“These aren’t the same plant,” Kalter muttered, pulling another one out.

August sat back for a moment, pulling his hand out of the hole he’d dug—in her hand was another of the tangled-up mess, but the bulbs themselves were entirely different. He decided to go ahead and use the last of his Mana to identify it.

“[Analysis],” August murmured.

Allium Cepa

An enduring, flowering plant growing from a bulb.

“I should have realised it was going to give me the same description,” August sighed. “That was a waste of mana.”

“What did the—ability tell you?” Kalter said, catching his eye for a moment.

“Allium Cepa, an enduring, flowering plant growing from a bulb,” August said, reciting it aloud. “It smells like an onion—you have those?”

“Yes,” Kalter said, holding it out for him to take. “Here.”

“Thank you,” August said on reflex, vanishing it into his inventory. “Onions and Garlic—not exactly the start I envisioned, but it’s better than nothing.”

“What were you looking for?” Kalter murmured.

“Potatoes or carrots or something,” August admitted, “I’ve got no idea where those things actually grow, though, so it was kind of wishful thinking, I guess.”

“Potatoes grow in fields,” Kalter said, brow furrowed. “I think I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

“Makes sense to me,” August said, “Neither of us is the gardening type, huh? Maybe we should try and summon someone who was a farmer—did the Voithos ever get assignments like that?”

“There probably were a rare few doing duties in the vicinity of a farm, but that wasn’t exactly our role,” Kalter said, shaking her head. “Farming was a task they’d automated a long time ago.”

“Rittan mentioned you guys handled the physically taxing tasks—I assumed that included farming,” August wondered. “They weren’t worried about the sprinklers rising up and overthrowing Hekaton?”

“Sprinklers don’t have a synthetic brain, the capability to interface with the runic networks, and the desire to lock all the doors before systematically killing everyone trapped inside,” Kalter said offhandedly. “The Magnus weren’t like everyday machinery; they were far more complicated than that.”

August turned to look at her for a moment, caught off guard by the horror she had just described without any kind of build-up. Her casual disinterest reminded him of the way people talked about distant historical tragedies that they hadn’t been around for—except he’d heard from all of them about the existence of assignments regarding hunting down the remaining Magnus who’d escaped destruction. Haiko and Boko were even present through one of those attacks, by their own accounting. This was something they’d either lived through or had come about in the direct aftermath, and the revelation of just how insensitive the casual nature of his question must have been struck him

“Sorry,” August said, wincing.

“For what?” Kalter said, frowning.

“I’d been thinking of the Magnus as some distant historical event, but you guys were still dealing with it while you were alive,” August said, brushing the dirt clear of his hands. “There were probably Voithos who’d died, and I didn’t mean to come off as so—indifferent, I guess.”

“We didn’t even exist during the initial attack; we were just expected to clean up the remnants,” Kalter said, eyeing him. “You’re right, though; there were a lot of Voithos who were killed during those assignments—we should head back now; we’ve already missed our first check-in.”

August pushed himself to his feet, and Kalter stood with him. He turned back into the clearing, following the squashed grass back in the direction they’d come from. Kalter stepped into his range, her render bursting into existence and her hand reaching for his shoulder.

“August,” Kalter said, catching his shoulder before he could get too much further away. “Haiko said you wanted to speak with me in private.”

August froze at the touch and then spent a moment unpacking what she’d just said. Hadn’t Haiko told them all? Rittan had known, and they’d been in the hut together. Kalter removed her hand the moment he’d stopped walking, and he turned until he could see her face. Considering he’d never made a specific request to talk with her at all meant that either Kalter was making up a reason to talk with him in private, or Haiko had lied to her about it in order to put them both in an awkward position—he was pretty sure which one it was.

“Haiko told you about my ability?” August asked to make sure.

“She told us,” Kalter said, looking down at him. “That’s what you wanted to talk with me about?”

God dammit, Haiko.

“I wanted to follow up with each of you,” August said, locking himself into that course of action. “Rittan didn’t seem to be bothered by it, despite the invasive nature—I haven’t gotten a chance to speak with Boko on his own yet.”

There was a long moment where Kalter was silent, and then she spoke up.

“What was Haiko’s response?” Kalter asked. “She wouldn’t tell me when I asked.”

“Haiko made fun of me for being embarrassed about it and then told me that I was making a big deal out of nothing,” August said, glancing away. “You were right—she is kind of smug.”

Kalter blew a burst of air out of her nose in what was a strange combination of amusement and annoyance.

“She’s always been like that,” Kalter sighed.

“Any tips for dealing with her?” August asked.

Kalter reached up with her top right arm and pressed it against the back of her neck before tilting her head to the side until it gave an audible crack. Each motion of the render sent a new pull at his attention, but he managed to push the mental barrage away.

“Haiko likes to be challenged,” Kalter said, rolling her shoulders back. “Either push back at the start, or she’ll keep on testing you until you finally fire back.”

“She gets what she wants, no matter how I respond—figures,” August said, shaking his head. “Kalter, if the mental model thing bothers you at all, you should tell me now, and I’ll make an effort to keep my distance.”

“I don’t care about it right now,” Kalter said, studying him for a moment. “I’ll tell you if that changes.”

“Okay,” August agreed before taking a moment to consider asking something he’d been thinking about. “On a completely unrelated note, there was some new faction stuff unlocked this morning; you should ask Rittan about it if you’re curious.”

“Why are you telling me to ask him about it?” Kalter asked, frowning.

“I don’t want to come off like I’m hiding things from any of you,” August admitted, “But telling you myself feels like I’m trying to pressure you into changing your mind—this seemed like a good middle ground, and it leaves it up for you to decide.”