> April 3077. 07:15. 2 hours after the arrival.
Sage Xesein Reyen scooped up a handful of Sentorian bobblehead clams, a specialty of the Sentori County gulf. They squealed like they were being deflated as she lifted them out of their saltwater bath. Their little mushroom-shaped heads bobbled up and down, as their name implied. Zei clicked huir tongue half irritated but also half teasing at a tall man tagging along next to en. “You still haven’t answered my question,” zei said, huir voice just as salty as the breeze wafting in from the sea.
The man, known as Eberkerson Aronai Tenon but fondly called “Ebby” by Sage, stood casually counterposed next to nem with huir hands resting in the pockets of huir black cargo pants. Zei flashed a mischievous smile at nothing in particular, granting charm to huir pale, angular face sculpted like a high cheek-boned, Interdimensionally conventional model. “And which of the six is that?” zei retorted, leaning forward to get a better look at some of the hyper little clams. Zei lightly tapped one on its head and mouthed a playful “boop.”
“The most important one, of course,” Sage nipped back. “The one I actually asked five of the six times.” Zei tied huir poofy black hair with the sunset-dyed tips into a haphazard ponytail. Zei snapped on a pair of rubber gloves that zei had grabbed from the pile on the merchant’s table.
The seaside row of blue and white-striped merchant tents bustled with a crowd of tourists and locals alike, all here for the same reason as Sage—to buy as much of the seasonal catch as they could before it all ran out. Sage had reserved a large bulk of clams, giant ketstis crabs, and crescent sea moons in advance. For a regular person, receiving the full amount wasn’t a guarantee, but backed by huir university, the merchants were kinder toward making a big dent in their stock.
Ebby continued with a dry chuckle, “More like four of the six times, but fair enough, the other two questions can wait.”
Sage rolled huir eyes. “Well, if you’re just going to argue with me about the technicalities, how about you put on some gloves and help me gather the clams instead of being a lazy rich boy?” Zei motioned toward the pile of gloves.
Ebby bowed in compliance and said with comical formality, “Why of course, Archereld* Sage Xesein Reyen. Your commands are my lifeline*.”
“Whatever.” Sage waved Ebby off dismissively but still smirked. Zei followed a portly merchant behind neir tent to some much larger tubs full of clams.
The two friends spent the pink hour of the morning filling up ice chests with seafood. The sun hadn’t yet risen over the peaks of the distant purple mountains. They loaded the ice chests onto their cart. Bantered the whole way. Talked about trivial things, like how the president of the student committee had been trying to meddle in Sage’s University banquet plans, or about how zei had so much to write for huir dissertation—anything that wasn’t an answer to huir question; zei was beginning to wonder if Ebby had a serious reason for avoiding it. It wasn’t like it was a difficult question. It was just odd, considering nei never joined en on huir excursions to the off-planets of the Network until now.
Zei became silent and brooding after loading all the ice chests onto the cart and the two of them took their rubber gloves off. Zei wondered if zei should ask the question again, seriously this time, with no extra smirk nor carefree laugh as zei usually did to lighten the mood.
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However, just before zei could decide, Ebby checked something on neir hologram screen, which floated in front of nem the length and width of one of neir large hands. Its back looked like a blank black-light rectangle, while the front that faced Ebby had a background image covered in square applications. Zei tapped one of them and opened a new page filled with indecipherable code. “By the way, I have an offer for you,” zei said.
Sage squinted huir dark brown eyes from skepticism and a harsh ray of sunlight that had just shot out from behind the Western mountains. “Oh? What’s that?”
“The answer to your question, of course,” Ebby replied.
Now Sage was invested. Zei crossed huir arms over huir chest and waited for nem to explain.
Ebby grinned with impish charm. “You see, as a part of my little love affair with the SEU—”
Sage rolled huir eyes. “Don’t say it like that you absolute weirdo…”
“Anyways, one of the privileges is that I can bring a guest to show them firsthand what a newly opened portal looks like. I figured you’d want to check it out before anyone else from the SEU arrives. It happens to be on your route back to Rokon.”
Sage’s mouth gaped open and zei glared at Ebby like nei had just committed a crime. “Wait, are you serious?!”
“I’m always serious,” nei answered, smirking.
Zei jabbed nem with huir elbow. “Well, duh! Of course, I wanna see!”
The two of them checked the ice chests to ensure they were nested together securely, then rolled the cart, the sounds of sloshing ice water and rumbling wheels too pervasive for them to converse. They resumed their conversation at Sage’s scarlet-colored hover car.
“So, what? You came with me just so you could treat me to seeing a portal first-hand?” Sage asked, barely containing huir excitement. Zei opened the trunk and back doors of the car and gestured for Ebby to begin loading.
“Of course,” Ebby said. “I thought you’d like the idea. Weren’t you always the one wanting to see how the SEU did its work?”
“Well, yes. I just didn’t expect you to hit me with this now of all times. You kinda worried me since you kept avoiding answering my question before. To think it was only a little field trip! Why don’t you just tell me straight up, next time, eh dude?” Sage glanced at nem briefly. Nei was smiling, but it looked devoid of any meaningful emotion. Zei blinked, wondering if nei was going to respond, but nei continued transferring the ice chests silently and zei decided to drop the subject.
The two unloaded the rest of the ice chest cart into the trunk and back seats. The sun had broken past the peaks of the mountains to the west, and with it, the day’s light touched their skin. They took a quick break, looking one last time over the Sentori sea where the sailboats bobbed and the water revealed its shimmering crystal-like blue sheen under the new morning light.
“So, when do we go?” Sage asked.
Ebby glanced at huir holo watch. Then zei reached into the pocket of huir iridescent blue and black jacket with the long collar. Zei took out a peculiar earpiece, a metal golden-colored one and zei wrapped it around the perimeter of huir earlobe. A metal dragonfly perched upon it, similarly colored, though it didn’t seem to be truly a part of the rest of the earpiece. It had unusually accurate anatomy despite only being a metal rendition. Sage often saw Ebby wearing the earpiece—it was a communication device, after all—but only recently the dragonfly addition. Zei wondered if it was a symbol or just one of neir wealthy aesthetic indulgences, but zei didn’t care enough to ask.
Eberkerson said, “Well, you ought to go now. I’ll be there about 15 minutes later than you. I’ll text you the directions now.” Zei drew out huir holo screen again and began to type.
Sage raised huir eyebrow. “Wait, are we not going together?”
“I have a quick errand to make. But I can’t have you with me. The clients I’m dealing with are a bit—let’s just say they can be unreasonably touchy.”
Sage scrunched huir face. “Oookay then… You and the weirdos you hang out with. So how are you getting there?”
Ebby tossed Sage a playful wink. “Guess.”
Sage groaned. “Riiight, you’re renting a vehicle, whatever.” Zei waved at nem dismissively before heading to the driver’s side of huir car. “I’ll see you soon, then. Don’t get murdered by your… touchy clients.” Zei returned neir wink with an intense, mocking one.
“Don’t worry, I will,” Ebby promised lightheartedly. Zei saluted Sage while walking away backward.