S-2878 • L6 Teceluna • D22 Abete
"Teceluna weaves a path with a firm thread. Abete opens space in gentle light. The tide traces a curve in living silver. The story carries on in a clear design."
Tanu was helping Hikaru organize the Vorovskoy mir's data. Small robots buzzed around them while books, documents, and objects traveled through the air between workstations.
"What are they gonna do now that the weapon's gone?" the nanoengineer murmured without taking his eyes off the holoscreen.
"No idea, but that Trix is crazy." The raccoon dog kept compiling the main information.
Then the atmosphere changed. The air grew heavy. A cold sensation ran along the back of Hikaru's neck like a thread of ice. He would recognize that aura from afar. And the citrus scent that announced it.
"Tanu, you can go." Hikaru massaged his forehead. What did this guy want now?
The robot obeyed and walked away.
Saymon clicked his tongue. Slid his fingers across the desk, picked up a technological component, and began turning it idly in his hands. "I need a weapon."
At least it was not another of those enigmatic visits in the middle of the night.
"Weapons aren't my specialty." Hikaru's subdued voice rippled through the air.
And through Saymon. The mercenary smiled. Hmm. Good. Saymon turned the nanoengineer's chair, making him face him and preventing him from continuing his work. He leaned over Hikaru. Brought his face closer. Too close. His golden eyes burned with suggestion.
"Little Tanu proved to be quite a formidable qn-weapon. Despite the… chaotic essence inhabiting him." Saymon touched the scar on his own forehead. "I can connect to more than one android. I can only do it by touching them. I wanna change that."
Hikaru looked away. His heart began to pound. Breathing became difficult with Saymon so close. But what had he just said? He could connect to more than one android? Impossible.
"I don't know how I can help you."
Saymon tilted his face. His lips curved. "Tu es sûr, minou? Des particules quantiques stabilisées par des nanites quantiques. Ce n'est pas ta spécialité?" His warm voice traveled down Hikaru's spine, Sure, kitty? Quantum particles stabilized by quantum nanites. Isn't that your specialty?
French. That meant… Hikaru sighed. "Follow me."
In the laboratory at the back, he asked Saymon to lie down on an examination table. The mercenary's vital signs appeared on the holoscreen. Hikaru connected the quantum analysis systems and began scanning him from head to toe.
What the hell was that? How could that man carry such an absurd quantity of q-nanites inside his body? Hundreds of questions began tumbling over one another in his head. It hardly mattered. He needed to understand how it worked. "How does the connection work?"
Saymon briefly explained how Gagner functioned. Hikaru listened closely.
So that was it. That information explained a great deal. Even dazed, he could not help feeling a silent reverence for what the instruments revealed. Those q-nanites. The author of the diary he had found as a child had helped coweave them. The passages about the transcendence of interfractal and technoneural networks must have referred to Gagner.
His mind seethed. The possibilities began to multiply. How could he transform that mechanism? How could he allow the connection to happen another way?
Hikaru collected a sample of Saymon's blood.
In the moons that followed, he worked intensely on the qn-prototype. Formulas. Codes. Tests. Two pistols. Bullets loaded with the mercenary's DNA.
Amid that confusion of calculations and hypotheses, Hikaru stopped. A memory reached him. Chiyo's voice. "Chemistry always finds balance, especially in chaos." His mother had said that many solar cycles ago.
Hikaru had never fully understood what she meant. But now… perhaps it was beginning to make sense.
He returned to work. And after so many attempts, he arrived at something promising.
A few lunations later
Saymon appeared in the early hours. Familiarly bloodied. Hikaru cared for him as always. Cleaned his wounds. Treated his injuries. Settled him into bed. Then fell asleep on the sofa.
When he woke, he was in bed again, beside Saymon. He got up and made coffee. The mercenary woke shortly afterward. Bringing his usual coldness with him.
Shit. Why did that apathy still bother him so much? Hikaru tried to focus on what mattered.
"Here." He handed Saymon one of the pistols. "The q-nanites you'd send to the android—send them into this part. The bullet will encapsulate the q-nanite."
The amber eyes sparked with pleasure. Saymon brought his face close to the nanoengineer's, almost touching him. That scent of bamboo and metal… Why did he like it so much?
"Good kitty." Saymon broke into a charming smile.
Hikaru could not stop the warmth spreading through his chest.
The mercenary narrowed his eyes. "I heard you met my beloved little sister, Maia." He ran his hand over Hikaru's dark blue kimono, feeling the nanometallized area of the nanoimplant that occupied the right side of his rib cage.
The nanoengineer shuddered faintly.
"What did you do to make her so furious?" An amused chuckle escaped Saymon, challenging him with genuine subtlety.
Hikaru answered only with an impatient click of his tongue. "Tsk."
The mercenary's smile grew even more suggestive. "I had a feeling you two might get along."
Hikaru tried to hide the surprise that flashed through his eyes. He did not entirely succeed. His black gaze met Saymon's golden one.
And for a moment, they remained caught in a magnetic frequency.
Saymon clicked his tongue. Moved closer again. His warm breath brushed the nanoengineer's face. "Y'know, the way you're looking at me… really makes me want you even more."
Kuso. Hikaru turned his face away. Stepped back.
Saymon's smile vanished. Why had he felt so deflated? It did not matter. He left.
Hikaru clenched his fists. Damn it. Only that guy could make him feel so strange.