Crysalis: Merrill's Tale

Irritating Twins

“Suits me,” I said. “I could stand a good meal after the last few days and I know you both could too.” I tucked the bits of glass and the circuit board into a bag; they needed to go back to the Brainery for someone who knew more about them could research. That done, I stuffed my robe in the same bag and snapped it onto my belt. Robes with bright shiny silver embroidery are nice to impress the rubes but hard to travel in. I prefer my usual traveling wardrobe: sleeveless singlet, belt with snaps for bags, pocketed pants tucked into high boots. The boys, unless they’re performing tricks, usually make do with the same, though they prefer bare feet to boots, and never seem to mind what they’re walking through. “But before we leave these lovely environs, we’ve got one more thing to accomplish.”

Groans, which I pointedly ignored.

“First, let’s set these pretty rocks out somewhere they can find them before we go.”

They both opened their mouths to argue, but I raised a hand and continued before they could. “Holy relics are important to human cultures.”

“Did you say…”

“…hokey?”

I shook my head in feigned disgust and gathered up the rocks, then walked back down to the end of the corridor, which was also the beginning of the World territory. I set the rocks in a neat row right where someone would be sure to find them. If they weren’t all scared from the magic and the booms and all, which they probably were. Still, I was sure Frad would be back bullying them in short order.

A shame my triangle hadn’t taken him out instead of just wounding him.

When I got back to the boys, Darwin and Newton were ready so we set off. It only took a little while for us to get to the end of the corridor and back into more open cavern. I didn’t recognize exactly where we were, since we’d originally arrived from a different direction, so I tapped my right arm and dialed up the local map with reference to the spot where we’d first entered World.

Not reassuring. Blank spots. I don’t like blank spots on maps, do you? Of course, they’re bound to happen. Can’t expect every open cubic meter of Tredecim to be mapped, even after the human race—or what’s left of us, anyway—has been living here all this time since we left Sol System. But there’s a lot of danger around and I like to know about it in time to be ready to run very fast in the other direction. I slid past the blank spots and looked for something that was on the map. An agricultural Circle station showed up, and I showed the boys. It would take some time to reach, and I was still a little winded from my run earlier, but I tried to set an aggressive pace as we started off. The boys, naturally, leaped around like mantises after mice, bringing me rocks to look at and bits of fungus to nibble as we strode along.

After a while, Darwin asked, “You like those yokes back there…”

“…even when they try to kill and eat you, don’t you?” Newton finished.

They both looked at me with identical inquiring twinkles in their deep green eyes but their heads c****d in opposite directions.

“Nah.” I shook my head. “But it’s a good thing for you two I don’t mind paying visits to backward areas, else I’d never have run across a certain set of irritating twins.”

“Are you…”

“…calling us backward again?”

“Cause if you are…”

“…you might want to consider that if we continue the way we’re going now…”

“...it’s going to take us twice as long to reach…”

“…the Circle station we’re heading for, and besides your feet hurt.”