The elevator was roomy with enough space to carry both Bulwark and Bob without crowding me and Issi. It struggled slightly with the weight of the two, but since we were only going up a single floor, it managed to handle the load.

  When the doors slid open, I found myself stepping into a warm-colored foyer with a frosted glass door directly ahead of me, and hallways heading off both to the left and right.

  “ShadowTag’s team uses this floor as both an operational command center and living quarters. Spark’s lab is in the north section,” Dys explained as Bulwark gestured to the left.

  “ShadowTag’s team? Not your team?” I asked.

  “We’re wanderers. Nimbletainment helped smuggle us out of Brazil after the catastrophe that happened down there. Now we travel around to different cities, helping out wherever we can,” Dys explained.

  “Nimbletainment did?” I said in disbelief.

  “They were very accommodating. Without them we probably would have died down there, and all they asked for was the right to use our name and likeness for five years. We even receive a percentage of all profits made on our merchandise. A small price to pay,” Dys said. Bulwark stepped closer to the left hallway and gestured again. “Shall we go visit Spark now?”

  “Lead the way,” I replied.

  As we made our way around the gently curving hallway, I noticed a number of heavy wooden doors, each in various states of decor, one of them being completely covered in pink streamers. Each one had samurai-grade biometric locks and brass plates containing the names of various samurai. Probably bedrooms. After we passed the door with Spark’s name, we came to another frosted glass door, which Bulwark pushed open.

  “I wouldn’t recommend allowing the little one to run around in Spark’s lab,” Dys said. “Although she’s usually very careful with the safety precautions, she can get distracted. That’s why she doesn’t let her cousins run around inside unsupervised. I recommend visiting her alone, while we take Issi and Bob to the den area. We can introduce her to Spark’s family while the two of you talk.”

  I glanced at Issi, who was busy looking at everything in the hallway and not paying attention to the conversation. “Issi, do you want to visit some other kids with Bob and Bulwark, or stay with me?”

  “Are you going to be having adult conversations?” the girl asked, frowning.

  “I don’t know, possibly,” I replied.

  “Then I wanna visit the kids and have that froggie conversation with Bulwark,” the girl declared. “You get boring when you start handling adult stuff.”

  “Sometimes adults have to do boring things in order to get things done,” I said, gently patting her on the head. “If you feel scared, or don’t like the kids, or something, you can always come back here to find me.”

  “I can handle it!” the girl declared.

  “I know you can,” I whispered. As she marched over to Bulwark and took his finger, I looked over at Bob. “Keep an eye on her, please.”

  “What about you?” the bear asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. “Just worry about Issi.”

  The bear nodded and wandered over and took Issi’s other hand. As the trio turned and walked down the hallway, I was reminded of that old movie Jane had rented to watch. Some crazy thing about a girl who got swept up in a tornado and then pranced around with a lion, a scarecrow, and a man made of tincans. I couldn’t remember much of it;I fell asleep halfway through, but I distinctly remembered a scene of them skipping away from the screen.

  Once they disappeared around the corner, I pushed open the door to Spark’s lab and stepped inside. The room had probably been a large storeroom at one time. Now only a bunch of massive metal shelves pushed against the walls hinted at its previous purpose.

  The center of the space was filled with workbenches, massive tool chests, and devices. A lot of devices. Not only were the shelves completely filled with various devices, but they were also scattered around the workspaces and shoved into the corners. There were too many to count.

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  Spark was standing over a workbench in the back, wearing a heavy smock, some thick leather gloves, and a pair of magnifying goggles. She was apparently concentrating so hard that she didn’t notice me enter.

  As I wandered closer, she leaned closer to the bench and started soldering the small device on the bench. I chuckled when she stuck out her tongue as she worked.

  “You do good work,” I said once she finished soldering and stood up straight again. Spark jumped and spun in place, her goggles whirring softly as they zoomed in and out as they tried to bring me into focus.

  “I didn’t think you were coming until tomorrow,” the girl said warily.

  “Uhhh… it is tomorrow,” I said. “It’s ten in the morning.”

  Spark froze for a moment, then glanced at the clock on the wall. “So that's why the others were here a bit ago with an egg and bacon sandwich.”

  “Were you here all night?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Most of it,” she admitted sheepishly, “I got inspired after taking one of your bots apart and started creating some upgrades for them. Guess I lost track of time.”

  “You created an upgrade for my bots,” I said. “In the short time between leaving my ship yesterday and this morning.”

  “Oh no. No, no, no, no,” Spark replied, waving her gloved hand back and forth. “I made a couple.”

  “A couple…” I repeated.

  “Absolutely! Take this for example,” she said, grabbing the small remote-sized device off the workbench. She tried to hold it up like a display model, but halfway through the maneuver, the small device slipped out of her heavy gloves and flipped through the air. She ripped off her gloves and threw herself across the floor, just barely grabbing the device before it hit the floor. “I’m okay!”

  “I’m sure,” I mumbled as I helped her up. She grinned at me in a loopy, slightly unsteady manner. “Have you slept at all?”

  “Of course! I slept before going to visit you yesterday!” she replied quickly.

  “So not in the last twenty-four hours?”

  “I guess not?” She answered thoughtfully, “But there’s a fridge full of specific-to-me caffeinated drinks in the corner; that’s all I need,” Spark declared. “Want to see what I came up with?”

  I glanced at the small device in her hand. “Will it explode?”

  “Of course not. It doesn’t have any explosives in it,” Spark scoffed while her tail twitched. “Right now it might suffer power surges or brownouts though. This is just a prototype, and still needs to pass the quality standards set by myself and my Sam AI.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass,” I declared. “Since I mass produce all my stuff, I can’t afford to have something untested in my bots. If it failed, it could cause issues or even cripple a large amount of my forces.”

  Spark’s face fell for a moment before she caught herself and perked back up. “That’s fair, albeit a bit disappointing. Initial live tests are something I tend to get a bit overeager about.” Her smile grew a bit strained. “And, uhhh, my time blindness tends to let me overdo it when I get excited about a project, which is a bit common…”

  “And I appreciate it,” I replied, “but I’ll wait until you iron out all the bugs before I try installing your tech. Take your time with it. Maybe get some sleep…”

  “That’s not how I function!” Spark declared. “When I’m inspired, I must chase my muse wherever it goes! And your tech inspired me!” She then winced as if her AI was admonishing her, “Although a bit of sleep couldn’t hurt.”

  “You’re welcome? There’s a pile of bots and devices down in your garage to help inspire you some more, but before I hand them over, I have to ask… Can you show me the tree production lab, or explain how they function, so I know whether it’ll be useful back home or not?”

  Spark looked at me for a moment in tired confusion, then nodded. “Of course! I can show you one of the groves tomorrow, and if you like what you see, I can provide you with the genetic patterns alongside the supplies, blueprints, and instructions to set up a nursery and the other infrastructure to start up a growing operation!”

  “Just like that?” I asked, surprised. “What do you want in return?”

  “I don’t need anything in return! You’ve provided me with a ton of stuff to tinker with, and I’ve been developing my stuff for the good of humanity,” the girl declared. “What good would it be if I hoarded my knowledge?”

  “Did you let your friends in Vancouver know that?” I asked. “Because they were being extremely protective of the version you gave them.”

  “Well… even though I gave them the genome, it’s not the easiest plant to produce. Maybe they were protective of their process? This is the first time I’ve heard about this, and it does have me a bit steamed, so I’ll give my friends a call later and find out what’s going on,” Spark declared.

  “I appreciate you being so accommodating,” I told her. “What time would you like to meet tomorrow?”

  “Dunno? I don’t have my schedule in front of me. Do you have anything planned? ‘Cause if not, I’ll just send you a couple possible times and the coordinates later. Sound good?”

  “I guess that works,” I replied hesitantly. “What are you going to do until then?”

  “If I push myself, I can probably iron out some of the kinks of these devices and have them ready for you by tomorrow. Going to be tight though!” she declared.

  “Right…” I replied, taking a step back. Spark was already distracted by the device in her hand. She had already pulled out a tool to prod at the remote in various spots. It seemed like she’d already become completely focused on her work again. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  She gave me a silent thumbs up and a distracted wave, so I took a couple steps back, watching her work the entire time, before finally turning and heading to the door.

  “Nyx, can you contact her AI and ask them to set up the meeting, please? I have a feeling Spark might not remember to do it properly,” I muttered.

  That’s probably a good call. I’ll arrange it.

  “Thanks, I knew I could count on you,” I said as I checked the time in my augs. “Looks like it’s time for the museum. Guess we should pick up the kids.”

  This arc features Spark from 'A Spark of Sylvan Flame' - Go give them some love!

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