Feyori-enhanced biology and the Feyori-discarded mineral.
I will need…approximately two milliliters of my blood per wreath. Four drops per bead and twenty per milliliter mean I need ten beads per wreath. I think
…Dipping the eyedropper into the next bead, she squeezed out four more drops. A knock on the door interrupted her. Quickly pinching the bead shut, she rolled it between her palms. “Yes?”
Aurelia opened the door and peered in at her, but saw nothing but Ia rolling something between her hands, looking over her shoulder at her mother. “You do know we moved the wall harp down into the restaurant, right?”
“It was hard to miss,” Ia said, plucking another bead from the box. From the doorway, she could hear the faint sounds of people chatting and tableware clattering; the later dinner crowd was still going strong, downstairs.
“Could you…you know…play it tonight?” Aurelia asked her. “I’ve missed the sound of you practicing on it.”
Ia sighed. “I don’t like people knowing I have these abilities, Ma. I’m freakish enough just from my hair and my size.”
Aurelia pushed the door open wider. “My daughter is
not
a freak. Do you hear me?”
Rolling her eyes, Ia sighed. “Fine, I’m not a freak. But I still don’t want people to know I can play it telekinetically. Particularly now that I’m in the military. It’s too soon for that.”
Her mother lingered in the doorway. Ia molded three more beads before sighing and giving in to Aurelia’s unspoken plea.
“Okay. But I won’t play it while I’m in the same room. And I won’t take requests…mainly because I won’t be in the sameroom, but also because I don’t want anyone to know that I’m the one playing it.” Tossing the latest translucent bead into the nearly empty box on her right, Ia glanced back at her mother. “You
do
realize that having someone play the wall harp will only pinpoint you all the harder as heretical demon-lovers in the eyes of the Church, right?”
Aurelia snorted and folded her arms across her chest. “No more so than for being an ‘unnatural man-hater’ or whatever. I don’t actually hate men. I just fell in love with a wonderful woman, and that was that. Anyway…when are you coming down to play the harp? And where will you be, if not in the same room?”
Sighing, Ia closed her eyes and concentrated. “I only have to know exactly where it is in relation to myself, and be within about five hundred meters of it, Mother. I could even go for a run around the block and still be able to play it, that’s how good I’ve grown. Now, where are the picks?”
“In a basket on the credenza under the harp.
Um
…left corner as you look at it, but back by the wall, not the front corner.”
“Five of them?” Ia asked, attention turned inward and outward, looking in the timestreams for the spot her mother mentioned.
“I think so,” her mother offered. “Four, for sure. Are you really going to play it from all the way up here?”
She nodded. “I’ve expanded my telekinetic abilities in the last two years. Mind you, it’s nice to use them for something peaceful this time around.” Faintly through the open door, the first few notes could be heard. It was just a simple arpeggio to warm up her half-forgotten skills, but it still sounded good, just barely audible over the tops of conversations, cutlery, and cooking wafting up from below. “If you swing by the music store tomorrow and get me a dozen, I can play a full concert later. I’ll just play a four-pick melody for now—thank you for keeping it in tune.”
“We’ve had a few psis stop in and try to play it. And for a while, we had a dulcimer harpist performing on the occasional weekend. He brought his own hammers and used them by hand. He ended up being hired by an upscale restaurant in the downtown core, though—could you play ‘La Partida’ for me,
gataki mou
?” Aurelia asked her daughter. “Then whatever else you want,but make it
I will need…approximately two milliliters of my blood per wreath. Four drops per bead and twenty per milliliter mean I need ten beads per wreath. I think
…Dipping the eyedropper into the next bead, she squeezed out four more drops. A knock on the door interrupted her. Quickly pinching the bead shut, she rolled it between her palms. “Yes?”
Aurelia opened the door and peered in at her, but saw nothing but Ia rolling something between her hands, looking over her shoulder at her mother. “You do know we moved the wall harp down into the restaurant, right?”
“It was hard to miss,” Ia said, plucking another bead from the box. From the doorway, she could hear the faint sounds of people chatting and tableware clattering; the later dinner crowd was still going strong, downstairs.
“Could you…you know…play it tonight?” Aurelia asked her. “I’ve missed the sound of you practicing on it.”
Ia sighed. “I don’t like people knowing I have these abilities, Ma. I’m freakish enough just from my hair and my size.”
Aurelia pushed the door open wider. “My daughter is
not
a freak. Do you hear me?”
Rolling her eyes, Ia sighed. “Fine, I’m not a freak. But I still don’t want people to know I can play it telekinetically. Particularly now that I’m in the military. It’s too soon for that.”
Her mother lingered in the doorway. Ia molded three more beads before sighing and giving in to Aurelia’s unspoken plea.
“Okay. But I won’t play it while I’m in the same room. And I won’t take requests…mainly because I won’t be in the sameroom, but also because I don’t want anyone to know that I’m the one playing it.” Tossing the latest translucent bead into the nearly empty box on her right, Ia glanced back at her mother. “You
do
realize that having someone play the wall harp will only pinpoint you all the harder as heretical demon-lovers in the eyes of the Church, right?”
Aurelia snorted and folded her arms across her chest. “No more so than for being an ‘unnatural man-hater’ or whatever. I don’t actually hate men. I just fell in love with a wonderful woman, and that was that. Anyway…when are you coming down to play the harp? And where will you be, if not in the same room?”
Sighing, Ia closed her eyes and concentrated. “I only have to know exactly where it is in relation to myself, and be within about five hundred meters of it, Mother. I could even go for a run around the block and still be able to play it, that’s how good I’ve grown. Now, where are the picks?”
“In a basket on the credenza under the harp.
Um
…left corner as you look at it, but back by the wall, not the front corner.”
“Five of them?” Ia asked, attention turned inward and outward, looking in the timestreams for the spot her mother mentioned.
“I think so,” her mother offered. “Four, for sure. Are you really going to play it from all the way up here?”
She nodded. “I’ve expanded my telekinetic abilities in the last two years. Mind you, it’s nice to use them for something peaceful this time around.” Faintly through the open door, the first few notes could be heard. It was just a simple arpeggio to warm up her half-forgotten skills, but it still sounded good, just barely audible over the tops of conversations, cutlery, and cooking wafting up from below. “If you swing by the music store tomorrow and get me a dozen, I can play a full concert later. I’ll just play a four-pick melody for now—thank you for keeping it in tune.”
“We’ve had a few psis stop in and try to play it. And for a while, we had a dulcimer harpist performing on the occasional weekend. He brought his own hammers and used them by hand. He ended up being hired by an upscale restaurant in the downtown core, though—could you play ‘La Partida’ for me,
gataki mou
?” Aurelia asked her daughter. “Then whatever else you want,but make it
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