A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2)(16)

Sidra followed Pepper into the workshop behind the front counter. Having been in Pepper’s home, what lay beyond was no surprise. Shelves of supplies towered overhead, stuffed with crates all labelled – by hand! – in big block letters. There was organisation at work, but clutter, too. The mark of a logical mind that sometimes strayed.

Pepper gestured proudly at an elaborate hand-hacked contraption covered in shiny tubes and dented pipes. ‘If you’re going to be my assistant,’ she said, ‘you’ve gotta learn to make mek.’

‘That’s . . . the most important thing?’

‘Oh yeah. Fixing complicated shit requires a clear head, and nothing chills a person out like a warm cup of mek.’ Pepper placed an affectionate hand on the brewing machine. ‘I require a lot of this.’

Sidra accessed a behavioural reference file. ‘Don’t most sapients drink it recreationally? At the end of the day?’

Pepper rolled her eyes. ‘Most sapients confuse working hard with being miserable. I do solid work, and I’m never late. So, why not? It’s not like I’m smoking smash. Mek is just a food coma without the food. Same brain chemicals, basically. You drink too much, you take a nap. And seriously, anybody working in a job that doesn’t let you take a nap when you need to should get a new job. Present company excluded, of course.’

‘Are naps good?’

‘Naps are f*cking great.’ Pepper opened a drawer and pulled out a tin decorated with an Aeluon design – monochromatic swirls and circles. ‘You’re kind of missing out there. Missing out on mek, too.’ She opened the tin and stuck her nose over it, inhaling deeply. ‘Mmm, yeah.’ She held the tin out to Sidra. ‘When you smell that, how do you . . . how do you process that? Is it just a list of chemicals?’

‘I’m not sure. I’ll find out.’ Sidra took the tin, manoeuvred it to the kit’s nose, and pulled in air.

The image was there without warning, leaping to the front of all other external input – a sleeping cat, sprawled on its back in a puddle of sunlight, fur mussed, pink toes splayed sweetly – then gone, just as fast.

‘Hey, you okay?’ Pepper asked, taking the tin. Something on the kit’s face had her attention.

Sidra tore through her directory logs, looking for an explanation. ‘I – I don’t know.’ She paused for one second. ‘I saw a cat.’

‘Like . . . an Earthen cat?’

‘Yes.’

Pepper glanced around. ‘What, here?’

‘No, no. It felt like a memory file. A cat, asleep by a window. But I’ve never seen a cat before.’

‘Then . . . how do you know it was a cat?’

‘Behavioural files. Animals you can find around Humans. I know what a cat is, I’ve just never seen one.’ She raced through logs and came up empty. ‘I can’t find the file. I don’t understand.’

‘It’s okay,’ Pepper said. Her voice was light, but there was a small furrow between her eyes. ‘Maybe some stray crud you picked up in the Linkings?’

‘No, I – I don’t know. Maybe.’

‘If it happens again, let me know. And maybe we should run a diagnostic, just to be safe. Are you feeling okay otherwise?’

‘Yes. Just confused.’

‘You’re still adjusting. It’s cool. Stuff’s gonna be weird for a while. So, let’s give you something to focus on, huh? When my head gets cluttered, always helps to do something with my hands.’

Pepper walked Sidra through the steps of making a batch of mek – measuring the powder, hooking up the water, keeping an eye on the temperature. It wasn’t complicated, but Pepper was particular about the details. ‘See, if you cook it too fast, there’s a compound in the bark that gets bitter in a real mean way. Cook it too slow, though, and you’ll just end up with sludge.’ Sidra took extensive notes. Clearly, this was important.

A soft timer chimed, indicating the batch was ready. Pepper picked up a mug, inspected the inside, wiped it out with the corner of her apron, then pressed it under the brewer’s spigot. A small cloud of steam unfurled as the milky white liquid poured out. Pepper took the mug with both hands, inhaling deeply. She blew across the surface, then took a cautious sip.

‘Isn’t that too hot?’ Sidra asked.

‘Yeah, but stars, it’s good.’ Pepper slurped slowly through a tiny opening between her lips. ‘Ahhhh. Here, you want to try?’

‘Yes.’ Sidra accepted the mug. The kit’s mock pain reflexes didn’t kick in, so clearly it wasn’t too hot – at least, not for her. She looked at the liquid, swirling into itself in a friendly kind of way.

‘Do you know how to drink?’ Pepper asked.

‘I think so.’ Sidra hadn’t manoeuvred the kit in this way before, but it was easy enough to mimic. She brought the mug to the kit’s lips, parted them, and pulled liquid in. She could detect heat, and—

She was stepping into a hot bath, but this body wasn’t hers. It was someone else – rounder, taller, at ease in her body. She sank into the water, scented foam folding around her. Everything was okay.

Sidra looked up at Pepper. ‘It happened again. Not a cat, but—’ She took another sip. She was stepping into a hot bath, but this body wasn’t hers. ‘It’s a bath. It’s a memory file of someone taking a bath. And now it’s gone again.’ She grabbed the tin of mek powder and inhaled. A sleeping cat, sprawled – ‘That triggered the cat again.’ She took another sip from the mug, testing for patterns. She was stepping into – ‘Bath.’