by Trudi Jaye
She had to hand it to Henry; he really knew how to jolt them out of their normal routine. She tried to imagine Pelly participating in something like this and drew a blank. She shrugged. It didn’t matter. He’d drawn his line in the sand, and now the rest of them were being given a chance to see what they could achieve without him. They hadn’t done so well the day before. Pelly might have been a pompous ass, but maybe they needed him?
Fee straightened her shoulders. She was not going to let Pelgrim Shaw win.
“Look at all the people. Maybe we should come back another day,” said David hopefully.
Henry just laughed. “This is nothing. We’re here on a weekday, and it’s not even the holidays yet. This is pretty quiet for a place like this, David.”
They all followed meekly behind Henry as he led them across the parking lot to the entrance. He paid for them to get in, chatting easily with the woman at the gate and then hauled them off to one side. Fee gazed around curiously, taking in everything from the brightly colored signs to the queues of people waiting for the rides and the various food stalls already selling hot dogs and churros. It seemed like a strange, magical land sitting in the backdrop of another sunny day in Tampa.
She’d never been to a carnival or even a theme park before. It wasn’t something her parents had encouraged when she was a kid. They had been more into chanting in the garden to commune with mother earth. And when she got to college, she was too busy working to make ends meet to do the usual fun stuff.
“We’re going to wait here.” Henry smiled, and where before she’d thought his eyes sparkled, now they shone with an inner energy that was hard to ignore. This was more his kind of place than the research lab. He looked even more like a golden god; and for the first time ever, Fee wished she wasn’t a practical researcher who hid in a lab. She wanted to shine like he did, to feel part of his world. She took a deep breath and tried to take it all in, to make sense of the chaos of this place; the colors, sounds, and smells were pouring over her. She opened up her senses and let it all flow in.
Without warning, she went into overload. Too much was going on, too many people, too many things she could see that needed to be fixed. She wasn’t used to it. Instead of feeling a warm shining glow like Henry, all she felt was chaos and disruption running along her senses, pulling her in too many directions.
Just as she thought she might scream, a hand touched her upper arm. She flinched when she realized it was Henry, but she didn’t pass out like last time he’d touched her.
“Hey there, Fee. It’s okay. Just take a deep breath. Ride the wave,” Henry said, his voice soft and soothing, the warmth of his body close to hers helping to stabilize her thoughts. Her body tingled with electricity where he touched her bare skin.
She glanced up into his eyes; for a moment, she was caught in their golden depths. She blinked and looked away. No need to go all gooey on him. His hand lingered on her arm for a moment, and then dropped away. She felt the loss of its warmth, but it had done its work. She was calmer now; the wave of panic had subsided.
“Who’d have thought Lucas would approve a trip to a theme park as a field trip,” said Nolan from where he was standing nearby, taking everything in.
Henry cleared his throat. “Technically, I didn’t tell him where I was taking you. I just asked for some money to take you on a team-building experience. He was happy to do it, though. There’s power in taking time out.”
Nolan’s eyes bugged out. “He doesn’t know?”
“He’s going to be so annoyed,” said Eugene, awe in his voice.
Henry shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I think he’s the kind of guy who understands outside-the-box thinking. He hired me, didn’t he?”
Fee couldn’t fault his logic. Lucas wouldn’t care how they got results as long as they did.
“Hey, Henry! Long time no see, man!” A skinny guy with long hair came up to Henry and gave him a big hug, clapping him on the back, and looking genuinely pleased to see him.
“Grimshaw! Great to see you. How’s life treating you at the Heights?”
“Aw, man, the usual. Nothing beats the Carnival, but this’ll do a good second. What brings you here?” Grimshaw glanced over at Fee and the others, who had clumped themselves together when he arrived. Grimshaw’s eyes gleamed silver in the light then he blinked and it was gone.
But Fee had felt the light touch of Grimshaw’s magic pass over her. Aside from her own abilities, she’d come across magic very rarely in her life, but she recognized it immediately. She shivered again. Maybe she shouldn’t be worrying so much about whether she was going to lose her job, and start paying attention to Henry and the people he knew.
She’d been hiding for so long from people who hated magic, she had no experience with people who actually used it. She didn’t even know if they were friend or foe.
“I’ve brought these guys here for the full experience,” Henry was saying. “I want them to get their hands dirty with a bit of mechanical work on the rides.”
Grimshaw nodded. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. The Twister broke down this morning. I could use some help on it. What’s their level of experience?” Grimshaw’s expression said he didn’t think it was going to be up to much. Fee narrowed her eyes at him.
Henry grinned. “They should know enough about mechanical stuff to get by, I think.”
Nolan raised his hand. “Actually, I have very little practical experience in mechanical engineering. My field of expertise is as a medical researcher.”
Grimshaw grinned. “They all speak like that?” he said.
Henry nodded.
“This is going to be a fun day. Follow me, and we’ll go and see if we can scrounge up some coveralls.”
***
Henry watched as they pulled the coveralls—which were in varying degrees of cleanliness and repair—on over their clothes. Fee looked like a drowned rat, hidden inside a suit that was way too big for her. Henry hid a smile. The idea was to take them outside of their comfort zone, maybe learn a little bit about each other on the way, and see if that threw any ideas their way.
He wasn’t entirely certain it was going to work. But he’d wanted to do something drastic. Sitting around in the lab getting frustrated wasn’t going to cut it. Yesterday afternoon had proved that to him, if nothing else.
Grimshaw had grown up in the Carnival. He’d been on the thrills crew working for Henry’s dad, Viktor, but had stayed on in Tampa when he met his wife one year as they traveled the circuit. He’d retained a small part of his magic, but had lost his connection to the Carnival years ago. Henry had never been able to imagine giving up the Carnival, or losing his connection to the magic. But he’d always liked Grimshaw, and when the opportunity allowed, he always visited.
“So any of these fellas any use?” asked Grimshaw in an undertone next to him. “Can I let them lose on anything important?”
Henry considered the three men and one woman in front of him. “I know they’re smart. And they have the kind of minds that can come up with new solutions to problems. I think you might be surprised by what they can do.” He wasn’t entirely sure that was true, if he were honest. But he wanted Grimshaw at least to give them a chance to prove themselves.
“Okey dokey.” He clapped his hands together, making Eugene and David jump. “We’re ready to go, mateys. Follow me.” And like the pied piper, he led them out into the sunlight again, whistling a strange tune that Henry tried to place. Ah, yes, it was the music on the carousel at the Jolly Knight Carnival.
The Twister was an older, miniature rollercoaster at the far end of the park. “We’ve been thinking about taking it off line,” said Grimshaw as he walked toward the ride. “But I’ve got an attachment to the old girl. So as long as I can keep her working safely, I’m gonna keep her going.”
“So what is wrong with her at the moment, Mr. Grimshaw?” asked David.
Grimshaw cackled with laughter. “It’s just Grimshaw, man. Grim for short, if y
ou’re running out of time. And I’m not sure what’s wrong this time. That’s what you guys are here for, right?”
Henry caught Grimshaw’s eyes. The older mechanic knew exactly what was wrong, but he was playing along for Henry’s sake. Henry nodded at him in acknowledgement of the favor.
Grimshaw hustled them toward the far end of the park. They received a few strange looks from the punters around them, but the others were too freaked out to notice. They still were fiddling with their new outfits, trying to make it work in the context of what they were used to. It was rather funny to watch them. Henry smiled. This contract was turning out to be rather amusing.
His eye caught Fee trying to roll up the sleeve on her overalls. They were grimy with oil and grease, and he was impressed that she wasn’t more grossed out by them. She had almost tipped over the edge earlier—a lot of people had been by the entrance and he’d figured it was probably that. Once he’d calmed her down, she’d slipped back into her usual quiet, capable—somewhat grumpy—mode.
She did glance around at the crowd every so often as they walked, but they were all doing that. He figured they didn’t get out much. The lab was a much quieter, and probably safer, environment.
Her white-blonde hair also made her stand out in the crowds. It wasn’t just that she was attractive. A kind of sparkle was in the air around her, something that drew the eye and made Henry want to smile and to run his hands through her soft hair. He shook his head quickly. Enough of that kind of thinking. He wasn’t going to be around long enough. And she was definitely not his type. He preferred easy-going women with a ready smile and a simple outlook on life. More like him. Not grumpy, pessimistic women who were definitely hiding something.
She brushed at a strand of hair that had escaped her hair tie and something metallic ran up the sleeve of her coveralls into her ponytail. Her hand went to her hair, and she tried to shake the metal creature out. When she glanced anxiously around and saw Henry watching her, she paused, slowly putting her hand back to her side. Henry smothered a grin.
He’d seen the strange, little robotic creatures on her yesterday. At first, he’d thought he was imagining it, but he’d seen them several times now, and had watched her trying to hide them from everyone else. He had no clue why no one else noticed; but perhaps he was used to seeing things like that, and the others weren’t. Perhaps they were all just too wrapped up in their own worlds to see what was in front of their faces. Or maybe there was magic involved.
This one in her hair seemed particularly active, and she was struggling to keep walking normally. Luckily the others were up ahead, chatting to Grimshaw and asking questions about the coaster they were about to see. Henry sped up and casually reached out to Fee’s hair, nipping the creature between two fingers.
“Hey!” said Fee, stopping and turning to him, trying to grab back the creature in his hands. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He lifted it high away from her and looked at it closely. Between his fingers, a little metal robot fought and struggled to be set free. It had five arms, and at least two legs that he could make out, a tiny head and red glowing lights for eyes. Wires fought for position with metal bearings and nuts. It looked a little loopy.
Henry glanced away from the creature. Fee was grabbing at it next to him, her shorter arms not quite managing to reach his.
“What is it?” he asked, part of him awed. She’d made a tiny creature out of metal bits and pieces. Was it alive? It seemed like it was.
“Nothing. Just give it back to me.” Fee continued to grab at the creature, her face a mask of determination.
Henry gave in, dropping his hand until she could grab his elbow and pull his arm down. Electricity zipped along his senses where Fee touched him, and he lowered his arm even further, holding his hand open so the creature stood in his palm. It leaped off and ran straight back up into her mess of hair.
“You know, he’s not that well hidden in there, when your hair is up,” he said. “Someone will see him.”
Fee frowned at him, but she put one hand up to her ponytail. “I don’t usually wear my hair up.” She grabbed the creature and put it into the front pocket of her overalls. “Stay there,” she whispered to it.
“You talk to them? Do they understand you? Are they AI?”
“I don’t suppose you’re going to let me pretend you didn’t see them are you?” she said, grumpily.
Henry shook his head. “This could be the kind of thing that creates a break through on Violet. You’re hiding your best work from everyone else on the team.”
Fee shook her head. “I’m hiding my worst work, not my best.” With a huff of breath, she pulled the creature back out of her pocket and held him in her flat palm. “This is Bing. He was supposed to be able to plait my hair. Instead, he just likes hiding in it, and, if I’m not careful, making knotted nests in it while I sleep. He’s not at all useful to the SSKIN project.” The tiny creature shuffled side to side for a moment, before running back up her arm and into her hair.
This was her worst? This amazing creature was an example of where she’d gone wrong? “What about the ones that have gone right?”
Fee blinked. “I stopped making them. At least the little ones like this. My apartment was getting too crowded with uncontrollable creatures that didn’t do what they were supposed to do.”
“You’ve got more of these roaming around in your place? I’d love to see them sometime.” He imagined hundreds of small creatures wandering on the surfaces at her place. It was just crazy enough to enthrall him.
Fee looked up at him, a blush creeping over her cheeks. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “I don’t generally have visitors at my apartment.”
Henry frowned, his visions of crazy robotic minions falling away. “Why not? Don’t you have friends over? People you hang out with?” She was so secretive it was almost a phobia.
Fee glowered back at him. “I don’t like people at my place, all right? I don’t have to justify myself to you.”
Henry held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just completely foreign to me. At the Carnival, we all live in each other’s spaces. I can’t imagine having a place completely to myself.” The more he thought about having a space all his own, the more he liked the idea.
“Come on, you two! We don’t have all day,” shouted Grimshaw from up ahead. He stood at the side door to a large, brightly colored thrill ride. The Twister.
“This isn’t the last of this conversation,” said Henry. “But for now, we better catch up to the others.”
“There’s nothing more to say,” grumbled Fee, but she jogged behind him toward the door.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Fee felt Bing wriggling around in her pocket and frowned, looking over at Henry again. What was she going to do? No one else had ever noticed her creatures. Or at least talked to her about it when they did.
Would he try to make her use them for the project? They were all so silly. Whatever purpose she set out to make them for was always subverted by some other nonsensical ability. She generally just left them to do their thing. And being honest, they were good company for her. When she was at home at night in her apartment, she chatted to the creatures, told them about her day, what they were working on, and what new ridiculous statements Pelly had come up with.
She shook her head to clear it. In front of her, Grimshaw was explaining the circuitry of the Twister to the others. Nolan was looking a bit lost, but Eugene and David looked like they’d died and gone to heaven. Gone was the fear and horror of being at a theme park with lots of people. Now they had a problem to solve and they were eager to prove themselves to Henry.
She knew that, because they kept involving him in the conversation; and every time he praised or even just talked to one of them, they practically glowed. There was some serious hero worship going on, and Henry hadn’t actually done anything. Fee got the feeling they thought he’d gotten rid of Pelly for them, but it ha
d been Pelly himself who’d done that. Henry had just gone along for the ride.
Part of her was annoyed with them. They should know better than to imbue some stranger—and that’s all Henry was to them, they’d only known him a day—with abilities he didn’t possess. Henry wasn’t here to save them. He would be gone in a month, and they’d be back to looking out for themselves.
But another part of her was impressed with the way he’d managed to bring Nolan, David, and Eugene out of their shells. They were participating, offering opinions, and laughing together in a way that they’d never done in the lab. If they could find a way to work and talk together, perhaps this might be okay.
“Fee! Fee, come over here,” called Nolan excitedly. “Look at what they’ve got.”
She took a step closer and followed where Nolan was pointing. Down below, in the base of the control circuitry was a robot with multiple legs—similar to her robots—but several times larger, in better shape and moving more sedately. She gave a start of surprise and looked up at Grimshaw.
“You can thank Henry for that little innovation. It cleans up down there, makes sure the parts are working, as they should. Also, sets off an alarm when something is wrong, and we can send someone down to manually check on it. Sometimes, I think it just sets off alarms when it wants someone to come and visit.” Grimshaw laughed and clapped Henry on the back.
Fee felt cold. Henry had created it? And it worked exactly the way it was supposed to?
***
For the first time ever, Henry felt embarrassed by one of his inventions. The little cleaning robot at the base of the Thriller’s machinery was nothing like the amazing creatures Fee had created. It had no soul, no personality, and no mission other than to do what it was told. No spark.
He glanced over at Fee, saw her horrified expression, and thought he knew why. She couldn’t believe how pathetic his robots were compared to hers.