Zax rarely had the occasion, or a reason to be petty, but when he did, he didn’t hold back. SG’s worried eyes when she left made him consider he might have gone too far, but he would put it straight later.

The rest of the negotiation went smoothly, although calling it a ‘negotiation’ was excessive. Sure, they tried to downplay their need or his worth, but truly, it was only him stating his demands, and they could do nothing but nod and promise “It will be done”.

They amended their review and payment on his commission, with interest. They had to send seven Residents to his shop, with advanced and varied mutations, for a body scan. Less advanced mutations would be tolerated, if they were special or unusual. He used Bathor as an example for that case. Their resistance caught a second wind when he mentioned nanites, but he wouldn’t budge no matter what, and assuage any safety concern they might have.

A pity the Circle’s daily life was such a mystery to him; he won’t know what to ask to find a reason for his future subjects’ specifics.

Once he was done explaining the basics of his process, Bathor went back to a part of his conditions he hadn’t expected to be a problem:

“Special mutations, I can understand, but what did you mean “like mine”? It’s nothing to be proud of…”

“She’s right, she’s just incomplete. What’s the value in that?” Loozy insisted.

Is that how you see her? As a person?

None of the Residents understood, which didn’t give him much hope about getting any, but he explained regardless:

“Did I say anything about pride or shame? I don’t care how the mutant – or you – feels about their mutation. I was talking about rarity, or bending the “established” rules. You have an asymmetrical version of a normally symmetrical feature. You see more advanced mutants more often than I. How often do you see people who are naturally notably asymmetrical? Colour and fur length notwithstanding.”

The hobbyist paused to let them actually think about it.

“For horns, it’s either one in the centre,” He put the back of his fist on his forehead, one finger pointing up front, “or two on the sides.” Two hands mimicking on the side of his head. “Some have more than two, but the axial symmetry is maintained, even if not perfect.” He drew an imaginary vertical line splitting his body and face in half. “The horns themselves keep the symmetry too. A straight cone? Can be in the middle. A spiral or a swirl? One per side, identical. Never a swirl in the middle. Never different horns. Although different pairs at once is not unheard of.”

Bathor blinked, processing the news, and Loozy glanced at her dubitatively.

“You have a single bovine horn. Those usually come in one pair. It has its own symmetry too, so it’s not out of question to grow one along the axis. Yours doesn’t follow any of those rules. So, I don’t know if it’s something to be proud of or not, like any other mutation, but it’s definitely special as far as mutations are concerned.” Zax concluded, before proposing: “That’s why, if you volunteer, you can be a headstart on your payment. You could better explain others what to expect too. Reassure them, show them it’s harmless, that kind of thing…”

“What about me?” the rainbow haired woman queried.

“What about you?” The handyman didn’t follow.

“How’s my mutation?!” She exclaimed.

“Your general size, shape and skin colour could be the innate. Not your hair colour, but that could be dye. Is it?”

“No!” She seemed upset at the idea, for some reason.

“Bright colours are pretty common as onset of many mutations. That many colours are uncommon, but nothing special at your current advancement level. It could have been if there was a pattern, or if each hair alternated colours instead of each strand, but no dice, sorry.” He really was. It would have been a great opportunity. “You mentioned being a Kogito, I believe? They are defined by cerebral or mind related mutations, with little but undeniable visible effects, usually in hair and eye colour and skull shape. Do you reckon that is your case?”

The memory of Quinn poked his head, but he clenched it immediately.

“Of course it is! Enhanced memory!” She proudly raised her chin, as if expecting a certain reaction.

As far as Zax could tell, it was a common feature, and it couldn’t be a strong one if she was on the same social layer as Bathor. Didn’t hurt to be sure, though.

“Neat.” He nodded. A tiny complement could go a long way. “It’s a common trait, but do you reckon you have a rare version? Like, extremely good even if only on specific points? You assimilate complex notions with a light sleep? You can recite or recreate something you heard or saw once, but only when you hear a specific song? Any quirks?”

She didn’t answer, but her eyes fled to the side. That was all the confirmation he needed.

“You can volunteer if you want, but I can’t promise it will count for the compensation. Ah, but I can buy your scan separately, if you want? That way, it won’t be a waste?”

While she was hesitating, Bathor agreed to ‘take one for the team’. Loozy left them, muttering something about walking around to clear her head up.

The shop owner used his foot to close the adjusting machine, still where they had left it, and brought it to the backroom with SG. He found her petting the branches of the miniature trees he kept in the back.

“We’re done with the confidential stuff. You can come back if you want.”

“Are they gone?”

“No, I’m going to inject at least one of them for body scans.”

Her eyes blew wide open, but she didn’t ask the questions that were definitely flooding her mind. She opted to stay back for the time being.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Alright. I found a good commission for your training, but it’s a bit late to start now and Aran should arrive any minute now. You can take a look if you want, or keep playing around, or relax a little. I have a lot of leftover training sheets. Maybe make something for Aran? I’m sure she’d appreciate. Don’t forget to put the machine away when you’re done.” He proposed as he took two B-boxes plus one adapted for and equipped with C-nanites. He dubbed them C-Boxes.

His apprentice smiled and nodded. He mirrored it, added a foldable stool to his load and went back.

The process went smoothly, although Zax took his time, explaining the different injection options, along with his rules for an uneventful scan and subsequent purge. The only troublesome one was to avoid activating her 3G, under penalty of having to reimburse the destroyed nanites, having nanite junk floating in her body, and still owing him a body scan.

A single night and day without absorbing 3G or exerting herself to the limit shouldn’t be an issue.

She wouldn’t even have to keep a B-box close, either. He would have never let them bring it in the Circle anyway; it would’ve never survived. Instead, he programmed the equivalent of half a box of C-nanites, spread between skin layers and assuring the same function.

He couldn’t do that with his ordinary nanites, they were too large to hide and they interfered if they stayed in the body with the scanning ones. This method was slower, as the nanites wouldn’t be able to connect with a B-box or a bracelet to help processing and stocking data. They took longer to install too, but that was mostly because it was Zax’s first time using this method. He was confident in his mastery, but it never hurt to be careful.

While the lack of box was the most obvious benefit, the main one was the utter permeability of living tissues against disruptive fields. Unless his subject activated, he was sure to get all his irreplaceable helpers back. On the other hand, if she did, he would lose everything he had given.

Bathor made small talk as he worked, most likely to control her nerves. Her choice of topic was most surprising:

“You mentioned experience in dealing with the Circle’s management?”

The dotter had his suspicions, but her question confirmed they hadn’t bothered with even a minimal investigation or background check on him. It might have been too much to ask when he was merely an annoying subcontractor, but they knew he was their main target for a day now. Simply coming here, without any preparation, was nothing but neglectful and unprofessional.

Do your homework, people.

Regardless, if helped with her nerves during this safe but delicate procedure, he would entertain her:

“When I was a child, there were attempts to make joint projects between the dot and the First Circle. The idea was to strengthen the exchanges and facilitate integration when someone mutated enough to move out. Potentially have unmutated Residents come in too. I don’t remember the details.”

“Oh, I think I remember that. Didn’t work well.”

“Of course not, the sabotages, manipulations and lies made sure we would never be welcome, much less feel welcome. One of those projects put children from our school and from one of yours together. I was one of them.”

“You got lucky, but it didn’t work out for you, uh?” She ignored the first part of his answer and took a sympathetic tone.

“I didn’t “get lucky”.” Zax shook his head, still working his nanites in her system. “Any pupil who asked was taken. You’d have more trouble finding someone my age who didn’t participate in one project or another. I’d say it worked out well for me in the end. I would’ve never been able to go far in the Circle, even if it’s for unrelated reasons nobody knew about back then. Dodged that cell strain, as they say.”

There was a lot to unpack here, but she couldn’t take her time, so she asked the first thing that came to mind:

“… Do you regret it?”

“Well, the backstab had a heavy influence on who I am now, as a person, but as an adult, my only regret is how poorly I handled it at the time. Then again, my guardian, my friends and my therapist all said I handled it better than expected of a nastily disabused ten years old. Can’t be too hard on myself.” He shrugged at the end.

The Resident didn’t know how to react, and his casual tone didn’t help. She had heard of those exchanges when she was young, but they hadn’t had a strong impact. She hadn’t heard of children being involved either. And one had to undergo therapy because of it? Most dotters his age had been involved? She was definitely missing something.

“… Betrayal?” She pursued.

“I can’t talk about it.”

“Too painful? Sorry-”

“Not anymore; my therapist was most competent. I had to sign an NDA. Sorry, but you were not my first.” His neutral expression briefly broke into a joking smirk. “All I can give you is an identification number.”

“Please, do.”

She stopped talking there. Whatever had happened, he saw it as a betrayal. Nothing pleasant, and dwelling on the topic could only upset him, even if it wasn’t as sensitive a point as she thought it should be.

It wasn’t required, but the thought was appreciated. He gave her the number when was done. On paper, because of course she wanted it on paper.

As Bathor nervously patted herself to check for… anomalies? Zax went to fetch the rainbow haired woman. The lack of notification told him she hadn’t left the shop, but he didn’t expect to find her playing the showdown version of Quick Hand with his foxy roommate.

“You really can befriend anyone, can’t you?” He called when their round was over.

Loozy won by a bit, but none on their scores were exceptional.

“Oh, hi Zax. I just saw the angry Miss and proposed to play your demo to vent. I think it worked. Nice outfit by the way, I didn’t know you sold that. Normal ones, I mean.”

“I don’t, and I never had a buyer for fabric made of nanites. She and her colleague came with those clothes. I think it’s normal Circle fashion. Could be a uniform.” He raised a shoulder.

“You’re a Resident?” Aran’s head swivelled in Loozy’s direction.

Now that Zax paid attention, he could indeed see a bit less tension in the latter’s posture. She wasn’t as relaxed and confident as she projected when she first entered, but better than during the ‘negotiation’.

Does she just hate losing?

“Why is a Resident here?” The tailed girl followed before an answer could be given. “Wait, two Residents?” She twisted her neck to try and spot the other Zax mentioned.

“They need me for a commission.”

“Hold it right there! You’re still under NDA, so keep quiet!” The taller woman snapped at him.

Still in a mood.

“Oh, the super-duper secret commission you can’t say anything about?” Aran excitedly pursued.

“It’s not super-duper secret, just normally secret. And no, it’s a new one we have yet to discuss and that I never agreed to “keep quiet” about. It may be related to the confidential one, or not. I’m not allowed to confirm or deny anything about it. I can’t confirm or deny anything someone else says about it either.” He added with a smirk at the Resident who had let it slip.

The rainbow-haired woman frowned back, but didn’t say anything. The tension was back to its previous level. Perhaps more.

“So, we’re done, with Bathor. Did you make a choice? Your scan now, or another later?”

“I have nothing to prove and I refuse to let you put those things in me.”

She bristled and hastily left the shop, calling her teammate on the way. The slightly bovine woman followed more calmly but without a word, lost in her thoughts.

“Wow. What was that?” Aran wondered aloud.

“Not sure. Low self-esteem issues, then running away to avoid being confronted about it?” Zax idly shared his and his nanites analysis, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

He might never see her again, and he was more than ready to move on.

“Okaaay… well anyway, it’s parkour time!”

Aran was on the same wavelength.