Marny (3 page)

“I’ll message you,” she’d said. “Keep me
posted on… things.”

She’d meant fey things, magical things.

Tam, her very own Uncle Zeg, Jennet, and the
arrogant-but-getting-better Roy Lassiter were all part of the
Feyguard; a group of humans deputized to watch over the boundary
between the mortal world and the Realm of Faerie. Mostly via the
sim game of Feyland, which, in a strange way, had managed to
straddle both those worlds.

Marny wasn’t a Feyguard, but she’d seen
plenty of tweaked things, including her time babysitting a
changeling, and looking for traces of feral redcap goblin in the
Exe. She knew that freaky magic could seep over into everyday life
and create all kinds of havoc.

But she was leaving that behind. Crestview
might be a nexus for the Realm of Faerie, with the gaming company
VirtuMax setting up headquarters there and the frequent crossovers
between it and the magical Realm.

Newpoint, though, was perfectly normal.

Big, yes. Industrial and crowded and noisy,
for sure. She was ready for it, though. Ready to face the world on
her own terms. Without magic, thank you very much.

“Check around your seat and collect all your
belongings,” the driver said in a flat, bored voice. “Next stop,
Newpoint main terminal, end of the line. Luggage compartments under
the bus will be accessible from both sides after disembarking.”

Marny watched out the
window, eyes gritty from lack of sleep. The late bus was the
cheapest way to travel from Crestview to Newpoint, and, frankly,
she didn’t have
that
much left over for food and fun money. She’d taken her mom’s
advice and put her app donations into a fund for college—all but a
few extra creds to get her through the summer.

Intertech was housing and feeding the
interns, but she’d need more than just a bed and some corporate
cafeteria food for the next two months.

Pale light seeped into the sky, illuminating
a few dozen skyscrapers. One of the downtown buildings was
Intertech’s HQ, and she squinted, trying to make out the company
logos on the top of the buildings. Maybe the tallest one, but it
was hard to tell through the smeary bus windows.

The bus exited the highway just past the tall
buildings and went through a warehouse district. As the light
strengthened, Marny’s first impression of the city was gray. Cement
and glass and shadows, but a blue sky waking up overhead. The top
of the silver skyscraper suddenly caught fire, windows reflecting
the flame of the rising sun.

With a lurch and squeal of brakes, the bus
pulled into a dingy-looking station. The guy across the aisle woke
and scrubbed his tired-looking face with his hands. The kid in
front of Marny closed his tablet, grabbed his backpack, and was the
first one off the bus.

Marny waited. No point in squeezing herself
up the aisle when a little patience would make it simple to walk
freely off the vehicle. Under her feet, she felt the clunk of the
luggage compartments being opened.

The last passenger other than Marny, a frail
old lady, got up from her seat. She struggled to reach her
flower-decorated case in the overhead rack.

“Let me help you,” Marny said.

One-handed, she snagged the case. It was
heavier than it looked, but she was strong.

“Oh, thank you.” The woman blinked watery
blue eyes at her.

“I’ll just carry this out for you, okay?”

The thing was wretched heavy for an old lady
to handle, and Marny didn’t want to be stuck behind the woman as
she lugged her case up the aisle.

The tedium of the long bus ride was done. Now
that she was finally in Newpoint, she was eager to take the next
step of her adventure. She’d been patient, but the fresh dawn air
called to her.

The woman still moved excruciatingly slowly,
gripping the back of every seat as she traversed the length of the
bus, but at last she hobbled down the stairs. Marny practically
leaped off the bus and set the flowered case beside the old
lady.

“Here you go.”

“You are a dear child.” The woman patted
Marny’s hand, then turned away as a middle-aged man greeted
her.

The crowd was thinning, most of the
passengers grabbing their luggage or already gone. A single duffel
bag stood on the stained concrete beside the bus, but it wasn’t
hers. Marny ducked, peering into the luggage compartments for her
bag. Completely empty.

Irritation tightening her chest, she strode
around to the other side of the bus. Those compartments had also
been cleared out.

The bus driver lingered by the front of the
bus, sucking on a vapor stick.

“Hey,” Marny said. “My bag’s missing.”

“That’s not it?” He gestured to the black
duffel bag.

“No. I mean, I have a duffel, but it’s green,
and a little bigger than that.”

The driver frowned. “Looks like somebody took
yours off accidentally. Maybe when we stopped in Nelco—lots of
traffic there.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” Everything
she needed was in her duffel: the new clothes Jennet had helped her
buy, all her toiletries, her pillow from home.

The driver took one last puff, then tucked
his stick in his pocket. “Go to the office over there, give ’em
your contact info. Your bag’ll show up.”

She hoped so. All she had in her backpack was
her tablet and charger, her messager, her new jacket, and the small
loaf of coconut bread her mom had thrust at her as she left.

Marny went over to the office window the
driver had indicated, glancing around for her Intertech liaison.
The station had emptied out, and she didn’t see anyone who seemed
obviously there to pick her up. Maybe they were running late—city
traffic or something.

After leaving her messager number and
Intertech details with the bored-looking woman in the office, Marny
settled on a nearby bench. The metal was cold against her jean-clad
legs, but she didn’t care. She glanced around once more, but the
only person even looking her way was a scruffy old guy wrapped in
blankets in a nearby doorway. With a silent sigh, she pulled out
her messager.

Intertech had given her a few contacts, and
she scrolled through until she found the number for Brenna Dalton,
the intern liaison.

:Hello,:
she typed.
:This is Marny Fanalua. I’m at
the Newpoint downtown bus station. What’s the best way to get to
Intertech from here?:

There was no immediate answer. Marny glanced
at the time readout glowing on the plain gray wall. Six
thirty-three, Sunday morning.

She yawned, then grimaced at the taste of
exhaust fumes and stale vapor. Surely she could find a better place
to wait than the cold and empty bus station. She stuck her messager
in her jeans pocket so she could answer as soon as it rang, then
pulled her jacket out of her pack. Jennet had made her buy it,
insisting that the bright scarlet looked great on Marny. Maybe so,
but what Marny liked best was the soft fleecy lining. She buttoned
it up, then slung her backpack over one shoulder and stepped out
onto the street.

“Got any spare coin?” the blanket-wrapped man
asked from his doorway. His voice was scratchy, and he smelled like
he was in dire need of a bath.

“Sorry,” Marny said.

“Eh, right.” He scowled at her.

“No, honestly.” She went to stand in front of
him. “I just got here, and I don’t have anything, not even my
luggage. I’d help you out if I could.”

The man’s glare faded, but he was still
frowning.

“Really,” she continued. “Are you here every
day? I could come back and—”

“Go away.” He flapped a grimy hand at her.
“You’ll do just fine in this city. Now leave me alone.”

Dissed by a homeless guy. It would make Tam
laugh when she told him the story. In fact, it was pretty funny in
the moment, too. Smiling a little, Marny turned away.

Then caught her breath at the scale of the
buildings. She stood at the bottom of a canyon made of skyscrapers,
so tall they felt like they were leaning in on her. A scrap of pale
blue sky shone way overhead, but chilly night shadows still clung
to the streets.

Even at this hour there was traffic; mostly
yellow grav-taxis zipping around, and a long city bus that roared
off down the street. A woman on a bicycle sailed past, her blue
scarf fluttering in the breeze.

Newpoint. The city.

Despite the scratchy sleeplessness under her
skin and her dismay at not having her luggage, a bubble of joy
percolated up inside Marny. She was here, in the middle of a real
adventure that she could smell and taste and feel.

Chin up, she strode down the street. The
block ahead seemed full of stores and restaurants, from the look of
the colorful animated signs and advertising flags set out. Although
she didn’t have any spare cash in her pockets, the card in her
wallet certainly had enough credits for a hot drink, at the very
least.

Of the two coffee shops, one had a line out
the door. Marny joined it, then pulled her messager out and
checked, just in case. Nothing incoming.

Guess she had time to drink a nice big cup of
tea, maybe have a scone or pastry, before she tackled whatever came
next.

As the line shuffled
forward, Marny people-watched. She was used to some diversity in
Crestview, so the range of skin tones and features didn’t throw
her, but she sure wasn’t used to such a well-dressed array. They
almost made her feel self-conscious in her canvas high-tops and
worn jeans, but her new jacket carried her through. Not that she
cared
that
much
what random city dwellers thought of her.

Still, it was interesting. Jennet was the
only person she knew who made a production over looking good before
she left the house, but it seemed like that was normal in the city.
At least judging by the tall man with a fancy necktie, the lady
with carefully applied makeup, the girl with a costume made of lace
and leather, and the overall polished look of everyone else in the
line.

Marny surreptitiously watched as she got
closer to the counter. About a third of the customers were paying
by waving their wrist-chip over the scanner, instead of by card or
cash. It didn’t seem to be a big deal either way. Not like
Crestview, where the elite rich folks wore their chips like badges
of honor and stayed together in tight cliques.

Or maybe that was just high school.

And to be honest, Jennet had a wrist-chip and
was friends with Marny. Not to mention that Tam was of even lower
social status, having grown up in the Exe. Maybe things changed as
people got more mature. Or maybe Crestview was just that
provincial.

When she got to the counter, Marny ordered a
large black tea and one of the apricot scones displayed in the
pastry case. She blinked a little at the cost, and scanned her
card. Good thing she’d made some extra creds, or she’d go broke in
a week. Things in Newpoint were seriously expensive. She could buy
an entire meal back home on the amount she’d just dropped for tea
and a small bakery item.

The shop was jammed with people, and Marny
didn’t feel like wedging herself against the stand-up counter. She
poured a liberal amount of soy milk in her tea, glad to see they
had that option (unlike most of the cafes in Crestview), and tucked
her wrapped-up scone in her coat pocket.

Maybe there was a park nearby where she could
settle and enjoy her breakfast.

Two more blocks into the heart of downtown
she found a cement sculpture garden, complete with a splashing
fountain. Plasmetal benches ringed the fountain. She settled on
one, then nearly got drenched from sitting too close to where the
random jets of water sprayed up. Quickly, she scooted to a drier
spot.

The expensive scone was delicious, and the
tea tasted nice and strong. Feeling warm, she sat for a moment and
watched the sunlight slide slowly down the face of the building in
front of her. The bottom was still in shadow, though, and would be
all day, judging from the angle of the light coming between the
skyscrapers. It was weird to think that some parts of the city
never got direct sun.

A guy jogging with a rotund bulldog paused at
the edge of the fountain.

“Go get ’em, Pancho,” he said, unsnapping the
leash.

With a joyful bark, the dog barreled into the
middle of the fountain, dashing from one spurt of water to the
next. Whenever a new squirt came up, Pancho would leap on it,
snapping at the spray—but somehow the water always got away. Marny
watched for a while, amused, until her messager pinged.

She pulled it out of her pocket to see that
Intertech’s liaison, Brenna Dalton, was finally responding.

:Hey, so sorry. Thought you were in at pm.
Take a cab to Intertech building and will reimburse.:

:Okay,:
Marny sent back.

:Ping me when you get downstairs.:

Marny found a trash receptacle—or more
accurately, a composting station—to dispose of her cup and scone
wrapper. Another thing Crestview didn’t have, though word was the
city was trying to go greener. At least people there recycled,
unlike some places she’d heard of.

The street beside the sculpture park seemed
busy enough to hail a cab. She hoped. Standing at the curb, she
raised her arm and tried to make eye contact with the drivers. It
didn’t take long for one of the little yellow grav-cars to pull
over beside her and the door to slide open.

“Where to?” the driver asked, his English
heavily accented.

“The Intertech building,” Marny said.

“Okay. Scan.” The driver pointed to the
scanner mounted between the seats.

Marny climbed in and scanned her card, and a
holographic display popped up, showing “5.25.”

“What’s that?” she asked.