There were a few other small craft in the airspace around Farflung, darting nimbly between the towers or floating slower with cargo. Orfeus slowed her pace to avoid collisions, but they all paid her a wide, wide berth. She didn’t see anyone else on bikes like this one, and if Em had designed them specifically for the Order, no wonder people wanted to stay clear.

Orfeus picked up speed again, weaving between the towers. Wildness had its perks.

She docked on the exterior of what she was pretty sure was Bright’s tower. Strange to come at it from this angle. There was enough space on the balcony, anyway, even if it was crammed full of overgrown plants – neither Bright nor really Em had much patience for gardening.

She swung off the bike, and waited for Rivasoa to dismount before deploying the wings to let it charge some more. They shone amongst the greenery like a giant cicada had landed there.

Orfeus knocked on the window.

Nothing happened, so she knocked again. Her patience for this dramatic entrance fading, she called, “Bright, I know you don’t leave the house.”

Shuffling sounds. Bright pulled open the window door, looked at her and sniffed. “Hey, uh, the Fox,” she said. She glanced at Rivasoa as well, then back at Orfeus, and grinned. “Are you here to bring me in for my illicit expeeeeriments?” She waggled her fingers. “My blood wiiiitchery!”

It really was perfectly possible the Elders had been the first ones to hire Faolan. Orfeus’s head hurt. “I am bringing you in for crimes of being too brilliant and supportive a friend,” she intoned.

Bright’s grin faded a smidge. “Haha,” she said. “Okay, so you want something.”

Orfeus opened her mouth to deny it, but Bright was already stepping back, gesturing inside.

“It’s good to see you,” Bright said as they entered, and then hurried past the emotional moment with a flap of her hand. “You’re late, though, you know schedules are important.” Bright looked at Rivasoa doubtfully. “Miss Tall, you wanna sit in a corner or something?”

“Can I observe?” Rivasoa said.

Bright shrugged like it didn’t matter much either way.

“She knows,” Orfeus said, and Bright looked at her with her eyes wider. Orfeus shrugged. “So, ah…show her as little as you can?”

“Oh, thanks for inviting a competitor into my own personal lab, Orfeus,” Bright snapped.

Orfeus stepped back at the truth of that, holding up her hands in surrender. “I can leave again?”

Bright shook her head, frowning. “C’mon, this isn’t fun when you don’t fight back. What’s up with you?”

Orfeus lowered her hands, sighing. Rivasoa watching all of this without a word really didn’t help. “I know I shouldn’t have come back here,” she said. “You asked me not to come to you.”