“In honor of Imperial Victory at Aeon’Gatha, your local Nexus Retail Centre is hosting a massive sale on select potions, electronics, and appliances! Hurry in today to see what treasures you could be bringing home at up to half off original price! Whether you’re a brave soldier home on leave, or a loyal homemaker looking to surprise your spouse, Nexus has what you need! Glassheart IIs and Hearthlights are both available in all colors, with countless take-home spells to compliment your purchase! Men and women alike should make sure to view our brand-new clothing department, and take advantage of the patriotic sales on our futuristic wares! NEXUS... The Lifeblood of the Empire.”
-Nexus Corp. Newspaper advertisement, run in Various Blackheart Periodicals on Skirophorion 7th, 6011
Soon, my money and I were parted. I retained several hundred Sovereigns for future use, but that was merely a fraction of the cash I had originally stored. The store itself held hundreds of smaller shops within, each specially suited to seduce the countless prospective customers that milled about in the Nexus Bazaar’s grand halls. Against my uncle’s advice, I purchased the latest in audiolith technology, the Glassheart II. A Hexagonal shard of Onyx on a silver chain, with the familiar N logo etched into its hard surface. Unlike telephones, no paid service or electricity was required to use an audiolith, and I vacantly amused myself walking out of the store by clutching the stone and browsing the labyrinth of illusions now available inside my field of vision. I was so affixed on the shimmering runes that I stepped headlong into oncoming shoppers and was knocked off my feet with a flustered gasp.
“Oops! I’m so sorry!” A pale hand outstretched offered to help me up, but I grunted and nodded, picking myself up. “Hey- You’re in my theatre class!”
An energetic redhead, beaming at me, shifted from one foot to the other. Though I called her a redhead, she was nothing like Ausrine. She was shorter, with bright orange hair, accented by her freckled pale skin. She peered at me, a bit confused, and stuck out a hand to shake.
“Dmitiri? Don’t you remember me?” Her eye took on a tragic sheen that suggested that my remembering her name would determine the fate of the world. I honestly had no clue, I recalled looking at her in class, but after I noticed Ausrine everything else seemed a blur. I was tempted to make a wild guess but she took my hand and shook it vigorously, her face flashing back to what I presume was her default overexcited smile. “It’s Elaine!” She released my hand and stepped back, giving a brief curtsy. “Elaine Prokofiev, and don’t you forget it.” She gave a bewildering wink. I blinked incredulously and smiled politely.
“Well, ah, my uncle will be looking for me, he’s in the clothing wing...” I pointed in the opposite direction she had come from.
“Oh? Splendid I was heading that way myself! Might I join you, Mr. Vladinova?” I was surprised she remembered my last name, as I recall, the teacher had only barked it out once or twice on the first day. “Are you going to buy anything from the clothing department?” She tugged on the sleeve of my uniform’s jacket, her eyes trained on me as I nervously tread through the crowded bazaar.
We found my uncle being fitted for trousers in the synthetic silk branch of the store, and had plenty of time to make small talk about school and the war while we waited. For some reasons, my uncle winked at me whenever I would drift away from the conversation with Elaine. Elaine maintained eye contact and a positively cordial smile all the while as we discussed the universally despised school cuisine, and I discovered I shared another teacher with her, my tenth grade Deltoran literature instructor, the harsh wizard Mr. Kortiev. I started to warm up to her as we shared a laugh over the fact that a wizard should waste his potential teaching high school, rather than becoming a great warrior or scientist.
“So what brings you here, Elaine? You’re not with any friends.” Her head tilted and her smile wavered for a second before she perked up and answered.
“What do you mean? I’m here with you, silly. And I’m here because my father manages this entire department store on behalf of the Nexus Corporation. I like to be dropped off here after school sometimes and relax.” I could hardly imagine such an energetic girl truly relaxing, and I shook the images of her by a poolside out of my head just as two firm hands came to rest on my shoulders from behind me.
“So your cute friend’s dad runs this place?Can you see about a discount?” I was embarrassed by how blatant and loud my uncle was, and I shrugged his hands off my shoulders and stood, formally introducing him to Elaine. She gave her adorable curtsy once more and was visibly blushing at being called cute.
“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Valdinova.” He seemed to find this hilarious, and burst into his trademark raucous laughter before shaking hands with her. A little improper for the time, between a grown male and teenage schoolgirl, but neither party seemed to object.
“Please, call me Boris, I’m not the boy’s father. Pardon me, I have to pick up the trousers I just ordered.” He swaggered over to the payment counter, looking back to see if we’d follow him. Elaine did, bouncing after him and taking me by the sleeve as well.
“Your uncle seems nice.” She confided to me as she bounded up to the counter. My uncle reached for his wallet with dramatically slow speed and Elaine raised a hand and shook her head solemnly. “No need. Andre,” She smiled at the tailor at the counter. “make those free of charge, I’m sure father will allow it.”
“Certainly, Miss Prokofiev.”Andre adjusted this gold-rimmed glasses and returned her glowing smile along with a nod. My uncle laughed and patted me on the back while bowing in thanks to both the tailor and Elaine. I glanced back and forth between the two and mumbled thanks to Elaine for helping my uncle.
Afterwards the three of us wandered to the dining wing and had pastries and tea at an indoor cafe under the marvelous central glass dome. Elaine did most of the talking, her head bobbing and her chest inflated with pride as she rambled about her father’s success in the Nexus party and the position the political division had given him here in Blackheart for his service to the Empress’ family during the civil war. She was certainly more informed and undeniably more patriotic than most youths I knew, and her fervor hardly left me with the same unnerving aftertaste as encounters with cadets or overzealous veterans did. Her enthusiasm was practically contagious, even about matters like the war, which I hardly took any interest in. She offhandedly remarked that I would look sharp in a cadet’s uniform and I found myself imagining trading in this dark blue school blazer for the bright azure of a royal cadet.
“You two start making your way to the front entrance, I’ll go round to get the car. Thanks again for the treats, and no hurry.” He winked, boldly grinning at his own gesture. I peeked at Elaine but she seemed unphased, still sitting like a proper lady with her hands folded. She cocked her head at me and flashed a playful smirk.
“Well? Aren't you going to help me out of my seat, Vladinova?” Her pleading eyes made refusal a physical impossibility. I bowed in jest and pulled out her seat and offered her my arm to stand. She rose, laughing and playfully pushed me out of her way and started striding out into the fray once more. Looking back, she asked “Well? You coming?”
Waving goodbye from the backseat of my uncle’s steam car I settled into a haze of self satisfaction. I had talked to Ausrine with a fairly high level of success and whatever had just transpired with Elaine couldn't possibly be a bad thing. I nodded and sidestepped most of my uncle’s questions on the way home, which he didn't mind. He seemed to draw his own conclusions before asking, anyway. He was no doubt very happy about the free meal and trousers. He remarked that it was a pity I hadn't met her sooner though, could’ve gotten a discount on the obscenely expensive Glassheart I had bought. He was right, but he didn't have to point that out. How could I have met her sooner? I hardly recalled that she was in my class.
Back at the apartment I rushed to finish my homework and my supper before fiddling with my new toy. The features left me entertained for hours, and just after dark it occurred to me that I had spent most of the afternoon being dazzled by illusions in my own room. I peeked outside to see if my uncle or Mei were about, but I saw neither. Shrugging, I pulled on my school blazer and left for a walk. After learning how close Ausrine lived to me, I secretly hoped to run into her. I did not, but the smoky city air still shook me out of my glamour-induced stupor. I glanced around at all the impossible structures held together by sorcery and rubbed my Glassheart without engaging it, calmly accepting my wondrous reality.
I found the streets oddly empty and caught myself peering up into more than a few lamp-lit windows, staring at the silhouettes behind frail curtains. I was nearly run down by a car while crossing the street, as my mind wandered back to the thought of Ausrine and linked her enchanting essence to the beautiful shaking constellation of airship lights above. A luxury liner, longer than my entire school’s campus, cruised near rooftop level and its red and green navigation lights cast a surreal festive glow over the dark stone street. I clenched my fists with hope and headed home. Sleep came easily, with vivid dreams on its heels.
I had never thought of school as difficult before, but being distracted on exam day made things considerably more confounding. Was it the delightful meeting with Ausrine, the unusual trip to the department store, or the relaxing walk last night? I entered theatre class and felt certain I knew the answer. Ausrine was the only one there, seated in the plush red audience chairs where we got to sit in, in this particular class. I sat down next to her, even though we were instructed to sit spaced at least one seat apaart. The teacher shot me a look of disappointment, but shrugged and went back to his paperback novel. Perhaps he was reading script, I don't recall. Ausrine shifted in her seat nervously and mumbled a soft greeting. I, a bit too loudly, gave a casual “Hey” and smiled at her. She tensed her shoulders and leaned forward in her seat. Pulling her hair away from her face she let her eyes dart to the side to meet mine and gave a quick smile.
“How are you?” We both spoke at the same time, and the theatre instructor chuckled from his director’s chair in the corner. I bowed my head and motioned for her to go first.
“I... I’m alright. Well I went to the doctor’s... After school was done I mean.” She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. She shook her head and glanced around nervously. “And then I went home and I was good, I had a very nice walk and played with my pet fox.” Doctor? I suppose she was not meaning to mention that so I responded to the second half of her reply.
“Ah, a hybrid fox or a Nexus Synthetic?”
“She’s a Crismon Wildling. I bought Chelsea at the Imperial Synthetics Menagerie at the Nexus store.”
“I was just there yesterday! Did you know our classmate, Elaine Prokofiev, her father manages the entire bazaar?” Her eyes widened at the mention of Elaine.
“Prokofiev?” She said, frowning. “Oh, her.” She wiped her mouth after speaking, as if she’d left a bad taste in her mouth. As if we had summoned her, Elaine appeared through the double theatre doors, with a crowd of nervous boys in tow, each attempting to hold her attention. Aursine grimaced and pulled a book from her bag, diverting her attention to it as Elaine approached. She buried her head in the book and was practically flinching as Elaine patted down her skirt to sit beside me. The teacher called across the room:
“Sit one seat apart, please!” Elaine made her signature puppy eyes, and frowned, but I doubt the teacher saw it. She shrugged and sat one seat away, placing her backpack in the empty seat between us. I started to turn back towards Ausrine after waving to Elaine but she tugged my sleeve and pointed at my chest.
“Hi. How’s your glassheart treating you? Pretty neat, yes? I forgot to fetch mine yesterday, I got it in ruby, look!” She pulled up her sleeve and held out her audiolith, which she had fastened to a bracelet around her wrist. “You still have room for contacts right?” She suddenly beamed, raising her voice to a needlessly excited pitch. “Want to sync ours!?” I could feel Ausrine tense up and move as far away from me as possible in her seat beside me. Before I could contemplate the tense situation my mouth let slip:
“Sure.”
“Wonderful!” I handed her my trinket, necklace and all stone, and she squeezed my hand happily before taking it and holding it up before her own glowing gem. Ausrine darkly stood and moved one seat away, as the teacher had instructed. I heard her slam her satchel down in the chair between us. Meanwhile, Elaine and I were illuminated by the brief dance of lights emitted by our glasshearts, mine radiating purple and hers a vicious pink. There was a gust of wind and a sound like two glasses being tapped together in a toast. “There, all done! Use it, look at what I put my name as.”
I clutched the bauble in my hand and navigated to my contacts in my mind.
Ela
Ela was an uncommon nickname for Elaine, and I doubt she was often called that. I smiled instinctively and thanked her, then looked back over my shoulder at Ausrine. Unfortunately I couldn't read her at all, her face hidden behind her shroud of dark-red hair.
The rest of the class passed in awkward silence, the teacher’s lectures failing to fill the tense air between the three of us in the front row. After class Elaine apologized for having to head to the opposite direction as me, and waved until she was around the corner in the busy hall. I shrugged my heavy satchel onto my left shoulder and started bustling across the polished floor to my next class. To my surprise, Ausrine sidled up beside me in the churning sea of rushing students, and smiled at me. I half-expected her to talk to me or at least sync our stones but she just blushed and pulled her hair out of her face for a moment, giving me a pleasant flash of her fox-like face. I figured her fox might be a very fetching companion for her. And so we drifted apart in the crowd until I lost sight of her auburn head and trudged on to my next class.
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