At November's End

Everyone set off to do their tasks for the day on this final week of November.

Terian rode with Thomas and Javari to speak to the tavern bartender—surprised to find that the man was behind the counter, working as of nothing had happened the previous night. After the interview, the bartender led them out back, where he had dragged the now partially-frozen body, and Terian cleared snow away from it before taking pictures.

Cally returned to work in the Silver Peaks kitchen, spotting Bellura and Trisha in one of the hallways and quickly speed-walking the other direction, choosing the longer path to her work area in order to avoid them.

Evony and Osric walked to the lodge together, thankfully no media vans nearby, and they strolled inside with no issue with Oliver hovering in their wake.

They ventured up the stairway, rode the elevator to the top floor, and entered the main office, Osric walking behind his desk and setting the cane against his nearest bookshelf.

“M’kay.” Evony placed her hands on the back of the armchair and gave him an expectant look. “What is it today? Looking for random parts all through your office while you do hours of coding? Or… random cleaning to keep my hands busy?”

Osric chuckled, looking down and unplugging the enormous hard drive from his laptop. “No, actually… I finished something this morning, and I have something special to do now. Glad you’re here to join me for it.”

“Join you for what?” Levi asked, having just stepped into the room, hands cupped behind his back.

Osric held up the hard drive and looked to them with a childlike grin. “Come along and you’ll see, Levi. And I’ll need you too, Oliver.”

Then, he snatched up his cane and strode toward the fireplace mantle across from him, stopping and moving each of the flower pots off the ends, and placing them on his desk instead. He took the very old zapper from the center, gave it a look, and tossed it over on the black couch along the wall—and then, he took a few steps back, looked up at the fireplace comprised of bricks that traveled up the wall, and smiled.

“Control room!” Osric said loudly.

Suddenly—the long line of red bricks parted in the center, and the wall seemed to separate entirely, sinking inward before sliding off to the left and right, vanishing behind the mounted elk head and the nearest painting.

The fireplace split in two, and the wall soon opened up completely—revealing a sleek glass elevator of a round design, parked inside of an otherisde dark and empty enclosure.

Evony stared at it in surprise. “Whoa…”

“All aboard!” Osric said happily, strolling into the elevator as its thin glass door slid open.

Evony, Levi, and Oliver all joined him in the glass elevator—and the door closed, sealing them inside the pod-like space.

Swallowing and feeling a touch of anxiety, Evony glanced over, seeing both Osric and Levi looking entirely unbothered by what they were doing now, and then she let out a breath, feeling fairly comforted by this.

Osric looked up, focusing his goggles on the tiny screen that was perched above the glass elevator’s door.

“Onward,” he said.

Then, the elevator shifted—and it carried them up into the darkness, the view of the office vanishing from in front of them.

Moments later, the elevator stopped—and what looked like a pair of pitch-black double-doors opened in front of it, revealing an entirely new room, which was evidently right above the office. The elevator door opened, and Osric stepped out first, wheeling around and waving for them to follow.

As everyone emerged in the new room, Evony paused to glance around at it all; this room was dimmer, lit mostly by the many TV screens displaying live camera footage across from the elevator, and in front of the many screens was a long, cluttered counter that contained several parts, tools, and devices.

“Well… it is a control room, I assure you,” Osric said, glancing over at his countertop and snickering. “But… it also became a workshop at some point in time.”

Evony peered past him at the big metal shelves along the far wall, containing several unique devices that she didn’t recognize, which she assumed must have been inventions of his that hadn’t gone to market.

Osric, however, was focused on something else; he strolled around the counter, stopping at the final screen on the gigantic computer, the one at the end, which was easily three times the size of all the rest, and currently powered off. It had several buttons and controls beneath it, and he hit one of them, powering it on and waiting a moment for it to boot up.

Then, the screen went green, displaying the word WELCOME before switching to a very blank home page.

With a gleeful half-smile, Osric held up the huge hard drive and inserted it into one of four large slots beneath the computer—and it clicked right into place, the screen changing, now yellow, and reading INITIATING INSTALLATION.

“I believe it’s underway,” Levi remarked, gazing over at Oliver, whose screen was now showing the exact same thing as the large computer screen.

Osric wheeled around, clapping rapidly and sniggering, positively giddy now. “Wait for it, wait for it…!”

He stepped eagerly toward Oliver, both hands held upright and clutched into excited fists, staring at the bot butler for several moments until the installation was finally done.

Then—the bot made a single faint ding , almost like an oven timer, making Evony choke out a snicker.

“MKII OPERATING SYSTEM: INSTALLED. NO ERRORS FOUND. REBOOT REQUIRED.”

The voice erupted out of Oliver with loud vibration—and then, his screen suddenly went dark, and he fell from the air.

“Oh—” Osric reached out and caught him, straightening up and staring down at the screen.

Evony and Levi approached him on either side, all of them gazing down at the bot patiently.

Seconds later, the screen flickered back on, showing the green bootup page before quickly shifting to Oliver’s face.

Osric raised his eyebrows at him. “How d’you feel?”

The bot’s face changed into a sarcastic one. “ Feel , sir…?”

“You know what I mean,” Osric snarked, releasing him and allowing him to float again. “Are you capable of the MKIII defenses now? We need to see.”

“Give the command, sir,” Oliver requested.

Osric tapped his gloved fingers to his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Mmm. So many toys… which one…”

He jumped and thrusted a finger at the robot.

“Oh—try the spinny blade thing,” Osric beamed. “Go into combat mode and default to melee.”

Oliver’s screen instantly switched to red, though his expression remained; two small hatches on the back-left and back-right portions of his body opened, and three long blades shot out of each one, shaped like needles and slowly spinning like propellers, quickly developing speed and morphing into what looked like saw blades.

“Hah!” Osric clapped, grinning with delight.

Evony marveled at the bot, feeling impressed, but taking a step back from it.

Levi took a step away as well.

“Okay. Okay, um…” Osric breathed. “Oh, switch to ranged mode and set lasers to ready.”

Oliver stopped the blades instantly, then retracted them back into his body. Next—the small chest area of his metal body unfolded and opened quite rapidly, and a thick barrel emerged from it, making a high-pitched noise as it prepared to fire.

“Ehe,” Osric smiled joyfully, gazing into the laser and patting the bot on the head. “Oh, that’s fantastic… that is fantastic! All this time, and here it finally is …!”

“I’d recommend you not place your face into my weapons systems, sir,” Oliver stated.

Osric glanced up and straightened out, giving him a look. “I don’t think you’re gonna open fire right now… are you?”

“No… but the probability of a misfire is 0.002 percent,” Oliver informed. “Small… but it does exist.”

“Well… put that thing away, then,” Osric ordered, swatting at him. “I just wanted to make sure you could use it now.”

Oliver’s chest cavity retracted the laser and closed.

“And exit combat mode,” Osric added, wagging a finger. “Your red face is disturbing. Put your happy one back on.”

Oliver’s red face flickered and changed to its usual blue color, and the expression was now a comically overjoyed one, vibrant and cartoony in a detailed way that his normal pixelated face never was.

“How’s that, sir?” he asked.

Osric dropped his arm by his side, staring blankly at him.

Evony laughed, Levi hooking a finger over a forming smile and looking away.

“ Normal one,” Osric griped. “Put your normal one back on.”

Oliver’s face returned to its ordinary state, a few light chuckles echoing from within his metal shell.

“Well. Congratulations,” Levi said, nodding once at Osric. “This has been quite a long time coming. Glad it’s done.”

“Oh yeah… me too,” Osric smirked, planting his cane to the floor and holding a finger to the air as he strolled back over to the elevator. “Aaand… now that my own personal bot butlers have the MKIII OS installed… anyone who tries to attack my lodge is in for a wild surprise.”

They all stepped into the elevator together, the door closing.

“How many bot butlers do you actually have here?” Evony thought to ask him.

Osric turned his head slightly, his mouth curling into a smile.

“Enough,” he told her, facing forward again. “Stashed away, and simply… waiting.”

Evony smirked as well, feeling a whole new rush of confidence in their endeavors.

When they all stepped into the main office again, Osric turned around and ordered the fireplace to conceal the elevator, and it obeyed him, the wall closing up entirely. Then, they all decided to venture downstairs for lunch, eating at a rounded table in the corner of the enormous dining hall with Cally periodically breaking away from the kitchen to talk to them.

The rest of their day was peaceful—but what remained in the back of Evony’s mind was everything that was soon to come.

Throughout the final week of November—a sense of rife anticipation was in the air of Silverhollow.

Everyone in town knew that the great Christmas Convention was just around the corner, and everyone began trading conversation at every diner meetup, during every visit to the club, and in every minor workplace discussion about the many fun events the town always hosted during this time—the most talked-about events being the blaster race, the skating party on the lake behind the lodge, and the caribou hunt on Mt. Crumpet.

Evony found herself learning more about the convention events during her lunchtime talks with Cally—but Thomas was practically memorizing them, and he’d created a detailed schedule of everything, paired with finances that would be needed, and services that would be required.

Meanwhile—Javari spent half the week convincing his father to allow a gun show at the lodge, and he finally relented and agreed, despite Trisha butting into the family conversations at home and arguing against it, seemingly for no reason. She often liked to be difficult towards anything that her brother wanted to do, simply for the fun of it, if nothing else.

Evony’s workdays this week were minor; Osric was spending quite a lot of time on certain partially-finished inventions of his that he really wanted to perfect before the convention, which left Evony with little to do, aside from occasionally fetching the two of them snacks, or venturing into town for a specific item that he needed once in a blue moon.

Terian, however, was compiling information and structuring it into a fantastically solid story, even complete with direct statements from the bartender at the tavern, and an image of the reptilian’s body. He spent hours typing everything to perfection, adding the precise details that mattered the most while omitting any that might lead to Evony or Osric. He suspected the story may be more impactful if he could mention that this incident was related to the kidnapping conspiracy again—but for now, he decided not to push his luck, and he kept Osric fully out of the story as promised. The new publication with this magnificently-crafted story would be published at the start of the next workweek, on the second day of December.

During this week—county employees worked to shovel snow away from the long stretched of space on the left and right sides of the roads, past the shops, and in front of the lodge, as several vehicles would soon arrive to park in these areas.

The lake that resided a ways behind the lodge, past the trees and the small walkways—a lake called the Black Cove, which was entirely frozen—was where county men began cutting a few trees down near the icy water’s edges in order to make more room for the crowds who would eventually attend the ice-skating party.

The enormous Christmas tree in the heart of town was visited by a county man with a tall ladder every few days, as it was apparently an annual routine for the top of the tree to be changed from an angel to a star, or from a star to an angel, once every three days during the Christmas season.

It was visible, and everyone could feel it in the air; the great big Christmas extravaganza of Silverhollow was very soon to come.

Evony spared a few moments to watch Thomas and Javari’s web show every now and then throughout the week, and it got a few laughs out of her. Their show, TJ, was mostly comprised of skits, like How to fly a kite, if you’re an idiot —or How to dance on stage, if you’re an idiot . It mostly consisted of Thomas and Javari doing very basic things in the most astronomically ridiculous and stupid ways possible—and it was fairly amusing, to say the least. She watched this in preparation for Saturday—because she and Osric were expected to appear in one of these episodes with them—but when Saturday morning finally came, she awoke from bed feeling oddly drained and woozy, sniffling and expending an unusually large amount of energy just by showering and getting dressed for work.

Evony knew immediately that she was getting sick with a cold or the flu, but she decided very quickly that she didn’t care; December, and the Christmas Convention, was tomorrow, and she could not afford to be sick right now.

After getting dressed and preparing to leave, she then paused, glancing around her bedroom and sighing.

As of today, she’d be living in the lodge for at least a month, and she wouldn’t be coming home to this room anymore.

It was strange, how at home she felt here now. Arriving in Silverhollow in the back of that old truck felt like years ago; her attic room was very much lived-in, her consistent nightly home, always with a messy hamper and an unmade bed, and she felt as if she’d been living here forever. It was suddenly strange to think of being somewhere else.

Evony huffed out another breath, grabbed her rolling travel back, and packed it with clothes, her proton pistol’s charging stand, her black .25, her laptop, and a few other things, flipping the bag closed and zipping it shut. Then, she paused, hunching over the bag and feeling tired simply from packing.

She took a moment, then stood, extended the handle of the bag, and marched out of her bedroom with it, thumping it loudly down the stairs.

When she reached the front door—she paused and gazed across the living room at Alejandro and Manny, both of them sitting on the living room couch and watching TV, smiling and waving at her, wishing her good luck with the convention. She smiled as well, returned the waves, and gave her farewells before opening the door and leaving the house.

Just when she started walking into town, dragging the bag through snow with some difficulty—she felt her phone suddenly ping -ing like mad from her pocket, slowing to a stop and rolling her eyes.

The group chat was active again.

She pulled the phone out and checked it, and the group chat currently read;

Cally : but where we gonna film tho?
Javari : uuum, the Silver Hollow?? I said that like eight times yesterday. You do not listen.
Thomas : @Osric bro show a sign of life, we need to know if you can make it or not
Levi : Why was I added to this chat
Javari : @Thomas He’s not gonna answer you if he’s on an inventing spree. I think we’ve lost him.
Cally : @Levi you can mute the chat if it’s bothering you
Thomas : @Javari yea… but he’s not gonna be able to at all if he doesn’t do it today…
Terian : @Cally I did that ages ago. Lol.

Evony choked out a laugh at Levi’s message, then pocketed her phone again and resumed her pace down the expansive path.

She marched on, steadily treading near the giant Christmas tree, and passing by the diner, ignoring the ping -ing in her pocket for a couple minutes. Then, she paused for another break, sighing and pulling the phone out again.

The chat now read;

Levi : I am not sure how to mute this.
Cally : @Levi just click the three dots in the upper right corner, and it will give you the option
Thomas : @Osric
Thomas : @Osric
Thomas : @Osric
Thomas : HELLO???
Javari : Give it up dude…
Osric : Can’t make it, sorry.

Evony squinted down at Osric’s message, making an odd face and sliding the phone back into her pocket.

“Can’t make it…?” he muttered, shaking her head and yanking her bag along as she broke into a stride again. “Why…?”

She rounded the corner at the intersection, gazing past the giant Christmas tree, down the main road—and then, she spotted something that put a knot in the pit of her stomach, three different media vans along either side of the street in the distance, all of them parked on the sidelines in front of the lodge, their side doors open, and their occupants waiting patiently for their prey to walk into sight.

Evony huffed out a disdainful cloud of breath. “Oh.”

Rolling her eyes again, she resumed her pace, dragging her bag over the lumps and bumps of snow, and feeling more drained the longer she did. Eventually, she was walking in between the parked media vans, approaching the stone stairs of the lodge.

And then—on the edge of the open side door of the nearest media van, a woman seated there suddenly perked up, grabbing her microphone and quickly approaching Evony from behind.

“Excuse me,” the woman—Candice Millcreek—said loudly, speed-walking toward her with haste. “Excuse me!”

Evony blinked and turned around, confused.

Candice stopped and sighed, one of her cameramen positioning himself over her shoulder.

“I recognize you,” Candice said, squinting at her. “You were with Mr. Azarias the other day, weren’t you?”

Evony’s eyes flickered between her and the large camera.

“Does it matter?” she asked.

“You’re the one who threw the snowball,” Candice uttered with a fake little laugh. “That wasn’t very nice, you know.”

Evony cocked her head slightly. “You want a fist instead?”

“All right, now… take it easy,” Candice replied calmly, raising a hand. “I just want to ask you a few questions is all.”

Evony shot her a baffled double-take. “Wow—you are really retarded, aren’t you? Take a hint—go away—and leave people the hell alone. Nobody likes you. You’re never around to cover anything that’s actually important. You’re propaganda bullshit media. It’s a waste of my energy to even talk to you. So bye .”

At that—she turned and stormed away with fury, thundering up the stone stairs with her bag knocking into each and every one.

When she reached the top, she paused at the double-doors, catching her breath, then choking out a faint little chuckle, thinking of her father and instantly imagining how quickly he would shower her with praise if he were here to witness that.

Then, Evony sighed heavily, pushing the doors open and entering the lobby.

She stopped for a moment, seeing a few more people in line at the front desk than normal, and the desk was being manned by a bot butler, one that was not Oliver. The two people at the front of the line, currently speaking to the bot butler about their Christmas reservation, were Perry and Bellura Byers.

Evony let out another massive breath of chagrin, turning to the stairs and quietly walking towards them, hoping not to be noticed by the Byers two.

But, as she began marching up the rounded stairway—which wrapped around the room to some degree, giving everyone in the line a perfect view of her—Bellura glanced up, spotting her and flashing a snarky smile.

“Heya, ugly,” Bellura said loudly, waving up at her, and causing everyone else’s heads to upturn.

Evony barely spared her a glimpse, brandishing a middle finger at her as she carried on up the stairs.

By the time she finally reached the elevator on the second floor, she felt totally winded again, pausing and leaning on the wall for a moment before hitting the button and taking the elevator to the top one.

Eventually—the elevator opened, allowing her to walk out into the isolated castle-like hallway of Osric and Levi’s floor, and then, she found the energy to march all the way down the hall to Osric’s office, the doors standing open.

She stopped in the doorway, peering inside and seeing that his desk was unoccupied, and the entire room was dead silent.

Evony rolled her neck, sighing once more and wandering back down the hall in the other direction, unsure of where to go or what to do now.

So, she stopped beside the empty hotel suite, parked her bag beside its door, and pressed her back to the wall, sliding down into a sitting position and letting out the largest breath she had today, resting her head back and allowing her eyes to drift shut.

She sat there for a while, merely savoring the time to rest.

Then, eventually, she heard the gentle tap of footsteps approaching, forcing her eyes open and looking down the hall.

Levi had slowed to a stop nearby, hands pocketed, and eyebrow raised, giving her an odd look.

“Why are you sitting out here?” he asked, glimpsing at the door of the suite. “Did he forget to unlock the door…?”

Evony wanted to respond, but she didn’t feel like sparing the energy, so she merely shrugged.

Levi narrowed his eyes at her astutely. “Feeling unwell?”

Evony shrugged again. “Yeah. Kinda…”

Levi made a flattened sort of expression, motioning for her to stand. “Well… then come along to the clinic. Come on.”

Evony let out another sigh, taking a moment before she forced herself to her feet. She then followed the doctor down the hall to his office, veering left in the small room and sitting on the edge of the single hospital bed.

“I don’t think I need treatment or anything,” she mumbled. “It’s just something to wait out…”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Levi replied, scooting his tiny metal cart of medical supplies closer. “Have you been coughing or having any sinus issues?”

“No,” Evony replied. “Just too tired, and dizzy, and cold…”

Levi made a nod, then stepped forward and placed a hand to her forehead, leaving it there for a few seconds before withdrawing it.

“Quite the fever you’ve got,” he remarked, turning to his cart and lifting a thermometer. “Here you are. Under the tongue.”

Evony opened her mouth, and he placed the thermometer under her tongue for a minute or so, until it made a beep . Then, he took it, discarded the covering into the trash, and examining the tiny screen on it.

“I always have to redirect my mind to farhenheit every time I read one of these,” he mumbled. “Hm. A hundred and two. That’s quite the fever, all right. I’d say whatever infection your body is fighting is currently losing the battle.”

“Good,” Evony murmured. “I never get sick for very long… It just ends up feeling like this for a day or two…”

“Well… that is the good news,” Levi determined, placing the thermometer down and turning to her. “Have you felt like this for very long…?”

“A little bit,” Evony shrugged. “It just hit harder today. I usually ignore being sick. It’s just harder to right now…”

“You may have been sick for longer than you even realized, then,” Levi deducted. “Hopefully, you’re in the final stretch of it now.”

“Hopefully,” Evony muttered.

There was a pause.

Then, Evony eyed him, only just remembering something that she’d wanted to ask him about.

“Hey, I have… kind of a random question,” she said.

Then, she explained the things that she and her other friends had discussed the other day. Osric had already decided to include Levi in this ‘team,’ so Evony felt perfectly comfortable telling him about everything they’d talked about.

When she was finished, she huffed out a tired breath.

“And that’s why I wanna know… if someone had to press charges against the prime minister, could any of us do it?” Evony concluded. “We were wondering…”

“Hm.” Levi leaned back against the front of his desk. “I don’t think an American can take a Brit into court. I don’t know how it worked in the old world… but in Concordia, we have strict rules about crossing country lines with legal battles, particularly with members of parliament. I don’t think Osric would be able to do that with anyone except the president and the mayor.”

Evony sighed deeply. “Damn…”

Levi folded his arms, eyeing her thoughtfully.

“However,” he added, his mouth curling slightly, into what might have been a smile. “You are currently speaking to someone with dual citizenship, Evony. I became a citizen here… but I never renounced my native one. One of the benefits of having been a doctor in the British Army was that my citizenship in the British Empire is forever mine.”

Evony raised her head, staring over at him and choking out a laugh. “Really…?”

“Oh yes. My nephew is still over there, too… still fighting for queen and country,” Levi affirmed. “And, his father… my brother… is also a member of parliament. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I actually came from a military family. Members of it like to leave the British Armed Forces and step into politics from time to time, too. It’s almost like a family tradition, I suppose. American families often do the same.”

“Yeah… they do,” Evony agreed. “Wow, okay… so… if all this kicks off, then… you could do the parts that Oz can’t?”

“Essentially,” Levi shrugged. “I’d probably be ringing my long lost family members, too… just to have people to vouche for me during all of that. I imagine the media would have a field day with it. I’d like some people from home on my side…”

Evony nodded, giving him another questioning look, now feeling curious about something else entirely.

“Can I ask… why did you move here, anyway?” she wondered. “How does somebody go from being a doctor in the British Army to… y’know… being here? ”

Levi scoffed out a chuckle, straightening up and strolling around his desk.

“Retired, actually,” he said, pulling a desk drawer open and reaching into it. “I’d just retired… right before I decided to vacation in the American Colony. And… then… I found this.”

He revealed an old brown scrapbook and slapped it down onto his desk, then flipped it open to the first page.

Evony slid off the hospital bed and moved closer, gazing down at the first page of the photo album. It was an old picture of a boy in his late teens with messy, sandy hairs, turning back and looking at the camera with a smile and a wave, his hands smeared with something black or brown, as if he’d just been working on a car, and his eyes were bright with life.

“Wandering the streets of a backwoods town… half-dead, and rattled to the bloody core,” Levi told her grimly, staring down at the book with a troublesome frown. “That picture was taken months later, just after he’d fixed up my old truck at the time. But… when I first found him… he had a thousand-yard stare that I’d only ever seen on soldiers before. He had a terrible time, living the way he did…”

Evony’s eyes ventured back up to the doctor, her stomach churning at hearing this.

“And… yes… that is who you think it is,” Levi uttered, removing the book from the desk and placing it back into the drawer. “That vicious bloody attack when he was a child, and then that father of his, and then vagrancy right after… the boy had a truly rough go of it all in the beginning. He’s very much earned all the comfort he has now.”

Evony bit her lip, looking down and letting out another cloud of breath.

“He saw something as a child that… well… as I’ve gathered… he has very much in common with you,” Levi informed. “The difference is… in the time after… he wasn’t left with a parent who was anything like yours. He was left with a controlling bellend who forced him to offer his homemade devices up for sale. Osric has always liked making things… but…”

He paused and sighed, leaning against the wall.

“Well,” Levi mumbled, scratching along his chin. “The industry wasn’t exactly founded under pleasant circumstances. It only happened because his father forced it into being… and… he also liked to force his son to work harder, and faster… and force him to create more, and more, and more… so that he could reap the benefits himself. And he did it in a particularly brutish way, too. Osric was still a minor at the time, you see. He didn’t have full control over his own market. Until… the day came… when he turned eighteen… he quietly seized legal control of his market from his father… and then he left home and never looked back. I think his final moment with his father was probably rather violent, too… but… that’s all ancient history now.”

Evony grimaced down at the desk, thinking of Osric and feeling a surge of empathy for him.

“So. To answer your actual question,” Levi continued. “The reason I moved here… was because I found a kind young man living on the streets, with nowhere to live, and who very much needed a hand. He couldn’t even eat on a regular basis, or… know that he’d have a safe place to sleep at night. So… when I met him, I…”

The doctor paused for a second, sighing and gazing down at the edge of his desk.

“Well… at first, I thought he was just some eighteen-year-old who was down on his luck,” Levi shrugged. “But, even still… couldn’t very well just leave the boy.”

Evony stared at him, flashing a smirk.

“And, then… it turned out… I’d accidentally adopted a young prodigy,” Levi said, breathing out a laugh. “Imagine my shock.”

Evony nodded, still smiling.

“And he was in a tighter spot than I even realized at the time,” Levi carried on. “He hadn’t actually sold the rights to all his inventions, but he did sign over the other companies’ rights to replicate his technology with him getting majority profit, so… he was receiving orders directly, and he couldn’t fulfill them. He couldn’t build or design any of the things he needed to in order to keep his market going. He had no place to do it… and no materials to work with.”

Evony nodded again.

“After I purchased my vacation home, and made it fully mine… and, after I took him in… I ended up finding out about his market, and his adept skill at creating things, and even coding things,” Levi said. “I didn’t know what the bloody hell he was doing half the time… but… we ended up converting my entire damned garage into a workshop for him. After that… his business simply… erupted . And… well… fastforward a great deal of time, and a great deal of success… and… here we are.”

Evony gave him a long, thoughtful stare after his story concluded, straightening up and smiling again.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” she said genuinely. “You made a huge difference in his life.”

“Well… I imagine that’s why he keeps me,” Levi chuckled, glancing around his clinic. “As a pet, I’m afraid.”

Evony laughed.

“Oh, I’m not being fair,” Levi admitted, swatting over at the closed door in the corner. “My living space is actually quite luxurious. It’s my office that feels like a bloody kennel.”

Evony sniggered.

Levi flashed a half-smile, sighing and sinking down in his chair. “Well. You got quite the story out of me, didn’t you? I imagine you’ll want to go cater to him and his mild insanity now. Just don’t let him run you into the bloody ground while you’ve got a fever.”

“Heh… well, I would, but I don’t know where he is,” Evony replied. “He’s not in his office.”

Levi flattened his smile, raised his hand, and made a pointing motion directly at the ceiling.

Evony stared at him for a second before it clicked in her mind.

“Oh yeah,” she muttered, glancing up and sighing. “I’ve never actually been on the roof here before…”

“It’s quite nice… although he does tend to go up there simply to lament at times,” Levi told her. “You’ve been warned.”

Evony giggled, moving toward the door. “Thank you for the checkup… and the story.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Levi dismissed with a smile and a wave. “Take care of yourself.”

“I’ll try,” Evony disclosed.

She strolled off to the elevator, stepped inside, and allowed the doors to shut, gazing up at it and huffing out a breath.

“Take me away from it all,” she said.

Then—the elevator shifted all around her, carrying her up to the Silver Peaks rooftop.