Eva took it back, mesmerized. “You—you want me to talk more, don’t you?”

“Yes, continue kipping,” he answered with a toothy grin.

Eva blinked in astonishment as she put it all together. “You want me to talk into this ball, right? Because it is recording my voice, and if I do—” The sphere chirped and startled Eva, who dropped it to the ground.

“If you do,” repeated the creature, picking her sphere up again, “you hret graaveem my speech.”

“It’s a translator! I get it! It allows you to understand what I am saying.” Eva squealed with joy as she grabbed it.

“Understand.” The creature nodded. “Geefa. I now understand.” He opened his other hand. It held an identical device, also aglow with numerous tiny lights.

The cerulean creature with backward-bending legs held up his palm. “I am Rovender Kitt, an old creature in a new world.”

“I am Eva . . . Eva Nine,” said Eva with a smile, mimicking his gesture. “I am a new creature in an old world.”

End of

PART I

PART II

CHAPTER 11: WOUNDS

So the weird-tasting dust, that’s what’s allowing me to understand you?” Eva Nine had been hiking behind Rovender as they journeyed along the forest edge. She carried her remaining sneakboot in her hand.

“Yes, yes. The ‘dust’ is actually tiny transmitters. They send the signal to the ball, the vocal transcoder, which I gave you,” Rovender answered. He hobbled along through the muted moonlight as if he were searching for something. “Most everyone has one. Keep that transcoder near you at all times, and you’ll understand whomever you encounter.”

“Wow. Everyone, huh? Can I talk to the trees with it?” Eva looked at the tiny transcoder, excited.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rovender said. “Everyone knows that the trees here speak a language only they understand.” He squatted down on his good foot and inspected a clump of moss growing on the twisted roots of an immense tree. He pinched off a sprig and brushed it over his nose, which Eva could see was nothing more than a pattern of pores on his narrow snout. “Let us stop here for a few moments,” he said.

Rovender pulled off his rucksack and eased down into a sitting position under the tree. Eva flopped down on the padded ground next to him.

“So, who was that big scary guy? Why is he after us?” she asked. Still a bit shaken from her escape, Eva was nonetheless excited to be speaking with another living being that was not a hologram or a robot.

“Ah, the Dorcean?” Rovender yanked up a handful of the moss. “His name is Besteel. He claims he hunts for the queen. He’s a ruffian and a thug as far as I’m concerned.” Rovender paused. He raised his ragged ear as he listened to the forest’s nocturnal sounds. His ear dropped and he returned to his task of gathering moss.