recurring thing."
*~*~*
They're immediately busy again, in the days after, planning that Send-Off that Sabine promised to help with.
"We need a Naming for the kid, too," Eirlys points out for the third time that day. She's grown really attached, and Sabine wouldn't be surprised if she announced that she was going to be a mentor to the kid any day now.
"After the Send-Off," Sabine promises. "In case…" She bites her lip. "In case there might be parts of Lleu in there. It's better to clear away all those expectations before we Name them."
"Oh. Right."
They watch quietly as the little thing wobbles across the floor, from one wall to the other.
"You know," Sabine starts, and nearly stops there. Her hand shakes a little. "I was serious about all those things I said."
Eirlys doesn't respond for so long that Sabine decides to pretend she didn't hear. When she does say something, it isn't what Sabine expected at all. "You've been doing a lot of culture research, for Ast and Ship," she brings up.
"Oh. Uh, yeah." Sabine's still too preoccupied with the lack of answer to what she said to ask why she's changing the subject.
"I did a little research, too," Eirlys says finally. She turns to face Sabine, their faces suddenly very close, and—oh.
Eirlys lays one hand on Sabine's jaw and presses her mouth to Sabine's lips. It only lasts for a count of two, and nothing particularly interesting happens on the surface, but Sabine can hear her heart in her ears and she has to remind herself to breathe.
"I didn't quite get that." Sabine smiles. "Would you mind repeating it?"
FIN
About the Author
Cindy is currently trying her best. She grew up in British Columbia, Canada, where she now attends university. While she made her home in fantasy a long time ago, she’s attempting to branch out into sci-fi, with varying success. The problem is that the dragons keep drawing her back.
She’s collected more notebooks than anyone knows what to do with in a lifetime, and she really shouldn’t be allowed to have any more. She also recently discovered crochet, and she immediately decided that it’s better than knitting.
Find her on Tumblr at czwrite (czwrite.tumblr.com) for questions, book recommendations, and complaints.
