“What kind of rules?”
“I don’t focus on the things I can’t control, for one.” She holds up a finger and then lifts a second. “And… if the universe wants me to have something, I don’t argue.”
“What does the universe want you to have?”
She leans close. “You can see the future. You tell me.”
“Found it!” Kari waggles a bag at us. “I don’t know how it got caught up in the system… but, nothing’s lost for long back here. Not even pens that try to roll into the trickiest places.”
She sits back on her stool, types through a few commands, scanning a barcode before saying, “Oo. You get the good stuff.”
She checks the computer one more time to be sure everything matches up and then hands over the bag.
“And here,” she writes something down on a piece of paper, “is Arabella’s information. Definitely look into it. If she has it pre-made, she can get it to you in an hour by drone delivery.”
“Thanks!” Chrys looks at the information and sighs. “Honestly, it’s a travesty that I don’t already own worm on a string earrings.”
“Yes, it is.” Kari looks at the bag and asks, “Are you familiar with the medication?”
“Yep!”
“You and your bondmate have fun then.” She winks, and I don’t understand it, but I also don’t plan to correct her misapprehension.
Kari waves goodbye to us and goes into the back as we turn for the elevator.
When we’re out of hearing, Chrys asks, “Do I get worm on a string earrings?”
Laughing, I reply, “Yes… in three colors.”
She beams, and when she slips her hand in mine, I do too.
The rest of the trip to the car is spent with her explaining the silly toys and something called memes.
Her smile doesn’t fade until she pulls the prescription bottle from the bag.
“Oh…” She looks at it oddly. “These aren’t what I usually take.”
“Do we need to go back?”
“No, no… I’ll read the sheet and it should be fine.”
The “sheet” is a glowing block of text that scrolls across the tube of the pill bottle and when she’s done, she shrugs. “It seems the same.”
I hand her a water bottle and she tips back a pair of round orange pills.
“It usually takes about an hour to kick in. I really should have taken it with food.” But she shrugs again.
“And what does it do?”
“Helps me focus, that’s all.”
“Okay.” I start the car with a thought, the neural link doing all the work. “Is there anything else you need before we head home?”
Chrys’ lips quirk in a little smile Ihopeis for the word home… and she shakes her head, hair brushing at her face. “I am pretty sure Arc has me covered.”
“I’m pretty sure he does too.”
She tosses the bottle into the brightly stitched together animal-shaped bag Risk found in the wreckage, and I turn the car back toward the Zone.
