I like this game a Normal amount, I swear. Sideblog for posting about My Time at Sandrock! I also write fanfic! Main is @shady-groves.
Header image from the lovely @/playandchill 🥺
PFP commissioned from the wonderful @/solsandrock! <3
Disappointment sunk in her stomach like a stone. After all the progress that she'd made wiggling her way into being Qi's... friend? Cohort? Object of curiosity—? No, not that. But anything more than just being an errand girl. "I'm not your maid, Qi."
"Of course not. You are my assistant."
Also on AO3
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Seeking lab assistants for general purpose lab work. Candidates must possess excellent organization, computation, memorization, and academic skills.
Candidates must provide own transportation and housing. To apply, please send inquiry and C.V. to:
Director Qi Heng, Sandrock Research Center, Sandrock, Alliance of Free Cities
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“…Wrong address?” Wis muttered. She folded the blue-and-white flyer in half with a crisp crease. Another loose slip of paper from Qi, straight into her mailbox and not through the actual mail. Not sure how this could be an accident, unless Qi had been so delirious from the lack of sleep that he'd managed to walk all the way out here... and then back, without passing out on the tracks like Mint did before.
Had others gotten a slip like this? If Wis was somehow fit to receive one, so was anyone else, honestly. But the part about transit and housing made it seem like it was meant for out-of-towners more than Sandrockers. She grabbed the newspaper and started walking to town, skimming through the pages to see if there was any advertisement there, too.
There wasn’t, but when Wis looked up, she saw Grace outside the saloon, ripping down some copies stapled to the wall, muttering curses under her breath.
“Hey, Wis…” she called, recognizing her footsteps without a glance her way. “You’re chums with Qi now, right?”
“I wouldn’t say chums exactly, but…”
“But he listens to you now, at least!” Grace said. She took out a staple remover from her apron and started plucking out the clusters of staples. “Can you tell him that next time he wants to put up a flyer, he can ask Owen to put it up on the corkboard inside?!”
Wis snorted. “I can try, for sure… But you know that he’ll only be incensed to do it more.”
“Well, don’t tell him that I sent you, and maybe there’s a fighting chance,” Grace said, crumpling up the offending posters with a grin. Her eye caught the folded slip of paper between Wis’s fingers. “He mailed you one?”
"How'd you—?"
"You haven't torn it anywhere, it's not crumpled up like these guys here, and you could've easily thrown it away at your house... So I can only guess that it didn't get into your hands via vandalism."
Wis only stared blankly at Grace for a moment, who flashed an innocent smile. "Uh— I... Yeah."
Grace waved it off with a chuckle. "I guess the more important thing is why you got it, right?"
A few indistinct sputters escaped Wis as her brain caught up with the pivot. "Y-Yeah... If I know anything about Qi, it doesn't seem like he'd want anybody from here to help him with his work. And there's no way for him to accidentally just drop this in my mailbox either..."
"Sooooo... there's only one reason he would send you one, riiiiiiight?" Grace said with a teasing lilt, leaning in.
Wis felt her face grow hot. "I, uh, assume you didn't get one?"
"Oh, please!" Grace laughed. "He'd ban me from the Research Center if he could. I'm surprised he hung up posters here at all, when he totally knew I would see them! And in any case, you're dodging the question."
Wis felt a prickle at the back of her neck. Grace smirked.
“What are you blushing for, Wisty?”
Wis felt her cheeks flare up again, and her eyes darted away. “H-Hey! I’ve just never gotten... attention like this before!”
“Ohhhh! Are you—”
“I don’t mean like that!” Wis snapped. “Just… in general! Nobody ever— I just—” Her line of thought was getting tangled, and Grace’s cheek wasn’t helping. Several blurry, insufficient fragments of her explanation flashed through her head before she decided to just settle for a distilled version. “Argh… Just didn’t expect it, is all.”
"I sure didn't either..." Grace crossed her arms. "Well then, are you gonna take him up on it?"
"How can I?" Wis said, her face twisting. "I've got a full-time job already. And money's not an issue, so I don't need a side hustle."
"But Qi knows that too."
"Qi works twelve hours minimum, every single day! A forty-hour work week is slacking to him."
Grace huffed, her bangs flying up. "Alright, alright. We could go on all day, Wisty. You're never gonna know what he's thinking unless you get up there and ask him yourself."
"But—"
With a single firm step, Grace narrowed the gap between them to plant her hands on Wis's shoulders, the wad of paper in her right hand crinkling. "Listen. Just go. You can walk back out anytime. You know how he is. He won't care."
Wis felt her brow tense. Grace didn't know what had gone down between her and Qi. He would care. Possibly. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. Or selfish thinking.
Grace pursed her lips. "No, he won't."
Her pulse kicking up, Wis stood her ground. "...You don't know that," she said, both her voice and her half-smirk coming out weird.
The look Grace responded with made her gut start to twist. "Something's up with you today, Wis," she said, stepping back and shaking her head.
Something's always up, said Wis's instinct to snark, but she bit it back. "I mean, yeah. But I'll manage."
It felt so hard to meet Grace's eyes all of a sudden, despite there being no malice in her voice. "...You sure? I know that you were caught off-guard and everything, but..."
Wis jerked a thumb in the direction of the saloon’s alleyway. “Yeah, I’ll—I’ll just poke my head in real quick and just say ‘hey’ to Qi, and then I’ll ask him what’s up, and that’ll be it.”
“H-hey, you don’t have to if you really don’t—”
“No, no!” Wis blurted. “I do want to!” That wasn’t a lie. Anything involving Qi wasn’t stressing her out; this conversation was. “I— You… just—”
Grace stared, blank and uncertain.
Wis gave her head one vigorous shake. “W-Whatever, it’s fine. Sorry. Um. I’m just… gonna go.”
She took off as Grace mumbled a tenuous “O…Okay…” Then from, behind her, Grace added, “Let me know how it goes! …If you want…”
After ducking into the alley and taking a few steps up the stairs, she stopped, running her hand down her face with an exasperated sigh. Not the first time that she had made a bumbling fool of herself in a conversation in such a manner, but it still felt terrible. The feeling of her brain and her mouth starting to go out of sync, and now any and all body language too, given how sharp Grace was… The thing she wanted to convey, just sitting on the tip of her tangled tongue.
Nobody’s ever really paid attention to me to the point of singling me out, unless it’s with my building work. This is something different and I can’t figure out why I’m seen like this. Qi didn’t explain himself.
I’m just riling myself up way too much about this, and you’re not helping.
We’re hitting a point where I can’t really talk good, byeeeeeee!
That was what she had wanted to say to Grace. It was always when the crucial moment had long past that she could finally string the words together. She started walking again, at a much slower pace this time, in order to wrangle her thoughts back into line. If she just focused on talking to Qi, her original objective to begin with, then everything would be—
SLAM.
The front doors of the Research Center exploded outwards, carrying with it the hoarse scream of a bearded man Wis didn't know. He staggered out into the street before bolting in Wis's direction, melodramatic sobs with no tears escaping his throat. "Uncle! Uncle, I say!" he cried.
"Hey, hey!" Wis shouted as he darted past her. "You okay?!"
The man screeched to a halt at the top of the stairs, pinwheeling his arms to prevent himself from tumbling down. "Am I okay? Am I okay?!" He thrust an arm out in the direction of the Research Center. "That man in there may be human, but he's utterly inhumane!!"
Wis's confusion was mounting again, inadvertently pushing a sheepish laugh out of her. "I... I know he's kinda mean at first, but..."
"Then he turns monstrous!" said the man, dragging his hands down his face hard enough to stretch his eyelids. "Demand after demand after demand! Does he think I'm merely a calculator made of flesh and bone?! An Old World AI caged within a mortal man?! A janitorial robot to be kicked from one spot to the next?!?"
He paused for breath, his eye catching on Wis's pamphlet. Another anguished moan escaped him as he weakly gestured to it. "Don't fall prey to those false promises...! A job this is not, merely indentured servitude! Save your soul...!"
He slumped over, his arms dangling in front of him, like he was some kind of ragdoll that had suddenly lost its magical animation. Wis stared, slackjawed. Would he spring back up again for another round...?
No, but he did roll himself back up with a defeated groan. "Waiter...! I require a cold bottle of the yakkie milk..."
He continued walking down the stairs, arms still flopping in front of him with every step. Wis looked down the alley to find a very confused Grace staring back at her. The guy's whining wasn't too hard to miss. The two ladies exchanged a look and several bewildered gestures, before Grace disappeared with the man behind the corner to serve him his drink.
Right at that moment, another voice rang out into the street, again from the Research Center. "Assistant? Assistant!"
Director Qi emerged, holding a sheaf of papers, his squinting against the sun deepening the frown already set on his face. He saw Wis standing alone in the empty street and let out a sigh. "Did a man head this way?" he asked. "Pale skin, red hair, bearded?"
"Yeah, he..." Wis pursed her lips. "He's gone to get a drink."
Qi tsked, furiously shuffling through the papers before shoving one in Wis's face. Every inch was filled with messy calculations, many scratched out and some with furiously-scribbled question marks next to them. "Do you see what's wrong here?"
"...No?"
He withdrew the papers and jabbed a finger at various indecipherable markings. "Three separate significant figure inconsistencies here, resulting in an inaccuracy great enough to cause a chemical hazard, this here is the wrong statistical test, which produces numbers that make no sense, and overall, the presentation of his work is impossible to follow." He let out a sharp huff, his arm dropping with a slap of the papers against his leg. "And now, he's imbibing during work hours. Unbelievable."
"...If it's any reassurance..." Wis said in a hushed voice, not wanting to draw his ire. "From what he said on his way out, I think he's quitting."
He looked up with another frown, albeit far less pointed. "What exactly did he say?"
Wis relayed the (former) assistant man's words to Qi. She left out the melodrama, but she couldn't help but mimic his whining at least a little. Terrible as it must have been for the man, surely he meant to inject a little levity if he went out like that...?
Qi sighed when she was finished. "His C.V. listed a minor in theater. Waste of a line of text, if you ask me. And a waste of his own time, of course. But I suppose there's nothing else that such a concentration could be used for, practically."
Ah. Wis stifled a laugh. "A-And... his major?"
"Biochemistry. And from Atara University, no less! How on earth one could manage to graduate from a program that vigorous with this kind of work ethic is beyond me." Qi shook his head. "Either that, or Atara University is truly starting to fall behind. What happened to being Vega 5 University's greatest competitor?!"
Wis was silent. She didn't know much about the universities outside of what Nia could tell her, during her tea breaks in between the PhD work that was piled up to her eyes. The builder academies didn't really interact much, at least not directly.
Her lack of input didn't bother Qi, who only waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing to be done about it now. The position of assistant in the Research Center is officially vacant. Again."
He hesitated, before shooting her a curious glance. "Did you—?" He looked down at his flyer in her hands. It was starting to wrinkle now after being held in her sweaty palms for this long. "Ah, good, you did. Are you interested in taking up the job?"
Finally back on track. "Well... no, but—"
Qi let out another sigh. "I see. If you happen to know any suitable candidates, then feel free to refer me to them."
"Hey, hold on." Why was he always so hasty to stop talking when she clearly had other things to say? "Can you... at least tell me why you sent me one? I don't know anybody that could take up this kinda job... and I don't know why you thought I could, either."
Qi blinked. "Hm? Does the description for the 'preferred specialties' not encompass your skill set?"
Wis unfolded the flyer and looked again.
Physical labor.
At the end of the list. Was it just tacked on to include her?
She gave him a sardonic grimace. "Am I expected to do all this heavy math? I don't even remember a lick of chemistry. Where does physical labor play into that?"
"The position is for general assistive work," Qi said. "Even if you do not have the skills to do academic work, there are still a number of other tasks that I can assign to you with no issue."
"Okay... now explain how you expect me to take this up when I have a full-time job already. Oh, and I have two commissions from you still in the works... Just wanted to mention that."
That actually caught Qi by surprise. He paused, considering, before saying: "Considering that you would only be capable of completing a subset of the tasks I require an assistant for without additional training... The cumulative time you spend would likely be less than part-time level."
“Anything from one to nine hours is still a big chunk of my time.”
“We’ll never reach an agreement like this, Wisteria," Qi huffed. "How's this? Quid pro quo. I am still in need of an assistant today, and you are still unsure about whether or not you would like to take up the position. Let us use the next half-day as a trial period. I bring my productivity rate back up to nominal, and you can try the job, then decide what to do with it in the future."
Wis felt her stomach go sour. The better part of her still wanted to flat-out refuse like she intended to from the start, but the annoyance radiating off of Qi was pressing at her impulse to say yes. Her lips pressed together in a thin line. Now she had to compromise with her own self. "...Let's say... two hours, tops. And then after that, I go back to my regular job, I fast-track your comms, and get them to you either tonight or tomorrow."
Qi opened his mouth to retort, but after a moment, he relented. "Fine. A reasonable counter-offer." He turned around and headed for the Research Center, not waiting for Wis. "Let's go, then. There is much to be done."
The stream of cool air from the Research Center's A/C was a welcome respite from outside. Wis blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer lights. For a fraction of a second, the brand-new mess about the place just seemed like bright spots in her eyes.
"I ran a number of experiments last night that produced a significant amount of detritus,” Qi explained, gesturing around to spills and stains scattered around his workbench, and piles of books and paper just sitting on the floor. “Normally, I have a scheduled time block for cleaning the lab, but with the delays caused by my last attempt at an assistant, I have to forego that in order to course-correct these calculations. Therefore, your first task is to clean any waste and organize any materials that are out of place.”
Disappointment sunk in her stomach like a stone. After all the progress that she'd made wiggling her way into being Qi's... friend? Cohort? Object of curiosity—? No, not that. But anything more than just being an errand girl. "I'm not your maid, Qi."
"Of course not. You are my assistant."
"And is this what assistants do?"
Qi glanced back over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised in legitimate surprise. "Yes! Part of a lab assistant's routine is to maintain a clean and functional environment, primarily for the principal researchers, but also for the sake of everyone else in the laboratory."
Wis's narrowed eyes made him pause, before reassuring her: "I have a more intellectually stimulating task for you afterwards. But cleaning is first priority."
She bit back a retort with a sigh. "Where's your cleaning stuff, then?"
"In the back, next to the shelves. There should be extra supplies in the bathroom upstairs if needed."
And so, snatching a pair of disposable gloves from the box on one of Qi's lab tables, Wis got to work. She carefully shuffled around Qi as he worked, scouring splatters of strange-smelling substances ("They should all be non-toxic... But still unwise to inhale them directly."), gathering papers together and putting books back on shelves ("Alphabetize by author surname, then given name, then title. Wait... Leave that one on my desk."), and watering some of Qi's houseplants, because they looked kinda sad and droopy, and the soil was bone-dry ("What? That isn't part of your task. Why are you doing that?").
"Alrighty boss," Wis said after she took off her gloves and dusted her hands off. "Should be all clean. Now what's that 'intellectually stimulating task' you got?"
Qi coughed. "It's 'Director'... but good. Now." He pulled a notebook off his desk and a pencil from his stationary bin. "In the closet downstairs, there are a large number of relics that I have yet to study in detail. You will examine them, then write a detailed report on each one. Ideally, you will be able to formulate some form of categorization scheme as well for similar ones."
More relics to ponder over. Now that did sound interesting, since Wis's luck with finding good relic pieces in the ruins had been plumb out lately. "Okay... How detailed are we talking?"
"As detailed as possible. Take down anything of note. Object composition, shape, measurements, possible usages, potential hazards, scientific significance... Many possible traits."
"And... how many are you expecting?"
"One for every relic in the collection, naturally. Should be around... seventy-five, total? Although..." Qi couldn't catch Wis's face falling in horror as he looked up at the clock on his wall. "Given the limited time remaining, just complete as many as is feasible. Ideally, around ten?"
Wis sputtered. "I— These are probably gonna end up being at least a couple hundred words each! I can't physically write that fast!"
"Write in shorthand, then."
"I don't know any shorthand! And even if I did, you probably wouldn't know how to read it!"
Qi hummed. "Fair point. Next time, when you resume the task, I can offer you a reference sheet for the shorthand scheme that I use."
Wis's nose wrinkled. "...Rather presumptuous to think there's gonna be a 'next time...'"
Her distaste once again seemed to fly over Qi's head. "Not a guarantee. But still a possibility, yes?"
Wis shook her head, taking the notebook out of his hands. "I guess we'll find out."
She went downstairs, carefully pushing in the closet door at the base of the stairs, perpendicular to the Research Center's back door. Tugging the worn string that turned on the closet's lights revealed a veritable forest of metal and plastic. Floor-to-ceiling wire shelves lined against every wall, practically sagging under the weight of a menagerie of old, dusty objects. Rusted engines and other machine components in a variety of jagged shapes. Colorful plastic knickknacks, bleached and faded with time. Electronics in various states of disrepair. On the floor were some larger things that couldn't fit on the shelves. Some sort of big, bulky plastic suit, the shell of a small metal robot on wheels, old furniture, and a metal box with racks of data disks on the inside. It all smelled like sand and gravel, with a hint of that musk that pervaded certain floors of the Gecko Station ruins.
The first thing that she laid her eyes on wasn't any of the relics, but the shelves themselves. She felt an itch at the back of her neck. Were these... stable? They looked rather old, and with the dim lighting, she couldn't see if they were bolted to the floor or the walls. She frowned. All she could do was be careful.
Looking around for where to start, she decided that the small engine sitting on the center shelf against the back wall was as good a place as any. She tucked the notebook under her arm and lifted the engine up. It was heavier than it looked, and falling apart at the ends, too. Something caught between the shelves as she lifted it. Reaching in and trying to wiggle it free didn't work. Wiggling it a little harder didn't work either. And so with an impatient huff, foregoing her previous caution, Wis decided to yank.
The engine finally dislodged, but with it came the entire shelf. Wis yelped. So they weren't bolted down. With both her hands full, she shoved her shoulder into the tipping shelf to stop it, but that did nothing for the relics that were on it. On instinct, her hands refused to let go of the engine.
That split second was when Wis finally realized the relics were a lost cause, and she twisted to get out of the way of the oncoming avalanche, but it was already too late.
Some plastic thing fell to the ground first, splintering into fragments. Then some round thing close to the ground rolled out. Wis didn't see it in time. It wasn't heavy enough for her to trip over it, but it still hit her ankle hard enough to make her stumble. More things came down afterward, half of them crashing into Wis.
A second later, the engine escaped her grip and clattered across the floor, and Wis too was on the floor, gaping up at the entire shelf tilting down towards her like a felled tree. A hoarse scream tore from her throat, and she curled up into a ball, bracing her arms to shield her head.
A cacophony of crashing relics and scattering pieces rained down on the floor around her. She grit her teeth as random things hit her side. It wasn't too bad, until the brunt of the shelf was brought down on her. As light as the wire racks were, they dug in hard enough for her to know that there'd be a bruise blooming there in no time.
The last bits and pieces finally settled, and all fell silent. Wis slowly cracked open her eyes. Most of the relics were completely busted. The floor was littered with rusted screws and nuts, indistinct metal shapes, plastic and ceramic shards. The whole ruckus even disturbed some of the other shelves, dragging them out from against the wall and pulling some of their relics down, too.
From outside, there came rapid, thundering stomps down the stairs. "What on earth—?!"
Qi stalked inside, looking as bewildered as he was furious. "Do you have any idea much these relics are worth?! Not only will these take ages to repair, but now the integrity of the object is completely nullified!"
Wis uncurled herself with a groan, taking hold of the shelf to lift it off of her and slide out.
"So much research potential, absolutely squandered! Now we can no longer examine them as is! The restoration machine will add foreign material to it in order to reconstruct its shape, and so a major trait of it is lost!"
Wis flinched as debris fragments dug into her skin as she shifted. She reached out an arm and swept away the bits to that side.
"And all that from a simple misstep?! I know that this is your first day, and that you are new to this type of work, but negligence is absolutely impermissible in a lab environment! Did we not just have this discussion about the candidate before you?!"
Wis slid out from under the shelf, setting it down as carefully as she could before standing up and dusting herself off. Glancing around at her arms and feeling her face, nothing was bleeding. So at least there was that.
Qi huffed and went over to inspect the shelf next to the one that fell. "At least most of the other relics are intact..." He shoved the shelf in so it was flush against the wall again.
Wis saw something at the top wobble. She didn't know what it was, but it looked big and heavy.
Qi turned back to Wis, still with a stern frown. "Well, now you will need to deal with this diversion. More janitorial work—"
"LOOK OUT!" Wis lunged forward and shoved Qi's shoulders with both hands and all her might.
Whatever it was on the top shelf tumbled down, hitting her back at the base of her neck, square between the shoulders. She cried out in pain, stumbling forward and straight into Qi. He let out a confused shout, staggering backwards.
And then they both went down. Half of Wis landed on top of him, one of his shoes digging uncomfortably into her stomach. Her chest rose and fell with rapid staccato breaths, both from the adrenaline, and against the pain in her back. It still flared, red-hot and throbbing, almost like it was from her spine. Another nasty bruise, for sure.
Qi was silent. But after a minute, he slowly wriggled out from under Wis.
She heard him stand up with a grunt, and then felt something against her shoulder lift. She took that as her cue to pull herself together and stand up herself. Every forward-and-back motion of her shoulders agitated the spot, but she grit her teeth against the pain to roll her shoulders out.
Looking up, she saw Qi holding what looked like some kind of bulky helmet, almost twice the size of his head. All of his anger from a moment ago had dissipated, leaving him only with a blank stare.
Wis sighed, the sore spot complaining as her shoulders fell. "I guess I'll just get started on repairing all this—"
"Are you concussed at all?" Qi butt in.
Wis blinked. "Huh? Um..."
"Dizziness? Difficulty with speech?" It didn't look like he was trying to suppress a reaction, like other times. He simply didn't have a proper one to show. Except a basic medical script, apparently.
"N-No," Wis said, waving a hand. "I'm fine. It'll hurt for a good while, but I'll live."
Qi's eyes slowly swept the floor from side to side.
"...Permission to use the rest of the job time to clean this whole mess up?”
Qi swallowed. “Granted.”
The two of them worked in silence, picking up all the fallen relics and any of the pieces that were larger than specks. Wis could feel Qi’s eyes on her back whenever it was turned. Whenever both of them reached out to grab the same relic or fragment, his arm always flinched away.
After all the large pieces were set aside, Wis grabbed the nearby broom and started sweeping up the little bits. “You need better shelves,” she said. “Stuff gets caught in wire shelves and they might buckle over time with this much stuff. Oh, and you need to mount these to the walls or floors. Otherwise…” She looked up and gestured around. “…This happens.”
Qi let out a flat hum.
Wis cracked a uneasy smile. “Well, um. This is why I’m a builder and not your assistant, right…?”
Qi's only reply was a stare.
Wis coughed. “Um… I’m happy to take that comm up now, if you want?”
With a sigh, Qi finally seemed animated again. “New shelves aren’t necessary, and they’re out of budget. Just bolt these ones down.”
“You sure? You—”
“Just bolt them down and organize the relics in a way that will prevent this sort of damage again,” Qi said shortly. Then he turned around and sulked out in a hurry.
Wis grimaced, but she figured it was better to just go along with it. No need to waste time arguing about it when she was already working overtime.
She stuck her head out the closet door and called upstairs, “You got a toolkit in here?”
“Lowest shelf, closest to the door!”
Kneeling down to pull out the toolbox, Wis caught a glimpse of the shelves’ legs. They each had a hole built in already for bolting the thing down. Qi had just never bothered to use them like he should have. She grumbled a little as she pulled out the drill and a handful of thick bolts. One by one, she secured every shelf. It would've been better if they were bolted to the walls as well, but those were solid metal, and Wis had no extra parts to work with at the moment.
Now came the matter of rearranging all these relics… but how?
As she shuffled through the mess, trying to figure out the best way to arrange things, she heard the front door open. It was hard to hear, but a new voice floated in.
“Howdy there, Director Qi! You haven’t seen Builder Wis around, have ya? Dan-bi’s been tryin’ to find her for a commission and she’s nowhere to be found!”
Wis went dead still. Something cold gripped her heart.
Matilda.
“Wisteria is currently working for me,” Qi replied in his usual, matter-of-fact tone. “She was supposed to be my assistant for half the work day, but, erm… circumstances have changed, and she is now taking a job in her usual capacity as a builder.”
“Oh, I see,” hummed Matilda. “Were you thinkin’ of makin’ her do your assistant thing full-time?”
Qi was silent for a moment. “Out of all the candidates I have screened so far, she is the most agreeable one to work with…”
“Aw, now that’s just precious, now. But, sad to say, Director…” There was a pause, presumably for a sigh. “I really can’t let you do that. Not while Sandrock’s in need.”
“What authority—?”
“I talked it over with Trudy, dear. We’re lookin’ at the state of things ‘round here, and we think that we can’t let our builders get sidetracked.”
“But the city is—”
“—Doin’ fine? Not in the middle of a crisis for once? I know, I know. It’s a tremendous relief! But we gotta look a bit farther on the horizon now, don’t we? Can’t rest on our laurels while the Jewel of the Eufaula still needs polishin’!”
Silence.
“You understand, don’t you, Director? I know you’ve got that same Sandrocker spirit. Always aimin’ higher, no matter what!”
More silence. Wis felt like a fugitive stowing away in this closet, with soldiers or the police at the door. She swallowed a lump in her throat, flinching at how loud it sounded to her.
“Aw, there’s no need to mope, now. It ain’t like you’re never gonna work with Wis ever again! We’ve got so many projects on the docket that both you and Wis will get your hands on!”
“So… no volunteer work allowed, either?”
Matilda sighed, more audibly this time. “My point bein’, Director, don’t force poor Wisty to do things for ya if she’s busy, or if she’s not willin’. If she wants to do somethin’ small for ya as a friend, by all means. But we can’t get in her way, you hear?”
Another sigh, from Qi this time. “Fine. Will that be all?”
“Thank you for understandin’, Director.” Wis could hear the honey-sweet smile in Matilda’s voice. “You go on and tell Wis what we talked about, mmkay?”
There came an indistinct mutter from Qi, before the door was shut rather forcefully.
Footsteps descended the stairs once more. Wis let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.
"And the churchies think I'm the disagreeable one," grumbled Qi as he appeared in the doorway again, leaning up against it with arms tightly crossed.
"I, uh... I heard it all,” Wis said, her eyes on the floor.
"Figured you did," Qi sighed, pushing his glasses in. "You also heard the noticeable lack of any mention of your own agency, I assume?"
"Yeah..." Not only that, but also the lack of any explanation as to why Matilda thought to beeline straight for Qi after hearing that Wis was away from her workshop for only a few hours. Matilda's eternally-serene gaze flashed in her mind's eye again, and she shuddered. Ever since that day, there was always something that gnawed at her gut in fear at something lurking behind those eyes.
Qi took a slow breath. "Obviously, the minister is not privy to any of the conversations you and I have had recently... So I will reiterate that my stance has not changed. You are capable of doing much for me, as I am for you, but we are collaborators. If our contributions towards each other are imbalanced or not mutually-beneficial, then we should say so, and renegotiate."
It was the most Qi-speak explanation of anything that Wis had ever heard, but it was crystal-clear. "Mhm. And I mean, I did agree to do this whole thing myself. And I also agree that I can't take this up as a regular thing. That's me saying that, not just because Matilda's saying that."
Qi nodded. "I figured as much. Still, should I have any sort of task that I require some ad hoc assistance with, I would be more than willing to let you help. Should you so choose, of course."
"Hey, even if I don't, let me know anyway,” said Wis. “I have no clue what you do in here all day and I'm always in my yard or in the mines. It'd be cool to swap stories sometimes."
Qi's eyes widened, the dim light of the closet finally able to catch them. "You're... interested? In my work?"
Wis shrugged one arm. "Have I... not been, this whole time?"
Qi’s lips hung ajar for a moment. “I… will keep that in mind.”
In the silence that followed, with nothing else she could think of to do, Wis idly looked about the relics, any thoughts of organizing still distracted by Qi’s presence. If he was done, then he’d just walk away. But he was still here.
“You… don’t have any terms for me?” he said as Wis messed around with some sort of plastic anatomical animal model.
“Terms?” Wis snorted. “Qi, we’re not writing a contract here.”
“Not a legal one, for certain. But it is still a contract by definition, is it not? One of social reciprocity.”
“Guess so.” It was unbelievably stiff, borderline ridiculous—writing what was essentially a friendship contract, as if a violation could be taken to a friendship lawyer and tried in friendship court. But… there was a comfort to it, in a way. When you negotiate a contract, you don’t try to mince words. You try to minimize deception. Ambiguity. You lay out the boundary with which crossing would lead to bad things, like anger, jail, or sewage flooding your living room. Still a song and a dance to it, but one with a clearer beat and simpler steps.
“If we’re… negotiating, I guess, then…” Wis tapped her chin. “I’d… appreciate it if you were a bit more considerate…?” Her voice trailed off. Was that a fair “trade?”
“…How so, exactly?”
“Well, there’s stuff we talked about… Come talk to me face-to-face at least sometimes, respect the fact that I already have a full-time job, actually tell me things instead of just asking me a question and walking away…”
“…I’ll consider it.”
“Is that a no on the deal, then? Or would you like to counter-offer?” Wis snorted.
“My consideration, by definition, already makes me more considerate.”
“Oh, shut up,” Wis snapped, but she couldn’t help but laugh. She swore she saw a smirk tug at Qi’s lips, but it was too dim to see.
“I do have a counter-offer, though,” Qi said. “In addition to our other terms: no matter what relics you find and where, you will let me be the first person to see them whenever possible.”
“Will you let me keep them after? Or give them to someone else if they need it, or?”
“I never outlined any terms about what ultimately happens to them. Although… there may be some objects that I would strongly prefer to keep…”
Wis nodded. “Any Gungam-related stuff is signed off to you immediately. Got it.”
An undignified little screech escaped Qi. “I-I didn’t specify—! I… I mean… Wh-What on earth are you talking about?!”
"Oh, please." Might as well nip this bud while they were in honest contract mode. "It's not weird! I don't think you're weird just because you like an old cartoon show."
Qi was hiding his face with one hand. "...Franchise..." he mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Franchise... It spans... a television series, comics, novels, thousands of pieces of merchandise..."
Wis let out a huff. "I mean, that aside. It's not weird. Believe me, I've met people into weirder stuff. And they're just fine."
The petulant look on Qi's face flattened into something more serious. "Even so. Additional condition to my counter-offer: do not advertise my interest in the Gungam series to others unless I permit it."
"I'll accept that, sure. Blabbing about it wouldn't be very... considerate of me, would it?"
"I suppose not." Qi shifted, his crossed arms loosening a little. "Well? Is our new contract finalized, or would you like to counter-offer yourself?"
"Hmm... No, I—"
The memory of Matilda flashed through Wis's mind again.
"...Actually. I think..." She let out a hum as she thought. "Okay. My counter-offer: a secret for a secret. Anything related to me being a clone is strictly between you and me. And Mint, I guess."
Qi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"I know... that you're interested in my whole origin story and everything, and I did let you in on it super quickly," Wis continued. "You came to me with news that there was another one of us out there, and I got excited. But... surely you understand that I don't just tell everyone this. Consider it me telling you in confidence."
Qi opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He glanced away for a moment. "Reasonable. I'm certain the scientific community would be ecstatic to hear about it, but with the presence of the Church, it could prove to be a dangerous thing to associate with yourself. You can't simply remove that trait."
Nothing good comes out of an Old World lab, echoed the crackly voice of an old preacher in Wis's memories, lecturing her builder class next to one of her instructors, who was nodding along at every word that fell from his wrinkled lips. The things in there were made for greed, for conquest, for selfishness. Lay your hands on these decrepit relics, and you invite into your heart every ounce of sin and despair that befell our naive ancestors.
Wis let out a weak hum with a weak nod. "And also... you never know who talks to who."
She heard an affirming hum in reply from Qi. "I accept your counter-offer. No additional terms of my own."
"R...Really? I figured you'd try to finagle your way into getting publishing rights for a paper on me or something."
"Well, as of now, I have nothing publishable. But moreover, I do not breach any agreement regarding information told in confidence. Explicit contract or not."
He was being unusually firm. Not in the sort of "I-am-the-smart-one-not-you" way.
It was in the "This-is-a-moral-standard-that-is-etched-into-my-very-soul" kind of way.
"Never heard you sound this... resolute about something like that," Wis murmured.
Qi was silent, searching for the words. “Surely you’ve wondered why I haven’t opted to hire an assistant sooner.”
Wis blinked. “Uh... sorta? I figured you just liked doing all this work yourself.”
“Not… untrue, technically. Another significant factor... is that I have experience with such a betrayal of confidence. Not quite with an assistant, but an extremely close collaborator. In university. It ended with my work being stolen and wrongfully attributed." He stared into the shadows between the closet shelves, unfocused.
Wis had no idea what to say. "I... I'm sorry," she whispered.
"What are you apologizing for?" Qi looked back up at her. There was no bite in his words, or any sting to his gaze, though Wis couldn't peg it as sad or resigned, either.
She pursed her lips, before holding out a hand with a smile soft with melancholy. "We have a deal, then?"
Qi moved into the closet to meet her, under the dim, yellowish glow of the lightbulb overhead, at the clearing in the forest of relics. His grip was little firmer in her hand than last time.
"Deal."
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A/N: This is probably my favorite chapter so far :O
Originally I thought I was gonna be able to just reuse the original version of this chapter all the way back from before I started rewriting the story, but the second I opened that doc again I was like "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yeah nooo ." So I rewrote it from the ground up, and I think it's one of the best chapters I've written for this story so far! It really solidified my want to go back after I wrap up act 1 of this story (which will be in like 3 chapters?) and make some substantial edits for pacing and cutting down some fluff. But we'll see if I have the energy for that lol. We got a lot more to go.
E&S has been really fluid in terms of how it's developed, for better or worse. And it is now longg. Very longngg. Would you believe it originally was planned to be a simple two-shot, and the same story just told from different perspectives? Now we're almost 100K words down towards the end of ACT 1 (of 4 or 5!!)! Thank you very much if you've read up til this point :> I hope you've been enjoying my take on Qi with my silly petri dish gorl 💖
fresh qisteria thoughts are fleeting nowadays… but qi loves watching wis work. he walks over and she’s locked in on something and he’s just hypnotized watching her hands go
hi guys! i've been getting a lot of messages lately that just say things like "hi, i need to talk to you" or "i have something to tell you". if you get one of these, it's a scam to attempt to access your account. don't respond or engage with it. also, if anyone tells you to contact "support" via discord, that's a scam too.
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