The Cloud Roost (Jekua Book 5), page 17
Makénu sat cross-legged on the ground next to Marissa, who he had grown fond of over the past week or so. They only ever saw each other in passing at first, but she was a friendly woman, and her sister was spending a great deal of time with his son, so they bonded over that. Eventually, they began hanging out after Marissa’s shifts ended, and they had become friends.
She was nearly thirty years younger than him, only in her mid-twenties, so he’d thought they wouldn’t have anything in common, but that turned out to be untrue. Their taste in books and movies was largely the same, and they both appreciated walking around their little piece of Kou Tekkis, admiring the nature. She and her sister were from Na Tana originally, and they came with matching tan skin, bushy brown hair, and green eyes. According to Marissa, along with the accents, the bushy hair was another gift from their father. Since they weren’t from Yuluhu, they were not stricken with strihova and therefore didn’t have to wear the uncomfortable respirator masks that plagued a multitude of the Facet’s members. Makénu had no idea how she or her sister got involved with the Facet, and he still did not feel comfortable prying.
He let out an exaggerated sigh and said, “I shouldn’t have done this. With my old knees, it’ll be hell getting up again.” He slapped his aforementioned knees for emphasis.
Marissa chuckled. “You’ll be fine, old man,” she said. Her accent was less pronounced than her sister’s, but there was a hint of it.
Several feet in front of them, with the bright blue sky as his backdrop, Tano finished fitting himself into the skintight white suit. Black streaks slithered across the fabric likes snakes in the grass. He reached down to retrieve the diamond mask from the ground and gazed into its featureless face with reverence.
“You ready, kiddo?” asked San, standing with her hands on her hips.
Even just that simple question made Makénu’s gut churn. He didn’t know why the notion of Tano being a Summoner made him so anxious. Perhaps it was the boy’s age; for as long as Makénu could remember, a person had to be eighteen to register as a Summoner, so maybe his mind was simply retaliating against seeing his ten-year-old doing it.
“Ready,” Tano answered with a toothy grin. He turned the mask over and pressed it to his face. He seemed to have a bit of trouble at first, given the respirator already strapped to him, but with San’s help he was able to secure it.
It was strange, seeing his son wearing that outfit. He was almost otherworldly, standing there in the ever-changing black-and-white suit with the studded mask erasing his features. Standing a foot shorter than all the other Summoners in Madelaine’s employ, it was a bizarre sight. It appeared like nothing more than a child playing dress-up. A boy wrapping his father’s work tie around his neck, slipping into his oversized dress shoes, clomping around the house spouting out business words he’d heard his parents say.
Years ago, when Tano was only three years old, Makénu had laid in bed with his husband and pondered what job their son might grow up to have. “He’s so brilliant,” said Makénu with a contented sigh. “I think he’ll follow in his old man’s footsteps, become an engineer.”
That garnered a laugh from Adam. “Oh, yeah?” he said.
Makénu furrowed his brow, mock-offended. “Do you disagree?” he asked, rustling the sheets as he turned over onto his side. “You and I both saw him today. He’s the smartest kid alive.”
Another laugh. “All he did was put together a puzzle.”
“But it was such a challenging one!” said Makénu. Earlier in the day, Tano had put together a 3D wooden puzzle that formed the shape of a Shimmertusk. “He’s never even seen a Shimmertusk before, and he put it together so fast!”
“I don’t know that I would call it fast,” Adam said.
Makénu shoved him playfully, and they both laughed. “Well alright, if you don’t think he’s destined to be an engineer, then what did you have in mind?”
Adam shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it,” he replied.
“Really? Never?”
“Never.”
“You’ve never stopped and wondered what our son will be like when he’s older.”
“I mean, sure I have. I just don’t generally focus on the career aspect of that.”
“Well, give it a go. Come on. What miserable, boring day job do you want him to call and tell you about once a week in twenty years?” At that point, Adam had started showing early signs of illness, but nothing serious. Nothing the two of them thought they had to be particularly concerned about, beyond normal strihova stuff.
Adam laughed. “That’s awfully generous of you,” he said, “thinking he’ll call once a week.”
“Fine, once every other week.”
“Still pretty bold. But okay, let me think…” Adam scratched his prominent chin, gazing up at the ceiling as he formulated an answer. Finally, he said, “You know, I could see him working with animals as a veterinarian.”
“Really?” said Makénu. “Why?”
“You’ve seen how fascinated he is every time he spots a bird outside,” said Adam. “He thinks animals are so damn cool. And he always treats his toys so gently, with such love and care. I think he’d do great with a real animal.”
Makénu nodded. He wasn’t wrong. “What kind of animals were you thinking?” he asked. “Regular ones or Jekuas?”
Adam had to mull that over. “Regular ones, I think.”
“Do cats and dogs here even go to the vet anymore?” Makénu asked. Every living thing on Yuluhu was so riddled with strihova, he genuinely didn’t know. There was little point in bringing one’s pet to the clinic to diagnose some random mutation, and there was usually little a doctor could do anyway. Their family would soon learn that with Adam’s worsening ailments.
“No idea,” said Adam. He chuckled, then said, “Maybe he’ll be so brilliant, he’ll kickstart a resurgence of vets across the island.”
Makénu said, “Is this you telling me we should get him a pet dog?”
Adam howled with laughter and had to clap his hand to his mouth to muffle the sound. They would be in for a world of hurt if Tano woke up, after how long it’d taken to get him to fall asleep. “Absolutely not,” he said. “Not unless you want to be the one picking up its shit and whatever else falls out of it.”
Back in the present, San took a few steps back and clapped her hands together. “Ahright, ahright, let’s get this thing crackin’,” she said, her strong accent stirring Makénu from his memory. “Start channeling your mana into the kaylackt like we talked about.”
Though Tano’s face was completely obfuscated, Makénu could perfectly picture his expression underneath it. With the shifting of his stance, he knew Tano’s face was screwed up in intense concentration, his brow knitted and mouth pressed into a thin line. He held his hands up like he was about to box, except his palms were flat.
“Is that necessary?” Makénu whispered to Marissa, trying not to let Tano hear him.
She giggled and said, “No, not at all.”
Tano’s mask started to glow. Faintly at first, but it steadily brightened and he curled his hands into fists. Now he was ready to box.
A bright yellow, semi-translucent substance shot out of the mask, a beam of light that struck the ground in front of Tano. It started wriggling and expanding into the form of an unknown creature.
“Wow,” Makénu couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. Tano was actually doing it. He was summoning a Jekua.
The mass of yellow light soon loomed over Tano. Whatever crystalline beast he was summoning, it was tall. Taller than any man Makénu had ever met. When it ceased growing, it stood roughly nine feet tall, standing on three skinny legs. Yellow dimmed, fading into blue crystal. Makénu shuddered at the sight, disturbed by how it reminded him of the crystal in which Tano had been trapped for so long. He still did not fully grasp how Tano had been freed, but at the same time, he did not care.
The blue crystal Jekua bore no other colors, which was somewhat rare for one of the Facet’s creations. Did that mean this one was higher quality, or lower? Or was there no correlation whatsoever? Either way, it towered over all of them, its torso long and angular. It had four arms that were somehow even skinnier than its legs, and its head was most similar in appearance to a bat’s. It had a short, jagged snout, two crooked ears, and protruding crystals that looked like eyes.
It was unlike any other crystal Jekua that Makénu had seen, which was by design. Every Summoner in the Facet had a different Jekua integrated into their kaylackt, depending on which one they were more naturally attuned with. He did not begin to understand the science involved in determining such a thing, which was part of San’s job.
“Great work, kiddo!” said San in her throaty rasp. “Now, try havin’ it take a little walk around, ahright?”
“Mhmm,” Tano mumbled from behind his two masks.
The unbelievably tall bat-monster took an apprehensive step forward. Its footing was off, though, and it immediately came crashing to the ground. San had to leap backward to avoid getting hit by its enormous body, and Tano whimpered with disappointment.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Nah, nah, don’t worry about it,” said San. “That’s what these tests are for, right? You gotta get used to somethin’ new like this. Can’t just hop right onto a bike and know how to ride it. Right, Dad?”
“Uhh, right,” said Makénu. He was kind of shocked that the Jekua Tano ended up with was something so comically large compared to him.
While Tano struggled to stand his Jekua up again, Makénu leaned in to ask Marissa a question. “How do they decide what Jekua a person can use?”
“We have a few baseline builds,” Marissa said. “These datasets include things like the Jekua’s size, their inherent strength, and their abilities. The general size is something that’s kind of predetermined, but each Summoner is able to offer input for what they want their Jekua to look like. Within the limitations of the fabrication machine, anyway.”
Something she’d said stuck Makénu like a thorn. “Abilities?” he said. “I thought that all our Artificial Jekuas could only perform the one same ability.” This was the first time he’d heard that they might be capable of anything different.
Marissa nodded. “That’s pretty much true,” she said. “A vast majority have that one attack. Really, all the ones in the field currently can only do that attack. But obviously we’ve been experimenting with new ones, trying to expand our capabilities so that these Artificial Jekuas can be more versatile. I’m not really supposed to talk about it, though. Sorry.”
He told her not to worry, that he understood. Madelaine loved her secrets. He then said, “So this Jekua that Tano’s got is something that his body is more attuned to use than other ones?”
“Basically, yeah,” said Marissa. “Every Summoner in our ranks went through the same testing. First to see if they were a good match for this program or not, since summoning through a kaylackt is different than using a kayet. Not everyone can do it.”
“Huh,” Makénu muttered. Maybe that was why Tank didn’t wear one of the suits. Perhaps it wasn’t a personal preference after all. Not that he’d ever ask the intimidating man such a personal question.
“Second,” Marissa went on, “is the test for what sort of Artificial Jekua would work best with them, yeah. But while a bunch of stuff like the size and whatever else was chosen for him, your boy there is the one who made that thing look like that.” She nodded toward the giant creature still wriggling before them.
Tano was not having much luck raising his Jekua off the ground. Dirt caked the creature’s once-pristine blue veneer as it raked its arms and legs across the earth, its face perfectly blank as it writhed. Nearby, Tano was moaning in frustration, stomping his feet on the ground like a toddler having a tantrum.
Makénu wished he could do something to help, but even if he got up and lifted the creature, he’d earn a scolding from San. The whole point of this was for Tano to learn how to control it himself. While he sat watching, he moved on to a different topic with Marissa. “How much freedom does a Summoner have in designing their Jekua?” The idea of Tano putting this tall bat-thing together was highly amusing.
“We have, like…the simplest way to describe it is that we have a collection of building blocks that you can mix and match to make your thing,” she said. “Use this body, put this head on it, stuff like that. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s what the technicians are there for. You get the idea. Then the machine can compile that data and integrate it into a kaylackt. That name is actually kind of a misnomer; the kaylackt is really more like one big memory card than a kayet.”
As her explanation winded down, apparently so too did Tano’s mana reserves. He still hadn’t managed to stand his Jekua back up before its blue crystal lit up into that translucent yellow substance and returned to his kaylackt. He didn’t appear to be soulsick, though, so he must have withdrawn the creature of his own volition.
San asked, “Did you run out, or were you just too mad?”
“I’m not mad,” said Tano, sounding very mad. “I just couldn’t do it. It’s too hard.”
His teacher cracked a smile. “That’s a good lesson too,” she said, taking a step toward him with her arms crossed. “It’s somethin’ that every Summoner learns at some point. There are times when it’s easier to just withdraw and re-summon your Jekua rather than keep wasting mana doin’ whatever it is you’re doin’. You know?”
Tano nodded. “I think so,” he said.
“Good,” said San, patting him on the left shoulder. His body slouched defeatedly. “Ahh, perk up!” she then said, offering a more enthusiastic pat on both shoulders. “How much juice you got left?”
“Not much,” Tano said, despondent.
“I figured. I know you didn’t do much, but a Jekua like that’ll drain the mana out of even the most veteran Summoners pretty quick. That was a good first try, kiddo. For real.”
Just going off his body language, Makénu could perfectly imagine the smile cutting across his son’s face underneath the kaylackt. “Really?” Tano said.
“Really. Go ahead and rest up, and we’ll try again once you’ve got some more mana in you.”
“Can I keep my suit on?” Tano asked eagerly.
“Sure, knock yourself out.”
Then Tano skipped over to Makénu, hopping up and down once he reached his father. “Dad!” he shouted despite being merely a foot away. “Did you see that?”
“How in the world could I miss it?” Makénu joked.
“That was so cool,” Tano sighed. All his previous frustration had seemingly evaporated, leaving behind only excitement and glee.
Seeing how much joy it brought to his son, Makénu couldn’t help but smile.
18
Short and Vague
Another week passed in the Jonwo household with little fanfare. For Alani, anyway. She knew that the time they were spending there was valuable, that the Summoners were making progress with their abilities and deepening their mana reserves, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was spinning her wheels.
It was a dreadfully familiar feeling. There was so much out there she needed or wanted to do, but she was stuck at the house watching life pass her by. At times, it brought her back to her childhood in Ti House, shutting herself away in her room with her sister while they listened to their parents drunkenly ramble in the living room.
Back then, her young mind had been preoccupied with how she could escape her home. Ultimately, she landed on joining the Church of Salt and Sanction, but it had taken a few years for her to reach that conclusion. Even though it had only been three years now since she joined, she was having trouble remembering precisely why she felt that would be her best option. She had never been particularly religious. The institution’s greatest offering truly was just a quiet place for her to sleep.
Now, she was thinking through the same things, considering the (somewhat limited, in her opinion) options for her future. Trying to figure out what her life might look like without the Church in it. She despised how cyclical it all was. The Church was supposed to be her way out of a cycle she hated. How had she ended up back in this position already?
Maybe you shouldn’t have been so needlessly rash and short-sighted, she mentally chided herself. Although, that being said, she couldn’t imagine having spent the majority of the past three years cooped up in the apartment with her parents while Siuv was gone.
Everyone in the house had eaten a light breakfast together before breaking off into their various subgroups. “Light” was a subjective term—according to Mrs. Jonwo, a “light breakfast” included scrambled eggs mixed with diced ham, onions, and cheese, as well as sides of hashbrowns, biscuits, and sliced fruit. It seemed like every day Alani was topping her previous record for the most amount of food she’d ever eaten in a twenty-four hour period.
The Summoners were down on the beach training, having wanted a change of scenery after spending so many days out in the yard. Aeiko was running some diagnostics on Brine’s animyzer for the first time in a while, and Alani wanted to leave them to their work so she didn’t feel like a nuisance. She was out in the backyard, swinging idly on the swing hanging from the Jonwos’ massive tree overlooking the beach.
Down below, she could see Balt, Niona, and Wasaaru engaging in a three-way battle in the tide. Balt was using Clacker and Wasaaru was using his big, nasty beetle thing, while Niona was blasting the two of them with her Raptor’s newly-installed Plasma Beam and cackling to herself as they scrambled out of the way.
Alani chuckled and returned her attention to her linkpad. She had been seeking out any new reports about the Facet, but there was nothing. Either the group was incredibly adept at keeping themselves off the radar, or no one was looking particularly hard for them. She wondered where they were off to, after their base on Yuluhu was demolished by the lighthouse golem. The group had evidently obtained Totta Island’s Veptilo a while ago (without any interference from Khonoti, as far as she knew), but Kou Tekkis’s had not been stolen.
She was nearly thirty years younger than him, only in her mid-twenties, so he’d thought they wouldn’t have anything in common, but that turned out to be untrue. Their taste in books and movies was largely the same, and they both appreciated walking around their little piece of Kou Tekkis, admiring the nature. She and her sister were from Na Tana originally, and they came with matching tan skin, bushy brown hair, and green eyes. According to Marissa, along with the accents, the bushy hair was another gift from their father. Since they weren’t from Yuluhu, they were not stricken with strihova and therefore didn’t have to wear the uncomfortable respirator masks that plagued a multitude of the Facet’s members. Makénu had no idea how she or her sister got involved with the Facet, and he still did not feel comfortable prying.
He let out an exaggerated sigh and said, “I shouldn’t have done this. With my old knees, it’ll be hell getting up again.” He slapped his aforementioned knees for emphasis.
Marissa chuckled. “You’ll be fine, old man,” she said. Her accent was less pronounced than her sister’s, but there was a hint of it.
Several feet in front of them, with the bright blue sky as his backdrop, Tano finished fitting himself into the skintight white suit. Black streaks slithered across the fabric likes snakes in the grass. He reached down to retrieve the diamond mask from the ground and gazed into its featureless face with reverence.
“You ready, kiddo?” asked San, standing with her hands on her hips.
Even just that simple question made Makénu’s gut churn. He didn’t know why the notion of Tano being a Summoner made him so anxious. Perhaps it was the boy’s age; for as long as Makénu could remember, a person had to be eighteen to register as a Summoner, so maybe his mind was simply retaliating against seeing his ten-year-old doing it.
“Ready,” Tano answered with a toothy grin. He turned the mask over and pressed it to his face. He seemed to have a bit of trouble at first, given the respirator already strapped to him, but with San’s help he was able to secure it.
It was strange, seeing his son wearing that outfit. He was almost otherworldly, standing there in the ever-changing black-and-white suit with the studded mask erasing his features. Standing a foot shorter than all the other Summoners in Madelaine’s employ, it was a bizarre sight. It appeared like nothing more than a child playing dress-up. A boy wrapping his father’s work tie around his neck, slipping into his oversized dress shoes, clomping around the house spouting out business words he’d heard his parents say.
Years ago, when Tano was only three years old, Makénu had laid in bed with his husband and pondered what job their son might grow up to have. “He’s so brilliant,” said Makénu with a contented sigh. “I think he’ll follow in his old man’s footsteps, become an engineer.”
That garnered a laugh from Adam. “Oh, yeah?” he said.
Makénu furrowed his brow, mock-offended. “Do you disagree?” he asked, rustling the sheets as he turned over onto his side. “You and I both saw him today. He’s the smartest kid alive.”
Another laugh. “All he did was put together a puzzle.”
“But it was such a challenging one!” said Makénu. Earlier in the day, Tano had put together a 3D wooden puzzle that formed the shape of a Shimmertusk. “He’s never even seen a Shimmertusk before, and he put it together so fast!”
“I don’t know that I would call it fast,” Adam said.
Makénu shoved him playfully, and they both laughed. “Well alright, if you don’t think he’s destined to be an engineer, then what did you have in mind?”
Adam shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it,” he replied.
“Really? Never?”
“Never.”
“You’ve never stopped and wondered what our son will be like when he’s older.”
“I mean, sure I have. I just don’t generally focus on the career aspect of that.”
“Well, give it a go. Come on. What miserable, boring day job do you want him to call and tell you about once a week in twenty years?” At that point, Adam had started showing early signs of illness, but nothing serious. Nothing the two of them thought they had to be particularly concerned about, beyond normal strihova stuff.
Adam laughed. “That’s awfully generous of you,” he said, “thinking he’ll call once a week.”
“Fine, once every other week.”
“Still pretty bold. But okay, let me think…” Adam scratched his prominent chin, gazing up at the ceiling as he formulated an answer. Finally, he said, “You know, I could see him working with animals as a veterinarian.”
“Really?” said Makénu. “Why?”
“You’ve seen how fascinated he is every time he spots a bird outside,” said Adam. “He thinks animals are so damn cool. And he always treats his toys so gently, with such love and care. I think he’d do great with a real animal.”
Makénu nodded. He wasn’t wrong. “What kind of animals were you thinking?” he asked. “Regular ones or Jekuas?”
Adam had to mull that over. “Regular ones, I think.”
“Do cats and dogs here even go to the vet anymore?” Makénu asked. Every living thing on Yuluhu was so riddled with strihova, he genuinely didn’t know. There was little point in bringing one’s pet to the clinic to diagnose some random mutation, and there was usually little a doctor could do anyway. Their family would soon learn that with Adam’s worsening ailments.
“No idea,” said Adam. He chuckled, then said, “Maybe he’ll be so brilliant, he’ll kickstart a resurgence of vets across the island.”
Makénu said, “Is this you telling me we should get him a pet dog?”
Adam howled with laughter and had to clap his hand to his mouth to muffle the sound. They would be in for a world of hurt if Tano woke up, after how long it’d taken to get him to fall asleep. “Absolutely not,” he said. “Not unless you want to be the one picking up its shit and whatever else falls out of it.”
Back in the present, San took a few steps back and clapped her hands together. “Ahright, ahright, let’s get this thing crackin’,” she said, her strong accent stirring Makénu from his memory. “Start channeling your mana into the kaylackt like we talked about.”
Though Tano’s face was completely obfuscated, Makénu could perfectly picture his expression underneath it. With the shifting of his stance, he knew Tano’s face was screwed up in intense concentration, his brow knitted and mouth pressed into a thin line. He held his hands up like he was about to box, except his palms were flat.
“Is that necessary?” Makénu whispered to Marissa, trying not to let Tano hear him.
She giggled and said, “No, not at all.”
Tano’s mask started to glow. Faintly at first, but it steadily brightened and he curled his hands into fists. Now he was ready to box.
A bright yellow, semi-translucent substance shot out of the mask, a beam of light that struck the ground in front of Tano. It started wriggling and expanding into the form of an unknown creature.
“Wow,” Makénu couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. Tano was actually doing it. He was summoning a Jekua.
The mass of yellow light soon loomed over Tano. Whatever crystalline beast he was summoning, it was tall. Taller than any man Makénu had ever met. When it ceased growing, it stood roughly nine feet tall, standing on three skinny legs. Yellow dimmed, fading into blue crystal. Makénu shuddered at the sight, disturbed by how it reminded him of the crystal in which Tano had been trapped for so long. He still did not fully grasp how Tano had been freed, but at the same time, he did not care.
The blue crystal Jekua bore no other colors, which was somewhat rare for one of the Facet’s creations. Did that mean this one was higher quality, or lower? Or was there no correlation whatsoever? Either way, it towered over all of them, its torso long and angular. It had four arms that were somehow even skinnier than its legs, and its head was most similar in appearance to a bat’s. It had a short, jagged snout, two crooked ears, and protruding crystals that looked like eyes.
It was unlike any other crystal Jekua that Makénu had seen, which was by design. Every Summoner in the Facet had a different Jekua integrated into their kaylackt, depending on which one they were more naturally attuned with. He did not begin to understand the science involved in determining such a thing, which was part of San’s job.
“Great work, kiddo!” said San in her throaty rasp. “Now, try havin’ it take a little walk around, ahright?”
“Mhmm,” Tano mumbled from behind his two masks.
The unbelievably tall bat-monster took an apprehensive step forward. Its footing was off, though, and it immediately came crashing to the ground. San had to leap backward to avoid getting hit by its enormous body, and Tano whimpered with disappointment.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Nah, nah, don’t worry about it,” said San. “That’s what these tests are for, right? You gotta get used to somethin’ new like this. Can’t just hop right onto a bike and know how to ride it. Right, Dad?”
“Uhh, right,” said Makénu. He was kind of shocked that the Jekua Tano ended up with was something so comically large compared to him.
While Tano struggled to stand his Jekua up again, Makénu leaned in to ask Marissa a question. “How do they decide what Jekua a person can use?”
“We have a few baseline builds,” Marissa said. “These datasets include things like the Jekua’s size, their inherent strength, and their abilities. The general size is something that’s kind of predetermined, but each Summoner is able to offer input for what they want their Jekua to look like. Within the limitations of the fabrication machine, anyway.”
Something she’d said stuck Makénu like a thorn. “Abilities?” he said. “I thought that all our Artificial Jekuas could only perform the one same ability.” This was the first time he’d heard that they might be capable of anything different.
Marissa nodded. “That’s pretty much true,” she said. “A vast majority have that one attack. Really, all the ones in the field currently can only do that attack. But obviously we’ve been experimenting with new ones, trying to expand our capabilities so that these Artificial Jekuas can be more versatile. I’m not really supposed to talk about it, though. Sorry.”
He told her not to worry, that he understood. Madelaine loved her secrets. He then said, “So this Jekua that Tano’s got is something that his body is more attuned to use than other ones?”
“Basically, yeah,” said Marissa. “Every Summoner in our ranks went through the same testing. First to see if they were a good match for this program or not, since summoning through a kaylackt is different than using a kayet. Not everyone can do it.”
“Huh,” Makénu muttered. Maybe that was why Tank didn’t wear one of the suits. Perhaps it wasn’t a personal preference after all. Not that he’d ever ask the intimidating man such a personal question.
“Second,” Marissa went on, “is the test for what sort of Artificial Jekua would work best with them, yeah. But while a bunch of stuff like the size and whatever else was chosen for him, your boy there is the one who made that thing look like that.” She nodded toward the giant creature still wriggling before them.
Tano was not having much luck raising his Jekua off the ground. Dirt caked the creature’s once-pristine blue veneer as it raked its arms and legs across the earth, its face perfectly blank as it writhed. Nearby, Tano was moaning in frustration, stomping his feet on the ground like a toddler having a tantrum.
Makénu wished he could do something to help, but even if he got up and lifted the creature, he’d earn a scolding from San. The whole point of this was for Tano to learn how to control it himself. While he sat watching, he moved on to a different topic with Marissa. “How much freedom does a Summoner have in designing their Jekua?” The idea of Tano putting this tall bat-thing together was highly amusing.
“We have, like…the simplest way to describe it is that we have a collection of building blocks that you can mix and match to make your thing,” she said. “Use this body, put this head on it, stuff like that. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s what the technicians are there for. You get the idea. Then the machine can compile that data and integrate it into a kaylackt. That name is actually kind of a misnomer; the kaylackt is really more like one big memory card than a kayet.”
As her explanation winded down, apparently so too did Tano’s mana reserves. He still hadn’t managed to stand his Jekua back up before its blue crystal lit up into that translucent yellow substance and returned to his kaylackt. He didn’t appear to be soulsick, though, so he must have withdrawn the creature of his own volition.
San asked, “Did you run out, or were you just too mad?”
“I’m not mad,” said Tano, sounding very mad. “I just couldn’t do it. It’s too hard.”
His teacher cracked a smile. “That’s a good lesson too,” she said, taking a step toward him with her arms crossed. “It’s somethin’ that every Summoner learns at some point. There are times when it’s easier to just withdraw and re-summon your Jekua rather than keep wasting mana doin’ whatever it is you’re doin’. You know?”
Tano nodded. “I think so,” he said.
“Good,” said San, patting him on the left shoulder. His body slouched defeatedly. “Ahh, perk up!” she then said, offering a more enthusiastic pat on both shoulders. “How much juice you got left?”
“Not much,” Tano said, despondent.
“I figured. I know you didn’t do much, but a Jekua like that’ll drain the mana out of even the most veteran Summoners pretty quick. That was a good first try, kiddo. For real.”
Just going off his body language, Makénu could perfectly imagine the smile cutting across his son’s face underneath the kaylackt. “Really?” Tano said.
“Really. Go ahead and rest up, and we’ll try again once you’ve got some more mana in you.”
“Can I keep my suit on?” Tano asked eagerly.
“Sure, knock yourself out.”
Then Tano skipped over to Makénu, hopping up and down once he reached his father. “Dad!” he shouted despite being merely a foot away. “Did you see that?”
“How in the world could I miss it?” Makénu joked.
“That was so cool,” Tano sighed. All his previous frustration had seemingly evaporated, leaving behind only excitement and glee.
Seeing how much joy it brought to his son, Makénu couldn’t help but smile.
18
Short and Vague
Another week passed in the Jonwo household with little fanfare. For Alani, anyway. She knew that the time they were spending there was valuable, that the Summoners were making progress with their abilities and deepening their mana reserves, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was spinning her wheels.
It was a dreadfully familiar feeling. There was so much out there she needed or wanted to do, but she was stuck at the house watching life pass her by. At times, it brought her back to her childhood in Ti House, shutting herself away in her room with her sister while they listened to their parents drunkenly ramble in the living room.
Back then, her young mind had been preoccupied with how she could escape her home. Ultimately, she landed on joining the Church of Salt and Sanction, but it had taken a few years for her to reach that conclusion. Even though it had only been three years now since she joined, she was having trouble remembering precisely why she felt that would be her best option. She had never been particularly religious. The institution’s greatest offering truly was just a quiet place for her to sleep.
Now, she was thinking through the same things, considering the (somewhat limited, in her opinion) options for her future. Trying to figure out what her life might look like without the Church in it. She despised how cyclical it all was. The Church was supposed to be her way out of a cycle she hated. How had she ended up back in this position already?
Maybe you shouldn’t have been so needlessly rash and short-sighted, she mentally chided herself. Although, that being said, she couldn’t imagine having spent the majority of the past three years cooped up in the apartment with her parents while Siuv was gone.
Everyone in the house had eaten a light breakfast together before breaking off into their various subgroups. “Light” was a subjective term—according to Mrs. Jonwo, a “light breakfast” included scrambled eggs mixed with diced ham, onions, and cheese, as well as sides of hashbrowns, biscuits, and sliced fruit. It seemed like every day Alani was topping her previous record for the most amount of food she’d ever eaten in a twenty-four hour period.
The Summoners were down on the beach training, having wanted a change of scenery after spending so many days out in the yard. Aeiko was running some diagnostics on Brine’s animyzer for the first time in a while, and Alani wanted to leave them to their work so she didn’t feel like a nuisance. She was out in the backyard, swinging idly on the swing hanging from the Jonwos’ massive tree overlooking the beach.
Down below, she could see Balt, Niona, and Wasaaru engaging in a three-way battle in the tide. Balt was using Clacker and Wasaaru was using his big, nasty beetle thing, while Niona was blasting the two of them with her Raptor’s newly-installed Plasma Beam and cackling to herself as they scrambled out of the way.
Alani chuckled and returned her attention to her linkpad. She had been seeking out any new reports about the Facet, but there was nothing. Either the group was incredibly adept at keeping themselves off the radar, or no one was looking particularly hard for them. She wondered where they were off to, after their base on Yuluhu was demolished by the lighthouse golem. The group had evidently obtained Totta Island’s Veptilo a while ago (without any interference from Khonoti, as far as she knew), but Kou Tekkis’s had not been stolen.
