Dimension 7 — The market, Sentori Village, Planet Isdren

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 bobbed 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 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. Zei had on huir holo visor—a neon orange band that floated above huir head at a forward-down slant, its particles deflecting the light mist, but really zei wore it in anticipation of the rising sun.

The particles emitted from huir earpieces, which looked like open-ear bone conduction earbuds looping around the backs of the ears. They each had two nubs. The round one in front was primarily for sound, and the oblong one in back was for optional features, such as the holo visor. The earpieces were made of a type of highly sculptable nanoparticle, which could integrate seamlessly into the skin and form customizable shapes around the ear helices. Sage’s helix designs were shaped like twin flames. These types of earpieces were commonplace in most Rokonian Sector cities, and Sentori Gulf was no exception. 

The crowds of this Rokon Sector town swayed with similar neons at their heads. Some of them had holo ponchos, too. The seaside row of blue and white-striped merchant tents bustled with 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 chuckled dryly, following Sage’s example, sculpting huir hair into a loose bun, then securing it with a chopstick. Zei revealed huir own set of earpieces. Unlike Sage’s, they were mismatched—the sculptable nanoparticles on the right ear had a subtler helix design, while the ones on the left rose far above huir helix into a long point. The front nub also had an unusual addition growing out of it, which looked like a partial earbud that didn’t go fully into the ear. Instead, it served as a tiny perch for a metal dragonfly.

Sage often saw Ebby wearing the dragonfly accessory. Zei wondered if it was a symbol or just one of neir wealthy aesthetic indulgences, but zei didn’t care enough to ask. It was odd to en how accurate the dragonfly’s anatomy was despite being a mere metal rendition.

Eberkerson said, “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 wearing full holo rain gear behind neir tent to some much larger tubs full of clams.

The two friends spent the pink hour of the morning filling up portable freezers 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 hardly ever joined en on huir excursions to the off-planets of the Network until now.

Zei became silent and brooding after loading all the freezers 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 or carefree laugh as zei usually did to lighten the mood.

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. Zei adjusted huir visor to cover huir eyes better. “Oh? What’s that?”

“The answer to your question,” 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 loveaffair 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 first-hand what a newly opened portal looks like. I figured you’d want to check it out before anyone else from the SEU arrives.”

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 freezers to ensure they were nested together securely, then rolled the cart, the sound of 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 portal maintenance 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 would respond, but nei continued transferring the freezers silently, and zei decided to drop the subject.

The two unloaded the rest of the cart into the trunk and the 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, we’re going now, I take it? How long will it take?” Sage asked. “I probably should get this food to the university before too long.”

Ebby glanced at huir holo watch. “Aren’t the ice chests the self-freezing kind? I think they’ll be fine.”

Sage mouthed an “ah” and mumbled, “Right, you’re right. The ones you literally just donated…”

Eber pressed a button on the front nub of one of huir earpieces. Two faint purple holographic domes appeared on the sides of huir head, just big enough to cup huir ears. Zei pushed the same button up, increasing the opacity of the holo domes and canceling out surrounding noise.

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 grinned. “Renting a vehicle, of course.”

Sage groaned. “Riiight. Should’ve guessed.” 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 grin.

“Don’t worry, I will,” nei promised lightheartedly. Nei saluted Sage while walking backward.