looked at her sharply. Was she just being polite, or was she flirting? Dantai was older than she was, but only by a few years. And they were both the children of leaders, while he was only the son of two workers, the sort of people who gathered mussels and deboned fish and lived in a tiny nest carved into the sand-side part of the coral reef.
This was his fault. He’d been so happy being with Calli that he’d never asked what they were. Was he her boyfriend? Then again, she grew up in a place with no boys. Did she even know what that meant?
“Are you going to sit with us?” Calli asked Hoku. Did she really want him to sit? Or was that her way of telling him that he should go? Her eyes offered no hints.
He chewed on his lip. He needed to spend more time understanding people and less time worrying about tech. But not now. Now he needed to flee before he said anything else that betrayed his dull-witted brain.
“Actually, no,” he said carefully. “I’m going to look for Aluna.”
“Good idea,” Calli said quickly. Too quickly. Maybe she wanted him to leave after all. Calli added, “She’s always more levelheaded when you’re with her.”
And then a compliment. Maybe. Was she implying that he had a thing for Aluna? Because that was ridiculous. They’d go together like Great White and an octopus. Somehow he managed to find his way out of the tent without saying any of the bizarre things swimming around in his head and started to walk. He headed up a large path first, trying to stay out of the way of the bustling Equians.
Shining Moon wasn’t as big as Mirage, but Hoku liked the humble settlement a whole lot more. The tents came in bright colors, most painted with horses and stylized Equians. For some reason he didn’t mind them swooshed onto canvas in bold strokes. Smoke snaked into the sky from all over town, but it wasn’t the choking, soot-black kind. It came from cooking fires and kilns. He smelled sizzling meat and vegetables, saw Equians laughing as they stirred huge pots of soup or chopped tubers outside their tents. Unlike Mirage, this settlement felt alive and joyful, full of people who had made the desert into a home.
He turned the corner onto a smaller path and spotted a figure digging through a sack in the shade of a tent wall. He thought at first it was a Human and was excited to introduce himself. Then the figure stood, and Hoku caught the glint of sunlight off metal. Metal that shouldn’t have been anywhere near a normal face.
His heart thumped, and he stumbled backward. It wasn’t a Human; it was an
Upgrader
.
He should have called for help. He should have alerted the Equians of the danger. But all Hoku could do was stare.
The Upgrader stood two meters tall. Short white hair spiked in a line over the top of its head, and the skin around its eyes and mouth was wrinkled with age. It wore a tight, sleeveless shirt revealing arms covered in tattoos, embedded with glowing lights and miscellaneous hardware. He couldn’t even tell if it was male or female. Tools hung around the Upgrader’s belt, a dozen or more devices that Hoku didn’t recognize. Probably a dozen different weapons it used to kill its enemies.
One of the Upgrader’s arms ended in a metal stump, to which the creature was attempting to attach the strange multibladed piece of tech it had pulled out of the sack.
Hoku gasped, and the creature looked up, startled. “What are you doing here?” Hoku said. “Are you spying for Scorch? I’ll scream, and a thousand Equians will be on you in seconds.”
The Upgrader stared at him. Its mouth hung open slightly, and Hoku could see metal inside. Did it have teeth, or something worse? He started to back away.
“Aluna will be here soon, too. She fought a dozen of your kind in the HydroTek dome and killed them all.” Not technically true, but the Upgrader didn’t need to know that.
The Upgrader closed its mouth, looked back down at its arm, and continued to screw the device onto
This was his fault. He’d been so happy being with Calli that he’d never asked what they were. Was he her boyfriend? Then again, she grew up in a place with no boys. Did she even know what that meant?
“Are you going to sit with us?” Calli asked Hoku. Did she really want him to sit? Or was that her way of telling him that he should go? Her eyes offered no hints.
He chewed on his lip. He needed to spend more time understanding people and less time worrying about tech. But not now. Now he needed to flee before he said anything else that betrayed his dull-witted brain.
“Actually, no,” he said carefully. “I’m going to look for Aluna.”
“Good idea,” Calli said quickly. Too quickly. Maybe she wanted him to leave after all. Calli added, “She’s always more levelheaded when you’re with her.”
And then a compliment. Maybe. Was she implying that he had a thing for Aluna? Because that was ridiculous. They’d go together like Great White and an octopus. Somehow he managed to find his way out of the tent without saying any of the bizarre things swimming around in his head and started to walk. He headed up a large path first, trying to stay out of the way of the bustling Equians.
Shining Moon wasn’t as big as Mirage, but Hoku liked the humble settlement a whole lot more. The tents came in bright colors, most painted with horses and stylized Equians. For some reason he didn’t mind them swooshed onto canvas in bold strokes. Smoke snaked into the sky from all over town, but it wasn’t the choking, soot-black kind. It came from cooking fires and kilns. He smelled sizzling meat and vegetables, saw Equians laughing as they stirred huge pots of soup or chopped tubers outside their tents. Unlike Mirage, this settlement felt alive and joyful, full of people who had made the desert into a home.
He turned the corner onto a smaller path and spotted a figure digging through a sack in the shade of a tent wall. He thought at first it was a Human and was excited to introduce himself. Then the figure stood, and Hoku caught the glint of sunlight off metal. Metal that shouldn’t have been anywhere near a normal face.
His heart thumped, and he stumbled backward. It wasn’t a Human; it was an
Upgrader
.
He should have called for help. He should have alerted the Equians of the danger. But all Hoku could do was stare.
The Upgrader stood two meters tall. Short white hair spiked in a line over the top of its head, and the skin around its eyes and mouth was wrinkled with age. It wore a tight, sleeveless shirt revealing arms covered in tattoos, embedded with glowing lights and miscellaneous hardware. He couldn’t even tell if it was male or female. Tools hung around the Upgrader’s belt, a dozen or more devices that Hoku didn’t recognize. Probably a dozen different weapons it used to kill its enemies.
One of the Upgrader’s arms ended in a metal stump, to which the creature was attempting to attach the strange multibladed piece of tech it had pulled out of the sack.
Hoku gasped, and the creature looked up, startled. “What are you doing here?” Hoku said. “Are you spying for Scorch? I’ll scream, and a thousand Equians will be on you in seconds.”
The Upgrader stared at him. Its mouth hung open slightly, and Hoku could see metal inside. Did it have teeth, or something worse? He started to back away.
“Aluna will be here soon, too. She fought a dozen of your kind in the HydroTek dome and killed them all.” Not technically true, but the Upgrader didn’t need to know that.
The Upgrader closed its mouth, looked back down at its arm, and continued to screw the device onto
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