"Two down" Alteea said, clapping once as the traversal gallery sighed its obstacles back into the floor. "Egos bruised the correct amount. Who's next?"
"Lynea," Raizen answered, like the idea had been waiting behind his teeth. He tipped his chin toward her boots. "You've got your f ragments... What can we do with them... Maybe wheels?"
"Wheels?" Lynea echoed, as if he'd asked her to wear rain.
"Something like skates" Raizen said. "Make your own. Little rings, ankle-high. Let them learn your balance."
The engineers along the wall leaned forward as one organism. Saffi's stylus paused over her slate, then hovered like a dragonfly.
Lynea glanced down at her hands, then let her breath go slow. A soft chime in the air answered, fragments lifted from the inside of her sleeves - rhey didn't pretend to be anything but obedient. They circled her heels, clicked into crescents under each sole, then overlapped until two smooth rings hung there, spinning faintly against the world.
