Dreambreaker: Chapter 7

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 1" 

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 2" 

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 3" 

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 4" 

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 5" 

"Dreambreaker: Chapter 6" 



In the end they had decided on an inn in the building where Kalar had planned on making Metal forms for fair fights. There was a room with five beds into which they had begun settling. Bodhi was exhausted from her last Consciousness form, and, engulfed again by Shkerqi, feel asleep. Yunhi fell asleep soon after, and miraculously, so did Unanda. Kalar tried to fall asleep for what felt like an eternity, but the shocks that rolled through him every time a thought broke through his calm kept him awake.

         “The book! Spirits! Quench me! Spirits Quench me and beast my corpse!” Kalar swore silently. With that, Kalar couldn't go to sleep anymore. He quietly got out of his bed and made for the door. He stopped and looked at a flash in his peripheral vision.

         Ashtas was looking at his Wimcard. “Couldn't sleep?” he whispered.

         “Uh, yeah, I have to...” Kalar trailed off.

         “Well, Bodhi asked me to give this to you first.” Ashtas indicated his bag on floor.

         Kalar looked in the bag and pulled out an ancient book. This was it. The fruition of their quest. Glorious triumph of good over evil, right over wrong, justice for all. Kalar beamed brightly as Ashtas smiled to himself.

         Yunhi started mumbling in her sleep, “Is ink sat a diddle nigh eve, color.”

         Kalar chuckled at her nonsense words. His mood was infinitely brighter. Unanda's sanity was an unfortunate casualty in a war that had and always would benefit the greater good. Unfortunately, his high was their victory did not prepare him for sleep, so he decided to prepare some forms for the Feather Festival.

         “Do you want to help me prepare some fair fight forms?” he whispered to Ashtas

         “Sure, where?”

         Kalar thought about working up in the storehouse, but her wanted to be near Unanda if she woke up.

         “Let's work here, we'll just be quiet,” Kalar decided.

         Quietly, he stole up to the floor with his shop supplies. He gathered up the spindles and carefully placed them in a bag before returning to the inn room. They worked in silence but with deep satisfaction.

         When they finished, Ashtas came with Kalar as he carefully carried the bag of forms down to the shop. It was a tiny shop with one sliding door on the outside facing the sidewalk, one sliding door on the inside of the building, and one walk up window where customers could get their goods. There was one space for one shelving unit and one stool. If there was anything more than the Wimcard payment pad, the shop would be too crowded. A reproduction of an ancient painting depicting a swordsman with sword drawn hung on the wall opposite the window.

         As Kalar stocked the shelves with spindles, Ashtas stood outside the door and talked, “We all know that the ease of which one can pull elemental metal from a compound is proportional to its electron potentiation.”

         “Uh-huh,” Kalar said remembering the equations from later in general school and throughout Skills. Potentiating an ion to its elemental form took a considerable amount natura. Certain metals were easier than others, like gold, but others, like sodium, were temperamental. He had used such forms in the mines under Shalagal that very afternoon.

         “Well, I've been researching another pattern. You're aware of the discrepancies present among certain mineral groups...”

         Kalar nodded as thought about the minerals to which Ashtas was referencing. The differences were noticeable and interesting, but didn't make a large difference to the person executing the form. Certain zinc minerals were easier to potentiate than they should have been. Iron-containing minerals were notoriously unquantifiable.

         “Well, thanks to the Quantum Redistribution Project, the Crystal Way is back from the dead and finally producing competent experts. One such expert wrote a report on the effects of standard quantities of natura on dissolved minerals...”

         Kalar's mind was electrified by the implied conclusions. “Are you saying that somehow a mineral's response to Crystal natura accounts for the discrepancies?”

         “That's exactly what I'm saying. The minerals that are easier to potentiate all have lower crystallization energies...” Ashtas began, waiting for Kalar to finish the thought.

         “Because of the quantum make up of Metal natura. It's made of Electric and Plant naturons. Potentiation is directly related to the amount of electricity it takes to produce the element from its ion. Plant natura is about self-replication of patterns, though Crystal natura, made of Plant and Consciousness naturons, focuses exclusively on concrete patterns, like minerals. The Plant naturon portion of Metal natura responds to these minerals, making the potentiation easier!”

         “Exactly. Work is easier when two hands work together than when only one hand is working by itself. And this discovery is interesting and wonderful, but it gets stranger. You've heard of Akhan's Adhesive,” Ashtas hesitated. Kalar had stopped stocking the shelves to focus completely on their conversation. He was of course aware of the saying; “If an explanation is simple, look again.”

         “Stranger? How?” Kalar asked.

         “These minerals with low crystallization energies and that are easy to potentiate...they are all minerals important in biological systems.” Ashtas stopped to let the weight of his statement to impress upon Kalar.

         This new piece of information fit readily into the puzzle. Molecules in biological systems were affected by Plant natura, that was how Plant natura affected living things as a whole, and Metal natura arose from Electric and Plant naturons together, not Electric and Crystal, as if such a thing could exist. But how could Plant naturons affect biological molecules outside of the context of an organism?

         Kalar chose to speak his concerns, “How can Plant naturons...?”

         Ashtas nodded as he cut him off, “That's what I wondered. I think it has something to do with clouds.”

         Kalar pointed up and looked confused.

         “No, the stuff that makes up strings. I think that the clouds of the strings of the quarks of the atoms that make up biological molecules have a little bit of a recognition mechanism in them, designed into the very fabric of the universe. When the atoms in a biological molecule are all together, that is when Plant naturons are able to interact with them best. Which brings me to the Revelation...” Ashtas paused for dramatic effect.

         Kalar suddenly felt light-headed. He realized he was talking to his idol about cutting-edge Metal Way research spanning from recently revived Ways to the fuzzy topic of subatomic clouds to the widely speculated about Revelation. His exhilaration made it difficult for his to focus on the line of thought.

         “My theory about the Revelation is that an expert in the Plant Way who has had the Revelation can manipulate any atom that has even a piece of this recognition mechanism*.”

         This theory about the Revelation made sense to Kalar. From what he had heard, when someone had the Revelation, it could do strange things with its natura. People said that using natura in general was like guiding a stream down a hillside. When one has the Revelation, it was like swimming in the ocean. Unfortunately, when people had the Revelation, they didn't explain it or talk about it. Some said they couldn't. If the Revelation just caused someone's forms to be less discriminating, that could explain the strange results, but that was a major “if.”

         Kalar finally organized his thoughts to have a logical sentence, “That theory all rests on the nature of clouds. We're only now beginning to understand clouds.          How is that going to be testable?”

         Ashtas smiled knowingly, “I'll just have to have the Revelation.”

         Kalar laughed, “But then you won't be able to tell anyone your findings!”

         “But at least I'll know the answer.”

         Kalar finished stocking the shelves with the last few spindles. Tiredness was beginning to creep into the cracks in his excitement. He yawned widely.

         “We should get some sleep. We have the Feather Festival tomorrow,” Kalar said, half to himself.

         “Yes, the festivities start early tomorrow,” Ashtas said.

         They walked back up to the room and quietly found their beds. Kalar settled into the cool material of his bed and swiftly fell asleep. But it was not the festivities that awoke Kalar in the early morning before dawn. Unanda's screams pierced the night, waking everyone instantly. She stared around the room wide-eyed and in a rage.

         “They're here, I know they're here. Show yourselves! I'm not afraid anymore! I don't care what you do, I'll rip you to shreds!” she shouted as loud as she could.

         “Unanda, sweetie, it was just a dream,” Bodhi said softly, a Consciousness form ready. Unanda leapt from her bed and screamed wildly as she flipped over beds. Bodhi placed the form quickly followed by an Ivory form, and Unanda calmed.

         “But it was so real,” Unanda said, slumping onto an overturned bed.

         “That's going to happen a lot,” Yunhi said, yawning suddenly. “Hmm, interesting. It could have been worse with your fear center intact and amnesia. This is a find,” she said to herself.

         “It could have been worse!?” Shkerqi, Kalar, Ashtas, and Unanda said at once, but Unanda's voice was sarcastic.

         “Well, the sun's going to rise pretty soon. We should try to get a little more sleep before the parade and all that,” Shkerqi yawned loudly.

         After fixing the room, they settled in their beds. Kalar thought he would have trouble falling asleep, but awoke to the sun peaking through a small hole in the blackened wall. The sun speck fell right on his face, right on his eyelid. In his confusion, he heard whimpering and breathless words. He got up and stood over Unanda. He didn't want to get too close for fear she might carry out her promise of his death involuntarily.

         “Unanda,” he called softly. “Unanda, wake up. You're having...”

         She sat bolt upright and scanned the room savagely. Relaxing, she mumbled sleepily, “What time is it?”

         “Sunrise, or just after. Are you hungry? Do you want to find breakfast?” he asked gently.

         “Sure, yeah. Actually, I'm starving,” she said.

         Quietly, they slipped out of the room. In the lobby of the inn there was only a panel and a Wimcard payment pad. With two button presses and a Wimcard tap, they checked out of the room and headed out to the sidewalk.

         “Sorry if this is painful, but what do you want to eat?” Kalar asked tentatively.

         As expected, Unanda clutched her head and huffed short breaths through her tensed jaw. “Surprise me,” she said finally.

         “Trusty Wimcard saves the day,” Kalar offered, trying to ease the mood. “Here's two places for us. They're close, just in the next circle.”

         “Great, let's go.”

         As they walked, Feather Day activities picked up from a whisper to a hum. People greeted each other with the traditional circle, drawing it in the air or touching thumb to fingertips; the symbol of victory.

         “Do you remember your first Feather Day?” Kalar asked. He thought early memories might be a safe thing to discuss.

         “Vaguely, and thankfully, I suppose. That was before Big E, you know, and Feather Day was more abstract.”

         “Yeah, celebrating the dawn of a New Age.”

         “Exactly. I didn't know what that meant, but I loved the tasty treats.”

         “Oh yeah!” Kalar exclaimed, eager for nostalgia. “They used to make this stuff called Feather Bread. I haven't seen it in years.”

         “For me it was this lacy, thin, gummy cracker. It had a light taste, like alum and cuprous and a little bit of spice...”

         “Sodisil,” Kalar finished, remembering.

         “Yeah, sodisil! It was good. How did you know?”

         “My uh, someone I used to know used to get it and let me have a bite. I could have just a little.” He decided it was better to keep it impersonal.

         “Really? So, you're metal tolerant or part ferroid or...” She looked at him, the hope of commonality in her eyes.

         “Yeah, part ferroid. My mother,” Kalar felt himself on the precipice. He had to change the subject before he broke down in front of her. “So what do you want to do today? There's the parade, games...”

         “What happened?” She asked, seeing through his hollow attempt at deflection. “You don't have to be afraid. I'm not,” she said defiantly.

         “You don't want to know. It's in the past, so we should just leave it there.”

         “Listen, with everything I've experienced it can't be that bad,” Unanda said. “What I mean is, you can tell me.” Her voice conveyed a surprising compassion.

         “Honestly, we should focus on you. I'd much rather help you.”

         “No, I'm sick of focusing on me. I want to know, truly. I don't care what it is, but by resisting you made me want to know. And tell me the truth,” Unanda warned. “I'll know if you're lying.”

         Kalar doubted that, he was usually quite convincing, of so he thought.

         He thought hard about what he should do. Typically, he would be angry at someone prying into his private world, but Unanda was different. He wanted to trust, to share his burden with an understanding person, on his own terms.

         “I don't talk to my parents anymore. I made a big mistake, and they... they were so disappointed in me. Scared of me. Even my mother's other spouses,” tears stung Kalar's eyes. “I left them years ago, started a new life, but I still feel the guilt,” he did his best to calm himself, but failed. “We're almost there, I just need...” Kalar took a deep breath and wiped his eyes.

         “Kalar, I'm sure they want to hear from you again. You're obviously sorry for whatever it is you did. You should talk to them.” Unanda lowered her head to find his eyes and brought them up even with hers in a smooth motion.

         The torrents of emotion that came from looking into Unanda's eyes overwhelmed him. The latest, relief for confiding in her, covered old guilt. Ebullience from their burgeoning connection thrilled him, while the rejection he anticipated if she ever learned the whole truth terrified him.

         He wanted to tell her no, that they were in the past, but something made him say, “Maybe you're right.”

         They parted then, briefly, to buy breakfast. Kalar worried that Unanda would have an episode, but she assured him she would be fine. Inside the tiny, clean diner, Kalar perused the floating holographic meals from which he could choose. He was in the mood for something bold, savory, hearty; his body was telling him he needed to replenish a number of nutrients.

         He approached the worker at the counter. The worker, an average height biped with four arms covered in gray feathers, greeted him with four encircled fingers.

         “Hello, are you well?” the worker asked genially. He had the same conversational interest that people on the train adopted.

         “Yes, and you?” Kalar replied. Usually, Kalar avoided such exchanges, but today he felt different, competent and whole.

         “Yes, thank you. What can I get for you today?” the worker asked.

         “Can I have the grinvienya and a tangroot juice?” Kalar loved grinvienya, especially with extra spicesprout.

         “Sure, but we are out of tangroot. If you really want the juice, you could go up to the farm and pick a few,” the worker informed him. Kalar considered this option, and found it favorable.

         “Do you have a bag?” Kalar asked.

         “Sure, here you go. Just pick three or four and bring them back here. The farm is on the top floor, and the elevator is down the hall and on the left.”

         Kalar left the diner through the interior door and entered the elevator. As he rode it to the top floor, he hoped Unanda's meal wasn't prepared faster than his.

         The elevator opened to an immense greenhouse filled orderly rows of bushy multicolored crops. He walked down the aisles, brushing against the fragrant leaves. He could feel the slow, steady pulse of the plants, growing, converting light and air into substance and nourishment. A wilted plant stood out to him, its pulse faint. Using the extent of his Plant Way knowledge, he healed the organism, drawing water and nutrients into its organs. A farmer approached him, greeting him with victory hand gesture.

         “Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked.

         “Where are the tangroots?” Kalar asked, holding up his bag.

“Go down about twenty-one rows and turn right. The tangroots are about fifty-six or sixty-three columns on your left. You'll know they're ripe when the tops of the roots are deep red,” she said gesturing.

         Kalar thanked her and set off at a light jog. He passed shrubs with bright yellow fruits and hairy herbs with purple tendrils. He passed the pink spiceflower that tasted terrible eaten raw, but dried for a week would make anything taste better. He felt a growing sense of urgency and needed to get down to Unanda.

         After plucking a number of large number of ripe-looking plants from the nutrient gel, he broke off the tops and put the thick roots in his bag. He considered the tops for a moment before deciding to try to get them to grow roots and plant them again. Some of the cuttings looked sickly, which caused him to twist a dubious smirk at them. He didn't have time. He trotted his straight line path to the elevator, and it opened at his approach.

         As Kalar exited the elevator on the ground floor, a swell of steelshell drums, brashflutes, and chimepets greeted him like an ovation. The tune was simple enough that when one started playing, others could jump in. It had a hundred unique verses for every language and region, but the chorus was mostly the same:

Victory! Victory!

Comes to us today!

Victory! Victory!

We fought for harmony!

         Kalar began humming to himself as he walked up to the worker behind the counter. “I picked up a few extra in case anyone else wants some,” Kalar said in a loud voice.

         “Thank you! Your meal and juice will be ready in a moment,” The worker was heartily sincere in his gratitude as he accepted the bag of tangroots. The whir of machinery briefly added to the musical cacophony, and then the worker appeared carrying a hardpaper box and a bottle of vermillion juice.

         After Kalar paid and closing pleasantries were exchanged, he stepped into wide sidewalk and was completely enveloped in the music. He found Unanda sitting at a table in the ferroid restaurant cradling her head in her hands.

         “Unanda...” he began, and she looked up at him.

         “Can we go up to one of the gardens?” she was in pain, and it showed in the anger on her face.

         “Yes, of course,” he acquiesced. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”

         “Here,” she said bluntly showing him her Wimcard. It marked a route from their current location up and through the building, through, up, and over seven more buildings to a jungle in the clouds.

         As they made their way up, occasionally the indoors gave way to an outdoor walkway, and each time the music became fainter and fainter until it couldn't be heard at all. Unanda relaxed visibly at this realization. The signs of the holiday had lessened, but not disappeared. Above the first few levels, the rooms were mainly housing or manufacturing, except for a local grocery, supplied by freight elevators. The people still greeted them with the circle of victory, and charms and garlands hung on the doors.

         Finally, they emerged on a cloud-wrapped patch of jungle. Lianas and roots had claimed the majority of the vast open balcony, but a few benches in the shade of the building had only been covered in a silent, serried moss. The calls of the living organisms engulfed them in their daily form of celebratory singing. They began to eat.

         “How does your... jelly...taste, Unanda?” Kalar asked tentatively, peering at the gently quivering emerald mass.

         “It doesn't remind me of anything the daemons did to me, if that's what you mean. It's good. It's especially delicious because it isn't poisoned,” she replied frankly, gulping from her scoop.

         “That would make anything more delicious,” Kalar remarked.

         “Maybe they should have that as a slogan- 'Delicious cuisine! Absolutely not poisoned!'” Unanda said, gesturing amid gulps. Kalar laughed loudly. She continued, “'Could taste like anything, but you'll eat it 'cause it's not poisoned!'”

         “'Customers love our non-poisoned food for its non-agonizing effects!'” Kalar offered.

         “'Way better than the filth they make you eat in Nikyry!'” Unanda said with her mouth full.

         Kalar laughing halted as he assessed the kind of reaction she wanted him to have. Mostly it made him feel guilty.

         “Oh, come on, that one was funny. Yeah, so I had to eat some awful things, but I've got this now....” she slurped the jelly directly from the hardpaper bowl. “Spirits, is it good!” She moaned as she tilted the bowl into her mouth.

         “I'm glad you're enjoying it,” Kalar said.

          A kitty with thin, clear scales and folded wings slinked up to them shyly.

         “Ooooh, she's beautiful. Kalar give her some of your food,” Unanda said, her eyes greedily absorbed in the animal. Kalar pinched a few strands of his food and tossed them lightly toward the scavenger. It snuck up to them, darting its nose toward it for a thorough analysis. The animal squawked happily and munched the donation.

         “That is too adorable. I...” she shook her head vigorously. “Living in my old home is going to be a pain for a while,” she said, amending her previous thought.

         “You could always stay with me,” Kalar blurted out before thinking.

         “I think I might take you up on your offer,” Unanda said after a moment.

         Kalar grinned at the idea of it. He smiled at Unanda.

         The chime of Kalar's Wimcard broke in; it was Bodhi.

         “Hello Kalar,” Bodhi beamed, drawing a circle in the air.

         “Hello Bodhi, are you well?” Kalar replied, suddenly feeling uneasy.

         “I'm sorry to interrupt,” she began with a slight smile, “but I need to remind you to destroy the book. When you are finished call Shkerqi or I and we can enjoy the Feather Festival together. You really shouldn't be alone, the Akina Balaa could find you.”

         Unanda continued grinning at the kitty, but a cocky smile blended itself with her enamoration. The secret happiness that had unfurled itself in Kalar's mind recoiled as he fortified himself.

         “And I thought I might actually enjoy myself this Feather Festival,” Kalar mumbled.

         “Well, that's the way it is. I gotta go now. Meet us downtown in an hour. We can formulate a plan from there. Be well.”

         “Be well,” Kalar said, thinking the opposite.

         “What did you mean you thought you were going to enjoy yourself this Feather Festival? From the way your were humming, I thought you liked this holiday,” Unanda asked scooping the last of the green jelly into her mouth.

         “Actually, any holiday with crowds is taxing for me. When you wanted to get away from the noise, I was way ahead of you. I thought maybe we could just walk around the upper levels, watch the bubble displays and the parade from above and just relax.”

         She curled her hand around his, “That sounds nice.”

         Kalar's heart started beating rapidly and his face got hot. He pulled his hand away, and as an excuse, held the hardpaper box while he finished eating. He smiled weakly at her as he ate the rest of his food.

         “Kalar,” she said, looking at his head, “are those flower buds?”

         Kalar choked a little and took a swig of juice to swallow. “Uh, yes. That happens sometimes.”

         “Of course. What color will they be?” Unanda gently looked pulled back two leaves to get a closer look.

         Kalar pulled away, slowly, “Uh, an orange color. Not that bigga deal. So do you want to get going?”

         “I hope I get to see them in full bloom soon,” Unanda said before collecting the remains of her meal.

         Kalar nearly choked again but just murmured noncommittally as he finished up the last of his juice.

         After putting their ree in the appropriate bins, Kalar noticed how dirty his shirt was. “Unanda? Do want to bathe before rejoining the others?”

         “Ohhh, I could use a good bath right about now. I haven't...had...a good bath... in so long...” Unanda struggled to get these last words out. She stumbled a little, but kept walking. Kalar caught her hand as she steadied herself.

         “Are you sure?” Kalar asked.

         “I'm working on a new theory. I can feel all the pain, as if I'm there again. It replays itself in my mind, again and again, again and again. But after a while, my mind just kind of gives up if I just wait it out. If I don't fight it, just watch the movie and the boring reruns, it goes away. I'm just going to take a bath,” Unanda said. She straightened and pulled Kalar into the next building on their walkway. It did not have ferroid baths, but the next floor down did. As soon as the sliding door opened, Unanda shimmied out of her dress and walked to the nearest open bath stall. Conflicted, Kalar turned his head as her naked form receded, but tracked her with one eye. He found an adjacent stall with water and stripped down to his skin.

         “Unanda, are you OK over there?” Kalar asked before stepping into the bath.

         “I...will be... just fine in... one moment!” Unanda shouted the last word, but he knew that the catharsis was for her own sake. “Ah, that's slightly better.” She seemed to be talking to herself.

         Kalar slipped into the warm water and let the tension and grime dissolve away. The water in the sizable sunken tub was the purest it would ever be; dirty warm was constantly siphoned away from the bath while clean, warm water filtered in. He opened himself to drink in the water, letting it fill him. It satisfied a full body thirst and warmed him from crown to tips. He pressed a button on the floor that  started the cleaning process. The surface of the water gathered tiny ripples like gooseflesh before it started emitting a heavy fog. Kalar listened for cries from Unanda, but she was sighing more than whimpering. He submerged his head into the muffled, watery world. He felt every speck of his skin vibrate as the water buzzed silently. Slowly, his sense of touch faded. His muscles melted. He no longer had a body. He was this pool of water. He floated in the darkness. Sleep inconspicuously danced with his mind in the void, his body sustaining itself for the time being. He dreamt he was seaweed, rollicking in the ocean, lazy and unencumbered. Sunlight like shimmering silver quilts snuggled him joyously. In an instant, a daemon snapped him from his stipe, and he struggled to the surface. He sat up and gasped for breath.

         “Kalar, are you OK?” Unanda asked.

         “Sure, yeah, why?” he said, breathing deeply.

         “'Cause I've been calling your name but you haven't said anything. I was about to come in there, but I didn't want to because this feels real good,” she replied.

         “Oh, I kind of feel asleep. Sorry, are you OK?” he asked. The smell of a certain tropical flower wafted over from her stall.

         “Me? I am just fine. I...” her Wimcard interrupted her.

         “Hey Nolis...Are you well?” Unanda grunted with sincerity.

         “Girl, I should be asking you that. Are you OK?” Nolis replied.

         “No, not really. I was in Nikyry, and I thought I was there for like, years, but I was only there for less than half an hour. Now, all my memories are all messed up and this crazy naked Psychic person put a form on me so I don't feel fear. Like, for example, I remember killing you rather gruesomely in this nasty pit I was stuck in. I thought you would try to help me, but you just kept trying to kill me. And then, as you were dying, you started crying about how you thought we were friends.”

         “Uhh, are you serious? What...? Is this a joke?”

         “No, no joke. Oh, I was saved or something like that, and I know that didn't really happen, but I still feel like it happened. Majorly beasts my mind, you know?”

         “I'm still confused, you were in Nikyry? For real?”

         “Yeah, and it seriously messed me up, but my mind is going like ten times the speed of light to try and figure it all out. My brain feels like its broken now though, you know?”

         “I hear you, That is some major backwards. Do you want me to do anything? You wanna meet up?”

         “Well, maybe not right now, but maybe in a week, I'll face you back, and we can go and do something. Just gotta take it easy for now. It's seriously beasting my mind to even see your face right now.”

         “Well, all right. You relax, and we will do something then. Be well,” Nolis' voice was apologetic, confused, and concerned, but seemingly unhurt.

         “Yeah, you too,” Unanda said. She exhaled deeply. “That was one of my best friends. I talk to it almost everyday, and we do something almost every other night. But it hurt so much to look at its face. Makes me sad. And angry. This whole thing is such trash.”

         From the very beginning, Kalar had been taught there is no such thing as trash; everything is reused somehow, and in being reused it was sacred to someone else. The word was dirty; it was outside their society, this notion that something could be sacred to no one. But faced with Unanda's reality, he couldn't help but admit the poignancy and truth of her words.

         “Do you want to leave pretty soon?” Kalar asked.

         “No, I want to stay here for a little while longer. I'll let you know when I'm ready to leave,” she replied in a voice that told him her eyes were closed.

         Time languored with them, a lazy pet, seemingly free from worldly and other-worldly concerns. Kalar stopped the ultrasonic cleaning; his skin felt fresh and new. He sat in the still water, thinking. Unanda seemed to be improving rapidly, he guessed maybe in the next week or so she would be mostly back to her old self. She was obviously attracted to him, but she hardly knew anything about him. She certainly didn't know the most important thing; his magnum opus of sin at his tainted core. Even if she found out, and, he hoped and despaired at the slightness of the possibility, if she could somehow look past it, he knew with utter certainty that he did not deserve the happiness that would flourish with her strong and caring spirit. He deserved exactly what he was going to get, a flash of the sublime, enough to keep him warm through his loneliness, and rejection. He would accept that sting willingly. That would be justice.

         Kalar was done with his bath. He climbed out of it and stood in front of an array of pores in the wall. Warm air blasted the water off of him, drying him in moments. He slung his clothes over one arm and took them to clear cabinet in the wall of the enclosure. He first pressed his coat in the complicated sets of clear doors and touched a patch on the wall that started the washing process. Steam condensed on the clear doors briefly and cleared. A green circle indicated the washing and drying processes were finished. He continued washing the rest of his garments and putting them on in order. He was about to pull his shirt over his head when Unanda came into his stall.

         “Why do I have to wear this dress again?” Unanda asked, dangling the garment in front of her.

         “Because,” Kalar blushed and turned away from her, “it makes people uncomfortable when you don't wear it. Also, it looks pretty good on you. Also, you might be embarrassed when you get your fear back.”

         “I'm not sure I want it back. Despite the agonizing memory pop-ups, I'm really enjoying myself. I feel confident, really confident, more than usual. It's almost like I'm floating, but my head is really clear.”

         “Could you please just put the dress on first?” Kalar pleaded.

         “Fine, but as a compromise,” she pulled the dress over her head, “we're going to go to Era|ai.”

         “That's in Meurran, right? Have you been there before?”

         “No, well, yes, a long time ago. For a fieldtrip. But that's not the point. The point is, I don't really remember. Let's see how they celebrate the Feather Festival.”

         “What about the others?”

         “Forget about them. The Akina Balaa won't be able to find us. Let's go!”