The system window faded, but the unease it left behind did not.
Ryn closed his hand around the jewel and forced himself to breathe steadily.
Later, he told himself.
For now, there was something else he needed.
He turned toward the wilted corpse of the flower. The petals were crumpled, blackened where Jay's herbicide had splashed.
Jay approached cautiously, pinching his nose.
"Uh… so is it dead? Like dead-dead?"
"It's dead," Ryn said, stepping forward. "But we need to salvage what we can."
Jay blinked. "Salvage? From that? Why?!"
"For the pill," Ryn murmured.
The kid paled. "…The pill that might kill you if I brew it wrong?"
"The very same."
Jay whimpered.
Ryn crouched by the remains, examining the twisted vines. Most were ruined by the herbicide, shriveled black and fragile as ash. But near the far side of the bloom, there were still intact sections of the vines, pulsing with Life Energy.
"Here," Ryn muttered.
